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eponymous-rose · 3 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E129 (March 16, 2021)

Tonight’s guests are Matt Mercer and Taliesin Jaffe!

Matt, on DMing Luc’s Revivify: “That was weird. It’s one thing when it happens because of player action and circumstances and the choices they make. When it’s entirely on me, unintentional, and just realizing different chess pieces you’ve set up, that’s rough.” It was especially rough since this was a child NPC related to a PC. “I was hoping somebody had a spell slot left.” He kept in mind that there are two clerics in the room and that they could resurrect the next day even if the Revivify went poorly. “A good chance, since it’s his first time. Okay, okay, okay, okay, I think we’ll be okay, we’ll see how this goes. It was really stressful in the moment! I did not set out to have that happen, but when I realized what was going to happen, I tried to see it through.” He wouldn’t have prevented a chance to bring him back. “There may have been an offshoot short-run series of games to find a way to bring him back. I would have found some way to correct the circumstance so the players could feel good about moving forward with the story and there was no undue punishment beyond their control.”

Taliesin on Cad’s response: “This is a big thing if you’re a cleric. It was very much coming in like an EMT. Everything should be fine... hopefully. Just focused in and got it done. The minute things started to go south it was like, okay, that’s the next problem.”

On Yeza’s feelings: “It is a very complicated situation. I think he, much like how Veth is trying to figure out what it is that she wants, I think he’s trying to help her find that while also figuring it out for himself. I think Yeza’s also noticing that because Veth’s the more active of the two of them she also takes the weight of the responsibility and the blame for things when they go wrong, unnecessarily. Especially when he himself acknowledges that he’s partially at fault for even dragging everyone in with the Conclave. As much as he’s appreciative for them coming back for him, there’s a lot of back and forth. He’s filled with a lot of regret, too, but he’s very much trying to convince Veth that it’s a burden that she doesn’t have to keep to herself, that they can share it and work through it together.” Matt mentions that, as an actor, he really loves exploring interactions between characters first and foremost. “Especially when you don’t know where it’s going to go.” He also praises Sam as a scene partner - “I really cherish that.”

How does Caduceus feel about Revivify and Speak with Dead? “Speak with Dead is an interesting middle ground, because he knows that it’s not actually speaking with the dead. It’s really just-- it’s almost medical, really. This is just reactivating a brain at a certain point. It’s practically just a muscle twitch at this point. That doesn’t really prod him in that direction. Revivify is interesting, because it had never really come up. At first I thought of it as bending the rules, but it’s not bending the rules. You knock over a plant, you replant it, you don’t stare at it and go ‘Well, that’s over.’ This is just doing the work. No, we can bring this thing back to health. This is all part of the circle of life, that sometimes we can save something. Especially given the stress that he’s put himself through over the past year of being with these people. He’s started to think of himself a bit as a battlefield medic, and triage is just part of the deal, and it’s completely acceptable.”

Did Trent really just want to talk? “Yeah, that circumstance, as it came together, Trent would never have arrived if there wasn’t an indication that there was some kind of infiltration or attack. Even beyond that, it was Jester breaking the concentration on her charm on that one guard when she created her duplicate.” The guards’ job is to inform a member of the Cerberus Assembly, and Trent lived the closest. “He didn’t know who it was, didn’t have any expectation necessarily. The minute he saw the illusion, he knew a powerful magic user was involved.” Seeing Caleb was an unexpected surprise. “I don’t think he wanted to throw down necessarily. He was more interested in figuring out exactly what the nature of this was.” Matt had multiple battlemaps that didn’t get used. “They managed to cleverly out-maneuver him in his surprise of seeing them.” The Nein rocketed up his priority list after that very quickly. Taliesin: “We’re so fucked.”

On Cad being “Uncle Caduceus” to Luc: “It’s the thing he misses most about home, is being a juvenile shit. It’s nice to be able to express that part of him again, as opposed to the serious, life-threatening, constant intensity. I’m very at home just being a little difficult.”

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Beau! (_rumor_king, photography by kourtyardproductions on Instagram)

On Marion: “Like a lot of people in this whole narrative from the beginning, getting swept up in things larger than her and trying to adapt. This is a circumstance she’s avoided for a long time. She’s having a rough time in some ways, but simultaneously, she’s enduring. Like a mother would. She’s adapting, she’s making it work. Without much of a choice, you just kind of do the best you can and lean on the people around you to help you where they can. Luckily she has a daughter there. She’s probably surprising herself at how well she’s doing given the circumstances.” Matt talks about how weird it is to feel proud of character he’s created. “Of the many things Marion is incredible at, she’s a studier of the human condition. She’s seen and heard the stories of so many. That gives her a very special perspective. She can see elements of that fractured individual within Caleb, and knowing the good that he’s brought to his friends, and knowing he’s possibly saved her life from bad circumstances, she couldn’t not speak up. She very easily falls into that role of maternal comforter, because it’s one of the many things she’s really good at, she enjoys it, and she can see well when people need it.” He’s been enjoying having Marion along for this (despite the difficult circumstances) because he was always a little sad that they only got to see her for short periods of time.

On the Blooming Grove’s safety: “He’s afraid that it’s a premonition. He’s not pinned it down, but he’s happy to let his imagination wander. He at the very least feels like there’s a reason he’s having these thoughts, and that there’s a reason to go there. He’s a big believer that these things don’t just happen. He’s more likely to think that there’s a good reason to go versus a danger to go. He’s had a couple of ominous warnings lately, and he’s not used to them and not a fan. He’s more likely to read something like that as, there is something there waiting for you that you have to discover. There is something that is going to be helpful to you, even if it hurts.”

On Astrid: “While maybe not as readable in overall personality as Trent is, I still want to be careful to not discuss things that are still being discussed within the game and tossed around as possibilities. Astrid is another complicated character, as anyone would be who’s been through the life she has. I can’t say too much. I can say she’s definitely legitimately happy to see Bren/Caleb after all this time.” His reemergence definitely caught her off guard. “We’ll have to see where it goes from there.”

On Cad’s successful Divine Intervention: “He’s definitely hit the ‘on a mission from god’ stage. He’s been that way for the entire campaign of, this, this is what I’ve been waiting for. Even when it sucks a lot, it’s been nice that those things have popped up to remind him, no, no, you’re doing it right, everything’s good. Probably not going to survive the next week, but you’re doing good! Not quite 1 in a 100 chance, but I forget so often to make that roll, and it’s such a great roleplaying roll. I don’t know how at level 20 you could deal with the fact that you can do that every day.”

On Zeenoth getting his comeuppance: the kidnapping was a concept Marisha brought up for Beau’s backstory, and Matt went with it even though it was opposed to the Cobalt Soul’s philosophy because he knew rooting it out would make for an interesting story. “I felt it was an important beat to bring to her, because it was something that she was wronged by. And to show that there are still some good people out there who are trying to make things right.” After the tentative peace, dealing with this became Dairon’s next focus. “I was glad we finally got to it. So many people don’t have the opportunity in their lives to get that sort of justice and vindication, so if I can bring elements of that justice into our world, even for our own hope, I’m going to do that. Especially for my wife’s character, especially for a character that deserves that.” Taliesin points out that if it had come too early, Beau wouldn’t have believed it.

Cad’s thoughts on the Tomb Taker betrayal? “He knew it was gonna come at some point. There was no way that was gonna last. He was hoping it was gonna last a little longer. He was really hoping they had a vested interest in getting them all the way to the end. Nope, this is apparently as far as we go, and he was not prepared for that.” He was expecting the potential for de-escalation. “Caduceus is the only character in there that doesn’t have a history with Lucien. I think he sees him a little more clearly than everybody else does. They’re all looking for this person that Clay, at least, is of the opinion that he’s just not there. This is a very manipulative, very dangerous infernal human. Just smarter than all of them. Really aware that there is no calculating what the hell is going to happen. Conversation is the only way you can deal with someone like that.”

Fan Art of the Week: An amazing Caleb closeup! (rynn_birb on Twitter)

Taliesin on Lucien: “I’m excited he’s the one that’s going to kill us all. Poetic that this is how the game ends.” Matt was delighted when Taliesin handed him carte blanche to do what he wanted with Molly’s past. “I was like ‘shit... oh, wait!’ The character of Lucien was always intended to be an antagonist so that it would have been Molly being chased by the person who wanted their body back. But then it happened that he got his body back.” Taliesin: “He’s so much worse than I ever hoped.”

Matt, on the Holy Avenger: “I hadn’t thought to initially even give that sword.” The good roll was the only reason Kima handed that over. “Well, sure, you get the sword. It was very reactionary, it wasn’t my intent originally. I was like, well, I mean, there’s two avenues she can take with this.” Multiclass into Paladin, or lean into the fact that her subclass is essentially a barbarian paladin. “This really works out in a uniquely beautiful way. Let me see if I can lay out a path for her to earn it.”

On Cad’s attempt at lying blowing up in his face: “He was like that kid that had a really bad day in high school and was like, you know what? I’m going to let loose. This is it. I’m gonna dye a streak in my hair. And then tries to give himself a haircut and ends up with half bangs. Well, okay, obviously I’m not that person. I was feeling a little distraught and I didn’t handle it well. Maybe I’m going dark... no, I’m not going dark. Nope.” Matt mentions how much he relates to Caduceus.

Matt, on the Eyes: “What can I tell you? I’m enjoying the hell out of it. The moment they began to really push to read that book, I was like, okay, this is on you. I’m excited for the point in the narrative where the march continues back to Eiselcross. I am almost impatient - not really - because we’re on the cusp of getting to more of the meat. There’s so much to learn, so much to see, so much to explore. I love instilling my players with absolute terror.”

Thoughts on Jester’s Tarot reading? Taliesin cackles. “Molly made the cards, so. Did it to himself, he did, he did.” Matt: “Once again, another example of things working out unexpectedly and too perfectly for an improvised moment. Fuck.” Taliesin: “Bless the wisdom of chaos.” Matt: “I love that even at this point in the campaign, Molly continues to fuck with people. I’m just so proud. That deeply shook Lucien, for reasons.” Taliesin: “It’s the everlasting gobstopper smoke bomb.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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themusicview · 3 years

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We woke up one morning and fell a little further down - a Godspeed You! Black Emperor retrospective - Pt. 4: Yanqui U.X.O.

It’s difficult to imagine now, what with approaching two decades of continuous fighting, but the missile that launched Operation Iraqi Freedom was the shot heard round the world for many years. The American news cycle was choked by references to terrorism, the public could not stop talking about it, and the consequences are still being felt. Point being, if Madonna couldn’t resist talking about the war, how could Godspeed.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this album is that Godspeed were largely left to do their own thing. Produced by the great Steve Albini, who famously produced In Utero, the result is one of the rawest records Godspeed has ever released. The samples and mixing are gone, in their place is a wall of noise.

09-15-00, the album opener, begins quietly and sedately. A guitar and harpsichord slowly fade into audibility, followed by drums and guitar. The cinematic qualities of the previous effort aren’t exactly present here, instead there is the presence of noise. Noise and the crescendo. The usual array of instruments are present, guitar, bass, drums, but the band also makes use of a few curious additions: timpani, harpsichord, and The album notes connect the song to the start of the second Palestinian intifada, in which the state of Palestine fought against the oppression of the Israelis. This is where a curious theme is brought into the Godspeed discography - the revolution. Being anarchists, Godspeed has always been about change, but this is one of the only times that they have been so blunt and open about it. This is music about the oppressed and the downtrodden, those left behind in the wake of capitalism. They will return to this theme later in their discography, but for now just keep this in the back of your head.

Rockets fall on rocket falls, the second track, is much the same. The track opens with an ascending guitar lick that will get stuck in your head in some form. The best way I can describe this track in its entirety is the Rite of Spring as written by early 2000s emo kids. The drums do a ton of work when they do come in and allow the track to accelerate into the build. Distorted guitars disintegrate into an almost classically composed section. If you told me that this track was actually a section from a late Beethoven piece I would have believed you. Woodwinds and guitars fill out the atmosphere of the track to the point where it feels the most soundtrack like without being fully cinematic. However, when the guitars do come back in, it is nothing short of cataclysmic. It feels earthshaking in a way that is difficult to explain. One more build takes us out of this track. It is easily the highlight of the album and one of my personal favorites that the band has ever put out.

Motherfucker = redeemer, the final two part track, has the quietest introduction ever. It feels like a pit orchestra warming up. A lone glockenspiel sounds an A as the rest of the band noodles around. It gives the listener an opportunity to catch their breath before the insanity that is to come. The guitar, when it does come in, builds quickly, augmented by tremolo violin and a rapidly tapping drum section. This is part of the reason why I love Godspeed so much, why so many people love them; even on albums that don’t necessarily have a concept, there is no mindlessness. Every instrument is perfectly placed, every sound has a purpose, nothing is wasted. For as long as these songs are, for as indulgent as they can be, the craft here is nothing short of immaculate. The end of the first build is filled with these stabs of noise that fall from thousands of feet up. This dies away quickly, and is replaced with an atmospheric western section that wouldn’t sound out of place on f#a#. Another reprieve, a moment of tension building to allow the track to rocket back up again. And while it doesn’t immediately, we are given this almost weeping, contemplative section to close out the first part. It is incredibly impactful.

The second part kicks off with a drone that honestly wouldn’t sound out of place on one of Trent Reznor’s many projects. Human voices, are augmented by what sounds like bowed guitars. The drone begins light, but evolves over the course of 5 minutes into something dark, angry, and deranged. This is broken by a baseline that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tool song. Of course, the more obvious comparison would be Mogwai, another contemporary of the band, but with far less grand ambitions. The build up is similarly intense, but swung to give it a more accelerative feel. The most interesting choice they made was the sudden cut to silence. Literally, it feels like the band unplugged their amps, there isn’t even reverb. There is a hidden track on this album, that takes quite a bit of doing to find. It was released later on Adrian Girt’s sound collage album Droopy Butt Begone as George Bush Cut Up While Talking. It is here that the band’s politics most completely reveal themselves in their music. It is a terrifying collage of sound. Clapping that sounds like static, a George bush speech cut up into something unrecognizable and apocalyptic. It is a lambasting of Bush’s nonsense politics, and the people who bought into it. The man could literally say, “I am against kindness” and you would still cheer. It is a critique that has only grown more and more apt with the current era of American politics.

Yanqui U.X.O is powerful noise rock with a powerful message and, though it wasn’t the most well received upon its release, the shadow of this album has only grown not just due to its compositions, but because, though nobody would know this at the time, this would be the last thing we got from Godspeed for 12 years.

Yanqui U.X.O (CD)

I have to say, for all of the incredible releases Godspeed has put out, this is the one that I have the least fondness for. Part of the reason why Yanqui U.X.O. is still regarded as Godspeed’s worst is, I feel, due to the press receiving the CD version rather than the Vinyl version. It is not bad, godspeed has no bad album, rather it is incomplete. To borrow a comparison from video games, it is the handheld port of the console release. The only track that remains untouched is rockets fall on rocket falls, the remainder of the album is split up or heavily truncated. Motherfucker = redeemer loses the ambient intro and plunder phonics outro that helps to form the thesis for the entire album, and 09-15-00 loses its monolithic nature. In total, over 8 minutes of music is cut from the cd release.

Honestly, I would rather listen to a vinyl rip as opposed to the CD version. You can skip this one.

#godspeed you! black emperor #review #post rock #themusicview

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scifigeneration · 4 years

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Space milestones: here are the missions to look forward to in 2020

by Gareth Dorrian and Ian Whittaker

SpaceX’s Dragon 2 will carry humans for the first time in 2020. NASA/SpaceX

Last year was an excellent year for space exploration, with the icing on the Christmas cake the first ever image acquired of a black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope.

This year, 2020, is set to be interesting too. Here’s what to look out for.

Human spaceflight

The year 2020 is set to be quite a big one for human spaceflight, especially for private companies. Both SpaceX’s Dragon 2 and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft are due to conduct their first crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Both of these projects have been beset with delays, however in recent months both companies have completed a series of successful pre-flight tests.

These include multiple parachute drop tests and the ability of the capsules to rocket themselves free of their launcher in the event of some catastrophic failure. That said, an uncrewed orbital test flight for the Starliner in December failed to reach the ISS as planned, due to a software problem. SpaceX, on the other hand, has already completed an uncrewed orbital test flight of the Dragon 2, and currently expect to launch their first crewed ISS mission in the first quarter of 2020.

Not to be outdone, NASA is scheduled to launch Artemis-1 in November. This will be the first attempted flight of its new Space Launch System, and the Orion spacecraft built jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

This flight, though uncrewed, will take a human-rated spacecraft well beyond the orbit of the moon, before returning to Earth several weeks later. This will be a vital milestone on the road to returning people to the moon. It will also, if successful, be the furthest distance from Earth that a spacecraft which is capable of carrying humans has ever flown. The Orion spacecraft is comprised of the crew capsule, built by Lockheed Martin, with sufficient space to accommodate up to six people, and a service module built in Europe, by Airbus.

China is also planning to launch the first section of a new orbital space station in 2020. When complete, China’s new space station is expected to have about the same dimensions as the former Russian Mir, including a number of orbital laboratory modules and enough space to comfortably accommodate three crew members for extended periods in orbit.

Life on asteroids?

The Japanese Space agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa 2 mission in 2014, which managed to collect a few samples from the asteroid 162173 Ryugu. This should be arriving back at Earth this year. The procedure for achieving this was incredible. As the gravity of the asteroid is tiny, no force can hold a lander to the surface. The first sample of the surface involved firing a small pellet at the asteroid which caused regolith (soil) to be ejected from the surface. At the same time, the satellite approached the surface to collect the dust.

The mission also collected a sample from the inside of the asteroid – a region that hasn’t been exposed to the interstellar medium or the solar wind. This trickier task involved firing a 2.5kg object at high speed into the asteroid from a safe distance and then briefly landing to collect the material.

The samples will allow a detailed look at asteroid composition, giving us some idea of where they might have come from and whether they are capable of carrying life. This is important as it could provide evidence for or against the panspermia theory – the idea that life exists throughout the universe, and is spread by asteroids and meteorites.

Magnetic Mars

The China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) plans for 2020 are extensive. One of their most ambitious projects is a Mars rover – despite having not sent an orbiter to Mars to date.

The rover is aimed for launch in the summer, and should arrive in 2021. It has ground penetrating radar to give a view of the internal structure of Mars. This type of radar is also planned for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, due to launch in July. A combination of subsurface information from multiple sites and rovers will boost our knowledge of how Mars was formed.

Mars 2020 rover. Rawpixel Ltd/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Mars 2020 is set to be the first in a series of missions which will eventually return samples of Martian soil to Earth. The rover will also be measuring the climate and magnetic conditions of Mars. The planet lacks a global protective magnetic field, which leaves its atmosphere vulnerable to the effects of the solar wind.

ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Rover, Europe’s first ever attempted landing of a rover on the red planet, is also scheduled to launch in July. The rover will carry a suite of instruments designed to look for signs of past and present life on Mars. It will include a large drill which can burrow down to two metres to extract samples from well beneath the surface. Here, delicate organic structures are much better protected from the harsh radiation environment of the Martian surface.

A close up look at our star

In February, ESA will be launching a flagship solar mission: Solar Orbiter.

This spacecraft will join NASA’s Parker Solar Probe as a dedicated close range solar observatory. While not getting as close to the Sun as Parker, the Solar Orbiter will still spend much of its life well inside the orbit of Mercury, enduring temperatures of hundreds of degrees.

It will also, by way of numerous gravity assists from Venus, incline its orbit by up to 30° – enabling its array of instruments to peer at higher latitude regions of our star. It will conduct detailed observations of the sun’s magnetic field, and the outflow of plasma into the surrounding solar system called the solar wind.

These higher latitude observations should help scientists to more fully understand the magnetic solar activity cycle, which is still not fully understood. It is also hoped that by observing active regions in detail that extreme space weather event prediction can be improved.

About The Authors:

Gareth Dorrian is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science at the University of Birmingham and Ian Whittaker is a Lecturer in Physics at Nottingham Trent University

This article is republished from our content partners over at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

#science #space exploration #NASA #spacex #Mars #Asteroid #Alien life #extraterrestial life #boeing

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wrestlingisfake · 5 years

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All Out preview

Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page - This match is to determine the first AEW men’s world champion. Page qualified for this match by winning a 21-man battle royale at Double or Nothing on May 25; Jericho qualified by defeating Kenny Omega later in the same show. Jericho has held six world heavyweight titles; this would be his first outside of WWE. Page has never held a singles championship of any kind in a major-league promotion, although he’s been talking about being the first to hold this title since the original AEW press conference in January.

AEW is trying to position this as a true main event, mainly on the strength of the title and Jericho, even though the ladder match and (at one point) Omega-Moxley were clearly bigger draws. I expect that this match will go on last just to establish the primacy of the world championship. That’s a lot of pressure on Page, who was barely even a midcarder 18 months ago. Of all the talent getting pushes to elevate them to the Kenny Omega’s star power, he’s the one with a rocket strapped to his back. There’s a sense that this match is his Rocky moment, and he’s carried that idea well in interviews.

Jericho has handled the story convincingly, pushing the notion that Page is ready for this level of competition, while still asserting that he’s the favorite going into the match. Page is great...but he won’t be good enough on this particular night. Jericho has also stressed that he needs to beat Page, because a loss would set up talk about him passing the torch in the twilight of his career, and he’s not willing to be treated like a used-to-be. It’s an interesting approach for the 48-year-old Jericho, because the tipping point between “veteran superstar” and “old timer doing jobs on the way to retirement” is precarious. It makes sense that he would fight tooth-and-nail to keep from going over that tipping point, and direct that fury towards his 28-year-old opponent.

Assuming this really will close the show, it needs to be a great match. I don’t think it will be, or needs to be, the best match of the night. But it needs to be great enough that we leave thinking they were right to put it on last, and that Page has what it takes to close the show. More critically, we need to come away thinking AEW title matches are epic conflicts, so the promotion can credibly use the championships as box office attractions in their own right.

I would be fine with Page as champion, but I think the best move is to have him deliver a star-making performance and then suffer a heartbreaking loss to Jericho. That’s not to say Page shouldn’t eventually win the title. But Jericho has both the clout and the heel heat to sustain a very long chase from multiple contenders, which will make the first men’s world title change as important as the first men’s world title match.

Rey Fenix & Pentagon, Jr. vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson - The Lucha Bros, Penta and Fenix, are defending the AAA tag team championship. The Young Bucks, Matt and Nick, are defending an AEW undefeated streak. This is a ladder match, so the title belts will be suspended above the ring; to reach them ladders will be provided at ringside for the wrestlers to climb. The first person to retrieve the belts will win the match, and the championship, for his team. Since that’s the only way the match can end, there are effectively no count-outs, disqualifications, pinfalls, or submissions.

The feud between the Lucha Bros and the Young Bucks in February, when Penta and Fenix took exception to the Bucks claiming to be the best tag team and attacked them at their own press conference. On March 16 the Lucha Bros headlined AAA’s Rey de Reyes and won the tag team title, but the Bucks showed up for an impromptu title match and took the belts back to AEW. The Bucks successfully defended the title in a rematch at AEW’s Double or Nothing on May 25, but the Lucha Bros finally won it back at AAA’s Verano de Escandalo on June 16. The Bucks teamed with Kenny Omega against the Lucha Bros and Laredo Kid at AEW Fyter Fest on June 29 and AAA Triplemania on August 3. Penta and Fenix issued the challenge for this match at Fight for the Fallen on July 13.

Fenix suffered some sort of leg injury in the past week. From what I’ve read, it might not be anything, but he was worried he tore something and had to get it checked out. The fact I haven’t heard an actual diagnosis suggests that they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything wrong, but I’m hoping it turned out to be nothing and Fenix just needed to rest it up. Either way, I expect the possible injury to be worked into the story of the match, and for the Bucks to do a bunch of moves and stuff onto the leg.

I kinda think the Mexican team should walk out with the Mexican championship, but it is the Bucks’ show and they’ve talked up how legendary their ladder matches are. They can easily win here and then drop the belts at a AAA show, without any apparent impact on the AEW win-loss stats. I gotta pick the Bucks to win (at least all the way up to the finals of the AEW tag title tournament).

Kenny Omega vs. PAC - Pac, formerly Adrian Neville in WWE, is a substitution for Jon Moxley, who had to pull out of this match last week due to a staph infection. Ironically, the substitution pays off on plans that were canceled a while back.

Pac’s involvement in AEW was announced at the company’s original press conference, while he held Dragon Gate’s top title (the Open the Dream Gate championship). He was set to feud with Hangman Page, and the storyline played up the idea that Page wanted to be a champion, implying the match would figure into the AEW world title picture. Then on May 18 Page beat Pac by disqualification at a British indy show, setting up an angle where Pac refused to face Page at their scheduled AEW match on May 25.

It turned out Pac would not agree to lose any matches during his title run, and AEW had decided never to do DQ finishes to get out of booking clean finishes. There was talk that Pac wasn’t even supposed to lose to Page, but he would be feuding with Omega later. I seem to remember speculating that Omega and Pac were meant to win their matches on May 25 and meet for the AEW title here. Obviously that didn’t happen. But Pac has since lost the Dream Gate belt on July 21, which puts him back in play at AEW. And just in the nick of time, it seems.

I was expecting Moxley to be the slight favorite in the originally scheduled match, but now that Pac is in the mix anything is possible. The outcome is totally up in the air, and it’s just as well since I expect the focus is on delivering a killer match to make up for failing to deliver the advertised match. Even though Omega was playing a dick by mocking Mox’s “boo-boo,” Pac is an even bigger dick, so I’m lowkey pulling for Kenny.

Cody Rhodes vs. Shawn Spears - Spears will be seconded by Tully Blanchard, playing on the legendary rivalry between Blanchard and Cody’s father Dusty. Cody brought an entire entourage to the ring a year ago at All In, but for this match he is contractually limited to a single person in his corner. We haven’t been outright told this person will be a big surprise who will make a big difference in the match, but it’s been set up to let us think that, so I hope Cody doesn’t just bring out Dustin Rhodes or Dallas Page.

Rhodes and Spears were friends in OVW when they were coming up through WWE developmental. Cody hit it big in WWE, while Spears (as Tye Dillinger) languished for most of his thirties. When Spears jumped to AEW, fans generally considered it a positive move for both parties, although Cody made an offhand remark about Spears being a “player-coach” and a “good hand,” curiously implying that he was dismissing his friend as a journeyman. Spears took offense and blasted Cody with a chair on June 29, leaving Cody a bloody mess.

This is easily the biggest match of Spears’s career, and it’s probably one of his last chances to escape the stigma of being a never-was. A win would give him momentum as a key figure in the early weeks of AEW’s TV show, as Cody would need to chase him for a few more months to seek vengeance. A loss would simply validate WWE’s lack of interest in Tye Dillinger--and worse, affirm Cody’s kayfabe dismissiveness on AEW’s own programming. Cody hasn’t actually been pinned yet in AEW, so I assume they’re saving that for something; I hope this is it.

Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta - The team that wins this match earns a bye in the AEW tag team championship tournament. So basically you have to win this one match in order to skip one tournament match. That’s kinda screwy. Both of these teams won three-ways to qualify for this match. The Best Friends (Taylor/Beretta) qualified on June 28, while the Dark Order (Uno/Grayson) qualified on July 13.

I think the plan was for the Dark Order to be super-over as a hot team with a spooky gimmick and a cult following on the indies. It hasn’t been working out. Honestly, Chuck Taylor manages to come off as creepier than the Dark Order’s gimmick just by being a really weird dude who is oddly devoted to hugs. Hopefully the popularity of the Best Friends will override disinterest in the Dark Order to heat the match up. Logically, the bad guys should get the bye, so I think the Dark Order better cheat a lot.

Riho vs. Hikaru Shida - I’ve heard talk that the winner of this match will qualify for the first women’s world championship match on October 2, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. It wouldn’t make a ton of sense anyway, considering Riho is 2-1 in AEW and coming off of a loss, while Shida is 1-0 but hasn’t appeared in the company since May. I don’t have stats in front of me, but I would think at least one other woman in the company would have more credibility in this spot. Then again, Britt Baker was sidelined with a concussion for much of August, so maybe she was originally slated for this spot and they decided they couldn’t wait to see if she’d be cleared. I guess I’ll go with Riho to win, even though I’m still not sure what’s at stake.

Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus & Marko Stunt - The Daniels team is SCU. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus are “A Boy and His Dinosaur,” so I guess with Marko they’re “A Boy and A Boy and His Dinosaur” or something like that. This could be a good chance to put over the Luchasaurus team, but their gimmick is going to be over either way, so maybe they should keep up momentum on SCU.

Darby Allin vs. Joey Janella vs. Jimmy Havoc - This is a three-way match, so the first man to score a fall on either of his opponents wins. These guys were on the losing end of a six-man tag match on July 13. At the time I believe I observed that nobody in that six-man had yet won a match, so now the losers of the Weenie Hut Jr.’s Bowl are having a Super Weenie Hut Jr.’s Bowl. I guess the guy who scores the winning fall gets to escape into the midcard, while the other two open the next show, and the loser of that match gets to hang out with Brandon Cutler backstage or something. Of the three, Allin is the biggest project with perhaps the least indy scene cred, so he’ll probably be the Super Weenie Hut Jr.’s champion.

21-Woman Casino Battle Royale - This is set for the free pre-show. It’s a gauntlet battle royale with timed entrances and over-the-top-rope eliminations, but with the same special rules as the one AEW did on May 25. Five women start the match, and every three minutes another group of women enter; the 21st woman enters alone. Eliminations can occur at any time by exiting the ring over the top rope and placing both feet on the floor before re-entering. The last woman left after everyone else is eliminated wins the match, and qualifies to wrestle...uh, someone (maybe the winner of Riho vs. Shida?) for the women’s championship on October 2.

As soon as AEW announced the match, they admitted they didn’t have 21 women on the roster, so we can expect a lot of new faces. Confirmed so far:

Allie

Awesome Kong

Big Swole

Brandi Rhodes

Britt Baker

Ivelisse

Jazz

Nyla Rose

Sadie Gibbs

Shazza McKenzie

Teal Piper

I heard AEW and Impact Wrestling were in talks to put Tenille Dashwood in this match, but even if that’s true they might not get the i’s dotted in time. Taya Valkyrie was on Being the Elite the other day, but I don’t know if that means anything. Obviously Chicago is wondering if CM Punk will be at this show, but I never see anyone wondering if his wife, AJ Mendez, might show up. Apparently something is up with Kylie Rae but nobody’s talking about it, which is troubling. I don’t even know what continent Bea Priestly will be on during this show, so she may not be available.

It feels like AEW’s biggest plans in this division are for Baker, although that could be just to have her put over someone else when the moment comes. The safest bet is Britt, though, until someone else emerges from the pack.

Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen - Another match for the pre-show. Kassidy and Quen are Private Party, and everyone likes them but the big issue I’m always hearing is that they’re green and need to be protected by veterans until they’re ready. Evans and Angelico are veterans, so there you go. My guess is that AEW won’t book Private Party to actually win a match until they’ve decided the team is truly ready, but since we don’t know when that’ll happen we have something to look forward to every time they wrestle. For now, I gotta pick Evangelico (is anybody calling them that?) to win.

#aew #all out #hangman page #chris jericho #the young bucks #lucha bros #kenny omega #pac

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kenzieam · 5 years

Text

Druid - Chapter Seven

Rating: M (smut, language, violence, mature themes, potential major character death)

Genre: Drama/Angst

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******************************************************************************

LEV

This is what it feels like to finally come home.

I let the steady beat of James’ heart lull me to sleep.

Light streaming through the window wakes me later. I’m still cuddled next to James, face burrowed against his wide chest. His arm is still a heavy, comforting warmth across my shoulders and his gentle snores are adorable. Carefully, slowly, I lift my head to look at his face. His head is tipped to the side, propped against mine and, as I move, he frowns in his sleep and grumbles, arm tightening around me. I take a few moments to study the man before me.

His stubbled cheeks are darker, the beginnings of a real beard starting to show. A fresh scar I didn’t notice before bisects the left side of his bottom lip and I feel a stab of guilt. Hammer’s fist did that, after I left. The scar just adds to his beauty though, a wild and alpha attractiveness currently being countered by the complete innocence of his sleeping face. I’m jealous of his lashes, itch to feel those full lips press to mine. I-

Have to get a hold of myself.

We bypassed all normal interaction before, leaping directly into wild, crazed sex against a wall and look where it got us, me running like a coward, only slinking back a year later. I can’t let that happen again; we need to talk, develop a relationship, a friendship not based simply on want and need, although Jesus, there’s a lot of that right now...

Get up, moron.

Reluctantly, I slither and shimmy free of his grip. James grumbles more and I think I hear him breathe my name before he settles again, but I force myself to continue to step away.

When I return from the bathroom, he’s still blissfully asleep, but the delicious aroma of fresh coffee is in the air. God Bless automatic coffee makers.

The view outside his window captures my attention and, after I pour myself a mug, I can’t help but stand there, gazing out.

A shuffling and sounds of movement reach my ears belatedly, then I feel arms band around me. There’s a hesitation in them, but as I barely smother a moan and lean back into James’ chest, he sighs in relief and nuzzles even closer, burrowing his face into the crook of my neck.

“Good morning,” he rumbles, his voice a sexy rasp. I shiver when he turns his head and presses a lingering, tender kiss to my pulse point.

“Good morning.” I whisper back, skin goose-bumping. Christ, I could stand being greeted like this every morning, what a hardship. “I was going to start breakfast, but I got distracted.”

James lifts his head, rests his chin on my shoulder and stares out the window with me. For a long moment, he doesn’t speak, but contentment radiates off him in waves. “When are you meeting with Steve and Nat?”

I glance towards my phone, silent on the table. No light pulses to indicate a new message. “I don’t know, Trent said after noon, I think.”

“That’s good of you,” he continues, the rumble of his voice more felt against my back then heard. “Selling to them.”

“Are you kidding? It’s awesome, I’m so happy they asked. I wanted a nice family in there, people who’d fill it with goodness.”

“And bikers.” James teases.

“And friends.” I counter easily.

He doesn’t answer with words, but his arms tighten around me and he inhales deeply, nuzzling his face back into my throat. “Thank you for staying.” He murmurs after a long, comfortable pause.

“Thank you for letting me. And giving me another chance.” I blurt the rest before I chicken out.

His lips caress my skin, sending fresh goose-bumps racing over my body. “Of course, baby.”

His new pet name sends a delicious shiver through me and I turn my head towards him, running on sheer instinct. He raises his head to meet my gaze and I’m thrown by the banked desire in his eyes. His lips are parted, breath growing heavier and his gaze drops to my lips. He shifts his bulk so we’re facing each other.

Our first touch is hesitant, questing; but a bolt of heat rockets through me. There’s a faint tremor in James’ lips, a hesitation and I know that if I opened my eyes to look, I’d see pain on his face from holding himself back. I feel the same pain; my face is twisted with the same sweet agony. Our kiss deepens, mouths opening, widening to capture more of each other. His tongue against mine pulls a wrecked moan from my throat and he answers with an equally broken groan low in his chest.

James pulls away with a pained growl, resting his forehead to mine. His breath is harsh pants on my face and neck, fingers clawing me closer.

“Stay.” He breathes, so low I barely hear and part of me wishes I hadn’t. The anguish and desperate hope in his voice claws at my very soul. I don’t deserve this, this incredible man. I don’t deserve this devotion, this love from him. I’ve hurt him so badly before...

Then don’t do it again. A voice deep down inside me whispers. Stay and show him how you really feel.

I nod, not trusting my voice and he lets out a long breath, his hands reach up tentatively to cup my face. He raises his head again, lips ghosting against mine, fighting to not claim my mouth the rough way his tensed muscles say he wants to. We touch again and he whimpers, low in his throat. I pull back, overwhelmed and burrow my face in his throat instead, start to nibble along his velvet skin, drawing a groan from his chest as he drops his head back. He shifts against me and I feel him, hard and straining behind his zipper. Part of me forgets my vow of just minutes ago, the pledge to go slowly, build a relationship before tumbling back into bed with him, but another part of me screams for that to shut the fuck up.

It’s the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in recent memory, but I pull away, taking a deliberate step backwards, reluctantly meeting his troubled gaze. “James...”

I trail off, one word from him will bring me right back against him again.

“Yeah,” he grunts, voice rough with desire and strain. He steps further back, nodding and rubbing his jaw absently. “Yeah, you’re right.” He clears his throat and I stumble to fill the upcoming silence.

“I’ve got some things to finish at the house before I meet Steve and Nat. I’ll head over there now.”

James nods, swallowing hard. He shifts uncomfortably and I fight to not drop my gaze to his tight jeans. I’m sure his body hurts as much as mine does right now; taut with need, shaking with hunger. “I’ve got a bike I’m working on for a guy-”

“Down at the shop?” The club owns a few legitimate businesses, including an auto-body garage.

“Nah,” James gestures vaguely to the backyard. “I’ve got a place out back, mostly for bikes; I’m getting into more designs and customization.” He chews at his bottom lip for a moment, debating. “There’s a party tonight, at the clubhouse... a birthday party, would you like to come with me?”

I hesitate, eagerness warring with wariness. “For who?”

James’ lips quirk. “Thor.”

The name is like cold water down my spine. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He’s shaking his head. “It’s okay.”

“No, I’m sure Thor never wants to see me again-”

His blue eyes meet mine. “Trust me, babe. He was asking about you just a few weeks ago. I think he’s willing to forget the past.”

I can see Thor doing that, he’s a naturally gentle soul, despite the Viking God body containing it. “But your other-”

James cuts me off. “No, they’re over it. It was never their business anyway. Thor coming back with Sable shut up the last of the pricks still busting my balls.” He pauses, studying my face. “We don’t need to stay long, if you don’t want to.”

I need to get over this hang-up. If I want James in my life, if I want to be in James’ life, then that means the club too. Besides, the women who date bikers are supposed to be tough, not wimps. “Okay.”

His wide, relieved grin makes my heart skip. “Great. Leave here about 8:00? We can eat before that.”

This is sounding more and more like a date, but the nervous flutter I’m expecting at the thought doesn’t come. I feel excitement and anticipation instead. “Should we bring him something? I can stop at the liquor store.”

He frowns, tilting his head. “You don’t have to-”

“No, I want to. I... he’s a nice guy. Does he still like bourbon?”

“Yeah, doll. He does.”

BUCKY

I leave but stay standing beside my bike.

I watch as she locks up the house, then walks to her car.

I watch as she leaves, and the last pieces of my heart shatter.

A year.

A fucking year.

I break a thousand times over.

Sudden memories of her assault me indiscriminately, randomly throughout my days, slam into my brain and force me to my knees, weak and shaking. Her scent, her smile, her laugh; a bittersweet hell, death of a thousand cuts; my heart bleeds daily.

The beatdown Hammer gives me is a welcome distraction from the raw agony in my soul. The lingering pain of broken bones gives me something to savor and escape into, rather than letting the blackness Levi’s leaving brought to my life consume me.

I leave endless messages, calls and texts, but she refuses to answer any of them. Finally, an automated voice tells me the number is no longer in service.

Thor leaves as soon as he’s able to, not that I blame him. I know it’s only because of Steve that he’s only going downstate, and not completely leaving the club. The brothers bust my balls, some firmly in Thor’s defense, others not. I can take, it barely registers anyway through the static hum of my misery.

I know Steve and Nat are keeping in contact with her, keeping up her house while she’s gone; and the stubborn bastard won’t tell me about her, won’t give me her new number.

Prick.

I don’t overcome the darkness Levi’s leaving surrounded me in, I can’t, but I learn to live with it, learn to navigate in the blackness. The club girls no longer interest me, the antics of the club parties no longer excite me; all I want is what I can’t have.

A beautiful, auburn-haired goddess, her eyes the color of amethysts. I could drown in those violet depths, and welcome the death.

Thor returns, with a woman at his back. She’s tall and blond, her sunny smile a surprise for a biker chick; Sable. And Thor looks at her the way I look at Levi, she’s his entire world, his reason for living.

I’m genuinely happy for him, for the happiness he’s found, but seeing them together is a punch in the guts every time, because I had my happiness too, for five fucking seconds, then she left.

A few days after Thor returns to the club, he approaches me during a quiet moment. The fresh scar on my lip throbs in remembrance and I shift my weight in anticipation. But he wants to talk and I humbled by what he says.

He forgives me. He’s willing to move past what happened, the ugly words and violence. He wants to be my brother again, bury the hatchet and I wonder if I would be a good a man as him if the situation were reversed.

“I owe you, actually.” He laughs, taking a deep swig of beer. “Without all that, I never would have met Sable. Shit... when it happened, when I saw that look in Lev’s eyes, I knew what went down and I wanted to kill you. I cursed your name the whole way downstate; then there she was, like a breath of fresh air. What I felt for Levi didn’t even compare, what I thought was love... wasn’t. If you feel half for Levi what I feel with Sable, then I understand your pain, man. I’m sorry I got in the way. Shit. It brought me to my girl though, I’d do it all over again.”

He's a rare man, and I tell him so, we bro-hug and mend our fences. Back to brothers, back to family.

But I’m still alone.

I’m surprised to see Steve’s truck parked outside the local realtor’s office and pull up beside it to wait. I haven’t seen him yet today, and the fog I’ve been lost in for the last year is lifting a little, I feel like hanging out, teasing him a little.

Then I see her.

She’s here. And I suddenly can’t breathe, can’t think. All the pain rushes back, all the agony, the anguish. I can’t decide if I want to drive my bike off a cliff or fall onto my knees in front of her and beg for another chance.

Then Steve’s opening his mouth and I can’t decide whether or not to kill him first.

“Why don’t you two catch up?” He chirps, the happy bastard.

I’m frozen in place, and Levi looks just as numb.

“Yeah, go have dinner.” He turns to me. “Nat and I are buying Lev’s house, we were just taking her out to celebrate.” I want to throttle him, I can’t handle Levi turning her back on me right now.

I try to back out with at least a modicum of dignity intact. “Brother, I can’t intrude-”

Now his ol’ lady is piping up, turning to Levi and putting in her two cents.

Whatever she says works though, for Levi answers with a quiet. “Okay.” But it looks like she thinks she’s agreeing to be led to the gallows instead of dinner.

With a final triumphant crow, my VP is gone, taking his woman with him, and I’m left there with the woman who could either break my heart or fulfill my entire life, all with one word.

“You don’t have to.” I find myself murmuring.

But she does! And we agree on the Station, and I can’t quite process what this means. I’m still shaking when we arrive, find it hard to breathe when Levi reaches back into her car for a jacket, blessing me with a hint of her shapely ass beneath her patterned skirt. I’m having a hard time concentrating when all my blood is racing south.

She’s more relaxed at dinner and I bare my heart and soul to her more than I ever thought I could, say things I’ve only ever confessed to her in my most tortured dreams.

I confused her, pushed her away with my anger and silence; she seems stunned when I reveal the truth; my glares were anger, but not at her, at Thor, at myself. And the broken man who stole a kiss in the clubhouse kitchen was just a glimpse of the agony I lived with daily.

She apologizes for leaving, for running from the chance we had to talk, to work through this mess; and for staying away so long.

And most telling, most heart-rending; she doesn’t run when I confess my love for her. She’s surprised, sure; and I can’t blame her, but she doesn’t leave.

And she doesn’t want the night to end. I can hardly function as I let her into my house, watch her take in what I choose to surround myself in with gentle curiosity. The cat, who doesn’t love anyone, even me most of the time, is near spastic with glee rubbing against her and if I wasn’t trying so hard to behave I’d boot his furry ass outside from pure jealousy at the knowing gleam in his green eyes when he allows me to stroke his head, purely for show, any other time I tried I’d pull back a bloody stump.

I don’t know what movie she picks, I’d watch the inanest drivel, I’d watch Battlefield Earth for fuck’s sake, as long as I got to sit beside Levi while I did it.

But I want more.

“Tell me about yourself, Levi.” I’m thirsty to know more, know everything about my girl and she doesn’t disappoint, proving herself a spellbinding storyteller, weaving an incredible tapestry for me to imagine. Then she turns the tables, and I feel a bolt of panic.

“There’s things I can’t tell you. About the club, and what we do.” Shit, what if she insists?

“No, I know. I mean stuff you can. Funny stories; you and Steve growing up.” She understands, and I nearly collapse back against the couch in relief.

My stories aren’t nearly as entertaining, my storytelling sorely lacking compared to hers, but she listens and laughs, surrounding me with this unbelievable feeling, this contentment like I’ve never known before.

I think I’ve just experienced my most perfect evening.

I can’t even hold back when she asks about my arm. I knew it was coming eventually, how many men are out there with full metal prosthetic arms? But I don’t mind telling her, I’m long past tears over that part of my life. I still grieve for Daria, probably always will, and still wake at night sometimes, the screech of rending metal, of scraping flesh and Daria’s last scream before I blacked out echoing in my mind, but it no longer consumes me the way it did.

And she takes my metal hand, holds it and plays with it, not afraid or repulsed. She measures our palms, smiles over the difference in our fingers, not knowing how much I crave to cup her cheek with it, trace it along her gorgeous body and feel her shudder beneath me.

I settle for kissing the top of her head, resting my cheek against her hair and, lulled by a bone-deep relaxation I don’t ever recall feeling before, fall asleep.

As I do, one last thought drifts through my mind.

This is what it feels like to finally come home.

She’s not curled into my side when I wake up and I feel a bolt of panic, mixed with sorrow. Then noises from the kitchen tell me she’s still here and I’m on my feet, questing to her, hesitant as I wrap my arms around her, begging her to accept my touch, nearly swooning when she leans back against me. I kiss her neck, relish the shiver she gives me and just snuggle close, enjoying this feeling for as long as I can before real life intrudes.

She meant to make me breakfast, but got distracted gazing out the window; fuck, I could wake up each morning to that view.

Then we kiss, and it’s the most visceral, passionate kiss of my life. We part reluctantly, heavily. We’re going too fast and we both know it.

“Stay,” I beg, not wanting her to run again like last time. She nods and I cup her face, fighting with everything I have to not take her right there, I can’t help but whimper when we touch again then she pulls away, nuzzling into my throat, firing up my body with her seductive nibbles and sucks. Before I lose control, before we both rush into what we’re trying so hard to do right this time, she pulls away again, this time for good.

“James,” her voice is as wrecked as I feel.

“Yeah,” I manage, rubbing at my jaw. “Yeah, you’re right.”

She has to finish up with her house, and although I want nothing more than to spend the whole day with her, I know I can’t. I ask her to the clubhouse for Thor’s party tonight, but I’m torn about whether or not I want her to go. Part of me wants to keep Levi all to myself, stay locked up in this house as long as we can alone, but another part knows that’s foolish and greedy. The MC is my life, and I want Levi in my life too, so they’ll have to mingle at some point. Besides, Thor’s forgiven both of us, is genuinely happy with Sable and the rest of my brothers who disagree can go fuck themselves.

She’s such a sweetheart, she wants to bring Thor a gift, and my heart is still racing in my chest for her when she leaves.

LEV

James had spaghetti waiting when I got back. The house sale went off without a hitch, and I spent the next few hours driving aimlessly around town, letting my mind wander. Although I know what I want, James and only James, the path to that is not entirely clear.

Firstly, I have nowhere to live anymore. Sure, James has offered his guest room, but are we ready to move in together so fast? I think I already know James’ answer, and mine, but what’s the right answer?

Fuck the ‘right’ answer, do what feels good.

I haven’t decided yet if that little voice is bent on helping me or getting me into trouble.

I suppose I could rent an apartment for a while, but what’s the point? The end result will be the same. James and I are one, connected. This has been inevitable for years, since high school, really.

Secondly, my career. I’ll be the first to admit tattooing is definitely suited to a nomadic lifestyle, all you need you can carry with you. And while I’ve entertained the idea of my own shop for a while now, I’m not ready for that quite yet. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a shop I can work out of, and worst-case scenario, I could just do body-piercing in a salon for now, until something opened up, or I finally decided to just jump into my own.

All of this musing and mind-wandering however, has just been a distraction. What I want, what I crave and need is right there in front of me, kissed the fucking daylights out of me this morning, and is more than willing to give me another chance.

Stop fighting this, stop fighting fate, open your eyes.

James’ delighted smile when he opened his door to my knock was all the confirmation I need that I’m making the right choice.

All that resolution, however, doesn’t stop my nerves from jangling as we approach the clubhouse. There’re far more bikes there than I’ve seen before, more bikers milling around, the music audible a long way off.

Sensing my tension, James yells over his shoulder at me. “A bunch of our downstate charter are up for Thor’s party.”

Oh. And how will they receive me? Stop it, James wouldn’t have brought you if you weren’t safe.

He parks nearest the door, the President’s spot and waits for me to dismount first. His arm stays around me as we enter the clubhouse, even as people recognize him and call out to him, high-five and fist-bump him, eye me with interest until James’ warning growl makes them stop. James leads me to the couches at the back and we’re still a few feet away when the birthday boy spots us.

For the briefest beat, surprise flashes in his eyes and something else, regret? Pain for our missed chance or just the ugly way we parted? Then he’s standing and pulling me into a bear-hug, his greeting like a big enthusiastic Golden Retriever.

I manage a glance at James when Thor finally lets me go and he’s watching his brother with narrowed eyes but, as our eyes meet, his lips pull into a smile. Thor keeps his hands on my shoulders and grins widely at me.

“Levi, my lady! You look beautiful!”

“Happy birthday, Thor. I brought you a present.” I hold up the bourbon and can’t hold back a grin at his delighted response. His hands leave my shoulders as he cradles the bottle, face splitting into a huge grin.

“Thank you!” He seems to remember the blonde standing patiently behind him and he turns to her, pulling her forward. “Levi, meet my Sable.”

My Sable. My heart melts and any fear I held that Thor wasn’t completely happy flies out the window.

His words seem to placate Sable as well and her smile is genuine. She pulls me into a hug not unlike her brutish man’s and giggles as we pull apart far enough to look at each other.

“Welcome, Levi. Thor’s told me so much about you.”

I feel a jolt of guilt, but Thor’s face is wide and happy, and I can detect no malice or snideness in Sable’s tone. They truly are beautiful people, both inside and out.

“Thank you, I heard you’re originally from down-state?”

That seems to set her off, and the boys have to guide us to the couch as she talks my ear absolutely off. Thor pulls her into his lap and James pulls me into his, then they leave us be, talking to each other and their brothers while Sable and I get on like a house afire. There’s something comforting and fresh and fun about her and I genuinely, almost instantly, like her. James gently pushes a bottle of beer into my hand and Thor insists on cracking open his present and doing a round of shots, then two.

All in all, I’m having a great time. Nat and Steve found and joined us on the couch and Nat falls effortlessly into our conversation while Steve laughs beneath her with his brothers. Newly arrived partiers shout greetings at Thor and everyone is happy and drunk and merry and-

I love this. I realize. I love this closeness, this family dynamic. The party is loud and rowdy elsewhere, but around us is calmer, and I feel completely and totally comfortable here. I’m home.

I also have to use the bathroom, and lean down to murmur in James’ ear. He hesitates briefly. I wore one of his Druid hoodies here, but I took it off when it got too hot, and now I’m only wearing snug jeans and a wife-beater, in short, not his cut, not his mark. I never had a problem when I was with Thor, James keeps his brothers in line when it comes to respecting the club women, but there’s down-state boys here too.

“I’ll take Sable or Nat with me.” I offer and his face relaxes. He nods with a relieved grin.

Nat’s on her phone, talking to the babysitter, so I ask Sable and she leaps happily from Thor’s lap, whirling and planting a kiss on his surprised lips.

“Don’t get lost!” He teases when she explains where we’re going. He roars when both of us flip him off and turn away.

The bathroom has multiple stalls and most of them are busy, full of laughing girls. I emerge from mine first and wash my hands, then scurry out; it’s becoming fuller in there, women crowding around the mirrors to touch up their make-up. I’ll just wait right outside the door for Sable-

“Hey,” A rough, unfamiliar voice grates on my ears and I turn in surprise. Before me is a tall, muscular man, reeking like a still. I don’t recognize him, and he obviously doesn’t know me. He must be from down-state. His patch reads ‘Lurch.’ Appropriate.

“You’re hot.” He growls and I wonder if he’d be more eloquent if he wasn’t three sheets to the wind. Before I can polite extricate myself, his meaty paw shoots out and gropes my breast. His hand is rough and hard, his touch in no way gentle or welcome. I slap his hand away with a mix of indignation and anger, more than a little surprised at his boldness.

Instantly his face changes. Gone is the genial, happy drunk copping a brash feel. Suddenly, he is cold and hard, eyes like shards of glittering ice. Pain explodes in my cheek and I stagger, dropping to the floor as my head spins.

The fucker just back-handed me, hard. I taste blood and find it hard to focus, everything is swimming and doubling. I look up, fighting to show the rage I’m feeling, to bare my teeth in a snarl, anything; but my face is numb and unresponsive. He draws his booted foot back to kick me and I know this is going to hurt.

An animal roar of unbridled fury hits my ears just as someone slams into my attacker. I’m still too disoriented to follow what happens next, but I can see at least two men, three? dragging the prick who hit me out the clubhouse door. Sable is at my side suddenly, grabbing at my face, pulling back when I hiss in pain.

“Levi? What happened? Are you okay?”

“That prick hit... me. What the...”

Nat drops beside us. “Steve, James and Thor are dealing with him. C’mon girl, we’ll take you upstairs, doc’s on his way.” She elbows looky-loos away and helps Sable guide me towards the stairs. Behind me, I register screaming and shouting, thuds and crashes, the sounds of someone getting the ever-loving shit beaten out of them. We’re almost upstairs when two gunshots pierce the air, making me jump. As we reach the end of the hallway, and the door marked ‘President’, I hear booted feet pounding up the stairs, then James’ desperate voice, all traces of rage gone, agitated concern making his words crack.

“Levi? Is she alright?” There’s a jingle of keys as he thrusts them at Nat to unlock the door, then he’s grabbing my shoulders, turning me to face him. His face contorts when he sees me.

“Fuck, baby.” He pulls me to his heaving chest, frantic and half carries me past the girls into his room. With startling gentleness, he helps me sit on the edge of the bed and stands to face me, hands on his hips.

“Stitch is on his way.” Nat reports and James nods, looking like an animal wanting to pace his cage. He looks up, wiping at his face and for the first time, I see the blood.

“Bring us ice.”

Both girls nod and disappear and James turns back to me, crouching in front of me, taking my hands in his. The disorientation is gone, and the double vision, but my cheek still feels hot and tight.

Tears stand out in James’ eyes, tears of sorrow and rage. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

I rush to comfort him. “It’s not your fault, he’s down-state, he doesn’t know me.”

“Was.” He grunts.

“Wait, what?” Was?

His gaze goes hard. “He laid hands on you, doll. He hit you. Nobody touches what’s mine.” I shiver involuntarily at the coldness in his voice. This is Cannon, this is the president of The Druids, this is a man whose killed before and, I believe, again, just now.

Nat reappears, with Steve, Thor and Sable behind her. James takes the ice pack she offers and presses it carefully to my cheek. I fight a wince.

“She okay?” Steve asks. He doesn’t wait for James to answer. “Levi honey, you okay?”

I look up, turn my head to meet their concerned gazes. “Just rung my bell a bit.” I attempt a joke, but Thor looks sick. As the club’s Sargeant-At-Arms, the safety of the club and its members is his responsibility.

As I meet his troubled eyes, he pushes past Steve and strides towards me. James tenses to block him, but I lay my hand on his and squeeze. Thor drops to his knee in front of me.

“Forgive me, Levi.”

“It’s not your fault.” I protest. James remains silent, but claps his brother on the shoulder. “Please, I’m sorry, I should pay better attention.” James growls low in his chest but a man pushing into the room halts any further talk.

“Stitch.” James barks and Thor stands, stepping out of the way.

Stitch is young and quiet, eyes dark with shaggy brown hair. I haven’t seen much of him around before. “I didn’t know you were a doctor.”

Stitch briefly meets my eyes. “Field medic. Afghanistan. Two tours.” Then he’s all business, rooting around in a small bag.

That explains the somberness, the haunted eyes.

“Follow my finger,” he instructs, moving his raised index finger across my line of vision. I see Steve motion James over and whisper to him. James looks conflicted, and Steve murmurs to him again, nodding in my direction. Reluctantly, it seems, James leaves and Steve moves closer, taking a protective stance beside Thor.

“Look at me.” Stitch continues, shining a light in my eyes.

BUCKY

I don’t fucking need this right now. I want to be upstairs with my girl. My jaw is tight, teeth almost squeaking from the pressure as I descend the stairs and march to the door. The party is continuing, albeit quieter and I don’t miss the looks I’m getting; some are surprised, some are respectful, one or two are nervous. Whatever.

A tall, lanky man waits outside. I glance at the ground. Someone’s already disposed of the trash.

“Cannon.” Tracer, the President of our down-state charter says. His voice gives nothing away, I don’t know if he’s pissed or contrite.

“Tracer.” I reply, coming to a stop a half-dozen feet away. The smell of gunpowder is still thick out here, beneath it the sharp tang of blood. I flex my left fist and it whirs quietly.

“Was that really necessary?”

I fight down a surge of renewed rage. Was that really necessary? What, is he fucking high? “Yes. He hit my woman; was about to kick her like a fucking coward.”

The ‘C’ word is not thrown about lightly in our MC and Tracer shifts his weight, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

“That was... excessive; but sometimes these bitches need a-”

“Don’t fucking finish that fucking sentence, Trace. I’ll put you down right beside your boy.” Tracer, unfortunately, runs a far looser club than I, and believes in a little physical ‘correction’ if any of his club’s women step out of bounds. That shit doesn’t fly with me and he goddamn well knows it.

He holds up his hands. “She wasn’t wearing your cut-” He begins, ready to protest that there was no way Lurch could have known she was mine. I know Lurch wasn’t renowned for his stellar intelligence, but fuck right off.

“Fuck that. She was in my lap all goddamn night. There was no question whose property she is. And even if there was, that shit doesn’t happen here and you know it. Not my fault if you haven’t educated your brothers on that. Do what you want back home, keep your fucking hands to yourself up here.” I’m about done with this shit. After Steve, Thor and I laid that miserable bastard out, beaten to an absolute pulp, I pulled my .45 and put two in his fucking skull. And I’d do it again; fuck, I’m tempted to do the same to Tracer, what an asshole. Can’t he see the seriousness of this? Levi is not just some club girl, she’s mine. “If I was down-state and decided Missy needed a fist in the mouth, you’d be cool with that?”

Tracer flushes, eyes dropping. I’ve finally touched on something that makes sense to him. I see the argument forming in his stance; Levi isn’t my ol’ lady, but he wisely keeps it to himself. He knows Lurch’s behavior would have earned a serious beat-down if Levi was just a club girl, the fact that I took his miserable life as payment shows how serious I am about her.

Finally, he nods. “This done?”

“Is it?” I shoot back.

He wipes a hand over his mouth. His brother fucked up and paid the price, he can accept it and continue, or not and start a war between charters, either way, I’m ready. “Yeah.” He steps forward and extends his hand.

I pause a beat then take it. His hand squeezes mine and I squeeze back. He lets go before me.

“Must be a hell of a woman.”

“She is.”

#bucky barnes #au bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky and lev #bucky barnes angst

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ghostmartyr · 5 years

Text

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 4]

Still on attempt number one of beating this game with standard Nuzlocke rules + no fighting outside of Trainer battles. A death has occurred, but all in all, it’s been more optimistic than expected.

Barring some unfortunate experiences in a cave.

But it’s time for a new cave now!

Tunnel. Whatever.

Though I lied for the sake of convenient narrative pacing. Before we go inside Rock Tunnel and explore all it has to offer, there’s a trainer outside who is in need of some battling.

Picknicker Heidi wants to battle. She has two pokemon, and the first is a level 20 Pikachu. tfw you miss having a Ground pokemon, but this challenge is made for grief and I shan’t shed tears. Clefairy follows the Pikachu. With, appropriately, Follow Me as its first move. Hee.

Anyway, Allenby handles both.

Back into the tunnel. Where we have a catch waiting for us.

Also Zubat.

Many, many Zubat.

There we go. A not-Zubat.

Caught! I dub you Athrun. I’m never going to do anything with you, probably, but you can stay in the party. In case something goes desperately wrong.

Now, with the power of Flash, let’s explore the part of the game I always hated most as a child. I don’t know if I understood Flash or how it worked or that I would be happier if I had it, but I have very distinct memories of grabbing a flashlight and shining it on my gameboy in an attempt to stomp my way through the cave.

I didn’t figure out until years later that light outside the game was not going to help.

Many of my childhood trials were self-inflicted.

Pokemaniac Ashton is our first contestant of the tunnel. He opens with a level 23 Cubone. I make the decision to switch Noin in, then immediately want to strangle myself because Noin is part Poison. But it works out, and she’s in to deal with the following Slowpoke.

Noin advances to level 25, and that’s the first fight.

A level down, Pokemaniac Winston wants to battle. He has one pokemon. It is a level 25 Slowpoke. Delightful. By which I mean slightly intimidating. Noin switches in, and I start reconsidering Allenby’s position as first in the party.

Shit.

That was a critical hit from Confusion.

...How do critical hits work in this gen?

2x a normal hit. So it normally does 24 damage. So to survive, Noin has to--ugh, screw it, I’ll spend a turn on a Super Potion.

(Normally it does 23 damage. So noted.)

Okay, this is fine.

Noin is also going to move to the front, since Pokemaniacs seem to trump Hikers in this area of the Tunnel.

...It was fine, then Slowpoke used Disable. Yay, okay, still fine.

We continue down the tunnel. Next opponent appears to be a Picnicker, so Allenby goes back in front. I feel like this is going to be a lot of switching things around. For real this time, since those Slowpokes are scary.

Thanks Martha.

Heero can fight the level 22 Oddish. As well as the Bulbasaur.

Another Pokemaniac moves Noin back to the front, and I’m already tired of putting this much thought into what I’m doing.

I dearly love these games so much.

His name is Steve, and he has a level 22 Charmander. Ah. Uh. Heeeeeero. ;-; Heeeeeelp. Then it’s another Cubone, and that one can go to Noin.

My party isn’t too battered from all of this, but the thing that I really dislike about caves is that they make me unwilling to go back to the Pokemon Center even when my extreme caution wants me to. I want to embrace the hover parent. My children must live.

But I really hate walking through caves, so I prefer all of my walking through caves to go forward. Alas.

And of course with the level 20 Machop. Ugh. This is why Noin doesn’t get to be up front for these things. Even if everything else Hikers have is of interest to Noin’s dietary needs.

Allenby will eat that, but the critical hit she also eats means Noin is in for the Onix. Noin hits level 26 and we’re all very proud of her.

Post-fight, Allenby gets a Super Potion and moves up front to fight the other Hiker in this room.

Local man bullies small child.

This one’s name is Allen. He has one pokemon, which is instantly scary. It is a Geodude, and fears are instantly assuaged. ...While Magnitude 7 is going to mean another Super Potion for Allenby. Who has just gone and hit level 27. Yay.

Hiker Lenny is up next. He’s got a level 19 Geodude, and a team count that promises more. Noin is going to handles the others to keep the damage risk at a minimum.

Oh, but then there’s a Machop, and Allenby can have that.

Geez, but Allenby is taking way too many critical hits for comfort. I’m basically using some kind of Potion after every fight. I can’t remember how long this tunnel is, but. I would prefer it to be ending faster than it seems to be going.

Real player characters have maps.

He has a level 20 Onix. And a name I wasn’t looking at when it showed up on the screen. Noin gets the level 20 Geodude so Allenby can please stop losing health. ...Same with the next Onix.

Oliver, that’s the dude’s name.

Hiker Lucas is next, bringing the level 21 Geodude.

...Aaaand a Graveler. For Noin.

Oliver doesn’t.

Picnicker Sofia! With a level 21 Jigglypuff! And a Pidgey?

...Zaft. Let’s... give you a try. Heero might be rescuing you, but let’s give you a shot. You won! You can’t fight anything else until we get you some medical attention, but look at that! A whole fight! All by yourself!

Now get out so Allenby can murder the Meowth.

Realistically, I think Zaft is going to have the same problem Ismail had. The training demands before Zaft can carry weight could kill our little Voltorb buddy. But I love Electrode. I’d like to use one. What I ultimately end up with is likely a question of whether or not I can get the Exp. Share, but still. Something needs to kill my rival’s eventual Gyarados, right?

Hey!

Naisu.

No, you can’t learn Rage.

Hiker Dudley says hello with a level 21 Geodude. I grant the next to Noin. As well as the Graveler.

And there’s a move tutor down here that teaches Rock Slide. That sounds like an Allenby move. Bye, Scratch. You had your time.

A Pokemaniac’s up next, so Noin goes in the front. Hi Cooper-san. Hi level 20 Slowpoke. Hiiiiiiii-oh fuck.

I clicked something.

The window closed.

Okay, let’s try to salvage this. I think Lucas was last. I’ll just... do what it says I did up above and hope I wind up in the same place. One moment that you won’t feel at all, please.

And back. Zaft escaped the Pidgey with slightly more HP left, but everything else is exactly the same, and we’re on the second Slowpoke with Noin.

And done. Nice.

Though when I was checking my team during my replay, there was. a thing.

What. Did. Did I give it that accidentally?

...Pickup can give you TMs? I guess? I don’t even want to look that up, in case it disrupts the magic, but that’s bizarre. Or not, since TMs are one and done in this gen. Still. What.

Okay, now to go up the ladder and figure out if Noin’s 2 Absorbs left will make it until Lavender, or if we’re spending a precious Ether on her.

Picnicker Leah blocks the way. Allenby looks at her level 22 Bellsprout with disdain. Her Clefairy receives similar attention.

Picnicker Ariana has more pokemon. Like a level 19 Pidgey. And a Rattata... is this worth giving Zaft some experience, or should I accept that Zaft is too far behind to catch up.

Let me think. I have three team members that aren’t leaving unless death takes them. The guaranteed encounters are Snorlax and an Eevee in Celadon. Vaporeon was going to be my choice for the Eevee, and I would be delighted to have a Snorlax, but I don’t know how realistic it is that I’ll be able to catch it.

Electrode’s only amazing stat is Speed. But Electro Ball could do some serious murder. So... I could have a glass cannon. Not a safe choice for this type of run, but I said I was expecting to have to do this several times. Fuck it, I want an Electrode. Zaft, you’re fighting a Rattata.

Hoo boy.

Switch training for the next Rattata. Heero can have it. Heero will also stay in for the Bellsprout.

Picnicker Dana has a level 20 Meowth. And a Pidgey for switch training. Heero will take care of it and stay in for the Oddish.

SUNLIGHT.

And battles I will be avoiding until I hit the Pokemon Center.

Aaaah, sweet, sweet healing.

Oh, and the Name Rater’s here! We can finally fix Ren the Pidgey’s name! Making Ren legal! If I ever feel in the mood to train up a level 3 Pidgey!

Back up to the Picnicker and Hiker.

And the walking Pokemaniac I sort of remembered was a Trainer, but got complacent about. I’m not sure I want Allenby up front for this one. Sigh. Pokemaniac Herman. Level 20 Cubone. Okay, that’s fine. Slowpoke goes to Noin.

Now we deal with the people outside the cave.

Aw.

Sorry in advance, Carol.

Level 21 Pidgey. A Pidgeotto follows, so it’s time to play Zaft chicken again. Heero, save our little buddy from the big bird. Yay, Zaft lives to see level 17.

Hiker Clark. Wassup. Hello level 21 Geodude. Noin gets the Onix.

Lastly, Hiker Trent is up. Level 19 Onix to start. Noin takes the Graveler.

Phew. Okay! We’re in the Lavender Town stages of the plot. I don’t think I want to go to the Tower until after the Rockets in Celadon. I might also be buying Zaft Carbos in Celadon. Undecided. I can’t remember how much my money means in this. Really, the current mission is just beating down every nearby Trainer until I am forced to find more by following the plot. The only question is if I go down first or left.

I will flip a coin.

Heads. I’m going down to play with the fishes. Noin, take your place in first position.

Goldeen, level 22. Noin, level 29. Poliwag gives Speed, so Zaft comes out to play briefly. Allenby takes the next Goldeen.

Fisherman Chip is next. Ooh, our first Tentacool. Level 24. Goldeen is Allenby’s again.

Then comes Fisherman Hank. With one level 27 Goldeen. And Noin drank the exp, and saw that it was good.

Fisherman Elliot might be the fisherman I’ve been waiting for. Four pokemon. Could it be...? ...A level 21 Poliwag. Followed by Shellder. A Goldeen for Allenby. The Horsea can be Zaft’s.

Sigh. So many Water trainers. So few Magikarp.

Last fight South of Lavender until I deal with plot stuff. Lesgo. Noin and Heero vs. two level 24 Nidoran. All goes well except for Heero ending up poisoned. Ugh. There’s an Antidote for that.

Back to Route 8, and back to Allenby being in front.

Lass Julia has a level 22 Clefairy in need of punching. The second one is deserving as well.

Gamer Rich has a level 24 Growlithe in a similar state. Heero can have Vulpix so she has something to do. The Vulpix Roars out Zaft. I know better than to leave Zaft in, so Heero gets switched back to save her young one. Then Zaft gets Roared back out and Sonicbooms ftw.

Oh. I thought you were a scientist and switched to Heero in hopes of Magnemite. tfw only level 22 Grimer. And Muk. And another Grimer.

Hmmm. I think I’m going to try to see if I can make it to Celadon without fighting anyone else. I want that Eevee. For reasons of want. And the superMart there has lots of nice vitamins, and knowing how much that all costs will be useful.

Success!

One male Eevee for my first encounter for Celadon. Aiming for a Water type. Hmmmmmmmmm. Ribbons!

Naive, huh? +Speed, -Sp. Def.

Workable.

Look, you’re stuck being a Vaporeon. I’ll make it work, but that’s what I want, and I don’t have much room for choice in this Nuzlocke. Arguably that makes using you against the spirit of everything, but I care not.

Now the important things. Eevee learns Bite at level 30. Vaporeon learns it at the same level. There’s no reason to hold off evolving Ribbons. Now we go to the store and make a lot of decisions that leave my virtual wallet crying.

HA. Um. Yeah, okay, this can’t happen. Cute thought, very optimistic, but I am not spending all my money on drugging my pokemon that might die in the very next fight. I’m going to have to continue doing all the EV management the old fashioned way.

Reflect TM earned on the roof by giving a drink to a little girl. Giving people drinks is very important in this game.

Great, Water Stone and Leaf Stone bought.

Max adorbs.

There’s no reason to delay Noin receiving her Leaf Stone, either, which. is sort of depressing because yikes that moveset, but hey, let’s appreciate the added bulk and not poke holes in it.

Hooray!

Now we return to finding random trainers to fight.

Aw fuck.

A level 29 Rapidash and Ninetales. I am here too early. I put Ribbons in the second slot in the hopes of exp, but that decision might really bite me here. Allenby needs to swoop in and save the day. Hopefully she can.

Yes, she can. Her improbably good aim with Rock Slide continues, delaying its inevitable betrayal.

Yikes, that was scary. I just wanted the Fly HM.

Which I now have.

I’m going to leave Route 16 alone because I think the Snorlax blocking Cycling Road technically belongs to it, and I want as many chances at Snorlax as I can squeeze out. I will also grab the TEA before I head back to beating up Trainers.

As well as whatever my Route 7 pokemon is.

It’s Growlithe!

Hi Growlithe! Imma name you Duo!

And I can now go through the... guard thingies. They aren’t blockades... gates? Those.

Anyway, back to the Trainers on Route 8. Super Nerd Aidan sends out a level 20 Voltorb. Opportunity! Zaft and Heero do the switcheroo to make magic happen. Same with the next. And the Magnemite. Allenby gets the Koffing.

-gasp- A level 22 Poliwag! Zaft, look!

Hypnosis hits and Zaft falls asleep.

That’s honestly fine. You weren’t going to do anything.

Look Zaft, another Poliwag for you to do nothing against. And a Poliwhirl, even!

Every fight I let Zaft participate in, all I can think is how it would probably be way more useful if the teammate helping Zaft just took all the exp. Yet I persist. Because I want a dang Electrode.

Biker Richard wants to battle! Dick. He has a level 22 Koffing. Allenby can eat the second one. The Grimer is clear Ribbons food. Kill it, Ribbons. Kill it with your Quick Attack. Your wonderful Quick Attack that dodges Disables just as well as Minimize dodges everything.

And then Ribbons’ only attack was Disabled. Repeatedly.

Ribbons, let’s let one of the other party members handle this.

Welp.

Nothing can hit the Grimer thanks to all the Minimizes from waiting for Ribbons to get in a final Quick Attack. Sludge also keeps poisoning everything.

Noin finally steps in and kills the wicked Grimer.

Sheesh.

Biker Jaren, please don’t have a Grimer.

Biker Jaren has a level 24 Grimer.

Biker Jaren has a second level 24 Grimer.

Heero burns it.

Heero is a good girl.

Now we’ve got these people I don’t really remember.

I mean.

Hi Lass Megan.

Level 19 Pidgey for Zaft to share with Heero. Given the number of pokemon she has, this feels like a statement I will use multiple times. ...Fine, sometimes there’s a Rattata. Or a Nidoran. Or a Meowth. Or a Pikachu.

Bye Lass Megan.

I’m going to take a brief detour to go get my bike. I never traded in the voucher.

Now I have a bike.

Back to fighting. Lass Andrea is up next opening with a level 24 Meowth. Followed by another. And another. Win get.

Lass Paige is next on accident, because I was running along the side where glasses dude wasn’t looking. Oh well. Order isn’t that important, right? Level 23 female Nidoran, Ribbons, would you like to play? With Heero’s help, sure. Ooh, and followed up by a level 23 Nidorina. Allenby can help Ribbons with that.

Now glasses dude to finish off the row.

One level 26 Koffing.

Heero murders it.

Huh, and then I run into Twins Eli and Anne by accident. Sensing a theme, here. Heero and Ribbons versus level 22 Jigglypuff and Clefairy. No contest.

I think I’m going to give Ribbons Water Pulse so he has the chance to do something when I’m training him. Using TMs in gens where you don’t get them back is scary and blah, but he really needs something besides Quick Attack.

This is probably where I want to go face Erika. Before then, though, I don’t have a Route 8 pokemon.

-quick search-

Oh. Because I already have the ones I can get here.

Alrighty then. Time for Erika. AKA the Heero show.

Time to shine.

Lass Kay up first. She has a level 23 Bellsprout. Had. Allenby can take the level 23 Weepinbell. And we continue. Beauty Bridget up next. She opens with a level 21 Oddish. Allenby goes in for the Bellsprout. Heero back in for another Oddish. Allenby back in for another Bellsprout.

There’s going to be a lot of that.

Picnicker Tina next with a level 24 Bulbasaur. Then a level 24 Ivysaur.

Delete a Grass starter for Flamethrower?

Beauty Tamia is next. Level 24 Bellsprout. Allenby handles the second one.

Cooltrainer Mary almost has a full team. Leading with a level 22 Bellsprout. Level 22 Oddish is next. Weepinbell goes to Allenby. Gloom heads back to Heero. The Ivysaur is similarly nommed.

Two more before Erika.

Lass Lisa with the level 23 Oddish. And Gloom.

Beauty Lori with just one. Level 24 Exeggcute.

Now. One Trainer left in the Gym.

...Is it a popular theory that Erika is just blazed 24/7?

If it isn’t, it should be.

Good grief, and right out the gate we jump to a level 29 Victreebell. One Flamethrower is enough, but that’s still quite the jump, and I wasn’t expecting it. Level 24 Tangela feels more in line with what I was expecting. It meets a similar fate.

Last but certainly not least, a level 29 Vileplume.

And we’re done here. GG.

(Erika also hands out the Rainbowbadge and explicitly only has women in her Gym. Erika is the stoner lesbian leader we deserve.)

Wait, one more thing!

Only hey, we’re not done! We have the Giga Drain TM for Noin!

Best Gym so far for the squad. That seems like a good spot to pause at.

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge #Nuzlocke #playthrough

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grimelords · 6 years

Photo

I just realised I wrote up my June playlist and forgot to post it at all, which benefits no one. July coming soon, but for now please enjoy three hours of two month old thoughts on the new Kanye, the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack and two songs about drinking beer.

Ghost Town - Kanye West: Now that the dust has settled around Kanye's month of chaos I can safely say Ye is great and Ghost Town is the best song on it, though it's not a coincidence that the best song is the one where Kanye says the least.

DLZ - TV On The Radio: I've been obsessed with this song for a long time. The combination of the absolutely hypnotising drums and very good cryptic lyrics about impending doom is exactly my shit. Also the whistling right at the very end is a perfect moment.

Hyph Mngo - Joy Orbison: Someone had a thing on twitter the other day that was like 'quote tweet this with a phrase you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand' and someone said Hyph Mngo and I felt age 100. This song really was such a game changer and that whole wave of stuff like this, Koreless and Jame Blake's EP's around then was such an incredible time to be alive. I am aging decades by the second and will not be around much longer.

The Shootist - Bill Elm & Woody Jackson: I've been thinking about game soundtracks a lot the past month or so for some reason and Red Dead really is an all timer. They did such a great job capturing the whole feeling without it just being a straight Morricone rip-off (though obviously it is mostly a Morricone ripoff).

Touch Me - Wish & Fonda Rae: This song is so fucking good to begin with but then it gets really really good in the middle part and where they just start going hogwild with the sampler on her vocals, and then again at the end when it starts sounding like a Battles song.

In The Vespers - Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld: Ever since I finished MGSV again I've been thinking about open-world stealth as a genre and how I'd do it, and this song is really the perfect kind of soundtrack to the game I'm thinking of. It's already got four alert levels built in, all the way from Tense to FUCk and back down to Calming Down But Still Scared.

Human After All - Daft Punk: Human After All is still a beguiling album in sound and vision after all this time. The amount of noise emananating from every single element in this song, and songs like Technologic is just so strange compared to everything they'd done before and since, but I think that's what I like about it. It sounds like it was made in 1979 when electronics were a novelty and everyone accepted that they'd be noisy as hell. Also I had an emotional moment this month while I was driving and listening to this song and reflecting on how we are all, human.. after all.. so who knows what's up with me.

Disparate Youth - Santigold: The production on this song is insane. The drums, the guitar, the bouncing piano, it just has so much momentum the whole way through and holy shit I just realised that the video I was talking about last month that referenced The Holy Mountain that I couldn't remember is L.E.S. Artistes by Santigold what an incredible two for one.

Violence - Parquet Courts: This song has the potential to be embarrassing but it's saved from itself by the specificity of the lyrics and the backing vocals that sound like a smiling swing band saying 'violence is daily life!'.

Jane Says - Jane's Addiction: The steel drum as the central melody line in this is such a strange and beautiful choice and also this song has two chords and no chorus. There are truly one million ways to make a good song.

Heatstroke - Calvin Harris feat. Young Thug, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande: I really can't believe I missed this song that came out like a year ago, so thank god my girlfriend told me about it. It's incredible. Everyone is operating at full capacity in this song and the structure is so good, the Pharrell/Thug pre-chorus could be a chorus on its own but then Ariana and Pharrell trade lines foe the actual chorus, amazing. Also when Thugger says 'she got every read bottom like a baboon’ the way the backup says '..baboon' slightly apprehensively cracks me up.

Maximum Black - Bohren & Der Club Of Gore: More Bohren, carrying over from last month. This is one of my favourites of theirs, mostly just for the choir sound and the all-time great sax intro at about 4:30. When you start at absolute zero, dialling it up to a 1 sounds like bomb going off.

Dust Bunnies - Kurt Vile: This is like most Kurt Vile songs in that it's sort of just about hanging out and feeling kind of funny, which is a mindset I really relate to.

Here For The Beer - The Sloppy Boys: A bunch of guys from The Birthday Boys have a band now and it's really great. Comedy music is hard but this album is the best kind where it's just dumb ass rock and roll story songs and odes to partying. The way he says 'autographed baseball' makes me laugh every time.

Beer Pressure - Municipal Waste: Anyway that song reminded me of this song, which is almost the exact same song with a slightly different mindset.

Credulous! Credulous! - BATS: There's really something to listening to a song for ten years and then having it suddenly dawn on you one day that it's about an epilleptic 16 year old in the distant past getting treppaned by a mystic and a team of scientists in the present figuring out what happened.

Please Take Your Hand Away - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: Everyone's (me) always talking about how good The Social Network soundtrack is but nobody's ever talking about how they did a sequel that's just as good and goes for longer than the actual film when they released the nearly 3 hour Girl With The Dragon Tattoo soundtrack a year later. What an achievement!

What Does Your Soul Look Like Part 2 - DJ Shadow: This song is really on a whole nother level. It is really a kind of magic that you can get a 15 minute song out of a two note bassline and a drum loop, but when they're this good it looks easy. The drums especially are just absolutely hypnotising.

One Of One - Kamasi Washington: Kamasi somehow outdid himself on this one my god. The groove in this is just amazing, and the way it twists and turns into something darker and darker before the sun shines through and the hook comes back is incredible. The way the theme comes back all twisted up with strings near the end. Great stuff.

My Exit, Unfair - mewithoutYou: I honestly very nearly got converted in high school just because I was listening to so much mewithoutYou, and it still informs a lot of my religious thoughts. A running theme through a lot of their songs is wrestling with and trying to accept the idea that God has a plan for you that you definitely don't understand and getting extremely upset about it and that's about where I'm at.

Stand - R.E.M.: Apparently this was the theme to a show called Get A Life and it's funny because it really does sound perfect for a 90s tv theme. It sounds like it's two and a half minutes too long. Release the 30 second TV theme version REM.

BFG Division - Mick Gordon: I was watching a guy speedrun Doom on GDQ and the music for that game is so amazing, but it sounds really funy when the whole sppedrun is just clipping through a wall and rocket jumping halfway across the level to trigger the checkpoint. Mick Gordon really nailed this soundtrack, it's a massive part of the atmosphere of the game and it's really the logical expansion of the MIDI themes of the original, it sounds like the original in HD, this is what you thought you were hearing.

Angel's Rest - Marisa Anderson: Marisa Anderson's songs are so loosely structured they often seem dreamed up on the spot, but the sounds and moods seem so carefully considered that the notes themselves aren't so important.

Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week To Quit Oxygen - Michael Giacchino: If Michael Giacchino doesn't get an Oscar for The Incredibles II soundtrack I'm going to riot. The climax of this is so big I had to stop myself from applauding in the theatre, it's irrepressible.

AM // Radio - Earl Sweatshirt & Wiki: I was having a week where I was really feeling like the phrase "I don't like shit, I don't go outside" and so I suddenly remembered this album. This beat is so, so good. It sounds like nothing else, and it only adds to the alien flavour by giving the second half of the track to an instrumental.

World In Harmony - Adebisi Shank: Adebisi Shank are really the perfect band. They love to have fun and have a big time and they started out with a perfect first album and only got bigger and better by the time they got to the third and broke up. This song is so powerful, and my billionaire dream is to finance a new F-Zero game and get Adebisi Shank back together to do the soundtrack.

Make Luv feat. Oliver Cheatham - Room 5: I'm slowly putting together a playlist of songs that sound like Music Sounds Better With You by Stardust in order to invoke some kind of euphoric 'best night ever' and ascend to heaven but this song is the only other one I have so far.

A Love Supreme Part II: Resolution - John Coltrane Quartet: I don't feel qualified to say anything about A Love Supreme, so I don't think I'm going to. I literally don't know where to start with this. It's damn good music.

"You Got A Killer Scene There, Man..." - Queens Of The Stone Age: This song is a real vibe. This should be a whole genre but I've never really found anything else like it. It's like if The Doors were good I suppose. It's shocking that this song only goes for 5 minutes because it really feels like it could go for 20 and you wouldn't mind. I remember a few years ago I opened this in Audition and slowed it down to 75% and I really recommend it, it makes the whole thing feel as sludgy as I think it's supposed to be and makes all the breaks that much more impactful.

Never Let Me Go - Sarah Blasko: A friend sent me this and said it sounds like a Bond theme and he's absolutely right, especially towards the end where it all starts stacking up. Maybe it would need a bit more brass to be a proper Bond theme but still, I love it.

Protection - Emma Ruth Rundle: I love Emma Ruth Rundle so much and I'm so excited that she's got a new album coming out. The absolute textural thickness she can conjure up in a song like this blows me away. I don't know what it is about her voice but it sounds like the 90s somehow. Does that make sense? This feels like 90s music, like the grunge female songwriter thing went a slightly different way and I love it.

listen here

#playlists

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avinrydarchive · 2 years

Note

For the fanfic end of year asks—3, 14, and 24?

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

Oh wow, oh boy I didn't actually write a lot this year... I wrote this sometime in the last month for the next chapter of Love Like You, so here's a bit of a sneak preview:

Terrified as he is, Essek still has to hide a smirk. Clever, goading the man into a monolog. For all his legitimately-gained arcane respect and substantial age in human terms, Trent Ikithon is young and lacking in key principles of maturity valued in Elven culture. Focused solely on Caleb and entrenched in the frustration of his goals, Ikithon still pays no mind to Essek or the others, and Essek takes full advantage.

Trying to ignore the growing heat at his back, Essek breathes an incantation and makes the somatic gesture for Detect Magic under his mantle. He’s braced for a blinding glow from Ikithon’s person, but it doesn’t come. Only the archmage’s boots glow a faint enchantment-teal and at his throat shines a single oilslick-grey point of...dunamancy? Yes, it has to be dunamancy, but something is horribly off.

The familiar golden spirals of possibility have been broken, fractured and remade into a rigid and somehow chaotic crystalline structure. It all pulses with a greasy shine that turns Essek’s stomach. His revolution turns to actual nausea as the tainted dunamanitc item flashes and he immediately flounders to counter as Caleb spits,

“I think I can accommodate you tod—”

The net of Essek’s counterspell slips off the awkward planes of Ikithon’s bastardized dunamancy and Essek, time specialist that he is, has the unique experience of watching light after light bloom around Ikithon’s form with his own breath locked in his lungs.

“—day”

Now Essek has to squint against the conflagration surrounding the archmage and suddenly he knows he has one chance to act before the chaos of all nine Hells breaks loose. Releasing the time-stopped air from his lungs, Essek pulls in a shaky breath, glances at Caleb, then calls up,

“It has been some time,”—pristine, unbroken possibility swirls and compresses at his will—“It seems our dealings and allegiances have shifted.”

He brings both hands out of his mantle and lets the impossibly dense bead of matter fly. It rockets up to Ikithon—pulses once, twice, thrice, five times, seven—and blooms into a sucking black void.

Ikithon does not move. His robes hang unruffled around his body, his whole form rigidly apart from the well of pressure Essek has summoned and he doesn’t even look in Essek’s direction. It leaves Essek too shocked to even curse, and that’s when all the nine Hells break loose.

14. a fic you didn't expect to write

Tbh Love Like You I didn't expect. The ShadoWidoMauk ship snuck up on me after the CR campaign 2 finale. Also I don't usually commit to longfic, it gives me anxiety. But I'm having fun in an anxious way so whoot.

24. favorite fic you read this year

OOF. There are so many... I tore through a large chunk of CR fic this year mostly, so lemme see--my gods there's so much fucking Shadowgast it's not even funny.

I think I actually have a tie between:

we never do go over(we always gotta go through) by @catalists

because listen, expending your own lifeforce to do crazy magic and save your friends is literally the best trope on the planet and holy fuck does Chrome write it well here. Matthew Mercer blessed us with the Convergent Future ability and Chrome elevated it to its best self. I only hope I can do as much in Love Like You.

and

amongst the things left unforgiven by nonwal

blumenshadowdrei snuck up on me as a ship after the c2 finale as well and the sneak attack damage of an obnoxious number of d6 was dealt by this fic. I just-- It's so good. One of those where I go back and read it because it has this vibe that's warm and fuzzy even though all of the main characters are Most Definitely Not warm and fuzzy(except when they are)

#asks #askbox memes

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junker-town · 3 years

Text

5 NBA stars who could be traded next

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

The NBA stars who could get traded next, ranked by how soon they might move.

The NBA never goes too long without a superstar changing teams via a trade. The summer of 2017 saw Jimmy Butler traded to the Timberwolves and Chris Paul traded to the Rockets. In 2018, Kawhi Leonard was traded from the Spurs to the Raptors while Butler was dealt again to the 76ers. In 2019, Anthony Davis was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Paul George was traded to the Clippers, and Paul was traded to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook. Paul was on the move again to the Suns in 2020, while James Harden’s trade request hung over the season until he was mercifully sent from the Rockets to the Nets two weeks into January.

The biggest trade of this offseason so far is the five-team deal headlined by Westbrook’s arrival to the Lakers. Now that most of the player movement in free agency has settled, all eyes will again turn to the trade market as players consider their futures and teams assemble their best offers should a star fully hit the market.

Since star trade speculation is always one of the biggest topics in the league, here’s a look at the big names who are rumored to (maybe) be the next to move, and when it could happen.

5. Karl Anthony-Towns

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

There has been speculation that Towns wouldn’t sign a third contract with the Timberwolves from the moment he inked his super max extension in 2018. That deal has three years and $101.3 million remaining, and Minnesota remains far away from contention.

Can Minnesota build a winner before Towns is up for a new deal? For as promising as Anthony Edwards looked in his rookie season, the West remains a gauntlet and there isn’t a clear path for the Wolves to make a big jump up the standings. It isn’t hard to envision a scenario where Towns signals he’d like to change teams when his deal is up, and Minnesota not wanting to lose him for nothing.

Towns remains one of the best skilled offensive bigs in the league with the ability to unleash high volume and highly accurate three-point shooting from the center position. Even with question marks defensively, there’s no doubt the soon-to-be 26-year-old looks like he will eventually be in line for another max deal. He can’t become a free agent until the summer of 2024.

4. Bradley Beal

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

Trade rumors have swirled around Beal for years as the Washington Wizards have struggled to build a sustainable contender following John Wall’s Achilles tear. Washington swapped Wall for Russell Westbrook and earned the No. 8 seed in last year’s playoffs, and then flipped Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers for a bunch of depth pieces at the 2021 draft. Beal was reportedly considering his future with the franchise in the run-up to those moves, but Washington’s latest bold move of the offseason — a sign-and-trade for Spencer Dinwiddie — seems to have quieted speculation that Beal could be on the move soon.

The latest reports from insider Shams Charania said Beal now has no intention of leaving the Wizards, and is eyeing a five-year, $235 million max extension next summer.

While the Wizards still don’t look like a contender in the East, this report makes sense from two different angles: a) Beal wants to lock in his long-term money before seeking a new team, and b) he might be impressed with the way the front office has re-tooled the roster after the Wall trade. Washington still has lots of work to do, but it’s possible Beal is happy there for now. There will be plenty of interested suitors readying big trade packages if the Wizards ever do finally deal him.

3. Damian Lillard

When could it happen? Summer 2022 at the earliest.

Damian Lillard has been vocal about his loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers over the years, but that might finally be changing as he enters his 31-year-old season.

Dame was vocal about his disappointment after the Blazers were knocked out in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs by a Denver Nuggets team that didn’t have injured star Jamal Murray. There was plenty of speculation Lillard could demand a trade this summer, but instead he’s made public comments pressuring the team to improve quickly. What happens if they don’t?

Portland re-signed Norman Powell to a $90 million deal, but otherwise their “big” free agent additions this offseason were Tony Snell and Cody Zeller. If Portland doesn’t make an all-in move before the season starts, it’s easy to envision a scenario where the team has another early exit in the playoffs and Lillard demands a trade in the summer of 2022.

A Lillard trade demand would likely be similar to Harden’s in Houston, with a list of preferences informing the market. The rest of the league will be waiting anxiously to see if the Blazers can fix things before Dame wants out.

2. Pascal Siakam

When could it happen? Any moment.

The Raptors won 50 or more games for five straight seasons before missing the playoffs (and play-in tournament) during a disastrous 27-45 season last year. Toronto had an easy excuse with the pandemic forcing the team to relocate to Tampa Bay for the season, but the loss of Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat this offseason has quelled any optimism that Toronto could be a contender again next season.

The Raptors drafted Scottie Barnes at No. 4 overall, re-signed Gary Trent Jr. and Khem Birch, and otherwise haven’t done much yet to reshape the roster. It’s hard to tell what the long-term vision for Toronto is right now, which makes the reports that Pascal Siakam is available on the trade market even more difficult to decipher.

Siakam trade rumors have been out there all offseason. A recent report from Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee states that the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly “enamored” with Siakam. The Warriors feel like the most tantalizing fit, with three lottery picks under 21 years old — James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga — potentially fitting the bill if Toronto is looking to rebuild.

It’s possible Siakam could be on the move later this offseason if the Raptors want to fully commit to a youth movement. There really shouldn’t be too much rush for Toronto, though. Siakam is coming off an underwhelming year by his standards and is under contract for the next three seasons. It’s certainly possible he could raise his trade value during the upcoming season if Toronto holds onto him, and there’s a more robust market for him at the deadline or in the summer of 2022.

1. Ben Simmons

When could it happen? Any moment.

The NBA has waited with bated breath for a Simmons deal to finally come to fruition ever since his immense offensive struggles contributed to a second round playoff flameout for the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in June. Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid both appeared to throw Simmons under the bus after Philadelphia’s series-clinching loss to the Atlanta Hawks, setting off a wild summer of speculation about the 25-year-old All-Star’s future.

The draft came and went with Simmons still in Philadelphia. The Sixers didn’t do much in free agency, either, signing Andre Drummond and re-signing Danny Green but otherwise opting to keep the same team intact while they wait for the right offer for Simmons. What we appear to have now is an old fashioned standoff.

Simmons and agent Rich Paul reportedly want to be sent to a new team. Morey is asking for the world for Simmons at the moment. The real goal for Philly is likely to wait it out, let Simmons recoup some value, and then make him the centerpiece of a package for Lillard or Beal, should they ask out. Is the relationship between Simmons and the Sixers too broken to get that far?

The Simmons situation sure seems like it will be a major distraction if Morey lets it bleed into the season. At the same time, the team wants to make sure they can get the absolute best return for him. Until this is resolved, the Simmons trade rumors will remain one of the biggest stories in the NBA.

Wildcard: Zion Williamson

Williamson was reportedly a little bummed out that the Pelicans won the lottery when he was the clear No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft. There are already rumblings he isn’t happy in New Orleans only two seasons into his rookie deal. He hasn’t been shy about expressing his love for New York. The Pelicans’ offseason — whiffing on Kyle Lowry, letting go of Lonzo Ball, adding Devonte’ Graham and Tomas Satoransky as their headline acquisitions — hasn’t been super encouraging.

Williamson still has two years left on his rookie deal. Before his fourth season, he’ll be offered a max extension by New Orleans. If he doesn’t sign it, his only move is to play on the qualifying offer that would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after his fifth season. It’s extremely rare for a superstar to turn down the money and play on the qualifying offer because of injury risk, and Williamson’s own extensive injury history would make that route an incredibly bold choice.

If Zion really does want out of New Orleans, his only move might be to publicly pressure the front office to trade him. The fanbase has been through this before with Chris Paul and then Anthony Davis, and will pray the Pelicans can take a huge leap up the standings before that happens. Williamson was amazing in his second season, and will only get better if he can stay healthy. For now, this is a situation to monitor even if Zion doesn’t have a lot of easy options.

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mythandlaur · 6 years

Photo

So Idari has some friends now, I’m still working on getting them through the main questline but playing as each of them (with the racial quirks mods because I want this to be more interesting) I’ve gotten a lot of ideas for them.

Zeinada “Zine” Akara

Has the Greenfinger’s gift. Was the apprentice of her tribe’s Greenfinger, training to take over her station

Her tribe was approached by members of the Protectorate, and their Greenfinger decided it would be best to try and integrate themselves with humans. There was some dissent, but Zine was all for it.

Knows how to manipulate plants to a certain extent, and can complete minor tasks using them.

Fights using spears and staves, interested in magic.

Less stabby than most Floran. Still slightly stabby, especially when mad.

Impulsive and a rulebender.

Technically the oldest in the group (aside from Theta), in her late twenties

Theta

The only one who doesn’t know any of the others yet. I have no idea how she’s going to be connected to anything.

Even more oblivious than Idari, almost comically so. Seems to actively block out anything “bad” she finds unless it’s shoved in her face, at which point she has trouble processing.

Relatively young for a Novakid.

Has the most insane luck on the planet

Enjoys fighting with pistols and assault rifles, but will occasionally employ a sniper rifle or dagger if it’s called for.

Loves music; avid musician who knows many instruments.

Was still in early days at the Academy, but escaped to a ship after finding an unlucky victim’s Matter Manipulator.

Deeply connected to space.

Wants friends; horrendously awkward and innocently insensitive.

Enjoys stupid puns.

Trent Hayden

Unapologetic geek. Loves old sci-fi movies and space.

Somehow charismatic as hell. He puts on a good mask, though loses it when someone tries to poke too hard at who he really is personally.

Needs glasses, doesn’t always wear them.

Graduated from the Academy with Zine a couple of years before the attack.

Likes fighting with grenade and rocket launchers. A little too much.

Incredibly intelligent, likes building things.

Can play music and sing, though not as well as Theta

Rarely bends the rules, not as regularly as Zine, but he puts a strong value on personal freedom and will sometimes break codes to help others.

Relatively laidback...until you get him going

Immediately got into mech fighting. Immediately.

Idari Innos

Was born into a low-income Apex family; mother was taken away for Project De-Ape, father secretly began taking her to his meetings with the local rebel counter-propaganda sect known as “the Book Club”.

Always wanted to explore and go to other planets as soon as she became aware there was anything else out there.

Father was also taken for Project De-Ape when Idari was twelve; Idari was placed into Miniknog custody briefly before being rescued and taken in by the Book Club. The Book Club became her family, and she became a runner for them.

Met Zine and Trent when both were taken along on a mission to help foster communications between the planet’s branch of Miniknog and the Terrene Protectorate; upon finding the Book Club through rumors, the two abandoned their non-interference policy and promised to help. Idari was volunteered to go with them and see the world, and she was stowed away on their captain’s ship.

Youngest in the group; was about to graduate from the Protectorate academy when, well, you know.

Distracted easily by shiny things, fairly oblivious.

Hoping her friends made it out of the academy, isn’t sure if she should have hope.

Enthusiastic about having a crew, not good at taking care of them.

Kleptomaniac, but tries to only take what she thinks people won’t miss. Except for that one time she stole an entire fridge, but she needed that.

Has made a small colony on Mekbuda Majoris III-B and considers this her home.

Bad at decorating, good at cooking.

Wants to see everything in the universe. Everything.

Only gets really mad when confronted with deliberately falsified information, or the Miniknog.

Tends to fight with swords, preferring the Solus Katana.

Is never seen without her fedora, despite everyone telling her to take it off She refuses; it’s the first thing outside of the Protectorate she ever truly owned, and she found it on MM-3B.

The only one who canonically goes through the entire main quest and defeats the Ruin.

Holds a deep and burning hatred for ocean planets

#starbound #starbound oc #basically i gave trent the first glasses i found and realized he looked way too much like jeff from earthbound

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axburrows · 4 years

Text

“My Plague Journal”

By RICHARD LITTLETHOUGHT ‘The Voice of Truth, if by “Truth” you mean “Profoundly Right-Wing Assertions”.’

DAY IV

Readers, I do confess this self-isolation business is getting to me at the very roots! The other day, I was having a harmless browse of some of that P.G. Wodehouse – ‘fun for all the fam’, as the rappers would say. But several chapters in, my heart ached and a drowsy numbness pained my sense, as though of Benylin® I had drunk.

In my delirious state, I saw myself attired in a starched collar and claw-hammer coat to boot. My man-cave was gone. Looking around at this new opulent interior, I surmised that I’d entered into the employment of a top-drawer citizen: Mister Bertram Wooster! Distantly, I heard the tinkling of a bell. I pursued the sound up a long and winding staircase. I opened an oak panelled door and stepped into my master’s bedroom. He was lounging beneath candy-striped bedclothes, a little bell in his hand.

‘You rang, sir?’ I said.

‘Now look here, Littlethought’, Wooster intoned, ‘My squeeze, Emily Maitlis, is coming round for supper later and I want to make a bit of an impression – if you catch my meaning?’

‘Indeed, sir.’ I said.

‘I’ve got a grocery list here for her favourite dish: Greek moussaka with a special side salad – Yukon potatoes, artichoke hearts and a caramelised fig – that sort of caper.’ He waved this scroll of decadence beneath my salt-of-the-earth nose. ‘Now be a sport and toddle down to Whole Foods, would you?’

‘Indeed, sir’, I intoned. I took the list and shimmered out.

Coming down Kensington High Street, the pavements billowed with a thousand coxcombs in primrose scarfs and crushable bushman’s hats. Through the window of a Wasabi, the Monopoly Man was licking ramen off a glass table top while a prostitute clapped. I turned and saw a parade processing up the road, at the centre of which was a massive Chinese dragon with the face of a polystyrene James O’Brien. Fire-eaters and acrobats pranced around it performing tricks, whilst Sandi Toksvig saluted the crowd from an amphibious rocket launcher. Jess Phillips played ‘I Will Survive’ on the ocarina. A marmoset was on Skype!!! I’m a stranger in my own country! I thought.

Behind me, I heard a fragile voice singing from the doorway of an Alms House.

‘Jesus blood - never failed me yet - never failed m’yet - never failed me...’

‘Mister Farage!’ I said. ‘Whatever became of our Man of the Hour?’

‘I’ve been stripped of m’assets, boy. Stripped of m’assets.’

‘Wassat?’

‘M’Youtube videos have been de-monitised, I tells ye! All m’lovely Youtube videos!’

‘They’ll never get away with this, Nige! God’s honour, they won’t!’

‘Thruppence for a vodka jelly, will ye?’

I was about to knee him in the groin and make a speech about the undeserving poor, when an affectless young man approached and forced a limp handshake. The young man then turned and gestured to a bunch of phlegmatic-faced tweens in furs doing coke off a padlock key.

‘Hey, guys, come on over!’ he said. ‘It’s a load of pre-gentrification First Peoples!’

They introduced themselves as characters who’d escaped from an Andrew Doyle satire. They were now surviving hand-to-mouth as a band of marauding postmodernists. They tried to impress me by showing me colourful objects from their ‘superior culture’, including Nespresso pods, scalp wax and a pencil sharpener from the Barbican Centre. A young woman in turquoise brogues read a poem about having adulterous sex in a library. When I told her I thought poetry was a form of character weakness, she cried onto her shoes (AND HER LACES TO BOOT!!hooho!). One tired-looking bloke – who claimed that sleep patterns were ‘just a construct’ and favoured instead a politicised version of rest known as ‘free-sleep’ – asked if I’d considered taking ‘powerful antidepressants’ to cure my conservatism. I told him that I was in love with my own sadness. I said I wanted to live my life ‘like a powder keg: short but sweet’ – I winked at the shoe-lady. The bloke explained that he wanted to live his life like an otter: ‘a very long and chilled one’, on his own, lying on a beanbag, eating stems of barley, with infrequent but carefully scheduled sessions of masturbation. I looked him squarely in the eyes and asked if he’d ever had a wet shave. The woman interjected and said I should join a Union, as ‘a working-class person!’

‘Who’re you calling working-class?!’ says I. ‘I’m a small business owner, don’t y’know!’

………………

I was referring to a small business I tried to establish in the late 90s, selling knock-off Toby jugs from the boot of my Mazda, just off the A13 trunk road. We got busted by a gang of hired bravoes sent by the Wedgwood company. I was left lying on the verge with a pair of broken legs surrounded by shards of homemade ceramics. The police managed to trace the bravoes as far as Stoke-on-Trent where the trail ran cold, thanks to a conspiracy of silence among the city’s terrified residents. I had a meltdown not long after that. In my despair, I overdosed on Vick’s VapoRub and tried walking into the sea one night down in Billericay. I was saved, after I mistook the inchoate outline of a miniature schnauzer for the spiritual form of a Toby Jug. It hovered above the sand, glowing.

Don’t give up, Dick. Don’t give up the ju-ugs!

But I can’t, Tobias, mate. The porcelain industry is eating me alive!

No one else can potter like you, Dick! That’s the truth.

But the jugs have become a burden, mate!

It is your destiny, Dick. The jugs are your destiny! Swear. Swear.

What are you? Angel or Devil?

I AM IN HELL!!!!

………………….

Once I had absquatulated from the students, I entered the vast baize complex of Whole Foods. I’d never seen so many vegetables in my life [INSERT GIBE ABOUT THE SCOTTISH]. The building was at least 100 storeys high, buzzing with flying cars and hydraulic escalators. It was like the Tower of Babel itself! Fritz Lang’s Metropolis crossed with a farmer’s market.

The affluence of the place sickened me to my very claw! I walked past some Houynhnhnms, cantering along the ‘Oats’ aisle. They gave me sideways glances and whispered to one another.

‘Darling, is that a Leaver?’

‘Darling, do you know, I think it might well be!’

‘In Whole Foods? I say, do you think he’s here to get his methadone injection? Someone should tell him, it’s not that kind of supermarket.’ *Goya-esque braying*

I’m a creep, I thought. I’m a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here.

Near an aisle of artichokes, my bum was perused by the ghost of W.H. Auden.

‘Sir! If I may say’, he whispered, ‘Your arse is so muscular, I should wish to immortalise it in verse!’ I bristled at the scent of cherry brandy on his lips.

‘I concur, Wystan!’ crooned the fay shade of Lytton Strachey. ‘A truly delectable specimen.’

I swung at them. ‘Naff orf, you bloody wagtails!’

‘Oh, I say!’ preened Wystan Hugh.

At which point the ghost of Jean Cocteau approached, his eyes gleaming like a deviant, his fingers wriggling, ‘Ohohoho! Il a un cul chaud!’

‘Now look ere, Frenchy! One step over this ere threshold and I’ll knock yer flippin block off, comprehend-e?’

‘Je recommanderais le chou-fleur.’

‘Watch it! I’m warning you!’

‘Oh, Jean. You old nag!’

‘Oui. Je suis un cinéaste.’

‘I can’t make head nor tail of this! I bluddy hate these romance languages’ I said to myself, sotto voce. I felt a stranger in my native land.

Once I had absquatulated the scene, I returned to the penthouse to prepare supper while Wooster billed and cooed with Ms Maitlis. (It was like the courting ritual of kestrels!!) Around midnight, I brought in the third course of banana shallots. The room was billowing with the scent of orange blossom and legal highs; I nearly fainted. Maitlis wore large, exotic torques from the Barbican Centre gift shop. She was hunkered over a big, indulgent glug of “Chateau de Liz Kendall”. Her eyes were as brown as spear handles!! Her face was firm yet glam, like the prow of a Russian oil tanker steered by Bianca Jagger. Her throaty voice, with its alluring masculine depths, was both thick and sweet, like oil on a scone (in an M&S advert sponsored by Shell).

‘Your butler’, she intoned. ‘A bit wet behind the ears, don’t you think?’

‘Oh gawd,’ my master said, his saliva moonlit, ‘don’t I know it, Ms Emma! Hum-hum-hum-hum.’

Now easy, Dick, says I to mine-self. Easy does it now.

Her voice sank deeper: ‘If you want to move in with me, Wooster, we’re going to have to find you a new man!’

‘If you like, I could fire this bounder on the spot! Just for you. I would do that, Emily. For you I would! If you’d like!’

She grinned and they stared into each other’s eyes for a good minute. Then she glanced up at me, a touch dismayed. Wooster turned around - he had a scheming look.

‘Oh, fetch us dessert, would you, Littlethought?’

I shimmered out. I returned a few moments later with an inappropriately large jelly designed by Norman Foster.

‘Ta, Littlethought.’

‘Sir.’

‘Oh, and Littlethought?’

‘Sir?’

‘You’re dismissed.’

‘Sir?!’

‘Dismissed. Arrivederci, Littlethought. We’re replacing you. Don’t come back tomorrow. You can leave your key card on the salver.’

I TOOK OUT A BOMB. I SCREAMED LIKE A CELT!

‘I say, steady on there, Littlethought!’

‘YIPPEE-KI-YAY, MOTHERFUCKERS!’ I intoned.

‘I didn’t know you spoke French, Littlethought!’

I pulled the cord! ‘FOR ENGLAND!’

Unfortunately, I was the only casualty. I wish I had died to avoid legal culpability. But it was a British explosive, so I incurred only minor tissue scarring. My master and Ms Maitlis immediately pressed charges. Because of my two-year-long media campaign against legal aid, I could only afford to be represented by a sparrow. The sparrow had yet to graduate to the bar, having only recently built his nest outside the chambers at Gray’s Inn where I hoped he’d at least absorbed something of the finer points of tort law. I appeared in court the following week in a plaster cast, where I was sentenced to life by Justice Lady Hale.

‘Well, well, well, Mithta Littlethought’, lisped Lady Hale. ‘A Leaver in the dock, I thee! It mutht be my lucky day! Yum yum yum!’ (She rubbed her stomach and mimed eating me - which I thought excessive.) A roll call of witnesses for the prosecution sealed my fate: Kojack, David Blunkett, and Charlotte Church in a bonnet who jumped up on the plaintiff’s bench and called me ‘a witch’ and then fainted. Lady Hale said I was ‘weak and scum’ - or ‘thcum’, to be precise (which is Welsh for ‘seamen’, FYI).

‘I thenenth you to 55 yearth, Mr Littlethought!’ she crooned. ‘55 backbwaking yearth!’

She banged her gavel. A loud cheer broke out across the gallery. I looked at my sparrow in his tiny little fucking wig, cursing him with my very blood.

‘May God have merthy upon your thoul, Mithta Littlethought!’ Hale said.

The sparrow immediately took wing – with my car keys in its beak – and escaped from a clearstory window. I’d lost everything. As I was bundled out of the courtroom, my faithful but still vividly puce-legged wife, Vanessa, surreptitiously passed me a cyanide capsule and an After Eight mint. She kissed me.

‘I’ll never forget you, Monsieur Robespierre,’ she said. ‘I’ll never forget you – you – you – YOU…’

I woke up. My body was covered in sweat. It had all been a dream. I sighed with relief. I drew back the coverlet. But then, in the palm of my right hand: was a melted After Eight! Had it really been a dream? Yes. I had fallen asleep on top of a box of After Eights. I showered the mint chocolate off my cords and wept.

----------- b l a c k o u t ------------

Grams: ‘Underneath the Arches’ (Flanagan/ Allen - ft. Dua Lipa)

CODA:

#crapola #falsehoods #tapestryoflies #absquatulate #to boot

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