#really might just perish on the spot if she has to deal with these weird changes for another second

[tvrningout-a]

chiyo, formerly a background character, suddenly experiencing main character moments after she was bitten bc that makes her a main character now?? yes and it's the silliest day of clichés and freaking out over inconvenient powers :' ))

[urisk-factor]

What about high spirit

Okay so it's basically a story set in a world in which long ago magic was everywhere, but over time it faded, until one of the last magic endowed people, a High Spirit, created many instruments and enchanted them with the last remaining magic, sealed them away across the land, and then passed away.

Nowadays, society is this weird mix of different sort of styles in different lands, so, for instance, there's this big desert with a steampunk sort of ab aesthetic.

Now, there is exactly one magic user left, a High Spirit who was cast out for her greed, and cursed with immortality so that she could watch everyone around her perish while she lived on forever.

Sick of living in the shadows, she claims the enchanted violin, puts the last of her own magic into it, making it far stronger, and goes on to take a huge bit of land from one of the kingdoms.

She puts the people of this land under a form of mind control with the violin, forcing them to do her bidding.

Now, nearby, a wedding is being held, when all this happens.

One of the musicians playing for the occasional has an ordinary instrument, but also the pair of magic drumsticks, although the magic part is unknown to him. This is Missy Andrews.

When the Outcast High Spirit, who I haven't named yet, plays her music, everyone at the wedding is caught under the spell, except for Missy as he holds and is connected to the drumsticks, which keep him from being affected.

He runs as far as he can, then hitch hikes back to his home town, where he meets with some old friends from school: Shannon Meek (she/it) and Mannie Pauler (she/her).

He tells them what happened, and they get understandably really worried. That is when Mannie, who is the one with the magic guitar, points out that Missy was at the wedding but wasn't mind controlled like everyone else, and if someone did that, they might just come after him to ensure no witnesses.

Shannon, who has the magic mic, suggests that the three of them bunker down in its father's place, as the guy is one of them Apocalypse Preps or whatever they're called, and Missy and Mannie agree.

(Also, side note, Shannon and Mannie are aware of their instruments magic, but neither knows about the other's instrument's magic, if that makes sense??)

So meanwhile the Outcast High Spirit is absolutely furious, because despite her violin's power, she knows a band of magic instrument wielders could absolutely ruin her plan.

After plotting for a small moment, she decides to hire one of the best bounty hunters in the land, this being Aster Gaer, who, unbeknownst to the Outcast High Spirit, has the magic bass guitar.

The plan is to promise to pay him wisely, because she doesn't know squat about bounty hunting so controlling him and telling him what to do with the violin is out of the question, but she does know that you can just buy the services of people in that line of work, and most of the ones she's heard of will do anything for the right price.

The thing is. She isn't actually going to pay him. When he either eliminates the threat or brings the threat back to her to deal with, she plans to take him under control.

So he sets out after Missy.

However, a very long way away, in one of the largest and richest kingdoms, the only child of the king and heir to the throne discovers a hidden cavern, with the magic piano/keyboard within. This heir is Spot Allain (they/them) who will, like Aster, join Missy, Shannon, and Mannie very soon.

[nama-ri]

Deeper Than Rivers (ch2)

Next chapter! I promise the story isn’t all angst :’)

Summary: Namaari and Raya, two opposing forces who are more similar than they know. Together they’ll face the Drunn, find Sisu, and perhaps find themselves again too. A deeper look into Rayaari and the emotional turmoil they go through alone and together. Pre, during, and Post movie. 

No one batted an eye to the traveller in the red cloak, a large hat tilted over her face, casting a shadow over her features. Not to say she was unnoticed among the white clothes the natives wore. It was simply that it wasn’t odd to them in the market. Trade, though heavily inhibited by the Drunns, still happened. In Fact many Talon merchants and even a few Spine were also in the busy market place by the docks. Tail had stopped communication awhile ago, and it was rumored that they succumbed to the Drunn given their desert land.

Raya can’t say she missed the Tail Cheif. She was brash and selfish when they met before. A distinct memory of the tanned skin women shoving her aside in her greed to grab the Dragon Gem during the chaos that ensued after everyone poured into the temple. It seemed from the stories she heard that the chief's paranoia only grew when she got a piece of the gem shard. Though Raya thought she got what she deserved for her hand in breaking the world, an old buried part of her Heart panged at the thought of innocent Tail citizens perishing along with her.

Quickly she shoved that soft part of her back down. Through her experience as basically a rogue she had learned that there was no room to be soft. It pained her to kill her own innocence but the many experiences of betrayal over her travels made it clear it was a necessity. 

Speaking of betrayal. Raya pondered how she’d make it into the Fang palace where she was sure the scroll was. Her plan to pass as a random trader worked just as she thought. Of Course no one heard anything about the Heart princess after the night the Drunn had been released back into the world, so it was easy for her from the start to pretend to be someone else. Just another refugee from many of the destroyed villages of the land.

Passing by a few stalls set up, she considered her options. Her disguise would not pass in the well guarded palace. She would stick out like a sore thumb. She’d have to sneak in at night Raya realized as she glanced at the large stone buildings on the other side of the Fang island. “Oh toi” She mumbled under her breath taking in the smooth white walls. She was confident in her ability, confident in her years of hard living and her original training as a Gem guardian, but this was still gonna be a hard task to tackle. 

As she studied the palace, leaning in the shade of an alleyway something caught her eye. A familiar undercut. 

“No way” Raya was dumbstruck for a second. No way it was that easy to find Namaari. Furthermore, she had kept the same hair style for 4 years?! The thought of the Fang princess cutting her hair to match her Mother was amusing as a child but it was even more funny now. Raya couldn’t help but smile at that thought. “What a mommy’s girl” she snorted, following the figure discreetly. Of course she knew she was just as much of a daddy’s girl herself but that was before, Raya thought bitterly. Her mind quickly growing sour again.

Yep that was definitely Namaari. Wow. 

When Raya finally caught up to the other princess, though still far enough to not be noticed in the crowd, she had to physically stop her jaw from dropping open. What the hell?? She was taller than her! 

That was not the thought she should be having but her child-like pettiness flared. Namaari wasn’t the same thin girl she met and beat in the Dragon Temple 4 years ago. No, that Binturi was now taller and, Raya noticed reluctantly, buffer. 

Raya’s eyes followed the girl, no warrior, before her. Taking in her broad shoulders bared for the world to see in her sleeveless top. The strength in her smooth steps and air of power as she moved forward nearly parting the crowd as she went. Raya was gawking really, a slight blush on her face before she could stop herself. 

As if sensing the eyes on her, Namaari looked back over her shoulder and Raya barely ducked behind a barrel in time. Seeing Namaari’s body was one thing, her face was another. Peeking from behind her hiding spot she just caught the Fang’s sharp jaw and intimidating eyes set in an impassive face. Gone was the bright eyes or cute face she remembered. Something struck her heart at that, it was a mirror of her own loss.

‘Okay so she grew up, no biggie’. Raya tried to convince herself moving from the barrel as Namaari turned back and continued her walk. ‘She grew up hot’, a small voice echoed her previous thought in her head.

Wait a second hot?

Well sure attractive, anyone in their right mind would be able to see but that was besides the point, Raya had seen plenty of attractive people. She was attractive too if she did say so herself. Unlucky for her Namaari just so happened to be hot. Whatever, didn’t change a thing. But the muscles, that might make a fight harder if it came to it. Yes, it was perfectly natural to be staring at the Fang like this, she was just sizing the other up. Nothing else. Raya continued to trail Namaari, though from a far greater distance now as she revised her plan. Maybe she can ambush the Fang princess? Get her to take her to the scroll. That was far easier than scaling the high walls of the palace and searching randomly in a dangerous place.

As she was lost in thought on how to get Namaari alone she spotted another Fang warrior, she guessed by their dress, walking up rather quickly to the princess. 

“Shouldn’t be- market. -ought to get back” Were the only words she caught over the chatter of the market. Oh no, she’ll lose Namaari if she decides to head back right now. Lucky for her, Namaari looked just as annoyed to be told to leave. Raya moved closer to catch what they were saying.

“I won’t be long Atitaya, it will be fine” Namaari assured in a commanding tone, though it was undercut as she rolled her eyes like a child. The other warrior, Atitaya apparently, just huffed.

“Whatever you say princess” Atitaya bowed, making the younger girl frown, ears getting red. 

“Stop, oh dragons, I told you that wasn’t necessary” Namaari whispered to the warrior in front of her hushed and hurriedly. 

“I know, I know” The formality broken, Atitaya slung an arm over Namaari’s shoulder laughing quietly. Well that was a little shocking, Raya’s eyebrows shot up as she watched the interaction. From what she knew about Fang, they were militaristic and strict in their formalities to a fault. Cold, she remembered hearing from the villagers of Heart back when they were still alive. She had actually seen it herself throughout the day as she watched guards in the marketplace. This outward show of affection was weird. Especially weird as it included Namaari who Raya had chalked up to being the representation of every bad Fang stereotype. 

“You always tease me” Namaari grumbled. As the pair continued on the way. “I told you it’s embarrassing and unneeded out of formal settings” That just made the older woman smirk. 

“Well you never know who could be watching” a mischievous smile on her face “like maybe your mother” Namaari stiffened noticeably at that. Noticing the sudden rigid posture the general slowed her pace removing her arm from the clearly uncomfortable girl's shoulders “Hey hey, it’s okay she’s busy in a council meeting right now” Atitaya back tracked. 

Atitaya, though not actually family, may as well be. Orphaned by the famine that plagued Fang when she was 17 she was taken into the royal palace and given a second chance. She will always be grateful to Chief Virana for that, but she couldn’t say she entirely agreed with how she treated Namaari. Forcing her to grow up faster then maybe need be.

After the death of her husband, the Chief in her grief had shuttered away all her emotions, throwing herself into her work and people. No one could say she didn’t love anything, she loved her people. She was of course admired greatly by all of Fang for her steadiness in the face of starvation and all other forms of destruction. No she was an amazing Chief.

But Namaari.

She loved Namaari, but since the loss she could never really allow herself to fully show it. Now her tenderness only showed through a strong squeeze on the shoulder or a compliment given in an emotionless voice. It was sad, Atitaya thought.

She remembered the day she found the Fang princess, still only 10 at the time, in the serlots pen weeping silently among the large cats. She had felt odd at the time, not knowing what to do as a young soldier finding her princess in such a state. But she still sat with the child, not being able to just leave her, letting her cry it out. When she finally asked what was wrong, Namaari had only replied in a soft whimper that she felt she was all alone. 

The General, then a soldier, knew Namaari loved her dad and was hurting since he died. But as the young Fang continued to speak. It dawned on Atitaya that Namaari has been cut deeper than anyone thought previously of the often quite child. With the other children either too scared or resentful to hang out with her, and her own mother to preoccupied in work she was left to deal with her heavy emotions alone.

Years passed, and Atitaya rose through the ranks. As she did she also  became sort of an older sister figure to Namaari. Someone to lean on, though they didn’t show their friendship too much publicly. She watched with a sad heart as the princess took on more than she should have, striving and surpassing the high standards of even her mother. But in the process hiding her pain away to battle alone in order to not seem weak. 

They didn’t speak about Namaari problems as much as she grew older, but Atitaya still knew the other was struggling with a host of emotions despite her strong facade. Just like back in that serlot pen, except Namaari wouldn’t let her in this time. Atitaya was there since the beginning and so she knew why the younger Fang tensed at just the mention of her mother. 

“Hey lets just find those flowers, then we can head back before the Chief even notices” she quickly said trying to cheer up the Fang princess, who took a second to relax again. 

“Yeah” Namaari finally replied and began walking again, this time with Atitaya following a little behind. An invisible rift between them that only grew it seemed. 

‘Flowers? What the dragons?’ Raya thought, witnessing the short interaction but having no clue of the undertext. What exactly was all this about?

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - “ What Death Tastes Like” Part 5

Scarecrow’s daughter might be only 22, yet the terminal lung cancer she was diagnosed with six months ago didn’t discriminate against her age; the young woman didn’t show worrisome symptoms until it was too late. Y/N always had a fascination for the much older King of Gotham and despite the consequences, maybe it’s finally time to do something about it.

Part 1    Part 2   Part 3     Part 4

The Joker feels his face covered in soft kisses and although generally speaking he loves being pampered, this particular instance awakens his self-defense mechanism.

“What time is it?” J mutters.

“Let me see,” you stretch for your phone. “12:03 am.”

“I should go,” he lifts his head up from the pillow and you pull him back in your arms, yawning.

“Stay for a little bit longer, ok?”

“Why?”

“I wish to hold on to my birthday present for a few more minutes,” Y/N pleads with the man she senses doesn’t want to be there anymore. “Don’t worry, I’m aware it was a casual affair,” your sad smile prompts a completely out of context answer:

“If you noticed I fell asleep, you should have woken me up!” The King of Gotham complains.

“I fell asleep also,” you snuggle to him and since J is suddenly quiet you whisper. “It was amazing.”

He keeps staring which makes you wonder what the hell is going on in his mind right now.

“At least for me,” you underline after you grasp he won’t comment on the subject; you didn’t have a clue he’ll convert the night you spent together into awkwardness for no reason. “Get out of my tent!” you snap at his behavior, irritated. “Get out!” you shove him and The Clown Prince of Crime doesn’t budge.

“Why are you mad?” he finally addresses the annoyed Y/N.

“Because you’re a jerk!”

“Come again?!” The Joker frowns and Scarecrow’s daughter has a clever response; she doesn’t share his genes for nothing.

“I would but I guess you’re not a big fan of us having sex a second time!!!”

“Wow!” J bitterly scoffs. “You sure can twist a guy’s words, huh? If you really must pry into my personal life, I’ll have you know that I’m not used with small talk afterwards, understand?”

While you wonder if he’s bluffing, you can’t help offer the benefit of doubt served with a side of insolence.

“Well, maybe if you would give it a try with someone that actually cares, you’d have stuff to discuss.”

“Miss Crane, what makes you think Mara doesn’t like me?”

The Joker expects a feisty reply to his audacious remark yet he receives a piece of sturdy logic instead:

“If she was crazy in love, she wouldn’t agree and with this on and off relationship you two have.”

J is obviously displeased at your statement thus Y/N has to unleash her creativity in order to push him comprehend what she’s aiming at.

“The problem is you don’t approach anything important, you only shut down everyone. Even Emma believes she’s not yours.”

The King of Gotham was preparing to lash out but your latest sentence totally catches him off guard.

“What do you mean?!”

“You never talk about her mother granted she keeps asking so Emma presumes you probably stole her from an individual you consider your enemy and raised her as revenge.”

“Huh?!” The Joker gets on his elbow, appalled. “She is my daughter!”

“I say that to her when she panics, unfortunately random people do look similar…,” you twirl a strand of his green hair around your fingers. “Steering clear from issues we’re uncomfortable with doesn’t necessarily result in a positive outcome,” Y/N concludes and her partner is not excited at all.

“Are you psychoanalyzing me?!”

“I’m a Crane,” you peck his lips. “It’s in our blood.”

A lot of thoughts rushing behind those blue eyes and you’re confident his patience is running low; add a short fuse to the combo and according to your flawless instinct J will bite soon.

“Take me for example,” you attempt to cram in the main point of your dialogue before it happens. “I don’t care you’re older, I fancy your company nevertheless: you’re super handsome plus emotionally unattractive…”

“I’m what?!” The Joker interrupts.

“Umm… emotionally unattractive?” you hesitantly repeat while watching him jump off the pillows and start to collect his clothes in the semi darkness.

“Serves me right for sleeping with somebody half my age!” he growls at the young woman realizing she upset him with her rant.

“So you’re 46?” you struggle to joke at his affirmation.

“Listen here, Miss Crane!” J dresses in a hurry, angry at your stunt. “If you imagine you figured me out, you didn’t!! Nobody fucks with me!” he violently kicks the mattress and you can’t avoid it:

“I think I just did. Literally.”

The hate in his demeanor makes you regret opening up; your goal was to imply you like him no matter what yet the aftermath is way off what you intended.

“I apologize, OK?” you sigh and reach your hand for his.

“I hope you perish!” he strikes your fingers with such brutality it stings. “You’re dying anyway but hopefully the Cromyxillium kills you faster!” The Joker unzips the tent and leaves a shocked Y/N breathless at his hurtful tirade.

“That’s all you got? Stupid old man…” you whimper and cuddle under the thin blanket with his cushion.

Grief is not the correct term to describe what you experience for the moment: a perfect birthday turned into exactly the opposite in a blink of an eye simply because The Joker proved once more he has no concept on how to handle dynamite; fire suits him better.

***************

Next morning, 10:14am

“Are you hot or cold?” your father inquires since your intravenous therapy commenced 10 minutes ago.

“No,” you gaze at the IV bag and Jonathan lingers by your bed, reminding his offspring about their plan.

“We’ll do 3 hours on, 3 hours off; I’ll monitor your vitals and if you feel strange alert me immediately, deal?”

You nod a yes and his perseverance in aiding you with your terminal cancer evokes a sincere confession:

“Daddy…Thank you for trying to save me…I’m sorry I’m a burden…”

“A burden?!” Scarecrow mumbles.

There are a million facts you should evoke, yet the predominant one keeps hunting you.

“You buried yourself in the lab because of me…and Evelyn left…”

“Evelyn and I broke up for various motives,” your parent grumbles. “Saying I immersed myself into working because of you hints that I was forced into it against my will which is not true. I did everything out of love… I can’t bear the idea of losing you,” he kisses your temple; you wrap your free arm around his neck, squeezing him tight.

“You’re the best dad; I’m lucky you’re my father. If I die… you think mom is waiting for me?...”

Jonathan Crane has the weird sensation he’s choking; his wife died after you were born due to leukemia, now their daughter is fighting for survival: she’s plainly the last fortress separating him from utter madness.

“I couldn’t save your mother, but I’ll be damned if I let you die kid,” he caresses your cheek. “She can wait; I bet she’s not eager to take you with her,” Scarecrow reassures his daughter. “Rest honey.”

“I will…” you consent and Emma barging in the bedroom with her duffle bag switches your attention.

“I’m here, I’m here!” she exclaims. “Traffic was horrible, bad accident on the freeway!”

**************

11 am

“Are you comfortable?” Emma checks with her friend, not entirely certain how to bring up a very delicate topic clouding her usually bubbly disposition.

“Of course,” you smile and she wiggles in her recliner. “Are you?” you wink at her visible restlessness as you attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

“Y/N…,” she taps the fluffy carpet with her feet. “Mmmm… last night after we returned from the river I dropped by to see how you’re doing and… I came to your tent…,” Emma pauses seeing the stupefied expression on your face. “I…I found my father sleeping in there with you…”

You lick your lips and strain to keep your calm even if your heart is pounding out of your chest.

“Did my dad take advantage of you?” she lowers her voice and you can tell she’s torn apart by the horrible notion.

“He didn’t,” you shake your head.

“Dumb girl…” Emma admonishes without any trace of resentment; what else can she articulate in these circumstances regardless?  

“I can’t believe I’m inquiring… Did you use protection?”

“No…It just happened…”

“Oh my God!” the concerned judgement pressures you to continue:

“It didn’t end well so it’s fair to assume we’re not in any danger of me becoming your stepmom,” your tone diminishes and she leans over to scold when The Joker passes by the opened door without bothering to peek inside your bedroom; you didn’t spot him but Emma did.

“I’ll be back!” she hisses and you’re confused at her desire to leave you.

“Hey, where are you going?”

She ignores your question and races after The King of Gotham, catching up with him at the end of the long corridor.

“Dad!” Emma shouts and he turns around.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing?!” she interrogates the clueless Joker.

“I’m meeting Crane. Is he downstairs?”

“In his lab compounding the next batch of Cromyxillium for Y/N,” she fumes at J’s impertinence. “Didn’t you forget something?”

He seems puzzled and Emma is not tricked by his deceiving performance.

“My best friend is in her quarters, uncertain if she’ll survive the cancer treatment. Are you pretending she doesn’t exist?”

“Meaning?” The Joker sneers.

“I know you slept with her!” the accusation follows instantly. “Don’t deny it! How could you take advantage of her?!”

The Clown Prince of Crime straightens his shoulders, aware he can’t negotiate his innocence out of this complicated riddle.

“I did not take advantage of her! How dare you accuse me of such low move?”

“You didn’t?” Emma closes the gap between them. “You know she has a crush on you and she’s vulnerable; what type of man would prey on that?!”

J is not thrilled with the innuendos and cuts her off:

“She basically begged for some and I obliged out of pity!”

Emma slaps him and The Joker gasps, enraged she had the audacity:

“Do that again and I’ll neglect you’re my daughter!” he growls and the serious threat doesn’t faze her.

“Hurt her more and I’ll forget you’re my father! If you are indeed my father,” she emphasizes while stomping away towards the kitchen.

“I am your father!” J simmers at her impeccable strategy: Emma is retreating to a different corner of the house giving him the opportunity to choose.

Who the heck knows if she’s actually his?

One thing is undeniable though: they share the same despicable temper.

****************

You discern The Joker in the doorway and your body stiffens; you stare at the TV screen wishing he’ll disappear.

“Where’s Crane?” J analyzes Y/N’s IV pole.

You don’t engage so his crankiness emerges.

“I suppose you didn’t flatlined yet!”

“Nope,” you grunt at the provocative declaration that served its goal: you did reply to The Clown’s rubbish.

“Where’s Crane?”

“I heard you the first time and I’m not sure why you focus your energy on a useless interrogation. You know where my father is!”

“Where?” The Joker’s vile attitude can’t compromise for less than instigating his fling.

“Please take your stuff that’s firm now but will get saggy in maximum 20 years and vanish!” the poisonous remark makes him groan.

“What stuff?!”

You check him out glaring at his mid-section before dismissing his presence.

“That’s the rudest fucking criticism ever!” The Joker barks and Y/N crabbily indicates:

“It’s not criticism, it’s reality! Gravity’s a bitch! Mara won’t mind, won’t she? After all, you two share a very special bond: on today, off tomorrow, hookup next week, take a break next month. Such dreamy relationship!”

“Do you have more derogatory references to my private life?!” J grinds his teeth ready to unleash several atrocities your way.

“No, too busy dying…” you show him the needle in your arm. “I don’t feel the pain from the medication burning my veins; I’m used with my sickness, with the ups and downs. What I do feel is the pain of being taken for granted.”

The Joker is not a fan of the insinuated context.  

“You said no strings attached!” he stresses the lack of commitment consented the previous evening.

“You’re the one that came to me; I thought it meant you were accepting to be the center of my universe.”

J ogles the ceiling of Y/N’s bedroom and assembles a couple of harsh disclosures in his brain when her entitled smirk halts the project.

“You’re buying it, aren’t you?” you chuckle at his astonishment. “I’m just messing with you Mister Joker; who in their right mind would make you the center of their universe?! You have 10 seconds to leave, otherwise I’ll scream and security will come!” you shelter your head with the quilt so you don’t have to see his mug anymore.

No outpour of vexation from his part which is cool: means he bailed.

The blanket is slowly pulled until your eyes emerge; J hovers your face, pissed at the unwelcomed clash.

“I’m checking if you kicked the bucket; corpses are usually covered thus my dilemma.”

“Go away!” you advise. “Or I’ll scream!”

You inhale preparing to yell: The Joker didn’t predict you’d defy him and he swiftly kisses you in order to stop the sounds.

The door is cracked and Emma witnesses the scene, reckoning bizarre elements:

Her father holds grudges and was mad at Y/N earlier due to whatever happened yesterday; nevertheless he still kissed her.

On the other hand, you were definitely miserable after your escapade, yet you didn’t reject him.

Emma may not be informed about the entire story, but one detail is crystal clear: the future is far from being simple.

 Also read: MASTERLIST

[itsclydebitches]

So the story goes like this: I’m in London for the month, popping into every used bookstore I find, and while in one I spot Captains' Logs Supplemental: The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages. Though baggage weight limits won’t let me buy it (I have already bought so many books) I did snap pics of the “Past Prologue,” “Cardassians,” and “The Wire” entires. And then transcribed them. Because I thought the other Garak stans might enjoy this info!

Worth the read imo 💜

Episode #3 “Past Prologue” Original Airdate: 1/11/93 Written by Katharyn Powers Directed by Winrich Kolbe Guest Starring: Jeffrey Nordling (Tahna), Andrew Robinson (Garak), Barbara March (Lursa), Vaughn Armstrong (Gul Dunar), Richard Ryder (Bajoran Deputy), Susan Bay (Admiral), Gwynyth Walsh (B’Etor)

“We didn’t want your typical Cardassian in there,” says director Winrich Kolbe of the creation of one of DS9’s break-out characters, the Cardassian spy Garak. “Obviously it would have been hard to put a real Cardassian soldier in a clothing store. Perhaps it would have been terrific, who knows, but what we felt we had to deal with was somebody abnormal—at least as far as the Cardassians were concerned. It was one of those things where I wasn’t quite sure whether Andy Robinson would be the right guy. I had a different idea as to what type of actor I wanted, but Andy Robinson was available and turned out to be terrific. What I wanted, which shows how far off I was, was Sydney Greenstreet. I have to admire an actor who has to come in at three in the morning and stay in that kind of makeup for the rest of the day and still be able to give a performance.”

Comments Michael Piller, “One of the things about ‘Past Prologue’ that bothered me was that Bashir’s performance was in a very broad range—and this was newness. I believe we have strange aliens, strange makeup, spaceships, explosions and wormholes and costumes that are crazy, so that the people within them have to be entirely credible. If those people get too big in their performances, then you go into opera, and it becomes space opera, foolish and unbelievable. Patrick Stewart really led the way with us in Next Generation, which is to underplay. When you think you’re going to go big, you come down, and it has much more power and credibility. You believe there’s a space station or a spaceship like Enterprise. The biggest problem with the early shows is that some of the performances were too big or too restrained. We had to find the even tone for the ensemble to work together. Our voices weren’t quite right, and the performances were uneven. The first episode hurt the character of Bashir because he was so broad in those scenes with Andy Robinson that he looked like the greenest recruit in the history of the Starfleet, and that hurt him for two or three episodes. If we were shooting it today, his performance would be much more credible, and he wouldn’t have the same reaction from the audience that he has now.”

Klingon renegades Lursa and B’Etor, of course, were introduced in the Next Generation two-parter “Redemption,” and were used as part of an attempt to tie Deep Space Nine into existing Trek continuity. The characters eventually perished in battle against the Enterprise in the feature film Star Trek: Generations.

“The creative synergy allows you incredible opportunities,” remarks Piller. “It’s interesting how we used them. Essentially, we had a story and, in the case of Lursa and B’Etor, we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a real kind of Casablanca spy story and we need someone to really be doing double dealings and bringing money and doing gun exchanges; why don’t we use the Klingons—and use those characters that we love so much? It works out just fine to use those guys because then there’s a connection and an identification. There’s a backstory, there’s a history, and all of these things make for such a richer series.”

Says Ira Behr, “There’s no doubt that people like [TNG characters like] Lwaxana [Troi] and Q and Vash and a bunch of others. They have a certain life to them as characters and an energy that certainly helped The Next Generation and helps us too. The characters that don’t have to be Starfleet and don’t have those strings we have attached so often. A lot of times you have people performing those characters who take a lot of relish in doing them, so they’re fun to have come back.”

Piller doesn’t feel that in exploiting The Next Generation’s voluminous history Deep Space Nine has an unfair advantage, appealing to those already familiar with Trek lore. “You have to look at the shows themselves,” he insists. “There’s no question in my mind that conceptually, each of these shows would work because they’re about the new characters. In ‘Past Prologue,’ there’s a moral dilemma for Major Kira where she has to confront her loyalty to her past life and what her new life is going to be. It’s really about her. It’s illuminating our new characters. As I’ve always said, the guest stars are catalysts. There have been times when I have not been satisfied, more prior to my arrival, that the shows have been about the guest stars, but ultimately the shows that succeed are when the guest stars are serving as catalysts to illuminate our characters.”

Episode #25 “Cardassians” Original Airdate: 10/25/93 Teleplay by James Crocker Story by Gene Wolander and John Wright Directed by Cliff Bole Guest Starring: Rosalind Chao (Keiko O’Brien), Andrew Robinson (Garak), Robert Mandan (Kotan Pa’Dar), Terrence Evans (Proka), Vidal Peterson (Rugal), Dion Anderson (Zolan), Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat)

“I didn’t have a lot of faith in this show at first,” admits Ira Behr. “It was such an issue-oriented show that I thought we would oversimplify a complicated issue, but what got me into the show was when I realized this was not only a chance to bring back Garak but to do this whole weird little number with what’s going on between him and Dukat. To me, that nailed the character and I knew after that happened we were going to see a lot of Andy Robinson, who’s become quite popular on staff. What did not work for me was the kid and O’Brien. I thought that was very obvious stuff compared to the rest of the episode. Sometimes we have a tendency to overload the stories. Ultimately, who cared about this kid? It was weak compared to the rest of the episode.”

“As an actor, when I got the script, I didn’t realize Dukat was being set up to take the blame,” says Marc Alaimo, who portrays Gul Dukat. “But I played him as a man who was being set up. A man who was taking the dive because he had wanted to remove the children but his orders were to leave them. I never really understood that story. It seemed complicated to me, and I never quite understood how he got blamed for it.”

Episode #42 “The Wire” Original Airdate: 5/9/94 Written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe Directed by Kim Friedman Guest Starring: Andrew Robinson (Garak), Jimmie F. Skaggs (Glinn Boheeka), Ann Gillespie (Nurse Jabara), Paul Dooley (Enabran Tain)

“It just so happens some of the best shows are the least expensive, because we’re forced to be concise,” Ira Behr comments. “Our conceptual thinking of two guys in a room who are struggling for survival, or against each other, frequently makes for very good drama. This episode was an opportunity to show Bashir with a real strength that he hasn’t had before.

“[Story editor] Robert Wolfe talked passionately about doing this show, and we had always talked about the fact that Garak might have been George Smiley back in Cardassia and maybe we should explore that. Then I went to the movies and came back and said, ‘He’s Schindler.’ Why don’t we do Schindler and Smiley, and then Michale [Piller] said do all four stories, every one different. Robert came up with the idea that he tells this story about his best friend and it turns out to be him. Then you meet his mentor and best friend, who says, ‘I hope he dies, but tell him I miss him.’ That’s perfect; it’s all great stuff.”

Admittedly, “The Wire” could be perceived as an attempt to repeat the success of first season’s “Duet,” and the staff was aware of the similarities. “‘Duet’ was Kira’s crisis as much as the guy’s crisis, and this was much more Garak’s show,” offers Behr. “I thought that was a little dangerous, and we knew we were doing it, but let’s face it, the Cardassian monologue is great and Cardassians like to talk. They’re also great fun to write.”

Says David Livingston, “It’s a bottle show. It’s basically Andy Robinson in a room, but it’s very compelling because it’s one man intervening. Kurt Cobain needed Siddig. If he had had Sid he might have pulled through, because Sid knocks some sense into Andy’s head and says, ‘You’ve got to get off this stuff.’”

According to director Kim Friedman, “‘The Wire’ was kind of a challenge because most of the episode was two people in a room, Sid and Andy Robinson. It’s very hard to create pacing and energy for a show that is basically set in a room. But ultimately I was very pleased with the whole episode. I think my favorite moment was the implant withdrawal scene, which results in a fight between Bashir and Garak. It was just a very powerful moment.”

Paul Dooley, who played the menacing Enabran Tain, returned in DS9’s third season two-parter “Improbable Cause” and “The Die is Cast.” He is known for his role as Martin Tupper’s gay father in the HBO sitcom Dream On.

[incorrect-myinnerdemon-quotes]

Leif’s Bet

Basically, an alternate Au consisting of writing I did on a whim and a one-shot pulled from Wattpad. Both made at different times so they're differently made. The first one was evolved from a crack post into a serious post so that’s why the beginning is so weird.

Contain’s swearing.

The first section is more detailed because I wasn't stressed with this first half, and the concept came later on in the making of the second part. The first part is set in Dameos the second part is set later on in the human world. This was made early on in the series, way before the courting thing became apparent I think.

Characters might be a little OCC mostly because they swear in the first part and it was mainly supposed to be just Asch and Rhys arguing and then Pierce's line and that's it, a joke, but it involved into a bigger concept.

Words: 2355

. . .

Asch sighed.

"Everything that we know and love is reducible to the absurd acts of chemicals and therefore there is no intrinsic value in this material universe," Asch explained, moving his hand around as he talked. Rhys shook his head. "Hypocrite that you are, for you trust the chemicals in your brain to tell you they are chemicals. All knowledge is ultimately based on that which we cannot prove. Will you fight? Or will you perish like a dog?" Rhys argued.

There they sat, in a tent, they were all meant to share, the tent was large at best and could fit them all into it. The night soon turned frigid as the only warmth came from Asch's power's which enhanced his body heat and the magic-powered lamp that was light in the middle of them. Turned away from the light of the lamp laid a boy wrapped in four thin blankets, clearly angry.

"I'm cold, angry, and done with everything right now. Can I please fucking sleep?" Pierce angrily asked turning over to the others. Leif was sat next to him, he made a gesture with his hand. "No, you may not," Leif decided, Pierce sat up the four blankets sliding off of him, and to his waist and glared at him. "Fuck you-" He said. "I'm trying to Piercey, you just don't seem to get any of the hints I'm putting on the table." Leif grinned, Pierce looked at him with a weirded outlook, feeling his face heat up possibly with anger. Before he could say something Asch interrupted him.

"AS I WAS SAYING-" Asch shouted. "Love means nothing, Leif has the right idea by not falling in love and only hooking up with people for a quick fuck you can achieve anything; if I don't fall in love like my brother I won't have to share my power anymore," Asch explained with a smug look on his face. "However, you easily seem to think that you won't eventually have to share that power with someone because if you don't then this kingdom will crumble if no one can become the heir to the throne, and it'll all be your fault." Rhy countered.

"You know... I really think we shouldn't start talking about this," Noi suggested with a nervous look on his face. "And I think we should and we will now shush, I'm thinking," Asch ordered, Noi sighed. When will anyone ever truly appreciate him? "Can we do something else maybe? Like maybe truth or dare?" Noi suggested.

Rhys looked at him. "That's... Actually a good idea," He looked over to Asch. "Your Highness, do you wanna go first?" Rhys asked. Asch held up a hand. "I'm thinking, I'll play later," Asch decided. "Anyone else then?" Rhys asked. "Me," Leif said. "Then you're first if no one was anything to say about it... Ask anyone you want a truth or dare." Rhys said. "Yes!"

"Alright," He put a hand up to his chin. "Hmmm... Pierce, truth or dare?" Leif asked.

"..."

"Dare," He sighed. "I'm too tired to care anymore."

Leif smirked at him. "You have made the worst decision of your life."

"And I'm too tired to care about that," Pierce replied.

"If you really swing both ways then you won't mind if I dared you to let me kiss you." Leif dared. "I say I swing both ways but that is only with a sword, this dare will change nothing Leif," Pierce stated. "A kiss from me changes everything baby, you won't be able to resist me after that," Leif said with a smirk. "I honestly doubt that,"

"Hold the fuck up for a second, I didn't ask to see boys kiss tonight when you two are going to kiss let me look away," Asch said. "And let me cover Noi's eyes too." Rhys goes to cover Noi's eyes. "I wish you luck in dealing with him." Rhys wished. "Gladly-"

"I wait for no one-" Leif stated.

"I feel sorry for whoever had to date you-"

"Look, are you just going to sit there and look pretty and not move towards or, are you going to move towards me so we can make out of what?" Leif asked with an impatient tone.

Pierce rolled his eye's and then moved toward till he was sitting in front of him, the blankets moved to his shoulders; he wasn't going to do this stupid dare and be even colder in the process of it. "Like I'd ever even consider until today the thought of me making out with you," Pierce said. "Well, maybe I can change that?" Leif smiled. "... I won't even ask questions..."

"Alright then, then I guess it's time to do that dare then, not that I mind of course." Leif moved towards him and Pierce looked away. "I'm too tired and cold for this," Pierce stated. "Then I guess I'll make you a little warmer then-" Leif said. "Oh please, like you ca-" He was interrupted when Leif wrapped his arms around his neck with a sly look, Pierce kept his arms still at his side, he never had really done this before, this was a first for him. "It always time to live a little, maybe you should try once and a while." And with that, Leif leaned in with a steady kiss.

Leif closed his eyes while Pierce's instead widened, he thought he was joking, he had never kissed someone before so he wasn't that sure what to do. He followed what Leif was doing and closed his eye's, he didn't kiss back but tried his best to pretend what to do. Asch angered scream really didn't help that much.

"I SAID LET ME LOOK AWAY FIRST!" Asch screeched looking away. "I'M NEVER GETTING THE IMAGE OUT OF MY HEAD-" Asch screeched.

The kiss soon ended as soon as it started, he opened his eye's to see Leif looking at him with a sly look a grin on his face, a few inches away from him. He licked his lips. "I'll make sure to leave some marks to make sure you remember this night especially." He could feel his face heat up, he didn't know how any of this didn't have an affect him, his face was slightly red like he had done this before which he had. And with that said he pulled him back into a kiss that was more aggressive than the last one.

Pierce froze, was this supposed to happen? Were they supposed to kiss another time or was this just Leif trying his hardest to persuade him into more that he didn't know much about it the first place? He didn't kiss back but he could tell Leif wanted him to with how hard he was trying to kiss, for a response back, either was it was overwhelming him too much. The blankets once wrapped around both of his shoulders was now hanging off one as the other was close to meeting the same fate, he leaned back trying to move away but Leif only leaned closer pressing against him.

He could feel Leif's arm's that were no longer wrapped around his neck be wrapped around his waist slowly finding there way down his back. Panic set in, what was going on around them? What did this mean? What did he mean when he said that?

"Leif! Don't try and stab him! Calm down! Calm down!" Rhy commanded, he was in a spot across from them, he moved to go and separate them. Pierce moved and pushed Leif away backing up to the spot he was previously at before all of this.

Pierce pushed Leif away while Rhy's hand's came in between them separating them with him in between. He took in a deep breath. He could feel every last touch lingering a little bit. He was glad that he ended it there, whatever he was saying about what he was going to do to him was slightly unnerving, especially how he had no real idea what it could have possibly meant and with how low his hands were planning to go. If this was how kissing really was like he felt like he could have gone without it for now.

Pierce looked up at Leif who was laughing it off as if it was nothing like Rhys wasn't scolding him or anything. Right now Pierce could say a lot of things, that he was confused mostly, and also very concerned that he literally just had his first kiss due to dare and not because someone was attracted to him and that kinda hurts. But one thought remained inside his head. 'How the hell is he warm and I'm not? I'm freezing over here, how come he gets to be warm and not me?!'

"And... I'm going to stop playing that... Forever... And besides, that wasn't a kiss." Pierce said wrapping the blankets around him again. "Oh just you wait, you'll want more-" Leif smirked.

"Oh shut the fuck up Leif we're having a discussion here," Asch demanded.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"We're having a discussion whether or not love is important or not, if you wanna fuck, you can fuck outside because this is more important than your love life which is pretty nonexistent-"

"Like you can say your's is any better-"

"Fuck you!"

"I'd rather not!"

. . .

Up. Left. Right. Down. Down Down. Left. Right. Right.

He mashed the same code on his buttons on the controller as he had a focused look on his face; he had to win. The actions of the characters flashed across the screen, colors clashing against colors as health slowly but surely was being cut down one by one. They both had the same amount of health, one more hit and one of them would lose; it couldn't be him.

Currently, Leif and Noi were both playing a fighting game, specifically, Portal Combat, a game he could declare he was the best player at. The only reason he and Noi were playing this was because of how much Ava was forcing them to all get along, she seemed to try and get the both of them to get along the most since they had the most tension between them, the one at second place was him and Pierce; but none of that mattered, the only thing that mattered was winning.

He just needed this final combination to win.

Up. Up. Down. Down. Left. Right. Left. Right.

The screen lit up as the final hit was thrown, a large K.O lit up on the screen. Leif's eye's sparkled as he watched the screen say 'leifishere WINS!' He sat up raising a fist in the air, he had won; he had almost won. Leif looked to Noi who had a frown on his face looking down at the ground, he lost, but he was about to finally win. Noi got up with a sigh. "I guess you are as good as you say you are in video games, Leif," Noi admitted, Leif grinned. "You bet I am! I better than everyone else here!" Leif cheered. "You probably are," Noi admitted.

Noi stood up with a sigh, and Leif followed behind him, there were a lot of things Leif was happy about today, how the blanket was something you would easily trip over, how clumsy Noi was and how the plan worked and he tripped over the blanket and fell, Leif, falling after him.

They fell, he couldn't describe how happy he was that he was this close to him, this close to victory that he had been craving for so long. So before Noi said anything he said something first. "You know, I've been waiting so long to do this, to be the first one to do this to you." Noi looked at him, face red, but curiosity swirling in his eyes made it just as tempting as the last kiss, so curious, so dumb, yet so relieving the bet was almost over. So what he did was close the gap between his and Noi's lips and kissed him.

When Leif pulled back from the kiss with a smirk on his face, Noi's face was red; Leif had won. Leif got up dusting off his clothes not bothering to help Noi up. "Thanks for the kiss Noi, your just as stupid as Pierce was with the dare, time to go get my prize!" Leif exclaimed, Noi sat up and looked at him with a confused look. "You... Didn't actually want to kiss me?..." Leif looked at him and then let out a loud laugh. "Do you really think I'd like you, none the less Pierce less likely?!" He chuckled.

"Why do you think he hates me so much? Because I did the same thing I did to you to him, except I wasn't as nice of a kisser as I was as you were, I thought you would have remembered it." Leif informed Noi eyebrows furrowed and he frowned, he really couldn't remember it. "All I'm gonna say is I'm still not done with him, nonetheless you, I made sure he never forgot that night, but I'm sure you'll forget this in due time," Leif explained this with a grin, Noi starred at him wide eyes. "Why... Why would you do this?"

"The only reason I kissed either of you was so I could get the best bed and be able to break a couple of rules without getting in trouble. It's called a bet, a bet that I could get both of your first kisses before anyone else did; and I won it." Leif bragged a grin on his face. "You two really are really stupid, no wonder you're so badly ranked, though I don't understand how Pierce isn't there with you, I should be the prince's knight, not him." He walked to the portal to the looking back to Noi who was still sitting at the floor staring at him with a sad look.

"Thanks for the win, I'll thank the other one later!" And with that, he walked through the portal and left Noi leaving confused, and hurt.

[gg-astrology]

got an ask from @moonkiddionysus17 about GoT!! 💕 I hope u don’t mind if I answer u like this -- I know a few people tryna keep away from spoilers so they can watch all of it at once so i’ll do a readmore here and add a spoiler warning!!  💕

[[ Game of Thrones Season 8 Ep. 3 Spoiler Warning ]]

 I LOVE the beginning where we just... get a slow tension build with that good 10-15 minutes of everyone.. getting ready for war?? I’m thinking about HOW it just segments so nicely if we binge watch the season all at once-- to come from the first 2 episodes into this one-- it feels like a good progression because we DON’T skip straight into the fighting (that would’ve been really chaotic) -- not to say the actual fight/battle wasn’t a mess but I really really love how it turns out with the front-line tension building.

LOVE Arya this episode -- there was one point-- the library scene I think where it kind of remind me of her time in Bravos. When she closed her eyes for a second I thought she was going to bring out what she learnt when she was blind -- like, navigation and stuff. But it kinda didn’t happen-- we DID get a good part of her being stealthy and putting her “assassination” skills to use!!

Also love how we get to see her actually spar on the gate as well -- it was a good contrast, and shows her proficiency in both conditions (multiple v singular) and I really like that we get to see Arya diversified skill-set here. But YEAH anyways LOVE that for her -- I think because we saw her running out and then we didn’t see her again it kinda cued us in that she’s doing something? Honestly maybe with the Melissandra stuff we might’ve been given too many obvious clues?? That she was going to kill the Night King?? But it was good-- and I’m glad anyways!!

I know twitter has a lot of opinion on Bran right now, I kinda agree like this is the One Time he could pull a card out of his sleeve but it didn’t happen?? If he uses his knowledge power to play some castle-ground (king’s landing) gossiping political game it feels.. like an under-estimation of his powers (went past the wall, did so many adventure-y things in The Big North and then DIDN’T use it with the Night King-- but saving it to use on court politics?? In king’s landing??) --- but alright if he DOES something epic with it then maybe it’ll be fine

I DON’T think the Night King was defeated too easily-- honestly, considering the MESS that was the battle -- I’m glad he got One Up on Dany (with the flame thing) and I don’t know-- what he did, I’m happy with the way it turned out. Resurrecting the Just Fallen?? Ticked off my bucket list. Ruthlessly using the dead to make a bridge of bodies?? Ticked off as well. Casting a snow storm to help with war strategy?? Amazing.

I’m excited to see the next episode-- I hope they don’t go straight into ‘ok now we charge for King’s Landing’ but actually see like-- the repercussions of war. What are they gon’ do with the bodies? Who’s going to burn their dead by going back home/respecting ancestry? What about who’s left? Who even IS left (in terms of forces against Cersei now) Do we HAVE a THIRD Targaryen?? Is ANYONE going to be Azor Ahai?? 

As for the ending of Games of Thrones -- I’m thinking about the DEBT that’s on the crown now because CERSEI took out the loan (that she definitely couldn’t pay back) so in a way i HOPE she stays in the crown if it’s any sort of punishment/repent. Who ELSE is going to pay back that debt? Dany? Jon? Sansa? Tyrion? 

She dug the grave she should lay in it?? In a sense?? So financially I hope this is some kind of repentance. On the OTHER hand -- I don’t actually KNOW who should rule the 7 kingdoms. Sansa cares for the North, so I hope she gets to rule it. ‘Cold’ looks good on her and I love her this Season. 

Jon -- as we’ve established -- ‘knows nothing’ -- so idk about him. Dany can be-- naive, and I don’t?? Trust Tyrion to run a country. 

I think for the characters-- everyone has a ‘role’ they fit better than being a ‘ruler’. Brienne as a knight, Arya as .. whatever she is now. But someone would have to step up to it right? That’s always the deal with ‘ruling’ -- it’s a responsibility, and a weight. You want to Do Right but at the same time-- that has to come with over-coming your own weakness, blind spots and greed. Nobody actually ‘wants’ to rule and is actually ‘great’ at it (I really miss House Tyrell with Olenna and Margaery right now).

For the ending -- well I hope there’s more death?? It sounds weird I know, but I feel like the Death of a few characters would satisfy their arc/story-line and the whole progression/plot holes they’ve been building. Jaime as the King Slayer -- I hope he actually slays the one who rules the throne or idk-- redemption or something better. Arya -- as the many faced god, wouldn’t there be a price to pay for using it for her own motive/list? The Hound -- if he doesn’t kill his brother or die with him, I hope he gets to find fulfillment somewhere.

Sansa I hope stays alive -- if anything, it’s for the sake of the North. Perhaps the North can be the new capital -- but maybe this is a bit optimistic. Tyrion -- MIGHT die?? He’s been talking about his death a lot, so maybe he will die? 

I’m still feeling things about when Greyworm was on the otherside of the trench and closed it off -- while the Unsullied stayed on the front line and perish. Literally this is -- what? The Dothraki AND the Unsullied are gone??  Does this mean Dany only has the North left (+ her dragons)

Anyways-- let me know what you think as well!! 💕 I LOVE talking about this!! 💕 I have so many emotions and I just ksjdnfkjn this episode feels SO GOOD like something I can watch over and over again y know?? 💕💕

OH and Lady Mormont taking down a GIANT!!! 💕 To be fair-- I think all the deaths in the war was well-done, although suspiciously minimal as in-- I’d expect more characters to die during this fight and not just numbers (troops - dothraki + unsullied) -- if some other key characters also died, it would’ve been fantastic 

EDIT: WAIT ONE LAST THING... basically, the deaths here feels very strategic once the immediate battle is over. Dothraki and Unsullied died-- so Dany would be forced to rely on the North. Who has power in the North to rally troops? The Little bear would’ve had an influence here if she was alive. 

The supporting characters who’ve died-- Theon, has a lead to Yara on the Iron Island (although Yara’s allegiance to Dany probably wouldn’t be compromised) Bronn -- as part of the Night’s Watch/Wilding guide. Jorah Mormont -- as part of the leading force of Dany’s army.

It just all seem very... hmm, strategic for the plot. And also I would’ve expected way more death and casualties in war than this. Those at the front lines-- Gendry, Podrick, Brienne, Jaime, Sam. I wouldn’t have expected them to live despite how good they were, even if I did want them to live y know? The fatalities were minimal to say the least-- and I can’t believe im saying this, but i wish game of thrones would ramp it up for the last season?  

Anyways yeah, 💕

[fictionstuff]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Points: 4.25/5 Status: no walkthrough used played through in approximately 130 (+ 40 from the Tornah DLC) hours

I actually never finished XCI, which was more like a bad omen to me as I started XCII. I knew what I was getting myself involved in, A LONG JOURNEY. Xenoblade wants you to invest into a humongous world and you most likely won't finish it below 50 hours. I played 180 hours at XCI and never finished it. I watched the end on youtube though, cause I thought it would connect to the sequel, but that connection was so goddamn well hidden and all the more shocking to me.

XCII is a wonderful game and having played the other two entries as well, I'd love to say that these developers understand what it takes to create a work of art, a game that lets you dive into a fantastic world full of surprises!

Artwork/Design

When I saw the trailer of the game, I was astonished, cause this game doesn't look anything like XCI, which was already an interesting and beautiful tale with a vast (rather dark) world. XCII however delivers a colourful vibrant world with dozens of towns and dungeons that all appear to be completely unique, but they don't stick out. They truly make it feel like they belong there. XCII features any kind of terrain you can probably think of. Vast of green, cliffs high in the sky, snowy mountains, deep rich seas, everything. Just like the entries before, XCII even has secret spots, which are so worth searching for. XCII lets you stand on the highest cliff just admiring the world below, which is so beautifully displayed, it's such a gem!

Every sight is absolutely captivating, massive spaces give you so much to explore. This goes hand in hand with following your characters on their trip to save the world. That in itself is nothing new to roleplay gamers, but XCII has not just beautiful environments. The characters (and rare blades) look just as fantastic. I haven't been much of a fan of the designs from XCI, but XC II makes up for it. We have Rex, a cute young man; Nia, our fierce cat girl; Tora, your usual weird perverted nopon;  Morag, a strong independent woman who worries about her brother and Zeke... Let's just say he's funny companion.

Story/Combat System

XCII takes place in Alrest, a world in which human live on top of Titans which float in the air, which reminded me of Baten Kaitos, a game not many may even know, but the premise is a lot alike. It also connects to XCI in a way that humans don't just live in their usual world. These titans float through a sea of clouds and that's also where XCII picks up the story, showing us how near the world's doom is as a titan dies and sinks through the clouds.

In this world people use blades, powerful beings summoned from core crystals. The masters of these blades are called drivers. Blades grant their users power as they channel energy (ether) through their driver's weapon. We follow young Rex's footsteps as he receives a very lucrative job that promptly gets him “killed“. He's being brought back to life by Pyra, the legendary aegis (weapon) as she gives him part of her life. Together they set out to find Elysium, paradise to many, although no one has ever been there. For Rex this ought to provide spaces to live in as their world may perish soon.

The set up leads you to the very truth about the world, which will knock you out of your socks, because this game knows how to deliver twists.

XCII wants you to get involved and when I say involved, I mean, engaged. Playing this game means to commit yourself to it, to completely explore it, to engage in many many talks and side quests, to understand where the game comes from and what amazing story it wants to tell you. XCII demands a lot of patience, A LOT.

Besides our main quest, which starts rather eventful, if I may so as our main protagonist is being stabbed right in the start of the game, we also have a dozen of side quests, which push you into this vibrant and colourful world. They aren't always interesting, as they're always kind of alike (kill monsters, talk to people, take stuff somewhere, gather items...) but they're meant to let you delve deeper into this world.

In order to reach certain points or fulfil certain quests, you need to develop special abilities of your blades and believe me, if you don't start this goddamn shit from the very beginning, you'll be investing a lot of time into going back and forth in this world just to make level one of whatever ability work out in your favour. I realised this waaaaay too late and had to travel from place to place time and time again, which is rather tedious. These abilities force you to revisit certain places, which in a sense is great and bad all at once.

In the later half of the game you'll be facing many many cut scenes as the game draws nearer to the end. XCII will be give you an emotional payoff for all the hours you've put into this game. I at least shed many tears in the end, although the very end of the credits angered me A LOT. All these characters form a beautiful and emotional tale and they all get their time to shine, they all contribute to the story and it's nice to see that everyone has a word in dire situations. If you really commit yourself to this game, you'll see everyone develop at one point or another, but it takes side content to actually experience this part of the game.

Besides side quests, you can also  send your blades on MercMissions, which also need to be developed! XCII delivers so much content to work on, which might lead you astray sometimes, but makes the whole world just seem so much more concrete, so much more real.

The combat system won't be new to anyone who's played Xenoblade before. It's not much different, although it has it perks. Your attacks are automatically timed and you have three “special” attacks which you can develop with experience points (I'll refer to them as normal attacks though, cause these can be controlled). These attacks charge your gauge for elemental special attacks (these have 4 levels: I- IV). If you use these in a certain row, you can make special combos with special scenes. Once these level attacks are carried out, elemental orbs will orbit around the foe. All attacks automatically charge a special combo attack (which you can see in the upper left side) a “chain attack“. If you use opposite elements, these orbits can be destroyed and give you another round of attack. On the other hand, you can also deal massive damage with certain combos, which make the enemy fly through the air.

Now this system sounds difficult, but it really isn't. XCII doesn't elaborate too much on it though, which is kind of bothersome, but the Tornah DLC teaches it to you much better at times. The DLC's side missions are based on getting you to exploit this system and it was so much fun once I got the complete hang of it.

Everything you gain from fighting can be put to use. You can get better weapons from shops, you can hone stats, you can do missions to develop blade skills, everything can be nurtured from fighting.

[journeysintowebcomics]

Worm Liveblog #22

UPDATE 22: Oni Lee is So Strong

Last time everyone was about to perform an attack on the ABB. Teams were formed, Taylor and Rachel were assigned to the same team. It could be a chance for them to work together, see how that goes, but I’m not holding any high hopes for any breakthroughs in their strained relationship. So let’s continue.

What, you mean spraying everyone with dog blood didn’t help to calm everyone down? Say it ain’t so! Not that Heckpuppy cares, does she? Besides there are more important things to worry about right now beyond that unsanitary action. Skitter wants to smooth over what happened, so she’s willing to give it a try, asking the people from the Travelers for things like their codenames. Be casual, in other words.

Sundancer. Nice! Sundancer seems friendly enough, just a bit curt. She has her enough problems; she doesn’t need all these guys to add to them. How’s life with the Travelers? “Intense. Violent.  Lonely.” ...huh. Violent and intense are no surprise, but I didn’t think life with a team would be lonely. I suppose it depends on how much they spend traveling, it’s not like they can be surrounded by people all the time. The same handful of people all the time...I guess I can see how it can get lonely. Not that there’ll be an explanation, Sundancer doesn’t want to explain. I wasn’t too wrong, it really has to do with them moving so often.

Bam, suddenly Skitter is slammed to a side. Newter didn’t turn against her all of a sudden, it’s that there’s danger outside. A patrol. They already got to the ABB’s building, and there are two minutes to plan what each person’s going to do.

Kaiser and his Valkyries aren’t team players, hah. They just go all ‘We’ll circle around, you all from another direction” and refuse to talk any longer. There’s no time for arguing, so the rest start the strategic meeting. “Skitter, Bitch, you two have the most experience dealing with these guys, so start us off.” More like this relies on Skitter. There are all types of bombs Bakuda could use, I remember several possibilities. It’s hard to know which ones could be set around here. Maybe paying attention to the routes and paths the ABB take around here is a good idea, a way to know where it’s unlikely there are bombs. Bakuda’s not someone who cares about the lives of the gang, but it’d be inconvenient if gang members die.

“I can get the lay of the land, and the bugs will also confuse and distract anyone inside, which should make things easier on you guys.” The good thing about the fact Skitter controls bugs is that it’s unlikely someone will know she’s spying through them. If they got paranoid over every single bug in the vicinity they’d be stressed all the time. If only Skitter could listen through them, like it happened with the moth a few chapters ago...

Newter is the defacto leader right now since Kaiser decided to take a stroll, and he does know what he’s doing! Directing everyone around with no problem. Coil’s soldiers will provide cover from a distance, Sundancer and Labyrinth are going to be backup because their powers are a bit troublesome...this is a good team! I don’t see any big problems. This should go well until the end of the chapter or so.

The swarm is already sweeping through, investigating. There’s a lot of half-naked people inside – therefore they’re defenseless. Better be careful not to harm them. Other than that, some parts of the walls have suspicious spots.

I took a page out of Grue’s playbook and gathered a group of bugs together into a densely packed, vaguely humanoid shape.  I moved that collection of bugs through the doors and to the place where the little domes sat. The explosion blew a fair sized chunk out of the exterior wall of the building closest to us.  The people inside, already nervous at the influx of bugs, started scattering, screaming, running for the exits.

Okay, everyone knows someone’s here. No way everybody won’t get their guard up now. Skitter doesn’t waste time, she finds other traps and sets them off, allowing Heckpuppy and Newter to enter. Newter is knocking out everyone without harming them, so I guess they’ll be okay.

What I did know was that his bodily fluids were potent hallucinogens.  Even the sweat that accumulated on his skin was apparently enough to send someone off to la-la land, taking only a few seconds for it to be absorbed through the skin.

Well that’s gross. Like a tree frog from the jungle, no wonder his colors were so bright. While Skitter stops anyone who might shoot him – through the true and tried method of shoving bugs everywhere on their faces, that still gives me goosebumps – he keeps going. Kaiser and the Valkyries are attacking from the opposite side and blocking paths with blades, it’s inconvenient for Heckpuppy. That meant Kaiser would be the one who had blocked her.  Was it intentional, or had he been cutting off the ABB’s escape routes? It definitely was intentional. I think Kaiser had both of those things in mind when he placed that blade blockage.

Newter keeps knocking out people left and right until he faces someone the last person around. Suddenly, a second person appears behind Newter, and Newter falls. Oh well. Things were nice while they lasted. Better warn Heckpuppy about the recent developments. “Bitch!  Second floor, Newter’s wounded, Oni Lee is in the building.” There was a long pause before she replied, “Lung’s here too.” Hohoh, they totally did. Of all places, both Lung and his lieutenant had to be here. Well, of course they’d be here, this is where Skitter is, and where the protagonist is at, the action will be at. Basic fiction rule, it never fails.

As expected things got tough right at the end of the chapter. No way I’m stopping here right now. It was a rather short chapter, though, I expected something longer. Next chapter, immediately.

Lung’s fighting Kaiser. Going straight for the big guy, eh, Kaiser? It’s fitting, he wants to get rid of the ABB, of course he’d go for the leader. Skitter couldn’t care less about Lung right now, Newter is injured and Oni Lee is there. After sending Heckpuppy to that place, Skitter draws out her baton and knife, and decides to enter. It doesn’t take long for them all to surround Oni Lee, but there’s no way that’ll be enough to trap him. Teleportation and duplication is an useful combination.

I followed his line of sight, and saw he had already appeared just behind Bitch, half-crouching on Brutus’ back, one hand on a hook of bone to help him balance. There was a flash of steel in his other hand as he reached around her throat with a blade.

See? Extremely dangerous, that’s no up to debate. Thankfully for me as a reader, I’m pleased that an interesting character such as Heckpuppy didn’t get killed five arcs into the serial story, Coil’s soldiers are giving good back-up, they’re snipers. Oni Lee is teleporting all over the place, looking for spots to attack, leaving copies there...I’m pretty sure there’s now an Oni Lee copy going towards those soldiers right now. Oh well, they’ll be fine. Coil wouldn’t employ them if they didn’t have a good enough hand-to-hand combat skill, I bet. Where the sniper team had been, there were four figures now.  I saw the rifle fall from the edge of the roof as the two soldiers struggled with a pair of Oni Lees. Two copies? Wow, I should have guessed. Two snipers, two copies, of course.

While Skitter watches around, another copy manages to harm one of Heckpuppy’s dogs. Hah, now she’s going to be pissed. Good thing once the power boost she gives them is gone, injuries and the such are gone too...I think. I hope. Another two attack Skitter, holding her and ready to shiv her. As an attempt to have early alert of where Oni Lee’s going to appear, Skitter spreads bugs around, just in time to be alerted of one appearing not too far from here. He whipped his arm in my direction, and I didn’t have any time to do much more than turn in his direction before something collided with my head.  I stumbled and fell over backwards. Welp. You tried, Skitter, you tried. As I lay there, trying to parse what had just happened, I realized that a small knife was embedded in the armored section of my mask, cracking the lens.  A throwing knife? I’m so glad Skitter took her time with her costume, making sure it wouldn’t be some flimsy amateur thing.

Heckpuppy is injured, a stab in the arm. Not too much of a problem, I’d say, it could be much worse. Everyone else is having a lot more trouble. One of Coil’s men was tackled off the roof, Sundancer is crumpled over – really. I’m not impressed – and as said before, Newter’s injured and most likely knocked out. That leaves Skitter and Heckpuppy against him, since maybe Labyrinth is going to make sure Sundancer will be okay, and the other sniper guy can’t do a thing from the distance without his rifle.

The bug alert system is finally working, Oni Lee is being stung and bitten, and...huh, okay! Look at this: Then I noticed something weird.  More bugs popped into existence in the midst of the cloud, near Sundancer and Labyrinth.  I felt the original bugs perish as they exploded into ash. Fantastic, she’s going to be able to follow Oni Lee no matter what! And what’s more, that’s the real, original Oni Lee, that has to be advantageous too. This could be the chance to turn this all around! Heckpuppy is recalled, and the two of them decide to return where Sundancer and Labyrinth were waiting. Bitch offered me a hand. I gratefully took it, letting her help me up onto Brutus’ back. And the ice is breaking here, all in all, everything’s starting to look up.

They don’t even get too close to Sundancer and Labyrinth when things start looking like McEscher decided to join the fight. It’s you, Labyrinth, isn’t it? Space and buildings are being warped, this is a pretty cool power, I like it. Disruptive, that’s for sure, no wonder Labyrinth stayed back.

As soon as she can, Labyrinth touches Skitter and Heckpuppy, making them be able to see everything as normal. This isn’t the time for an interview about the details of her power, Skitter, forget about that for now. What’s for sure is that there’s some sort of tangible anomaly going on here, even if it’s possible for Labyrinth and others to not see it. It’s delaying Oni Lee, so it’s all working. Can’t complain.

Skitter’s indications are enough for Coil’s sniper to aim and actually hit him, injuring the real one. Nice! And that’s something that doesn’t go away through teleportation, no matter what he does, he’s still injured. Skitter even manages to indicate where he’s appearing, the sniper hitting him a few more times before Oni Lee calls quits and goes away. Wow, this went well enough! Sure, some people got injured, but nobody’s gravely injured, not even the guy who fell from the roof. They’re not doing too badly! “Labyrinth, watch him.  Make sure he keeps breathing and that his buddy knows where he is,” I said, “Sundancer, Bitch, we’ve gotta go help Newter.” Right, Newter hasn’t phased out of existence or something. I had forgotten about him for a moment, but he’s still inside, isn’t he? Presumably unconscious. Better check on him, see if he needs help. How’s Kaiser doing with Lung? Is he okay?

That’s for next chapter. I’m going to check, because this is too good to stop right now.

Oh, surprise, Heckpuppy doesn’t want to go help Newter because it’s his fault he got hurt. Okay, no, that’s no surprise. Heckpuppy isn’t the most empathic person on the face of Earth. Skitter’s having none of that, though. “We let him die, you think Faultline’s going to let it slide?  She might hurt or kill Tattletale or Regent in retaliation.” Skitter has a point there, I doubt Faultline would take that well. Thankfully that’s enough to convince Heckpuppy to help Newter, because despite everything, she’d fond of being part of the Undersiders...and dare I add, of the Undersiders themselves. I’m sure she likes them, at the very least.

Turns out the ABB is also into the drug business, and that’s what most of the civilians here were doing, making drugs. Fairly ironic that this is the place where the guy whose main skill is having hallucinogenic fluids got injured here. While I ponder if I used the word ‘ironic’ correctly, Skitter assesses the situation, deciding that touching Newter was too risky. There had to be gloves or tools somewhere that could be used to move him.

Sundancer will stay with Newter and pretty much make sure he’ll be okay while Skitter searches around for stuff to use on him. Turns out drugs is something Skitter is very wary off, based on an experience when she was young – seeing a methhead doing a ruckus in a bus. I must say, she’s taking everything quite well despite the fear she has! She’s being cautious and doesn’t let her, hm...let’s say ‘distaste’ – even if it’s a major understatement – overcome her. Maybe this same distaste is what leads Skitter to start rounding up the money that’s surely profits from selling drugs. Hah! I don’t think you’re going to have time to take the money with you once this is done, Skitter. It’d be nice, but I think you won’t have the time for that.

They do actually manage to find gloves and a way to maybe carry Newter, nice. It’s good when everyone’s cooperative – even if Heckpuppy is being very reluctant about it. The process of covering Newter’s wounds is not easy, mostly because there are no bandages so they instead have to use sanitary pads. Creative! And if his teammates give him a hard time, I think he’d be pissed at you for sticking sanitary pads on him, not at them, hah. I doubt he’d let something as minor and petty as this get to him, though.

Getting him on the dog was barely done when there’s a crash nearby. Oh dear, the respite was nice while it lasted. A gauntleted hand as wide across as my armspan had crashed through the wall. Hah! For a moment I thought it was a gauntleted hand as if someone ripped the hand off the arm and threw it through the wall. I bet a cape somewhere in the world can detach their body parts like that. Heckpuppy is sent away and instructed to seek help, so that means Skitter and Sundancer are left here, aren’t they? And Sundancer is injured, not too badly, but she’s injured nonetheless.

Six ABB members retreated through the hole, taking cover from...the giantesses. Hm. Unless I missed something big, I suppose those are Kaiser’s valkyries, aren’t they? Because I don’t think anyone else would have this power, everybody else is well-accounted in terms of powers – unless Coil’s men had a spontaneous sex change and didn’t reveal they could turn so big.  

The big man is here! Hello, Lung, what’s up? He’s not looking very good; his powers have given him so many transformations he’s almost unidentifiable. Kaiser is also here and he’s not worried at all, just waltzing in and attempting to impale Lung. I guess he has been having an okay time so far, no injuries. Fenja and Menja are seemingly uninjured too. All in all, Lung is against them, Skitter, and two of Heckpuppy’s dogs, now that she left. Not too bad of a team to fight Lung, although as demonstrated before...Kaiser’s not a team player. At most he’ll cooperate with his own E88 members, but with Skitter? I don’t think so. Oh, true, there’s also six ABB members here, but compared to Lung and Kaiser and the rest, they’re small fries, I’d say.

Lung turned to survey the room.  His men were arranged in a loose circle around him, facing us.  His eyes settled on me. “Ooo,” he rumbled, his words were distorted by the shape of his altered mouth, but it was easy enough to guess what he’d just said.  You.

And this time I don’t think biting and stinging Lung will be of any use. This is a good time to test how creative she is with them, now that she can’t use the same actions than last time – not that it’d have been a good decision, anyways.

Although I want to continue, I’ll have to stop for now. But man this is a fun arc, things are heated up! Mr. Wildbow is pretty good with action scenes, I like it.

Next update: in two updates

[beautifullybroken37]

Lust and Other Stuff

Today I had a woman in her 70′s tell me that after being married to her husband for their whole lives basically, he was in his 80′s.. that he still looks at other women. What??? Now I’m not sure where this came from, or why she brought this up to me, but it was almost like some weird type of confession? I dunno it was so bizarre actually. So.. I apologized to her.. sympathizing w/her more or less, but she got very defensive and said back, “well I‘m not b/c he’s a great man & I love him very much.” Well lady, I’m sure he probably is a great guy but let’s face it-- that’s not a great way to make your wife feel. I’ve been there done that w/a couple guys already so I get it. But.. I also know different-- b/c I dated a guy that was smart, sexy, & all that really.. he had it goin’ onnnnn and when we’d go out for sushi in the city with our Groupon coupons b/c we were ballers on a budget, (no shame).. there was always this woman who worked there who was like I dunno? A 20 on the 10 scale and let’s say I’m like a 4, ok? She was so pretty & her body so perfect it almost seemed unfair, lol. She had the kind of beauty that can’t be ignored, her outfits commanded attention, perfect hair, beautiful face, very tight clothing perfect body blah blah blah & I promise you--- he would not even glance. In her direction. It was uuuunbelievable! But to me, that right there is a great example of a man who chose to make it a point to honor and cherish & love his woman and somehow sub-humanely act like this woman wasn’t even in the room besides giving her our order. So I know ladies, there ARE men out there who can do this. Don’t accept anyone telling you that, “oh, that’s just men for ya. All men are the same. Or, “they all do it.” No. No. They actually don’t, all do it. Don’t buy that ticket, don’t take that ride. You don’t have to.

Anyways back to it.. the whole chapter of Matthew 5 is some super good stuff but verses 27-30 really unpacks some serious guidance on this sort of thing. Not being judgmental or super righteous holy roller or whatever, just this is what came to my mind b/c I myself have struggled with lust amongst many, many, many other not-so-pretty things ---did I say many? So anyways, this definitely comes out of a place of love and random thoughts, ok? Ok great.

So the whole shebang is about dealing with adultery in the heart. Here it is:  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (here’s where it gets kinda crazy/weird --my personal opinion and interpretation of this part is that it is conveying to us the importance or gravity of how important this is.. but that it is by no means, a literal interpretation) If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Whoa.

I’m not a huge rule-based person myself, but I do find that while we all have our own vices.. overall those things are easier to follow or try to abide by when the relationship is right. And when the relationship is right, you may not even be aware of the “rules,” (reallllllyyyyy don’t like that word, but forgive me for lack of a better substitute at the moment) but you may find they become enlightening and you may have already been changing your life to be more align w/them, unknowingly, even. And not b/c they’re there to guide us, but bc your heart is changed. God changes us. Not over night, not immediately, some things take longer than others.. but he changes us. And so when I say relationship folks, I’m definitely referring to your walk with the Lord.

Please keep in mind that I used to be absolutely, 100%, --a product of this dark, dark world we live in today. And I thank God for saving me from that, because I sure as heck didn’t deserve it. Nu uh. Nooooo way. Thank God Thank God Thank Goddddddd for His love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, patience... seriously. No one else can ever love you like that. No one. And now I’m just a dirty, rotten sinner saved by Grace but He is doing a good work in me now. I have been saved & nothing can take that away from me.. which is totally awe-some! John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.”

I think I just got way off track there but what’s interesting is He also lays it out for us, as far as how husbands are to treat their wives. Crazy, right? Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, That He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” ------Ok so this should go without much need for explanation, right? Christ loved the Church more than anything & so if He gave Himself for her, surely we can make an effort in trying to love in relationships more like Christ loved the church, and less like the rest of the world does... no? Given the divorce rates, I’d put my money on our Good Lord and not the way of the world but hey.. as someone once said to me, “you can do what you want, it’s a free world.” And he couldn’t have been more right. I’m not here to judge, I’m not here to convince you of anything.. I’m actually just out here randomly working out my thoughts and feelings bc without paying someone a lot of money to listen to me, I don’t really have anywhere else to go. I talk to God, yes and lots but aside from that what I mean is just that I’m usually the listener. It’s kind of this therapeutic thing for me, in a weird way --getting my random thoughts/feelings/wonderings out there. It’s not like I dwell on this stuff or anything it’s just something I find myself coming back to, so we’ll just see where it goes, I suppose. I think this is my new safe place for awhile. We’ll see.

Anyways back the super-loaded verses we just went through.. I think it’s safe to assume that what our great Teacher is trying to tell us, is that it matters what we look at. It matters what we think about. And so it’d be fair to say that especially in today’s society where sex is selling everything and everywhere, where porn is easily accessible, modesty is now a rarity, & Instagram/Facebook/Snapchat is used as a tool for many to self promote their bodies & filtered faces & fake perfect lives... we have to make an effort, to be different. We have to make an effort to protect what we see when we can and when we are able. And in doing so we can further protect what we think, as those two can easily go hand-in-hand. I don’t know about you, but when I think of how awful it would be to have to pluck my own eyeball out bc I just looked at a hot guy & had a fleeting moment where my body literally changes and you get those butterflies or your upper lip starts to sweat... hahaha I dunno maybe b/c your mind wandered b/c he had a rocking bod’, handsome rugged looks, tight shirt on leaving nothing to the imagination, looking like he just popped out of a GQ magazine and all of a sudden your thoughts are going down this road it really shouldn’t have... but to realize that yes, that IS so bad that you should pluck your own eye out?! How about -- no thanks. It’s not worth it and honestly it’s so empty anyways. Empty. Just turn away fm it. Turn away. Now singing turn arounddddddd... every now and then I get a... wait, wait wrong song, wrong moment. Scratch that.

But we are all human and maybe for some.. you struggle with lust. Another? Gambling. Working out. Prescription drugs. Non-prescription drugs. Shopping. Drinking. Facebooking. Eating.. the list goes on, right? Maybe even something totally weird you’d never think of like, “Can’t stop binge-watching old episodes of Dawson’s Creek.” The point is, we all have our own vices, they just manifest differently in each of our own lives & that’s why it’s so important to stay close to God & to stay in the Word and not the world. It may not be the popular way or the easy way but I promise you. It is the only way. <3