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thesmutalorian · 4 months

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Yeah they made the feral predator way too hot. The credits came on and I immediately went to Ao3 like “let’s see what the girlies have to say about thissssss” 🤭 I saw the original predator almost a decade ago and as much as I liked it, never would of guessed I’d be here now 🙂

the ooman shit kills me, like why do they have these scary ass aliens saying such silly shit I’m gonna die.

Turns ouuuuut, I actually have more to sayyyyy, but you don’t have to respond: I feel bad bc I don’t have an Ao3 account so I can never comment, but Gorl if I did, id have a whole essay for every chapter, including reaction images 😤. Ik you aren’t currently writing from Ta'Kesh’s POV (which is perfectly fine lol), but I really appreciated how you did so. The predator POV is so fun to read, they’re just so damn cold and pragmatic and just ALIEN yk? (Ta’kesh makes me laugh bc he’s such a lil psycho lol). At least when done right I think. The dynamic you have set up is really interesting, like I love a good slow burn enemies to friends to lovers, but the cultural differences and species hierarchy sets it up for some really fascinating (JUICY) interactions/character development. I was unfortunate enough to come upon your story very early, there aren’t many other fics that hold up to the standard you set! (Have you read The Devil You Know? One of the only other quality fics I’ve found that seems to accurately portray that sort of dynamic- 10/10 recommend).

But anyway, the arrogance, the entitlement, just the cold bluntness makes predator fic so engaging to me. When you take a person with that deeply ingrained of a mindset (that’s another aspect I love, the question of whether or not yautjas are innately “predatory” or if it’s largely due to cultural upbringing) and force them to interact with with someone they deem inferior in a way they never have had to before (and there was only ONE BED heheh) I’m eating that shit up with 2 hands like GOOD SOUP!!😤😤😤

I appreciate it even more with a quality OC and I like Charlie a lot. I really struggle with reader/you fics bc beyond me just being like “lol I would not do that”, I like having an established character to root for :). She has an interesting past that you’ve managed to portray in an appealing and unostentatious way. Reminds me of Rust cohle from True Detective. I like that she’s very brave, but not to the point of ridiculousness lol. She has her moments where she’s able to act courageously in order to try to survive, but still gets intimidated/scared (extremely valid) sometimes with the big ass scary aliens. Do you have anyone in mind for how she looks?

Some highlights so far:

Greatly enjoyed ta’kesh’s cringe fail lake venture where Charlie showed his ass up while he fucking stands in the background looking like a drowned ass rat ahahah but watching her Commit Violence like 👀

Idk why but aliens using bidets is so fucking funny to me

Kinda living for ta’kesh being a dork and talking to his cat all the time hehe

let me see what the girlies have to sayyyyy 👏🏼 absolutely the correct response. my friend and I stand by that alien v predator could've been entirely more romantic if they were brave enough but 🤪 no cause literallyyyyy when I read ooman I hear it in a baby voice and I canNOT take it seriously, like bless those authors truly but whoever started the ooman precedent.... I just wanna talk 🧍🏻‍♀️ and girly pop ofc I'm gonna respond you took the time to let me know how you feel and I /love/ interaction okay (I think there's a way to comment anon on ao3 with like a guest account or name or something but maybe I'm wrong idk) but either way you take the time I want to show my appreciation

I stopped his POV just cause I felt like I was backtracking and I'm already so slow (rip sorry) but I really do want to come back to it in the future just to have fun revealing his inner workings (cause sometimes I be writing things and giggling like pookie is such a brat and then I remember y'all can't hear the goofy ass voices in my head and you only know the story I show you) but yes yes their differences are gonna play out in so many ways that I just can't wait for 😇 AND YES IVE READ FRIGGY one of the few I made it all the way through and then had to literally have a whole moment to process that there wasn't a second part 😗😗 sick I tell you, sick,, but I completely understand the not being able to read FPOV or self insert because of the "ummm I would never" --- because that's EXACTLY how I started writing 💀😭 I was chatting w my friend and we were like ok but isn't it kinda weird how fast some of these fmc just like... accept the whole ass murder crab men? also--- how do they survive well in space and from there Charlie was born ahahahHA I was like ok but what if I made it realistic for bits (as realistic as scifi can be) and then asked people to suspend their disbelief for the fun bits like the space pond and the tail n shit 🤭🤭

I have a whole board of art for ta'kesh but I've never really stopped to think about Charlie 🧐🧐

YES DROWNED RAT IS SOOOOO RIGHT mans really does have an ego, which, like rightfully earned? but also... must be checked whenever author feels he needs it (all the time 😇)

the bidet was me being like what is something that isn't necessarily commonplace, but feels bougie enough that an advanced society would have it regularly around.... ah yes.... Bidet.

ta'kesh is a cat girl, confirmed

I promise to bring you more good soup in the future 🍲

#ao3 #yautja #answered #close quarters #fanfic

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dajaregambler · 2 years

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HeliosR - HORROR NIGHT BUSTERS! - Chapter 4

Translation of chapter 4 of the event ‘HORROR NIGHT BUSTERS!’ from ‘Helios Rising Heroes’.

Dino: Ta-da! ...Just kidding♪

Keith: Oooh, ain’t that a pocket flashlight now

Dino: I brought a few I got via mail order just in the case of something like this happening. Here, one for each of you

Junior: Eh…. we’re going to investigate with just flashlights?

Keith: The museum fellas scurried home so we don’t got many options here y’know

Keith: Well’s not like we need beaming light for substance to react while we’re fumbling around… Besides I don’ wanna come here over and over, it’s cold, and a pain in the ass

Faith: I’m with you on that. I’d like to end this in one go if we could

Junior: FFFUUUCK!! Stop fucking around! There’s no reason---

Dino: C’mon, first let’s check around. If anything happens we’ll deal with it, and if there’s nothing we’ll come back around later

Junior: (W-what the hell man…. ain’t this a test of courage for real now-!)

Dino: Waah.... paintings as far as the eye can see. All of these must be worth a ton.

Faith: Don’t know if that’s really all of them but, let’s tread carefully here...

Dino: Y-you’re right. We need to look out….

Junior: …...On that note, all these paintings are of women

Keith: Well…. Don’t paintings of pretty ladies having a tea party reel in more big bucks than ones of them self-important old geezers?

Faith: Aha, right. Probably also prettier to hang it up as decoration

Dino: I don’t know the ins and outs of fine art that much but, these seem so realistic. Could think they’re alive

Junior: …..H-hey. Aren’t we done here already

Junior: The equipment ain’t reacting, see? So let’s move on to the next place. I kinda, don’t like it feels as if these paintings are watching me….

Faith: Heeh….♪ Thinking that some ghost will jump right out of the painting?

Junior: No way! I just said I hate being stared at-----

Junior: ~~~~~Guh!!

???: Who does he think he is to say that he hates us having a look~☆

???: If you’re gonna be gawking, then be prepared for us to stare right back at you~☆

Faith: ...What’s up, Ochibi-chan? That’s quite a face you’re making there

Junior: Beh, buah, beah-....you-...

Faith: Hah? A bear?

???: Oh my god, this boy’s so handsome~~

Faith: -----! Uh Dino, what are you doing? You suddenly grabbed my arm...

Dino: Eh? What’s wrong, Faith?

Faith: Huh? If you’re over there then… it was Keith then?

Keith: I didn’t do anything…. Ahchoo!

Keith: O-Oh Faith… behind you…

Faith: Behind me…?

Ghost lady A: Gaaasp, a super hottie!

Ghost lady B: Don’t tell me he’s actually fine art instead of a fine man?

Ghost lady C: Say, which museum are you from? Louvres?

Faith: ---------!

Junior: THEY CAME OUUUUUT---------!

Dino: Eeeeeeh….! Seriously, actual ghosts….

Dino: No, calm down. There’s a chance they’re fans that chased after Faith...

Junior: Like fucking HELL they are! You can see everything through them and shit!

Keith: Oi, no time for specifics, Faith’s getting snatched away by these monsters….!

Ghost lady A: Grr….! How RUDE of you to call us monsters. You---

Keith: -------

Junior: Getting snatched… then what do we gotta do!?

Keith: ……………

Dino: Keith……..?

#heliosR #helios rising heroes #keith max #faith beams #dino albani #leonard wright jr.

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fizzingwizard · 3 years

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Alright and now for episode 23! Which was a lot more interesting. Still lacking in pertinent ways but at least it got some stuff moving, and there were a few small but very nice character moments.

I took a LOT of Taichi spam this week you guys. The animation was slightly better than normal and my boy was just so good.

At parkour. He’s good at parkour.

More below!

We pick up where we left off last week, with Devimon arriving in his true form and picking a fight over Poyomon. He’s so threatened by a wad of jelly.

He does seem a bit weird though. More on that later.

The quintessential Taichi picture.

And just a cute one.

So okay, Devimon makes mincemeat of MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon. Like he wipes the floor with them. Even though they should be a level above him. I was like what’s going on. Clearly dark powers are giving him extra strength, but this still seemed like too much...

Yamato yells for Takeru to go hide. Taichi then yells for Yamato to go hide xD However Devimon has no trouble destroying all their possible hiding spots and attacking them.

Takeru worries about his brother :’<

Taichi quickly tries to think of a strategy but yup “Hide” is all he can come up with.

They communicate via digivice and Yamato has something of a better strategy but... it still just amounts to hiding.

Meanwhile their partners continue to get their butts kicked.

MetalGreymon: Hey watch it I just got this painted!

WereGaurumon: My nails! I just had them done!

Taichi: Would you two stop fussing, you’re so vain!

Taichi: We’ve got more important things to worry about! Like my hair!

Meanwhile in the real world... the four are together and Koushirou updates Jou and Mimi on the situation, which boils down to Not Good. The tank ships are still on a collision course. On top of that, Koushirou notices that the data being absorbed by Calmaramon’s... idk what to call it, data collection tower? thing, is being sent directly to the digital world. He guesses it’s going to be used to power the creature whose name I forgot they fought before.

This guy.

Koushirou also guesses this probably means Taichi and Yamato are in some deep shit rn.

Taichi is pretty smart too... he’s able to tell that Devimon is able to manipulate the dark mists and that’s how he’s able to find their hiding spots and attack them so easily.

Here’s the evil crystal that I would have thought was from Sailor Moon. Ahhh evil is so beautiful. And purple. Hmmm, the Crest of Knowledge is also purple, and absorption of data is converted to power.... GUYS KOUSHIROU’S GOING TO GO DARK.

Kidding, kidding. I would totally watch it though.

So the others go to fight Calmaramon and destroy the tower to help Taichi and Yamato. But, uh, they didn’t count on Calamaramon’s tentaclesx ;D

Kabuterimon makes the classic amateur mistake of DRAMATICALLY ANNOUNCING HIMSELF when he swerves in to rescue the girls...

... and he gets his just desserts. :P

Meanwhile Taichi and Yamato... are still losing. So who steps up to the plate but...

Takeru and Poyomon! Lol!

No seriously, this scene SCREAMED of the one in 99 where Hikari sacrifices herself to protect Yamato and Sora. I was really expecting Takeru to do the same thing here. “Leave my brother alone! Take me instead!”

But, I guess, since he’s a boy, he’s less self-sacrificial and more just... irrationally strong...

His conviction results in evolution!

Poyomon becomes Tokomon! THANK GOODNESS. I could not handle another “poyo, poyo!”

Devimon takes one look at this pink-cheeked thing and FREEEEEEAKS OUUUUUT.

“You remind me... of someone I once knew... you have... the same eyes... GRRRRRRRRR!!!!”

he didn’t say that but he totally should have lol. Now someone please make an edit of Angemon where he takes off his helmet and he has Tokomon eyes underneath x’D

Data readings on Koushirou’s computer start going haywire! The data is being sent somewhere fast!

I was expecting some kind of power up but I wasn’t expecting full on evolution. Because yup. That’s what goes down. Devimon evolves.

And here’s where he gets weird. His evolution seems painful. Unnatural. He doesn’t seem exactly pleased with it, to be frank. He’s really agitated by Tokomon but he doesn’t do much in the way of monologuing and it’s not even clear that the evolution is by his own design. It just kind of seems to happen. Then, once he does evolve, he’s much less talkative. This is generally not the sign of sanity or even sentience. It’s like Devimon is imprisoned by his evolution, which goes on a rampage.

Neodevimon. Actually, original Devimon is scarier but :P

Lol and then Tokomon gets blown out of Takeru’s arms and goes for a tumble while Takeru runs frantically after him xD Great moment.

Rollin rollin rollin, though the streams are swollen...

NeoDevimon is very powerful but y’know... WereGarurumon just STOOD there. This... this is totally his fault that he gets hurt here x’D

Taichi is displeased with this development, and yet, still cute in his displeasure.

Finally Koushirou manages to get through! Taichi is too preoccupied to jump for joy or anything but you can see that he’s excited. “Koushirouuuuu please save us!!!” basically that’s what’s going on

However he’s right away blown over and his digivice scatters and the signal drops...

Yamato is very Stressed.

However, contact with Koushirou has rejuvenated Taichi.

LIKE THE PHOENIX HE RISES FROM THE ASHES

Taichi: “FUCK THIS SHIIIIIIIIIT!”

His renewed conviction becomes power. Yeah, that’s a thing, we know.

Meanwhile, in the human world, the others have worked out that Taichi and Yamato are fighting and need help, and they combine the powers of their own passionate hearts in a classic shonen anime trope.

Koushirou gets a special moment all to himself! It’s really fast but still, the episode makes a point of focusing on Koushirou’s desire to connect with his friends and help them. I choose to believe this a nod to Koushirou’s significant role in the show and a way of saying “Sorry they’re not all together right now but they will be soon and characters other than Taichi and Yamato will get to do cool things in the not so distant future!”

Their partners are then able to defeat Calmaramon and destroy the data collection tower.

BOOM, baby.

Meanwhile our heroes who never sleep manage to defeat Devimon. Which, I figured, meant he’d retreat for now, but...

He freaking dies! Yup, that’s right! Disintegrates!! I was like what the heck?? This was a Boss Battle???? It had none of the signs of being a boss battle other than the boss being present and it wasn’t even that hard...

However, it’s not over till it’s over...

... Tokomon looks on NeoDevimon’s death kind of creepily. Like, the episode makes a point of showing us Tokomon’s reaction, not just the group’s. So... I feel like this is gonna be relevant. I COULD BE WRONG. But I just personally wouldn’t stick this bit in without it meaning something. But that something could be pretty much anything so we still don’t know much.

The sailors aboard the tankers whose control systems are restored at the last second are pretty darn relieved anyway.

This was my favorite moment in epiosde, Mimi flinging herself over Koushirou and knocking Jou out of the way to hug Sora in her enthusiasm over their victory xD awww Mimi

Yamato wants to know what’s with Taichi. Taichi’s like, “The others helped us from afar, I just know it...” AND THAT’S WHY HE’S BEST BOY.

Yamato gives Takeru an adorable pat on the head and tells him good job. Only thing that could have made this moment cuter would have been if he also patted Tokomon’s head. BECAUSE HELLO. KID JUST EVOLVED. SAY HI AND TELL HIM YOUR NAMES AT LEAST.

But then! Darknightmon uses the dark crystal thingy and...!

Le gasp! NeoDevimon’s corpse emerges from the ground...

Taichi has a flashback to another time they thought they won only for their defeated opponent to be infused with dark energy and resurrect...

... uh I forgot this guy’s name too >_>

Taichi: “Wow I never saw this coming!”

Well, I did. :P Due to being over ten years old...

We end with NeoDevimon’s mask cracking off!

Creepy!

Final thoughts... it now kind of looks like Darknightmon is the one pulling Devimon’s strings rather than the other way around. But my guess is that’s not the case. It could also be that Devimon told Darknightmon to do this - after all, Devimon used the stone’s power to evolve Darknightmon before, and this is just the reverse of that. Or it could be they are equals and in cahoots with each other. I definitely think there’s an even greater, bigger Bad out there that they either work for or are afraid of etc something like that, I think we probably all feel sure of that at least. But Devimon in this episode really surprised me in the ways he seems to lack agency. He seemed like a pawn of evil rather than the chessmaster himself.

So next week! Looks lit!

Devimon’s new evolution? or power up? whatever is creepier than NeoDevimon so that’s a relief.

BUT THIS IS EVEN CREEPIER HOLY CRAP TAICHI! Get some sleep, your eyes are all red! (And he’s injured. His hand is where he got hurt two weeks ago fighting Splashmon right? He got hit with miasma. I wonder if this is the same wound and if it’s somehow controlling him due to the dark energy getting into his system... But everyone’s more or less been hit with the dark energy at this point so maybe not. Anyway, CREEPY EYES, CREEPY CREEPY EYES.)

Also Yamato DIES. He DIES y’all. *funeral march plays* Hmm, Tokomon looks hungry...

Then we got this bit which in case you can’t tell is Takeru being awesome. So I figured, ahh, THIS is the boss battle, and we’re gonna see Angemon again already... weird as that sounds :P

HOW-E-VER

We also get this???? Taichi silhouetted against a brilliant light????? What does it mean? I mean we know Takeru has healing powers so I’m fully expecting that to happen but uhh are we also going to canonize Taichi next week? lol. Saint Taichi. I love him the best but I will be a bit miffed if next week IS the big boss battle and Takeru’s role is “power up Taichi so he can kill it” and that’s it... But I guess we’ll have to see.

It does rather look like they saved the animation budget for next week, the preview was nuts x’D Can’t wait.

#digimon adventure:#digimon adventure 2020 #digimon adventure reboot #fizz watches digimon 2020 #digimon

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anotheronechicagobog · 4 years

Text

So Long Part 2 Brian Zvonecek x Boden!reader

written by @anotheronechicagobog

It had been six months since your visit home. You and Brian had been keeping in contact via texting and writing letters. It was a bit difficult to know what to write in the letters, you wanted the information, and little drawings you added on the side margins, to be a surprise. So your phone calls tended to be about movies, books, and bad puns. You’d come up with a game where you would tell each other bad puns, trying to find the worst one.

“Thanks for explaining the word ‘many’ to me Y/N, it means a lot.”

“Why did Adele cross the road? To say hello from the other side.”

“What concert only costs 45 cents? A 50 cent concert featuring Nickleback.”

“Hey! Don’t slam on my favourite band! It’s not my fault you have bad taste!”

“Ha! I win! That means that we have to read ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’! Better luck next time, loser.”

“No need to rub it in Bri, next time we’ll be reading ‘Son of a Trickster’ and I will get you to like Eden Robinson.”

“Yeah, yeah. Better go get a copy of the book that you actually have to read in the by two weeks.”

“Fine, fine. I should get going. Gotta get to work and then the bookstore.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

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

TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER

You were practically vibrating as you disembarked the plane. While you’d been home on a few visits since the one where you’d met Brian it wasn’t the same as being home. So, after twelve years of schooling and training, you were coming home. You’d managed to keep it a secret from everyone but Brian, wanting to surprise everyone. Brian met you outside the arrivals door, smiling ear to ear.

“Brian! It’s so good to see you!” You met halfway and wrapped yourselves up in a bear hug. “Does my dad suspect anything?”

“No, but Cruz does. I’ve been smiling too much this week apparently.”

“How does he have time to notice you when he just started dating that Chloe chick?”

“He knows how to multitask.”

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

Two hours later you had just finished setting up Otis’ apartment for your unofficial welcome home party. Those invited were under the impression that Otis was hosting the party for the Cubs game and you couldn’t wait to shock all of them.

You had just finished putting out all the food, while leaving some room for the dishes others were bringing when there was a knock on the door. You darted into Brian’s room before he opened the door. Judging from the voices Kelly Severide and Matt Casey had arrived first.

It took a half-hour for everyone to arrive, you could hear the laughter and comradery and couldn’t wait to join it. Brian silenced the commotion and got the children to sit down and you knew that that was your queue.

“Everyone, I have been a little misleading. I didn’t really invite you here to watch the game. I invited you here for Y/N’s welcome home party!” You walked to the living room and stood beside Brian while he pulled a string that release red paper confetti and a roll-down sign with ‘Welcome Home’ painted in large red letters. “Eep! Brian! When did you set that up?”

“Let’s talk about that later, now... Hide me from your dad!” He hid behind you just as your dad reached you and wrapped you in a burly hug. The scent of smoke and old spice tickled your nostrils, causing you to tear up at the feeling of nostalgia. “I missed you dad.”

“When did you fly in?”

“I got here three hours ago.”

“How long are you staying?” The unease in his eyes brought a soft smile to your face. You placed your hands on his shoulders and you could feel him tense and wait for bad news under your fingers.”

“Forever. I’m moving home.” Cheers and the clinking of glasses surrounded you, enveloping you in the knowledge that you were making the right decision. Meeting the mirthy eyes of Brian made your heart swell with love and excitement.

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

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Doctor Boden, Doctor Manning has requested a consult. One of your younger patients has been admitted into the ED.”

“Which patient?”

“Samirah Arian.”

“Damn, her last tests were so good.”

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

“Natalie?”

“Y/N, this way. She came in ten minutes ago and she’s only been getting worse.” The young girl looked minuscule in her bed, so tiny and frail. “Mr. and Mrs. Arian, what happened?”

“She didn’t look well this morning, and then her fever spiked.”

“When she’s stable I’d like to move her up to the isolation unit, for now, we need to start scans and blood tests. Maggie, order a CAT scan and an MRI, and we need to run a blood test to find the number of her white blood cell count. You’ve already got her on antibiotics right?”

“Of course.”

“Good, let’s get moving. Maggie, can radiology squeeze us in?”

“Go on up, they’re waiting for you.”

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

The couch heaved under you as you all but collapsed on top of it. You’d just spent 24 hours at the hospital, pulling an extra shift to stay with the Arian family and treat their daughter. Thankfully you’d been able to switch shifts with a co-worker making that possible. The timing of this meant that you got home 30 seconds before your roommates. Brian, Sylvie, and Emily sludged through the door. “Why do you look so tired Y/N? You didn’t pull a 24-hour shift.” Emily whined as she tried to make you move off the couch, so she could lie on it instead. “Actually I did, I had to work another twelve hours because one of my kid patients who finally got to go home took a turn for the worst and ended up in the ED, then a few of my other patients went downhill as well, and we discovered that the old crotchety nurse I hate hasn’t been washing or sanitizing her hands because she felt those of us her were are too coddled and weak, which is of course what caused a bunch of kids with cancer to get worse.”

“Ouch.” You’d moved into a sitting position so that Sylvie and Emily could cuddle into you, the three of you just about to fall asleep across from Bian in his favourite chair, your stomach snarled. “When was the last time you ate?”

“...”

“Y/N?”

“I’m trying to think of a way to say it that won’t make you upset.”

“Oh no...”

“Yeah, that’s not possible. A granola bar fourteen hours ago.”

“Y/N!”

“Oh come on Brian, I was busy! It was absolute chaos!”

“I’m going to order some deep-dish pizzas, cause we haven’t eaten in a while either, but don’t think this conversation is done.”

“Yeah, yeah...” Despite her exhaustion, Emily gathered the energy to wiggle her eyebrows at you. “Cut it ouuuuut.”

“Emily has a point Y/N...” You bit your lip and shook your head. You and Brian had been dating secretly for the past eight months. While it had been difficult starting a relationship when you were so far away from each other, it had been worth it. To come home and be with Brian was a heavenly feeling, though it would be easier once you got some privacy or told everyone about your relationship. Chloe and Cruz had moved in together, causing Brian and Sylvie to move out. Sylvie had initially been crashing on Emily’s couch while she found a place, but even with Sylvie’s help the rent got too high, so they moved into the house you and Brian were renting at your dad’s insistence. You were annoyed, honestly, at your father’s gall, but mostly at the realization that he thought he could prevent you from dating who you wanted to. It was ridiculous, and a little high school if you were honest with yourself.

“Pizza has been ordered, and... I call dibs on the shower first!” Your drained laughter mixed with the shouts of protest coming from the other women as your boyfriend locked the bathroom door. Their tangled limbs had knocked you onto the floor in their haste to prevent your moustache man from getting to the shower first, so when the returned to the couch defeated, you were laughing weakly as tears dripped from your and hugging your chest.

“It’s not funny Y/N.”

Queue laughter picking up its pace.

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

“Are you sure that this is a good idea?”

“No, but I don’t want to hide our relationship from your dad anymore, we both know he suspects something.”

“True. Alright, just remember not to get too flustered. He’ll probably want to punch you but I’ll make sure that you’re holding Terrance when we tell him so that he can’t. Just don’t blurt out details from our sex life or something. Or insult his painted birds, he’s very proud of those.”

“Alright, hold Terrance, don’t get punched, don’t talk about sex, or his... His painted what?”

“He started carving and painting bird after grandad died, it was something they used to do together.”

“Okay, don’t insult his painted birds-”

“And don’t tell the firehouse about them!” His eyes widened in realization. “Ooh, good point! He’d definitely string me alive for that. Okay, I’m not ready, but I want to do this, let’s get going.”

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

You’d co-ordinated with Donna, so while she didn’t know who you were dating she knew you were bringing your boyfriend and you didn’t want your dad to kill him. So she insisted on answering the door with Terrance on her hip so that she could hand Brian his shield for the night.

“Wallace, here they are.”

“They?”

“Hi dad.”

“Hi chief.”

“Otis... What are you doing here? With your arm around my daughter’s waist? Holding my son?”

“Uh... Well.. It... It- It’s re-really-”

“Dad, Brian is my boyfriend. We have been dating for eight months, and we live together. Together and alone now that our two temporary roommates have found their own place.” The complete and utter rage displayed on his face yanked a squeak out of Brian and a shutter out of you. It had been well over a decade since you’d seen that face and you’d wished you’d never have to see it again, yet here you were. “Using Terrance as a shield was smart. Clearly Y/N or Donna’s idea. Y/N, can I see you in the dining room please?”

“Okay,” you turned to Brian, “I’ll be back in a minute, keep holding Terrance.” A kiss in the cheek and you were gone, having willingly entered the lions’ den.

“Dad-”

“No. I will speak. Y/N you are my greatest accomplishment, being your father has been the best thing I’ve done with my life. I love you with all of my soul, and that’s why I can’t let you stay with Otis any longer. Being with a firefighter takes strain on relationships, it is challenging to keep them alive. Donna, Cindy, Trudy, every one of the wives of my men worries in ways I never want you to suffer through. One day, Otis might not come home. He might die. In a house, a factory, or a hospital room. You will live with this fear, the fear that you will lose him, day after day for the rest of your life. It will never end. And the loss you will feel will be like no other, it will rip you apart and grind you into bits. And if he doesn’t die on the job, which no matter how much I want to maim him right now I don’t wish for him, the worry will fry your nerves until you breakdown.”

“Are you done?”

“Yes.” He growled at your indifferent response. “I will not live my life afraid of pain. If I did, I would have chosen to live with my mother instead, so that I wouldn’t ‘fry my nerves’ with worry. But I still did. Because I loved you and wanted to live with you. I have spent every day of my life worrying and fretting about your safety. And uncle Hermann’s, and uncle Mouch’s. Adding Brian to that list won’t be much of a feat, and you’re insulting my ability to find healthy outlets for my emotions. If I get hurt, then I’ll get hurt. But the time I’ve spent with Brian is something that I will cherish and hold dear to me, and as long as he lets me, loves me, I’ll spend the rest of my time, my life with him. I love him.”

“You really do, huh?”

“Yes.”

Teary sobs came from the living room, “can you hug already? Please?”

“And can we join?” All you could do was smile through the happy tears as your dad, your hero, embraced you and gestured for Brian and Donna to join you. Love, happiness, and relief radiated from all five of you, even though Terrance had no clue what was going on.

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

“... I still want to punch you Otis.”

“Dad!”

“Wallace!”

“I said that I want to not that I will. Sheesh.”

#One Chicago #one chicago imagines #Chicago Fire #chicago fire imagine #brian zvonecek #brian zvonecek x reader #wallace boden #wallace boden x daughter!reader #Natalie Manning #maggie lockwood #donna boden

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partyinthemysterymachine · 4 years

Text

The Wendy’s Secret Menu

Cheryl isn’t very ladylike. She slouches on the other side of the old, sunken-in leather bench seat: an original part of the blue, vintage pickup truck. The dashboard is scuffed and dirty where she’s put her mismatched, socked feet (one cartoon zombies, the other made to look like a shark is devouring her leg - gifts from dad). Her happily wobbling knees are so close to her face that they could knock the sweating cup of chocolate frosty right out of her hand if she doesn’t pay enough attention.

And so what? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before, like, so many times.

She’s a Mason, and as a Mason, she has an uncanny knack for tempting fate and patience. So to the beat of the music she rocks her body to and fro, making the bench seat squeak and the truck bounce a second off rhythm. The music is what she and her dad both enjoy (for the most part; he’s come around to some of these songs), though it always looks like she loves it way more than he does. That’s fine by her; she can muster enough enthusiasm for stadium full of stoic duds. As the song reaches the second chorus, she scoops a dripping helping of melting soft serve and soggy, splitting french fries - her favorite.

Cheryl’s hand-eye coordination took an unauthorized smoke break. Her feet hit the floor as she immediately sits up, trying to wipe the mess off an undershot bite from her face.

“Aw, fuck!” she whines, dejectedly accepting a wad of too-thin napkins to sponge her mouth. Dabbing her t-shirt proclaiming that she made it out of the corn maze at the Vermont State Faire back in 2016 was an honorable effort, but was no match for shitty fast food napkins. This was a job for the washing machine. This thing is a prize well earned! A future family heirloom! “Noo, come ooonnnnn.. get ouuuuut! UGH! My life is such a fucking mess,” she complains at her chest to the sound of soft chuckling.

“Do you eat, or just read about it?” Cheryl throws the speaker a glare. “Heh, I was waiting for that,” a young man’s (not very young anymore; much younger than his husband, much older than his daughter, and there are lines where there weren’t even five years ago) voice tells her. She exudes maturity as she mockingly wiggles her head and parrots him under her breath.

“Okay, well, excuse me, prophet,” she says, shoving the used napkins into the paper bag between them. “What, you couldn’t warn me?”

“Mmm.. nope. Then you wouldn’t have been taught a lesson,” James replies, stirring the mash of chocolate and potato in his own cup. “I thought I raised you on how to learn from your mistakes.”

“Yeah, well clearly—“

“Clearly you haven’t learned a thing,” he interrupts, smirking into the dessert somewhat haughtily, “because if you’re gonna be good at anything, sweetheart, making mistakes is what’s gonna make you the most successful.”

“Okay, but whose fault is that?” The unruly teenager scrunches her nose right into James’s ear as she noisily plunges her hand into a second, grease-spotted bag and spends way too much effort grabbing for cooling fries. “Huh? Whose fault is that, James? Huh? Huh? Huh, dad?”

One of the joys of this world is that even after ten years, James gets a dumb little smile when she calls him ‘dad.’ She used to call him daddy; she used to call them both daddy. Modern times call for modern changes, so she has a wealth of synonyms to use for addressing her parents, but nothing hits quite like ‘dad’.

Just so he doesn’t get any ideas about her being soft, she blows a puff of air at his cheek and plops back into her sunken spot. Cheryl releases the handful of salty french fries into her traitorous frosty cup to the sound of her dad’s soft laughter. She picks up any stragglers dropped on her chest and munches on them while she beats the fries down in the dessert with the black, plastic spoon like a milkmaid churning butter. Noisily sucking the salt from her fingertips, she can feel the blond man’s eyes on her.

(Sun-kissed, spun from an angel’s golden halo, sunshine wheat field - that’s how her daddy describes James’s hair; yet within the past couple years, silver threads have come to lay amongst the golden. They look nice, and they make her think about things she already stresses too much about.)

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Cheryl sasses, looking at him sidelong and stuffing her face with savory and sweet. James’s eyes go soft, but the trouble remains on the smirk spread on his lips.

“No way. You broke my camera last time.”

“It’s not my fault technology can’t handle a visage so holy and unattainable to mortal men,” she cockily replies. Then, there’s a prolonged, dramatic sigh. “Ohhh, whatever, dad. Maybe we just go back to the old days and get paintings done of us. Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s spend thousands of dollars and wait two years for someone to paint us a family portrai..”

Cheryl whips her head to James. He raises his eyebrows back at her; his smirk has been traded for a smile warm and loving. “Dad,” she starts urgently, “we have to get a huge oil painting of us done. We have to. This is serious, I’m so serious right now. I’m not even joking a little.”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Uh, hello?” She regards her father (who smells of grease and turpentine, metal, smoke (smells that would make most people nauseous, but not she) and a little bit like Harry (who falls asleep with his face pressed to James’s neck)) like he’s the idiot he is. “Prestige? Fame? Our souls getting caught in it and being passed around as a super haunted painting and we can go around fucking up people’s houses and rearranging their furniture together for the rest of our lives? So we can look like totally rich assholes? Because our egos are as big as my dick?”

James squints at her then. “Mmm. I think our egos are bigger than that. You had me at ‘haunted painting,’ but lost me at the end, there.”

“Pft, okay, didn’t realize we had an ego-dick connoisseur here.”

“Your dad taught me some th—“

“Oh, no!” she cuts off, shoving her fist and extended index finger into his face. “No! Nnno. Nuh uh, I’m not gonna hear about—“

“—ngS ABOUT EGO,” the mechanic continues, matching the volume of Cheryl’s chant trying to drown him out. “Because I’m pretty sure his ego would be big enough to get a painting doaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA—“

Now they’re just holding out one tuneless vowel together, a battle of wills and lung capacity (may the best set win). The Masons are a stubborn people and stubbornness makes the voices crackle and strain as their organ balloons deflate to uselessness. Cheryl flings her head back to face the ceiling, pulls in a ridiculously showy breath, and picks up from where she left off, her energy restored.

It’s hard to warble when another person is doing the same right up in one’s cookies. She starts to laugh with James so close and monotone-yelling at her, but she has an image to uphold. Retaliation comes in first pushing his shoulder, then shoving her palm right against his nose to keep him back while she performs her dominating solo for the truck and all its machinery.

“EW!” Cheryl jumps back into the corner of the door, revulsion pinpointed at her hand. She frantically scrubs her palm on her jeans, whining pathetically. “Daaa-aaaaaddddd, groooossss! Eww, don’t lick me!”

“Don’t put your hand in my face,” he retorts. His daughter huffs and shoves her feet into the side of James’s thigh, making herself comfortable across the old leather, and thus a much easier way to harass her father.

“Well, don’t talk about gross stuff.”

“I wasn’t talking about gross stuff. I was talking about Harry’s ego.”

“Yeee-AH!” Cheryl stresses. “That’s what I said: I said, don’t talk about gross stuff! GOD,” she laments, giving her almost entirely melted stew a sarcastic, wide-eyed stare. “Nyeeheh, I’m James, I like to talk about gross stuff because I think It’s funny to torture—“

“I think we should seriously talk about getting that painting done,” says the owner of this beaten down and beloved blue truck. “We’ll get it as big as a mortgage allows. We’ll have nowhere to put it and it’s going to be the start of our financial ruin.”

Pursing her lips, Cheryl glances up at him and the beginnings of such a captivating pitch. “Hmm.. go on..”

Three pats on the tops of her feet make her smile. “We’ll get it started before you go off to college, and when you visit, we can get more done.” Green eyes glance at her. “Every time we go to sit for it, we’ve changed a little bit each time.”

Slowly, the plastic spoon scrapes the sides of an empty cup and scratch contemplatively at remnants that aren’t truly there. “Hmm.. I like the sound of that. So that it takes a long time to be painted, and as we change, the artist has to alter us more and more.. never truly finishing the painting.. which means we might never even have it, but..”

“But since it took so long, we’ve been in that painting as different people for years,” James explains. “And it’s sat untouched for so much time, too. And what if one of us dies before—“

“Which you won’t.”

“—it’s anywhere near done; then it means that that one is still alive, as they were, in the painting. You could even say that’s the first haunting.”

Their eyes meet.

Ten years ago, Cheryl Mason was seven. She spotted a sad-looking blue pickup truck in the driveway one morning and her daddy lied to her that a neighbor was parking it there for a short spell. None of their neighbors had a car like that, and he knew that she knew.

Maybe a handful of days later, she met the man who owned that truck. Daddy told her he was dating a man, and it was important that they liked each other. She thought he looked young, and he looked at her like she could devour him alive. The first night was test, and this guy passed with flying colors.

The second month was a test, too. So was him dropping her off at school for the first time, and picking her up; when the school stopped him after the fifth drop off/pick up to ask who he was and what he was doing with Harry Mason’s daughter, and oh, the delicate mess to clean up there; when a lady at the park shouted at her son to stop playing with her, and made her cry because she didn’t understand why that lady was yelling at her parents - they were doing nothing wrong! - and James took her into his lap, cradling her, and calmed her down (and she found he smelled of turpentine, grease, metal, smoke, and oil, and a little bit like her daddy); playing Katamari Damacy on a Sunday morning after she begged him to get out of bed and come play, and he did, sleepily, but soon woke up and was laughing with her; and

Toluca Lake.

the time she disobeyed her fathers (officially, legally three Masons in this family; officially, legally two men to raise her) and ate all her Halloween candy in one night to prove a point - the point being that they were right, and James sat with her while Harry started the wash; taking her to a play; to her activities; trips to

Silent Hill.

faires and parks; her dads didn’t (don’t) like hospitals or clinics, but she didn’t even know until she was thirteen because they hid it for her all these years; let her scream and cry at him because he knew, even better than Harry, how to handle her pain, and so held her while she sobbed herself exhausted, since James never truly needed words to speak; the pride in his eyes; the love he had; how he defended her (and scared her, really) against a boy who didn’t understand ‘no’ (but she was glad it was him, because she was even more scared of what daddy could have done, for the way his face changed when he heard..); taught her how to drive; hung out in comfortable silence, and all through the ten years, ten years of absconding to Wendy’s behind Harry’s back to eat fries in a chocolate frosty.

Cheryl gently kicks him three times. (“Three squeezes, or taps, or whatever,” Harry told her. “It’s an easy way to say ‘I love you’ whenever you want to.” So she drummed her palms three times on his aging face, and beamed so bright when he laughed.) “You might have something there. Dark, though.”

James glances down, then at her. “Isn’t it supposed to be?”

“Yeah, duh.” She drops the bare cup into the bag. “I like it. Good lead up. Good lore. Not bad, pops.”

Cheryl smiles at that smile.

“Thanks, Cher.”

A new song begins on the gritty little cassette mixtape that the sole Mason heir painstakingly (while grousing at her middle-aged father about how dumb and time consuming this ancient ritual of appreciation is) strung together. For being a mechanic, James’s radio could really use some good ol’ fashioned TLC - and if he dared to do even think about fixing it up, Cheryl would have an honest-to-god fit. Nothing would sound right; all the old memories and those in the process of making would feel different. James’s radio sucks, and she knew all three of them wouldn’t have it any other way.

Her foot keeps rhythm on his thigh and his fingers match it on the windowsill. This is a bittersweet song. It promises eternity. Cheryl felt a little odd putting this on the playlist, but she couldn’t leave it off. (“It reminds me of you and dad,” she justified. “You’ll get what I mean.”) When she hears it, she gets that happy-sad feeling that everyone in the world seems to have had at least once in their life. A small, apologetic but loving smile indents her cheeks at the sight of James disappearing into thought. He’s probably thinking about an angel.

She used to roll her eyes at it, but on hot summer nights, she’s outside in the dark, looking for an orange firefly in the grass.

When they get home, Cheryl lingers in the foyer. They have a beautiful home. The three of them picked this one out, and it was the second one they were shown. Natural light pours in through a spacious, open-air floor plan. A skylight overhead illuminates, draws colors out to their raw excellence, bathes their comings and goings in halos from the sun and moon. Cheryl can hear the author hard at work at the piano instead of his computer from the living room quiet, and in the kitchen, the mechanic’s radio softly playing a hazy tune while he’s elbow deep in his truck’s guts.

From the second floor balcony, when she can’t sleep and sees the flickering glow from the muted TV, she can stop and listen to Harry make James laugh, though she can barely hear what he says. Once she woke up in the middle of the night and decided she wanted to polish off those leftovers, but never made it to the foot of the stairs. She hid behind the railing, peeking through the carved wood at a sight that instantly welled her eyes with tears.

Watching the two men lazily slow dancing together like a couple at prom, Harry’s arms around James’s shoulders, James grasping his back and their foreheads touching, and the sing-talk style the patriarch was known for asking his husband about sins and love, Cheryl realized she saw an angel and a firefly.

She’d cried so hard into her pillow.

She watches her adoptive father - the second one to adopt her, much younger than the first, whose green eyes inspired so many pieces of their home decor - hang the keys on the kitchen wall, then begin to backtrack to head into the living room. He pauses, a light, questioning frown creasing his dark brows. “Hey, kiddo. You okay?”

Her hesitation only intensifies his worry. James approach, his face falls as his daughter buries her face in his chest and clutches him tight. His arms are lean, but they’re strong and warm around her, and his gnarled hand gentle in her hair. With him she sways, the pressure of a kiss atop her head, and then the weight of his head when he sets his cheek over that kiss.

James is the quiet parent. He doesn’t talk a lot. Verbal communication is not one of his strong suits, even after.. well.. she can��t remember what that was, exactly. So rather, the better way to swing it is: even after all this time, verbal communication isn’t one of his strong suits. But James says a lot when he has his arms around her. It’s really wonderful to hear his voice out loud, but there’s nothing like the way she hears him talk in the best way he knows.

Cheryl locks her arms around James Mason. He smells of turpentine, grease, metal, smoke and oil, and the man he married. She squeezes him harder, and his arms clasp her tighter. He rubs her back, and she finally lifts her head and looks up at man whose features are beginning to age. There’s a smile for her, and so she gives him one, too.

Today is probably one of her favorite holidays out of the year. At breakfast she announced that for the tenth year in a row, upon their honored, Hallmark-dependent day, their gift is: her. Cheryl basked in the golf claps and lavish praise from both of them. Oh, they were so grateful; yes, she knows. They need nothing else, she’s the greatest gift they could ever receive (though a Starbucks gift card wouldn’t go amiss); yes, she knows (no, dad, you’re getting Dunkin’ Donuts and you’re gonna like it). It’s all tradition at this point. The breakfast shenanigans is tradition, and how they spend the day is tradition.

For some reason, their tradition has felt more meaningful the past few years.

She smiles wider. James does too, and even chuckles softly and musses up her hair. He leaves another kiss on her forehead, and before he gets ideas about letting her go, Cheryl says, “Happy Father’s Day. You’re pretty okay. Sometimes I like you more than the other guy.”

James lights up the foyer with his laughter. Cheryl grins up at him, treasuring that look he gets that will never, ever get old. Take a picture, it’ll last longer. Cli-click.

When he’s looking at her again, the mirth still creasing his eyes, his daughter hugs him tighter. “I love you, dad.”

James Mason, formerly Sunderland, dips his head to this precious girl’s shoulder and hugs her so tight (his little girl, their little girl; she cried when they married at the courthouse, she hates her vegetables, likes to play word ping-pong, trusted him with secrets that Harry still doesn’t know, calls him dad, trusted him, trusts him, trusted him, trusts him - loved him, loves him - proclaims she’s the greatest gift they’ll ever receive and she’s goddamn right every single year.

“I love you too, Cher.”

“I’m really glad you and dad got married.” He squeezes her tighter; his head presses harder into her shoulder. “You’re the best thing to happen to us.”

Her father is made of amber and stars, so Harry says; they’ve been wandering the earth forever looking for each other, and Harry held him once on a summer night in a jar, in his hands, and then he let him go. He was meant to be with them, Harry told her, and there’s a perpetual sadness in those lake green eyes but don’t worry: he loves us. He doesn’t always say it traditionally, the older man had said softly. So listen to him, because by god, Cheryl - he needs to be heard, and we’ll listen.

Cheryl’s smile trembles with incoming tears, and she closes her eyes and holds her father close. He doesn’t utter a sound, and she can hear everything he’s saying, loud and clear. He squeezes her one - two - three. She laughs weakly and locks her arms around his back. One - two - three.

She hopes James can listen, and hear her, too, but in case he missed it, she’ll say it as many times, and as many ways, as she can:

“We love you too, James.”

One.

Two.

Three.

#ches writes #harry mason #james sunderland #cheryl mason #silent hill #silent hill 2 #a&s - but make it an au #(because i'm not telling theo how the sh arc ends :3c)#anyway this is a&s #i was supposed to write and finish it for father's day but you know what?#you can't rush art #except when you're making the rules #anyway!!!!!!#i have a lot of Thoughts and Feelings about dad James #so #roundhouse kicks this out into the world #stubs my toes in the process #hobbles away crying about multiple things but definitely the stubbed toes

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italicwatches · 6 years

Text

GAMERS! Episode 03

Okay, sliding back towards center. It’s GAMERS!, episode 03! Here we GO!

-Opening! And what comes with an opening? Why, game references out the complicated love shape, of course! Number two on our list, a wild looking side scrolling shooter, can only be one thing… Gradius? No, Parodius! Konami’s long-running shmup series, it is a literal parody of their main shooters and other such franchises, notably Gradius and to some degree its chief competition in the market, R-Type. Gradius, and thus Parodius, are known well for the power-up bar system, where each power-up item you get moves the selector one section up the bar. You can get things like speed-ups and options and powerful weaponry, but be careful, because one wrong move and you might lose it all…And one bad combination, or one too many Speed Ups, could spell your doom! Also they haven’t made a new one that’s an actual game and not pachislot since, uhhhh…1997! Congratulations, Parodius, your newest actual game is old enough to drink the pain away. Konami: Ruining childhood dreams they themselves built, since 1969.

-DAY 03: Hoshinomori Chiaki and StreetPass Communication

-We begin in the morning, with a young lady having to keep her short skirt from showing her panties to us the viewer. Gotta be careful, lass. Then it’s to Keita, switching to his inside shoes, when Tasuku comes up…And he’s not super happy. The hell was that free-to-play game, man?! It sucks and just wants his money! And how the hell does a horror game turn into a fishing game exactly? And the ending was shit! Tasuku even slams his hand into the wall next to Keita’s head…

-They’re parodies, Tasuku, parodies! That’s the joke! Also all the girls are seeing stylish tough guy Tasuku having scrawny small nerd boy Keita pinned to the wall and are starting to ogle. And the farce continues to build.

-Once they’re in class, Keita admits that yeah, the games that guy makes are kind of…a mess, looked at straightforwardly. They’re fun because the bad parodies are funny, like mocking a crappy movie, you know? It’s like a matter of the heart! A single virgin does not get to compare things to matters of the heart with a guy who’s actively dating. …Harsh, Tasuku. Very harsh. And have you even done anything with her?!

-Um er well you see THAT’S NOT THE POINT how are things with you and Karen? Because she wants you bad. He’s…Not really had the chance to get into any real contact with her…Are you dumb or just stupid, Keita? Reach out you damned fool. Don’t just keep passing her by…

-Passing her by…You mean like StreetPass on his 3DS? Is this a comedy routine or are you just that dense?! And then Keita’s got another assistance request from Mono-san. Hold that thought he’s gotta bail out his comrade. Fine. Fine, but think about what he said.

-And so back to MMOs, as Tasuku notices that Keita’s username is “Tsucchie”, which has no connection to anything but sounds like a real-person nickname, not a username…Yeah, it’s actually from his mother’s maiden name, Tsuchiyama. He doesn’t like using anything connected to his real name, but didn’t want something too chuuni, so he just took that and simplified it down to Tsucchie, or Yama-san when they want something less cutesy. So who’s Mono there?

-Longtime MMO friend. They’ve been guild bros since practically his first day in the game! Uh huh. Well, Tasuku’s gonna have to work on this if he wants to get to watch a farce…You’ve got a lot of work to do if you’re gonna get anywhere with Karen. You’re right, he does suck. …Okay quit that. You just need to get out of this loner mode of thinking. YOU ARE SO KIND TASUKU!

-So, first way to start is by learning how to be more comfortable around young ladies…And their best in for that is gonna be what you’re passionate about! Which means they need a girl who’s into RPGs and weird parody games and shit…

-But, BAM! Right after school, Tasuku takes Keita over to another class…And bam, Hoshinomori Chiaki. Another loner who needs a friend. Keita protests, not liking the idea of sorta hitting on this girl. Too bad, Tasuku decided already. Now GET YO ASS IN THERE.

-And that’s when Aguri finds them and Tasuku you were going to spend time with her today, not your uke! Right. So he’s got to go, and you’d better make it happen, Keita! Fare thee well~

-Which is about when Keita realizes he’s been standing in the doorway long enough that people are noticing. And then his stomach lets out an unpleasant rumble. Oh dear.

-And then we’re where we left off with yesterday’s after credits scene. With Karen having a giddy haze, and then Eiichi from the club spotting Keita and hey, what’s up? Did you need Karen? Karen’s head pops up because KEITA WHAT WHERE, but Keita awkwardly claims he’s got no business with her and Karen just turns to stone. Oh, that is painful. This whole scene is gonna be rocky, isn’t it? (OH GOD THE PUNS ARE COMING OUUUUUT)

-So she crumbles to dust, and is blown away by a mournful wind, as Keita admits he’s here to talk to that girl over there…Oh, and he steps in the dust that once was Karen, for a scene that makes absolutely zero literal sense but tons of metaphorical logic, as he makes it over to Chiaki’s desk, and she…Has no idea he’s there. She’s too busy playing her PZ Vivio with her headphones in.

-Karen, recovering from her brief time as a symbol of the folly of man and the decaying powers of time immemorial, tries to get Keita’s attention…And hears it right from him that he’s here to see a girl. Ouch. B-But knowing you, it’s something managerial, some class business or something, surely! Right? TELL HER SHE’S RIGHT KEITA SHE NEEDS THIS.

-Nope he’s here to…Fuck it, all in. To work up the courage to come here and make friends with this girl as a fellow RPG lover!

-Guys I think Karen just died.

-And then Keita catches her when she collapses and EVERYONE GOES WILD, as Karen tries to get out a word, any word, and finally calls him a sleaze ball before fleeing at top speed!

-And Chiaki finally looks up and realizes things have happened and oh god there’s a strange boy looking at her what to do what to do?! She shrinks away as small as she can, in raw unyielding fear of the unknown…And that’s when he sees that she’s playing Aegis VIII. Aegis Vee plus Aegis Three equals…Aegis Eight! Aegis In Space! (Did I stretch for that Simpsons reference? Yes! Do I care? No.)

-But she realizes that he knows the game and that short-circuits the fear of Boys into just plain old confusion…Which soon leads to them at the bus stop. At far, opposite ends of the bench, as he finally introduces himself properly. And she’s…Oh she’s a nervous wreck and this conversation is totally dead, but she can only assume that he’s in the game club and is here to recruit her like Karen and Eiichi!

-Wait wait wait, he’s not in the game club! You’re not? He’s not. Oh. She, she went to watch one day when Karen invited her, but…

-But it wasn’t what you wanted at all? It was the same for him! They’re cool, but way too intense, right? Yes! She doesn’t want to be the best at anything, she just wants to have fun! YES! And Chiaki’s face finally comes out of shadow, as the two clasp hands, realizing they have finally found kindred spirits…!

-Over the next few days, the two became close friends, exchanging numbers and hanging out. They even got on a first-name basis, which isn’t nothing. They were even secretly texting in class…All as Karen watched, turning more and more into a horrifying little goblin of misery and woe…

-But then, THEN! They had a moment, of shared gushing over the Aegis series. And the best part of that series is, same time now…

-The music!

-The characters!

-A rift has opened between them. As they both suddenly feel so deeply, deeply betrayed.

-Commercial break!

-And we’re back! It’s after class and Tasuku is hearing how Keita got into a huge argument with Chiaki. Over games. Over philosophies! Shut the hell up with that overwrought bullshit. And he admits that she was far more of an actual friend than him…Oh don’t give him that. What happened?

-She…She said games don’t need appealing moe characters to be good! Are you stupid or just an idiot, Keita? He doesn’t care if she’s a cute girl who kind of looks like the Curse Freak from the much-beloved Satchél Creatures series, he will never compromise on this! So idiot, then. But fine, fine, take a few deep breaths and you two can talk it over calmly later. Okay? Don’t let a good friendship go because of this one little—

-Hard cut to the argument staring anew! Keita think of how the industry has already taken moe too far! There’s lolicon and imoutos in what were once mainstream games now! The foreign game industries are running laps around them with cinematic stories and tightly polished gameplay! The force of moe is stifling Japanese game development, you narrow-minded shrimp!

-Hold on there! Haven’t you ever played a foreign game and wished it had cute girls, instead of roid-chomping muscle men working for the military?! You…You seaweed head!

-WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HER YOU MOTHERFU—

-Tasuku cuts in, argument stops now or he starts cracking skulls. How is it that Tasuku now feels like the only sane man? I assume we are only two, maybe three episodes tops from Gakuto being the only person with a rational thought in his FPS-addled brain. The only question in my mind is whether it’ll be because of actual logic, or because things have devolved so far that “teabag them all and let God sort it out” becomes a sensible approach to the situation.

-Anyways Tasuku wants these two idiots to just chill the fuck out and get along, they clearly care about each other…And Chiaki gets all blushy about the idea and Keita thinks she’s getting a crush on Tasuku like all the other girls. So you’ll fawn over a stylish, handsome guy like Tasuku here, but won’t accept moe?! What kind of hypocrite are you?!

-Hey. HEY. Tasuku cuts that all down. Everyone cool your fuckin’ jets. And don’t go making shit personal. …Even if Keita really is a shrimp.

-But soon he’s making them both sit down and, hey, Chiaki, weren’t you talking about where you were in the new Aegis game? …She was in the elven hideout…

-That’s where Keita just got to this morning! It’s one of the best maps yet! The look, the layout, the way they show off the elvish hatred for humanity! Yeah, yeah! Chiaki gets all hype again as her anger fizzles in the wake of getting to talk about her new favorite game with someone who gets it…

-But the best part for Keita and the worst part for Chiaki is the downright lewd pose of the elf girl in the center! Everyone else in the room promptly takes their chance to run like hell, as the argument starts right back up…! But Tasuku is on the ball this time, and cuts it right off, and can’t you both just fucking let this shit go?!

-You don’t get it! Actual quote: “We’re lonely gamers with nothing but our inflated egos.” Okay first of all Keita I fucking saw you just subtweet me right there, and second

-Of course, both of them consider this compromise simply UNACCEPTABLE…But for Tasuku, the worst part is that Aguri is on the other side of the locked door, giving him the horrifying-little-goblin face. Damn, she’s got an intense aura. Okay, time to call it short. You two have good hearts, don’t let one disagreement wreck a good thing. And Chiaki, don’t let Keita’s shit get to you. You’re cute in your own way. The messy-hair thing works for you. And now Chiaki doesn’t know what to do and Aguri is about to shatter this door with her sheet wrath and fury.

-So, okay, they’re all gamer buddies now, right? They should enjoy it. And Keita realizes how much this looks like a romance between these two, as Tasuku idly comments that if Chiaki does want a change, maybe she could try the short-haired look? She’s got the face for it, and she’d look cute as hell with it! Oh god that damned idiot…Because over at the door, Aguri has collapsed much like Karen earlier.

-Speaking of Karen, she and Eiichi are over at the window, watching this whole proceeding…And she needs to know what kind of relationship those two have! Eiichi has no idea but they seem to get along really well. OH GOD THEY GET ALONG REALLY WELL?! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN! He has no idea please quit shaking him.

-Cut to Tasuku and Aguri walking home, and Tasuku notices how quiet Aguri is…And has to try and figure out how to explain what she saw. He was mediating a fight between two friends, is all. And Aguri gets all down, because she feels she’s being lied to, and the only thing she doesn’t know is if her boyfriend is leaving her for a weird nerdy girl, or a weird nerdy guy. Oh dear…

-Cut over to Keita writing up a post on that least parody game. Which was fun, but maybe played it a bit too safe…Still, he posts a positive comment. One that gets noticed by the creator and gets a thanks sent his way! But something seems off for him…

-The next day after class, Tasuku’s more stylish friends are wanting to figure out this rumor of this really cute girl that just showed up in school out of nowhere, and Tasuku’s trying to figure out who the hell it could be…He didn’t hear about any transfers, so did someone pull off a weekend makeover…? Keita comes up and hey, want to go hang out? He would, but he’s waiting for Aguri. …Is something up, Keita?

-He’s…Worried about Tasuku and Aguri. What? Why? Tasuku doesn’t even think Keita knows Aguri…But before that subject can go any further, up come footsteps, and a very nervous Chiaki who has gotten a redo into being the bluenette from the OP and ED! And Tasuku stares, as a crowd starts forming, and Keita is the one who realizes it. That specific way it curls, like dried seaweed. WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU MOTHERFUCKER

-And Tasuku realizes oh shit it’s Chiaki. And she suddenly looks…Really cute. And oh jeez. He just got himself into a mess, didn’t he. If Aguri finds out what he said led to this…

-Of course Aguri hears it and has a freakout so bad she turns into a sketch. And Keita quietly realizes he’s in hell…But also he sees Aguri stagger off and oh jeez, as he steps away to go make sure she’s okay. And Tasuku realizes several seconds later, as Keita is off looking for Aguri who managed to pull a runner…When he runs into Karen! Karen great timing! OH GOD KEITA um er that is hi. S-She’s sorry for her misunderstanding about the other day and, um…

-Huh? Never mind that, time is of the essence. Have you seen Aguri?

-Do you just like making her suffer? Are you into S&M, is that it? Should she get one of those masks with the zippers?

-But, she saw a ditzy, cute pink-haired girl looking deeply depressed and heading for the entrance and wait tell her, exactly, why you’re looking for this girl! Relationship drama thanks bye! And Karen collapses in Keita’s absence…

-When Keita catches up to Aguri at her locker and oh, it’s the weird guy who wants to fuck Tasuku. Wait WHAT that’s not…Okay. Okay never mind. Listen. …Do you want to go have tea?! And Aguri is very, very confused, even as they end up at a little cafe, and Keita wonders when the hell this became his life, hitting on every girl around him… (YOU DAMNED FOOL CAN’T YOU SEE WHAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU)

-Of course, it’s VERY awkward at this cafe, as Aguri is down in the dumps and just making bubbles in her drink. And Keita tries to talk to her about what she saw and what happened. But her Tasuku said that bluenette was super cute! If he’s even her Tasuku anymore…Yeah, but that wasn’t…It’s not…He’s not into her like that. Besides, he was just talking about you and how cute you are. He definitely has strong feelings for you! just give him a chance to explain and clear the air, and Keita promises you, it’ll work out…

-And Aguri starts to perk up, as she decides to go get a fresh drink, feeling all warm and bubbly again…And Keita just relaxes at last, as he pops out his phone and sees an MMO event. Well, maybe he’ll jump into some battles, invite Mono-san, and just be able to clear his head, let everything go back to normal…When he hears the sound of a tray hitting the ground.

-And finds Aguri just standing there, locked up. Because across the street, Tasuku and Chiaki are all cuddled up WHAT THE FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU

-Credits!

UUUUUUUUUUUU

#where I watch #recap #gamers!#anime

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misskymhall · 6 years

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My Vipassana Experience

Before you get your hopes up and look to read this article about what happens on these retreats, I left on Day 2 due to a kidney infection. Was it a psychosomatic manifestation? I would like to believe so, as the days that followed brought lessons of their own. Here is my story.

During the time I spent in meditation at Vipassana it was absolute torture. For those unfamiliar with the retreat it’s a 10 day silent retreat dedicating 10 hours a day to meditation starting at 4.30am, along with 3 small meals throughout the day and no talking, reading or writing. You must denounce all your beliefs and any coping structure you may have used in the past. The fundamental element of the retreat is to know your misery by entering into the direct epicentre of it and thus being able to completely ‘know thyself.’ The belief is that, if you know what makes you miserable you can change it.

It’s truly a soul exposing experience, especially if your natural disposition is to think yourself as shit, like me!

Day 1 I entered the group mediation space, ohh I might also add at this point I went to the retreat with my ex. We signed up to do this when we were dating and as we have decided to end the relationship by mutual agreement just before Christmas and we both thought it would be fine. Ha! Ha!

So, anyway back to it, Day 1 I entered into the group mediation space feeling confident and ready. I can meditate, I mediate several times a day at home, unguided on average for 40 minutes or more, I’m comfortable with who I am, right?! Ha! Ha!

I’m not sure if you’ve ever stopped talking before, I hadn’t up until this point. But what I discovered was when I stopped drowning out my thoughts with constant verbal chatter, the mind chatter dial goes from 3 to 100 in a very short space of time. There was no way to control it, my mind was completely out of control and my thoughts had no pattern, no direction and made little sense. One moment I would be thinking about if I could have done anything to save my relationship then the next I was thinking about the possibility of sweat glands in my dogs nose and were they similar to humans sweat glands and if so were they similar to the eccrine or apocrine types? There I was trying to follow the simple instructions from the teacher to breathe innnnn and ouuuuut. That’s all I had to do was breathe. Just breathe. I couldn’t do it. I would get 2 breathes in and there you go I’m thinking again…is my ex looking over at me? Does Darth Vada wear deodorant? What was the % of oxygen we breathe in? 24 or 16?! Argh! By the 10th hour of the meditation practice on day 1 my mind began to quiet. I could sit completely still for the full hour, focus on several breaths and if my mind would wonder I could bring it back to my breathing in a relatively short time. I thought, my goodness I can actually do this. I’ve got it. I’d noticed several people were struggling with sitting in the same position for such a long time. But I was actually okay. So Day 1 was done, just another 9 to go!

That was until I awoke the morning after and knew something was wrong, my back was in agony and when I went to the toilet I knew it wasn’t looking good. I spoke to the teacher and immediately I was asked to leave.

I was abruptly dumped at Grange-Over-Sands train station in the snow with an epic 4 hour journey back to Sheffield and by this time the infection was beginning to spread and I was now vomiting. Attractive, I know! Wearing my mediation outfit, which really looked like I’d escaped a mental asylum, stood in the snow, my 20kg backpack on my shoulders and swimming in the shame that I’d failed, I burst into tears at the desolate train station. I felt I had let everyone down, how could I face going home? I rang my doctor to make sure there was a prescription of antibiotics waiting for me as soon as I arrived home, but was told to get myself straight to the hospital my condition did not sound good. Oh really, I thought. Great, maybe I was ill enough to leave after all. The doctors tone had help me justify my failure and I then spent the rest of the evening in the lovely Northern General Hospital out of it on codine.

During my time in the hospital I decided I wouldn’t tell anyone I was home, keep it a secret and continue as though I was on the retreat. Stick to the same schedule of getting up at 4am, in meditation a 4.30 - 6.30 then a light breakfast before going back into mediation and so on. That was until it came to getting up at 4am. The first day I was at home I managed to get up at 4am but instead of going into the mediation I felt the need to write, and that I did until I had nothing more to write. What I wrote I am going to share with you now.

I started scribbling the words: Ego, fear, shame, restlessness, success, achievement, value, reputation, pleasure. All the words with meanings that were signs I believed made me a ‘something’, a ‘somebody’. If I serve all these factors I will receive the approval of others, I will mean something and I’ll finally be that somebody I’ve always sought out to be. All the manifestations of a neurological pathway conditioned to make me think I had to suffer to be somebody. I had to sacrifice my true self in order to fit in. But, hang on, what happens when I don’t feed into my ego? I don’t want to operate in fear anymore. I’m sick of suffering in shame. What is success? How have my achievements served me thus far in life? Who gives a fuck about my reputation? What gives me pleasure? Who decided my value? Valuable to whom?

For the past 4 days I have sat with every piece of literature I own regarding these words specifically. It was like I had an agenda sent direct from God. I have listened to talks by Dwain Dyer, Jung, Neale Donald Walsh, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, I have prayed, mediated, watched, written and listened and what I have come to know is this.

We should make it our souls purpose to seek approval from the self.

We can’t act from a place of love if we are full of fear.

E.G.O is as simple as Edging God Out.

I didn’t need to attend the full Vipassana retreat to learn my epicentre of misery is feeling unloved and I am so damn scared of rejection that I have spent 35 years moulding myself around other peoples opinions just to seek their approval and falling short because in reality no one gives a shit about my achievements. Seeking to achieve others approval it’s unsustainable because my actions are performed from a place of fear. Without the love I seek so desperately, I will forever identify with the things I am not.

I had this opinion that the journey of healing had an end point. That I will at some point reach this Buddha-Yoda like self that levitates my way through the difficult stages in life simply, emotionless and untouchable. But what I’ve learnt over the last 4 days is, life is the journey and the end point is death of the physical form. Who wants to rush that? I will suffer many ego-deaths along the way, no doubt and I will achieve some ‘levitational’ chapters of the authentic higher-self, but not without the bumps, thumps, bruises and scars along the way. What I know now is, that we are in essence a spectacular soul having a human experience. The experiential polarity of all the elements, life has to offer us is what makes this journey so exciting. We shy away from the darkness, sadness, depression, anger because we consider them to be ‘bad’. But how can they be bad? When we understand that without them we wouldn’t know the ‘good’, which can be defined as happiness, light, joy, love. It all sounds so simple but we make it so complicated when we choose to shy away from the bad with medication, alcohol, smoking, sex. We’d do anything not to feel the shame of our actions, even if that means repeating them. At least that’s been the case for me. But what if we told ourselves a new story? What if we were able to trace new neurological pathways? A path that meant even in the ‘bad’ times we could see the ‘good’? What if we didn’t wait to seek approval from others and filled the void with approval from the self? If we told ourselves ‘well done we did a good job today’ and stopped waiting for someone else to tell us? What if the love we so desperately sought from others came to us from our own heart?

The experiences we search for in life might not have the result we anticipated. But that’s where the real fun begins.

Love and Blessing to you all. xxxx

#vipassana

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jeonpalette-archive · 7 years

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3J Unit Stage - Main points I want to hypeヽ(‘ ∇‘ )ノ

i don’t know where most of you guys focused on but i did mostly on the dance. i really, really need to let this out because i’m so, so proud of my (our) babies for actually owning it ♥ and altho i dance, i don’t claim to be an expert or anything, pls correct me for any mistakes or so !!!

i have watch the bangtan bomb for 2387283x kidding lol but i really did watched it a multiple times because i had to focus on each member. aside from that, as your local dance enthusiast, i also watched the original dance videos before from where they learned it and i also watched it now.

here are the three videos, check them out!

“CoCo” - O.T. Genasis | Scott Forsyth Choreography

Brian Puspos [MI BABY!!!!] Choreography - Take You Down by Chris Brown

Don’t Wanna Fall In Love - Kyle / Carlo Darang & Chris Martin Choreography / URBAN DANCE CAMP - this one’s my fave !!!

Jungkook

→ Jungkook centers well. we all know that from all the MVs but he really does. in a dance choreography, the most important person would be the person in the middle because he will be the focus of the audience plus he should do well to show the balance and symmetry of the group. if Hobi ever gets the main stage, people will notice the member’s mistakes immediately.

→ Jungkook’s dance doesn’t lack the power nor the big movements. he gets every step and matches it to the beat. when you master a choreography, then and only then, you can modify it however you feel comfortable with. this can be seen in the video on 2:44 when Hobi emphasized the need to hit the step and when he teases Jimin in 3:17.

→ he follows choreography well. Jungkook absorbs the dance and has good muscle memory. Kook doesn’t need multiple repetitions to learn, once is enough and that’s really impressive. this can be seen on the first part of the video when they’re clarifying the steps they don’t understand.

→ best grinder of the dance line. effortlessly does so. no words are really needed for this tho just go to 1:52 and 5:40 of the video. as Jimin and Hobi struggles, he does it smooth in the back. kudos tho, i can’t even do that even if i want to. ☹

Jimin

→ Jimin dances with fluidity. even if his steps are smaller and has to be bigger, he performs everything evenly. and altho he overthinks at times and says that he might not do well, he does the contrary.

→ he has more snaps in his dance. like the head move in 0:13, if you can go rewind twice and look that the other two didn’t do it. i think that Jimin does this things involuntary because of his past experiences in dancing and his strengths in popping and locking. and in 3:35, he simply does the step without trouble while Jungkook can’t exceute it as much.

→ the thing about dancers is that they have to clear the steps they are having trouble with to be able to move forward and finish the piece. in the dance line, Jimin does this the most and i think that that’s a good thing honestly. like in 1:20, in the first practice (0:27) he had a hard time executing it so that’s why he asks questions and becomes aware of his mistake.

→ his dancing forte is mostly on the changeability of the genre that he dances. you want snappy steps, Jimin can do it. you want it done smoothly, Jimin can do it. it is harder done than said tho, i’m gonna applaud for that for as long as i can.

Hoseok

→ where do i even begin????? lmao ok first of all i just wanna say that, as a dancer, Hoseok really is way ouuuuut of my league. dancing with him would be life goals. and i’m pretty sure that if he wasn’t an idol, he would be a part of urban dance camp or join kinjaz or compete in WOD or something.

→ Hoseok’s expressions when dancing are the best. he smiles too, from the three of them, his smile rarely leaves his face. you know, when a dancer enjoys the piece, he dances it with ease. in the rehearsals, it really feels like Hoseok owns the stage tbvh. especially his part, i’m sorry but he really outdid the two. maybe that’s the reason why Jungkook’s always the center so don’t blame BigHit or anything.

→ one forte of Hoseok is his musicality, he listens to the songs, he matches the steps, he dances it, he kills the dance. that’s it really. i really don’t know how he can go hard without giving much. this can be seen when he uses his own made up words and his usual tak tak pa like in 2:12 and 2:58.

→ another one is that Hoseok is consistent, in the last part of the dance in the rehearsals (start from 7:20) Jimin and Jungkook are visibly tired from the routine and mistakes are observable but Hoseok shows like he’s not exhausted or something.

→ and the body rolls wow guys did u see that? i’ve rewinded those parts like 10x or something (0:31, 3:42, 6:05)

→ last point, i love how serious Hobi is when dancing. you can tell that it really is his passion. like in 2:58, when JM and JK teased him of using cue words, and he maintained focus on what he’s doing. bro that’s what you call dedication.

at practices it’s really okay if you don’t give it your all in one go, but every member does give it at every single ounce of their energy just to be able to show a good show !!! they really are born performers (∪ ◡ ∪) YAS i finally said everything so ok thank you for reading 💛

#lmao i typed way too long #i love the dance line so much so pls spare me #ej.txt

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ratkingdnd · 5 years

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Chapter Thirty Six - You’re my boy blue

The heroes look down onto the floor, the crows all gone and see a giant code written across the floor. It reads up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, sun, moon. Ned places the code into the sundial and runs to stand with the rest of the heroes on the staircase. They watch as a bridge unfolds from next to the sundial towards the bridge, slab by slab. The heroes slowly make their way along the catwalk to the bridge and cross it single file. Dolgan reaches the door first and opens it, the door leads directly out to the forest. The heroes brush themselves off and start to discuss the air elementals once more. “I think we need to re-evaluate how we capture these elementals as we can only assume their pure air, I don’t know how to trap air” says Buffalo, “We could go deal with the Gulthias tree first instead? I would rather not lose my limbs” says Dolgan. “Well lets head to the Feywild Statues. If there’s a spot that will allow us to go to the Feywild, it’d surely be at the statues” says Ned. Scaly nods his head agreeing and they start walking towards the Feywild statues according to the map Raissh had drawn them days ago.

The walk is quick and unobstructed, the heroes arrive at a clearing, quite large in size. The grass around them looked perfectly trimmed. In the centre of the clearing were two statues, identical to the statues Ned had in his possession from their water blob fight except that they were 15 feet tall and had some kind of plate in front of them. “That’s an offering plate” said Raissh. “Like food? or blood? or???” said Ned, “Try put the statues on there” said Raissh pointing at the plates. Ned walks up and places the sun statues on the plate in front of the large sun statue. The sun scepter in the large statue spins 180 degrees and a large beam comes out of it, shooting diagonally across the front of the moon statue and into the ground. Ned places the moon statue on the other plate and like the sun scepter, the moon scepter spins 180 degrees and shoots a beam directly out of it, diagonally across the front of the sun statue, crossing lines with the sun beam and onto the ground. Raissh says over the buzz of the beams “The Feywild is split into two courts - day and night, much like the Shadowfell, but if you consider the Shadowfell dusk, then the Feywild is dawn. They both counteract each other in different ways, I would say that this is definitely the place to get into the Feywild, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Perhaps we’re missing something”.

Ned and Dolgan go to where the beams are and start digging with their hands into the ground, ripping up grass and dirt. They both find another two plates underneath the soil, identical to the ones in front of the statues. The beams start hitting the plates instead of the ground. Dolgan sits back, watching the sun beam hit the plate in front of him and slowly moves his hand in front of the beam. The top of his hand singes where the sun beam hits and he passes out, falling backwards into the grass. “Oh shit” says Buffalo as he see’s Scaly put his hand into the moon beam “Stop!”, but it was too late and Scaly falls backwards, passing out too. Buffalo runs over to Dolgan and Ned goes to Scaly, but before they can even get to them they both wake up. “Woah” says Dolgan, sitting upright and slightly dazed, Scaly sits up next with the aid of Ned. On the Dolgan’s hand he sees the flashing imprint of the sun and on Scaly’s he sees the flashing imprint of the moon, but not before they fade away to reveal their regular skin. “What happened?” asks Dolgan to the group, “No idea, you put your hand into the beam and then you passed out” Buffalo responds. Both beams had gone out. “Do you feel okay?” asks Buff, “Yeah fine, better even” says Dolgan standing up, “Well, the beams are gone, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do to open the portal, but that clearly isn’t it”.

“Maybe the Satyr knows the way to the Feywild”, Scaly pipes up as the heroes walk away from the statues. “I guess so, he had that bag that went to the Feywild didn’t he? We came out of the Shadowfell one and he had another that was a direct passage to the Feywild” responds Ned. “Well lets go find him again, then we don’t need statues and portals and whatnot, we can just get in his bag” says Scaly, “Sounds good to me, he was right next to the ant mound wasn’t he?” says Buffalo, “This way” he points as the heroes continue on their journey.

They get to the ant mound and see the clearing where they stepped out of the Satyr’s cottage. “There’s nothing here” says Scaly, lifting his arms up in the air, “Are you sure we’re at the right place?”. “We are” answers Raissh before Buff can answer, “I don’t think his cottage was here physically, or at least it didn’t stay here. You can still see the indents of where it once was” Raissh continued pointing at the ground where clearly something very heavy had rested. “When we walked out it was just a door frame, there was no cottage from the outside, it only looked like a cottage on the inside” said Dolgan. “Well, now what? We can’t catch the air elementals because we don’t know how. We can’t get to the Feywild because we don’t know how, and the only person that seems to know how isn’t around. Why don’t we just leave the forest back to Wolfspine? We can’t do much more here” says Buffalo, clearly exhausted and done. The group unanimously agree and they have a look at Raissh’s map once more. “If we head due east, it seems there’s an opening for us to leave” Buffalo says pointing at a break in the rocky mountains, “Let’s head that way and find a way out”. The heroes start walking east, but before long come across tall mountains blocking their exit. “What the hell!” exclaims Buffalo, “Raissh your map is wrong” he says angrily. “The forest moves all the time, any forest this close to the Feywild will do this. We can find a way out, we just need to continue tracing these mountains until we find the gap” says Raissh, “Errrgggh” Buffalo groans and starts to head south. “Let’s try this way, we’ll go south until we hit the south mountains, then we’ll head west until we hit the west mountains and so on, until we find an opening but for now, let’s rest for the night so we can get a start tomorrow morning”. They set up camp, build a fire and fall asleep quite quickly, it had been an intense day for the heroes.

The heroes awake the next morning to the sound of morning birds. Were they not to be stuck in the forest, it would’ve been quite lovely, but the mood was tense as they packed up their things. “Okay, west we go” says Buffalo as the heroes start to make track, walking through a bit more open part of the forest as being closer to the mountains, there were many rocks at their feet. They continue walking until to their right they hear a shrieking voice yell out “GEEETTT OUUUUUT”. It was the goblins again. “Stop screaming” yells Raissh as the goblins start to all yell out loud. “We found the air elementals by the way” yells out Dolgan, attempting to get his voice heard over the chorus of shrieks coming from the goblins. They quieten down. “We know where they are, we just don’t know how to catch them” says Ned. “Use this!” a larger goblin says breaking out from the crowd as he throws down a shoddy looking helmet. Dolgan picks it up, it looked like a ceramic bowl with a couple of forks poking out the top. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” asks Dolgan, “PUT IT ON YOUR HEAD” screams the goblin. Dolgan obliges warily, placing the bowl over his head slowly and looking back to the group for approval. “HAHAHAHAHAH” shrieking goblin laughs echo throughout the forest so much so that birds fly out of the trees. “YOU PUT IT ON WHEN YOU NEED TO CATCH THEM. IT CONTROLS THEM YOU IMBECILE HAHAHA” the goblin’s screams hitting notes high enough to break glass. Dolgan takes off the helmet and shakes his head, walking away with the heroes and the hat in his hands. Who knows if it would actually work, they just wanted to get away from the gobbies.

“Well, lets now go and get those elementals”, says Dolgan, hat on head, “I personally want to do it to fuck over those goblins mid flight” says Buffalo. “I think we all do” mutters Ned. The heroes head to where they know the air elementals were, north west of where they were if they were to go with the info given to them from the vegepygmy’s. They take a route they had walked before so as not to get themselves stuck in anything new and arrive roughly a few hours later in the mid afternoon. They were aware the elementals were near a few kilometres beforehand, as the wind started to get more and more intense the further they head in the direction. They finally reach a large tree trunk, that didn’t seem to be growing straight up, but more in an arc. The tree trunk grew towards the sky for about 30 feet before turning to it’s right and going straight back into the ground. The middle of the arc was way past the canopies of the surrounding trees and was barely visible from the forest floor. The heroes walk forward towards the tree trunk and before they could even say anything to each other, all four of them and Raissh get flung directly upwards by what seems like a column of air, or even a small cyclone. Dolgan and Buffalo are able to adjust mid fling and land themselves safely on the large trunk, but Ned and Scaly weren’t as dexterous as the other two and fly straight back down, unable to grab hold of anything. They hit the ground with a large thud, hurting themselves in the process. It seems the air elementals had already started their fight.

Ned gets himself up from the forest floor and starts making his way back up the tree, eager to get his fight on. Dolgan throws his necrostone at the air elemental closest to him, but as he does falls forward onto the branch. The necrostone flies out of his hand and smacks Buffalo in the back of the head. “Sorry!” yells Dolgan, as Buffalo rubs the back of his head. The other air elemental moves between Dolgan and Buffalo and starts spinning like a cyclone, both of them start to feel their legs come up off of the trunk as the power of the air elemental lifts them up. They react quickly and grab pieces of the trunk, branches and smaller trunks, holding on for dear life. The first air elemental moves next to Ned and starts doing the same, spinning in a circle and whipping up little air cyclones. Ned wasn’t so quick and feels his body lifting off of the trunk and flung off of the edge once more. Buffalo takes a shot at the air elemental between him and Dolgan and hits, but the arrow seems to reach the core of the elemental and then is flung out like a stick. A second arrow fires out of his bow at random, this one with with lightning crackling all around the shaft. The second arrow hits and strikes into the core of the elemental and seemingly shocking it for a split second from the inside. Scaly stares menacingly at the air elemental after it threw Ned off of the trunk and focuses his power on it. “Tenuem impetu” (Phantom Force) Scaly says in a low, gruff, voice at the elemental starts to flatten itself onto the trunk. “What did you do?” yells Dolgan, “It thinks it’s under incredible gravity” yells back Scaly, the wind wooshing past them making it difficult to communicate. Raissh yells “Impigliare” (Entangle) as multiple vines break out of the tree trunk wrapping around the elementals, entangling them onto it.

Ned somehow manages to get himself up again, climbing the trunk up to where the battle was happening. This time clever enough to tie some rope around his waist and securing it onto the trunk. Dolgan grabs his amulet and says “custos spirituum” as balls of light appear around him, spinning in circles much like the air elementals cyclone form. They start smashing into the elementals, creating holes in their bodies. A arm like appendage appears out of the cyclone, filled with sticks and stones that attacks, but Dolgan holds his own, not moving even whilst getting hit wit hthe debris. Buffalo shoots another two arrows, but both of them fly off after coming into contact with the elementals spinning body. Scaly stays about mid way on the tree trunk, casting spells from a safe distance. He yells “Augue” (Fireball) as an ember appears at the base of the elemental, burning it from the bottom. The air elemental continues whipping up air around it turning itself into a fire tornado, as it glides across the tree trunk.

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