#turns out I really really like scales on obelisks

[verbosebabbler]

ZampanioSim East Memories

So I think I found the memories from ZampanioSim East. I say think, because I didn’t get these from the code directly in ZampanioSim East but from.. elsewhere. Each of the themes have an associated list of objects and descriptions. The list is long, so it is below the cut.

ADDICTION Addiction Object: A difficult subject. Beer: Probably shouldn't. More Wine: Best not to. Teapot: Caffeine is bad for you. Web Wine: Its a good thing this wine looks so gross. Web Wine2: you really don't want to touch it. Wine Shelves: You're not tempted by these.

ANGELS Angel Object: Do you hear the tintinnabulation? Angel Statue: The angels bless you. Ice Glacier: It feels holy. Jars: Jars of holy water. Obelisk: It lists out the praises of the gods. Writing Tablet: The words of your gods are written here.

ANGER Anger Object: Seems to have been pushed into the floor pretty hard…

APOCALYPSE Apocalypse Object: This doll house scale ruined building would be cute if it weren't for the smell emanating from it… Fossil1: As death is a natural and inevitable part of life, extinction is the natural fate of all worlds. Fossil2: There are entire species consisting solely of the dead. Fossil3: For ever species we know have vanished, how many thousands extinguished without a sound? Fossil4: As Death comes to all beings, Extinction comes to all species. Fossil5: How impossibly lucky is this creature, for their bones to survive epochs? Fossil6: To fear Extinction is to fear inevitability. Fossil7: What entire ecosystems lived and died before you took your first breath? Science: Just enough knowledge to destroy it all. Web Books: How long will the works of man outlast us?

BUGS Bees: The Swarm is judging you. Bees2: Your skin crawls just looking at these buzzing insects Bees3: Incessant buzzing. Bees4: The bees are bussing and crawling and flying everywhere. Ruined honey: Someone has raided this bee hive Ruined wasp nest: Who destroyed this wasp nest? Wasp: It seems to be a large statue of a wasp. Wasp Nest1: There is a wasp nest here. It is filled with holes Wasp Nest2: There is a wasp nest here Wasp Nest3: If you let the inhabitants of this waspnest love you, you could be a nest, too.

BURIED Buried Object: X Marks the Spot. Grave: You hear faint scratching from underneath. Grave: You could sleep under here forever buried. Pickax: With this you could dig and dig and dig deep into the earth until no one could ever save you. Pit: The warm embrace of the earth awaits. Why must you cling so to the cold, unforgiving sky? Pit2: Down and down it goes. You want to jump in. Shovel: DIG Well: It goes so deep into the earth. You cannot see the bottom. The concept of a bottom is anathema to this well.

CHOICES Choice Object: Signs like this tend to be more useful when labeled…

CLOWNS Balloon1: How whimsical. Balloon2: It feels like it might pop at any moment. Balloon3: You wonder how they float. Balloon4: Surely someone must have filled these within the past day or two if they're still floating, right? Balloon5: A sign of life. Clown Object: Honk honk! +u+ Gift: When you go to open it it explodes into confetti. Jack in a Box Closed: It's hilarious how much anxiety the anticipation of a closed jack in the box causes. Jack in a Box Open: Sourceless laughter peels out across the room as you jump in surprise when the jack springs out. Jewelry Box: Clown jewels. Toybox: Laughter rings out anytime you touch this box.

CRAFTING Armor: You appreciate the craftsmanship here. Armor2: You frown as you study the flaws of this piece of armor. Armor3: A master made this armor, you can tell. Crafting Object: Just a little bit of tape… Hammer: The heft of this hammer is just perfect for forging. Metal Ingots: Fresh ingots ripe for being turned into more useful materials. Pickax: You feel the strange urge to craft some mines. Shovel: You just want to turn the soil with your hands and MAKE something with it. Stump with Ax: You feel a distinct urge to go chop some trees. Well: Enough water to cool a thousand forges.

DEATH Angel Statue: In your bones you know no beautific afterlife awaits. Chess Set: Do you dare cheat death? Corpse Blossom: It reeks of death. Bone Pile: Death is the great equalizer. Dead Bush: A reminder that death comes to us all. Dead Tree: You wonder what killed it before you remember it doesn't matter. Decaying Barrel1: Even the works of man eventually die. Death Object: This status of Death seems uninterested in your plight. Grave: This is not your fate. But no one is beyond Death. Grave: It simply says 'everyone' on it. Grave: It is yours. Grave: It's inscription is too worn with age to read. Grave: Somehow you know it has the name of your best friend. Grave: If you had a family, they would be listed here, you're sure of it. Grave: It has your name on it. Hospital Bed: Someone died here. Skeleton1: Meat is meat. Skeleton2: Memento mori. Skeletons: At least they died together. Skull: It was inevitable they would die. Skull3: Meat is meat. Violent Bed: Most people die in beds.

DECAY Corpse Blossom: It stinks of death and decay Dead bush: The bush is rotting Dead tree: What did this look like when it was alive, you wonder. Decay is an extant form of life: In your heart you know decay is an extant form of life Decay Object: I wonder if they're poisonous. Decayed web box: This rotten box can't be used to hold anything anymore. Decaying Barrel: The barrel stinks of fermentation and rot. Grave: You wonder who is buried and rotting here. Hydration Station: You go to take a sip of the water before realizing it's filled with maggots. Shitty cot: The cot stinks of rot. Web Shelves: These shelves haven't been able to hold anything for a long time. Web Table: What could be trapped in here, you wonder? Web Table2: You peer into its cracks but see nothing inside.

DOLLS Angel Statue: Her eyes seem to watch you. Armor: Did it just move when you weren't looking? Balloon1: There's little people inside, waving at you. Bear: Every time you look away it seems to be in a different pose. Chess Set: It looks like a fun game. Doll: Scrawled on her face is 'will you be my mother?' Doll: She is watching you. Doll: Someone must miss her terribly. Dollhouse: The dolls inside are all missing. Dolls Object: This Doll Recites: Dress: A dress in need of a doll. Gumball Machine: Delicious sweets. Hobby Horse: Its eyes seem alive, and in pain. Jack in a Box Closed: You hear something moving inside. Jack in a Box Open: You feel something touching your leg, but when you look down i's just this Jack In a Box. JR Doll: There's something cathartic in having power over old JR. Princess Bed: And adorable bed you just want to cover with stuffed animals and dolls. Scarecrow: You're suddenly certain it is just choosing not to move. Scarecrow2: It waits. Snowman: You know its heart yearns to look more human. What would it have to steal to get there. Teach us the Insides: Screams are coming from inside. Teapot: If only you had some toys, you could host a little teaparty. Toy Army: Oh. Toy Drummer Boy: Any time you look away you hear a single beat of his drum. Toy Regiment: Each time you look away they are a single step closer. Toy Shelves: So many toys, it almost makes you wish you could be nostalgic. Toy Soldier Large: He seems to be made of wax. His eyes are wrong, though. Toy Soldier Small: It's okay. You'll be his friend. Toy Train: Choo choo! Jaimie would be proud. Toybox: All sorts of fun to be had in here.

ENDINGS Ending Object: The End Endings Object: Stop. Please. Guidepost: All ways lead to dead ends. Grave: The End. Lamp Post: Why are lampopsts so often signifiers of endings? Skeleton1: There is a serenity in knowing how the story ends. Skeletons: Did they know their ends would be so similar? Skull: The path differes, but the end is always the same. Skull3: We all end the same. Web Books: All the pages are torn out save the last. Web Books: Every book within is blank, save the last page. Writing Tablet: It lists out the last thought you and everyone you ever met will ever have.

FAMILY: Family Object: Family Tree Pruned.

FLESH Butchered Meat: In the end we are nothing more than meat. Chopping Block: It's incredible what a good quality butcher's knife can do to meat. Cooking Pot: Something savory and meaty wafts out. Fish Crate: Your flesh isn't fundamentally different than the flesh of these fish. Flesh Object2: It pulsates gently. Flesh Object: The beefy arm is waving at you in between flexing. Ham: Meat is meat. Meat Chops: This doesn't look quite like pork. Somehow, that unsettles you. Meat Chops: They are grown from your own cells, you can feel this in your bones. Meat Grinder: You slowly feed your right arm into it and watch the ribbons of flesh pour out the other end. Meat Slabs: Meat is me. Skeleton1: You think you could make a pretty decent bone broth from this. Skeleton2: In the end we are all just meat hanging off bones. Turkey: It smells delicious. It was alive once, as you are now. You'll smell delicious, too, one day.

FIRE Fire Object: Hmm Interesting…

FREEDOM Freedom Object: Have you seen the freedom object? It seems to have gotten out…

GUIDING Guiding Object: Do you ever wish somebody else would point the way for you?

HEALING Healing Object: It's important to know what your innards are doing.

KILLING Blood Fountain: You feel the inexplicable urge to bathe in this. Box o' Knives: You could really do some damage to someone with all these knives. Chopping Block: You almost wish you weren't alone in this maze, just so you could test this knife out. Knife: Knife goes in. Blood comes out. It's that simple. Pickax: You could really do some damage to someone's skull with this. Stump with Ax: You feel the inexplicable urge to write 'All Work And No Play Makes Johnny A Dull Boy' over and over again. Sword Anvil: A weapon has only one purpose: killing. Swords: You could kill a lot of people with these. Violent Bed: A fight happened here. Web Swords: There is clarity in killing. The why doesn't matter, only the how.

KNOWING Big Bookshelf: Everything you would need to perfectly navigate this maze is listed here, if only you could remember it. Big Bookshelf: The indentity of the Eye Killer is here, long past the point where you could use it. Books: Spoilers for all fiction is somehow contained in these few volumes. Books: The thoughts of everyone you've ever known are detailed here. Knowing Object: I know something you don't. Small bookshelf: The tomes list out the forgotten secrets of every civilization. Scrolls: Forbidden knowledge floods your mind and you can't Unknow it. Writing tablet: You need to know more. Writing tablet: The thoughts currently in your head are perfectly etched here.

LANGUAGE Big Book Shelf: Dozens upon dozens of books in every language. Big Book Shelf: All of the literary classics. Books: Language is used masterfully in these volumes of poetry. Books: Somehow each book claims you are the author. Obelisk: It's a rosetta stone for every language reading out 'Zampanio is a really good game. You should play it.' Small Bookshelf: It's all your favorite childhood books. Writing Tablet: A forgotten language is perfectly translated here for you.

LIGHT Lamp: It's soothing and bright. Lamp Post: It spreads its light over a vast area. It makes you feel safe. Light Object: How enlightening…

LONELY Lonely Figure: Alone…

LOVE Angel Statue: Love is war. Bear: It feels soft and cuddly Dress: Just looking at this pretty dress makes you wish you could remember going to dances. Flowers: A gift for a significant other. Love Object: Fragile Concept Necklace: Someone beautiful could wear this Jewelry Box: A cherished gift. Wine: Oh to be on a picnic with someone you love. Wine2: If only there was someone to share this with.

MAGIC Magic Object: Look Inward.

MATH Math Object: Don't you hate it when the beads break? Makes math so much harder.

OCEAN Barrel: Filled with salt pork for a long sea journey. Fish Crate: Fish freshly caught from the ocean. Hydration Station: The water looks refreshing, you almost didn't realize how thirsty you were. Hydration Station2: The water looks so cool and refreshing… Hydration Station3: Such a tiny bucket of water compared to the vast ocean…Ocean Object1: The fish gasps for breath. Ocean Object2: Why is the Baltic Sea Anomaly an Ocean Object? Don't ask me…

PLANTS Cabbages: These cabbages are well grown. Cactus: You don't think it can talk. You aren't sure why this disappoints you. Cactus2: The most tsundere of plants. Fern: For an instant, you think this might be some sort of…creature. But no. Just a fern. Flowers: Beautiful flowers. Pointless flowers. Grass: Surprisingly fertile soil produces this clump of grass. Pine Tree: You wonder how trees manage to grow inside this labyrinth. Plants Object2: What a terrible place to try and grow… Plants Object1: What a terrible place to try and grow… Shovel: Did someone leave it here after planting something? Tall Potted Plant: It seems healthy, though confined. Wild Flowers: These flowers grow with no human hand. Yellow Flowers: Weeds, but pretty ones.

ROYALTY Jewelry box: Crown jewels. Pile of Gold1: The wealth of a kingdom. Pile of Gold2: The wealth of an Empire. Princess Bed: A bed fit for royalty. Royal Object: Long Live The… The… Is dead. Small Pile of Gold: The taxes you are due. Throne: Your rightful place.

SCIENCE Jars: Specimen jars. More Wine: You get the distinct urge to do science seeing this well stocked lab. Science: Oh, the discoveries you could make with enough patience and equipment. Science Object: A beaker of perfectly generic fluid. Small Bookshelf: Textbooks organized by scientific discipline line these shelves.

SERVICE Cooking Pot: Is it time for you to cook dinner? Hydration Station: You wonder if anyone around here is thirsty… Laundry: You can't remember the last time you've done laundry. Plates: Are you supposed to clean these dishes? Service Object: Ring Bell For Service.

SOUL Spirit Object1: The wandering dead… Spirit Object2: TEAM SPIRIT LETS GO!

SPYING Eye1: IT WEEPS. Eye2: IT STARES. Eye3: IT SEES. Eye4: IT CRIES. Eye5: IT CANNOT BLINK. Eye6: IT SEES. Eye7: IT GLISTENS. Eye8: IT WATCHES. Eye9: IT WAITS. Eye10: IT FOCUSES. Eye11: IT GAZES. Eye12: IT TREMBLES. Eye13: IT LOOKS.

STEALING Cooking Pot: Reminds you of being on the run from the law. Fancy chest: You wonder what kind of loot is in here. Gold Ingots: There is NO way you're going to be able to carry these out of here. Jewelry Box: A tidy fortune in jewels. Necklace: You wonder how much this would be worth on the blackmarket. Pile of Gold1: You are practically drooling seeing so much gold. Pile of Gold2: You want to bathe in this like Scrooge McDuck. Pile of Gold smaller: What could you buy with this? Small gold pile: A modest fortune yours for the taking. Stealing Object: Right Click, Save Image

TECHNOLOGY Laptop: The battery seems to be completely dead. Laundry: Modern technology sure is convinient! Printer: You feel the irrational urge to destroy this flawless piece of technology.

TWISTING Aluminum: This is not JR. JadedResearcher: This is not JR. JR Doll: This is not JR. JR Lobstersona: This is not JR. JR Slug: This is not JR. Twisting Object: Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Zampanio FlowerKid by Hex2: How do sprite sheets work???

WEB Scarecrow: Nearly invisible threads connect to each of its joints. It isn't moving, but you aren't sure it will stay that way. Scarecrow2: Almost invisible threads jerk and tug it in a variety of directions. It seems to be in pain. Web Barrel: More laughs than a barrel of spiders. Web Books: What are words but a way to control others? Web Books: If you read all these books you will be dancing to the collector tune. Web Dragon: Even the most powerful among us are powerless in the face of traps and manipulation. Web Eggs: You can see shadows moving inside the eggs. Occasionally they twitch. Web Flower: Gifts are classic ways to manipulate others. Web Fortune: We are all bound by fate.Webbing: Tiny spiders work tirelessly to spin more of this web. Web Jam: Evolution has programmed you to prefer dense caloric options. Web Jars: Small spiders scuttle inside, endlessly trying to climb up the smooth glass then falling down. Web Money: What is money but chains? Web Organ: It plays a haunting melody all on its own, as gossamer threads tug on the keys. Web Pot: It's filled with spiders. Web Scrolls: What is knowlege but a means to manipulate others? Web Shelves: Society puppets you into keeping things maintained. Web Shield: You are frozen in the certainty that if you were to pick this up, threads would bind it forever to your body. Web Sword1: Bad things will happen if you touch it. Web Sword2: Long abandoned. Web Swords: Who laid them here so carefully together? Web Table: What could this trap? Web Table2: You see shadows moving inside. Web Table3: Small bugs are trapped here. Web Throne: Are even Ruler's immune from the pressures of society? Web Vanity: Your hands jerkily go through the motions of putting makeup on. Web Wine: Spiders desperately scrabble for purchase at the surface of the liquid. Some have already drowned and sunk to the bottom of the bottle. Web Wine2: Will you choose to give up control of your body? Web Zampanio: Your body positions itself in front of it and begins playing a jaunty tune on it. Webbing: Tiny spiders work tirelessly to spin more of this web. Webbing2: It looks like Mr. Spider is not home. Webbing4: What could possibly make such a huge web?

ZAP Zap Object: zap pow kaboom

#discoveringzampanio

[bunjywunjy]

GOOD EVENING FR COMMUNITY HOW WE FEELIN ABOUT THIS

#turns out I really really like scales on obelisks #fr #flight rising

[yungidreamer]

Arrival

Summary: Yungi and their girl arrive in New York City for spring break! After a visit to central park they decide to have an evening in at their B&B, planning for the rest of the trip and relaxing. When their girl turns in early, the boys expend some energy together in the shower

Wordcount: 6.6k

Content warnings: a little discussion of insecurites, orals sex, face fucking, anal sex, shower sex, and lots of love as always. 

“New York, New York!” Mingi sang as they stepped off the subway at the stop closest to their bed and breakfast. Yunho gave a snicker and she laughed, hugging him around the hips. “What?”

“You’re just cute, love,” she told him with a bright smile. “I love that you do stuff like that.” Mingi grinned, turning a little pink. Yunho took one of Mingi’s hands and she hooked a finger into one of his belt loops as they headed out of the subway station and out onto the streets of the city. They paused as Yunho checked the directions on his phone, opening the map to get their bearing and gestured in the direction they needed to head. Dragging their bags the short block and a half, they found themselves in front of the iron and glass door that was their bed and breakfast. Mingi dropped Yunho’s hand and pulled the door open, holding it open for the other two to enter before following with his own bag into the small reception area.

With no one currently at the desk, they put their bags to the side near the wood paneled desk and poked their heads around the corners of the small lobby area with a couch, an armchair, a coffee table, and a little vanity that had been repurposed to hold a few welcoming decorative items. It was nice and cozy looking, a little like a living room at someones house. Mingi scootched up behind her, petting her head and touching gently along her neck. Yunho threw his arms around Mingi from behind, lifting him up off the floor and bouncing him as they all giggled.

“Uh, can I help you?” A voice came from behind the desk.

“Yeah we are here to check in, sorry,” she said coming over towards the desk. Pulling out a piece of paper and her ID.

“Are you here with your parents?” Asked the guy behind the desk as he took the papers.

“Nope just us,” Yunho replied, hanging on Mingi’s shoulder from behind him still.

“Alright, let’s see,” he said, typing into the computer behind the counter. “Hmmm, I think there might have been a mistake in your reservation.”

“Hmm?” She said, standing on her tiptoes to try and see over the counter as if it would let her see what they were looking at.

“Well it looks like you have a room with only one bed,” his mouth pressed into a line. “We do have another room with two beds or we can also send up a cot, but that would be a little extra.”

“One bed is fine, it’s a king sized right?” She followed up. 

“Yes…” he blinked at them for a second before going on with the check-in for them. “Well, here is your key. You guys are up on the third floor, room 304 towards the end of the hall.”

“Thank you,” she smiled as she took the key from him and turned to grab the handle of her bag. “Come on loves, let’s go see the room.” Yunho and Mingi followed her to the stairwell, and they walked together up the couple of flights to the third floor. They found their room at the end of the hallway to the right. She slid the plastic key into the reader and swung the door open and stepped inside. The room was a lovely space filled with a pleasing combination of bright blue and crisp white. The room wasn’t large and the space was mostly filled with the bed, but given the price and the location, it was still a very good deal. They had a window that looked out on the small side street with the entrance to the B&B, a bright tiled bathroom, an armchair, and a little desk under the TV mounted to the wall. The bed was actually a little smaller than theirs back home, but it would be fine for the days they were here over break.

Not wanting to waste time, they put their suitcases in the corner, put the key in Yunho’s wallet, and headed back downstairs. They walked out the front door and turned left to make their way down the three and a half blocks to the edge of the park. Checking Yunho’s map again, they decided to head down a block to a small entrance into the massive park. They decided to start with the area behind the Metropolitan Museum, in part because there was a chance the cherry trees might be blooming already since spring had been warm and the place called Cherry Hill seemed like a good destination for that.

They set off along the maze of paths further into the park. At first they followed the path along the back of the museum, seeing the massive extended structures that seemed to stretch so far along the edge of the park.

“Do you think we’ll be able to see everything in there in a day when we go?” Mingi asked as they walked along the modern feeling structure of glass and steel that reached into the park.

“Maybe not but I bet we can see a lot,” she commented with a smile, catching his attention by taking his hand again. He looked back at her and gave her a big smile. Yunho took her other hand, giving it a squeeze. 

“Did you see that over there?” He asked, gesturing at something that seemed to be pointing up into the sky behind the line of trees across the street that was running alongside the path they were on.

“What is it?” Mingi asked, squinting at it as they continued walking.

“It looks like an obelisk,” she stated. “Want to go see what it is?” Both of the boys nodded and they started off, first crossing the road and path and sneaking onto the broad grassy lawn. The old trees there were just starting to put out their leaves making it surprisingly easy to see further into the park as they walked. The obelisk was a large object of brown stone that seemed to be just a little out of place, rising out of nowhere in the middle of a park in the city. When they got close, they could see that it seemed to actually be an ancient object that had been installed in the park, likely related to the museum nearby.

“That’s neat,” she declared, circling the base and looking up at the hieroglyphic carvings. “I really wonder what it says.”

“Maybe something like ‘Pharaoh Ramses was here, he was cool and liked pointy things,’” Yunho jokingly suggested.

“You know,” she admitted with a grin. “There is every chance you really aren’t that far off.”

After a couple more minutes they headed down off the area that held the obelisk onto another path that circled around the broad open lawn at the center of that portion of the park, slowly making their way towards a place called the Turtle Pond. They passed a cool faux medieval bridge and a statue to some Polish king. Across from the statue was a natural looking rock outcrop that provided an amazing view over the water with some of the very tallest buildings at the south side of the park poking up to remind you that you were in one of the biggest cities in the world.

“I wonder if anyone ever swims in that,” Mingi wondered, dipping the toe of his shoe into the water where it was lapping at the edge of the rock.

“Given the color of the water,” she said, giving a little bit of a frown. “I am hoping not. I would bet there are way nicer places to swim or get wet even in the park.”

“Yeah probably,” he nodded. “The view just kind of makes it a tempting place, I think.”

“You like the idea of swimming with a view?” Yunho chuckled.

“Isn’t everything more fun with a nice setting?” Mingi shrugged.

“Yes, yes it is,” she agreed. “But I’d prefer my swimming water to have a little less algae in it.”

“Me, too,” Mingi admitted. 

“Okay, so where are we going from here,” She asked, coming up beside Yunho as he pulled out his phone at her question. They set a vague path towards through the forestry ramble and along the inner side of The Lake. The sheer scale of the park was enough to make you feel small. It was odd how, when you stepped out of the forest and could suddenly see the sky scrapers again it suddenly made the park seem both huge and closed in at the same time. 

As they exited the ramble, they found themselves on a beautiful gently curving bridge that crossed over a thin stretch between the two sides of the lake. She paused midway, leaning on the decorative cement railing to take in the view of the park and the city. Along the side of the park to the west skyscrapers added texture to the skyline, so contrastingly symmetrical and industrial. A testament to industry and innovation.

In the park, the sparse branches of the trees reached towards the sky, yet still dwarfed by the buildings unless you were under them. In the park on the other side of the lake, fruit trees were blooming in pink and white, heralding the beginning of spring. People passed, the water sparkled, and a light breeze stirred the blooms and the branches.

“Want to get a picture here?” Yunho asked when she paused there, looking out at the view.

“Sure,” she nodded. “Isn’t it such a gorgeous place? The trees and the lake and everything… just how it all makes you feel so small.”

“It’s beautiful,” Yunho agreed. “But I never feel small when I’m with you.”

“Is… is that a joke about my height?” She laughed, narrowing her eyes at him.

“No, no,” he burst into laughter, realizing that it did sound like that when he thought about it. “I meant you both make me feel important.”

“Okay, that was sweet,” she chuckled, guiding his face down for a kiss. “Mingi babe, come here, let’s get a picture here together.” Mingi happily bound over, joining them where they leaned against the concrete rail of the bridge. The boys leaned down to her level so they would all fit in the frame and smiled into the camera as she hit the button.

“One more,” Yunho urged as she started to put the camera away. She nodded and brought the camera back up for another picture. Both boys turned their faces, pressing a kiss to her cheeks from either side. A grin spread over her face as she took another couple of pictures of the three of them. This would be a moment she would want to remember for a very long time.

Before the boys could stop her, she dashed off towards Cherry Hill, going to look at the cherry blossoms fluttering in the breeze. They chased after her, laughing as they quickly caught up with her on the paved path that curved around the slight hill where many of the pink crowned trees were dotted. At a break in the benches that lined the path she guided them off the path and onto the grass to get closer to the trees.

“Isn’t it just a little amazing that they bloom even before the leaves come out?” Mingi noted as he looked at the pink blossoms against the blue of the sky. Petals fluttered off the tree and onto the grass around them, dancing like snowflakes in the air as they fell.

“They are so beautiful,” Yunho agreed. “Maybe someday we can have a cherry tree at our house.”

“Someday, when we have a house that is ours,” she nodded. “The flowers are awesome, but can you imagine if we actually got edible cherries too. I could make pies.”

“My mom used to can peaches from my grandparent’s yard back when I was a kid,” Yunho recalled. “Maybe she can teach us how to do that, then we can save them.”

“I think it’s going to be awhile before we can do that,” she said with a sigh.

“Doesn’t hurt to plan ahead,” Mingi grinned.

“Of course not,” she admitted. “It’s just…”

“What?” Yunho asked, when her pause seemed to draw out.

“Sometimes it feels so far away it doesn’t feel real,” she shrugged, deliberately looking at the trees around them.

“You mean the future?” Mingi questioned, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “A future where we have our house and our trees. Sometimes I don’t really want to think about it since it doesn’t really feel like it’s going to be real. What we have now, I’m just happy to have what we do at least.”

“When we graduate,” Yunho declared with complete confidence. “We’ll buy a house together, get a dog, just, you know, make a real home for ourselves.”

“How are we going to explain that to our parents?” She half laughed, half sighed.

“Who says we have to explain anything at that point?” Mingi declared, longing for the day when he could really not care about what his father thought.

“I don’t know,” she allowed. “I guess I sort of hope someday mom and dad will understand, you know. Come over for holidays and birthdays. I want them to be happy for me.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever have that,” Mingi said ruefully. “But I’d be so happy if you got that. Your parents have always been amazing to me even if your dad can be a little prickly sometimes. They love you, I think maybe, if they see you… or I mean us happy, I think they will come around.”

“It’s sort of funny,” Yunho sighed, putting his hand over Mingi’s where it was resting on her shoulder. “I think my mom will be relieved that we are all together. She is always so worried about me being left out; being left alone. When we tell her we are all together, I actually think it will make her happy.”

“Well, on the upside,” she said, giving Mingi a bright smile. “When we tell your dad, we will never have to see him again.”

“That is a bonus,” Mingi readily agreed. “Can… can we call him now?”

“Let’s get a couple more years of tuition out of him,” Yunho suggested.

They got back to the B&B around sunset tired and hungry from their wandering in the park. On their way home they had picked up some Thai food and donuts to eat so they would be able to stay in and relax for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow would be a full day of touristing, so they decided a little relaxation and maybe even an early night, would be ideal.

Bags of food in hand, they slipped back upstairs to their room. She was already yawning by the time they were back in their room, tired from running around and keeping up with the boys as they toured the park. They had seen quite a few cherry trees, gotten selfies in some of the more iconic spots in the park, like Belvedere Castle and Strawberry Fields. Although they had grabbed a couple of sandwiches from a convenience store at some point, they were starving by the time they actually got back. Passing around the containers of food, they each took their fill while they planned what exactly they were going to do the next day.

“Can we do the big museum tomorrow,” Mingi asked, taking a bite of a maple bacon donut. “I want to see what’s in there, and it’s pretty close.”

“Yeah of course,” she nodded, opening her mouth to accept a bite Yunho was offering her. “We can see what we can get in during a visit tomorrow. Was there something specific you wanted to see there?”

“I don’t know,” Mingi shrugged. “I just like history and it looks like it could be fun.”

“We’ll do that first then,” she nodded. “I’d kind of like to maybe see the Natural History Museum, too.”

“What about the botanical gardens?” Yunho suggested.

“Sure we can do that the day after,” she agreed. “I want to save Thursday for shopping. I wanted to get a dress and maybe some makeup for our anniversary dinner on Friday. Do you boys want to get anything done?”

“I already have a suit but I was thinking I might like a change of hair color if you guys were okay with it.” Yunho mentioned, trying to read their faces.

“You know I’d love any look you pick,” she assured him, patting his knee. 

“Yeah, of course, what were you thinking of?” Mingi asked with an excited grin. 

“What about something wild,” Yunho tested. “Like a green or blue?”

“Ooooo,” Mingi responded, giving him finger guns. “I like it.”

“Do you mind if I take my shower now?” She asked, stifling another yawn. “We don’t have to go to bed quite yet but I am tired.”

“That’s okay,” Yunho nodded. “Go ahead. It’s not like we are going to go out again anyway. Take your shower, love.”

“Thanks, I won’t be long, “ she promised, kissing each of them on the cheek as she got up. They watched her head into the bathroom, relaxing against the headboard as they finished up the last of the food.

“Do you think she’ll let us pay for her dress and stuff for the dinner?” Mingi asked.

“Mmmmm, probably not willingly, but maybe we can sort of do it sneakily,” Yunho suggested.

“I’m listening,” Mingi turned his head to look at the other boy with a grin.

“It’s pretty simple,” Yunho shrugged. “When she has picked it all out, we divide and conquer. So you take the stuff and I’ll distract her by taking her to look at something else while you slip off and pay.”

“Deal,” Mingi stuck out his hand and sealed the deal with a firm shake of their hands. They settled on watching an episode of something while they waited for her to come back out. Before too long she came out damp and wrapped in a fluffy towel. She fished out an old AC/DC t-shirt that sort of belonged to Yunho but had largely been adopted by her as a night shirt, slipping it on before she tiredly flopped onto the foot of the bed.

“Tired, baby?” Mingi asked, leaning forward and patting her head.

“‘m fine,” she said as she yawned. “Maybe a little.”

“Honey, just lie down,” Yunho looked at her and laughed, pulling her higher up into the bed. “After this episode we’ll go shower and we can just go to sleep.”

“You don’ hafta,” she muttered, cuddling down into the space between them. “I don’t want to rain on the fun we should be having.”

“It’s not a bad idea to sleep a little early today,” Yunho gave her forehead a quick kiss. “Then we can get an early start tomorrow on the actual fun we have planned.”

“Sorry I’m being no fun today,” she huffed.

“Babe, don’t be silly,” Mingi hugged her from behind, nuzzling into her damp hair. “I’m a little tired too, it would be smart to sleep early. Just get under the covers and close your eyes.”

“Fiiiiiiine,” she grumbled but let Mingi tuck her in under the blankets. As she settled down in the pile of pillows at the top of the bed Yunho motioned at Mingi that they should go ahead and go into the shower. Mingi nodded and slid off the bed to follow him into the bathroom. They stripped off their clothes near the suitcases, piling all their dirty clothes together in a heap, then headed into the bright tiled bathroom. Yunho closed the door behind them and pressed Mingi back against it, leaning in for a playful kiss. Mingi grinned against the other boy's lips as his arms snaked around his neck.

“Not feeling tired yet, huh?” Mingi teased in a quiet voice, trying to keep it from carrying into the other room.

“I kinda want you,” Yunho chuckled, bringing his hands to Mingi’s narrow hips.

“Wait, one sec,” Mingi pulled away and cracked the door open, he quietly snuck back to their bags and pulled out the bottle of lube he had packed, casting a look back to the bed where she seemed to be nearly asleep already. The sight made him smile as he quietly slipped back into the bathroom.

“Let’s see if I can’t tire you out a little.” Mingi teased, putting the bottle on the counter as he backed Yunho against it.

“Yes please,” Yunho grinned. Mingi’s lips found the soft Cupid’s bow curve of Yunho’s, enjoying the sweet softness of them pressed against his own. His tongue darted out, tasting the pink softness of Yunho’s lower lip, making him moan slightly.

“I wanted to kiss you all day,” Mingi admitted, pressing his forehead against him.

“Why didn’t you,” Yunho asked, putting his hands on the other boy’s biceps.

“I don’t know,” Mingi shrugged, shaking his head slightly. “What if someone says something? What if someone wants to start something?”

“They won’t,” Yunho soothed, running his hands up and down Mingi’s arms. “And what do I care if they did. I’m proud that I love you. I want everyone to know that you’re my boy.”

“Yeah?” Mingi gave a chuckle.

“My handsome,” Yunho kissed his cheekbone. “Sweet,” he kissed the little mole lower down near his jaw line. “Funny,” he moved to the side of his neck. “Wonderful,” his lips brushed his collarbone. “Sexy,” he smiled, looking up to meet Mingi’s eyes as he reached between them to wrap his fingers around his growing erection. “Boyfriend.”

“You wouldn’t mind if I kissed you sometimes when we were out?” Mingi questioned, feeling a blush rise on his chest and face. “You wouldn’t pull away?”

“Any time that I would be okay with getting a kiss from our girl, I would be just as happy to get a kiss from you,” Yunho promised. “I’m so happy to have you, that you love me, too.” Yunho pushed him slightly further into the bathroom and went to his knees in front of him. “I haven’t kissed you because I’m afraid, but not of what others think.” Yunho told him as he kissed the tip of his erection. “I’m afraid you’ll pull away and I don’t want to hurt you.” He took the head in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it.

“Ahhh,” Mingi groaned, gripping the towel rack with one hand and the edge of the counter with the other. “I want to say I wouldn’t but… sometimes I get scared of what people will think or how they will react.”

“I know,” Yunho nodded, working his hand up and down the length in his hand. “I want to kiss you and I want you to like it. I want it to be something you hope for, not something you fear happening. I love you too much for that.”

“I’m sorry,” Mingi said guiltily.

“It’s okay,” Yunho licked up his length. “Someday you’ll get there, and I’ll wait for you and for that day.” Taking Mingi into his mouth, he threw himself into driving him to distraction. Mingi looked down, taking in the view of Yunho bobbing as he took as much of his length in his mouth. He loved watching himself disappear in Yunho’s lips and feeling the wet cavern of his mouth move over him.

Yunho loved tasting Mingi. He loved the flavor of his skin and how he reacted to his touch. Usually it was the three of them, and he loved every moment they had together. But sometimes he thought that it made Mingi feel like he was less. That perhaps he wasn’t loved for himself, he was a secondary piece, a less important part of a whole. At the very least, less secure in how important he was and how much he was loved for himself.

Yunho licked him like he was candy, holding onto Mingi’s hips to hold them both steady. Mingi felt weak as he watched Yunho’s mouth move over him eagerly. Part of him wanted to tell him he didn’t have to do this, but he loved this feeling and seeing Yunho on him so he bit his tongue. The way his hands held his hips and his eyes looked up at him, a sparkling glow in his deep brown eyes, made his stomach tight. Catching him looking, Yunho made a show of taking as much of Mingi as he could into his mouth until he brushed the back of his throat and made his eyes water slightly.

“You—you don’t have to,” Mingi finally panted.

“But I want to,” Yunho replied, licking the saliva that was moistening his lower lip. “Do you want to come in my mouth or do you want to take me in the shower?”

“Both,” Mingi joked. “Either, as long as it’s inside you.”

“As you wish,” Yunho let one hand go to stroke himself as he took Mingi in his mouth again.

“Wait,” Mingi stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Yunho sat back on his heels and let his hands drop from the other boy with a twinge of disappointment in his eyes. “No no, I just,” he cleared his throat as a pink blush rose on his cheeks. “Can I taste you too?”

“Do you really want to?” Yunho asked, coming to his feet to look Mingi in the face.

“I don’t have to,” Mingi shrugged, averting his eyes.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Yunho moved into his vision. “Do you want to suck my dick?”

Mingi’s eyes snapped to Yunho’s at the crude language. “Yeah,” he replied a little defiantly.

“Then do it,” Yunho prompted, pressing lightly on Mingi’s shoulders to bring him to his knees.

“Sit for me?” Mingi guided Yunho back to sit on the lid of the closed toilet. Yunho acquiesced, taking a seat on it and letting Mingi kneel down in front of him. Reaching out, Yunho ran his fingers through Mingi’s hair as he drew closer. Mingi put his hands on the thick thighs of the other boy, adjusting his position on the floor, then leaned in to lick a line up the underside of Yunho’s erection. Yunho let out a tight sigh at the feel. Mingi took the tip in his mouth sucking it and swirling his tongue around it like a lollipop.

“Ahhh, Mingi, you’re such a tease,” Yunho praised, running his fingers through his hair. Mingi hummed around him, flattening his tongue as he slid more of him into his mouth. Yunho quivered, his hand fisting lightly in the other boy’s hair as he fought the urge to guide him further down.

“Show me what you like,” Mingi said when he pulled off, putting both of Yunho’s hands on his head as he moved his mouth back on him. With a smile, Yunho gently used his hands to move the other boy along his length until he felt his tip touch the back of his throat and held him there for a few seconds before pulling him back up.

“Is that okay,” Yunho asked, keeping his grip but making it light enough to allow Mingi to pull away if he wanted. Mingi gave a light shake to his head without taking his mouth off Yunho’s length. Guiding his head down again, Yunho watched as Mingi closed his eyes, giving the other boy almost complete control of him. With slow deliberate moves Yunho moved Mingi’s mouth up and down his length as he kept his jaw slack. At the end of each slow stroke Yunho felt himself brush the softness of the back of Mingi’s throat before he pulled the other boy back.

“Love, you feel like fucking heaven,” Yunho moaned. “If we keep going much longer I’m going to come.”

“Come in my mouth, please,” Mingi said, having pulled back enough to speak as he wiped a little bit of moisture that had spilled onto his chin.

“Okay,” Yunho nodded, running his thumbs over Mingi’s cheeks as he pulled him back.

“And, please be a little more rough,” Mingi’s eyes flicked up to Yunho’s then dropped nervously.

Yunho nodded again, “Just tap out if you need to, okay?” Yunho guided Mingi’s mouth down onto him again pulling him down faster and bumping the back of his throat harder. Mingi gagged slightly, his little snaggle-tooth scraping along Yunho’s length for a second before he caught himself.

“You okay?” Yunho gritted out, enjoying the sensations. Mingi nodded, keeping his eyes closed and concentrating on keeping his jaw slack. Trusting the other boy, Yunho pulled his mouth up and down the length of him faster and going deeper. The soft, slick feel of Mingi’s mouth around him felt fantastic and the way he just trusted him and let him control the movement made it feel different. Yunho could feel his orgasm building and increased the speed at which he moved.

“Fuck, Mingi, you feel so good,” Yunho groaned. “Can you take more of me?” Mingi didn’t answer, instead he pushed himself down his length, past the point where he hit the back of his throat taking more of him until he gagged and his eyes watered. Yunho’s breath caught and he wiped away the tears from the corners of Mingi’s eyes.  Following Mingi’s guide, Yunho kept him moving, hitting that depth over and over again as his pleasure built.

A moment later his orgasm burst over him and he held Mingi’s head down against him as he felt himself twitch in his throat. He felt Mingi swallow around him, the muscles in his throat working on him. Letting go of his head, Yunho let Mingi pull away. Mingi drew in a deep breath, having been holding his breath as Yunho invaded his throat. He wiped his chin and looked up at a dazed and pleased Yunho still sitting before him, leg spread wide and his head thrown back. 

“Mingi, I love you,” Yunho panted, leaning forward to pull him into a kiss. “God you are so good to me.”

“Was that good?” Mingi asked, a happy sparkle in his eyes.

“So good,” Yunho praised. “You made me feel so good. Now how about you fuck me senseless in the shower. What do you think?”

“You still want to?” Mingi smiled up at him. 

“Please,” Yunho urged, standing up and pulling Mingi towards the shower, palming the lube as he moved. Mingi followed him, stepping in as Yunho started the water running. Mingi pushed them both under the stream of hot water, tucking his head against Yunho’s shoulder. Yunho wrapped his arms around the other boy, holding him close.

“I love you, too,” Mingi said softly. They stood in the water, letting it flow over then until their skin was pink and warm from the heat. Yunho reached for the bar of soap the hotel had provided, lathering it in his hands before reaching out to Mingi to start washing him. Mingi helped him, guiding his hands as they washed along his chest and abdomen and lower. Yunho had to kneel to reach his legs, taking the chance to place a soapy kiss to Mingi’s hip. 

Having gotten all of Mingi clean, they switched places and Mingi returned the favor, giving the boy he loved a sunny grin as he washed him. He loved touching and looking at Yunho’s lean body. It was so perfectly proportioned, soft and hard in all the right places. He pushed the slightly taller boy back under the water to rinse him before reaching for the shampoo and drizzling a little into his palm. He ran his fingers through the other boys hair until it was satisfactorily sudsy and clean. Mingi helped him lean his head back under the water and rinse it clean before Yunho did the same for him.

“You ready?” Mingi asked, running his hands over Yunho’s droplet covered body. Yunho nodded, giving him a quick kiss before he turned around, giving Mingi his back. Mingi reached for the bottle of lube where it had been left on the little shower shelf. Clicking open the top as the water from the shower beat lightly against his back, he dribbled a liberal amount of it into his hand. He slid it over himself and along the damp crevice of Yunho’s ass. He couldn’t help but admire the lovely bubbly shape of it, rinsing his hand slightly before reaching out to give the muscles a light squeeze. 

Yunho gave a low chuckle, sticking his ass out invitingly to the other boy. Mingi kissed the back of his neck and down over his shoulder blades. He ran the tip of his length between Yunho’s cheeks, testing the resistance of his body. Finding it still too tight, Mingi slipped a hand between them making slow circles around Yunho’s tight ring of muscles.

“Let me in, love,” Mingi said gently as he slid a finger inside. “I want to make love to you.”

“Yes please, I want you,” Yunho whined. Mingi worked him wider for another moment before bringing his erection back, slipping the tip of his head inside. He added more lube again, having lost some to the dribbles of water that had come over his hands and the front of his body from the shower. With gentle thrusts and withdrawals, he slipped himself inside up to the hilt.

“You feel so good,” Mingi groaned, his hands coming around to hold Yunho around the chest and splaying over his lower stomach. He pressed his lips to his shoulder as he pulled out and slid back in. They both sighed at the sensation.

“Is it good for you,” Mingi asked, looking at what he could see of Yunho’s face as he leaned against the tile wall, pressing his forehead against it. Yunho nodded, only giving a breathy moan in response besides that. “Can you come again tonight?” Mingi asked, his lower hand wandering down to touch Yunho’s half hard length.

“Dunno, but we can try,” Yunho turned his face to the side and offered the other boy a smile.

“If it’s too much just say, okay?” Mingi urged as he fondled the slightly squishy length. Yunho nodded, relaxing with one cheek pressed against the cool tile. Yunho shivered slightly at the feeling of over stimulation. He liked it but it skated on the edge of discomfort. Mingi kept touching him, keeping his movements light and gentle as he touched him and keeping the pace the same as his thrusts. Mingi buried his face in Yunho’s shoulder as he moved, taking in the scent of his clean skin and listening to his panting breaths as he brushed over his prostate from the inside.

“Faster,” Yunho breathed, eyes closed and features slack with pleasure. Mingi obliged both thrusting faster and holding him tighter. Yunho’s dick was almost hard in Mingi’s hand but still slightly soft. He could feel the pulse of blood below the skin as he touched it. He seemed to be getting close and Mingi concentrated his touch on the head, only occasionally sliding his hand down the full length.

“Can you come for me?” Mingi breathed against the shell of his ear. “Come for me one more time.” Yunho whimpered, his face scrunching as he came closer to his second orgasm. “That’s it. You look so good when you come. Let me see it.” Yunho panted, his jaw falling slack as the sensations built against whatever dam he had inside, beating against it until it broke. His orgasm shuttered through him and he stiffened in Mingi’s arms. Mingi whispered praises to him as he felt the slight dribble of cum bubble out onto his hand as he gently held him in his hand. It wasn’t much since he had already come a half an hour before, but Mingi gloried in the feel. He thrust into him, looking to follow soon after. Yunho groaned, interlacing his fingers with Mingi’s where he still held him in his hand.

“Harder,” Yunho demanded. “Fuck me, Mingi.” Mingi moved his hands to Yunho’s hips, thrusting into him to the hilt and withdrawing nearly all the way. Yunho angled his hips to help him move, propping himself up against the wall with his forearms. Mingi could feel his orgasm there, so close. With just a few more thrusts he came, his length deep inside Yunho as he threw his head back and his hands grabbed Yunho’s hips harshly.

“So good,” Mingi groaned. “You make me feel so good.” Yunho pushed away from the wall, bringing them both back under the water. Water dribbled down over their faces as Mingi finally pulled himself out, making both of them moan. Mingi smiled against the back of Yunho’s neck as his hand went between them to use the water to rinse both of them clean again. His hand reached for the soap, taking a little on his hand, and washed them both gently.

“Ready to get out and join our girl in bed?” Mingi asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Yunho agreed with a giggle. “I think I’m gonna sleep really well now. Thanks for helping wear me out. Are you ready for bed?”

“Mm-hmm,” Mingi nodded, turning off the water behind him as he drew Yunho into a kiss. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that you love me.”

“I’ll try to remember to tell you more,” Yunho held Mingi’s hand against his cheek. “I’ll try to never let you forget how much I love you. Just you, for who you are.”

“Me too,” Mingi grinned shyly. “I’m sorry I’m such an idiot sometimes.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Yunho pushed his shoulder playfully. “You just need to hear it more and sometimes I forget that. Just remember, I’m always happy to get a kiss from you or hug you or hold your hand. I know you don’t always want to, and I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait for the day when you reach for me.”

“Thank you,” Mingi pulled him into a hug as they stood in the tub together, dripping in the cooling air of the bathroom. When he pulled away, Yunho grabbed a towel off the rack and rubbed himself mostly dry before stepping out of the shower and rubbing Mingi down with the same towel. They both ran the towel over their heads, drying their hair. Yunho wiped a clear area in the mirror and looked at both their faces together in the reflection.

“What would you think of me with black black hair?” Yunho asked, still looking at both of them. “Like a sort of goth look? And…” he paused, his cheeks going a little pink. “Would you be embarrassed if I tried a little make up?”

“Sounds kind of hot to me,” Mingi waggled his eyebrows at him in the mirror. “Maybe we could all share makeup. Our girl could probably help us learn to do some.”

“She’d like it too, wouldn’t she?” Yunho said with just a hint of doubt in his voice. 

“I’m sure she would,” Mingi shrugged. “But we can talk to her about it in the morning. Ready to sleep?”

“Yeah,” Yunho gave Mingi a quick kiss on his cheek. “I think I’m just gonna sleep like this. Did you want to put on a shirt or anything?”

“Nah, let’s just hop into bed,” Mingi agreed, grabbing Yunho around the waist and turning them both towards the door and waddling out. They both snickered quietly as they slipped into the bed from either side, cuddling up against their girl. She huffed and half opened her eyes as they joined her and they both shushed her, urging her to relax and close her eyes. They all entwined their limbs in the dim room, only lit by the vast city outside their window. 

Masterlist

#ateez smut #song mingi #jeong yunho #mingi smut #yunho smut #ateez imagines #kpop smut #kpop imagines #mingi x reader #yunho x reader #yunho #mingi #romance #poly smut #polyamory

[stillness-in-green]

Spinaraki Week Level 2, Day Four: Control | Edge

A return to a scenario I brainstormed up last time with/for @codenamesazanka: the “Shigaraki and Spinner Karma Houdini their way out the end of the series and run off to be vigilantes in BNHA!Macau” AU.  That and, “Shigaraki’s hanging onto Mr. Compress’s quirk while he lays low,” is all the context you really need for this, but if you want more, it’s here.

Of course, back in August, there was still a lot we didn’t know yet about Shigaraki and vestiges...

(Content Notes: sleep paralysis, some body horror, AFO being Too Close.)

———–      ———–      ———–      ———–

“So how are things going with you?” Compress asks him, the wind snapping so loud in his coat that he has to raise his voice to be heard over it.  Somehow his hat doesn’t blow off, though, despite the fact that they’re having this conversation on top of New Oumun’s high-speed monorail.  “Putting me to good use, I trust?”

Shigaraki sits sprawled across the roof of the train car, watching the buildings blur past, old alternating with new.  It’s too bright out, but that’s how Compress’s dreams usually are—all vivid colors and frivolous moving parts to distract from what’s going on below the surface.

He shrugs in answer.  “Used you to help us jump a high roller in his own suite last week.  Threw all his chips out the window when we were done.  We figured it’s what you would have wanted.”

Compress laughs, twirling his cane.  “I hope you saved enough for a lobster dinner.  I would have considered that an important component of my evening.”

“Would’ve had to pay for dry cleaning first,” Shigaraki replies, the smile tugging at his face still feeling strange after all this time.

“Ah, yes, the spectacle of you in a dress suit.  You—”  

Shigaraki looks up when the vestige breaks off with a hum of dissatisfaction.  “What?”

Compress tells him, “Hold on.”

Movement in the corner of his eye, something broad-chested but quick, and then the cane’s hitting him dead in the chest.  Pushed over the side, he plummets, catching just a glimpse of the form as it jumps after him.  Overhead, the train flickers by, light rebounding off the windows, the sound of it a high, sibilant humming.

There’s a flash of black; the wind dies.  

In the dark, the whistling movement of the monorail transitions to the long, even sweeping of a blade over a whetstone.  There’s a familiar heavy sensation in his chest.  Shigaraki’s eyes flick open.

Sensei.  Ass planted on Shigaraki’s chest like it’s just the nearest patch of clean ground available to sit on.  The weight burns, clips his breath short.  Sensei looks down at him, head wreathed in smoke that doesn’t quite cover the edges of his hair, the brightness in his eyes.  He smiles—a fitful, twitching little quirk of his lips like he’s trying not to laugh at something—and raises one finger to his mouth.

Get out, Shigaraki tries to tell him, but his lips won’t move.  Sensei just reaches down and brushes at his hair, combing disarrayed strands out of his eyes.  The boundaries of the room throb in time with his depressed heart rate.  The cool rasping of metal on stone continues unabated.

Shigaraki’s body pulls up into a sitting position.  His head swims with vertigo.  Sensei’s sitting behind him now, chest to his back, arms wrapped around his shoulders. The edge of the cologne he used to wear back before All Might collapsed his skull worms its way into Shigaraki’s nostrils, warm musk and a hint of sage.

“A little walkabout, Tomura,” he breathes.  A gnat in Tomura’s ear, one he can’t lift an arm to swat at.  “For old time’s sake.”

Get out.  Shigaraki’s eyes burn; his shallow breathing stays regular, level, even through the rising of frantic anger in his throat.  His heartbeat roars low in his ears, rattling through the walls of their tiny apartment like a tidal wave about to make landfall.

All For One stands him up, tugging his loose shirt into place from where it got twisted around in his sleep.  His heart pounds harder, but still so damn slow; dull clouds of red afterimage drift around the ceiling as his arms stretch up, fingers kneading at empty air.

Sensei fists his hand in Tomura’s shirt—his flesh twists in the grasp; he can’t breathe—and pulls him forward, and finally the whetstone sound scratches to a halt.

“Shigaraki?”  Surrounded in knives and polishing cloths, Spinner looks up at him from the low table in front of the couch, his favorite katana fallen still mid-stroke halfway across the stone.

“Be it ever so humble, hmm?” Sensei asks, his tone amused as his glance takes in the peeling paint, the uneven floor, the clutter.  Shigaraki’s eyes move away from Spinner and over to the window.  “Ah, Tomura; what to do with you?”

Let me go, old man!  You lose this every time!  He tries to force his eyes closed, to focus, but between All For One and the damn sleep paralysis, he’s apparently not authorized for use of his muscles right now.  As his feet walk him over to the window, the smells of the city spin free association images across his vision—the tired smile on the woman running the gai daan jai stall on the corner; Spinner working polish into his and Toga’s blades in their downtime during those weeks against Machia; Sensei sitting down beside him in his old bed and rubbing his shoulder until he could move again, winding a supportive arm around his back as he shook through the remnants of panic afterward.

In the distance, the casino towers climb over everything, obelisks stamped black against the sunset, periodically caught in the sweeping beam of their own spotlights.  Sensei leans in from behind him, fingers knitting together over the top of Shigaraki’s head, elbows on his shoulders, and sighs appreciatively. The vibrations of it buzz through him in a steady thrum.

“We should be up there, you know,” All For One says.  “And that’s just for a start.”

Spinner says something behind him, specific words muffled by the blood rushing in Shigaraki’s ears.

The feel of the sword resting on the side of his neck is a lot clearer.

All For One chuckles, and Sensei slides his arm down Shigaraki’s clavicle, fingers hooking in beneath skin and bone, flesh melting into flesh.  He pivots them around to meet Spinner’s stare, steady at the other end of an outstretched sword-arm the apartment only barely has room for.

“Still so dedicated, Iguchi-kun,” All For One drawls, the grin stretching wide to show teeth.  “But are you really satisfied with the one you chose to follow just scraping by in a place like this?”

Like the Doc’s lab was any better, Shigaraki thinks at him with all the vitriol he can muster. The katana isn’t quite turned all the way in, the flat of the metal cold and grounding, its freshly honed edge just a reminder of a promise.  

“We have our own kitchen and enough space to curtain off the bedroom.  That’s luxurious compared to how some people here live,” Spinner answers, curt anger in his eyes.

“But fear, too,” Sensei says, easy bordering on idle even as All For One is responding using Shigaraki’s tongue, Shigaraki’s mouth.  Sensei’s broad fingertips trail one at a time over Shigaraki’s ribcage, and if Shigaraki couldn’t breathe before, he barely wants to now, trying to keep his lungs from so much as brushing up against those probing hands even as pain starts to clang between his temples.  “He’s never been able to hide how afraid of us he is.”

And that’s not even worth arguing with.  Shigaraki stares into Spinner’s eyes—the anger, yeah, the fear, sure, but there’s awareness there, too, because they talked about this before, and Spinner knows what he’s doing, beyond just keeping himself out of grabbing distance.

Spinner’s mouth moves, and the motion of it doesn’t match what Shigaraki hears—“Shigaraki, you got this?”—but it’s what his eyes are saying anyway as the edge of the blade turns in.

It’s barely anything, hardly even enough to raise the white line of a papercut, much less draw any blood. But, hyper-aware of his locked-up body, Shigaraki latches onto it, the impossibly fine variegation of the blade pattern pressing into his skin with as much clarity as Spinner’s open hand, the scales a rough, insistent comfort.

He reaches up and closes his good hand around the bare blade.  Pain, sweet and hot and real, scores his palm and the insides of his fingers, and there’s a tsk of annoyance from Sensei as All For One falls away under the sudden sensation of slick wetness oozing past his knuckles.

Spinner catches him as his knees give out and the sword clatters to the floor.

“Shit,” Spinner breathes, and, “Let me see.”  He lowers them down to the ground, one arm clutching Shigaraki tight around the waist.  With his other hand, he gingerly turns Shigaraki’s palm towards the light.

“S’fine,” Shigaraki mumbles, rubbing at his face with his left hand.  He’s trembling, which is annoying, but typical of coming out of a sleep paralysis spell—all that strain he was putting on muscles that couldn’t respond right until just now.  The pain’s already fading, his regeneration kicking in just like it was designed to.

Spinner watches the wounds close up anyway, and conspicuously exhales once they do.

“He still talking?” he asks in an undertone, knitting their fingers together and dropping their hands back into their laps.  His thumb rubs absently over Shigaraki’s knuckle, claw scratching across his skin.

“Nah,” Shigaraki answers, tucking his head up into the curve of Spinner’s neck.  “He’s pretty quiet these days.”

“Not quiet enough,” comes the grumble, and Shigaraki huffs in agreement.  They sit that way for another minute, quiet as the noise of the city carries on around them.  Shigaraki breathes it in, lets it ground him—as he’s been finding for the last couple years, the more he’s got to ground him, the better.  Wanting to tear down everything doesn’t give you a very stable foundation to fight for control from—go figure.

Finally, as the first moth finds its way in to start fluttering around the lamp, he straightens up, tugging free of Spinner’s hands.  His partner gives him a plaintive look, at which Shigaraki grins.

“Scum of the city’s not gonna off themselves, Spinner.”

Spinner shakes his head, but he’s already fighting off a grin himself.  “Yeah, yeah.  Let me clean my sword off and I’ll be good to go.”

#spinarakiweeklevel2 #shigaraki tomura #iguchi shuuichi #spinner bnha #all for one #afo bnha #boku no hero academia #my writing #ficcing #bnha manga spoilers

[very-grownup]

THE YEAR IS 2020 AND I WATCHED NEON GENESIS EVANGELION FOR THE FIRST TIME, PART 11

Episode 23.

Misato is going to be haunted by fuckin' Kaji forever and so am I. Fuckin' Kaji.

This appears to be the episode where I have to assume budget and deadlines were becoming intractable foes for Anno because there doesn't seem to be any easy way to paper over gaps and I spent the entire time feeling faintly like the experience was dissolving.

My grappling for understanding behind the cut.

Here's what I do know: Misato is so absorbed in listening to fuckin' Kaji's message in her office that Shinji and Penpen are left to their own devices, which are just being concerned about Misato.

Ritsuko talks to her grandmother about a dead cat.

Ritsuko's desktop background is an old photo of her, her mother, and Gendo Ikari, where her mother left room for Jesus between her and her daughter instead of her and Gendo (you'd need at least five Jesuses for protection from the hollow-eyed ghoul of insecurity and misery). I hate it.

Overcome with her sense of failure, Asuka's just broken into the class rep's home and has imposed the world's longest and worst sleepover on this poor normie girl. Asuka's just playing videogames, crying, and sleeping which ... yeah, fair. At night Asuka shares a bed with Hikari and curls on her side, far away and miserable, her face hidden, whispering about her failures and her hatred and her hatred of self. Hikari stares at the ceiling and can say nothing of substance because she is also a child.

The Obelisk Committee is back, interrogating Gendo to absolutely no end because you have to ask questions AND get answers to them for an interrogation to work and also when he gets notice that there's an Angel sighted he just nopes right out of there. Your interrogation is not going to be successful if the guy you are trying to pin to the wall can just go 'sorry I have to take this call' and flush the phone down the toilet while you watch.

This week's Angel is a giant hula hoop made out of light and x's which I feel probably puts it right in the middle of the cuteness scale. It's not horrifying to look at but it also doesn't have a cute little face. I miss the ones in the early episodes that had cute little faces.

The obelisks are determined to crush Gendo and suspect he isn't loyal to them which ... again, the obelisks make some good points.

The plan is for Rei to sniper the Angel with Asuka providing backup. Asuka feels terrible, miserable, and pointless about the whole thing because seriously it seems like no one has talked to her since last week when she was psychologically tortured by the Angel? I'm surprised Asuka's even there, in the robot, but I suppose habit is powerful.

Once the EVAs are deployed, the Angel turns into a long sticky laser snake which Rei tries to shoot with her giant robot sniper rifle. This is not effective and the Angel begins to burrow under the EVA's armour to the fleshy bits underneath and shit gets veiny.

In the NERV command centre someone talks about the Angel trying to make first psychological contact and you can't keep saying that, this is the fourth time AT LEAST we've seen an Angel try to do weird brain reading with one of the kids so this is at least fourth contact. We are all operating on the assumption the Angels are ... some kind of unified force or being or ... something, right? Like, they're all on the same ... side? Part of the same force? If they're all independent and unrelated monsters of the week, NERV makes even less sense.

So, so, so Rei's EVA gets veiny and Rei gets veiny and Asuka is given orders to provide backup and then when her EVA is on the surface she and it just ... stand. Asuka tries to make it move but nothing happens. Finally, NERV lowers the EVA elevator again.

Gendo remembers he has a son and Shinji is deployed in Asuka's place to rescue Rei from the veins and not only does Asuka have to deal with her failure to pilot the robot in this moment, but she's filled with sad jealousy that Shinji wasn't sent to help her last week. Oh, honey.

So the light tentacle snake is making the veins and probing Rei and her memories and the EVA and like with the other kids, Rei confronts herself. One Rei is waist deep in the orange tang of the sub sub sub basement ocean while the other Rei floats above the surface. Rei is lonely? Or, one Rei is lonely, while the other Rei tries to express that Rei is lonely because unlike Rei, who is surrounded by others, Rei is by herself. One Rei knows more than the other, one Rei emotes more than the other. I am confused. None of the Reis seem as distressed as Shinji or Asuka did when they were getting psychoanalyzed by an Angel, at least. There's a weird shot that's just on one of the Rei's mouths, smiling and getting distended and wavey and also a Rei has a vision of smiling, glasses-free Gendo. Rei in the EVA comes back to herself when she realizes she's crying but the Angel is still doing its vein attack and all that pulsating Akira flesh starts happening and the light snake shoots out to Shinji, which is bad. There's more pulsating Akira flesh, just overflowing masses of veins bursting up and above the EVA, trying to shape something, the torso of Rei's EVA bulges out into, like, an armoured pocketed dome ball, which seems bad.

Then the light snake attacking Shinji turns into a giant naked Rei with a strange nightmare face who tries to make out with the EVA even though thankfully we at least have been spared horrible human lips to go with the horrible human teeth and fingers we know are in it.

Rei is like, do I want to become one with Shinji so I'm not lonely anymore? Is that what laser snake is trying to tell me and I just don't even know where to begin with all of this, where are you even getting this stuff Rei?

Rei realizes that letting the Angel snake made of light that looks like a giant her make out with Shinji's EVA is not the answer to her existential crisis and exerts her will over it or ... something? I don't know, she makes it like a rubber band that's suddenly reached its end. SNAP goes the light tether between giant naked Rei and Rei's EVA and it whips away from Shinji and the nightmare Rei's light face looks upset by these developments before it's like SCHWOOM back into the EVA ... ... and all the pulsating flesh becomes unpulsating and the dome stomach bits get popped like each segment of the dome is a bubble wrap bubble and then Rei blows herself and the EVA and I guess also the Angel up and I guess it's more effective than guns.

The obelisks want to interrogate someone, Gendo and Number 2 are already dealing with the fact that Rei is dead and just have some really weird conversation in front of machinery about how Rei is all of Number 2's sins and all of Gendo's hopes or ... or something? The obelisks go through a powerpoint of all the Angels defeated so far and I GUESS the kids have been fighting Angels that are all listed in the Dead Sea Scrolls and according to the Dead Sea Scrolls there's only one Angel left which, sure, we're on episode 23 of 26.

Shinji's lying on his bed not listening to music (music is playing but he doesn't have the headphones in) and Misato comes in to try and talk to him about how Rei killed herself to save Shinji. Shinji talks about sadness that's so intense even when tears can't come ... There's no time in this episode to dwell on this honest, awkward little pebble of grief, though. Misato tries to take Shinji's hand to comfort him but that isn't what he needs, he just wants to be alone and rejects Misato's overture.

Misato wonders about whether Shinji has a fear of women (what?) or intimacy (huh?) but when even Penpen refuses to be company for her, she realizes maybe she was projecting her own issues onto Shinji which hey, good catch, Misato! You and Shinji are similar but not the same.

ANYWAY NO TIME FOR THAT BECAUSE REI IS DEFINITELY MIRACULOUSLY ALIVE AND NOT DEAD even though Ritsuko and a bunch of dudes in HAZMAT suits were going over the spot where the EVA blew up and Ritsuko found something that had her going WELL THIS IS SOME X-FILES SHIT.

Shinji goes to see Rei at the hospital where she is bandaged all to hell and staring vaguely at nothing in the hall and he tries to thank her for her exploding sacrifice on his behalf. Rei basically says you're welcome but I have no idea what you're talking about. Shinji doesn't make much headway in expressing his gratitude further because Rei just straight up says I probably don't know what you're talking about because I'm the third Rei. Just straight up 'oh if I seem weird it's probably because I'm clones'.

It's not that Rei is clones that is surprising, it's just the total nonchalance with which Rei drops 'I guess I'm clones' on Shinji.

SO ANYWAY THE OBELISKS ARE INTERROGATING A NAKED RITSUKO BECAUSE GENDO WON'T LET THEM INTERROGATE REI AND HE'S JUST LIKE HEY THIS SCIENTIST WILL SPEAK ON HER BEHALF AND ALSO SHE'S NAKED but who knows who had the bright idea of naked interrogation. Maybe it was Ritsuko. Say a brief, silent prayer of thanks that there's no naked Gendo interrogation because if there is one thing I have learned so far in Evangelion, it's that the more of Gendo I can see, the more distressed I am.

I DON'T EVEN ENTIRELY KNOW WHAT THE OBELISKS ARE ASKING RITSUKO ABOUT.

Rei goes to her apartment and removes all her bandages and she's fine because she's clones so sure, all the bandages were for show. This Rei sees Gendo's old glasses and picks them up and starts to try and crush them in her hands but also she's crying? Reis is conflicted?

Misato's found a datachip that fuckin' Kaji hid in a pill and she's listening to another recording which is maybe all the stuff he learned while spying on NERV I don't know I don't know I don't know anything at this point.

Ritsuko calls Shinji and tells him he's temporarily not being monitored so he ... look, narrative cohesion and scene transitions are a thing of the past, we don't even have glue between disconnected bits anymore. RITSUKO TALKS TO SHINJI ON THE PHONE.

Then Ritsuko is ... somewhere ... work ... I DON'T KNOW MISATO IS BEHIND HER WITH A GUN AND THEN RITSUKO'S LIKE OKAY I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING BUT SHINJI IS HERE SO WE HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO HIM TOO and it's like just flip on the lights in this one spot and bam there's Shinji NO TIME. ELEVATOR. DOWN DOWN DOWN. DOWN DOWN DOWN. THIS SUBBASEMENT LOOKS LIKE REI'S APARTMENT. BECAUSE IT IS REI'S APARTMENT. WATER MEMORIES. LOOK THIS ISN'T WHAT MISATO IS HERE FOR, MISATO IS HERE FOR THE GIANT SEPHIROTH AND KABALLAH AND CROSS HOLLOWS FULL OF GIANT BONES. EVA skulls and bones and Ritsuko's just like yeah those are all the prototypes from ten years ago that didn't become murder robots piloted by teens we just keep them in these religious pattern caves to form the basis for some real gothy jigsaw puzzles. Oh PS Shinji if you find it familiar it's because you've been here before even if you don't remember it this is where the experiments that kill disappeared your mother went down. NO TIME FOR ANYONE TO REACT TO THIS.

LOOK I'M SURE IF YOU'RE FOLLOWING THIS AND YOU KNOW THE SERIES YOU ARE LIKE RITSUKO AND ARE LIKE GET ON WITH IT JUST GET US TO THE CHAMBER WHICH RITSUKO SAYS IS WHERE THE DUMMY PLUGS ARE MADE AND THEN SHE TURNS ON THE LIGHTS AND WELCOME TO THE NIGHTMARE AQUARIUM. THE ONLY EXHIBIT IN THE NIGHTMARE AQUARIUM ARE REI CLONES SMILING AND GIGGLING AT YOU FROM THEIR ORANGE TANG HABITAT. Ritsuko says the captive Reis have no souls, they're just vacant flesh in the shape of a human, there's only one Rei /personality/ which is the first Rei and I guess when she dies they take another one out of the tank and she becomes the Rei with the soul I DON'T KNOW. Ritsuko hates the Reis not because they are the result of some human science meddling in things they cannot understand or control but because somehow the existence of the Reis mean ... Gendo doesn't need her?

BECAUSE RITSUKO, LIKE HER MOTHER BEFORE HER, ALSO WANTS TO BONE DOWN ON THE MAN WHO IS HATE'S SKELETON, WITH MARROW OF PARENTAL NEGLIGENCE, AND A BLACKHOLE SUCKING HIS FLESH ILLUSION EVER INWARDS TO DARKNESS.

NOW IT IS TIME FOR RITSUKO TO TURN OFF THE TANG AQUARIUM LIFE SUPPORT AND ALL THE GIGGLING REIS BEGIN TO BREAK APART, GIGGLING AS THEIR LIMBS SEPARATE AND THEIR ENTRAILS SPILL OUT AND ALL IS DARKNESS BUT THEY'RE STILL GIGGLING AND HOW ARE ANY OF US SUPPOSED TO RESPOND TO THIS?! Oh, and the obelisks' plan for the destruction of Tokyo-3 is proceeding on schedule WHAT WAIT WHAT I THOUGHT WE WERE TRYING TO PROTECT TOKYO-3 no wonder Misato drinks. No wonder /you/ drink. This concludes my report on Episode 23 of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Edit: the obelisks talk about having lost the spear of Longinus. It's on the moon, obelisks. You're welcome.

#neon genesis evangelion report #fuckin' kaji

[luminashdawnwing]

Stemming the Tide

This takes place before the fall of N’Zoth, whenever individual players feel it should have taken place. Co-written with Jaskian (@kharrisdawndancer), in which Luminash and Jaskian do their part to fight the Old God!

The halls of Ny’alotha stood empty. The joint Alliance-Horde expedition of more military-minded individuals had already pushed through, clearing the great entry hall of the Waking City, their front line pushing deeper into N’Zoth’s vision. It was both a spear aimed at the Old God’s heart, and a shield against its forces. Just as this bulwark could be overwhelmed, however, so too could the defenders of Azeroth in the physical world. It was this dilemma that had led Jaskian and Luminash to this point as they stepped into N’Zoth’s dream from the sands of Uldum.

Luminash gazed around the open space, his shoulders tense and brows furrowed, "I do not know what I was expecting, but this is something else entirely."

Jaskian 's gaze was caught below them on the half-hidden runes and words that shimmered on the stone. "Agreed. Disconcerting to say the least." She stood back up, letting her gaze slide over the walls and the various eyes, “I didn't think it would be so.. confined. I feel like we're inside something. I thought it would be more open.”

On nearly every surface, the smooth dark stone unnatural in its slick and angular perfection, eerie glowing eyes watched, moving, pupils dilating and contracting as they took in the vast open chamber.

Luminash focused on the eyes as well, jaw tense, "I thought so, too. Perhaps we are inside something, though. A building, a temple? Either way, I believe it is...watching."

“I wonder if it can process all it sees in real time, or if it needs to sift through all the visions. How does it know where to focus?” After a pause, she continued, “I am not sure we should stay still too long.” With an incantation, her companion elemental materialized, even in this place beyond.

“We should move, then.” Luminash adds, “This antechamber should be clear, from what I've gathered, but I do not like this feeling of being watched."

“Left or right?”

Luminash looks up and around as he steps forward, looking to the forking paths, platforms of that unnatural stone suspended over an abyss below with no apparent supports, "Ah, right I suppose. It looks as if there is some sort of exit across whatever this room is." He pointed, in the distance, to a path upward, an eerie orange light at the top, flanked by two massive obelisks, their eyes burning in their intensity.

The pair began to walk in silence, keeping each other always within arms reach, unnerved by the oppressive darkness around them, pierced only by the ever-present, ever-watching eyes.

Stepping onto the path over the abyss, Jaskian broke the silence, “Do you think it changes? The way the walkway is constructed makes me wonder if it isn't a fixed path, but maybe one that can be reconfigured…”

Curiosity drawing her nearer to the edge, Jasian peered over into the darkness below. She swallowed hard as her stomach turned, “...Oh.”

Far below, writhing in the darkness were tentacles of monumental size, pathways and obelisks stretching down into a sickly fog, where shifting shadows spoke of more horrors.

Joining her at the edge, Luminash replied, “You may be right about these paths. It would not surprise me. The Void and its possibilities... Nothing is constant, and I would be surprised if this place is.” Peering over beside her, he shuddered, "What...is this place, really?"

The pair turned from the edge and forged forward, leaving the question to linger.

“This place makes me feel...oily,” Jaskian finally said once they were far from the lip of the writhing abyss below.

Luminash nodded in agreement, "That is the best way I can think of to describe how the Void felt on Argus, too. There is just something so fundamentally...wrong here. It is outside all natural order. I am not afraid to admit, I...do not like it.”

“I would be worried if you did,” Jaskian replied, shaking her head.

Managing a slight laugh, Luminash answered, "Fair enough."

As they moved deeper into the chamber, they passed a high arch, the door within it closed tightly. As they moved, Jaskian continued to watch the eyes dotting the obelisks, “It's interesting the eyes seem to be on a single plane in this atrium. None face directly on the sides.”

Luminash followed her gaze, thoughtful, “Ah, you are right. So there may be blind spots…”

Nearing the door, Luminash stepped away from their path and reached out to glide a gloved hand across its surface. It was altogether too smooth, and he recoiled, shuddering. Jaskian watched him, looking between him and the massive structure, “I don’t think we’re getting anywhere this way.”

Luminash shook his head, "It seems so. Part of me wonders if there is anything beyond this door, or if it is simply here to trap the unsuspecting." He nodded, "Yes, back to it."

“What makes you say that?” Jaskian asked as they resumed their trek.

“If this place is truly just an extension of N'Zoth's will, why would he create a closed door? The eyes watch, and he could simply...open it up, could he not? It is closed, so it is safe, until it...isn't.”

“Perhaps it's just not used at the moment,” Jaskian posited, “A different configuration.” She continued, musing as the passed by more of those ever-starting eyes, “I wonder if we inscribed our runes on the pillars holding the eyes, but on sides that the eyes aren't on?”

Luminash smiled, eager for a change of topic, "Ah, that is a good idea! The blind spots could be played to our advantage. The less of this place..." He gestured around them, "Seeps out into Azeroth, the better."

“Agreed.”

The path towards the opposite end of the hall continued, winding over the fogged abyss below. Luminash craned his neck to gaze up into the haze above while Jaskian focused on the structure of the antechamber itself, and the rune-carved stone tablets that lined this stretch of walkway, suspended in auras of that now-familiar orange glow.

“These paths seem like tight quarters for some of the creatures I have associated with this place,” Jaskian ventured.

“It makes one wonder how many mortals have thrown their lot in... Reports from those who are holding the line deeper in seem to indicate that this place is somehow home to a number of cultists.” Luminash said in response, stopping to examine one set of the tablets.

Jaskian shook her head a little. "There are always cultists, but I never understand how they come to think that way." Looking ahead into the vast open chamber beyond the hall, she continued, “I have to admit, I thought it would feel more ... organic. Less geometrical.”

Luminash took in the carved stones before them with a sad sigh, "An excellent question. How the madness and nothingness can be a solution to their ills I will never understand. I am glad for that." Following her gaze, he too mused on the geometry of the place, “Perhaps once we are outside this...temple? Maybe then it will have that...organic nature.”

Past the tablets, and nearing the long stairway leading to the exit, Jaskian pointed once more over the edge, “There's something pouring over there. Can you see?” She peered over, resting her hands on the ledge of the platform.

Approaching the lip, Luminash joined her and peered over as best he could, “It looks like... I want to say lava, but it is far too swift. Blood? But it emits light.” He shook his head, "Whatever it is, it is not right."

Sure enough, rushing into a torrent in the gulf below the chamber was an iridescent flow of red-orange fluid, of unknown source towards an unknown destination. Seeing it, Jaskian shivered and scrubbed a hand over her sleeve to get the feel of the stone off her hand.

When the floating walkway rejoined what seemed, at least, to be solid stone beneath the elves’ feet, they noticed a strange shrine, torches of unnatural flame set under sloping stone overhangs covered in unintelligible runes. Above it all was a massive eye, its gaze fixed on the shrine below.

Observing the arrangement, Jaskian wondered aloud, “That gaze is only scanning right below it. Do you think there's something over there?”

Luminash peered up at the eye, "If this is, in fact, a temple, there may have been before it was emptied. It makes me think of...judgment. A great gaze burning down from above."

“Mm. Maybe a station for reflections.”

Whatever it had been, both elves gave it a wide berth as they moved further into the room, passing by channels in the floor, filled with the strange red-orange fluid that had been dropping into the deep, foggy reaches of the Waking City.

“I take it back. I think I prefer the geometric to the...organic,” Jaskian grimaced as she stepped over one of the channels.

As they finally reached the far end of the temple chamber, and the foot of the stairs, Luminash pointed at an apparently inaccessible platform, complete with stairs and altar, rising from the creeping fog, "You are looking more and more right about...configuration. How many halls are there around us that we cannot see?” Swallowing hard, he added nervously, “How actually empty is this place?”

“I'm not sure. But it's eerie.” She pondered a moment, “Going along with your previous comment, could it be a trap? Luring us deeper in?”

“Or it could be both.”

Jaskian pursed her lips again, ears pinning back slightly in her discomfort, “Do you have reports on how long it's been cleared in this area?”

“It's been some time,” Luminash replied, with some hesitation, his frayed nerves showing, “The line has pushed further, out of this structure to my understanding. I only know that much, I am afraid. The details have been...hazy.” He shivered and glanced over his shoulder, "Which hardly surprises me, coming out of here."

Beginning to scale the steps, the oppressive atmosphere had begun to take its toll. Jaskian admitted in a hushed voice, “I don't like how the perspectives seem to shift. I suppose that's the point, but I will have nightmares, I'm certain.”

"I do not doubt I will, as well,” Luminash agreed, “This was not meant for us to see." He took a deep breath to calm his mind, “Ah, the sooner we are out of here, the better." He unconsciously edged closer to Jaskian as one of the spined tendrils far below made a sudden movement, shadows flickering up from below.

At last approaching the grand entryway they had spotted as they entered the Waking City, Luminash and Jaskian stopped. He pointed to the two obelisks, larger than any other in the antechamber, “The blind spots here,” he said as he moved between them, out of the gaze of the piercing eyes, “These will be suitable, do you think?”

Jaskian joined him with a nod, “There is power coming from deeper inside, and many eyes here. Perhaps an arterial route into the deeper city? If we ward against the Void here, it may buy our defenders outside the time they need.” Luminash nodded in response, “And those within can put a stop to this. We shall buy them that time. Here,” he pointed again at the obelisks, “We make our stand. This is the culmination of our work, and there can be no half measures.”

“Shall we, then? We should work fast, though.”

Luminash nodded and began to prepare the tools for the task. He dropped his satchel on the ground at his feet and, kneeling down, pulled out a box. Within are crystalline foci with cores of Azerite, the scrolls transcribed from Nazmir - he looked upon these with a special pride, the memories of all those lost hanging upon them - and another scroll with the reverse-engineered sigil of Void warding inscribed upon it, a mark of Jaskian’s brilliance.

Standing again, Luminash turned to Jaskian, “The foci should provide enough power to leave a mark on these obelisks without exhausting ourselves, and with the right sigil, we can hopefully make quick work of it.”

“Will the Azerite combust?” Jaskian asked, tracing a finger across the box, mind already working on the complications she might have.

“If too much power is channeled too quickly, there is the risk, but they should be secure.”

“All right,” she nodded, “Shall we split up to make it go faster, or would it be best to spot for each other?”

Luminash places his hand over hers, "I would feel better if we were to keep an eye on each other. I am certain it will be accomplished well, however." He smiled reassuringly.

Jaskian smiled back, squeezing his hand with a nod, "I think it would be best, too. Get to work then. I'll help." She motioned and her elemental companion silently moved to keep sentinel for them, its watery form a lonely figure in the empty hall between the mages and the heart of Ny’alotha beyond.

Luminash pulled a focus from the box, and unfurled the scroll with the Void warding sigil. Turning towards one of the obelisks, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, "Very well, then."

“You worked directly on this before,” Jaskian reassured, “You know what needs to be done.” As Luminash set to work, she picked up the box, unwilling to leave it unattended, even alone.

Luminash scanned the scroll, eyes following every line and flourish. He closed his eyes, then, and opened himself as a conduit of power, channeling it through the Azerite focus, a beam of blue-gold light surging towards the stone as his body became a vessel. He guided the focus as one would a pen, slowly tracing out the curves of the rune in his mind, eyes still closed in concentration, "Thank you, Jaskian." When he spoke, there was something otherworldly in his voice, an echo of power drawn from someplace beyond.

“Always, Luminash,” Jaskian replied warmly, though still wary of their surroundings.

As he neared the halfway point in forming the rune, Luminash began to falter, the Azerite focus surging and crackling with the channeled power. He gritted his teeth and continued, "Almost there. This should work..."

Jaskian glanced down to the box in her arms, feeling the thrum of the energy resonating within the other foci. She shifted on her feet, the uneasiness of the place settling on her and her own nerves taut, "You don't have to finish all at once, Luminash. Take your time if you need."

As he engraved the final element of the sigil on the obelisk, Luminash abruptly threw the now-overloaded focus to the side, where it sparked brightly and then lay depleted. He let out a heavy breath, the power flowing through him dissipating, "And one is done."

He slumped forward, resting hands on his knees and shaking his head, “I should have listened. I went too quickly, and nearly lost it. I suppose that is a lesson learned, but everything about where we are is... It is making this more difficult than it ought to be.”

“No, I understand. It is difficult to feel focused,” she murmured, glancing back to her elemental guarding the way.

Luminash took her hand again and gave it a slight squeeze, "Your patience surpasses mine most days, so you should have little trouble. We are here together, though, and ought not be anxious too much." He managed a little laugh, “Or so I say after nearly burning out the focus."

“You are sometimes excitable. It's part of why I love you.” Jaskian smiled warmly at him, not letting himself sit in his momentary brooding.

Luminash pushed himself back up and leaned over to kiss her cheek, "Only sometimes excitable? That's generous, isn't it?" He smiled more genuinely then.

“It's really quite charming and I'd never want you to be self-conscious of it. You're at your most brilliant then, too.” Jaskian leaned into the kiss, her nerves settled somewhat by the reaffirmation of their presence together.

She took a deep breath, then, and passed Luminash the second focus, “I feel more confident with you finishing them. Your fine control is better than mine and I haven't worked with Azerite nearly as thoroughly.”

Luminash took the focus and turned towards the other obelisk with a nod, "Alright. As long as you stay right here, I'll do just as you ask." He managed a last bit of playfulness before once more centering himself and beginning to form the sigil, brimming anew with arcane power.

“It's always nice when you listen to me without fighting it,” Jaskian teased back, but then let him concentrate, eyes still roving the area and alert for threats.

Although he did not open his eyes or break the formation of the rune, directing the beam of Azerite with as much precision as he could, Luminash still cracked a smile at her teasing remark. His work continued, moving more slowly this time, less power forcing itself through the focus, but still leaving blue-gold traces etched into the obelisk.

The final lines lighting up on the slick stone and the sigil humming with power, Luminash completed the carving of the rune much more neatly this time, the Azerite focus not sparking, sputtering, or otherwise failing as he eased off the flow of magic. He opened his eyes and beamed at Jaskian.

She breathed out and smiled in return. "We should tell the others what we've learned."

Luminash nodded, clearly exhausted, "And let them know that, until this whole vision comes crashing down, they might just have been bought some time."

“I think...I would like to leave now,” Jaskian replied, a smirk on her face.

Luminash laughs, a wave of relief washing over him, "Oh, I thought you'd never ask! The sooner we are home, the sooner I can scrub this...this wrongness off, after all."

Jaskian threw the bag over her back and led the way, her elemental leaving its vigil as the mages wound their way back through the empty halls of Ny’alotha. Behind them were their marks, surging with power, a dam against the torrent of the Void, a stone in the stream, carved to stem the tide, to buy Azeroth even a few moments more time, lest the walls of reality crash down too soon.

#story #Jaskinash #8.3 #Ny'alotha #Visions of N'Zoth

[ryder616]

Rewatching Ye Who Enter Here

By the end of this episode we have:

a possibly dead or dying Mack

Skye kidnapped and headed to meet her deranged father and the sadist who vivisected her mother

May, Trip and Hunter (and the Koenigs) aboard an airplane marked for destruction.

That’s half the cast in potentially lethal jeopardy. Just another regular Tuesday on AoS 😁

I think the earlier seasons did the “team is split to concurrent missions” better: in later seasons it’s often just 2 or 3 characters together, which feels claustrophobic and small scale. It works for S5, not so much for S6 when S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposedly a real agency again and not just the core agents making do. Here both contingents - Team Coulson in Puerto Rico and Team May in Vancouver - are big enough to still feel like a “team”.

The equal splitting involves the pairings (in a “usually working together” capacity, not romantic 😊), too. FitzSimmons and Trip and Skye stay together on their respective missions, while Bobbi and Hunter are separated and so are May and Coulson, due to their leading duties.

Of course FitzSimmons take the opportunity to decide - well, it’s a unilateral decision made by Fitz, really - to (sort of) go their separate ways professionally. It’s not the lowest point of their relationship yet but for two people who had been inseparable since they were sixteen it’s still absolutely huge and not in a good way.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

AoS hitting the ceiling in the literary titles department as Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here is of course the inscription on the gates of hell in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Overdramatic much?😄

Bye, bye, Angel Eyes. Skye’s dream is really not subtle, is it? Alone and abandoned in her latest home (the base), and Suburban Philinda are her parents.

As deceptive scanning devices go, mini Lola is by far the cutest.

I recommend a week of solid bed rest. -- Bed rest? Where’s that in the S.H.I.E.L.D. handbook? Nowhere, apparently. How is he already on his feet and, more importantly, why? He was shot twice and had an artery cut. 😱

My dad, Ward, the Obelisk, the city...it’s all messed up. And I just can’t shake this vibe that something really bad is about to happen. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to shake quite a bit fairly soon...😎

Nothing but positive thoughts from here on out. *knocks the table*. That’s not wood, is it? Ah, now I see where things went wrong. Fake wood veneer is the culprit.

Based on our latest intel, there's something very powerful inside it, a weapon. And by “latest intel” he of course means the deranged ramblings of Skye’s father.

And then what, sir? -- We blow the hell out of it. Straightforward and destructive. I like it.

Why hasn’t Hydra fixed Kara’s face? Any other consideration aside, the scar makes her too noticeable and memorable for undercover work.

*hears about May electrocuting Kara’s face* Oh, that is so badass. *hears May is headed to his location*. He’s sending The Cavalry. Sweet! Where Sam is all of us.

All we can do now is try and catch Ward. -- Or put the son of a bitch down. I’m genuinly impressed that there’s an “or” about it.

You don't want Skye anywhere near that city, do you? -- It's not the city I'm afraid of. It's her lunatic father. Keep an eye on her, okay? -- Of course. I'm her S.O. Right. You’re her S.O., he’s her Director... It’s all very professional. 🤭

It’s Bobbi’s turn to tackle the Case of FitzSimmons. I like her intervention more than Mack’s however her advice -- be honest -- seems a bit ironic considering the state of things between her and Hunter.

Your best friend. -- I never thought of him as anything else. Right there with you, Jem. However, everyone else - on and off screen - seems fairly convinced that’s not the way forward.

I’ll see you there. Sir. Why the surprised face, Phil? Didn’t you ever hug Fury when leaving for a mission? Perfectly standard professional behaviour here too, nothing to see. 🤭

I’m just wondering if it means you’re bringing Hunter in on the other thing. -- That? No. [...] No, he has no idea. And I’d like it to stay that way. So, did she recommend him to Coulson with the mission in mind as he suspects and now has changed her mind or did she have no ulterior motives and was just trying to be helpful? 🤔

Stand down, Agent 33! We can help you! This is the one and only attempt by anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. to treat Kara as a victim and not an enemy, at least until she’ll be at the base. Am I surprised that it comes from Skye and that it nearly got her killed? No, on both counts.

You ever had the fried plantains here? -- Tostones? Yeah. Why? -- I read about this place down the street where they put crab in them. I wouldn't mind trying that. More proof that he’s a foodie.

Ooh. Hats. Wish I was a hat guy. Some guys can really pull that look off, you know? What? Too small? Bobbi’s look is priceless. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the eve of a critical operation, acting like a regular tourist.

There are 3 million people on this island, and I won't let HYDRA turn them into collateral damage. -- With all due respect, sir, this kind of op, Fury would have a number. -- A number? -- Of acceptable losses. -- My number is zero. For the record, I hate that phrase. Bobbi’s line of questioning obviously gains a whole new meaning when you know she’s working for Real Asshole S.H.I.E.L.D.

Minimize destruction? You really aren't Fury, are you? -- Come on, Bobbi. You ought to know me by now. Well, clearly not enough to not indulge into Gonzalez’s and the Council of Hufflepuffs’ paranoia.

You just need more time to heal and -- I've had time, and I'm not better, so you should run the lab and I can work for you. I just can't work with you. And I think that's what's best. *heavy sigh* this is made worse by the fact that he is, in fact, getting better and we just saw it last episode.😞

Maybe he thinks you know something about the Obelisk. How it works. -- Are you saying Whitehall has the Diviner? [...] Well, that changes things. You know, it might have been more prudent not to tell her that... 😏

Honestly, everything that we've been through, I don't know what to believe anymore. Honey, it’s barely the middle of season 2...trust me, you have seen nothing yet.

The story is, several of the guards went missing in the middle of the night from this tower, never to be seen again. They simply vanished. It's all preposterous, really. -- Yeah. About as preposterous as an alien city. Poor Mack, always caught up in the weird despite his better judgement. And in a few minutes they’re gonna send him down there. All alone.😒

Does he get emotional? Yes. Violent, even? Yes. But he's also quite misunderstood. That’s one way of putting it...

Before I met your father, I was a lost soul with no clue of where I belonged. -- The daughter he never had. -- No. No one could ever replace you, Skye. You're all he wants. Somehow, I’m not sure this is coming across as comforting.

I’m not scared of heights. That’s not what you’ll say in S5!

Be honest, Skye. Haven't you ever felt lost or had that feeling that you were part of something bigger? Like you were special? I don’t know about her, but I have always felt that she was special, yes. 😎

Something bad is about to happen. And this is different from your daily lives how...?

Anyone shoots, the plane goes down. We all die. -- Maybe it's worth it. -- Let's not get carried away just yet. Where Hunter is me.

May, if I don't go with him, he's gonna blow this plane to pieces. [...] There's no other way. You know that. Whatever happens, I can handle myself. Yeah, besides she almost died once already a full twenty minutes ago, I think we’re due for another bout of mortal peril.

Oh, Skye, don’t forget your tablet. You know what would be really useful? A nice, easy and quick, “brick the tablet” button.

Bravo 4. You have a go. Shoot them down. Repeat: shoot them down. Meh. Like that’s gonna be enough. Silly Hydra.

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs2 #aos season 2 #aos 2x09 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #bobbi morse #jemma simmons #antoine triplett #alphonso mackenzie #leopold fitz #grant ward #text post #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos2

[sonofgravesilence]

Prayer: Balancing the Scales | @hqgodspeed

It’s the middle of the night when he walks through the camp. Blue sits in his palm, rolling gently in the loose hold. The other is much tighter. There’s no moon tonight, only the stars to keep him company, and he almost thinks it fits the moment better. He’d chosen this time for the solitude- no one likes a graveyard at night. 

His fingers trace the cold stone, his own skin barely warm in comparison, skin laced with blue though he doesn’t shiver. He sinks to his knees, drops the stone in his pocket and digs his nails through the snow into the cold earth, tugs up a handful of grass and leaves a hollow the size of his palm in the dirt before the obelisk. Slowly, carefully, his clenched hand opens, exposing flecks and clumps of red to the air. He doesn’t have a body to bury- surely Sophitia and Talullah retrieved their friend. It’s not his right anyway, and he hopes the symbolic burial of the traces he has will offer some peace to the man in the afterlife. A pitiful offering to a soul he couldn’t save.

So the dried blood falls into the earth, and he smooths clean dirt over it. The words come heavy in his memory, but he’s said them enough times to know by heart:

Y’hay sh’lomo rabo min sh’ma-yo

v’cha-yim tovim olay-nu v’al kol

yisro-ayl v’im’ru omayn

His knees creak as he sways to his feet, backs away three paces and nods over his right shoulder.

Oseh sholom* bim’romov

He nods to the freshly turned dirt., breaths hu and nods to the left.

ya-aseh sholom olaynu

Another nod to the blood under the earth.

v’al kol, yisro-ayl

v’im’ru omayn

He frames the last in a pair of bows, sinking to his knees to press his head to the snow each time. He sits back on his haunches and wonders if this was a good idea. Is it disrespectful to give a Jewish mourner’s tribute to the son of a literal Greek goddess? He would have to ask around camp if there were traditions for this in the demigod communities.

He can’t remember quite how he was told to reach out to the gods of the pantheon, but he fumbles a small smoking fire together on a second cleared patch of earth- he’s afraid the wood is too wet to burn properly given it’s only a pile of twigs, but it catches easier than expected. He muses for a moment about a sacrifice, he didn’t bring any food, and with a long moment of hesitation, he pulls out the rough shard of blue and digs the corner into the meat of his thumb until two, three drops of crimson spatter on the flames and sizzle. His head sinks once more to the snow as he murmurs aloud, grateful that he’d done some research on the deities he’d heard named in Romania. 

“Themis, mother of Aleksander, goddess of good counsel, divine justice, of order and balance. She who knows what is and is not done by the peoples of the world. I don’t know if you can hear me, I- have no idea how this is supposed to work, and I pray for your understanding and mercy. My inexperience cannot excuse my failure to protect your child, regardless of how close or far you held him. I pray for guidance, for I am lost in this world. I want to do what is right, what is good, but I’m not sure I know what that is anymore... If you have the time, the patience to help my wandering be a bit less blind, I would be very grateful.”

It felt a bit like the prayer he was used to, if he was being honest. Knowing that the being you were reaching out to really existed didn’t change the fact that he might not be heard, might not be answered. A long look lingered on the dark patches of earth in a sea of white, at the smoke lazily trailing from burned out embers, and he silently walked back to his cabin. He felt less hollow, remembering his uncle’s words from decades ago. Mourning is for the living, the ones left behind. The dead have moved on, this is the best we can do until we join them.

#selfpara #curious carnival quest #loc:olympus camp #tefillah:prayer

[skarletterambles]

Gods of Egypt reaction blog

As a fan of both Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and ancient Egypt, I had to watch this movie.  It’s a hideous mess of whitewashing, incorrect mythology and WTFery, but I got it from the library so no money went toward it.

Random thoughts typed while watching are below.

[Warning:  Spoilers ahead, plus a mention of rape and victim blaming.]

So I guess we’re not going with the original story in which Set chopped Osiris to bits and scattered them so Isis had to track down her husband’s reproductive organs to conceive Horus.  I bet nobody ejaculates into each other’s food as a power move, either.  Tsk.  (Seriously, though, that’s for the best.  I have complaints about the accuracy of the mythology in this film, but some Hollywood adaptation isn’t necessarily a bad thing...)

Oh, the irony of Nikolaj playing a lionslayer instead of, well...the Lion of Lannister...is hilarious.

Yikes, they really, really whitewashed this shit, didn’t they?  Holy cow.  (That wasn’t intended to be a Hathor pun, but if fits...)

At least they made Thoth black, even if he does talk like Data from Star Trek.  Isis was like, “Did you ever imagine your pupil would become king?”  Uh, he’s the king’s only son, you don’t have to be the God of Wisdom to predict that.  Duuuuuuh.

OMG Gerard Butler is keeping his Scottish accent for this role.  He’s dialed it back somewhat, but it’s definitely still there.  WTF LMAO

“I will be the one true king of all Sparta...errrr, I mean, Egypt!”

And he’s like, “You have to be rich to enter the afterlife from now on.”  Since when does Set have any say in that?

I was hoping their animal forms would look cool, not metallic bodysuits ripped from Transformers.  What a letdown.  

At least this eye-gouging was significantly less gross than the ones on Game of Thrones.

*insert jokes about Set overcompensating for something with the huge obelisk to Ra*

Bek was like, “Derrrr, gee, I’ve got this blinding artifact holding my enemies at bay.  I could flee immediately, or I could be a TOTAL IDIOT and take a few seconds to kiss my girlfriend first instead.”

“Death is not the end,” says the generic doe-eyed love interest.  No, no, no, it’s “Death is only the beginning,” and it was a MUCH better movie’s tag line! This pile of crap cannot steal it!

Okay, Anubis looks kind of cool.  So do the giant scarab beetle mounts.

OMG this is dumb.  It just is.  Let’s fly to a freaking space station without any kind insulation or oxygen.  Horus, I can understand, since, y’know, magic, gods, etc.  But the mortal dweeb?  No.  He should have frozen and suffocated.

Geoffrey Rush is Ra?  What?  Whyyyyy???  He’s done such amazing stuff in his career.  How much did they have to pay him to do this?

Oh look, the Earth is flat after all!  *shocked emoji*

I’m not sure what reaction they were going for with Gerard Butler flying around on a sled pulled by giant beetles, but I bet snorting laughter wasn’t it.

So the other gods and goddesses are either 100% human-looking, or in their metallic animal forms, but Nepthys has pretty wings in human form.  Okay.  Sure.  All the rules are made up.

Scaling up the gods to be bigger than mortals was a neat idea, but I don’t know if it was worth the amount of CG that it must have required.

Did we need random bullet-time moments while Horus fights the metal bull men?  No.  No we did not.

These gods aren’t that powerful, if being pushed off a waterfall almost kills them.  I know, I know, they’re playing it up that Horus is not as powerful without his other eye, but come on.

Am I supposed to know who these two women are with Set?  One black, one albino?

Since when does Hathor have anything to do with the dead and the Afterworld?  And come on, you cowards, let her turn into a giant silver cow to fight!  She had one slightly bovine-looking tiara early on, but otherwise there was no sign of her true nature.  Harumph.

Oh, the black and white women ride giant fire-breathing cobras.  Of COURSE!  Makes total sense.  (WTF??????)

Hathor:  You should tell the mortal the truth about his dead lover. Horus:  No, I refuse. [Bek, who is walking like ten feet behind them:  Tell me what? Horus:  Oh shit.  I forgot you were back there.]

The Sphinx doesn’t really look like a Sphinx, but okay.  Did it just say “Oh, bother” like freaking Winnie the Pooh?  LOL!

Set just stole Thoth’s brain.  Rude!

The wings of Nepthys, the mind of Thoth, the heart of Osiris, the eye of Horus...by your powers combined, I AM CAPTAIN PLANET! 

And the most predictable patricide in cinematic history in 3...2...1...stabby stabby!  *golfclap*

Forecast for this afternoon, 80% chance of Apophis destroying creation...

Instead of a golden hand, here Nikolaj has golden EVERYTHING.

Horus is like, “That darn mortal had to go and be mortal.  Tsk.  I knew there was a reason I didn’t hang out with their kind.”

But literal deus ex machina to the rescue, Grandpa Ra (that rhymes!) fixes everything.

And they all lived happily ever after.  I guess.

What the actual fuck did I just watch?

I mean, it kept my interest.  Nikolaj was by far the highlight, as he was giving his all at playing Horus, despite the absurdity of it all.  So it wasn’t entirely horrible, but it wasn’t what I’d call good, either.

The CGI was really hit or miss.  The fire effects, Apophis, the collapsing sand pyramid, and the scenery was cool.  The bull-headed soldiers, the gods’ mech outfits, and some of the magic effects were...not as good.

Perhaps paradoxically, the plot was both predictable and hard to follow at times.  I mean, the major story beats were predictable, but the details of what MacGuffin they needed to take where for what reason got convoluted.

The female characters were cardboard and passive, existing mostly as eye candy and prizes to be captured by the men.  Hathor had a few decent story beats, but the narrative also glossed over the fact that she was kept as Set’s sex slave for years, and had Horus be annoyed that she didn’t escape to return to him, so...yeah.  She regained some agency toward the end but even then it was the self-sacrificing kind.  Meh.

I think the movie would have been better if it was just a sci-fi/fantasy world, without the ties to Egyptian mythology.  It’s not like they were going for accuracy with their depictions of the myths, or put in Easter eggs for lore buffs to catch.

Honestly, the more the movie went on, the less I noticed the painful amount of whitewashing, because it was so loosely based on actual Egyptian mythology that I sometimes forgot that’s what it was supposed to be.  It was just a generic sci-fi/fantasy adventure story with a bunch of white people (and a couple black people) in it.  The vibe was more Graeco-Roman than Egyptian at times (for which I partly blame Gerard Butler’s costumes).  I was expecting more attempts at authenticity.

That doesn’t mean that the whitewashing wasn’t egregious, because it really was, and there’s just no excuse for it.  That was the most serious flaw in the film, but definitely not the only one.

I’m glad I saw the movie since now I have an informed opinion about it, and Nikolaj is fun to watch, but it’s like a 3/10 overall.

#movie review #gods of egypt #Nikolaj Coster Waldau

[quillreflections]

Title: Electric Blue

Chapter: 4

Series: Yugioh GX

Pairing: Chazz/reader

Are you hiding, somewhere behind those eyes?

The clock on your dorm hall chimes loudly, snapping you from your reverie. Damn, had you really spaced out again- homework is so boring.

You look over at the smaller clock on your desk. Dinner hours are mostly over; although Obelisk does, naturally, have the best cafeteria on the campus, near the end of eating hours they stopped restocking fresh food. Going now wouldn't guarantee anything good to eat. . . your stomach growls, and you pull back the window curtains slightly. It's raining, too.

Guess it's another night of vending machine dinner.

You tug on your tattered raincoat and dig out your old umbrella- you always have to shake the thing around until it'll finally open- and shove a handful of loose change into various pockets before heading out.

Although it's a school built by Kaiba himself with the intention of training up elite duelists, the academy is still populated by teenagers of all kinds, with different tastes and schedules and limited access to the mainland- as a result, in addition to each dorm's personal mess halls, there are vending machines all over campus. The ones in your own dorm are all full of snacks, so you've gotta hike through the rain until you reach the nearby pavillion.

You splash through a few puddles on your way as you saunter up out of the mud and onto the concrete slab, ducking under the overhang before tugging your hood off and trying to force your umbrella closed. The stupid thing clicks and clacks and gets stuck halfway. What else is new.

With a shrug, you just set the umbrella down and turn to the long row of vending machines against the wall. A couple of them offer ramen- that one over there has the best burgers on campus- there's some still stocked with ice cream even though it's getting colder-

Seeing the cold desserts makes you realize that you're kinda chilled, and you shiver a bit. Maybe you should get a hot drink too. Fishing back through your pockets for change, you decide on a few of the burgers and sandwiches from one of the cheaper machines. You can afford more of them, and take them back to the dorm to keep eating later.

From behind you, you hear a loud splash, followed by a string of swears. You turn to see Chazz, of all people, on his hands and knees in a puddle of mud.

Chazz tries to haul himself back to his feet, but he slips again; there's rain dripping into his eyes, and he swipes at the mud on his face with the back of his sleeve, and then suddenly there's a pair of sneakers stepping into his view. The rain stops, at least over him. He looks up, and you're smiling down at him, holding the umbrella over the two of you.

". . . how are ya, Chazz?"

"What kind of question is that, [Name]."

You laugh and offer him your hand. He barely hesitates to take it, letting you pull him back to his feet, neither of you minding the mud smearing on your uniform too. He lets you hold the umbrella over his head as you both walk to the pavillion. As soon as you're out of the rain, he strips his blue coat off with a heavy sigh.

"Maaan, I was doing well keeping it so clean, too."

You laugh and go back to picking your dinner. "Don't worry about it- the other day I saw another guy spill his dinner all over his, and he's still got stains-" Your first burger drops from the machine, and you reach to grab it, wincing at how hot the box is. Nice. You put change in for the next one.

Chazz watches you deciding on a second sandwich while he walks up to a different machine. ". . . are you seriously eating vending machine food for dinner?"

"Listen, by the time I got to the dinner hall, there'd be something like five minutes left, and the food would be cold. Why bother with that when I can get all this hot food for less than five bucks?"

He stares at you oddly for a moment longer. "You're kinda strange, [Name]."

"You think I'm cute anyways, Chazz."

You're only teasing, and he knows it, but his heart races into overdrive despite that. He- he was pretty sure he'd always been subtle about how he felt- you're just joking- the machine in front of him dings, and he whirls to face it instead, so that you won't notice how red his face is turning. He sticks his hand through the small panel and grabs at his food; with your arms full of small cardboard boxes, you lean over his shoulder, curious.

"What's so good that you came all this way in the rain?" You glance up; there's a bunch of pastries advertised on the vending machine, and they all look good.

When he turns back to face you, Chazz holds up his dessert and unwraps it so you can see. It's shaped like a fish, and steaming in the chilly autumn air. It smells fantastic too, like a fresh pancake.

"Oh my gosh, that's so cute- uh, what is it?"

He chuckles as you lean closer to look at all the small details. It even has scales-

"They're called taiyaki." He emphasizes the word. "I. . . used to get them with my family, back when we'd all go to street festivals together. They're always filled with something good; traditionally it's bean-based, but I don't think they have any of those here, since we have so many international students." He shrugs before taking a bite. He lets out a grunt when it burns his tongue a bit, and when he pulls back, you can see the filling inside the rest of the little cake. "This one has custard."

You lick your lips at the thought. It's so cute, and it looks like it tastes fantastic- setting your stash of boxes down on a table, you dig for more change, only to find that you're fishing through empty pockets. You sigh. "I guess I'll have to get one next time. Aw man, it looks so good though!"

Chazz watches you restack your dinner so you can carry both it and your umbrella. He stops chewing and swallows the bite nervously. "Do you. . . I dunno, d'ya want some of mine?" Your eyes light up, and he can feel his face flushing, although he hopes you'll attribute it to the fresh dessert. He holds it out to you.

You grab his hand to hold it steady while you bite into the taiyaki, and the first thing you notice is that his skin is so soft to the touch- and then the taste hits you, and you practically melt. It does taste like a pancake, and the custard inside is warm and has a hint of vanilla. After you've taken your first bite, you lean forward for another. He lets you, but pulls it back before you can have a third.

"Damn, [Name], if I'd known you'd do that then I wouldn't have offered." He smiles though, and you laugh around the bite in your mouth.

"Thanks anyways, Chazz." You look over and back in the direction of Obelisk Blue. It's still raining. "Let me walk you back to your dorm?"

He frowns a bit. "I'm the guy here, y'know- I'm the one who should be offering-"

"Yeah, well, I'm the one with the umbrella, and you're the one in the mud-stained uniform coat."

He let you walk him back.

#electric blue #chazz princeton #yugioh #gx

[hypexion]

Saviors of Uldum: Diabolical Reveals

While the League of Explorers has been gathering allies, it seems that the League of EVIL has been doing the same. Which faction will preveil in this epic clash?

Fishslinger is another one of those random card making cards. Except you get it fully statted because you also give your opponent a Murloc. Given the highly synergistic nature of Murlocs, this looks like a card that could be okay in Murlock decks, since it gives a little extra for you, while giving your a opponent a card that’s possibly bad without the support.

Hunter’s Pack is a big random value blob for Hunter. Honestly, this actually looks kind of good - the general quality of the three categories is high enough that most of the time you’ll get something decent. Plus, Hunter’s Standard weapon pool is so shallow that the only weapon that doesn’t synergise with one of the other options is Gladiator’s Longbow. The weak link here is probably the minion, since while Hunter Beasts are generally quite good, there are a few duds. But otherwise, this is probably a card you can play and be happy with.

EVIL Recruiter is on the hunt for new EVIL members - and there’s a great signing bonus. Getting a total of sixteen stat points for three mana is pretty good, although needing a Lackey to munch on makes thing a little harder. Currently, Warlock doesn’t have that much Lackey generation, which makes recruiting a big demon a little inconsistent. But I think a little extra support might push this into viability - even if you have to wait until turn four to stop disruption, you’ll still get both the Lackey effect and an above-curve play, which should be nice.

Bazaar Mugger is another Thief card for Rogue. Yeah. I’m not really really feeling this one, since a random class minion can still lead to a lot of duds, and the body just seems too weak. I think that even as 4/5 it would be a lot better, since once you reach five mana, you really want to be able to deal with a wide range of threats.

Desert Obelisk is this set’s weird puzzle type cards that won’t see any play. Uh, I mean, is too expensive to test. That is, you see, the dust and rarity system discourages the use of Epics without guarenteed results, so, you see...

Anyhow, I’m not too sold on Desert Obelisk. It’s trivial to kill, so you need to get all three summoned at once, and even then, the effect is only okay. Sure, five damage is a decent amount, and each Obelisk will fire off a bolt, but it’s not that amazing given the hoops you have to jump through. Funny idea, but ultimately Desert Obelisk feels like one of those “Webcomic Cards”. (And thus, by talking the card down, I ensure it will see play. Heh heh heh!)

Tip the Scales is a final, last ditch board refill for a Murloc Paladin deck. Pay eight mana, and hope whatever is left in your deck is enough to finish off your opponent. That’s actually not too bad of an effect, since you’ll probably be running out of steam by turn eight, and if you pull all seven Murlocs from this card, you’re probably in dire straits anyway. Some people are wondering if this could be a combo card like Anyfin Can Happen, but I don’t see it. Paladin lacks much in the way of deck manipulation, and without such tools, combos that rely on cards being in your deck tend to be rather fragile. So if this is this year’s big Murloc card, it will almost certainly be doing refills.

Riftcleaver is Obliterate with a minion glued on. That’s... okay, I suppose. I’m not sure if it’s 400 dust okay, but it’s probably worth a pick in Arena. The main problem I see with Riftcleaver is that now Warlock has lost most of its good healing, using this to kill off bigger minions could put you in a worse position than before you destroyed it. But I guess for murdering smaller stuff, this isn’t too bad, especially compared to Impbalming. Although that isn’t really saying much, since Impbalming is sort of bad. Really, Riftcleaver is something you probably want to drop in a deck to test out, but for some reason, strange forces prevent such a thing.

Bloodsworn Mercenary is another taken on the copying of damaged minions, a Warrior thing that sometimes comes a long. This is probably the most viable version of it so far, since cheaping combo effects are just better than the more expensive versions. Outside of combo trickery, this looks like something that could possibly fit into a deck. Minion combat often lefts damaged minions lying around, and copying one could be slightly useful. Although let’s not kid ourselves - Bloodsworn Mercenary is mostly going to see play as a combo piece.

Anka, the Buried combines two ”classic“ Rogue themes: Deathrattles and mini-minions. There’s almost certainly a way to abuse this, since subverting mana costs is always abusable. There are a number of Deathrattle-based Rogue decks floating around, and many of them won’t suffer from their minions become 1/1 minions. Additionally, there are some wacky combo ideas that Anka could enable, although they need some of the kinds worked out. Either way, this card has some potential, and has an idea that’s suitable for a Legendary card.

#Saviors of Uldum #Hearthstone #new cards

[almighty-pontheon]

The Almighty Pontheon Chapter 2: Check-In

“But, hey! Just “Almighty Vee” is perfectly fine, too!”

Hearing the name of her Almighty made Meden's eye glimmer with sheer joy. In fact, all eyes were on the Mighty Vee as her introduction got the attention of the few Patapons left to celebrate the occasion. At most, she spotted thirteen in the immediate area, not including Meden. How much had these guys been suffering while she was gone?

"Oh, Mighty Vee..." Meden swooned. "How long we have waited for you!" Meden's sweet words caught her attention. "A-aw! That's-" "Praise the Mighty Vee!" One of the Patapons in the crowd called, eliciting a chorus of praises from the Patapons attending the feast. "Welcome, Vee~!"

"Queen of all! Oh, Mighty Vee!"

"Vee rules!"

Once the praises and the Mighty One's growing blush died down, Meden vied for her attention again. "We're grateful that you've returned, except..." The woman's expression dropped, immediately going from being absolutely elated to sad puppy in a mater of moments. "Great Vee, we're starving! Oh please, give us food before we collapse and die!"

"Starving?" Vee cocked her head a bit. "But... Pata Plains, it's right there. Can't you hunt?" "Oh no, Mighty Vee, we can." Meden said. "But... I'm afraid we've encountered quite a few setbacks as of late." "Them being?" "You know the three Yaripons you helped Hatapon rescue earlier? Well... Forgive us, Mighty Vee, but they are all we have left of our army. There is only so much three wooden spears can do, especially without the drums..." "Not to mention our enemies." Hatapon, who had previously been shoveling the scraps that counted as a feast into his mouth, finally spoke up. "The Catotons encroach on our territory day by day. They are awfully aggressive as of late, for some reason. They know how weak we've become, so they think they can bully our hunting party around!"

The Almighty really didn't need any more convincing. The Patapons were weak and the Catotons were pushing them around because of it, got it. Meden, for some reason, thought her Goddess was still on the fence. The Priestess reached out and grasped Vee's hand before looking right at her with the look of a sad orphan on the verge of tears. "Oh merciful Mighty Vee! Please lend the Yaripons your power, bring us only a little meat, that's all we ask!"

"U-uhm..." No, Vee, keep it together. It's not very god-like to stammer. You're an Almighty, you got this. It was unnerving how helpless they were without an Almighty around. It made Vee wonder how many had perished due to Catoton attacks, disease, exposure, or just plain starvation. She couldn't imagine what would have happened had she arrived any later than she did.

"You guys... Really don't need to try and coax me into this." The Almighty smiled nervously, but it was still a smile nonetheless. "Yes, I'll go hunting with you-""You will!?" Meden quickly dropped her sad expression and soon found herself bounding with joy. "Yes, yes! Great Vee, please follow me! I'll show you our Obelisk! That's where you go to hunt and talk to your army and equip new gear and-"

Meden had snatched Vee's hand with the gentlest, most inescapable grip and began dragging her off to the Obelisk. Hatapon, along with the rest of the Patapons, simply watched the scene go on.

"Someone ought remind Meden that's our Almighty she's dragging by the wrist!" One of them half-shouted, half-laughed at the display. An overeager Priestess and her Goddess, taken right off guard by it all.

"Aw, let it happen." Hatapon cooed. "I don't think our Great One will pack up and leave just because Meden's a little excited. I don't blame her at all, really... I kinda forgot myself, too." One fellow in the trees narrowed his eye at Hatapon. "...What... What do you mean, Hata?" "I hugged her." He replied. "I hugged the Great One..." "...And?" The other Patapon lowered his voice to a whisper. "What did it feel like?" "Like a warm, fluffy cloud... Just like the Volipons were, but even softer..." ~~~ Seeing as the Patapons were feeling quite hungry after their sad excuse of a feast, Vee decided to take them hunting that night instead of waiting for daybreak. There was a lingering worry in the back of her mind that they would wake up to find one of them already starved to death. The hunt was a breeze- Two Kacheeks and even a Mochichi were their prizes that night. The group especially went wild over the bird, and raved about how good the flesh would be.

The walk home saw Vee getting a bit more familiar with her army. The spearmen were called Ton, Chin, and Kan, as she would find out. Ton was impressionable, very impressionable. It didn't take much for him to be convinced that something was the truth, and it didn't take that much to make him question thing either. He was also quite the defeatist, but still charming and an absolute sweetheart nonetheless. Chin had the tendency to show his affection and happiness though light physical contact, usually with light bumps or even the occasional hi-five. He seemed to like being in the spotlight and was quick to try and get some personal glory for himself, now more than even considering that the Almighty was physically here, watching him. Kan was energetic and peppy, always doing some trick with his spear or telling some weird joke with Hatapon. Vee could certainly sense a hint of mischievous tendencies hidden in him somewhere, perhaps he was keeping it subdued in the presence of a Goddess.

The delivery of the meat saw an uproarious applause from the rest of the tribe, Meden was even on the verge of bursting into tears. The fresh meat was handed off to a supposed apprentice of a lost Patapon Genius for preparation. "Ah, Mighty Vee!" Meden piped up. "We thank you for this sustenance!" She then turned to the hungry tribe, further raising her voice to get their collective attention. "Everyone! Please leave your offerings for Almighty Vee at the Altar-" "Offerings? Aren't you all starving to death, though?" Vee felt her tall ears lower slightly. She didn't want to be the reason these guys had to go hungry... What kind of an Almighty would she be if that was permitted?

"Oh no, Great Vee! Please don't fret, we don't need that much food to fill our bellies!" Meden responded. "Our offerings to your are only the best cuts of meat- A fine sacrifice for the Almighty responsible for saving our lives!" The Patapons began to praise Vee once more with a symphony of "Yes, Vee! You're the best!" With that, she relented, allowing their tradition to continue. "Oh, Great Vee, I would like to declare one more thing!" Meden proclaimed in the midst of their new and improved feast. "As you know, Mighty Vee, I am your devoted servant. I should hope that my appearance communicates that already, tee-hee!" It was true. One could tell just how devoted she was by those robes. The feathers mimicking her ears, the cream-colored furs and cape she wore, and the overall brown color scheme ensured everyone knew who her people worshiped. "I felt that... Well, Great Vee! Not only my appearance, but my name should also express my devotion to you! Everyone, please call me Veeden from now on!" Vee nearly spat out her drink in shock. Instead, she choked on it a little. "Y-you don't have to, really! All these radical things you're doing for me, you don't need to!" "But Great Vee, I insist!" Veeden whined. "I would be much happier if you allowed me to express my love for you in this way! Changing my name is one of the highest offers I can give you!" "Er... M-Veeden... You're...?" Veeden gave the Almighty a knowing nod, her eye's glimmer returning. And Vee relented. ~ While they were gone, a large tent had already been pitched for Vee. Compared to the tiny homes the other Patapons made do with, the Almighty had a luxury villa on her hands. Veeden had stocked the place up already with soft hides and some simple furnishings. As it would turn out, nights often got pretty cold out here, hence the furs her Priestess wore.

She fully expected to stumble into her new tent and collapse upon her bedding, Vee felt at least entitled to that. However, the moment she stepped through the threshold of the tent's opening, a sense of divine power flooded into her. It was the distinct aura of Gods stronger than herself, and it was enough to make her fur stand up on end.

Normally, this sort of feeling would have humbled even the strongest of Patapon warriors. However, it only made the Great Vee feel instantly annoyed. "Oh, honestly! What are you two doing here?" Sitting in her tent as if she owned the place was a medium-sized land dragon covered in shining blue scales. She was very distinct from other dragons the Ancients had tangled with in the past, as she almost appeared to be a hybrid of some kind- a cross between dragon, dog, and lion. Two curved horns on her head appear to have been the influence in the distinct features of the Gyaba line of Rarepons. Resting against this dragon was an ornate golden shield. A few scratches damaged its surface, but they only served to prove how worthy this gear was for battle. They were not simply just a dragon and a shield, though. No, Vee recognized them, they were just in disguise. Looks like older siblings Tierra, the Almighty of Love and Motherhood and Lehabim, Almighty of Fire and Armor had just dropped in for a visit.

"I thought I told you all I could handle myself out here!" The Fox Almighty hissed. "What's with you two?" "Hello to you too, Vee." The dragon spoke with a hint of snobbishness. "Goodness me, we only wanted to see how you were doing!"

"I'm doing-" The younger Almighty stepped on a unchecked stone that had not been cleared from the tent grounds, causing her to jump a bit. "Just fine!"

"If you say so, Vee." The shield spoke. "But we couldn't help but notice how jittery you were at first. Vee, you have to be careful about your nerves! If your people see you get too nervous, their faith will waver!”

The lecturing shield sighed. “Are you absolutely sure you're ready for this? Do you want one of us to take over and mess with this world’s memories so you can-" "No!" Vee shook her head at the proposal. "No, listen! I'm just fine, okay? I've been watching all of you guys do the exact same stuff in your worlds for a long time now! I just got a little excited at first, that's all! I-I can do this, I swear to you-" "Try to separate our worlds from yours, Vee." Lehabim interrupted. "The worlds Eternity gave to us run parallel to one another- and so everything in those worlds played out the same. This one, however... It's all sorts of different. We can't guarantee that you can expect what'll happen next, so you need to be cautious." "Mhmm, it never hurt anyone to be careful." Tierra agreed. "And don't be afraid to call on your family if you need help, Vee! We all love our little sister very much."

The smaller Almighty felt her ears droop down a bit as she looked away from the two. They knew her weakness, her entire family did. Their sincerity and caring nature towards her always ended up forcing her guard down no matter what happened. A simple "Your family will always love you" made her drop any hostility she may have had in an instant.

He must have been feeling particularly good that night, because Lehabim took advantage of the distracted Vee to hop into his Patapon disguise- that of a decorated Tatepon with a unique helm. He marched over to her and gently grabbed her ears.

"We know you have it in you, Vee. All 21 of us know you can figure this out... Just use these big ears Eternity gave you and lead your world to greatness..." She was trying to gently swat him away, but Lehabim must have been feeling extra sentimental and countered her bats with a hug. "...Ah, if only she could see you now. Our mother would be so proud of you, Vee..." "She certainly would." Tiera joined in- still in her dragon form- and gave them as good of a hug as she could muster in that shape. By now, though, Vee was starting to have enough of it.

"Leha! Tie! You can let go now, please!" "Nope!" The Shield Almighty teased, hugging her even tighter. "Gotta keep our precious sister close, right Tierra?" "Yes! And we'll slaughter any who so much as scrapes her!"

"Cut it oouuuttt!" ~~~ It was one of Hatapon's jobs to come to the Almighty each night and brief her on what their plans were for the next morning, as well as the general status of the tribe and its people. Tomorrow, they had agreed to hunt just a bit further than what they had initially covered that night. However, as he peered into the Great One's tent, he saw her being embraced by a dragon and an experienced Tatepon. Then, he quickly and quietly turned around and headed for his own tent. There was no doubt in his mind that this truly was the Almighty Vee now.

#Book One: Sketch #Chapter Two: Check-In #Story; #🦊Almighty Vee🦊 #⚫️Vatapon⚫️ #⚜️Veeden⚜️ #🛡Lehabim🛡 #🐉Tierra🐉

[myfriendpokey]

clearance sale

clearing out some of my backlog of opinions before the new year so i can start anew. in this post I have accumulated some writing scraps on the only three topics: 1. finance 2. mystery 3. location

FINANCE

i enjoyed these recent-ish posts against the idea of indie sustainability, although as someone who already works a day job i always feel a bit ambivalent about the advice to just work a day job to pay for this stuff - - like yes, absolutely, do it, BUT sell your shit too in the knowledge that the type of precarity we associate w/ creative work is already in the process of being implemented everywhere else as well (or has already been - zero hour contracts, sub-living wages etc). like i am fortunate to still have a day job which pays a living wage and leaves me time to work on my own things on the side - but this feels like an anachronism rather than an inevitability right now.. maybe my unsustainable games will help keep me afloat when my job gets automated and i have to go work in an amazon warehouse, unsustainable games for an unsustainable job, ha ha ha. video games are an exploitative bubble but so is the rest of "the market".

it is true that this is a political problem rather than one in the narrow remit of things that can be fixed with the right 10-point sales plan- -  nevertheless i think the issue of trying to make even small money off these things will remain kind of pressing as, in turn, regular employment comes more and more to resemble irregularly compensated hobbyist labour.

anyway one point i found really interesting, which i think all the above posts kind of grapple with - - the idea that it's not necessarily more "realistic" to aim at selling 1000 copies rather than 100,000. i think while we make fun of the aspiring millionaires a lot of people have just been banking on the idea of a fertile middle ground between the two extremes of tiny and ludicrous amounts of sales, between boom and bust. i'm sure there are still people working in that space but it seems like it's shrinking.

one question brendan keogh asks in his piece is "why should game makers be any different  [from the norm of artists, musicians etc not really making any money]?" i think this can actually be answered a little - because hobbyist game development sort of exploded in tandem with the internet itself becoming more naturalized within everyday life, because the economic basis for indie games was always centered around the internet, which means people working in indie games were always in the vicinity of the massive, startling movements of capital that the internet rendered more visible and immediate. no more were the weird vicissitudes of the market hidden behind closed doors, in boardrooms or stock quotations - now you could log onto any site and see just bewildering amounts of money suddenly funnel into the pockets of this or that individual in real time, frequently to their own surprise as well. and i think this connected to something more general - a sort of ambient awareness of financialization, the way "the financial sector" cannibalized things like industry, the greater visibility of capital not as something embedded in some specific product or set of individual practices but as a kind of weird free-floating aura arbitrarily descending or departing. enormous reservesof "general" wealth became more visible just as the benefits and stability of waged employment became yet more desolate and i think you need to see the draw of one in part as a consequence of the other. 

gacha-capitalism, permanent artificial scarcity coupled with the vague, insistent prospect of fantastic gains, as long as you keep playing. which is a rhythm already enshrined in many areas of working life - broke college students and unpaid graduates hustling for eventual employment, waged workers grinding through until  retirement. but it's one the enhanced immediacy and swiftness of capital on the internet intensified and extended. fabulous payouts can strike anyone at any time, in exchange for slowly bleeding out the prospect of any other kind of livelihood. much like the austerity following the financial crash which levelled so many basic social services for no particular purpose other than the hope that doing so for long enough would please the gods of prosperity to start tossing money around again. all dues, no pay.

i do think it's worth being cynical about the efforts to domesticate this process, building a fair and sustainable biome within capitalism, by using the tools of that same capitalism etc.  but if the format can't be seperated from the wider world then that's something which swings both ways. for me the most interesting critical work around vgames right now is in the effort to move outside of the constant, numbing boom-and-bust cycles of capital, the idiot repetition of exhilaration and depression and exhilaration and it'll all be okay as long as we can hold out one more cycle, particularly when that's a rhythm which has been central to the development of the format from the beginning. i think anyone involved with developing videogames has probably seen multiple generations of cool shit emerge, get abruptly killed off and written out of history in accordance with market diktats, and then replaced with a new wave of cool shit whenever the investors shift gears into "expansion" mode again. a mode of thinking about and preserving what people do that stands in opposition to this is something i can easily imagine being more generally useful in the culture, as ever more areas of life and culture start becoming subject to the same questions.

MYSTERY

there's a mystery in depth and a mystery in shallowness. with depth the habitual glance of recognition goes out and falls through - you can place roughly where something is in relation to the world, but not what it's doing, not where it goes. as a presence it seems to require a new mode of attention to be recognized, which i guess is why it sometimes makes me uneasy - that challenge, the way that challenge can be moralized. are you a bad enough dude to engage with art?? if there are 100 black obelisks in a field which one do you decide to look at? and will it really turn out to be deep, or just dense?

videogames can feel like depth-worship, like the embodiment of an essentially cthonic system of values. how deep did you go and what did you see there? did  you find the gold bars in pac-man? (www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/spies.cgi?action=url&type=info&page=pmgoldbar.info.txt) did you see the secret ending? how far did you get into the game mechanics, into the lore? this marks the top 10 deepest players on this game. surpass  them... if you dare. an ethos of diligent attention, hierarchial levels of  understanding and initiate-dom, a sub-culture. and at best a maguslike  dedication to altered states of consciousness that i can respect, an interest in shifting through mangled pieces of debris in search of secret mysteries. at worst the authority cults and tests of true belonging that spring up around those mysteries, whose value is in being hidden and whose guarantee is in the strenuous effort with which they must be located. paranoia about true spiritual meanings being plundered by opportunistic interlopers. stay out. get good.

the videogame has the basic opacity of the computer system and the act of engaging with this curious abyss is allegorized into dungeons, castles, mazes. trapdoors and secret corridors. one pleasure in looking up older games for me is in seeing them recognize and learn how to thematize this basic sense of mystery. in bubble bobble the obscure scoring mechanics and secret endings are cheekily perverse, arcade challenge by another means - another system to game. in king's quest there's something like a crossfertilization between the strange causal voids of the fairy tale and the adventure game: "Exit the gingerbread house and go east and east. There is a large walnut tree here. Take walnut and then open walnut to discover a gold nut. Head east and take bowl . Look bowl  to see the words “fill” at the bottom. Fill and the bowl will fill up with a delicious stew." the wizardry games took the connection between mysterious game systems and occult knowledge much further - the "true" ending of wizardry iv means finding a secret chamber and answering a series of riddles based on your knowledge of the kaballah (or at least, kaballah-derived tarot interpretations).

it's easy to moralize depth - lotus eaters, magic islands. you wander through a strange land and then return to find it's 5 hours later and you forgot to eat. there's something creepy to me about depth on an industrial scale, about building huge tunnels with massive teams on forced overtime, and then a team of professional tunnel reviewers cautiously start descending on ropes and come back every so often and say, well, 20 hours in and it all looks ok, and meanwhile everybody else is jumping en masse. maybe that's more of an issue with consumer culture in general. but sometimes it feels like a way to avoid dealing with certain inherent limitations of that culture, or even limitations of art in general, by projecting those limits out to the end of ever-deeper tunnels that fewer and fewer people will ever see, the rest of them straggling back, exhausted, getting jobs. well, i can't tell you if red dead 2 is good or not. i only got 60 hours in, and i never even found all the falcons.

if the mystery of depth is having too much space for speculation to operate coherently within, the mystery of shallowness is having not enough space for speculation to operate at all: something is too manifestly there, limited, closed-off, it's hard to push it away to get some metaphorical breathing room. 

i feel this way sometimes reading writers like tove jansson, flannery o'connor - SOMETHING happened, the stories are short and clear and describe some definite event without too much uncertainty, they even have "broader themes" raised - but somehow the themes feel embarrassingly outsize for the stories, and the stories remain too clearly defined to sink back into the murk of a generalized moral or experience. they feel like moral stories when you can't work out what the moral might be.

robbe-grillet on raymond roussel: "Now these chains of elucidations,  extraordinarily precise, ingenious, and farfetched, appear so derisory, so disappointing, that it is as if the mystery remained intact. But it  is henceforth a mystery that has been washed, emptied out, that has become  unnameable. The opacity no longer hides anything. One has the impression of  having found a locked drawer, then a key; and this key opens the drawer impeccably... and the drawer is empty."

there's a famous shallowness to videogames as well that's most often caught by people outside the culture - when you see the fake videogames in a comicbook, or on tv, and they're named something like "washing machine simulator 3000" or "municipal tax assailants". and part of this also stems from the computer, the history of the computer as it insinuated its way into everyday life, as a mysteriously elaborate and convoluted way of doing just impossibly banal things, like balancing chequebooks or printing text. the stubborn thingliness of not-quite-functional machines, the way the thingliness glosses and corrodes their own internal fantasies, mirrors of the basic weirdness that is human consciousness as a material fact within the world. 

with my friend i used to joke  about "e3" just being the dumpster behind an abandoned gamestop - all those needy longform experiences frozen into evocative trinkets. find a nonfunctional disk copy of mario odyssey and it gives you all the same delight as playing mario odyssey, only without having to. i think there's something beautiful about that flatness, that directionless object-hostility, the rejection of the grandoise hero's journey fantasies that it implies – as well as something baleful, a rejection of consciousess in general, the idea that it could take you anywhere not inside your own head.

LOCATION

why are there so many videogames about going outside? every time i've played a videogame it's been inside a room, usually a dark one, mostly while still wearing my pajamas. for me it is an internal activity. but not only do all these games take place in fields and plains, they always talk about the wonders of going on a voyage, the beauty of the great outdoors, the superiority of the wandering main characters to the slugs and layabouts who sit at home all day.... it's weird to me, i demand we move past these cloying pseudo-critiques. raymond williams once pointed out that the first pastoral was written from the perspective of a rentier daydreaming of cashing out and moving to a country home. i demand more games with the courage of their implict convictions and that if they require you to sit motionless indoors  for hours they should explicitly establish and argue for a value system in which this is the best possible thing that you can do. imagine if movies were all set in dark chambers full of people sitting down - i think i can say they would be much less insipid as an artform. "all of man's problems stem from an inability to stay in his room".

(images: Gakken No O Benkyou Soft Kazu Suuji, Legend of Legaia, a Chinese bootleg cart, and ...Iru!)

#gamechat #room

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Rebirth of Kaiser:  chapter 21

Yuusuke settled down at the table the dark general provided and unpacked his tools. Scrying wasn’t one of his greatest strengths by any means, but right now, he was willing to try anything in order to find Ryou.

Juudai says darkness is everywhere. So let’s find out.

He knew that on some level, the statement remained absolutely true. Darkness was everywhere. Now he had to use it.

A black bowl that he’d carved himself – it wasn’t necessary in these days for a magician’s tools to be all self-made, but Yuusuke liked doing it himself. He wanted to be certain that it was done correctly.

He filled it with clear water before taking a small foldable lantern out of his bag and lighting it. He didn’t really need it to see: he needed the flickering shadows it would cast.

One last item: Ryou’s bag. Yuusuke’s fingers trembled at the feel of it. It wasn’t one he was used to seeing, but this was his key towards finding Ryou in the first place. He breathed in and out, bringing himself to absolute calm, before he focused his attention on the shadows stretching out over the water.

Ryou. Where are you?

This wouldn’t be even close to the easiest thing he’d ever done. The spell itself wasn’t hard at all. But finding Ryou, that was going to be a little more difficult.

He needed to focus on Ryou as he was now. Not Ryou the adult who’d slipped away or Ryou the teenager that he’d gone to school with.

But Ryou, the duel spirit of unknown name, of very limited known effects, of great strength.

He gazed at the shadows and water, putting his mind at ease, or doing his best to do so. It wasn’t that easy to be at ease when tiny thoughts flickered back into his awareness at a moment’s notice.

Can I do this? I’ve never tried to find a Duel Spirit before.

Is he all right? What if something happened to him?

Why did Cyber Harpie take him in the first place?

He strained to get his thoughts calm over and over, breathing a little harder each time, staring into the water as the light and shadows danced together. Images flickered across it, nothing very clear, but the shapes of people moving around. Not just people, either. He couldn’t be sure of what those were, but they existed in the water and shadows all the same.

The more he tried the harder it was to focus. He settled himself down yet again and breathed, trying not to ripple the water. That might not break the spell, but Yuusuke didn’t want to take the chance.

He wasn’t at all sure of how much time this took. Under normal circumstances, scrying could take hours. It might already have. He wasn’t going to stare at a clock, not now.

So he stared. So he searched. So he looked for anything that would link him to Ryou.

Fujiwara-kun?

Yuusuke blinked at the soft voice echoing through his mind. With how deep he’d been in the search for Ryou, it took a few moments for him to recognize it.

Juudai-kun?

I heard you in the shadows. What’s wrong?

Yuusuke breathed for a few seconds, trying to wrap his head around this. He knew Juudai could sense when he used his shadow magic, but he’d never spoken to him like this before.

Ryou’s gone. Missing. He let the images flicker through his mind, the way that Cyber Harpie dropped down from above, the sleeping spell, and what little he’d learned after that.

Still haven’t found him? Juudai could frown with his words. Yuusuke tilted his head a bit; he’d been so focused on finding Ryou that he’d forgotten what the Dark General told him, about the message via Hane Kuriboh and that Juudai intended to be there in a few days.

No. I’ve just started looking, really. Yuusuke tried to turn his attention back to the search but it wasn’t going as well as he would have wanted.

Huh. I didn’t think it would be this difficult. Yuusuke could feel Juudai thinking. He wasn’t sure of what Juudai thought about, but the awareness of his thinking pervaded the shadows.

Then there was another presence right behind Juudai’s awareness. Yuusuke couldn’t tell what it was, only that it was there and that Juudai’s attention turned toward it for a few seconds.

Juudai-kun?

Hold on. This won’t take long.

Yuusuke tried to focus on the scrying, trusting to Juudai to know what he was doing. It seemed to him that there were faint images of Ryou, but nowhere nearly clear enough for him to pin down where he was.

It was almost as if Ryou wasn’t quite who he thought he was anymore. As if he didn’t know who he was looking for.

Then a hand touched on the back of his and he looked to find himself staring into a pair of glimmering golden eyes.

“Let’s do this together,” the Herald of the Gentle Darkness said. Any words Yuusuke might’ve had choked in his throat and he nodded quickly.

Together they stared at the shimmering light on the water, shadows dancing this way and that. Since he was fifteen and first started learning what he could about the magic of darkness and shadows, Yuusuke found himself linked to the shadows at all times. But now the shadows were so much more, wrapped around him, holding him close and warm.

“Of course you feel it. Because of me.” The Herald chuckled at that. This didn’t quite feel like Juudai, Yuusuke realized, but he didn’t need Juudai. He needed darkness incarnate. “Come on. We’re looking for Ryou, remember.”

Yuusuke focused back, recalling that thought he’d had before. “Is it possible that he’s changed somehow? Or that he’s still asleep? Would that interfere?”

“Sleeping, probably not. The spell looks for what someone is, not what they’re doing.” The Herald considered, eyes glimmering in the darkness. “But changed, that’s not impossible. It would help if your image of who he is and his image of who he is are the same thing.”

That got a stirring of something. Yuusuke wasn’t sure of what it was, but the words tugged at him, leading down a path of thought that he slowly tried to speak.

“He’s a spirit. We don’t know his name or most of his effects. But if whoever has him figured it out and told him… would that change him enough so that I can’t find him?”

The Herald said nothing, but his gaze shifted over to one side. Yuusuke glanced in that direction and wasn’t surprised to see Yubel standing there. Their head tilted to one side in thought for a few moments before nodding slowly.

“Knowing one’s true name and abilities is very central to a spirit’s existence. It could take time to accept them but once they’re known they become a part of us.”

The Herald tapped a finger in thought. “So what we need to do is find him and we can’t do that because he’s somehow figured out his new real name and his effects, or at least enough of them so he’s changed enough so the spell as we can do it won’t affect him.”

Yuusuke’s fingers tightened into fists. “Then what do we do?” He wasn’t going to just sit around and do nothing while Ryou was off somewhere. He’d come here to find his friend again and under no circumstances would he change that.

“We find him so we can find him.” The Herald grinned in a way so very similar to Juudai before turning toward Yubel. “Since we brought him back as a spirit, isn’t there a connection of same kind?”

“Yes. It’s very slender, much like a thread, and I would not try to track it – under normal circumstances. It could affect him.” Yubel’s eyes warmed a touch, one hand resting on the Herald’s shoulder.

“It’s happened before,” he murmured, raising his hand to brush against Yubel’s.

Yuusuke wasn’t at all certain of what they meant, but now wasn’t the time to ask, either. They could work this out later.

“It won’t be enough to find where he is. But I think we can at least find out his name and possibly his effects.” Yubel added. Yuusuke nodded before he turned more towards them, shoulders high and tight with tension.

“Whatever you’re doing, then if at all possible, I want to help. Ryou’s my friend.” And he’d hoped once they could have been more than friends, but that hadn’t panned out.

Dying did tend to affect one’s romantic prospects, after all.

The Herald and Yubel exchanged the quickest of glances; so quick that Yuusuke might not have even seen it if he hadn’t been looking. Then they both nodded and held their hands out toward him. He took them, one hand with faint dragon scales and the other hardened from a life of wandering. He tightened his grip just as the darkness engulfed all three of them.

The moment that it did, Yuusuke couldn’t feel their hands. He knew they were there; he hadn’t moved and they hadn’t moved, and the awareness of their presence remained the whole time. So did the darkness, thick and enfolding and comforting, a presence as alive as could be. Warm and supporting, it sank into every bit of him.

I think we should tell you. Doing this could affect you. And your magic.

It will? Yuusuke didn’t think that he spoke. The Herald’s words whispered into his mind, as close as his breath.

Don’t know for sure. We’ve never done this before. But it could happen. You’ll have to see once we’re done.

Yuusuke wondered what the effect would be, if one occurred at all. Now wasn’t the time to discuss so much. Now was the time to find Ryou.

Right. Find yourself, first of all. Know who you are and what you are, and what you could be.

Yuusuke wasn’t certain of what was meant by that, but he tried anyway. He was Fujiwara Yuusuke, formerly of Obelisk Blue. He was Honest’s partner – Honest who stood outside the door and waited for him so patiently. He’d once been the pawn of Darkness, but now he stood by the side of the Herald of Darkness, striving to redress all the wrongs he’d done once upon a time.

He worked for Industrial Illusions. His task was to create cards for those spirits who didn’t have them and who wanted them: like Ryou. Ryou, who’d been his friend for years, who wanted his memories back and the truth of who he’d been and who he was and who he might be.

And who might he be? He hadn’t missed what the Herald insinuated: the change could make him other than human. He could become a spirit as well. And if he were, what kind? A spellcaster? A demon? An angel?

Too many options for him to guess, but he knew the answer at the bottom regardless. It was the same for Ryou: that underneath it all, he was and would always be himself.

Ryou would forever be Hell Kaiser, a duelist of raw power and strength, who respected those who earned his respect, and who had learned the hard way that he should never underestimate anyone, regardless of events. No matter his name or what he could do, that was what Ryou was, and anything else would be little more than window dressing.

The window dressing is important, though. It’s what sets one window apart from another. So what does he look like now?

The image rose in his mind without a bit of effort. Tall, with blue hair and tinged skin, pointed ears, wrapped in black leather from head to foot. Ryou’s essence all but shimmered in Yuusuke’s mind. Wrapped around him in that image there glowed a thread, slender and dark, that emerged from his heart.

That’s it. That’s the bond that was created when he became a spirit. Follow it.

Yuusuke didn’t know how he moved but he did regardless. Ryou was out there somewhere, and he wasn’t going to give up finding him.

To Be Continued

Notes: Time to lead to the first story’s wrap-up!

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo gx #marufuji ryou #fujiwara yuusuke #chapters: rebirth of kaiser

[stories-from-my-mind-to-yours]

Humans. Pet, Protégés or Predator? Part V. Ancient truths.

Omega draconis, Omega homeworld. Five days had passed since Cerin's... experience. He had decided to take some time off, due to obvious reasons. The vote concerning the humans had proved useless, since they had opted out of an inauguration, and instead had simply asked to form a coalition of sorts, in all but name exactly the same thing, but in the humans paraphrased words: "but this was our idea."

He couldn't really blame them, young as they were, it's like watching hatchlings try to catch their first rekkh, (a lava-living snake, 2 ft in lengt, often kept as a pet) absolutely convinced no one had ever done it before. Well it had been four million cycles since any egg had actually hatched, but still. The humans were so... for lack of a better word, childish. But at the same time, one of the most tenacious, inventive and dangerous creatures to ever sail the cosmos.

His mind wandered far, as it does when one has nothing to do but wait. He thought of a story his father had told him when he was little. The story of The First Four.

In the beginning there were Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Alpha and Gamma were female, Beta and Delta were male. Alpha was blue, Beta was red, Gamma was green, and Delta was yellow. The story went on to describe the many great things they did, Alpha had lain thousands of eggs, and she cared for them all, for she was the Brood Queen. Beta was the Father and Teacher, he had shown them how to hunt, and taught them speech and writing. Gamma was the Caregiver, she who gave them heat and comfort. Delta was a trickster, mischievous and inventive, he had found all kinds of new things, like the magma caves they most often slept in.

This is of course considered pure myth by some, and there is no scientific evidence that they had ever existed. But Cerin was a believer, and as such he drew his heritage from Gamma. His thoughts trailed to the fragile creature that slept below his feet.

The female Omega had spoken very little, she answered with yes or no, or a few words together, she had even forgotten to tell him her name, but there would be time for pleasantries later. He had brought her home, not in any way because he felt any obligation for either of them to mate, but simply because it was her home.

He had offered her food several times on the journey home, but she insisted on not feeding until she stood on Omegan soil again. He had obliged her, considering the circumstances, Omegans that hadn’t fed in a prolonged period became irritated and sometimes aggressive, and he didn’t want to provoke her. When they reached his home she had devoured not one, but two whole karrahk! (Imagine a crossbreed between an crocodile and a sabertooth tiger) and for a creature not even five feet tall, that was unbelievably impressive.

After she had fed she needed to digest, so naturally he had offered her one of the volcanic caverns beneath his dwelling, which was for that purpose after all. So she slept, for four days so far, but he had no idea of how long she had hibernated inside the Obelisk. They could hibernate for millions of cycles, but encased in stone? That was new to him. New to anyone. They did need to breathe after all, even though they could ingest oxygen or sulfur through their scales, it was far less effective. But solid rock? As far as he knew, that wasn’t possible. They could swim in lava, but not breathe in it. Should one be trapped in hardening lava or in the vast emptiness of space, you would die.

But that wasn't what occupied his mind at the moment. She would be ready when she was ready, questions could wait until then.

The news of the events that had taken place on Titan had been live broadcasted throughout the universe. Trillions had seen this unassuming little green lizard, barely five feet tall, increase in size tenfold, and turn into a fairytale monster mothers would scare their young with. He had seen the images of it, and it had left him speechless. But reporters didn't worry him the least, since the atmosphere on Omega is toxic to anyone who doesn't breathe or can at least tolerate high levels of sulfur and sulfuric acid rain, and Omegans weren't that interested in him.

But the news of an Omega female had quickly spread far and wide, and most Omegans had returned home to see this legendary being. That was what bothered him the most. They had never been especially numerous, but this, this was truly horrifying. At their peak there had been around 400,000 Omegans. Now, on their entire planet, there were 172 Omega. Even worse, was the fact that of the few who had survived, over a hundred of them were so old they probably didn't have many cycles left in their hearts. He felt sorrow for his many sisters and brothers that lay sleeping in the eternally churning magma below. But there was nothing he could do for now, but wait. He painted. He slept. He hunted and prepared the meat. And then slept again. But eventually he got terribly bored.

He decided it was a good time to see if he could transform again. He tried everything he could think of, even hitting himself to induce pain, but to no avail. For two full days he experimented, before deciding it must be involuntary, and simply gave up. It was almost morning, he had fed a little, and was just about to get some rest when he heard the soft rasp of scaly feet traversing the tunnel from the magma caves.

He had heard the old ones describe young fertile females, the way they had exaggerated their beauty had made him believe their old age had made their minds... slightly less trustworthy, to not speak ill of the dead.

But their words fell oh so short in light of this creature before him. No words could describe her beauty. Cerin had most certainly fallen madly in love with this, for him, unobtainable goddess. The shape of her body enticed him in ways he had never felt before.

He watched as she slowly crawled up out of the tunnel in the floor, not completely awake by the look on her face, but he undoubtedly saw she had shed her skin. Considering how long she had hibernated it was probably long overdue. It explained the excessive feeding as well as the long sleep.

Before, her scales had been a very dull light blue, almost grey. At risk of being insulting, he would have described her as boring. But now... She took his breath away. The now fierce blue tint of her scales revealed she was a direct descendant of Alpha, one of their First Four. He had never seen such strong coloration of scales before. It was a deep, dark midnight blue, and the shimmer on her scales was mesmerizing.

The red jagged lines that before had been barely visible, now had spread across her cheeks, highlighting her feminine snout that now glowed with heat, indicating she must’ve slept very close to the magma.

He remained still, certain she would notice his presence, unwilling to startle someone that had just awoken. She took no notice him, instead she walked into the storage room, where he had hung meat to dry. He felt slightly insulted, but decided to give her some leeway, and sat down at the carved stone bench that was as round as the main dome of his dwelling. The fire pit in the middle had gone out, but the sun would soon heat the surface to a more pleasant temperature. She returned from the storage room with a dried karrahk hind leg, with a large chunk already missing from it. He watched her silently as she made her way around and sat down at the opposing side. She ate in silence, and didn’t even acknowledge he was there. This confused him.

“Ssheeyak sha rasshassh ssherr?” (Did you sleep well?) He asked in their ancient native language. He had missed speaking it, to speak to someone of his own kind.

She had apparently not noticed he was there. She quickly looked up, startled, and swallowed hard, and immediately looked down at the floor.

“Forgive me, I did not see you Guardian, please forgive my faults and be lenient in my punishment.”

“Punishment? Why would I punish you? And why do you call me guardian?”

He couldn’t see her face, but her hands moved nervously, and she stared at the floor. When she spoke, she whispered so low he could barely hear her.

“You... you are of Gamma. You are Guardian. I... forgive me Guardian, I do not understand...��� He could hear in her voice that she was close to tears.

He stood up and walked to her, and kneeled at her side. He put his claws under her jaw and lifted it so she would face him, but she shied away and turned her head, as if he would strike her.

“I may be of Gamma, but I will not harm you in any way. I would never do that.”

He paused briefly. He could see that she listened.

“My name is Cerin. The only female I have ever seen died when I was only a few hundred cycles old. She was the last female that lived.” He hesitated, not sure what effect his next words would have.

“No eggs would hatch after that, and most of the remaining males grew old and died. We may have forgotten many things, but I would never punish you for not seeing me, and I have never heard of a Guardian. Now, please, look at me.”

As he begged her to look at him, she slowly turned her head to face him, with disbelief and tears in her eyes. He knew not how old she was, but he knew she must be ancient, to have lived under such a rule.

“Please, speak to me. Why don't you start with your name? And if you can, please explain why you were inside the Obelisk."

She hesitated. She wanted to speak, but couldn’t control her voice just yet.

“Take your time,” he said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

He heard her breathing and hearts slowly returning to normal.

“My name is Amara of Alpha.” He looked into her deep blue eyes. He was utterly lost. He would give anything at her whim, be it his life if she wanted, he wouldn’t hesitate. As she continued he sensed the pride in her heritage, being Alpha is to be the Mother amongst children. Alpha leads, all others follow.

“I am the oldest hatchling of my den. I was encased in The Obelisk because the stone would protect us when all others died, to preserve us deeper than hibernation. My mother and her sister was among the first to die. After that my father made the obelisks to protect me and my sisters.”

“There are others?” He didn’t dare hope there were more like her.

“There were,” she answered. “I don’t know if they remain. We were nine sisters. My father made nine, pillars of rebirth he called them.”

“Your father, how did he make them?”

“With fire, like yours, when you saved me from the stone. I never thanked you.”

He bowed graciously. He saw a hint of a smile.

“You were calling my name from within the Obelisk, then I transformed into... whatever that was.”

“A primordial.” She answered. “How do you not know this?”

“We forgot so many things... We forgot how to transform.”

“Shapeshift.” She corrected. “You are a shapeshifter.”

"Please tell me, you called me Guardian. What did you mean?"

"You are the Guardian. You are a descendant of Gamma.”

She sat before him, confused. Tears fell from her bright blue eyes and trickled down her thorny cheeks. When she spoke her voice cracked with despair.

"So much knowledge lost... Gamma was the first Guardian. The Protector. The Keeper. She was also the first shapeshifter. She guarded our lands, our people and our knowledge."

She fell silent, tears streaming down her face.

Cerin softly wiped her tears away.

"You speak of her as if you actually knew her."

She shook her head and took his hand in hers, holding it softly.

"No, I never got to know her, but I remember her from when my father took me to see her as she lay down for the longest sleep. She was beautiful. You have her eyes... Cerin of Gamma."

He sat before her with a look of absolute disarray on his face. He struggled to fathom the age of this fragile creature before him. And to have met one of the First Four. He was speechless.

"She really lived? Do you... So long you must've slept... How old were Gamma? How old were you when the Sundering began? I have so many questions."

She put her hand on his studded cheek.

"I will try to answer all your questions, but there is something you must do for me first."

He nodded. "Anything."

“There is something I want to show you, but I don’t remember where it is, I only know there is a colossal door at the foot of one of the biggest volcanoes.”

He frowned his snout in thought. “I don’t know of any doors, but the biggest volcanoes are on the other side of the planet, the sleeping ridge. I don’t have a ship here and It’ll take weeks to get there.”

She smiled very lightly, which is the only was an Omegan can smile, since their taut scales allow very little movement, making them masters of face and body language.

“What?” He looked insulted, he didn’t understand but her face told him he had said something incredibly amusing.

“Cerin, you may be older than I in years lived, and one should always show respect for the Guardian, but in my time you would have been called “sshasscheesh”.

He chuckled to himself. Village idiot, hm?

“Well,” he spoke softly, “had there been anyone as beautiful as you here to teach me, I would’ve known even less, as I would’ve only gazed into your bottomless blue eyes.” Her eyes widened and the red lines on her snout blossomed in color, as she turned her face away and closed her eyes.

He was surprised by her reaction. “Forgive me, did I insult you? I apologize. I meant not to hurt you.”

She gazed upon him under halfclosed eyelids. “You did not insult me, Cerin of Gamma, you made me blush.”

“Ah... well, I do not regret it. You are a very beautiful female, but I have only seen two. But I... I feel different when I’m close to you.”

She smiled again. “I know Cerin, your cheeks are practically glowing.” He quickly felt his cheeks, they were warmer than ever, he quickly walked to the mirrorpond, and gasped at the sight of his face. They were glowing!

“What does this mean? I have never...”

She had without a sound walked up behind him, she put her hand on his shoulder, and turned him around. She stood much to close he thought, so close he couldn’t move.

“Amara, what...” she interrupted him. “Shh... You have never, and neither have I, but my mother told me I would know when I found my mate. You make me happy, you make me feel beautiful, and you have already saved my life. I know I want to be with you. From now on, Cerin of Gamma, you are mine, and I am yours, until the end of time, if you will have me.”

He was absolutely stunned. He couldn’t speak, he tried but couldn’t form a single sound. Her smile made his knees weak, and he felt he could drown in those beautiful eyes.

“Cerin, are you all right?” She asked. He could barely nod.

Something inside him had awakened, something he had never felt in his long life. Lust. Desire. Love. He didn’t know what to call it, but her, confessing her feelings for him had given him all he could ever want. He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the magma caves. He carefully placed her on the biggest stone in the cave, her eyes glinted in the glowing light of the bright orange magma. The heat in the cave made him tremble, his hands were shaking. His breath was hot, and his hearts pounded in his chest.

“Easy,” she whispered. “Cherish this moment, it is the last of our lives as children. We will be reborn, as it has always been.” He didn’t understand, and his expression reflected it. “You really have forgotten everything haven’t you?” He thought for a second and nodded.

She sighed. “I will teach you all I know, and we will teach our hatchlings. And they will teach all our people. But for now it is just you and me. Lay with me, my love, and see what happens.”

She pulled him close, and in the bright orange glow of churning magma, they made love for the first time.

Cerin woke slowly, he felt different somehow, but the feeling of Amara’s warm scales pressing against his body made his hearts beat faster. He put his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him.

“Your breath tickles,” she mumbled. He rubbed his chin against hers, feeling the warmth she radiated.

“Feeling you-“ he interrupted himself, shocked to hear his own voice, and sat up quickly. He had not expected to hit his head on the ceiling of the cave that he had walked down into, and he hit it hard.

“What? Why do I sound like this?” His deep growling voice scared even him.

She laughed, and the sound echoed of the walls. She sounded differently too.

“I told you, my love, you would see what happened.” She sat up and turned towards him. She looked very much different, but still the same eyes. He touched her face, and in the orange glow he saw his hand. He could barely recognize it, the scars he had earned was there, but this was not the hand he had been born with. The six fingers were longer and thicker, the claws sharper than karrahk teeth.

“Wait until you see your face my love.” She crawled of the stone, and had to crawl out of the cave. Had the ceiling caved in? He didn’t understand, a feeling he was getting used to. And what was this about his face? He rolled of the stone and crawled towards the entrance to the cave.

Amara had already crawled up, he saw light from above as he started crawling through the tunnel. Halfway up, he got stuck. There was nowhere near enough room for him to get out, he reached out with one arm and could feel the floor of the dwelling above.

He sighed. “Amara, I’m stuck. How can I be stuck? This makes no sense! And why do I sound like a karrahk male in heat!?” She looked down from up above. “It’s fine my love, just dig in your claws and pull yourself up.” He grunted, tried to twist himself around to get a better angle, and pressed his claws down into the massive stone floor, and pulled. He heard and felt the stone around him crumbling, his shoulders and back scraped against the jagged rocks. Finally his other arm came loose, he dug down in the floor and pulled his way up. When he stood up he looked around himself, baffled by how different everything looked. Everything was so small! “It isn’t your dwelling that has changed my love, it is you. And I.”

He turned around, and the sight before him made his cheeks warm. Amara was changed, her tail was longer, her body more curved than before, her legs looked longer, yet she was shorter. She came closer and embraced him, she barely reached to his chest, where she before had been almost the same height as him. She looked up at him. Her cheeks were wider, her snout smaller, and short fur covered her scalp. “Why are you shorter?” He asked. She laughed. “Oh my love, I’m not shorter, it is you who are taller! Look in the mirrorpond if you do not believe me.” He turned around, and the insight hit him like a rock in the head. The mirrorpond that had earlier reached him to the chest, now didn’t even reach his waist. He bent down and gazed upon his face. The pond was too small to let him see his entire face, but what he saw scared him. It was the face of the monster, the Primordial that stared back at him. The elongated snout and jaw, teeth made to kill, the bony ridges around his eyes, oh and the eyes, if those eyes didn’t scream murder he didn’t know what did. He quickly turned to Amara again.

“Please tell me this is a dream. It cannot be real! I am a monster!”

“Oh it is very real. When there is no Queen or Guardian anymore, our bodies sense it, and when two lovers mate, they evolve into what is missing. When the last Queen and Guardian died, our world was made wanting.”

“Now it is our turn, our responsibility to fill that void. And we will fill it, with our hatchlings, and they will fill it with theirs. But we will be Queen and Guardian for the rest of our lives. This is our time, my love. And you are not a monster. What you was before was a child. Now, you are the Father.” She caressed her stomach. “In here lay your children, for now. Come, feel them.” He knelt down before her, and in her abdomen he could sense them, he could see them. Small glowing pods of slumbering fire. “There must be hundreds!” He beamed with pride and joy. He stood and swooped her up into his arms in one sweeping motion, intoxicated by her, by himself, and the things he had learned.

“I love you, my Queen.”

“And I love you, my Guardian. My terrible fire breathing monster.”

#scifi #story time #space orcs #space australia #space exploration #humans are space orcs

[demonicsinc]

Reshef of Destruction text review

...GEEZ how did they make this game hard!!!?

ok, so Reshef of Destruction is the sequel to Sacred Cards. it has the exact same mechanics and features. one thing i forgot to mention in the other review is that. these games started something that im still a bit miffed at that continued for a while. and that’s having to buy cards you input passwords for! for those that dont know Yugioh cards have a passcode on the bottom corner of the cards, you can use these to put the cards you own into video games. but only one copy of each...for some reason. so if you ran 3 blue eyes too bad you only get the one! but in a good chunk of the games you just got the card for free. however in specific games after these you had to pay for them with in game currency. just a tad annoying but something i figured i should bring up.

now for the story. After winning Battle City yugi wakes up to find that his PUZZLE IS MISSING! and runs to tell everyone else including you! soon enough you find out it was this guy that suspiciously looks like maximillion Pegasus calling himself Sol Chevalsky which honestly sounds a million times better. pretty soon you do learn that yes this is Pegasus being mind controled by the being Reshef its not even subtle. you duel a host of really familiar faces if youve seen the anime. and if you’re manga only the anime kept Pegasus alive for some reason blame 4kids not me. The first of Sols minions is... PaniK? Yeah that one eliminator guy from season 1 who yugi beat using the “Catapult turtle gambit” for those that know. for some reason PaniK shows up a lot in games i dunno. after beating PaniK hes killed by dark shadi, (its just shadi in black clothing. you know he’s a badass from my DSoD review.) who challenges you to a duel, win and you get the millennium necklace. you then go and duel a manga only character WTF IS GOING ON HERE yeah ventriloquist of the dead shows up. all of these duels by the way act like the spell card Yami is on the field btw. After fighting Jean Claude Magnum (not a bad guy but a total duche) you find the millennium key, and shadi comes to give you a message dressed correctly this time. after that you get slifer the executive producer from ishizu who, im not giving this back to you again ishizu! so the next old characters you meet are Bonz, who died in battle city or was supposed to because Yami Bakura/zorc or whatever kills him to get his locator cards. hes not a bad guy in fact he helps you and you find a trio of actual badguys waiting. bandit keith, strings the mime, and GASP RARE HUNTER! yeah that guy at the begining of battle city who played the exodia deck with marked cards. never had a name. wasnt important enough to. but he shows up here! after kicking in their butts you find the millenium ring, and i wanted to chuck the fuck out of it the moment that asshole came out and screamed about chaos! next is china, we meet para and dox have a tag duel and get the millennium eye, where its revealed gasp shock horror not at all surprisingly that Sol Chevalsky is Pegasus! 

then we have free time, now i didnt talk about the first kind of non story quest you can do cause, its really just there you can do it if you want. but this one you have to do. so. remember that filler i talked about in the last review. with Noah. well apparently that did happen off screen for everyones sanity and the big five are...somehow back in the real world and begging for their jobs back. weird. well here we get to see them dress up as their deckmasters from said filler and fight them as KAIBAMAN! cause kaiba would be that freaking vain! THEN WE GO TO CANADA! nothing could possibly go wrong there! oh hey Rex Raptor so this is where youve been hiding since espa roba kicked your butt! We get the millennium rod and see marik dont know why it was in canada but ok woulda made more sense to go to egypt to get this. we go to the galapogos islands next and fight legasp Atem! no wait its just that fatass clown mimic from season one who mascaraed as ghost kaiba. oh that was kaiba’s evil half? coulda fooled me. we get the Scales and, WHO HAD THIS ONE? WE NEVER LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ITEM THIS SINGULAR ITEM IS MY BIGGEST FRUSTRATION! shadi pops up to say hi again and we go back to ishizu to get ra, what happened to obelisk, kaiba stole it after it woke back up. but for some reason...they turn back to stone! hope you werent planning on using slifer as your main boss monster. you can go and do a side quest but just duel for a bit and talk to ishizu and it’ll progress the plot. beat the neo ghouls who are terrorizing the town and then save your allies from around the world who are being harrassed by them and beat kieth who stole Ra! and you’ll get the puzzle back for Yugi and after that and a few more quests that are kinda weird, you get ot see good guy marik who helps get ra under control. then go beat pegasus, and then you fight reshef. HOLY shit the power of friendship scene! every games gotta have one! so beat that and credits roll with you being forced to give up the godcards again.

all in all reshef is better than sacred cards for the story alone, its a lot of fun if a bit convoluted in places. the hard factor of the game comes from just. not being able to build a decent deck. the card limits so hard to raise that its just a pain to. and also late game bosses having 3 copies of stuff like raigeki and change of heart!

if youve read this far thank you so much for reading and i hope to eventually put these into video format!