#this took way too long why are backs so haaaard

[quirrelli]

obvs she-ra can heal herself but I like the idea that she keeps those particular scars

[ngmn2002]

Ok, so... giving the very first 3 chapters a re-read...

Isn't a nice of a start for a story focusing on love, its nature and wishes, to start with a desperate girl going for a love wish?

ch 1 had me laughing a lot at Hanako's condition. Like... it's so funny out of everyone in the universe Nene went to him to grant her a 'love' wish. Nene... don't open some wounds. He fails hard in there. He is a "beginner" as he called himself later. LOL

AHAHAHA

I swear I'm just laughing too hard looking at him offering Nene one worn advice book.

Imagining he turned to such help before with the case of the little brother of his? An advice book? That would be hilarious. for how long did you have this one or even looked into it times and times until its the way it is now?

I can't help it! I can't help it to imagine him trying any of the methods from a certain book on Tsukasa and failing hard, or Tsukasa giving him a look of "what is wrong with you today? Ahaha, Amane you weirdo! ♡"

Like, instead of trying to TALK and tell Tsukasa "I love you. I care about you. I want you here with me.", he can try using some other methods. Communicating his feelings via words is so haaaard to him.

Turning to use "his special skills",

maybe by being this wholesome big bro, in a form of reading Tsukasa books, spending a fun time with him, play with him their games, shower his with affection, etc.

Which method did he try out of the ones he advised Nene?

Gardening - Reading?

Operation present .... did he try to give Tsu a gift? Uhhh, it's adorable to see them gifting each other things, especially after all the gifs Tsu brought him. Having your little brother back, you are healthy, you can do what you couldn't before. Back to the method, did he ever try to gift Tsu something with a some kind of note? That would be funny. If he just ended up writing some vague words, and Tsukasa was like "????? Amane? this is your hand writing, right? I love the gift, but what is this? a riddle of some kind? oh, what would the answer be? let me think! this is fun! what a nice game! hmm…. is it a butterfly you mean? *sparkle*"

Amane: ...................... yeah.................... *crying on the inside*

Ahem, so bold of Hanako to take one of Teru's button, have to say. How come Teru didn't notice him, Hanako-san his biggest enemy?

Ok, the other methods don't seem to apply to them.

Done with the almost unserious part...

Talking seriously, Amane did try lots of ways to covey his feelings to Tsukasa, aftar failing with them all... did he reach a point where he voices a thing like this...?

Did he try to think of an effective way to do what he wants efficiently?

Like...

Right back at you, big guy.

Rich comes out of your mouth. Do you think you'd have reached this point if you took your own advice and put it to work with little brother?

After realizing your "indirect" methods are no use, why didn't you just take the "direct" turn? uhh, you're trying to now, a good step you put into the right direction

Uh, I seriously don't blame Tsukasa for not getting your feelings. You... didn't really convey them the way they are supposed to, instead you kept running with ineffective ways, instead of going for the one efficient one. Mr. beginner.

Isn't it a bit harsh for you to go saying "I hate you" to Tsukasa? I mean yeah, he didn't understand any of your efforts and all, still goes just the same way as always, but does the initial problem lie within him or you, who didn't use the right method to convey his message?

It's like giving an apple to a cat "to eat" and blaming it for starving later despite your efforts, going "hey! I'm feeding it! It doesn't want to eat!". A cat doesn't eat apple to begin with. The problem lies within you feeding it improbably.

Same goes to Amane's case with Tsukasa. He is trying to make his feelings reach Tsukasa, instead of using the one method he really needs to get Tsukasa to finally realize his feelings, to talk and voice them out clearly, he went for every other hard way, forgetting the essence of the issue.

Save yourself all the trouble and tell him, see where that would lead you.

.........

Well, I will say to this point, you got to keep Tsukasa around so far, by 'linking' the 2 of you together. Hmm, how do you plan to go beyond this point?

Ch 1 is rich with meaning, don't want to focus on any other thing, even this one I just went briefly with it for fun. It's funny how ch 1 feels to summarize Amane's struggles with conveying his feelings to Tsukasa, and having them never working to his favor, going "unnoticed", like Nene. With him helping her even, no other point to prove how of a beginner he is, even after more than 50 years. Boy... I'm sorry I'm just laughing the pain away.

Ok, moving on a bit to ch 2 and 3...

Yeah, praise that.

......... having lots of mixed feelings about these. what is it with this human being thing anyway? a human being???? or "someone" is what he said?

Uh, if this thing was funny to me before, it's extra funny now.

Ehhhh, how uncaring with Kou he is, letting him go so easily, letting him fall down to the ground like nothing, how he is just using the knife not as it means, just totally playful, the way he is even uncaringly setting to Kou's side, how unbothered by the whole situation he is... just tagging along with playing a little with Kou... and then... all Kou got was a ...

The only thing he is gonna get. How generious of Amane, I have to say. All the right treatment...

is meant for this precious boy.~

I'm seriously starting to see he is proud of the kinfe.

Hmm...

Yeah, for now this is it.

[felidaefighter]

Fears To Ease And Flesh To Mend

Ranboo and Tubbo find out that unzombifying a piglin is a bit different from unzombifying a villager, and they start off parenthood with quite a few complications and in a little over their heads. For the sake of their child, they may need to put awkwardness aside and ask for help.

[Sick fic, canon divergence, Phil and Techno meet Michael, lots and lots of piglin lore headcanons] ~20,000 words per chapter

Chapter One of Four

     The process of unzombifying anyone was a lot more difficult than the two ingredients required seemed to suggest. First, of course, was the issue of regular village-folk who had been zombified being entirely aggressive and difficult to wrangle into a place to properly heal them. Then you had to make sure they properly inhaled the potion vapors, and then you had to make sure they actually chomped on the golden apple instead of your hand. Not to mention that you’re dealing with magic instead of science, so unknown variables came into play a distressing amount. With zombified piglins, however, it was even more complicated.

    There was something in the air of the overworld itself that was infectious and dangerous to a species that had come directly from a place of magic, such as the Nether. Because their natural home was so oversaturated with magic, it made them altogether a little more resistant to the simple magic that a typical practitioner could use; meaning their rotten flesh didn’t heal properly, and if they were left exposed to the wet climate and varied elements of the overworld-- which was something that the Nether altogether lacked for obvious reasons-- before they were unzombified, they ran the risk of never healing properly at all. Ultimately, attempting to heal a zombie piglin was a gamble, and required some actual medical knowledge.

     Which is why Tubbo and Ranboo were left perplexed and a little bit distressed after successfully unzombifying their newly-adopted son, Michael.

    “Ranboo,” Tubbo said, drawing out the name in a bit of a worried pout, “I think something’s wrong. I think we did it wrong. Did we break him? Oh god, I think we might’ve broke him.” Ranboo wore a furrowed brow and a look of deep concern. Michael, who earlier had been running fervently around the baby-proofed room when they had started the healing process, was now just sitting on the soft carpet, his usual piglish groans sounding a lot more like whines of distress and pain.

    Ranboo gently crouched down and looked deep into the young piglin’s eyes. His left eye had become unclouded, and he was looking around the room with a clarity that only living creatures had. Reflexively, he said “Hi, Michael,” in a soft, loving voice, and for the first time ever, the piglin actually seemed to respond. He was far too young to actually say anything, of course, but he looked at Ranboo when it was said. “He’s definitely not a zombie anymore,” Ranboo told Tubbo, assuring him that the process had actually worked, “But uh,” He inhaled a bit through his teeth. Michael’s eye socket was still completely exposed, along with some of the bone. The flesh on the other side of his face seemed healthy enough, but there were bits along the edges that seemed infected at best and gangrenous at worst. “He didn’t automatically heal the rotten bits the way villagers do.” 

     “Ohhhh god we broke him! We hurt him, we messed it up and now he’s going to diiiie. We’re horrible parents. We broke him, Ranboo,” Tubbo moaned dramatically.

    “No, no, I don’t think it’s that,” said Ranboo, thinking it might be just that, “I just think that maybe uh. Hm. Maybe the magic couldn’t fix everything? We might have to do the rest without magic.” Ranboo, still crouching in front of Michael, cooed at the toddler, who seemed to relax a little. “That sounds haaaard,” Tubbo said, whining despite both of them knowing the lengths they’d go to for him, but Ranboo decided to reply in a goading way. He stood up, looming (to no effect) over his husband, and raising an eyebrow. “Did you think it would be easy to raise a child?” Tubbo grinned a little, always happy to pester Ranboo-- though it didn’t fully mask the worry still present in both of them. “No. I’ll go get some bandages from downstairs.” Ranboo sighed lovingly at his intentionally difficult husband. “Thank you, Tubbo.” After thinking a moment, he called down, “Get some ointment too! And see if you can find something to stop an infection!” 

    As Tubbo got busy getting the proper materials to care for Michael-- something that relieved Ranboo, if he was being honest, because Tubbo was nothing if not thorough, smart, and loving for their child-- Ranboo tried to see the extent of the damage. He talked Michael through the process and hoped that the child was at least able to understand his intent, even if he couldn’t understand his words. “Okay Michael, I’m gonna set you on the bed, nice and easy. It’s a lot more comfy, I promise.” As Ranboo lifted Michael into the air, the piglin let out a small almost giggly snort, which was immediately followed by a wince and a whine at his own sound. 

    “I’m Ranboo, I’m gonna be your new dad,” Ranboo explained as the little piglin listened intently. “I don’t know if you remember me or not but that’s okay. I gotta check you to see where it hurts so we can fix it up and make it all better, okay?” Surprisingly enough, there wasn’t any sort of grunt or squeal of protest as Ranboo gently touched the skin of Michael’s arms, so he took that as a sign to continue. It seemed like, aside from the initial shock of coming back to life, Michael was mostly fine. The damage didn’t seem to be too extensive aside from the right half of his face and a chunk near his ribs, and a small bit on his upper back and ankle, while the rest of his openings, though infected-- “Yup, deeefinitely infected,” Ranboo muttered, drawing out the word with a bit of a wince-- would still heal fairly quickly with minimal scarring.

    Michael’s eyes shifted to the ladder before Ranboo’s did, caught up as he was in making sure his son was okay. “What’s the verdict, Big Man?” Tubbo asked, arms overflowing with bandages and ointments and apparently anything else he could get his hands on. “Ooh, that’s a lot-- that’s okay though ‘cause we’re definitely gonna need most of it. Uh, okay so, altogether he’s… mostly okay? He’s gonna need a lot of ointment and a lot of bandages ‘cause he’s definitely got an infection everywhere there’s an opening, but the smaller ones should heal up fine. Really what we have to worry about most is the right side of his face and his ribs, since there’s exposed bone-- though luckily it doesn’t seem to have affected any of his internal organs or anything. It seems like most of the reason he was acting strange when he first came back to life was because he was dazed and confused. I think. I hope,” Ranboo half-rambled, half-explained to Tubbo, who had dumped the items on the bed beside Michael and was now attempting to organize them all.

    “He seems to be listening and actually hearing us and what we’re saying at least,” Tubbo chimed in as Ranboo helped him sort. “Oh yeah! He’s a great listener. Aren’t’cha Michael?” Michael, seemingly starting to understand that that was his name, gave them both a small smile. After a solid moment of Ranboo and Tubbo trying not to bawl from being proud parents, Tubbo straightened up. “Right. I’ve decided that I’d die for Michael. I would’ve before but now I’ll kill for him too.” Ranboo nodded in agreement. “Hey Big Man,” Tubbo said to Michael, “I’m Tubbo. I am also your new dad. We gotta do a bit of prodding but it’ll heal you up.”

    After they had disinfected to the best of their abilities and applied ointment and bandages on every open sore they could find, Micahel looked half-mummy instead of half-dead. But ultimately, he did look a lot better. And he was alive. That was what was important. The piglin toddler had fallen asleep almost as soon as they were done, his grip on Tubbo’s hand growing gentler and gentler until he drifted off and they were able to pry him away and tuck him into bed. Downstairs, the two husbands sat next to eachother and discussed what to do next.

    “Man. We didn’t even get to get him into clean pants. Mans is naked.” Tubbo muttered once they were both certain that Michael wouldn’t hear them and wake up. Ranboo shrugged. “I mean, the pants he wore as a zombie? Way too nasty. It’s better to let him rest after his long day than to try and fit him into new ones.” Tubbo looked almost as weary as Michael had. “True.” They sat for a minute in thoughtful silence. “I’m worried about… his vocal chords,” Tubbo confessed, and Ranboo nodded solemnly. “And his brain. I think it’s only his eye that’s got issues but, god, what if there’s something we can’t fix in his brain? Or-- what organs are under the ribs? What if they’re affected too?” He let out a shuttering breath.

    Ranboo placed his hand gently on Tubbo’s shoulder. “He’s okay now though, Tubbo. I think it’s gonna be okay. He’s got clean bandages, the infection isn’t as deep as it first seemed to be, and we can ask for help in making sure he’s okay if anything happens. He’s responding too, and he couldn’t do that when he was undead. We’ll need to get him a prosthetic eye though,” Ranboo added, trying to cheer his husband up. It was true-- Michael, for all his anxiety-inducing sores, was likely going to be okay. Mostly, the issue was his skin, and he was going to have extensive scarring. “And a prosthetic ear maybe. Oh god, he’s probably got an ear infection too!” Tubbo quietly wailed, putting his head in his hands. Ranboo winced; he was probably right. This was all definitely a lot more than they had initially expected. That’s probably what they got for just assuming the process would be the same for piglins as it was for villagers.

    “Do you… regret taking on this responsibility?” Ranboo asked hesitantly, and Tubbo immediately straightened. “No. Never. I love Michael and I wouldn’t trade him for the world. You?” Ranboo breathed a sigh of relief. “Same. Same. It’s going to be a lot more work than we thought but-- hey I mean nobody ever said parenthood would be easy.” They both chuckled a bit, at that. Tubbo hummed in agreement. “Mmh. I reckon we’ve got some reading up to do, huh big man. If he’s got any of his language skills back they’re probably piglin. We’ll have to try and learn a little, and then get him to learn english, sorta ‘meet him halfway’ type of deal.”

    “That way it’ll be easier to know if something actually is wrong, too,” Ranboo agreed. He stood up and stretched as Tubbo looked at him tiredly. He could tell that Tubbo wanted to complain about him flexing his height but was just too tired to do that, and chuckled a bit at the thought. “Going somewhere tonight? You aren’t staying here?” Tubbo asked, curious. Ranboo paused for a moment. “I can stay if you want me to. But honestly, I was thinking you could stay here to make sure Michael is okay, and I could go back to my place.” He hesitated before continuing. “I was thinking that if anybody would know how to help with this, it’d be Techno and probably Phil too. I just kinda wanna get a second opinion so we make sure his skin grows back and there’s no exposed bone y’know?” 

    Tubbo seemed reluctant towards the idea, but he sighed. “You’re probably right. As much as I don’t really want anyone to know about Michael yet, I don’t wanna risk it and lose him. Better to get a second opinion.” Ranboo nodded. “I’ll do that, then. Hey, get some rest, yeah? And tomorrow we should also look into setting up an enderpearl stasis chamber so we can get back to Michael in an emergency. That way too it’ll be easier to switch off if one of us needs a break.” 

[pinktatertots99]

Fic in were musashi had a boyfriend in college and he comes to nanba to talk to musashi again. Plus kenshirou having a crush on musashi and.. wel angst.

oh boi. well time to make some bad name puns. also i love eis now say hello to a new oc i have. italics are a flashback and i’ll put translations here:

eis = ice

hitze = heat

hallo Sonnenschein = hello sunshine

heizung = heater

(take some of these with grains i had to look up words.)

_____________

the sudden ringing to his cell caused the inmate to look up freaked out by such sudden clinging. “oi oi what what?” he asked, dropping the bralie book and getting up. the doors quickly opened, musashi feeling the cuffs slapped onto him.

“you have a visitor.” he heard kenshirou state, almost coldly as musashi was nearly dragged out, finding his footing lightly. “well gee thanks for the heads up.” he stated sarcastically. “anyways visitor? who?”

kenshirou gritted his teeth at such a question.

----------------

“visitor?” kenshirou thought aloud as he walked to the visitor doors. it was strange to him, only visitors musashi had were inmates, the guards and the otogis occasionally. no living family and from the sound of it no one to keep in contact with.

as he opened the door he found the visitor sitting in a puffy purple sweater with snowflakes on it, light blue leggings that fit his rather fit legs, grey soft boots, and short sky blue hair with white on the ends and two highlights of the same color, his long bang covering one of his sea blue eyes and fitted his masculine feminine facial structure that show cased a grin.

“yoouuur the boss here right?” he asked in a voice on a spectrum of not so deep but not so high in tempo, with a bit of a german accent behind it. kenshirou cleared his throat. “i’m the supervisor of this building yes.” he stated looking over the paperwork of the visit. “and your inmate 634′s visitor?”

“yeah.” he sighed, getting up and walking to him. “i’m glad though he had someone looking over him while i was absent though.” he stated as he moved to walk past ken to sit infront of the glass. ken’s eye widened and he shivered lightly.

_______________________

ken took a deep breath at the door, slowly opening it as musashi took a few steps to the opened entrance dumbfounded. “oi pup, ya never told me who was-”

“hallo Sonnenschein!” musashi looked surprised by such a statement the visitor exclaimed. ken’s heart started beating faster as he noticed musashi’s smile. “no way...no way!” he exclaimed, running to the table with his cuffs still on. “eis?!”

“hitze you bastard!” eis exclaimed back. “you are such a pain in the ass to find! took me forever to get here!”

“ey that’s never stopped you before right?” both chuckled as kenshirou uncuffed musashi having a rather solemn look to his face. “i’ll be outside if anything’s needed.” he mumbled as he walked out just in time for both to start talking.

“so, what did make you wanna track me down like some stalker?” musashi asked as eis gave a playful pout. “what? can’t your boyfriend come to see you in prison?”

“so does that mean i get all the anniversary presents that never got sent to me?”

“stingy isn’t my presence enough?”

musashi chuckled lightly as he laid his cheek in his hand. “i can only guess your aunt didn’t want you to, right?” he asked bit more seriously, eis frowning lightly looking away. “...it’s...just the stupid family name.”

“you came from a hell of a regal one. i can see why.”

“yeah well you too dummy.” both half chuckled as they sat there, eis playing with his overgrown bang. “the only good it did was have me hire some people to find you. it’s not too hard to find male germans with spontanious human combustion.” he hummed lightly as he looked musashi over. “man though, prison’s really fucked you up huh?”

musashi chuckled. “yeah well, if it helps i got myself the piercings.” he hummed himself as he played with the strands of his eye’s bindings. “so, am i just that much of a winner ya had to come find me?” he asked playfully as eis smirked. “nothing was gonna make me stop finding you.”

“even after...” both went quiet as eis glared at the table. “i know it wasn’t you.” his fist clenched lightly. “...your family’s will had ours inherit whatever belongings were left, including your accounts...i have enough to break you out.”

both musashi and kenshirou felt their hearts pang for completely different reasons. “...your joking right? been what, two or something years and you...wanna bail me out?”

“i mean, ...regardless of, whatever our relation is, i still know you can’t be here.” he moved his bang lightly to look at the blind inmate. “and i won’t leave the country without an answer.”

“...even if i say no?”

“...even if.”

musashi chuckled lightly. “your such a sappy romantic.”

“oh like your to talk you love it.”

“yeah...i’ll think on it.”

“well don’t think too long, just be lucky i got family to stay here with or i’d be wasting the bail money.” both chuckled as they got up. “yeah well good luck with that. i’ll think loooong and haaaard.” musashi drawled out, eis gaining a blush as he chuckled. “even blind i can tell your making that face.”

“sh-shut up you heizung.” he pouted as both walked out their respected doors. “musashi-kun! did you have fun?” hitoshi asked surprising the inmate. “where’s pup?”

“he said something bout he needed a break and wanted me to get you. you know how he is he’s like nii-chan a work a holic.” he pouted as he cuffed him. “at this rate he’ll be going bald too!”

musashi hummed lightly at that.

__________________

a harsh punch echoed the break room as kenshirou panted, small cracks were around the wall where his fist was located at. taking a seat on the bench he held his face in his hands. thoughts of musashi and that...guy, made his head swirl as he growled.

“not again.” he grumbled as he got up. “not like with her, not like last time.”

[reimahowaido]

Tumblr no. Why you do this. I wrote a big cool intro on this that I thought up carefully, and you went and deleted it all. That took more than 10 minutes of my time. Rude. Anyway, I guess instead of being cool I'll just be quick. So. I finally got myself to play Spyro: Reignited after a year of buying the game (I also got Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but I've watched a lot of others play that game, so I'm kinda caught up on that) and I thought that since I made tumblr to just post Anything, I might as well just do that and write up my experiences, reactions and stuff as I go~ First things first. I'm playing it on a Switch Lite. I'm not really that big of a gamer, nor do I have that much money to just yeet around on every game I'd love to own, so I'm kinda limited on experience. But I did play Spyro as a kid on a Playstation. We had a short demo of the first game and some version of the 2nd game (which was my fave game growing up) - the hospital I spent time in as a kid also had all 3 Spyro games I'm fairly sure, I did play the 1st and 3rd ones there (although mostly I enjoyed watching an older kid play the games, they were skilled and little sibling culture be like). Also I Adore both old and new versions of the games. Old is Nostalgic, and seriously great, but the new one looks Amazing and I Loooooove all the elder dragon designs. Everyone working on these games did So Great! Good job! And thank you <3 Ok this got lengthy, so imma start in the next post - or if I can figure out a read-more, then there

There we go~ Ok let's go! So right off the bath, I started with the first game of the series, deciding to go in order. And honestly, this was an excellent choice in my opinion, I'll say why soon, but even before then, yes, the game Looks So Gorgeous. I wanna go to the dragon realms and just live there. It looks so nice. I want to walk around, lay on the grass and lay down, look at the sky and chill. The music is great too, I love it~ Nostalgia :2 And it's not affected in a sense that I've not been listening to the original songs in years, so my mind isn't making comparisons, it's just enjoying and going 'yep, this has that Spyro energy and feel and boy I love it so much' And here we go! My first experience! Um, well. It feels different xD Because I'm playing on the Switch and not the Playstation. It took a bit to get the controls under control, not gonna lie. Maybe it's because I don't play a lot of games as a whole, or then the Switch really does have stiffer controls. I was a little worried at first, all the way back when I bought the game, going like, what if I can't play it? What if it's hard? What if the controls don't work? What if I suck so bad I won't get anywhere? But my love for Spyro was greater than my fear and so I got the game anyway. Artisans homeworld! So there I am, falling off the first straight line to Nestor and looking like an absolute loser. But hey it's ok! We're starting out, I kinda predicted that it'd take a bit to learn stuff. Yeah it's embarrassing but new controls can be like this, right? Ok, so I get through the first bit. And after that, I kinda check on what the buttons do. Charge, Flame, Jump, yep, the usual. This button is the camera? Ok, yeah I kinda remember that being a thing, ok. Then I do the ... shoulder buttons? That's what they're called right? Well I try them and oh yeah right! In the first game these were the dodge rolls! Yeah I never used them but I do remember them being kinda silly, even if they made me sliiiightly jump in surprise because of how sudden the stuff was (and trust me, they'll make me jump a lot in the future too xD Oh god....). And then I found the button that kinda fixes the camera angle. Amazing! What a joy to discover that button~~ Good good, that's great. I've somehow gotten really used to that ability of turning the camera and having it face some optimal direction of my choice. Ok now we're set and let's go! The charging. It didn't feel as smooth, and it Still kinda has a bit of an awkward feel to itself. It's kinda, silly?, on how Spyro will charge and move forward with that charge button without me having to move the stick to have him move. I dunno why, it just, feels strange xD I forget if ye old pokemon games had you hold down B and then move or something but, muscle memory of sorts? Anyway, it didn't feel as responsive or smooth to charge. At first it felt like charging was just way too fast for my mind and I was very much content to just walking and taking my time xD I've since gotten more used to the charging, it has become very necessary so that's good First obstacles were the gem thieve Gnorks. God. Those guys were so easy to catch and roast as a kid. But now with the new controls. Boy. I. I was struggling to keep up and turn after them. Embarrassing, I know, but I was new and just getting back into things. I did catch 'em both eventually, after a tiny bit more struggling than I'd have hoped And here come the most cringe bit. Ah yes, so first game, Spyro can't swim, he'll take damage from water. And he can actually die in the Artisans homeworld. And bruh. ...... I'm here unlocking Sunny Flight before getting used to the stiffer controls or getting a hold of the precise jumping. And. I freaking Die. I touched water twice, I got hella stressed with the green Sparx being there and signifying that I didn't have much more room for errors. Oh Shoot! Maybe I should hop on over, back to the mainland and flame some sheep fodder before trying again? Yeah sounds like a good idea! I die before making it back to the mainland. Mmmmmmmmh. Yeah we're. We're

learning boys. I decide I'll unlock Sunny Flight a little later and just get used to the controls first. And I successfully unlock the level a little later on, after stressing over each and every jump in a stiff worried state the whole time. A late success but a success no less! Then the other big hurdle of Artisans homeworld. That one platform right there 'behind Nestor' that you have to glide on over to to get the chest and some gems. Gliding had already proven to not be my strong-suit with the area you release Thomas at. I had to go up the swirly thing several times to get all the gems there. But this one. This one. Bruh. I was struggling so hard. I tried soooo many times. I managed to do this as a kid. I should be able to do this now. How is this so haaaard. I've almost got this! What am I doing wrong? Is it a Switch bug? Is it impossible on the Switch Lite? Now after playing the game for several more hours I might know the reason I was struggling so much. So I Guess my thing was that I pressed jump and then to glide like immediately after, so I didn't have enough height even after charging. It was a miracle when I finally made it up there and was able to complete the stage now that I allowed myself to go clear up the way to the balloonist after I finished grabbing these gems. Good job good job. Boy we're in for a ride aren't we This got long, so I'll speak of the dragons some other time!

[sawthefaeriequeen]

Superpowered Note Passing!

aka Power Rangers 2017 reaction.

So I wrote all this after seeing the movie a second time a couple weeks ago and it was just laying around on my hard drive so, here. Fangirling preserved in amber, if you will, under the cut

omg this is so many bullet points long. I should be ashamed but I’m not!

1.       So, the opening! Was the dying Yellow rRnger a nod to Thuy Trang passing away? My brother and I had the exact thought at the same time in the theater; we both nudged each other and were like, “Whoa.”

2.       I’d been hearing the Rita as Green Ranger theory batted around for months, and hello, her costume gave it away already. So I wasn’t TOO surprised when she appeared. Zordon as Red was what I didn’t expect...I was like Ooooh, this is gonna be interesting!

3.       I’m still laughing at the transition from the Megazord-y silhouette…to  “MOOOOOOOO.”

4.       A COW, OMG. For serious. A damn cow. And here I thought we’d be introduced to Jason strutting around on a field in jockish glory, which would lead up to his injury.

5.      (I do really like the Jason’s Knee Is Still Busted headcanons I’ve seen, as someone with a bad knee herself.)

6.       Is it just me or does the dude playing Jason’s dad remind me of Austin St. John?

7.       Billy. God, I love him. Everyone loves him. I’m so happy because BILLY!

8.       A+++ character establishing moments for Billy, Jason, and Kimberly in detention. Jason slapping bully Ed Sheeran (who some folks are saying was Skull, but idk) because he wasn’t even worth the fisticuffs! And did my inner 7 y.o. Pink-Ranger-idolizing self do a mental backflip when Kim snips off her hair.

9.       I love love how Jason/Billy easily had the most loving relationship in the movie. Easily. Like, the moment I really knew I was gonna like Jason was when he (nicely!) let Billy down on his offer. And he makes sure Billy knows it’s not because he was ashamed to be seen with him  (which was a move an ~edgier piece of media would’ve pulled) but because of the ankle monitor.

10.   (btw, wtf, was J wearing that ankle monitor the whole time they were becoming Rangers? Because ummm.)

11.   I can’t wait until the DVD comes out so we can have a thousand and one gifs of Jason full-on glomping Billy

12.   Oh, and yes, Billy says the words “I’m on the spectrum,” even clarifies that his brain doesn’t work the way others’ do. And is received with nothing but respect. Others have explained better than me, so I’ll just say that I loved it and kudos to the writers and actor.

13.   I totally dug that the film established Jason and Kimberly as the alphas of the team early on; more on that later. For now I would like to appreciate how it also establishes Kimberly as a Badass who hikes by herself in the mountains and once took a dude’s TOOTH out.

14.   Trini listening to metal + yoga, omg.

15.   The quarry scene and finding the coins! Loved the whole ~aesthetic of that, and how the coins look like gems instead of having the usual embossed dino which I totally did not own and carry around in my pencil case as a kid.

16.   LOL @Billy driving his mom’s van as a getaway LOLOL Zack practically ripping a hole in the van ceiling. Talk about having a Harry Potter-style “cementing your friendship by fighting a mountain troll” moment.

17.   RITA. I love Elizabeth Banks so hard; I knew she’d chew up the scenery as Rita should.

18.   Billy fanclubat their school!!!! Can I join?? I love how he’s so modest and yet proud about knocking down Skull Ed Sheeran.

19.   I wish we’d seen Trini and Zack’s first power-up moments because can you imagine? Super amused though, that one of the first casualties was Kim’s skinny-ass smartphone. Because yeah, no way are those things made to be durable.

20.   The entire cliff-leaping scene is a thing of beauty. How cute is Trini finally cracking a smile when they jump across to her? And all the laughing and the bonding and sfasfd I had no idea how much my Nakama kink would be satisfied by this movie. Oh, and speaking of beauty, the underwater scene with the accompanying music? Wow. It’s all very Crossing the Threshold. I dig it

21.   (the whole movie is VERY much a heroes’ journey story, isn’t it? I think that’s one of the reasons it was so great.)

22.   Non-annoying Alpha! Complicated, cranky dad Zordon! Things I didn’t know I wanted! Also, I thought Zordon having a red glow around his face was cool.  The first time I watched, I wondered why Zordon’s declaration of Jason as leader was so lukewarm…and was pleasantly surprised when there turned out to be A Reason later.

23.   I like how Billy is the first to step on the grid because he’s Billy and he has discovered an unexpected zest for superheroing, then Jason is the last because, to quote Robin Scherbatsky, where’s the poop, Zordon?

24.   TRAINING MONTAGE! With that dang song that’s been stuck in my head since seeing it for the second time, and have I mentioned that I really love the soundtrack? And yes, the note-passing scene, and the donut scene, and Master Billy. Fuckin’ iconic. I also like that we see ���em getting visible training injuries and that it’s Alpha who shows ‘em the moves and is actually an effective trainer. (Btw, was Alpha always a robot in this universe?)

25.   When Zack takes Mastodon out, I thought for a split second that he was gonna strip it down for parts and sell them or something.  I mean, it’s logical. And anyone notice Alpha doing the classic Ayiyiyi flailing when Mastodon crashes?

26.   Just some things I found notable about the firelight bonding moment  (aside from #1. my 90s heart is reeling with nostalgia because, look it’s Midnight Society! #2 help me, this movie is really committed to tickling my Found Families heartstrings): It’s great that it’s Zack who proposes it cuz he knows he fucked up, and I LOVE that while he does get vulnerable, he does it in his usual sparky Zack way. Hell yes, he loves his mom and he’ll scream it to the horizon! Then there’s the much-publicized Trini scene, which, I like that it wasn’t just about her sexuality (and again, love that it’s Zack who figures whats up ), it was about her being quiet and not fitting in. And I like how it’s the introverted one who poses the question of, are they teammates or are they friends? Basically, “are we really choosing each other?”

27.   (I keep thinking a lesser piece of media like Glee or something would’ve made this scene All About White Boy Leader And His Manpain, which is why when Jason’s turn to talk came, it was kind of refreshing that he says “ehhh, you guys know  who I am” and listens to the others talk instead. Which is way more leader-like then bellyaching about how haaaard it was to be atop  the social ladder or whatever.)

28.   My big complaint about the scene where they take on Rita is that it’s so damn dark. Dark as in, I can’t even see it. I was squinting to see if their makeshift weapons resembled the originals from the show (/nerd) and I couldn’t see a blasted thing. I think we caught a glimpse of Trini’s dagger? A split-second before she buried it in the wall next to Rita’s head, anyway. Oh and there was Zack using an axe in an earlier quarry scene.

29.   Jason’s sword was cool, but I need the rest.

30.   Ah, and yeah...Stand by Me. Freaking Stand by Me. When I heard that they were using that song at a certain affecting moment in the film, I thought it would be a bonding moment. Post-training or something. I half-expected it to come drifting along when they were gathered around the fire, capping off the scene nicely.

31.   BUT NOPE. NOPE. It just had to be used like THAT.  Film, I really hate you. (jk, I love you to death, but ohgodwhy). And we had to watch Kimberly and Jason  (aka basically the rocks of the team) burst into tears and look completely shattered, respectively, and then all of them carrying Billy on their shoulders, BYE.

32.   We should start a band

33.   I legit gasped when I realized Zordon had let Billy live in his place, like

34.   Honestly it would’ve been easy for “I would die for him” to be all schmaltzy but it mainly worked because 1) the actors sold it, 2) It’s Billy, of course they would.

35.   (brb crying for 1000 years over the tight never-let-you-go Billy-Jason hug)

36.   and then

37.   It’s morphin’ time

38.   IT’S MORPHIN TIME

39.   IT’S FLIPPING MORPHIN’ TIME

40.   (I know some were frustrated over “how long it took” to get to morphing, but for me, it was rewarding. There had to be emotional payoff to get to the super-heroing and I think it was the most satisfying thing in the world.)

41.   I’ve read an interview where the director apparently told Dacre Montgomery to have Jason say “it’s morphin’ time” ‘like a prayer’ and yes, yes, that’s the best way to make a cheesy/iconic line work in a reboot like this.

42.   Weigh it with MEANING, ya know? Don’t have it be a throwaway snark quip.

43.   Oh and…the power walk? I saw it in the trailers, I saw versions of it countless times watching the original show when I was seven…and YET. Goosebumps.

44.   Kimberly doing cheerleader moves and lifting her teammates underwater is my favorite thing.

45.   I also love how Zack gets to his Zord first – screams happily while diving for it even. He is way past almost mowing down innocent nuns; it’s time for him to save the world now!

46.   Rita said the line! She said make my monster grow!

47.   GO GO POWER RANGERS theme song playing while the Zords ran  ‘ruining’ the more dignified orchestral score:  aka the movie saying “let me show you my love for the source material” aka “LOL the kid inside of you is tearing up and yelling, don’t even fucking lie” aka yessss.

48.   (and fuck it, you know what I don’t even care if the Zords were CGI? The suits are real. The people are real. The visors slip upwards and SHOW US our kids’ faces while piloting their big robots, and that’s all that matters)

49.   BILLY IS SO DELIGHTED. And *I* am so delighted that he dropped the movie’s only almost-f-bomb!

50.   I love how Trini aka the so-called outcast, runs around saying she has everyone’s back. Her Zord POUNCES, you guys! Oh, and how cute is her calling Jason “Jay” and Kimberly “Kim” mid-battle?

51.   Jason and Trini attacking Goldar simultaneously on both sides is A+

52.   The movie finally answered my long-burning question “how does Triceratops Zord fight with it’s itty bitty arms” and the answer is: it doesn’t, and the arms are useless to the point that Pterodactyl has to lift it. XD

53.   (well…its arms shoot things I think, but let me enjoy the hilarious irony of the gang’s resident slapper having a Zord with teeny tiny arms)

54.   (seriously though, Sam Scott looks like Austin St. John; why didn’t they just get Austin to play him)

55.   The “hold the line” scene ruined my life and walked all over me and I thank it.

56.   My multi-colored children they’re only babies and they were 100% ready to give their lives

57.   Like don’t even talk to me about Trini screaming when Zack passes out or Kim and Jason pressing hands through the glass or Billy’s little thank you, I just

58.   MEGAZORD RISING LIKE A GOD FROM THE DEPTHS DUN DUN DUNNN

59.   Listen, at first I was upset that we didn’t get to see Megazord’s jigsaw-puzzle forming but in hindsight this was even better, so much better. It’s formation was almost, well, spiritual. Baptism by fire and all that.

60.  Literally fire-forged friendship

61.   as in they formed Megazord through the power of friendship!

62.   they really did!

63.   Or wait I think this Megazord is a her, you know, “MAMAZORD!”

64.   (I love you, Billy!)

65.   “This won’t last! What you have!” See, even Rita knows she was defeated through the power of friendship

66.   I don’t know why it delighted me so much to have Megazord tripping on her first try, but it did.

67.   SLAPPED INTO SPACE!

68.   I know it was an echo of the detention slap but it also made me think of the Rangers kicking Ivan Ooze into the comet in the very first movie

·69.   hai, Jason David Frank and Amy Jo Johnson! (if I ever meet Amy Jo Johnson, I will tell her that baby me ragequit Power Rangers not because I Was Getting Too Old but because she left and what even was the point after)

70.   “This team did what my team could not” AW Zordon you secret!wall-softie

71.   And then Zack and Trini join them in detention not even looking like they’re in trouble but like they’ve come home, and it’s all just too much for my sappy ass

72.   OH WAIT, the finishing touch:

73.   More note-passing and we see that Billy has drawn the lightning bolt, THE iconic lightning bolt—

74.   -and it’s no longer gold but in all of their Ranger colors and I die, I just die

75.   (OH HAI, Tommy teaser! Do I get to say I told you so now?)

76.   Okay I was going to put some wrap-up thoughts on each of the characters and their dynamics (I didn’t even get to talk much about Rita!) but that will probably be for another post because this is already really fricking long

77.   But in conclusion:

[fyeahbatcat]

Hi, I agree with you about the whole thing of Batman needs Bruce Wayne, Tom King said something really made me love Batman even more than I already did, He said "Batman turns his pain in to hope". I think a lot of people don't realise that Batman is a persona of Bruce, it's his way of dealing with the trauma and trying to make sure what happened to him doesn't happens to anyone else. In Superfriends when Clark is telling Lois why he didn't call Bruce is the reason Batman is my favourite hero.

I used to fall into that train of thinking but as I’ve gottenolder I’ve realized what bullshit it is. I’m convinced that writers use theexcuse that “Batman is who he really is” to avoid writing Bruce because writingBruce is haaaard ☹☹☹. I also think that they get caught up in thishypermasculinization of Batman’s character, and honestly just use Batman toself-insert and live out their male power fantasies vicariously through him.Batman has become the ultimate alpha male of DC Comics and writers useadventure stories to divert attention away from the fact that they don’t know how tocharacterize him as human being.

They think it’s cool to portray Batman as aloof,cold, and stoic meanwhile his character didn’t have any meaningful development forover 30 years. Because all Batman cares about is his war on crime he isn’tbothered by the fact that he’s perpetually alone and clinically depressed. Ithink that Batman Beyond believably exposed the consequences of being this way.Bruce ended pushing away all his former allies and he ended up bitter andalone. I don’t think that’s the ending Bruce deserves.

There’s this conflation between who Bruce Wayne isand his public persona that has resulted in people thinking that Bruce Wayne doesn’treally exist. There is an image that Bruce puts on for the cameras to protecthis identity, but there is a real side to him. Writers will say that Bruce Wayneis just a façade and then turn around and use his public persona when it’s convenientfor them. They’ll spend all day long taking about how “the mask is who hereally is” and in the same breath use “Bruce Wayne is a playboy” as an excusefor having him mac on all his female colleagues. *Oprah voice* So what is thetruth?

When Len Wein took over the series a goal of his was toreincorporate Bruce Wayne in the series. He said, “Now unlike Superman andClark Kent, where Clark was always a critical part of what went on in his book,Bruce would frequently be in the background in the Batman book. You’d gothrough months and months where he’d hardly be there. He’d hardly even be doinganything, and I felt, you know, he’s an interesting character.” If I were the Batmanmain writer this would be my focus too. Bruce Wayne is extremely compassionatebut flawed and I would want to highlight that side of him. 

He’s a genuinelygood person who wants to do right by the people of Gotham, but I wouldn’t wantto do it in a way where Bruce gets idealized as a perfect social justice crusader.One of the very few things I praise Scott Snyder for is Batman #44. It was about a teenager that was killed by policeviolence in series of misfortunes that all began when Bruce Wayne’s company “developed”part of the city which resulted in it becoming gentrified. It was about theintersection between racialized police brutality and urban poverty, a situationthat Bruce unintentionally exacerbated. He tries his best, but he should messup sometimes, because he’s human.

It’s something that I really appreciate about the Batman Telltaleseries and it’s something that you really get to see in the second seasonfinale. It shows you how integral Bruce Wayne is to Batman and vice versa. The choicesthat you make as Bruce Wayne impact Batman’s ability to fight crime, anddecisions you make as Batman affects Bruce Wayne’s life and partnerships. That’ssomething that will come back in a big one in the next season because of *thatlast choice* in the game. They don’t pigeonhole him into one role, because Bruceand Batman exist as one.

I think that Tom King has humanized Batman more so than any otherwriter has in about three decades, but I still think that he falls into thetrap. On the one hand he’s finally allowing Bruce to make decisions about hislife and act on his desires rather than his duties. Bruce opening up to Clarkand admitting, under a mask of manly bravado of course, that he’s sad and lonelyand doesn’t want to be that way anymore in the “Super Friends” arc and when hetold Selina that he was scared right before proposing to her is the mostvulnerable we’ve seen him in years.

On the other hand, the way that King talks about him in interviewshe seems to lean towards the “the mask is who he really is” train of thought.He explained that the reason Bruce and Selina call each other “Bat” and “Cat”is because thinks they see each other for who they really are, and he considersthat to be Batman and Catwoman. Also, in a podcast interview that he did a fewmonths ago he basically said that Bruce and Selina don’t have a publicrelationship and they way he talked about seems to be that he thinks that it’sBatman and Catwoman getting married and not Bruce and Selina. This concerns mebecause there is still no indication that he’s going to resolve Selina’scurrent legal problems and if not it’s going to create a huge plot hole surroundingtheir marriage.

So that’s how I feel about that.

[taibu]

Genyatta Week 2018 - Day 6 - Jim-Jams and Doo-Hickeys

Day 6.  Parents/BabySitters/Interacting with Kids

uuugh this one was haaaard. Mostly because I hate kids and don't know how to write them haha. So instead I wrote about their adopted Daughter Aila who is already a teen-ager/young adult in this fic. Either way we see Genji and Zenny being parents. So. Meh. Take what you can etc.

WARNINGS: Genyatta. Duh. OC-main-character and mentions of OC-Overwatch-members. Headcanons and shit. OCC, possibly lel. Junkers are part of OW. ((((Lot's of these because I think they are funny. Fight me.))))

Jim-Jams and Doo-Hickeys

"Aila-sweetie, would you bring me that Doo-hickey from the table?" "The one with the flat-end or the one with the valve on it?" "The valve-one." "K."

Genji grabbed the tool given to him and chimed "Arigatou" to Aila. The young girl straightened her back and yawned. "How long till Daddy's gonna come?" she asked, stretching her arms. "Just few more minutes, I'm sure. You getting hungry?" Genji chimed from under the car. "Tad bit, yeah." Aila sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. 16:45 already? How long had they been here?

Aila and Genji had been working on Genji's new car for few hours now, almost from the sunrise. Zenyatta had promised to bring them some food later to the day once he was done with his classes.

Aila sighed again and sat down to the chair and kept polishing the rims Genji had assigned to her some time ago. "Or maybe you just wish you were hanging with your friends instead of the old boring Genji?" the cyborg said as he slid from under the car and sat up and cleaned himself with a rag. Aila took a moment to think. "Nah. Just hungry." she said. "Mimi is out of town anyway so I wouldn't have anyone to hang out with anyway." "What about Gina?" Genji asked. "What ABOUT Gina?" Aila hissed. Genji shook his head and held down a laugh. Girls. He could never truly understand them.

Aila was 17 already. Pitch-black hair, ice blue eyes and pale skin were only complimented by dark clothes she was always wearing. Tho usually she would walk around in band-hoodies, torn jeans, bright red or pink accessories like scarfs and piercings, with her hair made and make-up in a tip-top-condition, now she was wearing a old worn gray shirt, even older and more worn sweat-pants, hair all over the place and face clean from make-up. It was saturday, and Genji had asked her to join him in the garage today to work on the car. A rare treat, seeing how Genji only let himself both work on and drive his new chrome gray Toyota.

Mimi was Aila's best (and seemingly only) friend and close class-mate. Aila did get along with everyone in her class, but only seemed to put effort into being friends with Mimi. Mimi was a short, little chubby, half-french girl (full name Mimosa) who Aila had met on her first day in Hanamura's high-school. She had been bullied by a group of girls from another class, and Aila swiftly made it known that she would not tolerate bullying in her class. Hijinks ensued and sooner than they would have wanted to both Genji and Zenyatta were sitting in the teacher's office as the principal was sharing the many great things their daughter had done to keep the bullies in the school in check. Too bad those things were almost always against some kind of law or common sense. Thanks to their high rank as Overwatch agents, the pair was able to keep Aila in school (she was only suspended twice in total, once for setting one of the bullies desk on fire and one for bringing a katana in school and using it to threaten (tho Aila still says she was protecting Mimi) bullies with it).

Gina was the adopted daughter of Tracer and Emily. Tho it had first seem like two girls would be the best of friends, it became known that the girls had NOTHING in common other than their gender and thus made their interactions as (somewhat) rational young adults more awkward than anything. Thus whenever Gina would visit, Aila made sure she had other things to do than to spend time with, in her words, the most boring person alive. (Gina didn't even listen to metal! What a bore!)

Despite Aila's rocky path on life, she was a happy girl, which itself made Genji glad. Knowing Aila's past in seven different substitute-families, all which hated her or she hated them, he knew not to judge her too bad. It must have been hard to learn at an early age that your parents didn't want you, and seeing happy families all around only to be part of seven that didn't work in any way possible. Aila had told quite a lot of stories from each one she had been in, and each was darker and sadder than the other. One family had taken her, only to try to mold her into a "perfect little girl" with a pink dress and meek attitude. That dream ended fast as Aila made it clear with her tomboyish attitude that she would never wear a dress, not even on her wedding-day! Other had taken her just to get money from the substitute-family-program, and almost starved her to death. One family, young couple, took her without knowing anything about kids, and that ended as well as you'd think. One took her in, just to grow tired of her in two weeks and throwing her back in the child-home. And many, many other sad, horrible stories of people who should never be let around children of any kind.

Genji knew from his own past that family-life was never easy, but knew that if all three of them, him, Zenyatta and Aila, tried their best, things would be better.

And they were relatively good. Despite her off-comings in school, Aila got good grades, was especially good in PE, literature, and Genji had no idea where she got it, but math. Maybe it was all those days spend with Uncle-Hanzo, and with Hanzo's love for geometry, it would not be to far off that some of that would rub on to Aila as well. Then again it would be her tutor Satya just as well, seeing she had a thing for geometry and math as well.

Aila has doted by literally everyone on Overwatch. McCree and Hanzo especially. They would shower her with gifts every time they visited Japan, tho no gift reached the girl before Genji had truly double-checked them, not after he found a hand-gun hidden between Aila's bed's mattresses. ("It's fo' self-defence!" has McCree said. He was not in speaking-terms with Genji for the next week.)

Ana was another one of those who's doting for Aila went a bit too far. She would always bake her favorite cookies, and ship them to her with mail if she could not visit herself. Each basket had to be carefully checked, since Ana had a habit of putting in sleep-darts and pepper-sprays, so that the poor girl would have something to protect herself with when bullies attacked. ("Oh, don't worry Ana! She can take care of herself even WITHOUT the sleep-darts!" Genji had said on the phone. "Besides, how could she even shoot them? She doesn't have a gun for them!". "Uh... yeah. She doesn't." Ana muttered on the other side. Genji was still to find the darn thing.)

The women of the team (other than Ana that is) took Aila's upbringing much more calm. Angela gave her a trough out examination each year (tho Aila hated it), Pharah would sometimes take her on a flight with her suit (tho only after heave reassurance that Aila would NOT try bungee-jumping from it), Lena and Emily would visit often so that her and Gina would spend time together (see earlier explanation to why Aila doesn't think it's a good idea), Mei would send her exiting and cool souvenirs from all around the word (things like fossils, bones, old weapons etc. which Aila LOVED Mei for) while she was traveling on different Ecopoints. Zarya would visit very rarely, but when she did, she made sure Aila had fun. Sparring-lessons, wrestling and even a chance to touch her gravity-gun (and shoot it when Genji and Zenyatta weren't seeing) was best fun Aila knew.

Hana was more like that really cool big sis you always want to hang out with than an aunt, but that just made her even cooler. Hana would be the only one Aila would talk to about "girly-stuff" as they played video-games trough the night (but quietly so that Genji and Zenyatta would not hear). Orisa doted on Aila (mostly due her similarity with Efi), but Aila found hanging with her boring. Orisa was built to protect and Aila loved her, but the omnic would not let her do anything fun! (Read: Dangerous) Efi was fun to hang out with tho, seeming they had merely few years between them, and Efi was always ready to build any weird weapon of mass-destruction (according to Genji at least) Aila got in mind. But her favorite aunt was definitely Raili. Maybe it was their similar natures, their similar origins, their shared mother-country, the fact that Raili always had a literal PACK of WOLVES with her, the fact that Raili let Aila use her bow whenever she was visiting, or the fact that Raili was just really cool with her, Aila always waited for summer to meet her favorite aunt again.

The uncles of the Watchpoint weren't too bad either. Winston was always fun to hang out with, and they would talk for hours about cool space-stuff, planets, stars, supernovas (space was Aila's not so secret obsession). Morrison didn't understand why he attracted young girls to call him dad or uncle (Lena and Hana being the biggest offenders in this case), but at this point he was done fighting back. Morrison showed straight face when around anyone else, but Aila swore to her life that Uncle-Jack had the sweetest smile and most honest laugh whenever she would tell a bad pun or a joke. Uncle-Torb had been bit scary at first, seeing how he treated omnics, even after befriending the ones on Overwatch. But he was pretty darn good with kids, seeing he had dozen himself, so it didn't take long for Aila to warm up on the old dwarf. Reinhardt didn't visit often, but he definetly gave the best hugs and piggy-bag-rides.

Big Brother Lucio was always a blast to hang out with, they would hold karaokes, talent-shows and discos every time he visited. Aila still remembered the first official school-disco she had helped to create with her class-mates on her first year in Hanamura's school. She told everyone she would get a big time DJ in the party, and while her class-mates waited for one of Aila's older male friends with an ok talents to walk trough the doors, Aila was sad she didn't have a picture of their faces when Lucio FREAKING Correia dos Santos blasted trough the doors. Genji and Zenyatta didn't really fancy Aila hanging out with the Junkers, but the two absolutely ADORED Aila from the start and would constantly ask to play with her, and after many, many, many hours of begging, the two didn't have enough heart to say no. That resulted in explosion in the Watch-point Gibraltar's Men's bathroom due to about half a thousand cherry bombs being flushed down there. When interrogated what had happened, both Jamison and Mako were ready to take the blame, even though Aila still tells everyone it was HER idea and SHE had convinced the boys to help her (which was true, but the Junkers didn't want Aila to get in trouble). This ended with the Junkers being banned as Aila's baby-sitters, but it didn't stop the three from getting into more and more explody adventures during the years.

Aila loved all of her big brothers, big sisters, aunts, uncles, grandpas and grandmas, but more than anyone, she loved her daddy and Genji.

When they had found her on the destroyed streets of Helsinki, she had been aggressive, screaming and kicking when Genji tried to catch her so that she could be looked over by medics and taken back to the orphanage. But Zenyatta was finally able to calm her down long enough to the medics to do their job. Aila didn't understand it back then, but Zenyatta indeed had an aura of calmness in him that radiated around wherever he went. Maybe it was that what kept her calm. Or maybe it was the fact that she found omnics really freaking cool.

Rebuilding the orphanage was going to take bit longer than first thought, so Aila had to find a home to be situated in while the building was rebuilt. Zenyatta immediately expressed interest in keeping Aila for that remaining time, and the girl had nothing against the idea. Zenyatta was awesome! He was a floating omnic monk with orbs as weapons! How was that not the coolest?

Genji was a different story. Aila had sensed something hostile in him the moment they first met. Maybe it was his intimidating looks, maybe it was his aggressive accent, maybe it was just how he sneaked around like a ninja he was. Or maybe it was because Aila found cyborgs overrated. Either way, they didn't hit off at first. They would often argue, Aila with her childish, obnoxious loudness and Genji with his headstrong loyalty to his master. It was never easy to the two. But after few close calls, Aila started to understand that Genji was just a human like her. Perhaps it was when she finally saw Genji's face when he was lying on the hospital bed after saving her from the Talon attacking the city again. Or the fact that he had indeed risked his life to her. Whichever the reason, Aila refused to call Genji by anything else but his name, even after the omnic pair realized they would not be able to let go of the girl and adopted her.

One thing led to another, Talon was mostly taken down, Overwatch was made legal again, Aila grew up year by year and the family moved to Hanamura (near Genji's old home) and started to live somewhat normal life there. You know. As normal as a life of an omnic monk, ninja-cyborg and teen-age rebel girl could be. Zenyatta and Genji were in no way retired, they were still called on missions every once in a while, but the life was easy now.

The three lived in a big house on a quiet neighborhood with a big garden that Zenyatta mostly took care of all alone. Most day Zenyatta would hold meditation-classes in the family's big living-room to people who lived near by (mostly elderly women and some tired family mothers who needed some time to relax), and on occasion would help out the keepers of a near by tea-shop. Everyone on the neighborhood adored Zenyatta, and how could they not, really? Genji used most of his time to watch over the city and to keep it calm and free from crime. He would beat up baddies during the night and train during the day. Expect on his free days. There he would either help Zenyatta in the garden or greenhouse, or work on his car. Car he never used, seeing that everything was so close by, and only few times they did drive was to an airport, or the summerhouse on the mountains. But Genji had always wanted a cool looking car, and now he had one. Keeping it functional and clean was best fun he could think of.

Hundreds of thoughts like this circled around in Aila's mind as she carefully cleaned the rims. Genji was not too picky about things like cleaning, but with his car he was very precise. Plus Aila was just very careful and detailed when she put her mind into things. And despite her and Genji not always seeing eye to eye, Aila still wanted to see him happy, especially with the things Aila herself did.

"Have you seen the Jim-jam anywhere?" Genji asked suddenly with half of his body in a tool-cabinet. "The one with the red handle? You left it on that table, Orokana." Aila sighed, smirking. "I did?" the cyborg asked, walking on the other side of the garage. "Mada mada..." Aila soon heard him mutter when he found the tool. "Starting to forget stuff, Rōjin?" Aila asked, smirking again. "Hey! I'm only 45!" Genji scoffed, taking the tool and disappearing under the car again. "Well, Uncle-Hanzo is only few years older and he has gray hair already!" Aila chimed. "That's just because of all the stress he has been going trough in his life. He actually has less than before we found you!" "Stress? You guys have the same job and you don't have a single gray hair on ya!" Aila smiled. "Or maybe it's because you dye." "Probably, yeah." Genji simply chimed, Aila heard a loud clang and then Genji cursing under his breath and giggled. "Besides..." Genji continued. "I'm talking about the life he had before Overwatch." "Hanzo never talks about it. He only calls it "the dark times" in his life and refuses to say anything more." Aila said. "Well, it truly was dark time to many of us, for varying reasons." Genji sighed, coming out again, but laying on the floor still. "I was coming into terms with my body. Mondatta was killed. World was stirring around us and there was little we could do..." Genji sighed. Both went quiet. Maybe to respect Mondatta's memory. Aila was sad she never got to meet her uncle Mondatta. He seemed like a cool guy. She had seen photos of him and the statue in King's Row. The family would visit it once a year. Aila always brought Forget-me-not's on the statue. She felt like they fitted his uncle and the symbolism behind the plant fitted the situation well. Aila may have never seen Mondatta alive, but wished not to forget his words and the things he did to human and omnic alike.

"You never told me the whole story of how you became a cyborg." Aila finally said, wanting to take her mind of the omnic she would never meet. Genji looked away. "It's a sad, sad and horrible story. I wish you never learn the whole truth, Aila." he sighed, sitting up. "I'm almost a legal adult!" Aila chimed. "You have to tell me eventually!" "I know." Genji sighed, getting up and walking to Aila. "But I wish to postpone it just a little longer." he smiled and ruffled his daughter's hair, making Aila giggle. Genji truly wished Aila never found out how he became what he was now. Mostly because finding out your uncle you loved and respected with your life tried to kill your adopted father would rapture Hanzo's and Aila's relationship for sure...

"Hello, dears!"

Both turned to see Zenyatta walk trough the garage doors, hanging a basket on his arm. "Daddy!" Aila chimed and ran to hug the omnic. Zenyatta chuckled and held his free hand on Aila's black, messy (but soft) hair. "Missed me, Magpie?" the monk asked. "Nah. Was just REALLY hungry and seeing you bring your starving child something to bite kinda brought the feels up in the open." Aila beamed up to him. Zenyatta laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Well, I'm sorry my dear. It was not my intention to starve you. I would have come earlier but the weeds were being extra hard to pull today." Zenyatta said as he calmed down. "I'll teach them a lesson tomorrow if you'd like." Genji said as he leaned to kiss his husband on the cheek. "But first, lets go out and eat! Aila isn't the only one starving!" "Well, I'll be." Zenyatta giggled. "What a horrible father AND husband I am, letting my dear family starve while only worrying of some plants!" "But my dear Fūrin!" Genji said, as he took Zenyatta's hands in his own and looking him deep in the optics. "The fact that you care is the reason why we love you so much." he said, and kissed the seam on the monk's faceplate.

"EUGH! Hitto vie! Get a room you two!" Aila shouted from the door and dashed outside laughing. Genji and Zenyatta laughed as they followed her calmly walking, hand in hand.

Coming into terms with his new body, helping Zenyatta get over Mondatta's death, forgiving his brother, joining back to Overwatch, fighting Talon, raising Aila... it was never easy, Genji knew.

But it was days like these he knew it was all worth it.

END

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAsorry that sucked haha. I will write more about Aila later, as well as the other OC mentioned in the Fic, Raili. But for now, I hope you guys don't hate me too much for making this mostly about Aila and not the pair in question. Heck it was mostly about Genji and Aila, and had little to do with Zenyatta. I'll make it up on Zenyatta-week! I swear!

And now to the little details in the story: - I was inspired to write this after me and my dad were working on my car few weeks ago. One of the few truly father-daughter-moments we have time to do nowadays... - I know NOTHING about cars or tools so I just called them jim-jams and doo-hickeys for humoristic effect haha. Genji and Aila have a secret code with their names. - Aila mostly talks in English and her mother language Finnish, but speaks almost perfect Japanese due to living in Hanamura and all. - Roadhog and Junkrat joined Overwatch after Talon screw them over on a mission they were sent on. The two soon grew to see the gang as a family and eventually accepted even the omnics as their friends. - Zarya is totally bffs with Zenyatta now. Stuff happened between them and now they write to each other and call once a day. LET ME DREAM OKAY!!?? - Hanzo adored Aila, mostly because she remind him of young Genji. - Zenyatta's nickname to Aila, Magpie, was inspired by both Genji's nickname Sparrow and me wanting to keep the bird-theme, as well as a Finnish term "Pyryharakka" (roughly translated to "snowfall/blizzard-magpie") often used on kids and pets who have tendency to get in trouble or who never stay still. - Genji calling Zenyatta Furin ("wind-chime") was stolen from this post: http://lacertae-dreamscape.tumblr.com/post/170843141792/genyatta-week-2018-day-2-nicknames-pet-names-a

ONE LAST DAY TO GO ARE YOU FUCKING READY!?

[safrona-shadowsun]

Meeting in the Ledgermaine Lounge

Part 2

[Part 1]

{ A collaborative story between myself, @loveherdekay, @hmratking and @singinglockpick. This story takes place a month before the switching of Dalaran’s hands, as the Legion’s invasions just begin to unfold across Azeroth, eventually leading to the later purge of the Rat Kingdom from the Underbelly. }

The Lounge had nearly emptied as the few hours dawdled on, the two having retreated to a booth at the back of the dining area. Safrona's soft laughs were muffled into her own glass of wine now, lured to indulge, and now a little more than tipsy. "...always the rogue with you..." she teased in a slower drawl, too amused with his stories. "And that little girl've yours will be the sweet death of you..."

Will laughed, a hearty sound that tilted his head back. "Don't I know it! All my own damned fault, too! I feel sorry for all the poor souls whose hearts she'll break." He shook his head. "We need to meet like this more often, I have missed you." A smirk danced in his eyes, "I'll be right back. When I return, I'll tell you a secret." He rose from the table and went to the privvy.

Mora pushed the fire mage closer to the a position where he could see the Courier and her friend without being overly suspicious. She had went back to the apartments and convinced Sparky to come out with her against his possible better judgement.  "We just have to find the Wine Girl yea? C'mon, beastie!" she coaxed him, telling him that Safrona had something Mora wanted to deliver to the king.

"What do you see? Sparky? " she asked impatiently as she hung back. If her intentions were not so malicious she would have approached right away, but she did not want to be the last one seen with the infamous lady. No, instead Sparky looked much more accepting in a room full of the living. She told him on the way to the lodging to introduce himself and get her to walk outside with him and it seemed now was as good a chance as they were going to get.

She had a way of luring him out without giving him a chance to question, so when she pulled him from the apartment, he couldn’t say no. He listened carefully to what she had to say and by the time Sparky had finally built up the confidence to question Mora’s actions, she had him against the wall, peeking into the inn.

He searched the room, noticing how empty it was by now except for a few souls and the key target: this so-called Courier. “She’s alone. So you want me to introduce myself and pull her out? How the hell am I going to do that?” He looked inside once more and sighed. “Why again?”

"Get creative, Nightlight. Tell her you think some one was asking for her..." He had said she was alone, the undead did not want this opportunity to pass with all the questions..so many questions! "GO-go-go," she hissed, " when she comes out I will tell you everything, it  will make sense then! For Gods sake don't call attention to yourself being...well...you. Be some one else, but go!" She gave him another nudge so that he was in view now.

He stumbled at the center of the entryway and Sparky turned to look at Mora with confusion. "Did you...did you just call me a ‘nightlight?" However, he didn't bother expecting a response considering he was in plain view. Clearing his throat, Sparky pulled his black leather jacket around him tightly and took a step into the inn, hoping that by the time he approached this redhead he had something to say.

A few more steps and he smiled at her. "Um...good evening, ma'am. Nice night out, hm?" He forced a smile, although she was pleasing to the eyes.

A slow blink of her heavy lashes, and Safrona's gaze eventually slipped up from the near empty bottle of wine to the new face. It was obvious from that lazy smile that the wine had dulled her a bit, her all-too amused chuckle unravelling on a breath. "Could be...but I'm rather inside, lovely boy." Tilting her head further into the cradle of her propped fingers, a glance was given to the skylights above, her long, merlot braid slipping off her shoulder. "...ahh, there we go. Mmmm, violet as ever, day or night...can't...quite tell anymore."

She seemed like a nice woman, so Sparky began to feel guilty about lying to the woman, especially since she seemed rather tipsy. But, Mora requested it, so he obliged. “Prettier outside.” He smiled. “So, someone told me you sold wine? I have someone who wishes to purchase some, but she’s outside. Can’t walk well, and her device that tows her around doesn’t fit through the doorway.” Even he didn’t believe that lie. He hoped she was too drunk to make sense of any of it.

“Could you possibly come out and take her order? She just asked me to call for you.” He crossed his glove covered fingers and smiled at her.

"Bit late for a wine call..." Safrona murmured, her gaze again lazily making its way around the Lounge, wondering where her own company had went. A laugh bubbled out of the Sin'dorei as she mused on her own words. "Who'm I kidding? It's never too late!" There was an affectionate way about the Courier as she laughed again. "But I don't think I'm going to be able to tell the diff between a red and a white right at this horrid moment...mhaha...so...a list might be...a better way to do things, yes?" She reached for the other elf's arm and thought to squeeze it playfully if he might permit. "Help me help you and tell me what she wants, yes? And we'll put those strong arms to work..."

This was not going the way he wanted. He smiled, maybe even chuckled at her state of being, and took a breath. “Perhaps she wants both? Why don’t I carry them and you come with me? That way she can choose and you won’t lose a beat?”

Sparky smiled nervously and slowly extended his gloved hands out to her. “Here, I’ll take your bottles.” He could hear Mora laughing at him now, but this was so difficult!

Safrona looked to the empty bottle at the table and chuckled. "No...no, come now...stay with me lovely! This bottle...is...it's very empty!" The bottle was lifted from the table and playfully thrust at Sparky like a jabbed sword. "And who would have fun with any of that?"

Using the man to pull herself up from the table, she pulled him by the sleeve to the bar. "If your woman wants wine, we'll get her wiiiiine."

Rolling his eyes, Sparky helped the drunk woman up and directed her toward the door. "Did you drink all this by yourself? It's a good thing you won't spontaneously combust." He smirked and sighed. The sooner he could get her to Mora, the better for him.

The Courier laughed against the stranger's shoulder as he helped her across the Lounge, just a little unsteady on her feet. "..'t was Will's fault now, just meant to sell the damn wine, like always...! Do you know how haaaard it is to resist after...waaatching everyone else drink for a week and...holding back? It's my bloody turn!"

Another giggle, and she ruffled Sparky's hair as she slowly realized he was leading her out of the Lounge...though by the time she did they were already a foot out of the doorway. Still, the elf had started to pull away a bit to attempt to reach the bar. "Buuuut. You said your lady needs wine, yes? Business is...always rather good! She'll need all the samples, don't you think?" Apparently she was not drunk enough to completely ignore requested business.

Mora stood just within the shadows as the poor drunken Courier was guided to the door and not the bar. A wide smile that only was visible due to the fel glow within the small warlock's mouth made Mora easier to spot in the dark patch she waited in. A few imps waited by her heels, watching with greedy eyes as Sparky brought Saf fourth, which was now starting to look against her will.

" Yes! Beastie, It is your turn!..you most certainly deserve a turn," she coo'ed out and couldn't help but giggle in her excitement. She only waited momentarily for the Courier to register who's voice was speaking to her and Mora knew that even in Safrona's state, she would soon be able to tell.  "Shh shh no, no, NO questions. Just business beastie. You see I was starting to grow rather fond of you." She pulled Saf by the wrists away from Sparky, and for such a petite little monster she was rather strong when need be. Yanking the Courier down some she placed a single and very soft kiss on her lips, that was until she bit her, though it was a small bite just enough for the paralytic balm on those black stained lips to do it's job. Within a few spared seconds it would flow over the drunken courier's frame and what a help all the wine in her blood did for moving it along fast enough to keep Saf from screaming or calling for help.

" It's not good when I like someone. Its never good. Still, I will miss our late nights." She helped ease the woman down as the poison took effect." Pick her up Nightlight, we have to go now...NOW! " She hissed knowing that he was prone to asking to many questions as well and now was not the time. "I've gift wrap to pick out! " Clapping her hands in a quick excited fashion, she beckoned her imps and Sparky to follow.

He lifted the downed woman and carried her as he huffed. "Seriously? Nightlight?" He carried the Courier, trying not to step on the imps around his feet. "So, why this woman?"

Mora smiled as he fixated on what she was calling him, was cute... and that made her wrinkle her nose some. She lead them though alley ways and more vacant side streets until they were closer to the apartments. She wasn't kidding about the gift wrap. "Why not? She was dumb enough to let you pull her outside... " But she knew he wasn't going to let her slide her way out of this one with random nonsense.  She waited for him to pester her with more questions but sighed in a dramatic fashion as she walked up to the door of her housing. "I  tolllld you, she has something the king wants. Or is she the something that he wants?" Tilting her head to the side, she waved her hand dismissively in thought. In fact she wasn't all to sure still what the king would do with the Courier, but the only true part that mattered to her was.. she didn't care. He would be surprised or pleased or BOTH! And that was good enough for Mora to jump on an opportunity that his other loyal subjects did not.

"Hold onto her, I'll be right back" Mora purred, slipping inside to grab some crap to aid in the 'gift' giving ceremony. Burlap sacks and big red bows. Perfect.

Will came back down from the privy, cursing under his breath about elves who couldn't hold their liquor and locking doors. He was thankful he hadn't stepped in any of the vomit at least.

He had started back to their table when he noticed Safrona was gone. Odd. Perhaps it was her turn to the privvy, or another sale had coerced her away for a while. The damned woman had thrown herself into her business with everything she had. Thus the rogue sat, pouring the dregs of the wine into his glass and gulping it down. Will had time to kill until she returned and he used it wording how he would tell her the good news of exactly why he'd been spending so much time with his wife and daughter.

[foreverdaystudies]

{5/40 DoP} ~ 5/11/2017 ~ Cambridge, UK ~ Work-Life Balance at Cambridge (aka living in the procrastiNATION and how I hope to move to productiCITY)

Do you know what the most common, most stereotypical prayer request is at Cambridge? Balance. And believe me, as a rep this year I’ve been to enough prayer meetings to attest to this. Everyone is busy. Everyone is trying to figure out how to work dawn to dusk. 

For example, this week, I had a supervision (teaching session) scheduled from 8-9pm, and that was only an hour later than “normal” teaching hours. So I could start my contact hours at 9am and finish them after 9pm. There simply isn’t a line between work and free time. This year I will regularly have supervisions on a Saturday and  I’m likely to have a few on a Sunday as well. There is no such thing as a holiday or vacation, their technical term is “non-teaching periods”. The learning is expected to go on, day in, day out.

But did I work 12.5 hours on that day? In the words of the Village Voice, No Way, José. There were several gaps in the schedule, an hour between lectures, a few between the practical finishing and the start of supervisions. Unlike Byron’s Beauty of the Night my day was not all in goodness spent. I actually deleted the app from my phone which tells me how much time I waste on the internet. It made me feel too bad. Instead I’ve taken to timing when I’m actually working. I get up to make a cup of tea/coffee/juice/mocha/smoothie/etc/etc (There have been a few times I’ve been worried I was giving myself water poisoning, but that’s another story) and stop the clock, start it again when I sit down and concentrate. Stop for Facebook/Twitter/Tetris break. I don’t count contact hours, and on a really good day I get 3 hours of solid extra work in. Often it’s a lot less. 2 hours is pretty average, but 1 is not uncommon. 

So where does the rest of the time go? Some days it is more in goodness spent than others. Thursdays I am in sessions from 10-4pm solidly, then with 2 hours of supervisions that evening. That is 8 hours of other people directing my attention and when I get back to my room I am t i r e d. I was interested to read how some cultures view concentration not as something that can be depleted, but something that as you use it, it increases. The study found that for those people their concentration was better after a tricky maths problem, while those in the Western world who view it as a pot that dries up, it was worse. Although I want to change my perspective to that of it increasing (and the concept of flow has been shown to be so. true. in my study) I’m not quite there. I really don’t feel like I can force my brain to focus indefinitely. Some days it’s hard to get it to focus at all, for any length of time.

A significant proportion of time it has to be said goes on procrastination. Worse when I’m tired, but sometimes I’m feeling fresh, ready to work, and the siren call of the internet is too loud to resist. It also is a l o t worse if I view the task as too difficult for me. 

My neuro essays are a prime example of this. I don’t understand the material and now you want me to explain, expand, re-utilise the information for 4 pages??? How about I just put that off until it can’t be put off and then put it off a bit longer??? (I have yet to email one neuro essay in on time and this is mostly due to the childish “I really don’t wanna do ittttt, it’s too haaaard :( :( :(” feeling that paralyses me a bit)

The 2 main ways I’m trying to combat procrastination that are new this year (i.e. I feel like every site tells you similar things so I’m excluding them, like I’ve been breaking up the task into chunks for yonks gimme some new inspo) are both based around fighting my night-owl-ness. I.e.:

Giving myself the sleep schedule of a toddler. 

REGULAR & CONSISTENT bedtimes and wake up times. 

NAPS if my brain is fuzzy and can only work on low-function & I’m needing high-function learning/working to take place.

getting up before lectures to do some work before I’m tired 

One term in, and there have been a few problems with this so far:

it can be hard to maintain if you want to go out and socialise during the evening (i.e. when everyone is socialising) bcuz a) you’re going to be out later than 10pm so byebye schedule, and b) you’re going to get tired and yawny and sleepy way earlier than everyone else (I just feel like a real party pooper if I’m saying no to everything bcuz it’s “too late”. FOMO is real man)(Also, I like people, I like seeing them and socialising, I just don’t love clubbing or how I feel the morning after going to bed after 2am)

not waiting until you’re UTTERLY EXHAUSTED to go to bed means that you spend a fair amount of time waiting to fall asleep. I really can’t stand this. You can’t think anything that’s going to keep you awake (i.e. absolutely no replaying conversations with your supervisors and thinking of new ways to defend yourself against their un/fair criticisms, no thinking about how to kindly reject that well meaning boy, no planning outfit/meals for tomorrow) and so I just end up counting. Sometimes I count breaths, sometimes I just count. It. is. boring. Every night having to count and the more impatient you are about falling asleep the harder it is to do it. And then it’s an hour or two after you went to bed and you’re thinking “what a waste of time, and I’m going to be really tired tomorrow” which is again not conducive to sleep. Sigh. This does get a bit better if I’m really militant about consistent timings, but I have always hated going to bed. I am a night owl through and through and this feels a bit like it’s going against the core of my being (I mean, obviously an exaggeration, but my natural state is stay up late and get up late. From birth, and even before that (if you count my being my most active late at night in utero according to my mother) I find it easy to keep going late into the night, and hard to start up in the morning)

Things I’m going to try implement to help with this:

Tracking my working hours on a graph, as well as comments as to why I thought that day went well or not, so I can then do a proper evaluation and see what my personal pitfalls are (although I have my suspicions *coughlackofsleepcough*) (now I just have to find a good website to use for this).

Take. More. Naps. Like I said, I have a tendency to view sleep as a waste of time when I’m awake, and so will limp on with a fuzzy brain that is good for nothing except playing copious amounts of Tetris and not even that well because “If I sleep for an hour that’s an hour I’m not working.” But if I actually took that nap I could then work for the hour after that, rather than spending 3 hours doing nada. Also: more sleep in general

Pimp my phone. And by that I mean:

Have a playlist of educational YouTube videos to click on during the week instead of instantly going for the low-engagement vlogs etc. That way the legwork is done for me (and I want to make it as easy as possible for me to make the right choice).

Anki cards. I kind of went off Anki (after 4 years of being their top cheerleeder -.-) because they just took Too. Long. to make for such a content heavy course and I couldn’t get through all the lectures and I ended up panic-reading through lectures for the VERY FIRST TIME SINCE THE LECTURE the night before the exam and it was very stressful and unhappy-making and I told myself never again, and I will have to by hook or by crook find a way of being faster this year which I thought meant giving up flashcards. HOWEVER, I do feel that for learning drugs and anatomy they would be pretty useful- and since I spend too much time procrastinating on YouTube on my phone if I have some flashcards on there I can at least do a little bit of work while watching something pointless (the ability to have a mini internet screen on top of other apps is one of my fave features of the LG phone it has to be said) and even if my attention isn’t 100% it’s better than 0%.

Less multitasking. Despite the last bullet point I want to do less, but better. Sometimes (esp with neuro essays) I feel like there’s no way to actually get through it than to write a sentence, flick onto Facebook, write a sentence. Mini-rewards for getting through a hard thing, however slowly. But for a lot it just slows me down a lot. And it would be nice to not do it.

So here’s hoping. I don’t know whether I’m actually getting any more productive as I get older or not (another reason for the tracking) but it would be really nice to be more efficient (which would then let me have better designated “off” times, and just be happier/less stressed generally.)

PRAYING FOR A MINI-MIRACLE.