#and because of a bunch of other stuff we did later like an impromptu in-system karaoke night that was really fun

[thethingything]

sometimes I get reminded that drop is a thing and that we're ridiculously prone to it to the point that just having a better day than normal gives us that "post-concert depression" feeling and wow I hate that this happens

#personal #thoughts #🍬 post #vent post #today went better than expected and we actually felt pretty good for most of the day #like we felt way better than I thought we would both because the appointment went so well #and because of a bunch of other stuff we did later like an impromptu in-system karaoke night that was really fun #and so now we get to experience drop and I kind of realised that would happen but good god #we're also just really worn out and it's probably nearly time to get ready for bed #and I'm feeling the physical effects of going outside so we've just kind of got a combination of stuff that's making us feel worse #at least I know it's mostly just that we're fatigued and in pain and have drop and not like... something being deeply wrong #(I mean something is wrong if we're fatigued and in pain but it's just the usual shit that's kind of always wrong afjhkglk)

[kyogre-blue]

I am eternally kind of puzzled about what Kishimoto was even thinking with the entire setup of Obito and Madara as two back to back villains. 

Because it’s just... such a weird structure? 

From everything I remember, they have the exact same goal and motivations. Like, literally one to one. The shinobi system is bad, there is no way to solve the endless conflicts, so the only solution is to just put everyone into a perfect genjutsu world of their own. That’s it. I haven’t the faintest idea why they even opposed each other except I guess they’re evil villains so they can never cooperate with someone and/or delusions of grandeur about being “savior of the world.” (WHY)

And this is kind of a problem? Because how do you make fighting two villains with the same goal and motivation interesting, one after another? It’s redundant. 

The thing is, fights aren’t just written to be just physical, most of the time. The protag doesn’t just win because they’re stronger, they win because they are morally superior in some way. Most of the time, they prove this by also overcoming the villain’s moral stance and making them give up emotionally. (Zabuza, Gaara, Nagato were all like this. The higher up the villain is on the overall scale, the more likely this is. A bunch of the Akatsuki wasn’t like this because they were basically fancier goons, and they also notably lacked any kind of real moral stance in the first place.) 

But once you defeat a particular villain argument (eg Infinite Tsukuyomi is the best way forward), then having to defeat the same argument AGAIN right afterwards would be just plain dull. 

So tbh I’m unsurprised that Madara went completely unaddressed and his only fight was purely physical with Gai. The series acts like Obito was defeated on the moral level, and once he was made to give up on Infinite Tsukuyomi, making Madara give up too would just be rehashing the same thing. 

(...In theory. In practice, Obito heel face turn was incredibly bizarre and didn’t actually address any of the points he brought up. But the show treats it like Naruto proved something, so it works out about the same.) 

Structurally, there were a few ways this could have been handled: 

1. Beat Obito only physically, but he doesn’t give up on his beliefs and willingly revives Madara. Then Madara is the one that needs to be morally defeated to overturn the concept of Infinite Tsukuyomi. 

I think this makes sense on the whole (since you can tie it in as “defeating Obito with pure force failed to address the underlying issue” paralleling why the shinobi system problems never go away), but trying to imagine Naruto emotionally bargaining with Madara is some next level comedy. He had to fall back on impromptu psychic bond and “HOKAGE DREAM” to get anywhere with Obito, and it was still a mess. Madara is basically completely unknowable and impenetrable to Naruto as he’s written. 

2. Have Obito be the one that gets worked over morally to overturn Tsukuyomi, and then present Madara as being so far gone and deranged that he basically rejects the moral superiority staring him right in the face, so there’s no need to reason with him. 

It would make some sense since Madara is old as dirt (aka more evil), but it would feel pretty hollow since Madara... doesn’t do much onscreen to prove that he’s worse off than Obito. This circles back to the issue of making Obito responsible for everything that went wrong in the entire series (except when Orochimaru did it instead lol). Obito went really far in his shit, so it would be really hard to actually ground the idea that Madara is worse. 

It would have also made more sense to have Obito break with Madara at this point instead of... earlier... for no reason except wanting to be the one who activates Infinite Tsukuyomi... for some reason... 

3. Just give them two different goals. For god’s sake. 

4. Honestly? Not make two different villains. 

There are so many little issues that come from this. Stuff like 14 year old Obito taking on flee on sight genius Minato, or Madara’s entire “plan” to die and then get resurrected but young for some reason. The number of things that could have gone wrong, leading to his Rinnegan being lost is staggering. (And then the eyeballs kind of just hang around? Preserved by magic? After Nagato dies??) 

Also, Obito just doesn’t have the... narrative “weight” to be the main series villain. With the way the later parts of the story go, it doesn’t add up to have the central villain be a nobody with no real connection to anyone important (aka Naruto and Sasuke). Madara at least works out from the perspective of being key to Konoha’s creation. But then he ends up being a dude who existed purely to create the Rinnegan and then screw over Obito (thus undermining Obito’s entire thing too). Just stick with Madara the whole way through but depower him in the middle, or something. 

...Obviously, none of this happened. Instead we got... “we proved Obito is wrong, so Madara is obviously wrong too, and he accordingly gets eaten by Kaguya, who has no heart, so we don’t need to talk to her at all.” 

Cool. 

#naruto 700

[bubblemintkitten]

Luca/Tan - Adoption. 15 of X

I figured I would just perform fictional magic to work out a few things. Also, I know next to nothing about how adoption works in America, I tried to research it. Please don’t yell at me.

Also, I kinda imagine that they live in kiiiinda the house Luca and Street share, but it’s more than a 2-bedroom house. Okay?

Word count: 2250

 During the adoption process there had been a few interviews, a bunch really. They had been asked all kinds of questions already. Some went on repeat, some were new every time.

They got asked just about everything from whether they would like to adopt a girl or a boy, or if that was irrelevant, to if they would be able to take in a kid with some sort of disability.

“Both is fine I guess.” Luca shrugged, “I mean, we would definitely have to learn a bit more if we were to adopt a girl. I mean, neither of us have been teenage girls. We don’t have first hand experience in braiding hair or whatever happens to a girl during puberty.”

The woman, Carolina, from the adoption burau chuckled a bit, “So, no real preference there, or?”

“No, either-or is just fine.” Tan chuckled as he glanced over at Luca.

Luca smiled and reached for his coffee, while the woman wrote down their answer.

“So, what’s your stance when it comes to…” she glanced over to Luca with an apologetic shrug, “disabilities, behavioral problems and learning difficulties.”

Luca shrugged a little and looked over at Tan, “I… I think… I mean, our house is already accessible, but then again… There’s a lot of stuff I physically won’t be able to help out with if…”

Tan nodded, “Yeah.”

Carolina just waited for their ‘final’ answer.

“I think we could manage taking care of a kid in a wheelchair. If that’s what you’re trying to say. At least if it’s because of something similar to your situation.”

Luca chortled, “Dude, I’m pretty sure at least a few of our buddies would claim that you’re already taking care of a kid in a wheelchair.”

Tan hung his head as he chuckled, “You’re impossible.”

Luca grinned, “Anyway, you managed to make a sentence out of what I was meaning.”

Tan nodded, “Yeah, I think we could handle that. At least if the kid already knows how to get around with the chair and stuff…”

Carolina nodded silently.

Luca nodded, “It would probably be easier for us, than for someone who doesn’t have experience with just that. Right?”

“Probably.” Tan nodded.

“So I’ll note that it would be okay with a kid in need of a wheelchair, as long as there’s not too much heavy lifting involved.”

Luca nodded, “Sounds about right.”

Tan nodded as well.

“And how about all that other stuff? Difficult behaviors, learning disabilities.”

“If this had been before my accident, I would’ve said we would have been up for anything.” Luca sighed, “Truth is, I do have days where I’m not up for as much as I usually am. So… I don’t want to say that we’re not up for any of it, but…”

“How about we say that we guess that we’re up for light cases.” Tan offered.

Luca nodded a little.

“Okay.” Carolina smiled, “I kinda guessed something along those lines, judging from our previous meetings.”

“I mean, every kid deserves parents that love them.” Luca said as he lifted one leg up on the opposite knee, “And I know we would love any kid we ended up adopting. But, kids also deserve parents who are able to take properly care of them, especially if they have some sort of baggage. I know we can be good parents, but I also know I have my limitations, and I don’t want too much to have to fall on Tan.”

Carolina nodded and wrote something down.

Tan picked up his coffee and took a sip.

“You said you eventually wanted more kids…”

“Yeah,” Tan nodded as he placed the coffee back on the table.

Luca nodded along.

“And you were flexible on age, right?”

“Yeah.” Luca nodded, “We talked a lot about that before we applied. In one way, it would be awesome to adopt a young kid, who wouldn’t necessarily remember anything else than us being his or hers parents. But, we have a buddy who grew up in foster care and group homes. And, well… He said older kids don’t get adopted as often. So… We kinda want to do something about that as well.”

Carolina smiled, “Yeah, your buddy is mostly right about that.”

Tan nodded.

“I do have a few potential matches in mind, for you guys…” Carolina admitted, “But, I have one potential match I’m a little more passionate about than the rest…”

“Yeah?”

“What’s your stand on adopting more than one kid straight away?”

“That’s possible?”

“Yeah, it’s sometimes done with siblings, but also kids who has formed a tight bond in a group home.”

“Well, yeah?” Luca nodded as he looked over at Tan, “Or do you…”

“No, I agree.” Tan smirked back, “It will probably be a harder transition from where we’re at now, but it’ll get us to where we want to be faster. And we’re almost always up for a challenge, right?”

Luca nodded, “Yeah.”

Carolina grinned, “Great. So, the kids I have in mind are a girl and a boy. The girl is almost two years old, the boy is fourteen. They’re not related, but they act like it. The girl comes from a violent home, and she takes a while to warm up to new people, and the older boy is pretty much the only one she has started really trusting.”

Tan nodded along. Luca did too, but his eyes were getting glossy a bit quicker.

“The boy was orphaned at 7 years old. He has been through a lot of foster homes, and a couple of group homes. He’s always had a hard time at school, but lately he’s started skipping classes and getting into some small-time trouble. He has always been very mature for his age, and behaved well, but like I said, he has started getting into some trouble. All in all, I really want to get them both out of the system, but they are a package deal. The girl would have been easy to get someone to adopt, if she didn’t need the boy around to stay calm. People are usually more hesitant about adopting older kids.”

One glance over at Luca told Tan all he needed to know. “Yes. Please. Let us adopt them.”

“Yeah?”

Both of them nodded.

“Great!” Carolina grinned, “Then I’ll start the paperwork as soon as I get back to the office.”

Luca dried off some tears which had trailed down his cheeks. “Are you for real?”

“Yeah.” Carolina nodded, “It’s going to take a little while, but… The rest is just formalities.”

 *    *    *

 A month or two later, the day arrived.

Jesse almost couldn’t believe it when he stood in front of the door of his new home with the lady who had followed him for the last few years beside him and Alexandra with her arms wrapped around his leg.

“You said they were good people…” he hated how his voice was shaking. Not like his voice was cracking because of puberty and his voice changing, but because he was actually really nervous. But Carolina was the closest thing he had to a mom, so he didn’t really care that much. She had always looked out for him.

“I really think they are.” She smiled back, “I think you’re really going to get comfortable and settle down here.”

A nervous laugh bubbled from his chest, “Yeah?”

She nodded, “Are you ready to meet them?”

“If you mean ‘am I about to throw up from how nervous I am?’ Then yeah…”

“You’ll do fine…”

“You think so?”

She nodded, “You both will. It might take a little time, but I think they will be the right parents for both of you.”

Jesse nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

Carolina knocked on the door.

A dog barked inside, which caused Alexandra to giggle. “Doggie!”

“Yeah, sounds like you’re going to have a new friend.” He grinned and looked down at the tiny girl.

Someone inside said something to the dog, which immediately stopped barking, and then a few seconds later the door opened. “Hello!”

Jesse had prepared himself for looking up at a man. Carolina had said that it was a gay couple who was adopting them, and that was fine. He didn’t mind that at all. As long as they were good to him and Alexandra, he could have been adopted by aliens and he wouldn’t have cared. As long as he didn’t have to share a small, small bedroom with five other guys, he would not complain.

What he hadn’t expected was to have to look down at one of those men. “You’re in a wheelchair?”

The man cracked a wide grin, “Yeah, I am. Excellent observation.”

Jesse blushed, “Sorry, that came out very wrong… Hey…”

The man chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. I’m guessing Carolina didn’t mention it…”

Jesse shook his head and looked between Carolina and the man, “She showed pictures of you, but… Not ones with the chair.”

The man nodded, “Yeah, I’m Luca, by the way… You must be Jesse, and the little lady behind you must be Alexandra…”

Jesse nodded, “Yeah.”

Alexandra had hidden behind his legs almost as soon as the door opened. He had expected that.

“Well, come on in…” Luca wheeled back a bit, “Tan will be home in a minute or so… They had a situation at work.”

Carolina nodded, “He’s alright though?”

“Yeah, it was basically just some impromptu overtime.” Luca nodded as she passed him, and the kids started to follow her.

“Look, doggie!” Alexandra tugged at his pants.

“Yeah, I see it…” Jesse smiled, before he turned to Luca, “Is the dog…”

“Duke? He’s a big cuddler, safe around kids as well.” Luca nodded, and patted his leg. The dog looked up, then stood up and walked over to him.

Alexandra almost peeked out from behind his legs.

“Do you want to say hey to him?” Luca asked, looking at Alexandra while he rubbed the shoulder of the dog.

Jesse knew Alexandra wouldn’t step out to pet the dog on her own. But he also knew she loved dogs.

“Come on kiddo…” he said, holding his hand down to her. She grabbed hold of his hand.

He knelt down beside the dog, Alexandra stood next to his knee and reached out to pet the dog.

Luca smiled as he watched the tiny girl bury her face in Duke’s fur.

 *    *    *

 “So, would you guys like anything to drink?” Luca asked once the Carolina and Jesse had sat down in the couch. Alexandra was in the corner with Duke. “Coffee, soda, water, milk… Juice…?”

“A coffee would be lovely…” Carolina smiled.

Jesse nodded, “Can I get coffee as well?”

“Sure…” Luca nodded, “Do you use anything in it?”

Jesse shook his head.

“And Alexandra, do you know what she likes to drink?” Luca asked, glancing over at her, “I don’t think she’d like me to roll over to her and ask yet…”

Jesse nodded, “Usually she just drinks water, but she’s a big fan of apple juice and coke.”

Luca nodded, “Okay, do you want some soda or juice as well?”

“No thanks.” Jesse shook his head.

“Okay.” Luca nodded and rolled off into the kitchen. A minute or so later he came back with 3 cups of coffee, and a glass of apple juice on a tray which rested on his lap.

“Practical tray you’ve got there…” Jesse smirked.

“Yeah, my brother made it for me when I moved back home after the accident.”

Jesse nodded, “How did it happen?”

“Car accident.” Luca shrugged, as he picked up one of the coffees and handed it to Jesse “A few years back.”

Jesse nodded, “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome…” Luca smiled back as he handed the second cup to Carolina.

“Thanks.” She smiled back.

Luca smiled and nodded. He placed the glass of apple juice next to Jesse, and his own coffee cup where he usually sat when he didn’t bother to transfer out of the wheelchair. Then he took the tray and leaned it against one of the legs of the table.

 *    *    *

 The front door opened, and the other man he recognized from the photos entered. The man greeted all of them, Alexandra shied away, then he walked over to Luca and bent down to give him a quick hug from behind.

Luca placed one hand over Tan’s arm to return the hug, before he scrounged up his nose, “You stink…”

“I know…” Tan chuckled, “I’m gonna go grab a shower, then I’ll be social later…”

“Good call…” Luca chuckled and released Tan.

 *    *    *    

 At the end of the day, Jesse felt really lucky ending up with Tan and Luca. They seemed as cool as Carolina had described them, and they let Alexandra get the space she often needed.

Already on the first day, they had two rooms set up for them. They had kept the rooms pretty bland, but that was just so the two of them could easily apply their own style once they moved in. And they had planned a shopping day for tomorrow, to get some new clothes and stuff for their rooms.

He was pretty sure that he would never call either of them any variation of ‘dad’, but that was just because he felt a little old to start with that now. Besides, he remembered his real parents. But he hoped Alexandra would, once she warmed up to them.

#Tanuca #Luca #dominique luca #dominic luca #tan #victor tan #pride #gay #bi #swat fanfiction #swat #S.W.A.T #fanfiction #fanfic

[parachutingkitten]

Dancing Without You - Ch 4: Ice Cream

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

Whose ready for the title drop? I am! I absolutely had way too much fun writing a party with this select group of ninja for the second half of the chapter. It’s a bit of fun fluff before absolutely everything hits the fan next chapter. 

Happy Reading!

“I’ll take a double scoop of the rocky road.” Cole pointed to the tub through the window as Madelyn began scooping. 

“In a cone, or a cup?” 

“Cup please,” He smiled.

“Anything else?” Madelyn asked, handing him his cup over the counter. 

“I also need a double scoop of cotton candy in a cup as well please.”

I hit Cole on the shoulder as he chuckled. “I can pay for my own ice cream, you know!” I scolded. 

“Chill Lia, I have a bunch of extra cash on my student account that I’ve got to spend by the end of the month,” He explained. “I accidentally added an extra 200 dollars to my account instead of 20 dollars, so... I’m definitely going to be hitting up the student shop later this week.” 

I laughed as Madelyn handed me my cup and moved over to the cash register. 

“That'll be $6.50, just go ahead and swipe your student id.” Madelyn instructed.

Cole did just that as the receipt started printing. “And that’s it! Thanks,” she smiled, handing it to him. 

“Thanks Maddie!” I smiled as we walked out towards the field.

“You know her?” Cole asked. 

“She works there every Wednesday and Friday. Don’t you recognize her?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “But I don’t know her name!”

“I don’t know. I think it’s rude not to make an effort,” I shrugged as we sat down on the grass. It was a beautiful sunny day outside for being the middle of fall. It was the perfect temperature outside with the sun peeking out just enough to warm the air. I knew perfect weather like this couldn’t last long though. “So, you ready for midterms?” I asked, eating my first spoonful of ice cream.

“Midterms,” Cole laughed nervously. “Yeah. I have no idea how ready I am, but it’s definitely not ready enough.”

“I’m excited! I mean, in just a few weeks we’ll get our rankings! Aren’t you excited to see where you fall?”

Cole rolled his eyes, looking down at his ice cream, mixing it around with his spoon. “I don’t know. It all seems a little superficial to me. I mean, how can you possibly distill all of someone’s talent down into one number? And then they’re going to take everyone’s number and rank us against each other? Doesn’t that just seem needlessly antagonistic?”

“I mean, most schools have grades. That’s how grading things works,” I shrugged, taking another bite.

“It just doesn’t seem right. Singing and dancing and all this stuff is all just so subjective. It shouldn’t have such a concrete ranking system attached to it.”

“Well… yeah. It’s blunt, but that’s kind of just how performance arts work. They’re competitive, and messy and… harsh.” 

Cole seemed distant. He looked at me for a moment, pensive. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just not really for me.”

“What do you mean not really for you?” I pressed.

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” he sighed. “But it’s like… recently, I’ve been feeling more and more like instead of going to school here, I’m just being trapped here, you know?”

I studied him. He was being honest, but I didn’t exactly know what to make of it. “Well, I know classes can be tough, but everyone knows first year is the hardest. Things will ease up soon. I mean, you might feel like you want to leave, but it’s not like you’re actually considering it, right?”

He paused for a moment, looking out at the skyline. “...maybe. I mean, the more I stay here, the more I feel like I just don’t belong. Like I can’t fit into the mold that everyone wants from me.”

“Cole, you’re a great dancer! If you’re worried about living up to people’s expectations, don’t be-”

“It’s not that.” he shook his head. “I just don’t fit in the system. I can’t do this forever. I can’t live like this.”

I set my ice cream down on the grass, thinking for a moment. “Look, I know this kind of stuff is a lot of work. And I get that it comes easier to me than it does for a lot of people, but you shouldn’t throw away your chance just because it gets hard. I mean, why did you come here in the first place unless you really wanted something out of it, right?”

Cole’s head hung low as he picked at the grass. 

“I… didn’t choose to come here.

My dad did.”

~*~*~*~

“Oh! We’re halfway there! Oh! Livin’ on a prayer!”

They both sounded absolutely terrible at this point in the song, but the energy in the room was undeniable. Lia had pulled out all her snacks, moved the furniture, dug up her mini disco ball, and had started blasting music. She and Jay and were currently caught in an intense impromptu Karaoke battle, Jay singing into the ice cream scooper while Lia had chosen the tv remote as her microphone of choice. 

“Hold on! Hold on!” Jay screamed out, “Air guitar solo!”

“Shred it guys!” I called out, egging them on as they flailed around in the middle of the room.

“Put your heart into it, Jay!” Pixal mocked him. “She’s wiping the floor with you!” 

Pix and I both laughed as the last set of choruses came around. 

“You really weren’t kidding, she’s extremely high energy.” She looked over at me, smiling.

“Yeah, she was a good warm up for dealing with Jay,” I joked, both of us laughing again.

“Take my hand! We’ll make it, I swear!” They were singing into each other’s faces at this point, more screaming than singing. “Oh! Living on a prayer!”

Both of them pumped their fists in the air as the song faded out, Pix and I both cheering them as they bowed. 

“It’s such a good song!” Jay raved.

“It’s such a good song!” Lia tossed the remote onto the couch in the corner, taking a few heavy breaths. 

“Sorry about that Cole, I had a bit of a point to prove,” Jay boasted, walking over to the snack table. “Which flavor did you want?” He looked down at the various tubs of ice cream.

“You know what, I don’t even think I want ice cream anymore,” I shrugged.

“Well, I want some mint chip!” Lia called to him, running over. “I am overheating big time!” She smiled. 

“I know, right?” Jay agreed, dishing some up for her, my eyes drifting.

“You rocked it up there.”

“I’ve done my fair share of lip sync battles, I know how to work a good song,” Jay smirked, handing her the bowl he had scooped.

My eyes had been drawn to the neat orange stone hung around Lia’s neck, shining in the dancing light of the disco ball. “Is that the necklace?” I asked.

“Oh! Yeah,” She lifted it off her neck. “I usually only wear it for good luck, like when I’m auditioning for stuff or what not, but I thought since you’re here it’d be appropriate.”

“I didn’t even think you’d have it still,” I chuckled. 

“What’s this all about?” Pix asked. 

“Oh nothing,” Lia shrugged. “Cole just got me this necklace at the end of first semester.”

Pixal leaned over, looking at it. “It’s a beautiful piece of sunstone,” she admired.

“It’s kind of a long story,” I waved it off, glancing back at Lia, now enjoying her ice cream.

“Hold on,” Jay interrupted, pointing at the other end of the room. “Is that a guitar? Do you play guitar?!”

“Yeah, I play guitar,” She smiled. “I know most of the basics. Guitar, Piano, Violin, I’m learning how to play the flute. I’ll have to play for you sometime, you know, when my voice isn’t so hacked up from song battling you,” She winked.  

“As in like… play and sing?” Jay asked. “You sing too?! As in like, real, legit singing?”

Lia burst out laughing, leaning on my shoulder. “Cole, this idiot wants to know if a Marty Oppenheimer Alumni can sing! What do you think?!”

“Yes, she can sing,” I rolled my eyes at Jay.

“Does that mean you can sing too?” Jay nudged me.

“Oh, you’ve never heard him sing?” Lia smiled, turning to me, wide eyed.

“I can sing, but that doesn’t mean that I do. Not anymore anyways,” I stopped them.

The music began to switch as Lia took my hand. “That’s okay, Cole’s always been much more of a dancer.” She smirked. “Come on, this song is great for swing dance!”

“You know full well, I dropped out right before the swing dance unit,” I put my hands up in surrender.

“I don’t know, that sounds like quite a slim excuse to me,” Pixal teased.

“Oh, so you think you’re better than me?” I challenged her.

“I’m a droid, you don’t think I can’t follow rhythms and memorize a complex series of steps?”

Lia placed down her ice cream bowl and turned triumphantly towards Pixal. “Would you like to dance?”

“Of course!” Pixal smiled in my face as they moved back out towards the center of the room.

“Aw man! She slammed you!” Jay clung to my shoulder, jumping up and down.

They took the floor, moving in unison as the chorus kicked in.

I knew I was in for a ride as we

Swing to the sound

Our feet tap-tappin' and our heartbeats beatin' 

“Dude, you’re not recovering from this,” Jay shook his head, watching as they spun around each other to the beat of the music. 

“Yeah, Pix sure wasn’t bluffing.” 

They had some great synergy too. So concentrated on the moves they were making, anticipating what the other would do next. It had been a while since I’d seen Lia dance. I had forgotten how happy it made her. It breathed life into her in a way nothing else ever quite did. Like dancing was the one thing keeping her alive, like doing anything else would just be unnatural. The way her stray hairs would fly away in the air as she spun, the way her nose would scrunch up when she smiled. Those moments when she felt so in the rhythm that she'd just close her eyes. It was all wrapping in this warm familiar comfort that I had lost to the back of my mind to years now.

Spin 'round and 'round

We got lost in the rhythm, the lights, and the crowd

“You’re so good!” Lia’s excitement caught me out of my daze. Her arms were wrapped around Pixal, who was a bit unsure of what to do.

“You’re quite talented yourself.”

“See, that’s how you dance!” She broke away from Pix, pointing at me. “You just forget how to move your feet after all these years, or what?”

“I’ve kinda been focused on other things,” I rolled my eyes.

“That’s so cool! How did you do that?” Jay marveled at them both. “It looked so choreographed and everything!”

“It just takes practice,” Lia hit him in the shoulder. “It’s really not that hard. It’s first year stuff.”

“I could teach you the basics if you wanted,” Pixal chimed in.

“Hell yes! Let’s do it!” Jay swung around me, back to the middle of the floor, Pixal following him. I leaned back on the snack table watching them. She took his hands, carefully guiding him through some basic motions, both of their eyes glued to their feet. I could feel a smile spread across my face watching Jay fumble at Pixal’s simple instructions.

“Pix is a great dancer! I was actually really surprised.” Lia sat next to me, a half empty glass of water in her hands.

“You know, if I’m being honest, it was kinda weird seeing you dance with someone else,” I chuckled.

“Yeah,” She sighed, hanging her head a bit. “I guess it would be.” Her fingers fiddled with the rim of the glass. I could tell something was off. 

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked, trying to keep the tone light.

She looked up, her eyes distant. “Cole, I’ve been dancing without you for five years now.” She glanced over at me, gauging my reaction.

“Well…” I hesitated. “Yeah, that’s a good thing, right? I wasn’t supposed to be a dancer, staying would have just been a mistake. We both found our calling in life! That’s great!”

She looked at me with a blank stare. “...You don’t get it, do you?”

I looked at her a moment, trying to read what the answer was that she wanted. “Get… What? I mean, what happened, happened. Sure, it sucked to leave you behind, but no one got hurt. I’m back now, what’s the big problem?”

She looked at me for a moment, taking a deep breath. She placed her glass down on the table behind her, her eyes glazing over again as she looked at the floor.

She was thinking.

After a long moment, she closed her eyes, standing up. 

“I think I’m gonna head to bed.” She started towards the back hall as I stood up, trailing her.

“Lia, is everything okay?”

“Cole, please, I can’t do this right now.” She sighed as she continued moving.

“Amelia, talk to me, please. What’s wrong?” I pleaded with her.

I was cut off as she reached her room, shutting the door on me, leaving me a little disoriented on the other side.

“Everything okay back here?” Jay asked, peaking back into the hall.

I turned to look at him, still wondering what exactly had just happened. 

“I… don’t know.”

#ninjago #ninjago oc #ninjago cole #OC: Amelia #Dancing Without You #writing #birthday week

[svtskneecaps]

Blink and You’ll Miss It - Part 6

Summary: Sanha’s been a curious shit her whole life. Jackson’s always told her she’s going to get herself killed at some point. She thought that was a bunch of bull, but he might’ve actually been right. She might be in way over her head on this one.

Featuring: A bunch of bull, a lot of cursing, merciless butchering of honorifics, and other things. Essentially, it’s a Comedy of Errors: Story Version.

Warnings: Cursing. Lots and lots of it.

First ~~~ Previous ~~~ Next

Masterlist

“What’s stopping him from just coming after what he wants?” Youngjae wondered aloud as they walked back to the rest of campus.

“The glamour,” Jinyoung answered, paying close attention to his footing. “He can’t sustain it if he gets too far away from the building.”

“He whines about it constantly,” Mark added.

“So what’s our plan?” Jaebum asked.

“Get some more of those magic items you guys have and go back.” Yugyeom glared at the ground as he spoke. “We can’t leave your friend behind.”

“Oh, here’s your bracelet back,” Jaebum remembered, pulling the peridot off his wrist and holding it out to her. “Thanks for. . . Sanha are you okay?”

“Hmm?” She looked up, eyes fuzzy. “Oh, yeah. Thank you.” She slid the bracelet on her wrist and returned her gaze to the ground.

“Noona, we’re going to get him back,” Youngjae said softly.

“I know. I’m just. . . strategizing.” Her hand moved to rub the ebony pendent. She’d almost said ‘worried’. “What happened while we were upstairs?”

The semi-diversion worked. “Everything was going fine, and then he suddenly went nuts.” Youngjae waved his hands as though to demonstrate, and Sanha nodded, recognizing the instance as the loud noises that had rocked the building just after finding Mark’s body. “He broke through the wall, and everything went downhill.”

“How so?”

“He put up a glamour, and we didn’t have enough charms for everyone to see around it.” Jaebum took his flower crown in his hands as he spoke, turning it around and around. “So we lost some help there. We decided maybe it would be better to take the fight outside, so we tried, but he nabbed Jackson and vanished.”

“You’ll be glad to know he about broke the demon’s nose before he went, though,” Youngjae added. The boys snickered a little, probably imagining the look on the demon’s face. Sanha noticed Yugyeom laughed a little too loud and wondered if maybe he blamed himself. She knew that feeling.

“Probably he won’t even need our help,” Jaebum reassured her.

“Yeah, for sure.” She scrambled through the fence before he could mention her tone.

They kept walking. As it turned out, fifty years held more than a few technological advancements, meaning they were explaining something they’d taken for granted with every step. Eventually, they made it back to their own building. Sanha paused at the front with her hand on the knob.

“Whose dorm?”

“Yours.”

And that was how Sanha found herself sitting awake, researching online in her bed, as they formed an impromptu sleepover in her living room.

The time on her computer read eleven pm, meaning they’d only been in the building for a couple of hours. The whole adventure felt like it had taken much longer than it actually had, so much so that she almost wondered if time was elongated in the building. Then she realized that it was functionally just building draped in a bed sheet and that it was a stupid thought.

The only sound was the steady breathing of the boys in the next room and her pencil scribbling notes. She figured Jackson wouldn’t mind if she gave away his bed for the night, so the oldest of the three had gotten it. And honestly, even if he did mind, he wasn’t exactly in a place to do anything about it. That was a semi morbid thought, but it was almost midnight. Stuff like that tended to happen.

She slid her shoes on, careful not to make noise and wake up the boys in the other room. They were down to twenty five hours; an arbitrary seeming number until you realized that it meant their deadline was midnight the next day. She wasn’t sure why he didn’t just say it outright, but maybe twenty six hours made it more dramatic, more pressing. The guy was a dick, but he did have a rather stylish flair.

Her keys clinked together happily as she grabbed them off the table next to the door, and she made a face at them. This was no time to be cheerful; she was on a mission! She glanced behind her to check if she’d woken any of the boys, and her heart sank a little as she saw one of their shapes moving around.

“Sanha?” Yugyeom’s sleepy voice reached her ears. “What are you doing?”

“Going shopping,” she whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

“Can’t.” She saw him sit up, and he joined her at the door, slipping his own shoes on. “I’ll go with you.”

She debated the merits of allowing him along for a second. She wanted to be alone, but on the other hand it would be easier to find the items with help, and besides, they’d lose their shit if they woke up and she was the only one gone. That and Yugyeom, despite looking two years younger than she was, was probably fifty years her senior, maybe more.

She shrugged. “I’m going to be hitting up antique stores.”

“Sounds fun.”

And that was that.

“So this one’s made of opal, in 1902.” Yugyeom read the information off the card in front of a ring. “The band is fake gold, apparently it belonged to the wife of some guy called Roosevelt.” His nose wrinkled as he struggled over the pronunciation of the foreign name.

“I think that’s a bunch of bull, but at least it’s opal.” Sanha took the card and checked the price. “That’s not bad.” She got the attention of the guy behind the counter, and a few minutes later they walked out with the ring on her finger. She apparently knew her metals better than he did, because the band was definitely real gold. They’d gotten a real steal with that pricing.

“So you and Jackson are pretty close, then?”

“Yeah.” She fidgeted with the ring. “It’s wild, when you really think about it. I mean, we only met first year at school, and now, you know.” She pulled her hand away from the ring and laughed. “I mean now we’re wandering abandoned buildings and other crazy dangerous stuff.”

“Are you dating?”

She blushed wildly and shook her head. “Oh hell no, no no no- he’s more like a weird older brother than anything.”

“Okay.” He laughed, a bit sheepishly. “I just wondered, because you guys share a room. How’d you manage that, if you’re not dating?”

She coughed. “The made a little mistake, in the system. And we just never bothered to correct them.” She stopped being cryptic and grinned at him. “I may have hacked it.”

“How the heck did you do that?”

“Easy, really. The superintendent might’ve forgotten to change his computer password so theoretically, I snick into his office while his secretary was busy with a student who probably wasn’t in on it and definitely just had some questions about his schedule, possibly pulled up the room assignments and may have changed a couple names.”

“Computer?” By this point Yugyeom was used to hearing words he didn’t recognize. She laughed and explained the concept as they headed for another store.

“I’ve gone on long enough. Tell me something about yourself.” Their eyes met over the glass display case they were searching. Sanha wasn’t sure if she’d crossed a line, with the look in his eyes, but he didn’t say no.

“Well,” he started. “i’m Kim Yugyeom.” He bit his lip, considering. She gave him time and picked up a card, scanning the materials list for a pair of teal earrings. He laughed nervously. “I don’t know. I’m 18, physically?” She hummed lightly. Her estimation had been pretty close to spot on. She was older than him. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want me to ask you questions, then, and you can find something off that?”

“That’d be nice.”

She tilted her head as she thought. “What was your best friend like?”

He made an oh noise, and she flagged down the shopkeeper while he gathered his thoughts.

“He was sweet,” he finally said. “When I first met him he was kind of cutesy and shy, but he got more confident. He could be a bit flirtatious sometimes, but it was almost a joke most of the time. Your friend Jackson kind of reminds me of him, a little bit.” She nodded, not saying anything as she paid the cashier. She’d learned over her years of being nosy that oftentimes people would add something if you waited. “We were roommates. I only met him because of school, you know? Because he was from Thailand. He speaks three languages fluently, can you believe it?”

“That’s wild,” she said in awe, scooping the earrings off the counter. “Which three?”

“Thai, Korean, and English.” Yugyeom stared into nothing, a slight smile on his face. “He told me he wanted to learn Chinese next, because Mark hyung spoke it sometimes.”

Sanha slipped the earrings into a plastic bag and tucked it into her pocket. He didn’t say anything else. “Next question?”

“Next question,” he confirmed, one hand rubbing the back of his neck.

She considered for a second. “Just as a housekeeping thing, should I call you oppa? Because physically, you’re younger than I am, but technically. . .”

He blushed. “I- wouldn’t mind if you did.”

She nodded. Even after living in Korea for a few years, the usage of those damn honorifics threw her off. It was all subjective social knowledge that wasn’t something they could teach a class on, and she still didn’t have a handle on it. “I’ll keep it to a minimum in public, since physically you’re younger than me, if that’s alright with you. You know, at the risk of looking like a crazy foreigner.”

“Yeah, that- that’s fine.”

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She turned away from the skull sculpture on the shelf to look at him, but he looked away before she made eye contact.

“No, it’s okay.

“So. . . what was your favorite after school hobby?”

~~~~~~~

Two minutes.

“Oh no, I’m not tired. I can stay up and help you,” he’d said. Two minutes and the poor boy was out like a light. She covered him with a blanket as she left, placing a pillow under his head so his neck wouldn’t get stiff. He was so sweet, so eager to help. He understood the pain of losing a friend, but this was something she was doing on her own.

She trekked across the overgrown paths, shivering slightly as a breeze blew through the area. She hadn’t wanted to risk waking Yugyeom or tipping him off to what she was doing, so she hadn’t changed out of her pajamas. Now she was regretting that decision. They were a little light for this.

She stopped in front of the abandoned dorm building, glaring tiredly at it as it towered overhead. “So, we meet again,” she mumbled, before pushing onward.

Sanha wasn’t sure if BamBam had something set up by the door that would alert him to anyone entering, so she made sure to be ready for an attack as she pushed the door open. After a few breathless seconds, she continued onward.

She knew Jackson would flip his shit once she showed up, but this was something she had to do alone. There was no way she would risk losing any of the kids back to the demon, and she wouldn’t dream of putting Youngjae or Jaebum in danger. Besides, it was a stealth mission. No, this was something she had to do on her own.

Partners were all well and good, but sometimes it was better to fly solo.

She spun the peridot bracelet around her wrist as she tested each stair, making sure the steps wouldn’t creak before putting her full weight on them. Jinyoung had said BamBam tended to hang around the third floor, so that was exactly where she was headed.

A low thump in the distance froze her for a full minute. It could’ve been anything, the floor settling, an animal like a squirrel that had made its nest, a piece of the building pulling free and dropping to the floor, hell it could’ve been Jackson, the very thing she’d come to find, but her heart insisted it was BamBam, pacing the floor as he waited for the return of his victims.

After no sounds followed, she continued up the stairs to the third floor and stayed low as she surveyed the hallway. Most of the doors were closed, except four. One was at the end of the hall, two were across from each other in the middle, and the other was all but right next to her.

Obviously the correct one would be none of these, but it was a bit too dangerous to check the closed doors first, so the opened ones would have to do until she was ready for open conflict. That decided, she inched forward to try the first room.

It was her personal belief that nothing good is ever in the first option tried, and that continued to hold up. The first room was empty of everything except foliage, which only served to muffle her footsteps further. She appreciated that.

The middle rooms would be more difficult to check. Since they were across from each other, if she tried to check one room then anyone in the other would be able to see her. She ended up skipping those, resolving to come back. She also almost gave herself a heart attack while sneaking past them, but nothing happened so she counted herself lucky and kept going.

The room at the end didn’t have anything in it either, but the investigation wasn’t a total loss. For one, she had a second to breath, feeling less exposed than when she had been in the hallway. For another, she heard something.

It wasn’t like the music she’d heard with Jinyoung. This was definitely a physical sound, but she couldn’t place what it was or what direction it was coming from. It took five minutes too long for her to pick a direction and just walk that way.

After playing the world’s most frustrating game of Warmer / Colder, she found herself standing outside one of the closed doors, just down the hall from the middle two. That didn’t bode well, but she’d never had much of a self preservation instinct when it came to curiosity. She forced herself to turn the knob and slowly push the door open.

Nothing.

There was nothing of interest in the room.

She let out a disappointed breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Because of course there’d be nothing. She wasn’t trying to conduct an investigation or anything. Wasn’t like she wanted to find something.

In the next second, all her passive aggressive thoughts vanished as someone’s breathing echoed hers. Her fight or flight instincts broke, and she ended up freezing like a deer in headlights. The ragged sounds continued even after she had most definitely stopped breathing. Her eyes tracked the sound to the side of the room, and she noticed tracks in the dust next to a bookcase. Stepping carefully, she moved over to it, risking a couple breaths before she passed out entirely. It’d been moved a little ways to the right, a couple feet, if she had to estimate.

Behind the bookcase was a door.

Trying to get through or to the door looked like a horrible, horrible idea. Actively searching for someone who was crying never turned out okay in any work even slightly related to the horror genre, and usually the protagonist ended up dead. But this wasn’t a horror film. At least, that’s what she told herself to excuse the incredibly dumb thing she was about to do.

She wasn’t sure she trusted herself to move the bookcase out of the way quietly, but she knew the crying was coming from behind that door. Why else would the bookcase have been moved? So, gritting her teeth and bracing herself, she pushed on the side.

It moved with surprising ease, sliding across the floor with barely a sound. She wasn’t sure what kind of good deed she’d done to get this kind of good karma, but either way she wasn’t complaining. She thanked her lucky stars and grabbed the knob, swinging the door open before her luck (or her nerve) ran out.

Curled in a ball on the floor was BamBam.

#got7 #got7 au #kim yugyeom #bambam #jackson wang #im jaebum #choi youngjae #tuan mark #park jinyoung #bambam bhuwakul

[chillydayzgaming-blog]

Borderlands

Ever wanted a million guns? How about 17.75 million guns ripe for the taking? Guns that'll melt your enemy's faces off, burn them alive, make them scream for their mothers as they experience more than 1.21 gigawatts of electricity coursing through their veins? Then Gearbox Software has a game for you. Released in 2009, Borderlands is a loot based FPS with RPG style skill perks and classes. Four characters to choose from: Sarcastic marksman Mordecai, over enthusiastic brick shithouse named appropriately enough Brick, femme fatale reality shifting Siren named Lilith and finally the impromptu leader of the bunch Roland. He's the big black guy with a turret. Between it's respawning enemies who exist to drop loot and it's wonderful space western setting Borderlands became a cult classic that enjoyed more fanfare over time, gaining traction as an alternative to standard shooters of the time. The first time I recall hearing about the game was from an article talking about Ice T playing it himself. A glowing recommendation from him and it being cheap used at GameStop ensured that I would pick it up. Showing it off to my friends we soon began to play it together, eventually I picked up the GoTY edition, getting all the DLCs that I hadn't yet grabbed anyway, but by that time I was in my third play through of the game. The game working off of a cyclical new game plus mode allows for the player to replay it over again if they wish, with additional difficulty added to the game. To offset that the loot gets better too, so yay, more farming. My fondest memories of Borderlands was starting up the game, putting on some Cage the Elephant and just going to town on the final difficulty. The first area, the Arid Badlands, is a blast. Classic space western fare: Hostile bandits, crazy alien animals to shoot and plenty of loot chests to open up. Learning about all the hidden boxes, running a circuit of slaughter and chilling out to a great band is phenomenal fun. Strongly suggest it as a cathartic method to relax. Surprisingly enough I actually enjoyed classic Borderlands' bare bones story. That doesn't mean it was fantastic, it was cut down from the early ideas for the final release. Essentially the story boils down to there being a vault full of loot, you know, the stuff you've been collecting all the while? But that in a way is a wonderful subversion of what we expect. We expect the McGuffin of the story to bring us what we want, when at it's heart it is meant to only play the role of a desired thing. Be it a princess in yet another fucking castle, big black books filled with Eldritch knowledge or in Borderlands case a vault full of loot. But, spoiler alert, it isn't. It's full of tentacle monster guy. You've seen enough hentai to know where this is going. So you trampled across the East coast of a forsaken continent on a largely abandoned planet just to have to fight a roughly four story interdimensional monster hell-bent on diddling you with his tentacles. Bet you feel used huh? But, really, didn't you have fun along the way? The NPCs are pretty entertaining without being overbearing, dry wit in ample supply in addition to the clear cut quests. I feel as though the vault's true purpose was to show us what we want more than anything in the game, and that's more challenges to overcome. We the players would find it boring if the PCs ended the game with an unending pile of loot, we want to keep up the lootfest ourselves. So after you beat the end boss, who was admittedly pretty easy, you get the opportunity to begin again, but stronger this time. There's a bit of side mentions of cyclical time to help handwave this, which I appreciate, separates it from most other games in that regard. At it's heart the game did have issues with it's writing however. While I did enjoy the more serious tone of the game the slight lean towards humor was very fitting for it, dark humor injected here and there helps to keep it from being too dry. But it felt like a tipsy guy trying to keep his composure, giggling to himself one minute and standing stone faced the next. This was later "fixed" via the DLCs and sequels, going from leaning towards humor to diving headfirst into it. But that left the first game in an awkward position, it's pretty light story doesn't nearly compare to later games in the series. However what was in the game was fairly well done, I'm judging it by it's initial release, not taking the DLCs into account. The main character's lacked good insights into them as people, perhaps to help us associate with them better, but when it comes to a story I want to know how a character reacts, feels about their world. For what it is I have to give the game a 15/20 in the story/concept category. Excellent loot based FPS, subpar story but cool world. Borderlands thrives on it's FPS mechanics. Wonderful gunplay, metric fucktons of guns to utilize and useful character perks to utilize. Want to turn a hawk into an AC-130? You can do that. Shift through reality while running like Speedy Gonzales? Yeah, kinda. Punch shit like, really really hard? Brick shithouse at your service. Ammo spewing, ally healing and bone hurting bullet shooting turret? You'll be making people go owie pretty fast. Along the way you'll gain a bunch of passive and activated abilities too, which are a staple of any perk based game nowadays. Come to think of it Skyrim has perk trees that kinda remind me of Borderlands, would be interesting if it was partially inspired to do so by the surprise hit. Anyway, gotta give the game.e a high five for it's system, it works fantastically. As it's a loot based FPS, you have a backpack that slowly gets upgraded over time. Which is great because after a certain point you end up drowning in grenade mods, shields and weapons after wading through a dungeon. Ooh, speaking of I should expand those things. First off we have those lovely modifiers for your grenades, teleporting, sticky, you name it. Hell, the healing ones are my favorite, a plethora of devastating health sucking good vibes at your fingertips. Your shields are like a secondary health bar that refill over time on their own, plus cool side effects to give you little bonuses. Stuff like resistance to elemental attacks, faster recharging or beyond average shield count. Borderlands' dungeons are some of the most fun I've had in a while. Not too big, ripe with hostiles and loot, perfect for an hour of stomping through with friends. Of course where Borderlands truly shines is in it's open air bandit camps. As I said before I adore the starting area, the Arid Badlands, it's handful of Skag dens and Bandit camps are some of the best fun I've ever had grinding. To me it's not even grinding, it's cathartic ass kicking. Anyway, you get a lot if dusty places to kill stuff in, plus some mountainous places later on. Overall it's world design is quite beautiful, can't really fault it beyond any spots you can get stuck in. Overall it's gameplay and mechanics earn it a solid 20/20, the little things like weapon skill building over time, class variation and just simple dumb fun in it's dungeon diving makes it a near perfect game to pop in and just tear shit up with your friends. Onto Graphics and art style. Borderlands utilizes a cell shaded design that's iconic and quite easy to recognize. Rocks pop out at you, enemies stand out amongst the backdrop and the equipment is well understood from afar. Just enough detail without it being too attention grabbing. Character designs are a bit exaggerated, but that's to be expected really. I can't fault the game for having generic visuals in terms of NPCs and the world, at the same time it also benefits from my soft spot for space westerns. So unlike a lot of shooters it gets a nice noon in the form of it's iconic style, which really helped to set it apart. Ironically it was to be more realistic, but midway through production they changed that. For the better I say. The graphics, for it's time, were/are wonderful. I say are because, well, they still look pretty good. Might not stand up to say... the sequels, but that's just due to higher resolution over time. All in all I believe it has solid graphical quality, no faults to be seen from my 100+ hours of gameplay. So to grade it on it's visuals I'd give it a 20/20, started a series strong with it's unique design, strong visuals and charming atmosphere. Space Western game's gotta have a twangy soundtrack yeah? This one does, plus some haunting tunes as well. While the gun sounds are a bit soft for me the music, both the OST and the choices for opening and ending tracks, are are superb. Opening up with Ain't No Rest For the Wicked by Cage the elephant (my favorite band) and ending with No Heaven by DJ Champion the game uses it's music to help set the mood. You aren't good guys, you are shades of anti-heroes that are on the planet of Pandora to kick ass and get loot. The reasons vary but in general you're gonna spend most of your time shooting native wildlife and locals in the face. A lot. Not much else to comment on, 15/20 in that regard. Just needs stronger sound effects. Plus more PC interaction, but that's more writing than anything else. Enjoy shooting shit? Looting shit? Then Borderlands is the game for you. Easily 30+ hours of shooting and looting, multiple playthroughs and a never-ending stream of baddies to torment even if you do "beat" the game. Not that you ever really do beat it, it's one of those games that you can keep playing forever really. And you know what? I really enjoy that. I see replayability being from two things: wanting to experience the game more/again or seeing how you can do things differently. Myself, I change very little across playthroughs, but I LOVE to feel those events again. If not for the story than for the sheer... wonder or excitement of the events. The first few nights in Minecraft, the end of a dungeon in Skyrim that deposits you at a vista and in this case just the thrill of stomping through dungeons that I've cleared dozens of times before. I can honestly play the same zone in this game for hours. For that reason I have to award it a 20/20 for longevity, just slip the disc in and keep enjoying the gift that keeps on giving. There is very little that I would change about the game, it's a bloody masterpiece as is really. But as I've said before it's lacking in the story department. Having the characters have more shit to say, either due to quests or at each other as they're out and about. Better sense of group cohesion is what I want, to feel that these guys are a group of fire forged friends out looting the countryside together. Plus expand in their back stories, have audio logs like future games had to help explain them a bit more, perhaps a personal quest or two. Hell, have their personalities and backgrounds come out via their dialogue with each other and NPCs, just enough to help us get them better without it being too distracting. Metal Gear Solid V: the Phantom Pain did this quite well, since Snake was meant to be more of a silent protagonist he had more personification via cassette tapes. Perhaps expand on the PCs via that sorta mechanic? Oh, and better SFX, guns and such. Just make it more visceral sounding, that feeling you get when you pop a bandit's head with a satisfying headshot... Enhanced with proper bullet sounds. This game helped bring back loot based games. Be they FPS, dungeon crawlers or whatever, it helped show that a non mainstream game could as much ass or even more ass as the same major releases of that year. It's art style, iconic. The atmosphere and tone, simply a pure mixture of light-hearted romp with violent lootfest. Gunplay that is up there with some of the best shooters. Very few things to complain about, it's a game you and your buddies should buy used and just pop it in to play all weekend. Gold star game overall, 90/100. Very few can match it in sheer fun, that's without taking DLCs into account.

#borderlands #video games #games #review #gearbox #Chilly Dayz #Chilly Dayz here #xbox 360 #classic

[artificialqueens]

Coming Home Chapter 8 (Shalaska) - Jem

Summary: to be young and wild and free

Chapter 8

Sharon and Alaska were both out, and Violet had the whole apartment to herself. She was pretty sure Sharon was working, and Alaska had said something about visiting a couple friends for dinner, but she couldn’t remember exactly. She was just appreciating her alone time when her cellphone rang and she didn’t recognize the number.

“Violet?” She hadn’t known who to expect but it certainly hadn’t been Matt.

“How did you get my number?” She couldn’t remember ever giving him any of her contact info.

“Trixie gave it to me.”

“Oh ok.” Violet said. “What’s up? Have you recovered from New Year’s yet?” He’d been pretty piss-drunk, but it had been a few days.

“Can I come over?” Matt ignored her question, sounding a bit desperate.

“Um…” Though rationally she knew she was allowed to have people over, it seemed a little weird that Matt might be the first of her friends to see her house.

“Please?”

“Yeah, of course.” She obliged.

He sounded really distraught, and Violet wasn’t a horrible person, so she could at least be sympathetic. She texted him her address and patiently went to wait in the living room.

Matt arrived only about 20 minutes later, and he must have walked or taken the bus because Violet never saw a car pull up.

“What’s going on?” She asked as soon as she let the boy in.

“I just needed to get out of there.” He didn’t seem to want to elaborate, so Violet didn’t push him. She could relate to not wanting to talk about a shitty home life. That had been her trying to make conversation most of her life. She had sensed there was something rough with Matt’s family pretty early on. Not that it was an excuse for him being kind of shitty sometimes.

“C’mon in.” She invited Matt to take off his shoes and brought him into the living room. Violet couldn’t help but be a little self-conscious as he looked around the small space, inspecting every surface carefully.

“These your foster parents?” He asked. He’d found a photo on the mantle of Sharon and Alaska. It looked like it was a couple years old. Sharon’s hair was bleached nearly white, not it’s current black, and she smiled at the camera as Alaska was giving her a kiss on the cheek. It was sickeningly cute, if Violet was being honest.

“They look pretty young.”

“They are.” Violet agreed. “Sharon’s thirty or so I think. Alaska is a couple years younger maybe.”

“I guess that’s the perk of not having biological children. No teenage pregnancy but you get to be a young parent.” Matt remarked.

“I guess…” It wasn’t weird for Matt to ask awkward questions, especially when it came to parent things, but he seemed particularly upset today. “Matt, are you ok?”

“I’m fine.”

She invited him to her room after offering him something to eat or drink–he declined. Violet tried not to be awkward, but she’d never had any friends over to her house. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed, really. She loved Sharon and Alaska’s little apartment even though it was small. It just felt really personal to have anyone in what had become her safe space.

“Tell me more about your foster parents.” Matt didn’t look at Violet as he sat down on her bed. He seemed to want a distraction, and normally Violet wouldn’t have obliged, but they’d become almost friends?

“Um… Well they’re adopting me, so they won’t be my foster parents much longer.”

Matt leaned back on the bed, getting comfortable, so Violet continued.

“Alaska is an artist, and she has a studio next door and everything. Sharon has an office job during the day but I think she sings or something at a bar downtown too.”

“They sound pretty cool.” It was nice to hear that Matt was being better about the whole, lesbian thing.

“They are.” Violet agreed. “Like, they’re both pretty young but they seem to have done a lot in their lives already; travelling, school, different jobs. Sharon even won a pretty big pageant quite a few years back.”

Matt was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again, and Violet wasn’t sure if he was really listening to what she was saying. He seemed very lost in his own head.

“Are your parents dead, or were they just shitty?” He asked out of the blue.

“My mom’s in jail. My dad could be dead for all I know.” Violet answered even though he was being unfair. He knew she didn’t really like to talk about her past. “Matt, are your parents abusing you?” She asked outright. Violet had been through enough in her life that she didn’t feel like beating around the bush.

“I don’t know.” He answered, and that worried Violet. “No.” He continued, more surely this time.”I just suddenly feel like I’m questioning everything they’ve ever told me because they can’t be right with what I know now.”

“What do you know now?”

“That everything’s not black and white. Not people, not feelings, not anything.” Matt elaborated. “I’m sorry, we should have fun. I need to stop.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a joint and a lighter. “Wanna share?” He asked, lighting it and passing it to Violet.

She nodded and took a puff. As Matt began to smoke, his mood seemed to improve. Violet could feel her anxiety melting away too.

Somehow, Matt convinced her to look through the kitchen cupboards for some alcohol. They found a half-empty bottle of vodka and did shots out of a plastic IKEA cup. Violet allowed herself not to worry about drinking; she was literally in the safest place to be doing it. Besides, she was starting to have fun, and Sharon and Alaska were probably going to be out until late.

She allowed herself to be a little bit reckless, and it wasn’t like when she’d been in some of her previous homes. She’d been really angry and rebellious for a long time and had caused her fair share of trouble. But she’d never gotten to be a kid, or even a teenager really, and it was nice to be a bit more free now that her life didn’t revolve around rebelling against the foster system and its fucked-up nature.

Her and Matt talked for a long time, and he suddenly got an idea once they were both past tipsy.

“You said Sharon won a pageant, does she have, like, a crown?”

“Yeah, it’s a big shiny silver thing that probably weighs like a good ten pounds.”

“We should take it.”

“And do what?”

“I don’t know, put it on and take photos or something?” Matt seemed excited. “Oh my god wouldn’t that be so funny?”

“I don’t know Matt….”

“C'mon Violet, we’ll put it right back after.”

The two snuck into Sharon and Alaska’s closet.

“Ooh la la, look at this!” Matt squealed, grabbing something from the back of the closet. As he turned, Violet saw that he was holding a pink, transparent negligée over his body.

“Oh my god, put that back!” Violet hissed at him.

“Come on Vi, it’s pretty.”

“I don’t want to think about either of my foster moms wearing that, ew.” Violet squeezed her eyes shut, trying to forget the image that had popped into her head.

“They’re both kinda hot, even if they are a bit old for my tastes.” Matt continued to dance around in the offensive garment.

“Ew ew ew, please stop talking right now.” Violet couldn’t even look at him. “Let’s just get the crown and get out of here.”

Matt finally dropped the lingerie on the ground. “It’s here!” He yelled. He stood on his toes to reach the shiny silver headpiece, pulling it down to Violet’s eye level.

“Wow.” Matt gasped, in awe. It was strange almost to see the boy enjoying things that seemed so feminine, and it was nice that he was actually enjoying himself and admiring something so beautiful.

Violet felt the same way. It was a really beautiful and ornate crown. It had such a power to it, especially due to its towering size. It was hard to imagine anyone wearing such a thing, especially Sharon “spooky mom” Needles.

Violet danced around while they got ready for their impromptu photo shoot. She did some quick makeup and put on the highest heels in Sharon and Alaska’s closet. This wasn’t about looking polished; it was a chance for her and Matt to subvert all the conventions that had been set for them in life.

“I don’t know where would be a good place for photos in here.” Everywhere she looked around the apartment seemed too domestic, covered in tasteful beige and white that was very honey, but not glamorous.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Matt asked. “I have an idea.”

They walked about twenty minutes to a part of town Violet had never visited before. She complained the whole way because she was carrying an array of clothes to change into, and some of that stuff was fucking heavy. Matt lead her around the back of an old, worn out building, and she didn’t question him when the lock was clearly already broken. They found themselves in a basement filled with mannequins, clothing racks, and a bunch of full length mirrors. It was the right amount of grunge and glamour for this shoot.

“Ooh, bitch, this is perfect!” Violet exclaimed as she looked around the room. “What is this place?”

“I think it must have been an old costume shop or something.” Matt said rather nonchalantly. She didn’t bother asking how he’d found the abandoned shop; at this point she was too excited to get started.

Violet went to the back of the room, where there was a closet/dressing room of a sort. She changed into an outfit and touched up her makeup in the mirror. When she got back out, Matt had turned on the battery operated lamps around the room, and was taking a swig straight from the bottle of vodka they’d stolen from the house.

Feeling confident, Violet took the booze from his hands and did the same, barely noticing the burn now. She slipped on her heels, and posed a bit unsteadily, wearing Sharon’s crown. She put on some music on her phone, and was glad when Matt began to dance with her. They took turns taking some shots of each other, and they were just shitty iPhone photos because neither of them had a proper camera. Somehow, that felt right. Matt seemed so much more free now, and he added some lipstick and a pearl necklace to his look once he was more confident. Violet didn’t question it for a second. She could barely stand up straight (a combination of the alcohol, the heels, and probably the giddiness) and she basked in the feeling of not having a care in the world. This is what being young was all about, and even though there were only too of them there, the room was full of energy.

The world spun and suddenly, they were together in the dressing room, and the music was still blaring and there were clothes strewn out everywhere and Matt was standing really close to her. Before Violet could do anything his lips were on hers, smudging her dark lipstick as she was pressed up against the shaky wall.

“Matt.” She mumbled through the kiss, feeling weird and confused. He didn’t seem to hear her. “Matt!” She yelled, pushing him off her a little too hard.

He hit the opposite wall with a thud, and it was like the haze cleared.

“What the fuck, Violet?” He asked her. “I thought you liked me.”

“I don’t know.” Violet was feeling panicked. “I don’t know what I like.” She stood there shaking for awhile, not knowing how to elaborate. Matt stared her down for a few seconds, waiting, before breaking eye contact.

He left the small room in a huff, and Violet felt like she was floating and not in a pleasant way. Everything was just so confusing and for the first time in awhile she didn’t know what she was feeling about anything. Did she like Matt? She didn’t know… it’s like she thought she did, but his mouth felt weird on hers. She was a lot more drunk than she really liked to be anymore, and she began to see how not-in-control she was of this whole situation. They’d just broken into an abandoned building to take photos, with stolen booze and a stolen crown, and fuck, how could she have been so stupid?

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash, and Matt’s voice saying: “shit.”

She got back out into the main room to see Sharon’s crown in pieces. Neither of them moved or breathed for a second and then Violet collected herself and spoke as calmly as she could. “I need you to leave.” She told Matt as she gingerly reached for the shattered pieces of metal all over the floor. Who knew something so grand could be so delicate?

“Violet, I’m so sorry, I’ll help you.” Matt sounded guilty, but at this point she couldn’t deal with everything happening around her, even if it wasn’t really his fault.

“Please, Matt, just go.”

She cleaned up the stuff as much as she could, but the place looked trashed and there was no hope of collecting all of the crown, let alone fixing it. So she wiped the makeup off her face and did the only thing she could think to do: call Alaska.

“Violet?” Alaska’s voice sounded worried, and Violet wasn’t sure how late it was but it was dark outside and everything was a mess.

“Mom?” Violet found herself close to tears. “Can you come get me?”

#rpdr fanfiction #coming home #jem #alaska thunderfuck #sharon needles #violet chachki #miss fame #pearl liaison #max malanaphy #jinkx monsoon #shalaska #hurt/comfort #fluff #lesbian au #parent #child #tw drugs #tw alcohol #tw implied abuse #submission

[theseventhhex]

The Koreatown Oddity Interview

Dominique Purdy

Photo by Theo Jimison

The Koreatown Oddity aka Dominique Purdy was born and raised in Koreatown, Los Angeles. His first hip-hop influence was his own mother, who made jewellery and hung tight with Ice T, the Rhyme Syndicate, and Grandmaster Caz. Purdy moved from corner to corner through Koreatown his whole life, drawing, writing, and developing his own brand of experimental hip-hop, fused with comedy, and impromptu performance. As The Koreatown Oddity, rocking a wolf mask he bought back in high school for 70 bucks, he's been doing captivating crowds constantly with his enthralling creativity and charismatic presence. ‘Finna Be Past Tense’ is Purdy’s latest incredible offering, a record oozing matchless dexterity and is based around a loose concept of Koreatown Oddity reckoning with life, death, and the passage of time… The Seventh Hex talks to Dominique about experiencing various cultures, video games and classic cartoons…

TSH: Is documenting time gone by still at the heart of your musical expressions?

Dominique: Yeah, totally. Sometimes I think what else is there to express, you know? Every single moment that I progress, things get a little deeper for me. I know that whatever I put out, it’s going to be out there forever. It’s not just about making a song that’s hot or something that people can dance do - if it comes out that way, then that was the right mood and the right expression for it, however, my music is simply documenting my time in life because it’s all personal to me. I’m not going to talk about things that I can’t relate to and I won’t talk about a bunch of shit that I know nothing about.

TSH: Is the vibe and pattern of a beat an essential aspect when you form new music?

Dominique: Absolutely. When it comes to my own beats I know exactly what type of pockets they are going to be in. Each beat always has a certain flavour and feel that allows me to know what to do with it. Also, at times, the beats are colours to me - I may have like a blue or a grey type of visual or vibe attached to a beat and then the words that accompany the beat just come out of me. Usually I just write in my head, because it stays in there better. I also like to come back and revisit my beats later in the day too, simply because something in the world that I see or experience will inform the words I choose to include on top of the beats. I just attach the words to the beats and everything goes hand in hand.

TSH: Having had a while to digest your excellent album ‘Finna Be Past Tense’. When you look back at this album now, what stands out most?

Dominique: For me, what stands out most when I look back at this album is that it’s something that’s real to me. I’m glad I can look back at it and that it reminds me of some meaningful memories. Also, knowing people have got something out of it - that is cool. I’m proud of that because every song and every detail on this record was super-important for me. I don’t say stuff for no reason. I use metaphors and punchlines, but I only insert them in if they are necessary for the point I’m trying to get across.

TSH: Was it a natural approach to delve into one’s reckoning with life and death with this body of work?

Dominique: It just made sense. To be honest, the title itself ‘Finna Be Past Tense’ is what everything will become. It’s not really hard for me to talk about death; it’s actually quite natural given my character. There’s a murky lifestyle that’s been embedded in me since I was a kid. I’ve seen people broken and lost, as well as near death type of experiences too.

TSH: Talk us through the incentives that you drew on for the track ‘Mood of the Grind’...

Dominique: I specifically like the darkness of that track. I felt like I was on a mission with that track in trying to get certain points across whilst also incorporating a specific state of mind. You’ll notice that this track has certain inflictions in the beat, and when I felt those infections it would make me say ‘now you feel me’. I said that line with so much conviction because the infliction of the beat made me do so and the raps perfectly fed into this vibe too. That track has a lot of levels to help you take it in and it’s not meant to fall on deaf ears. I felt like I was expressing gems that people had given to me and there are several point of views going at once with that song too.

TSH: What resonates with you most when you overlook a song like ‘Yesterday’s News’?

Dominique: That’s a track that will always have a place in my mind. For me, it’s a specific post-it note from my head about how I feel. A lot of the rhymes in that track are quotes from conversations that I’ve had with my dad. When my dad heard that track, he was really happy to see how I’ve documented our discussions - he knows I’m a deep thinker. My dad realises that when he talks, I take it all in and turn it into something that other people can get something out of.

TSH: The ethics, lessons and morals that your parents have instilled in you remain very beneficial to you?

Dominique: Definitely. I still live with my mum and see my dad occasionally. My mom and dad were never married and they didn’t live in the same household when I was born either. However, separately the morals that they instilled in me have been so valuable. My parents have never been liars; they’ve always kept it real. As a kid you don’t really think about it, but when I think about it now I’m so grateful for what they taught me. They never shielded me from anything that was supposed to be adult, which includes me driving around with my mom during the riots.

TSH: Your mother is also very influential when it comes to your hip-hop roots...

Dominique: My mum is from Ohio and she came out to California when she was 19 - she just wanted a better life so she moved to California to find better opportunities. Both of my parents are hustlers on their own. My mum had an entrepreneurial business selling to all the rappers; she sold jewellery and gear, so she was always coming up on hip-hop. In fact I know so much about hip-hop because of my mom.

TSH: Dropping knowledge is always in play when you meet your father...

Dominique: Totally. We don’t meet that much nowadays, but when we do, there is so much energy brought into that one experience. One day with my dad feels like half a year. My dad is a street dude; he didn’t have a father so he learnt through living on the streets.

TSH: Where you’re from there are so many cultures to experience: Ethiopian, Indian, Greek, Korean etc...

Dominique: I’m impacted greatly by my surroundings. I don’t even have a passport, even though I’ll probably get one this year. I’d like to go to other places in the world, but if it never happens, I won’t be disappointed. When I’m here in Los Angeles, I have pockets of all the cultures you can think of and I can experience them all. I stumble across other cultures all the time and I’m always learning about them.

TSH: Film also influences how listeners receive your words and sounds...

Dominique: You know, I like films from all eras, but I’m definitely into abstract and crazy type of movies. I especially love how movies back in the day were shot, including the unique things they did with the credits and dialogue back then - I’m into that. I recently watched The Hustler with Paul Newman - I’d never seen it before, but I thought it was great. I like movies from that era because you can tell the actors were serious about acting. The actors back then were not throwaway in any way. Today’s acting is a throwaway thing, people become actors just because they want to make money and be famous. Back then people were looking to make people feel something, they took it seriously. But yeah, film is a huge influence, which is why my albums tend to have a theme, much like its own movie.

TSH: Was playing and getting lost in videos games back in the day a special time for you?

Dominique: Ah man, I loved playing the NES, the SNES and SEGA Genesis. Back in the day I used to play arcades all of the time. We’d play games like Contra, Ninja Turtles, Double Dragon, Kung-Fu Master, Sonic the Hedgehog and all of the Mario games. Oh, and I’m a massive fan of Mortal Kombat too. I remember going to play it at my boy’s house when it first came out on a system because it was only on arcades before that. We’d always be trying to figure out the codes, there was no internet back then to rely on, ha! Also, I remember when Mortal Kombat II came out and my mom got it from work. I don’t know how she got it, but everyone was flocking to my house and playing until late in the night. I play video games once in a while now but it’s not like how it used to be. Video games are an influence on my music as well, especially the creativity of the gameplay and the music.

TSH: Judging by your Instagram, you also admire animation from yesteryear too...

Dominique: Ha, I’m glad you noticed that. Yeah, I love animation man. I especially love the older stuff because I came up on that stuff. I used to watch Huckleberry Hound, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. The animation of the old cartoons is so good because it’s so on point, even the music that accompanies it too. The whole Hanna-Barbera age is definitely a huge influence on me. I could just put that stuff on and watch it for hours.

TSH: What are your plans with your future musical ambitions?

Dominique: I definitely want to put myself on a bigger platform. There are a lot of unique personalities in hip-hop, but when you look more towards the mainstream and the bigger platforms, there’s only a certain amount of voices that are there. I feel like when I’m able to get to the higher platform, that’s when I’ll be able to do a whole lot more. I want people to know that when they come to my show they cannot be offered this kind of experience anywhere else, they have to get it from me. I want to be able to fully bring my mind out of my head and onto the stage for people to see. I want to bring audiences into my world, both on record and onstage. With my next record I want to take people on a journey with me and give them a further insight into my state of mind. Underneath it all, there’s a spiritual connection with everything that I do and I hope I can share this with the masses.

The Koreatown Oddity - “Fuck Dinosaurs”

Finna Be Past Tense

#Interview #The Koreatown Oddity #Dominique Purdy