#rex gets a lot of her optimism from him :’) he really looks the part of

[tauforged]

some first pass doodles while i slowly solidify his design in my brain..

dr. jonah intehb, rex’s father! he’s the head of xenobiology at auron and specializes in studying the physiology and life cycle of the interstellar whales :) the horrors persist but so does he

[noodleswithsoba-blog]

My Invincible OC: Jason Blake.

So... my Viltrumite Swap AU, or Thragg n' Nolan switch roles and the butterfly effect causes massive changes, namely... just who is Jason Blake, otherwise known as Invincible?

Quick Facts.

Name: Jason Cassius Blake.

Birthday: 11/2.

Favorite color: Blue.

Named after the Greek Hero, Jason.

Backstory.

"So wait... you're an alien, which means I'M an alien?"

"Is that concerning to you, son?"

"No! It's cool!"- Jason's reaction to being told the Viltrumite story.

Jason was born a while after Thragg arrived to Earth and took the name Thomas Blake. His wife, Reyna, was already a heroine and impressed him with her strength. Reyna's looks prevailed over Thragg's in Jason's case, giving him golden eyes and golden hair.

The circumstances of Jason's birth actually made Thragg a little nervous, unsure if his wife's great strength would allow for their continued survival.

Little did Thragg know that his choice of wife combined with his already buffed Viltrumite strength would give Jason an edge over most enemies.

Throughout Jason's early days, Reyna and Thragg would swap taking care of him. Reyna saw it as bonding between father and son. She was right, of course...

Unfortunately, like the mainline universe, Life has a way of making tragedy happen to the main character no matter what. Turns out Reyna's mutation was rebelling against her body, with symptoms reminding Thragg of the Scourge Virus.

She made him swear to raise Jason to be kind, to fight for his home, because the baton is passed to him now.

Having also become a Guardian of the Globe, Jason grew up with the other guardians being a sort of fictive aunts and uncles. So he wasn't without love or care, just that Thragg tried his best to put walls between him and his son so he couldn't feel too much.

But Thragg had to become both Mother and Father to his son, and this is where he begins to change.

Personality.

So, Jason was raised by Thragg, which made him put aside a lot of his feelings to accomplish his goals. He also inherited his mother's hotbloodedness and some optimism from her too. It borders on being naive, which is what kills Thragg the most.

Jason's also kind of a fighter, having a scrappy style that's dirtier than most. He tends to get snappy with Rex and butts heads with Robot because he hates how logical he is.

He may be the smartest thing in the room, but Jason doesn't like the ideas Robot has. While they're right, he leans more towards his father's stories of conquerors and how they ended horribly.

He was encouraged to be part of the Teen Team as a way to get friends 'like him' that way he wouldn't feel alone... but he's oil and water with the guys.

Eventually, Rex and him get along.

But he's nice to Eve and Kate (and Amanda eventually.). Even with the Teen Team and going to school, Jason's still pretty lonely. His first power was super strength, then flight, then durability.

He's a very solemn kid sometimes. Even though the Guardians and his Dad are around, he feels like he's out of place. Unanchored, like any minute he's going to drift away.

Thragg did his best to raise his son as humanly as possible, but there's always this secretiveness between them. But he always seems to know if his son's in trouble.

Also imagine Thragg being involved in the parent's side of things when Jason was in Elementary School. Gossiping with the moms and chatting with the dads, because he sees it as coming across as more human.

Jason does okay in school, his father tried to push him to be in more programs and expand his horizons. Jason's pretty good at writing stories and really wanted to become a comic book writer so his dad's stories could somehow be kept up with.

In most encounters, Jason covers up his fear with confidence and is a little quippy. Until the absolute SLAUGHTER that is his father's 'education'.

Jason gets traumatized, Thragg flies away, after saying... "When you get stronger, come find me, son."

Not even an apology, not even a sort of way to put a bandaid on a bullet wound, just another goal. (Thragg's breaking too, which is why he leaves. he loves his son, and would do anything to not give him the same fate as his brethren, but here it is.)

Needless to say after the beatdown, Jason's angry. His anger is turned on any villains he encounters. Cecil's trying to rein him in but how can you calm a kid who lost the only parent he has?

The fact that Immortal lashes out at him is even tougher. He has no one, but he still helps. Why?

Because it makes him happy to see people live their lives, to just be. So Cecil uses that for structure, gives the kid some kind of peace. All he has to do is work for him.

Surprisingly, Allen and Jason get along famously. Two sorta himbos who just wanna life their lives and well, make silly mistakes sometimes get along.

He's extremely self-sacrificial, and refuses to be selfish, it doesn't contribute to his own code of survival. Sends him clashing against Viltrumite Prince Mark.

The Suit.

Art made Jason a suit, and instead of being similar to his father's, Jason got a cool yellow and blue suit with a bright blue cape and boots, but no pads. So it's similar to Mark's Blue and Black suit. Jason doesn't have the goggles because they'd break anyway.

Later on, the cape goes away and becomes the kilt-like form that Thragg has. This comes in Post Season-2, when Jason's more alone than ever and it's more of a comfort move for him.

Romance?

I honestly have no idea. I like him and Eve, but at the same time it'd take a little longer than Mark and Eve in canon, mostly because our boy is a little more closed off than Mark is. So yeah, if I ever get a solid way of putting them together, I will. Same counts for anybody else.

If any of you have ideas, please feel free to share them!

[dontcare77ghj]

All-New Halloween Spooktacular

Wanda x reader x Vision

"Halloween's a magical holiday," Billy told someone unseen as he walked into the kitchen dressed in a cape. "All about family, friends, and the thrill of getting to be someone else for the day."

"Wrong! Halloween's all about candy!" Tommy informed his brother.

"You're both wrong." Luna piped up from where she sat, eating toast. "It's about scaring people."

"That too." Tommy agreed. "But mostly about candy." He added.

"Where's your costume, Tommy?" Billy questioned, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"This is my costume. I'm the cool twin." Tommy told him in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Lame." Luna shook her head.

"What does that make me?" Billy asked, tilting his head to the side. 

"A dorkasurus rex," Tommy said, smirking as he remembered the time Billy caused himself to fall playing Dance Dance Revolution.

"Not a real dinosaur." Billy rolled his eyes. "What's your costume, Luna?" He asked, glancing over his sister's grey jacket and pink dress.

"I'm a spy," Luna said, pulling on a pair of sunglasses. "Duh." She added, picking up her plate as the three kids moved into the living room. 

Quickly the three ten-year-olds noticed their usual seats on the couch were occupied by their uncle, who was fast asleep and snoring loudly.

"Man, he even snores cool." Tommy quietly exclaimed, Pietro on the couch. "I'm gonna wake him up."

"Don't!" Billy snapped, grabbing Tommy's arm.

"You scared?"

"Why would he be scared, Tommy? He's our uncle." Luna asked, tilting her head.

"'Cause it's four o'clock in the afternoon, and Billy's secretly afraid he's a vampire." Tommy teased.

"No, I'm not!" Billy denied.

"Yes, you are!" Tommy smirked. 

"Both of you, be quiet!" Luna hissed.

What none of the kids had noticed was that while they were arguing, Pietro had woken up. Pietro watched the three for a second before he flashed in front of his nephews and niece.

"Blood is thicker than water! I show you!" Pietro roared, causing the kids to scream.

Pietro began to chase the still screaming children around the living room before a loud voice interrupted them.

"Oh! Somebody better be bleeding, broken, or on fire." Wanda said as she rushed down the stairs, all dressed for Halloween.

"Whoa, Mama. Are you old Red Riding Hood?" Billy wondered, causing Wanda to frown.

"I'm a Sokovian fortune teller." His mother told him.

"Wow, that is so," 

"Rad!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Lame," Pietro said, causing Tommy to frown.

"Lame." Tommy agreed.

"Well, think it's cool, Mama," Luna said, smiling at the woman.

"Why, thank you, favorite child," Wanda said with a teasing grin to her other children.

"That costume is worse than the ones mom made us the year we got typhus." Pietro grimaced, staring his sister up and down.

"That's not exactly how I remember it." Wanda frowned, recalling a faint memory of herself, her brother, and an old woman with a fish.

"You probably suppressed a lot of the trauma." Pietro guessed.

"Mom has been weird since uncle Pietro got here," Billy announced, once more talking to someone unseen. "I think it's because she hasn't seen him in a long time, and he's what you call 'a man child.'"

"Want to talk about trauma? Someone drank my coffee this morning." Y/N said as she descended the stairs. "I'm looking at you, Pietro."

"What are you dressed as, Mom?" Tommy asked, looking at his mother.

"I'm Artemis," Y/N told him, pulling a fake bow off her caped back. "She's the Greek Goddess of the Hunt." 

"Whoa! Sweet costume, bro-ham-in-law!" Pietro cackled as Vision appeared behind Y/N. "Let me guess, traffic light!" He said, causing Vision to sigh. "Half shucked corn! A booger!"

"Yes." Vision sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Yes!" Pietro exclaimed with a grin before making his way over to the couch.

"Well, thank you two for humoring me," Wanda said, giving her partners an apologetic smile.

"I love Halloween. No-one had to ask me to dress up twice." Y/N shrugged, throwing her bow back onto her back.

"At least you got to choose your costume. I simply had no other clothes in my closet." Vision said before grinning at his wives. "You are incorrigible, darling. I know you have a secret thing for Mexican wrestlers." He told Wanda.

"Mi gusta mucho."

"Ellos son bastante buenos."

"Chili con carne." Vision said, causing his wives to laugh. "What do you say, kiddos? Who's ready for that first hit of high fructose corn syrup?" Vision asked, turning to the kids who were playing a video game with Pietro.

"Yes! Headlock!"

"Get out of here! Get out of here!"

"You never really told us anything about your brother," Y/N said, watching the three with a smile. "He's not what I expected."

"Yes. I had no idea that he'd be so,"

"Go!"

"Great with kids." Vision summarised, throwing his thumb up.

"Yeah, he's just full of surprises." Wanda shook her head.

"Well, I hope the two of you have fun tonight, darlings." Vision said, moving towards the door.

"What? What do you mean? You're all dressed and ready to go." Wanda asked, staring at Vision with wide eyes.

"I'm undercover," Vision told her. "Halloween is a bacchanal for adolescent trouble-makers, and the neighborhood watch is the only thing that stands between the trees and toilet paper." He explained.

"Ah yes, the age-old enemy. Children with toilet paper." Y/N teased her husband with a smirk.

"No. That's not what you're supposed to,"

"What?" Vision cut her off, causing Wanda to cross her arms and sigh.

"Well, you didn't tell me you had plans."

"Vis told me last night, Wand," Y/N announced, causing Wanda to narrow her eyes.

"And you're okay with this?"

"Mama, Mom, and Dad have been, well, not fighting, just different," Billy announced to the unseen person.

"Okay with it? Vis is going out with the neighborhood watch. What's there to be okay about?" Y/N wondered.

"It's the kid's first Halloween. We all have to be there with them." Wanda demanded.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the big dealio?" Pietro whispered as he came to stand with the three. "The big guy has conflict. The kids need a father figure for the night. Don't sweat it, guys. I got the old XY chromosome. Uncle P to the rescue! Huh?" He suggested.

"There you go. Problem solved." Vision agreed, lightly punching Pietro in the shoulder. "You have a spooky time tonight, kids."

"Goodnight, Dad!" 

"Bye, Dad!"

"Love you, Dad!"

"Sweethearts, be good." He said (mostly to Wanda) as he kissed both women's cheeks. "I smell crime."

"Oh, hang on, I need to put the pumpkin out," Y/N said before Vision left the house. 

She grabbed the jack-o-lantern from beside the door and followed Vision outside, shutting the door behind her.

"You understand your part of the plan?" Vision whispered.

"I'll keep Wanda distracted and keep my eyes open," Y/N whispered to her husband. "Be careful?" She asked.

"Always, darling," Vision promised, quickly pulling Y/N into an embrace before taking his leave.

"Where do you keep your water balloons?" Y/N heard as she re-entered the house. 

"What? We don't have water balloons." Wanda said as Y/N locked the front door.

"Not anymore. Wanda won't let me keep them in the house." Y/N teased, coming to stand beside her wife.

"Then where are we gonna put all this shaving cream?" Pietro asked, holding up two cans. Cans Y/N had no idea as to where they'd come from. "It was Luna's idea!" Pietro defended himself.

"I'm Tommy," Tommy said, holding a shopping bag in his hands.

"And don't you forget it!"

"You two don't even have costumes," Wanda said, looking between her brother and son. 

Pietro let out a scoff as he held a hand out towards Tommy. When the boy took it, Pietro sped the two out of the house, and when they reappeared, they were in matching costumes.

"Okay, but just remember that this is a respectable family." Wanda sighed. "If I see any funny business, I am going to magic you into a pickled herring." She said, causing Pietro to cringe. 

"C'mon Billy, Luna, let's get your pillowcases," Y/N said, causing the kids to jump to their feet. "It's T-minus ten to our Halloween spooktacular!" She grinned.

Back at SWORD headquarters, agents were in a flurry after Wanda's appearance.

"I wanna see a full work-up inside the hour," Hayward demanded of the agents examining the missile that was still glowing with Wanda's power.

"Yes, sir."

"Hayward. Hayward! You cut us off at the knees sending in that missile." Monica snapped, rushing after the director.

"Now we know who we're dealing with." He shrugged.

"There he is! The man who almost got murdered by his own team." Clint clapped, causing Hayward to snap around.

"Why are you still here?" He demanded.

"Because that's my family in there," Clint told the man. 

"And he's with us," Darcy said, standing beside Clint with Monica on her other side.

"I see, so if he's the struggling father, which of you is the sassy best friend?"

"There is no time for you to diminish your colleagues when you're about to start a war you can't win." Jimmy admonished, standing on Clint's other side. 

"Maximoff was never going to negotiate with us." Hayward waved him off. "We take her out, and this whole nightmare ends."

"We don't know that," Monica told him.

"And we're never going to now." Clint scoffed. 

"We have no idea what will happen in there or out here if Wanda dies." Monica reasoned.

"So what? We just surrender to that?" Hayward exclaimed, glaring at the red energy field behind him. "Not happening."

"We can't outgun her, and clearly antagonizing her is only making things worse. If Wanda is the problem, then she has to be our solution!"

"Captain Rambeau, Agent Barton, the two of you have become an impediment to this mission," Hayward told the two, causing Monica to sigh heavily.

"Technically, I was never assigned to anything." Clint shrugged.

"Constantly advocating on behalf of super-power-based individuals. Yes, I know your history with Carol Danvers. You know, you people who left still have the luxury of optimism. You have no idea what it was like what it took to keep the lights." Hayward shook his head.

"Monica might not have been around, but I was," Clint spoke up. "I remember what it took, and I can never forget. Wanda dusted. Y/N dusted. The two came back to a world where nothing was the same, and Vision was dead. Vision who had to die by Wanda's own hand."

"That's not an excuse for what Maximoff's doing. And the snap wasn't an excuse for what you did during those five years either." The director said, causing Clint to flinch.

"Don't use the last five years to be a coward, Tyler." Monica snapped, causing Hayward to direct his attention back to her.

"Maybe it's a good thing you weren't here when your mother died. Because clearly, you don't have the stomach for this job." Hayward said, causing the air to knock right out of Monica's lungs. "Get her off my base. Get them all out." He demanded the agents, who immediately surrounded the four.

"Yes, sir. All right, come on. Let's go." One of the agents said, pulling Monica out of the room, the other three not far behind. 

"Hayward is way overstepping his provisional authority," Jimmy complained.

"He was looking for a reason to sideline us," Clint commented from his side.

"He's up to something." Monica agreed as they came to a stop at a van.

"Let's go, everybody in." An agent demanded. 

With a second's hesitation, Jimmy punched the agent holding him. Monica and Clint quickly followed Jimmy's lead and attacked the guards holding them. Slamming the men into the truck and the ground, the three made quick work of the agents while Darcy watched in shock.

"Why didn't anyone tell me the plan?" Darcy demanded once all the agents were dispatched.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked Clint and Monica.

"Always am," Clint grunted, rolling his shoulder.

"Yeah, let's move." Monica sighed. Quickly the four found themselves SWORD ponchos and dragged the agents into a storage shed, far out of the way. 

"This is it. Game time." Tommy told the same unseen person Billy had spoken to.

"It's not a competition, Tommy." Billy sighed.

"Everything can be a competition, Billy," Luna said with a grin.

"Luna's right. It's even better when you're the winner." Tommy said before running off.

"Tommy!" Billy groaned before running after his older brother, with Luna in tow.

"Unleash hell, demon spawn!" Pietro cheered.

"Someone's got to follow after them," Y/N said, pressing a kiss to her wife's cheek. "God knows how many bones they'd break without someone watching." She added, following after the kids.

When Wanda and Pietro were alone, Wanda gave her brother a smile before taking a step towards him.

"Do you remember when we were at the orphanage after Mom and Dad died? What was the name of the kid who was always trying to steal your boots?" Wanda asked him. "You know, he was the one with the. He had the, he had the skin thing."

"You're testing me," Pietro said, pointing at his younger sister.

"No, I'm not." She immediately denied it.

"Hey, it's cool. I know I look different." Pietro said, gesturing to his hair.

"Why do you look different?" Wanda wondered.

"You tell me." Pietro shrugged. "I mean, if I found Shangri-La, I wouldn't wanna be reminded of the past either." He said, causing Wanda to freeze.

"Next house, Mama!" Tommy said as he and his siblings rushed over to the Maximoff siblings with Y/N right behind.

"Junior entrepreneur, over here!" Pietro grinned. "How about you let Uncle P help you maximize your candy acquisition, huh?"

"That'd be so cool!" Luna grinned.

"Yeah! Kick-ass!" Tommy agreed. 

"I feel the need," Pietro stated, holding his hand out to Tommy.

"For speed!" Tommy cheered, taking Pietro and Billy's hand. Billy grabbed onto Luna's hand, and with that, the four were off.

Speeding around the neighborhood for candy.

"Kick-ass," Wanda murmured as Y/N chuckled.

"I certainly didn't teach them that word," Y/N said as they began to walk down the street.

"Sweetheart, you swear more than anyone else I've ever met," Wanda told the woman. 

"Lies and blasphemy!" Y/N gasped, causing Wanda to giggle. 

"Oh! Hey, Herb!" Wanda said upon spotted their neighbor dressed as Frankenstein. 

"Hey, guys!" Herb smiled as the two approached.

"How's patrol going?" Wanda asked politely.

"Any trees meet the dreaded toilet paper yet?" Y/N smirked.

"No, not yet." Herb chuckled. "It's been quiet so far." He said before his com began to chatter. "Hold up, will you? Say again?" He asked his com. "All the candy has disappeared?" He asked, causing the two women to freeze.

Behind the man, Wanda and Y/N could vaguely make out the blue blur of Pietro speeding the kids around and causing hijinks.

"And now all the jack-o-lanterns have been smashed?" Herb asked as the kids let out a loud cheer. "And now everyone's covered in silly string?"

"Whoo!" Pietro cheered loudly.

"Sorry, girls, but I gotta bounce." Herb apologized.

"Well, maybe Vision can help you out," Wanda suggested.

"Vision? He's not on duty."

"Oh, isn't he?" Y/N asked, playing along with Wanda's confusion.

"We just thought,"

"Is there something I can do for you, Wanda?" Herb asked, sensing Wanda's confusion. "Do you want something changed?" He questioned, causing Y/N to frown.

"No, it's fine." Wanda shook her head, grabbing Y/N's hand and squeezing it comfortingly. "Never mind."

"All right. Peace." Herb smiled before walking away.

"That was good, sweetheart." Y/N complimented her wife. 

"I'm always good." Wanda shrugged, giving Y/N a smile.

Vision was on the other side of town while his family trick-or-treated. 

The further away Vision got away from his home and family, the stranger Vision noticed the town's people were.

He had noticed people robotically repeating their actions with blank expressions.

Vision stared at a woman and her husband for several seconds before he had to tear his gaze away when the woman shed a single tear.

Meanwhile, the group of six had made their way to the town's center, where the committee had set up a festival of sorts. 

"This is so lame. I can't believe you're making the kids return all the candy." Pietro groaned as Y/N led the kids away.

"I can't believe what a bad influence you are," Wanda said, turning to Pietro with crossed arms.

"Who beefed in your borscht?" Pietro asked, causing Wanda to tilt her head. "I'm just doing my part, okay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the in-laws, stir up trouble with the rugrats and ultimately give you grief. I mean, that's what you wanted, isn't it?" He asked her.

"What happened to your accent?" Wanda questioned, pointing a gloved finger at her brother.

"What happened to yours?" He fired back. "Details are fuzzy, man. I got shot like a chump on the street for no reason at all, and the next thing I know, I heard you calling me. I knew you needed me." Pietro admitted as Y/N came back over.

"Alright, candy is returned, the kids are still being sourballs about it, but it's done." She clapped, standing beside her wife.

"Thank goodness for that." Wanda smiled.

"Uncle P, guess what?" Tommy exclaimed as he and his siblings ran over.

"They've got full-size candy bars a few blocks up! Mama, Mom, can we go?" Billy begged before his brother rushed away.

Tommy rushed away in a blur of blue.

"Next stop, Cavity Town!" Tommy cheered, reappearing with three candy bars in hand.

Everyone turned to stare at Tommy in surprise before Pietro let out a cheer.

"Right on, little dude! Chip off the old Maximoff block! You've got super speed!"

"I do?"

"Yeah!" Pietro grinned, holding a hand out to his nephew, who eagerly jumped to high-five him.

"It's okay, baby. You can take it slow, and you can," Wanda started to tell the boy but was cut off when he sped away.

"That's my boy." Y/N grinned as Tommy cheered loudly.

Wanda allowed Tommy to speed around the five for a few minutes before she threw her hand out and pulled the boy to a stop. 

"If you're going to break the sound barrier, please take your siblings with you," Wanda begged.

"Really?" Billy asked excitedly.

"Really?" Tommy asked sadly.

"Really, yeah. And please just remember to-"

"Don't go past Ellis Avenue." The twins chorused in unison.

"And?" Y/N wondered.

"Always stick together." They added.

"We know. We know." Tommy said as Billy took his hand.

"Luna, are you coming?" Billy asked his sister, who shook her head.

"I think I want to look at the stalls," Luna told him, glancing behind her at the stalls that were lined up.

"Oh, good idea. I'll come with you." Y/N said, taking her daughter's hand.

"Hey! be careful!" Wanda called as her family all went their separate ways.

Leaving her with Pietro.

Outside the Hex, Monica, Clint, Jimmy, and Darcy were sneaking their way to an empty tent.

"I'm just trying to do my part, okay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the in-laws,"

"Who is that?" Monica asked, staring at the man on the screen.

"Wanda's brother came to town," Jimmy told the woman.

"That's not the punk I remember," Clint said, staring at the screen in confusion.

"Yeah, he's got a new face." Darcy scoffed.

"Over here." Jimmy quietly called. Monica and Darcy quickly rushed over to Jimmy while Clint continued to stare at the screen.

"What happened to your accent?"

"What happened to yours?"

"We shouldn't stick around here much longer." Clint coughed, pulling his eyes away once his daughter appeared on the screen.

"Give me two seconds. I just need to hack into the secure network on the base." Darcy told everyone as she typed away frantically at the computer. "Donezo! Now, should be able to access the data on Hayward's devices." She said, connecting the USB to her laptop. "Oh, that's interesting. Guys, Hayward figured out a way to look into the boundary."

"And he didn't share with the group." Monica scoffed.

"Is this Wanda, right here?" Jimmy asked, pointing to a glowing dot on Darcy's screen.

"No, the program is tracking the decay signature of vibranium," Darcy told him.

"Vision." 

"Why is Hayward tracking Vision?" Clint asked.

"I don't know. This is all I can access so far." Darcy told him.

"These other dots, those are Westview residents?" Jimmy wondered.

"The ones in Vision's immediate vicinity, yeah." Darcy nodded.

"So Hayward must have an accurate headcount by now." Jimmy summarised.

"Hayward's got to have some sense of their well-being. Where would that be?" Clint asked, playing around with the screen.

"Not sure."

"These people near the edge of town, they're bearly moving. Are they even alive?" Jimmy asked, looking over the dulled blue dots.

But Darcy didn't have an answer for that. In fact, she didn't have time to give him one before the laptop dinged, and the map began to move.

This was stranger than strange. Vision noted as he got closer towards the edge of town. 

It seemed the closer he got to the edge of town, the less Wanda cared about the people. 

The people were not moving about robotically anymore. They were simply still. 

There was a blanket of silence covering the street as Vision walked past the countless people on the street.

No-one made even the faintest of sounds, not even when he spoke to them.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Are those your children? Are you waiting for something?" Vision asked, but when no-one responded, he forced himself to move on.

Vision made his way to the end of the street before he decided walking was fruitless.

He dropped his disguise before he took to the skies.

He could hear the sounds of children laughing, people wishing each happy Halloween's and other pleasantries before noticed a car stopped at a stop sign.

Vision flew towards the car and lightly landed before the stopped vehicle.

There, in the driver's seat, Vision found Agnes to be behind the wheel.

"Agnes?" He asked aloud. "What are you doing here?"

"Town Square Scare," Agnes said blankly. "Where is it?"

"Oh, well, the Town Square, I expect." Vision joked, causing Agnes to laugh emotionlessly.

"Took a wrong turn," Agnes admitted, still staring out the front window. "Got lost." She shrugged as her eyes welled with tears.

"In the town, you grew up in?" Vision wondered, staring at his neighbor in confusion.

Agnes didn't respond, causing Vision's worry to grow so that he reached a hand out to her temple.

When Vision broke the wall in her mind, Agnes jolted violently and let out a loud gasp.

"It's all right." Vision soothed.

"You!" Agnes gasped, staring at her neighbor in shock. "You're one of the Avengers. You're Vision. Are you here to help us?" She asked with wide eyes.

"I am Vision, and I do want to help." Vision nodded, gently placing his hand on hers. "But what's an Avenger?" He wondered, causing Agnes to gasp.

"What? Why don't you know?" She demanded, snatching her hand away. "Am I dead?" Agnes asked, pressing her hands to her chest.

"No. No." Vision promised. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you are." 

"'Cause I'm what?"

"Dead," Agnes said, causing Vision to freeze. "Dead. Dead! Dead!" She yelled.

"Agnes, it is my intention to reach those outside of Westview and make sense of our situation." Vision explained, gesturing towards the town's end.

"How? No-one leaves." Agnes shook her head. "Wanda won't even let us think about it." She laughed. "All is lost," Agnes added as her laughter began to grow wilder.

"Agnes. Agnes, please calm down." Vision asked but was drowned out by the woman's loud cackling. "Agnes! Please."

Vision knew Agnes was too far gone to hear this conversation, so with a sigh, he pressed his hand to her temple once more.

Agnes snapped upright in her seat as her laughter died in her throat.

"I will fix this, Agnes. I promise."

"Okey-dokey, neighbor." Agnes chirped, smiling widely, as she did a U-turn. "Happy Halloweenie!" She cheered, driving away.

Leaving Vision to stare into the distance, just past Ellis Avenue.

"That's it. My way back into the Hex will be here in an hour. Just got to meet my guy over the ridge. Let's roll." Monica told the group.

"You can't do that," Darcy spoke up.

"Sure we can." Jimmy shrugged. "I'm a wiz at hot-wiring cars."

"No. You can't go back into the Hex." Darcy told Monica.

"Worst case scenario, Wanda removes my free will and puts me in ultra-low-rise jeans." Monica shrugged.

"Hayward has your blood work," Darcy announced. "You've gone through the boundary twice already, Monica. The energy inside has re-written your cells on a molecular level twice. It's changing you."

"Seen enough lab results to last me a lifetime." Monica shrugged. "I've seen cells metastasizing, cells in remission. I know what Wanda's feeling, and I won't stop until I help her."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"But I'm staying here," Darcy told the group.

"You can't stay here. It's not safe." Jimmy told her.

"Why would you want to stay here?" Clint asked.

"Darcy, what are you talkin' about?"

"I haven't made it through Hayward's last firewall. There's something big here, something that can help us. I know it." Darcy said.

"I'll stay," Clint announced. "Just in case you need me."

"Fine." Monica sighed. "I'll drop you the location. You meet us out there as soon as you can." She told the two before she and Jimmy left the tent. 

Jimmy and Monica found an abandoned truck which they quickly stole before driving away from the SWORD base.

Leaving Darcy and Clint alone.

"Seems the whole town's out tonight, huh, Luna?" Y/N wondered as she and her daughter strolled through the Town Square.

"There's a lot of people." Luna nodded, staring at the townsfolk curiously.

"Everything okay, sweetheart?" Y/N asked, kneeling in front of the blonde girl. "Are you not feeling well?" She pushed, pressing her hand to Luna's forehead.

"No, I feel fine, Mom," Luna promised, pulling her mother's hand away.

"What's wrong then? You've been acting off all night." Y/N commented, rising to a stand and pulling Luna over to a hay bale to sit.

"I can see things, Mom," Luna admitted, playing with her thumbs.

"Things like what, sweetheart?" 

"Emotions, I think," Luna told Y/N. "There are these colors all around everyone. I can see 'em change, Mom."

"That's okay, sweetheart. We can help you find out more about your powers."

"But, Mom, there's something wrong with everyone's colors," Luna said.

"What's wrong with their colors?

"They're all blue, all sad," Luna said, staring at the people who passed her. "And when they pass Mama, they're scared."

"I know, sweetheart." Y/N sighed, pulling her daughter into her side. "But me and your Dad are trying to fix this. We're gonna fix this." She promised the girl.

"Holy shmacaroni," Pietro commented, looking around the Town Square as Wanda laughed. "Wow!"

"Isn't it great?" Wanda asked with a grin.

"Damn it, if Westview, New Jersey isn't charming as hell." Pietro complimented, watching the people mill about.

"Now, I know that you think that I've gone full soccer mom,"

"You have." Pietro cut in.

"But it really is nice, right?" Wanda asked as the two sat down.

"Yeah." Pietro nodded before letting out a sigh. "I think Mom and Dad would have loved it."

"Yeah. I think Mom and Dad would have."

"Where were you hiding these kids up till now?" Pietro asked after a gaggle of children ran past them.

"What?" Wanda asked, snapping her head to face him.

"I assume they were sleeping peacefully in their beds." Pietro theorized. "No need to traumatize beyond the occasional holiday episode cameo, right?" He joked.

"No."

"You were always the empathetic twin," Pietro told her.

"I don't. I didn't."

"Don't get me wrong, you've handled the ethical considerations of this scenario as best you could." Pietro complimented. "Families and couples stay together, most personalities aren't far off from what's underneath, people got better jobs, better haircuts, for sure."

"You don't think it's wrong?" Wanda stuttered.

"What, are you kidding? I'm impressed." Pietro told her. "Seriously. It's a big leap from giving people nightmares and shooting red wiggly-woos out of your hands. How'd you even do all this?" Pietro asked, causing Wanda to fall into silence. "Hey, I'm not some stranger, and I'm not your husband or your wife. You can talk to me."

"I don't know how I did it," Wanda admitted with a sigh, looking down. "I, I only remember feeling scared. Empty." She sniffed. When Wanda finally looked up, she let out a gasp when she saw Pietro grey and full of holes.

Wanda squeezed her eyes shut tightly, and when she opened them, she out out a sigh. For Pietro was no longer grey and was hole-free.

"Are you okay?" Pietro wondered, staring at his sister in worry.

"I'm fine." Wanda smiled, waving him off.

"Sure you are."

"Hayward, you sneaky bastard," Darcy said as she continued to snoop through the director's files.

"You got that right." Clint scoffed, watching over the doctor's shoulder.

Darcy pulled up a new screen that showed Vision's blinking dot moving closer to the border.

"What's he doing?" Clint asked, staring at Vision's dot in confusion.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," Darcy said, jumping up from her chair.

On the other side of the Hex, Vision had reached the edge of the town.

The closer he got to the town's border, the larger the foreboding feeling in his stomach grew.

But the closer he got, the clearer the energy field became. 

Blocked from the outside world. Vision mused as he stood a nose length's away.

Vision pressed his hand onto the field, and it was immediately sucked into the energy. 

Vision pushed his way through the energy field to see swarms of people, cars, and helicopters surrounding him.

But Vision could not spare them another thought as the more he tried to pull his body out of the energy field, the more pain he found himself to be in.

"He really does want out, doesn't he?" A man asked as Vision let out a loud yell.

SWORD watched as, before their eyes, Vision began to disintegrate.

"Oh no." Darcy gasped and began to rush forward with Clint right behind her. "Why aren't you helping him?" Darcy screamed, causing all the agents to turn and face the two. "He's coming apart!" She yelled when an agent grabbed her and pushed her away.

"Get your hands off her!" Clint exclaimed when he, too, was restrained.

Billy was alone when his head began to pound.

Billy was alone when he began to have images of his father in pain.

Billy was alone when he began to hear what was happening at the town's edge.

Billy could sense his brother speeding closer, and he held a hand out to stop him.

"Whoa, Billy!" Tommy cheered.

"Shh!" Billy hissed.

"Are you okay?" Tommy asked, watching his brother in concern. 

Billy ignored his brother as the screaming in his head grew louder.

"Mama!"

Billy and Tommy rushed into the Town Square to find both mothers, their sister, and their uncle sitting on hay bales.

"Mama! Mom! Mama!"

"What? What is it, Billy?" Wanda asked as she jumped to her feet.

"I hear Dad in my head. He's in trouble." Billy panted.

"What? Where is he?" Y/N asked, rushing to her wife's side.

"Let me go!" Darcy snapped as she was handcuffed to a car. "What are you doing?" She yelled when she saw Clint be smacked across the face with the butt of a gun.  

"Help!" Vision yelled, not caring that he was falling apart. "The people need help!" He exclaimed before he fell to the ground.

"I don't understand. What's happening to me?" Billy demanded.

"Where is he? Where's your Dad?" Wanda asked, staring at Billy with urgent eyes.

"Hey, don't sweat it, sis. It's not like your dead husband can die twice." Pietro joked.

"Excuse me?" Y/N asked, staring at Pietro with wide eyes. Before she could further question her brother-in-law, Wanda shot him with a blast of magic and sent him flying through the air. "Wanda!" Y/N exclaimed as the kids stared at their mother in shock.

"Billy, I need you to focus," Wanda demanded, ignoring her wife. Billy nodded at his mother and closed his eyes tightly.

"I can't tell. I see these soldiers." Billy said as the images flooded his mind. "They think he's dying!"

"Wanda, don't," Y/N said as Wanda's hands glowed red. But she couldn't say another word as time froze.

The last thing she saw was Wanda's eyes glowing red.

"Jimmy, do you see that? It's magic." Monica said as she and Jimmy drove away from Westview.

"It's moving!" Jimmy gasped. "Go, Monica! Go!" He exclaimed, causing the woman to press harder on the pedal.

"Go, go, go!" Hayward demanded, running away from the Hex. "Move, move, move!"

The agents began to scatter in a panic as the red energy drew closer to them.

"Are you serious right now?" Darcy growled as she was left alone, handcuffed to the car. "Clint, wake up!" Darcy exclaimed as the Hex swallowed everything around it. "Oh, fudge." Darcy sighed as she was hit.

The Hex swallowed the entirety of the SWORD base. Anything it touched changed to fit Wanda's script.

"Can anyone read me?" Hayward asked as he and three others sped away from Westview. "Can anyone hear my voice?" He demanded once more.

But no-one responded.

They were a part of Westview now. 

@x-uglyprincess-x @imthedoctorlove @loveinnoya @unknownalien3388 @bindythedemon @summersimmerus @buckmesidewaysandcallmesteve @natasharomanoffismywife @mcsteamy4ever @monxpeet @amywinehouseisgod-blog @milleniumloki @buckybarnesplumwhore @kennedywxlsh @drpepperobsessed @madamevirgo @superbsccissorsdeanexpert @itty-bitty-witch @essenceproxima @severusminerva @okkulta @mrscasnovak @niki-is-a-thing @sunshinepower17 @pinkninja200 @iflostreturntoflynnrider @simp4mcuwomen @blackfarrahfawcett @angelicl-y @bromieeeomieee @persie33 @ambria @1awesomemeash @montygator17 @runaway-mom-friend @gengen64 @tiny-freak @abitofeverythinggg

[bardic-inspo]

You should talk about your fnv playthrough 👀 and about the sad bald sniper

Ahhh so today has been aggressively bad, this made me giddy and happy to find in my inbox. I will take this invitation to ramble nonsensically and run with it thank you!!

FO4 was my first Fallout, but I’ve played enough RPGs before to kind of get the gist of some the mechanics in New Vegas that weren’t in 4 (like the skills tagging and repairing weapons etc.). Enough to get it, and do it badly, that is.

I know I could have looked a bunch of stuff up and gotten a happier (or...more complete) result with the game, but I sort of enjoy throwing myself into RPGs and seeing what sticks and what blows up. (Same way I ended up with half my squad dead in ME2 WOOPS). It makes for interesting stories! So, with very few exceptions, I didn’t look up how to do quests or get a particular result. 

With that preamble of Megh Does Games Badly out of the way, here’s some random brain soup about my playthrough & Sad Bald Sniper:

My courier (Aubree) maxed Luck and Charisma, but she dumb as bricks.

BUT 10 Luck paid off harvesting infinite caps from blackjack. Got kicked out of Gomorrah for making too much in one sitting. Woops. 

For skills, she focused on guns, sneak, lockpick, and speech and very little else, which....sort of nerfed a lot of options in various spots throughout the game. Also, healing was hard.

Boone was really the only companion I hung out with (I did technically recruit Lily, Rex, Arcade, and Veronica) because I wanted the potato to tell me his secrets. He wouldn’t.

But Liam O’Brien was the real companion honestly.

BUT BACK TO BOONE NOT TELLING ME THINGS. I fucked it up?? He told me most of his stuff, but nothing ever triggered about Bitter Springs. Other people told me about Bitter Springs in front of Boone. And I was like. HEY. BUDDY. You wanna tell me about your war crime?! The NCR loved me to pieces and the Legion was sending kill squads after me, so I figured I was right up his alley. But I never did get that actual quest from him that I, yesterday, looked up and watched on YouTube. I don’t know if, maybe I advanced too far in a questline, or maybe he didn’t actually like me all that much. (Unrequited love). 

The thing I fucked up the most, though, was the Great Khans. I didn’t realize there’s sort of an “order” to how you should do the quests if you want optimal results (or at least the most available choices). Basically, I was vilified by the Legion and had no hope of getting back to the Fort to get that slave ledger and prove to the Khans they were being conned by the Legion. And I tricked Karl into getting himself shot by the Khans, so they didn’t care about his journal after that. Which means the only avenue left was....literal genocide.

I thought, MAYBE NOW, Boone will say something (nope).

Aubs really leaned hard into aligning with the NCR purely because the Legion seemed so objectively evil, and so in comparison, the NCR really seemed like the Good Guys. But she did use diplomacy where possible with other factions (except for the Great Khans).

One thing I was very happy to have pulled off: peace between the BoS and NCR!!!

So, Colonel Moore at Hoover Dam ordering me to just, kill all these factions....that’s about the part where the lightbulb of “You’re not...Good” came on. But I did want to see the NCR ending and at that point, I think in Aubree’s mind, she was too far down this path to turn back.

BUT MAYBE IF HER GOOD FRIEND BOONE HAD SAID WAIT DON’T DO A WAR CRIME I DID IT AND IT’S BAD--

Anyway, even though I failed to get Sad Bald Sniper to open up, the part that really made me soft for him is hearing him be soft when he talks about Carla. He talks about his wife like seeing her was the first time he ever felt the sun on his face. Like he’d been cronching along through dry grass and saw a flower for the first time. And yes, he’s sad and dark and twisty and has some huge trauma to process through that won’t ever really go away. But I’d like to believe that, given a little time, he can feel those things again. Baked potato. Soft inside.

OH also, I had the “petite frame” (might be called something else) trait, which delighted me to picture Smol Courier running around with the anti-material rifle. And “Wild Wasteland”, though nothing ever seemed to come of that one, sadly.

So, even though I’m particularly unhappy with the Great Khans result, and the lack of Realness from Sad Bald Sniper....I have some one shot ideas buzzing in my brain that could have come from that conversation I was hoping would happen before Aubs went through with it. And a lot of fix-it headcanons. And a lot of angsty make-it-worse headcanons. 👀

I think those are the big things I wanted to scream about, but I am down to yammer literally anytime about it, thank you for enabling me!! :)

[wizardessheart-sideb]

Image ID: A chapter image done in the style of Wizardess Heart. A large, off-white imagine with a guy on it. He’s wearing a dark gray uniform. There’s a lavender bar over him that reads “Tsukasa Kuze.” The rest of the text reads “Main Story” and “Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting” /End ID]

Summary: I've been chosen as a provisional student for the famous Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy! But as the Trial period goes on, I'm hit with too much at one time: trying to catch up with the prodigy students of the Night Class and becoming buddies with the quiet and kind Tsukasa Kuze. Tsukasa is wonderful, but as his health takes a turn for the worse, I have to find a way to make him well again.

The sun was starting to set as the train pulled into Gedonelune Station. I was ready at the doors, things gathered together and I was practically vibrating. Once the doors opened, I’d enter Gedonelune Town. Just to think, the moment I’d been waiting for for years was finally almost here!

“Aren’t you eager?” The Acceptance Letter commented snidely as he floated over to me. He’d been like this entire trip. I tried to ignore his sour demeanor.

“Of course I am! This is the beginning of something amazing!” I replied.

“You mean it could be. You’re still not an official student,” he pointed out. Take deep breaths, just try to ignore his jabs. But that was easier said than done.

“So? Why should I let that bring down my mood? This is still an awesome experience!” I did my best not to sound angry. He was probably one of those idiots who thought showing emotion in arguments meant you were invalid. He just sighed.

“I guess I can’t argue with that,” he said. For a moment, I thought I’d finally won. But then he spoke up. “But you better get your head out of the clouds. If you don’t get serious, you’ll never make it here.”

“That’s not fair. Just because I’m excited means I’m not serious? How in the world are those related to each other?” I retorted.

“Ugh, you know what I mean.”

I bit my tongue. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know he was thinking I was being immature. How many times in my life had I heard that my enthusiasm and happiness was immature and that alone meant I didn’t deserve respect? Enough times to know the Acceptance Letter would just scoff and say that pessimism and being a jerk makes you more “adult” and worthy of respect. A terrible outlook on life, but whatever.

The train came to a stop and as soon as the doors opened, I flew onto the platform and into town. The pastel pink and orange sunset became more and more vivid as the sun made its daily plunge into darkness. Little by little, the streetlamps and windows of the town started to light up, glittering like the stars back in home in Reitz.

The town was so busy, even though it was getting late. It was so unlike Reitz, where things started closing up at five or six in the evening. I found a small bench to sit on, waiting for one of the prefects to come pick me up.

“What do the prefects look like? What should I be looking for?” I asked him.

“I don’t know what the other one looks like, but the one that usually comes to get students has short black hair and green eyes. He’s fairly tall, if I remember correctly,” the Acceptance Letter told me.

“Okay! I’ll keep my eyes peeled for him.”

“It’s strange, though…” The Acceptance Letter started to speak, but then trailed off. That’s not exactly something I wanna hear, I thought.

“What?”

“Usually, Nox is always here to greet the students. He’s never been late once,” he told me. That was a bit concerning, but I quickly reminded myself that I shouldn’t assume the worst right off the bat.

“Isn’t the campus far from town? He could’ve been held up,” I suggested.

“Potentially. Hopefully he’ll be here soon.”

That didn’t really inspire any optimism in me, but what else could I do? Every time  I saw someone vaguely matching Mr. Letter’s description, I’d perk up, but every time they’d walk away. The minutes turned into hours. We waited and waited and there was no sign of Prefect Nox. I kept a constant look out for him, but as the night dragged on and the sunset was replaced with a star-filled sky, there was no sign of the prefect.

“Should… um…” I trailed off. How can I even contact him? It’s not like I have a Magic Phone or something… I fell silent, unsure of what to do. The crowds were slowly thinning out and just when I was about to suggest we head on by ourselves, a Magic Note flew into view and landed neatly in my lap. “Oh…”

I quickly unfolded and read it. It was an apology from Prefect Nox and Prefect Rex, telling me they were tied up on campus and couldn’t come get me. They said the Acceptance Letter would be able to bring me to campus in there stead. I fought back a sigh. To say I was irritated was an understatement. I really wish they’d sent this out earlier. I could’ve been settling in by now… From my side, the Acceptance Letter sighed.

“That’s really a shame. But I suppose I can lead you back myself,” he said. You… “suppose?”

“Can we go get some food first? I’m starving.”

“No! We can’t take any detours. We need to get to campus immediately!”

“But we’ve been sitting here for hours and I haven’t eaten anything since lunch.”

“You can eat once we get to campus. Your side of campus has a cafe that never closes.”

My side of campus…

The Night Class.

A secret student body of the Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy that studied elemental dark magic. I don’t know why I’d been chosen to be a part of it, but here I was. My dark magic was basically non-existent; Gedonelune outlawed all dark magic centuries ago. There were some movements to try and end the ban on elemental dark magic, but so far, they were just movements.

The Acceptance Letter trudged ahead, leaving me behind. I gathered up my things and followed after him. Despite it getting late, lots of shops were still open and the smells wafting onto the street from cafes was intoxicating. The sharp ache in my stomach reminded me how long ago it’d be since I ate. Why was he so dead-set on me not eating? Did he want me to starve?

“Are you sure I can’t just pop into a cafe and get something to go?” I asked, hopefully.

“No. We need to get to campus.” I fought back a pout.

“It’s easy for you to say that when you don’t need food. My last meal was ten hours ago,” I pointed out.

“Then you should’ve packed snacks,” he replied sourly.

“You showed up to my house and gave me an hour to pack. Of course I didn’t grab food.”

“It’s not my problem you didn’t pack food.”

I’d get better results talking to a wall. The urge to tear into him was strong, but I bit back my words. It wouldn’t do me any good to fight with him. It’d just make our trek to the castle awkward and no doubt I’d be in a worse mood than I already was in. Also I wasn’t sure if physically tearing him would count as murder.

“Fine. Let’s go, then.” If I could breeze past him, I would. I just hoped this trek wouldn’t take too long. My stomach kept growling the longer we walked. And to my dismay, the amount of shops slowly dwindled until we reached what looked like a small boathouse. Beyond it, dark waters spread over the land and at the end, the towering castle loomed on top of a hill. My heart raced at the sight.

“Will we be riding a boat to campus?”

“At this hour? Good heavens, no! We’ll be taking the bridge route. Come along.” He made a sharp turn, walking down a path that went along the lake. My soul shriveled up.

We walked and walked and walked and walked. We traveled on the outskirts of a forest, down a long bridge and through the face gate, up too many flights of stairs, and when I thought we were done with stairs, there were even more. The bottoms of my feet were aching and my legs were nothing more than jelly when we reached a mausoleum. I didn’t care if the Acceptance Letter was just going to kill me and bury me here; I wanted to rest.

“This is the entrance to the Night Class. There’s only one entrance to your part of campus, so remember that you need to go through the casket with the name ‘Robin Geralta’ on it,” the Acceptance Letter instructed me.

“Robin Geralta? Who’s she?” I asked.

“She was a Night Class student like yourself. She was Prefect last year.” Hm. Not sure if I liked that past tense.

“‘Was?’”

“She got pregnant in the middle of last semester and took a leave to have the baby. She’s alive, so I don’t know why they put her name there,” he said.

That’s a little too morbid for my tastes. But I’m glad she’s alive and well. The mausoleum was surprisingly well lit and sure enough, on a stone slab there was Robin’s name, crudely chiseled into the stone. That didn’t help me figure out if it was a jab or an honor, but I wanted to believe this was done with good intentions (just with bad craftsmanship).

“Well?” I flinched as the Acceptance Letter spoke sharply. “Go ahead and lift the lid up!” So demanding… Although my body protested, I leaned down and lifted the slab up. Green light and a light fog came out from the darkness; I could barely make out the stairs. The Acceptance Letter immediately floated in, going down the stairs. Great. More stairs. I groaned and followed.

Thankfully, this staircase wasn’t too long. It felt like we reached the bottom landing after only a few steps. The area, again, had more light that I expected. There were fake windows with moonlight pouring in and wrought iron chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. This must be campus, then. Even with the lighting, it’s a lot more dreary than I imagined it would be.

“What are you doing here?!”

I turned to the demanding voice. A handsome, slender man with black hair was quickly approaching us, robes flowing behind him.

“Nox, this is the new student,” the Acceptance Letter told him. Nox’s demeanor immediately changed from anger to surprise.

“The new student?” Nox asked, blinking. His face fell.  “I’m sorry we couldn’t come get you. I, uh, I’ll walk you to the dorms.” He motioned for me to follow him and I quickly fell into step with him.

“What’s with the face? You look terrible,” the Acceptance Letter told him. So, he’s rude to everyone. I don’t know if that makes me relieved or sad…

“We’re actually in the middle of an investigation and this part of campus is locked down,” Nox explained. Investigation? A lock down? What did that mean? “Let me get you to the dorms and I’ll come by later tonight to give you a real orientation.” Nox grabbed my arm and started pulling me along down the hallway in front of us. The Acceptance Letter just sighed and made a home in my bag.

“This is the end of the line for me. Good luck on your Trial,” the Acceptance Letter said. “You’ll need it.” My fist clenched, but I stayed quiet. Was that little jab necessary? I hated to think it, but good riddance.

“Did he give you a lot of trouble?” Nox asked me.

“Oh no, not at all!” A lie, but sometimes, a little white lie is sweeter than the truth. Nox smirked at me.

“You don’t have to lie. We all know the Acceptance Letter is a jerk. I was just hoping he wasn’t too bad to you.”

“He’s just, um, a little intense…” I replied. Nox just laughed. We stepped up to a stone arch with gray gauze dangling down from it

“That’s one way to put it,” he said. “By the way, this is the only entrance to the dorms.” He didn’t hesitate to pull me in. In a second, we were outside in a forest. Trees surrounded us and there was some kind of black fog dancing among the trees. Nox lead me through a gate and in front of us was an impressive building. “This is the dorm. To get inside the building and your room, just tap your wand to the door handle.”

The foyer was strange. Dark wood and dark furniture was everywhere, but the chandelier shone brilliantly. It felt dark, but more in atmosphere than in lighting. I couldn’t say I was used to this. Most of the buildings in Reitz were definitely not decorated like this. Well, maybe around Halloween some where, but this wasn’t normal to me at all.

“This floor has the common room, a game room, mine and Rex’s suite, the spa, and an infirmary,” Nox informed me.

“Spa?!”

“It’s nothing fancy,” he said nonchalantly, as if he was talking about a vending machine and not a spa. “But it’s nice after a long week.” No, it’s definitely fancy to have a spa in your dorms… Although part of me wondered if maybe this was just a private school thing. Maybe all private schools had fancy things like this. As Nox pulled me towards the elevator, a door to our left opened and a young man, sickly pale and purple hair framing his face, walked out.

“Hello!” I said cheerfully.

“Hi there.” He gave me a kind smile. Warmth like sunshine radiated from him. I couldn’t help but give him a smile back.

“I guess you’re the new transfer student?” he mused.

“I am! Wait, how did you know that?!”

“Prefect Nox told us yesterday we’d be getting a new student and to behave ourselves. Uh, I mean, told us just to give us the heads up.” He grimaced as Prefect Nox gave him an exasperated looked. I just giggled. He seemed really nice! And man, what a relief that was. Part of me was worried everyone was going to be like the Acceptance Letter. But Nox and this guy seemed genuinely nice.

“Pfft, I didn’t hear that bit about behaving,” I told him.

“Haha, thank goodness,” he laughed. I gave him my name as I stuck my hand out for him. He shook it gently, his skin soft against mine.

“I’m Tsukasa Kuze,” he introduced himself.

“Tsukasa, how are you feeling? You scared us…” Nox asked him. The smile from Tsukasa’s face disappeared immediately.

“I’m sorry about that. But I’m feeling fine. I can go back to class now.” The what I was sure was supposed to be reassuring smile on his face didn’t quite reach his eyes. Nox just frowned at him.

“No, you can’t. Another incident happened and class is canceled for the rest of the day,” he said. Tsukasa’s face fell, but he nodded.

“That’s understandable,” Tsukasa replied.

“Tell you what, can you do me a favor?” Nox asked. “Can you take our new transfer student to their room for me? I really need to get back to campus.”

“Sure, I can do that,” Tsukasa nodded. Nox smiled, relieved.

“I owe you one. They’re in Isabelle’s suite in the room between hers and Aika’s.”

“Okay, understood.” Nox turned to me.

“I’ll come back in a few hours and give you your orientation, all right? Welcome to the Academy, by the way.” And without another word, he quickly left. Tsukasa sighed, shoulders slumping ever so slightly.

“He’s usually not this frazzled. He’s just stressed,” he said. What happened to make him so frazzled, though? The memory of his anger when he first saw me popped up in my mind’s eye. He didn’t look ready to kill, but it looked like he wasn’t that far off from it.

“I see. I wonder what happened to make him like this.”

“I don’t know. But we’ve been having a lot of weird things happen on campus this semester.” He sighed before glancing down towards my feet. “Here, let me help you.” He reached for my suitcase and picked it up. I quickly tried to grab it from him.

“You don’t have to carry my stuff!”

“You have both hands full. It’s fine.” He gave me a warm smile and somehow, I felt unwilling to argue with him. I trailed after him, going into the elevator and riding up to my floor.

“So… Um… What year are you?” I asked.

“I’m an Unus student. What about you?”

“Me too!”

“Great! We’re classmates then.” The idea of having Tsukasa in the same class as me was calming. I wouldn’t be in a class full of strangers. I mean, it would mostly be strangers, but I had at least one friendly face to look to.

The doors to the dorm suites were propped open with everything from books to bricks that looked like they were taken from school buildings to platform clogs. Tsukasa turned into one and I quickly memorized the number as I stepped inside. There was a door to our left, to our right, and three in front of us. All the doors except the one in the middle were open and I could hear voices and music coming from the dorm room to my right.

I took out my wand and tapped the knob like Nox instructed me. It opened immediately and I went inside. The room was fairly spacious and there was only one bed. Thank goodness. I have the room all to myself.

“Oh, you have a single too,” Tsukasa commented, placing my suitcase down by my dresser.

“You don’t have a roommate either?”

“Well, yes, but my room is set up for two people. My brother sleeps over on the weekends, so it’s like I have a roommate, but just for a couple of days. It’s not that bad.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yeah. He’s a Day Class student though, so we only see each other on the weekends.”

“That sucks.” I couldn’t imagine having a sibling and then getting separated from them like this. Although I think the siblings back home in Reitz would disagree with me.

“It sort of do- Well, it’s not too bad. I still see him a lot.” He smiled, but this time, it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Tsukasa? What’re you doing here?” A girl’s voice suddenly filled the room. I looked over and a girl my age stood in the doorway of my room. But as soon as our eyes locked, she hurried in. “Oh my gosh, the transfer student is here?! Welcome to the Night Class! I’m Aika, I’m in the room to the right!” Just a few steps behind her was an incredibly tall guy with long, pinkish-purple hair.

“I think it’s technically to the left,” he said. “At least that’s how it is when you walk into the suite.”

“Ugh, you know I’m not good with directions, Dorian!” Aika complained. He laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders. I had to wonder if they were friends or dating. There was a sigh by the door.

“Oh boy. Here we go again.” A girl with long purple curls scampered into the room, a platter of cupcakes in her hands. I tried not to stare at them. It’d been so long since I ate… I prayed my stomach wouldn’t make any noise. The curly-haired girl grimaced.

“I’m sorry about them. They do this a lot. I’m Isabelle, I’m in the room over there,” she said, cocking her head to the side.

“It’s nice to meet you guys!” I said before introducing myself.

“Nice to meet you too!” Isabelle said. “Here, I made these for you this evening.”

“Thank you!” Isabelle was an angel on earth, that much I knew. I took the platter and put it on my dresser. Maybe I should’ve showed some more restraint, but I immediately tore into a cupcake.  Dorian snatched one off the plate, taking a bite before giving it to Aika.

“You can have one too if you like, Tsukasa,” Isabelle told him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, go ahead!”

“Thank you.” Tsukasa instantly cheered up. He grabbed one and started nibbling on it. I was already on my second one.

“These are really good, Isabelle,” I told her. She beamed.

“Thanks! I’m glad to hear it. I was worried my cooking was a little rusty,” she laughed.

“They’re right. These are perfect,” Tsukasa said as he joined my side.

“Yeah, they’re okay,” Dorian said. He took Aika’s cupcake out of her hands and took another bite. She gave him an indignant look.

“Good!” Isabelle said. She smiled and leaned against the wall next to Dorian. Next to him, it was evident how short she was. Although Dorian looked unnaturally tall. I wonder just how tall he is.

“I’m 6’9 and Isabelle is 4’1,” Dorian spoke up suddenly. “I can read minds.”

“What?!” He can read minds?! No, that has to be a joke, right? But as I stared at him, he looked so serious. Aika rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs. He just laughed.

“Dorian, stop messing with them. He just make a lucky guess. You’re not the first to stare like that,” she told him. “He’s too all and since we’re short in this household, he just looks even taller.”

“I didn’t realize you were that tall,” Tsukasa frowned.

“Height isn’t everything,” I quickly said. Immediately, Tsukasa’s mood brightened a bit.

“I actually agree,” Dorian commented. “I prefer shorter partners and they’re easy to find for me.”

“Oh, please, like you have a preference at all,” Aika teased him. He just gave her a teasing smile back

“You’re my preference,” he replied.

“Oh my God, shut UP. You’re so embarrassing!” she cried. Her face was bright red and she tried to hide it in her hands. Aw, that’s kind of cute. I’d like someone to be cute with.

“I like tall women, but really, I don’t care in the end. As long as you’re not a guy, my little bisexual heart is happy,” Isabelle commented, clearly trying not to laugh at Aika. She shifted her weight and looked off into space.

“You know, we’re a pretty diverse campus now that I think about it. We have students of every size, half of us are foreign exchange students, and we’ve got enough queer students to make a club for it,” she said.

“It’s a shame we can’t flaunt any of that.” Again, Tsukasa’s shoulders fell a little.

“Yeah. It’d be nice to show off how diverse we are. But that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Not with the whole secrecy thing,” I said.

“It’s not so bad. We’re safe here,” Aika pointed out. I wanted to ask why that mattered: after all, this was a school, of course it should be safe! But Tsukasa beat me to the punch, quickly speaking up.

“Yes, but it’s stifling, don’t you think? We can’t tell anyone about our accomplishments. We just have to stay silent and pretend we’re all self-taught prodigies once we graduate,” he argued.

“Frankly, I don’t care if we’re stifled,” Isabelle said with a shrug. “If we’re safe, that’s all that really matters to me. I don’t care if I can’t put this on job applications. I’m safe here and I don’t need anything else.” Tsukasa’s lips were pressed into a fine line and everyone could see he was deciding whether or not to fight back even more.

“I guess when you put it that way…” Tsukasa still looked like he wasn’t convinced, though. Dorian gave him a sympathetic look.

“You’ll understand it when you’re older. There’s nothing better than feeling safe and being secure,” he said. The corners of Tsukasa’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing. Although I was sure Dorian wasn’t trying to be patronizing, admittedly it did come off like that. An uncomfortable silence fell in my room. Isabelle cleared her throat after a few seconds.

“Well, uh, I’m sure our new transfer student has a lot of unpacking to do. We’ll call you in for dinner once Dorian’s done with it,” Isabelle announced.

“Yeah, I should get started on dinner. You’re welcome to join us, Tsukasa,” Dorian said.

“Thank you, but I’m full from the cupcake,” Tsukasa said politely.

“Oh well. I guess more for us,” Aika shrugged. She followed after Dorian, the two leaving the room. Isabelle gave me a little wave before heading out. Tsukasa just looked after them, shoulders slumping a bit. I gently grabbed his shoulder.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m fine,” he replied. Again, another smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Um, I’ll leave you be. You’ve probably got a lot of work to do.”

“Y-Yeah, I guess so…” It’s not like I could beg him to stay and he was right: I had a lot of stuff to unpack.

“I’ll see you later,” he said.

“Yeah! See you later.” Tsukasa nodded and turned around, leaving my dorm room. Well, that certainly happened. I tried to push the argument from my mind as I started to unpack. Right now, I just needed to focus on my studies and becoming an official student. If there were arguments, I just needed to ignore them. Drama would only distract me. But the look of quiet anger on Tsukasa’s face wouldn’t leave my mind.

[wevegottogetaway]

Whirlwind Part III - Sirocco

DAY 3

As Aella sits in the campus refectory, her mind is still reeling from her fight with Harry the day before. She fins herself pushing peas around her plate as though the therapeutic movement could help her instill some order among her thoughts. Or just quiet them altogether. Someone like you. The cringeworthy words have been playing on an unfaltering loop since their author lashed them out to her face without a care. Someone like you. She desperately wants to tune it out, but it's like the record is trapped under the broken turntable needle and launched in endless revolution. Someone like y-

A pea is about to fall over her plate from the pushing, when she's greeted by a rowdy Dazzler and a quiet Tigger. The two form quite the complementary duo she notes, their polar dispositions counterbalancing each other in the most endearing way.

"Hiya, dear Aella. I believe it's story time for you!" Daz exclaims after jumping on the seat across from her, a large smile lighting up his face. Aella wonders for a second if it's not stapled to his skin instead; she's never seen Dazzler sport any other expression than pure elation. His singular request stops her musings in confusion, however.

"Story time?" She inquires with a perplexed frown.

"Love, you have no idea how badly my ears want to be graced with the very details of how you whipped Rex's sodding arse." His enthusiasm for such a mundane thing truly amazes her. And admittedly, she quite envies him and his talent for finding happiness in the smallest things.

"Ah yes, the highlight of my week," is all she acknowledges.

"Mine too, had I been there to witness it. That's why I need the next best thing: an exhaustive report of the whole scene." Dazzler explains, tailgating his answer with a suggestive double-nudge of his eyebrows.

"Well, it's nothing much really." She says looking down at her plate. But once she brings her eyes back to her two companions, she realizes they won't waver until she parts with the story. "Let's just say my uncle taught me a thing or two about pressure points, and that knowledge came in handy a couple nights ago." Aella refrains from giving out the full transcript of what really transpired despite Dazzler's request. She doesn't like bragging about such things. Even if Rex's mortified expression did bring her considerable satisfaction, she still hates the fact that she had to get physical with her peer for her to be respected. Besides, she has an inkling Dazzler's imagination is perfectly operational to fill in the blanks.

"Fuckin' hell, I'm gonna dream about this tonight!" True to his words, there's a childlike wondrous gleam in Dazzler's eyes, making his aversion for Rex almost tangible. And Aella can't help but rejoice in knowing she's not alone in her rancor against the jackass. "So you got him good?"

"Sent him to his knees." Her voice is still leveled, though her own delight at the memory is betrayed at the corner of her lips.

"Oh Aella, you are my new favorite person!" Dazzler's jubilation earns him a smile but the sentiment is quickly washed off her face and replaced by a heavy sigh.

"Yeah well, I wish your mate Harry shared the feeling." Aella says dejectedly, the peas once again holding more interest to her battered brain.

"Ah...so it's not all rainbows and unicorns between you two then?"

The question makes her scoff in exasperation."Try like...tornados and trolls. I mean, does the guy even know how to smile?" Aella doesn't want to get worked up about it, but the fact that she has likely 5 more weeks to spend as Harry's partner is quite a hard pill to swallow if he proves to be the prick she thinks he is.

"Hey now come on, he's been trough a lot recently. He's actually a pretty sound guy." The remark sobers Aella's anger for a moment as she remembers the very reason behind her presence at Top Gun. She knows how loss can shatter parts of the soul that makes us who we are, leaving only but time to glue back the pieces. To some extent she understands the void that Harry must be aching to fill, but her compassion for his pain is short lived. Grieve doesn't give anyone the right to act like a senseless prick. Aella can deal with his sullen attitude but in no way she'll ever put up with blatant disrespect for her mere identity.

"Well, sorry if I don't take your word for it, but all I've seen from him is the same cold and sexist shit I've dealt with since I enlisted." She says, moving on from absentmindedly poking the peas to forcefully stabbing them into a green mess.

"Hang on, Harry may have a stick up his arse from time to time, but sexist? That doesn't sound like him." Dazzler is quick to defend his friend. Of course, she interiorly sighs though she has to admit his disbelief over Harry's allegedly misogynistic behavior seems rather earnest.

"Well, you didn't hear him yesterday. Or seen the look in his eyes."

"Aella, I really thi-"

"Just forget it, okay. I'm use to it and I'll deal with it like I always have." While Dazzler seems to be adamant about his friend's righteousness, Aella doesn't want to here much of it. She just wants to move on, like she'd planned all along. The two men across from her exchange a quick look at her rebuttal and it hits them then, how different it is for Aella to be a navy pilot compared to their own journey. "Besides, I didn't come here to complain. I came to be a better pilot" she asserts in response to their sympathetic glance. It resembled pity too much for her to lay in it.

"Right." Is all Dazzler can muster as opposed to his partner who finally decides to speak up.

"I'm sorry you have to go through that Aella." In truth, she's never really cared for those apologies much since they most never come from the people who actually have apologizing to do. Nonetheless she can't deny how heartwarming it is to hear the sweetness and sincerity of both young men sharing their lunch with her. They can't do much about her situation but at least she now feels supported.

"Thank you Tigger." She replies in genuine gratitude, her smile shyly returning. "At least I have you both on my side."

"You've got Harry too, Aella. You don't know it yet, and he may not either, but he's on your side too." His gaze is heavy on her, the statement coming out in a solemn tone as if it was murmured by a prophesier.

"Don't hold your breath Daz."

DAY 6

"Ready?"

Although she knows they were bound to communicate at some point, Aella is startled when the sound of Harry's filtered voice echoes through her headset. After checking that her straps are tightly locked, she mutters a faint 'yeah' in response and wills her brain to stop overthinking the upcoming mission. It is to no avail though. The oxygen inflating her lungs is saturated with awkwardness and reticence, making her second-guess every choice she's made in the past few months. They can still make it, right? This tension didn't stop them from succeeding the last time after all... Alas, her mind won't let be duped by her feeble encouragements and for the first time in her life, Aella is dreading flying. She doesn't have the time to dwell on it however, as the roar of the F-14's afterburners fills the cockpit and before she knows it, the sky is welcoming them back.

"Alright, let's kick the tires and light the fires." Harry murmurs as the runway keeps dwindling away from their vision, and Aella remembers him whispering the same line before their first venture. She makes no comment though, many pilots come up with little habits and small routines of their own to help them reach the headspace suited for flying. Some disregard it as superstitious gibberish, but in Aella's opinion it can save precious seconds in dire moments. And in the Navy worlds, every second counts.

As Commander Berks laid it out moments ago, this assignment slightly differs from the last one. The level of difficulty is tuned up a bit by the accrued competition: this time all 8 units are flying simultaneously as they battle for a single target towed by Berks himself. The task in meant to improve both aim and awareness as they are still being chased by the other instructors throughout the task. All in all though, it is the same 'target without getting targeted' acrobatics they are all familiar with.

"I've got my eyes on the target, can you read the positions please?" Harry suddenly inquires. The mission has run smoothly so far with few interactions between the two. It seems that's about to change however, as they get in the thick of it.

"Target at reach in 3 miles abeam, 5° on your left, lower, flying South." Aella starts reading her radar at her copilot's request. "Bogey one mile ahead at your ten. I think it's Rex, tailing target at 900 knots closure."

"Shit." Harry curses. Though Aella remains quiet, none of them are thrilled to realize Rex and his radar intercept officer Kurt (or the Zodiac as per his callsign) are ahead of the game.

"You've also got contact 2 miles behind, flying your speed." Aella adds in a poised manner. "Hold on, there's two of them."

"Are they closing in on us?"

"No. Looks like someone's got Rogers on their ass."

Harry briefly smiles. "Good." Whoever might that be, it means one less competitor trying for the target and one less instructor on their case for the time being. That's a win-win in his book.

"Careful though. He might turn on us next." She warns in anticipation.

"Not if I win this mission first." Harry retorts in confidence. His partner wishes she had the same optimism but there is an odd feeling festering in the pit of her stomach.

For a hot minute, there is but the consistent whirring of the engine disturbing the otherwise eery silence permeating the air. Harry seems to be slowly yet surely catching up on Rex and more importantly Berks, when the latter suddenly swerves upwards in unexpected fashion.

"Berks' barrel-rolling." Aella immediately calls the change in movement, the peaceful flow they were reveling in, already coming to an end. "New angle, 2 o'clock high." Harry slightly reduces his speed as Berks executes a vertical U-turn, effectively putting him out of Rex's range and at a higher altitude.

"I see that. I need to get ahead of Rex, can you call the speeds please?" He's trying to determine his best course of action in order to recover his advance on Berks before his opponent does.

"Target going 700 knots, Rex 630 and we're flying 650." Aella answers quickly although she has a plan forming in her brain as always. She's not as forceful as she was during their first operation, already apprehensive of her partner's reaction. "Listen Harry, if you do a J-turn you'll overshoot past Rex right on Berks' tail."

Admittedly her plan is once again on the daring side of the spectrum, so part of her knows Harry won't gleefully jump on board at the mere suggestion. And sure enough he proves her right as soon as the last word is out of her lips.

"Do a Herbst maneuver?! Are you batshit crazy?! That's not even in the program."

She refrains from rolling eyes since they ought to be scanning the data on her flight system at all times. "Fuck the program, you don't end up at Top Gun playing by the book. We can win this mission now, just trust me." She almost cringes at the last words, knowing they were uttered more for the form than their meaning. God knows they are lightyears from trusting each other.

"Jesus, this isn't free-style flying Aella for fuck's sake, this is air-combat." Harry doesn't care that he's letting all his frustration out. Knows he shouldn't be having 'land-talk' whilst they're up in the air on a mission (there will be plenty of time to tell her off once they've landed) but his mind is completely overladen.

"That's right, and you're fighting like a 6 year-old girl. Stop pulling hair and grow up!" Whoever said 'don't fight fire with fire' was obviously never launched at supersonic speed in 25 tons of steel with a person they despise a great deal. Reason seems to have been forgotten on the tarmac by both acolytes as they keep arguing ten-thousand feet above grounds.

"You're delusional, have you even ever done one?!"

"I'll guide you through it, trust m-"

"No! No fucking way, it's too dangerous." His tone is adamant, once again leaving Aella no room for discussion. She hates that he has the final word when it comes to flying, but alas he's the one in control of the aircraft.

"Urgh!" She cries out in irritation before mumbling under her breath "fucking coward."

Harry tries to ignore the silent dig taken at his expense as he focuses back on the problem at hand. His jaw is clenching so hard underneath the helmet, he can almost hear the sound of his teeth grinding. He is in the middle of regulating his breathing when Aella speaks up again bringing his heartbeat back into tizzy.

"Great, now we got Rogers on our case. Congrats."

"Fuck." He doesn't even register her passive-aggressive jab, more so preoccupied with the new threat charging after them.

She'd been right. She knew Rogers would be coming for them next if they didn't change tactics. Now all she can do is calling positions and silently cursing the stars for putting her on Harry's path. "800 knots closure, he's coming at your six."

"I'm well aware Aella, thanks." His voice overpowering the loud beeping noise echoing through the cockpit. They're about to be figuratively shot but not so figuratively eliminated from the competition, as Rogers is one second away from locking in on them and firing.

"He's not budging, you need to bug the fuck out." She discloses her input even though she feels like no matter what she suggests, he's gonna opt the other way.

"Like hell! The target's not bugging out." Harry quips back, once again confirming her assumption.

"You won't get the goddamn target if you're down." In a different world - and let's face it, in a different life - she might applaud his resilience, but in this universe she loathes his stubbornness, especially since she's the one enduring its wrath.

"Fucking hell, just call the bloody positions. I can't let Rex win this mission." Or any other for that matter, is what he thinks. A sentiment that, any other day, Aella would reciprocate but she's given up for the day. If he doesn't want her opinion, fine. Let him get shot, that'll teach him.

"I told you, he's in the fucking saddle, at your six. Closing on 800 knots. 850. 900."

She knows it before she hear it then: another ear-splitting beeping erupts within the cabin, dramatically informing Harry of their defeat. Rogers took the shot, it was over.

"Dammit!"

As soon as Aella steps back on solid grounds, she's overcome with a lingering sense of déjà-vu. The horizon incessantly spiraling in her vision surely doesn't help quell the dreadful sensation, though she doesn't dwell much on her lack of visual focus. No, her mind is completely consumed by the urge to rip Harry a new one. And she doesn't usually indulge in those urges. Seldom lets her resentment out in the open, for fear of appearing too "emotional" for some people's taste; and because quite frankly, she has better things to do. But this is killing her from the inside. Cutting right into the flesh of her dreams and strangling the part of herself that only bows to freedom. This is the other half of her unit dismissing her talent on the basis of her gender. And that she can't take in, much less bottle up and store away in a sealed chest at the bottom of her mind.

"For fuck sake Harry, you're supposed to be my partner!" Aella cries out to him.

He doesn't want to make a scene any more than she does, but likewise has tremendous difficulty keeping his rage all in. As Aella chases after him, he keeps stomping away from their shared TomCat. He doesn't think he's capable of facing her without loosing his shit. "That's a two way street Aella, and I don't reckon flying us both to the grave is part of 'the partner's' job description." The air quotes he uses at the mention of the word partner does nothing to assuage Aella's already blazing fury. She thinks he couldn't be more obnoxious in that moment if he tried.

"That's because you don't listen to me!"

"Damn right I don't!" He shouts back while spinning around to finally face her. "And you can thank me for still being alive because of it." Aella feels like she might implode like a pressure cooker forgotten on the fire. The audacity...the insolence... Each word he breathes out is wracking one by one every single nerve ending of hers. He's so full of himself, she wonders how she could fit in the cockpit without his human-size ego crushing her. She might have joked about having to find a 3-seats Tomcat for their next mission to fit them all, if the situation weren't so seriously heart-rending for her.

"You. Are. Such an asshole! Why am I even here? Huh! Why am I even sitting in that fucking aircraft with you?" She's about a wit away from yielding to the pressure boiling in her chest; still Harry is relentless in his comebacks too.

"Funny, I was wondering the same thing." He knows he's being harsh but his mind won't give in. Won't let him cut out a fragment of trust to share with her rule-breaking mentality. Not after what happened with Fox.

"You're despicable. I can't believe I actually hoped you'd be a decent guy. But god no! Mr Styles is too precious to be paired with a woman, so why should he give her the time of day? And why did he have to be partnered with a lady in the first place, yeah? All they can do is sit pretty or unleash their crazy, imma right?" She realizes how close she's gotten to him during her diatribe and has half the mind to push at his chest but somehow she doubts it would make him budge much. Once again she finds herself inches away from his stiff stature, as she fervently tells him off. "Dammit, you're just like the others, it makes me sick."

That's the final stroke for Harry. She can deem him as stuck-up as she pleases but he won't have her repeatedly question his integrity. "I don't fucking care that you're a woman, alright! Christ, you care about it more than I do!" Admittedly, he's had a couple sneak-peaks at her mistreatment and while he sure does feel for her struggle, sometimes she's too in her head about it to see good from bad. And he's tired of being at the wrong end of it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She questions half-offended and half confused, as she can't fathom any sense to the statement.

"It means, I know some guys don't treat you right because you're a woman; but I never did, and I'm sick of you accusing me of it anyway." His eyes are sharp when they connect with hers, compelling and brutally honest, yet they send a chill down to her toes. "But you know what? The world is unfair. Tough love, darling. You have to prove yourself more than us but think for a minute who's against you and who's on your side, because it seems to me that you waste a lot of energy fighting the wrong persons." He's the one who delivered the words, yet Aella is the one out of breath. For a hard second, all she does is frown as a dizzying silence takes over the heated exchange. Their staring hasn't relented, in fact Harry's eyes are agitatedly seeking question-less answers in hers in a mirrored frown.

When Aella finally speaks up, her voice is hardly louder than a whisper and that's how she knows she has Harry's full attention. "You don't know the first thing about being a woman." She notices him gulping as if preparing for the sobering speech he knows is coming, so she indulges. "You don't know what it is to live in a men's world and not be man. You don't know how it feels to be stationed at the same base for months and still be treated like a stranger. You don't know how it feels to work twice as hard if not more, to get one iota of the same recognition men do. You don't know what it is to be picked last by your superior for any given promotion even though you know you've got the best stats of the whole squadron." Though she's kept a reasonable volume, she pauses to regain her countenance over the ever-growing pain in her voice. "And you sure as hell don't know what it is to be your only ally."

Her harpooned gaze never unhooked from its two emerald preys, and for once Aella feels like he's listening. So on she goes. "Today, up there, I had more balls than you did. Tough love, you said? Well same goes for you, Harry. Because no matter what, you're stuck with me. I'm your copilot and you may hate it but you can't do anything about it. So, please do yourself a favor and grow a pair when you need to, because I sure can't "prove myself" if I'm flying with a coward."

Aella is quite satisfied with her tirade, almost certain she's had the last word once again but one look at Harry's face is enough to make her doubt that. Though he's been towering over her smaller frame for a bit, he looks downright threatening now with flaring nostrils and figurative smoke steaming out of his ears.

"You don't know what you're talking about either. You fly as recklessly as your arrogance will let you. That's dangerous, thoughtless and most of all, selfish." She's starting to recoil, having taken one step backward, but Harry barely registers her uneasiness. She's the one gulping the wounding words now. "I should be ashamed of flying with you and your crazy decisions." Ouch "Oh and one more thing. Don't you dare call me a coward ever again, understood?"

She doesn't give him the satisfaction of a nod but his spiteful prose successfully rendered her speechless. And Aella is not one to relinquish her self-assurance or fold under any man's intimidating number. But somehow this feels different. Harry is not a halfwit who can't handle women's ascent into the Navy world. No, Harry just plainly hates her guts, regardless of her sex. And that hurts more than she'd ever expect to. So much so, she can't bear to look at his chiseled features anymore and recoils a step further away from his hurtful disposition.

It's only then, Harry finally picks up on her shrinking form and bruised spirit. He didn't want to go this far. Didn't intend on carving her confidence right out of her chest, but now that he sees the anguish embedded in her delicate traits, he fears he might get sick on the spot. He's had the most strenuous past few months, staggering from loss and numbness to longing and grief, but this had to top all pains: he didn't know who he was anymore. When had he turned into such a inconsiderate prick? Self-loathing took over his sense, the feeling unwelcome yet familiar, and all Harry could do was turn around and run away from the crime scene.

And run away from Aella.

[peekychu]

The history of my fursonas! 🐱

I’m in an especially infodump-y mood at the moment and I watched a video about fursonas that inspired me (Shoutout to Pocari Roo’s channel!) so here we go ^o^ 

Click under the cut to read the whole enchilada! (It’s a long post, make sure you have the appetite for it first xD)

I first learned about the furry fandom in about 2013-14 from some friends at school! Granted, the two teenage boys I talked to a lot were more obsessed with the... sexual side of that xD I won’t go into that though because that would involve me talking about more uncomfortable stuff >.> I also had another friend that was such a huge influence to me and they’re a big reason that I still draw fuzzy animals to this day! Their fursona at the time was named Icy and I thought that character was the freakin’ coolest. I remember going home after talking to them, filled with inspiration and making my very first fursona!

Her original name was Rogue Feather, but the name Scarlett came later and ultimately stuck way better! Her design was simple, a red fox with a purple bandana! Not much thought was put into her, I just put together what I thought a typical fursona would look like :P I didn’t draw her much since I was way more focused on MLP and my ponysona Starfruit, but I still enjoyed doodling her!

Shortly after Scarlett, I created Citrus the cat! To be honest, she didn’t really represent me other than being a cat xD Her design was actually based off of a girl that I had a crush on at that time, but that’s a whole other story >.>

Also, it was coincidental that Twinkie has elements from both of these beginning characters, I just noticed that making this post! I learned that I loved cats from creating citrus, and I loved drawing Scarlett’s wings and bandanas so I suppose it was natural that my current fursona would have all of these traits :P

Well, months pass after posting the first drawings of Citrus and Scarlett on my Instagram, and at this point I decided to try taking up digital art! I downloaded FireAlpaca for free (still my program of choice x3) and worked really hard at drawing with only my mouse!

My friend that inspired me to draw more furry characters had changed their fursona over from a bright sparkledog-ish color scheme to another character with muted browns and oranges. Inspired once again, I designed another cat character to represent myself!

Meet Macchiato (or Mac for short)! They were made when I switched my focus from My Little Pony to furry characters, and I moved from Instagram to DeviantArt as my main art site. 

When I made Mac, I was close to beginning high school and I questioned a lot about my identity, mainly my gender and sexuality :P For a period of time, I pushed aside my adoration for ponies, Pokemon and colorful things in favor of things I thought were “cooler” and more boyish. A large part of this was my complicated relationship with my gender identity, but also because I thought I had to act more mature... so I expressed this by drawing myself as a cat? It was complicated xD

Anyways, while I have a soft spot for Mac, they’re sort of my own Rex Dangervest if that makes sense :P I mean, they were my first expression of feeling neutral to gender which was a big deal for me, but when I look at their drab colors it sort of makes me sad that I didn’t have much fun designing them. (I did have a blast drawing that pixel reference though, I remember that xD)

I also created a few more furry characters just for the fun of it! I won’t post pictures of all of them for the sake of length, but they were Chamomile the fennec fox, Minx the cat, Caira the alien dog, Pfeffer the bunny, Flicker the bat (who I should draw again sometime >.>) Mitzi the dog and... Whatever animal Skyler was supposed to be xD I made all these characters before I attempted to make a fursona that I felt more connected with...

Along came Clash the cat, an even more depressing character than Mac for me to look at xD I was considerably depressed at this point from the pressure of high school and my identity issues, the droopy eyelids and chaotic color scheme of him sort of reflect this. 

It’s a good thing you can’t read his description in that screenshot, Believe me, but I think I should quote a part of it because it greatly represents how I felt about myself during the time period when I made him.

“If you were to dissect his brain, you’d see something much like somebody’s tangled collection of thread and yarn. Colorful, unkept, and full of pushed aside potential.”

Ouch!!

Well, after a period of depressing fursonas I played that one cat icon creator game that circulated on Tumblr for a while, and I made my favorite old fursona! I think that he had a lot in common with Twinkie and I used them more than everyone else beforepaw.

Here’s Cetrada, my little Nickelodeon slime cat xD I named them after the Italian citron-flavored soda that my friend Francesca (Love ya buddy!) sent to me in the mail! That soda is actually spelled Cedrata, the misspelling of the name was not a creative choice but an actual dumb mistake xP 

I genuinely still love this character, I nicknamed them Limey since it’s simple and cutesy like them, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever use them again. Think of them as teenage Twinkie I guess xD I love ya Cetrada, you were a good kitty <3

Eventually Cetrada grew stale for me and I went through a couple of other fursonas. I don’t have much to say about them since they were pretty short lived, but I’ll post a single picture of each of them! I’m getting a bit tired of making mini collages of them anyways :P

While Reese’s design and colors are a bit awkward, I genuinely adore their mini companion Mallow the bat :P They look like pistachio pudding, what a cutie!

Ugh, this fursona stresses me out to look at too xD I mean arguably they’re the closest in design to Twinkie (yellow cat with angel wings and star knee markings) but they remind me of a rough time I suppose? I drew a couple pictures of them looking more sexualized and with a more slim body type when in reality I was overweight and scared of intimacy... they just remind me of an unhealthy period of my life @_@ I must have felt that too though, I dropped this fursona pretty quickly.

I do actually like Kit even though I used him very briefly, I was starting to have WAY more fun with bright colors in my drawings! Sure he’s a bit too pastel 2015 Tumblr, but I do still like that pink and yellow combo ^w^

Eventually I grew sick of my DeviantArt and mostly just posted art on my main Tumblr where I got super into the kidcore scene! I had rediscovered my love of fun colors and sparkly eyes, kidcore sparked a new me! I wasn’t doing fantastic in life, but I developed more optimism and a genuine love for simple things which grounded me a lot. This was such a wild part of my life, through reblogging pictures of rainbows and Pokemon and slime I gained over 2,000 followers O.O Two of my closest friends told me that they found me by my influence in the kidcore Tumblr community back around 2016 and were intimidated to talk which is just nuts to me x’D

Anyways I’ll try not to go on a tangent about that anymore, but 2016-17 was wild! I should give a shoutout to my very first sparklesona Cosi, but he was made only barely before my true fursona...

That’s right babey, the one... The only!!!

HE’S FINALLY HERE! Twinkie, the fursona I truly felt a personal connection with. I mean, he’s everything I love bundled into one! Pikachu has been my hugest comfort ever since I was four years old so naturally I would have to incorporate it into my fursona somehow! I also gave him a bandana, my favorite accessory to draw on furry characters, and wings! Of course I love rainbows too so I gave him rainbow wings..... But I tweaked his design since the colored wings made him more bird-like. Nothing against birds of course, but I thought plain white angel wings were simpler and more iconic for him! I did give him a touch of rainbow later with his tag design! I also scrapped his red dot eyebrows and his tail bandana, but overall I loved the character I made! I was thrilled to have a fun cartoon kitty that I could use to express myself :3

Before him my only true-feeling ‘sona was Starfruit the pegasus, it was fulfilling because I feel like when I made Twinkie, I started to find myself! 

Twinkie did go through a couple redesigns including a semi-drastic color change sometime in early 2018, but I really do feel content with the way he looks right now! In Twinkie I see friendliness, optimism, and a caring heart which is what I strive for! He represents the journeys I took to be more comfortable with myself and he radiates the confidence that I hope to achieve one day as well >:3 I mean it is possible I could change him for a new fursona or even flat out drop him in the future, but after 3 strong years I think Twinkie will stay a part of me for a while ^w^

Anyways, if you’ve read all of this, THANK YOU!! This was a really personal post and I think it’s fascinating to look at my own self progression this way, I hope somebody gained something from this but if it was just for me that’s okay too xD

If anyone read all of this looong post and wants to make a similar post, PLEASE tag me! I’ve been so interested in fursonas and how people see/represent themselves through cartoon animals, isn’t it a wild phenomenon?? 

If you don’t feel like making a big post like I did though, you should reply with some cool facts about your fursona or count how many you’ve made in the past xD That would be rad <3

[davidmann95]

Some Kingdom Hearts future thoughts

Have to get ‘em out! Went into some thoughts with my psuedo-review of III, but I’ve got others and stuff worth expanding on. I’ll put them under the cut since it clearly goes into spoilers, except for my boldest, most controversial guess: along with being announced either this year or next (since Kingdom Hearts has never reached the end of a calendar year after a release with nothing on the horizon) I think Kingdom Hearts IV is going to be a 2022 release. I recognize that sounds like an intensely generous timeframe, but I have several reasons:

1. Above all else by far: once again, Square Enix and Disney are going to be on Nomura’s ass, nose to the grindstone, to get him to start delivering these on a consistent basis again. Do you think they’re looking at Kingdom Hearts III topping sales charts and thinking “well, it sure was worth the wait”, or do you think they’re going “gosh, these are some nice sales, sure would be nice if it came out years ago and we had a bunch more similarly-selling titles by now, let’s try and aim for something closer to that in the future”. Especially-especially since Nomura and the actors aren’t getting any younger and the series is at a point where the core fanbase for the franchise as-is is going to be the primary target rather than new audiences, which means it has to wrap up in a timeframe where that’s still a viable market. So rapid, priority development and few if any more spinoffs. I mean, not as if there’s really a handheld platform for them to be on anymore.

2. My understanding (and this is going somewhat into the technical side of things, so I’m going thirdhand here based on what I’ve heard from others) is that the lifecycle of the current console generation isn’t going to run out for quite a bit yet, so they can reuse a lot of the assets and whatnot from III.

3. A big deal was made about Dream Drop Distance coming out on the 10th anniversary of the franchise, and given 20 is a much wilder number for this series than most equivalents when it’s about a single cast of characters going through a single story, I can’t imagine they won’t want to push that as at least a similarly big deal.

4. Finally, when things don’t go as catastrophically off the rails as III did, these games seem to have a fairly consistent 3-4 year development span (even III, once they announced the beginning of development in 2013, would have come out 2017-early 2018 if not for switching from Luminous to Unreal Engine), and for the reasons I listed above I think this is going to be on the speedier end of that.

* Firstly: the main discussion I’m seeing at this point regarding IV is “it’s gonna be a Kingdom Hearts/The World Ends With You/pseudo-Final Fantasy Versus XIII crossover!”, and I really expect and hope that isn’t the case. Not that I’ll be pissed if it is, I’m sure it would still be rad, but it strikes me as both unlikely and the lesser outcome. I don’t know that I see the powers that be diverting resources in one of their biggest cash cows towards a sequel to one of their minor games - one that’s already been in Kingdom Hearts, meaning its inclusion here wouldn’t reasonably be a huge enough deal to base a lot of the full story on - and a way to reimagine another project. And for that matter it strikes me as conceptually small-scale given the setup. Nomura went with a name in Yozora that doesn’t just have the bent meaning of Sora’s name but actually literally sounds like him, went with a setting that aside from the one cameo sign mainly screams to viewers “Sora’s suddenly in the real world, holy cow”, and unless I entirely misread it Verum Rex was presented as a total self-roast in Toy Box. It doesn’t strike me as spot-the-reference (even though that’s 100% in there) nearly so much as establishing a tonal contrast to Kingdom Hearts.

I joked initially about this being a Flash of Two Worlds! (linking to a description for non-comics readers who are here because I tagged Kingdom Hearts)/’Kingdom Hearts goes to war with its own gritty fanfic’ setup, but...I actually suspect that’s pretty close to what’s going on here? This seems like a send up of Final Fantasy’s relative self-seriousness and over the top Super Cool characters, as a contrast to Sora’s goofy open-hearted sincerity and optimism. It’s the Secret Movie aesthetic that some want not just more prominent but as the actual main tone of the series morphed into an entire universe all its own, and Sora, out of place, has to find his way through and back home even as the real threat mounts, and probably has to save this world and get through to its heroes who aren’t likely prone to grinning through off-the-cuff monologues about the heart. That is not only entirely my kind of ridiculous meta jam, it feels like a logical next step for the series: if the first trilogy was in part about growing up, the next (and I suspect last, as the Master of Masters and his Foretellers have been set up as the primordial antagonists of the entire mythology and this is where they’re coming to the fore; my old theory of Eraqus being the big bad of an intermediary trilogy looks solidly shot to hell) could very well be about reaching adulthood, in which case it makes sense Sora would have to pass through a near literal fire of Adolescent/Adult Cynicism.

* Speaking of where Sora ends up: I kinda doubt he’s literally dead, or that if he is it’ll last past the opening of the game. They’ve already made a big theatrical production of Sora dying twice now, the second time in the most literal way possible and just a few hours prior to this, so while third time’s the charm I think there’ll be more to it than that. The again common thing I’ve been seeing is that he’ll have to play the Reaper game to win his life back (not something I’m much familiar with but I think I’ve got the basics), but again, while it’ll certainly be part of the game I don’t think TWEWY is going to be the big thing here (like they’d really make that a bigger deal than the Final Fantasy elements have been), and he just dealt with the afterlife and had to essentially play a game to win his soul back, and this wouldn’t even be a game he’s unfamiliar with. My impression is he’s incorporated back and whole - if likely powered down from the ordeal to justify him being back at level one - and the mystery is less whether or not he’s truly alive so much as how he ended up here and how to get back.

* On the other end of things - and I realize it’s a risky prospect to suggest after her getting a shockingly small role compared to everyone else in III was the damning weak aspect of its otherwise basically perfect finale - I think this is where Kairi is actually going to start to come to the forefront. She and Riku would be at the head of a search that everyone would be a part of (they were there when it happened, they know death is negotiable in their world, and they’re good people who all owe him), her especially since he’s her boyfriend - they may not declare it outright but there’s clearly no ambiguity between the two of them as to their situation anymore - and the one he sacrificed himself for, and she’s out there fighting now even if she’s inexperienced. And Riku seems like he’s going to end up lost himself on the search, leaving her behind as the sole Destiny Trio representative. So even if she isn’t a playable co-lead I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one going on a more traditional Kingdom Hearts adventure searching with the rest while Sora and later Riku deal with the genre mindfuck. On the bright side if nothing else, she’s died twice now too and they’ve both been presented as dead in a “maybe this time for real” way for a finale, so while again third time’s the charm, I figure she and Sora are relatively bulletproof from here on out.

* Speaking of Riku, while this seems more like an old-school proof of concept trailer from I and II rather than the more recent actual scenes, meaning his appearance might well change just as Kairi was different in I’s Secret Movie than she really was in II, it’s very notable that he hasn’t aged at all. So likely instead of another tragic I to II scale timeskip of Sora being lost from his friends, it looks like IV will be picking up immediately and the search for him won’t take long to succeed. Also speaking of Riku, I seem to see people thinking he’s with Namine now? Not that that seems impossible, but while the scene as a whole is romanticized in that it’s basically a princess being carried away by chariot to her happily-ever-after, it reads to me less as an actual romance than Riku fulfilling his ‘brother’s promise. Though if Square/Nomura does want to really get into romance with the next trilogy, since Sora/Kairi is locked down maybe they’ll just say fuck it and do a whole Riku/Namine/Xion/Roxas Love Square situation.

* Actual prediction rather than analysis of evidence: I suspect this is the last major time the Destiny Trio is going to be split up, at least in the searching-for-each-other, not-knowing-if-everyone’s-alive sense. I was the search for Kairi, II for Riku, and now IV for Sora - that cycle looks to be completing. Wouldn’t be surprised if V and/or the finale was finally the three of them as the adventuring party as fans have wanted for so long, with III as the grand finale to Sora/Donald/Goofy.

* It seems early to predict the main villain, but at the same time everyone was accurate in assuming a Keyblade-wielding Xehanort would be the final boss of the trilogy circa 2006, so I’m gonna go ahead and say Xigbar/Luxu is gonna be the end-all with IV. The Master of Masters is still the end of the road, and perfect for it because he’s a real-world normal savvy guy who can manipulate this world of straightforward classical adventurers with ease, while Sora at the opposite end of the scale is silly and sweet even by that world’s standard. But Luxu addresses the same ideas in a way that’d be perfect for this game in particular as it seems to be set up, he’d be the villainous connective tissue as this game moves from one trilogy to another, and he has the dangling personal thread of the ‘reward’ he suggested was coming for Sora. Or hell, since now it looks like she’s at least somewhat privy to what’s going on, maybe Maleficent will finally step back up.

EDIT: Ooh, just remembered, speaking of what Xigbar says to Sora, his Olympus conversation also predicts Sora’s fate? The whole “if you leap in to save somebody, you might just end up in the clutch needing to be saved yourself” lecture, i.e. the premise for IV. Maybe his teach isn’t the only one privy to future events?

* Not both, they’ll wanna space it out, but I’m like 70% sure this is where Marvel or Star Wars are gonna happen.

* Finally, while I’ve heard speculation that the Mystery Star is one of the Foretellers or the person who died in that Union X game, I don’t think she’s one of them given it’s a new voice actor and she cites a name Sora knows. More likely she’s ‘Subject X’ (I went ahead and looked up the Secret Reports, haven’t gone back and done all the bonus challenges myself yet and won’t I imagine for some time), who does seem to be from that time but is I think someone new.

[countessofbiscuit]

Dollface

For @celebrate-the-clone-wars’ Writing Wednesday Prompt “Your Reputation Precedes You”  Rating: M Words: 2414 Inspired by The Adventures of Doll Rex.

(If there isn’t a 69′s in a universe with a 79′s, I’m calling bs) 

Having spent themselves silly, the boys in blue who’d brought the house down were long gone, and 69’s grew dull again. The exhibitionism continued, sure, the dancing was always pleasing in a kind of mindless way, and when things got really boring, the massage droid in the break room had a lekku setting that induced comas—it was almost enough to make a showgirl consider marriage.

But the circus this wasn’t. There used to be wardrobe brawls and stampeding reeks and everything. The only adrenaline high to be had here was shaking up assholes who tried to stiff her colleagues until their credits and their shame fell out. A civilian crime, and a dwindling one. The soldiers never did that. Ursula fleeced them for admittance—the bigot—then got mad when the staff stretched the poor sods’ pocket change by giving them free drinks because they were polite and very, very pretty. Oh they made noise. Lots of it. But they viciously policed their own and didn’t put their hands where they shouldn’t. And not just because they thought they might get charged.

They were … “shiny.” And two meters of broad, blood-red Twi might scare the shit out of anybody whose first experience with boobs was two hours ago and three levels up, when they got squished against someone on the dance floor or got flashed by a waitress.

Hence the boredom of a somewhat self-conscious girl who doesn’t like working a room for tips.

“Lala, that’s for you,” chirps Diohn when Laa’let returns from the freshers.

She stops fidgeting with her bra and rebuilding circuses in the sky and glances at the Zabrak bartender. Diohn points at the counter, then returns to digging through the mixer chiller.

A doll is sitting on the end of the bar. 

It’s propped up around a bright red cocktail, looking stupidly drunk, resting its chin on the rim of a glass about as wide as its comical face. Laa’let narrows her eyes at the arrangement. A clone. She recognizes the little flared skirt and shoulder decoration—and the golden top of one of those boys in blue. She scans the club for any that fit the description, but it’s just a throbbing sea of maroon sweats and crumpled greys, with a shrinking handful of businessmen pressed against the edges of the room; the only troopers in plates are the wrong color, and most of them are sitting along the rack, where they’ve figured out that two shoulder wings promise some seriously advanced recon—a much more exciting and personal show than anything happening at the bar.

“Who?” asks Laa’let.

“Didn’t see,” Diohn shrugs from inside the chiller, “they just left credits. And a note.”

Laa’let slides up towards the drink, ignoring the vulgar garnish—a cherry shoved in between a split taffy stem. The script is very regular, but the napkin is torn on the angles, like they couldn’t get the pressure right:

For the Ruby Rancor ♥

She grates the sharp tips of her teeth together. “You said you wouldn’t make it a drink.”

“I didn’t! I swear!” Diohn takes her own dulled molars to the cap of a bottle and spits it in the trash. “But you should stop fighting it. It’s definitely caught on.”

“Then what’s with this,” Laa’let says. It’s not just the garnish that’s offensive. Diohn’s clearly chosen her most bulbous glass, and she must have some campari, premixed to the perfect shade, chilling in a jug somewhere.

“That’s just me doing my fucking job. Now you should do yours.”

Diohn won’t share her tips forever, but Laa’let has her limits. Maybe too many of them for this career. “It’s not my job to talk to dolls.”

“Talking to cute faces with nothing but stuffing between their ears? I’d say that’s definitely in your contract. Roll out some carnival tricks.”

Laa’let’s lekku stiffen. “Circus. And I was a fucking acrobat.”

“Whatever. There’s still an audience—and maybe they’ll tip.”

It’s not an audience if you didn’t invite it, she refrains from saying, it’s an embarrassment. Too much like real life. With a frown, Laa’let swipes the drink, and the doll flops face down onto the chromium counter. Pathetic.

“Hand me that,” she says, snapping her fingers at an open bubblezap bottle.

Diohn giggles and swiggs the dregs. “Awww, someone’s had one too many!”

Laa’let maneuvers the doll into a seated position against the bottle, mindful of the oversized head. Its eyes are fixed off to the side, as if deliberately avoiding her boobs. “I need to get on his level. Is this a double?” she asks, stirring the drink once with the garnish.

One of Diohn’s liberal shots cascades over her peach fingers as she preps a line of Fuzzy Yodas—frothy, green, and strong enough to make you talk backwards. “You’ll have a nice time. I promise.”

Laa’let pulls out one of the lethris barstools and drops onto it. She hates sitting on these chairs. They’re sticky and undersized, like everything else here—even the ceiling is too low to accommodate her best tricks on stage. It’s maddening to be reduced to pantomime, the feeling of holding herself by halves, but Diohn’s right. She’s still a consummate performer, she’s still on the clock, and she’s still fucking broke.

“So,” Laa’let begins, taking a long sip that melts her sinuses and makes her damn nipples hard, “I’m new to this job and don’t have a lot of conversation up my sleeve, so do you want tragic backstory or tragic backstory?”

The little soldier makes big eyes at the turquoise Togruta on stage, but doesn’t indicate a preference.

“Tragic backstory it is. You might think it all started when my parents sold me to some charlatan in a travelling circus. Or when my growth spurt went on two years too long and I couldn’t get health insurance—did you know organs over a meter long are considered a pre-existing condition?”

She’s got her lekku draped over her shoulders and she shakes the tip of one in the little soldier’s face.

“Speciesist, I know. Free Porn Taa is laughably small in every department, so it’s not a priority for him. And the Togs aren’t represented in the Senate—not that healthcare is a priority there either.”

“Ugh, Lala,” groans Diohn, loudly dumping an armful of bottles into the bin as she passes by. “Politics? At my bar? No wonder he’s bored.”

Laa’let makes a rude gesture at Diohn’s back. “Anyway,” she says to the disinterested doll, “things really didn’t go downhill for me until the fucking Zillo Beast.”

The rack around Tosha’s stage erupts in applause when she finishes her routine. Another charming clone thing. It’d never occurred to them not to clap.

“Did I see it? You bet your plastic ass I did. Three of its gnarly legs came crashing through the roof during my act.”

Just for something to do, Laa’let takes the garnish from her drink and starts to trace a wet rendering of the monster that ruined her life on the counter.

“Squashed half the audience. I fell into the netting, along with all the buttresses, and was buried with broken ribs for three damn days. And this is where having no health insurance, no transferable skills, and no tolerance for animal abuse lands you,” she says, gesturing at the room, humid and a hazy red in the house lights, like an oversized womb.

Laa’let follows the little soldier’s gaze again. Tosha’s now working the rack for tolls. She’s got her knees on either side of one trooper’s ears, gripping him by his red shoulder wings as he gently tucks some funny money into her panties, ruffled and pink like cotton candy.

“Look, I know she’s topless and I’m not, but you could at least pretend to pay attention.”

A trooper in purple plates, very much paying attention, suddenly materalizes next to the doll. Laa’let takes in his double wings and his skirt—has she been performing for a fancy ARC?—and then moves onto his hair. It’s shaved into a landing strip across his skull and down his chin, and she can’t help wonder if the landscaping extends below the belt, too.

“There you are, Rex!” he declares, smiling broadly like he’d be very happy to enlighten her. “Who’s your pretty friend?” He gives a wave with one of the doll’s stubby arms.

This part always makes Laa’let nervous. What seemed like a good idea when she was eighteen and angry now made her job—wooing credits out of beings already much smaller than herself—very difficult.

“Doesn’t your friend know it’s rude not to stare?” she says, as softly as she can over the synth-glimmik pumping from the speakers, shielding her fangs with full lips—the only gift her mother gave her.

“My apologies, ma’am,” answers the trooper while ogling her tits for both of them. “He said he knew you, but he was probably talking out of his shebs.”

“Nah, he’s just shy. He doesn’t know how to ask,” comes a rumble in her cone. Another trooper pokes his head over her shoulder and starts taking mental soundings down her cleavage. 

Mindful of the bulk of her lek, she turns to glance at his plates—also purple, also winged. “Ask what?” 

The second one tilts his pretty face up. His hair curls in a way Laa’let recognizes as attractive to humans, and thick black stripes on his cheeks somehow brighten his green eyes, which sparkle at her with all the optimism of someone about two drinks in. “How much to blow bubbles?”

Laa’let takes a moment to parse this phrasing. The soldiers have a funny way of talking, but blowing bubbles is a far cry from their usual slang, crude and derived from military words she doesn’t understand. But eyes speak a pretty universal language, and theirs are glued to her red rack. If anyone’s going to introduce face fapping to the clone lexicon, it won’t be her.

But Green is far too cute to be allowed to bury those sweet cheeks so soon. The cheroot smoking on his breath is making her heart flutter, and she downs the rest of her drink.

“What’s your name, soldier?”

“Jock, ma’am. And that fastidious fucker’s Muse.”

She struts her long fingers atop the bar towards the doll and starts to toy suggestively with his little skirt. “Well, Jock, boys in blue get things on the house,” Laa’let teases with a smile, not bothering about the fangs. If these two are going to spook, better get the disappointment over with.

Muse sits his ass straight down for the long haul, and Jock hovers even closer.

“And boys in other colors?” he mumbles, brushing the back of a finger down her shoulder, evidently still full of hope. That he doesn’t go straight for her plushy lek says he’s got manners, and Laa’let feels her bum go warm on the barstool.

“What makes purple boys special?” she asks, genuinely curious. She’s not encountered any troopers in this soft shade before, and 69’s does a good trade in color—every dancer’s got their favorites, but it’s considered good luck to get crisp tips off a new one. They think it means you’re a trooper’s first; Laa’let just suspects a counterfeit operation somewhere.

“We’ve got walkers and big, fuck-off tanks with psycho warfare tech” and “we’re an elite, hypermobile, armored reconnaissance unit” are the simultaneous answers.

Muse makes a disapproving face at his comrade and straightens up a little when he clarifies. “We’re the 113th Armored Infantry Battalion, ma’am.”

“And the color?” she asks, fingering the lining of Jock’s skirt. Maybe she could get him down to nothing but this, then bribe it off him? The lethris on these things is pretty lush, given it’s army issue.

“Commander’s orders,” says Jock, beaming. “Matches our Jedi’s sabers.”

“Who’s your Jedi?” Laa’let prods, wondering how much two elite soldiers will leak over big tits.

Jock squints at Muse. “I think that’s classified?”

“Definitely classified.”

“He’s sealed tight but … I’m working on it,” Jock assures her with a wink, mischievous and loaded. She can’t tell if he means his Jedi, Muse, or both, but his playfulness is certainly working on her. Even if Diohn hasn’t just made herself conspicuous, inquiring with gestures about the status of flimsi in fingers.

Laa’let smiles, plucks the doll from the counter, and dumps him headfirst into her cleavage.

“Steady on, Rex,” gasps Muse, wide-eyed, grinning stupidly between the doll and slack-jawed Jock.

“For you two,” she begins, giving the little head a very illustrative shake, “this is ten…”

Using the nubbed arms, Laa’let pushes the golden top of her dress down, popping out one ivory nipple, then the other, conscious that she’s already given away about fifteen credits. “Handsies is twenty...”

Flipping the little doll over by the arms, she lets him come to rest where creamy fabric melts into the divot between her hips. Her senses are alight with human! now that Jock’s knees have failed him and his head’s propped up on her shoulder. Her right lek tingles against his balmy cheek. She returns Muse’s puppet wave. “And anything more is subject to performance review.”

“We…” Muse begins, opening and closing his mouth like a blurrg on spice, “we’ve only got twenty between us.”

Laa’let bites her lip and bounces the doll in her broad lap, like she isn’t preparing to inflate more than just their manual scores. She’s flipped her glass and her tits are out. Diohn better be getting her a fucking room.

“Tell you what. Twenty plus this little trooper and you might find I’m big enough to share.”

. . . . .

[CT-61-6898] Are you seated

     [CT-27-5555]      in briefing w some top squares      knock me down my ombre hombre

[CT-61-6898] …  RIP Cpt Rex

     [CT-27-5555]      !      what did those dumbfucks do

     [CT-27-5555]      its only been 12 hrs      we r still in the system ffs

     [CT-27-5555]      facts tho he was ltd edition      not even rex actual has one

[CT-61-6898] unnamed.holo

     [CT-27-5555]      !      u perv       what did u fucking do to him

[CT-61-6898] Shit That wasn’t for you Wrong holo

     [CT-27-5555]      too late      ...rip smokecheck

     [CT-27-5555]      commdr tano likes ur paintjob

[CT-61-6898] You fucking wish (...but I’ll pass on the compliment) 

     [CT-27-5555]      so he didn’t get creampied      good 2 know      what happened 

[CT-61-6898] rexnruby.holo

     [CT-27-5555]      !

[CT-61-6898] Is he scuba qualified 

     [CT-27-5555]      !

[CT-61-6898] Muse is sorry not sorry Rex was sacrificed for the mission He did give me a datachip instead

     [CT-27-5555]      WORTH IT

Smokecheck belongs to tiend. The 113th bros and Miss Laa’let are mine. 

[hashtagkairideservedbetter]

My main issue(s) with KH3

Spoilers abound, so please don’t read if you haven’t beaten the game or don’t want any negative opinions influencing how you see the ending/ the game. I did enjoy several parts of KH3, but this post is focused on things I had issues with, and if you don’t want to see criticism of your media please look elsewhere. 

This is how I interpreted the game as someone coming into KH3 with KH2 being the last game I played, and a playlist of youtube videos spanning lets plays, summaries, and humorous deconstructions as a codex. 

Here’s the thing. I’ve seen several people already break down how KH3′s story and pacing could have been handled better. Specifically, to more comprehensively tie in the 10,000 plot points that needed to be covered in a way that actually helps connect the main characters. I’m not going to get into all of that, because frankly I can’t fake knowing enough about the background lore of Kingdom Hearts to know how to better juggle all of the intermediary games into KH3. 

Most of my grievances honestly lie with the handling of the Destiny Trio and the Disney Worlds. 

I’m going to do a read more on this because it’s gonna be a long one. (Also very much a train of thought, so disorganized, sorry). 

So. Sora. Protagonist of the game (mostly. kind of?). 

A cheerful ray of sunshine.

A Keyblade wielder who has overcome traumatizing ordeals that tore him away from all he loved and knew at least twice now for over three years. 

A continuity disaster stuck being pinballed back and forth between happy goofs and hollow tragedies every thirty minutes in between busywork battles and off-scene disney films for 85% of KH3. 

I understand that Sora’s greatest power is supposed to be his optimism, as it’s sort of the prerequisite for going through disney worlds where people sing about their problems. I get it.  

However, there’s a difference between, “I’m naive and happy and oblivious and that’s why I’m a guardian of the light,” and “I have battled true darkness and felt true loss and decided that choosing to be kind, choosing to embrace joy in new experiences and relationships, is a bigger middle finger to the darkness than anything else.” Guess which one I prefer. Guess which one I was thinking would finally be Sora’s character arc. Instead he’s happy, happy, happy, happy... and then suddenly in the eleventh hour having a mental breakdown. 

Sora is written into a loop every game of kind, naive, but unchanging (”Don’t ever change, Sora”). That was endearing when we were both 14, but after almost twenty years it gets tiring to watch Sora get hit with a reset button every time you meet up with him again. There’s a scene in the gummi ship early on in the games where Donald asks Sora to “take this seriously,” and Goofy remarks that they seem to be stuck in a rut as Donald and Sora have the same conversation over and over again before entering the first series of Disney worlds. Sora knows he needs the power of waking in order to help his friends and free those trapped in his heart, but seems content to just drop into various worlds and wing it, and hope that it all sort of works out. 

And then when it does work out, and Sora uses the power to save everyone, he’s immediately told he’s doomed now? Like, what was the point of him being able to use this to connect with people if he’s doomed. Why did they want him to have this. What’s the point then of Sora having these strong connections. 

Each world makes a big scene about the friendships and connections that Sora makes so easily, but in KH3 there never seems to be enough time for Sora to actually pay them any attention unless the person is right in front of him. Sora seems to make connections for the sake of making connections in KH3, and the ones he has, he does very little to advance or reconnect with.  

Like, the whole point of 100 Acre Wood this time was apparently that Sora’s connection to Pooh was weaker for some reason. I honestly didn’t understand the reason or how it was magically resolved just from Sora showing up and saying hi? But whatever. 

My two least favorite worlds were Corona and Arendelle, for the same reason. There was no believable connection between Sora and the characters there. For fuck’s sake, the combat ally you get in Arendelle is the snow monster, not even a main character.

Sora is like the living embodiment of the B99 clip of Rosa with her dog. He just met Elsa and spoke a whopping five sentences to her, but damn if he won’t climb a mountain five times just for her to save herself without ever talking to him again. Like, literally that is the only interaction Sora has with Elsa. Same thing with Anna, and in her case I literally had to mute my tv so I could track what she was actually saying since they decided to shove two songs from the movie into this game.  

You spend the majority of your time in these worlds trying to play catch up to the leads as they have their movie play out around the bend in the road in front of you, out of your sight. Props to Disney’s ego that they think I remember the beat by beat plots of their films when they came out 9 years ago (Tangled) and 6 years ago (Frozen). I actually had the thought of going and watching Tangled just to remember what Flynn and Rapunzel got up to while Sora wandered around a marsh and had a pointless conversation with Marluxia. 

(Also, getting real tired of the “Good to see you Sora” “Who the fuck are you?” “Oh that’s right you don’t remember that game haha it’s fine it was a gameboy game nobody even knows what those are anymore.” That shit was getting old midway through KH2.) 

To be fair, the PoTC world suffers from the same problem as the other two. Sora shows up, sees everyone for thirty seconds, gets separated, and while we’re dicking around trying to find white crabs on the islands there’s a whole movie going on that we don’t see or participate in. I feel really bad for anyone who did not keep up with that franchise because I only watched the third movie the once and I was confused as hell. Also, the whole time I was finding the crabs in Port Royal all I could think about was this ProZD video. 

I just. I’m 26 years old. These movies hold no nostalgia for me, and maybe that’s the problem. I already had a connection to Aladdin, Peter Pan, etc, so I was maybe more willing to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy the interactions. But those Disney worlds also felt more tied in to the plot. You can make the argument of Marluxia and Larxene putting pressure on Sora to find the Wayfinders so that six princesses of heart aren’t used as backup... but where are the other three? Anna, Elsa, Rapunzel, and Kairi make four. Where’s Merida, Tiana, Moana? Mulan or Pocahontas even, since Moana was probably too recent. (But probs not, as it was probably starting development in 2014). If that’s going to be yet another subplot, shouldn’t you at least see it through?  

My point is, I can distinctly recall prior games mostly keeping to the established script in the disney worlds, but still letting Sora really get in there and interact with the characters. The heartless, nobodies, etc were a real wrench in the works for the plots, and had an actual effect on how the story was told and the order of events. Sora felt more involved in cutscenes and was an active participant in the world’s events instead of just a bystander. 

In KH1 and KH2 there was a dialogue happening between the villain of each world and a greater evil. Hell, in KH1 they were a unified council! In KH3 they’re puppets who don’t even talk to the bigger bad like Randall or Mother Gothel, or are there for a whopping thirty seconds like Hans. It makes it more and more obvious that the Disney worlds are just being shoehorned in as a contractual obligation than for any real purpose anymore.

 The only world that’s appeared in all three games, Olympus, was especially jarring. Like, you could tell there was a lot of corners cut on what VAs they could get for this game, as Phil does not speak once. Meg spends more time making eyes at Hercules and nodding than showing any of the sass she has from the film. (This was a thing in KH2 as well tho so I can’t complain about them continuing to drop the ball on even background women characters-- Oh wait, I can, because they’ve had T H I R T E E N YEARS to get it right.) 

Which I guess is as good a segue as any into Kairi Time. 

Listen. Did I mention I’m 26? Yeah. I started reading fanfic on livejournal. I was there when AO3 first got its start. I’ve seen the shipping wars. I know the dark past of Soriku vs Sokai.

I couldn’t give less of a fuck. 

These characters are still 16 and I am now 26. I’m fine with them trading noogies and maybe being able to kick back and play some Mario Kart. Kairi would wipe the floor with both of them because she had time to get good enough to beat Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie combined between KH1 and KH2. 

The point is, I don't care one way or the other about shipping. If my 15 year old self were here, they would be horrified I wasn't over the moon when Kairi and Sora finally shared the paopu fruit. As it is, I kind of stared blankly at my screen and went 'huh, there's gonna be a lot of fanfic fixing this moment.'  From both sides, I think, because even if you're into Sokai you gotta admit that moment did not feel romantic. It felt forced. Like "Oh hey, we've been putting this off, huh. Welp, here we go!" 

It doesn't help that I really, truly, don't like whoever Kairi's VA is in this game. Like, she sounds so ditzy and soft. Get that shit out of here. The dialogue and voice acting in this series has never been its strength, but honestly, I cringed my way through every interaction between Kairi and Axel because of how stilted and bad their conversations were! I’m definitely not saying that Kairi’s voice was stellar in 1 and 2, but at least her voice was clear, and had personality, and by the end of 2 was actually fairly strong. She sounded strong, and determined to be fighting with Sora and Riku, green as she was then, in the World That Never Was.

Whenever she talked in the third one I just sort of grit my teeth and wondered why someone on the production team wanted Kairi to sound so weak. 

Then they killed her at the labyrinth and I said, ‘Ah, that tracks.’ 

I played FFXV, so I guess shame on me for not seeing the signs when the girl love interest is about to be capable and not needing the hero to save her. She gets taken! And killed. Fool me twice, shame on me. 

I actually saw people excited about that Verum Rex thing and after seeing the Noctis ripoff reaching for the Luna ripoff covered in purple light I laughed, and laughed. And then sighed and reached for a stiff drink. 

All this to say that while I’m angry but not truly surprised that Kairi was once again shafted, I’m all the more pissed that they did it in the laziest, most insulting way possible by hinging it all on Sora needing a reason to fight Xehanort. Like, really???? Really. That’s your angle. The man-pain trope is so painfully overdone. Please. It’s 2019. Come into the future with us, Nomura. 

And I feel bad that all of the stuff I just wrote mostly revolves around Kairi being Sora’s romantic interest. But that’s because that’s all this game allowed her to be! Princess of light what? Bequeathed Keyblade wielder in her own right who??? Every battle she and Axel share with Sora they get their asses kicked in 30 seconds flat, so maybe Merlin should have left them suspended in time a little longer. Maybe long enough to convince someone out there in the universe that these two deserved to be competent. 

Hell, not just competent. Amazing. Kairi deserved to be able to stand on her own two feet and hold her own. To be running alongside her boys and not just be an object for them to tussle over or save. As Aqua’s somewhat successor, she deserved to be a terrifying wielder of battle magicks and flurries of light magic. 

To be replaced by Xion was just insult to injury. Like, I’m very happy that Xion got her heart back and was reunited with Roxas and Axel, but she didn’t need to be brought back at Kairi’s expense. The world won’t implode if the replica and actual person inhabit the same space. 

Which is leads us to our third member. 

Riku. To be fair. Riku got the most growth as a person out of the three of these kids, easy. We finally see a Riku who is confident in himself and his journey, and willing to take everything he learned along the way to help Mickey, Aqua, and even his own replica. However.... 

He doesn’t seem to give two shits about Kairi anymore? Did they even talk, like, once during the whole game? I can’t recall a single instance where Sora, Kairi, and Riku were in the same place together where it was just them, and they held an actual conversation. Hell, where they even said “Hi, how’s it going? What have you learned, had any good food lately?” 

God, even when Kairi was taken, and then when she was killed, Riku had one moment of anger, and then was completely, like, chill again, and back to talking Sora down. Like, what? I don’t want any love triangle bullshit, but Riku and Kairi were friends as much as Sora and Kairi and Sora and Riku are friends. 

And that’s what bothered me the most about the disappearance of Kairi introducing this bullshit narrative of Sora abusing his power of waking. He spent two games trying to get him, Riku, and Kairi together. But he doesn’t want Riku to help him get Kairi back? And Riku’s just going to let him go?! After all Riku has done and learned about falling to darkness and clawing yourself back to light and peace, he’s just going to let Sora do the same?

I call bullshit. 

And this is why when Sora suddenly faded out of view on the beach next to Kairi I slowly leaned back in my chair, dropped my controller into my lap, and flipped off my tv screen with both hands.

[fanfic-shiz]

While I’m Alive (Owen Grady)- Chapter One

Chapter Two

"Are you sure this is what you want? It's not too late to back out."

I slid off my sunglasses and perched them on top of my head, simultaneously rolling my eyes. "Come on, Claire. I already got that talk from both my folks. I don't need you doing it too." I watched as she let out a dramatic sigh, one I recognized from years of close friendship. I bit back a grin, knowing it was driving her crazy that she couldn't talk me out of abandoning my old life for this one. I bumped her shoulder playfully with mine. "It'll be fun. Like old times."

"Yeah, except now your parents hate me for influencing you to drop everything and become an islander." She grumbled, lifting one of my duffel bags over her shoulder. "Car is this way." She said, leading the way off the docks and through the excited crowd.

"Would you stop?" I chided her, craning my neck to take in my new, breathtaking surroundings. Blue skies, a wide expanse of clear waters, white beaches, and so much green. How could anyone blame me for choosing this? "They know you had nothing to do with it. I made the choice to drop out months ago...you just offered me another option." The crowd thinned out as we made our way to a parking lot near the huge ship. A sleek, expensive looking SUV was glimmering in the sunlight. I let out a low whistle. "Nice ride. The company give you this?"

She shot me a look as she clicked a button on her keychain and the trunk lifted open. "Company car. Not mine, technically speaking."

"Sorta yours." I shot back with a grin. She rolled her eyes at me as we loaded the trunk, but I caught the tiny smile tugging at her lips. She was happy I'd decided to come. I knew it. But if she admitted it, she'd also be admitting she supported my decision to drop out of college. My life had always been a whirlwind of uncertainty and spontaneous decisions and Claire hated it. She was my opposite. Structured, organized, every little detail in place. Yet somehow, we were instant best friends. Yin and yang, or whatever the hell you wanna call it. We just clicked.

"The rest of your stuff will be dropped off later, I talked to the crew." Claire said as we wedged both my duffles into the back of the SUV and slammed the trunk shut. She turned to face me, hands on her hips. She looked every bit the business professional she was, in her tailored grey dress pants and crisp pink blouse, completed by a pair of black pumps. Me, on the other hand, in jeans, a t-shirt, and a battered pair of converse sneakers.

"You don't have to say it, but I know you're happy to see me." I smiled at her, and her lip twitched for a second before she finally relaxed and smiled back at me.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You wanna see your new place first, or do you want the tour?" She asked, rounding the back of the car towards the driver's side. I climbed in the passenger seat, the leather seats unbearably hot from the tropical sun.

"Let's see this place of mine, drop off my stuff, and then you can show me around." I decided, clicking my seatbelt into place and settling back into my seat.

"Sounds like a plan." Claire agreed, the engine roaring to life as we backed out of the parking space and she steered us onto what looked like one of the only main roads on the island. "Everything you'll need is pretty much located near the park's midway. You'll probably be eating most meals in the cafeteria since there aren't any actual grocery stores on the island. Or anything else for that matter. Unfortunately there's not really much to do here."

I looked at her in surprise. "This is a theme park filled with real, live dinosaurs. How is there nothing to do?"

She gave me an amused smile by turning her eyes back on the road. "Once you've been here a while, the excitement kinda wears off. Most of the attractions will keep you busy for a while, though."

"Hell yeah they will. I can't wait to see me a T-Rex." I slid my sunglasses back on and grinned.

"How did I know you'd be the most excited about that one?" She asked, shaking her head.

I shrugged and propped my feet up on the dash. Claire gave me a pointed look, but I ignored her. "You know me too well."

"True...although I had no idea you were planning on leaving school." She added, carefully as though she was worried I'd be offended by my own decision.

Dust flew from underneath the tires as sped down the dirt road, taking curves and turns without slowing down. I smiled inwardly before answering, thinking about how her driving hadn't changed much. "I was bored. Why waste all that money when I'm not sure what I even wanna do for a living? Better to figure it out this way."

"Yeah, but, I mean what are you gonna figure out tending bar in a Margaritaville?" She asked, her voice purely curious. Not condescending, like the way it sounded when my parents asked me the same question.

"I dunno yet. But anything can happen. I'm not worried about it, Claire, so you don't need to worry either." I assured her.

She let out another sigh. "I know, Rylan, you've always been fine."It got quiet for a moment as I stared out the window, excitement building in my stomach. Maybe to Claire this place lacked the thrill it had when she first arrived, but this was all new to me. Not just the dinosaur part, but the living on an island in a different country part. I couldn't put a name to the feeling, but something was telling me that this was supposed to happen. That for whatever reason, my life was going to change here.

"So what about you, huh? I know business is booming, but what else? Any attractive men I should know about?" I asked, smirking at her.

Claire narrowed her eyes and I knew what her answer would be before she even said anything. "You know I don't have time for dating. I worked my ass off to get to the top here, not about to throw it away for a man."

I laughed. "So they're all scared of you?"

She cracked a smile and shot me a proud look. "They call me the ice queen."

This only made me laugh more, which eventually got Claire laughing. When we finally caught our breaths, she glanced at me. "So what about Parker? You guys over then?"

I made a face at the sound of my ex-boyfriend's name. "We've been over for months, Claire. He was the one who couldn't seem to understand that. Thank god this island is so hard to get to, or I'd be worried he'd pull some Romeo and Juliette shit to try and woo me and convince me to get back together with him."

Claire snickered. "Yeah, he was pretty bad."

"Seriously." I groaned, agreeing with her. "A stage five clinger. Don't know how we made it three whole months."

"Me either...I've never seen you let a relationship go on for that long."

"And I could say the same about you." I smirked.

"Touche." Claire said with a big smile.

Just then, we swung onto a different, narrower dirt road. Dozens of mobile homes dotted the grass on either side, some surrounded by neat gardens and patio furniture and others with makeshift chairs from stumps and milk crates. She drove slowly down the road, pulling to a stop in front of a twinkie shaped mobile home, the color of chrome. There was nothing in front but a single set of wooden steps leading up to the door.

"Home sweet home?" I asked, shifting to look at Claire.

She nodded. "Yup, hope you like it.""It's perfect!"

She gave me a doubtful look and I laughed. "I'm being serious. This is great."

We got out of the car and gathered what belongings I had with me. Claire dropped a silver key into my hand and I led the way to the door. I unlocked and pushed it open, and was met with the smell of fresh paint. The walls were a dull white color, the carpet brown. There was a small kitchen area to my right and a living room furnished with a couch, a coffee table, and a small TV to the left. A small, narrow hallway led to the tiniest bathroom I'd ever seen and a decent sized bedroom with a bed and a dresser.

"Anything else you need, you can just order and it can be shipped here. I know it's not much right now, but I tried to make sure you had at least some stuff." Claire shrugged, dropping my bag near the couch.

I gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks, you're the best."

"I know." She answered.

I moved into the kitchen and started opening and shutting the cupboards, happy to see most of them were filled with mugs, glasses and plates. Although considering that Claire had said grocery stores were few and far between, I doubted I'd be doing much cooking. Which was fine, considering I was terrible at it.

"So where do you stay? I take it you upgraded from the mobile home brigade?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

Claire shifted uncomfortably. "Well, they gave me an apartment on park premises when I got promoted. It's a part of the hotel."

"Okay, you don't have to act all embarrassed about it. That's amazing, Claire. You deserve it for all the shit you do to keep this place up and running. And anyways, we both know I'm more comfortable here. When I'm in the mood to feel like royalty I can come crash with you." I shrugged.

Claire smiled appreciatively. "I really did miss you, Ry. Your optimism is borderline annoying."

"I take that as a compliment." I said proudly.

"So, should we go take a look around elsewhere? I can introduce you to your manager at the restaurant and show the ropes of getting around. You'll be on your own for dinner, though. I have a business meeting with the heads of the marketing branch."

"Sounds good, I think I can manage on my own. I am a big girl now, you know." I smirked.

"Only some of the time." Claire remarked from over her shoulder as we made our way back outside to the SUV. I paused to survey my surroundings, shielding my eyes from the sun as I admired the bright blue water of a huge lake that was just a short walk away.

The road that lead through the employee housing curved towards it and I could make out an oddly shaped house in the distance. Part mobile home, part beach shack.

"Who the hell lives out there?" I asked curiously, gesturing down the road.

Claire followed my gaze and let out a snort, rolling her eyes. "Oh that's just Owen Grady's private bungalow."

"Bungalow?" I repeated and grinned at Claire over my shoulder. "Sounds pretty fancy."

"Yeah, well, it's not. There's nothing fancy about Owen."

"Yeah? You don't sound like a fan." I turned my back on the so-called bungalow and climbed back into the car which was still cool from the air conditioning.

"You'll understand if you ever meet him. He's good at what he does, I'll give him that. Otherwise, he's incredibly irritating."

"I feel like you've said that about me before..." I joked.

"Yeah, well, you rubbed off on me. He didn't." She started the car and we rolled back towards the main road.

"I guess I'll have to see for myself just what this irritating, bungalow dwelling Grady is like." I shrugged, a slight teasing tone to my voice.

Claire let out another snort of laughter, checking her hair in the rearview mirror as we flew towards the park. The excitement I'd been feeling in my stomach ever sense I stepped onto the ship that brought me here seemed to magnify by about a hundred. It felt like I was in a dream. As disappointed at the rest of the people in my life were about my decision, I'd never felt more sure.