#so I did and its far longer than expected but aaa I have *a lot* to say abt rhysothy

[lavend-ler]

just been thinkin how,,, Rhysothy is just such a god tier ship

they both have been through a lot, suffered so much trauma induced by their years at Hyperion and especially influenced by Jack. yet they both survived and have a chance to start anew in a completely different world. the question is - how to even do this? how to cut yourself from years of suffering?

they meet each other on Promethea. Rhys is successfully running Atlas, Tim just came back from the casino. Timothy needs help and well, due to requests Rhys is the one to provide it. there's shock at the beginning, unnerved stares. but what else can he do, when he sees Timothy in such dire need. he’s not the one to turn down someone in need, if he knows they are on his side. so he gives him everything Timothy needs to survive

it's not easy for them. Rhys has a hard time looking at Timothy's face - esp without the mask he was forced to bear. once again making him so much more aware of Jack's atrocities. Timothy isn’t sure if he can trust a Hyperion, after being forced to live in an actual time capsule. but that also makes them realize that, after all there's more that connects them rather than divides them. they share stories abt their pasts and become tentative friends bc of it

the more they spend time together, the more they realize just how much they care. Rhys cares so much for ppl who are important to him. and while Tim is becoming more and more important, he is ready to defend him with all he has. he himself is surprised but everything abt Timothy makes it so easy for him. how can someone like him be just the easiest person to get along with and to spend so much time with? Rhys doesn’t dwell on it - he just enjoys the time they share together

Timothy too, at first thrown into this crazy world, starts to accommodate again. he joins the Crimson Lance, ready to become someone Jack would never be. he finds friends and understanding. it’s hard, ppl still tend to look at him and think the worst. but he knows better to get it to his head. he becomes confident, he knows who he is. and often Timothy thinks to himself... he can never not thank Rhys for helping him and becoming his friend

and with time, they fall for each other. Rhys falls for Timothy bc he’s adamant, persistent, funny and sweet. there is no trace of Jack left in him, no matter what everyone says. Rhys falls for his good heart and admires him for trying over and over despite the cruelty of the world. he loves hearing his stories, his heart trembles at the sound of his laugh. he loves him for always trying and making tomorrow his own, no matter what the world thinks

the same happens to Timothy. he falls for Rhys' caring side, his inventiveness and how he fixes the world around him. the little perks of his, no one else really sees under that CEO mask. Timothy realizes he's not the only one who was forced to wear one and how wrong he was to assume the worst abt him. cause Rhys is more than his insecurities. he’s loyal, dedicated, a know-it-all and always knows what to do. he loves Rhys’ technical knowledge and his soft side as well. he knows each part makes Rhys the love of his life

they fall for each other slowly but surely. it's what they both really wanted - someone to understand and no one else understands them better. they help each other grow, shed all the insecurities and insincerities they show to others. cause with each other, they don't need any barriers or masks, they can simply be themselves. after years of suffering, they cut their trauma by challenging it, looking straight into it. clearing all the doubts, burying everything Hyperion took from them. to build something new with each other, start living not surviving. Timothy sees how Rhys wants to help everyone around him. and he joins him knowing not only Rhys helped him, but vice versa too

it all starts with that one fateful day when Timothy goes to Rhys to give him a literal hand. and it ends with their hands held together, never to leave one another

tl;dr or I just want these two dudes to interact in a future dlc idk

[versadies]

Hey hey!! I've been following you for a while now and I love your work sm aaa

Saw the event, I love soulmate au's 😩‼ as a gemini, may I request a gemini prompt + kaeya? Up to you who the enemy is, I trust you ^ ^

-🦚 @pavo-ocell-me

someday, one day (hc scenario)

penpal: omg hi !! im glad u love my work, i hope this is to ur liking 🙌

prompt: gemini the twins, enemy-lover soulmate au

pairing/s: kaeya x gn!reader

sypnosis: when you thought he was your enemy but is actually your lover.

includes: spoilers on diluc and kaeya's backstory, spoilers on genshin's official webtoon, violence, physical pain, burns, arguing, enthusiastic!diluc (pls take note that its canon that he USED to be like all the other pyro characters b4 his father's death.),

when you first met diluc, it felt like he was your knight in shining armor.

the first time you two met was when you accidentally fell down from your balcony after leaning too much on the railing and diluc managed to catch you bridal-style whilst he was on patrol around the city as a knight.

it truly was romantic– and a near-death experience for you.

so when you found out that his name is imprinted on your wrist, you felt ecstatic, and so did he.

since then, you two were known as the youngest soulmates who had found each other in mondstadt, people admiring your relationship with envy and happiness.

of course, you and diluc were a happy couple. although you would be lying if you said diluc is overall your type, you managed to find yourself falling in love with the man.

when crepus, diluc's father, found out about diluc's once-in-a-lifetime moment, he simply laughs and pats you and his son by your backs with a proud smile.

"by the time my son turns 18, we better make arrangements of your wedding! it's a ragnvindr tradition, after all." he comments eagerly. you honestly weren't sure if the man was joking or not.

it didn't take long before you meet his dear brother, kaeya.

when you find out his brother's name is the same as the one that's imprinted on your other wrist, being surprised is far from your reaction.

"don't worry about it, y/n." diluc reassures you one night as the two of you stroll around the city together. "i'll make sure nothing will go wrong between you and my brother. besides, you always have me, right?"

if diluc hadn't tried what he said, perhaps things would've gone differently than now.

in fear of being enemies with your future brother-in-law, you decided to avoid kaeya like a plague, giving the young man apologetic looks whenever you walk away from his presence.

as much as you're avoiding the man, you couldn't imagine hating on kaeya. every night, you always think of what can make kaeya your enemy. what is there to hate him? he's funny, chivalrous, everything that screams your type of men.

wait.. type?

your heart drops from the moment you started thinking romantic things about diluc's brother, looking behind you to see your soulmate sleeping soundly with a frown plastered on your face.

is diluc really your lover?

doubts started to cross your mind. what if diluc isn't your soulmate? what is there to prove that kaeya is your enemy? are you just overthinking things?

"i can't think about this." you murmured to yourself, pulling up your comforter before laying back down on your bed and try to fall asleep.

"i have a wedding to worry about next year."

just as you said, you did try not to think about the possibilities you have with the two brothers, distracting yourself with tasks and dates with your lover, who's quite oblivious to your problems going on inside your head.

unnoticed by you, you weren't the only one who has been burdened with your thoughts.

by the time diluc's birthday has arrived, the two of you started to get excited from your future wedding, excited to finally marry each other after years of spending your adolescence together.

you didn't expect an inconvenience during diluc and crepus's trip.

you didn't expect crepus trying to save diluc from a monster using something that no one but snezhnaya has ever heard of.

you didn't expect crepus asking diluc to put him out of his misery.

you didn't expect diluc to come strolling back to your shared home with blood stained in his clothing at a late hour.

you never, ever, expected your lover to fight his own brother when he took a visit.

and you did not expect your lover to plan on leaving you and everyone.

"what do you mean you're... you're leaving?" you ask in disbelief, staring at diluc as though he has two heads. "can't i go with you–?"

"no, this journey will be too dangerous for you–"

"this applies to you as well! you're not an immortal or some god–"

"i can do this on my own, y/n." he says with his eyes narrowed. you couldn't help but scoff in disbelief. this isn't the diluc you know and loved.

"but diluc.. isn't this too much? your father... i know crepus's death is too much but, why can't you stay?" you whispered, cupping his cheeks. "what about our wedding? the life you and i planned after your bi–"

"my father died and you're seriously thinking about our wedding?!" diluc forces your hands away from his face, glaring at you. "why can't you understand that i'm trying to find out the truth on this delusion–"

"i do understand!" you yelled out. "i do understand that you want to do this for him but what about monstadt? the knights? what about your brother–"

"HE'S NOT MY BROTHER!" he yelled, lashing out at you as you screamed in surprise when you saw fire in front of you, immediately covering your face with your arms out of reflex.

you didn't notice how your lover's eyes widens on what he did,

you couldn't notice him, not when you're too focused on the huge burns on your arms.

"oh my god..." diluc murmurs, slowly taking a few steps back as he takes a look of what he did, ignoring the sudden presence of adelaide and elzer, who both gasped from the scene.

your eyes starts to water from the intense pain, trying not to cry out and scream your heart out in fear of making your lover feel regret. you could honestly care less on what diluc is doing, all you could think about was the intense burns from your arms.

suddenly, the door was slammed open by kaeya– who was wet from the rain outside.

"what the hell did you do to them?!" kaeya exclaims, running towards you with a shocked look on his face. "i'll take you to the cathedral alright? the sisters will heal you." he whispers, wiping off the tears from your face as he wraps his arm around your shoulder and takes you towards the doors.

before diluc could let out a word from his mouth, kaeya gives him a glare.

"you may hate me for what happened," kaeya says.

"but for celestia's sake, don't ever come to them or call them your lover ever again."

that was the last time you saw diluc.

you eventually find out from the chattering nuns that the man had already left monstadt with no news of when he'll return, causing everyone to pity you and for diluc about what happened.

you were thankful that no one except the nuns found out about the incident of your arms.

throughout your stay in the cathedral, you usually find kaeya beside you, keeping an eye on you with a concerned look on his face. you honestly couldn't imagine what would've happened if the man didn't storm inside dawn winery. would diluc actually try to help you later on and leave? would you have suffered more with your injuries as he stands by watching you in disbelief?

whatever outcome you could think of, your heart ached from them all.

would diluc stayed had he been the one who tries to take care of your injuries?

either way, you knew the man is no longer the one you fell in love with from those years ago.

as years grew by, so did your friendship with kaeya.

although it was awkward from the start, you eventually warmed up to the man who you thought is your enemy, feeling more comfortable with him than before.

the two of you started having careers by then, with you having a successful career whilst kaeya becomes the calvary captain of the knights of favonius.

although the two of you are busy, you agreed to always meet each other at night in angel's share, where you drink the night away and talk about anything that comes out of your minds.

there wasn't a day when you thought about diluc.

thankfully, your burns weren't too severe and is slowly fading away throughout the years. but that doesn't mean the memories you had from it disappeared as well.

ever since that dreadful night, you started having nightmares about the incident, always finding yourself sitting up from your bed with a scared look on your face.

you wished you didn't want to see diluc this way, but you honestly couldn't bare to face him if he ever comes back to the city.

you don't see him as a lover or a friend. all he is to you at this very moment is your nightmare.

your nightmares simply washes away when kaeya comes up in your mind.

whenever you think about your so-called destined enemy, you felt comforted and safe. it was understandable really! you were touched by how he took care of you regardless of you being his "enemy".

however... now that you could think about it, the calvary captain has a lot more common with you than diluc himself. the fact that his brother made you laugh a lot and supported you in many ways made you started thinking that maybe diluc really isn't your destined lover.

your heart skips a beat from the thought of kaeya being your true lover, the smile you wore never fading away.

perhaps when you're finally starting to move on from the relationship you had with diluc, maybe... just maybe, kaeya could be the one you've been hoping for.

you started to sleep more peacefully, excited for the future that awaits.

somewhere in the calvary captain's home, the man is dreaming and hoping of you too.

[gaillol-13]

ITTHIGSS AU

Cartoon encounter.

Part 3 of this (part 2) Swear warning!

*sigh* "it just doesn't make any sense!"

I've been trying to figure out who that guy is for a while now, ever since I got home from the interview today. It just seemed like something out of a horror film, I don't understand. And they sounded so much like...no. I sat down for a moment to look at the pictures I took, and tried to recall what happened in the room with the tv (and the closet).

"Ok, so blood was coming out of the Tv," I spoke "I heard the killer walking towards me, with their arms out to grab me. They're voice sounded static-like, they were humming the Captoon's theme song. And then one of the police officers went in the room, the humming stopped, I looked in the closet but they were gone...they..."

I sighed.

"They sounded so much like Benjamin, like, identical, the only difference is the static. But, he's been dead for almost a year now, it just doesn't make any sense..."

"Beb-beeep, beb-beeeeep!!! Movement detected!!!"

What?! Theres someone trying to get in the house? I immediately check the security cameras but find no one there. The only evidence is the broken steel doors and a note, I zoomed in on it to get a closer look at what it said, I turned pale.

"Bonjournie~ Mr.Melvin :)"

That's what the note said, and the paper had the same static texture as the hammer piece I had.

The same person who killed those criminals is here, and I'm next.

"MOTHER FUCKER!!!" I screamed, "Why? Why me?! Why is this guy targeting me?! Of course, its because I know too much, I should have just kept quiet, I should have just said they committed suicide, that would have made more sense than a cannibalistic cartoon-loving prick by slaughtering them with nooses and a fucking rubber hammer!!! But noooo! I have to open my big mouth and now this fucker's gonna kill me!!! GOD DAMN IT!!!!"

I tried my best to calm down, it's not easy to think if I'm going into my dinosaur brain. Okay, everything is going to be fine, he must have a weakness, everybody has one. I have lots of inventions that could be good in the situation I'm in, I just gotta think of a plan. Think Melvin think, if I were a cannibal who loves captoon, what would be my weakness?

Hmm... I looked around my room, I spotted one a bottle of paint thinner, huh. I saw this in a game once, thinner can dissolve paint, which is what cartoon characters are made out of. I thought for a moment.

He likes the Captoon cartoon, and George and Harold made that cartoon. So if I'm gonna get this guy, (I cant believe I'm about to say this) I gotta think like George and harold.

Aww hell with it!

I grabbed the thinner bottle and loaded it in a spray gun, its ridiculous, but it's my best shot. And who knows, maybe some of the robot guards took care of him already.

*THUD!!*

"OW! @%#$!!!!"

What was that?! I mean, it was obviously a cry out in pain coming from downstairs (the living room to be exact), but AFTER it sounded like a beeping sound butchered by radio static. But that didn't matter now, the fact is that this guy is in my house, I have a plan (sort of), and I'm ready for whatever is down there.

I grabbed my flashlight and slowly made my way downstairs, he could be anywhere. I turned the lights in the hallway on, no one was there though. I looked in the kitchen, as expected, the fridge was open and most of the food in there was gone, and all of the leftover guac had vanished (THAT really caused a shiver to go down my spine). When I got close to the living room, I heard a noise, or more specifically, music.

I went in the living room to find the TV playing the Captoon theme song, huh. Guess I was right about him liking that, I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

T h e m u s i c d i d n ' t s t o p .

Almost paralyzed with fear, I pressed the off button again, still playing, pressed it again, still going. No matter how many times I pressed it, the music kept playing. It only took me one second to realize the music was coming from behind me...along with that same feeling I had back at the abandoned school...

Oh no...

Before I could turn around, I felt something wrap around me, I looked down, I saw an arm.

Yeah, that's right, an arm was wrapping around my torso. How did I know it was an arm, at the end of it there was a gloved hand, gloved...it sorta gave me rubberhose cartoon vibes. Come to think of it, the arm was fully white like a rubberhose, I would have thought about it more I wasn't in peril.

"AAA-MMF!!!" I tried to scream, but the hand covered my mouth in an instant. The arm was fully wrapped around me now, only leaving my head uncovered.

I kicked and squirmed around trying to escape, no dice. The arm slowly turned me around, I soon realized that the arm was waaayyy longer than I previously thought. It stretched all the way to the far side of the hallway where there was nothing but darkness, nothing except...two...eyes...staring at me.

These weren't normal dot eyes, hohooohh nooo! These had the pupils and the sclera!!! And they were huge!! Who was this guy? No, scratch that. WHAT was this guy?! Forgive me for being Captain Obvious here, but there no fucking way this...thing is human!!

He was walking towards me, I squeezed my eyes shut, shit, I'm fucked. I'm going to be food, I could already see the headlines. "Class S Melvin sneedly (aka the smartest and sexiest man alive) becomes human Foie Gras to rubberhose monster". This is my end!!!

Then he (or it, I don't even know anymore) spoke.

"Shhhh, calm down."

What? Calm down?! I opened my eyes, he was still walking towards me, his eyes still the only things I could see. They looked...guilty.

"I know your scared right now." He continued

"Mmff mfm mff!!" I muffled sarcastically, it roughly translated to "NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!", and he knew it. As he became more and more visible, I froze.

The clothes...

The body figure...

The toupee...

He was a spitting image of Benjamin, except the eyes I mentioned earlier (which now revealed that he had pie-slice pupils). And there was no color, only shades of white (his skin), grey, and black...I was filled with shock...which then shifted to seething anger.

What right does this asshole have to impersonate MY boss?! NONE!! WHAT THE FUCK!!! I kicked at him furiously while delivering muffled screeching. Who the hell does he think he is?!

"Melvin please calm down-OW!"

I bit his gloved hand, he's NOT gonna tell me what to do.

"DONT "MELVIN" ME!!" I screamed "YOU CANT JUST WALTZ IN HERE THINKING I'LL LISTEN TO YOU, ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CRIMINALS YOU VILE POMPOUS CANNIBALISTIC PRICK!!! WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO EVEN BE?! WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE BENJAMIN?! AND WHATS YOU LAST MEAL REQUEST CUZ OOOOOHHH DEAR SWEET DAV PILKEY AM I GONNA REPORT YOUR ASS!!!"

He gave gave me a look that was a combination of surprise, pity, scared, and impressed.

"Gosh," I heard him mutter under his static breath "that last bit kinda rhymed..".

How is this happening, when did I become prisoner of a cartoon monstrosity. Why, how. This doesn't-...then it clicked.

"This is a dream."

"Wha?"

It's the only reasonable explanation.

"This isnt real, of course. What was I thinking."

I breathe the sigh of relief, phew.

"Why else would you look like Benjamin, it's obvious my subconscious is missing him, and the reason why your a cartoon is because I've been watching captoon too much. And why are you after me? Because it's just my subconscious being guilty of Benjamin's death, like I felt responsible, like I was supposed to be there with him when it happened. It all makes sense!!"

The behemoth rolled his eyes, but that didn't matter. What matters is that this isnt real, it's just a horrible nightmare. I dont know when I fell asleep (probably when I passed out stress-eating all those croissants at the interview), but either way I'm glad that it will be over---

"OW!!!"

I felt something sharp jab me in the arm, I looked to see his gloved hand, only a little different. The pointer finger was longer and the tip was pointy, sorta like and overgrown fingernail. Either way, it hurt, and he was still there, this wasn't a dream, it was real life.

"Real enough for ya?" All I could do was nod as I watched the finger retract and return to its proper form and shape, then I heard him sigh.

"Look, they're going to search the abandoned school so I need a place to stay-" I cut him off. "Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't call the authorities."

"Cuz they would never believe you."

I opened my mouth to protest, but then i thought for a moment. He was right, they wouldn't. There was a saying in the book Our Lord Dav, where he quoted "people can be too smart for their own good" which ment if someone was too smart, they would become insane. The police might think just that if I tell them theres a living cartoon in my house.

"Please," I looked back up at him. Seeing his sad, pleading face. "I just need to hide hear for a bit, just a lil bit. I know I'm the last guy you wanna trust right now, especially after last night. But...*sigh*... I REALLY need your help...just let me stay."

I was speechless, I was starting to doubt that this was the same person that killed those criminals. His expression seemed so...bonafide. Pupils dilated to a sorrow filled manner, lips trembling, it felt like the equivalent of looking at a sad puppy. But...how do I know I should trust him.

"Your not gonna kill me?"

"Of course not!!!" He protested, by now the arm he had wrapped around me was retracted back to him, but I really wasn't paying attention. "I'm not a monster!!!"

Not a monster? My eyes narrowed.

He then rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously, "I guess I am if you define a monster as a creature that defies the laws of physics and nature, heh. But I'm talking about one that's heartless, ruthless, and selfish."

His eyes then darted away and his face suddenly became sour. His tone changed completely.

"Like the @*#%$, Theodore..."

Theres only one person I know who could sound and act like that when the subject was Ted murdsly...

I threw myself at him in an embrace, eyes filled with tears...

"You are Benjamin..."

I was both in shock and joy. I couldn't believe my boss was alive...I started sobbing.

"I miss you so much..."

I felt him hug me back.

"Heh, miss ya too Mel. It's been very lonely, even with him around, it's nice to see an old friend again..."

I started crying into his shoulder, I was so relieved. For one, I now know that I'm not gonna be dinner. Two, the others will be thrilled to hear that their favorite grumpy boss is back (especially her. If you catch my drift). But I thought for a moment...

"What do you mean by "even with him around"?"

He then lead me to a chair, "sit down, and let me tell you how I'm alive."

So he told me...and dear dav is it a doozy.

So after Benjamin died, George and harold were starting the Captoon cartoons, they had the help of dressy. But in the making of the first tape reel of season 1, dressy sprinkled some dust on it, making Captoon sentient. Then the boys took it to Benjamin's gravestone, and placed it there. Then lightning struck the tape and it started to melt, along with the world in it.

In major pain, Captoon got out of the tape and into Benjamin's corpse, sort of merging with it. Another lightning struck the same spot again. And since dead people come back to life when they get zapped with electricity in cartoons, thats exactly what happened to Benjamin.

He wakes up, they meet, he tells him how he died (turns out it wasn't an accident), and Captoon gets an idea. Since he needs a physical body to stay in (cuz otherwise he would melt and die), and Benjamin needs Captoon's cartoon physiques to stay alive, they become one. Becoming Krupptoon.

It finally made sense now.

"So now you know." Krupptoon said, then grabbed a nearby glass and drunk from it. Then he noticed my mind-blown expression.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just...alot to take in. Does that mean your dead body is still in you?"

"Uh-huh, wanna see?"

Intrigued, I nodded, after what I saw last night, this wont really effect me. Then his head began to shift, the white static-like skin seemed to dissolve. Revealing a pale, bloody, and very very dead head.

The left side (his left side) of the head had the skull smashed open showing that parts of the brain were missing, and pretty much almost all of the left side (again, his left) of the head looked like it was demolished from impact.

His eye (on his right) looked lifeless, yet it had a distinct green glow, don't know why. Oh yeah, and it smelled, it smelled repulsive.

I felt the urge to puke which he immediately took notice of and grabbed a nearby bucket, then he gave it to me.

5 minutes and 43 seconds of vomiting later... I looked at him for a closer inspection.

"Hmm, it seems only the left side is affected."

He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a magnifying glass and handed it to me. I then used it.

"Your frontal lobe is severely injured, that would explain why you only move in rubberhose, your Broca's Area seems fine. Same with the Sensory area and Parietal lobe. Your Temporal lobe looks pretty damaged..."

I went quiet...

"Whats wrong?" He said that with his decayed mouth barely moving.

It took me a while to try to get the words out.

"T-thats the lobe that contains memories. Benjamin...do you remember anything?"

His face fell, "Oh,". He then put his hand on his chin, "Well, I remember you, and George and harold. Ted (though I wish I didn't), my identity, how I died...". He then plopped down on the ground, his face returning to its cartoony appearance. Trying to recall, then his eyes lit up. "I...remember Edith..."

And boy what happened next was quite a site. His hand dropped to the side, a shade of gray crept up his face, hearts started floating around him, and I swear I could hear a romantic saxophone playing. I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

"What?" He turned his attention to me, I simply pointed upwards at the hearts floating around. His eyes went wide and he made a noise that can only be defined as a startled dog and immediately started shooing them away with his arms, his face now flashing dark grey and white in embarrassment.

"I-ITS NOT LIKE THAT!!" He yelped in a panicked tone, but I knew otherwise.

"Oh suuuuure~!" I said playfully, "Its not like you visit her in the lunchroom every day,or that you give her extra credit, or that you try to make her food everyday!"

With every example I said, he got grayer and grayer. So I kept going.

"Or that you hide a bunch of gifts around her office, or that you're always happy when she's around 24/7, or that you secretly write about how much you want to be with her forever in your journal!"

"HOW DID YOU GET MY JOURNAL?!?!" He started shrieking and becoming a charcoal grey, sweating, and flustered mess. And it was hilarious! And it lasted a good 5 minutes.

"Joking aside, you REALLY don't remember anything else, like your job?"

"I have a job?" He cocked his head and gave me a confused look.

"Nevermind." I decided it was nothing to worry about now, so I quickly dismissed that subject. Then I heard him sigh again.

"The main reason I came here is for your help, your help to kill crime."

I was confused, "why would you need my help, you have the ability to do it on your own."

He gave me a classic Captoon smile, "Because it's like I said in the cartoons" he stood up and did the pose, "it's more fun to bring justice with friends!". He then pulled me up off the chair and put his gloved hands on my shoulders.

"You, me, George and harold, and the others can stop evil in its tracks! Sure, I could do it alone. But what the heck is living if you don't do it with your chums! Buds! Home slices! Homies! Pals! Bros! ETC!!!"

Honestly, I was very moved. I usually dont get touched, but...I haven't felt like I had friends, at all (I always felt so alone). And the fact that my boss (who's also Captoon himself) considers me as a good friend is enough to make me emotional.

"So Melvin Sneedly!!! Are you gonna join this crazy but exciting ride of adventure and mystery with me?!"

"Y-YES!!!" My voice cracked a bit, but that didn't matter now.

"ALRIGHTY!!! THEN WE'LL START TOMORROW!!! BECAUSE IM TIRED!!"

Man, he said that Captoon only moved their body, but THAT moment had to disagree. I sas honestly thrilled to start working with a superhero...but then the moment took a different direction when he gave me a smug look.

"Now what did you mean by you watching that Captoon cartoon too much?"

"Now wait just a minute-"

He then laughed and patted me on the back "ight, see ya tomorrow."

I headed towards upstairs to my room "goodnight."

I didn't know what I was getting into, but whatever it was, for once I'm ready for anything!!!

End of fic

Whooooo! That took a while, but it was worth it. Now with the introductions out of the way, I can finally make some memes!

[krumbine]

Thoughts on 35: Birthdays in the Time of the Pandemic

The pandemic has taken T-Rex Cafe from me on my birthday.

It was a fledgling, two-year-run of a tradition but I honestly don’t give a shit. And not because I was ‘just’ there earlier this year for a much-needed dino/LEGO-themed catch-up with an out-of-town friend.

This would have been the year that the T-Rex Cafe tradition evolved into the Dinosaur World tradition (DID YOU SEE WHAT I JUST DID THERE?!) — Dinosaur World is an extraordinarily out-of-place Florida attraction found in a corner of the Sunshine State that’s closer to Tampa than Orlando. The Plant City (actual city name) location is great, because it might just be far enough outside the bubble of the Plastic City (not the actual city name) that it wouldn’t be suffocated to death by His Holy Mousiness.

Not that any of that matters.Dinosaur World is an open-air attraction with paths that weave through a foliage-dense park. It’s home to a single animatronic set-piece tucked away in a sad-looking museum that’s not winning any awards (the animatronics or the museum).

Please don’t think I’m underselling it. Dinosaur World is glorious.

It’s clear that the animatronics aren’t the star of the attraction — that designation goes to the massive dinosaur sculptures that litter the jurassic park. These dense, solid constructs have been fabricated across decades and it’s a joy going from a modern, somewhat realistic representation of a dinosaur to an older, derpy sculpture that just so happens to be the exact, anantomicaly-incorrect image you conjure when you find yourself thinking the words ‘Dinosaur World’.

Again, I am not bullshitting you even in the slightest: it is glorious.

The best part, by any measure of bestness, is the gift shop — and this is speaking as a dude who lives in Orlando metro, the global epicenter of that other pandemic afflicting the globe: gift shops. It’s so bad here that new strains of gift shops have evolved that no longer require a host attraction. In the Orlando area, you can find gift shops that are located at the exit of other gift shops.

Again, I am not bullshitting you even the slightest: the Dinosaur World gift shop bests all other gift shops with its tiny, useless clappers-not-slappers arms tied behind its back.

Generally speaking, I stand immune to senseless purchases of molded plastic that, generally, serve to only collect dust.

But in the Dinosaur World gift shop? I laugh in the face of budgets.

I’ll take this massive Spinosaurus. And that ill-fitting Dinosaur World cap. And that ridiculously amazing piece of framed lenticular art where the T-Rex foot LITERALLY LEAPS OUT OF THE PICTURE. Oh, and a couple of plush. Okay, sure, a few more plush for the niece and nephew, too.

This gift shop is big, unreasonably so. It has all the staples: dinosaur toys of every stripe, t-shirts, decorations, books, and even jewelry.

It. Is. Glorious.

I’m not going to Dinosaur World or its gift shop for my birthday, but on the other hand, I’m not going anywhere for my birthday. And I honestly don’t give a shit.

I’m personally in Week 4 of The Great American Quarantine but Florida as a whole only officially went into lockdown last Friday. This has created a fascinating dichotomy in the state — people like me who are old hats at this thing (yes, I know others have been in quarantine for long) and those who are just now experiencing life-stuck-at-home.

Here’s the thing: I’ve never felt stuck. I bought my house for a reason and I’m more than happy to work from it and avoid leaving it. Don’t get me wrong, my new-to-quarantiners, there IS an adjustment period. And depending on your life and who you are, maybe you never get out of the adjustment period.

Me, I usually take about two-to-three weeks to adjust to anything.

So as newcomers reach ‘peak quarantine’, I find my emotional self mostly equalized to pre-pandemic levels of dyspeptic misery and abject hopelessness, occasionally sidelined by the pure undiluted joy of creating a cool video or losing myself in a cathartic piece of writing.

I am not a ‘happy person’ and the mere notion abhors me. Not in respect to your own happiness, of course — you should be whatever flavor of happy you want, rock your-goddamn-happy socks off and go nuts. But me? That’s not my baseline and never was in 35 years. 

Life can be a miserable shit show and some people just needed a pandemic to see it.

Those moments of pure bliss I sometimes get to enjoy? Here’s what comes next: I finish project — which is a postpartum shit show in itself — and then I put that moment of bliss online where, generally speaking, no one seems to care.

Okay, look, I know it sounds like I’m sitting here on my 35th birthday complaining that nobody pays any attention to my creative work, but I’m not. I’m sitting here I’m on my 35th birthday complaining that nobody pays any attention to my creative work AND FOR SOME REASON THIS STILL SENDS ME IN A FUCKING SPIRAL DECADES INTO THIS GAME probably because the spiral was immediately preceded — as mentioned — by that fleeting moment of actual bliss, a genuine happy distraction for the professional unhappy person.

Really, I’m not complaining. Just sharing a little bit the depressed psychosis I call home.

It’s just me, myself, and my abyss. That’s the title to an unfinished song I was writing for the ukulele. I’ll get around to it.

But here’s the point: for me (and all those millions like me — you know who you are) the abyss (*cough* MY abyss) is always there. Always has been. Old buddy, old chum. I’m not always in it and most days it’s not even a passing consideration …. but I know it’s ALWAYS there.

Kinda how the abyss works.

So I don’t know whether to laugh at or feel bad for all those happy people in quarantine who are crashing down and just now getting a good glimpse at the dyspeptic misery and abject hopelessness of the world. 

For a lot of us, this gets worse. Maybe emotionally. Maybe physically. Maybe economically. 

For some of us, it’s always been this bad. Maybe emotionally. Maybe physically. Maybe economically. 

The advice from this professional unhappy person: figure out what brings you bliss, that thing you can lose yourself in, even if briefly, and commit. Be unapologetic. For me, it’s dinosaurs, animation, video editing, technology, and LEGO. If I can combine all those things, that’s a pretty happy distraction from the looming abyss. At least for a little while.

On the other hand, if you still have positivity exploding out of your asshole right now …. um, okay? Good for you? I don’t know if you’re stubbornly blind to reality or if we’re just wired that differently, but whatever. You do you, just don’t expect us unhappy people to get on your level. There aren’t enough spoons in the world for that shit.

A few more bits of advice from your future depressed quarantine avatar: fix your personal relationships and be selfish as shit. I’m 35 and twice-divorced, which means I’m lucky enough to be stuck at home right now with someone who understands every single beat of this post. I’m trapped inside with someone who adds to those moments of creative bliss, as opposed to being indifferent to them or — worse still — detracting from them.

Whatever your relationship issues, rip the fucking bandaid and deal with your shit because if you don’t, well, you’ll be quarantined with it. So sayeth the 35-year-old twice-divorced, professional unhappy Krumbine.

Life’s good. Sometimes. Mostly it’s a shit sandwich. But that’s okay, too. Because dinosaurs. And LEGO. And creating cool shit.

And donuts.

Yes, I think today would be a good day for donuts. 

Stay quarantined, my friends.

Love, Krumbine

###

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jordan Krumbine is a professional video editor, digital artist, and creative wizard currently quarantined in Kissimmee, Florida. When not producing content for the likes of Visit Orlando, Orlando Sentinel, or AAA National, Jordan is probably yelling at a stubbornly defective Macbook keyboard, tracking creative projects in Trello, and animating quirky videos with LEGO and other various toys.

Leave a dollar in the Tip Jar: https://ko-fi.com/krumbine

Short stories: https://bit.ly/2XY5D7I Books on Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/3bsqK5Y YouTube: https://bit.ly/2W41nSG Twitter: https://bit.ly/2VH0Vbu Facebook: https://bit.ly/2VpnylZ LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/2xnmk1e

http://www.krumbco.com

[audiogrizzly]

Top 5 Games of 2019

It was a little tricky to construct a top 5 for this year, though there have been a couple of surprises.  I wasn’t expecting the year to be a bit crap as we are no w on the cusp once more of a new generation.  But 2012 wasn’t all that bad of a year (PS4 and Xbox One would release in 2013) and at the moment, everyone is doing alright.  PS4 has sold through over 100 million systems, Nintendo are definitely on an “on” generation with Switch, Xbox has been able to get back into peoples good books with things like Game Pass (on both Console and PC, their PC side they seem to really be turning around), there’s even interesting things happening in the mobile space with Apple Arcade.

This won’t be the last year where my top 5 games are full of current gen titles, I am expecting the new systems to drop in around November, last time it was hard to find a top 5 specific to PS4 (as I listed each platform separately back then).  It IS however, another list of mostly AAA tier games.  If you want to know what smaller more “interesting” games I have been playing, check out my honourable mentions at the end.

Also, follow me on Melee.  It’s this new image blogging service from Imgur which you can download now on the IOS App Store (its just on iPhone at the moment) and it has seemingly been built to help people share gaming related clips and images off of places like Twitter and Instagram (and err, here on Tumblr).  I posted a couple of daft clips of me failing in Modern Warfare and Destiny 2 and it didn’t take long for them to amass a few likes and comments.

That sounded like a sponsored advert but ain’t nobody paying me for this.  Let’s get into my top 5

5. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

I was about to select Gears 5 to be my number 5 until I saw sense and cast my memory back to when I started playing Jedi (all the way back in November.  I was impressed by its intense action, impressive visuals and great characters.  I especially enjoyed the 4 armed pilot who always complains.  I did feel that towards the end I got sick of managing large groups of enemies so I dropped the difficulty to get through it, but I still haven’t achieved 100% of activities on all planets so I can still go back to it one day.

4. Borderlands 3

We all knew this was coming but not even I had any idea that we would have been actually playing it in 2019 way back at the start of the year.  For me, I look at the game.  I don’t care about weird magicians or their insane sounding legal woes, all I’m interested in is the work of a team who deserved better for their last title, but am still glad returned to what they do best, looting and shooting.  I enjoyed rejoining these characters I have followed over the last 10 years, all the referenced to older games, cameos from characters from Tales From the Borderlands and The Pre Sequel and was sad to see some people go.  I still have about a year of extra content to go through and I really appreciate the efforts they have made to make the game last longer than just one playthrough through in the Proving Grounds, Circle of Slaughter and Mayhem modes.  Though I have always tended to stick to Borderlands games and create builds for each and every vault hunter, so I will be doing that.

3. Mortal Kombat 11

It’s been a while since I last put a fighting game into my end of year round up.  And I HAVE fallen off MK11 a little bit, but this entry reminded me of how impressive it is for Nether Realms to pack their fighting games with some many things to do and keep people playing outside of just going into matchmaking and fighting others.  The Vault this year is basically another little adventure full of exploration and puzzle solving and the Towers of Time give you plenty of challenge and direction of many months to come.  You also have to give the developer credit for never backing down on the brutality of the game, they must have all got their heads together after DC Universe vs. and vowed never again to make watered down versions of Fatalities.  It is a game that keeps getting better and better.

2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare

I was debating whether or not to include this years CoD.  I always get the same type of enjoyment out of it each year, people complain that it never changes but I’m glad it sticks to a formula.  Of course they are not identikit games, there are new maps, new modes, new ways of building your loadout and new touches, like how in this year you can snap to edges to stay in cover while you shoot, there’s the new special equipment system where you can drop ammo or reduce your footstep noise.  Having doors you can either peek through or smash open adds another level of strategy, there have been times where I have been able to escape being under fire by closing a door, re-positioning and then wasting whoever just wanders in.

The campaign this year, good to see it back, but whatever, the co-op mode is Spec Ops again, like it was back in MW2 and 3 but on a much larger scale, I have yet to complete one of these btw.  But as always, it’s the multiplayer that does it for me and Modern Warfare deserves credit for being what must be the first AAA game to feature cross platform play, not just launch with it.  I know that games like Fortnite are popular, but I don’t see that as a AAA title, it doesn’t have the full package, it’s just a mode and it started off small.  Call of Duty is expected to be big each year, has a lot riding on it and allowing for cross play is a big step.  I especially appreciate being able to play with a keyboard and mouse on PS4 and being able to matchmake only with people playing with controllers on PC, in fact, I have never really given the game much of a shot on PC before as I know people just fall of it, there has often been low player numbers reported on the PC versions of CoD and it looks like it won’t have that problem this time round due to cross play.

Modern Warfare still has to contend with Destiny 2 and Overwatch for my time as my main multiplayer game but it’s still as fun as ever.

1. Control

Put this down as my main “surprise” game of 2019.  A game which was not on my watch list, though I was aware of it as you can’t ignore a game from the makers of Max Payne (I did skip Alan Wake and didn’t care much for Quantum break though).  Bought it at the last minute before its release, downloaded it and was wowed by the sinister nature of the environment you run around in.  This weird fictitious US government agency which looks into paranormal activity which you seem to have become in charge of because you picked up a mysterious weapon from the deceased Director while searching for your brother.  What then follows is about 12 hours of wacky powers and odd video clips as you unearth what has been going on in this strange ever morphing building.

I especially loved how the game never holds your hand too much, the map of each floor is vague enough that you also have to rely on in-game signposting to move around, as well as a bit of memory work.  There is also great humour involved too in some of the PSA posters on a lot of the walls, the antics of the caretaker and the videos you find of Dr. Darling throughout the game.

I did have a few weird technical issues with the game throughout playing, but still found it to be visually pleasing, there was this weird hitch that used to appear after coming out of the pause screen that always threw me, it would be followed by a few moments of low performance before getting back into the smooth action.  But this didn’t stop me from having a great time with Control.  Perhaps the game that will be the most prominent in my head when I think of 2019.

So there you have it, control is my best game of 2019.  But let’s look at the other new games I played throughout the year in my honourable mentions:

Gears 5

The Outer Worlds

Days Gone

Apex Legends

Far Cry New Dawn

Trover Saves the Universe

Concrete Genie

Devil May Cry 5

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

And also a special mention to these old games that were rereleased/remastered/repackaged etc in 2019:

Borderlands Game of the Year Edition Remastered

Halo Reach

And now, a look at the games I have on my watchlist for 2020:

Cyberpunk 2077

Last of Us Part 2

Ghost of Tsushima

Halo: Infinite

Watch Dogs Legion

Phantasy Star Online 2

Gods & Monsters

Doom Eternal

Overwatch 2

Diablo IV

Minecraft dungeons

Marvel's Avengers

Carrion

Streets of Rage 4

Will they all even come out?  Let’s find out, happy new year!

[anshiva]

Diabolik Lovers Zero Floor.2 Translation

Another translation. If you find any mistakes, please let me know. Enjoy!   You can listen it here.

Track 1. Disappeared familiars *footsteps, crows cawing* Kou: We’ve come all this way, but this forest has no end. Looks like it’s getting denser and denser. It’s a bit dark here, so be careful. Don’t let go of my hand. Kou: Yeah, watch out. After all, you’re not used to walking in a demon world. Kou: Actually, this is my first time here. It looks like an unremarkable forest, but all the Ruki’s familiars disappeared here. There must be something here. Kou: Ha-ha, don’t be so scared. Your reliable lover is right by your side. Kou: I heard that a few magical creatures live in this area. Сome to think of it, if it were dangerous here, Ruki would have stopped us. Although sending me to explore the forest… Ruki works his younger brother too hard. Kou: He-he, well, yes, but I thought if I went, you would go with me too. And in the end it happened. We came here on our date under the guise of exploring. Kou: Yes, I know. I also wonder what happened here. Kou: It doesn’t look like Ruki’s familiars ran away. While we are on a date, we need to carefully explore everything. *crunch* Kou: Eh? What? M-kitten, you are a coward. You just stepped on a branch. Kou: Damn, it’s because you’re a coward. Are you too scared? You hurt my feelings when you scared in front of me. Kou: He-he, ok. If you give me your blood, I will forgive you. Kou: Yes, right here. Do not worry, we have walked so much, but we haven’t found any bats. It’s not dangerous here. Besides, you can do nothing on a date. Kou: We will continue the exploration when we finish. Well, what you say? Kou: Hee-hee, thanks. Then let’s get started right away. Nobody here but us now. It makes me happy to think that no one will disturb us. Kou: So where I should drink? From your neck? From your shoulder? From the upper arm? Ha, the wrist will do. Kou: What? I just ran my finger and you’re already trembling? You’re so cute, m-kitten. When you react so sincere, I want to tease you more, but I can’t stand it for long, so I will drink from the neck first. Kou: You know, your sweet scent strengthened. What, you wanted fangs? Kou: Oh, really? Well, okay. I can found out that by tasting the blood. *bites and drinks blood* [04:00] Kou: Ah, after all, your blood is sweet and tasty. But why is the taste richer than usual? And why do you have a sleepy look? Kou: If you can’t say, then let me tell you? You were very pleased when I stuck my fangs, right? More pleasant than when I drank blood at home. Apparently, you like to do dirty things when we’re deep in the forest. You’re so lustful, m-kitten. Kou: Eh? When you realize that you’re outside, you started wanting that more? Hmm, well, I’ll drink some more. Since my dear m-kitten asking me, I must fulfill her request. Where should I drink now? This trembling throat is so appetizing. Hey, look over here. *kissed* Kou: Ha-ha, you were surprised? But you like to kiss me, right? You have not only an obedient body but also a heart. I want to fill you with myself so that you don’t think about anything else. Kou: Heh, you finally trusted me. Or kisses wasn’t enough? You’re greedy, m-kitten. But don’t worry, I will carefully drink from here. The earlobe is so soft and comfortable to bite. It may be a little painful, but you don’t mind it? It would be more satisfying for you. Kou: Because I’m still good at teasing you. It is useless to pretend that you don’t like it. *bites and drinks* Kou: When I stick my fangs, your blood immediately becomes sweet. You still like pain. Kou: Hee, I know that. After all, your partner is me. Kou: You got so hot. Cutie. *kisses* Kou: How nice to flirt when no one bothers you. Where should I bite now? Kou: What, already? Well, nothing can be done. Then one last thing, ok? *kisses* Kou: Hmm, that’s all. And I won’t leave this wound without attention either. *kisses* Hm? I’m healing the wounds. But there’s still a red marks. Kou: Oh, come on. This is evidence that you are mine. Kou: I didn’t overdo at all. Besides doing this on a date is normal. Kou: Yes, I know. Let’s start exploring. But if soon we find nothing, then we will return home, ok? Ruki said that we don’t go further into the forest. Kou: Hm? What? *crow cawing* Kou: What’s that over there? [08:10] *door opens* Kou: Excuse me, is anybody here? No answer. Kou: Hmm, it looks like there are no visitors or staff. At the entrance was a sign says “Art Gallery”, but it’s pretty dilapidated, and probably no longer works. Maybe some aristocrat built it for his own pleasure, and then he lost interest and abandoned gallery. Although it’s strange that the candlesticks are burning. But the strangest thing is… portraits lined up in a dense row that covers a whole wall. Men, women, even children. There are so many… Is this normal? Someone has a terrible taste. Kou: I wonder if that huge portrait is the person who built this gallery? I never understood the tastes of aristocrats. And I don’t want to understand. Kou: Do you think so too, m-kitten? If you’re scared, then let's get out of here… but since we found this place, we probably should explore it too. Kou: M? What happened? Kou: What is it? You have a pale face, did you find something? Kou: What? How? Wait! That’s me? Why is my portrait hanging here? Kou: Eh? I think he looked at me. I saw something that shouldn’t. Kou: Yes, everything is okay. There are a lot of lookalikes, don’t worry so much. Let’s take a quick look and go back home, ok? I don’t want to stay here for long. Let’s go? *go away* Kou: It’s not often you come across people who look like me. Then what painting is that? Track 2. The pain that brings anger *door opens* Kou: M? Compared to the previous room, here is a completely different atmosphere. Despite the fact that there are also many paintings on the wall. Kou: M? Look over there! The picture is glowing! Apparently, it reflects the light from the candlesticks. Kou: Glass painting? Can it be made of glass? So that’s why it sparkles so much! Wow! Kou: What a… divine woman. That cathedral glass fits her very nicely. Hee-hee, maybe it’s strange to hear that from a vampire? Kou: And this picture is so cool! Beautiful color, as if a blue sky was captured in a picture. So elegant and very beautiful. Kou: You’re right. I thought portraits were the worst thing. But these are lovely. Kou: The gallery is bigger than I thought. It seems that glass paintings fill the entire hall far ahead. And their pale light is just wonderful. Kou: Yeah, I know! It’s sad that no one will come to see them. *fake Kou appears* Fake Kou: Same here. Kou: Eh? That’s impossible! Fake Kou: He-he, apparently I scared you. Although I expected that. Kou: Why me… Who are you? Fake Kou: As you can see, I’m you. Kou: It can’t be! Fake Kou: Ha-ha-ha! You’re so funny when you’re nervous. But I understand you. Anyone would get nervous when he met a man with exactly the same body, face, and eyes. Fake Kou: And your girlfriend turned as pale as a ghost. Perfect. I want to make her face twist even more. Fake Kou: What? How rude. Do you really not understand who I am? We recently met our gazes. Kou: Met gazes? That portrait? Fake Kou: Yes, you are right! I’m a portrait. I walked out of that picture and now stand here. Kou: Bullshit… Pictures can’t move… Fake Kou: Do you want to say that this is impossible? But the trouble is that’s possible. I’m moving right in front of you. Stop making that stupid face and accept the reality. But, you know, it’s unusual to see a vampire paired with a human. Who is this girl for you? And also this suffocating sweet scent… Ah, I wanted to bite her right now. [03:15] Kou: Hide behind me. And stay close to me. I don’t like him at all! Fake Kou: Hey, we just met and you’re being rude. But it’s okay. Today I’m in a good mood, so I will forgive you. Because such appetizing food came by here. The gallery is also happy. New paintings will be added to its collection. Kou: What are you talking about? Fake Kou: Oh, sorry, I didn’t tell you. This gallery is a bit special. Simply said, it’s alive. It feeds on visitors like you. Kou: Feeds on? Is this building alive? Fake Kou: Ha-ha, that face! You thought that living art galleries don’t exist? Erroneous guess. As evidence, there are records of eaten visitors. Do you saw a bunch of pictures when you came here? Kou: It can’t be! All those portraits… Were they all killed here? Perhaps Ruki’s familiars too? Fake Kou: Familiars? Are you talking about those bats with letters? A lot of them came to this forest, but as soon as they decided to hide from the rain in my territory, I enjoyed eating them all. I didn’t need their letters and I wanted to get rid of them. Here! *letters fall* Kou: Ah… Ruki’s letters… Fake Kou: Such being the case, I’ll eat you both. Kou: Run! *runs away* I can’t believe it, he ate Ruki’s familiars! He is dangerous! We must run away from here! *fake Kou teleported* Fake Kou: Uh-oh, stay where you are. Kou: What?! Fake Kou: Sorry, I can’t let you escape. Do you think you can get away from me? Kou: We will run away from you at all costs. Fake Kou: Oh, you pale as death, but behave like a hero. Maybe you’re trying to be cool, but, honestly, it looks pathetic. Besides, you are so carefully holding your food by the hand… Guys like you irritate me. Really irritates. Fake Kou: Oh, by the way. It seems that you liked that glass picture very much. Said it looks like a blue sky. Since you liked it so much, go to your favorite picture! *hit Kou, he bumps into the picture* Kou: Ahh! How dare you? Don’t underestimate me! Fake Kou: Actually, that’s my line. It seems you’ve touched the glass picture? Kou: Eh? *picture starts to suck in Kou * What? What is it? I’m drowning! Fake Kou: Ha-ha-ha! Surprised? These paintings can capture everything that touches them. And then you get trapped in a glass cage. Kou: AAA! [06:34] Kou: What is it? *hits the glass* It’s impossible… What is going on?! *run up to the picture* Don’t! Do not touch the glass! Fake Kou: Everyone who touch these pictures all together get sealed inside the glass picture with magic, so it is not so easy to break like ordinary glass. So I have nothing left but to catch you. Kou: Stop! Don’t touch her! Fake Kou: Ha-ha-ha! Aha-ha-ha! Nice to hear how you whining. But it pisses me off when someone crying too much. At such moments I can kill, breaking the picture. Fake Kou: He-he, you ask me to stop? If you really want me to stop, then be obedient. If you run away, he will remain here like this. *takes your hand* Fake Kou: So maybe feed you first? See that canvas over there? This is the mouth of the gallery. If you get inside the picture, you will be eaten. Kou: Stop! Fake Kou: He-he, you’ll melt like paint. *pushes you* Kou: Stop it!!! *sound of flow of electricity, picture pushes off you* Kou: What? Fake Kou: Ah? Why? Is picture pushed her away? Impossible… That never happened. It ate both demons and humans. *walk over to you, pick you up* Hey, answer! Apparently, this is your fault. What did you do? Fake Kou: You’re lying. You’re nervous, so you’re hiding something. You’re some kind of special, that’s why it couldn’t eat you. Oh, by the way, that sugary scent… It’s the scent of blood, right? You don’t look like an ordinary human. Fake Kou: Oh, that face… Am I correct? Oh, I see. You have special blood. In that case, if it didn’t work out this way, maybe I can eat you? Kou: Wait! Do you mean… Fake Kou: Of course, I’m talking about drinking blood. All blood. Kou: Damn! I’m not going to let you do that! *hits the glass* Fake Kou: Ah, listen. Do you even realize that space is created by magic? Whether you live or die is up to me. *use magic* Kou: AAAAA! Nh! Aah! * falls * Fake Kou: Ah, he fainted. If you had been a little bit smarter, you wouldn’t have suffered. *you start to resist* Fake Kou: I didn’t say you can resist. You vex me terribly. *press to the wall* You don’t get until you get pinned up against the wall like this? You are a food placed on a plate! Well, it troublesome so get down to business right away. Probably, I should drink blood from the neck. I’d like to know how you taste. *kisses* Fake Kou: Listen, you’re trembling. That’s funny. You’re so scared that I will drink your blood, even though I look exactly like him. Fake Kou: Hmm, so copy just the appearance is useless. Well, whatever. It’s very helpful to be in this form. After all, no one can kill an exact copy of himself or his friend. Even if it’s a portrait. That’s how I catching my prey. No one has escaped. And you also have nowhere to run. Fake Kou: You say that again? Then I will punish the naughty girl. Thrust fangs deeply and with all my strength into you. And make you writhe in pain. *bites and drinks blood* [11:26] Fake Kou: What is it? So sweet! He-he-he-heh, I can drink this delicious blood as much as I like. *resist* Haven’t you given up yet? How annoying. If you behave like this, then, probably, I can break him into pieces. Like this! *uses magic, breaks the glass* Fake Kou: Ha-ha! What a face! It was the neighboring picture! You thought he was really dead? Even stupid will understand that you shouldn’t go against me. Come on, say: “I won’t oppose you anymore. Do whatever you want to me.” Can you say that? Fake Kou: Ha, your frightened face is driving me crazy. Since you said that, I will reward you. I will drink harder than before. Maybe I should drink from the heart next? Then the blood will flow like a fountain. *you give him a slap* Fake Kou: Ha! So, you defy me again. Well, you’re such an idiot. Fake Kou: It’s too late to fix something. It remains only to train your body. Oh, right. Very handy. *took a piece of glass* Fake Kou: I’ll make wounds to you with this shard of glass. Fake Kou: Do you think you have the right to refuse? Actually, this glass has broken because of you. Aren’t you going to take responsibility for that? Fake Kou: Hmm, you want me to stop. He-he-he-he, I won’t stop. *tears clothes* He-he, what a fool you are. When you don’t like, I want to make even more unpleasant. Ah, clothes ripped to pieces. And the face is wet. The voice trembles and tears flow. But your tortured look is so exciting. Just so you know, for now, I’m only ripping clothes. The most fun is just about to start. Now I will shred all your body with this glass. Fake Kou: I guess, I’ll cut your arm first so that you can see. Look, if I put the glass on your arm and slowly move it… Fake Kou: Ha-ha, blood ran down. It smells good. But not feeling so sugary as before anymore. Apparently, when I take away your blood like this, you become an ordinary person. In this case, you can finally become a meal for the gallery. Rejoice. *blood is dripping* Fake Kou: Oh, blood is dripping. *drinks* Mh, such a small wound is not enough. I’ll gouge it with my fangs. I will dig them deep, really deep. Slowly and gradually. *bites and drinks blood* Fake Kou: Ah, the taste of blood has changed. Heh, bitterness is good too. Fake Kou: Ah? What? I can’t hear you. I can’t stop. I said from the very beginning that I would drink all of your blood to the last drop. Fake Kou: He-he, your pale face is so pathetic. Come on, this is not the end. Where should I drink now? Cry with pain as much as you can. If I get bored, I’ll kill you instantly. *drinks blood* Track 3. Your sweet scent. Fake Kou: Ah, finally the sweet scent started to fade. Looks like now you can be thrown in the canvas. Fake Kou: Aha-ha, you’re so tired. You were fighting like hell. But it’s your fault. If you were an ordinary human, I could throw in the picture and you immediately feel relieved. Kou: Mh… Ah… Run! *hits the glass* Faster! *hit again* Fake Kou: Ah? What, you are just now waking up? Unfortunately, this girl can no longer move. Besides, she says that she can’t escape. Kou: Ha… Why? Fake Kou: Hey, he asks why. Answer him. Kou: I don’t believe that… You should have left me and run. Kou: You say it again… You will never leave me… no matter what I do to you… no matter what. That’s why I liked you. Fake Kou: Hmm, good for you. So? What is this love scene all about? I’m sick of you and this girl. That’s right! I’ll show you something interesting. I will drink her blood in front of you. Kou: What?! *hits the glass* Don’t touch her! *hits the glass* Fake Kou: Shut up! Do you want to feel pain again? This glass won’t break, Don’t waste your breath. Watch with envy how I’ll drink all her blood. Fake Kou: Come on, scream in pain. So he feels everything. Kou: Stop it! *hits the glass* Let her go! *hits the glass* Fake Kou: I’ll bite off, so scream with your sweet voice. Kou: Let her go! *hits the glass, glass cracks* Fake Kou: What?! It can’t be! Kou: Let her go!!! *breaks the glass* Fake Kou: Impossible… The glass painting is broken! Kou: Ahh! Give me back my darling! *hits fake Kou* Fake Kou: Nh… Damn… Kou: Run! Don’t worry, I’ll hold you and run by myself. *pick you up* Let’s go! *ran away* [03:00] Kou: Everywhere you look, there are only glass paintings all around. It’s just like a maze. We can hide here, but the exit is nowhere to be seen. Kou: I think we lost him. Probably he loses sight of us. I’ll put you on the ground. *put down* Kou: Sorry… for not being able to save you right away. *you stroke him* Kou: Oh, that hand? Yes, it covered in blood, but I am a vampire. This is nothing. Although I have a strange sensation of pain because of the magic, forget about me. Bite marks were left on your arm. *kisses your hand* Kou: The taste has changed. Is it because he drank your blood? It’s just like you isn’t you anymore. Kou: Listen, when you were about to be thrown into the picture, I’m sure I’ve seen how the canvas pushed you away. As he said, your blood is special, perhaps it saved you. In this case, your current consciousness is in poor condition. Because your usually sweet scent weakens. If somebody tries to throw you into the picture again, then this time it will definitely work. Kou: Listen, let me drink your blood. You haven’t forgotten, have you? The more I drink your blood, the sweeter it becomes. In that case, he can’t throw you into the picture. I won’t let him take you away. I’m begging you. Kou: Thank you. Don’t worry, I’ll make you feel good, so leave everything up to me. Is he done that? This wound looks awful too. It hurts, right? Kou: You don’t have to act strong. I’ll remove his bite marks. I’m on it. *drinks blood* Kou: Feel good? Okay. Then I won’t hold back and corrupt you with these fangs, as I usually do. Kou: Good reaction. You are really greedy for pleasure. And sensitive to my words too. When I just move my hand across your body like this… Oh, look, you are already out of breath. Kou: Tch! I’m sorry, but keep your voice down. Hey, did you notice? The scent of blood starts to become sweeter. Well done! Forget everything, I’ll do everything. Kou: Now, maybe drink from the thin and soft inside of this wrist? But before that, I need to heal the wound on your arm. *kisses* Kou: Come on, keep your voice low. Was it feel good? Then I will move to the wrist like this. *kisses* Feel where I touch you. *kisses* Kou: Keep your voice down. Well done. But, probably, you can’t wait? You have tearful eyes. Kou: In that case, I will reward you for being a good girl, and drink the blood as you wished. I will slowly drink from the wrist. Feel how fangs sink into the flesh. *bites and drinks* [07:50] Kou: Ah… Sweet. And still rich. You look tired. Your breath became hot. Do you feel so good? It seems I can’t stop. And you are good at teasing me. And the final touch. Look at me. Open your eyes wide. *kissed* Kou: You look so greedy. You really greedy m-kitten, but put it off till later.   Kou: You’re back to normal. Again became the owner of the blood that seduces us. He should have smelled that scent. I’m sure he is heading here. Kou: Don’t panic. Listen, I will distract him, and you run to the exit. Kou: He won’t be able to immediately touch you, because he couldn’t throw you into the picture. I’m in his way, so he has to do something with me first. And you take a moment and run! Get out of here! If you can get in touch with Ruki and the others, they will save you. Kou: Me? No, I’ll figure something out. I catch him off guard and deftly run away from him. Kou: Eh… And why in those moments your intuition serves you well? You’re right. I don’t think I can beat him. Did you see all those portraits that adorn the walls? There were so many of them, and no one could get out of here. I’m crazy if I think that I will beat him, but I will let you run away. Kou: What other options do we have? Kou: Mh… Don’t give up, you say? Good words. You’ve told me this before. But in our situation, the two of us don’t… *someone’s footsteps* Ah! So you came. Track 4. I will choose freedom with these shackled hands. Fake Kou: Hi! Hide-and-seek is over. The sweet aroma became too strong and I immediately noticed it. Fake Kou: Right, thanks to the returned sweet scent that give off a strong smell. Hey, what that’s mean? Kou: Who knows. Fake Kou: Oh, is this your doing? Maybe I should have got rid of you before I start to eat her. In that case, I’ll hurt you even more. Fake Kou: “Stop it”, “do not”… I’m already tired of hearing that. Being a meal it’s all you’re good for, so shut up! That’s right! Too bad I have to waste it on you two, but I will use them. Look around! It is full of glass paintings! If they all break, their sharp pieces become weapons. Like this! *glasses cracks* Kou: Ha! Step back! *loud sound of glass shattering, shards burrowing into Kou* Ah! Kh… Ah… *falls* Fake Kou: Ha-ha-ha! You look like ragged clothes. Kou: Ah… I’m fine, so… you go away… Fake Kou: He-he, you’re all tattered, and you still want to protect her. I do not understand why you resist so much? Fake Kou: If gallery eats you, you’ll become beautiful paintings that will decorate it. Painted pictures always remain beautiful. What you don’t like? Kou: Remain beautiful? Fake Kou: Exactly! You can always enjoy a people who visited that gallery and now inside the frames. Is that not happiness? Rejoice, I will make you pride of this gallery. Kou: Inside the picture… forever… I want to cry from such a life. Fake Kou: Ah? Did you say something? Kou: We are not pictures! Lock people inside the picture, forever leaving them beautiful, and make out of them a work of art, decorating the gallery with them, only to please the eye… And you call this happiness? Are you kidding me! *stand up* I won’t let her go through that! Fake Kou: What is that insolent look? And in such a situation, you dare to talk to me so arrogantly. Kou: I dare! And I will say it again! Because I understand it better than anyone else! In the past, I was locked up in a more dilapidated place. I was beautiful, so they made me into a toy. And I wasn’t happy there. But it’s different now. I learned about the outside world, met her… fell in love… and finally find a way to live as who I really am. Freedom is better, even if it’s hateful, even if it’s unpolished, but it’s better than being locked up forever beautiful. Kou: You’re right, I can’t give up. We’ll be back home together and live happily again as before. I will never give up. Let’s get out of here together! Fake Kou: What? Are you stupid? You have no choice! You just have to be eaten by the gallery and become its exhibits. Kou: I don’t want to live with my head bowed in front of this musty gallery! Fake Kou: Tut! Know your place, food! *grabbed Kou* Enough! I won’t even feed you to the gallery. I lock you in a glass picture like before and smash it to smithereens! *press to the wall* Ha-ha, you’re out of breath! You just acted like a hero, but can’t free yourself from the hands that grab you. Kou: Nh… Ah… Cough… Damn… Fake Kou: And you stay there and watch how he will turn into glass pieces. And then I’ll drink plenty of your blood, and when you’re dry, I will feed you to the gallery. It’s a pity, but you tried so hard. Kou: Nh… That’s I… pity you… My fake! *pushes fake Kou* Fake Kou: Ha! Kou: The one who will be locked in a glass picture is you! *pushes, fake Kou he touches the picture* Fake Kou: Ah… Wait! *sucks into the picture* Kou: Sink into the picture! You don’t have to worry, I’m fine. It didn’t hurt so much. His carelessness saved me. Fake Kou: *hits the glass* Shit! How dare you fool me! I will torture you until you lose your mind! You will regret what you’ve done! Kou: Regret, you say? The light of candlesticks is reflected in the picture and sparkling. Now you’re locked in a picture, forever remaining beautiful, and become an exhibit… Tell me, do you feel happy there? Fake Kou: Shut up!!! I’ll get out of here right now! Kou: Even you realize that there is no happiness over there. Listen, if you break the glass picture, everything inside it will die? *approaches* Fake Kou: Ah… You… You can’t do this! You won’t kill yourself! You can’t kill me! Kou: I can. You are now is like a little me. I was kept in a cage, I was tormented, writhing… I was used for someone’s perverted pleasure. I constantly dreamed of that hell. But now it has come to an end. She put an end to this. So goodbye. Fake Kou: No… Stop! I can’t afford to end it here… *glass shattering* Ah… AAA! Kou: I can’t either. Kou: Sorry to keep you waiting. Can you go? We leave. *takes your hand* Kou: Yeah, it seems fine. I’m so happy. There is no way in hell I would let anyone lock you up. The blue sky fits you better than this dark place. Kou: Yeah, right. This place doesn’t fit me either. He really smashed to pieces. The glass may have shattered, but it still reflects the light. A beautiful thing even when it breaks remains beautiful. But it doesn’t look happy at all. Kou: So, let’s go home! Ruki… Everyone is waiting for us. *go away* Track 5. The portrait broke into pieces *Kou enters the room* Kou: End of report. Oh, I’m tired. *fall on the bed* Ruki was amazed at my story. Kou: Yeah, I could tell by his face that he couldn’t believe that paintings were moving. But after seeing the letters that we returned, it seems he believed me. He said that he would take measures so that no one else would become a victim of that gallery. If the familiars disappear again, there will be problems. Kou: And I felt relieved too. Well, he smashed to pieces, I think everything is fine. But still… ah… Kou: M? Just think that we were used. Our date turned into a nightmare. I probably got various psychological problems and for some time won’t be able to return to normal. Kou: Hmm… Hey, are you worrying about me so much? Then give me your blood. If you give me blood, I think my mind and body will recover. Okay? Kou: He-he, thanks. By the way, since we returned, we were busy and didn’t have time to talk. Haven’t you been waiting for that? Tell me where do you want me to drink? Kou: Eh? I haven’t done anything yet, and you’re already trembling. Just one my voice thrilled you? Your ears are really sensitive. Kou: Then I’ll start from ears. I wonder what will happen with sensitive m-kitten? *bites and drinks blood* Kou: He-he, your embarrassed voice get out. When I bite through your skin with my fangs, does it hurt? Or it feels good? Kou: No need to hide it, I will understand everything by the taste of blood. Sweet, rich and very tasty. Still, it’s exactly what you wanted. You are so lustful, m-kitten. Kou: Your eyes are wet. Now, there is just you and me, so you can be more open. Look, I’ll stroke your throat, and then you purr. You’re a cat, so ask me sweetly. *strokes you* Kou: He-he, now you’ve become obedient. Good. I will let you fully enjoy my fangs. I’ll slowly play with you. *bites and drinks* Kou: Blood became sweet again. Oh, you felt good. When you are swallowed up by pleasure, you are so cute. And the scent of blood quickly becomes sweet… Kou: Ah… Sorry, just remembered something. Listen, do you remember? When in the gallery you were about to be thrown into the picture, but it pushed you away. Kou: Then, I thought you were saved because of your special blood. When I think about this, it seems that gallery rejected you. I have a feeling that it realized that I didn’t want someone to take you away from me. Kou: He-he, but it’s unlikely. We are talking about that art gallery. Kou: Your smile, your tears, your embarrassed look - everything belongs to me. I won’t give you to anyone. No matter how difficult it would be, I won’t let this happen. I promise I will never give up again. Kou: Ah, I love you. Let’s always be together. *kissed*

[low-budget-korra]

The legend Of Korra : Book 02-Philosophy Everywhere

I'm going to divide this one into two parts, talking about the episodes before the episodes 07 and 08 and after them. Due to this first half, I consider the 02 book the weakest of all and here are some of the why.

Beginning 6 months after the events of Book 01, after all that dark shit that happened, everything is great. Right away we had a significant change that was the change with respect to animation, previously made by Studio Mir and that in book 2 began to be made by the studios Pierrot. Nothing against the work of the studios Pierrot , after I started studying digital art I saw that it is something way more laborious than I already thought it would be, but Studio Mir's work was so good in Book 1 that this change is a "down" for the season.

We are presented with the danger of this season, evil spirits and the reality of our dear Fire Ferrets. Bolin is the only one who continues in Pro's Bending while Mako became a cop and Korra is just being the Avatar, and Asami is trying to deal with the CEO’s stuff of the Future Industries.

Now something that bothered me a lot in the first half of season. I felt that everything that Korra went through in Book 01 was for nothing, as there is no development in the character. She remains the same spoiled, arrogant from Book 1

The relationship between Mako and Korra is appalling, especially because of Korra's unbearable and inexplicable behavior earlier this season.

We are also introduced to Unalaq, uncle of Korra and soon we see that his relation with Tonraq is, at least ,troubled. Also we met Tony Stark .... cof sorry, Varrick and what a good surprise this character was.

Returning to Korra, this second season she is even more childish than the first. It's inexplicable, I dont know what happened. Like, I can understand her sense of frustration of still being treated as someone who is incapable of making choices, but what does she do? She goes there and shows that she is incapable of making choices.

Like all the building of partnership and trust that was made in book 01 between Tenzin and Korra, something that I unfortunately forgot to mention in my review of book 01, was thrown in the trash because in the first "fight" she exchanged the Tenzin that literally hugged her in the worst moments of her life until then, by an uncle she barely know

I think that when, soon in the first episode Korra dispenses the Tenzin, Unalaq must have thought : "Man, that was easy"

Then we have Korra with unnecessary anger for her father for him not  told he was banished from the Northern WaterTribe and why. Like, girl, this is certainly something your father is not proud of, maybe even blaming himself for the inexperience and arrogance in which he acted when, after chasing the barbarians who attack the city ,  ended up destroying a sacred place. I'm sure you did not tell him about how "cool" the first conversation you had with Amon was.

Okay, I'll take it easy with Korra, maybe this "Stop Protecting Me"  it is her trying to reaffirm herself as Avatar after all she suffered in Book 01. Then this almost desperation for not wanting to be seen as a child and wanting to be considered a capable person, made her, ironically, act like a child and show herself unable , after make some wrong choices.

You guys remember that when the NorthTribe invaded the SouthTribe, she chose to stay with her uncle and not her father. Even Tonraq being an incredible father.

 (Look at this? This  person is trustworthy right. The guy is sitting in a dark room, alone doing a bunch of nothing. IN THE DARK!)

Unalaq was another one that I did not like since the moment I saw it. He is by far the worst villain even more that Ozai's greatest megalomaniac style, worse yet, Ozai wanted his Nation to rule the world while Unalaq wants evil to dominate simply because he wants to. But I give him something, he was good to see that moment of “wanting approval” that Korra and exploits it in his favor.

**

When Korra discovers that his uncle was responsible for the unjust sentence of his father when Unalaq underwent an attempt of kidnapping and that he also was responsible for the banishment his father years ago. First of all I can not blame her for the violent way she approached the judge for the conversation because I think it would do the same. (Dont mess with the people i love)

**

Something very interesting to note was that this season was where everyone was further away from each other. And the frozen scenery of the northern watertribe helped amplify this feeling. The soundtrack of this season is also incredible,  all of the seasons are actually.

**

Another thing I liked was the interaction between the sons of Aang. It was a bit sad to know that despite being a great Avatar, Aang was a bit flawed as a parent. Paying more attention to his duty to the world than with his family. And clearly having a favorite son, Tenzin. I can understand why, but is sucks anyway

But I also think the character who was best explored this season was Tenzin. We can connect with his concerns. The burden of being responsible for the survival of the airbender culture, the fear of failure, and the quest to be a reflection of his father.

We know more about Bumi, and dude, the scene in ep.04 where he talks to his father's statue, apologizing for not being an airbender, and besides that , he did what he can to keep the world . And Kya is kind of a more lesbian cooler version of Katara in terms of personality.

**

One more “down” to this Book in the beginning was to make fun with the Bolin being clearly in an abusive relationship with Eska. This is not fun people, people die because of it.

Poor Mako in the first half,  his only getting slapped by Korra . Later on  I understand, but I dont agree with his position of delivering Korra's plans to get help for the southern tribe to Raiko. Episode 06 was focused on Mako, Bolin and Asami. We can see Asami, in a moment of weakness that I dont understand until today, kissing Mako. Bolin pursuing film career and Mako showing a certain ability as a detective. This I found cool because it gains another layer to the character , it is no longer just the romantic interest of Korra. It also had virtually the revelation of Varrick as a secondary villain for this arc of them

Bolin also has something nice, If in the first episode, he was shown was someone who only can fight with The Krew, later in book 2 he and we see that he is capable to fight alone for himself.

And Asami, this babe was her own “up and fall and up again” arc as CEO of her dad company. And she shows that she has what its need to take control of the business.

**

I really dont know what happened to the writers in this first half of book 02, way below the expected But Raava inspired them to make the wonder that is the second half of the season. And so I finish my analysis of the first half of book 02

**

Beginnings part 1 and 2 are my favorite episodes of the entire AVATAR series. Seriously, everything in these episodes is incredible, from the differentiated animation (Studio Mir is back baby!!!)to the soundtrack, and of course, the script.

In Beginnings we are introduced to the first avatar, Avatar Wan. And so, we are presented as the cycle began. From real, every time I see these two episodes I cry like a baby.

"Return to the beginning. Find Raava "

Lets talk about  Wan, he was a young thief trying to survive, in a  dangerous and authoritarian era of what might be considered the beginnings of the Fire Nation, a city that lay on the back of a Giant Turtle, protected them from the spirits -dominated forests.

I will not say much about these two episodes because even if you dont remember , go watch, seriously, it's incredible. And because if I start talking about them I will not finish.

In short. Wan receives the power of fire from the Giant Lion Turtle and  go into the forest. Then he  return home before entering the forest, and thus steals the fire power ,which was forbidden to use in the city.What is worth mentioning is that the bendinds there were not developed , dont expect  martial arts movements. 

 Here ,even with power, Wan is merciful and selfless. He did not think only of himself, he did not exposed who participated in the rebellion with him and still spared the life of a guard. He is then banished to the forest and .... aaa did not say, I cant not speak of these episodes man

Anyway, after going through "trouble" on his first night out in the woods. He seeks the help of a spirit who simply says "it's not my problem", so Wan tries to fantasize as spirit to be able to enter the oasis of the same spirit that denied him help. Then he discovers that there are other LionTurtles, and consequently, other cities.

And in his journey, even with hunger he decides to release an animal, which turns his animal partner. And so, seeing the altruistic action of Wan, the same spirit that denied him help, helps him to escape the hunters. And so he decides to stay and learn from the spirits.

And so, Wan learns the dragon dance, protecting the oasis and his friends spirits. My baby Wan <3

Back in town, Wan's old friend decides to lead a group of people who believe that only with the power of fire, it is possible to live in the forests. Needless to say that shit happens right ?!

Then Wan decides to travel the world with his pet, Mula. The music in these parts is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, really.

Then Wan discovers Raava and Vaatu fighting and, unknowingly, helps Vaatu to escape. With the help of Raava ,who at first dont like the ideat of joining with Wan to fight Vaatu), Wan finds the other lions turtles and is given the other bendings.

Raava is light and peace. Literally, the good. Vaatu is evil.

However, Wan can only change elements, when the spirit of Raava passes through his body. Wan is an example of a good person, he literally made the biggest shit in the world but instead of running away, as many would do, he took responsibility and face it.

And it is on this journey that he begins to train heavy, the elements, and learn about the balance of the world.

"He can not destroy light any more than i cant destroy darkess. One can not exist without the other "_Raava

"Most humans think only about themselves" _Raava

Man, this is so true, worse, it's a direct truth. There is no metaphor here.

There we see humans using the power of fire to clear the forest, nothing new  really. The same group as that friend of Wan. And so, these people attack anything (spirits) they see, not knowing whether it is good or bad, just by their own ignorance. What unfortunately happens in various parts of the world with minority groups that are attacked only by the ignorance of the aggressors.

In this 5-minute scene, we see all the power of ignorance and violence. Humans have invaded and destroyed the forest, and still set fire to any spirit that appears. In Brazil we have farmers doing exactly the same thing with the natives, with the moral help of the president. But we are not here to talk about the shit hole that is Brazil right now....

The stronger Vaatu gets, the smaller and weaker Raava gets.

(I'm almost crying because I'm writing while I'm watching this wonderful episode.)

It is then that Wan touch’s on the energy that comes out of one of the portals and this scene happens

(This scene gives me so many chills. Its simple epic)

Now officially as Avatar, Wan and Raava succeed together defeating Vaatu, imprisoning for the next 10 thousand years. It is also Wan who makes the decision to close the portal, separating spirits and humans.

We then see the Lion Turtles talking that a new era has begun, and we will no longer be given the power of the elements to the people. Then shows Wan's narration as he separates two armies, because it seems that war is what a human being does best.

Then we think the episode ends there. With the message of the duty of the avatar and all but ...oh boy we are wrong . We see a much older Wan, mortally wounded in battle. Regretting that he had not fulfilled his duty to bring peace, that darkness still surrounds humanity, he did not have enough time.

"Do not worry, we will be together for all your lifetimes and we will never give up" _Raava

Soon after this talk of Raava, Wan dies and the cycle of avatars begins.

(im not crying... you are)

Something I think is very important to mention is that these two episodes, as well as this season of The Legend Of Korra, use something that I hate, that is the megalomaniac villain and the megalomaniac consequences. Only, especially in these two episodes of the Wan, we are not focused on this  but on the learning of the character and all the wisdom of Raava(the hero).

Vaatu can be evil, he has to be evil because he is evil. Now, Unalaq? "Urrr I will release the spirit of darkness to become an evil avatar because I want, even if it destroys the world."

If Vaatu was the villain alone, trying to lead Korra to the dark side, I think it would have been better, or if Unalaq had been better worked for us to believe in his ambitions ... All the Korra villains have a very cool ideology be it equality, freedom or prosperity. Unalaq is only a classic religious fanatic, and a forgettable villain.

**

Moreover, the rest is just Korra and his friends preparing for Harmonic Convergence to beat Vaatu. And the end of the arc’s of Asami, Bolin and Mako.

Now, on this journey of Korra in the spirit world, when she misses Jinora and meets Iroh. Their interaction is wonderful.

I'll separate some quotes from Iroh to Korra, who at the moment is in the shape of a child.

Iroh says: "Even in material world you will find it, if you look for the light you can often find it. But if you look at the dark, heres what you will see "

Several things can be compared to this speech, but the first thing that came to mind was depression and its power to catastrophize everything. As depressive girl, I think I have the property to speak at least of my experience with it.

As depressive, I often see things on the more negative side and thus, "I search for darkness" and so, it is only her that I see. And as much as the search for light is arduous and tiresome, it compensates. It's a daily struggle. Even in the worst of times, look for the light in the dark and you'll be fine. Even if the path is dark and scary, we all have light and we can all walk that path, whether alone or with help.

And Iroh was also right in another speech, helping others is one of the best things you can do. I can not describe the good feeling that takes care of you when you help someone. I think if we all did that, the world would not be in such a mess.

**

Now let's talk about the shocking and sad scene of the loss of connections. 

Honestly I think it's something that can be reversed, and if I did it in a fanfic the creators can do in HQ u.u

About the fanfic, ~propaganda moment here~, I swear that I will continue translate it a and post at least once a month on Wattpad with the link here on Tumblr.Who was interested, here is the link of the chapters already translated. I still do not consider myself fluent in English, so I accept any corrections.

Link for the chapters in English: https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/117030440-the-legend-of-korra-book-5-legacy

(This is just to say how much i love Korra with loose and messy hair, my god how I find it sexy. And for you guys to see this gorgeus image and forgive me for the “propaganda time”)

Returning...

Anyway, at first, I found it very heavy and unnecessary but after analyzing the series as a whole and not just Book 2, I think I understood.

Korra is the avatar in a world practically totally different from the world of Aang and the previous avatars. A world where technology grows every day, a world each more similar to ours. That is, a new era. And this new age, perhaps it did not need other avatars. 

Dont slap me please. But like, for example, what am I going to ask a 19th-century person how she communicated, if we have the cell phone today? Things have changed, the experiences and how to deal with the things too. Perhaps Avatar Kyoshi does not have adequate advice for the Avatar in an increasingly political and complicated world.

The breaking of the cycle was literally the end of an era of Avatars, the avatars that will come after  Korra, in theory, will be more apt to deal with these problems so similar to what we experience.

But yes, I wanted her to somehow reconnect.

As you can see, although I love reading philosophical, political, social, historical, and psychological things, I do not quote any specific author in my interpretations, but I certainly use the knowledge I learned in what I write. "Lara, why dont you quote this guys here?" Cause my memory is terrible in memorising words, which means that I would have to reread, to know who exactly said what, and my college dont let me have this much time

Another thing I forgot to mention, the Gifs are not mine, more talented people than I've done them, and I just picked it up from the internet. Ican tag you in the comments if you are the author of those

Although it is not the book that most focuses on psychological issues, it does so through philosophical questions of "Who I am" and "What is my duty in the world"

Overall, book 2 of The Legend Of Korra is the most nostalgic of all, in my opinion. And in my view, the theme that stands out is that of "Search for own identity". 

We see this in Wan,Bolin, Korra, Tenzin, and Jinora in  a more prominent way.

Wan on his quest for Avatar's identity, even if it is unconscious. Korra for the exact opposite, her quest is for herself. Who is Korra? And would Korra be limited to just been The Avatar?

Who is Tenzin? He finally detaches himself from his father's image. As he says in the fog of the lost souls: "Im not a refletion of my father. Im Tenzin " Bolin who discovers his is not just a sidekick to his brother, he is more than that

And Jinora discovering and embracing without question her full potential with the spiritual side.

And besides, i hate it the all giant final fight. I simple dont like it. 

[randomwoohoo]

The last chapter before I move to study in UK~ Thank you for reading this series! Have a magical time! And for a heads up, this chapter is... weird...

Clawhauser: Previously on Zoomorphia, Judy and Nick made a huge discovery! Bolt the silver chrome wolf is in fact a robot!... Doing a recap sequence alone is kinda awkward-

Bolt: I’ll gladly lend you a paw~

Clawhauser: Jeepers! Who are you?

Bolt: It’s me, Bolt the silver wolf~

Clawhauser: But you’re white!... It came out wrong.

Bolt: Oh, this white fur? It’s a part of my disguise. Anyway, I tricked a Savage dealer to fall into my trap. I’m so close to capturing her but Hybrid butted in; thus, I ended up killing her instead. And since those two insisted on arresting me..., we got into a fight. Frankly, I wasn’t hurt when they teleport-attacked around but boy, it sure made me dizzy.

Clawhauser: Wow!

Bolt: Hey Cheeto Puff! It was very rude of you calling me like that. I find that racist!

Clawhauser: I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to call you wh-

Bolt: No! Not that! I meant when you refered to me as a ‘robot’.

Clawhauser: Eh? What you really are then?

Bolt: Well, technically, I am an android, I guess.

Clawhauser: Isn’t android a robot looking like a huma-

Bolt: Cut! Cut! We’re not supposed to say the species that never existed.

Clawhauser: Oops, my bad, err, chapter 14!

Fanfiction.net

.-.. . - .----. ... / -.-. --- -. - .. -. ..- .

In the morning at the Zootopia Police Department,

“So, Hopps takes sick leave today?” Chief Bogo the Cape Buffalo was talking in front of the briefing room, laying eyes on his fox officer, who was wearing light green Hawaiian shirt, dark indigo necktie with red-and-blue stripes and khaki pants instead of his police uniform.

“That’s correct~ In fact, she must be sleeping like a log on her bed as we’re speaking.” Nick Wilde the red fox replied his superior in a joking tone.

Clawhauser the cheetah and several other officers were standing around. He could not help but notice a slightly swollen stomach of his normally slender fox friend.

“What’s with the...?” He pointed at Nick’s belly, trying not to offend him since the chubby cheetah like himself might have no right to criticize someone else’s weight.

“This?” Nick pulled the front of his Hawaiian shirt forward a bit. “Honestly, I’m feeling a little under weather today, so I’d like to also take sick leave~” He relinquished his grip.

Clawhauser supposed that Nick misunderstood him referring to his casual shirt.

“More like taking leave to look after Hopps~” Officer Higgins the hippopotamus poked fun at Nick while others laughed. The smirking fox then gave him a shrug.

“Noted, but just so you know, we’re handling lots of work right now. Make sure you come back soon, okay?” Bogo accepted their requests.

“Yes, sir! Thank you, sir~” Nick gave a mock salute.

“The rest of you get in there already. Roll call gonna start soon.” Bogo pointed his thumb to the briefing room’s door.

Other officers entered the room as they were told, except for Clawhauser. He stared at Nick leaving the station, having an inkling of his action.

As soon as the fox stepped out the door, his smirk turning to a frown, he clutched his growling stomach and covered his drooling mouth.

Ever since the most recent battle with Bolt the silver wolf, Nick had been feeling starving.

His hunger was driving him insane although he had eaten everything in sight. He even cleared out the fridge in his apartment by himself on previous night, which should make him full, but still starvation was haunting him.

His stomach was rumbling as his mouth was watering.

The more he thought of his dear bunny friend, Judy, the hungrier he got. That scared him a lot.

Nick then decided to head out to downtown.

.--. .-. .. -. -.-. .. .--. .- .-.. / .- .--. .--. . - .. - . …

“Open up wide” Mittens, sitting on a table inside a motorhome, asked Bolt.

“Aaa” The shirtless alaskan tundra wolf, seated on an oversized couch, opened his mouth wide.

“Pink tongue, salmon pink gums, you look pretty healthy, Not!” The thin black wildcat slapped him with a giant paper fan.

On the surface, inside his mouth looked pretty normal. However, what appearing to be his tongue, his teeth and his gums were in fact engineered devices to imitate real organs.

“Stop fooling around!” She poked Bolt’s chin with the fan to shut his mouth. “Open up! For real this time” She subsequently drew it back.

Bolt, pleased to tease Mittens, brushed the white fur on his chest, revealing a zipper in center of chest, and unfastened the zipper.

As he was pulling open the fake skin across his chest cavity, she checked his insides which were mechanisms and an running engine.

“Cooling fans seem working fine.” She said while looking at two spinning small fans in left and right side chest. She then focused at the engine in the middle by paying attention to its noise, multiple small cylinders running like a heart beating fast. “Engine runs properly. Nothing to worry about~”

When Bolt zipped up his chest, “On second thought, I’d better check the switch lever in your right arm.” Mittens jumped to the right of him.

“That’s enough.” Bored of body check-up, he hopped off the couch, leaving the wildcat sighing.

“I’ve been wondering. Whose guitar is that?” He headed for a guitar leaning against a built in chest of drawers.

“It belongs to professor.” Rhino the tan lemming in a T-shirt tucked into jeans said. He was lying lazily in a pillow on the other couch opposite to the one Mittens was standing on. This pillow clearly was way bigger than him.

“Has he ever played it?” Bolt questioned.

“No idea. It has always been placed there. It’s more like a furniture by now.” Rhino rolled over to lie on his belly.

“Where is he anyway?” Bolt picked the guitar up. Its size was slightly small for a 6-feet wolf but he could go with it.

“Going out to run errands as al-...” While Rhino was answering, he along with Mittens was astonished by Bolt, who had never laid his paws on any instruments before ever since both the lemming and the wildcat first met the wolf, tuning guitar strings skillfully.

“...-ways...” Rhino eventually finished his sentence before Bolt started play guitar.

Played melodies called lyrics to his friends’ minds.

When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires will come to you

“Guys, did you install music software or something into me?”

“No” Mittens and Rhino answered Bolt in unison.

Even Bolt seemed surprised by his skill. He recalled no playing-an-instrument stuff within his one-year memory, unable to remember anything prior. However, all the musical knowledge came into his head.

.. ... / .... . / .--- ..- ... - / -- .- -.-. .... .. -. .

Clawhauser, not having an afternoon shift on that day, strolled around downtown in a jungle green polo shirt and a pair of cello trousers. He intended to visit Judy after he found a right gift for her.

Afterwards, he stopped in front of an all-you-can-eat restaurant where he used to eat. Just thinking about seafood, fried chickens, roasted crickets and pizzas which they served made his mouth water.

“No! Benjamin Clawhauser! Focus on looking for a gift for Judy.” Suppressing his own increased appetite, Clawhauser walked away from the restaurant.

While passing the mouth of the close by alley, he heard a noise of someone throwing up inside the alley. He turned to see the red fox with the dark auburn tip of the tail wearing the familiar light green Hawaiian shirt.

“Nick!?” Clawhauser rushed to his friend who apparently threw up into a trash can.

Nick wiped his mouth with the back of the right paw before turning to meet Clawhauser’s eye. “Oh hi bud, sorry for unpleasant sight” He did not look so good.

“What happens? Food poisoning?” The cheetah fidgeted.

“Just overeating” The quite bloated fox stepped back from the trash can staggeringly.

Clawhauser moved hastily to hold Nick’s shoulder, scared of him tripping over. “Let me take you to your apartment.” The cheetah gave the fox assistance to stand steadily.

“My place is too far away.” Nick was suffering from nausea. His stomach was really uncomfortable.

“I gonna call Judy.” Clawhauser brought out his phone, intending to call her for help since she was Nick’s partner and they two were really close.

“Don’t!... Not her… Please” Nick clung to Clawhauser’s shirt.

The cheetah felt at a loss. “What should we do?”

“I got an idea.” Pulling his phone out, Nick made a phone call.

A little longer than a few minutes later,

After hearing knocks on the door, “Coming! Man, you should give me a heads up earlier than that. It’s not like I would prepare my room-” The small fennec fox with bold voice went to open his apartment door.

“-but I need to prepare my mind to handle a guest-... Who’s this guy?” He was surprised to see a plump spotted big cat helping the familiar red fox stay upright at his front door, “And have you gained some weight?” even more surprised to see his former partner-in-crime looking rounder than usual.

“Sorry to bother you, pal.” Nick came into the room while Clawhauser had to bow his head to avoid his head hitting the room’s ceiling.

The apartment where Finnick the fennec fox, Nick Wilde’s former partner-in-crime, lived was supposed to be for medium-to-large mammal customers.

However, the particular room which the large-eared sandy fennec fox stayed is in an attic and it has a low ceiling, too low for apartment’s regular customers.

“Benjamin Clawhauser, nice to meet you.” The cheetah bent down and offered his right paw to the way smaller mammal.

“Call me Finnick. Bet you are Wilde’s co-worker, huh?” He shook paws with Clawhauser, who then made an shocked expression, which “Why the… face?” confused the fennec fox.

“O-oh sorry. My bad.” Clawhauser apologized, “I didn’t expect you’d have such a… distinctive voice.” drawing his paw back.

“You're not the first person to tell me that.”

“Your place is...” Clawhauser could not help but think that the room was too cramped.

“Small?” Finnick placed his paw on the top of his head and then raised his paw up, implying that the room had plenty of space for a small guy such as him.

“I didn’t mean to offend you! I just thought this apartment is for large mammals since I found some wandering around on the first floor.”

“You’re not wrong. This place is actually for big guys but this room ceiling is too low, so I haggled my way to cheap rent.” Finnick said proudly.

Clawhauser only nodded with a puzzled face in response.

“But still, cuz the doorknob was a little too high, I moved it down.”

The cheetah recalled when he along with Nick arrived at the door, he noted that the doorknob was strangely low.

“At least you don’t have to worry about upstairs neighbors.” Clawhauser mentioned a positive aspect in a hesitating voice.

“Heck yeah~ Make yourself at home. That fox already did.” Finnick pointed at Nick heading to a fridge.

“Have something to eat?” Nick asked, opening the fridge.

“Chilled pizza. Want me to... heat it up?” Finnick goggled at the red fox’s sticking out belly.

“I don’t think he can eat anymore. He’s just-” Clawhauser was going to tell Finnick about what happened with Nick but he was then interrupted by the sound of ripping cardboard.

Evidently, Nick got his paws on the chilled silkworm pupa pizza, claws tearing the packaging box apart. “Don’t bother” He began to guzzle the cold yeasted flatbread with dry tasteless tomato sauce and cheese. In addition to that, its crust looked so tough it must to chew, yet Nick munched it vigorously.

The way he acted indeed scared his friends.

Despite feeling stuffed, Nick was… “I’m little hungry.”... suffering from a ravenous appetite.

Soon after he finished the pizza, he, wobbling drowsily, was slipping into a food coma.

Both Clawhauser and Finnick hurried to help Nick, checking on him.

“Go ahead and take him to my sofa.” Finnick said.

Since the roomer gave the permission, the cheetah took the bellied-out red fox to a sectional sofa, laying him on the long seating part. During the time, the fennec fox distanced himself from others before sending a text message.

Nick spent quite some time lying on the sofa with his arm across his forehead. No matter how uncomfortable he felt or how taut his stomach was, his hunger did not lessen in the slightest. On the contrary, it rose whenever he thought of Judy, her face, her voice, her soft fur, her warm personality, et cetera, including her scent.

He missed her fragrant lavender scent. The more he thought about it, the stronger it became as if it was really there.

He could smell her scent growing clearer.

His ears perked up when there were loud and continuous knocks on the room door. Finnick went to open the door quickly.

“Nick!!”

Nick heard a sharp bawl from a doe rabbit; hence, he raised his head, propping himself up on one elbow, to look past his bloated stomach. He saw his friend and partner, Judy Hopps the gray doe in her casual outfit holding a paper bag, at the doorway.

“Judy?” Stunned, he could not believe his eyes. She was really in his sight. Clawhauser was also surprised what brought her here. In truth, Finnick reached out to her secretly.

“Oh Nick, are you hurt?” Judy, looking so worried, approached Nick hastily.

Nick had not recovered from the abnormal hungriness. He did not know what he should do. He felt scared as she was just a few inches away.

Don’t come near me Judy. Please! Nick was screaming internally. If you get any closer, I’m gonna…

Suddenly, Nick stretched his arms out and caught Judy. Seeing that, Clawhauser, remembering that Nick told him not to call her, interpreted that Nick might lose control of himself and harm her; therefore, he was about to help Judy.

However, Finnick stopped him, wondering why the fennec fox was holding him back but that allowed the cheetah to look what was actually happening.

Nick pulled Judy close, hugging her firmly and fondly on the sofa. Next, he shoved his snout into the fur on her head between her ears.

“Are you feeling okay now?” Nick asked tenderly.

“M-mhm” Despite being puzzled, Judy accepted his hug, dropping the bag in her paw to the floor, and hugged him in return.

“What a relief” He breathed in the bunny’s lavender scent. After many hours of fear and anxiety, he finally calmed down, feeling peace of mind.

Judy stayed in Nick’s embrace for a while before breaking apart from the hug. “My parents sent me a pie made with blueberries from our farm.” She bent downwards from the sofa to pick a pie box in the paper bag up.

“It may be messed up a little bit. That’s the postal service for you~” She laughed off, shifting her eyes around.

“Want some?” Opening the box, she presented a blueberry pie to the fox in front of her. Its top crust had cracks here and there but overall, the pie still looked delicious.

“I’d love to, Carrots, but one more bite, I’ll probably burst.” Nick poked his own distended belly.

“I’ll make sure I will save you slices. Benjamin! Finnick! Have some!” Judy called others two.

Everybody gathered at the sofa. The bunny, the cheetah and the fennec fox were sharing some slices of the pie. When the fox saw that the blueberry pie stained on the cheek of his rabbit friend, he “On second thought, one bite won’t hurt.” spoke to her.

She giggled, “Glutton fox, I knew you can’t pass on blueberry.” about to feed him a small dessert bite with a fork.

All of a sudden, Judy was licked on her cheek by Nick. His wet tongue touched her stained cheek fur. The startled doe could feel tingling sensation from her face running through all over her body.

Startled as well, the tod budged away “I’m sorry! I have no idea what came over me.” and apologized.

Meanwhile, Clawhauser did not appear less astounded than the duo. On the other hand, Finnick just seemed amused.

“It’s...” The blushing bunny raised one paw to her face, “It’s not a problem.” not wiping her cheek, just touching the spot Nick licked.

Both stared each other as if they were frozen to the spot. As for Clawhauser, he merely sat still, gazing Nick and Judy back and forth.

Out of the blue, a phone dinging sound broke the silence, frightening the police officers in civilian clothing.

Finnick brought his smartphone out of the trouser side pocket to check a recent notification. “Savages are in the nearby area.”

Due to existence of Savages the monsters, an application was launched by a government agency to install for free. The app served a purpose of warning about the appearance of Savages in neighboring areas.

“Got it.” Judy jumped down the sofa and charged to the door.

“I don’t think I can go. My tummy’s heavy.” Nick said, staying on the sofa as before.

“Good luck, Judy!” Clawhauser wished her well.

She waved her paw goodbye while leaving the room.

.-.. ..- ... - / .- -. -.. / .... ..- -. --. . .-.

“Those are normal Savages, aren’t they?” Rhino quizzed.

In the motorhome, he and Mittens were viewing live CCTV camera footage which she hacked, while Bolt was observing the Savages from a rooftop of one building in Zootopia’s downtown.

A large long purplish-pink horned sturdy purple bovine monster, covering in exoskeleton with the same color as the horns, and a pair of winged small purple mice were running wild on the street as the fully geared SCU agents tried to taking control of the situation, escorting mammals in the area to a safe place.

These monsters were clearly far from looking normal but what Rhino meant by ‘normal’ was they likely were not among those peculiar monsters following commands or being for sale.

Bolt turned to look down on the ground. “There she comes~” He spotted Judy Hopps from the distance.

“Bolt, stand by.” Mittens communicated with him through their private wireless communication system.

After that, the wolf rolled up his right jacket sleeve and brush fur on underside of his forearm, going to transform in order to be ready to assist Hybrid. A few seconds later, he still remained in his alaskan tundra wolf disguise.

“What’s wrong?” Mittens asked, questioning why he had not transformed yet.

“My zipper got stuck.” Bolt struggled to pull his zipper as it was stuck like he said. Since the zipper would not open, he was unable to pull the lever switch to on. In the other word, he could not transform at that time.

“I don’t wanna say i told you so but i told you so.” Mittens caused Bolt to remember when he refused her to check his arm.

“Let Hybrid go it alone today.” Bolt decided to take a back seat, being only an observer.

At the same time, some of the SCU agents on the ground were dealing with the bull Savage. A burst of bullets peppered it but many bullets deflected off its exoskeleton.

“The cover of this one is too tough!” Wolford the timber wolf agent, ex-police officer, yelled while firing an automatic rifle at the monster.

Meanwhile, several agents, sticking together, swung their long-barrelled firearms like baseball bats to ward off the two swooping winged mice. They would not dare shoot bullets up, afraid of accidentally injuring mammals on the buildings.

“Keep them busy!” Maximus the white stallion gave a command to his subordinates as he and some other agents were occupied with a task of guarding citizens.

At that point in time, hiding behind a corner of a building, “Ready?” Judy talked to her phone, wearing her transformation belt, MidniDriver.

“Hang on” Nick on the other end of the phone line put his transformation device on. Its belt automatically wrapped around his expanded waistline so tight that he “Oof” felt a sharp pain in his stomach faintly. He then proceeded to the next step, pulling the silver syringe on the left of his device. “DRAW BLOOD”

When blood of the fox was teleported to Judy’s syringe, she pushed it “INJECT” before announcing “Transform”. Not hesitantly, she twisted back the handle sticking out on the right of her device. “IGNITE”

With Nick’s mind transferred into Judy’s body, the duo united as one armored rabbit with fox’s features, Hybrid Hustler form.

“Oh my tod! Feeling so much better!” Nick rejoiced when he no longer felt uncomfortable in his stomach.

“Let’s roll.” Judy, together with Nick as the flamingo red hero, rushed to the scene.

The left paw pressing the syringe “ACTIVATE”, Hybrid sprinted with a great speed towards agents who were having a rodent problem. The armored mammal jumped up and clawed the flying Savages in the air.

One dodged Hybrid’s sharp claw in time, whereas the other one’s tail was cut off. Purple steam gushed out from its wound before the wound was closed by its rapid healing.

Right afterwards, the armored mammal landed on the ground amid the astonished agents.

Bull Savage’s instinct alerted it of Hybrid the armored mammal, then screamed at it to attack the recently arrived threat. The Bull Savage, ignoring SCU agents who were shooting at it, sped towards the doe rabbit with fluffy fox tail.

“Hybrid!?” Maximus seemed surprised although he was supposed to expect the armored mammal to show up in the fight.

The mammals, standing around Hybrid, saw the intimidating bovine monster coming their way, thereby scattering.

Hybrid side rolled to avoid being butted. When the bull Savage almost ran past the small bunny figure, the armored mammal “ACTIVATE” activated an enhanced strength, twisted the body while jumping to create spinning motion and then kicked the monster in its flank.

The kick sent the bovine monster reeling sideways. However, its exoskeleton remained intact.

“That bull’s sure tougher than I thought.” Nick commented when he caught sight of neither crack nor scratch on external skeleton of the Savage.

“We gotta try again.” Judy dashed to get the bull monster from its behind.

“Carrots, it’s not a good idea to-” Nick was about to stop her along with Hybrid ’s body from advancing towards the sturdy Savage’s rear but it was too late.

Hybrid under Judy’s control had already leapt to it. At once, the bovine monster bucked aggressively. Its back hoof hit Hybrid in midair, sending the united duo flying backward.

“-approach a bull from behind...” Nick said as Hybrid fell on the ground.

Like always, it did not hurt, still it was a bummer that a simple fight strategy backfired in public.

“Noted” Judy responded unimpressedly.

Shortly afterwards, the flying mouse Savage s dived towards Hybrid. Promptly, a few agents hastily opened fire on the rodent monsters. The purple mouse which still had its tail was shot down on the spot, while the tailless one merely got grazed by the bullets.

The surviving winged mouse, flapping its wings furiously, attacked the armored mammal lying on the back. Accordingly, Hybrid blocked its biting and scratching with both arms.

And suddenly, the bull Savage bellowed, its purple skin turning purplish pink, its exoskeleton bursting apart because of the expanded muscles. It subsequently leapt, plunged and spun around madly.

“This is bad! Bolt! Do something!” Rhino, watching the hacked cctv, shouted into a mic.

“Quick! Switch to another form!” Mittens ordered loudly.

“I can’t! I told you my zipper is stuck!” He tried hard to unzip his right arm, yet failed to do so.

The going berserk purplish-pink Savage abruptly hurtled to a nanny goat and her kid whom a wild boar SCU agent was escorting to somewhere safe.

Seeing that, the united duo concentrated, looking for an opportunity to finish the mouse right in Hybrid’s face, and then seized the winged rodent monster, crushing it in the paws.

Throwing aside the vaporizing lifeless body of the purple mouse with a pair of wings, Hybrid stood up hurriedly. Nick and Judy, sharing the vision, got a glimpse of the boar hugging the goat mom and her kid in order to use himself as a meat-shield protecting them from the raging bull.

Consequently, Hybrid hit the syringe “ACTIVATE”, rashly teleporting to block the way of the Savage that was lowering its head, preparing to ram any mammals in its way. The armored mammal emerged out of thin air to confront the bovine monster face to face.

..-. . .- ... - / --- -. / ..-. . .- .-.

At Finnick’s apartment, he and Clawhauser were getting to know each other more.

The cheetah was amazed by the fennec fox’s real age and the fact that he had known the truth about Hybrid for quite a period of time longer than the cheetah had. For the small canine, he found that the big cat was such good company, especially when it comes to gossiping about the bunny fox duo.

Out of the blue, Nick’s unconscious body, supposed to stay still on the sofa, started to writhe. Clawhauser and Finnick dropped their conversation and hurried to check their friend.

“Wh-What’s happening here!?” Clawhauser panicked.

“Never seen him acting like this before.” Finnick only remembered that whenever the two unite as Hybrid, Nick’s mindless body would appear in a deep sleep.

“Is Nick gonna be alright!?”

“Dude! I’m as clueless as you are!”

..-. . .- .-. / ... - .-. .. -.- .

The boar agent shut his eyes tight, preparing himself to get severely hurt, opened his eyes when the expected pain did not arrive. He saw the raging bull monster was stopped by Hybrid who turned back on him together with the nanny goat and her kid.

Directly after activating the instant transmission ability, physical power of Hybrid Hustler form considerably drops momentarily. To put it simply, in a brief moment, Hybrid becomes much more vulnerable than usual.

At that moment, Hybrid was gored by the bull Savage, the tip of one horn stabbing the armored mammal’s stomach.

The bovine monster, head being forced to be low to the ground, could neither pull its horns back nor move forth because Hybrid was grabbing the stabbing horn and a head of the monster firmly, Hybrid’s foot claws digging deep in the ground.

SCU agents in the area including Maximus became completely speechless.

Hybrid then slowly raised one leg. The leg was stretched up straight, tip of the foot pointing at the sky. The duo as one twisted the handle back “CRITICAL BREAK” before Hybrid brought the leg downward forcefully.

The flamingo red heel struck the purplish pink head of the bull monster. Tip of its horn got pulled out of the armored mammal stomach in the process.

The earth shook when the axe kicking foot hit the Savage so hard that its head sank into the ground.

Shocked, the SCU agents gazed at Hybrid whose paw was covering a fresh stomach wound that was releasing purple steam. They did not know what to do in that situation. Some of them even thought that this was a great chance to catch the armored combination of rabbit and fox. On the other hand, it would be too cruel to do such a thing.

“Come on, guys! Hurry!” Maximus took a step, heading towards Hybrid.

“Is it right to arrest them now…?” Wolford questioned, believing his boss must be thinking about capturing the armored hero.

“Do I look like a idiot to you!? First and foremost, we have to save wounded mammals no matter who they are.” He continued getting closer to Hybrid, “Call an ambulance.” commanding his subordinates.

“Hybrid, please come with us. You need serious medical treatment.” He spoke to the armored mammal.

“Sorry” The voice that came out was female, not a playful male voice SCU agents normally heard, which confused Maximus greatly.

“Gotta dash” Nick quickly took charge of the body, then “ACTIVATE” escaped the scene by instant transmission.

The united duo popped up behind the corner of one building, peeking at Maximus ordering the agents to confirm the civilians’ safety in the area and search for Hybrid. The armored walk a few step unsteadily prior to falling to knees, covering the hole in stomach with both paws.

Judy was fully aware that if she and Nick stayed together as Hybrid any longer in this stage, Nick’s real body would be affected as well and receive a vital injury. She therefore moved Hybrid’s left paw to the silver syringe with intention to detransform.

“Stop thinking it, Judy.” Nick swiftly moved Hybrid’s right paw to hold the left paw back.

“If we detransform now, you will definitely suffer too much damage to endure!” He said, worried about his dear bunny partner.

“You’re right, Nick...”

The left arm which Judy was controlling became less tense.

“Let’s figure a solution together, partner.” She sounded genuine.

Nick, glad that she understood him, loosened the hold on the left arm.

Seizing the moment, Judy pulled the silver syringe.

The very next thing Nick perceived was that he, waking up, returned to his body.

“Nick!” Both Clawhauser and Finnick grew relieved after watching their fox friend writhing for a short period of time.

However, their relief switched back to worry again when they saw that Nick’s expression was full of fear and anxiety.

“Judy! Judy!” The unnerving fox got up in a hurry. The one and only thought in his mind was to save his friend, his partner, his bunny.

But he forgot the important thing...

After detransformation, Nick normally experienced fatigue and this time was no exception. He collapsed on Finnick’s apartment floor, “Judy… Judy...” roughly crawling on the floor as he was calling to her.

Meanwhile, Judy the doe rabbit, kneeling on the ground, successfully detransformed. She clutched her stomach, her face expressing extreme exhaustion mixed with agony.

“It’s called a hustle, sweetheart.” Judy said weakly before she flopped down while drifting out of consciousness.

- --- / -... . / -.-. --- -. - .. -. ..- . -..

[orbemnews]

Traveling This Memorial Day Weekend? Pack Patience. Last year, for the first time in 20 years, AAA, the automobile owners group, declined to put out its annual Memorial Day travel forecast as the surging coronavirus pandemic kept many people close to home. Its forecast this year: Travel is back. More than 37 million people are expected to venture 50 or more miles away from home between May 27 and May 31, AAA said. That’s a 60 percent increase from the 23 million who actually traveled last year, the lowest on record since AAA began counting in 2000. “Americans are demonstrating a strong desire to travel this Memorial Day,” said Paula Twidale, AAA’s senior vice president in a statement. “This pent-up demand will result in a significant increase in Memorial Day travel, which is a strong indicator for summer.” The Transportation Security Administration essentially said the same thing at a news conference on Tuesday, when Darby LaJoye, the acting administrator of the T.S.A., warned of longer wait times at some security checkpoints at airports because of the increasing number of passengers. On Sunday, the T.S.A. screened more than 1.8 million people, the most since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020. While the increasing numbers may be good news for the travel industry, which has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic, for travelers they could make things complicated. AAA said that drivers in major cities should be prepared for road trips to be double or triple the length of a normal trip. So many ride-share drivers have stopped working that those relying on ride-sharing apps may face long wait times and prices that are multiples of their usual fares. Hotel rooms are booked up and many destinations are still struggling to hire staff, meaning that stays may be rocky. Many Americans seem to have booked earlier this year, perhaps spurred by eagerness to get out of the house once they were fully vaccinated. A recent report by the travel technology company Amadeus found that, when the pandemic was at its height, most people were booking within a week of their expected travel, perhaps because it was so hard to make plans. But recently, same-day bookings have been falling, while those for stays 31 to 60 days out have increased. They now make up 11 percent of reservations, compared to 6 percent in the first week of 2021. The result: a shortage of places to stay, especially in top destinations like the Outer Banks in North Carolina and Cape Cod in Massachusetts. “We have 19,000 guest rooms, and we expect them to be full this weekend,” said Bill DeSousa-Mauk, a spokesman for the Cape Cod Convention and Visitors Bureau. “I think we’ll have a completely sold out summer on the Cape this year,” he said. Lodging choices may also be limited because many people who own second homes on the Cape and rented them out in past years have moved, at least somewhat permanently, to the area. Lee Nettles, the executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, said that the area, known for its more than 100 miles of shoreline, is also experiencing a shortage of rental properties. “Our lodging partners are telling us that they’re getting really close to being sold out” for Memorial Day weekend, Mr. Nettles said. Those looking to stay in the Outer Banks should, he recommends, “contact your lodging providers as quickly as possible.” The travel industry still has a ways to go. There are nearly six million fewer people traveling this weekend than did so in 2019, according to AAA, and air travel has yet to reach prepandemic levels, largely because business travel has not resumed. Big cities with hotels devoted to conventions are still experiencing low occupancy rates. But those who are traveling may feel the crunch because of diminished capacity. Hosts on Airbnb have dropped off the platform, and Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s chief executive, recently told CNBC that demand would “probably” outpace the number of available Airbnb listings as travel rebounds. He added that the company would need to add “millions more” hosts in the coming years to keep up. Campers, too, should brace themselves for what experts said could be the busiest camping season ever, according to data analyzed by the e-commerce company Pattern. The company tracked consumer behavior in 2021 so far compared to the two previous years, and found that the demand for camping tents this spring is already up 97 percent compared to the same period in 2020 and 85 percent compared to 2019. Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service, said that overnight lodging at many of the system’s top destinations, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, is nearly or fully booked through Labor Day. Campsite bookings through Recreation.gov, the government’s reservations system, are up 73 percent compared to this time in 2019, she said. “One of our top tips is to make sure folks have reservations before they hop in a car for that weekend road trip,” Ms. Anzelmo-Sarles said. “We don’t want people to show up and have nowhere to stay.” This increased demand is coming at a time when many parks, hotels and food service establishments continue to experience staffing shortages. Over the past 15 months, many hospitality workers have been laid off or have left the industry, and seasonal workers from overseas have been unable to get into the United States. Ms. Anzelmo-Sarles said travelers may see limited services in parks or in businesses in surrounding communities. And a survey of members of the American Hotel and Lodging Association found that 48 percent of hoteliers have closed or limited food and beverage and other hotel services because of a lack of staff. The tourism bureaus in Cape Cod and on Michigan’s Mackinac Island said that Covid-19 restrictions have prevented the usual flood of foreign workers who typically help during their busiest seasons from arriving. “At the moment, there are a lot of owners that are wiping down tables, busing tables, cleaning guest rooms, making beds, doing laundry, because they have to,” Mr. DeSousa-Mauk of the Cape Cod tourism bureau said. “Logistically, will people who visit be happy coming and having to wait for dinner or if their room’s not ready when they arrive at the hotel?” he added. But some people said they got ahead of the curve. Christian Asencio, the executive chef and general manager of the Chatham Squire in Chatham, Mass., on Cape Cod, said he “thought ahead about the staffing issue” after facing it last year. “We put up a bunch of ads,” he said. “I personally contacted chef friends from Maine and chef friends from Florida for seasonal cooks, and they were able to send me a whole army of cooks and servers.” Bill Catania, who owns the Cape Codder Resort and Spa, in Hyannis, said that keeping a core staff helped him prepare for the surge in travelers over the last few weeks. “Fortunately we had a strong base staff to start with, so we’re able to get it done. It’s just a lot harder to do,” Mr. Catania said, adding that accessibility to certain services has been limited and that he has set two- or three-night minimums on some rooms to minimize checkouts. “We basically allow the amount of business that our staff can handle.” But it can be hard to balance that with guest expectations, said Jake Hatch, the director of sales and marketing at the Sanderling Resort in Duck, N.C., on the Outer Banks. The resort’s occupancy is at a record high, and it is charging higher than usual rates. At the same time, daily cleaning has been eliminated and its high-end restaurant, Kimball’s Kitchen, has been closed since the end of the summer season in 2019. It will finally open this weekend. Mr. Hatch worries that guests will want more of a four-star resort. “That’s been a tough line for us to straddle,” he said. Across the Outer Banks, he said, “it’ll be very noticeable around the island that everybody is short-staffed,” with longer waits and restaurants declining to take reservations. “It’s still the same beautiful Outer Banks,” he said, but people should “just be patient as they can be with staff.” Higher prices for ride shares may add to the misery. Susan Subracko, a mother of three who lives in Brooklyn, was trying to get to Kennedy International Airport in early May. She was forced to cancel two rides after the Lyft drivers did not arrive, and when she finally got a ride it cost $160 — about twice what she was originally quoted and $100 more than she usually pays. The company reimbursed her after she filed a complaint. On her way home, there were no ride-share cars available and she instead waited two hours for a yellow cab. A Twitter user who goes by @sundeep recently shared a similar experience: His ride to J.F.K. cost him nearly $250 — about as much as the cost of his flight to San Francisco. In April, Uber announced a $250 million driver stimulus to boost earnings for drivers and get them back on the road. Lyft is also providing incentives for drivers to meet the increased demand. The national shortage of rental cars is another hurdle for travelers. Emily Armstrong, a community college instructor in Kansas City, Mo., said she and her husband booked a van for their family of six three weeks ahead of their 12-hour road trip to the Smoky Mountains on Saturday. But when Ms. Armstrong called the rental company to ask for an earlier pickup, a customer service representative accidentally canceled their reservation and later told her there are no more similar vans available in her area. Instead, she said the family would either squeeze into their four-door sedan or have some of their children ride with relatives. “I know this is a first-world problem, and we understand the shortage,” Ms. Armstrong said. “It was just kind of a surprise and caught us off guard.” Adding to the tension for travelers are the conflicting feelings and differing regulations around mask usage and other Covid-19 rules. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that vaccinated travelers do not need to wear masks, but this does not necessarily apply everywhere. Masks are still required in airports and planes, for instance. Tim Hygh, the executive director of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau, said that though regulations in Michigan have been relaxed, masks are still required on the ferry that takes people to the island. He added that “each business on the island is still adapting their own rules based on what they want to do for their employees and what they want for their visitors.” The Federal Aviation Administration recently said that there has been a “disturbing increase” in the number of unruly passengers who have returned to the skies with the easing of pandemic restrictions. The F.A.A. said this month that it had received more than 1,300 unruly-passenger reports from airlines since February. In the previous decade, the agency said, it took enforcement actions against 1,300 passengers total. Earlier this week, a woman on a Southwest Airlines flight was arrested after getting into a physical altercation with a flight attendant, who, according to one passenger on the flight, had reminded the woman to wear her mask. The flight attendant lost two of her teeth, according to a letter from a union representative to the head of Southwest. Mr. Hygh, of the Mackinac tourism bureau, urges visitors to be flexible and do their research ahead of traveling. “Any time you’re in a time of transition, there’s going to be confusion and sometimes confusion can lead to anger,” he said. “I’m hoping everyone gives everyone else a break.” Jackie Snow contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #Day #memorial #pack #Patience #Traveling #Weekend

[the-real-xmonster]

The Rostelecom Queue

ON NATHAN

Anonymous said:

Hey there! I just had a question about Nathan Chen’s invalidated 2T at COR. Specifically, I don’t understand why it was invalidated in the first place. I thought that the Zayak rule only applied to triples and quads, and even if it didn’t, I swear skaters (Hanyu, 2012 worlds off the top of my head) have performed 3 2T’s in a program and had them validated. If you could clear that up, it’d be really cool! Thank you!

Hi, the current Zayak rule applies to double jumps, too. According to the latest technical handbook, skaters can include a maximum of 2 attempts of the same double jump in their free skate. The only difference is that these 2 attempts can be both solos or both in combos or one solo/one combo without any deduction to base value. For triples and quads one of the two attempts must be in combo or sequence otherwise the second jump’s BV will be reduced by 30%. This application to doubles is a relatively new change in the rule book (if I’m not mistaken, starting from the 2014-2015 season). Back in 2012 such was not the case, so you’d see quite a few skaters doing a +2T+2T and a +2T combo in their free skate.

Anonymous said:

I'm fine with Yuzu in second, but I'm a bit confused with Nathan's 3A + 2T<*. If 2T< is an invalid element would 3A not be a Jump Repetition and its BV would not be smaller?

ISU rule has it that a combo containing one valid and one invalid jump is still recognized as a combo, though only the valid element will receive base value. Nathan’s 2T was invalidated because of the Zayak rule, however his 3A was counted as performed in a combo and so was awarded the full BV :)

By the way, that is the rule for jump combos. If the jumps are performed in a sequence instead, a unit containing one valid jump and one or more invalid jumps would be considered as a solo jump for scoring purpose.

Anonymous said:

my favorite COR highlight was Nathan's pit stains, so charming  

I’ve said this before and I repeat it now, somebody needs to do something about that kid’s costumes this year. Really, seriously.

ON JANNY

Anonymous said:

Hi! I want to ask, if you would be so kind, to share your opinion on Janny's unexpected fall. I noticed that she was also struggling with a lot of her jumps at practice during rostelecom cup as well, which is a bit unlike her. Do you think it was just a bad day for her? I've heard some ppl say that she's grown taller (it's hard for me to tell tbh), so maybe do you think it could be growth issues? I really hope not but I want to hear from someone's who watched skating longer than I have <3   

Unexpected is putting it lightly :)) I was watching the event live and when Janny fell I yelped even louder than when Yuzu landed his quad Lutz :)) It was so completely unthinkable, which just goes to show how otherworldly consistent she has been for the last 2 years.

Janny did struggle a bit with her jumps all that week, even during the exhibition, but I don’t think it’s caused by any major systemic issue. I remember she was having difficulties during practice and warm up at Helsinki earlier this year too, but when it came to the real thing she went out and delivered reliably as usual. Her jumps during the SP at CoR look sure enough to me, as were all her jumps up until that last double Axel in the FS. 

Bottom line, I’d chalk it up to Janny simply having a not so good couple of days. She deserves a break some time, anyway. Let’s look forward to how she performs at NHK before working ourselves into a panic.

Anonymous said:

Do you think Medvedeva deserved 150 points with that fall?

No I don’t think it was a 150-point FS, but not because of the fall. Janny got the right deduction in TES for that so it’s not an issue. I would lower her GOE for the 3F+3T. Her PR on the 3F has gotten a lot better but on the 3T it was still quite bad. Same goes for the 3T in her 3S combo. I’d give her an edge call on the 3Lz too, so in total that’s about 4 points off her TES.  

Her PCS was also a bit excessive, as usual. Judge 7 in particular obviously didn’t bother reading that part of the new rule in which the ISU explicitly cautions against awarding 10 in PCS to any program containing a fall. Oh well. I would not have given her any more than 9 in SS and PE. Her CO and IN in Anna Karenina are much improved compared to what we’ve been seeing so far, but it’s still not 9.50+ material either. Overall I’d knock another 3 to 4 points off of her PCS. Considering her lead over Caro, that wouldn’t have changed the final standing though.

ON YUZU

@electingperfections​ said:

I mean i would have loved for yuzu to take 1st, but i can't be that sad considering (a) nathan showed tf up and skated to win and (b) for the first competition in the series it's a good skate by yuzu and the more important thing is qualifying for the final

I’d say the most important thing for him this season is the Olympics :) Anyhow it’s only the first GP and this was the best result he’s ever had at this stage of the season so, we’re good here :)

@nuttinonice said:

oh man three points aaaaaa so close! Brian was so funny though "hey it was better than skate canada" and that 4lz!!!!! aaa our boy!!!  

As someone who has been following Yuzu for even longer than Brian did, I totally agree. It was better than any Skate Canada, by a mile.

Anonymous said:

What is your opinion about the score of Hanyu's FS at CoR?

More or less in line with my expectation. The GOE on his Lutz was a bit high. It’s at best a +1 jump IMO. Other than that no question about TES. On the PCS side his SS and TR were fair. PE CO and IN a tiny bit higher than I thought - it was not exactly his best showing. Combining the 3 I’d probably knock about half a point off his PCS. Overall, I’d score him 1 point or so lower. As said, nothing out of line.

Anonymous said:

... yuzu's antics are 9gag's instagram... wHY. IM. why is he like this,,,,

Yes I saw it and I laughed my ass off at it too. Petition for Yuzu to start going by another middle name, Memelord?

Anonymous said:

Hi. I love your blog. This doesn't have much to do with rules and technical things: you noticed that Janny and Yuzu had some "tension" (good Tension), they were much more timid with each other, as they were afraid to touch. I don't know if I'm imagining things, but I think they are very aware of each other. They get along well, they're friends. But I think they are inlove. Imagine how romantic it would be if two world champions from different countries fall in love. (hahaha, sorry)

Aha, maybe it’s just me being in my natural state of borderline sociopathic insensitivity but I really didn’t notice anything unusual going on between Janny and Yuzu. To me they looked like they were having a good time as always during the gala and after.

I, for one, would be a most absolutely happy auntie-camper if those two children have feelings for each other though. Wouldn’t they make the cutest of couple!

[fapangel]

Your torpedo bomber post made me wonder: At what point did divebombers really overtake torpedo bombers to the point you could get away with attacking ships with nothing but DBs? From your post it seems that the answer is 'as soon as dive bombers were invented' is that true?

Pretty much, yes. I’ll elaborate on this post to explain why. 

There was a nifty documentary about Pearl Harbor on TV once - I’ve never been able to remember or find the name of it - where they actually ran a tabletop wargame using US Navy war-game rules from the late 30s to play out a scenario where the Japanese Striking Force of six carriers was caught out near Hawaii in time for the Pacific Fleet to sortie against them - so all of America’s carriers + Pearl versus the entire Kido Butai. The conclusion of the wargame had the US Fleet losing badly, leading to the show’s concluding that Pearl was actually lucky for the US, as the fleet was sunk in shallow water a stone’s throw away from massive repair and construction facilities, allowing their salvage, whereas ships sunk in deep water were gone forever. 

The ex-US Navy Admiral that played the US side, however, argued that the results were skewed by the wargame rules assumptions - he said they over-estimated the effectiveness of torpedoes. (If anyone knows which documentary this was, please send it to me.) The wargame, iirc, assumed a 40% hit rate for torpedoes. Historically, that is accurate... for well aimed torpedo spreads. I.E. firing solutions have been entered correctly, target course/speed estimated properly, and nothing happens to foul any of that up. Even with everything working right, only 40% of torpedoes will connect, due to the built-in inaccuracy resulting from the limits of technology at the time. 

So 40% is the optimal pk%. In actual combat practice, they fared far worse. The problem with torpedoes is thus: accuracy, standoff range - pick one. The reason submarines were so lethally effective was their ability to close to effective torpedo range - just from playing simulators, I can tell you I hate launching anywhere over 800 yards distance. For aircraft, torpedoes allowed aircraft to attack without flying into the teeth of short-range AAA (as they would otherwise do to make a glide-bombing or skip bombing attack, so this was of especial relevance for aircraft like the Beaufighter, He-111, IL-2 and other aircraft that used torpedoes extensively during the war in anti-littoral, anti-convoy combat, and didn’t, or couldn’t, dive-bomb.) This was significant enough that the US added a simple glide-bomb kit to torpedoes to extend their range. 

The trade-off was accuracy, of course, and not just because of range, but because ships knew they were under attack. Straight-running torpedo attacks are very simple matters of angles - you simply aim so the torpedo arrives in the same patch of ocean at the same time the target ship does. Thus, to dodge, the target ship simply needs to deviate from is current trajectory - speeding up, slowing down, turning into the attack and turning away all work. (I know there was a little interactive program that let you play with the variables to see how it helped ships to hit or miss, for IL-2 sim players, if you know what I’m talking about, please send me a link.) 

Submarines routinely fired “spreads” of torpedoes even against unaware targets to compensate for errors in plotting or unexpected target maneuvers - an example from Operation Barney was a three-torpedo spread fired at a small coastal freighter. The torpedo aimed to miss just astern actually hit it amidships, because it was slowing down as it approached its destination port. Now consider a ship that knows its under attack, and is thus maneuvering as hard as it’s able. The longer a torpedo takes to reach the target, the greater a distance the target can deviate from where it was expected to be. Now multiply that by the fast acceleration and high top speeds of warships, and you can appreciate why aerial torpedo attack was pretty difficult. 

The Japanese were well aware of this problem, which is why their motto was “press close, surely strike.” They simply got as close as possible to the target before loosing their fish. Unfortunately for them, this meant getting very close to warships bristling with AA, while flying a straight, level, constant-speed course - a perfect target for the mechanical AA gunnery computers of the era. Thus torpedo attack cost them dearly. 

The Japanese so favored torpedoes because they were the anti-ship missile of their day; an insanely asymmetric weapon that let tiny speedboats with delusions of grandeur credibly threaten massive hulking armored battleships. The density of water helped contain much of the blast against the hull they struck, magnifying their destructive power by an order of magnitude, and they went off below the waterline. Sustained heavy shellfire (or bombs) could effectively destroy a ship without ever breaching the hull, but even one torpedo introduced a tremendous amount of flooding and was a real threat to a ship’s survival. They were, and are, incredibly devastating weapons...

... but only if you can connect. To be blunt, dive-bombers were simply much more accurate and far less vulnerable during their attacks. In a near-vertical dive, the range from ship to aircraft changed very rapidly, which made for a very difficult target for AA calculators of the era, meaning a direct hit was usually required - and the window for those was very small. Plus, a bomb was in flight for a matter of seconds before impact, not minutes like torpedoes, making them much harder for a ship to dodge simply by putting the rudder over. Dive bombing is so effective because a combination of the near-vertical angle and sheer speed minimize both angular calculations and the time from release to impact (which magnifies random and external factors affecting the bomb trajectory,) to the point where modern fighter-bombers, with computerized bombsights, are barely any more accurate than WWII dive-bombers in a steep angle attack. Bombs were less destructive per unit, sure, but they were also a lot lighter - and cheaper - than massive, heavy, complex aerial torpedoes, and it was far more likely that the aircraft would survive to the drop point, magnifying the number of effective rounds on target.

Simply put, it was the superior weapon system. This was borne out in combat, and exacerbated by American dive-bombers being superior to Japanese ones - the SBD used split-flap dive brakes, which distributed drag above and below the wing equally (the D3A and JU-87′s dive brakes only dropped below the wing, creating effective lift and thus reducing the maximum dive angle, and thus accuracy.) The SBD also had a swing-out “bomb yoke” which also increased the angle of attack one could execute (without this, a center-mounted bomb could strike your own propeller on it way out!) In fairness to Japanese doctrine, they never envisioned their carriers as becoming the new capital ships, but as a useful attrition weapon against the US battle line - and during the war, battleships that came under dive-bombing attack usually proved more difficult targets than carriers, by sheer dint of more responsive handling and narrower beams. The fact that they were armored, compartmentalized beasts and not floating gas tanks helped a bit, too. But torpedoes were even worse - Task Force Z, despite having no air cover and reduced AA, did an impressive job dodging Japanese torpedo attacks, with Repulse dodging 19 before finally being struck.

These dynamics were evident from the first day of WWII - but of course dive-bombers and torpedo bombers existed during the interwar period, even in biplane form (as the Swordfish shows.) Biplanes make lousy dive-bombers because the lift of the wing imparts horizontal motion (the point of dive-bombing is to eliminate that as much as possible) and biplanes have twice the lift - but the high drag serves as built-in dive brakes and gives the pilot more time to aim, too. The Swordfish is famous for its torpedo attacks on the Bismark, but they apparently served as dive-bombers too, and their accuracy was the equal of any other at around 45m. This bodes well for the biplane dive-bombers of other nations, like the D1A and SBC Helldiver. Payloads were lower, sure, but dive bombers suffered far less from that than torpedo bombers, because bombs are dirt simple, but torpedoes are highly complex weapons. They’re basically miniature submersibles, and their speed depended largely on the size and weight available to cram in more powerful propulsion... and speed directly impacted their accuracy. So if anything, early dive-bombers were more effective than early torpedo bombers, especially when considering the lower reliability and higher complexity and cost of torpedoes. 

tl;dr Dive Bombers Stronk, IJN Go Home

[megaphonemonday]

hashtag blessed

approximately forever ago (I’m real slow filling these prompts in case none of you have noticed) @alwayskels sent me this: Ginny is pregnant with Bawson's first baby and her appetite is insatiable! It turns into a thing where like fans take pics with her at restaurants #EatWithBabyBawson. It's all one big joke in good fun. Mike and the team have a field day with it.

And I have wanted to do a multimedia fic for a long long time. I sensed my opportunity and took it. This was a labor of love and I’m actually really happy with the way it turned out. Hope you like it, too!!

read on ao3 | version with image descriptions

The fact that everyone, from bloggers to commentators to fans to people who’d never actually watched a game of baseball in their life, immediately read into Ginny’s placement on the 60-Day DL shouldn’t have been such a surprise. It seemed like every time Ginny so much as changed her coffee order, the public at large was eager to dissect and discuss the incident ad nauseam.

This was no different.

Another elbow strain. Tommy John for sure. She’s out for the season.

No, it’s just a jammed finger I think. They probably wanna make room on the roster, try out some of the newer prospects in AAA.

But did you see her favor her left hip last week? Her landing was off the entire game against the Rockies. It’s gotta be that.

And, of course: Well, what if she’s pregnant?

By far, that was the most popular explanation.

If it weren’t also 100% correct, Ginny probably wouldn’t be so annoyed about it all.

Then again, the sheer number of times a possible Ginny Baker pregnancy had been rumored and reported on—She walked out of a restaurant with her hand on her stomach? Pregnant. Had a less than stellar outing on the mound? Super pregnant. Sent Mike out to CVS to get tampons because she couldn’t be bothered to pull herself together enough to leave the house? Obviously trying to cover up the fact that she was, you guessed it: pregnant—someone had to hit on the truth eventually. 

It was cold comfort.

It’d be a little funny if it wasn’t her uterus constantly under such scrutiny. And if she hadn’t had all these hormones flooding her system for the past three months.

As it was, Mike was much better situated to find the humor in the situation. He was currently sitting by her side on the couch, one arm draped casually over her shoulders, reading out the responses he liked the most and counting the number of people who’d finally gotten it right. He could afford to find it all funny, though. He’d only been involved in the parts that were fun for them both.

Which wasn’t precisely fair, Ginny knew.

In the three or so weeks since Ginny’d told him the news, her husband had been on cloud nine. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been trying for this in the general sense—they both wanted kids, but Ginny was still going strong and Mike was willing to wait—but they hadn’t put a lot of effort into it. (Aside from getting as much practice in the baby-making department as they could.) 

So, Ginny’d gone off to Spring Training, not once suspecting what might be forming somewhere behind her belly button.

Not until she couldn’t stop throwing up.

It was so bad, she’d had to skip a start. She’d told Al it was just the stomach flu, and even believed it. Only his skeptical smile and insistence on a doctor’s appointment made her wonder if it was something else.

Needless to say, the skipper’s suspicions paid off. She was pregnant. Nearly nine weeks along.

Ginny will never, as long as she lives, forget the look of awe and tender devotion that took over Mike’s face as she told him, shell-shocked and jittery and still happy as hell, that he was going to be a dad.

His hand came up to cup her cheek, and Ginny could feel the way his fingers trembled. Just like his lips as he swallowed, eyes shining. “I’m gonna be a dad?” he repeated, like he needed to hear it again, just to be sure.

She nodded, covering his hand with hers, and finally letting the brilliant, excited grin spread across her face. “Yeah,” she breathed, just before he crashed into her, his lips stretched just as wide as hers.

And how could she help but laugh when he wrenched himself away, his hands fluttering uncertainly near her stomach. “Shit! Are you all right?”

“I’m pregnant, not fragile,” Ginny promised, though Mike still looked doubtful. To prove her point, she pulled him back in and set about showing him how tough she was.

Since then, Mike had been pretty reluctant to leave her side. Which made the one road trip she’d been on something of an experience. He hadn’t been able to come up with a plausible reason to follow the team to New York and Philadelphia, but Ginny had no doubt that he’d really tried. He’d had to settle for hourly text updates, and when she was too busy to reply, pumping his former teammates as subtly as possible for information on her condition. Since more than one of those teammates asked when Mike had gotten such separation anxiety, Ginny figured he was semi-successful.

Which was why she knew that Mike was secretly relieved the team had elected to put her on the DL rather than risk complications.

If she was being honest, Ginny was relieved, too. Unexpected or not, she’d already grown attached to the little bundle of cells growing inside her. Much as she loved her job, she wasn’t as disappointed to give up a season as she’d once thought she’d be. Then again, after four seasons in the show, Ginny no longer had to battle and grind and push to keep her spot in the rotation. No, she’d probably never move much beyond her spot as the number five starter, but her ERA and win-loss record spoke for itself. She wasn’t going anywhere.

Even after a baby.

So, the public could speculate and take to Facebook and Twitter to talk about her all they liked. They couldn’t change the fact that Ginny Baker was living the dream: a starting pitcher in MLB, married to the love of her life, and expecting her first child. 

That was real. That was tangible, unlike all the talk currently flooding the internet. 

And real life, the life where Mike’s fingers were toying with her hair and she could smell their dinner simmering away on the stove, that was what mattered.

People said pregnancy was magical. 

Ginny had more than a few doubts on that front. 

Going into this, she had no illusions that her North Carolina public school sex education had been anything close to adequate. Which was why she’d set out to fill in the gaps in her understanding.

(Not the process of making the baby—she had plenty of experience with that, thank you—but what came after.)

And the more she read about pregnancy, with all its potential dangers and complications—the more horrified she became. 

“Did you read this?” she demanded throwing What To Expect When You’re Expecting on Mike’s cluttered desk. 

He peered at the book for a second before glancing up to her, his reading glasses slipping down his nose. Which just wasn’t playing fair. He knew how Ginny felt about his glasses. 

(In fact, it was potentially those exact feelings that would wind up taking all of Ginny’s research out of the realm of theoretical and landing it squarely in reality.)

“Which part?” he hedged, closing his laptop and giving her his full attention. 

That was one of the things about Mike. It didn’t matter how irrational Ginny knew she was being, he always treated her concerns and fears with nothing but complete gravity. And he never tried to talk her down without knowing what those concerns were. 

She swallowed. “All of it?”

“Not yet,” he answered honestly. “I kind of figured we had time on that front.” His eyes narrowed and darted down to her flat stomach before landing back on her face. “We do have time, right?”

“Yeah,” she laughed, which was apparently all she’d needed to let this pile of worries melt away for the time being. Ginny wouldn’t forget the things that’d scared her, but Mike was right. She didn’t need to worry about them now. “We’ve got time.”

But that was before she found out she was pregnant. 

In the after, Ginny had become remarkably zen about it all. Sure, she’d probably see pimples in places there hadn’t been since she was an acne-prone teenager and later she’d need to pee every fifteen minutes and the mood swings didn’t sound like a walk in the park, which was to say nothing about the changes she’d have to make to her diet, but—

(And it was a pretty big “but.”)

But at the end of it all, she’d have someone who was the perfect blend of her and Mike. Someone who was proof positive of how much they loved each other. Someone to add to their family. 

And that was a fair payoff for what Ginny would have to go through to get to that point, she thought. 

Just. She didn’t always have to be reasonable about it, did she?

In retrospect, Ginny would acknowledge that she could’ve been less dramatic. But her whole life, she hadn’t been able to eat cilantro without thinking about the time her pop washed her mouth out with soap for repeating the curse Evan Larson had taught her in pre-K Sunday School. Now, she nearly ate half of Livan’s sopes before he remembered to tell her he’d asked for extra of the disgusting herb. 

What the hell had pregnancy done to her taste buds?

She’d honestly thought Mike would find the story funny, maybe even figure out how to get it down to 140 characters so he could tweet about it. 

(He’d really gotten into social media post-retirement. Eliot had been more than delighted to give him a tutorial that first winter, and soon, Mike could give the best of them a run for their money. Privately, Ginny thought he mostly used it to avoid finishing the memoir he’d insisted on writing himself, but whatever made him happy.)

She certainly hadn’t expected him to send out a panicked group text to nearly every one of their friends and acquaintances asking if they knew of her whereabouts. Since she’d been in the clubhouse, trying to keep up appearances that this assignment to the DL was injury-related, approximately half her teammates came rushing into the dining area to check on her and make sure Livan wasn’t in the process of murdering her or something.

Since the Cuban was too busy laughing his ass off at Ginny’s distress, which, while rude as hell, wasn’t going to kill her, most of them wandered off to finish their pre-game prep. Still, not a single Padre had any desire for their former captain to burst into the clubhouse in a haze of Ginny-induced panic. As team captain, Blip took it upon himself to inform his predecessor that his wife and future offspring were fine and headed home.

It wasn’t that Ginny didn’t feel bad for worrying him, but she also felt he could afford to take a step away from the edge of constant panic. Some time after that haze of blissful anticipation wore off, Mike dove headfirst into preparation mode. He called it nesting; Ginny'd call it something else. Currently, he was in the midst of trying to baby-proof the entire house and refusing to believe that they didn’t need a toilet lock for at least six more months.

(Ginny did her best to distract him when he really got going, and while there was a certain novelty in being the calm and steady one now, there were only so many times she could lure him back to bed—or the couch or the shower—without raising his suspicions.)

So, she listened to her captain and went home to talk Mike down. After all, the team wasn’t wrong in assuming it was only a matter of time before Mike burst into his former domain, wild-eyed and terrified. 

When she walked in the door, it was to that exact sight. 

Mike had clearly been pacing a hole in the floor, his car keys clutched in one hand, like he didn’t quite trust Blip’s report and was fully prepared to rush out if Ginny didn’t make it home quick enough. Any exasperation she might have felt faded away at the palpable fear etched across her husband’s face.

The keys dropped to the floor when he caught sight of her. In no time at all, he had Ginny wrapped up in his arms, his face pressed into her hair as shuddering breaths wracked his frame. 

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, smoothing her hands up and down his back. The muscles there didn’t quite relax, so she rucked up his shirt, laying her palms against his warm skin. By degrees, his breathing evened out, all while Ginny promised, low and sure, “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

He nodded but didn’t loosen his grip on her.

“Are you okay?”

Mike nodded again, and Ginny felt the precise effort it took for him to make the high-wire tension of his muscles loosen, approaching something close to normal. She pressed a kiss to his collar bone and another to the base of his throat, waiting until he sighed. 

Finally, she tipped her head back to look him in the eye. There were still more than a few jitters clanging around somewhere in that head of his, but he looked far more settled than he had been. 

“The sky’s not falling, Mike. I’m not gonna tell you not to worry, but this is a good thing, what we’ve done. Let’s enjoy it.”

“Okay, Gin,” he said, nodding his agreement. He’d follow her calls for this. There was still a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, but his smile was steady. 

That was a start, and, with them, a start was all they needed.

After Ginny asked Amelia to issue a statement about the impending addition to the Baker-Lawson family, she sort of expected to be done publicly talking about the state of her uterus. 

She was pregnant. She and Mike were very happy about it. She and the developing fetus renting out her womb for the next however many weeks were healthy. 

What else did anyone need to know?

How she’d ever deluded herself, Ginny would never know because within minutes of the statement going live, the news had exploded across the internet. It probably didn’t help that it wasn’t just ESPN and Fox Sports reporting on it. No, gossip sites and blogs had picked it up, too, and run with it.

Which was to say nothing about Twitter. 

All it took for people Ginny had never heard of, people she’d never meet or even pass on the street, to weigh in on her pregnancy was a valid email address and an internet connection. 

And they were all led by none other than her husband and his crusade to make #BabyBawson a thing.

If Mike was disappointed that she’d nixed all of his social media-based pregnancy announcements, he’d gotten over it quickly. He didn’t respond to every congratulatory tweet, but only because it was an impossible task. As soon as he’d get done with the last of them, a hundred more would’ve been posted. 

When Ginny’d asked him to enjoy the ride, she was pretty sure this wasn’t what she meant. 

But, he was happy, and it was hard to argue with that. 

In fact, a lot of people were happy about this baby. People were excited for her, which was a gratifying change from the usual reaction when Ginny’s name was in the news. 

It was pretty overwhelming, too, if Ginny was being honest. Overwhelming enough that she mostly elected to stay off social media. 

If only her friends had gotten the memo.

Not that Ginny even minded Evelyn sharing this. It was different when it was her closest friend sharing her excitement.

Ever since she first found out, Evelyn had been her rock. Evelyn was her only good friend who was also a mom. She was the only person Ginny could talk to about all the changes her body was going through or about what to expect next.

After the requisite congratulatory hugs and celebrations and check ins, Evelyn Sanders got down to business, peppering Ginny with enough information to make her head spin. Everything from the various pros and cons of a midwife versus a doula to the nitty gritty details of breastfeeding to the best yoga positions to keep her back from getting too sore once she'd swelled up like a blimp was laid on the table.

“Oh, and we still have all the parenting and pregnancy books, so don’t worry about buying those, either.”

Ginny laughed, the weight of keeping this secret from her best friend lifting off her shoulders. “Ev, the boys are twelve! Were you just waiting for this moment?”

“Yes,” she responded immediately, setting Ginny off again. “I tried to donate them once, but Blip snuck them out of the box like I wouldn’t notice. I don’t think he’ll mind them going to you two, though.”

Blip hadn’t quite given up the dream of a baby girl Sanders, but he’d gotten much more philosophical about it all. With Ev back in school, and getting her business up and running, he could admit that the past few years wouldn’t have been ideal timing to add on to the Sanders clan. Anyway, he and Evelyn were still young; they had time.

Maybe—just maybe—by the time Mike and Ginny were done with the books, Blip and Ev would need them again.  

After all, it'd be kind of nice for their families to have two generations and three sets of best friends.

So, the fact that Evelyn was ecstatic for her, that was nice to know, nice to have everlasting proof of, even if the world got to know about it, too.

And anyway, Evelyn’s online exuberance didn’t have anything on Mike’s.

He was an excited first time dad. How could Ginny blame him? 

Honestly, though, it didn’t bother her that people were talking about her. Not really. Sure, it was one thing for her husband and friend to talk about how excited they were and an entirely different one for a stranger to do it. That was more than a little strange, but she’d mostly accepted that that kind of attention was a part of her life now; ever since Ginny first started making waves in the minors, people had been talking about her. If she let it bug her, she’d never get anything done. 

Just, she didn’t particularly want to deal with it herself. 

So, she did her best to shrug off her clogged notifications on Twitter and Instagram and go about the business of growing another person inside of her. 

And, lately, fending off some of the truly ridiculous cravings that had taken over her refrigerator and life. 

The cravings, when they came, were no surprise. Remember, Ginny’d done her research. If anything, she’d been looking forward to them. Someone who’d already enjoyed her food, Ginny looked forward to a period of judgment-free eating. After all, was eating banana peppers on everything for a week straight that much stranger than some of the “health” foods her trainer had tried to convince her to eat?

She knew what Mike would say, but the little disagreements were what made a marriage interesting.

But while Ginny—and Mike, who had cheerfully taken on the sudden increase in grocery store runs—took these cravings in stride, the same couldn’t be said for the public at large.

Ginny’d always liked food and had never bothered to pretend she didn’t. But, since she was a woman in the public eye, this was often treated as some sort of alien anomaly. People always wanted to know what she was eating: her game day meals, what she had on cheat days, secret diet tips. 

Of course her cravings were no different.

Between Ev and Mike, people had definitely clued in and picked up on the fact that Ginny had really settled into the inexplicable cravings stage of pregnancy. There was tons of advice pouring in from all over the world. How to deal with it and what to do when they were impossible to sate. It was all incredibly sweet, even if Ginny couldn’t sympathize with the impulse to send a total stranger pregnancy advice.. 

Less sweet—more puzzling—was how invested people continued to be in these cravings of hers. 

In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been so surprising that run of the mill pregnancy cravings had become such a fixation for people. The public at large was hungry for details—#BabyBawson had trended at least three times—that Mike and Ginny just weren’t providing. Since they’d chosen not to find out the sex of the baby, debates about possible names or future careers were too theoretical to keep anyone’s attention, and even though her and Mike’s relationship had caused something of a stir when they first went public, they’d now settled hard into boring domesticity. Well, Ginny wouldn’t call it boring, but she could see how cozy dinners at home and trips to the farmers market didn’t exactly make for riveting news.

Aside from Mike’s unbridled excitement, the only information anyone really had about Ginny’s pregnancy were the cravings. Where else would all that curiosity fixate?

It wasn’t until she came across Mike taking a picture of their grocery list, though, that Ginny realized just how fixated it was. 

He frowned down at the pad of paper sitting on their kitchen table, next to the neglected bags of groceries and his keys. As Ginny started putting things away, approvingly noting that he’d anticipated her sudden desire for Nutella and bananas on toast, Mike squinted up at the overhead light and shifted, his shadow moving away from the table. 

“What are you doing?” she asked, already unscrewing the jar. Why wait for toast, anyway? A spoon was good enough. 

“Taking a picture,” he replied absently. 

Ginny rolled her eyes, not that Mike noticed. She drifted over to his side and propped her chin on his shoulder, peering down at the phone in his hand. 

“Are you seriously posting our grocery list to instagram?”

“Our third grocery list this week,” he corrected, bumping her hip with his, but failing to dislodge her. 

Ginny just laughed, leaning harder into his side. She didn’t pay much attention as he picked his filter and fiddled with the settings; she was too busy planning on getting him back in bed for an afternoon nap. When he made a satisfied noise, though, she turned her attention back to the screen and couldn’t help but laugh again.

“What?” Mike asked, grinning down at her. 

“Our unborn baby does not need two hashtags. It doesn’t even need one!”

He laughed, too, and kissed her forehead. “That’s not what the internet thinks, Gin,” he said, and sent the picture out into the world.

Whether he meant to or not, with just one post, Mike set off a verifiable social media movement. Seriously, when Eliot looked into it, he couldn’t help but be impressed by how quickly the hashtag took off.

The one time she brought herself to look at the search results, it was mostly full of people talking about how cute it all was, how excited Mike was about her pregnancy. 

Ginny couldn’t disagree.

He was cute. Ginny’d lost track of the number of pictures of onesies and maternity shirts he’d texted her, mostly without comment but the intent clear. Still, she had every single one saved in a folder on her phone. Going to Target with him had become next to impossible since he always ended up in the baby aisle, staring in awe at all the tiny shoes and blankets and toys. 

If Ginny’d thought about it, a picture of that—bearded, take no shit Mike Lawson undone by the sight of some baby essentials—would’ve blown #EatWithBabyBawson out of the water. 

As it was, she liked getting to keep that part of him all to herself. 

Even if the internet was blowing up with her eating habits as fast as Mike could supply them. She’d leave the social media stuff to him.

But then her teammates had to go and get involved. 

Technically, there was no reason for Ginny to keep going into Petco. She wasn’t actually injured. It wasn’t like she had to check in with the team trainers or make sure she was keeping up with her workouts. Which she was; Ginny might be taking more naps than she was used to, but even pregnancy couldn’t completely erase her practically boundless energy.

Then again, she’d spent her entire adult life in and out of stadiums. It didn’t feel right to be anywhere else during baseball season. 

Her teammates were generally pretty good about her and her growing baby bump’s presence in the clubhouse. There were enough dads on the team that no one hassled her.

Well, not in ways she couldn’t take.

Ginny didn’t care what anyone said. That omelette was delicious. She even got Jean-Luc to try it and in spite of his refined Parisian sensibilities, he’d admitted she was on to something. 

So had every Padre that she’d convinced to take a bite. 

Which was, admittedly, a pretty small group. Not that she could blame them considering how territorial she’d been over her bag of Funyuns the other day. Sonny was just too busy smarting from the way she’d smacked the snack out of his hands to admit to her culinary genius.

And really, they were just lucky she hadn’t shown up with the peanut butter and olive kick she’d been on the week before. 

In protest, Ginny resolved to steer clear of the clubhouse for a while. See how much they liked having the clubhouse menu go back to skinless chicken breasts and steamed vegetables every meal. They’d beg to have her back in no time flat.

Habit was a hard thing to break, though, and the following day, Ginny found herself back at Petco Park. Frowning, she stared up at the familiar facade outside the players’ entrance. She couldn’t go inside. Not if she wanted to teach her ungrateful teammates a lesson. 

So, rather than winding her way to the clubhouse, deep below the stands and concession booths, Ginny decided to stay well above ground. Cheerfully, she circled around to the front gates, calling Eliot as she walked.

It’d been a long time since she’d actually had the chance to sit and watch a game; she might as well take advantage of the opportunity. And since Mike was knee deep in edits to his memoirs, Ginny figured her beleaguered social media manager was the perfect recipient for her second standing ticket. 

After all, she’d put him through quite a bit lately. Even though Ginny still replied to the tweets and Instagram posts from her friends and teammates and whoever else Eliot deemed appropriate on her own, he took care of the rest. 

And the rest was substantial.

Technically, this was well above his pay grade. As Vice President of New Media in the Slater Management Group, monitoring one client’s social media presence should’ve been well beneath his notice. But Ginny didn’t quite trust the horde of interns and associates Amelia’d hired to form the base of her sports agency empire. 

And anyway, Eliot was a bit of a pushover. Supply him with enough snacks, and he’d do anything.

Ginny wasn’t exaggerating. She really could only go so fast, which was its own adjustment to make. In spite of all the eating she’d been doing, she hadn’t put on a ton of weight. It was the bump that slowed her down. Practically overnight, it’d blown up, delighting Mike who already had a hard time keeping his hands off her.

Where before she’d been able to hide the swell in loose tops and baggy sweatshirts, there was now no denying that Ginny Baker had been knocked up, and Mike couldn’t be any more smug about it. 

“You popped,” he grinned, coming up behind her as she frowned at her reflection in the mirror. This shirt had fit just last week. How was it pulled so tight now?

His hands landed on the fullest part of her belly, and Ginny couldn’t even bring herself to roll her eyes. Instead, she turned slightly to the side to better observe the molehill that’d become something of a mountain. 

“I guess I did,” she finally laughed, leaning back against Mike. “It’s not so bad, right? I mean, as long as I don’t get bigger.”

Wishful thinking. 

That’d been a few weeks ago and it seemed like all Ginny’d done since then was get bigger.

She didn’t feel slow per se, but she was suddenly so much more conscious of how she had to navigate spaces. Not only did she have to escape the grasping hands of strangers—Seriously, what about a pregnant woman’s stomach made people so eager to reach out and touch?—she had to plan her routes differently, allow herself more time to make it from Point A to Point B. Ginny could no longer slip through crowds or skip down the stadium stairs without a second thought. Maybe Mike and his worries had rubbed off on her, but she was conscious of every step she took now, careful in the extreme.

If some of her teammates were more than willing to poke fun at her for this, Ginny didn’t really mind. 

After all, she was more than capable of getting them back.

(Like he could’ve said anything else when she knew exactly where he slept. Still, Ginny made sure he knew exactly how happy his response had made her the first chance she got.)

And he didn’t keep his petty vengeances to the internet, either.

He did look to it for his inspiration, though.

During the All-Star Break, for those Padres unlucky enough to neither be selected to the team nor have any real plans to get out of it, Mike hosted what he named: “Top Chef: Not-So All-Stars.”

He thought it was funny, at least.

It was less a cooking competition than an excuse to make his former teammates come congratulate him on his impending fatherhood and bring food along with them.

Ginny did taste test every dish, though. Less because she wanted to rank them and more because she wanted to see what their wives and girlfriends had to put up with on a regular basis. 

Either being pregnant was messing with her tastebuds more than she’d thought, or her teammates were less of a disaster in the kitchen than she’d expected. Nearly every single one of them produced something that Ginny wouldn’t mind eating. Most of it even passed Mike’s more exacting standards. 

“Did you seriously make Lorena eat this last time she was pregnant?” he asked Salvi, peering suspiciously at the casserole dish. 

“Make her? It was all she’d eat for four days straight. I though I was going to have to invest in Ore-Ida to keep enough tater tots in her house to keep her and the boys fed.”

Mike still looked skeptical. 

“Just try it, old man,” Ginny teased, already trying to decide which of her teammates’ cooking she was going to try next. Omar’s ropa villeja looked pretty promising. “Or Salvi’s gonna think you’re chicken.”

When the first baseman started clucking under his breath, Mike swept a mutinous glare between him and his wife, who definitely wasn’t holding in a burst of laughter, and scooped a heaping forkful into his mouth. After a long moment of thoughtful chewing, he swallowed and pronounced, “That was disgusting.”

Ginny didn’t bother reining in her laughter after that. 

It wasn’t just her teammates and friends that got in on the fun, though. Ever since Mike had created #EatWithBabyBawson, people had been adding to it like crazy. Eliot always made sure to tell her when it trended in San Diego. 

Which was essentially every other day.

Mostly, it was people documenting their sightings of Ginny in the wilds of the city, creating a spotty map of her movements and the evolution of her cravings from day to day. 

Needless to say, as Ginny’s food swings (as Evelyn had taken to calling them) rolled on and on, there were many points of data to add. Hundreds of little incidents between Ginny and fans, all documented for posterity on social media.

And Mike encouraged them. 

If they were approached in a restaurant and Ginny was feeling up to it, he always cheerfully took a picture of his wife and her fan and often even sweet talked his way into getting a copy of the photo for himself. Ginny wasn’t unconvinced he wasn’t saving them in a scrapbook somewhere. 

He certainly had more than enough material. 

If Ginny wasn’t feeling up to it, though, Mike was the best buffer in the world. Even if he weren’t naturally charming, he’d learned over his close to two decades in the show how to interact with fans, how to joke and cajole and make a stellar first impression without doing all that much. It was one of the things Ginny admired about him. While she could fake her way through any number of uncomfortable interactions, Mike hardly ever got uncomfortable in the first place. He was too easy in his skin for that. 

Either way, the sheer number of positive Ginny-and-Mike interactions with the citizens of San Diego certainly had to be laid at Mike’s door. The bigger Ginny’s belly grew, the testier she got.

While she was always grateful for fans and their support, she was more than happy to leave their appeasement to Mike. After all, he wasn’t the one growing a whole new person. 

And he was more than happy to take that responsibility. Especially since it meant he got to trawl the internet for more fodder for the scrapbooks he swore he wasn’t making.

He showed the last one to her as they sat in bed at the end of a long day at the beginning of August. There were still two months to go until Ginny’s due date, but she couldn’t imagine getting bigger. Lying flat and looking down her body, she couldn’t see her toes unless she lifted one swollen ankle into the air. Which she did to frown at how fat her feet had gotten. 

She paused in this endeavor, though, when Mike waved his tablet at her. Ginny obligingly took it and skimmed over the story. When she was done, she handed it back and informed him, “I don’t even wanna know how you find this stuff.” 

“Then I won’t tell you,” he replied, prompt, before raising one eyebrow at her. The grin on his face had her melting even before he teased, “Sounds like someone’s got a crush on you. Should I be worried?”

Laughing, even as a little foot drummed away inside her belly, Ginny teased, “As long as you don’t cut off my animal style fries like you did all my cheese plates.”

“Listeria’s no joke, Baker.”

She waved him off, but plucked one hand from his tablet and laid it low against her stomach. What only a few months ago had been a slight flutter against her insides had become a definite kick. Mike’s face lit up and he abandoned his device and scooted down the bed so he could press his ear to the dome of her belly. Ginny watched fondly, even when the kicks shifted to her kidneys. 

“Once this thing’s out of me, I’m eating so much brie, Lawson,” she promised. 

“I’ll buy up all the cheese in France if that’s what you want,”

“And the wine, too?”

“So greedy,” he laughed, lifting up so he could press a kiss against her smiling mouth. When he pulled away, he said, “Whatever you want, Gin. It’s yours.”

“Just you. Just you and this one,” she said, laying her hand back against her stomach, right next to his. 

“Sounds good to me.”

By the end, Ginny wouldn’t say that she completely understood the dynamics of #EatWithBabyBawson, but she’d also accepted that that was okay. It didn’t matter that she had no clue what most of these people got out of it. 

There was something, and it didn’t matter that she was on the outside of it.

What she did know was how lucky she and her unborn baby were to have so many people in the world who cared so deeply about them. These were good people who wanted only the best for her and her family, and were trying to make sure, in whatever small ways they could, that she had an easy pregnancy.

(And if she got some excellent restaurant recommendations out of it, that was just a bonus.

Ginny’d be lying if she said she didn’t go out and try each and every one of these. They did not disappoint, either.)

So while her cravings had settled down and she was back to mostly eating like herself, she still appreciated the fact that people took time out of their day to worry about her. 

These were good eggs. Ginny didn’t completely understand them, but she was grateful for them nonetheless.

Which was why, even minutes after her water broke, while Mike dashed around the house collecting her go bag and going through his three separate checklists, Ginny sat down at the kitchen table. 

Waiting at her place was the snack she’d just made for herself. Nothing fancy— the opposite of fancy, in reality—but she’d really been looking forward to eating it. Maybe it was the prospect of her own child’s nearing due date, but Ginny’d been thinking about her own childhood lately, and an after school classic sounded delicious. 

She was just coming back to the table with a glass of water when she felt something wet spill down her legs. 

Frowning at the still full glass, reality didn’t set in until Mike cursed behind her. 

“Did your water break?” he asked, faint. 

“I think it did,” she replied. 

And he was off, leaving Ginny to contemplate her uneaten snack.

Mike rushed back into the kitchen, looking pale and eager and vaguely nauseous, just as Ginny fished her phone from her pocket and gingerly eased into her waiting chair.

“Ginny, what are you doing?” he demanded, sounding like he’d love nothing more than to pick her up bodily and deposit her in the car so they could dash off to the hospital. 

“Taking a picture,” she snarked back. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as Mike shifted impatiently at her side. Once everything was just how she wanted, she tapped the screen one last time and sent the picture out into the world. 

Only then did she turn to look at Mike and, with a smile, say, “What are you waiting for? Let’s go have a baby.”

[keegames]

AAA Value vs. Focused Design, or The 3D Sonic Problem

I’ll not mince words: I’m a Sonic fan. Ever since I borrowed the Sonic & Knuckles Collection for our old PCs, I’ve loved what the hedgehog has brought to gaming. As it stands, however, Sonic has had a rocky history with his 3D games. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic Unleashed, Colors, Generations, Lost World… even the best of these games have had glaring flaws, and the worst have been some of the most infamously bad games in gaming history. Still, you can always catch me anticipating the next adventure from the blue blur, as even his worst games provide ample material to analyze.

While I could write entire chapters on what works and what doesn’t in nearly all of these games from a design standpoint, I’ll instead cut to the chase and focus on the core problem that has plagued Sonic ever since his jump to 3D in 1999 (and, perhaps, even longer than that). Many of the series’s issues can be connected to a trend that goes far beyond Sonic or even SEGA.

Size, Replayability, and Value

When you look at modern big-budget single-player-only video games, one thing you might notice is that they’re all HUGE. Maybe they’re a 100-hour RPG, or maybe they’re a massive open world with tons of collectibles or side quests. Maybe they’re both! Whatever the case, single-player games have gotten bigger over the years. There always has to be more to do. This isn’t new, of course. Ever since the 16-bit era, the “game you can beat in an afternoon” has fallen by the wayside. It’s not shocking; games are expensive, after all. Games like Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past offered hours upon hours of gameplay before you would ever see the credits. The switch of games to 3D continued this trend; first time players will spend an incredibly long time getting the 70 Power Stars needed to reach Super Mario 64’s ending, much less nabbing all 120.

This transition to “bigger games” was, necessarily, a rejection of arcade design. Arcade games have to let more players play them in a short period of time, which is why many of them are difficult to learn or play, and also short to complete once learned. Arcade games derive their replay value from being difficult to master. This is also where the concept of “high scores” comes from; what better way to make players want to play again than clearly numerically rating their performance? Console games, however, did not have such design goals. Once a player purchased a console game, there was no more money involved, and a single copy was generally played for a long time by one or a few people. Innovations like the ability to save progress were also introduced to the design space, and data space became larger. Developers could now make every hour of a player’s time with the game different content, rather than expecting them to play the same thing over and over again.

However, with what was gained, something was, too, lost. The idea of playing the same content to improve your performance was lessened in importance. Scoring systems became irrelevant, and eventually disappeared altogether from many games. Many games nowadays don’t give any importance to a player’s performance at all beyond the basic level needed to complete the game. Gaming as a whole has a decidedly different mindset, thanks to this transition.

A Team Lost In Time

So, how does all this relate to Sonic? Let’s look at the original Sonic the Hedgehog, released in 1991. Sonic the Hedgehog has no save system, and it has 18 levels, each of which takes between 2 and 4 minutes to complete once a player can do so without dying. Super Mario World, a game with 72 levels with similar lengths of time taken to beat them, was released earlier. Sonic levels, however, offer something different. Most Super Mario World levels offer either a single path or a path that branches in a single spot, with the second path reached by performing a specific task. Many of Sonic the Hedgehog’s levels, however, have many different paths stacked on top of each other. Reaching them tends to require careful understanding of both the levels and of Sonic’s unique physics. Green Hill Zone, specifically, was designed with lots of ways to complete it, because the designers knew that it would be played every single time a player turned on the game. The series continued to build on its formula in its sequels, and even though a save feature was added in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the game didn’t come close to the size of some of the bigger games of the time without “locking on” with Sonic & Knuckles, which essentially combined two games into one continuous experience.

After the Genesis, Sonic Team took a break from Sonic, but their two Saturn games help our perspective on the current situation of the franchise. NiGHTS into Dreams… and Burning Rangers were both very short games in a gaming landscape increasingly intolerant of short games. In order to give those games replay value, Sonic Team introduced an innovation that would enter the Sonic series with Sonic Adventure 2: a grading system. Both games expected you to go back to them and improve at each individual stage until you could get an A rank on them all. While both of these games are cult classics, neither gained large popularity. So, with the Dreamcast, Sonic Team finally made the jump into modern game design.

Sonic Adventure was, for the time, a big game. With six separate stories, fully voiced, lengthy cutscenes, hub worlds, minigames, and a virtual pet system, Sonic Adventure had all the trappings of a modern console game. However, it wasn’t all good. The characters that weren’t Sonic tended to just use shorter versions of his levels for the most part, and much of their gameplay was half-baked. While the game’s sequel technically had every character’s every level be unique, many of them reused assets, and the flawed non-Sonic gameplay continued to put a damper on the game. As the Sonic series continued, the 3D games tried various ways to make them proper modern games in length, all of which ended up flawed. Even Sonic Colors, which had a singular gameplay style and was generally well-received, ended up reusing lots of level geometry with small alterations and additions in the form of easily repeatable objects like boxes and platforms. I think that Sonic Team could make a short 3D Sonic game where the replay value is focused on the ranking system and it would be of high-quality, but their need to live up to modern console game design standards inevitably hurts everything they produce.

It’s Not Their Fault (Entirely)

While there are definitely questionable decisions going into every 3D Sonic game, the crux of the matter is that the need for “big” games is killing the concept of shorter games that beg to be replayed, at least at the budget and price point of modern AAA video games. The concept of “content” is valued to an insane degree, and I think that that might be hurting the variety of games that get made. We’ve created a culture where seeing the credits or reaching “100% complete” is the end of a player’s experience with a single-player game, no matter what. A player is only expected to go back to a game until all of its content is exhausted, at which point it’s tossed aside for the next game. The drive of the industry towards “bigger and better” has conditioned consumers towards treating games as singular experiences. Consumers then feed this treatment back into the industry, demanding that games be bigger in a single playthrough instead of deeper in multiple. It’s possible that these desires have even contributed to the terrible working conditions in the gaming industry, where people have to work awful crunch hours to put together the gigantic AAA games that gamers and publishers demand.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of mastering something. A short game that encourages its players to master it causes said players to learn said game inside and out. It lets them get closer to the game, and to its developers. There’s an experience in plumbing the depths of a game that you don’t get from just playing once. I think it’s a worthwhile feeling for developers to chase, and it’s something that gets lost in our 80-hour open world single-completionist AAA game mindset.

Maybe I’m unusual. Maybe replaying a single-player game to get better at it is an extremely niche desire. Maybe nobody else would see a $60 value in a short, polished action game with scoring and gameplay systems meant to encourage replaying for the many hours that other games take to complete once. But if the market’s there, then it might be really helpful for developers, publishers, and consumers alike to let these ideas into their hearts. The hard-working folks in the industry might be able to have more time to themselves, publishers might have to spend less, and consumers might develop deeper attachments to their games.

And maybe, just maybe, Sonic Team would be able to put out an unequivocally great 3D Sonic game.

[scithemodestmermaid]

I’m going to talk about Pokemon Sword a bit, and you know I’m serious because I’m actually using proper capitalization.  Warning: it’s a pretty long review.

I’m several hours in and up to Route 5, and while the game does have flaws it’s still a good game.  That’s the short version.  The long version is going to be pretty long.

Now I’m going into this game a despiser of Dexit.  The only reason I bought the game is because this is the first gen where I’ve been at the very least content with all the new designs and because I wanted to see if Gamefreak could put out a good game without all the Pokemon before decrying them for being unable to do so.  And I know a lot of people have been attacking the game and every positive thing said about it, saying that the devs are lazy, and there’s no soul in the game, and the people who buy the game should just kill themselves because they alone are what’s wrong with the world, etc etc etc.

And let me just say, if you’re one of those people telling others to kill themselves because they did or did not buy/like the game....shut the fuck up.  You are not helping your side, whichever side it may be.  And don’t ever, ever, tell someone to commit suicide.  Especially over something as trivial as a game.  This is not singling out Pro-Dexit or Anti-Dexit or whatever; I’ve seen some pretty abysmal things said on both sides towards both sides.  And that needs to stop.   If you can’t discuss your side like a mature human being, then go back to your playroom and let the grown-ups talk.  

Now that THAT’S off my chest, to discuss what I like and dislike...

What I Like:

Visuals are leaps and bounds ahead of USUM, and there have been several spots where I’ve just been impressed with how pretty everything is.  Granted, the Wild Area visuals are a step below the traditional routes.  The trees in the Wild Area do, indeed, all look like the infamous N64 tree that was floating around.  But here’s the crazy thing, I didn’t really notice unless I was specifically staring at it.  Otherwise, it all just blends into the background and doesn’t matter in the end.

The new Pokemon designs.  Like I mentioned, this this the first gen where I have been okay with the newly-introduced mons, if not outright adoring them and calling them my new faves.  Impidimp line, Toxel line, Hattena line, Yamper line, Nickit line, Rolycoly line...all have stolen my heart.  The Galarian forms bear mentioning, as well; so far I’ve only encountered G. Zigazagoon and G. Meowth and technically Giga Meowth (I mean, I’ve seen all the leaks, but still, it’s honestly different finding them yourself), and they are just so fun.  The design team absolutely knocked it out of the park this time around.

The new Mons’ animations.  Yes yes, I know I know, all the crap animation memes.  But, talking specifically about the new Mons...they move really nicely.  An example would be Nickit’s attack (as seen here): after the attack, it deftly brushes away its tracks before settling back into its idle animation.  It’s such a small little detail that adds so much to Nickit’s personality.  There’s several other mons with little visual details like that: Yamper’s little jump after a tackle, Drizzile pulling water balloons from its tear sacs and tossing them, Toxel’s lil temper tantrum, and the list goes on.  The new guys look and move great.

The Wild Area.  Now, if you go in expect the entirety of Breath of the Wild, then yes you will be disappointed.  But the Wild Area is definitely a step in a neat direction for Gamefreak.  There’s a variety of Mons to find, Raid Battles to participate in, and things to just uncover.  So far, most of my time with the game has been spent running around to see what new Mon I’d find.  The area is a bit small, but there’s so much to see that it feels a lot bigger.

Camping.  There’s something so charming about sitting down and seeing all my Mons walk around and interact with each other.  Calling one or two over to talk to them and play fetch.  Enjoying curry together.  It’s so cozy and comfy, and honestly the only thing that would’ve made it better was if they kept actual patting in (but honestly, that’s such a minor thing compared to what all they did add).  But as it is, it adds such a nice, relaxing atmosphere to the game.

Hop.  Lots of folks say that he’s Hau 2.0 (and if we’re talking about a tendency to interrupt the story with cutscenes, yes he is (more on that later)), but I disagree.  Where Hau was easygoing to the point of aloofness, Hop is driven and determined.  He pushes himself and the player character to their limits, trying to become greater than everyone else and make a name for himself.  So strangely enough, Hop shares a lot in common with Blue: aggressively pushing himself and the player forward.  Only difference is that Hop tries to be polite about it.  I’m interested to see where he ends up.

Leon.  Yeah, I’m not beating around the bush here, he’s handsome.  Hot dang.  Bravo.  And even though I know it’s cool to hate on the fact that he uses a Charizard as his ace, the fact that he absolutely adores his Charizard is something I can respect.

What I Dislike:

The old Mons’ animations.  Yes, it turns out that they lied about the remade models (a AAA company lying?  shocking!).  But I was hoping they would’ve updated more of the animations like the other excuse they’d had for cutting Mons.  Honestly, I think I saw just one new animation, and even then I don’t know if it’s genuinely new or new to me (Nuzleaf’s Tackle animation is different than I remember).  The rest of it is the same old, same old.  And it makes the old Mons stand out from the new ones, and not necessarily in a good way.

CUTSCENES.  OH MY GOSH NO PLEASE.  WHY.  Why did Gamefreak decide to bring back the cutscene-heavy storytelling from Gen 7?  Nobody liked getting stopped constantly to read pages of text.  NOBODY.  LIKED.  IT.  And yet, here it is again.  And this time, if the spoilers I read are to believe, the story doesn’t go down dark corridors like Gen 7 did.  Heck, if those spoilers are right, the story doesn’t go anywhere (can’t confirm until I’ve beaten the game myself, so I’ll probably talk more than that in another review)!  So why these cutscenes?!

Dynamaxing.  When I was fighting the Dynamaxed Eldegoss during the first gym, and she used a move that did huge damage, added Grassy Terrain and healing to everyone on the floor, and did that several times in a row...the thought popped into my head, “Wow, this is stupid.”  How is what I just described more balanced than Mega Evolutions or Z-Moves?  Because it’s only three turns?  And why is the sound effect SO LOUD when they Dynamax?  Genuinely, every raid battle that I did, I’d get jumpscared by the Dynamax’d Mon’s cry.  Honestly, instead of adding a new gimmick every 3D gen, they should’ve chosen one and stuck with it.  Improved on it.  Not replaced it.  And especially not replaced it with this.  (As implied earlier though, Giga forms are neat...would’ve made great mega evolutions, oh but what do I know)

Music.  Now, usually when I play handheld games, I’ll listen to music on my computer.  But for the heck of it, I decided to listen to this game’s music.  And it’s...well, it’s no Splatoon 2 soundtrack, that’s for damn sure.  A lot of it is this really bland and forgettable trance beat, or it’s a calliope of sound effects mixed in with the music (case in point: the music that plays when Zacian meets you in the forest).  I know that Toby Fox did a song for the game, and hearing the song it’s honestly the best song in the game and he should’ve just done the whole soundtrack.

Pop-in.  The draw distance is a bit weird, and NPCs will just pop into place once you get close enough.  This can get a little distracting, especially if you’re like me and your reaction to pop-in is to go back and forth and watch them appear and disappear over and over.  To be blunt, though, pop-in is a problem many beloved Switch games have (I’ve seen it several times while playing Breath of the Wild), but I suppose it’s still worth mentioning.

Also, you can’t actually pat any of your Pokemon anymore and Rotomdex is no longer a character that you interact with it’s just a phone.

And there’s other things in the game that aren’t a problem now but who knows what will happen later on (story-related issues, Exp. Share, long-term Y-Comm usage, etc), but I guess that’s a ramble for another time.

As it stands so far, Pokemon Sword is a fun game.  It is no Sonic 06.  It is no Breath of the Wild.  It is Pokemon.  It is nice.  It is fun.  It is better than the entirety of Gen 7 in my humble opinion.  I enjoy it.  I think it’s a nice looking game, and it’s a nice time playing it.  And at the end of the day, that’s why I play Pokemon.  To have a nice, fun time with virtual critters.

[scientificdeliriummadness]

My partners and I are doing our own DnD campaign. Two of us will be playing two characters each while the other DMs. We’ve already played one session and got to know our characters a little better. Meet Snaggletooth, the Half-orc barbarian pirate who takes things way too literally, Pleiades the sarcastic brooding high elf, Saxon the human soldier WHO CAN SMELL WITCHES, and Legretta, the sexy gnome cleric who loves a good innuendo. Here are the backstories. (Long)

(by Belinda, DM) Welcome to Evermore. Our adventure begins in the country of Opas, possibly one of the largest landmasses on Evermore as well as the most diverse.  It is ruled by a King and Queen who make their home in the capital, Everrock, in the northeastern corner of the continent.  It is a bustling metropolis, well established as the trading capital of the world as ships come and go regularly from the city ports.  The kingdom has known peace for many decades following the Great Revolt where the underground-dwelling grey dwarves and dark elves both fought for the domination of the surface world and its many races.  After a sound defeat, both races fled into seclusion as their numbers were greatly reduced, and the surface was once again at peace.  Evermore breathed a collective sigh of relief after so many years of turmoil.  Militaries relaxed, dropping their numbers in favor of expanding trade and commerce. It is from this city that a great call to arms has been issued.  The monarchy seeks only the bravest fighters and adventurers to step within their castle walls and answer the call they have set forth.  Strange happenings have been reported from within the kingdom, and a great reward is offered to those who would join beneath the banner of Opas and fight to vanquish any darkness which threatens their peaceful existence. by Connie (Pleiades and Legretta)(I’M NOT A WRITER PLEASE DON’T JUDGE ME) The elf's copper blood filled her cheeks as she watched the gnome modeling her crummy, handmade accessory in the reflection of the water. Luckily, as often and easily as it happens, her embarrassment is masked beneath the faint burn permanently imprinted over her otherwise saturated azure skin. Despite spending so much time as a child outdoors in a typically bright, yet cool climate, her skin suffered no other naturally occurring blemishes other than the soft gradient of light to dark along the regularly exposed portions of her body. It still maintained the same pristine quality you would find from the icy terrain of her hometown, Geminight. Until relatively recently, she tended to dabble in a variety of activities her society had to offer. This was in a futile attempt to live up to all the possibile legacies of her seven preceeding sisters could have achieved had they survived a full gestation period in their mother's womb. No one but herself had expected this of her, but encouraged her to partake in something nonetheless. It seemed to give her some pupose and fulfillment. Although she was not particularly good at anything she picked up, she gained a fondness for it all and it helped her feel a closeness to the sisters she had never met. At the very least, she embodied the spirit of their assemblage and when she came of age, chose to engrain this into her identity with her choice in name: Pleiades. Traditionally, her society embraces the permanence of self-idenity with something a little more literal: a self-inked tattoo. Unfortunately, like with many of her interests, Pleiades lacked the finesse to create something other than a few dots around her left eye that had semblace of what was now her most symbolic constellation.Pleiades watched the gnome put the necklace she had given her around over her little head."There's a little bit of craftsman in everyone....manI love homemade things! They have so much character and love and there's always, like, some kind of special meaning behind it. Even if it's subconscious! I feel so special you let me have it even though you've only known me for literally, like two seconds!" The gnome gleefully giggled while stroking the pieces of the pendant now hanging from her neck.Pleiades appreciated the compliment, but uncharacterstically, she hadn't put too much thought into this particular task. Boredom had overtaken her and she swiped a long spiral shell off the beach and in its opening, stuck a thick rounded piece of weathered glass she found lying near the tavern that opened, in her opinion, way too early in the morning. The gnome had curiously approached her just as she was finishing wrapping the pieces together with some abandoned strip of twine. She was so enthralled by the little trinket that Peiades told her that it was hers if she liked it. Perhaps the gnome wasn't too far off; the blue tint of the glass did remind her of home..A pang of sadness stung her heart as it passed with the fleeting thought. She missed home, or what was left of it. Geminight had experienced a major ecological shift. It was no longer an icy haven, glistening in the sun that hung in theclear blue sky. The temperatures began creeping upward, weather fronts came more frequently and more varied. Vines, weeds, and other foliage broke free from the snow, the gems, and the ice; slowly domineering the region. While the changes weren't detrimental to the survival of the city or its people, the new environment felt entirely unsettling. On top of being unexpected and undesired, it felt dark and sentient. Pleiades did not want to stand by and watch her chilhood be tainted with this feeling. She decided to hold on to the nostalgia and venture out to new things. She had exhausted the petty hobbies her society had offered her and wanted toexperience something grander; a single legacy worthy of her and her sisters. When some vague propaganda from the Everrock government started to appear on bulletins near her, she decided it was time to leave. Her parents willingly stayed behind.The gnome watched Pleiades' expressions as they passed over her face one by one. She noticed a lot negativity and she supposes that's what attracted her to Pleiades in the first place. Gnomes were known tricksters, but she herself liked to focus on the lighthearted nature of her heritage and tends to get tunnel vision when she sees someone in distress. When she noticed the elf sitting alone listlessly on a crate of bait, she recited her motto of "When things look grim, find your grin!" and pranced up to her with a mission for fishin! For compliments. To give the elf." Y'know, I'm glad I saw you making this. It's so unique and I really appreciate that about things. I originally come over to you thinking of a mililon compliments to give you based on just your looks but I had no idea what to say since I'm sure you get complimented all the time...Just look at you! but yeah, you're pretty unique looking too now that I've had a good look..But I dunno, I just appreciate me a good trinket, y'know how us gnomes are."Pleides would probably not be considered epitome of the elvish ethereality that made them so intimidating. In fact, for an elf, she appeared quite neutral and approachable. Double takes were not uncommon when passersby took note her androgynous physique. The sun bleached blonde streaks in her dark blue hair gave it a green appearance if looked at in the right light and angle. And men and women alike also thought that her soft almond eyes suggested more than just the politeness of eye contact. And although her hands struggled with its intricacies, her hair always fell into place perfectly after she finished braiding it."I just appreciate you taking the time to go out of your way to say something nice to me. What's your name?The gnome grinned somewhat amused. She extended her furry hand and said proudly proclaimed "Ranandal Legretta Aaa Thawa Teffata Wata Gah! "There was a pause. "But you can call me Leggy! That's what the humans do anyway, but I grudgingly embrace it. The name “Leggy” works when I..." Legretta stopped for a moment and looked over Pleiades shoulder distractedly. Without a beat, she purposefully walked toward a tall, well built half-orc that just exited the tavern across the sidewalk. "EEeeeeeeyyyy! DAMN boooooooi. You're lookin FOOOOINE. I bet that grog gotchu all loosened up. You know what Leggy could do with a body that limber?" She asked as she flung one of her furry copper legs from her patchwork cloak and around his shin."Auuuughgh" The half-orc responded burping through his words, " nah, goway lil one, Yer so lil y'can't even reach. nainterested" He stumbled away until he reached the corner of the alleyway."Well, fine. I’m having more fun over here anyway" she scoffed over the muffled sounds of distant vomiting. Pleiades didn't even acknowledge the bizarre exchange she just witnessed and carried on "Well, I think the name Leggy might be reserved for someone a little more, um, promiscuous than I. So I'll just practice your nicknames and in the meantime, just stick with Legretta. My name is Pleiades Luaer. I couldn't help but notice, Legretta. You have a unique trait as well..." She said as she eyed Legretta's limbs. "They're really well....tamed" She struggled with the compliment. Legretta's eyes lit up as she stuck out a limb at a time, admiring her own handiwork. "Yeah! Y'know! boy gnomes have big thick beards that they can do whatever with! I even saw an old-ass gnome with a beard so long, he was able to shape it into a flying snake dragon! It's not fair! It' was so cool and I can't! Gnomes don't tend to keep their hair well kept and I wanna stick to the traditions of my heritage! I can't grow a beard..only some wispy tendrils... So I found a loophole.."Legretta had bright platinum blonde body hair contrasting her warm copper skin. It was quite thick and she had trimmed hairs on the legs into little hearts and the hairs on the arms into little diamond shapes. Pleiades grinned bittersweetly, "You remind me of my father. Elves can't grow beards either and he's always resented that fact. So he spent much of his life growing out his hair so long that he could be able to tie it under his chin into a ponytail. He was also quite a open about his sexuality with my mom and they’re always going out of their way to put me in the spotlight, so you also remind me of that. They really were quite embarrassing at times, but I suppose it's different coming from you." She lightly blushed and glanced at the poster that had beckoned her here. Legretta cocked her head to view the poster a bit more easily. "Ahh! Yeah! There's been some spooooky things have been happening here lately." she said as she tucked her face behind her wiggling fingers. "I've been kinda grumpy about the call to arms 'cause I think the strangities have kept this places more fun an interesting, but if you're going, I wanna go! I think it'd be fun. Maybe if we find out what it is, we can be part of it...It'll be fun to prank the traveling merchants, right?...I mean, I guess we can stop it, too. But now that I'm really thinking about it, the mystery is killing me. Can I come?!" Pleiades nodded. "YASSS. Be right back. I live under those sand dunes over there. Lemme go tell my mom." Legretta ran off for only a few minutes and returned with a small basket of sandwiches and her cloak's pockets overflowing with trinkets. She offered Pleiades some food, which she promptly accepted. The gnome walked a couple of feet ahead, looked back and up at Pleiades and said. "Castle's that way. Let's party." by Marty (Saxon and Snaggletooth) Saxon Bloodwulf- Human Fighter From the city of Nightmoor, in the kingdom of Ravenholde comes Saxon Bloodwulf. Once a member of the 13th Legion -the battalion that served as the King of Ravenholde's personal guard, this Captain had it all in his life, until the 13th Legion once arrested a witch who plotted to kill the King. The witch was sentenced to life imprisonment in the dungeons of Nightmoor, where she cried to the city that she swore revenge on Captain Bloodwulf as she was locked away. A fortnight later, Saxon Bloodwulf was seen creeping into the King's castle, and attempted to take the King's life. The King managed to avoid the attempted deathblow that came in the form of a knife and raised the alarm. Saxon was seen by the King's guard on duty that night fleeing the castle and retreating into Nightmoor forest.

The following week, Saxon was found in a village some 50 miles away and was arrested by the very 13th Legion that he was in command of. He claimed his innocence, swearing he had simply taken a holiday the day before he was seen attempting to murder the king, but mysteriously, no record was kept of his absence. Saxon was brought back to Nightmoor, where he was sentenced to death. He spent a single night in the dungeons, the night before his execution, where the witch hinted that she had something to do with Saxon's situation. Shacked and imprisoned in another cell, Saxon was unable to do anything other than vow revenge on the witch and others like her.

The following day, Saxon was to be hung in the city square. By chance, a few moments before he was to be hung, a gang of bandits stormed the city square. In the confusion, Saxon managed to free himself from his rope bonds and he fled Nightmoor, making all speed for the coast. It was at a harbour town that he met a group of pirates who were spending the night in the town, and agreed to take Saxon aboard their ship for a fee of 50 gold coins that Saxon had managed to retrieve from his old house before fleeing Nightmoor. This is how he met...

Snaggletooth- Half Orc Barbarian. Snaggletooth, a 32 year old Half Orc had been part of a crew of pirates known as the Jolly Robbers. This gang of pirates made the ship known as the Fearsome Scabbard their home. They sailed from port to port, taking what they could and giving nothing in return. The Jolly Robbers were actually number one on the navy's most wanted list, but the Jolly Robbers were able to escape the navy's clutches each time it seemed that they were able to be arrested for their crimes. One night, they met a member of the royal army, Saxon Bloodwulf. While suspicious of Saxon, they agreed to take him to the neighbouring continent in return for 50 gold pieces.

They set sail the next day, with Saxon aboard. It was during their voyage on this day that they encountered a freak storm. The storm, which hadn't been foreseen, due to the clear skies that day, tore the Fearsome Scabbard to pieces. Most of the crew died during the storm, but only Saxon Bloodwulf and Snaggletooth survived, thanks in no small part to Saxon's actions. The pair survived on a piece of the Fearsome Scabbard, and they drifted for days, until finding themselves washing up on the shore of the land they find themselves on now.

Snaggletooth, while a pirate, is grateful to Saxon for saving his life during that terrible day of the storm, and for now has decided to accompany Saxon, who has tasked himself with the burden of somehow clearing his name and has become a self appointed Witchfinder General as he is determined to ensure no person be victim to a witch or witchcraft ever again.

[pntsspecialevents]

OP ED: What will haunt this Xbox fan E3 2019 for a VERY long time...

~ Written by MM2K 

There is one number that will haunt me for a while. That number is 35.  I not too long ago prior to E3, had the luxury of being a panel member on Nxtgen720′s Youtube channel.  For those of you who don’t know of this “infamous” man, he has been credited for birthing the Xbox enthusiast Youtube community. When it wasn’t popular to like Xbox at the beginning of the 8th console generation, Nxtgen and his BGST Podcast brethren (a pro Xbox gaming podcast) defiantly went against the grain. From bolstering a lot of Xbox corporate driven hyperbole; from the power of the cloud technology will boost the consoles output power  -  to Xbox will have a powerful E3 with a “killer” exclusive line-up, you just wait! You name it, the show emphasized it. It grew in popularity amongst the Xbox community because of it.

Then something happened...

Fast forward to now. Nxtgen720 is now one of the staunchest criticizers of the current Xbox strategy. Their AAA line-up has been sparce through the duration of the generation, VP Phil Spencer - Head of Windows Gaming, has openly admitted.  Then the nature of the games within the ecosystem have lacked grit, the same grit that brought gamers like Nxtgen to the system he enjoyed so much, he coined the phrase “bleed green”. Then you have the primary method of gaming via Xbox now, their console family, no longer the focal point of the company’s strategy.  They now want to reach gamers everywhere via tablet, phone PC, heck... even competing hardware. This again leaves gamers like Nxtgen in a quandary; I only game via console. How will my way of gaming be supported vigorously via fidelity and third-party offerings, if you do not focus on console saturation?  All these things have brought us to the pivitol moment right before E3, where again, the number 35 will haunt me more than I would ever imagine...

“...So Moss...” (Nxtgen720 says referring to me) “... what percentage you give Microsoft having a good E3″?  I boneheadidly say “...35% Z”. Showstopper, another member of the BGST Podcast, replies “.... naw brotha, that number’s too high” I then in so many words proclaim that we don’t know, we have to wait and see.  No we didn’t. The proof was already in the pudding.

Windows Gaming under Phil, has put hard core gamers in a perpetual state of “intense waiting”. That in sorts has become the Xbox brand. Monikers like “wait till E3″, “wait till XO” etc. have become memes, but has helped the company reach pay-dirt. Hardcore gamers who are looking for the gritty Xbox of old have subscribed for its premeire subscription service GamePass to the tunes of millions as they’ve indicated. They’ve done so in anticipation... just waiting for that good ole Xbox AAA bite to come back.

But it’s not coming back. Phil told xbox gamers in regards to E3 2019 “... This is going to be a fun E3 for us... we had a discussion internally. Should we go big? Should we save some money? No, we're going to do our thing and we're going to go and be as big at E3 as we've ever been”. They did so knowing how that would translate to the hardcore gamer who favors the Xbox brand, or what it once was. They knew that it would translate to them that they should expect a few big brash bad-ass AAA experiences, new to the ecosystem. 

Phil didn’t say, “...hey we got a little something for everyone, we are going light on the violence, hardcore gamers don’t expect to see anything on the big stage to knock you out your socks.  When we said we were going big, we didn’t mean for you”. However, that’s how it was. The purest of indications, that the hardcore gamer has been looked past as far as the “big” focal point - aka “we no longer need you”.

So in closing, I can’t get mad at those inside sources who erroneously gave me hope. I can’t get mad at Nxtgen for laughing at my wild faith. Even if by a minority margin, it was still too high.  I can’t even get mad at Phil; though not fully transparent and full of double speak, the writing was on the wall. I have to own this 35. With all the information and content I’ve personally created, leary of Phil from the beginning, I knew this moment was coming.  Bitter pill or not, I have to drag this 35 with with me until I find the “1″. The 1 who once again puts hardcore gamers in the forefront: with consistent nuanced AAA titles - the way Xbox once did.  Until then, this is MM35 signing out...lol

~ Have a Wonderful gaming day