#we have another character who sounds like 9-volt

[sabraeal]

Not Necessarily a Virtue

[Read on AO3]

Obiyuki AU Bingo 2021 Practical Magic AU

There hadn’t been a plan when Obi picked up the phone.

All it had taken was one rogue text-- another case assigned to his social worker, one that was enough of an emergency that it his behavioral issues seem tame in comparison. Her chair rattles when she stans, its plastic back hitting the filing cabinets with a metallic tang, but her hands tremble more.

“This will be just a minute,” she says, smile plastered tight to her face. And then she leaves him there alone, his file open on her desk, flaws left out for the world to see.

It doesn’t bothered him. There’s no point, not when he already knows: he’s trouble with a capital-T, each failed family drawing him closer and closer to being unplaceable. Some people have a face only a mother could love, but Obi-- Obi has that for his personality. Though considering how each of his six almost-moms signed him away with a sigh of relief, walking out the plate glass doors without even a glance back, maybe he has the sort of personality that makes people reconsider whether they could be a mother.

So here he is again, freshly abandoned, back in the sterile halls of social services for the seventh time without a place to call home. He’s not even twelve.

Not that these people aren’t trying to change that-- he’s not some cat left at the shelter, free to a good home. Unless Kerry or Janine or the girl at the desk he didn’t get to read the name tag of wanted to sleep on their couch, they have to find someone to take him for the night. And he knows from experience, there’s always a family that believes they can change him. A young couple who thought all problem children needed was just a little extra love. By the time Kerry came back, there’d be good news waiting, a miracle crafted by three people who didn’t want to miss the Masked Singer finale. They’d pack him into the back of a car and ship him off to a new place to fail. Because no matter how many homes they tried to make for him, it’d never change how he felt.

Obi had tried, at first. He was just a little kid, wanting to be loved, but every home he went to itched like hives in his head, a constant buzz that set his teeth on edge and made him do anything, try anything to leave. He belonged somewhere else, somewhere not here, and he knew it like he knew Kerry’s other case had overdosed on a bottle of sleeping pills in his foster mother’s cabinet-- with an inexplicable certainty.

He waits thirty seconds after she leaves before he slides off the the plastic seat she’d put him in. They love these things, oddly shaped and in primary colors that make the little kids giddy, but Obi hates them. He’s undersized, and putting him in these kiddie rooms always makes people treat him like he’s eight instead of eleven, asking him about Blue’s Clues.

But that’s not why he gets up, not entirely. There’s a buzzing in the back of his brain, a knowing, and it makes him stand, his hand straying to the glass door. He can’t see anything outside, at least not anything besides more kiddie chairs and offices, but he steps out nonetheless. He steps out and, unerringly, turns to face the girl waiting for him down the hall.

“It’s you.” Her tawny hair stresses the elastic she’s trapped it in, too thick. It’s not one of those hair ones either, but one of those thick rubber bands they use on the produce in grocery store. It hurts; he knows because it’s common sense, but also because he just...Knows. Their eyes meet, and even though he doesn’t her name, they’ve known each other forever.

His mouth is dry when he asks, “Do you know me?”

“I saw you in a dream.” She takes a step toward him, her sneakers scuffed and worn, just like his. “You’re Obi. I’m Torou.”

He doesn’t know this girl. There’s a hundred ways she could get his name; one of them is sitting on a desk behind him right now. But when she looks up at him with eyes he’s only ever seen in the mirror, he holds out his hand. “Come here.”

His heart pounds with each mincing squeak of her sneakers on the tile. She’s taking too long and she’s coming too fast; each terrible second convinces him he’s making a mistake at the same time he’s doing what he was always meant to do. By the time she slips her hand into his, he’s trembling, but it doesn’t matter because they both are and this--

This is right. And he knows exactly what to do.

It’s holding her hand that he picks up the phone. He fucks it up the first time-- he gets that gross digital buzz before he notices the sticker beneath the speaker, informing him 9 dials out-- but the second one his fingers guide him, releasing the number he has no reason to know. A number he has no reason to believe will work, that could have just come from the weird recesses of his mind but--

But he’s not surprised when a man picks up. “Who is this? Do you know what time--?”

“We’re here,” Obi says, and it shouldn’t be enough, but it is. “Come pick us up.”

A specter arrives on the front walk at noon.

Obi knows by the hush in the office. Or really the weight of it-- it’s been quiet like this since last night, since he and Torou sat down on the big bean bag couch in the waiting room, and Obi announced they wouldn’t be letting go. His case worker had crouched in front of them, that sweet smile plastered to her lips, and told him that they’d only have to be separated for a night. But he’d known-- the way he always did-- that every word was a lie. His fingers tightened in her grip, narrowing his eyes until the woman shivered, and that was that.

Kerry stayed with them, of course; she’d slept in her office, under a blanket it’s clear she’s never used and had only just discovered wasn’t comfortable no matter how many Sesame Street characters were on it. They’d been tucked under another by a younger girl with trembling hands, her eyes darting between them as she smoothed out its edges. He’d heard them through the walls this morning while the rest of the office filtered in-- government buildings like this were always cutting corners, leaving things like this paper thin, stuff that would go up like tissue in a fire.

Do you think they’re twins? one asked. Trembling hands, he guesses, since her voice does as well, like a chihuahua in a sweater. I’ve heard about this happening with twins. They look and just know.

Can’t be, we have their birth certificates, says another. Kerry, probably; she might be a liar, but she’s one of the only people in this place that has her head screwed on right, too. Two different sets of parents.

And the man they called last night? This one is stern; their manager maybe. He’s not really sure how this all works; he’s not even twelve, and he can only just know so much. Who is he?

There’s a heavy pause. I...I don’t know.

So when he arrives, dressed like an undertaker and holding an umbrella beneath the bright New Mexico sky, the whole place goes quiet. When he walks it’s stiff, like it took a hundred volts to get him up off the table and he’s only just gotten used to the idea. Obi casts a look down at Torou, at where her hand is white knuckled in his, and thinks about how he knows things, and wonders just what she might be able to do.

The man enters, umbrella folding in a single neat motion, before he says. “I am Lata Forenzo. I believe you have my...niblings.”

Niblings, Obi learns, is like siblings, only sideways.

“It was a simplification,” Lata says, his voice a deep, hesitant gravel. He casts a speculative look at the taxi driver, adjusting the gloves on his hands. “Niece and nephew is an unwieldy phrase, and time, after all, is of the essence.”

“Is it?” Torou’s eyes are wide, and for the first time since last night, her hand leaves his, gripping on to the cloth at Lata’s knee. “Is there something after us? Those bugs, they’re not--”

“No.” Obi’s known his uncle for barely more than a half hour, but he knows he isn’t a tactile person. Even still, Lata looks down at Torou, his not-gold eyes somehow softer, and puts two fingers over the bones at the back of her hand. “But it is time to bring you home.”

Home is an island. It takes the whole night to fly in, and when they land the sun is just barely scratching the sky. Even still, there’s no stopping; Lata bundles them straight into a cab, shushing them before they can make much more than a peep.

“We’ll be home soon,” he says, and the next time he wakes them, salt stings Obi’s nose, and he’s being carried over a threshold.

“Are we here?” he slurs. The house is weird-- angular, really, with a hall so narrow he could kick out a leg and stop them up like a cork. He nearly does, just to be cussed, but he catches Torou still wrapped up in her blanket, lolling on the couch, and says instead, “Can you let me down?”

Lata hesitates, fingers stiff where they wrap around his knees and shoulders, but he nods.

Obi’s feet-- just wearing socks now, somehow-- press on the floor, and he knows: he’s home.

“Oh,” he breathes, hands flying out to steady himself. “Oh.”

When he looks up, Torou’s eyes meet his, round and wide. “I felt that.”

Her own feet swing down-- bare-- and the moment she touches the wide old planks--

“Oh.” Lata braces himself against the wall, the sound bitter on his lips. “So it’s true. There will always be two.”

They aren’t his words, Obi knows, but they’re important. They’ve got that feel, the same as when Torou said she dreamed of him. The sort that are going to be life-changing, one way or another.

But Obi’s had enough of that today. Enough of it for a lifetime. He glances over at Torou, and she nods. “Can we go outside?”

Lata blinks, eyes pulling from the wallpaper to fix on him. After a long moment, he says, “You know where the door is.”

Obi does, somehow, and when he opens it--

It’s paradise.

Home has rules too, loads of them. It’s quiet time from nine to eight, though Lata doesn’t much care if they’re sleeping, so long as they’re in bed. Teeth have to be brushed twice a day-- he’d glowered when Obi said he had good teeth and only needed the once, standing over him for a week morning and night to see the rule stuck. There’s only one dessert after dinner; Obi balked at that one, until he’d learned that a limit on quantity wasn’t the same thing as size. He and Torou find three old sundae dishes in the cabinet and pile them high with ice cream and every topping they can find, and when they slap Lata’s down in front of him, cheeks bulging with their own towers of sweets, all he’d does is give them that small, reluctant twitch of a smile and dig in.

They have to make their beds and pick up after themselves-- this house has treated us well, Lata tells them, it’s only right we take care of it in return-- and they have to tell him if they plan to play in the yard; but in return their sheets are always clean, and dinner’s promptly at six. When they come back in, sweaty and exhausted from the summer heat, there’s always a bowl of fruit waiting for them and cold drinks.

He’d known, in the way he always does, that this couldn’t last. So when summer’s heat began to cool, he’s not surprised to see Lata waiting on for them on the veranda, mouth pulled into an even grimmer line.

“It’s time,” he says, “for a Family Meeting.”

“School,” Lata says with the sort of relish and derision only a professor like him can summon up, “is starting. Which means there are new rules.”

Fingers brush at Obi’s, and when he reaches out, Torou’s fingers knit in his. He knows what rules these will be-- his parents had them to, the only ones they’d ever made. His mother had gotten down on her knees the night before kindergarten, nails digging into his shoulders, and used a voice so dark, so unlike her, he’d dreamed of button eyes staring into his for a week. His father had tossed out their Coraline DVD after that.

“Forenzos,” Lata starts, already sounding weary, “look after each other. So you’ll walk together, both ways, and if one of you gets into trouble--” he fixes them both with a stern look-- “I expect both of you to run.”

Obi stares. “What?”

“You’ll come back right after school, unless we have previously discussed plans,” Lata continues. “You’re far too young for...cellular phones, so I expect that if you make plans with friends, you will discuss them with me the night previous, or you will come home first and ask permission. Not,” he murmurs, just barely audible, “that I expect you’ll have much trouble with that.”

“Is that...” Obi’s jaw works. “Is that all?”

“I expect you to keep up your grades.” Lata’s brow furrows, taking them in, as if he’d never once questioned whether or not they would be stellar students. As if most people don’t look at the both of them and see future high school flunk outs. “If they are slipping, I’m afraid I’ll have to limit your free time until we are able to bring them back to an acceptable level. Homework is to be done at the table, and once you are done, your time is yours until dinner.”

Torou’s hand squeezes his. “We?”

Lata blinks. “Excuse me?”

“You said ‘we.’“ She clear her throat, eyelashes fluttering with nerves. “If our grades are bad, you said we would, uh, fix them.”

“Of course.” His mouth pulls at the corners, annoyed. “How could I possibly ask you to rectify such a thing on your own? You’re already doing the best you can, if you still struggle, then it’s clearly something we both-- oh my,” he murmurs mildly, “she’s leaking.”

“Sorry,” she sobs, pink burning on her cheeks, the way it never did on his. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no.” Lata flails out, yanking a tissue from the box, shoving it into her hand. “I just...hope that you find this all fair. I was always quite good at school, but my sisters--” he glances at them, wary-- “varied. I hope I can only...encourage you to your best.”

“But what about...” Obi snaps his teeth around the words. If he doesn’t ask, then it won’t become a rule, and his uncle can’t be disappointed when he breaks it.

The pictures on the wall prove that they’re family, that Lata truly is his mom’s brother, even if they don’t share much more than a hair color. But Obi’s never seen it, the way he does in pictures of Torou’s mom, where there’s a flick of the hand or a cock of a hip that says they spent their childhood together, inextricably intertwined forever in ways they would never understand.

But Lata raises a brow now, and he sees it, that small thread that ties him to his mom, that says brother. “About...?”

“The other stuff,” Torou blurts out, coughing down a sniff. “He wants to know what we...”

Her words peter out too, like she can’t figure out what to do with them. He can’t stop knowing, and she can’t stop dreaming, and the thought of having to pretend they can is...tiring this time, in a way it never was in the system.

His mouth wraps around the words with a curious sort of wonder. “Other stuff?” 

“You know,” she mutters, so small. “The weird stuff.”

Lata jolts in his chair, spine as straight as a poker. His hands press flat against his knees, and when he looks at them, the gray in his eyes in thunderous.

“This is the most important rule,” he tells them, voice oddly resonant, “you must follow it. Promise me.”

Obi’s heart sinks into his stomach, but he nods, fingers squeezing Torou’s tighter.

Lata’s hand presses heavy on his shoulder, leather flexing over cotton. “Don’t ever hide yourselves. Not for anything. Not for anyone.” Obi dares to look up, and Lata’s gaze is waiting to catch him. “Being...normal is not necessarily a virtue. There is no shame in being who you are, none at all.”

Or what you are, he doesn’t say, but his eyes do, loud and clear. He doesn’t say what that is either, but--

Obi knows. Just like he always does.

And if he didn’t, well-- he would have found out soon enough.

It’s a small island; small enough that K-12 are all squeezed into one school, though Lata tells them that by the time they go to senior high, they might have built another. It’s still not small enough for Torou and him to be in the same class, so he drops her off at the door with promises to find her at lunch and moseys down to his own. It puts him a little behind schedule, the school bell ringing on his heels, and when he steps in--

The room goes silent. Twenty pairs of eyes stare at him, round and wide, not a single person daring to do much more than breathe.

“Forenzo,” the teacher says, faint. “You must be...the Forenzo boy.”

“Yeah.” He grips at his shoulder. “Obi.”

“You can take your seat...at the back,” she says, before hurrying to the board, eager to put her back to him.

“I thought my mom said all the Forenzos died,” a boy whispers as he passes. “Except the old man, of course.”

“No, they just left,” says the one next to them. “Chased out. Because they’re, you know...”

Obi does; he always had, even before he had a word for it.

“I don’t think a boy can be a witch,” a girl says, thoughtless and thoughtful at the same time. “They’re wizards, or something.”

“Warlocks,” scoffs another. “Don’t you know anything? And they do blood magic with little girls--”

Obi grits his teeth, eyes forward. There’s two empty chairs in the back, one in the corner by the window, and the other next to it, and he steers toward that one-- window seats always get him in trouble--

And the boy next to it scoots away, fear bright in his eyes. Obi looks back at the teacher, but she’s writing her name on the board real slow, like she’s hoping this might solve itself.

Fine, he can take a hint. He takes the window, sliding in behind the desk. The girl in front of him scoots forward too, making sure her chair doesn’t touch his desktop, and he sighs. At least they’re all getting this out of the way first.

A bag drops, right next to his seat.

“Ms Kino!” There’s a girl there, smaller than everyone else, though her voice makes her twice as tall. In the morning sun, her hair burns bright like the horizon. “Can I change my seat?”

“Shirayuki?” The teacher blinks back at them, and Obi could swear she breaks into a cold sweat. “Shirayuki, I’m not sure that’s--”

“I can’t see the board from over there,” she says, every syllable digging in its heels. “There’s glare. Because I’m so small.”

Ms Kino squints back at her, and really-- there’s no denying how small she is, at least a head below Obi and he’s nothing to write home about either. “If you’re sure...”

“Great.” She drops into her seat with a thump as loud as thunder, setting out her notebook and pencil with the sort of purposeful efficiency that says there’s no doubt she’s here to stay.

Obi slips his out of his backpack too, so quiet so the other kids will stop looking at him like he’s going to set the place on fire, but he hears, “You’re new, right?”

He looks down, and there’s the girl, smiling across the aisle. “Yeah. I’m--”

“Obi, I heard.” She leans toward him. “I’m--”

“Shirayuki.” His mouth twitches. “I also heard.”

Her smile stretches towards a grin. “You know, Ms Kino likes group projects.”

He blinks. “Does she?”

She nods. “Would you like a partner?”

“She hasn’t assigned one yet,” he says, a little lost.

“She will,” this Shirayuki says, confident. The way he is, when he knows.

He nods, slow. “All right, so for the next one.”

“To start.” She fixes him with a look he can’t get out from under. “Are you eating lunch with someone?”

“Ah, yeah.” He feels guilty about it now, for some reason. “My um. Cousin.”

She brightens. “Great. I’ll show you guys the best place to sit.”

He’s been adopted, he realizes, like the way the cats around the house aren’t. And this girl means to keep him.

For once in his very short life, Obi doesn’t mind knowing. Just like he always does.

[overx]

you also get 29 but this time I am asking YOU about Soulbound

29. what are your honest thought about your muse’s canon?

[[I can't believe you'd do this to me oh my god.

Okay, look, when you build the canon from the ground up there are a lot of thoughts to have, and a lot of bias, so please understand when most of this is just talking about the worldbuilding.

I'm going to start by saying the Soul-Bound timeline and universe is BIG. Stupid big. We have a lot of characters in there who aren't even on our blogs. We ended up tying in (almost) every fantasy AU we ever made over the years into it at one point or another, and we've known each other for... 8 or 9 years. So when I say I won't be able to fit everything into this ask, I need you to understand the scope of that.

For this I'm going to narrow in on our Pantheon (like Cris' Mor) as well as the Infernals (like Volt) and Angels, and the general magic system. I think that's a lot easier to work with than every single character and where they fit in the timeline. So I'll be using those recognizable characters to explain the concepts.

[[Edit: Future Kara here, I got into this and realized it was so long I... did not make it to a bunch of other basic world building concepts so you're gonna have to live with info about the Gods and a few other non mortal creatures. Remind me sometime to do a write about about the magic and "sight" systems because they do not fit in this ask.]]

Please note a lot of the major pantheon characters started out as alternates of more main muses (Like MZ or Rock) in a sort of deities AU. We've actually KEPT this to some degree, so mortal versions of our Pantheon return their knowledge and experiences to their deity counterpart when they die in various universes. This sort of ties into a major plot element since, even the Gods themselves have an antagonist they're dealing with-- one which is attempting to collapse the multiverse itself in pieces-- and this helps them grow stronger as well as learn more about major threats like I mentioned above. Interacting with these characters does come with some metagaming as a result, so if anyone sounds fun for interesting, please bear that in mind.

So to start with the Pantheon itself. Most people aren't likely to see/encounter the likes of Life and Death, or other big concepts like Fate or Reality. Typically even if these Gods are around, most characters literally cannot see them. Though these Gods can appear visibly to mortals if they choose, they almost always prefer not to (though they can be viewed by those who travel TO their respective realms, more on that later). They will interact with muses who have big roles in the multiverse though, like @codedhopes Enigma aka Mr. Time Police as an example.

Gods who CAN be viewed by regular people under certain conditions are those like Morozko for example, who is the God of Winter, and more tied to physical reality as we understand it. Mor can still choose if he's visible or not on a whim like others (so he may straight up disappear from a conversation he doesn't like), but folks with certain types of sight for "seeing the unseen" can notice him without Mor intending it at times. He and others like him may even take on the appearance of a human to walk among people, so Gods at his level aren't really opposed to interacting with people if it strikes their fancy. Most of the deities in our pantheon find living creatures fascinating so this isn't all that uncommon for them.

As a general rule, our Gods exist in multiple timelines to some degree. It's less like having real actual doubles and alternates (like Vile meeting Vile), and more like if the same consciousness simply existed in multiple times and places simultaneously. This gets a bit abstract since time is NOT linear for them at all, so the same version of Mor someone meets in the dark ages will have the knowledge that Mor of the present of even the future Mor does (mostly). The only exception to this is knowledge of personal events. So Mor wouldn't know for example, when or if he encounters a specific person until it 'happens' to him, but at that point all iterations of Mor would have that knowledge.

It's very complicated. It also means that if one version of Mor or another God ceased to exist (say, like in the GodHunter timeline with Kane and Rho) it wouldn't really change anything for Mor on the whole since he's literally everywhere in our worlds regardless.

Below the gods in our canon is when you get to Infernals (otherwise known as Demons) like Volt. In Soul-Bound, these creatures come from the "Inferno", and actually work directly for Death himself meriting out the fates of souls (this doesn't even get into contracts and wish granting). There isn't really a 'satan' or 'lucifer' in our canon, which really just makes those jokes funny or annoying depending on the demon you're talking to.

So all this essentially means even the most basic demons are VERY powerful in Soul-Bound, and demons STILL have a hierarchy of power amongst themselves on top of that (yet another item for another post). The strongest demons could easily challenge demi/half gods with no issue, and might even last a few rounds with an actual God (though few of them are dumb enough to try). So while I let Voluntas be casual and silly at times, keep in mind he has some intense magical power at his disposal.

But yes, the Inferno is Death's realm. So a character visiting this area (alive or dead) would be able to see Death and any other creature lurking here no matter how otherwise normal or not attuned to magic/souls/etc a character would be otherwise. This would be the same in paradise (Life's realm). Think of deities and high level magical creatures as existing in different plains as well as ours at the same time, and VISITING their native realm essentially puts you in the same place as them, as you would be with anyone else on earth. From here, things are a little case by case basis, but very old and powerful fae/and magical creatures sit equal to some demons, while newer ones would be just below on the scale of power/abilities.

This post is already getting super long so I'll do another one some other time about the different types of "sight" and what it takes to be aware of magical creatures and entities besides the Gods themselves.

What you need to know in the scale of creatures now is about Angels. They are NOT servants of Life, the way demons serve Death. They are a construct made completely from the pure belief of mortals (this is hard to summarize as it touches on how emotions and mentality effect magic in our world).

The basic TLDR is enough people believe in the concept of these creatures that they just started to exist. However, as they are unnatural entities not intended by the powers that be, they don't have their own sources of magic/power.

Angels in soul-bound EAT other magical creatures and entities in order to fuel themselves. They will even attack the actual Gods given the chance. They simply absorb whatever they touch, which is actually what happened to Volt's face.

A soul-bound mechanic that makes this important is that while magic and physical weapons can still injure anyone, permanent damage won't be sustained to most magical/immortal creatures if the power/intensity is lower than their own level. So a lot of fae and demons can recover from grievous injuries easily if the thing that attacked them has less overall strength. Angels are the only creatures that ignore this rule since they literally ABSORB the power of others.

This post doesn't even touch on humans and magic because it's so long, but I hope this is the info dump you were looking for <3]]

[monkey-network]

WarioWare The Series: The Final Season Episodes

28 episodes. Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4

* = Episodes submitted by @doodlefox-beta ** = Episode submitted by @ichigo-milk

A Bottle of Soda: After the chaos that was the previous season, all Wario wants is a bottle of his favorite drink. Yet all of Diamond City has stopped selling it, so the big guy sets out to find some before he blows his stack.

Yellow and Black Beebop: Mona and Jimmy T work together to help the bee population, but they succeed too well. Now DC is stuck in a swarmaggeddon, and everyone tries to come up with a way to stop it without getting back to square one.

Dancing with the Demons: It’s Ashley’s first school dance, so she lets Red go in her place. Seems like a good idea as Red becomes the popular one at the hall, but things go sour when a witch child wants him as her servant.

WarioWare, The Anime: Ana becomes obsessed with this new book series and starts to imagine the world of Diamond City as the one in the book. Suddenly she’s thrusted into a quest to save the geisha Mona from the clutches of the Tengu mastermind Big Belly with the help of Cricket.

CatDogFish: Master Mantis and Dribble decide to hang out together by going fishing, which slowly causes a rift between the latter and Spitz. Though Spitz tries to redeem their friendship by catching the most vicious fish around.

Sand Turismo: 9 and 18-Volt wake up in a limo, alone, outside the city limits. There’s mystery afoot, and dinner to get back to, no time to lose!

The Word: Orbulon accidentally says the one word you must never say in public, and this forces the gang to shun him as does everyone in Diamond City. This forces Orbulon on a journey of self discovery to understand the rights and wrongs of speech.

Zine Machine: Lulu and Penny start making a magazine which becomes a huge hit. Such a big hit, that all of Diamond City start to rely on them for the latest of info. Then again, the stuff in this paper was imaginary from the start and the two can only make up so much before things get out of hand.

Michael Checks in: The Gang check in at a hotel where a dog show is taking place. Dr. Crygor wants in on the competition, but doesn’t have a dog. This is where Mike steps up to the plate… helping him build the perfect doggo.

How to Get Away with Dinner: 5-Volt turns detective when her special dinner for the gang turns out into a food fight and yet nobody knows who started it.

Wafted Dimensions (Part 1): Dr. Crygor’s new invention unfortunately creates a crack in space time, forcing each member to live through their most horrible moments of the series. This time, it’s up to an familiar outside force to save everyone.

Wafted Dimensions (Part 2): Wario turned out to be all by himself after the incident struck and has found the door back to the original dimension. Yet struggles to reach it when distractions hit him hard.

Prank Note: While hanging out at Ashley’s manor, Penny, Lulu and the Ninja twins find a journal with the ability to prank someone hardcore just by writing their name on it. Fun ensues until they hurt the wrong person at the wrong time, and this time it’s not Wario.

Lemon: Lemons have warped the fabric of reality to become the rulers of the world and it’s up to the gang to stop. That is, if they can overcome the catchy song by Lemon Demon.

Moonman Magic: A new alien stops by and is able to charm everyone except Orbulon. Is there an alterior motive behind it all? Or is he just a nice guy? Whatever may be, Crygor himself has devi- scientific plans for this new speci... creature.

Lethal Age: One of Crygor’s rejects sets off, making everyone age at a rapid rate. It’s up to the kids, now adults, to set things right. Or namely Penny, what can the others do really?

Automobile Training Video: Dribble and Spitz make a educational video on how to fix, improve, and tame your ride. Wait, tame?

Censored Love: A grumpy exec from the Bureau of Fun Cease & Desists finds Wario both crude, a vile being, and an apologetically attractive guy. He’s enamored with Wario’s “charm” and this makes Mona green with envy. So she tries to stop him while preventing Diamond City from turning into a pixelized graveyard.

Polterguts*: When a demon summoning goes horribly wrong and Ashley is possessed, Wario is forced to call upon a familiar green figure in order to help bring the entity out. The monster isn't content on leaving the physical plane, however, forcing Luigi and a few other members of the cast to think outside of the box...

Bass & 8-Bit: 13-Amp wants a change in her rhythmic style, but is having a hard time finding something original. So she turns to 18-Volt for guidance and he gives her the key place for a potential new sound: the arcade.

Minion Union: The Fronks decide to unionize when a new toy is sweeping the city to the point of annoyance. However, they don’t know how to run an actual union, so they speculate on what a union is.

Yep, This is Totally the Final Episode*: An extremely destructive hurricane is heading straight towards Diamond City and nearly everyone enters the "let's reminiscence about our lives before we get swept up" phase...except for the Crygor and Orbulon, who are trying to construct a device to block the hurricane from touching the city at all because this is definitely the final episode. Mmmhmm, the final one. The one episode that is truly final. That final episode.

Mike & the Bidding Tree: Mike turns from music to a luck machine when a lightning strikes grants him the ability to see probability and uses this to become the empirical king of gambling.

The Heroes Unite: Lulu, with the help of Kat & Ana, 9 & 18 Volt, Penny, and Red for one final heroic quest: finish her cho- I mean, CONQUER THE SEVEN TRIALS OF MOMADIA!

A Blossoming Story: Rejected from another job opportunity, a young woman comes across the gang and they each give her a dose of what it means to be determined.

Mario Party** (Part 1): An old rival of Wario comes to Diamond City for a parade celebration and everyone grows a liking to him, indirectly making Wario feel inferior and unwelcome to the point where he leaves town for good. (Un)fortunately he leaves at a convenient time when things go from good to bad.

Smash Party Ultimate Crusade (Part 2): Evil dopplegangers invade Diamond City and Mario calls upon the many characters of Nintendo to help stop the demonic lords responsible. The WarioWare gang however try to get out of dodge knowing most of them aren’t fit or interested in this massive fight. Meanwhile, Wario laments with his dopplegangers about how he’s acted throughout the series.

WarioWare Forever (Part 3): Ashley merges with Galeem and Dharkon to become the ultimate demon sorceress and plans to sees the universe to her liking. And for this finale, it will be up to Wario to show her what she’s been burying deep down all this time. Mayhem, friendship, and tears are bound to this one last hurrah, so don’t miss out.

Monkey’s note: I’d like to thank the many who liked and shared these posts. Apologies for the long wait. A lot of thought and heart went into these for a game IP I honestly love. Especially love that I got requests for episodes to put in these posts, that was a surprise to me really. Above all, if you get a chance to read this, hope you have a good day.

Oh ye, and I’ll see to continue this with another series I’ve had in mind for a while. But I’ll cross that bridge at a later time.

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 9]

All eight badges earned, so what does that leave?

Pirates.

Team for the task?

Vertex (Luxray)

Caspet (Gengar)

Stormy (Metagross)

Photon (Rayquaza)

Nessy (Milotic)

Diego (Gardevoir)

...Those who did not participate in the last Gym, raise hands or whatever you have in place of hands for grinding.

#LET ME LEAVE THE GYM WITHOUT A CONVERSATION GEN 5 CHALLENGE.

Colress, I swear, if you pull a Euicine and make me fight you for the honor of not fighting the Terrakion...

He does not. He gives us a toy and basically says to check out the cave that I need Strength to go through more thoroughly. The Giant Chasm pirates are still blocking my way, so.

Siiiiiigh.

Box crew! What have you got for me!

I will take out Bessy, the level 33 Miltank, and teach her Strength.

Bessy is Modest and somewhat vain, but that doesn’t matter because she’s just here for HMs. She’s temporarily taking Vertex’s place, since Vertex isn’t in need of more experience.

Ah. Actually, Strength just lets you get Toxic. Which is fine, but sorry Vertex, guess I threw you out of the squad for nothing.

Hey we found the boat!

Marlon lets us aboard. Thought: I should go put Bessy back in the box and grab Vertex in case something goes wrong. Except that would take time.

...I am going to go put Bessy back in the box and grab Vertex.

After shifting a boulder on Route 22. And grinding for a bit.

Okay. A few hours later, I am more comfortable entering the pirate ship. Team levels are now 56-60. That is absolutely a balanced assessment of my current team. It is in no way misleading.

Me!

...This is the greatest grunt ever. He calls Marlon Smiley Swimsuit. Yes. You have perfectly boiled down his character essentials.

Oh wait, he has a Watchdog.

Sorry pirate friend. We can’t be friends.

Russell, my actual friend, is trying to go on his roaring rampage of revenge. Only as a responsible big brother, not a Sasuke.

I used to have a Sasuke. No more.

...I should have named Russell Itachi. If there’s ever a next time...

I continue to find it delightful that after N leaves, Team Plasma ditches their knight theme for a pirate one. I don’t even know why, I just love it. I love knight aesthetic, I love pirate aesthetic. My castle was right next to my pirate ship for most of my childhood, and it rocked.

Though my pirates wouldn’t steal people’s pets. A key difference. Pirate in name only. Well. And clothing. Pirate is just a more fun word than sailor, and pirates have looser fashion.

Mook time over?

Technically this one isn’t stealing.

Just animal abuse.

The villain of this game is just a salty old man who spent so much time in a refrigerator he decided the rest of the world should spend time in a refrigerator, too. Then he found out his region has a legendary Dragon/Ice type, and the rest is history.

Only history I have to repeat.

Because the villain of a Pokemon game decided his winning strategy would be shooting bolts of ice down at the world below.

Video games are the greatest.

...Wait. How did me and Russell get down here? Did Team Plasma just throw us off?

Also, yes Cheren. They use everything for evil. They’re the bad guys.

And then Cheren asks where the people Zekrom and Reshiram recognized are and. I wonder if he misses his friend. his best friend, [last game protagonist]. How much does it suck that he spent a full game with [person], and now they’ll never see each other again because [person] is bound to a different dimension. A world Cheren can’t touch.

Canon has, what. Red who comes back? Every other protagonist kind of just. vanishes as far as future references to that world are concerned. And Red spends quite some time up on a mountain. Alone.

These games are all about people who swoop in and birth legends, then vanish.

I made myself sad.

Anyway, to the Giant Chasm!

Totally bro.

Aw crud. Do I need Strength? I think I might need Strength. Can I mayhaps avoid that?

Oh. I could just go down the giant stairs.

Wow. Talk about your parties.

ONE MORE TIME ON THE BOAT.

I hate password games. At least the ship supplies a doctor early on. I wasn’t to the point of active concern, but I was feeling a bit itchy about using up healing items. I haven’t grown out of my usual standard in these games where I just let everything in my party die to avoid spending money.

Agreed, let’s roll you.

This guy just keeps throwing Cryogonal at me.

You know, I don’t have a lot to complain about regarding these games and their choices. I whine about everything, but all in all, I find all of them very solid and enjoyable. Even if gen 4 has too many HM requirements wtf just stop.

This isn’t really a complaint, but it is a confusion. Zinzolin is fought multiple times in a relatively small window, and his team never changes. We just keep beating him. I get the sense that they wanted a villain, but as a sequel game to a gen that went all out on that, they didn’t really have anything they were willing to turn into a threat.

Really, I feel like a better path to pick would have been giving one of the Plasma grunts a different hat and having them be the captain of a very confused and angry crew. But eh, whatever.

....Oh. You.

Why is the most anime hair dude in the game so gosh darn forgettable?

For the sake of my flawed memory, he wants to bring out the full potential of pokemon, and is willing to us whatever means are necessary. The only question is which approach actually yields results.

I like you, Colress. I am never going to remember you, but I like you.

Good grief his theme sounds like it came out of Phantasy Star.

First up is a level 50 Magneton. Caspet’s an okay choice, so I’ll just Shadow Ball it. Magneton Thunder Waves Caspet, then uses Volt Switch to swap in Beheeyem (also level 50), who takes a Shadow Ball and dies instantly.

Sorry, ‘faints.’

A level 50 Metang is switched in next. Out of twitchiness over Caspet’s paralyzed state, I put Nessy in and go with Surf. Metang uses Agility from the red. Colress uses a Full Restore. Metang hits a Zen Headbutt, but Nessy has the last laugh.

Ugh. Colress is going to send in a Magnezone. Stormy’s the best answer to that, I think. Stormy knows Hammer Arm. It hits, but like everything I hate, Magnezone has Sturdy. A Bullet Punch handles that.

A level 52 Klinklang is next. His only thing over 50. Stormy is paralyzed thanks to Magnezone, but a Hammer Arm that hits should end it, and I don’t think Klinklang knows anything that’s a threat.

Even if Stormy feels like being paralyzed.

Only once, though. Hammer Arm + Bullet Punch does the job, and we only have that pesky Magneton left.

Hammer Arm and we are done.

Please don’t make me fight another one of these clowns. I don’t wanna.

Aw heck, Russell’s having his moment with Purrloin drama. And I guess I’m not fighting robe dude. It’s all ninja for now. With my four pokemon who aren’t paralyzed. Maybe I should have fixed that.

:(

For real though, our rival’s plotline here is pretty dang sad. He wants his little sister’s pokemon back, and by the time he finds it, it isn’t hers anymore. It’s had an entirely different life without them, probably committing crime. Because it’s been told to.

This is why you get the pirate Plasmas and the knight Plasmas. It’s fantastic that you, the protagonist, has a crew of pokemon perfectly happy fighting and doing whatever you want. But living things being forced to do whatever you want them to because you happened to throw a ball at them is pretty screwed up.

There’s not really a satisfactory conclusion to all of this, since critique of a game mechanic that is never going to stop being a game mechanic doesn’t get to start dramatic revolutions regarding that mechanic, but it’s all very sad and sobering.

That pretty ice tho.

BUT WHERE IS THE PROTAGONIST FROM THE LAST GAME.

No, but thank you N. I was not ready to die at the hands of Kyurem. Your assistance is much appreciated, and pretty great in your sequel. Props.

Gee, that looks bad.

Cue dramatic anime battle sequence.

Followed by anime transformation sequence.

Welp. Time to kill you. Let’s just hope I can.

...Stormy. I think I might want you to tackle this. To the front you go.

But really.

So damn cool.

It’s dead now, but so. cool.

There are too many fights going on. I think I wouldn’t mind in a normaly playthrough, but for a Nuzlocke, this is needlessly stressful and I am not a fan also I beat Ghetsis in the last game and it wasn’t fun then, either.

He has six pokemon, and he opens with a level 50 Cofagrigus. That is not Stormy’s friend. Nessy, if you would. Hydro Pump hits. Toxic hits from the other side, and I will deal with that in a moment, after the Cofagrigus is gone.

Ghetsis, naturally, uses a Full Restore.

Nessy handles it in the end, but is down to 73 health. Eelektross is coming out next. Time to switch. To... uh. I’ll give Photon a whirl. Feeling lucky, I use Outrage, and Eelektross faints.

Ah. Hydreigon is out next.

That is a nasty type combo for my team to deal with. I think. Geez, mark this where I have all the regrets, but Photon’s staying in to murder the Hydreigon with Outrage. Ganbatte.

IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE AND A CRITICAL HIT, GOOD JOB PHOTON.

Seismitoad is next. Diego, time for you and your Magical Leaf to shine. Shine they do, and we’re on to Drapion, which I will leave to Photon. Two Air Slashes make their mark, and all that’s left is Toxicroak, so in you stay Photon.

AND WE’RE DONE HERE, SCREW YOU GHETSIS!

But where is that certain Trainer, N????

Anyway, with that, it looks like the plot portion of this Nuzlocke is over. All that’s left is heading up to challenge the Elite Four.

I think a battle like that can have its own part.

[douxreviews]

Manifest - ‘Contrails’ Review

"The government didn't start hiding things on the day we came back.  They started on the day we disappeared."

Even paranoids can have non-imaginary enemies, and sometimes the crazy conspiracy theory is not just a theory and nowhere near crazy.  Just ask Captain Bill Daly, who was the pilot of Montego Air Flight 828 when it left Jamaica on the evening of April 7, 2013.

Last week, we saw that Captain Daly was something of a mess, more so than most of the 828ers.  As the pilot, the safety of the passengers was his responsibility, one he took very seriously.  When the plane encountered the storm/wormhole/alien spaceship/wrath of God/whatever it was, he got them through it in one piece and landed everyone safely--only to find himself being blamed for whatever it was that kicked 828 five and a half years into the future.  Add that on top of all the other stress that the "average" 828er has to deal with--finding out you were presumed dead, your loved ones remarried, and your worldly possessions were given away to Goodwill years ago, and such--and, well, if that happened to you, you'd be a mess, too.

After Cal prophecies that "the man from the plane" will need his father's help, Ben gets a call from Capt. Daly, who enlists his help.  The good Captain has determined that the official government records of the crash investigation are deliberately misleading, or at best wildly inaccurate, regarding the weather conditions.  The crash investigation report is dated April 8, 2013, just one day after the disappearance.

Ben subjects the inquiry record to one of his trademark analytical binges and discovers that a meteorologist named Roger Mencin, who was conducting observations of "dark lightening" near where 828 disappeared, was supposed to testify at a hearing, but backed out, and almost immediately took early retirement and moved to Massapequa.  They go to visit Roger, who tells them that he was pressured into erasing his data--but saved a copy just in case.  They load Roger's weather data into a 737 cockpit simulator, which gives them a pretty good replica of the storm and turbulence, but registers a crash when Daly tries to repeat the maneuver that got them through the storm.  As Ben points out, the simulator probably doesn't model time travel--but Daly just gets even more frustrated at his inability to "prove" that what he did was right, and even more convinced that Fiona Clarke is behind it all.

Meanwhile, Michaela is babysitting Cal on her day off when Autumn shows up at the apartment, asking Michaela's help in locating someone she claims stole her identity and framed her.   While Autumn is there, Ben calls Michaela and she asks him "Hey, how was Massapequa?"

The next day, Roger Mencin turns up dead in a suspiciously-timed boating accident.  Ben and Michaela go to check up on Daly, and when going through his apartment discover that he's planning to steal an airplane and fly into a storm cell looking for more dark lightening.  When they get to the airport, they find out that the airplane isn't the only thing Daly is stealing--he's kidnapped Fiona and is taking her with him!

I should mention here that while Autumn is attempting to break away from The Major's operation, her new handler is refusing to accept her resignation and putting the squeeze on her.  (The new guy  gives off the same weasel-y vibe as Autumn's previous contact, the late Lawrence Belson., and will therefore be designated "Weasel 2.0.")  While Ben and Michaela are chasing after Captain Daly, Autumn breaks in to Michaela's apartment, takes photos of Ben's research documents, and steals a page out of Cal's sketchbook.

Though Ben and Michaela do their level best to talk him out of it, Daly goes roaring into the center of the storm, pursued by two Air National Guard F-16s.  The plane is either shot down or flung forward in time, take your pick.

In reviewing the events of the day, Michaela realizes that Autumn overheard her mention Massapequa, and realizes she's the Major's mole.

And then Grace discovers that the window to Cal's bedroom is open and Cal is missing.

"828" Watch

The flight number appears on the cover of the government report.  The tail number of the stolen plane is N728PH.

Also on the manifest.....

In further developments on the romantic-triangle front, Michaela, to her credit, tells Jared that it's over between them and she will not be "the other woman."

"Dark lightning" really exists.  The technical term for it is "terrestrial gamma ray flash," a phenomenon first detected in 1994, and still not all that well understood.  They seem to propagate in and around thunderstorms, though the exact cause is still the subject of some scientific debate. A typical "TGF" lasts from 0.2 to 3.5 milliseconds (don't blink or you'll miss it!) and kicks out up to 20 million electron volts.  While "20 million volts" sounds impressive, we're talking electron volts, which are a measure of energy (and mass and momentum) in particle physics.  (They have nothing to do with the volts in your 9-volt batteries and 110-volt electrical outlets, which measure electrical potential.)  An electron volt is so small that you'd need 249,660,461,771,990,093,472.9 of them to power a 40-watt light bulb for one second.  (That's the answer I got, anyway.  Please feel free to check my math.)  I imagine it would take a lot more than that to send a Boeing airliner hurtling five years into the future through the space-time continuum.

Captain Daly drives a C2 Corvette Stingray.  Definitely a pilot's kind of car.

In the first scene with Ben and Daly in the Corvette, the car radio is playing "Midnight Rider" by The Allman Brothers: Well, I've got to run to keep from hidin'/And I'm bound to keep on ridin'/And I've got one more silver dollar/But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no, not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider. Fitting choice for Daly's theme song, given how his story arc plays out.

This week's gold star for acting goes to Frank Deal, who played Capt. Daly.  In the flashback scenes and the first act of the pilot episode, the character is snarky and supremely confident (as pilots usually are).  In the "present day" scenes in this episode and the previous one, he's a broken man--but still the same individual, and still sympathetic even at the end.  Honorable mention goes to Francesca Faridany, playing a terrified Fiona Clarke.

In the cockpit scenes during the storm, Daly says he's "increasing speed to 300 knots."  According to Wikipedia, a 737's cruise speed is in the neighborhood of 450 knots when at altitude, so how could he be increasing to 300?  He's referring to indicated airspeed, which is not the same thing as "true" airspeed.  A plane's airspeed indicator measures speed by measuring the difference between static air pressure around the plane and the pressure in the pitot tube, which points directly forward.  At cruising altitude, the air is thinner, and this causes the airspeed indicator to register something less than the speed the aircraft is actually travelling relative to a fixed point on the ground.  That 450 knot cruising speed therefore translates to something a bit below 300 knots IAS.

Massapequa is a town of 21,685 (2010 Census) on the south shore of Long Island.

According to the co-pilot, Kelly Taylor was demanding a hypo-allergenic blanket from the flight attendants.  She would do a thing like that.

I am very certain that I would not want to be Autumn Cox when Michaela catches up to her.

Quotes

Captain Daly, to his co-pilot: "I'm a cowboy.  Plane's my horse, and the sky an open desert."

Captain Daly, in his debriefing: "You don't understand.  There is no 'conventional maneuver' when a storm appears right on top of you.  And this storm was like nothing I've ever seen."

Airport guard: "Hey, hey, Captain Future! You gonna fly through the Bermuda Triangle again?"  A more prophetic statement than he realized.

Conclusion

Another good episode with a couple of annoying little details.  The Major's organization seemed uncharacteristically ham-fisted: kill the meteorologist the day after he talks to Ben Stone?  Way to draw attention to your secret operation that no one is supposed to know about and blow your mole's cover in the process!  Shoot down a plane and kill the hostage?  Not swift either, guys.  Also, I thought it a little too neat that Fiona, a neuroscientist in a narrow specialty with New Age leanings, would be conversant enough with high-end particle physics to know what dark lightening was in the first place.  (A quick scene of Fiona looking it up on Wikipedia would have been a nice touch.)  However, the episode did an excellent job portraying Captain Daly's descent into madness in a believable fashion, and I liked how Fiona Clarke, until now the very portrait of emotional equilibrium, completely lost it as she concluded she was about to die.  And the cliffhanger at the end--oh, boy!

Three out of four terrestrial gamma ray flashes.

Baby M avoids exposure to gamma rays whenever possible.

[tog84]

A Spark of Lightning

Hey! It’s my birthday and I wanted to give you all a gift! Here’s a short story that I wrote as an intro to the main character and a little bit of the world of a novel I’m writing. I hope you like it!

It is a first draft so any input is welcome.

Bash let his golden eyes fall closed as he drifted weightless in the sea. Flashes of light of every color shot through the sky in seemingly random directions, casting his olive skin in various hues. His hair floated out from his head in a green halo tickling the tips of his long, pointed ears. This was his place where he could let it all go. He wasn’t some powerful defender, protecting the Veil from those who would tear it apart. He was just Bash, ordinary guy, who happened to be able to enter computers and make places like this for himself. He also happened to be an elf.

 Well, maybe he wasn’t so ordinary…

He was, in fact, a wyrd, one of the awakened, those who are destined to use their powerful magical abilities to protect the Veil. The defense of the barrier world between Dorim, the world of the sleepers, and The Forgotten, the magical world, was of highest importance for people like him. If the Veil were to fall, chaos would rule and far too many lives would be in danger.

 In addition, he was a spark, which meant that, while other awakened had to be careful around modern technology, he could interface with it seamlessly. Thus, he was able to create his own little escapes such as this.

As he drifted, he was startled from his reverie by a message screen opening in front of him. As the alert tone sounded, his eyes shot open, glaring at the screen. With a growl, he touched the button to open the message.

 Victor: Bash give me a call as soon as you get this. We need to talk!

 “This had better be good. It’s my day off,” Bash murmured. He swiped open his phone. The phone only rang once before Victor answered.

 “Bash! You got my message! Thank god!” relief saturating every syllable.

 “Yeah, Vic,” Bash said, trying not to let his annoyance seep into his tone. He knew Victor wouldn’t disturb him if it wasn’t Important. “What do you need, man?”

 “We have ourselves an emergency. Some idiot has gone and summoned a demon, and, wouldn’t you know, they lost control and got themselves killed,” Victor explained. “We have it contained on an ally off 18th, between H and J streets. That’s near you right?”

 “Yeah, I’m close,” Bash shrugged. “No one else can on call who can banish it?”

 “It’s a pretty strong one. At least a fourth-class threat,” Victor tone deadly serious. “There’s no one else close enough to get there before it breaks free. The containment team is having a hard time keeping the barriers up.”

 “All right, let them know I’ll be there as fast as I can,” He ended the call and willed himself out of his digital world and back to reality.

 Back in his apartment, he realized he had been in there a lot longer than he thought. It had been just after noon when he went in, and now it was after dark. He grabbed his black zip-front hoodie and threw it on over his yellow shirt. He swapped his pajama pants for a pair of jeans and put on his black combat boots. He strapped on his utility belt and checked the pouches to make sure he had plenty 9-volt batteries, a charged banishing charm, and a stocked emergency kit. With one more look around, he decided to take the fast rout. He looked at the power outlet and dove for it, converting his body into electricity. He traveled the relatively short distance to the alley Vic mentioned almost instantaneously.

 A street light near the entrance to the ally blew out as a bolt of electricity arched to the ground, striking mere feet from where one of the containment team sat legs crossed and hands together, fingers laced, with his index and thumb extended. When the light faded, Bash was left standing next to the Exorcist. Bash recognized him but couldn’t remember his name.

 “Hey, I’m Sabastian Graham, Vic sent me,” He gave a small smirk and a two-finger wave. “He said you were having some demon trouble.”

 “Yeah, he’s a mean one. We have him contained for now, but you should get in…” he was cut off by a loud explosion from the other side of the alley. The exorcist expression twisted with strain as the barrier fluctuated. Bash didn’t waste another second. He clapped his hands together focusing his power between his palms as he stepped through the barrier. He needed to do this fast. A protracted combat with a demon this strong would not end well. As he cautiously approached the dust cloud, he parted his hands. A ball of lightning danced between his palms, lightning arching between his fingers.

 Without warning, the demon burst out of the cloud. It wasn’t the biggest one Bash had seen, standing half again as tall as Bash himself, but it wasn’t a pipsqueak. Its black head sported one large horn growing out of the right side of its forehead and two red eyes peering out of a blank featureless mask. Its humanoid body was red and muscular, with long clawed fingers, dripping with blood, and talons on his toes. Its long tail was tipped with a scorpion stinger.

 Luckily, Bash was ready for it. He released a lance of lightning striking the beast in its chest, pushing it back and lifting it higher off the ground. As he maintained the bolt with his left hand focused a second ball of lightning in his right. He sent the ball out above the beast. Once it was in place he released the lance and clenched his right hand into a fist and yanked it down slamming the ball into the demon and smashing it into the ground.

 Quickly, he reached into his belt pouch and pulled out the banishing charm. He had one chance at this and it had to be now. He lunged forward and slapped the charm on the beast’s forehead and spoke the activation phrase. It was about then that the lightning ball dissipated, and the demon was released. The charm was working, and the demon was beginning to disintegrate, but it wasn’t going fast enough for how close Bash was to it. It swiped at him with it’s clawed hand. Bash couldn’t get out of the way, but once again luck was on his side. The claws had disintegrated so, instead of being impaled, he was just slammed by a meaty hand. The impact flung him into the wall and knocked the air out of his lungs.

 The demon let out a blood curdling scream as it tied to stand up, but there wasn’t enough of its limbs left to support it. It fell to the ground and let out one last scream. It continued to disintegrate until all that was left was the banishing charm which burst into flames and burned to ash. Bash slumped against the wall, his head lulling to the side as he heaved in breath trying to get his breathing under control. As his vision cleared, he pushed himself upright. He felt completely drained. He put too much into maintaining two spells of that strength at once. He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out two 9-volt batteries and drained the power out of them. ‘Just enough to get home,’ he thought to himself. The exorcist rushed over and helped him to his feet.

 “Thanks…” Bash started.

 “Morgan, Morgan Heart,” the exorcist provided.

 “Thanks Morgan. I trust you can handle the rest.” Bash straightened his stance and dusted himself off. “I’m going home.”

 Bash walked back to the entrance of the ally. When he was close enough he jumped back into the light and headed home.

I’d love to her what you think!

@miraculousmumma @whimsolute @betheroo17 @glo-wyx @ldyfcknnoir @honey346 @shamelessgoophoagiemug

[waxandwanemusic]

The 12 Most Anticipated Albums Of 2017 & Some Notable Exclusions

1. PHOSPHORESCENT

Back in 2013, Phosphorescent released the gorgeous and elegiac Muchacho, which may have been the year's best record. Then, after a two year break, Matthew Hock, the mastermind behind Phosphorescent issued the stunning Live At Music Hall, which focused primarily on the beautiful tunes found on Muchacho and 2010's Here's To Taking It Easy. 2017 seems to be the year that we'll be treated to more new music from Hock and company. As yet, there is no concrete release info, but Hock has shared myriad images on social media to tease fans with photos of recording sessions and studio setups to build anticipation for the follow up to Muchacho. If Phosphorescent's last three releases are guide, the next LP is sure to figure highly in our 2017 listening plans.

2. GRANDADDY

It's been nearly 14 years since Grandaddy released the beautiful concept LP Sumday. In 2012 there were a few reunion shows to excite fans. A few more European shows last year re-energized the rumor mill amongst the Grandaddy faithful. On March 3rd, the wait is finally over as Last Place will be released on 30th Century Records. If the lead off single "Way We Won't" (watch the video below) is any indication, Last Place ought to be an exercise in pure joy.

3. THE SHINS

Sure, Port Of Morrow from 2012 was hit or miss. But, it's impossible to deny James Mercer's penchant for melodic hooks and catchy choruses. The last few years have seen lineup changes and a renewed focus on the simplicity of song-craft that point in the direction of an exciting new Shins record. For his part, Mercer mentioned over this past summer that the new record was in the can. The expected lead single and video - the bouncy "Dead Alive" - will have to sate our appetites until official release info is released.

4. RIDE

English shoegazers RIDE made a triumphant return in 2014 and toured throughout the world for the last couple years. Of course, after this return run the band became dogged by the question of whether or not there would be any new music. Via social media, RIDE have answered that question with a resounding yes. The as yet untitled record is slated for a release sometime this Summer and of course we hope there will be a tour in support. Granted, it's impossible to know what level of record to expect since RIDE have released nothing new in more than 20 years. Fingers crossed they're back with a bang.

5. SPOON

In all honesty, Spoon's last release They Want My Soul from 2014 was a bit of a letdown. That said, a slightly disappointing new record from Spoonis almost certain to be better than 90% of the stuff that you'll find in the new release bin. This particular Spoon record - which is slated for a March release - has the added benefit of production by studio auteur Dave Fridmann. Singer Britt Daniel has stated that he feels the band are "covering some new ground" on this record. New ground or not, new Spoon is worth paying attention to.

6. ARCADE FIRE

Much like the aforementioned Spoon, Arcade Fire's most recent release Reflektor was a letdown. Sure, there were moments of brilliance, but the mammoth length and fixation with disco tendencies just left a feeling of heaviness and boredom. Arcade Fire's fifth LP could figure to be a critical point in the legacy of the band. Up through The Suburbs, it appeared the Montreal outfit could do little wrong. The band have teased progress on the new album, much of which was recorded in Paris, but have made no formal announcements on release dates titles. Let's hope that whatever it's called and whenever we can get our hands on it,it's a return to form.

7. VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Unlike the last two bands we mentioned, Vampire Weekend did more than deliver with their last release, 2013's Modern Vampires Of The City. That record, the third of their career was their best and most fully realized record thus far. While that momentum bodes well for the fourth Vampire Weekend LP, the departure of Rostam Batmanglij from full time service within the band could create a dynamic shift and/or a sonic hole in the band's recorded output. Let's mark this one up as cautious optimism.

8. THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN

The Reid brothers - Jim and William - have achieved an almost cult-like status amongst a certain sort of indie music lover. Their chaotic, cacophonous and bare brand of rock and roll has been a hallmark of the English pop scene for more than thirty years. However, 2017's Damage and Joy marks the bands first new LP since 1998. Warner Music will release the new album on March 24th, so we have just a scant three months to wait for what figures to be the triumphant return of the Jesus & Mary Chain. "Amputation", Damage and Joy's first single/video is below. It sounds like just like The Jesus & Mary Chain. Isn't that we hoped for?

9. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

The Boss didn't release any new music in 2016 and still managed to create enormous buzz. His revelatory Autobiography opened a remarkable window into Springsteen's depression, his manic work ethic and his doubts about his own success and worth. Now, in 2017, he appears poised to hold our attention again with an expected full length of brand new music. Like many aging icons, Springsteen's latter day work has been inconsistent, but his voice remains relevant. Can't you just imagine how Springsteen's characters might fit into the narrative of Trump's America?

10. REAL ESTATE

Here is another entry for the cautious optimism file. 2014's Atlas from Real Estate was a highlight of the year. The quiet simplicity of Real Estate's brand of pop feels much like your favorite blanket on a cold winter's evening. Until recently, a new LP from Real Estate would have come with hearty dose of unbridled enthusiasm, but in May, 2016 the band announced that guitarist and original member Matt Mondanile had left the band and would be replaced by Julian Lynch. While the songs will still be penned mostly by singer/guitarist Martin Courtney, it's hard to imagine that Mondanile's effortless guitar hooks won't be missed to some degree. Let's hope that the new lineup can swing it.

11. DEPECHE MODE

Sure, it's easy to bag on an act like Depeche Mode at this point. They haven't made a great record in a quarter century and to a large degree they have continued to churn out serviceable techno pop built on a very old model that made them international superstars. But to do that, would be to miss greater point; DM have managed to release a handful of very good songs in their last few albums and simply seeing them continue to do quality work is, in itself, enough to bring many of us a noticeable amount of joy. It would be jumping the gun a bit to expect their new effort, Spirit to be in the running for record of the year, but based on past experience and the teaser for the LP they have released, it seems a pretty sure bet there will be a song or two worth digging into when the record hits shelves this Spring.

12. THE FEELIES

New Jersey's The Feelies are almost certainly, the least known band on our list of 2017's most anticipated albums. The band formed in 1976 and then called it quits in 1991. But the band reformed in 2008 for a string of shows and then released a record of new songs in 2011 called Here Before. Now, The Feelies have announced they'll release another full length called In Between on February 24. Here's hoping this new slate of songs will bring some acclaim and attention to a band whose charm and quirkiness have to this point been under-appreciated.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Some other records we have our eye on in 2017 include: Ty Segall - Ty Segall Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir Surfer Blood - Snowdonia The Sadies - Northern Passages Son Volt - Notes Of Blue Blondie - TBA LCD Soundsystem - TBA Spiritualized - TBA

NOTABLE EXCLUSIONS

Here are some forthcoming albums you're sure to hear about a shitload, and here is why we aren't that pumped about them: Father John Misty - This is a band/dude we just can't seem to get excited about. Frankly, I have no idea what all the fuss is about. Misty's records have all of the energy of Iron & Wine on quaaludes and enough of a hipster quotient to make a Mumford & Sons fan recoil. Okay, that's a bit harsh, but we just aren't feeling it. Fleet Foxes - While we have a slightly higher opinion of Fleet Foxes than Father John, many of the companies are the same. Helplessness Blues was a solid enough effort, but we'll leave the breathless anticipation for the folks at NPR. You know they're already peeing their pants over this one. The Flaming Lips - This is a band that hasn't made anything nearing a good record since Yoshimi, and it feels like every record since then is just a blemish on an otherwise solid legacy. Maybe this is the one where we get proven wrong. Let's wait for that moment to surprise us instead of expecting it to be fact and being disappointed . . . again. U2 - The band has promised their new LP Songs of Experience sometime in 2017. Let's hope that "Experience" sees that they have learned the lesson of shoving a record down everyone's throats via iTunes before wondering who might actually want it. Ryan Adams - There is always a $64,000 when Ryan Adams puts out a record; which Ryan Adams are we going to get? On 2017's Prisoner, we will be left again to wonder if we'll get the guy who can write a heartbreaking hook better than almost anyone making records today, or the guy who can't seem to get out of his own way. Let's hope we get a more measured and mature Adams this time around.