#so let alone would they be able to handle an ultra beast of all things

[maple-does-stuff]

On the subject of dangerous pokemon, I am also a firm believer in the idea that most trainers should NOT try and catch an ultra beast or whatever is inside Paldea's crater. Not only is it highly dangerous for you, but it can be dangerous to the environment as well.

[jadelynlace]

Ink Drinker / Modern Vikings AU [Ivar x F!Reader], Chapter 6

catch up here!

synopsis: Ivar was only meant to be a friend with benefits, but he caught feelings for his older brother’s best friend, and co-worker: you.

pairing: Ivar x F!Reader

***content warning [PLEASE READ]: this chapter has the after effect of the trauma call, and too many emotions. surgical mentions and medical terminology are in this chapter as well. anything in italics indicates a flash back.

author’s note: I’m so sorry.

 ~

“Floki, why can I be left alone?” Ivar asked.

“Because the last time you were left alone you ended up with fifty thousand milligrams of pain killers in your stomach. Now, come here—do you know this?” Floki replied with his fingers taping the photo copied image.

“I drew that.” Ivar said back.

“Yes, you did. Where do you want it?”

“What do you mean?” 

“You hate your body so much why don’t you cover it in something you like?” 

*

It is sixteen hours that Ivar is in surgery. His world is dark, nothing but, with pierces of noises that he can recall. But trying to decipher them only makes the surroundings dull, caked in black and muffled with a buzz of an unruly bee hive. There are pokes of pain, he remembers the green light, and he remembers the pot hole he swerved to miss. He doesn’t remember how fast he was driving and the second he was over the yellow line made no difference for the sudden beast of a truck to find him. 

Everything below Ivar’s powdered knee caps are reattached. Grueling hours on the table while he’s sewed back together like a monster. Enough time for Hvitserk to get clothes, to get you clothes, to pack a bag for his brother per your request. Even in the presence of clean laundry you can’t take your blues off yet—they’re holding you proper because you just saw Ivar that morning. You two made love in the low morning light, filled with ecstasy, his seed and then he made you eggs with extra hot sauce and hugged you tightly you were sure you stopped breathing. He told you to be safe, baby, like he did at the dawn of each shift and that he would call you when his last appointment was finished, and on his way back from shopping for supplies for the parlor and that you two would make lunch plans. In his speed, his haste to make sure he didn’t miss you before the two tone song of death would sing in the radios, he instead, became the reason it did.  

Your chief shows up when you tell him the nature of the emergency. Pulling additional personnel on for overtime and they take the rig out of service and from your hands. Words don’t spare any differences and although he offers you a hug, when you take it he slips you a piece of paper. 

“Remember the job you’re doing. And the change you’re making.” He whispers in your ear and you look at the folded sheet. It’s a photocopy of a poorly drawn fire truck with an even worse sketched stick figure, and you had scribbled it when you were five. Back when you met chief for the first time because now you hold the same badge number your father once did. 

“If I give you your Dad’s old badge number, are you going to act like a jack ass like him?”

“I can’t make any promises chief.”

“I have a partner in mind for you, you’ll like him. He’s a good kid. A good medic.”

“This good kid got a name?”

“Yeah, Hvitserk. I’ll introduce the two of you.”

This is the call that shapes you as a medic, as a provider, and changes how you see things. This is the call that sends a new person out into the street, whether Ivar lives or not. This is the call that forever holds terror in your heart because he was laying in the back of your ambulance, and that was the one spot you never wanted him to occupy. 

Aslaug walks through the doors and she’s already two tissues deep into a soggy mess. Hugging Hvitserk and hugging you and you wish you were meeting this woman for the first time under any other circumstance. Floki thanks you and you don’t quite know why, even though the words fall heavily and un-calming, he still thanks you. And when the surgeon returns before the four of you, you’re the only one that doesn’t stand. But he calls your name because you know him, he was lab staff that tested you for your certifications and he told you that you’ll make a damn good medic one day. 

“Remember what I said on the day of your exam?” He asks and you nod, puzzled and impatient looks on the other faces. “You are a damn good medic—you both are.” He adds, eyes jumping from yours to your partners. “And it shows on this call, of all of them.” Hvitserk’s shoulder nudges you and you only nudge him back, perhaps little too hard in your delirious state. “Essentially what we did, was replant the lower portion of each leg. Now, given the extent of his injuries and how his body handles such, I don’t have a clear cut answer for you on his overall mobility. He may need to have screws implanted, he may need prosthetics. He’s going to be in the ICU for the next 48 hours for constant monitoring. We’ll have him sedated so his body can focus on what’s at stake. He’ll need physical therapy for a long time, and he’ll likely be disabled for the rest of his life, given again, how his body handles this. It’ll be a long road. But, like I said—you two are damn good medics and that is the one reason his legs were able to be saved. I will let you know when he’s moved to the ICU.”

You look back at your partner and his face is as blank as yours; influx of emotions just ready to dive from the void but your minds are still churning, still processing all of what boomed from the doctor’s mouth. Ivar’s chance at returning to a normal life was resting in your hands and you two gave the best damn efforts and they worked. The countless hours of dissection, wondering if you’re cut out for this career, these responsibilities, hours of trauma and blood and vomit all fizzle away because you now know that you are. And it just took Ivar to prove it.

When your eyes open again there’s a sharp pierce in your temple, scrunching eyes together and slowly moving, your head rises from Floki’s shoulder and the lights in the ICU have dimmed in the late hour. Impressions stood between his nostrils, falling like petals over his cheekbones, bleeding through split brows and pink flowers through the depths of his neck. His chest sinking and fainting with time, there was a moment of deafening silence when you are looking at his body; seemingly so small under the contraptions. The depths of earth, and the worst hell was seeing him lay on this cot. He’s only sedated now, even though Ivar looked of death, he was still alive under the harvest of wires. The words of how “we’re doing all that we can” do not bring any more comfort, they just take Ivar like a wave rapidly back out to sea. And now you understand how your patients, and their families feel when you speak the same phrases to them. The clinical assessments do not stop a rigorous schedule, motoring for the possible failure. The room is kept warm, and every so often when you will yourself to peek in, you can see the sheen of sweat that’s over Ivar’s forehead, dancing across his chest under the stickers, the monitors. The capillary refill on his toes show promise, and when the nurse says that to her doctor, you find yourself attempting the same motions on your thumb nail. Pressing the pink away and making room for the white, and then in a quick release, the pink swarms back. The ultra sound machines reminds you of the new equipment in your rig as it assess arterial blood flow every hour.

IV bags drip, slow and agonize and the change of wrappings, dressings and cleaning of both the limbs and Ivar himself collect. You spend hours watching the fluid levels sink, his eyes flutter, his fingers in his hand dance and you grow cold because you just want to hold him. To lock him in a steel tower and to constantly remind him how strong he is, because you know the longest road will not come from learning to walk. It will come from Ivar trying to find that he is worthy to live on.

Blackness had retired across your cheeks, wrapping a veil of makeup that melted into battle scars and you could not move if your body depended on it. Aslaug sits next to you; she takes her time wiping the makeup off from under your eyes, the soiled mascara and she’s humming to you. She had been telling you how when Ivar was young, she would sing to him and it would calm him down. How she sang to him in the hospital after he tried to overdose, tubes pumping his stomach as she blamed herself for such wrong doing. How Hvitserk blamed himself because he gave no one a warning cry. And how she’s singing to Ivar now, even though he can’t hear it, because it comforts the three of you as a whole. 

When your eyes follow the nurse into the room, you can hear her say something to Ivar and you watch his head turn in confusion. Grogginess and a fog on his brain as she talks to him like it’s a normal conversation; wishing him a good morning, how the weather looks promising for a beautiful day and you wish you had that level of bed side manner. You never get the promising parts of the journey; you get the patients that are coding and in a rush to the life saving team in the hospital. You love the ones who tell you their entire live’s story in the back of the rig on the way to the emergency room, sharing details and calming your mind with how simple, and yet how different every walk of life is. The nurse says something about you, about Hvitserk and Aslaug and Floki, out and waiting and ready to see him when he’s fit. You wave through the glass and there’s the tease of a smirk on Ivar’s face, even in his slightly sedated state. A dastardly, bastard smirk and his hand lifts off the bed slightly, wiggling his fingers back to you. The tears start up again, pounding a sledge hammer through your skull after all of the unruly pressure and messes of crying as your body tries to go numb.

“Where’s my mom?” You hear Ivar say in a voice that muted slightly as the nurse stands in the door way to exit. “Can I see my mom?” And the nurse nods. Aslaug stands and kisses your hair line as she walks into the vicinity, Ivar watching her and you need to back up, you need to walk away from the room, this hall way and this battle. A faint wheeze goes through your chest and Floki catches it first before Hvitserk has a chance to lift his head and open his eyes.

“Let’s walk, dear,” Floki says and his voice is not authoritative but it still demands you to comply as he loops an arm around your shoulder. “Walking can help to clear the mind.” It’s your first time outside in almost three days, and the sunlight burns you like you had been its victim on a sand covered shoreline for one too many hours. The hospital grounds are manicured, they’re neat and arranged with an abundance of flowers and colors in the open air but everything to you still feels so dull and lifeless, pointless and hopeless and walking only churns your thoughts to double, triple in size like a snow ball rolling down a hill. 

You’re finally allowed in to see Ivar and you approach slowly, like touching him will seer you suddenly, stain you with a unremovable pattern and you’ll forever be reminded. His blue eyes are dull and groggy when they open, the nasal cannula wrapping his face and your eyes dance over the scurf collecting on his jaw, and the faint bruising, cuts and scrapes on his skin.

“Hey baby,” His voice rasps and you kneel by the bed, tears already on their journeys to streak your tried skin and Ivar’s needle poked, IV covered arm comes to wipe what he can reach. “You were there, weren’t you?” And you can only nod, eyes still damp and you relish in the touch he gives you only if it’s for a second. “You saved my life, baby,” Ivar finally adds and that makes the whimper start again, the choke of a sob in your throat and he tries to quiet you, slithering a quick noise from his lips and you rest your head against the bed, his hand still on your hair. 

“I drove the ambulance over a hundred miles an hour,” You finally say and they’re the first words you can use to process the trauma you two had lived through together.

“That’s my girl,” Ivar smiles, speaking with a voice that sounds like sandpaper.

“I love you Ivar—no matter what happens, I love you so much,”

“I love you too, Y/N,” Ivar says and his voice is weaker now and he needs rest. “Kiss me before you go?” He says with eyes scanning your face, and you can’t deny that now. Pressing your lips softly against his, your hands cupping his cheek and you hope it’s not the last kiss you’ll ever get from him. “I’m not going anywhere, baby,” Ivar tells you. “I’m afraid. But I’m not going anywhere,” You nod as he speaks, a forehead against his for a second and his hand is still trying to reach on you where he can. This is the man that would pull the tubes and the wires from his chest if he could, if that would make him get closer to you. “You’re stuck with me,” And there’s a faint snicker after his words, weak and drowned out from the normal tone but you’ll take it after not hearing his voice for three days.

“I’m stuck with you,” You say back with a small smile. But it still doesn’t bring enough hope.

Ink Drinker Tags:

@smileysam13579 @dreamtherapy @heisentwerk @angelofthenightposts @ill-skillsgard @youaremyfamiliar @unbetaedimagines @kathryn-jane @readsalot73 @skrsgardspam @lihikainanea @queen-sarang @anastasiaskarsgard @andmyannabellee @walkxthexmoon @flowers-in-your-hayr @peachyboneless @heavenly1927 @istorkyou @victoria-styles @quantumlocked310 @xbellaxcarolinax @mighty-ragnarssons @alexhandersen-marcoilsoe-fandom @queen-of-upshur @nanahachikyuu @fandomlifeandeverythingelse @ivarhoegh @a5hl3y5ibley @hashimily @youbloodymadgenius @love-all-things-writing @theanxietyqueen17 @trip2themoon @tgrrose @synnersaint @kataphine

*please message me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from my tag list. specifications for series/etc. are also welcomed, as well as feedback.*

full masterlist can be found here.

[crackinwise]

My pet AU is Kiyotaka and Mondo somehow out in the post-Tragedy Japan, surviving and saving people. Like either they didn't agree to stay locked in Hope's Peak for safety, or they survived the game and left with the others but didn't join Future Foundation. Major points up front, details divided into sections under the cut:

Mondo's objective would be to find his gang, and Taka's goal, besides finding his dad, would be repairing society while punishing those responsible for its destruction. But their direct task is keeping each other safe & helping victims along the way.

Mondo even stresses calling Taka "Ishimaru" instead of "bro" or his given name in front of others, so they might KNOW who's saving them. Taka caught on quick & is very grateful.

Taka would have kind of a breakdown reconciling who he is with what he has to do in a lawless world where every public moral is ignored. He keeps a small ledger of places they loot from, to compensate in the future.

At the start, Taka can only sleep burrowed against Mondo's chest or back, blocking out their damaged surroundings & pretending everything is as it was.

He cries in Mondo's arms one night after he couldn't avoid killing someone to save Mondo's life, and that's the tipping point. He thinks if he was better, stronger like his bro, he'd have noticed sooner & found a better option. Mondo is being so brave; he's Taka's rock and Taka wants to be as steady for him too. Their souls are already connected so obviously he just has to borrow more of Mondo's spirit, right?

That's how Ishida is created.

(In reality, Mondo just compartmentalizes and shoves down unhelpful feelings. You thought he needed therapy BEFORE all this, oh man-)

Ishida:

Taka ends up slipping into the Ishida facade for fight and flight; any time adrenaline kicks in and he feels he needs that boost. Sadly, that's most of their waking time. He guards Mondo and anyone they're saving like a fierce watchdog, and won't hesitate to bite.

He'll only come out of the role when he personally verifies it's safe and if Mondo can confirm it. Survivors are confused by the dual-sided Ishimaru switching right in front of them, but they're so grateful (and so much weird crap has happened) that it never phases them long.

Too many times, Ishida will go all day without a break. This means when their hideout for the night is absolutely safe, that it's okay to let go, Taka just collapses in exhaustion. But Mondo is there to catch him.

Mondo feels conflicted over the Ishida role because Taka is just a beast in it--it's very flattering and a little hot--but it also makes him worry more than before about Taka's health. He comforts Taka with a lot of praise and reassurances, and Taka sleeps lightly but otherwise fine.

Relationship: (slight mature warning)

When they touch, Taka swears he can feel the link between them flare to fuel them. Twin fires ignited. Mondo doesn't know about all that, but when their eyes meet it definitely makes him feel invincible, so, he can believe.

If they weren't already new boyfriends when The Tragedy hit, all this closeness makes sure of that soon after. Being together is their happiness and, for a while, their only link to pre-Tragedy lives. Vows not unlike marriage were exchanged one night. Where one goes, the other will follow. Anywhere. Always.

When they kiss, safe and alone, Mondo will ask what Taka wants; what he can handle that night. Sometimes it's just the kisses before passing out, sometimes it's more intimate touches to please them both after another hellish day.

Sometimes Taka will ask to be made love to, for obvious couple reasons, but also because Mondo inside him makes their tether feel stronger, more complete. Like going over the invisible line in bold marker. Taka believes any marks they can create with their mouths, any traces of themselves they can leave on or in each other, the easier they can find their bond and tap into it. (He had started a nervous habit of pressing in on lovebites to keep Ishida going when tired.)

Mondo tells him he doesn't need to find a poetic excuse for fetishes and Taka lovingly answers with a stomach punch.

Crazy Diamonds:

Mondo's gang members, the ones not dead or overcome with Despair, are slowly found and joined back up.

Any smaller and sturdier motorcycles are kept when found. If Mondo was able to keep his own in this version, it's a bit heavier than would be good for any off-roading--and much too loud for any stealth--but he refuses to part with it.

Every gang member respected Taka/Ishida the second they saw him fight beside their leader. Before Mondo says a word about him. They readily take orders from him in either form. The change in appearance was a surprise, but they're already used to some members wildly changing demeanor in or away from the gang, so it's easily accepted.

With the gang as backup to keep watch during downtime--after Ishida sized each one up and watched them for loyalty--the pair can feel a lot more relaxed. They joke about having a date in a blown-out restaurant they find, and they can finally enjoy a deep sleep.

When the group finds safehouses with more than one room, Mondo & Taka are given their privacy. Taka tries to insist everyone deserves a chance at privacy and they should rotate, but changing a gang's long-established hierarchy is a losing battle. And Mondo's not on his side because when they're alone he can be as sappy or touchy as he likes.

Legends:

Taka and Mondo save a lot of people over their journey and kinda become a legend that gets spread around and gives people Hope.

This area still needs work from me. Probably some research into Japanese myths and supernatural symbolism. A placeholder right now is something corny like "Two Men with burning eyes and thunderous voices will answer your cries for help. But if you're evil, the two will appear to you as One Demon and drag you down to the land of the dead."

There's also probably a need for costume changes since their color scheme is the same black & white of the Despair Remnants and monokumas killing people. Legend or not, it'd be easy for traumatized survivors to not know they're good guys at first.

Darker Moments: (blood, violence and vague attempted sexual assault)

After he killed a man to save Mondo, Taka luckily (he wouldn't use that word) doesn't have to again. Hurt? Yes. Beat unconscious? Yes. Maim? Yes, but some of the vile dregs of humanity are caught doing things that deserve worse--

--That deserve Mondo. Once when they were still traveling alone, a group of Remnants jumped them, managing to separate the two, and one knocked Taka out with a bad blow to the head. Mondo dispatched the others attacking him and got to Taka right as the Remnant was about to do something unforgivable.

Mondo snapped. He still doesn't remember what he did, he just remembers coming to in all the blood and dazedly picking Taka up to take him to a place he knew was safe.

Taka never finds out. He woke up a day later with a bandaged head and Mondo crying and kissing his hands. Mondo just told him he beat some and scared away the others.

Minor Details:

They try to always fight back-to-back and, to observers, seem to read each other's mind for where to move.

Taka/Ishida would use a sword or hand-to-hand. The pickaxe might just be a random pickaxe they find, if he uses it at all. Kinda hard to carry both a sword and a railroad pickaxe on your back, and I can't imagine it balances very well. (The size in official pics would be a 5lb head w/2-3lb handle.)

Mondo seems like he would use anything lying in debris to fight. Poles, pipes, chains. Aaaand maybe the knives he mentions in School Mode.

For any costume changes, Mondo would keep his jacket at least. A beacon for the Diamonds. Maybe a purple tank top, and different pants better for knife holsters. Unless the holster should wrap around his waist or hip instead?

Any changes to Taka's outfit would keep his armband. It's a reminder of his Talent and his goal to make Japan even better than before. Also wanna keep his boots or change to more rugged ones.

End Goal:

Obviously they'd end up in Towa, after the events of Ultra Despair Girls. They're reunited with Takaaki and Takemichi. Maybe they help set things right there a bit, or Makoto would get word to them about his plans vs Future Foundation's. Look at me, do I look like someone that knows how to end things?

There is no way you read all that. (I love you if you did.) But feel free to use all or any bits of it in your own works. Almost positive I'll never get to compose all this into a coherent fic format. I might update in short scenario posts under a 'Tragedy-survivor au' tag if I think of anything.

If you have a question or want something expanded upon, ask away.

[sxpphirehexrt]

"ash sucks bc he always loses at leagues" he scored high in six different leagues and won two "but orange islands and alola league aren't canon" yes they were different from the others, but they are canon to the anime. remember that anime =/= game so what's the problem. because the qualifications were different? it's still impressive for Ash to have won against Gladion AND Kukui + Tapu Koko). i'm not saying him winning a tournament league earlier than Alola wouldn't have been a better thing i wanted him to win the sinnoh one myself but claiming he's a terrible battler is just plain wrong. it's been noted by multiple characters that hes a good battler, and even if it weren't, actual bad trainers would've never been able to qualify for all these leagues, let alone scoring this high in most he's participated in.

"ash sucks bc he always releases his best pokemon/doesn't force pikachu or others to evolve against their will" so what'd you rather him to, force them to stay/evolve against their will? do you think that would make him a good trainer? no. training pokemon isn't just battling. it's also caring for them. "but the anime is too sweet and rainbow and sunshine" you won't solve that by making the mc an unlikable piece.

"ash sucks bc he doesn't catch a legendary/mythical" firstly you can't have him catch most of them because they have a role in balancing the world the journeys suicune incident doesn't exist ok- no but seriously you saw the backlash, do you think it would've been better if it were ash. they aren't meant to be caught! he can only catch minor ones which won't be any stronger or different than his other strongest pokemon like sceptile, infernape, greninja, lycanroc etc. for example let's say he caught a melmetal- wait. if you count ultra beasts he has naganadel too.

"ash sucks because he doesn't have a girlfriend" fuck off with that amatonormative bullshit! liking a ship is one thing you're free to do, but claiming a character is a failure bc they don't have a romantic relationship is absolute bullshit! i don't want to spend any more time refuting this dumbass argument but i'll do it anyway. what do you think it would accomplish? seeing ash cuddling his lil gf uwu every episode? this is a show abt POKEMON, we don't want to see that bullcrap. seeing him marry her and retire? i doubt they'll retire him after +20 years. if they do want to retire him, they do not need to force him into a ship. they can just make him achieve a big step of his goal, or leave to train/travel but we won't follow him anymore or whatever. something more in line with his character than reducing everything to uwuship and "yes finally he's ~normal~ he has a gf!"

yes the anime has been stagnant for 20 years at least until the debut of SM. yes the special with Jimmy was really good, as was the Mega Evolution Special with Alain. yes Brendan, Lucas, Hilbert, etc, could have been good characters to have animes based on in their respective regions. key word could, because they could've been handled atrociously for all we know

but would making Ash an unlikable jerk who forces Pokemon to evolve and stay with him, who breezes through all his battle easily by just saying "go Arceus use Judgement" and who's cuddling and kissing his girlfriend every episode make a better anime

hell no.

[freedom-shamrock]

Speaking on My Behalf

Also over on AO3

@saijspellhart allowed me to take this delightful idea and run with it, so here we are.  Go team!

Chapter One

"All right," Marinette said, handing Adrien the steaming mug. "One Cheng family, top secret laryngitis treatment. Careful, it's hot." She could smell the fresh lemon juice as it wafted in her face.

Adrien snorted ruefully, grasping the mug carefully before slumping back into the couch.

"He says, thank you," Plagg offered helpfully from his place sprawled in his holder's ultra messy bed head.

Adrien smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I'm just sorry I can't do more to help you," Marinette said, feeling bad. This was his first real illness since they'd decided it made more sense for Chat Noir and Ladybug to share an apartment. It would limit the risk of anyone else figuring out their identities the way they had.  The miraculous were excellent for preventing colds and illness, but apparently they didn't really impact allergies. The warm spring had been brutal on her partner and close friend. Tikki would point out that he was also Marinette's first and only love (or strongly imply it in her look and point it out once they were alone together), but she was asleep in her nest in Marinette's room.

Adrien shook his head and waved one hand as if to push her worry away.

"There's only so much even you can do, Buggy," Plagg offered. "He gets that."

Adrien vigorously nodded his agreement with his kwami.

"And to be fully honest," the black cat of destruction continued, "he wouldn't have gotten half this kind of treatment back at the mansion." His face squished up in a way that Marinette had come to learn was disgust. "His schedule would've been cleared, partly anyway, and he'd be abandoned in that compensation-chamber-of-shitty-parenting that his father called a bedroom."

Adrien frowned, looking petulant while he made indignant shushing noises at his kwami.

Marinette moved closer, scooping up the book and laptop from the ottoman near the couch, so she could take a seat there. She'd always felt Gabriel's cold nature ran into neglectful, if not full-on abusive, territory, but Adrien was quick to change the subject when things got too close to discussing his family life. "Nathalie doesn't have much of a bedside manner, huh?"

Adrien rolled his eyes. It was amazing just what he could express without his voice, and it was no wonder he was loving the acting classes he'd snuck into his schedule.

"Well you don't live there anymore, and we Dupain-Cheng folk do not believe in allowing those who are ill or uncomfortable suffer alone." She reached out to run her fingertips over his cheek, pleased when he closed his eyes and hummed happily. "I'll be checking on you regularly, and I won't be any farther away than the other room, so just send Plagg if you need anything, okay?"

His gorgeous green eyes fluttered open and he gazed softly at her.

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg agreed, his voice a jarring break in the gentle moment. "I'll come get you if he needs anything."

She'd brought work home from the La Fleur Fashions, the design house she'd joined before she even finished school. It was a small and highly exclusive house focused on women's evening wear, and while that was a bit limiting for her tastes, it paid well, and she enjoyed what she was doing. She'd made sure her contract allowed her to create her own  designs so long as they weren't competing for the same market, for her online boutique. Lucky Bug provided mostly one-of-a kind or commission pieces, including daywear and menswear. "Are you sure you don't want me to bring my work in here?" she asked for what had to be the fifth time.

Adrien's forehead scrunched up as he let out a huff.

"He would like to remind you that he's spent most of his twenty-three years coping on his own when he's ill," Plagg offered.

Adrien's eyes shot up as if he could see his kwami through his skull.

"He'll just feel guilty if you come out here," Plagg added. "No one has the whole guilt thing down like my kitten."

"Don't I know it," Marinette muttered, letting out a sigh and ignoring Adrien's indignant expression. "I promise, I'm happy to be here if it gives you any comfort, but I'm also not going to push. I definitely don't want you to feel more guilty about things that are basic human needs." That had been the first thing they'd had a serious talk about after moving in together.  He was constantly apologizing and trying to avoid being a nuisance.  "You are my best friend in the whole world," she insisted, brushing her thumb down his cheek.

"Ooooh," Plagg purred. "Better than Alya?"

"No contest," she replied, delighted by his response.

He closed his eyes and melted against her hand.

"I am always here for you," she promised. More than anything else in the world, he needed people who cared for him unconditionally, people who wouldn't turn their backs on him and leave him to languish in loneliness.

⁂

Adrien snapped his laptop closed. He was bored out of his mind and while he should have been happy to binge on Netflix, he was stupidly restless. The bright spots in his day had all involved Marinette, dear sweet Marinette, doting on him. He'd woken with a terrible sore throat from his allergies. He'd been able to easily identify it by the distinct characteristic that it felt like he'd tried to swallow a cactus (which he'd actually done once as Chat Noir, and would not recommend). His room mate, super partner, and all around best friend had been more kind to him in the first ten minutes than his father and Nathalie had been, combined, for all his sick days ever. His throat already felt better, but his voice would be gone for at least the rest of the day, but probably longer.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and gently poked at Plagg, hoping to go for a run.

"No," Plagg grumbled. "We are not going out as Chat Noir today unless there's an akuma." His words were accompanied by tiny feet stomping on Adrien's head. "The Guardian wants you to rest."

Adrien's groan came out as more of a whine thanks to his irritated vocal cords.

"I get that you're fidgety, Kid," Plagg sounded a touch more compassionate. "But she's the boss, and she's right."

Adrien pouted. It was incredibly unfair that his kwami was so affectionate toward Marinette, yielding to her requests with no need of bribery. His frustration was disrupted by a delighted squeal from Marinette's room.

"Woo hoo!" She sounded giddy, and like she was trying to keep her enthusiasm toned down.

Adrien grinned. She was probably doing that full body wiggle that she did when she was super happy and excited. He opened his mouth to call to her, then remembered he couldn't.

"What are you celebrating in there, Pigtails?" Plagg called. He had almost as many nicknames for Marinette as Adrien did.

"This new dress is so awesome," Marinette replied. "I love it when I nail it on one of these. Monique is gonna love this one."

Adrien snorted. Monique loved pretty much all of Marinette's designs. It hadn't escaped his notice that the head designer and founder of La Fleur was asking more and more of her junior employee. She was clearly coming to Marinette when the stakes were highest, though being the humble person she was, Marinette hadn't noticed this herself.

Adrien waved his hand above his head, frantically trying to get Plagg's attention. He wanted to see that dress. He loved it when Marinette gave him his own private fashion shows. They were his own guilty pleasure, and admittedly featured strongly in his daydreams.

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg muttered. "Hold your horses, Kid." He raised his voice to reach Marinette. "We get to see it, right?"

Marinette's head popped out from the tiny hall toward her bedroom. "You really want to see it?"

She looked so happy, and Adrien felt blessed having her bright eyes so intensely focused on him. He vigorously nodded, cupping his hands together in silent plea.

"It would be rude to leave us hanging," Plagg added.

She disappeared with a giggle. "Okay.  Just a minute."

Adrien settled back into the couch, grinning like an idiot and vigorously rubbing his forearms to shed some of his excess energy. A new evening dress. He wondered if it would be cute or elegant, or something else entirely. Since they'd been living together he'd seen her create the gamut of evening dresses, from sweet things for teen starlets, to flirty numbers, to luxurious and sophisticated pieces sought by A-listers. And what color might it be? She'd done everything, though she preferred not to go with black unless it had accents because she felt there tended to be too much weight on basic black. The people wearing her works of art were guaranteed to stand out.

He tried not to pay attention to the sounds of zippers and the swishing of fabric. He was a model for goodness' sake. He could handle having a gorgeous woman change nearby without blowing a gasket.

"These shoes aren't quite right," Marinette cautioned, breaking him out of his little spiral.

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg replied. "It's all about the dress. We got it, Princess."

Adrien couldn't hold back the hiss when his kwami dared use his personal nickname for her.

Plagg merely snickered as he floated off Adrien's hair to land on the back of the couch.

Adrien scowled and batted Plagg off his perch. His death glare seemed to have no effect on the cackling little beast. He felt himself gathering for a pounce when the sound of heels on the wood floor announced Marinette's impending arrival. Freezing, he curled his lip one last time in warning before slowly and intentionally easing himself back into his reclined position.

Marinette sauntered into the room, treating it as her own personal runway. Sashay, sashay. Pause and pose. Quarter turn, pose. He could practically hear the drill he'd walked her through when he'd taught her runway basics. She may not have had real training, because his tutoring had hardly been anything, but she totally killed it, and Adrien was pretty sure his soul left his body the moment he got a good look at her.

The dress was a stunning sleeveless number in a magenta to midnight blue ombre with an overlay of tulle to give the fabric depth and movement without too much weight. The neckline dropped into a gorgeous V ending at her sternum. The skirting had a slit at the front that crept high enough to flash pretty much all over her amazingly toned leg.

She moved to her final pose, directly in front of him, a sultry little smirk on her lips. It was a good thing he was already sitting down, because the wink she threw him would have definitely killed him. She was so amazingly beautiful and talented. Even if his voice had been working, he would have had no words for her now.

After a moment, she relaxed her pose, giggling as she looked down at the dress. "I have to say, this is one of my best."

Adrien nodded vigorously in agreement..

She let out a happy sigh. "What do you think?"

Adrien opened his mouth for a moment, but found himself shutting it again with a little head shake. He still didn't have words, even ones he could silently mouth to her.

"NettieBug," Plagg said smoothly, darting up to float in front of her. "I can answer honestly for the Kid here when I tell you that you're hot as fuck."

⁂

I suspect this will need one more chapter to be truly satisfying.

Apologies for being so absent. I'm still herding kids and managing the household while we are all safe at home for a few more weeks (I can not wait for school to end!). I'm trying to fit in writing where I can, but often don't have the energy.

⁂

Check out Chapter Two >>>

[legendsofthegffa]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

A Satisfying Conclusion to the Sequel Trilogy, But an Underwhelming Finale to the Skywalker Saga

**SPOILERS!**

Well folks, here we are; four years ago, Episode VII came out and, despite leaning very heavily on nostalgia, still proved to be an exciting new beginning for Star Wars on the big screen. Three years ago, we saw Rogue One, which has proven to be a film that I enjoy more with each viewing. Two years ago, Episode VIII divided the fan base in a way not seen since Episode I, and proved to be an emotionally trying film for me personally. A year ago, we were without a Star Wars film, as Solo had already come out, and unfortunately had been caught up in the backlash against The Last Jedi, despite being a solid film in its own right. And now here we are with Episode IX; an exciting and enjoyable film, but one that stumbles to deliver on forty years worth of films and storytelling.

Rather than go into the plot, I want to touch on various aspects kind of like I did with my review of The Last Jedi; in this way, I can address some of my thoughts, critiques and predictions from that film as well as about the Sequel trilogy as a whole. First and foremost, let’s look at the biggest and probably most controversial aspect of the film: Palpatine. Making Darth Sidious the final villain was an excellent choice as a means of tying all nine films together; where it stumbles in his sudden and inexplicable return. As a hardcore Star Wars fan who liked the original story of the Emperor’s return in Legends, I was fine with them doing the same thing in the movies; while I do wish Snoke had returned instead (would have really been that hard to hand-wave Snoke’s return? It would have established him as having powers that Sidious didn’t, would have turned him from the joke that he became back into a serious villain, and would have given this trilogy its own unique feel, rather than the post-script that it ultimately was). Unfortunately, one of the core tenets of this film seems to be doing damage control for Episode VIII, rather than allowing it to tell its own story. While I appreciate that in other aspects, Snoke and Sidious is one place where I wish they had stayed the course rather than appeasing the really-sour fans that take their dislike of the film to new levels. 

So with that spiel out of the way, let’s get into Palpatine proper. We don’t get any definitive answer to how he returned, but the body he’s inhabiting his decrepit and corpse-like, suspended from a mechanical arm (which, in all of the reviews I have seen of the movie, have yet to mention that it looks like Megatron’s setup from Beast Machines), and missing fingers. My guess, and we’ll get into this more when we look at the quote-unquote “build-up” for his return in the EU, is that he managed to transfer his spirit into a clone body, but the body can’t handle Sidious’ dark side power and is wasting away. When Kylo comes to confront him, we learn that Sidious has been manipulating Ben for years, including creating and using Snoke as a puppet to train Kylo Ren and speaking to him as his grandfather, Darth Vader. His plan (such as it is), is to either get Kylo to kill Rey, before I can only presume draining his life-force after proving he was the stronger Force-user, or getting Rey to kill him so that his power will pass into her and she will take his place as Sith Empress of the galaxy. Ultimately, neither of those things happens, and he ends up draining the life of both Ben and Rey to regenerate himself, but even for Palpatine this seems like a messy and convoluted “plan”. 

Speaking of the “plan”, lets look at the hints that were laid since 2015, now that we know what it’s all been “leading towards”. We know that Palpatine was looking to expand into the Unknown Regions due to sensing a strong dark side-presence there; while at first we all believed this to be Snoke, but now it seems to be the planet of Exogal. What comes next is a muddled and uncertain, but at some point Sidious seems to have found this planet and set up his ultimate fail safes: a duplicate body for him to inhabit should he die, and a cult of ultra-loyal and dedicated Sith adherents to serve as his attendants, instruments and Final Order. The events of the Original Trilogy occur, and after Palpatine is killed by Vader, he puts some of his other contingency orders into effect: Operation: Cinder, and laying the groundwork for the First Order (which we now know has just been a front for the Final Order). The Emperor believed that if he was killed, then the Empire and the rest of the galaxy deserved to burn; had this gone on without a hitch, its likely Palpatine would have returned with his combined forces of ultra-loyal followers once he had regained his power and swept up the remnants of the galaxy beneath him. However, the New Republic and some of the Imperials interfered in his plans and prevented Operation: Cinder from being carried out, as well as forcing the Empire’s surrender at the Battle of Jakku.

Now, its likely that as with in Legends, Palpatine’s clone body couldn’t handle so much dark side power, and this is why he looked like a corpse in the film: if this is his one-and-only perfect clone body, then its probably been wasting away since day one, and even if he’s been able to keep transferring his body, its clear that this is not a long-term solution, unlike in Legends, where Palpatine was fine with transferring his essence to fresh clones until that plan was sabotaged by his supposedly-loyal underlings. Either way, with his body wasting away, Sidious needs to either transfer his power to his chosen vessel i.e. his granddaughter, Rey, or he needs both Rey and Kylo Ren so he can draw on their Force-bond (which is a whole other thing that I’m not even sure how to address in this review) to regenerate himself. Ultimately, he winds up nearly killing Rey and Ben Solo before Rey is able to redirect his Force Lightning back at him and cause him to destroy himself; his final defeat is one of the weaker aspects of the film, but I’ll get into that more in a bit. While Palpatine’s return was great, and can be made to fit with everything that has been leading up to Episode IX, there is no denying that at the end of the day Sidious’ inclusion will always feel like a messy addition at best, and empty fan service at worst.

Now, with that long-winded look at Palpatine out of the way, let’s move on to… a…different…Palpatine….who’s also a Skywalker…Rey, I mean Rey. Rey Palpatine is one of those base-breaking decisions that seem to be ever-present in Star Wars these days: some people feel that the evidence supports it, others feel that it’s a random pull for the sake of “subverting expectations”. Where do I stand? I think there is juuuust enough wiggle room within Episodes VII and VIII to leave it ambiguous enough for me to accept the answer. The biggest question I’ve seen is where the heck Palpatine’s son was this entire time, and I definitely think that that is an interesting story to be told, especially in regards as to whether or not he (and his wife, for that matter) were Force-sensitive. Me personally, I would have preferred it if Rey was the reincarnation of Anakin – being sent back to complete their task and bring balance to the Force. Some people also have issues with her rejecting her name and choosing to call herself a Skywalker but 1) at first, I honestly thought she was going to call herself Solo, just because Han was the first of the three she met and he seemed to have had the most influence on her (along with Luke) 2) I think the Hitler parallel is perfectly app here, most especially because Hitler was one of Lucas’ inspirations for Palpatine, and no one in their right mind would go around the galaxy with the last name that was equivalent to Hitler, regardless of how much good she did (for crying out loud, Leia was forced out of politics because the galaxy found out who her father was), so I don’t really have a problem with her changing it, and 3) with the Skywalker bloodline now (most likely) extinct, I think it’s good to have someone to carry that torch forward, along with the Jedi. As for her ultimate ending, well, that still remains to be seen. Rey Skywalker now has her own, orange lightsaber, and a brand-new galaxy to explore and rebuild. I’ve heard that Daisy Ridely is done with Star Wars, and while that makes me incredibly sad to hear since I really like the character, I can understand her decision to walk away from so much toxicity. Besides, I never thought that I would ever see an Episode VII, let alone be writing a review for Episode IX so who knows? All ways in motion is the future.

Now, lets move from one Skywalker to another, or rather, a Solo. I believed that Kylo Ren was irredeemable, after murdering his father and clearly trying to kill his uncle. I believed that the Skywalker legacy would be one of failure, and it was another problem that I had with the Sequel Trilogy as a whole, which flew in the face of both in the belief in redemption as well as Skywalker legacy of Legends. Thankfully, I can say that I was completely mistaken; while Kylo does have to pay with his life, he ultimately redeems both himself and his family in a very beautiful way. It starts after he and Rey engage in yet another battle, only for her to impale him with her lightsaber; Rey quickly uses the Force to heal and save Kylo, who is left stunned at both his brush with death and his salvation coming from someone he has been trying to kill for months. Kylo then has an internal discussion with a mental projection of Han where they repeat the dialogue leading up to Han’s death only this time, Ben does reject the darkness and discards his Sith saber. After rushing to aid Rey in her confrontation with the Emperor (which involves Ben completely destroying the Knights of Ren), Ben is unable to prevent Rey from dying while defeating Sidious, but after tapping into the Force, he is able to bring Rey back long enough for them to share a kiss before becoming one with the Force himself. 

Ben’s sacrifice is one of the best moments of the film and one of the extremely few ways it ties into the wider saga. Anakin fell to the dark side because he was afraid of losing Padme, which ultimately he did because of his anger and lust for power. His grandson, despite making many of the same mistakes as him, is able to do what Anakin wanted most in the entire galaxy: to save the one’s he loves. It does come at a price, namely that to bring someone back, someone else has to give up their own life-force, but it still brings us full circle in a very nice way that parallels Anakin’s journey. It also helps that in doing so, he helps redeem the Skywalker name by passing the torch so to speak and helping undo some of the damage he caused by aiding the Sith and the First Order. Ben’s redemption is one of the strongest moments of Episode IX, and it makes me a little sad that we wont get to see more of him in the future.

  So, now that we’ve gotten most of the important stuff covered, lets move on to some nitpicks before we look at the film as a whole as well as the Sequel Trilogy. The biggest wasted potential in this film to me was the Knights of Ren and, by extension, Luke’s Jedi Order. Ever since Episode VII, we’ve had only the most tantalizing hints about this dark side order, and when they finally appear on the big screen, it’s to stand around looking intimidating before getting slaughtered by Ben on his way to join Rey in confronting Palpatine. We no exactly zero about them, what their philosophy is, how they differ from Sith or why they decided to join Ben when he fell and turned against his uncle; maybe those that joined him were so appalled by Luke’s attempted murder that they cast off the identity of Jedi completely. The point is we don’t know anything about them, nor do we ever learn anything about Luke’s Order and how it differed from the old Jedi Order; from what I can gather it seems that Luke recreated the old Order nearly exactly rather than improving on it like he did in Legends, and I can’t exactly blame some people from going nuts after joining a religious extremist group.

 Just like with Phasma and Snoke, the Knights of Ren and Luke’s Jedi are treated as an afterthought, an interesting idea that other media can talk about, but the movies cant be bothered with, and that is not only frustrating, but poor writing as well; and I know that all of these have a parallels with stuff from the Original Trilogy and the Prequels as well, but that just leads me to the jagged bedrock of my complaint: not learning from past mistakes, and just shrugging shoulders and saying “good enough, let someone else fill in the details.” The same also holds true for the final battle of the film; compared to the space battles of Episode III and VI, the one here is again, treated as almost an afterthought – something that needs to be there, but only serves as a backdrop to what’s going on with Palpatine. This battle includes fleets, ships and troops in almost never before seen numbers, and yet we only get a few snippets of action and shots here and there; when the reinforcements arrive, they fill out the screen, but none of them do anything special, or memorable or impressive. They go through all that trouble of having such an immense fleet, only for 95-99% of the action take place off screen. As with Palpatine’s defeat, the massive fleet had great build-up and potential, but fizzled out rather than concluding with a bang. 

Speaking of the final battle, lets talk about the other half of that coin and its own lackluster finish. We’ve already gone over how Palpatine is defeated, but what I and so many other fans lamented was that no Force ghosts appeared, only spoke to Rey, and that the one appearance that would have really worked and helped give the film that sense of finality that it’s been claiming to represent, would have been an appearance by Anakin Skywalker. Seeing Anakin again after a decade-and-a-half since Episode III would have been incredible, given hardcore fans something special, and made sense within the story. We do hear him speak directly to Rey, but I have to wonder if either J.J. didn’t want to do it so as to keep the focus on Rey and her purpose/identity as All-the-Jedi-In-One, or maybe Hayden decided he didn’t want do it (and I cant say I blame him, after how toxic members of this Fandom treated him), but having three actors and characters from each of the three eras would have been a treat for everyone, and it’s yet another misstep that the film made.

So, overall, how do I feel about Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker? While I can appreciate everything that we got and how much it seems like they really wanted to repair the damage The Last Jedi did to the fanbase, I cant help but wonder at what could have been: what if the trilogy had been planned out from the start, or at least handled by one unifying creative director? Either way, it seems like what really hurt this trilogy was lack of direction and having to play catch-up when you only have half the pieces of the puzzle. In turns of the grand culmination of the Skywalker Saga…it’s not; it’s a satisfying conclusion to its own trilogy of stories, but in terms of being the grand culmination of forty years worth of stories, it just isn’t. If it was, it would have been treated that way and actually tied more of the three trilogies together instead of relying on nostalgia to round out the story the same way it began with Episode VII. I know this sounds like I didn’t like the movie, but I did: when I left the theater I was pleased with what I had just seen, and excited to see where the future was going to take these characters (well, mostly Rey, but that’s because Poe is barely involved in the story and poor Finn gets almost nothing to do – I heard how his entire character has been distilled into “the guy who shouts ‘whoo!’”, which is entirely apt and correct and yet another major misstep with this series since we finally have a character that was a former stormtooper, and they do nothing with him). While there are currently no plans for future films with these characters, there was a time when we all thought we would never, ever ever, ever see an Episode VII either, so I hold out hope that someday, these characters will return to pass the torch off to the next generation someday. 

Final Score: 7.5/10

*Bonus*

My Star Wars 11 Films Rankings

Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Rogue One

Star Wars: Solo

Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[slightly-nerdy-rambles]

TTA Oneshot: Creature Feature

This oneshot was spawned from me wondering why, if Beast Boy can become alien animals, he never takes advantage of that fact to morph into sapient alien animals with superpowers of their own. I still don't have an answer for why he never tried going dragon after the team fought Malchior, though. Maybe that form is too big to maneuver through the city?

Fun fact: the episode Betrothed is immediately followed by Crash, which actually gives this story a neat little niche to fit in. You'll see what I mean later in the story.

(This oneshot is crossposted on fanfiction.net, as part of the Moments series)

Creature Feature Beast Boy narrowed his eyes and stared at his hand. He was alone in the common room, sprawled out on the couch with a forgotten comic tossed to the side.

The Titans had recently returned from their first-ever trip to Tamaran, and it had certainly been… an experience. A good experience in the end, mind you, but the whole wedding thing and Starfire being a princess and Blackfire having at some point taken over the planet and then the wedding thing being a trap that they stopped and Starfire kicking her sister’s sorry butt and taking the crown… It had all been kinda overwhelming.

Pretty cool though. Even if Beast Boy still couldn’t figure out how half the furniture on that planet worked. Was that what Star had felt like when she first came to Earth?

Anyway, point was, so much had happened during their little space trip that he had almost forgotten something cool he’d learned about himself. Now that he remembered, though, he couldn’t get the thought out of his head.

A low whoosh signaled the entrance of another Titan, and Beast Boy’s ears pricked. He sat up and looked over the back of the couch to see Starfire floating through the doorway.

A wide grin split his face. “Hey, Star! You got a sec? I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

Starfire perked up at the sound of his voice, and she made her way over. “What is it?”

Beast Boy started bouncing in his seat. “So, you know those giant freaky Tamaranean guard dogs?”

Starfire blinked. “Guard do- You mean the gloorgs?”

“Sure, the gloogs or whatever. Point is, when we were trying to crash your wedding, I was able to morph into one! How cool is that?”

Starfire’s eyes widened a fraction, and she sat down and scooted closer to him. “Fascinating. So, you wish to learn more about Tamaranean wildlife so you may better wield their forms?”

Beast Boy shook his head, still grinning. “Not exactly. See, sentient lifeforms like humans are just really smart animals, right? So if I can turn into Tamaranean animals, then I should be able to turn into a Tamaranean. How cool is that?!”

Now, when he had pictured this conversation in his head, this part had led to a lot of gobsmacked awe and maybe a call for celebration over the sheer potential of his newfound power. Tamaraneans were, after all, a plainly powerful race – and not the only one, either. With a little effort, he could probably morph into a Martian, or an Atlantean, or even a freaking Kryptonian.

He could be ALL the superheroes.

Instead, Starfire’s response was simply to clap once and smile at him. “Oh, that does sound interesting! I would be quite happy to share more of my heritage with you, if that is what you wish.”

Well… That wasn’t quite the expected level of enthusiasm. Beast Boy deflated a little, but he shook it off. She probably just hadn’t considered all the ramifications yet.

“Okay, just sit tight,” he said instead, adjusting his position. “I’m gonna try it.”

Starfire nodded, and Beast Boy squinted and tried to focus. His shapeshifting was more-or-less an instinctive thing, but he needed a firm grasp of the animal in question to do it. He was too used to thinking of Star as just another person with powers, rather than a whole different species.

After a few moments, he pinpointed what he wanted and stretched. That was the only way he could ever think of to describe it, even when he was shrinking his form.

It was a… bizarre sensation. He was used to changing shape completely, his flesh warping around itself in a way that was a lot less unpleasant than it sounded. This time the shift was much more subtle – little more than a vague tingling sensation and a few more noticeable shifts in his face and gut. That was… probably a good sign?

Not sure what else to do, he held up a hand and looked at it again, flexing and curling his fingers. He couldn’t see any difference, but no real surprise there. Still…

“Hey, do I look any different to you?” he asked her. “Taller, maybe? I feel like Tamaraneans are all really tall.”

Starfire looked him over and hummed in thought, then smiled. She zipped over to the kitchen and rummaged around for a few moments before returning with a large metal platter and holding it up to him.

Beast Boy squinted at his reflection. It took him a moment to notice what with all the green already on his face, but then his eyes widened.

The whites of said eyes weren’t so white anymore. Also, his eyebrows had shrunk to little dots.

With a triumphant cackle, he leaped up on the couch. “Dude! It really worked! I’m a Tamaranean now!” He started punching the air.

“Okay, when do I get to start chucking starbolts at bad guys?”

Starfire set the platter down and commented, “I very much doubt that you will be able to do that.”

Beast Boy froze mid-punch. “Huh? Why not?”

Starfire leaned back on her hands. “It takes a significant amount of power to generate enough stellar energy for ranged use. It bears similarities to training the muscles to increase your strength.” She shrugged. “I required several years of training to use starbolts with any consistency.”

Beast Boy frowned. “Oh. I guess that makes sense.”

Well, bummer. Still, he wasn’t about to be deterred. Hopping down to the floor, he asked, “So what about flying then? I could still fly around and punch stuff and not have to worry about my arms getting tired!”

Starfire perked up. “Oh, that is much simpler! For that you must focus on the unbridled joy of flight. If you feel flight, and allow that feeling to buoy you, then it will come to you naturally.”

Joy? Piece of cake. Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut and pictured himself zooming through the air, doing loop-de-loops and punching through walls and all the other cool stuff he’d seen Star do even when she wasn’t hurling glowey green lasers around.

It was going to be awesome.

With that last thought, something clicked in his head and he felt his feet leave the ground. His eyes snapped open to find himself halfway to the ceiling.

“Ha-hah!” he shouted, pumping both fists in the air. “Behold the mighty Space Boy! I am invincible! I am –”

And that was when he smacked his head hard against the ceiling.

“So that’s how I learned that stopping and steering with weird mental flight powers is a lot harder when you haven’t grown up doing it.”

Beast Boy, human again, held an ice pack against the back of his head as he finished his story. From where she was meditating a few feet away, Raven cracked an eye open and turned it on him.

“Did you really hit yourself hard enough to need that?” she asked.

Beast Boy shrugged. “Eh, not really. Tamaraneans are pretty tough.” With a grumble he added, “And now I know why.”

He pulled the ice pack away and frowned at it. “Also, apparently they need to focus on something to make super strength work, too? What is even up with that?”

“Considering Starfire can tear through solid concrete with the muscle mass of a bean pole, I’d imagine a lot.”

Beast Boy’s eyes slid over to her, and a smirk made its way to his mouth. “Buuut, you know what does make sense as something you need focus for?”

Raven opened her other eye and narrowed both at him. “I don’t like where this is going.”

Beast Boy jumped to his feet and started bouncing on his heels. “Seriously! You’re from, like, another dimension, right? And your magic kinda works on its own, so it’s gotta come from whatever species you are instead of being something you have to study for like a wizard. Tell me I’m wrong!”

His companion simply crossed her arms. “I’m half human.”

“Really? Oh, well, the other half then.” He gasped. “Or maybe I could actually be a hybrid! Why did I never think of that before? I could mix together all the best species and become some sort of ultra-beast!”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Hybrids don’t work that way.” Sighing with the air of defeat that said she’d never get her meditation done now, she swung her legs out of the lotus position and stood up.

For his part, Beast Boy shook his head. “Right. One thing at a time.” He returned his full attention to her.

“Sooo, spill the details. What do I need to know about your super-cool interdimensional magic half?”

Raven looked suddenly very uncomfortable, for reasons he couldn’t quite place. Looking back on the conversation later, he’d come to conclude that it probably had something to do with the freaky giant probably-not-the-human-parent “father” he’d once seen in her mindscape (and much later he’d understand that it had everything to do with him). But for now, all he knew was that she was avoiding eye contact and hesitating as if looking for an excuse to change the subject.

Finally, she shook her head and settled on a simple, “Forget it. It’s way too dangerous, and if you couldn’t handle Tamaranean powers then there’s no way you’d be able to handle mine.”

Beast Boy deflated. “Aww, how come? Your powers are a straightforward ‘think a thing, make a shield or whatever,’ right? No special physical training or weird emotion games.”

Raven let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “First off, it’s not that simple. But more importantly, let’s put it this way. You remember the incident with the Puppet King, when Starfire and I had to save you with our bodies switched?”

Beast Boy shuddered a little at the memory. “It’s kinda hard to forget.”

“You might not have noticed considering your… condition at the time, but the differences in our training and emotional states meant we both had trouble with each other’s powers. In my case, I had a hard time accessing her powers because of the emotional energy they required.”

Beast Boy snorted and muttered, “Yeah, no wonder,” under his breath. Raven turned a withering glare on him, and after a few moments of squirming he cleared his throat.

“Uh, sorry. Go on.”

The sorceress just kept her warning look on him as she continued. “In her case, she was in a constant struggle to keep from accidentally blowing us up.”

It took him a few seconds for that to fully sink in.

“…Oh.”

“Aww, come on, you gotta have something!”

Hot Spot let out a low sigh over the communicator. “I don’t know what to tell you. I was raised by human parents, my powers and the ones the other hybrid kids have are all different, and I haven’t exactly taken the time to study H’san Natall biology. For all I know, you wouldn’t get any new powers at all.”

Beast Boy groaned dramatically and flopped over on his chair. “Duude, I’m having like no luck with this!” He huffed. “Thanks anyway.”

Hot Spot gave him a flat look. “Yeeeeah, next time you want to learn more about the vicious alien invaders who secretly sired and later kidnapped me, just feel free to hit me up.”

After a moment’s thought, he added, “Have you tried Aqualad yet? You guys are buddies or something, right?”

Beast Boy chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, turns out like half of his powers are some kinda magic that doesn’t come with the species.”

There was a long awkward moment where neither hero knew where to take the conversation. “So, is that everything?” Hot Spot finally asked. “Because if you didn’t need anything else…”

Beast Boy sighed. “Yeah, that was it. Talk to you later.”

The line went out, and he looked morosely over his list of non-human Titans. It wasn’t too short considering there were only five core members and a handful of honoraries, and he’d been so sure he could find something that worked. But Hot Spot had been his last hope. Maybe he should just try morphing into a H’san Natall and see what happened?

He tried that, squeezing his eyes shut and focusing on what he knew about Hot Spot. He strained for several seconds, but nothing clicked, nothing stretched, and in the end, he probably just looked like an idiot.

Well, nuts. Either he couldn’t do hybrids after all and Hot Spot wasn’t enough to give him the full species, or whatever had let him morph Tamaranean didn’t apply here.

Technically, he could still ask Robin to hook him up with the Justice League’s alien members. But if he couldn’t even work out how to mimic his own teammates, what was the point?

With nothing else to do now that his little project had failed, Beast Boy found himself heading toward the garage. Cyborg was there, making yet more upgrades to the T-car.

“This is delicate work, don’t touch anything,” he said by rote as he saw his friend enter.

Beast Boy sighed again and plopped down on a workbench. “Yeah, I know.”

Cyborg looked up from his work. “No luck with ‘Space Boy,’ I’m guessing? Because I hate to tell you, but I don’t think robots count as a species.”

“You heard about that?”

“The girls filled me in.” Cyborg switched tools and got back to work.

Beast Boy flopped back on the bench. “You know what’s really nice? Animal instincts. Not having to work out how to fly, or pounce, or use your teeth and claws, because you just know.”

Cyborg raised a brow at him. “You have to train with your animal forms all the time.”

The shapeshifter frowned. “I guess. But they still make more sense than starbolts or magic.”

Cyborg snorted and wiped his hands off with a cloth. “Coulda told you that.” He frowned thoughtfully.

“You know, maybe you’ve been going about this all wrong. That Tamaranean guard thing was impressive. Have you tried anything new other than sapient beings with complex powersets of their own?”

Beast Boy’s ears perked, and he sat up slowly. “I guess I haven’t really thought a lot about it yet. You think I could do more alien animals?”

Without another thought he shifted back into a gloorg. Cyborg yelped and ran around to shield the car with his body, but the now-alien creature just shifted his weight a little and trotted in place, testing out the new form.

Morphing back, he hummed in thought. “Not too different from some of my dinosaurs, but I still don’t know all of its tricks and there’s a whole planet of probably terrifying animals to explore. I gotta talk to Star!”

Cyborg glared at him, still pressed against his baby. “Please don’t experiment like that next to the delicate machinery.”

Beast Boy waved off the comment, barely registering it. “Yeah, sure thing. Ooh! Maybe I can do hybrids, like a liger or something. Would that be any better than a regular tiger? Oh! Or what if I go the opposite way? Maybe I could be an amoeba. It’d be the perfect infiltrator!”

Peeling himself off the car, Cyborg frowned. “Does that even count as an animal?”

“Not according to modern taxonomy, but neither should alien creatures, so who knows!” Beast Boy cackled and started vaulting up the stairs to the tower proper, two steps at a time. “Space Boy, AWAY!”

He couldn’t see the look on his friend’s face as he ran off to find Starfire again, but as much as he wanted it to be awe and maybe a little envy over his mad skills, he knew it was probably something more akin to pure bafflement. That was okay. As far as he was concerned, Beast Boy had a whole world – no, a whole galaxy of options just waiting to be tried. He didn’t know how many of those options he’d end up using on a regular basis, but that was okay too.

Because whatever happened, it was going to be awesome.

[airquietworks]

Shattered Mirrors (Part 2: Awakening) (IzuOcha)

Part 1: http://airquietworks.tumblr.com/post/168449557395/shattered-mirrors-izuocha-part-1-nightmares Ochako’s nights became no less haunted after confronting her hero. The same events played out in her dreams, over and over again, like a broken film reel.

Deku, fighting Overhaul with all of his fury. Nighteye, telling her not to interfere, dying in her arms. Deku, defeating the villain with a powerful punch. Nighteye, coughing up blood. Deku, collapsing onto the ground, screeching in pain. Deku, burning to a crisp or otherwise killed by the surge of his own power. Nighteye losing the last fragments of his life behind her.

The only difference is she no longer did anything to influence what happened around her. She understood it was fruitless.

When Deku defeated Overhaul, she didn’t leap into action. When he called out for help, she didn’t move. When he was consumed by his power, she didn’t cry.

She would reach a hand out...and then pull it back.

For there was nothing more she could do. 

The walls between Ochako and Deku had become colossal. At this point, she made a very conscious effort to keep them that way, to try to protect her turmoil-ravaged heart from his zeal. No amount of decrees of “plus ultra” were going to get through this barrier, not this time. In class, she would keep her eyes away from him. After school, she would rush off to do individual exercises before anyone could confront her. In the dorms, she would only go to the common areas at times she knew Deku wouldn’t be there. She tried to tell herself it wasn’t weird that she knew his schedules. With a renewed and furious vigor, she threw herself into her training. Her free time was spent furiously developing muscle, running around the campus, or pumping weights at the gym. She was desperate to improve and improve both her endurance and her ability to withstand the bumps and bruises of hero work. But it all started to take a toll on her. Her nights were sleepless. Her days were restless. She started dozing off in math class. She found herself struggling to maintain as much control of her quirk during heroics. “You look like the living dead,” Tsuyu told her frankly one day before class. “Thank you for the observation,” Ochako grumbled humorlessly from her desk. She had seen the dark, heavy rings around her eyes in the mirror that morning. She decided that today, she did not care. “When are you going to patch things up with Midoriya?” Mina inquired, leaning in over Ochako. The pink girl had asked that question every day since the pair’s confrontation. It was getting to be annoying. “I don’t know,” Ochako replied honestly. Eyes dropping and head feeling light, she buried her head in her folded elbows and sighed. She wished she could find it in herself to move past what had happened. But she couldn’t. “You know you should really…” Mina began but stopped herself. Ochako could tell Tsuyu had probably motioned for Mina to cut it out. Ochako was thankful for that. “I appreciate your concern,” Ochako said while turning her head to look over at Mina. For once, the pink girl looked unsure of herself. “But I’m fine. Well, not fine, but I’m dealing with it.” It almost physically hurt, but Ochako managed to put on a smile. She had to fool them. “I’ll get through this.” Mina did not look convinced but Aizawa mercifully trudged into the room, sparing Ochako from further well-meaning prodding. Ochako lifted up her head and opened up her notebook. Dutifully, she wrote while much of her mind drifted into an expansive emptiness. She would be fine. She didn’t need help. She...she didn’t need to see Deku, not really. It would likely make things worse if anything. Ochako took a chance and glanced up at him, while there was no way he would be looking back at her. He was there, diligently writing in his notebook while lifting a dumbbell with his free hand. Staying true to the work ethic that would lead him to become the world’s greatest hero. She set her mouth in a grim line and buried her face into the paper.

The dead of night had fallen. Once more, she found herself splashing her face with freezing water while staring in front of the mirror. There was a little girl there, crying her darkened eyes out because she had another bad dream. She wanted to go back home. She wanted to see her daddy and mommy. She called them every day but she couldn’t let them know this was happening. They had too much else to worry about. She couldn’t find a hero reflected in the glass. Sighing, she turned off the faucet again. She narrowly resisted the urge to smash the mirror with her fist. But she was stronger than that. Ochako calmly trudged out of the room to face her nightmares once more.

It was an ordinary, busy day in the city. The sun was shining brightly and people milled about going about their shopping and various errands. Ochako found herself batter by the throngs of the crowd as she braved the mass of people to get some shopping done. It was a good distraction from all the chaos of school. She could focus on putting one step in another, navigating through the city and on what she needed to get next. For once, the casual bumps and the cacophony of noise were actually something she enjoyed. But one sound started to pierce through the air. One that made Ochako pause and instinctively look towards the busy streets in search of its source. It was the sound of sirens. The cause made itself known before she could take her next breath. Sprinting quickly out of side street ahead of her came a gargantuan, brute of a man smashing his way through the middle of a road. He must have been at least ten feet tall, towering over everything in his path. His legs, adorned only with a massive pair of shorts, were as big as tree trunks, easily smashing all the stopping cars that bumped into his path. Veins and muscles protruded from his skin to an almost comical degree, barely containing the might within the beast. “STAY OUT OF MY WAY!” the man roared in a deep, booming voice that sent screams throughout the crowd. Ochako felt the ground beneath her feet shake from the thundering footsteps of the villain. She wasn’t sure what compelled her to move in that moment. Her mind flashed briefly to the crosswalks she knew were behind her, that the man was almost certainly going to trample. Those people could get hurt. She couldn’t let that happen. Without another thought, Ochako leapt out of the crowd and onto the street just as the giant was running past her. With all of her strength, Ochako jumped off the ground, reaching a hand out to tag the man. She barely managed to touch the skin of his elbow thanks to his massive size. But the force of his momentum punching through the air pushed her off-balance, causing her to faceplant hard into the pavement. Feeling the familiar strain of her quirk, Ochako bounced back up, ignoring the bloody nose she now sported. She brought her hands together as she focused on keeping the man weightless. She looked up to catch a glimpse of the brute, now flailing helplessly in the air as all his momentum went to nothing. “WHAT THE HELL?!” the man roared again, throwing his limbs in every way as he slowly started to ascend. “Breathe…” Ochako reminded herself aloud as she strained to keep up her quirk. This guy was heavy, depleting her energy much faster than even the boulders she wielded in class. Her stomach grumbled and her muscles burned as she struggled to keep him airborne. But she wasn’t going to stop until help came. People would get hurt if she did. Fortunately, the police and professional heroes arrived soon after to subdue the helpless villain.

With a deep breath, Ochako was able to release the giant, who was quickly grappled by a couple of pros with strength quirks. She immediately puked her breakfast out onto the edge of the sidewalk. She groaning mournfully as her stomach raged inside of her before being onset by emergency responders.

Everything after that point went by in a blur. She carefully worked with a couple of heroes to ensure the villain was safely contained. An ambulance came by with a stretcher to deal with any injuries she sustained, but she waved them off after they had bandaged up her nose rather uncomfortably. The police officers asked her a few questions but mercifully didn’t feel a need to take her anywhere. And everyone she interacted with thanked her or complimented her for her bravery. Indeed, the crowd roared with applause from behind a wide police quarantine after the villain was completely subdued, to which she was thankful she could hide behind some of the emergency vehicles. What she did wasn’t really all that difficult; she was hardly worthy of praise. Not when she compared herself against what he...what a lot of her classmates were able to do. But before Ochako could leave the quarantine, she felt a small tug on the back of her arm. She turned to be met with someone who looked far too much like Izuku, were he a middle-aged woman. “Are you...are you Uraraka?” the woman asked softly, presenting a shaky smile. Ochako observed a bandage on the side of the lady’s head, figuring that she must have been somehow injured in the attack. “Yes..sorry, do I know-” “I’m Izuku’s mother,” Inko interrupted her eagerly, grabbing onto Ochako’s hand and shaking it with enthusiasm. “It's so good to meet you. Thank you so, so much. You saved my life.” “Uhh...what?” Ochako responded blankly, eyes wide as she tried to process the rush of information being thrust upon her by this woman. “I fell on the crosswalk from the shaking ground,” Inko said, pointing to wound on her head. “I would have been trampled if you hadn’t leapt in there! Oh, I can’t believe I’m meeting you this way. I don’t know how I can repay you!” “Please...it was nothing,” Ochako replied, scratching the back of her head nervously. She had never dealt with something like this before. She wasn’t sure how to handle this kind of praise from anyone, let alone Deku’s mother. “Nothing? You leapt right into his warpath! You’re a real hero,” Inko praised, beaming at her. A real hero. The words flashed brightly through Ochako’s mind before being submerged in shadow. She felt her face fall as she averted her eyes from the kind woman. “I’m...I’m really not. But you’re welcome.” There was a brief pause between them as Ochako disentangled her hand and prepared to walk away, wanting nothing more than to escape the situation. “Please, come over to my place and let me make you something to eat,” Inko pleaded, folding her hands in front of herself and looking up at Ochako with soft eyes. “I...I really shouldn’t…” Ochako tried to say, before a comically loud groan sounded from her stomach. Using her quirk made her hungry and she had been on her way to grab lunch before the villain appeared. Still, to impose on Deku’s mother… “Your stomach says otherwise,” Inko teased, smiling up at the girl. Ochako reluctantly turned her gaze to stare into the woman’s eyes. A familiar flash of shining green was held within them.  She gulped and found herself unable to say no.

The aroma of homemade cooking wafted through the modest apartment that the Midoriya family called home. Despite being on edge, Ochako felt a sense of enchantment and nostalgia from the smell. It reminded her of her own mother’s cooking. She missed it. But she still found herself drumming the sides of her fingers nervously on the dining table as Inko busied herself with cooking. Her eyes were bombarded with pictures of Deku everywhere. Deku looking awkward in a middle school uniform. Deku in his hero costume, beaming at the camera. Tiny child Deku dressed up in an All Might hoodie and gosh if he wasn’t so darned cute as a kid she wanted to protect that smile-

She squeaked at her own rambling thoughts and covered her mouth, feeling her face heat up. Her mind was in disarray and she committed then to not looking at any more pictures of Deku. Tempting as they were, she focused on a blank spot on the wall instead. She was messed up enough about him as it is without acknowledging the warm feelings his smile could bring her.

Idly, Ochako wondered whether those pictures were always there or whether they might be a more recent addition since Deku moved from the dorms. She recalled her first day back home with her parents after moving to the city. After all of the tearful hugs, she was surprised to see a lot of the walls were now covered with pictures of her face. It got a little bit unsettling but she couldn’t begrudge her parents for missing her. Especially not when her own desk had a couple of pictures of them.

Ochako glanced over at Inko, who busied herself chopping vegetables with a practised ease while wearing a gentle smile. Without a second thought, the woman had invited her into her home and started cooking a meal, insisting that Ochako not help. Beyond just her similar appearance, she had a kind and gentle spirit that reminded her a lot of Deku. It seemed easy to tell how Deku became the sweet boy he was today.

“So, how has my son been doing lately?” Inko broke the silence as she casually threw the vegetables into a boiling pot, snapping Ochako back into attention.

“Oh, he’s...he’s good,” Ochako managed, unable to come up with a better description when put on the spot. “He’s...he’s easily the top student in class, if you ask me.” She got that out with more of the bubbliness she was known for, hoping that it was convincing enough to keep the conversation surface-level.

“That’s nice to hear,” Inko said brightly, turning to flash Ochako a smile. The girl’s lip quivered slightly in her answering grin. “I was just wondering if....” Inko trailed off as she went back to her cooking, tone dropping its brightness. “I saw him pop up on the news the other day. He called me and told me he’s fine but...I need to know. Is he getting hurt as much?” Immediately, Ochako’s nightmares bubbled to the forefront of her mind. The agonized shouts the blood everywhere, Deku screaming with his mangled limbs. Those mixed with the images of the real fight, where Deku had gotten hurt...but wasn’t too worse for wear by the end of it. “He’s...it’s...sometimes,” Ochako mumbled, unsure of how to answer. “He does get hurt quite a bit. It’s...kind of part of the job, I guess. And that quirk of is is really something but it does injure him a lot. He’s getting better with that part of it though!”

She tried to sound cheery in her rambling but found it increasingly difficult to do so under the weight of her last conversation with Deku. She successfully fumbled through the half-truths but it made her feel a little guilty, considering how nice Inko was.

The older woman sighed mournfully. “That’s...that’s good, I suppose. I just get worried sometimes,” Inko replied. “After watching the sports festival, I’m always scared he’s hurting himself, pushing everything too hard.” “He’s...very driven,” Ochako noted, contemplating the woman before her. Deku’s heroic zeal had certainly frightened her, too. She could only imagine how it must feel for Deku’s mother, watching her son get battered as a hero over and over again. “I get worried about him too. If you don’t mind me asking...how do you deal with it?”

There was a moment of silence in which Ochako was left starting at the back of Inko’s head. The older woman slowly reached over the hot stove top and around a pot of boiling water to shut off the machine. 

“I’m sorry if that was-” Ochako began, trying to correct the misstep. “..It’s fine,” Inko interjected, voice turned fragile by the conversation. “It’s a...fair question. The truth is...I don’t really deal with it.” Silence permeated the room once more. The tension was thick in the air and Ochako felt more than a little anxious by the direction of this conversation. Her curiosity got the better of her, though. “What...what do you mean?”

The next pause was longer. Inko kept her back turned and Ochako was left waiting, consumed by nervous energy.

“I’m sorry, it’s...it’s nothing,” Inko said, turning around to give Ochako a smile. The young student could tell how false it was. She had seen it on her own face enough times in the mirror to know.

“I’m just being silly. Sorry to bother you with it,” Inko continued, reaching back to turn the heat for her stovetop back on.

Ochako could see how eager Inko was to escape the conversation. Much like herself, there were probably some things the woman didn’t want to face about her feelings. She could certainly empathize with that.

She decided to respect those wishes and dropped the subject. It would be hypocritical of her not to.

Another awkward silence formed between them. 

Ochako found herself looking around the room again as Inko resumed cooking, no longer as comfortable looking at the older woman. Despite her best efforts, her eyes wandered back to the image of a young Deku, beaming out to the camera without a care in the world. It was so unlike the Deku she knew these days, who always seemed to be concentrating on something she couldn’t see.

Wanting to strike up some sort of casual dialogue, Ochako seized upon a thought for what should be a safe subject. “If you don’t mind me asking...what was Deku like growing up?”

Inko perked up a bit at the topic, her back springing upright and her voice taking on the same positive energy as when they met earlier.

“Oh, Deku was nothing short of a little angel,” Inko gushed, her love for her son coming through every word. “He was really into All Might and superheroes, as I’m sure you know. But he took that and tried to be a hero everywhere he went.”

Inko slowed for a moment while she stirred something. Ochako leaned in, hanging on the mother’s every word. It was strangely fascinating to get an idea of what the kid Deku might have been like.

“He was always eager to help me out with the chores or cheer me up after I told him he was my hero,” Inko continued, her voice taking on a softer, gentler warmth than before. “He hardly ever made a fuss about things and I would always find him playing so nicely with other kids. “That’s so sweet,” Ochako sighed, a fuzzy kind of happiness filling her as she pictured it. That was Deku, alright. Even when he was a kid, always wanting to help others and be kind to everyone around him. “But he...well, those parts of him never really changed,” Inko continued, voice losing some of its brightness. “Things got hard after we found out he was quirkless though.” Ochako’s perked her eyebrows up a bit at that. Izuku had briefly mentioned that he had developed his quirk late, but he was very quiet on what living as quirkless during his childhood was like. It was something she had always been curious about. “He got bullied a lot,” Inko went on without more prodding, which Ochako was thankful for. “His friends all left him. But despite all that, he still wanted to be like All Might. He still wanted to be a hero. He was...stubborn.” Ochako was enraptured by her hero’s history. This...this was fascinating. How could Deku had been so determined, even back then? She couldn’t imagine how she would have fared hanging onto her dream of being a hero without a quirk.

“I can remember how depressed he was back when he found out. How depressed I was,” Inko’s train of thoughts was unrelenting. Ochako wondered if Inko was even really considering her, at this point. “I...I said the wrong thing. And I never encouraged him to be a hero after that.” The older woman sighed, turning the stove off again. Ochako wasn’t sure if Inko had actually been working on the food through her speech. The older woman finally turned around, revealing a couple of tears staining her cheeks. Ochako moved back deeply into her chair in alarm, watched on in concern as the older woman collapsed into the seat across from her, hands folding neatly on her lap. “I’m sorry, I just...I’m a little...need a moment,” Inko spoke brokenly, keeping her eyes squared down the lap. “It’s hard talking about this, after all that’s happened. I...don’t have a lot of people to talk to about this kind of thing and I guess I just got a little lost. Maybe my head is a little messed up from the blow earlier.” “No, no, it’s fine,” Ochako assured quickly, waving a hand haphazardly, not wanting to cause the kind woman any more grief. “I’m sorry if my questions are bothering you. It’s just...well, Deku is a good friend. I’m interested in hearing about him.” Inko managed a smile the girl’s reply “I’m glad he’s found friends like you, dear. It means a lot to know that he has people at school that care about him.” Ochako’s cheeks got a little warm but she kept herself composed. It wasn’t a comment that had to imply anything romantic. “He’s my best friend. And he has plenty of other friends at school now, too. Deku is someone I...a lot of people look up to.” Ochako looked up and noticed Inko’s eyes staring intensely at her, a...knowing?...smile appearing on the woman’s face. The heat around her cheeks grew. She was prepared to protest another accusation of deeper feelings, but Inko did not seem intent to do that. “I’m glad,” Inko replied simply. “He’s...he’s special. When he was a little boy, I didn’t just call him my hero because it’s what he wanted to be. I really meant it. I’m...I’m not sure I could have gotten through a lot of things if it wasn’t for him.” Ochako’s heartstrings tugged as a thoughtful look appeared on Inko’s face. In that moment, she felt a strong chord of kinship with the woman. Averting her eyes, Ochako couldn’t help but let a bit of her heart escape from her mouth: “He’s my hero too,” she stated quietly. Inko’s eyes widened as the two met each other’s stares full-on, green clashing against brown. The two wore identical smiles, forlorn with the heartache they realized they both shared. They might not know each other well but they shared a bond in how they cared for the aspiring symbol of peace.

“What happened after you found out he was quirkless?” Ochako asked earnestly, feeling gradually more comfortable around Deku’s mother. “I want to hear more. If...if you don’t mind, that is.” Inko raised her hand slightly in a reassuring gesture, shaking her head. “Not at all. I think...maybe this is good for me,” Inko muttered, before taking a deep breath to gather herself. “I...well...I guess I tried to encourage him to do other things. Something simple, like a baker or a teacher. I knew he probably couldn’t make it as a hero without a quirk. I...I was scared of what might happen to him if he tried.” Inko looked out at one of the pictures and Ochako followed her gaze to see Izuku, looking to be in early adolescence, grinning while holding up a plastic box with an All Might figure contained inside. “But no matter what I tried, he never stopped wanting to be a hero. He never stopped wanting to be like All Might,” Inko sighed. “I couldn’t begrudge his hobby, not after what happened. I thought eventually he’d grow out of it.” Ochako leaned in, nodding along as Inko recounted the story of Deku unabashedly. Her mind worked rapidly as she considered how his upbringing had informed who he was today. Maybe if she could understand it, find a connection...maybe she could see how he did the things that she couldn’t. “But he never did,” Inko continued. “No matter what I or any of his teachers or bullies said, he never gave up on that dream of being a hero.” Ochako couldn’t help but smile at that. “He’s the most determined person I know.” Inko nodded. “But then he finally got that quirk and he’s been able to fulfil that dream. And I promised I would support him, to make up for how...how I said the wrong thing before..how I failed him...” the mother sniffled a bit in remembrance, another tear coming down from her. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you failed him.” Ochako tried to be comforting, although her voice wavered in her unassuredness. “You were trying to look out for him but...you still let him explore what he was passionate about. I think you did alright. And he turned out to be a great guy, right? That’s because of you.” “You’re so sweet,” Inko said between sniffles, rubbing her right eye to dry her tears. “I can see why Izuku likes you so much. Thank you.” “Umm...don’t mention it…” Ochako replied. Once more, she was feeling a little flustered, this time by the swell in her heart at the words “Izuku likes you so much.” But she reigned those feelings inside like she always did. She had to. “It’s...still difficult now,” Inko sighed, leaving her seat and moving back to resume cooking.  “Seeing Izuku get hurt all the time. A part of me still wishes he wasn’t trying to be a superhero, even if he has a quirk now. Honestly I...a part of me still wants to try to stop him.” The confession surprised Ochako. “Why?” she asked. Her mind flashed back to the images of her nightmares and felt a familiar sense of dread. She suspected she already knew the answer. “He gets into so much danger now. I want to believe he can handle it but...a mother still worries,” Inko explained. “I’ve seen him get hurt so much since he started at U.A. It hurts me too.” That pain was all too familiar. Ochako’s hands tensed as she was again reminded of those cursed dreams, with Izuku in agony while she was helpless to do anything. She gulped as she tried to banish the shadows lingering in her thoughts, focusing instead on the woman and the conversation in front of her. “I know what you mean,” Ochako muttered quietly. “I feel that way too, sometimes.”

Inko regarded the girl with a smile before getting back up to resume work on the meal. Ochako’s stomach gave another small rumble at the prospect of a hot meal.

“Why…” Ochako paused, having to work up the courage to ask about what was still eating at her. “I guess I want to know. Why did you decide to let him go to school, despite that?” A small laugh escaped Inko’s lips, ringing strangely through the air after they spent so long mired in difficult, upsetting conversation. “I almost pulled him out. But after everything, I came to realize I can’t really stop him, I suppose.” A strange, forlorn fondness permeated the mother’s voice. “No matter what, Izuku’s always going to try to be a hero. Like All Might. I wish he wouldn’t but...I know now I have to support that dream. It’s who he is.” Ochako felt her heart quiver at the proud declaration. She struggled to keep herself together as she thought about the boy she looked up too; trying so hard, charging at every obstacle, nearly dying in a battle with Overhaul. She knew too there was no stopping him, not for anything. Even if it eventually killed him. In the fragments of his past, she could see how he had become so determined and unflinching in the face of danger. He had been through so much...much more than she herself had.

She couldn’t possibly compare. “But you know, it is reassuring to know people like you and All Might are there, looking out for him,” Inko said. Ochako could hear the smile in her voice. “I know it’s not really my place to ask but...I hope you’ll stay there for him.” Ochako’s heart pounded hard as the guilt that had settled into her stomach flung itself upward. Her eyes watered and she found herself struggling to keep her feelings bottled up. She had to stay composed. She shouldn’t lose it in front of this kind woman, she shouldn’t bother anyone with this baggage. It wouldn’t be fair. She breathed deeply to push back the feelings that threatened to spill over her. She needed an escape. Just a moment to collect herself. “Could I use your washroom?” With a herculean effort, Ochako managed to get the question out without spilling over. “Sure, it’s just on your…” Inko turned to regard the girl, her hand stuck out to the right to give guidance. No...Ochako’s felt like a deer in the headlights as she met Inko’s glance, the mother’s face muddied by her own watery eyes. She punctuated the awkward moment of silence with a breath and edged slightly out of her chair. Maybe Inko wouldn’t comment on it. “Dear, is there something wrong?” No...no….no…. Her head started feeling light as the question unleashed the floodgates inside of her. She sobbed as she stood up, her hand flying to her mouth to prevent more of the sadness from getting out of her. She had already done this to Deku. She couldn’t do this to his mother of all people, too. “I’m fine, sorry, there’s just something...something in my eyes,” Ochako stammered out between heaving, tiny breaths. She pushed hard against the surging tides within her. She was stronger than this. A warm hand grabbed hers. Ochako went still as a statue in shock, a little gasp escaping her lips. “It’s okay,” Inko said softly, her voice far too close to her ears. Goosebumps ran down Ochako’s skin. “You can let it out if you’d like. I’ll listen.” The touch reminded her of her own mother’s. Ochako’s throat clogged, preventing any attempt of protest from passing through. Ochako lost track of time as she collapsed, sobbing into Inko’s shoulder, muttering about everything but leaving nothing discernible. At some point, Inko guided them over to the soft couch, letting her cry all the while. Inko didn’t impose any questions and Ochako didn’t let out any answers. She let herself be lost to the welling of her own feelings, no longer able to maintain the mask that hid her despair. It was cathartic but stinging to cry, the guilt of revealing herself mixing in with the rest of the tangled weeds that wrapped around themselves within her. “I...I can’t…” Ochako managed to get out between sobs after a while. She tried to fight her way back to composure, to answer for her actions and her inability to maintain herself. “I can’t...protect him. I can’t protect anyone...” “That’s not what I meant, dear,” Inko replied, her voice taking on a comforting sweetness. “I meant I would like you to be there with him otherwise; be his friend. But you don’t have to if you don’t-” “Of course I want to!” Ochako exclaimed, the force in her proclamation undercut by the sniffle that followed. “But...but I...I’m just so...I don’t know.” Inko didn’t respond immediately, letting Ochako breathe into the wool of her sweater. The hero-in-training gradually got her breathing to slow down but the quiet tears still flowed freely. “When you love someone, I know how it can make you feel mixed up,” Inko stated. Ochako’s breath went to a near standstill at Inko’s implication. A part of her wanted desperately to interject but she found herself lacking the strength to do so.

“They can make you feel amazing, or sad, or infuriated, or...or lost,” Inko continued, speaking with a worldly wisdom that age had given her. “Or all of that at the same time. Izuku and his father have made me feel that way, at times.” “How do you…” Ochako mumbled as she disentangled herself from Inko’s embrace, rubbing a hand along her own face as she looked to Inko through a watery gaze. “How do you deal with it?” “Not always well,” Inko replied with a small chuckle. “But you have to know it’s okay to feel those things. You don’t have to keep it all bottled in.”

Ochako sniffled and let her gaze wander around the room again, trying to sort out the remnants of the explosion set off within her mind. “I...I don’t know how to feel about Deku,” Ochako said softly. Her filter was blown to pieces. There wasn’t much point in trying to hide things. “That’s fine too. I don’t think he’s fully realized how he feels about you, either.” “But I know I want to be like him. To save people like him,” Ochako continued with more surety. “I just...I just don’t think I can.” There it was, laid out in the open. Ochako could feel a migraine coming on and clutched at her head. She leaned her side against the couch cushions and kept her gaze trained on the fabric. She didn’t want to look up. “When I asked Izuku about the friends he was making, you were the first person he mentioned. He was pretty shy about it at first.” Ochako’s ears perked up at the start of her story but she didn’t move from her position. “But he eventually opened about you. He said he met a girl. Then he said you were really nice. I started to notice how his eyes lit up whenever he talked about you.” Ochako buried her face into the cushions and sighed, her cheeks flushing again. “He talked about how incredible you were. How he was glad to have you as a best friend,” Inko went on, unrelenting, her voice channelling the same admiration as her son. “I think you should talk to him but...but I don’t think he wants you to be like him. I think he wants you to be you.” She looked up then to see Inko, beaming at her. The mother reached out across to gently grasp Ochako’s hand, gazing at her with a familiar intensity. “And for what it’s worth...I think you’re a great hero. And I think you should be you, too.”

A fresh round of tears streamed down Ochako’s face. “Thank you,” she whispered. She didn’t know what else she could possibly say to that. She didn’t really know how to respond to something so kind and heartfelt. She was still unsure but...it made her feel a little bit better. “You’re welcome.” Inko left the couch for a moment but returned with a box of tissues, which Ochako gratefully accepted and started blowing her nose. “Is there anything else you want to talk about?” Inko asked earnestly as she watched over the young girl. Ochako answered her with a trumpeting of her nose. “I think...I think I’ll be alright. I need to talk to Deku though. I want to...I want to apologize to him.”

“That seems like a good idea,” Inko nodded, before getting back to busy herself with the stovetop. “Well, I think I’ve stalled out on cooking for long enough. Sorry about that.” “No, no, it’s okay,” Ochako replied weakly, waving a hand at Inko. “You...you helped me a lot.” “Glad to hear it,” Inko said with a bright smile before busying her hands with preparing the long-delayed meal. Ochako sighed and sank back into the couch, trying to ignore the onset of a headache. Inko’s words swam through her mind, disrupting the chaotic waters within. Despite Inko’s assurance, she wasn’t sure of herself. She couldn’t be. And she didn’t know if she could really stop herself from chasing Deku’s shadow. But she did not think she was being fair to him. Ultimately, he had just been trying to live up to his ideal of a hero...like she herself was. She felt she understood him and his unstoppable zeal a little better now. She was worried about his recklessness but the selfless disregard for his own being ultimately saved Eri’s life, and possibly countless others in the long run. She shouldn’t begrudge him for that. Deep down, she knew he could achieve anything he put his mind too. That might not completely assuage the aching of her heart but she could rely on her faith in him. But those were things she could worry about in the future. She realized that she had to have a serious talk with Deku. She was tired of living without her best friend; she needed to make amends. That was the least she could do.

AN: The third and final part will be posted Dec. 17. Thank you to RandomPersonaFanatic on the IzuOcha Discord server for editing this. I hope you all enjoyed. =)

[mysidewriting]

Though the Storm

Through the Storm Page "Soundtrack" From the Start--Previous Chapter

Chapter Twenty Six

Getting out of the cave was much easier than getting in, a lot of the stress I was under had vanished now that I had that ball at my waist. We were out in no time and I immediately started to head towards Lillie's house while attempting to explain what it felt like to have mewtwo speaking inside my head. Gladion had calmed down as well but that part was still bothering him, the speaking to my head and the choking part. I'd thought getting the beast to agree to work with us had been so easy but he disagreed entirely for those reasons. Worried that somehow mewtwo still had some psychic grip on me. I doubted it did, but I understood his concerns. That's what had happened to his mother last time there was a run in with a crazy powerful pokemon.

Speaking of which, I finally brought up what Lillie had asked of me. "So, Lillie asked me to check on Lusamine if I had the time and we clearly do have the time..." I glanced to his face to gauge his reaction, definitely annoyed. "Do you mind stopping there? If you don't want to see her I can just go in for like five mi-"

He cut me off with a heavy sigh, "No. It's okay, we can both go over there."

I stopped walking, forcing him to stop as well. "Are you sure? You really don't have to go if you don't want to. I don't want you to feel forced to see her."

"I don't feel forced." A small smile appeared on his lips, "it's fine, Moon. It will make them happy if I stop by and besides, what else are we going to do for the next day." His eyes rolled at that. "Let's go."

I grinned and quickly took the lead, "We can stay there for the day if it doesn't bother you. Then it'll be warm, and we can make food, and maybe watch a movie, and sleep in a bed." I said, gaze up on the clouds as I thought of the house. Those few weeks staying there with Lillie and her mom had been so great.

He chuckled, looking ready to make a comment about something but he just shook his head and took my hand instead. "That all sounds great, hopefully mom will stop talking long enough for that."

"I'm sure she will." I laughed, tugging him towards the house.

Gladion sucked down a long breath before nodding and I knocked at the door. A shouted 'one second' came from beyond the wood and I covered the giggle that escaped in reaction to his cringe. He sighed, shaking his head before focusing again. Lillie would be so happy and proud of him for this, I'd have to send her a text as soon as we were inside.

The door opened and a very healthy looking Lusamine stood behind the screen. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and I couldn't help but notice the little paint splatters on her arms. She gasped as she saw both of us, rushing out to embrace her son in what looked like a crushing squeeze.

"Hey, mom." Gladion said awkwardly, sounding a bit breathless as he pat her back. "Been a while."

She stepped away, wiping at her now damp eyes as she nodded. She wordlessly waved to invite us both into the house and I thanked her, stepping in happily. Gladion followed close behind, looking around like I had the first time. Nothing was out of place or odd at all, thankfully. It didn't seem like anything had gone wrong while Lillie was away. I stopped in the kitchen as Lusamine went to the sink and started washing the paint splatters off her arms. I was about to ask what she had been working on but she spoke first.

"What are you two doing here? Lillie told me she went to Hoenn to see you two and Hau before she left." She span around, flicking water off her hands. "I thought it would be Lillie at my door not..." she smiled sweetly towards Gladion. “My grumpy son and the Alola champion."

I hesitated, not knowing how much I should disclose to her. She didn't need to know that both her children were in moderate danger at the moment, or that it was my fault that they were. "It's a long story, to make things simple I had to come back to Kanto to get something and Gladion didn't want me to go alone."

She laughed delicately, "I'm not surprised you're protective, Gladion. How sweet of you."

His face went red and for some stupid reason his blushing made me embarrassed as well. I'd stood in front of Lusamine as many things in the past, as an interested trial goer, as an enemy, as a hero, as her daughters best friend... but this, this whole having mutual but unspoken feelings for her son thing, was weird. I felt awkward, and uncomfortable, and didn't know how to handle the situation. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, thankfully... "What's been going on? Has everything been okay without Lillie around?"

"Of course, of course." She waved off the concern. "I've filled the boring silence with some painting and music. I can't wait for her to be home again though."

He nodded, "She will be soon."

"So tell me, how is Aether?" She asked.

He cringed but managed to cover up the recoil with a cough fairly well. I doubted she noticed his hesitation or aversion to the question. "It's fine, Mom. You know I can't talk about it with you." His gaze was steady and assertive, nearly a glare.

"No, no. I know... I'm asking how it's going for you? I feel terrible that all that work and responsibility was dumped on you so suddenly. You're far too young to be running that organization." I was even shocked by her words...

His shoulders drooped, face going blank. "Ah, it's fine. I don't mind it."

I regretted opening my mouth the minute I did, but I'd already screwed myself over as they both looked to me. "You're too busy all the time though, it's so hard to even talk normally." He looked troubled by the comment.

"See, that's what I was worried about. You should be able to spend time with your friends and find what you want to do with your life. Not be stuck with your parents' work." Lusamine continued, waving to me for added momentum. "I'm so sorry you were pegged with it."

He shook his head, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I basically volunteered, don't worry about it. I get plenty of help when I need it and I'm fine doing the work."

The smile she gave him was sad, her eyes expressing her remorse for the situation. "Either way, I'm very proud and thankful of you for dealing with all of this. I hope you still make the time to spend with your friends and Moon, here."

He threw a hand behind his neck, gaze drifting to the floor. "Thanks..."

She asked how long we would be around and that's when I explained that we had until the next morning before we had to rush back to Hoenn. She was more than willing to have us over for the day and threw on a tea kettle before inviting us to the living room to talk more. She reminisced on some old memories with her family, back before the research on ultra-beasts had been so serious. All these stories about my best friends as kids that I'd never thought I'd hear. It was so refreshing. A ton of tension rolled off Gladion as well, his guards dropping bit by bit. He was actually warming up to her.

M//Hey, guess what

L//What?!

M//I'm sitting here with your mom and your brother and they're actually talking and laughing c:

L//REALLY?! Gladion is actually talking with her? //He actually went?!?

M//yep! //Also, we got mewtwo to help us.

L//Thank Arceus! What a successful trip you're on! //Steven said you won't be back until tomorrow morning?

M//Apparently, yeah

L//okay, I'll see you then! Thank you for getting my stubborn brother to see mom. //and feel free to use my room tonight if you need too!

M//Thanks lol

L//Just don't use my bed for you know... that sort of stuff... okay! ;p

M//WHAT? //YOU DONT NEED TO SAY THAT T-T

L//hahaha

After a long while of talking with the two of them and watching Gladion's reservations about his mother break away we were asked to run to the store for ingredients. Lusamine had found an interesting pasta recipe that she wanted to make but couldn't do alone. Instead of waiting for Lillie, she wanted to cook with us. I thought the idea was adorable and Gladion wasn't opposed whatsoever. So we ran off to a grocery store with a list of all these weird ingredients. I was forced to wear my hood up over my face and Gladion hovered close to me again, trying to avoid unnecessary exposure. Apparently the person at the counter recognized him, though. He'd seen both Lillie and Lusamine enough times to be able to recognize him as one of the family members.

On the way back, with handfuls of heavy plastic bags, I couldn't help but pester him about this. "So, you're getting along really well with her." I bumped his shoulder, grinning.

He laughed, "Yeah, well, she doesn't sound like a 90 year old woman anymore." He took a step closer so our arms brushed against each other's with every step.

"I'm glad you think so. Lillie is really happy you're talking with her."

"Yeah?" He sighed in a kind of content way, smirking. "I guess I am too."

Most of the day was spent making that meal. I chopped up veggies while Lusamine stirred up some sauce. Gladion helped me with the meat, laughing when I tried cutting it up and saying I looked like an idiot doing so. Apparently he knew a lot more about cooking than I did? Lusamine told a few stories about cooking with both him and Lillie and attributed it at least partially to those days. He agreed, saying Wicke had taught him a lot back at Aether as well. I took a step back once everything was ready to go on heat, watching them fuss over whether or not the veggies were done sautéing. I stole a few secretive pictures of them to send off to Lillie, grinning stupidly at the cute images. Family bonding at its finest... if only she could have been here as well. I certainly would have felt like I was intruding, but just seeing the three of them together would have been amazing.

It took forever to finish cooking the noodles. We had enough time to throw some desert in the oven as well which I would never complain about. Lusamine had us both sit at the table and brought glasses of wine, hesitating before giving me one of them. Gladion laughed, "She's fine, it's not like we're going anywhere for a while anyway."

I stuck my tongue out at him as she handed me the glass. "I handle it better than you do, dork."

His eyes rolled in response.

Everything tasted amazing, of course. Lusamine asked about my family, if we ever cooked together or had any interesting traditions. It was a bit harder for me to talk about considering what was going on with my family at the moment, but I did talk about times with my mom and grandmother. Figuring she just wanted me to talk some more too I told stories about the league while we ate. Stupid challengers and the few times everyone in the elite four and myself had gone out for fun. After finishing everything, all of us too full to even think about eating for a long time, Lusamine thanked us. "Thank you for spending time with me, both of you. It was so nice."

"It was nice." Gladion muttered with a small smile.

"Moon, thank you for bringing him here." She laughed, "I'm sure he wouldn't have come if you didn't say something."

I shrugged, laughing as well as Gladion nodded sheepishly. At least he was honest. Lusamine just smiled, not bothered by that fact.

"Well, I'm sure you two were hoping to get some time alone together. Don't feel like you have to hang around with me all evening." She stood and took the dirty plates off to the sink. I wasn't about to question her intentions with that statement but the blush growing on Gladion's face lead me to believe he was thinking the same thing I was. "I'm going to work on that painting a bit more." She said cheerfully before vanishing to a back room. I couldn't help but feel like she was forcing us to be alone with how quickly she had disappeared. Had we done something? Had she assumed something about us...?

Gladion just laughed awkwardly, rubbing at his red face. "You wanted to watch a movie?"

I shrugged, "it sounded nice, if you want too then I'd like too." Today was feeling like a dream. Distant and detached from the realities of the world. It didn't even feel like we'd been in those caves facing off mewtwo a few hours prior. It was nice, I just couldn't get too comfortable in this blip of calm during the storm.

"You know the house better than I do, so lead the way." He said.

The tv and movie player in Lillie's room were the only ones I knew how to operate properly so we sat in there with the movie. All the lights off and the only light coming from the tv screen, like a real movie theater. It was something random off Lillie's shelf, a flick about people with Pokémon powers that were basically superheroes. It was interesting enough but I was definitely distracted by a ton of things - by what could happen after we got back, by memories of sitting here with Lillie, by the way Gladion and I were leaning against each other with our hands intertwined. The movie that had probably been remade and redone hundreds of times before wasn't eye catching enough to distract me from those things at all.

I let my eyes fall closed, mind drifting back into those weeks where I thought this crazy experience-building trip was going to be great. Even then there had been terrible things happening, not death, but divorce and drama. That had been terrible to cope with, still was terrible - if anything worse now... but it seemed so innocent compared to the last month. A sudden flash back to my first week at Lillie's filled my mind, laying on the couch while Gladion drunk texted me. He'd never explained why he'd drank so much that night, had skillfully talked around it when I asked. He'd probably tell me if I asked now, right? Now that he was sitting next to me on the same couch I'd been on when that call happened. It wasn't important, but I was still curious. That was so unlike him...

As the ending credits rolled across the screen I shifted to lean my head against his shoulder. I contemplated how to even phrase what I wanted to ask him, wondering if he even remembered the call happening at this point. "Can I ask you an invasive question?" I started.

A short laugh shook his chest, "I guess so?"

I sat upright again, giving myself a good view of his hesitant face - cast over in shadows by the dramatic lighting of the tv. "Do you remember when you drunk called me? Back when I was here with Lillie?"

His eyes rolled but I could tell it wasn't because I was bringing up the event again, he seemed more annoyed with himself. "Of course." He grimaced. "Why?"

"You never told me why or how that happened." I pressed, leaning in a bit as a guarded look took over his features.

A rumble of thunder and loud patters of rain filled the silence between us as he scanned my face with an empty gaze. "You're still holding onto that after all this time?" He asked with a quiet laugh, the smile on his lips not reaching his hesitant eyes.

I grinned, "It's on the list."

That brought some light into his eyes, a more genuine sounding laugh escaping him. The credits ended and the menu for the movie popped up, a disgustingly cheerful tune looping through the speakers. "I thought we finished the list?" I just shook my head, unable to get that smile off my face. He groaned, "Arceus, Moon, are you really going to make me explain this?" He pressed a hand to his face.

His reaction was just making me more and more curious. I'd figured it'd been some fluke, that he'd just accidentally lost count of his drinks or been out with coworkers or something. Clearly there was a lot more to the story if he was being so reserved and stubborn about it. "Why can't I know?" I asked.

He sighed, "You can, I just... Wasn't planning on telling you now." His hand drifted to rub at the back of his neck, awkward... nervous... that was the only way I could read that gesture.

Now I was really interested. "Why not now? What were you waiting for?" I laughed, settling on top of my knees and facing him. I was beyond ready for story time.

"Okay, okay." He sighed, giving in to explaining this oh-so-important tale rather than answering those questions. "Let me see your phone."

Though I was confused, I didn't hesitate. I pulled the device from my back pocket and placed it in his outstretched hand. It opened to Lillie's chat log and I nearly jumped to close it before he could read what she had said earlier, but that would only make him suspicious. He didn't seem to notice the hinting text anyway and instead switched into our chat log. He scrolled for a few minutes to get back to the time frame I was referencing, continuing on past the garbled drunk texts before finally stopping and holding the phone up so I could clearly see the screen. He pointed at that first message he'd sent me when I arrived in Kanto.

G//hey //you busy tonight?

"Remember this?" He asked, his hands were shaking a bit. What the heatran is he so nervous about?! How could that night be linked back that far?

I simply nodded in response.

He gave me back the phone with another heavy sigh, gaze drifting off to rest on the tv instead of my eager and curious face. He practically had to heave the words out. "I had this... admittedly stupid, plan to ask you out that night." My heart dropped to my stomach, it felt like all my nerve endings had been electrocuted or set ablaze at those words. Seriously?! That's why he was so reserved about this... My heart rammed in my chest so hard I thought it was going to thump right up my throat and out. I didn't expect this, at all.

His tension broke a bit after that, sounding a bit more natural as he continued. I had to suck down my sudden bursts of energy to listen to the rest of his story. "Then I was going to meet with Hau later to ask what he thought you'd like to do, I thought he'd have some better ideas than I did, I'm not so great with the romance thing. He spends a lot more time with you too, so..." He paused a moment, green eyes flicking around the room - anywhere but at me. "I did have this old wine bottle that mom had sent me a while ago and was half planning on sharing it with you." A nervous laugh escaped him as he shook his head. "Again, not good with the romance thing. I saw wine in movies, I thought it fit.

I struggled to keep quiet, not romantic my ass. This was adorable. He couldn't stand Hau, yet he'd planned to talk to him about this?! Of all things I would never expect Gladion to tell Hau how he felt about anything.

"You were gone though, clearly. So I couldn't do any of that, and after months of trying to work up the nerve and figure out how to do it... I kind of figured it was a sign I should give up. Gone for six months, going to every region and meeting every champion... I was so sure you'd end up dating someone else, honestly."

That explains why he was so upset about me being gone... and why he had been so jealous of everyone I hung out with. Had he thought Green was going to ask me out? I wanted to laugh but I bit it back.

"So, all caught up in the emotional bullshit I had a beer or two and after that I kind of drank that whole wine bottle. Like I was trying to spite myself about all of it." His eyes rolled.

I couldn't keep quiet about that. "Two beers and a bottle of wine?! Seriously, Gladion?! No wonder you sounded like an idiot on the phone!" I shouted, playfully shoving his shoulder to his surprise. He actually stumbled a bit from the force, laughing as he caught himself from falling. "That's some serious 'drowning your sorrows'."

His gaze finally met mine again, still nervous. Clearly trying to judge how I'd taken all of that. Could he not tell already? "I know, it was stupid. My timing was horrible too, I'm sorry." He muttered.

I gave a dramatic pout, all my sparking and explosive energy and excitement from his confession was being expressed through my gestures. "Stop apologizing, dork! I told you before, it's fine." I laughed.

A soft smile appeared on his lips, gaze taking on that warm look that had sent shivers down my spine so many times already. If I had any less will power than I did I probably would have crushed him in a hug in that instant... but I was able to hold back, just barely. "Okay." He replied.

My nerves couldn't handle this much longer, I crossed my arms over my thundering heart. "There's one crucial question I have about this story of yours." I said, mocking a sleuth-like tone.

He leaned away, looking defensive. "What's that?" He asked warily.

"Why didn't you try again?" I said, grinning like an idiot.

His face went pale, the music looped again - back to the start of that stupidly cheerful song. "What?" How did he not know what I meant?

"Why didn't you try asking me out when we met up again?" I asked, "I didn't end up with anyone else."

He jumped, eyes going wide and stuttering over his words. I doubted he ever even considered that before, he was so shocked by the idea. "B-because someone's trying to kill you! Y-y-your life takes priority, Moon!" I didn't think I'd ever heard or seen him as frazzled as he was now.

I would have entirely agreed with him just a day prior. "I understand but, Lillie made a good point yesterday." He cocked an eyebrow, confused. "Putting a label on how we already are together wouldn't change much. If anything it just makes my days a little less stressful." Even passively addressing how we'd been treating each other recently felt strange. My excitement was at bursting point and even my hands were trembling now.

I grabbed his hands, cutting off whatever he was about to say with the action. We both relaxed, like the touch had grounded all the electricity and all that shaking stopped. I was mesmerized by his skin against mine for a while. Studying the way our hands fit together, how the lines and cracks seemed to match up like puzzle pieces. After a long moment he started running his thumbs up and down the backs of my hands, the sensation shooting goosebumps up my arms.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend?" I said quietly without even really thinking about it. The words just slid out of my mouth and although I didn't regret them at all, I still felt totally awkward. There had to be a better way to phrase that... it felt so cheesy. I didn't look up, just kept staring at our hands as my cheeks turned bright red.

He laughed and leaned forward, my heart stuttered in my chest and my breath rammed up in my throat. He rested his forehead against mine, "Yes." I could see the grin on his lips. It definitely wasn't the first time I'd wondered what that smile would taste like.

"Will you be, then?" I said, running with the cheesy traditional lines. I could hear the blood rushing behind my ears, couldn't even try to hold back my own painfully wide grin.

That was when he closed the distance between us, leaning forward just that little bit more. His lips timidly brushed mine, the touch feeling like a static shock that rattled me deep into my core. He released one of my hands and placed his own on the back of my neck as his lips pressed firmly against mine in a much more determined, wanting kiss. Like every second that we hadn't kissed had been a tragedy and he had to make it up to me in that instant... And I could feel it, could taste it. I melted into it, unable to hold onto any other thoughts than the notion of him, his warmth, his touch, everything. How had I held back all this time? I took a handful of his shirt and pulled him closer, kissing him back with the same vigor. I could feel his heart pounding in sync with my own as we parted for a breath, a short chuckle escaping him. His fingers tangled in my hair, still holding me just as close. "Of course." He said in a hot breath that bathed over my face intoxicatingly. I kissed that grin of his eagerly, loving the feeling of his mouth moving to catch the kiss as well. His other hand wrapped around my waist and he somehow managed to pull me even closer, getting me onto his lap.

I hugged him as we broke away again, dropping my head to his shoulder while gasping for air. His hand slid from my neck to my back and he embraced me as well. We stayed like that for a long while, just breathing, it felt like my body was humming, as though I'd been strung like a guitar chord and the sound was still ringing out. My head was spinning, I'd never been drunk but I imagined this was how it would feel.

Gladion's head rocked back, resting on the back of the couch. "Arceus..." he muttered through a sigh. “Is today even real?"

I laughed, sitting up so I could see him. "What do you mean?" I was sure I already knew the answer to that question, today had felt like a dream.

"Everything is going too well." He said, breaking his gaze from mine and brushing a hand through my hair - watching that instead. "Mewtwo agreed to work with us, mom isn't crazy, you..." He just smirked for that and I stole a quick kiss, giddy that I could do that now. "After this last month it doesn't seem real."

"I know..." I muttered, "Let's hope karma doesn't come around and bite us in the butt after this."

His eyebrows bunched up and he pulled me into a tight hug, "Don't say that." He laughed nervously, "Don't jinx it. Everything will be fine." He rested his chin on my shoulder, his words reminding me of articuno... that warning, had that jinxed me too?

"We have mewtwo, and a ton of super powerful trainers. Everything will be fine." I said, trying to believe my words.

"We need to be careful, and don't you dare even think about leaving my side. No matter what." He practically snapped at me, his grip tightening around me. "I refuse to lose you again."

My chest swelled in this all-encompassing warmth and I nestled my head against his. "I won't leave your side, and you won't lose me. I need you to watch my back anyway."

Putting a 'label' on this had given us a lot more to lose... At least it felt like it in that moment.

The plan was to get up around 3am, we'd have enough time to both shower and eat before going to meet up with the crazy plane guy again. We spent the rest of the evening laying on the couch, knowing eventually we'd fall asleep so the earlier we were ready the more rest we would get. It was hard though, between the anxiety for the next day and the excitement from today... sleep was nearly impossible to achieve. There was a lot of sleepy kisses and cuddling, the touch of his lips on mine sending sparks of drunk giddiness into my system every time. It was funny how someone so familiar and trustworthy could become so foreign and new to me with just a kiss like that. Not that he wasn't still familiar and trustworthy, but it was like we'd opened a door to a whole new world together and every second like this was unmapped territory. Exciting and intimidating at the same time... but I knew everything would work out fine, it was him after all. My friend, my trusted partner in crime.

[pokemaniacal]

Pokémon Moon, Episode 11: In Which I Perform an Exorcism

With no other clear direction obvious to me, I leave Malie City and wander south.  The southeast coast of Ula’ula Island is dominated by extremely rough, rocky, arid scrubland.  Although the Z-Crystal that I earned in Sophocles’ trial gets me through the Island Challenge barricades on the southeast road, it doesn’t take long before the rocks become totally impassable.  Fortunately, Hapu (who is almost certainly very important, though I’m still not sure why) is on hand to offer me the solution: she allows me to freely summon her Mudsdale as a riding Pokémon.  Mudsdale is slow compared to the other Tauros and Stoutland, but can move effortlessly over rough terrain that would reduce them to uncoordinated stumbling. Hapu points me in the direction of Tapu Village, at the base of Mount Lanakila, for my next trial, then bids me good luck and farewell.

The southeast road curves along the barren, rocky coast of Ula’ula Island until it finally reaches a ramshackle settlement made up of a motel and a few broken-down mobile homes huddled around an oasis.  Is this… Tapu Village?  It’s… kind of a dump.  Hau has arrived here just ahead of me, brimming with energy as always.  As we talk – or, more accurately, as Hau bubbles at me cheerfully – a voice cuts across from behind me. “You only have one volume, don’t you?” it asks disdainfully.  I turn to see Gladion, the strange pale boy working for Team Skull that we met on Akala Island. “Gah! He’s back!” Hau cries.  Gladion makes a face at him. “Haven’t you ever heard the expression that silence is golden?” “Believe me, dude, I’m with you on that one,” I tell him.  Hau looks upset, but Gladion ignores me and continues speaking. “Listen, Team Skull is looking for a Pokémon called Cosmog… Do you two know anything?”  Hau’s eyes widen and he starts spluttering. “What!? N-not that we’d tell you!” “Hau, shut up and let me handle this,” I hiss, shooting him a quick cautionary glance. Gladion fixes his gaze on Hau, like he’s staring right through him. “So you do know something.” “What if we do?” I ask.  Gladion keeps glaring at Hau, who is rapidly wilting under the pressure.  “Hey.”  I snap my fingers.  “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”  Gladion rolls his eyes and turns to me, and Hau breathes a sigh of relief.  “What if we do know something?”  I give him a conspiratorial smirk.  “How much is it worth to you?”  Hau looks shocked, but Gladion just grunts. “Ugh… Look… Cosmog isn’t even a strong Pokémon.  But it has the potential to summon Pokémon so terrifyingly strong that you don’t even know.”  Summon…?  Like, through an Ultra Wormhole?  Can Cosmog create Ultra Wormholes?  But then- then Lillie must already have what she needs to summon the Ultra Beast that she was researching in the Malie Library!  Unless… no… no, it has the potential to, Gladion said.  I can still stop Lillie’s plans if I can find out what will unlock Nebby’s potential and stop her from getting it… but I can’t let her realise how much I know.  “If something like that happened, it would be a disaster for Alola,” Gladion continues. “A disaster?” Hau exclaims.  “Like… a real disaster?  Then what’re we supposed to do about it?” “Protect it!” Gladion answers, exasperated.  “If you do know where Cosmog is or if you do find anything out… just keep it safe!” “Safe from what…?” I ask, fishing for more information.  “You said you work for Team Skull.  Why would you want us to keep Neb- uh- this ‘Cosmog’ Pokémon safe from them?  What’s your real angle here?”  Gladion tenses up slightly. “Working for Team Skull doesn’t mean I always have to agree with them.  You’ve met Guzma.  Can you even imagine what he would be like with Cosmog under his control?” I stare at him intently. “You’re lying,” I state matter-of-factly.  The truth is, I’m actually not sure this time, and I certainly don’t want Guzma to be able to summon god-killing abominations from the Endless Void at will – but there’s no reason to let Gladion know that. “Something else is going on here. They’re looking for Cosmog for someone else… or… to keep it away from someone else?”  He doesn’t take the bait. “I know I might be working for Team Skull right now, so you may not trust me or even care, but… I’m going to tell you this just once.  You have to protect Cosmog!  No matter what!”  He turns and leaves, ignoring Hau’s attempts to ask more questions. 

Well, at least I know one thing for sure: the saintly Aether Foundation has nothing to do with this.  After all, Lusamine seemed so nice!  Her foundation couldn’t possibly be involved with anything as disreputable as a turf war with Team Skull, let alone Lillie’s apocalyptic plans to summon Lunala and plunge Alola into eternal night.  Nope; that is one Alolan faction that I see no reason to investigate whatsoever.

Now that I’m free to explore the oasis, I quickly discover that this is not Tapu Village at all.  The “village” is a blasted ruin to the west of the oasis, at the bottom of the trail that leads up Mount Lanakila, where only a Pokémon Centre and a few stone totems are still standing.  The cluster of beaten-up mobile homes seems to be a makeshift settlement of Alola’s assorted hopeless and dispossessed.  Honestly it seems like this is just a place where the Alolans ditch people they don’t want to think too hard about – a campervan graveyard on the edge of the unforgiving Haina Desert, where the local deity, Tapu Bulu, is said to live in isolation.  So… if I’m understanding the situation correctly, the Tapu of Life lives next to a cemetery, and the Tapu of Abundance lives in the middle of a desert.  I can only assume that no one has ever offered the Alolan pantheon any sort of image consulting.  Among the societal debris of this alleged settlement are several members of Team Skull, who seem to own one of the campervans.  I guess this is their home, making me the intruder this time, but they make no effort to make me feel unwelcome.  They even talk to me for a while, satisfying some of my curiosity about who they are and where they come from.  Team Skull, apparently, had once been led by an Alolan Kahuna, but fell out of favour after they “got smacked down by the wrath of the Tapu,” which, to be honest, I can sympathise with.  I’m rapidly starting to feel like Team Skull may be the victims in all of this (or at least, many of their members; I have yet to develop any particular compassion for Guzma).  Alolan society and tradition have left them behind, casting them out to the edges of civilisation, and now Kukui’s revolution is threatening to do it again. There’s some straight-up classism just below the surface here.

If Professor Kukui’s Lanakila League ever takes off, then Tapu Village might become a thriving settlement again thanks to the tourism, but for now, it barely even qualifies as a village.  Aside from the Pokémon Centre, there’s just a big abandoned supermarket, sitting just back from the black iron-sand beach on the south coast.  Apparently it was built on sacred land, drawing the wrath of the Tapu, and is now overrun by Ghost Pokémon.  It’s also a trial site, but its Captain – presumably that Acerola chick who was conspiring with Lillie at the library – isn’t here.  Out in the bay, there’s a ruined lighthouse, and there’s no word on what happened to that.  Maybe Tapu Bulu just has really terrible aim?  Outside the “village” to the northwest is only other location of any importance, a gleaming white building in the distinctive cuboid architectural style of the Aether Foundation: Aether House.  The sign outside proclaims it to be a place “where people and Pokémon huddle together” – a refuge of sorts, not unlike the Aether Paradise, though Aether House also seems to harbour human children (orphans?).  Despite the name, and the golden trident-like logo of the Aether Foundation prominently displayed above the reception desk, there don’t seem to be any actual Aether Foundation employees present.  There is a receptionist manning the desk.  However, this receptionist is an Oranguru.  No one questions this.  When Hau and I first arrive here, we manage to get into a fight with the unusually warlike children who live in Aether House with their Pokémon, but it doesn’t take long for Acerola to show up and reassure them that we aren’t their enemy. She seems to work at Aether House in some capacity, but I’m not clear on whether she’s part of the Aether Foundation – if so, it’s odd that she’s working with Lillie.  Perhaps she’s a double agent working for Lillie’s terrorist cell to bring down the foundation from within… The plot thickens.  Acerola formally invites me and Hau to take her trial at the abandoned Thrifty Megamart, which should be a good way to get the measure of her properly.

When I leave Aether House, Lillie is just outside – shouting at a member of Team Skull. Oh dear. “Your bag was moving!” the grunt accuses her.  “Right in front of my eyes!  And I’m just supposed to ignore that?!”  That bag is where she hides Nebby when they’re in public. Ohhhhh dear. “Even if it’s not that rare of a Pokémon, I bet I could still get paid, yo,” the grunt continues.  Lillie feigns terror, cowering with her bag held protectively behind her, but he clearly sees through her flimsy ruse and takes a step closer to her, looming threateningly. “Damnit,” I mutter under my breath.  If this idiot forces Lillie’s hand, then either I’ll be railroaded into a confrontation with her right now, or Team Skull will get her Cosmog, and I’m not sure either of those scenarios end well. I recognise him as the grunt with the Drowzee that I battled a couple of times on Melemele Island, so I decide to step in and try to defuse the situation. “Hey there; what’s up, uh… homie?” I say cheerfully as I hastily insert myself in between Lillie and the grunt.  “I’m sure we don’t need this to get violent, right?  Why don’t you and I just leave the girl alone and I’ll, uh… buy you a nice Tapu Cocoa down at the Pokémon Centre or something?”  He looks at me suspiciously. “You again?  I remember you – you’re that numskull what B keeps talking about.”  I blink a few times. “Yeah, I- um.  Wait, he does?  Really? Like… what kind of things does he even say?”  Lillie cocks her head and stares at me in abject confusion.  I give her some frantic hand signals behind my back in hopes of getting her to scurry into Aether House. “I dunno, he just, like… never shuts up when we’re all hanging out at the boss’s crib. It’s mad distractin’, yo!  Homie needs to check himself ‘fore he wrecks himself.” “Well… no, I mean, yeah, I get it, just… like, for example…?” I ask, doing my best to appear casual while simultaneously progressing my hand signals for Lillie to more insistent and obscene levels.  My strategy is working in one respect at least; the grunt is now getting far too mystified with my line of questioning to pay any attention to her. “Uh… I guess last time we was all chillin’, he kept talkin’ about how you beat the boss in Malie City.  It’s like that numskull don’t even know what Guzma’d do to us if he heard someone mouthing off like that!”  My reputation is spreading!  At this rate, Guzma will have lost control of Team Skull by next Thursday!  Meanwhile, as the grunt talks, Lillie slowly creeps up the Aether House front stairs.  “What’choo even care for, yo?” “Oh, well, I don’t, I just- Well, the more of you know how strong I am, the easier it gets to keep you from causing trouble, right?”  I pause to think.  “Not that that’s stopped any of you from trying to fight me so far…” Lillie has made her way inside, and is now nowhere to be seen.  Mission accomplished.  “Do you think you could give B a message from me?” I ask, trying to keep the grunt’s thoughts disrupted as long as possible. “…sure?” He waits for a few seconds. “So…?” “Um. Just… tell him I said hi?”  I suggest.  “And, uh, maybe tell him to tone it down when Guzma’s around?  You know, check himself before he wrecks himself?” The grunt looks at me like I just told him I want dancing lessons for my Walrein because it’s the wrong shade of orange. “Whatever, homie,” he says with a shrug.  “I gotta split.  Laters!” He wanders off, still looking baffled. 

…what? It worked, didn’t it?

Acerola meets me outside the defunct Thrifty Megamart, as promised, and explains the rules of her trial.  All I have to do is find her Ghost-type Totem Pokémon within the ruins of the store and take its picture with the Rotomdex’s camera.  Easy, right?  She even offers me a hint: the Totem Pokémon will probably be hidden, but should come out to “join the fun” if it sees the other Ghost Pokémon enjoying a photo op and gets jealous.  Well, this should be refreshingly straightforward.  Acerola bids me good luck and, with the Rotomdex hovering at my side, I enter the abandoned store.

…wow, this place is a dump.  Empty storage boxes and overturned shopping trolleys blocking half the aisles, piles of canned food that no-one ever bothered to claim, bare shelves coated with dust, windows gone dark from years of neglected grime… No Ghost Pokémon yet, but that’s not surprising; most Ghost-type species prefer to observe humans on their own terms before engaging.  I walk softly past a collapsed shelf of decaying magazines, scanning the store for movement.  Somewhere to my left, I hear a loud “clunk,” and one of the checkout conveyor belts starts moving on its own.  That’s… not normal.  I go to examine the checkout. “Zzzzt! What are you waiting for?” the Rotomdex buzzes, floating around in front of me.  “Take a photo!”  It waves its ‘arm’ at the empty air in front of us. “…dude, you’re glitching again.  There’s nothing there.” “WooooooOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOOO!” “You were zzzzzzzaying?” “...it’s the wind.  Probably.” “You really can’t zzzzzzzee that?”  I shrug helplessly.  “Juzzzzzt look through my camera!”  The Rotomdex boots up its camera function and hovers right in front of my nose.  I blink, uncross my eyes, and peer at the screen. The Gastly floating overhead laughs and pokes out its tongue.  The Rotomdex clicks loudly and snaps a photo of the Gastly, which immediately turns itself visible and attacks.  Startled, I yelp, tumble backwards over another checkout counter, and fumble for my Golisopod’s Pokéball.  A quick Payback attack is enough to see the Gastly off, leaving Golisopod to wonder what her trainer is doing upside down on the floor of a derelict supermarket. 

“So you can see Ghost Pokémon even while they’re out-of-phase?” I ask the Rotomdex as I creep further into the building, my Golisopod in tow. “Zzzzt! I’m a Ghost Pokémon too, remember, bosszz?” “And you can project what you see onto your display?”  A discarded trolley starts rattling, and we move to investigate. “Close enough.  My cameras can pick up all the same thingzzzz my eyes can.” “Oh, that makes sense.”  We detect and dispatch a Haunter in the same way as the Gastly before it.  “…wait, you have multispectral cameras?” “Zzzzt! Sure do, bosszz!” “Um… why?” I ask. “What do you mean, why?  I’m a top-notch rezzzearch tool!  I’m zzzztate of the art!” the Rotomdex responds indignantly. “Jeez, it was just a question; no need to get your circuits knotted.”  It buzzes at me with irritation.  “Although… you’re not really, are you?” “What’zzz that supposed to mean!?” “Well… the body that the Professors gave you – the Pokédex – that’s where all your useful functionality comes from. You’re just… kind of an annoying tour guide.” “ZZZZZZT!  Without me, thizzz thing is just a glorified Kindle with the battery life of a suicidal Voltorb!  I’m the one that allows new information and data analysis to come out of your random stumbling around Alola!” “Random stumbling!?  That- well, okay, that’s fair, but… hang on.  Analysis?”  Over in the back corner of the store, I see a Pikachu doll and a Marill doll levitate off their shelf. “Who do you think writezz all those Pokédex entries!?  Zzzzt!” “Wait – you write… yourself?  Every one of your entries is your original work?”  The Rotomdex is silent for a moment, then gives an embarrassed buzz. “Not exzzzactly.  I’m the… ethereal spark that lets the Pokédex’s AI function.  But I don’t really know how it works.  If I want to know something from my database, I can juzzzzt… think of it, and it’s like I knew it all along, but I don’t know how I know it or where I learned it.” “…trippy.” “Zzzt! You’re damn right it is, boss! But I wouldn’t pass it up for anything! While I’m living inside this box, I’m the zzzmartest thing in the universe!” “Whatever; don’t get a swelled CPU.”  We snap a picture of a Gengar, walking on air and controlling the floating dolls.  The Gengar attacks, and my Golisopod smacks it through a wall with Payback.  We’re at the back of the store now, and nothing else seems to be moving.  The whole place is eerily quiet.  Suddenly, there’s a voice behind me. “Piiii-pikachu!” I spin around and see a little Pikachu in a gloomy corner.  It runs off alongside the back wall of the store and ducks through a door that… I’m almost certain wasn’t there a second ago. “Oookay…” I say out loud.  What would a Pikachu be doing in a place like this?  I walk slowly towards the door.  It’s ajar, and swings open with only a slight creak.

The room beyond is… tiny, barely large enough for me and Golisopod. The stark concrete walls are decorated with a dozen or more child’s drawings of a Pikachu with a little girl. “What… is all this doing here?” I ask. We’re in the back room of a supermarket, why…? “Pi-ka!” I turn around.  The Pikachu is standing behind us. “Hello there…” I say cautiously.  The Pikachu cocks its head.  “Could you help me?  I’m looking for a Totem Pokémon, and-” The Pikachu suddenly starts laughing, a scratchy, high-pitched sound that seems totally out of place. “Uh… boss?” the Rotomdex asks.  “Who are you talking to?” “The-?” I blink.  “You can’t see-?”  I look to the Rotomdex, then back at the Pikachu.  It flickers for a moment and then vanishes.  The tiny room’s door slams shut and the lights cut out. “Ohhhhhh god…” The Rotomdex turns up its display brightness, and I catch sight of the Pikachu again – only it suddenly looks very wrong.  Its skin is freakishly pale, its head lolls to one side, its ears are bent and crumpled, and its face looks scribbled on with a marker.  It laughs again, and I snap.  “OH SWEET JUMPING CR@P!” I shout, and roundhouse kick the not-Pikachu in the head.  It just keeps laughing as its neck goes limp and its head dangles uselessly over its back. “KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!” I scream at my Golisopod, who clumsily tries to attack around me, leaving several dents in the concrete walls in the process.  With another deranged, maniacal laugh, the not-Pikachu leaps onto Golisopod and beats her senseless.  I hastily call on my Toucannon for a Beak Blast that burns the not-Pikachu and starts to seriously crack the walls, but it just pops a Lum Berry in its mouth, grabs my Toucannon and slams her to the ground.  “ARCEUS I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN YOU!  I’M SORRY FOR BEING TERRIBLE!” I shout as I send out my Salazzle. Panicking now, I perform a flailing improvisation of Kiawe’s fire dance and command an Inferno Overdrive.  That does the trick, blasting the not-Pikachu right through the wall, leaving a gaping hole in the back of the supermarket. Unfortunately, it also fills the tiny cubicle with thick smoke and concrete dust.  Coughing and hacking, I stumble outside into the light and collapse on the ground, exhausted.  A minute later, I become aware of a curious face peering at me from above. “This one’s going straight on my instagram,” Acerola says cheerfully.  “Hashtag spooked!”

Ridiculous quote log: 

“I want to do business with Pokémon.  For example, I could use the pincers of Crabrawler, which grow back constantly.” Wait, use them for what?  Are you going to torture Pokémon to produce an endless supply of crab meat?

“Lana put her soul into the fishing rod she made.  Er, don’t you think that the rod is Lana herself?” Um. Well, I didn’t until now, but you’re saying that with such conviction that I’m not sure anymore… and I’m going to start watching what I say around my fishing rod… 

The team:

Tane the Decidueye Male, Timid nature, Overgrow ability Level 35 Steel Wing, Razor Leaf, Synthesis, Spirit Shackle

Rhea the Toucannon Female, Lax nature, Keen Eye ability Level 34 Screech, Roost, Beak Blast, Brick Break 

Ashley the Psychu Female, Timid nature, Surge Surfer ability Level 34 Discharge, Hidden Power (Ice), Nasty Plot, Psychic

Hypatia the Slowpoke Female, Hardy nature, Own Tempo ability Level 34 Psychic, Yawn, Façade, Scald

Joanna the Salazzle Female, Timid nature, Corrosion ability Level 35 Flame Burst, Nasty Plot, Dragon Rage, Toxic

Sigourney the Golisopod Female, Careful nature, Emergency Exit ability Level 33 Brick Break, Payback, First Impression, Leech Life

[jimin-infires-life]

Roman Holiday | Oneshot

Jungkook x Reader | Oneshot

Genre: Angst and Fluff

Word Count: 5,820 words

A/N: i’m gonna start off by thanking @extraterrestrial-taehyung bc she ULTRA EDITED this (ty and ily). ALSO i was supposed to finish part 2 of La Douleur Exquise but halsey fucked me up.

Inspired by Halsey- Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday- (n.) an occasion on which enjoyment or profit is derived from others' suffering or discomfort.

“Dad,” You called out with a strong voice to the drunken figure that walked in through the broken front door. You got up from your patched-up couch and skirted around the empty glasses of alcohol left all around the house to help the staggering figure get inside. He held an empty glass bottle in his hand with a grip strong enough to kill someone. “Dad.” You became wary of your father as you softly called out to him, stopping yourself from getting close. You knew he was going to burst soon, as he usually did. “It’s around midnight dad, I think you should get in bed-”

Out of nowhere, your father threw his bottle at the wall behind you. The sudden crash frightened you, suddenly knocking the breath from your lungs. The sharp pieces clattered loudly to the hardwood floor and shone dully in the ever-constant dimming light of the living room. “That bitch!” Your drunken father’s words slurred together as he limped his way into the kitchen. You carefully followed him, maintaining your distance. “That motherfucker threw me out of his bar!” He yanked opened the refrigerator door and pulled out one of many beer bottles before slamming it shut, rattling the empty cereal boxes that sat above. “That fucker!” He popped the top off with no problem and chugged half the beer in one go.

“Dad,” Taking tenuous steps towards him, your main goal was to get him to bed. “Isn’t it time to go to sleep? I mean the neighborhood-”

His booming voice stopped you in your tracks. “Who gives a fuck about the neighborhood?! We live next door to a bunch of crack addicts and drug dealers! I certainly don’t give a fuck!”

“Let’s go to sleep, please?” You begged your father, who had drunkenly sat down in a rickety wooden chair next to the dining table, his poison in hand.

“Let’s not.”

He was the reason why your nights were always painfully long.

“It’s okay, my little pumpkin. You stay here, okay? I’ll go deal with him.” Your mother tucked you into the small bed, leaving you in the darkness of your room. You were afraid without your mother, but you were also afraid of leaving her with him.

From outside your room, a loud shout was heard. You were about nine, and knew what the man who you called ‘dad’ was capable of. Your hands grabbed your mother’s long fingers to stop her from going. As your eyes wandered from her hands to her shoulders, you spotted all the bruises he had left on her. When your eyes landed on her face, you gazed at the cuts. You felt weak, helpless, and scared.

Your mother bent down and softly laid a kiss on your head. “I’m sorry honey.” She got back up and went to fight the devil as you slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, no one woke you up. The sun protruded through the broken blinds and irritated you as the small clock on your wall struck seven am. By that time, the smell of pancakes would have usually wafted into your room, but no such smell came that morning.

At around eight am, a scream had awoken you. After that, everything was a haze. You felt as if you were in a movie, watching the screen instead of actually living it. You only remembered parts of what happened, cutting out scenes that your mind couldn’t handle.

Your living room. A noose. A dead body hanging from the ceiling fan. Tears. Sirens. Yells. Screams. Tears. Your mother.

Somehow, you landed back in your room with the police going through all of your things. You couldn’t breathe; your lungs felt as if they were cut off from oxygen, and that your body was punishing you for not being able to save her. A letter was found in the drawer of your nightstand addressed to you.

Immediately looking at your name on the envelope, you could tell it was your mother’s handwriting. You weren’t ready to open the letter and read what your mother had to say. You were mad at her for leaving you alone. She was your only ally in the fight against the demon.

As the days went on without your mother, the letter stayed unopened in that drawer. You dealt with your father the way your mother would. With unyielding tenderness. Whenever he would yell, you would soothe him. Whenever he would break bottles, you would clean them up. Whenever he would raise his hand, you would keep your eyes shut, waiting for the moment his hand would land on you.

One day, you realized your mother had lost the fight against the demon. He had killed her. With all the courage in your heart, you opened her letter.

“Y/N, my little pumpkin, I’m a terrible mother, I’m sorry. I love you. I’m sorry I had to leave you like this. Maybe we’ll meet in heaven, hopefully not soon, but one day. I wish things would have been different. I want you to survive him. Survive the Beast and get out when you can. One day, you’ll be happy. I love you so much. I’m sorry.”

As you opened the front door of your house and stepped outside to get to work, your best friend’s voice came from out of nowhere. “Rough night?” Next door, Jungkook was sitting on the steps of his house as if he was waiting for you to come out.

“Yah, Jungkook, what are you doing surprising me like that! I swear I’ll die of a heart attack one day.” You smiled at him as you walked down the concrete steps that led to your broken down house. “Did you hear what happened last night?”

Jungkook nodded. He got up from where he was sitting and walked to you. “I think the whole neighborhood heard. Everyone’s scared of him, even the police.” He stared at you with his doe eyes, waiting for a witty response from you.

“Once a drunk, always a drunk.” You sighed.

The first time you met Jeon Jungkook was after your mother had died. You remembered running away from your house. You remembered the dark night sky as you ran without stopping, bringing a bag filled with only a couple of clothes along with you. Trying to get yourself out of the west side of town, you ran towards the east side where you remember your mother having said was a safe place.

As a young nine year old, you knew how cruel the world was, and how nothing was ever fair. You remembered passing strangers who looked at you with malice and had evil intents in mind. You avoided the dark alleys and only went through the streets with streetlights illuminating the path. After following all the street signs and everything your mother had said about that place, you eventually made it to a clearing in a forest, which was apparently not far from where you started off. You went in a circle.

Your heart felt defeated. You wanted to leave the evil man that killed your mother, but you couldn’t. You were naive, unknowing of many things, and innocent. Laying down on the grass in the clearing, you looked up at the pitch black night sky. At first, the smog hid all the bright stars, but as you stared up longer, you saw them. You were mesmerised and couldn’t stop staring, even when you heard the soft sound of footsteps coming close to you.

A soft voice called out to you. “Um, hello.” His voice was small and sounded a little afraid. You sat up and turned around to see from whom the voice was coming from. Only an outline was visible in the darkness.

“Hi,” You spoke to him with a little bounce in your voice. His figure made it seem as if he was the same age as you, or maybe younger. “I’m Y/N.” The little boy slowly walked over to you and sat on the grass right next to you.

He looked up at the sky, lost in the darkness. “Isn’t it beautiful?” His voice seemed to have gained a little more confidence. His head slowly turned towards you. “I’m Jeon Jungkook.” The moon’s light showed his lips curl up into a soft smile, making a warm feeling spread inside your heart.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Jeon Jungkook.”

“Y/N, let’s go out and do something fun.” Jungkook, who you thought was sound asleep on your lap, had actually been staring at you as you read your book. You were leaning on a tree in the clearing you had met him in years ago, and the shade that blocked the harsh rays of the sun gave you peace.

You set the book aside as you looked down at Jungkook, who was curiously gazing up at you. “Hmm,” An idea suddenly popped in your mind. “What if we sneak into the city pool tonight? Ya know the one that’s on the other side of town and is always heated?” You stared down at Jungkook, who didn’t seem so fond of the idea.

“But that’s kinda illegal?” His eyebrows were knitted together in concern, but you paid no attention to his fear. He was always afraid of things that he wasn’t sure of, but once your wild personality forced him into doing something, he started to like it.

“Everything’s kinda illegal if you think about it. We’re seventeen, we should have fun together before we go on and lead a shitty life. Everything is about timing.” A smile crept onto your face as Jungkook thought about the proposition. “Plus,” You continued. “I’ll be able to get away from my son of a bitch father tonight.”

Hesitantly, he agreed to go with you.

You leaped into the pool with your t-shirt and shorts on, enjoying the sudden feeling of warmth the pool gave. Behind you was a reluctant Jungkook in his shirt and swimming trunks.

“Yah Jungkook, you said you would jump in with me!” Your voice resonated throughout the gated neighborhood the pool resided in. You swam to where he was standing and grabbed onto his ankle. You looked up to him with a smirk right before you pulled him in. The sudden look of horror on his face before falling in amused you so much to the point where you almost drowned because of your laughter.

Jungkook saw the opportunity to get back at you and jumped on you. Playfully, the both of you were going at each other, throwing water towards each other and trying to drown each other. Somehow, Jungkook ended up hugging you in the middle of the pool. His eyes were transfixed on yours, and yours on his. The distance between your faces was less than a couple of inches, and you could feel his warm breath on your cold skin. Suddenly the warm water wasn’t as warm as Jungkook’s skin. You wanted more of him. More of his touch. You looked down onto his lips which leisurely turned into his adorable bunny-like smile.

“I see you staring.” He joked. A grin apparent on his face, but when the pool’s security alarm was tripped, it was wiped off. “Oh shit.”

“That was fun.” You smiled up at Jungkook, who was out of breath from running. Finally the both of you were in front of your houses after running away from the police. Jungkook lived right next door to you. He was a foster kid living with a bunch of crack addicts who didn’t really give a shit about him; they used him for the monthly government check and you weren’t sure why he was even dealing with them.

Jungkook’s face was struck in horror when you said that. “Fun?! Does being chased by the cops sound fun to you?”

You stared up at the sky that was decorated with small stars light years away. It reminded you of the time you tried to run away years ago. It reminded you of the peace. If I get the chance to bolt, You thought, I’ll go. And I’ll take him with me too. “Anything’s fun with you. All I need is you by my side and I’m happy.”

A slight blush formed on his cheeks before he turned away in embarrassment. “Bye Y/N, see you tomorrow.” He ran inside before you were even able to say goodbye.

As you stepped inside your house, a yell erupted from your father. “Do you know what fuckin’ time it is?!?” You quickly shut the door. Your father had been drunkenly sitting on the patched up old couch before getting up, and stalking angrily towards you. Your legs were bolted in place. Fear kept you from running out and it kept you from fighting for yourself. “You little whore! It’s fucking one in the morning and you’ve been out with that crack boy next door!” His hand was raised, and your eyes shut instinctively. His hand landed on your cheek with a smack, making your face burn with pain. Tears were falling from your eyes as you softly rubbed your injured cheek. “You’re just like your mother! A little slut!” First, your heart broke, then anger ensued.

You didn’t mind your father insulting you, but you couldn’t bear him insulting the angel that had risked her life to save you, even though she lost against him. “Don’t.” You warned him through your tears, anger laced in that one word.

Your father’s eyes widened as he raised his other hand and slapped you on the other cheek. The slap loudly resonated around your small house, and the pain was harsher than what he had done to the previous cheek. “Don’t you fucking dare talk back to me!” He screamed at you, attacking you with more words that pained your heart. That night, he hurt you with his hands and words. Bruises and cuts, similar to your angelic mother’s, were all over your body.

An hour later, when he somehow passed out on the living room floor because of his depleted energy, you ran to your room. Opening your closet door, you took out a bag and shoved the couple of shirts you had along with the money you had earned and saved just for this purpose; to run away. After quietly lacing the only pair of shoes you had, you grabbed the only thing that your mother left to you; her precious perfume.

With your bag on your back and courage in your heart, you stepped out of the house. The darkness greeted you with happiness as you tried to find your way behind your neighbor’s house and to Jungkook’s window. After you found it, you gently knocked on the window, hoping he’d get up.

Right next to the window was Jungkook’s bed, and the sheets rustled as he sat up. His eyes landed on you with surprise, and he turned on the lamp and opened his window to talk to you.

“Y/N,” Concern was written all over his face. “What happened?” His hands went outside the window frame and gently caressed your bruised face. “Did he do this?”

“I’m leaving Jungkook. I can’t do this anymore.” Your eyes were teary once more. You knew your heart wouldn’t be able to live without Jungkook. “Can-can you come with me? Please.” You begged, tears falling from your face.

Jungkook’s warm hands wiped away your tears and caressed you. “Of course. You’re the only person in this world I care about. The only person.” His eyes peered into yours with a protective gaze. “Let’s drive.”

The car, which you thought was a complete piece of junk, drove further and further away from the hell town. From the passenger seat, you stared out of the window and into the darkness of night, admiring the shining stars as you imagined what would become of your life. You had planned on doing this for years, but now with Jungkook by your side, you weren’t sure anymore if your decision was right. Where would we go? What happens when we run out of money? As high school dropouts, you knew places would be reluctant to hire you guys and the only jobs you’d get were the crummy ones that wouldn’t pay much.

A sigh slipped from your mouth as you looked away from the window and turned your head towards Jungkook. His tired eyes were concentrated on the road and his lips were curled up into a smile.

“You love to stare. I don’t mind, but it would make me feel better if you stared with a smile.” A smirk played on his face as he snuck a glance towards you before returning to look back at the dark and empty road.

A smile emerged from your bruised face. “This is why you’re my second favorite person in the world. You always make me smile.”

Jungkook quickly turned his head and looked at you with shocked eyes. “Who is number one then?! I thought I was your number one.” He looked back at the road with a pout on his face.

You were quiet for a minute or two, a frown had replaced your small smile. “My mother,” You said to him, breaking the silence. “My mother is- was number one. She died a long time ago.” You never talked about your mother to Jungkook. He knew something bad had happened to her, and that you never wanted to talk about it, until now. Your eyes stayed on Jungkook, who was watching the road. You noticed that his eyes were sad as they stared out onto the road. “She was abused by him for years. The only reason that she stayed with him was to protect me, and I-it makes me regret even being alive.” Tears started falling from your eyes and your voice shook as you continued. “I keep on thinking to myself ‘What if she didn’t have me? Would she have run away? Would she have a better life?’ I hate myself. I’m the reason she kill- killed herself.”

After you finished. Jungkook’s lips were pressed together into a frown and his eyes were glassy. He immediately parked the car on the side of the empty road and pulled you into a warm hug. His arms reached around your back as your cries turned into gasping sobs. He whispered sweet nothings in your ears. “It wasn’t your fault,” He whispered. “It’s okay, I’m here for you.” He rubbed your back as you let out all your tears. “All anyone ever needs is a good hug.”

Your side lay resting on the passenger side seat, which was pulled back so you were able to sleep right next to Jungkook, whose seat was pulled back right next to yours. The car was parked at a quiet rest stop the next morning, the sunrise peeking through the horizon bringing warmth into the car.

When your eyes opened up, the first thing you saw was Jungkook smiling in his sleep. His hair brushed over his eyes and the sun’s light softly kissing his features, giving his face a beautiful glow. You couldn’t help but stare at him. He’s perfect, you thought. He’s the only person I have now. He’s the only one I can rely on. Your heart started to race as you thought of your future with him. Would we date? Do I like him? Thoughts went wild in your mind as you thought of being in a romantic relationship with your best friend. Who am I kidding, he doesn’t like me. Even if he might not like me back, I like him. I love him.

Suddenly, Jungkook’s eyes opened and he stared back at you with a smirk. “Like what you see?” Jungkook joked, but to you it wasn’t really a joke.

A blush appeared on your face as you got up from the seat, pulling it back up. “Shut up, do you know where we are?”

Jungkook did the same and yawned, stretching his arms up in the small car. “Well considering I drove all night while you were asleep, we’re pretty far.” You turned around in your seat to look at him again. His eyes were closed as he was stretching his arms, his muscles made you blush. His eyes opened back up and he knew you were staring. “Let's get out and eat.”

The diner was in the middle of nowhere. The both of you sat in a booth in the corner of the restaurant and ordered some breakfast food. As you breathed in, the smell of coffee calmed your heart. In front of you, Jungkook was playing around with the menu, trying to distract himself so he wouldn’t fall asleep.

“Hey Jungkook,” You called his name, and he looked up. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I only got about an hour or two of sleep.” The bags under his eyes made you worry about his health.

“After breakfast let’s stay in motel. Sleep there, okay?” Even though it was phrased like a question, it sounded more like a command. You knew that Jungkook would never tell you if anything was wrong with him, and he would keep on going until he was fully broken down.

The only room the motel in the desolate town had was a one bed suite. As Jungkook stepped into the air conditioned room, he dropped everything he was holding and jumped onto the bed. You picked up everything he dropped and put it all on the little table right next to the bed. When you looked back at Jungkook, he lay on his side, patting the space next to him, signaling for you to go lay next to him.

You jumped onto the bed and lay on your side, looking up at Jungkook, who had harbored a bright smile. “So,” He said. “I can’t really sleep.” His lips were a couple of inches away from yours, and his hooded eyes intently stared into your eyes.

A sigh came from your lips. “Fine, let’s play a game then. Tell me a secret, then I’ll tell you one.”

Jungkook thought for a couple of seconds, his eyes wandering around the room trying to think of a good secret. “Well, contrary to what half the town may believe, I’ve never had sex.” You were surprised. Jungkook was known to be a playboy that broke almost every girl’s heart in town, besides yours. “Now you tell me a secret.”

“Okay, well,” You weren’t sure if you wanted to tell your secret. It wasn’t that it was too embarrassing, which it wasn’t, it was that you had a feeling that it would change the atmosphere around you and Jungkook. “I have had sex.” Shyly, you looked away from Jungkook’s shocked gaze.

“Wait seriously?” Jungkook asked you with wide eyes. You looked back at him and nodded. “Oh my god, with who?” He questioned.

“With Yoongi.” Your face started to feel warm as you tried to not look into Jungkook’s judging gaze. He seemed angry but also shocked at the same time.

“Seriously?!? He’s like 3 years older than you? How? Why? When?” He grilled you with questions, making you feel attacked.

Starting to feel uncomfortable, you sat up. “I-I’m gonna go to the bathroom-” Right before you got out of bed, Jungkook pulled you back down and made you face him.

“Y/N, tell me.” His curious eyes looked deep into yours, and you were 100 percent sure he wouldn’t want to hear the details.

“Do you really want to know?” He nodded, leaving you to tell him how it all went down. “Well, I was drunk at Hoseok’s party a couple of months ago and Yoongi kept hitting on me, and so it just happened. We just got caught up in the moment.”

Jungkook’s lips were pursed together as he looked at you with a protective gaze. “He was the last person I’d think you’d give your first away to.” He muttered.

You were curious as to who he thought would be your first. Your lips slowly turned into a smirk. “Who did you think would be my first?”

Jungkook took a breath in, and pursed his lips. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. You were eagerly waiting for his response. Eventually, he talked. “I thought it would, um, be someone you know, like, um,” He hesitated, not wanting to say the person’s name. “Me.”

Your heart dropped. Really? You thought. Does he like me? I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. But what if he does like me? Should I tell him now? Should I tell him I love him? You were speechless for a bit, watching Jungkook look away from you with a bright blush on his face. “I- Jungkook, I need to tell you something. I- um,” Jungkook looked back at you, staring at your lips. “I-”

Right then, Jungkook pressed his soft lips onto yours, making your heart explode with happiness. You kissed him back, his lips entangling with yours. His soft lips bit yours before he separated from your lips. His nose touched yours as he lovingly looked at you and chuckled.

“Y/N,” His breathy voice called your name which made your heartbeat go faster and faster each second. “I love you.”

You laughed with tears of happiness falling from your eyes. “I-I love you too.” The both of you stared at each other for a long time in peaceful silence before you talked. “Let’s go to sleep-”

Jungkook interrupted you. “But it’s morning-”

“You only had a couple hours to sleep, now shut up and cuddle with me.”

The next day, you both were back on the road. “Any destination in mind?” Jungkook asked you as he was driving. A smile was stuck to his face ever since he had confessed to you the day before and you couldn’t contain your happiness.

You were oozing with joy. The developing feelings you had for Jungkook increased by a tenfold every second you spent with him. “Let’s just get away to somewhere we’re happy.” With no destination in mind, Jungkook kept driving, running farther and farther away from your hometown.

Staring outside of the passenger seat window, you looked up at the beautiful blue sky. The sky seemed more vibrant than before, causing you to wonder what happened to you. Am I different? You thought. I feel like a different person, it’s like being in love with Jungkook changed me. Maybe this change is a good thing, maybe it’ll help me get away from my problems. You suddenly remembered your father, and what he had done to you and your family. Melancholy slowly settled in your heart. That was when you realized that you could never get away from him. I’m messed up. You were on the brink of crying. This hurts me. I can’t let Jungkook deal with me. He deserves someone better. Someone who would love him wholeheartedly. Someone who doesn’t keep running away from her problems. Someone other than me.

Jungkook interrupted your thoughts. “What are you thinking about? You’re being so quiet.” You smiled at the thought of being with Jungkook forever, but knew that it wasn’t possible.

“You.”

That night, the both of you prepared to sleep in the car, which was parked at another empty rest stop. With both of the seats leaning all the way back, you and Jungkook laid back onto the seats. Jungkook slowly grabbed your hand, and held it in his warm grasp.

As you both were lovingly transfixed in each other’s gaze, you broke the comfortable silence that surrounded you. “How do you imagine our future?”

Jungkook smirked, playing with your heartstrings as he played with your hand. “Well I imagine us having two kids, I don’t really care about the gender, but I want two. I also see us in a small but cozy house, with the children constantly yelling and running. I also see us going to our children’s graduation, still madly in love with each other. To embarrass our children I might just french kiss you in front of all of their friends. And then I see them getting married and having little grandkids we could play with. I might just steal one of their kids to raise with you. We’d probably spoil them rotten, making our kids get mad at us. And then I see us growing old together, with your hand in mine, like it is now.”

Tears started falling from your eyes, and sobs left your lips. Worried, Jungkook pulled you into a warm hug, calming you down. “I’m here for you. I’m always here, because I love you.” He whispered lovingly into your ear, causing you to cry even more. He didn’t deserve someone like me, you thought.

As you pushed Jungkook away, you reassured him you were okay with a lie. “These are tears of happiness,” You said with a little laugh. “I swear I’m fine.”

With his hand still grasping on to yours, he held onto you tighter. “I love you.”

“Me too.” You whispered.

That night, you couldn’t sleep. As you looked over Jungkook, who was comfortably sleeping on the seat, you thought about the future. Your future. You knew that your past would drive you crazy, leaving Jungkook’s dream of a perfect family broken. He needed someone else to make him happy. All night, you debated with yourself whether the decision you were about to make was a good one or a bad one. In the end, you decided to go through with it.

When Jungkook woke up the next morning, you weren’t by his side. The passenger side seat was pulled up, with a note set on the cold seat. Jungkook’s first thought was that you were out at the rest stop using the bathroom or the vending machines. When he sat up, he took the note from the seat and observed it. The handwriting was yours, and it was addressed to Jungkook. He was afraid to open it; he tried to convince himself that whatever was happening was a prank or a misunderstanding. He opened it.

“I love you, but you deserve better than me. I’m sorry.”

Those words broke him.

He didn’t believe you were gone. He didn’t believe after you had told him I love you that you would run away from him. He wasn’t your father, he was a kind man. He would’ve taken care of you, he would have made sure you led a happy life. He convince himself that because he didn’t convince you about that enough that you ran away.

That day, he ran around town with the only picture of you he had and asked everyone in sight if they had seen you. None of the people he asked saw you. He drove to nearby towns and did the same thing. He wasn’t able to eat, drink, or sleep, and all he did was stare at the picture of you. His heart was broken. He had his whole future planned out, and all of the plans had you in it.

Days turned into weeks and he still couldn’t find you. He would drive to the ends of the Earth just to find out where you were, but no one knew anything about you. Eventually, Jungkook ran out of money; he spent most of it on gas and posters with your smiling face on it. He had to get a job, and with his level of education, he was sure that it wouldn't be an easy road. After a shit ton of interviews, he landed a job. It was a crummy job at a convenience store, but it was still a job. For the first couple of weeks he lived in his car, using any free time he had to try and find you, but after getting tired of sleeping in his uncomfortable car, he rented a small studio apartment. He went to work everyday at 6 am, got off at 6 pm, went on a hunt for you in every direction possible the second he got off work right until he was worn down, and then went to sleep in his small apartment. It went on like that for months until that one horrific day.

It was a normal day for Jungkook as he was cleaning out the fryer in the back of the store. From the front counter, one of the employees yelled out Jungkook’s name. Maybe it’s about Y/N, he thought as he dropped everything he was doing. He ran to the front of the store where the employee and a police officer were standing. Jungkook’s disappointment didn’t show on his face as he went up to the counter.

“The officer wants to talk to you.” The employee signaled him to look at the officer, who had a somber look on his face. He went off to the side of the store with the officer and talked to him.

“How can I help you sir?” He asked with curiosity. Jungkook had a clean rap sheet and knew he had done nothing wrong except looking for the love of his life.

“You’re Jeon Jungkook, right?” The officer made sure, and Jungkook nodded. “There isn’t an easy way to put this,” The officer looked uncomfortable as he pulled out a letter from one of his jacket’s pocket. “Well, this was found at a crime scene. It was addressed to you.”

The officer handed the letter to Jungkook, and he quickly tore it open. The handwriting was yours, and Jungkook figured that out from the name written on the envelope. “It’s from Y/N.”

“Jungkook, I don’t know if you’re still looking for me or if you’ve found someone that’s actually worthy of you, but I want to know that I love you. I miss you. Maybe we could meet up? It’s okay if you don’t want to see me. I’m sorry. I love you. -Y/N”

For the first time in months, Jungkook smiled. His smile held hope; he wanted to continue his disrupted life with you and he promised himself to never leave you out of his sight. “Where- where did you find this?” He looked up at the sorrowful officer with joy.

“At a crime scene. I’m sorry to say this but the person who wrote you that letter died of a drug overdose three days ago in a motel room. It took us a long time to track you down.” The officer looked at Jungkook with pity as his world came crashing down.

“I-I don’t understand- we were supposed to spend our life together. We were supposed to live our- our happy lives,” Tears gently greeted Jungkook’s skin as he sobbed. “I-I love her.” His knees gave out as he fell to the floor, crying.

mmmm im so sorry

i love halsey so much i had to make it sad

Masterlist

[perfect-corroscience]

Chapter 34: The Light of Devotion

“The seeds of that fate were sown here.”

Previously, a rebellion occurred. It was swiftly handled, but was a pyrrhic victory: Proto was damaged, the Oxsecians found selection was bias in favor of the royal family, despite (in some cases) their genes saying otherwise, and finally Oxsecia imploded. It was not a good day for anyone, really.

34-1 It had to live solely for its objective – as Proto had.

Whereas chapter 33 had Electric enemies, this chapter will have Ice enemies for most of it. This is a bad team to bring, for reasons that will become fairly clear.

Side note: this was done during a half-stamina event. It was originally 24 stamina, then a later update reduced it to 20.

           Though despairing, the Oxsecian king could not simply stand by while his people destroyed each other in a civil war.

           Animata was responsible for all of it. This tragedy started with her.

           It wasn’t the king alone. Rancor towards Animata was swelling among the people. The only way to cleanse it was to strike at the root.

           Options were few. They no longer even had a place to call home. He needed to take up the banner and lead the fight against her.

           The king’s hand rested on Proto’s remains.

           They needed a symbol. An unstoppable weapon that sought only bloodshed and destruction. It had to live solely for its objective – as Proto had.

           36AIS was sound asleep. Gazing at her peaceful face on a nearby monitor, the king declared his intentions aloud.

           “…We shall dispose of the unfit.”

           The hand gripping Proto’s remains trembled almost imperceptibly.

              That resolution went into effect almost immediately.

           Those branded unnecessary to the cause of the Oxsecian people frantically sought escape. Shunned and stigmatized by the public, they howled their resentment, raged, and desperately fought back.

           Ironically, they proved unfit in this, too. The royal forces crushed their resistance as easily as ants.

           The king saw their pain. But it only convinced him that these weak links were his people’s biggest obstacle to destroying Animata.

           Emotion often clouds judgement and vision, leading us off course.

           The Oxsecian ship, meanwhile, reached its destination. The unfit would be exiled here.

Welp.

Four battles, with ice enemies. Both are pretty annoying; the Ice Golem’s Blizzard attack hits everyone, and the Snow Spook’s Icy Counter hits fairly hard.

As shown.

The wiki claims the last battle has four of these guys at level 75, but my image order says they’re apparently level 78. I guess it’s not that big a difference either way.

Still, they can hurt, especially if you get multiple attacks hitting your team. I came into this last floor with everyone alive.

By the end, the team’s been halved. Amazora’s only alive because she has Anti-Ice Shield as a skill. Pretty sure this would’ve been a wipe if I didn’t have Gatz or Rikken on the team and instead went with frailer units.

34-2 You’ve been assigned to take them to the execution grounds.

Now this is a team that’s more suited for much of this chapter. It helped that I’d managed to yolo roll Koko and Lewto a while back. (This is not the first time I’ve gotten some useful units in this game from that…)

If I hadn’t rolled them, hard to say how I’d manage in all honesty. I never worked on getting Bahamut or his recode until chapter 40 because I just never had Piz’fer a lot of Ice units prepped and able to reliably clear Bahamut Ultra until recently, but he’s a fantastic free unit and really good for this chapter.

If I were diligent at the time in gathering the materials, I could have recoded Lewto and Koko, which would also make things easier. Still, even just having those two helped. Currently, you could probably field a team that’s either all-Fire or a mix of Fire and Solar units, something like  Bahamut^/Lewto^/flex/flex/flex/flex, and coast through much of this chapter.

They have execution grounds on the old hunting place… So what, does this entail leaving them to fend off wild animals? A nice place to sit and freeze to death?

Icebind is fun and familiar to anyone who has Leviathan^. It freezes anyone caught in the radius, preventing them from moving/acting, and works a lot like petrification in many JRPGs in that if they’re attacked (pincered, in this case), they shatter and die even if they would’ve normally survived the pincer.

The other, similar looking enemy is a Mini Frostshroom, which just has Glacier, Area (1).

Icebind can be cured with Panacea or blocked with a Dragon’s Badge/Amulet (Icebind Guard) or Dragon’s Talisman/Buckler (Icebind Ward), but those are CoT/F otomos. Easiest thing to do is just avoid being in range and pincer the mushroom horizontally.

34-3 “He needs someone who understands him.”

Another new stage, another new enemy. Are those little beady eyes? How cute!

Things sometimes got dicey for the team, but Sorman and Rikken are there to keep everyone’s health topped off.

34-4 A heavy thud shakes the area.

You can tell I covered this a long time ago since there’s no Solar/Lunar signs, stamina cost was 24, and co-op mode is still present. Anyway, I show this because there was a fatal error – namely, having units with odd levels for reasons you’ll see shortly.

You’d think, but even in real life, this is so rarely the case…

The boss of 34-4 is Layla. She’s not very nice and opens by confusing anyone who isn’t evenly leveled or lacks Confusion Guard/Ward (whether by skill or otomo equip) for nine turns. You really don’t want anyone confused, especially when the stage is packed full of enemies like this one.

Confused units do not take part in pincers, so that’s fun. I guess if you have to bring someone odd-leveled (tired of level grinding?), you could bring along someone with Clarity (Kana, R’zonzand, Palpa) or otherwise able to cure status effects.

I didn’t, so it’s just a real bad time for everyone.

Let’s try that again with better levels. Incidentally, for this stage, it plays The Shattered Land instead of the regular boss music.

It’s a vast improvement; I can actually get in some pincers and clear out the Ice mooks. Anything that helps kill them is another thing keeping the team from being overwhelmed.

Everyone can even get to work chipping Layla’s health down. From what I’ve seen, she’ll use Blizzard once she starts getting low on HP.

3 turns in, there’ll be a message that says, “Poised to strike back…” and Layla will start glowing. Avoid pincering her during this time; she has a hidden skill called Icy Retribution where she counters pincers with 8x physical and ice damage counterattacks. As a reference, the strongest attacks have a 3.5x multiplier – getting hit by this is generally a total party kill.

The game cheekily describes the skill with “Let sleeping dragons lie.” She can be hurt indirectly though; even if she’s hit by AoE skills, Magic Bombs, your own units’ counterattacks from pincering the mooks or vice-versa, she won’t retaliate against those.

If you don’t pincer her, you’ll get the message “Counterattack disrupted” and she’ll use Icefall instead.

The Treants aren’t as threatening, but they can do a lot of damage if they group up and gang up on a few of your units or move in ways where you can’t really make a good pincer or heal someone about to die.

Once the mooks are gone, it’s just a matter of slowly chipping her down, ideally with vertical pincers instead of this.  

34-5 All the years Proto spent with the king were wiped clean.

           Amongst those memories is a father's strangled cry of anguish at having to abandon his daughter.

It's a recording of the king's voice. An auxiliary battery was evidently running after Proto's main power supply shut down.

A scientist hits the delete command with a practiced movement.

“...Error?”

The command is rejected. Resistance from Proto, perhaps?

“Bah. We have enough data already. Just format it.”

And with that, all the years Proto spent with the king are wiped clean.

 Meanwhile, your party is still embroiled in battle with the alien beasts, never dreaming that such a thing is happening aboard the ship.

 Godspeed, Proto.

Another new face. These guys cast a spell that curses anyone in range so they die in three turns. Notably, they can drop a Demon’s Tear otomo, but do people even use Demon’s Chronicles to farm SB still…?

When killed, they lift the curse, though.

Everything else is just standard fare, though.

34-6 That’s no reason to give up on the lives of the people right in front of you.

The crystals from Crystal Road/Roundelay show up to be a gimmick for three-fourths of this stage’s floors. They don’t behave any differently, so chains aren’t blocked.

Here’s Rossi’s Hex in action.

And here’s the team just laughing off a Blizzard.

34-7 Turning around, you and the exiles begin the long trek back.

Word suggested “a close up of a logo” for this image’s alt text. Great.

           “The Oxsecian ship’s explosion triggered a curious phenomenon,” says another familiar voice.

           It’s Peprope.

           “The place you’re located in is someone’s memory.”

           “Memory…? What are you saying?”

           “The details can wait. But the gateway between there and here will undoubtedly open very soon.”

             How can anyone possibly know this?

           Many have reportedly come into contact with some sort of memory in similar fashion. Some have already awakened.

           “Memory, eh…”

           “Perfect. Let’s see the king’s fate through to the end.”

           And so you resolve to take on the Oxsecian king. Turning around, you and the exiles begin the long trek back.

So we’re ensuring the timeline is stable. Nifty. Anyway, there’re five battles, all against the icy mooks seen before.

34-8 You’ve declared open rebellion against the king.

By then, we’ve reached civilization (of a sort), so I can swap the team around again.

Now we are the rebels.

Face-to-face with the Oxsecians again. I kind of wish there was something on the pre-battle screen that’d indicate if there was a non-elemental or weaponless enemy.

34-9 “Turned traitor, have you?”

Memorable, I suppose, but not memorable to get a unique sprite or be a boss himself.

Word alt text says, “this is an image containing text.”

gee thanks

I can only imagine how annoying this might be if there were just a bunch of those wild mooks out there to snow on everyone. It’d be rather reminiscent of everything that happened in the first few chapters after crashing on Planet Beastbait, though.

Also, that recruitment was actually just a drop for a Pig’s Amulet. Why not, I guess.

Some of the party cut things close.

34-10 Its name is Prototype Zero.

This is the team I’ll be using. You’ll notice that except for Rikken, everyone is B or A rank. 34-10 can be beaten with a team like this, helped when everyone is pretty much at level 90, equipped with some good otomos (Pahrl, for instance, has the otomo that gives her Terabow). 

Of course there’s the fact that I’m bringing two-thirds of the Holy Trinity to this fight. Bahl and S’naip will be the main heavy hitters, and Rikken can dish out a good amount of damage too while acting as my mover.

Pahrl and Korin were brought to help bolster their respective weapon users’ stats, and their Defense +30% skills are one of the many things I used to make sure Bahl and S’naip survive enemy attacks. Sorman is there for healing (taken over Kuscah since he has slightly better defense), has a Regen Cane (A rank otomo, casts Mega Regen, chain) and Rikken has Heal, All to help a little.

34-10 is just a single battle, much like 30-10. It’s essentially the final boss of part 1.5; so let’s pull up the ol’ boss tunes, but the live version for a change.

Music: The World’s Awakening/Day of Reckoning (Live vers.)

Prototype Zero starts the fight with a huge lock-on; ideally you move everyone out the blast radius.

The turn after locking on, he’ll cast Ultima Assault, a non-elemental magical attack. Speaking of magic, he’s more resistant to it; not only is his magical defense stat higher, but he also has Magic Deflector (though I’ve never seen it be used). However, this isn’t a case where a team of mages or to a lesser extent non-crappy spellblades can’t win.

As you can see, I instead opted to do a triple pincer to damage Zero, but more importantly, clear out one of the Oxsecian machines and get some buffs up on the team. I would not recommend doing this normally – but hey, let’s see: how bad can Ultima Assault be?

Ow shit yeah that’s pretty bad

Prototype Zero will cycle through his skills (Breath Attack and Synergy Wave), while also summoning these mooks.

They will, on the turn they’re summoned, use their respective seal ability and severely neuter the physical attack stat of the corresponding weapon-users. It’s not a bad idea to bring a varied team for this reason, or, probably better, a strong mage. Just pincer with anyone who hasn’t been debuffed and work on clearing them out.

When Prototype Zero starts glowing, he’s rearing up to use System Repair. This is the chance to double pincer and get some damage in; hitting hard enough will disrupt him and prevent the healing.

Eventually, he cycles back to telegraphing Ultima Assault.

This was a good chance to kill him.

I missed getting a screencap of him fading away, so I went back and entered the stage again, killing Zero in around ~5 or so turns.

The nifty thing is that you’ll generally (re: 75% chance) get either a Mantle or Deepwater Helix and Metal Minion^ (guaranteed) for clearing this boss.

Also worth noting: 34-10 has a hard mode! To quote the Terra Battle wiki:

Start stage 34.10 during 00:00–00:59 or 12:00–12:59 UTC to access Hard Mode. Compared to the normal 34.10 stage, Hard Mode enemies have 50 more levels, 3 times the HP, and 1.2 times the ATK, DEF, MATK, MDEF. Hard Mode will also give x2 EXP and x4.5 coins. The boss Prototype Zero is guaranteed to drop the Avengers companion after being defeated in Hard Mode.

Avengers is an S class otomo that gives the unit Counterattack. Useful if you want to cover another skill phase to SBing...?

           “The loathsome Animata is threatening not only the lives of our kin but the existence of our entire race. We must weather this storm together, for we have only ourselves to rely on.

           “Look around you at the fellow countrymen who stand at your side. You are all comrades and equals, chosen to fulfill a common destiny. Social standing, origin, age are all irrelevant. We have all lost too much, and we must all fight to ensure those sacrifices were not suffered in vain.

           “We are a chosen elite, supreme specimens of our race, and we are tasked with a common cause:

           We must hunt Animata down and annihilate her. We shall have retribution.”

             Thus began the long war against Animata. The seeds of that fate were sown here.

            A dazzling light blooms in the heavens. Then it is gone, along with the Oxsecian ship.

             All those who were locked in combat around the Life Breeder stand stunned and breathless. Humans, lizardfolk, beastfolk, stonefolk, the Oxsecian children with identical faces, even the wild alien creatures – all stand transfixed, gazing up at the empty sky.

           “It’s… beautiful.”

           As glowing debris from the Oxsecian ship disperses, a warm glimmer illuminates the heavens. It is as bright and unfaltering as the devotion born of a lifelong friendship.

Finally, it’s worth noting that upon clearing this chapter, 54B2 and 36AIS are added to the Pact of Truth/Fate. 54B2 is a Z class sword unit and 36AIS is a SS class healer.

36AIS is unfortunately not that great of a healer compared to the SS class Amis or even Sorman and Kuscah. I really wish she’d been like Amimari/Amina/A’misandra in terms of skills, or that she’d gotten a recode that brought her skills in line with Amina/A’misandra’s recodes, since otherwise all she has going for her is having Heal All and pretty art.

54B2 is a bit better, but by this point he’s not as useful as he might have been upon his release. Sure you could use him, and he’s not the worst unit to have, but why not just use Bahl^ and/or Suoh^? Some might consider him a troll rainbow pull, and considering the rarity of Z class units and how gacha games operate, that’s kind of a concerning thought.

Well... to not end an update being a Debbie Downer like in the past, I’ll conclude this by saying that this brings part 1.5 to a close! Chapter 35 will mark part 2 - and afterwards I’ll have for the most part caught up to where I was when I took a hiatus. 

Fun fact: the word doc for this chapter is 73 pages and roughly 2600 words. That’s kind of a personal record, actually. I don’t think anything is going to be topping that besides a 7SU lp update or some of the shit I’ve got planned to play.

[angelaakers]

Best Mesh Routers 2018

Despite only having broken out onto the home networking scene a few short years ago, mesh routers have quickly become the preferred way that thousands of users set up a wireless network in their home. But with so many options to choose from (and so many of them being released in just the past year, making it difficult to tell which models stand the test of time), which is the best mesh router in 2018? After 30 hours of research, we’ve concluded that the Linksys Velop Mesh Networking system is the best mesh router of 2018, but why? Well it’s no secret that for over 20 years Linksys (and their parent company Belkin) have produced some of the best routers in the business, including our #1 pick for best overall router the Linksys WRT3200 ACM. This is no different in the case of the Linksys Velop system, which combines ease of setup, powerful antennas, and a wide variety of features into a stylish and slim package.

3 Best Mesh Routers Compared 2018

#1 Linksys Velop - The Best Mesh Router for the Money

Pros

Functional, minimalist design

Decent performance at short range

Extremely user friendly

Cons

No 2.4GHz/5GHz channel separation

Slow speeds at distance

Ridiculously high price for the 3-pack

When we tested the Linksys Velop last year, we were impressed with many different aspects of its build, design, and setup process. Firstly, the design itself is just about as minimal and unassuming as you can get, fine to blend into the background of your home rather than trying to take center stage in everything. Sure the nodes might be a bit bigger and bulkier than what you would get out of similar mesh systems like the Tera Nova, but what the Velop lacks in slim profiles it more than makes up for in performance and power at its rates ranges. Speaking of power, this is where the Velop truly shines. Although we did struggle to maintain consistent performance at the outermost ranges of the rated distance extension, the onboard AC6600 MU-MIMO, 2.4GHz/5GHz radio pumped out more than enough bandwidth to handle the needs of a family of 10, if it needed to. Getting the Velop running was also a breeze thanks to the dozens of innovations that Linksys has made to the overall setup process, making it one of the most user-friendly and feature-rich routers we’ve tested to date. Related: Mesh WiFi vs Router - Pick the Right One But all that power and simplicity comes at a hefty cost: $299.99 for the two pack, and nearly $450 for the three pack, which means that if you’re looking for something cheaper with just a few less features we might recommend going with one of the other options listed below.

#2 AmpliFi HD - Top Performing Mesh Router

Pros

Clean, thoughtful design

Solid performance at all ranges

Intuitive setup and app UI

Cons

Software was missing many core features

HD model could be pricey for some

From the outside, nothing about the AmpliFi HD’s sleek, slim, and downright gorgeous looks would give you any hints about the beast of a router that’s hiding in wait underneath. The AmpliFi HD takes style and function to a whole new level with its small box main hub that features a tasteful (and helpful) onboard LCD display. This screen displays anything from the time to the current upload/download speeds you’re getting depending on your preference, and man, are those download speeds something to talk about. In our tests not only was the AmpliFi punching way above its weight class in its range, but its performance simply blew the doors off the place without even breaking a sweat. When left unchecked on the 5GHz band, the AmpliFi HD achieved scores of 534Mbps down/368Mbps up, which makes it one of the single fastest routers we’ve ever tested flat out. That said, one area where the AmpliFi HD was still lacking a bit was on the software side of things. The company has since added several of the features we dinged it for not having during our review (QoS, Parental Control, Guest Access), but they’re also slow to bring the router into the future with more nuanced options like port forwarding and DMZ options. All that said, unless you’re a hardcore geek for these types of configuration options the AmpliFi HD marries style, price, and power into an ultra-sleek package that anyone can set up in minutes.

#3 Google WiFi - Best Mesh Router for Stylish Homes

Pros

Seamless software integration

Simple setup

Decent range/power

Cons

Might be too expensive for some larger home owners

No web-based app

Like everything Google does (except Google+, we don’t talk about that anymore), the Google WiFi mesh networking system combines the best elements of its competitors while also adding its own dose of Google flair on top of everything. According to the company’s specs, just a single Google WiFi node (only $99) can cover a home as large as 1500 sq. ft, while adding two additional nodes on top of that ($299) will get you a whopping 4500 sq. ft of total coverage. Related: What is Mesh? Understand before you buy The Google WiFi app is both simple to use and configure, making it easy for the non-tech savvy users out there to completely setup their home network to work exactly the way they want it and protect their network from outside threats. Google WiFi also comes with a nifty extra feature called Network Assist, which automatically switches to the band and channel that’s most optimized for the device you’re trying to connect from. This means you’ll never be left getting less than optimal speeds compared to another mesh networking system, and have a huge jump over traditional routers attached to extenders or repeaters instead. The one (admittedly pretty small) drawback of the Google WiFi home mesh networking system is its lack of any sort of web-based interface. The entire routing network is handled and configured from Google’s own WiFi mobile application for iOS and Android, which means desktop or laptop warriors will be left out of luck if they want to change a new setting on the fly while they’re disconnected from the primary network at work, for example.

#4 Netgear Orbi - Top MU-MIMO Mesh Router

Pros

Alexa-integration support

Tri-band radio

High-bandwidth backhaul

Cons

Less nodes might mean less coverage depending on your layout

A bit bulkier than other units

The Netgear Orbi is the long-awaited mesh system released by one of the biggest networking giants in the world, and for the most part, the wait was well worth it. Using just two satellite nodes the Netgear Orbi can cover homes as large as 5000 sq. ft, which gives it the best bang for the buck power/range value of any router on this list. Netgear also brings the mesh system into the 21st century with its Alexa integration that lets you control every aspect of your home wireless networking experience just with your voice. There’s nothing quite like yelling out “Alexa, kick my kids off the internet for the night” and having the parental controls boot up in a few seconds seemingly almost by magic. There’s also a lot to be said about the tri-band high-bandwidth backhaul technology included with the Orbi, which as far as we can tell, is unique to Netgear’s mesh networking system alone. This configuration guarantees that your devices never drop connection or lose power depending on where they’re connecting from in the house, which feeds into the MU-MIMO capability to provide a truly one-of-a-kind browsing, streaming, and downloading experience. The only drawback that bears mentioning here is the bulkiness of the Orbi units, which, when stacked against other options like the Plume below can seem downright massive by comparison.

#5 Plume SuperPod - Longest Range

Pros

Small, discreet pods

Large number of nodes included in the default package

Innovative pricing system if purchased through the company’s website

Gorgeous design

Cons

Not as much speed throughput as other options on this list

Subscription plan may put some users off

While most mesh networking options on this list might include two, maybe three nodes per system by default (with the option to add additional nodes on for a price), the Plume SuperPods have gone with the “more is more” ethos, including six pods in your basic Plume kit. This means that you can truly customize your mesh networking experience, throwing a pod in just about every room where you plan on browsing the internet and then some. Probably the single best part about this approach (aside from the increased, even coverage of the signal) is that if you’re a gamer or heavy streamer, every pod also comes with the option to plug your device into the pod using a direct Ethernet hookup. For gamers this means less latency, less dropped packets, and more throughput overall when you’re in the heat of battle and need every bit of ping you can muster in the moment. Not only that, but Plume has also made strides to make its system more affordable, offering a monthly subscription plan which subsidizes the cost of the hardware. But it’s not all good. The subscription plan is required if you want to access features such as parental controls and QoS, which means that no matter what, even if you buy all the hardware up front for the full cost, you won’t be able to unlock the Plume’s full potential unless you pony up for an extra fee each month.

#6 Tenda Nova - Best Cheap Mesh Networking System

Pros

Super cheap price of entry

Decent performance for the cost

Sleek design

Cons

Power isn’t great

Coverage could be better

If there’s one trend you might have already noticed on this list, it’s that no matter which mesh networking system you decide to go with, you should expect to spend in the upper $200-$500 range to get the full experience of everything that mesh routing has to offer. Not so with the Tenda Nova kit, which brings the cost of a three-node system down to an almost suspiciously low $99 out the door. Too good to be true? Well, kind of. Sure the Tenda Nova doesn’t have all the latest tech and suffers from the dreaded “backhaul” traffic problem thanks to its limited radio (where the speed of the extended nodes can suffer if the first node is hogging all the available bandwidth), but all that said the system does still put out a respectable amount of zip when used under the most optimal conditions. All in all we can’t fault the Nova Tenda for what it’s lacking when you get a gander at that price point. This system undercuts even the closest competition by a factor of almost half, which means that if you’re shopping for a mesh networking solution on a budget and need something that’ll work in a pinch, there’s nowhere else to go except with Nova.

#7 TP-Link Deco - Best Mesh Network Under $200

Pros

Dedicated backhaul-channel enabled

MU-MIMO enabled

Comprehensive antivirus/firewall options

Cheap

Cons

A bit slower than the competition

It should come as no surprise that TP-Link, the dark horse of the routing industry over the past few years, would bring their same flair for power, performance, and feature-rich production to its newest and best mesh networking system to date. The TP-Link Deco takes all the best elements of routers the company has released in previous years and combines them all into a subversively powerful and feature-rich package. Whether it’s the dedicated backhaul-channel support thanks to the tri-band radio or the slew of onboard parental control, QoS, and firewall options, just about everything you could possibly want out of a router and a mesh system is ready to go in the Deco - all at a price that just skates under the $200 mark if you go with the available 2-node option. 

#8 Eero Home WiFi System - Best Mesh Router for Easy Setup

Pros

Sleek design

Low profile external nodes

Simple to set up and use

Cons

Pricey for what you get

Coverage could be better for the cost

Above all else, the eero Home WiFi system holds the title of being one of the very first mesh networking systems to market, and has still managed to maintain its place as one of the best ever since. Originally launched as a Kickstarter project by a tech geek who was tired of troubleshooting his family’s WiFi problems, this little mesh networking system launched an entire industry that it continues to dominate both in sales and in innovation. The eero comes with most of the standard features we’ve come to expect out of mesh networking systems like MU-MIMO and comprehensive configuration settings in the eero app, but what it gains on these fronts it loses a bit of ground when you consider the price. At $400 the eero Beacon system is one of the most expensive systems on this list, and the coverage isn’t as impressive as what you’d get with smaller systems like the Orbi. That said, if you want one of the best mesh routers on shelves today, you simply can’t go wrong with the original that helped to define the entire genre that followed it.

What is a Mesh Router?

A mesh router is a new type of networking hardware that replaces traditional routers with a series of smaller, often much more stylish “nodes” which make up a “mesh” of coverage around your home. Mesh networking works by creating an ad-hoc link that stretches from node to node, removing the need for additional accessories like range extenders and routing repeaters to get a powerful and consistent signal to every area of your home completely unimpeded. Mesh systems are often preferred by customers with larger homes or those who want to browse in areas that can present challenges for less powerful traditional routers. This includes browsing in areas like your backyard, basement, or attic, and can also make it easier to get a more consistent signal to all of your devices at once no matter where you’re trying to surf from in the home.

How Much Should You Expect to Spend on a Mesh Router?

The one drawback that most of you’ve probably already noticed from the list above is that when compared against traditional routers, mesh networking systems can cost quite a bit more out of pocket. This is because physically you’re paying for more hardware, with most mesh systems including at least two nodes and many going up to five nodes to get complete coverage around your home. Because of this, you should expect to spend at least $50 - $200 more than you would for a competing traditional router, though in our opinion if you live in a large home there’s simply no better way to go for getting the most out of your local wireless network. Some options like the Tenda Nova are still relatively affordable with each three pack costing just a little under $100, though this can quickly add up when you need more than three nodes to get complete range and power coverage. Comparatively other options like the eero Pro will set you back a staggering $500 for the same three pack, and it’s in situations like these where you really need to break down all the features you’re looking for and if the Tenda Nova covers them all, consider going that route instead.

Mesh Router Buyers Guide

Below are the top features you should look for in a mesh router.

2.4GHz and 5GHz

This is the big one. Not all mesh systems are made alike, and some may only feature a single bandwidth for you to stream and download your favorite content on.

The entire point of buying a mesh system is to get the absolute most range and power possible out of every device you own, which means that the system you go with needs to support dual-band access in order to build the most complete coverage around your home.

Some mesh systems break down the setup

MU-MIMO

This is a newer feature that’s only been added to most routers (traditional and mesh) within the past few years, but ever since crashing onto the scene it’s become a near essential.

It works like this: in non MU-MIMO routers every packet of data is sent to every device attached to the network one at a time in very, very rapid succession. While this generally is fine if everyone is in different parts of the house, where it starts to slow everything down is if, for example, the whole family is in the living room or kitchen and are all browsing from their devices at the same time.

MU-MIMO, or “Multiple-In, Multiple-Out” fixes this problem with some clever directional routing techniques that stream a consistent number of packets to every device simultaneously. This can be vital if you’re say, trying to stream a movie on Netflix from your Smart TV while you and your kids are on your phones/tablets at the same time all gathered on the same couch.

High Bandwidth Rating

As broadband speeds continue to increase around the globe, you’ll want to make sure you have a router that’s both future-proof and can handle the output of a full family all streaming, gaming, and downloading at the same time.

Most of the benefits that you gain from mesh router ultimately come down to how much bandwidth it can handle, especially in the case of larger families who find themselves at their heaviest periods of usage all at the same time (3-10PM).

Solid Onboard Software/Easy Setup

One of the main reasons why most consumers would want to choose a mesh routing system over a traditional router or router+range extender is ease of setup and a solid onboard software option.

Mesh networks make it simple (sometimes even too much so) to get your home network up and running in 20 minutes or less. This is generally accomplished through mobile apps that connect to the main hub via local ad-hoc WiFi or Bluetooth, and will let you configure everything you need on the router directly from your preferred device without having to plug in a laptop or desktop via Ethernet to set things up properly.

This section also covers the onboard features of a mesh system. Some mesh routers are (as we mentioned before) almost too simplistic, and don’t carry many of the more advanced configuration options we’ve come to expect on routers like parental controls, QoS settings, port forwarding and more. Be sure that when you scan the feature set of the router you plan to buy that it also includes everything you want in this space, or at least a promise from the company that they plan to patch those features in within six months of your purchase.

Stylish Design

Another major reason that some customers prefer to go with a mesh routing system over a traditional router (even if they live in smaller homes that would be perfectly fine with a standard router), is style.

Mesh routers do away with the big blocky routers of yesteryear with their huge, gaudy antennas sticking off all sides thanks to the technology that makes the whole thing work.

Because mesh systems don’t need to use external routers and spread the load of the work to multiple units, these routers can be significantly more stylish and well-designed than their larger counterparts. Some options like the AmpliFi HD and Google Home are quite simply the most beautiful, well-designed routers we’ve ever seen, traditional or otherwise.

Enough Range to Cover Your Whole Home

Finally, we come to the issue of range. As we spoke about before, you’ll want to be sure that you’re carefully checking the manufacturer’s website and spec list to build the perfect mesh system that’s custom-tailored to your home and layout.

Not only that, you’ll also want to maximize what you get for your money. This means pushing every node in the network to its absolute limit of range from the main hub, while also giving just enough slack to prevent signal drops and power loss.

The range factor will ultimately come down to your budget, your home size, and the base power rating of the mesh networking system you choose from the list above.

[/ft_alert]

Mistakes to Avoid

Not Buying Enough Antennas: Although it can be tempting to skimp on the cost of your mesh routing system by only buying the most minimal options available from the manufacturer, we recommend doing a bit of research beforehand and see what the company recommends for your size home. This can also change depending on your use case (browsing outside, in a basement, in a house with 3+ floors, etc), so be sure to read all the specs and how much range you can expect to get out of each antenna before rolling through the checkout.

Going With Mesh Routers When a Standard Router Will Do: Even though it might be tempting to go exclusively with a mesh routing system since they’re the newest hottest product on the block of home networking, realistically they’re only designed for a specific subset of the consumer market. This includes users who have large homes or struggle to maintain a reliable signal throughout their house when they move from one end to the next, but may not make as much sense for those living in apartments. Apartments and smaller homes (generally those under 2500 sq. ft) can be serviced fairly well by a standard router (which can cost significantly less than a mesh router), but of course you may also want something that’s less obtrusive and more stylish than a traditional router, which is where a mesh system might still be the better choice.

Spending Too Much: Another common mistake that first-time mesh router buyers might make is pretty much the opposite of not buying enough antennas – buying too many! Again, you’ll be able to find the ratings for specific mesh systems on the manufacturer’s websites that will effectively break down exactly what kind of setup you’ll need to cover your specific house layout and device count.

The Top Questions About Mesh Routers Answered

The article Best Mesh Routers 2018 See more on: Gadget Review (GR)

Best Mesh Routers 2018 published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/ Best Mesh Routers 2018 posted first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/ Best Mesh Routers 2018 published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/

[bonniepospisil]

Best Mesh Routers 2018

Despite only having broken out onto the home networking scene a few short years ago, mesh routers have quickly become the preferred way that thousands of users set up a wireless network in their home. But with so many options to choose from (and so many of them being released in just the past year, making it difficult to tell which models stand the test of time), which is the best mesh router in 2018? After 30 hours of research, we’ve concluded that the Linksys Velop Mesh Networking system is the best mesh router of 2018, but why? Well it’s no secret that for over 20 years Linksys (and their parent company Belkin) have produced some of the best routers in the business, including our #1 pick for best overall router the Linksys WRT3200 ACM. This is no different in the case of the Linksys Velop system, which combines ease of setup, powerful antennas, and a wide variety of features into a stylish and slim package.

3 Best Mesh Routers Compared 2018

#1 Linksys Velop - The Best Mesh Router for the Money

Pros

Functional, minimalist design

Decent performance at short range

Extremely user friendly

Cons

No 2.4GHz/5GHz channel separation

Slow speeds at distance

Ridiculously high price for the 3-pack

When we tested the Linksys Velop last year, we were impressed with many different aspects of its build, design, and setup process. Firstly, the design itself is just about as minimal and unassuming as you can get, fine to blend into the background of your home rather than trying to take center stage in everything. Sure the nodes might be a bit bigger and bulkier than what you would get out of similar mesh systems like the Tera Nova, but what the Velop lacks in slim profiles it more than makes up for in performance and power at its rates ranges. Speaking of power, this is where the Velop truly shines. Although we did struggle to maintain consistent performance at the outermost ranges of the rated distance extension, the onboard AC6600 MU-MIMO, 2.4GHz/5GHz radio pumped out more than enough bandwidth to handle the needs of a family of 10, if it needed to. Getting the Velop running was also a breeze thanks to the dozens of innovations that Linksys has made to the overall setup process, making it one of the most user-friendly and feature-rich routers we’ve tested to date. Related: Mesh WiFi vs Router - Pick the Right One But all that power and simplicity comes at a hefty cost: $299.99 for the two pack, and nearly $450 for the three pack, which means that if you’re looking for something cheaper with just a few less features we might recommend going with one of the other options listed below.

#2 AmpliFi HD - Top Performing Mesh Router

Pros

Clean, thoughtful design

Solid performance at all ranges

Intuitive setup and app UI

Cons

Software was missing many core features

HD model could be pricey for some

From the outside, nothing about the AmpliFi HD’s sleek, slim, and downright gorgeous looks would give you any hints about the beast of a router that’s hiding in wait underneath. The AmpliFi HD takes style and function to a whole new level with its small box main hub that features a tasteful (and helpful) onboard LCD display. This screen displays anything from the time to the current upload/download speeds you’re getting depending on your preference, and man, are those download speeds something to talk about. In our tests not only was the AmpliFi punching way above its weight class in its range, but its performance simply blew the doors off the place without even breaking a sweat. When left unchecked on the 5GHz band, the AmpliFi HD achieved scores of 534Mbps down/368Mbps up, which makes it one of the single fastest routers we’ve ever tested flat out. That said, one area where the AmpliFi HD was still lacking a bit was on the software side of things. The company has since added several of the features we dinged it for not having during our review (QoS, Parental Control, Guest Access), but they’re also slow to bring the router into the future with more nuanced options like port forwarding and DMZ options. All that said, unless you’re a hardcore geek for these types of configuration options the AmpliFi HD marries style, price, and power into an ultra-sleek package that anyone can set up in minutes.

#3 Google WiFi - Best Mesh Router for Stylish Homes

Pros

Seamless software integration

Simple setup

Decent range/power

Cons

Might be too expensive for some larger home owners

No web-based app

Like everything Google does (except Google+, we don’t talk about that anymore), the Google WiFi mesh networking system combines the best elements of its competitors while also adding its own dose of Google flair on top of everything. According to the company’s specs, just a single Google WiFi node (only $99) can cover a home as large as 1500 sq. ft, while adding two additional nodes on top of that ($299) will get you a whopping 4500 sq. ft of total coverage. Related: What is Mesh? Understand before you buy The Google WiFi app is both simple to use and configure, making it easy for the non-tech savvy users out there to completely setup their home network to work exactly the way they want it and protect their network from outside threats. Google WiFi also comes with a nifty extra feature called Network Assist, which automatically switches to the band and channel that’s most optimized for the device you’re trying to connect from. This means you’ll never be left getting less than optimal speeds compared to another mesh networking system, and have a huge jump over traditional routers attached to extenders or repeaters instead. The one (admittedly pretty small) drawback of the Google WiFi home mesh networking system is its lack of any sort of web-based interface. The entire routing network is handled and configured from Google’s own WiFi mobile application for iOS and Android, which means desktop or laptop warriors will be left out of luck if they want to change a new setting on the fly while they’re disconnected from the primary network at work, for example.

#4 Netgear Orbi - Top MU-MIMO Mesh Router

Pros

Alexa-integration support

Tri-band radio

High-bandwidth backhaul

Cons

Less nodes might mean less coverage depending on your layout

A bit bulkier than other units

The Netgear Orbi is the long-awaited mesh system released by one of the biggest networking giants in the world, and for the most part, the wait was well worth it. Using just two satellite nodes the Netgear Orbi can cover homes as large as 5000 sq. ft, which gives it the best bang for the buck power/range value of any router on this list. Netgear also brings the mesh system into the 21st century with its Alexa integration that lets you control every aspect of your home wireless networking experience just with your voice. There’s nothing quite like yelling out “Alexa, kick my kids off the internet for the night” and having the parental controls boot up in a few seconds seemingly almost by magic. There’s also a lot to be said about the tri-band high-bandwidth backhaul technology included with the Orbi, which as far as we can tell, is unique to Netgear’s mesh networking system alone. This configuration guarantees that your devices never drop connection or lose power depending on where they’re connecting from in the house, which feeds into the MU-MIMO capability to provide a truly one-of-a-kind browsing, streaming, and downloading experience. The only drawback that bears mentioning here is the bulkiness of the Orbi units, which, when stacked against other options like the Plume below can seem downright massive by comparison.

#5 Plume SuperPod - Longest Range

Pros

Small, discreet pods

Large number of nodes included in the default package

Innovative pricing system if purchased through the company’s website

Gorgeous design

Cons

Not as much speed throughput as other options on this list

Subscription plan may put some users off

While most mesh networking options on this list might include two, maybe three nodes per system by default (with the option to add additional nodes on for a price), the Plume SuperPods have gone with the “more is more” ethos, including six pods in your basic Plume kit. This means that you can truly customize your mesh networking experience, throwing a pod in just about every room where you plan on browsing the internet and then some. Probably the single best part about this approach (aside from the increased, even coverage of the signal) is that if you’re a gamer or heavy streamer, every pod also comes with the option to plug your device into the pod using a direct Ethernet hookup. For gamers this means less latency, less dropped packets, and more throughput overall when you’re in the heat of battle and need every bit of ping you can muster in the moment. Not only that, but Plume has also made strides to make its system more affordable, offering a monthly subscription plan which subsidizes the cost of the hardware. But it’s not all good. The subscription plan is required if you want to access features such as parental controls and QoS, which means that no matter what, even if you buy all the hardware up front for the full cost, you won’t be able to unlock the Plume’s full potential unless you pony up for an extra fee each month.

#6 Tenda Nova - Best Cheap Mesh Networking System

Pros

Super cheap price of entry

Decent performance for the cost

Sleek design

Cons

Power isn’t great

Coverage could be better

If there’s one trend you might have already noticed on this list, it’s that no matter which mesh networking system you decide to go with, you should expect to spend in the upper $200-$500 range to get the full experience of everything that mesh routing has to offer. Not so with the Tenda Nova kit, which brings the cost of a three-node system down to an almost suspiciously low $99 out the door. Too good to be true? Well, kind of. Sure the Tenda Nova doesn’t have all the latest tech and suffers from the dreaded “backhaul” traffic problem thanks to its limited radio (where the speed of the extended nodes can suffer if the first node is hogging all the available bandwidth), but all that said the system does still put out a respectable amount of zip when used under the most optimal conditions. All in all we can’t fault the Nova Tenda for what it’s lacking when you get a gander at that price point. This system undercuts even the closest competition by a factor of almost half, which means that if you’re shopping for a mesh networking solution on a budget and need something that’ll work in a pinch, there’s nowhere else to go except with Nova.

#7 TP-Link Deco - Best Mesh Network Under $200

Pros

Dedicated backhaul-channel enabled

MU-MIMO enabled

Comprehensive antivirus/firewall options

Cheap

Cons

A bit slower than the competition

It should come as no surprise that TP-Link, the dark horse of the routing industry over the past few years, would bring their same flair for power, performance, and feature-rich production to its newest and best mesh networking system to date. The TP-Link Deco takes all the best elements of routers the company has released in previous years and combines them all into a subversively powerful and feature-rich package. Whether it’s the dedicated backhaul-channel support thanks to the tri-band radio or the slew of onboard parental control, QoS, and firewall options, just about everything you could possibly want out of a router and a mesh system is ready to go in the Deco - all at a price that just skates under the $200 mark if you go with the available 2-node option. 

#8 Eero Home WiFi System - Best Mesh Router for Easy Setup

Pros

Sleek design

Low profile external nodes

Simple to set up and use

Cons

Pricey for what you get

Coverage could be better for the cost

Above all else, the eero Home WiFi system holds the title of being one of the very first mesh networking systems to market, and has still managed to maintain its place as one of the best ever since. Originally launched as a Kickstarter project by a tech geek who was tired of troubleshooting his family’s WiFi problems, this little mesh networking system launched an entire industry that it continues to dominate both in sales and in innovation. The eero comes with most of the standard features we’ve come to expect out of mesh networking systems like MU-MIMO and comprehensive configuration settings in the eero app, but what it gains on these fronts it loses a bit of ground when you consider the price. At $400 the eero Beacon system is one of the most expensive systems on this list, and the coverage isn’t as impressive as what you’d get with smaller systems like the Orbi. That said, if you want one of the best mesh routers on shelves today, you simply can’t go wrong with the original that helped to define the entire genre that followed it.

What is a Mesh Router?

A mesh router is a new type of networking hardware that replaces traditional routers with a series of smaller, often much more stylish “nodes” which make up a “mesh” of coverage around your home. Mesh networking works by creating an ad-hoc link that stretches from node to node, removing the need for additional accessories like range extenders and routing repeaters to get a powerful and consistent signal to every area of your home completely unimpeded. Mesh systems are often preferred by customers with larger homes or those who want to browse in areas that can present challenges for less powerful traditional routers. This includes browsing in areas like your backyard, basement, or attic, and can also make it easier to get a more consistent signal to all of your devices at once no matter where you’re trying to surf from in the home.

How Much Should You Expect to Spend on a Mesh Router?

The one drawback that most of you’ve probably already noticed from the list above is that when compared against traditional routers, mesh networking systems can cost quite a bit more out of pocket. This is because physically you’re paying for more hardware, with most mesh systems including at least two nodes and many going up to five nodes to get complete coverage around your home. Because of this, you should expect to spend at least $50 - $200 more than you would for a competing traditional router, though in our opinion if you live in a large home there’s simply no better way to go for getting the most out of your local wireless network. Some options like the Tenda Nova are still relatively affordable with each three pack costing just a little under $100, though this can quickly add up when you need more than three nodes to get complete range and power coverage. Comparatively other options like the eero Pro will set you back a staggering $500 for the same three pack, and it’s in situations like these where you really need to break down all the features you’re looking for and if the Tenda Nova covers them all, consider going that route instead.

Mesh Router Buyers Guide

Below are the top features you should look for in a mesh router.

2.4GHz and 5GHz

This is the big one. Not all mesh systems are made alike, and some may only feature a single bandwidth for you to stream and download your favorite content on.

The entire point of buying a mesh system is to get the absolute most range and power possible out of every device you own, which means that the system you go with needs to support dual-band access in order to build the most complete coverage around your home.

Some mesh systems break down the setup

MU-MIMO

This is a newer feature that’s only been added to most routers (traditional and mesh) within the past few years, but ever since crashing onto the scene it’s become a near essential.

It works like this: in non MU-MIMO routers every packet of data is sent to every device attached to the network one at a time in very, very rapid succession. While this generally is fine if everyone is in different parts of the house, where it starts to slow everything down is if, for example, the whole family is in the living room or kitchen and are all browsing from their devices at the same time.

MU-MIMO, or “Multiple-In, Multiple-Out” fixes this problem with some clever directional routing techniques that stream a consistent number of packets to every device simultaneously. This can be vital if you’re say, trying to stream a movie on Netflix from your Smart TV while you and your kids are on your phones/tablets at the same time all gathered on the same couch.

High Bandwidth Rating

As broadband speeds continue to increase around the globe, you’ll want to make sure you have a router that’s both future-proof and can handle the output of a full family all streaming, gaming, and downloading at the same time.

Most of the benefits that you gain from mesh router ultimately come down to how much bandwidth it can handle, especially in the case of larger families who find themselves at their heaviest periods of usage all at the same time (3-10PM).

Solid Onboard Software/Easy Setup

One of the main reasons why most consumers would want to choose a mesh routing system over a traditional router or router+range extender is ease of setup and a solid onboard software option.

Mesh networks make it simple (sometimes even too much so) to get your home network up and running in 20 minutes or less. This is generally accomplished through mobile apps that connect to the main hub via local ad-hoc WiFi or Bluetooth, and will let you configure everything you need on the router directly from your preferred device without having to plug in a laptop or desktop via Ethernet to set things up properly.

This section also covers the onboard features of a mesh system. Some mesh routers are (as we mentioned before) almost too simplistic, and don’t carry many of the more advanced configuration options we’ve come to expect on routers like parental controls, QoS settings, port forwarding and more. Be sure that when you scan the feature set of the router you plan to buy that it also includes everything you want in this space, or at least a promise from the company that they plan to patch those features in within six months of your purchase.

Stylish Design

Another major reason that some customers prefer to go with a mesh routing system over a traditional router (even if they live in smaller homes that would be perfectly fine with a standard router), is style.

Mesh routers do away with the big blocky routers of yesteryear with their huge, gaudy antennas sticking off all sides thanks to the technology that makes the whole thing work.

Because mesh systems don’t need to use external routers and spread the load of the work to multiple units, these routers can be significantly more stylish and well-designed than their larger counterparts. Some options like the AmpliFi HD and Google Home are quite simply the most beautiful, well-designed routers we’ve ever seen, traditional or otherwise.

Enough Range to Cover Your Whole Home

Finally, we come to the issue of range. As we spoke about before, you’ll want to be sure that you’re carefully checking the manufacturer’s website and spec list to build the perfect mesh system that’s custom-tailored to your home and layout.

Not only that, you’ll also want to maximize what you get for your money. This means pushing every node in the network to its absolute limit of range from the main hub, while also giving just enough slack to prevent signal drops and power loss.

The range factor will ultimately come down to your budget, your home size, and the base power rating of the mesh networking system you choose from the list above.

[/ft_alert]

Mistakes to Avoid

Not Buying Enough Antennas: Although it can be tempting to skimp on the cost of your mesh routing system by only buying the most minimal options available from the manufacturer, we recommend doing a bit of research beforehand and see what the company recommends for your size home. This can also change depending on your use case (browsing outside, in a basement, in a house with 3+ floors, etc), so be sure to read all the specs and how much range you can expect to get out of each antenna before rolling through the checkout.

Going With Mesh Routers When a Standard Router Will Do: Even though it might be tempting to go exclusively with a mesh routing system since they’re the newest hottest product on the block of home networking, realistically they’re only designed for a specific subset of the consumer market. This includes users who have large homes or struggle to maintain a reliable signal throughout their house when they move from one end to the next, but may not make as much sense for those living in apartments. Apartments and smaller homes (generally those under 2500 sq. ft) can be serviced fairly well by a standard router (which can cost significantly less than a mesh router), but of course you may also want something that’s less obtrusive and more stylish than a traditional router, which is where a mesh system might still be the better choice.

Spending Too Much: Another common mistake that first-time mesh router buyers might make is pretty much the opposite of not buying enough antennas – buying too many! Again, you’ll be able to find the ratings for specific mesh systems on the manufacturer’s websites that will effectively break down exactly what kind of setup you’ll need to cover your specific house layout and device count.

The Top Questions About Mesh Routers Answered

The article Best Mesh Routers 2018 See more on: Gadget Review (GR)

Best Mesh Routers 2018 published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/ Best Mesh Routers 2018 published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/ Best Mesh Routers 2018 posted first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/

[lindamarionn]

Best Mesh Routers 2018

Despite only having broken out onto the home networking scene a few short years ago, mesh routers have quickly become the preferred way that thousands of users set up a wireless network in their home. But with so many options to choose from (and so many of them being released in just the past year, making it difficult to tell which models stand the test of time), which is the best mesh router in 2018? After 30 hours of research, we’ve concluded that the Linksys Velop Mesh Networking system is the best mesh router of 2018, but why? Well it’s no secret that for over 20 years Linksys (and their parent company Belkin) have produced some of the best routers in the business, including our #1 pick for best overall router the Linksys WRT3200 ACM. This is no different in the case of the Linksys Velop system, which combines ease of setup, powerful antennas, and a wide variety of features into a stylish and slim package.

3 Best Mesh Routers Compared 2018

#1 Linksys Velop - The Best Mesh Router for the Money

Pros

Functional, minimalist design

Decent performance at short range

Extremely user friendly

Cons

No 2.4GHz/5GHz channel separation

Slow speeds at distance

Ridiculously high price for the 3-pack

When we tested the Linksys Velop last year, we were impressed with many different aspects of its build, design, and setup process. Firstly, the design itself is just about as minimal and unassuming as you can get, fine to blend into the background of your home rather than trying to take center stage in everything. Sure the nodes might be a bit bigger and bulkier than what you would get out of similar mesh systems like the Tera Nova, but what the Velop lacks in slim profiles it more than makes up for in performance and power at its rates ranges. Speaking of power, this is where the Velop truly shines. Although we did struggle to maintain consistent performance at the outermost ranges of the rated distance extension, the onboard AC6600 MU-MIMO, 2.4GHz/5GHz radio pumped out more than enough bandwidth to handle the needs of a family of 10, if it needed to. Getting the Velop running was also a breeze thanks to the dozens of innovations that Linksys has made to the overall setup process, making it one of the most user-friendly and feature-rich routers we’ve tested to date. Related: Mesh WiFi vs Router - Pick the Right One But all that power and simplicity comes at a hefty cost: $299.99 for the two pack, and nearly $450 for the three pack, which means that if you’re looking for something cheaper with just a few less features we might recommend going with one of the other options listed below.

#2 AmpliFi HD - Top Performing Mesh Router

Pros

Clean, thoughtful design

Solid performance at all ranges

Intuitive setup and app UI

Cons

Software was missing many core features

HD model could be pricey for some

From the outside, nothing about the AmpliFi HD’s sleek, slim, and downright gorgeous looks would give you any hints about the beast of a router that’s hiding in wait underneath. The AmpliFi HD takes style and function to a whole new level with its small box main hub that features a tasteful (and helpful) onboard LCD display. This screen displays anything from the time to the current upload/download speeds you’re getting depending on your preference, and man, are those download speeds something to talk about. In our tests not only was the AmpliFi punching way above its weight class in its range, but its performance simply blew the doors off the place without even breaking a sweat. When left unchecked on the 5GHz band, the AmpliFi HD achieved scores of 534Mbps down/368Mbps up, which makes it one of the single fastest routers we’ve ever tested flat out. That said, one area where the AmpliFi HD was still lacking a bit was on the software side of things. The company has since added several of the features we dinged it for not having during our review (QoS, Parental Control, Guest Access), but they’re also slow to bring the router into the future with more nuanced options like port forwarding and DMZ options. All that said, unless you’re a hardcore geek for these types of configuration options the AmpliFi HD marries style, price, and power into an ultra-sleek package that anyone can set up in minutes.

#3 Google WiFi - Best Mesh Router for Stylish Homes

Pros

Seamless software integration

Simple setup

Decent range/power

Cons

Might be too expensive for some larger home owners

No web-based app

Like everything Google does (except Google+, we don’t talk about that anymore), the Google WiFi mesh networking system combines the best elements of its competitors while also adding its own dose of Google flair on top of everything. According to the company’s specs, just a single Google WiFi node (only $99) can cover a home as large as 1500 sq. ft, while adding two additional nodes on top of that ($299) will get you a whopping 4500 sq. ft of total coverage. Related: What is Mesh? Understand before you buy The Google WiFi app is both simple to use and configure, making it easy for the non-tech savvy users out there to completely setup their home network to work exactly the way they want it and protect their network from outside threats. Google WiFi also comes with a nifty extra feature called Network Assist, which automatically switches to the band and channel that’s most optimized for the device you’re trying to connect from. This means you’ll never be left getting less than optimal speeds compared to another mesh networking system, and have a huge jump over traditional routers attached to extenders or repeaters instead. The one (admittedly pretty small) drawback of the Google WiFi home mesh networking system is its lack of any sort of web-based interface. The entire routing network is handled and configured from Google’s own WiFi mobile application for iOS and Android, which means desktop or laptop warriors will be left out of luck if they want to change a new setting on the fly while they’re disconnected from the primary network at work, for example.

#4 Netgear Orbi - Top MU-MIMO Mesh Router

Pros

Alexa-integration support

Tri-band radio

High-bandwidth backhaul

Cons

Less nodes might mean less coverage depending on your layout

A bit bulkier than other units

The Netgear Orbi is the long-awaited mesh system released by one of the biggest networking giants in the world, and for the most part, the wait was well worth it. Using just two satellite nodes the Netgear Orbi can cover homes as large as 5000 sq. ft, which gives it the best bang for the buck power/range value of any router on this list. Netgear also brings the mesh system into the 21st century with its Alexa integration that lets you control every aspect of your home wireless networking experience just with your voice. There’s nothing quite like yelling out “Alexa, kick my kids off the internet for the night” and having the parental controls boot up in a few seconds seemingly almost by magic. There’s also a lot to be said about the tri-band high-bandwidth backhaul technology included with the Orbi, which as far as we can tell, is unique to Netgear’s mesh networking system alone. This configuration guarantees that your devices never drop connection or lose power depending on where they’re connecting from in the house, which feeds into the MU-MIMO capability to provide a truly one-of-a-kind browsing, streaming, and downloading experience. The only drawback that bears mentioning here is the bulkiness of the Orbi units, which, when stacked against other options like the Plume below can seem downright massive by comparison.

#5 Plume SuperPod - Longest Range

Pros

Small, discreet pods

Large number of nodes included in the default package

Innovative pricing system if purchased through the company’s website

Gorgeous design

Cons

Not as much speed throughput as other options on this list

Subscription plan may put some users off

While most mesh networking options on this list might include two, maybe three nodes per system by default (with the option to add additional nodes on for a price), the Plume SuperPods have gone with the “more is more” ethos, including six pods in your basic Plume kit. This means that you can truly customize your mesh networking experience, throwing a pod in just about every room where you plan on browsing the internet and then some. Probably the single best part about this approach (aside from the increased, even coverage of the signal) is that if you’re a gamer or heavy streamer, every pod also comes with the option to plug your device into the pod using a direct Ethernet hookup. For gamers this means less latency, less dropped packets, and more throughput overall when you’re in the heat of battle and need every bit of ping you can muster in the moment. Not only that, but Plume has also made strides to make its system more affordable, offering a monthly subscription plan which subsidizes the cost of the hardware. But it’s not all good. The subscription plan is required if you want to access features such as parental controls and QoS, which means that no matter what, even if you buy all the hardware up front for the full cost, you won’t be able to unlock the Plume’s full potential unless you pony up for an extra fee each month.

#6 Tenda Nova - Best Cheap Mesh Networking System

Pros

Super cheap price of entry

Decent performance for the cost

Sleek design

Cons

Power isn’t great

Coverage could be better

If there’s one trend you might have already noticed on this list, it’s that no matter which mesh networking system you decide to go with, you should expect to spend in the upper $200-$500 range to get the full experience of everything that mesh routing has to offer. Not so with the Tenda Nova kit, which brings the cost of a three-node system down to an almost suspiciously low $99 out the door. Too good to be true? Well, kind of. Sure the Tenda Nova doesn’t have all the latest tech and suffers from the dreaded “backhaul” traffic problem thanks to its limited radio (where the speed of the extended nodes can suffer if the first node is hogging all the available bandwidth), but all that said the system does still put out a respectable amount of zip when used under the most optimal conditions. All in all we can’t fault the Nova Tenda for what it’s lacking when you get a gander at that price point. This system undercuts even the closest competition by a factor of almost half, which means that if you’re shopping for a mesh networking solution on a budget and need something that’ll work in a pinch, there’s nowhere else to go except with Nova.

#7 TP-Link Deco - Best Mesh Network Under $200

Pros

Dedicated backhaul-channel enabled

MU-MIMO enabled

Comprehensive antivirus/firewall options

Cheap

Cons

A bit slower than the competition

It should come as no surprise that TP-Link, the dark horse of the routing industry over the past few years, would bring their same flair for power, performance, and feature-rich production to its newest and best mesh networking system to date. The TP-Link Deco takes all the best elements of routers the company has released in previous years and combines them all into a subversively powerful and feature-rich package. Whether it’s the dedicated backhaul-channel support thanks to the tri-band radio or the slew of onboard parental control, QoS, and firewall options, just about everything you could possibly want out of a router and a mesh system is ready to go in the Deco - all at a price that just skates under the $200 mark if you go with the available 2-node option. 

#8 Eero Home WiFi System - Best Mesh Router for Easy Setup

Pros

Sleek design

Low profile external nodes

Simple to set up and use

Cons

Pricey for what you get

Coverage could be better for the cost

Above all else, the eero Home WiFi system holds the title of being one of the very first mesh networking systems to market, and has still managed to maintain its place as one of the best ever since. Originally launched as a Kickstarter project by a tech geek who was tired of troubleshooting his family’s WiFi problems, this little mesh networking system launched an entire industry that it continues to dominate both in sales and in innovation. The eero comes with most of the standard features we’ve come to expect out of mesh networking systems like MU-MIMO and comprehensive configuration settings in the eero app, but what it gains on these fronts it loses a bit of ground when you consider the price. At $400 the eero Beacon system is one of the most expensive systems on this list, and the coverage isn’t as impressive as what you’d get with smaller systems like the Orbi. That said, if you want one of the best mesh routers on shelves today, you simply can’t go wrong with the original that helped to define the entire genre that followed it.

What is a Mesh Router?

A mesh router is a new type of networking hardware that replaces traditional routers with a series of smaller, often much more stylish “nodes” which make up a “mesh” of coverage around your home. Mesh networking works by creating an ad-hoc link that stretches from node to node, removing the need for additional accessories like range extenders and routing repeaters to get a powerful and consistent signal to every area of your home completely unimpeded. Mesh systems are often preferred by customers with larger homes or those who want to browse in areas that can present challenges for less powerful traditional routers. This includes browsing in areas like your backyard, basement, or attic, and can also make it easier to get a more consistent signal to all of your devices at once no matter where you’re trying to surf from in the home.

How Much Should You Expect to Spend on a Mesh Router?

The one drawback that most of you’ve probably already noticed from the list above is that when compared against traditional routers, mesh networking systems can cost quite a bit more out of pocket. This is because physically you’re paying for more hardware, with most mesh systems including at least two nodes and many going up to five nodes to get complete coverage around your home. Because of this, you should expect to spend at least $50 - $200 more than you would for a competing traditional router, though in our opinion if you live in a large home there’s simply no better way to go for getting the most out of your local wireless network. Some options like the Tenda Nova are still relatively affordable with each three pack costing just a little under $100, though this can quickly add up when you need more than three nodes to get complete range and power coverage. Comparatively other options like the eero Pro will set you back a staggering $500 for the same three pack, and it’s in situations like these where you really need to break down all the features you’re looking for and if the Tenda Nova covers them all, consider going that route instead.

Mesh Router Buyers Guide

Below are the top features you should look for in a mesh router.

2.4GHz and 5GHz

This is the big one. Not all mesh systems are made alike, and some may only feature a single bandwidth for you to stream and download your favorite content on.

The entire point of buying a mesh system is to get the absolute most range and power possible out of every device you own, which means that the system you go with needs to support dual-band access in order to build the most complete coverage around your home.

Some mesh systems break down the setup

MU-MIMO

This is a newer feature that’s only been added to most routers (traditional and mesh) within the past few years, but ever since crashing onto the scene it’s become a near essential.

It works like this: in non MU-MIMO routers every packet of data is sent to every device attached to the network one at a time in very, very rapid succession. While this generally is fine if everyone is in different parts of the house, where it starts to slow everything down is if, for example, the whole family is in the living room or kitchen and are all browsing from their devices at the same time.

MU-MIMO, or “Multiple-In, Multiple-Out” fixes this problem with some clever directional routing techniques that stream a consistent number of packets to every device simultaneously. This can be vital if you’re say, trying to stream a movie on Netflix from your Smart TV while you and your kids are on your phones/tablets at the same time all gathered on the same couch.

High Bandwidth Rating

As broadband speeds continue to increase around the globe, you’ll want to make sure you have a router that’s both future-proof and can handle the output of a full family all streaming, gaming, and downloading at the same time.

Most of the benefits that you gain from mesh router ultimately come down to how much bandwidth it can handle, especially in the case of larger families who find themselves at their heaviest periods of usage all at the same time (3-10PM).

Solid Onboard Software/Easy Setup

One of the main reasons why most consumers would want to choose a mesh routing system over a traditional router or router+range extender is ease of setup and a solid onboard software option.

Mesh networks make it simple (sometimes even too much so) to get your home network up and running in 20 minutes or less. This is generally accomplished through mobile apps that connect to the main hub via local ad-hoc WiFi or Bluetooth, and will let you configure everything you need on the router directly from your preferred device without having to plug in a laptop or desktop via Ethernet to set things up properly.

This section also covers the onboard features of a mesh system. Some mesh routers are (as we mentioned before) almost too simplistic, and don’t carry many of the more advanced configuration options we’ve come to expect on routers like parental controls, QoS settings, port forwarding and more. Be sure that when you scan the feature set of the router you plan to buy that it also includes everything you want in this space, or at least a promise from the company that they plan to patch those features in within six months of your purchase.

Stylish Design

Another major reason that some customers prefer to go with a mesh routing system over a traditional router (even if they live in smaller homes that would be perfectly fine with a standard router), is style.

Mesh routers do away with the big blocky routers of yesteryear with their huge, gaudy antennas sticking off all sides thanks to the technology that makes the whole thing work.

Because mesh systems don’t need to use external routers and spread the load of the work to multiple units, these routers can be significantly more stylish and well-designed than their larger counterparts. Some options like the AmpliFi HD and Google Home are quite simply the most beautiful, well-designed routers we’ve ever seen, traditional or otherwise.

Enough Range to Cover Your Whole Home

Finally, we come to the issue of range. As we spoke about before, you’ll want to be sure that you’re carefully checking the manufacturer’s website and spec list to build the perfect mesh system that’s custom-tailored to your home and layout.

Not only that, you’ll also want to maximize what you get for your money. This means pushing every node in the network to its absolute limit of range from the main hub, while also giving just enough slack to prevent signal drops and power loss.

The range factor will ultimately come down to your budget, your home size, and the base power rating of the mesh networking system you choose from the list above.

[/ft_alert]

Mistakes to Avoid

Not Buying Enough Antennas: Although it can be tempting to skimp on the cost of your mesh routing system by only buying the most minimal options available from the manufacturer, we recommend doing a bit of research beforehand and see what the company recommends for your size home. This can also change depending on your use case (browsing outside, in a basement, in a house with 3+ floors, etc), so be sure to read all the specs and how much range you can expect to get out of each antenna before rolling through the checkout.

Going With Mesh Routers When a Standard Router Will Do: Even though it might be tempting to go exclusively with a mesh routing system since they’re the newest hottest product on the block of home networking, realistically they’re only designed for a specific subset of the consumer market. This includes users who have large homes or struggle to maintain a reliable signal throughout their house when they move from one end to the next, but may not make as much sense for those living in apartments. Apartments and smaller homes (generally those under 2500 sq. ft) can be serviced fairly well by a standard router (which can cost significantly less than a mesh router), but of course you may also want something that’s less obtrusive and more stylish than a traditional router, which is where a mesh system might still be the better choice.

Spending Too Much: Another common mistake that first-time mesh router buyers might make is pretty much the opposite of not buying enough antennas – buying too many! Again, you’ll be able to find the ratings for specific mesh systems on the manufacturer’s websites that will effectively break down exactly what kind of setup you’ll need to cover your specific house layout and device count.

The Top Questions About Mesh Routers Answered

The article Best Mesh Routers 2018 See more on: Gadget Review (GR)

Best Mesh Routers 2018 published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/ Best Mesh Routers 2018 posted first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/

[jennifernail]

Best Mesh Routers 2018

Despite only having broken out onto the home networking scene a few short years ago, mesh routers have quickly become the preferred way that thousands of users set up a wireless network in their home. But with so many options to choose from (and so many of them being released in just the past year, making it difficult to tell which models stand the test of time), which is the best mesh router in 2018? After 30 hours of research, we’ve concluded that the Linksys Velop Mesh Networking system is the best mesh router of 2018, but why? Well it’s no secret that for over 20 years Linksys (and their parent company Belkin) have produced some of the best routers in the business, including our #1 pick for best overall router the Linksys WRT3200 ACM. This is no different in the case of the Linksys Velop system, which combines ease of setup, powerful antennas, and a wide variety of features into a stylish and slim package.

3 Best Mesh Routers Compared 2018

#1 Linksys Velop - The Best Mesh Router for the Money

Pros

Functional, minimalist design

Decent performance at short range

Extremely user friendly

Cons

No 2.4GHz/5GHz channel separation

Slow speeds at distance

Ridiculously high price for the 3-pack

When we tested the Linksys Velop last year, we were impressed with many different aspects of its build, design, and setup process. Firstly, the design itself is just about as minimal and unassuming as you can get, fine to blend into the background of your home rather than trying to take center stage in everything. Sure the nodes might be a bit bigger and bulkier than what you would get out of similar mesh systems like the Tera Nova, but what the Velop lacks in slim profiles it more than makes up for in performance and power at its rates ranges. Speaking of power, this is where the Velop truly shines. Although we did struggle to maintain consistent performance at the outermost ranges of the rated distance extension, the onboard AC6600 MU-MIMO, 2.4GHz/5GHz radio pumped out more than enough bandwidth to handle the needs of a family of 10, if it needed to. Getting the Velop running was also a breeze thanks to the dozens of innovations that Linksys has made to the overall setup process, making it one of the most user-friendly and feature-rich routers we’ve tested to date. Related: Mesh WiFi vs Router - Pick the Right One But all that power and simplicity comes at a hefty cost: $299.99 for the two pack, and nearly $450 for the three pack, which means that if you’re looking for something cheaper with just a few less features we might recommend going with one of the other options listed below.

#2 AmpliFi HD - Top Performing Mesh Router

Pros

Clean, thoughtful design

Solid performance at all ranges

Intuitive setup and app UI

Cons

Software was missing many core features

HD model could be pricey for some

From the outside, nothing about the AmpliFi HD’s sleek, slim, and downright gorgeous looks would give you any hints about the beast of a router that’s hiding in wait underneath. The AmpliFi HD takes style and function to a whole new level with its small box main hub that features a tasteful (and helpful) onboard LCD display. This screen displays anything from the time to the current upload/download speeds you’re getting depending on your preference, and man, are those download speeds something to talk about. In our tests not only was the AmpliFi punching way above its weight class in its range, but its performance simply blew the doors off the place without even breaking a sweat. When left unchecked on the 5GHz band, the AmpliFi HD achieved scores of 534Mbps down/368Mbps up, which makes it one of the single fastest routers we’ve ever tested flat out. That said, one area where the AmpliFi HD was still lacking a bit was on the software side of things. The company has since added several of the features we dinged it for not having during our review (QoS, Parental Control, Guest Access), but they’re also slow to bring the router into the future with more nuanced options like port forwarding and DMZ options. All that said, unless you’re a hardcore geek for these types of configuration options the AmpliFi HD marries style, price, and power into an ultra-sleek package that anyone can set up in minutes.

#3 Google WiFi - Best Mesh Router for Stylish Homes

Pros

Seamless software integration

Simple setup

Decent range/power

Cons

Might be too expensive for some larger home owners

No web-based app

Like everything Google does (except Google+, we don’t talk about that anymore), the Google WiFi mesh networking system combines the best elements of its competitors while also adding its own dose of Google flair on top of everything. According to the company’s specs, just a single Google WiFi node (only $99) can cover a home as large as 1500 sq. ft, while adding two additional nodes on top of that ($299) will get you a whopping 4500 sq. ft of total coverage. Related: What is Mesh? Understand before you buy The Google WiFi app is both simple to use and configure, making it easy for the non-tech savvy users out there to completely setup their home network to work exactly the way they want it and protect their network from outside threats. Google WiFi also comes with a nifty extra feature called Network Assist, which automatically switches to the band and channel that’s most optimized for the device you’re trying to connect from. This means you’ll never be left getting less than optimal speeds compared to another mesh networking system, and have a huge jump over traditional routers attached to extenders or repeaters instead. The one (admittedly pretty small) drawback of the Google WiFi home mesh networking system is its lack of any sort of web-based interface. The entire routing network is handled and configured from Google’s own WiFi mobile application for iOS and Android, which means desktop or laptop warriors will be left out of luck if they want to change a new setting on the fly while they’re disconnected from the primary network at work, for example.

#4 Netgear Orbi - Top MU-MIMO Mesh Router

Pros

Alexa-integration support

Tri-band radio

High-bandwidth backhaul

Cons

Less nodes might mean less coverage depending on your layout

A bit bulkier than other units

The Netgear Orbi is the long-awaited mesh system released by one of the biggest networking giants in the world, and for the most part, the wait was well worth it. Using just two satellite nodes the Netgear Orbi can cover homes as large as 5000 sq. ft, which gives it the best bang for the buck power/range value of any router on this list. Netgear also brings the mesh system into the 21st century with its Alexa integration that lets you control every aspect of your home wireless networking experience just with your voice. There’s nothing quite like yelling out “Alexa, kick my kids off the internet for the night” and having the parental controls boot up in a few seconds seemingly almost by magic. There’s also a lot to be said about the tri-band high-bandwidth backhaul technology included with the Orbi, which as far as we can tell, is unique to Netgear’s mesh networking system alone. This configuration guarantees that your devices never drop connection or lose power depending on where they’re connecting from in the house, which feeds into the MU-MIMO capability to provide a truly one-of-a-kind browsing, streaming, and downloading experience. The only drawback that bears mentioning here is the bulkiness of the Orbi units, which, when stacked against other options like the Plume below can seem downright massive by comparison.

#5 Plume SuperPod - Longest Range

Pros

Small, discreet pods

Large number of nodes included in the default package

Innovative pricing system if purchased through the company’s website

Gorgeous design

Cons

Not as much speed throughput as other options on this list

Subscription plan may put some users off

While most mesh networking options on this list might include two, maybe three nodes per system by default (with the option to add additional nodes on for a price), the Plume SuperPods have gone with the “more is more” ethos, including six pods in your basic Plume kit. This means that you can truly customize your mesh networking experience, throwing a pod in just about every room where you plan on browsing the internet and then some. Probably the single best part about this approach (aside from the increased, even coverage of the signal) is that if you’re a gamer or heavy streamer, every pod also comes with the option to plug your device into the pod using a direct Ethernet hookup. For gamers this means less latency, less dropped packets, and more throughput overall when you’re in the heat of battle and need every bit of ping you can muster in the moment. Not only that, but Plume has also made strides to make its system more affordable, offering a monthly subscription plan which subsidizes the cost of the hardware. But it’s not all good. The subscription plan is required if you want to access features such as parental controls and QoS, which means that no matter what, even if you buy all the hardware up front for the full cost, you won’t be able to unlock the Plume’s full potential unless you pony up for an extra fee each month.

#6 Tenda Nova - Best Cheap Mesh Networking System

Pros

Super cheap price of entry

Decent performance for the cost

Sleek design

Cons

Power isn’t great

Coverage could be better

If there’s one trend you might have already noticed on this list, it’s that no matter which mesh networking system you decide to go with, you should expect to spend in the upper $200-$500 range to get the full experience of everything that mesh routing has to offer. Not so with the Tenda Nova kit, which brings the cost of a three-node system down to an almost suspiciously low $99 out the door. Too good to be true? Well, kind of. Sure the Tenda Nova doesn’t have all the latest tech and suffers from the dreaded “backhaul” traffic problem thanks to its limited radio (where the speed of the extended nodes can suffer if the first node is hogging all the available bandwidth), but all that said the system does still put out a respectable amount of zip when used under the most optimal conditions. All in all we can’t fault the Nova Tenda for what it’s lacking when you get a gander at that price point. This system undercuts even the closest competition by a factor of almost half, which means that if you’re shopping for a mesh networking solution on a budget and need something that’ll work in a pinch, there’s nowhere else to go except with Nova.

#7 TP-Link Deco - Best Mesh Network Under $200

Pros

Dedicated backhaul-channel enabled

MU-MIMO enabled

Comprehensive antivirus/firewall options

Cheap

Cons

A bit slower than the competition

It should come as no surprise that TP-Link, the dark horse of the routing industry over the past few years, would bring their same flair for power, performance, and feature-rich production to its newest and best mesh networking system to date. The TP-Link Deco takes all the best elements of routers the company has released in previous years and combines them all into a subversively powerful and feature-rich package. Whether it’s the dedicated backhaul-channel support thanks to the tri-band radio or the slew of onboard parental control, QoS, and firewall options, just about everything you could possibly want out of a router and a mesh system is ready to go in the Deco - all at a price that just skates under the $200 mark if you go with the available 2-node option. 

#8 Eero Home WiFi System - Best Mesh Router for Easy Setup

Pros

Sleek design

Low profile external nodes

Simple to set up and use

Cons

Pricey for what you get

Coverage could be better for the cost

Above all else, the eero Home WiFi system holds the title of being one of the very first mesh networking systems to market, and has still managed to maintain its place as one of the best ever since. Originally launched as a Kickstarter project by a tech geek who was tired of troubleshooting his family’s WiFi problems, this little mesh networking system launched an entire industry that it continues to dominate both in sales and in innovation. The eero comes with most of the standard features we’ve come to expect out of mesh networking systems like MU-MIMO and comprehensive configuration settings in the eero app, but what it gains on these fronts it loses a bit of ground when you consider the price. At $400 the eero Beacon system is one of the most expensive systems on this list, and the coverage isn’t as impressive as what you’d get with smaller systems like the Orbi. That said, if you want one of the best mesh routers on shelves today, you simply can’t go wrong with the original that helped to define the entire genre that followed it.

What is a Mesh Router?

A mesh router is a new type of networking hardware that replaces traditional routers with a series of smaller, often much more stylish “nodes” which make up a “mesh” of coverage around your home. Mesh networking works by creating an ad-hoc link that stretches from node to node, removing the need for additional accessories like range extenders and routing repeaters to get a powerful and consistent signal to every area of your home completely unimpeded. Mesh systems are often preferred by customers with larger homes or those who want to browse in areas that can present challenges for less powerful traditional routers. This includes browsing in areas like your backyard, basement, or attic, and can also make it easier to get a more consistent signal to all of your devices at once no matter where you’re trying to surf from in the home.

How Much Should You Expect to Spend on a Mesh Router?

The one drawback that most of you’ve probably already noticed from the list above is that when compared against traditional routers, mesh networking systems can cost quite a bit more out of pocket. This is because physically you’re paying for more hardware, with most mesh systems including at least two nodes and many going up to five nodes to get complete coverage around your home. Because of this, you should expect to spend at least $50 - $200 more than you would for a competing traditional router, though in our opinion if you live in a large home there’s simply no better way to go for getting the most out of your local wireless network. Some options like the Tenda Nova are still relatively affordable with each three pack costing just a little under $100, though this can quickly add up when you need more than three nodes to get complete range and power coverage. Comparatively other options like the eero Pro will set you back a staggering $500 for the same three pack, and it’s in situations like these where you really need to break down all the features you’re looking for and if the Tenda Nova covers them all, consider going that route instead.

Mesh Router Buyers Guide

Below are the top features you should look for in a mesh router.

2.4GHz and 5GHz

This is the big one. Not all mesh systems are made alike, and some may only feature a single bandwidth for you to stream and download your favorite content on.

The entire point of buying a mesh system is to get the absolute most range and power possible out of every device you own, which means that the system you go with needs to support dual-band access in order to build the most complete coverage around your home.

Some mesh systems break down the setup

MU-MIMO

This is a newer feature that’s only been added to most routers (traditional and mesh) within the past few years, but ever since crashing onto the scene it’s become a near essential.

It works like this: in non MU-MIMO routers every packet of data is sent to every device attached to the network one at a time in very, very rapid succession. While this generally is fine if everyone is in different parts of the house, where it starts to slow everything down is if, for example, the whole family is in the living room or kitchen and are all browsing from their devices at the same time.

MU-MIMO, or “Multiple-In, Multiple-Out” fixes this problem with some clever directional routing techniques that stream a consistent number of packets to every device simultaneously. This can be vital if you’re say, trying to stream a movie on Netflix from your Smart TV while you and your kids are on your phones/tablets at the same time all gathered on the same couch.

High Bandwidth Rating

As broadband speeds continue to increase around the globe, you’ll want to make sure you have a router that’s both future-proof and can handle the output of a full family all streaming, gaming, and downloading at the same time.

Most of the benefits that you gain from mesh router ultimately come down to how much bandwidth it can handle, especially in the case of larger families who find themselves at their heaviest periods of usage all at the same time (3-10PM).

Solid Onboard Software/Easy Setup

One of the main reasons why most consumers would want to choose a mesh routing system over a traditional router or router+range extender is ease of setup and a solid onboard software option.

Mesh networks make it simple (sometimes even too much so) to get your home network up and running in 20 minutes or less. This is generally accomplished through mobile apps that connect to the main hub via local ad-hoc WiFi or Bluetooth, and will let you configure everything you need on the router directly from your preferred device without having to plug in a laptop or desktop via Ethernet to set things up properly.

This section also covers the onboard features of a mesh system. Some mesh routers are (as we mentioned before) almost too simplistic, and don’t carry many of the more advanced configuration options we’ve come to expect on routers like parental controls, QoS settings, port forwarding and more. Be sure that when you scan the feature set of the router you plan to buy that it also includes everything you want in this space, or at least a promise from the company that they plan to patch those features in within six months of your purchase.

Stylish Design

Another major reason that some customers prefer to go with a mesh routing system over a traditional router (even if they live in smaller homes that would be perfectly fine with a standard router), is style.

Mesh routers do away with the big blocky routers of yesteryear with their huge, gaudy antennas sticking off all sides thanks to the technology that makes the whole thing work.

Because mesh systems don’t need to use external routers and spread the load of the work to multiple units, these routers can be significantly more stylish and well-designed than their larger counterparts. Some options like the AmpliFi HD and Google Home are quite simply the most beautiful, well-designed routers we’ve ever seen, traditional or otherwise.

Enough Range to Cover Your Whole Home

Finally, we come to the issue of range. As we spoke about before, you’ll want to be sure that you’re carefully checking the manufacturer’s website and spec list to build the perfect mesh system that’s custom-tailored to your home and layout.

Not only that, you’ll also want to maximize what you get for your money. This means pushing every node in the network to its absolute limit of range from the main hub, while also giving just enough slack to prevent signal drops and power loss.

The range factor will ultimately come down to your budget, your home size, and the base power rating of the mesh networking system you choose from the list above.

[/ft_alert]

Mistakes to Avoid

Not Buying Enough Antennas: Although it can be tempting to skimp on the cost of your mesh routing system by only buying the most minimal options available from the manufacturer, we recommend doing a bit of research beforehand and see what the company recommends for your size home. This can also change depending on your use case (browsing outside, in a basement, in a house with 3+ floors, etc), so be sure to read all the specs and how much range you can expect to get out of each antenna before rolling through the checkout.

Going With Mesh Routers When a Standard Router Will Do: Even though it might be tempting to go exclusively with a mesh routing system since they’re the newest hottest product on the block of home networking, realistically they’re only designed for a specific subset of the consumer market. This includes users who have large homes or struggle to maintain a reliable signal throughout their house when they move from one end to the next, but may not make as much sense for those living in apartments. Apartments and smaller homes (generally those under 2500 sq. ft) can be serviced fairly well by a standard router (which can cost significantly less than a mesh router), but of course you may also want something that’s less obtrusive and more stylish than a traditional router, which is where a mesh system might still be the better choice.

Spending Too Much: Another common mistake that first-time mesh router buyers might make is pretty much the opposite of not buying enough antennas – buying too many! Again, you’ll be able to find the ratings for specific mesh systems on the manufacturer’s websites that will effectively break down exactly what kind of setup you’ll need to cover your specific house layout and device count.

The Top Questions About Mesh Routers Answered

The article Best Mesh Routers 2018 See more on: Gadget Review (GR)

Best Mesh Routers 2018 published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/