#the ender keyboard was still on

[emoji-ijome]

Party Bean and Party Bean Blep

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made these as a discord request

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Discord - Support Me - Redbubble

[pjsk-headcanons]

okay get ready *deep breath* UNIT SWAP LORE DUMP BECAUSE I GOT NO WHERE ELSE TO PUT IT

they all have different group names but ill just put the original ones (for the length of these asks and for suspense ill reveal the others later)

l/n: saki (unit leader), an, mizuki, toya

-

l/n -> NovA

-saki wanted to form a band with her old friends after she could live (mostly) normally again

-learns that her old friend group has drifted apart and ichika (who she originally formed l/n with) wont get in contact with her

-gets her (kind of?) brother, toya, to join her makeshift band. they preform as a duo for a while, but saki decides they need more members.

-while searching, they preform at WEEKEND GARAGE. an notices their preformance and congratulates them when theyre finished

-extra note, an didnt attend RAD WEEKEND in this au. she knows her dad was a singer and wants to get on his level, however.

-through an, mizuki learns of the group and decides to join too (with a little bit of convincing)

-an still doesnt know about nagi. this will make for great angst later!

-toya finds out about mizukis secret proabably ~2-3rd anni. saki is oblivious. an already knew :D

-the sekai is called Studio SEKAI

-toya is bass, an is guitar, saki is keyboard, mizuki is drums

TRUST RANKS

toya - saki -> "birth of NovA", "bandmate/sibling?!" (leo/need joke im so funny), "reignite that youthful dream" (saki would often gush about how she wanted to make a band when she was younger with the other tenmas."

mizuki - an -> "rule-breaker and model student", "melody and beat!☆", "entrusting you with this secret" (angst purposes only)

an - toya -> "cafe regular?" (another headcanon that toya was a regular at WEEKEND GARAGE before vbs/NV formed), "i've never played guitar before...", "the echo and the voice" (very vague guitar reference, up to interpretation)

mizuki - saki -> "pink and ponytails!", "looking up to our older sibling", "keeping our own secrets" (saki also kept the talk about her going to the hospital often when she was younger to mizuki and an. they find out during the arc ender(??))

saki - an -> "aiming to become professionals!", "that hair is natural?!" (headcanon that an and sakis "dyed" looking hair is natural, i forgot if it was canon), "starting sound" (based on how saki wanted to form a band because of the show tsukasa showed her when she was younger, an wanted to be as good as her dad when he was preforming*.)

mizuki - toya -> "rhythm of NovA", "really weird hair?", "everyone needs their secrets."

*an didn't attend RAD WEEKEND. however, she did attend some of kens other shows.

oh my GOD THIS IS LENGTHY...this au is will be called...hmmm... "new dream au" i guess lol

for filtering purposes, i will take 🌐 anon, see you next time for mmj... 💀

.

[ddddd-notpixels]

Just found out that @zanzanryu made a tier list for their M.U.G.E.N. game, so I decided to try and come up with one:

i have never done a tier list before so this might be completely stupid, sry

Explanations/insane rambling under the cut:

(The early descriptions might sound a bit too critical, but it doesn't mean I don't like this game or these characters! Every game needs a worst character, and it doesn't necessarily mean that they're badly made or not worth playing!)

D Tier/Bottom Tier – Warsnite

As someone who used to main Warsnite purely because of easy move inputs (half-circles are hard on keyboard, I use an Xbox controller for the game now, though), I definitely feel like he has a harder time doing things that the rest of the cast can do without much effort. He has less specials than the rest of the characters (only four, five if you count the airborne version of his projectile, which functions exactly the same (the average amount of specials is about seven)), consisting of a pretty standard projectile in his Power Beam, the okay-in-combos-but-hard-to-utilise Hundred Mech Punch, the slow and easy-to-dodge Warquake, and System Shock; a move that I haven't found a single use for (it looks like some kind of energy shield, but he gets hit out of it by everything? it's also too slow to combo with...). He has some movement options with his air-dash – which is unique to him – but is generally not a very viable character.

(What's kind of funny about this is that Warsnite is actually one of the bosses of the game; fought after Fengyun and before Fran and Sinkage.)

C Tier/Below Average – Spike Fraser & Taka Hoppa

This is the tier where I put characters who I thought are okay, but just a notch below the rest of the cast. Spike is quite a slow character with good damage, but I've found that he struggles to close the distance with his enemies; his Dynamite Tackle doesn't cover much distance, and his Dynamite Dropkick has him land lying down, giving it quite a bit of endlag and leaving him vulnerable to some OTG attacks.

Taka, meanwhile, is a charge character – not necessarily a bad thing, but compared to the others, he has much less to do (Wendy does a lot better in combos, and Fengyun is only a charge character when in his Defensive Stance). He can combo his Fists of Fury super into his Gigaton Punch one in the corner, which isn't a very common occurrence in the roster and deals quite good damage, but most fights I've had playing as him take quite a struggle to win with.

B Tier/Mid-Tier – Most of the roster lol

These are just the characters that I found as unexceptional – not boring, but nothing about them stands out as particularly powerful or particularly weak. There are some characters I haven't played much as (mostly Antbyte Scout), so I put them in this tier, as well.

A Tier/Above Average – Fanhua, Sinkage & Ninewave

These three characters stand out as particularly strong to me (although Fanhua is my main so I may be a bit biased 🤭), each in their different ways. Fanhua has a very solid moveset – she has so many options to work with, her combo game is very good (one of the few characters that I've found to have two specials that can combo into each other; Elbow Reach into Fierce Upper carries all of my combos, lol), and she has a very useful super with her Butterfly Flip (which also has a very cool animation).

Sinkage, I feel, is strong mainly due to one move; his Rise Cutter. It's a strong move that's great as an anti-air, combo ender, even as a punish tool – and the super variant, Rush Cutter, can even combo into itself (it uses a lot of meter, but you can combo three Rush Cutters together, then a strong Rise Cutter, and end with a light one. Nearly takes the whole lifebar). His other moves are good, as well – Bio Charge Knee is great for comboing, and Bio Solar is like Warsnite's System Shock but with actual purpose (although I still have found he gets hit out of it quite often) – but Rise Cutter is definitely what bumps him up to this tier.

Ninewave is an odd character, in that I considered putting him in B or even C tier before. I myself am not good as him – I've always had a preference for faster characters who can do long, complex combos, which Ninewave is not good at – but I can't deny that he is a very good character. His zoning is easily the best in the game – of his four(-ish) specials, three are various projectiles that, when used together, make him very hard to approach (especially as someone who always forgets to use the evade button). He also has Force Destruction – a Kikosho-like super that gives him completely free movement as the effect is out if it connects. This move alone can make his combos brutal – possibly the highest in the game (he's the only character I've found to have a 100% combo so far).

S Tier/Top Tier – Fran Brocken

So, I've recently started playing as Fran, and wow, she is so fun. I already knew she was tough – I made the dumb decision to take her on at max-level CPU as Taka Hoppa, and it was rough (I think Fran Vs. Taka might be the most imbalanced matchup, right now) – but I don't think I really understood how tough she was until I started playing as her...

Movement-wise, Fran is definitely the fastest character in the game – she's the only character to have a wall-jump, which sends her at a ridiculously good angle (has amazingly good horizontal distance, makes keeping her in the corner impossible), and her ground speed makes her very hard to catch up with. She also has an air projectile, Red Air X-Slash – not only is it fast and goes at an angle that no-one else's does (also one of only two characters to have an air projectile – the other being Warsnite, funnily enough), but it also sends her up and away, making it surprisingly good defensively (she can also do it during her back dash, because back dashes count as jumps in this game). For defence, she also has a counter move (although I don't end up using it a lot) and her Red Dash Tackle is a good move to do out of block. Her Hurricanrana Crush is a very scary jumping command grab – it moves fast and far, and with a large unblockable hitbox that can catch airborne opponents (it can even be comboed from Red Dash Tackle!) and seems to be able to interrupt every other move, it has no reason to deal as much damage as it does. And her Red Rain of Berlin super (really cool name, btw) is equally as scary – it's powerful, long-distance, near-instant, and amazing as a reversal, a combo ender, or even as a way to close the distance (the knockback at the end even brings the enemy towards you, so you can hit them with a little OTG combo if you're fast enough). With such strong moves, Fran Brocken might be too strong, even as a boss (it's telling that I consistently struggle against her more than the actual final boss, Sinkage).

[crows-and-cookies]

For the writers questions

2 3 14 15

Ommggggg thanks friend! This is so much fun :)

2--If I had to give up a keyboard and write by hand...

YES easy peasy. I used to write exclusively by hand for years. I used to haul these notebooks around with me all though high school, they were comp. notebooks that I would have to tape together because they were so ragged. I still keep a handwritten journal and often write scenes in it. In college I would pretend to take handwritten notes but really just be writing stories. Now I don't write my stories by hand as much as I used to (as in my family would be watching TV and I would be scribbling away) but I still do write in my notebooks enough. I prefer pen. No I'm not a wizard I just love writing in my bastardized cursive scribble

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

Uhhhhhh idk about that, I tend to predistract myself by listening to music, sometimes the same song again and again on a loop. I also tend to write little phrases in my notebooks or notes app and then have to go find them later. I guess I also take a break from writing to go do other writing (fanfiction). Oh I also send my friends lines I've written with no context. None of that's too weird though

14. Do you lend your books to people? Ect.

Not anymore. Jake Miller from high school, you still have my copy of Enders Game. I'm not getting that back. Michael, you have my copy of Oryx and Crake and I hope you didn't give it away when you moved. I have a very good friend who almost lost one of my favorite books when her luggage was lost but thankfully she got it all back--terrible old borders receipt bookmark and all! It's just if I own a book I probably really love it and would rather get it back. Libraries exist, find books there.

15. Do you write in books/dog-ear/read in the bath?

I used to not, but then I learned how to annotate and really enjoy it, so if I own a book I might write in it. My birds books I always write in, but that's different I feel. I'll also copy quotes I really like to hoard for later. I will dog ear but not too much, and yeah I read in the bath all the time, it's a problem. When it's a library book I like hold it off to the side to be careful. Have you ever taken an eye-spy book into the bath? It's great.

[itwas50yearsagotoday]

7/31/23: It was 50 years ago this month, July 1973, Steely Dan would release their second album Countdown to Ecstasy. Wow... another landmark album that I didn't think I'd ever get to, but here we are. I've dug this record for at least 25 years going back to my college days. I think the first song I knew from it was 'My Old School' of which I must have seen concert footage on VH-1 (probably taken from The Midnight Special) at some point. So I begun collecting Dan CDs, and got this one specifically because it had 'My Old School' and the album opener 'Bodhisattva' (which my friend Jason turned me on to), and it became a staple in my player. Of the eight songs on this album, no less than six are excellent... even the other two songs are not throwaways by any means. 'Bodhisattva' starts off with a bangin' hard guitar riff, and turns into this slick jazz-rock number that dabbles a little in Fusion territory... look out! The next two songs I don't think are too well known but I love them both--'Razor Boy' has some biting lyrics about upper class wannabees, with this sort of bossa-nova style back-beat, and is super mellow; 'The Boston Rag' has some awesome guitar work... not sure if that's Skunk Baxter or Denny Dias but they make that guitar growl on that track. 'Show-Biz Kids' is controversial for the use of the word 'fuck' (oooooh!) but it, or perhaps 'Pearl of the Quarter', is probably the weakest track on the album-- I've heard that they were toying with releasing this as a single, but repeating the phrase 'Lost Wages' over and over again does not seem like Top 40 material. Interestingly, Rick Derringer, of all people, plays slide guitar on this track... personally, I think his talents are wasted here. Anyway, side two starts with another banger, somewhat similar to the murky (in a good way) sound of 'Do It Again' from the first record: 'Your Gold Teeth'. This track is nearly seven minutes long due to the extended keyboard and guitar solos and jamming... such a cool song, and great lyrics too. I already mentioned 'My Old School' whose lyrics remind me a bit of 'Reelin' In the Years' with the post-College blues as a theme... definitely a rocker, with great horns a-boppin' (I'm including the Special version as a YT clip at the end, which is a treat to watch), awesome guitar solos... love the 'WHOA NOOO's at the beginning of each chorus. Probably second weakest track is 'Pearl of the Quarter' which doesn't have much of a melody, and those 'vous-les-vous's at the end of every verse are so dorky. But the band (such that it is... as already Fagen and Becker were making changes, dumping vocalist Palmer after the first record... by the late-70s the Dan was just a duo with (highly talented) session musicians, essentially) redeems itself, and then some, with the whopper of an album closer 'King of the World'. One might confuse the keyboards in this song with a game show theme... no kidding, it reminds me of The Price is Right in some parts. But that is an integral part of the song, as it follows the same jazzy path as 'Your Gold Teeth' and 'Bodhisattva'... man it's a perfect album-ender. Since I won't get to them (or if I do, it won't likely be in this format), the next three following albums are all weak sisters to this record-- all good records, well-produced, but there's nothing really daring on 'dangerous' on those records. But 1977's Aja is so very different... literally sounds like a different band only four years later, but no less excellent. If I had to make the desert island choice between the two records I'd still go with Countdown, but might try to sneak Aja on board the sinking ship. Steely Dan's last album prior to the twenty-year absence, Gaucho, is no slouch either, as long as you approve of drum-machines (which fit with what they were doing in 1980). Back to Countdown, if you've not heard this, and you're reading this blog, stop what you are doing and go listen to it now. A moral imperative. A+

[foxstens]

finished ender lilies. time to talk about it

god damn this game is so fucking beautiful. the atmosphere, the art, the music, the backgrounds, the story of each boss and miniboss you encounter, the cutscenes. it’s all so fucking beautiful. AND SO FUCKING SAD. like i wasn’t paying 100% attention to the story and have yet to watch a video about the Lore but fuck everything about this game is just so sad. what i did get about the story was all very reminiscent of hollow knight just even sadder and bleaker since unlike in hk where despite the world going to shit there’s still people around just doing their thing and, you know, surviving, in this case there’s none of that. even blasphemous still had some people around. ender lilies? no one but you and your spirits. it is so sad

the game kind of suffers because of this, personally i like having characters to get attached to in any media i consume but in this case it’s really only lily and the spirits, and while the spirits do all have their sad-as-fuck stories and they do end up feeling like your friends by the end, it’s just. there wasn’t as much catharsis as there could have been imo. might also be bc of the lack of voice acting, which isn’t a bad thing per se, it was just very noticeable to me.

the game has a really big map, in the beginning it feels very linear like every room is just a rectangle and you’re going in a straight path but pretty much after the first two areas it opens up and you get access to two areas simultaneously, after which you get to choose between three areas. and as you go through those you just randomly find yourself in other areas - which is one of my favourite experiences in these types of games

it’s actually pretty hard to get lost in this game in my experience, because the areas and the in-game rooms all feel very distinct and the unreachable items/paths are pretty memorable but the actual map fucking sucks. like having a minimap that shows your position and incomplete areas and unchecked exits is a great concept, but the map doesn’t actually show you the location of anything and it also doesn’t reflect the layout of the rooms so it is easy to get lost if you’re trying to follow the map. basically the exploration is fun except that upgrades are often hidden and you don’t have map markers or anything so it’s super easy to miss stuff and when you have to use an online map to go from place to place and pick up all the shit you missed or can access now - that’s when it gets a lot less fun. eh that was only about an hour for me at the very end of the game so it’s not horrible but still. a better map would’ve made the exploration so much better

in regards to exploration there’s also the sheer number of enemies. it didn’t bother me while first going through an area but when backtracking or trying to actually explore sometimes there’s just so many of them and they’re hard to avoid... so annoying. i do appreciate the fast travel though, benchwarping is so cool and i never felt like the benches were too far apart even if some rooms and shortcuts did get confusing at times. bosses in particular never had a bench be more than one or two rooms away. 

as for the gameplay, i enjoyed it a lot. the movement felt smooth and responsive, and i got the hang of the dodge really fast, though it felt a lot better when i finally got it upgraded into a real dash. i played on keyboard and had absolutely no issues, everything worked as intended, no complaints there. 

the combat is also fine, it took a while getting used to how little impact there is when you hit something, but it makes sense because it’s basically ghosts fighting ghosts. and different weapons feel different, so that’s nice. the enemies are pretty varied, i liked all of them apart from one particular type of enemy which shows up in the bullshit area of the game and is, of course, complete bullshit. by the way the boss in that area is also bullshit - even if it didn’t take any more tries than the other bosses

i did appreciate the sheer variety of the spirits you get, but most of them felt pretty situational and i only felt the need to get creative with them until the last two bosses. it doesn’t help that you literally can’t max upgrade all of them without grinding for hours, so that was a bit of a wasted opportunity

the relics also felt a bit uninspired, sure all of them were useful but i also barely ever changed them because i had enough slots for what i needed - like with the spirits i only felt the need to get creative during the last boss - or to do the jump puzzles which... why do they even exist in the first place lmao

as for the difficulty... hm. im really bad at gauging that in general but. i wouldn’t call this an easy game, but i also wouldn’t say it’s hard. i think it’s a game you can play and beat casually, but you probably won’t have fun if you don’t put a little effort into learning some stuff. idk if that makes it hard. i actually have no idea what makes a game hard overall

but the bosses i’d say are downright easy apart from the last two. because once you realize what their telegraphs are and you start paying attention to that, you also realize that there is about a thousand year gap between the telegraph and the actual attack. if you have a basic grasp on the dodge ability it’s so easy to whale on them you don’t have to worry until they enter their third phase and go into crazy mode, but even that shouldn’t be too hard bc they only gain a tiny speed boost and like two attacks, and you can just cheese them with the right spirits. or you can just keep doing what you did until then and dodge at the right time and whale on them afterward lmao

the two bosses that this doesn’t apply to are also not actually difficult to figure out, but they are hard to defeat because they have a fuckton of health and they do a shitton of damage. the second to last boss has one particular attack that’s impossible to dodge if you don’t jump dash and land with the right timing, or keep yourself in the air for like 5 seconds. it’s fucking bullshit. and the last boss is conceptually so fucking easy, he only has three actual attacks and you avoid all of them by keeping yourself in the centre of the arena and airborne, but he does spawn adds that do a fuckton of damage and take multiple hits to kill no matter the weapon. the last boss is amazing looks-wise but as a fight it is not fun or engaging at all. def at the bottom of the list of final bosses i’ve fought 

so i guess this post has quite a lot of negatives but i really did enjoy the game, i did pretty much everything the base game had to offer and never felt like quitting for any reason, it’s not the best game ever due to all of the things i mentioned above and it was also shorter than i would’ve expected and liked it to be. i do think it’s a great game, seems pretty underrated as far as i’ve seen even tho it has a lot to offer and tbh i’ll probably end up replaying it pretty soon or just more often than i’d typically consider. 

[bananasim]

Enderal skyrim update esm missing

Enderal skyrim update esm missing how to#

Enderal skyrim update esm missing mod#

Enderal skyrim update esm missing Patch#

Enderal skyrim update esm missing mods#

Enderal skyrim update esm missing plus#

Normal and Red Vynroot now also get affected by the perk "Careful Harvest".

Improved several conditions of generic dialogue.

Fixed an issue causing some NPC to only wear underwear.

Fixed a bug in the Battle of Treomar card game that caused the wrong card value to be stored if the player waited long enough while attempting to cheat.

Adjusted the file enblocal.ini to solve keyboard incompatibility issues.

Probably fixed an issue that caused the Father to appear way to early at the excavation side.

"Dark Chambers of our Mind" (FS_NQR05):.

Knowledge dialogue gets evaluated properly.

Make sure to do this at least 2-3 times and cornfirm each line with enter.

If you already have this quest started or if the combat soundtrack is already looping in your save, you can enter the command "removemusic b6327" into the console.

Probably fixed a bug that caused the combat soundtrack to get stuck when the two enemeis at the caravan.

The player is no longer able to leave Old Garagatha via teleport scrolls upon a certain point during the quest.

Added an additional Questmarker for Old Garagatha, so if the player leaves, he'll find the location again.

Fixed an issue that prevented Gunam giving the player his vouchers.

Fixed an issue that lead to a hold when the player left Rogash's dialogue too early.

Fixed an issue that ended the previous quest early and locked the player out of the quest line.

Fixed a bug where Aurora got stuck during her animation, preventing the start of the dinner scene.

Fixed an issue with the notes of Mirell still being interactable after starting quest.

Added an objective so that the player now clearly recognizes that he has to wait some time for the epilogue.

The message at his camp gets no longer displayed before the quest even started.

Fixed experience points at the end of the quest.

Fixed a bug that caused Leora Eren to not be present at the discussion in the Emporium.

Fixed a softlock caused by the player only grabbing or reading one of Yero's letters.

Enderal skyrim update esm missing Patch#

I was holding off for this patch personally because it fixes some quest breaking bugs. I feel really bad, because everything about Enderal looks SO great.ĭevs have just uploaded a new patch. After having played SO many great games with much, far more better combat systems, I can't manage to like this.

Enderal skyrim update esm missing mods#

The voice acting is supreme for a completely amateur work and the perks and abilites looks fun and diverse enough to experiment.Īnd yea, I looked up for mods to change the combat, to make it really engaging and what not, but it still was a patch over an awful core system. So, yea, Enderal seems to be great and the world looks gorgeous, the characters likable and the lore is promising. And even if I downscaled the difficulty, the combat is not fun after all. I honestly think that any approach to what Gothic/Risen games did with you, the hero, being a total piece of shit at the start was greatly executed then and poorly copied after that. is still Skyrim at its heart.īad movement, bad hitting angles, enemies are arrow-sponges, impossible way to know where exactly is your enemy (even more with all the weird pacing some monsters tend to take if you are up on a hill).

Enderal skyrim update esm missing how to#

They clearly know how to set up the mood, introducing the world and dropping lore tid bits here and there that WILL keep you engaged.īut then it comes the actual gameplay. Years, maybe.īeing said that, I found the first 7 hours of this absolutely amazing and well directed.

Enderal skyrim update esm missing mod#

Been long since I tried a full conversion mod or any content mod for Skyrim. The post-release support from the developers has been awesome, too, with heaps of post-release patching and now this expansion. First person open world RPGs are pretty rare, and it's great to see modders carrying that torch through modding. IMHO, the Enderal is one of the best total conversations mods ever created, and one of the best RPGs of the past few years. (I think they've also added a third ending.)

Reworked and improved crafting, spells, and much more.

Enderal skyrim update esm missing plus#

Twelve new side quests plus two non-linear guild questlines: Work your way up the Golden Sickle, Enderal's merchant’s guild and infiltrate the ranks of the Rhalâta, the enigmatic cult ruling the Undercity.Improved performance and stability for a smooth experience.Two "crafting classes" that utilize alchemy and enchanting for combat - use potions to shapeshift into a werewolf as the Lycanthrope, use enchanting to craft spirit companions.The new version of the mod is only being released through Steam for technical reasons, and only requires you own "Skyrim Classic or Skyrim Legendary Edition on Steam. Since then, some of the developers have been working on a story expansion fleshing out the conspicuously under-used Undercity area. Enderal is a total conversation mod for Skyrim that first released back in 2016.

[rheagodlywrites]

So,my good friend @allywritesforfun has sent this my way. I hope you enjoy it

Speed Running a Confession

Cc!Dream x gn reader

You managed to get Dream on a call after texting him ‘ANSWER THE PHONE!’ Over and over twelve times.

“Teach me how..” You lightly demanded. Dream looked at you strangely.

“What?” He chuckled confused.

“Teach me how to speed run! Come on! It’s my birthday! You have too!” Dream laughed at how you asked but agreed anyways. He told you that he’ll teach you as soon as he’s ready. He lived in Florida and you stayed in California. You waited and waited as Dream set things up. He planned to surprise you in the game. After you beat the ender dragon, He was going to have a build to surprise you. He managed to convince Foolish to help him with the build since he was an awesome builder.

“What are you trying to do anyways?” The two went into randomly generated world and went far from spawn.

“I want you to start when she’s clear from spawn. You’ll have creative so I want you to do this..” Dream described what he wanted to do and eventually, they had a game plan.

You logged onto the world and he informed you of the rules.

“You have to beat the game in the shortest amount of time. There are ways to cut down that time and I’ll help you with that. Since this is only me helping you out, this won’t go on the official site. So once you start hitting wood, I’ll start the timer. You ready?” You crack your knuckles and put your hands on the keyboard and mouse.

“Let’s do this!” You start punching and gather as much wood as you can. You start crafting and get an axe. Dream had suggested that you make tools quickly so you can gather materials faster. You get tons of wood and run away from spawn. You managed to get past a ruined portal so you loot the chest. Pants,some gold, flint and steel, a pickaxe with looting on it and obsidian. You put on the pants and get into a cave. You start mining but the cave was filled with mostly coal.

“You gotta go deeper into the caves. You’ll only find coal up here since it’s easy to collect.” You sigh and go in deeper but find a zombie. The cave sounds and the zombie startle you since you hadn’t played Minecraft in such a long time . The newer updates were new to you. Dream laughed at your response to it as you killed the zombie.

“Zombies should have chickens. Like they’d totally be best friends,” You joke as you mine iron. Dream snickers at your strange comment.

“The baby zombies ride Chickens sometimes.” You pause to look at his character.

“What the fuck?”

“Timers still going!” He taunts. You curse again as you craft iron tools and an iron chest plate. You make a bucket and find a huge area where water and lava were making obsidian. Dream taught you how to do the ‘L’ strategy. You do it although it was kinda wonky. You light the portal and get the achievement. When you go to the nether, you were instantly being attacked.

“Oh shit! Dream! God damnit!” You ram from the piglin that attacked you.

“Technoblade is attacking me!” You squealed as you tried to kill it. You killed it and you noticed more.

“So I need you to dig a hole. When you do, get the piglins inside. Then give them the gold you have,” He told you. You did so and they threw out a few things. From food to ender pearls, they traded most of the gold with you. It was mostly useless things but you managed to get the things you needed from the nether.

“Awesome! You need blazes since they give you more blaze rods so go toward that huge black building! It’s a fortress.” You listened to him as you made your character run. Dream moved to a different voice chat and spoke with Foolish.

“Hey uhh you almost done. They’re getting closer to finishing.” Foolish looked over his work. He’d started before you started speed running. He had invited everyone he could for the surprise now he just needed to finish.

“Well uhh I’m almost there. Since you’re speed running, it’s slightly hard to do all of this but I managed to invite everyone as I work. So they should be on in a few.” Dream sighed thinking. If they all logged on then you’d definitely notice. He’d have to fully distract you from the chat or lie about it.

“Great. You do your thing. I’ll slow her down a bit.” Dream went back to your voice chat to find you freaking out over the ghasts as you were making your way back to the portal. You figured out how to kill them but you still struggled with it. Dream sent a message to Foolish to tell everyone to log onto the server now or else you’d notice. As you handled the monsters, several of your friends logged on without your knowledge since you were too focused. You got ender pearls and started to follow them as you traveled through the overworld. It took you twenty minutes to get to the portal and once you were there it took longer to defeat the dragon and win the game. Dream killed the timer and smiled.

“One hour and thirty four minutes! Around average gameplay but you still did good for the first time in a while! It was pretty funny how you freaked out over the cave sounds,” Dream complimented.

“No its not! It scared me! You read the end credits an soon you were back at spawn. You moved your character to look around and everyone was there with colored leather hats. Foolish gave you one of your favorite color and it was labeled party hat. Almost everyone from the Dream SMP was on. Foolish started to place a lot of cakes everywhere as people started to join the vc and sing happy birthday to you.

“Awe guys! You planned this!” Tommy pulled out some sticks and made his character look at you.

“Dream planned this.” Dream’s character punched Tommy away.

‘Yes I did. I wanted to do this to celebrate your birthday as a sort of surprise! I also have another surprise.” You hum in response waiting for him to finish.

“I plan on flying over to California to come visit you!” You gasp excited.

“YES! IT”S GOING TO BE AWESOME!” Dream laughed thing how cute it was when you got so excited. He handed you a poppy and sighed.

“Y/n.. I’m coming over because I really really love you. You’re awesome and you value so many things. You love your pets care about your family. You even fully commit to things! So. I’d like it if you’d commit yourself to me..” You smile as you look at the screen. You’d had some feelings toward him for a while but due to the distance you just weren’t sure.

“I-I..of course! I would like to do that too. I love you too.” The sounds of the others saying awe faded away as you had realized what had happened. Dream just confessed to you and you accepted. You muted to freak out for a moment but then you unmuted.

“Great now lets play people!” Tommy yelled. Everyone played games like pvp (Techno mostly won them), Mlg’s and even who could fish the most in a certain amount of time. By the times things ended and everyone had logged off, you stayed on call with Dream.

“So your flight comes next week?” You ask.

“Yeah. I’ll see you that Friday,” He answered. You smile and sigh.

“I miss you already.” Dream chuckled, shaking his head although you wouldn’t know.

“We just started dating. No need to miss me already.”

“But I always do! Even before this just..let me fall asleep on the phone with you?”

“Of course.” The two of you talked into the late hours of the night but you both fell asleep after a while. Dream was coming to California ad he was dating you. Best Birthday ever..

[hobo-dragon]

Purple/The Second Coming? For the request thing :)

Ah yes the smallest grape and the orange, my favorite-

SC had been searching up a new prompt for this month's building contest when Alan's email pinged; he quickly jumped down from the search bar, and tapped on the notification, opening up the email to his expected visitor inside, Purple. Quickly jumping up to greet him with a smile, he noticed them carrying a small plastic bag, heavy with something he couldn't see, "Purple! I'm glad you came, we haven't started yet, and I'm still setting up the blocks and first round theme, care to help?" Purple blinked, taking a moment to process before a small grin of their own made its way on their face, "Oh, sure, where's the rest of them?" They asked, climbing down from the email and onto the desktop, looking around for any of the other stickfigures they had grown familiar with.

SC climbed down after them, pointing to the house the gang had built, "Inside, I don't want them cheating by knowing the theme beforehand and getting blocks for it, so before every round we've started moving those playing into the house. Now!" SC paused, looking back up the empty search bar with an annoyed look. "I've been trying to think of a theme we haven't done before all morning but I've had no luck, I was thinking you might have any ideas?" They jumped onto the Google tab, opening the desktop keyboard which also raised up Purple to being just below SC.

Purple thought for a moment racking their brain for something unique, they've heard from SC in a few of their texts some of the themes they've done before, and from that they could tell they've only really been doing basic themes. Foods, logos, animals etc. Suddenly one idea racked their brain and their face lit up. "What about a Minecraft mob? And just spawning it in would count as disqualification?" Purple suggested, idly twisting the plastic bag containing a gift in circles. SC seemed to like the idea, and nodded, quickly jumping down to the keyboard and tapping typing in 'Mimecraft mobs'. Sure it had a spelling error but SC was sure it wouldn't change the results as they clicked 'Enter'. After a few moments of loading, the screen changed to results for 'Mimecraft mobs'. Purple thought it was a little (adorably-) silly they had misspelled a word like that but jumped up to tap the images button and soon enough mobs showed up. Pigs, chickens, zombies, endermen too. "Now let's see here.... Piglin? Naw, too tall. Chicken? We've already done that, and too easy. Hmmm," SC scratched their head as they slowly scrolled through the images.

Suddenly Purple pointed at one, catching both their attention, "What about an ender dragon?" Sure it was a mob Purple associated with one of their first betrayals to the color gang, something they regretted but refused to speak to anyone about, but they couldn't deny it was one of the more cooler and majestic creatures of Minecraft. "SC thought for a moment, thinking over if the difficulty of making an ender dragon and how big it was. They might need to have their own files to build in just to have room. "That's actually, not a bad idea, let's go with it for the first round and decide the next rounds later," He clicked the image, and began grabbing blocks from the Minecraft block and dropping an equal amount in 4 piles on the desktop.

"That should be it, you can take a seat on the floor, sorry, there was heh, an accident with the last chairs last building contest," They nervously chuckled, who knew chairs made great weapons for angry green stickfigures? Purple was curious, but took a seat regardless. SC whistled, and the door opened as Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue sprinted over to the piles, grabbing them without a second thought and looking at the image pulled up. "You all know the rules, but this time will be a bit different, you'll each have to build in your own files because of how big the ender dragon is, you'll have extra time to build, and Purple here, will also be a judge!" SC switched to the tab with a timer on it, adding several more minutes to it before beginning the countdown, swiping their hand down on 0 to initiate the round beginning.

RYGB jump into their own empty files for building in, and came out every now and then, looking back at the image for reference as SC soon retired to sitting down beside Purple, watching the stickfigures argue s couple times over who stole who's blocks. "Hey umm, Purple?" Purple didn't turn from watching the chaotic building process, but let out a hmm in response. Fortunately, them doing this meant they couldn't see the tiny blush SC had as he messed with his hands, glancing back at Purple's empty one. "I'm really glad you're here, it's nice to have you here. I know things might be a little tense at times because of what's happened, but that was the past, we've all done our forgiving and truces, so I want you to feel comfortable here! You're welcome here whenever," SC said, trying to focus on anything else than Purple(and how much he loved them, and how much he wanted to confess their feelings but was too much of a coward to do so-). Purple turned toward him sometime in-between him speaking and smiled, their own tiny blush coating their cheeks. (Internal thoughts of these two: AAAAAAY MY GOSH?? HE'S/THEY'RE SO ADORABLE?? AAAAA-) "Ah, well, I'm definitely comfortable with you, so yeah, definitely welcomed heh," Purple chuckled, awkwardly placing their hand on their neck, and god when did they get this sweaty? Why the hell did they say that? SC opened their mouth to comment but was swiftly interrupted by Purple grabbing the plastic bag they had the entire time but had not opened. "Ah, I nearly forgot! These are for you, well us. Ack, I mean everyone! I made these yesterday and had way too many leftovers, so I thought I'd share them," Purple lied, they had actually made these specifically for them and SC to share, but they couldn't say that! It would sound weird to have them specifically only for them and SC, and a bit selfish not to share so they made enough for everyone last minute.

SC's eyes lit up at the sight of what was inside the bag, cookies, orange and purple frosted cookies. A weird choice of frosting colors but they did kinda make sense with Halloween in a couple months. "Purple these look great! I'm sure everyone else will love these," SC said, grabbing the cookie Purple passed to him and taking a bite of it, letting out a small him at the sweet taste as they paced their eating (not me projecting onto SC by not having self control with cookies-). Purple hadn't tasted theirs yet, too busy trying to control their pounding heart, god was SC always this adorable? God they were going to pass out from how hard their heart was beating. SC had quickly finished their cookie, and the desktop quickly fell into an awkward silence. Where were the rest of the color gang, it had been a while since any of them came down to check the image. A forced cough caught both stickfigures attention as they noticed, weirdly enough, RYGB were in front of them, maybe they all finished? But it was too soon, and all at the same time. Regardless, SC paused the timer and went up into the first file, Red's.

Get.

That's all there was, the word Get. Made out of purple wool blocks. "Ummm, Red, this wasn't the prompt?" "I know! We made a collaborative entry." "Well that means we'll be scoring on a score of 1-10 then," SC closed the file and opened the next, which held a similar creation, this time being made of orange wool and being the word 'together'. Weird. And the next file was just the word 'Already'. So far if the last file was like this then he'd have to give it a 0. What were they doing? SC opened the last file, Green's, and nearly paled at what he saw. Inside was an actual structure, but still made out of orange and purple wool. What was this structure? Two stickfigures, kissing, an orange and purple stickfigure to be exact. SC, now with the full image, out together the first three files and realized what it was, 'Get together already' a message directed at him and Purple. Made more clearly by the four stickfigures saying it in unison. "Get together already, god, the amount of romantic tension between you two is suffocating," Green said, a cheeky and smug grin on his face. SC had an embarrassed blush as he turned to Purple, fearing their reaction. He couldn't tell, but he assumed it was bad, Purple was covering their face as they avoided eye contact with not only SC, but the rest of the stickfigures. A tenser silence followed as SC hesitated to confess or even speak to purple, eventually just clenching their first by their side and closing the file. "...5/10, Purple?" "5/10" The rounds followed like that, tense and in silence, the two flustered stickfigures sat a ways apart from each other.

Eventually, it was declared Green as the (usual-) winner; Purple had needed someone to help with making another email back to their computer and SC had been the unfortunate one left to do so as the rest were cleaning up the blocks and files from the contest. Purple stood behind SC as he typed in the email, neither breaking the silence until SC had finished, "Soooo, umm goodbye, I guess, sorry about earlier today, I didn't know they were planning this I swear, soo umm, yeah," SC stared at anywhere but Purple's face, anxious of looking at them and seeing they might have a look of disgust, anger, or downright hatred. He knew he was probably over exaggerating their reaction but he couldn't help but fret over it. Purple walked by them, towards the email, not making eye-contact either, SC's heart shattered a little, he knew it, they must of hated him. Sagging a little and begining to walk away, he was very surprised when something grabbed his shoulder and pecked his cheek, "I- I've been wanting to do that for a while now, heh. Tell the others thanks for the push I needed to let you know how I felt, "SC stood, gawking and severely confused as he tried to process what had happened.

Purple laughed at their confused expression as a blush of their own began to manifest. They began to walk away, waving at SC, in a stiff-manner so weird he moved like a robot a bit. He hit the send button as his blush that had grown once he realized what had happened, flushed his entire face and he covered his face, a goofy grin spreading across it. Later that night though as SC laid in bed, he pulled his phone out and went to his contacts. Clicking on the one listed 'Purple'. He changed it to 💜Purple💜. A tiny blush adorning his cheeks as he thought of them and where their relationship might go from here, he eventually fell asleep.

Words that made me cringe writing this: blush, goofy grin, cheek, Purple. Bleugh, I've written too much cheesy fluff and now it just feels overly sweet/generic. ): But still, although not my greatest work, it's still y'know, work lol. Now shhshshshshsh, my tea is tea. I hate that I struggled writing one of my favorite ships, my brain is just very not big brain atm.

[dsmpkinfessions]

||𝙹!! ⍑ᒷᔑ∷↸ ᓭ𝙹ᒲᒷ𝙹リᒷ ⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ !¡ᒷ∷ᒲ╎ᓭᓭ╎𝙹リ ℸ ̣𝙹 ᓭ!¡ᒷᔑꖌ ᒷリ↸ᒷ∷, ᓭ𝙹 ╎⍊ᒷ ╎ᒲ ᒷ↸╎ᔑリℸ ̣ꖎ|| ∷⚍ᓭ⍑ᒷ↸ ℸ ̣𝙹 ℸ ̣⍑ ᒷ ╎リʖ𝙹 ̇/ ∴╎ℸ ̣⍑ "ᓭℸ ̣ᔑリ↸ᔑ∷↸ ⊣ᔑꖎᔑᓵℸ ̣╎ᓵ ᒲ|| ʖᒷꖎ𝙹⍊ᒷ↸!"

⍑╎ ᒲ|| リᔑᒲᒷᓭ ∷ᔑリʖ𝙹𝙹╎リリ╎ℸ ̣_ʖᒷꖎ𝙹⍊ᒷ↸ ᔑ リ↸ ╎リ ᒲ|| ℸ ̣ꖎ ℸ ̣⍑╎ᓭ ∴ᔑᓭ ℸ ̣⍑ᒷ ∴∷╎ℸ ̣╎リ⊣ ᓭ||ᓭℸ ̣ᒷᒲ ∴ᒷ ⚍ᓭᒷ↸! ∴ᒷ ᔑꖎᓭ𝙹 ⍑ᔑ↸ ⍑ᔑ↸ !¡⚍リᓵℸ ̣⚍ᔑℸ ̣╎𝙹リ ℸ ̣⍑ ᔑℸ ̣ ╎ ∷ᒷᒲᒷᒲʖᒷ∷, ʖ⚍ℸ ̣ ᓭ╎リᓵᒷ ℸ ̣⍑ᔑℸ ̣ᓭ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ⊣𝙹リリᔑ ʖᒷ ╎ リᓵꖎ⚍↸ᒷ↸ ╎リ ||𝙹⚍∷ ℸ ̣∷ᔑリᓭꖎᔑℸ ̣𝙹∷ ╎ꖎ リ⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ⚍ᓭ ᒷリ⊣ꖎ╎ᓭ⍑ !¡⚍リᓵℸ ̣⚍ᔑℸ ̣╎𝙹リ. ᔑリ↸ ᒷ⍊ᒷリ ∴╎ℸ ̣⍑ ℸ ̣⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ╎リᔑᓵ⚍∷ᔑᓵ||, ℸ ̣⍑╎ᓭ ╎ᓭ ᓭℸ ̣╎ꖎꖎ ᓭ𝙹 ⍊ᔑꖎ╎↸ᔑℸ ̣╎リ⊣ ᔑリ↸ ᔑ∴ᒷᓭ𝙹ᒲᒷ ⎓ᒷᒷꖎ╎リ⊣!

ᑑ⚍╎ᓵꖌ ᔑ!¡𝙹ꖎ𝙹⊣╎ᒷᓭ ℸ ̣𝙹 ℸ ̣⍑ᒷ ᒲ𝙹↸ᓭ ⎓𝙹∷ ᓭᒷリ↸╎リ⊣ ᓭ𝙹ᒲᒷℸ ̣⍑╎リ⊣ ℸ ̣⍑ᔑℸ ̣ *ℸ ̣ᒷᓵリ╎ᓵ⍑ᔑꖎꖎ||* ||𝙹⚍ ↸╎↸リℸ ̣ ᓭᔑ|| ∴ᔑᓭ 𝙹ꖌ, ╎ リ⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍊ᒷ∷|| ᒷ ̇/ᓵ╎ℸ ̣ᒷ↸! ᔑꖎᓭ𝙹 ᔑ!¡𝙹ꖎ𝙹⊣╎ᒷᓭ ⎓𝙹∷ ᔑリ|| ℸ ̣||!¡𝙹ᓭ, ╎ ⍑ᔑ⍊ᒷ ᔑ ꖌᒷ||ʖ𝙹ᔑ∷↸ ℸ ̣𝙹 ∴∷╎ℸ ̣ᒷ ꖎ╎ꖌᒷ ℸ ̣⍑╎ᓭ, ╎リᓭℸ ̣ᒷᔑ↸ 𝙹⎓ ⍑ᔑ⍊╎リ⊣ ℸ ̣𝙹 ⚍ᓭᒷ ᔑリ 𝙹リꖎ╎リᒷ ℸ ̣∷ᔑリᓭꖎᔑℸ ̣𝙹∷ ᒷ⍊ᒷ∷||ℸ ̣╎ᒲᒷ, ∴⍑╎ᓵ⍑ ∴𝙹∷ꖌᓭ ⊣∷ᒷ ᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ ̇/ᓵᒷ!¡ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ╎ ᓵᔑリℸ ̣ ⚍ᓭᒷ ᓭ!¡ᒷꖎꖎᓵ⍑ᒷᓵꖌ, ᓭ𝙹𝙹𝙹𝙹 -#🍬✨🌺

(translation, * meaning i was unsure on the word) Yo!! heard someone got permission ṭo speak ender, so ive immediately rushed to the inbox with "standard galactic my beloved!" hi my names ranbooinnit ̣_beloved and in my tl this was the writing system we used! we also had had puncṭuation that i remember, but since thats not gonna be included in your translator that Accurately*, this is still so validaṭing and awesome feeling! quick apologies to the mods for sending something that *ṭecnichally* you didnt say was ok, i just got very exciṭed! also apologies for any typos, i have a keyboard ṭo writ ̣e like this, instead of having to use an online translator every time,, which works great except that i cant use spellcheck, soooo - 🍬✨🌺

[sammy8d257]

AvA Human Band AU! 

Originally created by @kikoqueenofrats on the AvA Enthus Server but with permission I was allowed to adapt it into my own AU!

Synopsis:  Shay Becker (Second Coming) is a freshman at college and one day, they meet a group of four people “quietly” jamming out at the library using air guitars and pencils as drumsticks. Deciding that the guys were cool, Shay decides to join their table. After some bonding, Roy, Yaz, Grian, and Bo ask Shay to join their band, “The Stick Figures” and the rest is history! Now the 5 of them all live in an apartment together and play small sets at Paulie Violet’s bar while occasionally running into a tired office worker named Mr. Cohen, his rambunctious roommate “Dark Lord”, and the mysterious librarian Victor. 

More Character Info Down Below!

Shay Becker (The Second Coming)

Age: 19

Pronouns: Any Pronouns

Race: White/Asian 

Occupation: Animation Student at College

Instrument: Main Guitar in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Wanting to follow in the footsteps of their father, Shay is studying to become an animator in school. Although initially shy, Shay blended into the group’s dynamic very fast and soon they became their best friends.

Roy Scarlet (Red)

Age: 21

Pronouns: He/Him, occasionally They/Them

Race: Latino

Occupation: Animal Caretaking at a Technical School

Instrument: Keyboard in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Roy has a love for fighting and an even bigger love of animals. When he’s not at school or practicing the keyboard, Roy works at a local animal shelter. One of his favorites is a large black hound named Ender. Impulsive and a little airheaded, Roy is always there to help encourage and support his friends! 

Yazmin Goldfinch (Yellow)

Age: 20

Pronouns: They/Them

Race: Black

Occupation: Computer Science Major

Instrument: Drums in “The Stick Figures”

Info: The very definition of a college student, Yaz is always on the verge of either snapping or passing out. Loves playing pranks on their roommates with the help of Roy. Once they didn’t sleep for 36 hours straight and tried to fight ghosts in Paulie’s bar.

Grian Gale (Green)

Age: 21

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: White

Occupation: Architecture Major with a Minor is Music Composition

Instrument: Multi-instrument in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Grian is the over-achiever of the group, taking a little bit of everything in college, although his main drive is still architecture and music. The original creator of “The Stick Figures” band. The Meme Man of the group, he also occasionally streams playing video games. 

Bo Braxton (Blue)

Age: 20

Pronouns: They/She/He

Race: White

Occupation: Professional Cooking at Technical School

Instrument: Bass in “The Stick Figures”

Info: Bo’s passion is cooking and one day, they hope to become a professional chef and open up their own little restaurant. Aside from cooking, she’s also interested in chemistry and will pester Grian to let her borrow his old chemistry books. Bo also tends to the apartment’s community garden.

Paulie Violet (Purple)

Age: 22

Pronouns: They/Them

Race: Southeast Asian

Occupation: Owner and Bartender

Instrument: None (possibly main vocals in the future?)

Info: Paulie Violet owns and runs their own bar called “Kingdom Come”. They affectionately call the staff the “Villagers”. They also live in one of the apartments above the bar. Paulie made a deal with “The Stick Figures” so they could play at their bar during some nights. Likes singing but is embarrassed by it. 

“MT” aka “King” (King)

Age: 27

Pronouns: He/They

Race: White

Occupation: Landlord of Paulie’s Building

Instrument: Electric Guitar

Info: Not much is known about this guy except he owns the building that houses the Kingdom Come and where Paulie lives. Aside from harassing Paulie about the next payments, he also enjoys annoying them while they’re working. His vibes are a little rancid.

Mr. Cohen (The Chosen One)

Age: 28

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: East Asian

Occupation: Office Worker

Instrument: ???

Info: Mr. Cohen is a tired office worker who also does martial arts training on the side. Acquaintances turned best friends with his roommate “Dark Lord”. Like classical music but will also jam out to death metal (similarly to Retsuko in Aggretsuko).

Greg “Dark Lord (The Dark Lord)

Age: 27

Pronouns: He/Him 

Race: Asian

Occupation: ???/Leader of a Biker Gang

Instrument: ???

Info: Greg is his real name but refuses to go by it, preferring to go by his street name “Dark Lord”. Runs a Biker Gang called the “Virabots”. When not out on his motorcycle, he enjoys tinkering with old machines or bothering Cohen. The two of them form a balance between each other. 

Victor (Victim)

Age: 28

Pronouns: Any Pronouns, He/Him and They/Them are most common

Race: Asian/White

Occupation: Librarian/Popular Anonymous Musician known as “V”

Instrument: Vocals, Guitar, and Piano

Info: A mysterious person who works at the library “The Stick Figures” study at. When not working at the library, Vic makes music under the alias V. Their music is very popular and is one of Grian’s favorite artists. V has never shown their face in public and no one knows Victor is V.

I’ll hopefully be posting more art or ideas for this au soon! (I know for a fact I have a few Paulie Violet drawings on the backburner ^^) 

Feel free to send me questions if you guys have any!

[windblooms]

topaz devices | ch. 01

if zhongli isn’t a the brightest individual blessed by the archons, then he’s socially inept, and spends his days stuck behind a desk as the heir of wangsheng incorporated.�� frustrated by seeing his best friend burn through his days like paper over a bonfire, childe decides that if there’s one thing worse than a permeant desk job, it’s being converted into a corporate machine in one’s mid-twenties.  and he’s not going to let that happen to zhongli. 

gender-neutral reader x sugar daddy!zhongli.  modern au, slow burn.  chapter 1/?.  2213 words.

as usual, zhongli awakens a minute before his morning alarm goes off.  

and as he lays on the daybed, adjusting to the faint lighting of the moon that floats through the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office, the first thing he does is reach for his phone.  but when he pats down the area beside him, then above his head, and feels nothing, he begrudgingly props himself up on his elbows, and blinks the final bits of sleep out of his eyes.

this isn’t the first time he’s fallen asleep at the office.  admittedly, it’s probably over his hundredth, since he’s found it more practical to crash near his workspace than drag himself three floors up to his room.  but, oh, where did he leave his phone?  zhongli glances around, eyes no longer bleary; it’s not on the coffee table next to him, nor on the floor between it and the daybed, and for a split second he believes he left his phone at the tea station across the hall. 

and then it chimes with his alarm on the marble floor just before his work desk.

“ah,” he sighs to himself, voice still somewhat choked from the morning.  as the tone plays, he runs both of his hands through his hair, pulling back his bangs before letting them fall to the sides of his face, and takes a glance around his office: he vaguely remembers staying up until four in the morning to finish scanning over a forwarded contract, and the three empty cups of caffeinated tea that surround his desktop computer can attest to his commitment; there are reference binders on his desk that zhongli hadn’t put away after using, likely too engrossed in the project to tidy up as he worked, and the most damning evidence of his corporate devotion is easily the fact that, well – 

“conference in one hour,” his phone alarm is interrupted by the sound of its virtual assistant voice.  “conference with,” it continues in robotic fashion, “mrs. ningguang at seven-thirty-a.m.”

– he had scheduled an impromptu meeting after he finished reading said document.  as in, he intended to follow through with a meeting arrangement on less than four hours of sleep.  as in, arranged a meeting when it was three in the morning.  

as in, he also expected others to attend the conference on a four hour’s notice.  

such is the way of wangsheng incorporated, an institution where everyone involved is asked to sell their soul to the matriarch, all for the prosperity of her company.  the matriarch in this case being, of course, zhongli’s mother.

 “conference with,” his virtual assistant repeats, and zhongli hauls himself up from the daybed and onto his feet, padding over to his phone before swiping over the screen to silence all of his notifications. “mrs. ninggua – ” beep.

he inhales, stretches his arms, and then gazes out to the liyuen skyline. 

the horizon is still dark, with only hints of warmth leaking onto the expansive blanket of night.  below, however, the streets are illuminated by commuting vehicles and establishments opening for the day.  from his place on the higher floors of the company building, zhongli can only imagine the hum of life – he’s much too far up to actually hear anything.  

it’s at this moment he realizes that the last time he’s actually stepped foot out of the building was over a week ago – and a grimace becomes his first expression of the day.  archons, he didn’t think he was that busy, but begins mentally count the days regardless.  yeah, 9 days.  zhongli’s frown deepens; knowing himself, it’s probably also been 9 days since he’s left his floor on the building.

as much as he would like to leave, though, the company is more important to him.  until there’s a convenient time for him to take a break, he’ll keep working.  it’s what he’s always done – it’s what he’s good at.  

so he inhales once more, as the skyline is washed with violet.  exhales.  

the clock reads six thirty-three. 

. . . 

it’s around four in the morning when childe decides that zhongli is officially insane.

who the fuck arranges a meeting in the dead middle of the night?  granted, he’s only zhongli’s secretary, so it’s not like he has to take part in it – the gripe here is that he’s the one who manages zhongli’s entire schedule.  so when zhongli goes out on his own, arranging things without telling him first, that’s when the issues start.  

childe receives the conference notice just as the other executives do (while on a comfortable date with his bed); reading zhongli’s attached note with gunk wedged in his eyes and a screen flashing blue light directly into his irises makes him think – 

there’s no way zhongli’s in the right state of mind.  and after three whole years of working with him, others would think that childe’s used to his mercurial behavior by now.  but he would give himself more credit, insisting that he’s not that deep into the corporate mentality to put business before rationale – but maybe it’s the luxury that comes along with being a secretary and not anyone more important.

now, where was he?  oh, yeah.  plotting exactly which words to tell his boss when it’s an acceptable time in the morning.  

that means grumbling obscenities until he falls back asleep, brain power exhausted.  that means waking up at an appropriate time (read: six), rolling out of bed, then heading to the tea bar, and concluding that, well, this is just how zhongli operates.

as in, he can’t be angry at his best friend for long.

ceramic cup in hand and bedhead as thick as a haystack, childe recalls two things that were previously clouded by his indignance: one, that the business life is all zhongli’s ever known, even when he was a kid (that much was made obvious when he couldn’t even list out how many hobbies he had the first time they met).  two, the fact that, when asked, zhongli didn’t know which would be worse between losing stock investments or entire contact with the outside world. 

sheltered is probably the closest word childe can think of, but zhongli isn’t stupid either.  maybe socially inept is the better way to describe him – not like it cripples his personality entirely though.  he’s got some redeeming qualities – childe tells himself to think positively of zhongli for the entirety of his stroll down the hall towards his office – but stops short once he opens the door and realizes that, well, 

“three,” childe mouths incredulously, nearly dropping the ceramic in his hand.  “three cups of tea from last night alone?”

“good morning to you too.”

childe doesn’t have much time to gawk.  he would drag his face down with his fingers if his hands weren’t occupied, but knowing zhongli, he wouldn’t even make note of his dramatics.  absorbed into his work first thing in the morning – and childe, looking down at himself, isn’t even dressed properly.  just a dress shirt and pants, while zhongli has already decked himself out in a full-piece suit.

that’s what happens when zhongli decides that his office is where he’s going to live.

“you know,” childe starts, sighing for good measure.  the ginger makes his way over to zhongli’s desk, replacing the three cups with one of fresh tea.  glaze lily tea, to zhongli’s preference.  “staying up late isn’t good for your health.  especially when you’re high on caffeine six days a week.”

well, duh.  the words come out dumber than he intended, but it gets the point across.  it’s not childe’s job to sound intelligent, only that he knows how to manage someone else’s schedule.  

it takes a few seconds for zhongli to respond, as his fingers are busy typing away at the keyboard.  drafting another email, most likely.  in that time, childe hooks his fingers through the handles of the three cups zhongli had downed the previous night, preparing to carry them out.  “i do what i need to get things done,” the workaholic counters.  his eyes don’t leave the monitor for a second, and childe has half the mind to think that he’s a robot.  “we’ve talked about this before.”

zhongli’s not wrong, but childe’s face sours nonetheless.  “i can’t have the heir of the company sabotaged by his own toxic work ethic, and insist that you take a nap whenever possible, my liege.”

his dramatics doesn’t earn him any points.  he worries briefly that zhongli’s already gone into his own world, only able to be hauled back to the surface once the sun is far gone, and his eyebrows furrow.  but now bent on getting a constructive response from zhongli, he refuses to budge from his spot across the desk.  

almost as if he’s uncomfortable, zhongli looks up.  childe knows he’s not actually peeved, and that the brunette is just thinking of what to say.  three years of working for him taught him as much.  “if i have time to, then i will.”  the young heir averts his eyes towards the screen before meeting childe’s again.  “thanks for your concern.”

if childe were any other person, he would believe zhongli.  zhongli speaks without a falter in his voice – as if it weren’t already as smooth as velvet – and his eyes are resolute when locked onto his.  but he’s not someone else, and the closest individual to a friend that zhongli has.  it would be a disservice, both as a friend and coworker, to leave zhongli to his devices.  so childe doesn’t relent.  it’s his turn to be stubborn and set in his ways. 

he places the cups back onto the desk, and the other man looks up curiously, just in time to see childe’s eyes narrow.  “i mean it, zhongs.”

and, with just as much performative sincerity as before, zhongli says the same thing he always does, with a straight face and empty eyes.  “i do, too.”

“no, you don’t.”  childe’s scowl is as deep as his concern.  he wasn’t joking earlier when he said that zhongli would be murdered by his own obsession with work – “responsibility,” as the younger of the two would insist, but he’s blind to his own persistence, and time has made that blatantly obvious.  “i know you have a meeting soon, so i won’t stay long.  i don’t care if we’ve talked about this before,” he rushes his words, determined to get them in before zhongli quips, “it doesn’t make it any less important.”

a pause.  zhongli’s typing has halted and is instead replaced by silence.  hell, he even folds his fingers together on top of the keyboard, as if telling childe that he finally has his full attention.  but the void in his eyes hasn’t changed: amber, clouded with vermillion, and burning in coals.

childe assesses him sternly, extending the stillness of the moment, before proceeding.  “i’m going to block out your schedule tonight after eight, and we’re going to have a talk.”

zhongli tries not to look fazed.  to his credit, he really, really tries, but his posture bristles just enough to cue the secretary in on his client’s displeasure.  “no, i’m not going to watch over you for the rest of the night to make sure you sleep,” he reassures just as swiftly, half-teasing and half-serious, “but we are going to make some plans.”

both of childe’s hands are flat on the desk as the two of them regard each other.  although zhongli is the taller of the two, his position in the office chair gives childe the height advantage in the current situation.  “after you get enough rest this week, i’m going to get you out of this building,” childe vows to zhongli.  neither of them blink.  “you’re going to walk on the streets and breathe fresh air.  you’re going to spend time with people your age and eat at a restaurant.  you’re going to have fun.” 

it is at that moment, when zhongli’s face falters as if he’s being spoken to in python when his input is java, that childe realizes that he has no strategy, and that he’s just saying the things that he wants for zhongli: he refuses to believe that zhongli will continue to regard this room, conditioned with with frigid air and tailored to each tile on the floor, is his only future, and instead wants his 25 year-old boss to have some semblance of life in his days instead of bleeding through each, only to tear through the next.

childe had the choice to dream towards the life he currently lives.  on the other hand, zhongli never did.  inheriting a multi-million dollar company, especially being the son of the ceo, outwardly sounds like the opportunity only the archons could bestow.  childe would have thought the same too.  

until he realized that predestination sucks, and that zhongli is too good to wither his youth away behind a desk.  

childe has exactly thirteen hours to come up with a plan.  from the thoughts floating in his head, it can turn out in one of two ways:

one: zhongli is integrated back into society and lives a happier, more animated life than what he currently has. 

two: childe loses his job.

[viky-somebody]

okay so today on our server:

i made a spiral staircase to my basement cave, 35 blocks or so tall,

thought it would be a cool idea to put a bubblevator in the middle of it, so first i searched for kelp. With the help of few people online i got the info that there was some kelp north of N's base.

Realized i also need soul sand, nobody online had any, so i went to explore the nether, for the first time ever

Bridged out with cobblestone through basalt delta across lava ocean. On the other side there was a portal that i didnt recognize from any other players. When i came out on the other side it turned out to be a completed ruined portal with some spruce planks around, seemed like somebody had light it up without flint and steel.

Assumed it was probably made by F, a guy who joined, speedrun killing the ender dragon, got an elythra and then didnt play as much. Went back into nether, hoping that spruce plank marks from a speedrunner would lead to nether fortress, very useful, since nobody knows where it is.

The spruce plank marks didnt lead anywhere, stopped right before the other edge of the island. for some reason i decided to bridge out across the lava ocean again, even further - and what do i find, a bastion. Got killed several times, but since keepinventory is still on it wasnt that big of a deal. Found a pigstep (!), some netherite scrap, soul speed book and some other stuff.

Decided to brag about it on discord. did not end well

N logged on, while i was panicking and grabbing every single one of my valuables and escaping to a small hideout i dug out on my first day on the server, about 700 blocks from my base. Made several fake secret spots just in case, set my spawn in the hideout and headed back

While i was returning, N was in my base and was about to leave back to his. To distract him i put several messages in chat implying that i was at his base this whole time. He returned to his place panicking and checking what i could have done.

I returned to my base and started counting losses. He took my coal, broke my window and deleted one water source in the middle of my elevator (that one was the worst part imo.) and declared me the enemy of the state (which encludes almost the entirety of the server, the guy has a lot of alliances.)

Started fixing my elevator. When i turned around i saw N, who has returned to my base. When i spotted him he handed me back 8 obsidian he managed to break from my nether portal while i wasnt looking. With caution i took the obby, then didnt surpress the urge and shot him with a glowing arrow. That was a mistake. He attacked, and since hes got enchanted netherite, opposed to my half broken unenchanted diamont armor i got from other player earlier. i ran, using my newly fixed elevator to go upstairs.

Seeing how he followed me, i escaped to the edge of a cliff my house stands on, using my few extra seconds to put my armor into my inventory so i wont damage it even more.

As he aproached closer, i typed out "o7", and jumped. Wind blowing in my hair, the stars in the night sky colliding with the earth below me as my goodbye in chat was followed by my death message. Beautiful dramatic image.

Of course not. Because i play with czech keyboard, what i had actually typed out in chat was "oý".

Anyway, that didnt really matter since i spawned at my hideout, armor in my inventory and hidden stuff in the hidden hole nearby. Few funny messages in chat between me and N, then i decide to look around so i can think of what to do now.

I spotted the completed ruined portal. Suddenly i remembered, this portal was made by me, on the first day on the server. After i hid in this cave through the first night i found the portal and decided to complete it in the same way speedrunners do.

I went back in to the nether. My cobblestone path across the lava ocean, back to my main base portal.

While walking down the path i noticed that portals of other people were fairly close to each other, something i havent realized before. Chosing one of them, i went through, and ended up in a nether themed basement, with an enchanting table and an ender chest.

I stole some leftover enchanted armor to wear, and decided to dig a small hole behind one of the walls of the basement. If this is going to be my life now, full of hiding and terror, i thought that having a smaĺ secret houses in peoples bases and just across the server is a great start.

I returned to the nether, deciding to carefully explore whos portal is whos. During that i got to know that since my main base portal was broken, it now leads to some cavern under my base. Using the caves i sneaked in back into my base and managed to get back a bit of lapis.

i gotta admit, i am not one of the richest people on the server. I have almost no diamonds to my name, my enchanting table is level 20 max, and i dont have an ender chest access. I went back to that one basement with enchanting table someone made, and enchanted my half broken diamond armor, just so the achievement showed up in chat. Purely for intimidation.

With that, i lurked around portals, trying to remember which one is which so i can use that later, after which i returned to my hideout. Remembering how the first time enchantment achievement showed up in chat, i thought to myself, how funny would it be if in the middle of this all i just catched a fish in a bucket and said something along the lines of "everything according to my masterpiece" in chat after the achievement showed up.

I did indeed go and catch a fish in the river near my hideout. The thing was, somehow (no way he found my nicely visible cobblestone path to this place) N was there on the other side of the river.

Few shorts greetings, and an awkward pause. I turn around, throw an enderpearl and logged off, so he doesnt know where i landed.

:,)

today was interesting

[satoshi-mochida]

Publisher Binary Haze Interactive and developers Live Wire and Adglobe have released the version 1.1.0 update for the PC (Steam) version of ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights, which adds new modes, items, and more. The update will follow for the Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch versions at a later date.

Get the patch notes below.

Maligned Memories

Challenge your skills by fighting against all bosses one after another.

Unlocked after purifying all bosses.

Accessed from any restpoint in the “Memories” menu, after selecting “Maligned Memories.”

The difficulty is determined by the current game’s chapter.

The time it took to clear the mode is saved.

Obtain enhancing materials by clearing the mode. The materials obtained depend on the difficulty.

Purified Memories

Challenge a purified boss.

Accessed from any restpoint in the “Memories” menu, after selecting “Purified Memories.”

The difficulty is determined by the current game’s chapter.

Obtain enhancing materials by clearing the battle. The materials obtained depend on the difficulty.

Blighted Memories

Watch previously seen movies.

Accessed from any restpoint in the “Memories” menu, after selecting “Blighted Memories.”

New Game+

Start a new adventure with current status in a harsher world.

Start a new game while keeping Lily’s status, actions, skills, relics, and tips.

All enemies will be stronger than Chapter 9: enemies and bosses’ artificial intelligence and actions are strengthened.

Enhancing materials can be obtained by defeating enemies and bosses.

Some event related items are not transferred.

Blightborn Modes

Customize game parameters to make your own challenge run.

Unlocked after obtaining the achievement “Dawn Prayer.”

Accessed from any restpoint by selecting the “Blightborn Modes” menu.

Prologue movie

The prologue movie is played when being inactive for some time on the title screen.

This prologue movie is the trailer that was published on the YouTube channel.

New Relic: “Blighted Phantom”

After obtaining the achievement “Journey’s End”, the relic can be found at the restpoint “Blighted Heart.”

New Setting Entries

Disable damage area post process visibility.

Disable automatic ledge grabbing while pressing DOWN button.

Adjustments

-Skills

--Dark Witch Eleine

Decrease power of Last Rites.

Adjust Last Rites’ projectiles’ curve and location.

--Ulv, the Mad Knight

Increase SP generated with Last Rites.

--Hoenir, Keeper of the Abyss

Increase number of use.

Increase SP generated by attacks.

Increase power of Last Rites.

--Ancient Crypt Keeper

Decrease power.

Decrease SP generated by attacks.

Adjust projectiles’ curve and location.

--Fallen Archer

Decrease power.

Decrease SP generated by attacks.

Adjust projectiles’ curve and location.

--Verboten Champion

Increase power at level 6.

--Umbral Knight

Increase power of Last Rites when grounded.

--Knight Captain Julius

Increase power of airborne attacks.

-Relics

--Blighted Appendage

Increase the damage bonus.

--Giant’s Ring

Increase the damage bonus.

--Ancient Dragon Claw

Increase the damage bonus.

--Executioner’s Gloves

Increase the damage bonus.

--Blightwreathed Blade

Increase the blight (experience) bonus

--Vibrant Plume

Decrease the number of slot required (from 3 to 2).

--Spellbound Anklet

Decrease the number of slot required (from 3 to 2).

--Nymphilia’s Ring

Decrease the number of slot required (from 2 to 1).

-Enemies

Adjust various enemies attack and behavior.

Adjust various hitboxes and movement errors.

-Map

Adjust terrain around some items.

To fix a non intuitive case in a specific map in the Stockade area where the map would be marked as “Complete” while a secret passage was still undiscovered, an item was added.

Areas that were marked as “Complete” may return to be “Incomplete” because of this change until the newly placed items are obtained.

Remove hook points from the boss map of Stockade.

Parry

Slightly increase the window for a successful parry.

Slightly decrease the time before allowing another action to cancel a successful parry.

Allow cancel of Parry action into Dodge action for a short time after starting parry.

Slightly increase the time before allowing Pray action to cancel Parry action.

Other

Increase the number of available save slot (from 3 to 10).

Add key bindings to move the camera on keyboard.

Hook logic update to prioritize higher hook points.

Lower volume of movies.

Adjust post process effect of damage area to make it less intrusive.

The last map of the Abyss area can become “Complete” (orange).

Various user interface adjustments.

Various map design adjustments.

Bug Fixes

Fix rare knockback bug that was causing artificial intelligence to become unresponsive.

Fix hook point that was not always reset correctly.

Fix vertical velocity that was not reset correctly after cancelling specific actions.

Fix enemies that would stay invisible in rare conditions.

Fix user interface that could become invisible when pressing buttons in a specific timing in pause menu.

Fix summon set switch method that was not respected while in clinging to a wall.

Various translation fixes.

Various minor bug fixes.

[kyemeruthie]

Days away from freedom

A weekend in quarantine was spent listlessly. Also, I am enjoying these dance workouts.

***

Day 8 - November 5

Our allowance finally came through!! Wow after 10 months of waiting, it is finally in our hands. Well, bank accounts. After classes, I spent my afternoon paying off debts. I cleared two and then lessened the three others I have. At this age, I find it scary to have this much debt. Gahhd. Need to pay this off for a happy year-ender.

Since I cannot open my remote PC due to power outage at school, I started the weekend with Sex Education S3. It's one of my favorite Netflix series. I've always thought if we had a better sex ed curriculum in the PH, we won't be as bigoted and misinformed as we are still today about SOGIE and everything else related to it. I personally find it awkward talking about sex with friends even the closest ones. I guess it's the Christian upbringing, but also the "conservative" takes we were shaped all throughout our school years.

I tried writing my opinion piece when night fell but I can't seem to find the mood on my laptop. So tried doing it in my phone and thankfully, the ideas came flowing. Completed at least two paragraphs then fell asleep.

***

Day 9 - November 6

Woke up at around 9AM and went straight to writing after a few stretches. I spent most of my time glued to the keyboard to complete this opinion piece. It was about Facebook's shift to Meta and its implications to our digital social relations and broadly, to democracy. I hope I find the courage to finally open that Medium or Substack account for academic writeups. I'm still not convinced with how I write so I put it off but I also know that exposing it to a wider readership would help get that much needed feedback. Anyway, I'd probably ask for more comments from my prof. Hope he can help since he's so eager for us to publish our essays in public digital platforms.

I finished writing at around 4pm. It was fulfilling to submit outputs hahaha. By 5pm, I'm ready to dance. Yep, I spent my late afternoons doing dance workouts through Just Dance videos and then more recently, I shifted to this fitness dance tutorial from SoKor. It's fun even if my legs are aching after hahaha!

7PM I joined our regular small group and then 9PM too. Before bedtime, I joined our family devotion. It's a regular thing. Team Bacood decided to spend weekends now at Tondo since I flew away. Another Sex Ed S3 ep before sleep then we're good.

***

Day 10 - November 7

First Sunday so communion. I don't have any grape juice or wine; I can't use Coke. Hehe so the solution was spread raspberry jam on a piece of cracker to complete the sacrament. Consider this our prototype for "Communio's."

Backstory: church friends we're discussing ways to innovate church rituals and bring Bible stories in the mainstream. So we thought of developing a portable communion set through a Dewberry-like cookie. We called it "communio's". We also thought of creating a rock juice -- you'd need to crack it to get the water inside (source: Moses' outburst in the wilderness when the Israelites complained about bitter water). No wonder our parents are quite worried when we start leading church services. Hehe.

Also joined our board meeting in the afternoon. Then by 9pm, led the small group with younger women in our church. Another Sex Ed S3 episode to cap off the night. Family devotion and sleep.

***

Close to the end of this quarantine. I liked the time alone. But I really miss walking. That's what I'd probably do on Saturday once I finally get out.

[queensparklekitten]

You wake up in a world. You don’t remember anything, but you know who you are. You are the player. You know this world. You know to punch a tree. It’s the most logical and important thing to do. That tree. It’ll give you apples. You don’t question why you know this. You just know it. 

Place three rocks in a row at the top and two sticks down the middle column on the crafting table. There. That’s how you make a pickaxe. Now you can mine iron. You need the iron to proceed. You don’t question why you know this. You just know it. 

Darkness is dangerous. Monsters appear in the darkness. You’ve never seen one, but you know what they look like. You need to take wool from sheep, 3 should be enough, put it in a row on top of a row of wood. And then dye it red. They used to only be red, now they can be any colour, but to dye it red is a sacred ritual, a mark of a veteran. You don’t question why you know this. You just know it. 

As you create and adventure, you know everything of what you run across. You’ve never seen a temple like this before, but you know there’s treasure inside, and you also know that the blue square is a trap, that you shouldn’t break it. 

Place the furnace and the crafting table next to each other to officially turn this place from your house to your home. Wear the carved pumpkin on your head to protect yourself from the endermen. Don’t sleep in the nether, the bed will explode. Water will stop falling from hurting you. They all come naturally to you. You don’t think twice, no matter how strange it seems. But it’s not strange, is it? It’s how the world works, it’s how it was always meant to work. 

The nether has had its forests and its volcanoes and its porcine inhabitants long before you came along. But you remember when it didn’t. There was no plant life, no blackstone, none of the ancient debris you use TNT to uncover underground at level 15 and fuse with gold to create the strongest material you’ve ever seen. It’s your first time in the nether, and it was like this upon your arrival, the decayed bastions making it clear it’s been like this a long time. It should make no sense that you have memories of it being a barren wasteland, yet it does, and you give it no thought. 

There is a dragon. The Ender Dragon. It lives in the End, where the endermen come from. You need to kill it, to free the end. You’ve never seen any evidence of its existence, anywhere in this world. But you know it’s there, and that killing it is your ultimate goal. It’s controlling the endermen. Killing it won’t change anything about how the endermen behave, but they’ll be free. The endermen are your enemies, but they are not evil. You have to kill endermen to free the rest of them. 

You combine the pearls with powder from blaze rods, and make something new. Eyes Of Ender, that’s what they’re called. Follow them. They will lead you to the portal room. 

Your final arrow hits the dragon, and rays of light begin to emanate from it as it disappears in a spectacle of purple and white light. You hear the sound of the dragon’s death, and the sound of a cascade of experience points falling around you, and as you collect the egg, you realize you’ve won this world. 

The bedrock sparkles with starlike pinpricks of light in the void, and you desperately want to jump in, but you know not to do it yet. You need something. An elytra. You climb up to the new small portal and throw in the pearl. It takes lots of searching and a long trail left, but at long last, you find the elytra, guarded by a shulker. You take it, loot the chests, and leave. No need to stay here any longer. You follow the trail back and jump into the bedrock portal. 

You can’t see a thing, but you can hear two things. One of them is music, just like the music you hear so often, that always brings a tear to your eyes. The other is two voices. You can hear them perfectly despite the music. It feels almost more like you can see them than hear them. 

“I see the player that you mean.” 

The player… yes, that’s you. You’re the player. 

“It thinks we are part of the game.” 

Game. That word never came to your mind, but it makes sense to you. Game. Maybe that’s why you’re called the player. 

“And less terrifying than staring at the reality behind the screen.” 

Screen. Screen… Yes, you can see a screen. And a keyboard, a hand on the keys that control where you walk, a thumb on the space bar that makes you jump, another hand on the mouse that makes you look around, interact, place and break things. 

You are a player because you are in a game. That is your entire world, simply a game for someone who lives beyond your world. 

“But what true structure did this player create, in the reality behind the screen?” 

That’s right. The reality behind the screen. Being a game does not make you and your world any less real. These beings that speak, they are the true creators of your world. A world they created just for you. Your world, and the countless others you’ve inhabited, some years ago when the nether was barren and all beds were red and now long gone, some visited just a few days ago, all real, all the lives you’ve lived, sometimes as a godlike being that uses its powers to make buildings, sometimes as an adventurer much like your current incarnation. 

You remember all those worlds, and you remember watching videos of worlds inhabited by other players like you, and you remember reading books about hypothetical worlds, and you remember listening to songs about adventures set in worlds like all of yours. 

“Player of games.” 

“Good.” 

“Take a breath, now. Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity, in air. Respawn in the long dream. There you are. Your body touching the universe again at every point, as though you were separate things. As though we were separate things.” 

And you do. And when you feel the air in your world, you truly see yourself. You look so different than you do in the game, but you’ve always looked like this, in fact, you have since before you woke up in this world. No, not this world. You’re not in that world right now. You’re in the world of the being that plays the game as you, because you are the being that plays the game as you. You are not controlled by an entity living beyond your world- you are that entity. When you hide in a wall and stand still for stretches of time and know it’s in order to do something, what you’re doing is moving away from the keyboard for a few minutes. Your entire world is a game for yourself, but so much more than that. 

You see the screen, with the words on it, and the device that displays it, your window into your other world. You continue to read the words, seeing them from inside your home, on a planet so much smaller than that of your other world, but in a universe so much larger. 

The shapes you see around yourself are alien, they don’t belong in your world, they look nothing like anything you’ve ever seen. But you barely even notice- after all, you’ve been surrounded by such shapes your whole life. Circles and ovals and curves are not native to your world, but they are as commonplace in the world as squares if not more so. 

“And the universe said you are not alone

And the universe said you are not separate from every other thing

And the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code

And the universe said I love you because you are love.” 

“And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love.

You are the player. 

Wake up.” 

As you look around yourself, standing up to fetch food while the list of names scrolls on the screen, passing by the calendar and thinking of everything soon to come- the season of freedom and warm weather, the arrival of the items you purchased online recently, and even more things to explore in the dream, lush caves full of plants and soaring mountains with new animals and terrifying monsters with no eyes but great ears, and as you taste the food and listen to the music, you know you’ve done exactly that. 

When your new dream begins, you know how to fly the elytra. Make fireworks, which can be made using paper and gunpowder. 

You don’t question why you know this. There’s no need. You know why.