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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers: June 6th, 2021

I’m back with more ask responses! You can also check our Frequently Asked Question sheet if there’s something you’re wondering that’s not answered here.

FAQ Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

Thank you for the patience with these questions ♡

Hey in very beginning of step 3 in the scene where Mr.Holden had a thought dancing on the tip of his tongue but he kept it to himself after MC and Cove were being cute (idk if it makes a difference but this is when they're dating)... Can we know what he was thinking/ wanted to say? It's been bugging me lol

He would’ve gone into a “look how much you’ve grown”, “your dad is so proud of you”, “I’m so glad things worked out with the MC”, and etc spiel, haha. But he resisted the urge to fawn on his baby boy, at least for that scene.

If we planned to move away for college/future plans in step 3, is it implied that MC and Cove would have a long distance relationship for sure? Could MC have convinced Cove to come with them? How is the dynamic of their relationship going to be addressed in Step 4, if that makes sense?

Cove is willing to follow the MC where they went after everything is settled for them there, and if they’re sure they want him to come! You’ll get to decide how things shook out during those transitional years just by making choices about it during the opening prologue of Step 4.

Hi! First off, how does it feel to have created one of the best games when it comes to inclusion for lbtq+ peeps? I've never felt as validated with my identity and sexuality when playing a game and I'm seemingly not alone ♥ Second, and this might be a little too specific, but what kinds of drinks does Cove like as well as dislike? Thank you, you're the best ♥

Thank you for very much! It’s really nice to hear the game felt inclusive. Cove likes regular water and fruit juices/smoothies most! He dislikes coffee and cola, and he’s not super into most teas either.

Hi, may i ask what gb patch stands for? Specifically the gb part lol

It stands for my old, silly username I used in places like Neopets as a kid, aha. The company name wasn’t super thought out since it was originally just me making VNs as a hobby. Luckily, “GB Patch” kind of seems like it could mean something reasonable, so I didn’t have to rebrand when it did become a more serious, commercial group.

If we chose to not propose to cove in the step 3 dlc would he propose or would the mc propose in step 4 or the wedding dlc?

Yeah, you or Cove can propose in Step 4 if you’re not already engaged! The Wedding DLC takes place after the engagement so the proposal scenes aren’t there.

will you guys announce if the early access for the new game is out on patreon ?

When beta builds of Step 4 or whatever start coming out on the Patreon we will mention it here on social media too.

Heyy I just had a quick question about Baxter if that’s okay :)?

I saw in an ask+answer that it’s possible to casually date Baxter In step 3, but what leads up to that? I have the step 3 dlc and I’ve tried playing them In a different orders and ways but it doesn’t seem to get anywhere ^^;

The Step 3 DLC is Cove-based because he’s the default guy. There’s a separate Baxter romance DLC that’s not out yet. That’s where you can get him to date you. I’m sorry for the confusion!

Will we ever get any LI's or side characters with physical disabilities or deformities? I think your games would be a great place to have them in since they're always so accepting and safe!

Yeah, we do hope to have representation for that in future projects ^^. Thank you for the confidence in us.

Is it possible to get Cove to take the bed and MC to sleep on the floor?

Not in Step 3, I’m afraid.

So, I have played the prologue of Our Life countless times and I haven't gotten the [Your Life] achievement, why is that?

Steam sometimes isn’t connected properly when an achievement unlocks and so it remains locked on your account. If that happens, unfortunately getting the scene again won’t unlock it. The achievement becomes inaccessible because the game thinks you already have it. Playing with the same Steam account on a different device or fully deleting your game data (more than the only the save files) are the only work arounds we’ve found.

Since when you talk with Jeremy in step 3 it's mentioned he goes on dates with someone (which assume is JB because who else would take this boy on dates) that makes him happy, does that sort of make JB and Jeremy the canon relationship in the first game?

The default for XOXO Droplets is that JB casually goes on dates with each of the jerks! Shiloh would’ve been harsher if Jeremy was the only guy getting her attention, haha. But the player can change that default by dating just one person the whole game for their own story and who she ends up with for real has no default.

Hi, hello! Huge OL fan, thank you so much for the wholesome content, it was very much needed during these times. Managed to get several people to join team Cove, so that's very exciting, I always have people to fawn over him with. I have a little question and I'm sorry if it was asked before, but does it ever come up in the game what Cove has told his mom about us? (who knows, with so many options, one can miss it) Or, alternatively, will it come up in the Step 4 DLC?

Thank you very much for sharing the game with people <3. It’s really great to hear people are liking it. Right now that doesn’t come up in game. Kyra is willing to keep her mouth shut and Cove isn’t gonna have that conversation either. At least not when he’s younger, but yes, perhaps when he’s a fully grown big boy in Step 4 you can ask him about it.

I’ve been thinking about this ever since it has been confirmed that there would be two love interests for OL2, would there be the possibility of forming a polyamorous relationship with both love interests? I’m sorry if you answered this previously, I’m just curious.

We are considering it, but it’s not a guarantee yet. It’d be really great to have but it’d add so many extra alterations that’d need to made, aha.

Hello! You mentioned how Cove would be uncomfortable with kids at 23, but how old would he be when he’s comfortable with having/adopting kids? (Same goes for the other LI’s.) btw, love your game!!

He’d want to be at least 25, but even older would be good. Derek would want to have kids when he and his partner could reasonably support them, the age itself wouldn’t matter. If they were doing good at 22 and wanted kids, he’d be up for it. Or they could wait until their 30s or whatever. Baxter is also more of a “when it feels right” guy rather than having a specific age requirement. Cove is just especially wary of being a young parent because of his own parents. I’m happy you like the game!

does step 4 immediately play after you press "end summer" in step 3? or is there another button/transition (like the story text thingy) before the epilogue begins? what happens after the epilogue? roll credits? 😂

Step 4 will have transition section always and there will be an extra button, if you own the Derek or Baxter DLC. By default the Cove-based version of Step 4 just plays once Step 3 is over. However, having the other guys’ storylines will mean you get to pick which version of Step 4 plays; Cove Step 4 (the basic one), Derek Step 4, or Baxter Step 4.

Happy pride, thank you for all you do for us🥰

I have a quick question though, I recently got a MacBook after my old windows computer broke, and now steam says I cannot download it, but it has no issues with other games, what can I do to download it?? I’m sorry if my English is bad

Happy pride month! Unfortunately, Our Life isn’t available for Mac on Steam right now. To be an approval application Apple requires having special notarization and we as a small group haven’t gotten that. Itch doesn’t care and lets us release the game for Mac there anyway, Steam does care so we’re locked out of putting the Mac build up on their storefront. Feel free to email us and we can try to help the situation out further!

[email protected]

Hello! I was jus wondering if the Baxter and Derek DLCs are still happening? I haven’t heard anything about them on here or patreon in a while so I just wanted to make sure ^^

They’re still coming and we just released a new sprite sketch on the Patreon for the Derek DLC c:. But right now Step 4 is still much more of a priority. Once that’s closer to being done we’ll focus way more on sharing previews for the other guys.

is it possible to tell cove you love him (platonically) at step 3 fondness/selecting him as basically family? i just love the mc and liz sibling interactions and it got me wondering about it (especially if you've selected that option)

You and Cove can be as close as family, but there’s not a specific scene in Step 3 where you say “I love you” in a family context. But there’s always Step 4~

do you intend on ever adding a collectors mode to Our Life? Like a way to collect achievements and CGs for the gallery without it effecting any save files?

We weren’t considering it before. But if a lot of players would find that helpful, we could start thinking on that!

Sorry if it's a silly question haha, but (in crush/love) is Cove really aware of how cute and cuddly he seems to MC? If so, what does he think or do about it? Or does he just ignore it?

He isn’t particular aware. Cove never truly stops being surprised that the MC is interested in/attracted to him, haha.

Would you say that the alone ending of xoxo droplets is worth playing again to get?

Nope, haha. The goal is to make friends/get a boyfriend and so the alone ending is kind of the bad ending for the game. Though there is a consolation prize if you get it by accident.

Is there any possible situation which would ever prompt Pran to bake for his girlfriend? Like I know it's unlikely I mean even if JB broke her leg somehow I'm pretty sure he'd still be like "I considered baking you a cake and doing the frosting the way I think looks interesting but you don't deserve a cake, no one does." right but also ahhh it would be super nice if some day he just surprised her with baked goods one day out of nowhere. JB would be so shocked it would be cute. So is there any possible situation where that could/would be a thing that he would do?

He might bake out of spite, like if he felt he had to prove her wrong on something. Or if JB used some good reverse psychology on him. Or he might do it in a relatively nice way if he could make his GF so shocked by the kind gesture that his amusement with that overrode his insistence on not being sweet. Pran is very difficult in high school, aha.

Is the "one route (where) it can be seen that Everett will drop his seemingly eternal waging with Jeremy pretty easily and can start getting along without thinking much on it" the Lucas route? I'm curious!

Yep! Everett will side with Jeremy if it’s between him and Lucas.

Hi I hope you guys are having a great day :) I just had to ask how Cliff would feel about Cove's partner/fiancé Mc calling them dad whether it be accidental or otherwise and secondly I also wanted to ask how he would feel about being asked to be the one to give the mc away at their wedding.

He would be very touched and excited! I hope you have a good day too :D

Hello! I saw an ask relating to whether Cliff "moves on" after Cove's grown up and stuff (and he stays single), but what about Kyra? Will she be with anyone else or will she stay single?

She does start dating again, but she takes it slow.

Hi! I absolutely love the art for characters in OL and I wonder is this fine to draw my MC in same drawing style and upload online later? Is this something artists would be okay with? Thank you!

Yeah, you can certainly do that C:

Hey there!

I wonder if I'm just being stupid here.. Is Step 4 a DLC? And if so, where can I find it? I can't seem to find it on Steam :< Thank you!

Step 4 is a free epilogue! It’s not done yet, but once it is finished you’ll just update your game file and Step 4 will be there after Step 3 ends.

hi! are step 4 and the wedding dlc two different things?

They are. Step 4 is a free epilogue that’ll be a default part of the game once it’s done, the wedding DLC is an optional paid expansion that takes place after Step 4.

Why did Baxter not receive a step 2 sprite seeing how he shows up later

Sprites are time consuming to draw and take money out of the budget that could’ve gone to other things. His tiny appearance in Step 2 wasn’t worth all the effort to make a sprite, aha.

I just realized, what happens if if you get the patreon exclusive moment but at a later date, when you don't have the membership anymore, it's updated (like a bugs fix update for example)? Would you have to get the membership again?

You would have to get the membership again to redownload the build. But there’s very little chance there’s going to be an update once it’s been out for over a month. If a build gets released with errors, players catch/report them within the first few days. So by the time the first subscription period ends, any problems that were noticeable would already have been fixed. And we’re certainly not gonna be adding new content to it once it’s been released for a long time. There’s no need to worry about missing out on something worthwhile in the future if you cancel your membership. It’s being made with the idea in mind that many players are gonna be getting it and then going.

Hello! Wanted to ask about gaming choice in step 3? Once upon a playthorugh I got the option to buy Cove a bracelet for his graduation present. I played the same basic character again and that option wasn't there anymore. I'm not sure where I went wrong. My Cove wears a bracelet on each hand and my MC is into fashion and jewelry. Do I need to put an earring on him or? Sorry, love your game so much.

He also needs to have liked bracelets in Step 2 for that to be considered a good gift option for him. Sorry for the confusion! I’m happy you love the game :)

Is Step 4 being released at the same time as the Wedding DLC or will the first come before the latter? Thank you!

I’m not sure. Ideally they’ll come out at the same time, but the wedding DLC has a lot of art to get done and we may have to release it after Step 4.

Can mc still get confession from Cove at the end of step 3 even if mc casually dates Baxter in step 3? Such as in crush mode?

I don’t think so. Maybe that’ll change, but generally there’s differences to the Step 3 ending if you were dating Baxter and those differences likely will conflict with getting the Cove confession.

For the patreon moments/dlcs, will it be available for all tiers?

It’ll be available for tier 2 (Fans) and up!

#our life #xoxo droplets #gb patch #ask #gb patch games #Our Life Beginnings & Always

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kirishimaswife2819 · 3 years

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This is my very 1st request, I hope you won't have trouble answering it! May I ask for headcanons of Bakugou, Midoriya, Todoroki and Kirishima in a Coffee Shop!AU? I don't mind if they own coffee houses, are baristas or frequent customers! Thank you so much for heeding my petition, have a nice day and take care!

Them in a Coffee Shop AU (+Quirkless AU) || Midoriya, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Todoroki

Masterlist 1 || Masterlist 2

↠Author’s Note: Hi! I also made this a quirkless AU so it made more sense with the story. Anyway, thanks for requesting! I hope this okay and I hope you like it. -Danielle <3

↠Characters: Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, Eijiro Kirishima, and Shoto Todoroki x Reader

↠Summary: Coffee shop AU with Izuku, Katsuki, Eijiro, and Shoto

↠Genre: Fluff

↠Word Count: 2.1k

↠Warnings: None

↠Notes: Idrk know how coffee shop hours work, so just pretend like they work however I said, okay?, also y/o=your order

Izuku Midoriya:

Izuku works at a fairly popular coffee shop, and he’s literally the best worker there

Unlike most of the workers, he pays a lot of attention to the customers and what they specifically ask for, and he’s also always so polite, he was only ever rude to a customer once, but that was because she was being ruder, so it was okay

He also rarely ever gets orders wrong, and when most people come there, they ask specifically for him to make their coffee, so he gets pretty overwhelmed throughout the day and rarely gets a break

Most of the time he didn’t really pay much attention to the customers that asked specifically for him, but most of them straight up flirted with him, and he’s made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested in getting a significant other

That was until he met you

Normally, Izuku worked afternoon shifts, so from about one in the afternoon to nine at night (this was partially because he was the only one who closed up the shop correctly), but they recently began changing the schedules up and he got stuck with six to two in the afternoon

He didn’t really have a problem with waking up early, since he normally woke up fairly early to go for a run, not as early as he was now, but still pretty early

It was his first time working that shift when you came in for your morning coffee

You were playing on your phone when he called out to the next in line, you looked up and proceeded forward and to the counter, you looked up expecting the girl that normally worked in the morning but instead it was Izuku

“Are you new here? I’ve never seen you before,” You asked, clearly confused. Izuku gave you a small smile, and his face got a little red, you were really attractive, despite obviously just waking up

“No, I’ve always worked here. I just normally have afternoon shifts but they changed it,” Izuku replied.

“Oh, are you going to be working in the mornings from now on?” You asked, and after a nod, you spoke again, “Okay, well my name’s Y/n L/n, you can call me Y/n if you want, I come in here every morning and I’ll take a y/o.”

He immediately made your order and it was the best that it ever has been

After that day, you and Izuku both got secretly excited to see each other every morning, and you took got on first name basis with each other

You two ended up developing an odd sort of bond, whenever you came in, you two acted like best friends despite only seeing each other for about fifteen minutes every day

You started drinking your morning drink while at the shop, and you always sat at the bar so you could converse with Izuku while he was working

Eventually you two ended up exchanging numbers and hanging out outside of the coffee shop, and then he asked you on a date, and then shortly after that you began dating

You still went in every morning even after you started dating, and everybody working there thought that you were the cutest couple ever

Katsuki Bakugou:

Katsuki comes to get coffee every morning, and everybody at your shop knows this, and they all play rock paper scissors the day before to see who gets to deal with him the next day because he’s a pretty tough customer

He always finds something wrong with the coffee that he gets and he will make the barista remake it until it’s perfect, and he’s made multiple baristas quit because of this

And I know what you’re thinking “why doesn’t your boss just ban him from the shop” but your boss is a bigger asshole than he is, and he has chose Bakugou’s side every time that he’s been brought into it, so the workers just stopped trying to get him to help after a while

The two of you met on your first day working there, since you had tried to defend Katsuki when you first met them, saying that he couldn’t possibly be that bad, when they tried warning you about him, so they forced you to deal with him on your first day on the job

“Good morning,” you said, smiling at the blonde that came in, as he stared at his phone, he didn’t recognize your voice so he looked up and he was pretty surprised to see how attractive you were

“Morning,” he replied, hiding the fact that he liked you, and turning his phone off, before placing it in his pocket

“What can I get for you?” You asked, still smiling at him, hoping that he really wasn’t as bad as all your co-workers said. He told you his order, before giving you his name as well

All your co-workers were listening in and were shocked when he didn’t add on a rude “And don’t forget the extra cream” or “And if you fucking add too much sugar again, I’m calling your boss and complaining”

You made his coffee, before setting it on the counter, and tapping a few things on the screen, and giving him his total price, which was around seven dollars

He took out his wallet, before placing a fifty dollar bill on the counter. This was also strange to your co-workers because Bakugou never paid before he got a sip of his coffee, in case he wanted a refund or for them to remake it/give it to him for free

You picked it up and went to give him his change, but he stopped you

"Keep the change."

"What?" You asked

"I said, keep the change, you fucking deaf or something?"

"Uh, no, but sir, you handed me a fifty."

"I fucking know what I did, do you want it or not?"

"Yeah, I want it," you said, grabbing the change and immediately putting it into your pocket, "Thank you, sir, and have a good day."

"Yeah, whatever," he replied, picking up his coffee and leaving

As soon as he was gone, all of your co-workers were around you, asking you what the hell you did and why he wasn't rude to you, and you could only answer them with a shrug because you honestly had no idea

After that day, you were the only person that ever made his coffee because he was actually nice to you, and because of you he saw how it wasn’t really that easy to do the job

He figured that they just always messed up because they weren’t trying but they were probably just stressed, and it was probably partially his fault

Eventually, he ended up asking you out on a date and you two got to know each other and then eventually you started dating

Eijiro Kirishima:

Like Izuku, Kirishima works at a coffee shop, he just isn’t the most perfect worker ever, but that’s alright because nobody expects him to be perfect

He makes his occasional mistakes, and I would probably give him a 7/10 when it came to doing his job, but he gets an 11/10 for customer service

He’s not just polite, he’s also really friendly and if you just simply have a conversation it’ll feel like you’ve known him forever

He doesn’t really notice if anybody is flirting with him, he just assumes they’re being friendly and is friendly in return, but sometimes Kirishima’s friendliness can come off as flirting, even when he doesn’t realize, so sometimes he has had to reject somebody asking him out, and apologize for not realizing what they were doing

He never specifically tried flirting with anybody, not until you at least, he purposely flirted with you, because immediately after glancing at you, he knew that you were the one

Or that’s what he assumed, you just looked like his type, and he immediately wanted you

Your old coffee shop had shut down and this was the closest one to where it was, so you started going there instead

“Hi!” He immediately greeted you, happily, despite it being seven in the morning

“Um, hi?” You asked, in return. In your last coffee shop the worker that you normally got was pretty vague, and normally talked in a monotone voice, so Kirishima’s happy and cheerful voice was a bit of a surprise

“How are you doing this morning?” He asked, tapping something on the screen

“Good,” you replied, “Do you guys have y/o?”

“Yup, what size would you like?”

“Medium,” you replied, and he tapped something on the screen, before replying

“Okay, that’ll be $5.30, but it’s on me,” he said, smiling at you, picking up a medium disposable cup, “What’s the name?”

“Wait, what?” You asked, referring the first part of what he said, not the question

“I asked what your name was,” he explained, giving you a smile

“No, why is it on you?” You asked

“Oh, I always pay for somebody’s coffee if I find them cute,” he replied, causing your face to heat up

“You find me cute?” You asked, and then he nodded, “Sir, I just woke up a little over half an hour ago. There are huge bags under my eyes, there is no way that you find me cute.”

“Sure there is! Because I do, now what’s your name?”

“Whatever, it’s Y/n,” you replied, and he used a sharpie to write the name on the cup, before going to get your order ready

And he returned with it, giving you a smile, and telling you goodbye

You thanked him for the coffee and once you returned to your car, you read the receipt and found that his number was written at the bottom along with “call me :)”

And that’s exactly what you did

Shoto Todoroki:

Like Bakugou, he’s also a frequent customer, but not every day, he normally comes in every other day, or every three days

He was normally pretty vague, not wanting to interact too much with the barista, he wanted to get in and get out in as little time as possible

He didn’t have a problem correcting the barista if his order was wrong, and he didn’t expect it for free. He just expected them to remake without him having to pay extra

He also didn’t make a big deal if there was a little too much cream or sugar, they probably just added a bit too much, and that’s pretty easy to do

Shoto never really paid much attention to the barista he got and he didn’t really care about who it was, until he walked up to the counter and you were there

“Good morning, what can I get for you?” You questioned, tapping something on the screen

“Morning,” he said, and then he proceeded to make his order

“Alright? And your name?” You questioned, holding the sharpie up to the cup

“Shoto,” he replied, surprising the barista next to you that was listening in. Shoto never used his first name and it surprised her because he normally just said either “Todoroki” or “I’ll be standing right here, just hand it to me, please”

“Alright, Shoto,” you said, using his name, “I’ll be right back with your coffee.” He nodded in acknowledgement and stood off to the side, watching you as you made his order

“Here you go,” you said, handing it to him, “Sorry if I messed it up. I’ve never made one of those before. I’m new here.”

“That’s alright,” he replied, taking a sip. He hid the fact that he didn’t like it, because you had in fact messed something up, maybe you didn’t add enough of something, either way, he faked it with a smile, “Thank you, have a good day.”

Later that day, your co-worker informed you that she was watching you while you made it, since she knew that you never made one before, and she told you that you messed it up. Then she told you a little bit about Shoto and how it was obvious that he had a crush on you

The next day he came in, you apologized to him, and he brushed it off, saying that it was alright

You made a pretty bold move and left your number on the receipt with a little note “call me sometime?”

He did just that the same night when he got home from his work, and you two agreed to go on a date

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kuboism · 3 years

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Bleach Canon Vs. Studio Clown Episode 1

Intro to the series

WARNING: Long read but theres plenty of pictures

The first deviation we’re greeted with is what the anime presents as the arrival of hollows into the human world. With a likely artistic rendition of them forming from the shadows of Hueco Mundo and dripping/bleeding over into the human world like splotches of ink, after which they disappear - unable to be perceived by humans.

A/N: Which, kubos to the anime, is rather neat.

The anime also decided to incorporate the first volume poem which is the thematic beginning and a great establisher of the mood/themes of Bleach, which roughly translates to:

我らは姿無きが故にそれを畏れ

“We fear that which cannot be seen”

And then they curiously add a line to this poem?

姿無き故に敬う

”We revere that which cannot be seen"

A/N: Which, initially seems on brand with the spiritualism of that “which is not seen” - the shinigami, DEATH itself if you will. However, unlike the themes of “fear” and “fear of death/the unseen”, “reverence” is not really a theme prevalent or definitive for bleach. Reverence is not particularly reserved for death or death gods, but antagonists with themes of divinity/the Soul King himself, but I digress.

Next off the bully scene has a couple of missing/reworded lines, as well as some of the delivery changed, but overall it’s not significant enough to mention.

I also wish they’d kept Ichigo’s shit yourself scary face from this moment right here, since it really underlines how serious and personally invested Ichigo is in bringing small justice to the souls of the departed, but I can only pray a future remake does include it.

^ I am disappointed in y’all :/

vs.

v Karma delivery, bitch

Then for some reason the next scene is changed significantly:

In the manga, it builds up slowly to Ichigo’s reveal of supernatural abilities with the iconic TM character profile intros (which I can see why weren’t recreated in the anime, but I sure wish they put them in....)

with him spooking the bullies off with the ghost girl right behind him

Versus his scary face doing the job instead.....

It’s a small change, and I can see why it would be opted for - we don’t really know if they even saw the ghost in the first place (then again you could argue that would spook them anyway). There is a tonal difference in the long run though. The manga emphasizes once again *why* ichigo is scolding them in the first place - he sees the people disrespected by them knocking down the vase, he wants them to acknowledge their actions *because* in his mind, there are real victims he knows from it. While in the anime, since the ghost is not yet introduced, it feels more like “you are disrespectful to the dead” in a more generalized way vs. him actually being acquainted with the dead and treating them like the living.

(Again, not sure why change it so much at all........the suspense and reveal are in the manga just the same.... but ok)

As well as cutting off this small moment where you can see Ichigo’s very human (and cute!) interactions with the ghosts. To him they’re just as real as the living, and he lends them a hand whenever they ask for help.

Also lmfao this 4kids level of censorship.....

It goes on rather faithfully for a while, no significant omissions, then Pierrot decides to randomly replace Yuzu’s lines with Karin??

Manga:

Anime:

Which is an odd choice, given that not only does Yuzu sense ghosts just fine (albeit at a much lesser level than her family) and that later comes into play with Fishbone & Grandfisher, but Karin literally later admits that she doesn’t even want to acknowledge their presence, so why the change....?

They also cut short Karin’s little talk about Ichigo’s stats, which is a fair change for screentime’s sake, but mentioned for the record.

There’s a bit of a divergence with Yuzu lore, when the manga explicitly states she sees them, but not “clearly”, the anime focuses on her barely sensing them. I guess it doesn’t matter that much in the long run, since she is not that prevalent in the story, but it’s here for the record nonetheless.

Anime:

vs.

Manga:A

Also this next bit was removed, probably for the sake of pacing (which, totally fair!!), but it’s funny and I love the Kurosaki family so here it is:

It does make the flow a bit better in the manga, since this talk of selling his talents distracts Ichigo and creates an opening for his father to strike, in the anime, the same is done with Ichigo just randomly saying

and thats where his father attacks him, which isnt really an issue, just kind of funny of how the manga is like:

Ichigo’s distracted by his sisters plotting to sell him out and hence Isshin has his chance to strike back

vs the anime being like:

Ichigo randomly thinks about dinner mid convo about ghosts and thats what distracts him from play-fighting with his dad

gfdkhlgfdg okayyyy....moving on

In the manga this scene is interspliced with Ichigo’s inner monologue about the nature of his powers (with hip jargon like “for real” courtesy of Viz )

(but my beef with Viz translations are for another day)

Also the line about “He told me more ghosts than ever have been haunting me” has been given to Karin for some reason, probably to make her feel more included in the scene/Ichigos life.

Notably, Isshin’s response is changed from “What?! He talks about stuff like that with you (Yuzu, singular)” to “What?! He talks about stuff like that with you guys?” as well, again probably to include Karin more into the dialogue. (Mmmm ok....)

Minor detail, but Karin’s lines has been changed to more “boyish” speech structure in the Japanese dub, which may seem insignificant, but ...... that is for later.

.....

This little exchange

is replaced with:

Which, seems innocuous adaptation differences, but Yuzu’s lines keep decreasing and it’s a short enough moment to like....include and establish how motherly Yuzu is acting towards Ichigo.....but ok...huh.

And now we get into the big boy changes.

So, probably for the sake of grounding the supernatural element of the series, the anime decided to skip time to the next morning and introduce the hollow attacks with a news report.

Which.....is an interesting choice. I am assuming this is addressing how the real world perceives the hollow attacks, which Bleach doesn’t put too much effort into addressing, but very soon after this we learn about stuff like memory replacement and other various technology to keep things under wraps so this is either redundant or implying that shinigamis have not been doing their job, which hm......

Next off is the bizarre choice to paint Isshin out of the picture for the night

Not sure why, but ok

Again, where’s the shinigami with their Kikanshinki (memory replacement devices)??? Pierrot where’s the lore coherence......

Anyway, Ichigo goes to replace the girl’s vase, but suprise-surprise she’s gone-zo. Wonder what happened to her.....

(And....again, people vehemently don’t want a reboot when the anime looks like this? )

So Ichigo hears a scream and a hollow scream and follows the sound (Ok?).

Totally random hollows attack. Which Ichigo somehow has never seen so far? Mind you, this isn’t like in the manga, where Fishbone was sent by Aizen specifically after Ichigo to make him aware of it. These are random-ass hollows attacking people, so how come Ichigo suddenly sees them. Ya coulda played it safe Pierrot, and stuck to the book, but we got plot inconsistencies episode one so let’s party.

The girl is, of course, not eaten and they run away.

She trips at the most inconvenient moment. (can ghosts trip? Ghost don’t even have legs in japanese lore and Kubo draws them floating around so okkkkkkkk)

(ok ok, im just being petty, bUT YKNOW)

(convenient tripping on deadass levelled ground is convenient)

(also God I really want that bag Ichigo’s got on his shoulder, it looks so nice)

Random-ass hollow closes in and

BOOM

Rukia

(Now, if the rest of Bleach and the manga didn’t exist I would like this moment. We get a glimpse into Rukia’s abilities, into shinigami as a concept and we don’t really get to see her slice and dice hollows that much overall so the moment itself is rad in isolation.

Now, unfortunately for Pierrot’s screenwriters, Bleach manga exists and so does it’s lore, which again, would not be inconsistent with each other if the adapation was faithful. Now, Ichigo sees a shinigami, for some reason, for the first time in his 15 years of life. All of a sudden.

You could argue, that much like in the manga, this is all part of Aizen’s plan TM, but like, she literally leaves right after leaving Ichigo gaping in awe ghfkjgdf. Why’d Aizen give him an appetizer, I really don’t understand how this change is benefitting the narrative in any way. It’s ....dare I say....generic.)

Rukia yeets the hollow

(why is this kid suddenly not wearing shoes?)

and goes off on her merry way, leaving Ichigo shooketh

ALSO RUKIA MA’AM THERES A FUCKING STRAY GHOST RIGHT AT YOUR RIGHT????? ISNT IT YOUR LIKE....JOB.......... TO HELP GHOSTS MOVE ON??? i know killing hollows is the fun part, but like ghjkfdlgfd ??? are you gonna ignore her???

( his fucking face ghfjdkgdlfgfd)

So after this wholeass pointless detour (you’ll see why it’s pointless in a moment) we timeskip again (the filler is strong in this one. These 6 minutes were worth not coming up with something cohesive and removing scenes that actually make sense ah yes)

Ichigo is in deep thought TM about who tf is the stranger he’d just seen. Likely mulling over the monsters and how this person was able to slay said monsters. Probably thinking how unusual they are.

and as if on cue

the stranger makes their presence once more

(my God these faces gfhgkldfg)

....

Now let’s briefly address what happens in the manga instead.

Instead of the whole timeskip scene with the fight, Ichigo simply returns to his room on the same day, and oddly enough recognizes the species of the butterfly he sees? (nerdy boi! nerdy!! boi!)

rukia arrives much the same

(With the little text emphasizing how he’d never been aware of soul reapers, which is unsurprising given their secrecy, and makes sense in the long run since their first meeting is specifically orchestrated by Aizen. Two species that werent meant to interact brought together by his schemes.)

Back to the anime:

Ichigo pauses to ponder who tf they are and why the fuck they’re there.

and then the anime has the gall to suddenly revert to sticking to the manga, which like.... Ichigo kicks her for no reason? I guess because she isn’t answering? Even though Ichigo knows she has a sword and can wield it? Reckless boy.

Manga Ichigo thinks she’s a burglar, therefore, unsurprisingly, is comfortable kicking her outta his house. It’s a silly moment, but it also shows how accustomed or stupidly brave he is with the supernatural.

In the anime Ichigo asks her who she is instead of all that, and she responds pretty similarly to the manga

AND THE NEXT SCENE IS WHERE IT CLICKS WHY THEY WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO REMOVE ISSHIN FROM THE HOUSE.

(Ichigo and Rukia addressing the pointless filler, this leads nowhere)

Rukia check him out like she’s checking if the oranges on sale dont have mold on them

slapstick ensues

and Rukia decides to answer his question.

Vs. the manga in which Isshin doesn’t leave his children home alone for some random conference and is actually used very efficient for two reasons:

1) building up on the burglar gag with actually funny slapstick that is based on a previously established joke

2) Instead of Rukia just saying “oh usually people can’t see me”, we get an actual demonstration of it, the reader gets to see “oh Isshin can’t see her - she must be a spiritual entity,” which further clicks with her surprised reaction at him being able to kick her in the first place.

The next scene is the classique Pierrot censorship.

Ghost girl runs away from what I’m assuming is Fishbone.

Aside from not showing her get eaten, the scene is pretty much delivering the same message,

bUT

BECAUSE OF THE STUPID ASS FILLER WITH THEM MEETING RUKIA BEFORE THIS, I CAN ACCUSE RUKIA OF NEGLIGENCE.

UNLIKE THE MANGA, where Rukia arrives the night before and is specifically seeking Fishbone, therefore having no time to help this girl pass away,

This vvvvvvv

could have been prevented if SOMEONE DID THEIR FUCKING JOB THE DAY BEFORE VVVVVVV

(I rest my case. Thank you Pierrot for making Rukia either negligent or an idiot. Awesome, And mind you, these changes were unnecessary. The manga’s pacing is fine. They could’ve extended scenes. But nope, had to go for making them meet beforehand.)

Anyway, we get to see some actual stakes in the manga

The next scene which is this in the manga

has two changes to it. Firstly, obviously Isshin being consoled by Yuzu isn’t included since he isn’t home in the anime, and even if he were, I can see why that would be removed, cute as it may be.

And secondly, due to them having met prior Ichigo asks two additional questions:

And Rukia nods at both, which means she acknowledges that she had seen the girl the hollow was after and yet did nothing to help her pass on.

(Reminder the Bleach anime was in production WAAAAY past the first 4 volumes, which gave a good general idea of the series, which y’know, was fine to adapt as is.

You’ll see these changes add up into becoming inconsistent with further Bleach lore. There’s a reason people call Bleach a hot mess, and I’m afraid Kubo ain’t really it.)

(Volume 14 Note from Kubo where he talks about the anime being announced)

Back to the series

Pet peeve time: Wish the anime was half as expressive as the manga

These scenes are supposed to represent

This panel:

(Nitpicking? Perhaps, but idc)

So uh, this scene is odd

Again, because of the addition of that filler with the hollow

Ichigo has seen her in action

And they even added Rukia trying to convince him

even though, yknow???

LITerally the previous day???

Anyway in the manga, where Ichigo has reason to be distrustful of her and her claims since y’know hes never seen her or a shinigami in action, but has enough proof that she’s a ghost bc his dad didn’t see her, he simply dismisses her before she can reply, and instead of just getting angry for being called a pipsqueak

she shows both Ichigo and the audience proof of her spiritual powers by binding Ichigo and forcing him to quietly listen to her explanations.

(To reiterate - Anime Rukia has to verbally try to convince Ichigo WHO SAW HER FIGHT A HOLLOW THE OTHER DAY that shes no ordinary ghost. And because of that, she has no other reason to use Sai on him other than that shes mad she was called a pipsqueak bc she just tried to verbally convince him shei is a shinigami. When they could just adapt the manga and have her both demonstrate her powers and put him in his place at the same time. Wild.)

Also CRIMINALLY BORING SHOT, WITH CRIMINALLY BORING RUKIA

#NotMyRukia

LOOK AT THE MANGA

LOOK AT HER SMUGLY OWNING ICHIGO’S IGNORANT ASS #FuckYeahRukia

Also the subs may not show it if you’re watching it on Netflix, but anime Rukia says “I am not allowed to lay my hands on humans outside orders,” which like, you ARE LITERALLY DOING THAT. Manga Rukia is fine with bullying Ichigo, but she draws a line at killing him, but man Anime Rukia, you give no fucks about the laws huh.

why so cheerful?

(also Rukia be right tho)

(specifcally compared to hell you could say Soul society is a resftul place lmfao)

Also anime salary man gets to rest in peace, even like, pray and shit

Meanwhile the manga

YEET TO SOUL SOCIETY

(also notice how we’ve been robbed of ichigo’s silly socks

I swear the anime knows how to suck the soul out of the manga

Get it? Soul! haha ....moving on.)

Really Rukia? One of your jobs?

GUESS YOU WERE OFF DUTY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I’M SORRY BUT LIKE, SEE HOW POINTLESS THIS FILLER IS UGH!!!)

(Again pet peeve but look at how ugly this screen is COMPARED TO THE MANGA)

(What have they done to you, queen)

(also they never mention the name Konso ( or as Viz calls it here -”soul funeral”, thanks Viz)

Next on, not a pet peeve, but an observation:

Anime Rukia keeps her sketchbook in her kimono

Manga Rukia keeps it at the titty

Yep, which you neglected to do the day before,

she literally says “With the konso I did just a moment ago” like she used the word before. Like you can contextually get it, but why cut that line out of the dialogue if you don’t change the next line it’s referenced in?

There’s also a dialogue change from the manga’s well, Viz uses “vaporize” which is not a bad choice given the specific wording Kubo uses, but the original says

昇華 • 滅却

sublimate/convert • extinguish

which is a clever little nod/foreshadowing to the nature of souls in bleach and that they can be “converted” in and out of a hollowfied state.

While the anime just says “to slay hollows”, and albeit it lacks the little nod the manga has to offer, I can’t see how they’d include it in the anime at that stage so I’m fine with them simplifying it to like, an exorcism.

A better question then Rukia - WHY DIDN’T YOU SEND OFF HER SOUL????

also WAIT THE GIRL IS STILL ALIVE?? she’s dead-dead by this point in the manga.

BULLSHIT !!! YOU LITERALLY EXPLAIN LATER WHY!! ACTUALLY YOU EXPLAINED EARLIER WHY!!! YOU LITERALLY SAID THIS, 1 MINUTE AGO :

Anyway, Fishbone almost grants her the priviledge of escaping this God-awful anime, but is suddenly stopped?

AND CAN TALK??

wait WHY DOES FISHBONE TALK?? GHFJD isnt this supposed to be a juicy reveal for later when Ichigo realizes “hey theyre not actual complete monsters - but used to be humans!” Hm, ok.

Also leaves her alone? Damn ok...

Reminder:

Moooving on...

Speaking of the manga, this little moment is missing:

Since there is no pointless filler that would make him ask about the ghost girl therefore exposing Rukia’s slacking off of her duty, Ichigo realizes that there must be a hollow nearby bc in the manga he actually has braincells to spare.

Also wiping off the Baron’s moustache moment is gone 😢

Missing and dearly missed is also this moment, which consolidates how protective Ichigo is of his family. He only needs to hear Yuzu scream to click that the hollow is nearby and his family is in danger. I feel like anime Ichigo should be even more worried since his sisters are alone but ok??

Also foreshadows their dynamic of Rukia trying to stop his reckless attempts at pushing himself to protect his family, bc yknow....she has her own Kaien trauma to process.

Next off....

This is .... a choice....

They were very eager to give Yuzu’s lines to Karin just a couple of moments ago but now this whole exchange:

Where we see a very pragmatic yet soft side of Karin

She doesn’t know what is happening, and doesn’t expect her brother to fight it - he just wants him to be safe, because she loves her family. At least warn him before it gets to him and hurts him.

is replaced with this:

Yuzu, sweetie, what do you think he can do to achieve that.

I guess at least Anime Ichigo tries to get Rukia to do her job as she looks down on Yuzu in silence.

But compare it to the manga:

#MyRukia stops by Karin to check for a pulse and reassures Ichigo that his sister is alive.

Manga Ichigo is NUMBER ONE oniichan in town and doesnt have time to call out to a stranger to save his family - HES BEYOND READY TO GO FIGHT, RECKLESS AS IT IS, EVEN THOUGH HIS OWN FAMILY BEGS HIM TO JUST RUN. because he cant let himself be unable to protect them. He cant live with himself if he doesnt try his darnest to protect them.

*elevator music playing as ichigo tries to get rukia’s attention but she fucks off downstairs, but instead of doing shit he just does the worm on the floor*

which I guess is more realistic for a teenage boy, but Ichigo is literally traumatized by being unable to protect a family member. Y’all think a ghost he’s never seen before is gonna stop him?

Yooo, pathetic. #NotMyIchigo

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laddieseddiemunster · 3 years

Text

The Lost Boys x Reader Who Has A Pet

Sorry that I haven’t been posting very much. I have two posts that are sitting in my drafts and they’re probably going to take some time to make. One is an ask and the other is an idea I came up with. By the way the anon who gave me a request about a 13/14 year old reader that the boys accidentally turn, I’m sorry that your request is taking so long. If you’re reading this then I will get your request out soon.

David

david doesn’t hate animals. no matter how much they hate him. it really just depends on the animal though. david likes animals mainly for protection. not so much for loveable purposes. that’s kind of the reason why he’s not too fond of marko’s piegons. how are those feather friends going to be able to protect them if hunters come after them. that’s right. they won’t.

you had kept your little secret from david for a while. it was until he offered you to move into the cave with him when you realized you were going to have to tell him about your secret. when you told him about your pet he wasn’t too upset about it. he was more upset about the fact that you didn’t tell him before. depending on what the pet would be, this is how it would go:

if it’s a dog that’s big or a puppy that will eventually become big then david has no problem with it at all. they could use a hound for protection anyway. of course, he wouldn’t change the dog without your permission, but he might have to anyway. since animals can sense a vampire as danger, your dog doesn’t really like david. so if you don’t let him change the puppy into a hellhound then it’ll just hate him. david would probably end up changing the dog anyway, since he doesn’t want a good protector dog to hate him.

if it’s a small dog then it’ll go differently. david doesn’t hate it. he just wishes it was a bit bigger. how is this little thing going to protect you? it’s just there for playing and cuddles. and david plays, but he doesn’t cuddle. (unless the other guys aren’t around). eventually, he’ll warm up to the little guy. especially when he sees that it makes you happy.

cats are a completely different story. david isn’t a cat person. it’s not because the cat can’t protect him. he just doesn’t really like cats. he’s definitely the type of person/vampire that’s never had a cat but says they’re mean little creatures. it’ll definitely be something he’ll have to get used to. the only thing he doesn’t mind about having a cat is there is a possibility the cat could kill some of marko’s pigeons. david won’t tell marko this, but sometimes those birds get on his nerves.

pets that live in a cage (birds, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, etc.) he really has no problem with. if it’s a hamster or something similar, he’ll occasionally let it out of the cage since it can’t really do much damage. for some reason david likes watching it roam around for a little while before putting it back in its cage. if it’s a bird then david won’t complain, but it’s just another feather creature to add to marko’s collection. same goes with a fish. it can’t get out of the tank and bother him, so he has no problem.

if you have some sort of reptile (snake, lizard, turtle, etc.) it really goes in the same category as a pet in a cage. it can’t get out and mess with his things so he doesn’t mind. if you have a snake then david will be pretty impressed. most people hate snakes yet you have one as a pet! he’d always hold it in his arms while it slithers to feel the scales. your snake will end up being his pet too. he just cant get over how cool it looks, and that you aren’t afraid of it.

Dwayne

dwayne considers himself an animal person. size doesn’t matter to him. big or small they all deserve to be loved. he hates the fact that they can’t really have pets since most animals hate them. he doesn’t remember the last time a dog even got close to him without barking. dwayne is a fan of any animal with fur. he loves to pet them and cuddle them even though he hasn’t gotten that opportunity in decades.

you kept your pet a secret from him mainly because you didn’t know how he was going to react. you’ve never seen him interact with an animal, so you just assumed he didn’t like them. when dwayne found out about your pet he was quick to let you know that he had no problem with animals. then he had to explain the whole animals dont like him story to you. depending on your pet these would be his different reactions:

if it’s a big dog then he has no problem at all. he grew up with a dog so he already knows how to take care of it. since the dog probably won’t like him he’ll want to change it to a hellhound, but if you don’t want to then he’ll just try to win over it’s trust. once dwayne has the dogs trust he’ll treat it as if it was his own dog. he’ll take it on walks at night with you, and totally spoil it with toys. since the dog is big and can protect you it gives him one less thing to worry about. if your dog ever saves you from something, dwayne will treat it like it’s the best dog in the world.

small dogs basically fall in the same category as big dogs to dwayne. they’re just smaller. he likes small dogs because they’re easier to carry and cuddle with. dwayne won’t admit it, but he loves to cuddle with a furry friend. if it falls asleep on his lap or chest he will not move. he will wait for it to wake up. another reason why dwayne likes small dogs is its a good playmate for laddie. the boy is small and so is the dog, so it works out for both of them.

surprisingly, dwayne has no problem with cats. he thinks that the whole dogs are for boys and cats are for girls is bogus. they weren’t made for a specific gender, so who cares what other people think. he’s aware that cats are a bit more difficult to gain trust of unlike dogs, but he’s a pretty patient guy. if the cat doesn’t like him at first, then he’ll wait for the right time. dwayne admires how close you are to your cat. one time he saw you and your cat asleep together while cuddling, and he couldn’t think of a more adorable sight.

if it’s an animal that lives in a cage (birds, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, etc.) he’s pretty interested about it. dwayne has never had an animal like that other than marko’s piegons, but even then he doesn’t really know how to take care of them. he’s eager to learn though. if it’s a bird then he’ll try to gain its trust. he’s always wanted to hold a bird on his finger. if it’s a fish then he’ll buy food for it, but he’ll be a little disappointed since he can’t really hold it.

pet reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles, etc.) are on a different road for him. he’s not afraid of them, but he’s just more on the cautious side. the last thing dwayne would want is for your snake to bite you or hurt you in some way. even though the snake isn’t venomous, that still doesn’t stop his worrying. he also doesn’t want the snake to scare laddie. he’d feel terrible if the snake got loose and scared the poor kid. other than that lizards and turtles are fine.

Paul

paul likes animals, but he also likes to bug them. so when he was human, animals didn’t really like him, and obviously they hate him as a vampire. after a while he missed the affection that he received from animals even if they didn’t like him. at least they went near him. now they don’t at all.

when you told paul that you had a pet he was pretty eager to meet it. he also wondered why you kept it a secret in the first place. you told him it was because you didn’t know if he liked animals or not. he explained to you that he did like animals, and that he wanted to meet yours as soon as possible. paul does have a preference towards animals, so this is how it’d go depending on what pet you have:

if it’s a big dog or a puppy that’ll become a big dog, paul will want to gain its trust as soon as possible. he doesn’t want the dog that you love so much to want to tear him apart. he’ll start by giving it loads of treats and bones from people they kill. you’ll have to tell him to take it down a notch because you don’t want your dog to gain a lot of weight. paul would want to change your dog into a hellhound mainly because no matter how much he tries the dog still doesn’t like him and he’s getting impatient. if you let him then he’ll turn your dog right away, and they’ll become best friends.

small dogs are a little bit different for paul. they’re so little and all he wants to do is get on it’s nerves. after bugging your small dog he starts to realize that the dog has more reasons to hate him now. he won’t ask to change it into a hellhound because a small dog won’t really be much protection. so the only way to win over the dogs trust is for paul to use some mind tricks, and that’s exactly what he does. paul does learn the hard way that you can’t be too rough with a smaller dog. he gets a little disappointed when he can’t play fight with it.

if you have a cat then paul will actually want to get to know it. he’s never had a cat and he wants to know why everyone says they’re annoying. when he finds out that cats aren’t annoying and they’re just moody he’s kind of relieved. at least he knows that the cat isn’t staying away from him because he’s a vampire. paul had to be patient with the cat and that’s one thing he’s not. if that cat doesn’t start liking him after some time he’ll get disappointed and give up. you’ll have to help him get on your cats good side.

if it’s an animal that lives in a cage (birds, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, etc.) with paul half the time it won’t be in the cage. he can’t help but want to take it out of its cage and let it walk around. if it’s a bird he can’t exactly do that unless it’s wings are cut. he can’t exactly play fight with any of these pets, so he’ll just help you take care of them. if you have a ferret then paul will sneak it into star and laddie’s room to scare them. after a while it won’t work because they realize it’s just a ferret and not a rat.

if you have a reptile (snakes, lizards, turtles, etc.) he’ll be pretty surprised and a little nervous. paul won’t admit it but the thought of living with a pet snake isn’t something he wants to do. of course he won’t tell you that because he doesn’t want to seem like a chicken. if you have a lizard or a turtle he doesn’t mind, but a snake...yeah he’s not a fan. he doesn’t understand how you can just live with something that could kill you. even if the snake has no venom that doesn’t stop paul from staying away from it.

Marko

marko has made it pretty clear that he has no problem with animals. he’s already befriended all of the pigeons that live in the cave. no matter how much david and the other boys complain about the bird poop everywhere, marko still somehow has them. he even has names for all of them and he can tell them apart. they’re now his family and he will be upset if one of them goes missing or dies.

when you tell marko that you have a pet he’s really excited to meet it. marko pretty much likes all animals, so he doesn’t really care if your pet is cute or not. all pets deserve love. marko has introduced you to his pets, so now it’s his turn to meet yours. depending on the pet this is how it’d go:

if you have a big dog then marko will treat it as if it was his own. the only dog he could really get to know is thorn, and even max’s dog doesn’t like him too much. even if the dog doesn’t like him sooner or later it will. marko has a way with animals. even though he’s a vampire he somehow gets any animal to like him. it could be mind tricks, or it’s just a gift he has. to your surprise your dog didn’t just like marko, it loved him. it was like it happened overnight. all of a sudden your dog was following marko everywhere, and laying its head in marko’s lap when he was sitting on the couch.

small dogs in marko’s eyes are no different from big dogs. except they’re smaller and easier to hold. he knows that he can’t be too rough with a small dog, so he’ll start by trying to hold it and if that doesn’t work then he’ll give it some treats. of course, the dog usually accepts marko’s trust pretty easily since every animal loves him. marko is pretty good at knowing whether your dog is sick or needs something. somehow marko just knows the look on the animals face when it needs to be taken care of.

you have a cat? well, now you might not. when you first told marko that you had a cat he was excited at first, but then he realized something. he has birds, and you have a cat. marko likes your cat, but it cannot visit the cave. he will not risk the idea of the cat eating one of his pigeons. if you do move into the cave along with the cat, things will be a bit hectic. marko will be constantly checking his piegons to see if one is missing, and if one is then he’s going straight to your cat to see if it’s eaten one. if your cat did eat one of his piegons then say adios to your cat. marko will not let it live there.

if you have a pet that lives in a cage (birds, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, etc.) marko is eager to learn how to take care of it. if it’s a bird then he obviously already knows exactly how to take care of it. he’ll attempt to have your bird get to know his piegons, but they probably won’t like each other since they’re different birds. if you have a hamster or rabbit then marko will never let it out of the cage. the last thing he would want is for you to loose your pet in the cave, and most likely never see it again.

if you have a reptile (snakes, lizards, turtles, etc.) for a pet then marko would be super surprised. especially if it’s a snake. he’s not afraid of it. he’s just surprised that you aren’t. marko would hold it in his arms and scare star and laddie with it. if he manages to scare one of the guys then he’ll tease them about it until they die. a lizard pretty much goes the same way. marko loves to hold it and feel the roughness of its skin. he can’t exactly scare anyone with the turtle, so he’ll just help you take care of it.

#the lost boys #the lost boys david #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys paul #the lost boys marko #the lost boys x reader #the lost boys 1987 #frog brothers #the lost boys star #david the lost boys #dwayne the lost boys #paul the lost boys #marko the lost boys

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tunedtostatic · 3 years

Text

truths and dares

After the Iris 2 crew spends a wild night celebrating together, Sana is wishing through a pounding headache that certain crewmates hadn’t dared her to drink straight from the bottle. Meanwhile, Park seems more concerned with the truth part of the night.

2.5k, Sana/Park (and Iris 2 crew)

Also posted at archiveofourown dot org, /works/33560497 (I’ll put a real link in a reblog)

CW: Drunken shenanigans, excessive alcohol consumption, mostly played for laughs but not totally. Suggestive language, though nothing beyond T-rated if that.

The hangover/coffee storyline is a retread of the premise of @iffeelscouldkill’s wonderful Sana/Campbell fic “Strong Coffee and Sourdough,” because my brain went “What if THAT but with PARK?”

Sana opens her eyes and immediately wishes she hadn’t. The sunlights in her cabin on the Iris 2 have come up, and Sana decides she wants to go back in time and kidnap whichever IGR engineer decided, doubtless to optimize personnel efficiency, that cabins should default to scheduled natural lighting. Anything to stop the photons now stabbing into her very soul.

Memories come back hazily: The first batch of moonshine on the new ship. A patch of the Deep familiar to the former Rumor crew, but days away from the more populated routes. Things feeling steady for the first time in a while. A crew dinner and a night of drinking to celebrate.

A lot of drinking. Sana groans, trying to put images together as her head pounds. She remembers sitting at the mess hall table with the others, singing. She remembers racing up and down a hallway with Krejjh and…McCabe?...with some kind of objective in mind, passing a ball back and forth, as the rest of the crew cheered. She remembers sitting in a circle on the floor of the darkened mess, Krejjh dramatically taking shelter in Brian’s arms as someone…Violet?...told a spooky story.

After that, she draws a blank, though she does have an odd sleepy memory of waking up, in this bed, to the sound of…Arkady giggling?

With a frown of confusion, Sana groans again, then sighs. She normally tries to watch her limits a little better than this. Oh well. Deep or no Deep, as Captain, she should probably go check on her ship.

Rubbing her eyes, she steps out of bed, and immediately has to pinwheel her arms to avoid tripping over the sleeping form of Violet, who is stretched out on the floor of Sana’s cabin. Arkady is twined around her, an arm slung around Violet’s chest and her face in the crook of Violet’s neck.

It’s extremely cute, though Sana can’t for the life of her guess why it’s happening on the floor of her cabin. She frowns, noticing that both of their eyes look puffy from lack of sleep. Well, Arkady and Violet awake in here at what Arkady would call “shit o’clock in the morning” would at least explain that last memory. Kind of.

As soon as she steps into the dimlylit hallway, she is hit by the welcome aroma of coffee. Feeling like a bloodhound on a scent trail, Sana heads toward the mess hall.

As she passes the bathroom, she sees what looks like an empty mug on the floor next to the doorway, along with someone’s—Brian’s—glasses. Sana picks up the glasses and polishes them absentmindedly on her shirt, tucking them into a pocket.

There’s also a bedraggled feather boa hanging off the sign on the supply closet door, and Sana squints groggily at it. Since when did the Iris 2 even have a feather boa?

As she comes up on the mess hall, Sana can see that its sunlights are up as well, but at least the mess hall makes up for them with a noticeable increase in coffee aroma. Rubbing her eyes again, Sana gingerly makes her way through the doorway, but before she can step around the corner to the kitchen half of the space, she is stopped by a sight not unlike the one in her cabin.

The hammock Sana rigged up—this one not from safety harnesses—is empty in the bright sunlight, but under it, three of her crewmates are sprawled in a sleeping pile. Krejjh is lying on their back, snoring loudly. Brian seems to have taken it upon himself to act as a human pillow for their injured knee, lying with their leg draped over his shoulder. And, a foot above him, the person who inflicted that injury is lying with their head pillowed on Krejjh’s stomach and Krejjh’s arm around their waist. McCabe is snoring almost as loudly as Krejjh is, their cheek squished against Krejjh’s sweater.

Sana stares in bemusement for another second before shaking her head fondly and inching around the tableau, making her way around the corner into the kitchen.

Park is standing at the counter, fully dressed and pouring himself a cup of coffee. Sana blinks at him for a second before the rest of her brain kicks in. “Park! Good morning.”

Though Sana is sure she made plenty of noise rounding the corner, Park looks oddly startled to see her, keeping his eyes directed at the mug and coffeepot in his hands for a long second before turning to meet her gaze. “Captain. Good morning.” His eyes drop momentarily away and he clears his throat awkwardly. Meeting her eyes again, he asks, “Would you like some coffee?”

“I would love some coffee.” Sana stares greedily at the steaming hot liquid in the mug in Park’s hands. Park has very nice hands, strong and sure as they set the coffeepot on the counter and pass the mug…to her?

Sana stares at the mug for a second before her brain kicks in again and she stretches out a hand to take it. “Park, being the captain doesn’t give me coffee priority,” she tells him, amused.

“It will be a hardship to take another thirty seconds to pour my own,” Park intones, deadpan, as he takes another mug down from the cabinet, “but no sacrifice for my commanding officer is too great.”

“Point taken.” Sana chuckles as she raises the mug to her nose, sniffing it blissfully before taking a sip. Oh, that’s good. “Thank you, Park.”

“You’re welcome, Captain.” Park replaces the coffeepot in the coffeemaker, raising his own mug to his lips. “You look like you need it.”

Sana eyes him suspiciously. Was that a drag? His voice is as bland as ever, but of course with Park that doesn’t mean anything.

Setting the mug down on the counter, she raises a pessimistic hand to her hair. Sure enough, she can feel it escaping its former ponytail to form a chaotic frame around her face. Glancing down, she can see that her shirt, which was already stained with engine oil, is crooked, Brian’s glasses still poking out of her pocket. At least she wasn’t wearing any makeup last night. “I must look a disaster.”

Park snorts into his coffee. “Don’t worry, Captain, you always look—” He blinks, as if his own brain is suddenly catching up with his mouth. “Like a captain,” he finishes lamely.

Sana smirks, wondering what he was going to say. “Like the undisciplined captain of a scrappy smuggling ship, you mean?” She eyes Park’s tidy button-down shirt, pilfered from one of the storage lockers onboard. “I guess to your discerning eye, a hungover smuggler captain with hair from here to Neptune isn’t that different from a smuggler captain at her glossiest.”

“Something like that,” Park says drily, taking another sip of coffee, and Sana laughs.

“Thanks for the coffee, Park. I definitely needed it.” She winces. “It seems like last night got a little…wild.”

“I think certain members of the crew, including you, may have…imbibed a little more than originally planned.”

“Yes, I’ve been getting that picture,” Sana says drily, wincing again. “Park, I…do usually try to watch my limits a little better than this. I’m not sure exactly…” She trails off.

“Well, you can lay part of the blame for that on that final, uh, drinking game.”

Park’s voice has turned suspiciously sheepish on the last words. “Drinking game?” Sana prompts.

“Truth or dare.” Park’s voice is mild again. “Specifically, the part when your pilot said, ‘Time to get Cap’n Tripathi wasteeedddd—’ Park’s Krejjh impression is eerily on point. “To which you said, ‘Someone needs to be able to keep an eye on the emergency alarms,’ to which Patel said, ‘Violet and I already agreed to stop for the night, Sana can get fucked up if she wants to.’” He sets his empty mug on the counter, reaching for the coffeepot. “At which point Liu said something to the effect of, ‘Go, Captain, go! Woooooohoo!’”

Sana groans.

Park looks amused, though this fades a little as he adds, “Uh, I think the thinking was that those who were a little more sober would keep an eye on the rest of us, but after McCabe dared you to drink straight from the bottle, things got a little…out of hand? If, uhm, memory serves—” He winces, the first visual indicator Sana has seen underlining his self-categorization in ‘the rest of us.’ “If memory serves, that was when Liu did think to spirit the booze elsewhere. She and Patel went to keep an eye on you to make sure you didn’t, um, stop breathing, and things here—” He nods toward the pile of crew under the hammock, “wound down to their natural conclusion.”

Krejjh, Arkady, Violet, RJ, I am going to kill all four of you, Sana thinks, though she has to concede that the person she’s actually mad at, or maybe rattled by, is herself. Getting drunk is one thing; passing out too drunk to be left alone is a different story.

For right now, she just sighs. “Sounds like we need to revisit our protocols for how much booze gets brought out in one night.”

Park has raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth at ‘protocols,’ but Sana premeditates him. “Informal protocols. The word ‘protocol’ was probably never spoken.”

Park snorts again, taking another sip of coffee.

“Anyway, thank you for the update, Park.” Sana leans against the counter. “At least no harm was done.” She thinks back to Arkady giggling in the early hours of the morning, and the puffiness of her and Violet’s eyes. They must have stayed awake until morning keeping an eye on her. Well, at least they seem to have kept each other entertained.

“Yes. Um.” Park sounds uncharacteristically uncertain. “About that. I’m…uh, I’m glad I happened to catch you this morning before the others…Well. Alone.”

Sana frowns curiously at him.

When he begins again, his voice is professional. Too professional.

“Captain. I’d like to apologize for what I said last night.” He winces. “Uh. Even if you don’t remember what I’m apologizing for, which it seems you don’t. But if you happen to, or someone mentions it…I thought I should apologize.” He squares his shoulders. “It was a tactless thing to say and I give you my assurance that it will not impact our working relationship going forward.”

Sana eyes him, deciding on a gentle, “It sounds like we were all pretty drunk, Park. Whatever you said, unless it was a confession of…I don’t know…” She tries to think of a crime that would actually set him apart from the rest of her crew. “Killing…a planet…for fun, I think we can overlook some less than tactful words.”

“It wasn’t,” Park mumbles into his coffee. “That kind of confession.”

Sana frowns again, confused.

“During the ‘Truth or Dare’ game.” Park’s voice is a careful monotone. “Krejjh asked me, ‘Former Agent Park, if you were to smooch anyone on this ship, who would it be?’ and I said, well, you.”

“Oh.” Sana takes a moment to gather her thoughts. She can see why Park is freaked out, but, she tells herself, it all sounds fairly standard for a drunken crew escapade. It didn’t—doesn’t—mean anything more than that. “Well, it sounds like they didn’t give you the option of saying ‘Absolutely no one aboard, thank you,’ so picking the first crewmember you could think of who wasn’t in a committed monogamous relationship sounds like a very reasonable…”

“I also said,” Park continues miserably, “that you were not only the smartest criminal I’d ever tracked but also the sexiest captain I’d ever met, that Roderick Quincy Cresswin Junior didn’t know what he was giving up when he betrayed you and left you and everyone you cared about to die horribly on Cresswin Landing, that if Ignatius Campbell loves you as much as it sounds like he does then he was an idiot not to kiss your beautiful face last time you were on Telemachus, and that anyone lucky enough to love you should strew nuts and bolts and rivets and flowers in your wake wherever you walked. Or flew.”

Upon finishing this recounting, Park stares into the middle distance, and Sana leans against the counter, staring at him.

“Park,” she says feebly, “You know I’m not technically a captain, right? I don’t have any accredited training—”

Park, who still looks like he wants the kitchen floor to swallow him up, gives this the non-answer it deserves, and Sana takes another few seconds to compose a less inane response.

“Well,” she says, in her best captaining voice, “Sometimes when a group of humans drink together, some, uh, horny language happens. People find other peoples’ bodies attractive; booze removes some verbal filters around that. You were too far gone to have the filters you would have wanted to have; you clearly didn’t mean it in a creepy way, and it doesn’t have to affect anything in our working relationship.”

Park relaxes. “Thank you, Captain.”

He hesitates, still looking a little uncomfortable. “While we’re discussing this, I should add for the sake of completeness that I feel a certain attraction to you all the time. It wasn’t just finding you, uhm, ‘sexy’ while I was inebriated. But I assure you I won’t let it affect our working rel—”

“You do?” Sana interrupts. She can feel herself staring at him as several weeks’ worth of pieces finally fall into place.

She’s definitely blushing.

“I do.”

“Park,” Sana says gently. “For the sake of…completeness…I’ll add that I feel a certain attraction to you. All the time. As well. But—”

Sana looks at him, really looks athim: this attractive man who three weeks ago was an IGR agent representing everything Sana is against, who calls her Captain and still flinches at sudden movements in his peripheral vision.

“But,” Park finishes for her, “there are a lot of ‘buts.’”

“Yes.”

“Whatimesit?” Across the room, Brian is blinking in the faux morning light, looking bemused to see his fiancé’s leg draped over his shoulder. “Wheresmglasses?”

At his motion, Krejjh starts to stir. RJ blinks and makes a face at the sunlights, squeezing their eyes shut and trying to bury their face in Krejjh’s sweater.

Sana smiles at Park. He gives her a small smile back, and Sana feels as though they have settled themselves onto the same team, two people facing a universe of strangeness both external and internal.

“We’ll talk about this more. Sometime.”

Park nods, his usual taciturn motion.

“Good morning, crew,” Sana calls as she makes her way toward the pile of hungover crewmates under the hammock. “Good news! Park made coffee!”

#tscosi #the strange case of starship iris #alcohol #sana tripathi #jin-seon park #park/sana #my writing #fic

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wenevergotusedtoegypt · 3 years

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It has been a DAY, let me tell you people

After waiting for almost an hour after our appointment time at the pediatrician we finally got in and had the pleasant surprise of actually getting to see my son’s doctor instead of another doctor at the practice, he promptly diagnosed the ear infection and wrote a prescription for antibiotics, great.

Normally we use a pharmacy that delivers, but when the prescription came through shortly afterwards, they had no delivery windows open til tomorrow afternoon. Which like...no, not waiting that long to start antibiotics. This actually happened to me a different time, also with antibiotics, and that time I called customer service and they were able to squeeze me in that day. So I decided it was worth a shot trying that again.

They were not able to do that this time, so they offered to transfer the prescription to a different pharmacy so we could get it today. I gave them the information for the closest pharmacy to us, which was a mistake, because I should have KNOWN something would go wrong. At least some small minor thing has ALWAYS gone wrong every time I’ve used that pharmacy, which is why I stopped using it and switched to this other one. But we had a cranky as heck toddler to deal with, and going further out of our way to a different pharmacy seemed inadvisable.

That was all in the car on the way home. After we got home, my husband went to do some errands near that pharmacy and stopped in to see if they had the prescription yet. They told him to come back at 5:00. This was about 3:15.

At 5:00 I called the pharmacy. I said, “Hi, I have a prescription that was being transferred to you and I wanted to see if it was received yet.” The woman asked for the date of birth, which I gave her, and the last name, which I gave her. She said, “Yes, I see it, it came in today.” I said, “Great, when will it be ready?” She said that it has to be mixed so I said ok, when will that be done, and she clarified that it has to be mixed at the time of pickup so whenever we come to pick it up they will mix it and it will take about 5 minutes for it to be ready.

At about 5:45 my husband showed up at the pharmacy to pick up the prescription and was told they did not have it. One of the employees claimed that I called and asked about the specific medication, and coincidentally they had just received a different prescription for the same medication, but I never gave my son’s DOB or name and so they didn’t realize it wasn’t for him (which was framed as my fault). Which, first of all, if that had been what happened, that still would have been a screwup on their part? You should not confirm that you have received a particular patient’s prescription without finding out who the patient is?? But also, it’s not what happened. It played out exactly as I wrote above. I DID give his DOB and name and I DID NOT ask about the medication by name, mostly because I do not frickin know how to pronounce it so why would I try.

Anyway my husband keeps trying to talk to various staff for a while and Pharmacist 1 (of 2, to be relevant later in the story) then adds to the story to be that they have been trying to get in touch with the original pharmacy and have not been able to and that my husband should call them. So my husband calls the first pharmacy and they say that they left a voicemail for this pharmacy, which Pharmacist 1 says was not received. Pharmacist 1 then proceeds to give the other pharmacy a completely different phone number than the one publicly available for this pharmacy.

My husband waits a bit longer and then Pharmacist 1 tells him that he needs to call back the first pharmacy because they haven’t done some administrative mumbo jumbo with the prescription that would allow it to go through with the insurance. By this point it is after 6pm and the first pharmacy is closed. Pharmacist 1 tells my husband there is simply nothing they can do today.

By this point I was flaming mad and in full mama bear mode because my husband had been telling me about the whole thing and I couldn’t believe the way they’d lied about my 5pm call and were taking zero responsibility for things (if they had told me at 5pm that they didn’t have the prescription, we would have had 45 extra minutes to sort it out with the first pharmacy, but no, I was told we could walk in anytime and walk out 5 minutes later with the medication). I was also staring at a second night in a row of basically no sleep with a toddler in pain taking up half my bed thanks to this incompetence. So I grabbed my son and ran out of the house with him, met my husband halfway to hand off the toddler so I wouldn’t have to take him into an enclosed public space, and headed into the pharmacy.

At this point I had no hope that we were going to actually get the antibiotic today, but I wanted them to own up to the fact that they screwed up and at least make some attempt at rectifying the issue (like, “we’ll get on this first thing when we open tomorrow morning and call you the moment it’s ready” or something along those lines). Now, there were 5 staff in this pharmacy, 4 of whom could theoretically have answered the phone per their positions. Of those 4, 2 were men and so definitely did not tell me at 5:00 that they had my prescription, and 2 were women. One woman had a heavy accent. It was not her who I spoke to. So I basically 100% knew when I walked in the door who was responsible for this issue (this is not a place that has a zillion staff running around, and they close at 7, so it wasn’t a new shift from 5:00).

I waited in line and when I got to the front, to the woman who told me at 5:00 that they had the prescription, I said, “Hi, my husband was just here asking about a prescription for my son and I need to follow up with someone about what happened.” This woman acted like she had no idea what situation was being referred to even though my husband had left maybe 10 minutes ago max, and politely requested my son’s information like it was the first time she was dealing with it. She then told me they did not have his prescription. When I related the 5:00 call (without letting on that I knew I’d spoken to her - and now I was even more sure because I recognized her voice), she just said she didn’t know who I’d talked to but they didn’t have it, and refused to take any responsibility either personally or institutionally for what I’d been told.

At that point, Pharmacist 1 jumped in and related the same story she’d told my husband and told me that she couldn’t fill a prescription that she didn’t have. I told her that I understood that at this point it seemed we were not getting the prescription tonight, but what I wanted to address was the fact that I was told at 5pm that I could walk in and walk out 5 minutes later with my son’s medication and now he was going to start his antibiotics a day late. She continued to tell me over and over that she couldn’t fill a prescription she didn’t have, no matter how many times I reiterated that what I wanted was not for her to do that, but for the pharmacy to just take responsibility for the fact that they screwed up and because of that my toddler was going to have to suffer an extra night. This kept going back and forth with no headway being made, just getting more and more heated, until she got sick of talking to me and handed me off to Pharmacist 2. With whom I initially proceeded to have the exact same exchange of “we can’t fill a prescription we don’t have” “I’m not asking you to do so, I just want to speak to someone who will take responsibility for what happened here” “well we can’t fill a prescription we don’t have” “I KNOW I AM NOT GETTING THIS PRESCRIPTION TONIGHT, I JUST WANT SOMEONE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT HAPPENED AND RECTIFY IT”

....and then suddenly he’s like, “well if you just give me the doctor’s name and number, I can try to get the doctor to send a new prescription directly to us.” OH. OKAY. IS THERE SOME REASON THIS IDEA DID NOT OCCUR TO ANYONE BEFORE I HAD TO DRAG MYSELF OVER HERE AND TAKE THE TIME TO YELL AT ALL OF YOU??? Like, you know, when my husband was there?? I don’t actually enjoy yelling at pharmacy staff or just at people in general! This is not a thing I go around doing! In fact, I had never done it before and if the medication were for anyone other than my sick small child I probably still wouldn’t have! And apparently you had this super sensible, doable, easy solution the whole time but we had to go through all of this crap and me making a giant scene* to get there??

7 minutes later they have the prescription and 8 minutes after that I’m walking out the door with the medication. 🤦🏻‍♀️Pharmacist 1 rang me up at the register and told me that it was ok that I yelled at her because she would have done the same thing for her child in my shoes. People. We didn’t even need to do this!!! You literally could have just called the doctor when my husband was there without my ever setting foot on your awful premises! Why!!!!!!

Anyway then I FINALLY got home and my son was a cranky, exhausted, snotty-faced mess and we still had to actually get him to take the medication, which did not go well. I’m not sure how much he actually swallowed. Really need to figure out a new strategy going forward, but he has no appetite so mixing it into something is unlikely to work. So I asked for advice in a group and while I did get some workable suggestions to try, I also had a rando stranger ask me why he was prescribed antibiotics, as if perhaps her judgment might be that they were not necessary depending on the reason and perhaps I might weigh that more heavily than our literal doctor 🙃(I responded that he was prescribed them because our doctor deemed it necessary)

*my husband’s friend, who knows me as a relatively quiet, calm, and collected individual, was in the pharmacy for the duration of this encounter and I’m sure he was like WHAT THE HECK who knew she yelled like this??

#really more than a day it's been a few days #in conclusion if this ever happens again we are going however far we have to go to use a different pharmacy #🙃#and it's a good thing we're going out 2/4 yontiff meals because today was supposed to be my main prep day #and i did exactly zero cooking #and my husband has class from 9-5 tomorrow

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ozzdog12 · 3 years

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2020 Top 7 (and 1)

2020 am I right? We saw an insane amount of games come out and 2 brand new consoles. What a wild and weird year for gaming, and life in general. In case you are relatively new here, and to be honest that would be completely fair considering I don't post very often on Tumblr anymore, every year going on the last 4 years (on here) I have done a Top 7 (& 1) for my favorite videogames of the year. Check out 2019, 2018, & 2017. What’s wild, as I look back on my list of games that I’ve completed and played, only maybe 10 came out this year. 2020 was a huge backlog year.

Lets get on with the ‘And 1!”

Favorite Game that Didn’t Come out in 2020: Control (PS4)

Control may very well have been my 2019 Game of the Year, had I played it in 2019. I LOVED Control. I wanted to play it in 2019, but initial reports that it was a little rough on base consoles put me off until it was fixed. And Holy smokes what an insanely fun and trippy game once I finally started it. I knew within the first 20 minutes this was going to be the shit when I went down a hall, walked into a room and talked to the “janitor” left out a door behind him and the entire building had shifted. I’ve always liked Remedy games, but from a distance. Max Payne 1&2 and Alan Wake all oozed with weirdness and intrigue, but never enough for me to finish them. I missed out on Quantum Break. The story is Control is just the right amount of mind f*!$ for me and builds a universe I didn’t know I needed. It take some time to piece everything together, then everything just clicks. The game does have a weird difficulty spike when fighting bosses and the checkpoints were too far apart at times, but those were later patched. I spent an insane amount of time within the Federal Bureau of Control building and even more time after that with the Foundation and AWE DLC and it STILL wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Outside of Prey, I can’t think of another game that stuck in my brain more after I’d finished it. Control is absolutely a MUST PLAY title. In a world where everything sort’ve feels similar, Control stands out of the crowd.

Number 7: Astro’s Playroom (PS5)

I never thought in my wildest dreams that a game I had almost zero interest in playing would end up on my list of favorite games this year. Astro’s Playroom is being labeled as a ‘Tech demo’ but that feels like an insult to what it is. It’s a full fledged game and its free! I’ve paid more for less. A charming little platformer that lives and breathes the history of the Playstation. So many cool Easter eggs and references. It certainly centers its gameplay around the DualSense controller and everything it can do, but at its core, its a completely approachable and forgiving 3D platformer. I played it just to see what it was about, next thing i knew I had completed all the levels and wanted to further explore all the nooks and crannies within the game. I wanted to see everything the game had to offer and I had an absolute blast doing so. Makes me kinda wish I’d played the previous game on PSVR (I’d have to have a PSVR too)

Number 6: Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

Another quality title, albeit a spin-off, from Insomniac to add to their Spider Man universe. Gameplay felt obviously like Spider-Man, but Miles has unique abilities that made the game feel different enough, especially the cloak and stealth. I enjoyed the fact that it was short and concise. The issue with most ‘open-world’ games is that they are entirely too bloated with unnecessary filler content (I’ll get to that in a later game), something I felt the first game suffered from, but I also understand why they are there. However I could’ve use one or two more story missions to help flesh out some characters, but it wasn’t required and didn’t change my opinion one way or the other. My one BIG gripe was with Miles himself. He is an extremely smart young kid, but so incredibly naïve. Peter Parker tells him the one thing he SHOULD NOT do is tell people he is Spider-Man. I get it, that’s part of his growth, but Miles thinks he can just solve his problems by revealing his identity and it almost certainly never works out.

Number 5: The Last of Us: Part 2 (PS4)

The Last of Us Part 2 may be the most polarizing game in the history of the medium, but for the absolute wrong reasons. I’m in the minority that I very much enjoyed my experience with TLOU2, quite a bit actually. Its better in every single way over its predecessor, except the overall story. There are plenty of fair criticisms to be had about the story and various things within the game itself, but I thought the gameplay was so tight and crunchy. There were genuine moments of suspense and terror that I felt that no other game has ever given me. The entire hospital section (2nd time) was so susensful, I had to put my controller down to gther myself. Some of my favorite moments in the series I experienced with a character I wasn’t overly fond of. How many games can do that? The Last of Us Part 2 was meant to invoke emotion, not necessarily joy. I think that's what people lost along the way. Say what you will about the direction Naughty Dog has taken over the years, but you would be hard pressed to find a studio that makes games graphically better than they do. Yes, I know about their crunch culture, but this is not a place for that. I will say, the game was a tad bit too long, which is not something it typically say for a single player, narrative driven game. The pacing and the way the story was told wasn’t my favorite, but I respect what it was trying to do, even if it failed in some aspect of that, I finished the game within the week it was released. Something I RARELY ever do. I’m a father and I related with Joel a lot in TLOU, but I also recognized how wrong he was. There is a lesson to be learned. Your actions always have consequences and while he was doing what he thought was the right thing, it wasn’t his choice to make, and in doing so set up a series of events that were entirely avoidable, but again, that’s the point isn’t it?

Number 4: Grindstone (Switch)

I’m counting this as a 2020 game since it just came to the Switch this year ( less than a month ago) but its not the first time I’ve played it. Grindstone was the only reason I kept my Apple Arcade subscription and when I let it lapse, there was a void I just couldn’t fill. I bought Puzzle Quest on Switch but it just wasn't the same. Its THE perfect game for bite sized play, even though in its addictive nature, you’ll clear a few levels and an hour has passed before you know it. It has the perfect amount of depth that most ‘match’ games don't. You have different weapons, items, and outfits w/perks to use and experiment with to keep it fresh. I went months without playing my Switch and when this was announced in August, I couldn’t wait! Sadly, I had to wait 3 months, but since then I have spent so much time on the Switch. It gave me a reason to play it again. The art style and humour is great. The variety of enemies and challenge is just right. I can’t recommend it enough. Seriously, check this game out!

Number 3: Doom Eternal (Xbox One)

I will be the first to tell you, I did not like Doom (2016). I found it extremely boring and trite. I understood what Doom(2016) was doing and it succeeded, maybe too much. Nostalgia is a helluva thing. So in saying that, I was mildly interested in Doom Eternal. Doom Eternal is nothing like 2016 outside of it being a Doom game that connects to the rest of them (& also being a sequel to 2016). The mechanics are drastically different with more platforming (for better or worse). Eternal is challenging, at times very hard, especially early on. Eternal has no respect for its players, in a weirdly good way. It laughs at how you’ve played FPS before this one and WILL MAKE you play it its way, not your way. Yes, you point and shoot, but ammo is scare and you MUST use everything in your arsenal. No more using just 2 guns for the whole game. The enemies are relentless. Sometimes you have to pause and take a breath after a battle because you go a 100 mph for the whole fight. You have to continuously move or you die. There is an enticing rhythm to it. I categorize Eternal as ‘Blood Ballet’. Its a game where when your feeling it, much like a rhythm game, you get in the zone and there is no stopping demons from getting slayed. Surprisingly, unlike most games in the genre, it seemed to get easier (sans one extremely frustrating platforming section late in the game) the longer you played it. Was that a testament that I ‘learned’ the Eternal way or it truly did get easier? I don’t know, but the final Boss(es) were....easy.. I had more problems and deaths within the first 4 hours than I did the final 8-9 hours. The multiplayer was also surprisingly fun. The older I get, the less interested I am in multiplayer, but I found myself coming back for more for a good month or so.

Number 2: Gears Tactics (Xbox One)

As 2020 comes to a close, I came to a stunning realization. I might be a bigger Gears of War fan than I had previously thought. Don’t get me wrong. I love Gears, but I seem to love Gears more than I thought. I'm way more invested into the lore than I recall. Anyways, Gears Tactics is everything XCOM 2 SHOULD’VE been. Not only does Gears Tactics utilize the Overwatch action, its makes it EXTREMELY important. The story revolves around the father of Kait Diaz, Gabe and a ragtag group of mostly random soldiers to take down Ukkon. Anyone who is remotely interested in the Gears universe will love the story and references. The gameplay is just so damn satisfying. The bosses are very challenging and different. I actually had to change my strategy to finish the final boss. I experimented with a totally different style of class and was rewarded for it. The post game stuff is also aplenty. This game scratched a VERY specific itch for me and I’m itchy to jump back in. I’m glad this came to Xbox One because I’m current computer could not run it.

Number 1: Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

I have a very odd relationship with massive open world games. I love them, but I get very burnt out on them. They all have a relatively same-y formula and are often populated with bloat. GoT does have some of that but to its advantage, its not very populated, in a good way. One of the things that I really appreciated about GoT and its side quest is most of them felt meaningful. The thing that really stood out to me about GoT is the absolutely satisfying combat. It just feels SO GOOD. It requires timing and patience. There are different fighting styles for different enemies and even the armor you wear is more than just cosmetic. The combat is so fun and satisfying that I was immediately excited when they announced Legends, a multiplayer add on, for free. Its so much fun and is a blast to play with a group of friends. I’m sporadically still playing the Legends mode. I initially wanted to play the game in ‘Kurosawa’ mode but I am glad I didn’t because the game, even on the PS4 is stunning, and on the upgrade on PS5 is jaw-droppingly smooth. I did play the entire game in Japanese with English subtitles. I still don't know what Jin’s English voice sounds like. GoT does a good job a drip feeding you new abilities and things to keep things fresh. I love stealth and once I unlocked it, I spent the majority of every battle taking out as many enemies as I could while in stealth mode. Ghost of Tsushima does a lot of things very well, that the few things it doesn’t can be easily overlooked.

#videogames #control #grindstone #tlou #doom eternal #gears tactics #ghost of tsushima #ps4 #ps5 #xbox one #switch #nintendo switch #playstation4 #GOTY #spiderman #astro playroom

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ichika27 · 3 years

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Mairimashita! Iruma-kun s2 ep18

Was gonna post this days ago but I decided to do twewy-related stuff first lol.

Anyways, lots of pictures below again. At least 20, I think. Talks of ships below as well.

The last time we saw them, Iruma had jumped in front of the beast preparing to shoot a blast of magic in front of Ronove. Everyone else is worried but don’t know what to do cause if they tried to help, they’d get blasted, too. It seems though that Iruma himself has a plan.

Iruma plans to use Ali-san’s ability to swallow the huge amount of magic to eat the blast of it the beast is going to release saying he thought it was possible since Ali-san is the Ring of Gluttony. Arikured is surprised by this and complains at first but agrees he could do such a thing but Iruma's strength will be needed to succeed.

Remember that spell Iruma learned before about changing the appearance of something? Iruma uses that magic spell to turn Ali-san into this... cat thing. Giant cat thing idk so it could swallow the magic. Ali-san swallows the entire beast and let it explode inside him. Once it was over, the sky clears up, too. The plan totally worked and Ali-san is full!

Does this mean Iruma could use the power that got eaten from the beasts?

Trouble is over and Iruma gets together with his friends again. His friends were all worried about him though and Kalego-sensei came up to tell him he'd been reckless again. Iruma says he hasn't forgotten about what Kalego-sensei had said before at the home visit and that he had now finally understood what sensei meant. He was so used to danger due to almost always being in one himself that he never realized how bad such situations were until everyone else he cared about got affected. He adds that he gave it everything he's got even though he wasn't sure he'd even win because he wants to protect everyone and holding onto that ideal is part of his "desire".

I’m happy this arc helped some of them grow and show the growth of those who already have. Pretty cool.

Random screenshot but I just wanna direct your attention to fluffy Kalego-sensei who is being adorable right now. I cannot take him seriously when he’s like this and even when he’s angry, this form makes it look adorable.

Back to the story.

While all the mess is happening on the surface, Kiriwo-senpai has finally been found by the Six Fingers who are there to help him escape under the orders of Baal. The other escaping inmates are also in the area but still behind bars and Kiriwo-senpai tells them that he never planned to help them escape alongside him and never said he'd do such thing in the first place.

I kinda feel bad for them but they are also bad people so, eh.

Upon donning the same coat the Six Fingers' wear, one of the prisoners had the realization that unlike all of them there who are merely "bad", Kiriwo is actually "evil".

One of the Six Fingers asked why they couldn't just let the prisoners escape, too as it'll help in causing chaos and Kiriwo-senpai answers that seeing the despair the prisoners are gonna be in when they realize they'd never be let out despite going this far will be fun to see. Plus, they're not strong enough and will be caught again anyways.

I missed seeing Kiriwo-senpai’s evil hairstyle. It’s been a while. I guess this answers the question I had back in season 1: Kiriwo-senpai chose to be evil. Sad but I should’ve seen it coming.

Back on the surface, a parade starts and on the float are the heroes who saved Walter Park. While Iruma is properly mentioned, the owner, Rossevelt also shows off his son (Ronove does call him Legend-daddy as in the English word lol). The owner thanks Iruma for saving the park and calls him a hero.

They look alike except for the mustache and hair length. Anime genetics never fail. Does Legend-daddy also sing his own bgm?

Unbeknownst to our heroes, Kiriwo-senpai is around the corner watching the parade. He's surprised to find out that not only was Iruma also at Walter Park at this time but Iruma is also the one to defeat the beast. Instead of being angry at another evil plan foiled, Kiriwo-senpai says that this must be destiny and was happy to see Iruma. He was gonna walk out into the crowd but snaps out of this happy state by a call from Baal.

Senpai really blurs the line between love and hate cause he acts similarly when it comes to Iruma. Congrats to the fans of this ship for getting this scene and also, I still don’t know the ship name for them. How do I tag this?

Back to the phone call, Baal isn't happy that the park still stands. Walter Park is created to vent out demons' evil cycle after all and he has no need for that in his goals as he prefers that the demons go way beyond the evil cycle and just become ultimately evil. Unfortunately for him, the authorities are coming and they can't really do much else so he tells Kiriwo-senpai and the rest to escape already.

After being told to escape, Kiriwo-senpai says that this isn’t the end and declares that he and Iruma will meet again as they are destined enemies.

I guess in Iruma’s harem, he’s the “enemies to lovers” love interest lol.

Iruma looks at the direction where Kiriwo-senpai was but of course, he doesn’t see anything and he’s none the wiser.

Opera gives Iruma back his backpack at the float. As Iruma looks inside for his stuff, he finds the note his grandfather gave him of things he must do on his trip with the final one on the list being "Have fun with everyone!". Iruma looks at his smiling friends and thinks that even though a lot of scary things happened today, he still did have fun with them. Aww so cute!

Iruma gets reunited with his worried grandpa who goes to the hotel to check on him. Iruma says he couldn't go home early as Ronove's dad let them stay at the hotel as thanks for saving the park. Ronove’s dad adds that they are also Sullivan's students so he's happy to give them such things. Iruma tells his grandpa that he's happy and okay and that the teachers and Opera protected them. Grandpa Sullivan decided that the three adults would be given the job of protecting Iruma from now on (and Kalego-sensei felt a chill down his spine elsewhere in the hotel lol).

These two adults are the same. They probably won’t stop talking about their kids if you’re around them. Reminds me of FMA’s Maes Hughes (thought still makes me sad).

While the teachers are discussing information about the attacks, Kalego-sensei goes to his room to find his team on the bed making fun of the stuff he said earlier much to his annoyance. The boys said wanted to stay in the teachers' room as it's better than the room they got but Kalego-sensei quickly kicks them out.

The girls also get rewards and are allowed to get any clothes they wanted which made them happy. Ronove’s dad is pretty generous, huh? Like, I know these guys deserve it for all their hard work but the guy looks so happy that he’d probably still be nice to them even without all the trouble happening.

They are all also given an all-you-can-eat buffet. Iruma eats a ton of food obviously. Clara is having fun at the chocolate fountain thing and Ronove is trying to make Agares eat. Those two got close, huh? lol I wonder if Ronove’s doing this to try and make Agares unattractive or something. It’ll be cool if they became friends though with their very contrasting personalities and all.

While everyone is having fun inside, Iruma leaves without anyone else realizing except for Ameri who decides to follow. They end up at the rooftop by themselves with Ameri trying to calm herself down as she's thinking of romantic stuff as it’s just the two of them. Iruma then reminds Ameri of the question she asked him before about his goal and tells her he finally found one: he wants have fun with everyone. He's willing to change in order to be able to protect that ideal of his. Ameri is happy to see Iruma has grown.

Ameri decided that she also wants to give it her all for her own desires and ambitions. She then tries to tell Iruma something but sadly she gets cockblocked by Clara and Azz both appearing. Ameri gives up for now and tells Iruma to just go with his friends.

Before leaving, Iruma asks Ameri a question - the same thing she was going to ask him earlier! He asks if they could hang out sometimes but just the two of them and she passes out from this lol.

Congratulations to Iruma x Ameri fans for getting a scene like this, too. I also don’t know the ship name for them. Anyways, why is it just the senpais getting a moment with Iruma? Ameri has been getting a lot of moments, too and it’s making me wonder if she’s endgame.

lol also, Ameri is worried about the other female rivals not realizing there’s another threat somewhere else.

While all that teen drama is happening, both Romiere's dad and Iruma's grandpa are being interviewed on tv. The two men then tell everyone how their kids and those kids' friends are the heroes of Walter Park. Since Iruma's name had been specifically mentioned (with everyone knowing the heroes are "Iruma and friends"), there ends up being reporters outside the hotel wanting to see Iruma the next day. Iruma, of course, doesn't like this popularity. With the thought that there may also be reporters waiting at his home, Clara offers to let Iruma stay at her house.

Oooh... will we finally get Iruma x Clara and Iruma x Azz moments as well? Hehehe

There's something new in the ED video by the way! This used to be for Kuromu but now it’s for these boys! Cute!

---

I’m guessing this is the end of this arc? I wonder what the last one will be since we only have like, what, 6 episodes more? What kind of arc will it be, I wonder cause this one had battles.

Okay, the end where the heroes are mentioned to be “Iruma and friends”, I’m happy and surprised that none of the others were bothered by this at all. No one complained about why Iruma is the only one specifically named. It didn’t cause a fight between the entire group unlike what would’ve happened if this was any other story. I get why Iruma got proper credit as he is the one to end the incident and saved everyone around from being fried but his friends did a lot of work, too and it’d have been better if they were all credited properly in the news. None of them were mad though and are happy that they won because they did their best.

Ronove calling his dad “Legend-daddy” will never not be cute and funny to me. His dad, despite being rich enough to own this entire park, isn’t an annoying, arrogant asshole and I like that. I’m happy that most characters in this show subvert my expectations and they make me like them more.

I’m sorry if I don’t tag ships in my mairuma posts but I don’t know any of the series’ ship names lol. Speaking of ships, as I mentioned before, Ameri’s been getting a lot of moments with Iruma or focus on her growing feelings for Iruma. Kiriwo-senpai only showed up a bit in this arc and got a bit for himself, too. Kuromu and Clara only had a bit when Iruma went evil cycle and I wonder if they’d get more, too. I personally ship him with Azz so I wish they’d gets some moments as well. Eiko gets hers mostly on the “Interval” segments.

So... is it possible to have a mairuma dating sim or not? Look at how many routes are available! XD

Anyways, focus next time is on Clara’s family probably with Iruma spending time there. I expect another Valac Family musical! XD

Thanks for reading!

#Mairimashita! Iruma-kun #welcome to demon school iruma-kun #sana_post

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idreamofhazel · 3 years

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The Boyking: Chapter 7

Characters/pairings: Dallas, Bobby, Dean, Castiel

Word count: 1.3k

Warnings: This story is overall angsty. Read the masterpost description to get the full idea. I will put specific, important warnings on each chapter unless there are none.

A/N: Surprise! I’m still writing this. This is the only thing I am writing at the moment, when I can. I had actual quiet time the other night and pulled up this doc. After some edits, I figured it was good enough to post. So here’s another chapter for those of you still reading <3

The man with piercing blue eyes pushed his way through. Looking around the room, his eyes fell on the symbols. “Where’s the blood?”

“The fridge,” Bobby said.

Nobody moved or talked. The man disappeared through another doorway and reappeared moments later with a jar half-full of the thick, red liquid. He began repainting the symbols in the hall, quickly but with care, eventually disappearing into other rooms of the house to continue his work.

Dallas crossed her arms and tapped her foot, letting her eyes float aimlessly around the room. Neither Dean nor Bobby said a word.

Several long, silent minutes passed before the blue-eyed man returned downstairs, putting the now-empty jar in the kitchen. He returned to the hall and nodded at Bobby. The collective tension lifted.

“Why are you here?” Dean, now able to speak, asked Dallas.

“Looking for you,” she said plainly. “Your brother seemed very concerned.”

Dean seemed to share Dallas’s surprise at Sam’s level of concern.

“I think the more important question is why she had to be here,” Bobby interrupted.

“We need to talk in the panic room,” the other man interrupted.

No one protested. Everyone followed Bobby, Dallas last in line, through the hall, and a door in the kitchen, and then down a flight of stairs. At the bottom was a standard dark, damp basement, large and filled with cluttered, metal shelves. They walked through the room and up to a large steel door. Bobby opened the door with a yank of the oversized handle, the massive hinges squeaking in protest.

They all stepped inside and Bobby shut the door behind them. A loud thud sounded and echoed off the cavernous, cylinder walls. Dallas’s eyes went wide as she gazed up to the ceiling where a fan turned, circulating air throughout the structure. Her gaze floated back down to eye-level, and she noticed the cabinets of rations and a lonely cot off to the side that pathetically decorated the space. The hunter seemed to have stocked the room with supplies intended for an indefinite lockdown.

Dean’s friend was the first to speak again. “We’ve been running from an angel, and we had to lay low for a couple of days.”

Dallas’s eyes grew wide. “Angel?” she blurted out.

All eyes were on her, and specifically, the man whose name she didn’t yet know. He squinted, and Dallas felt uncomfortable under the intense gaze.

“Guess I forgot to mention Dean’s friend is an angel,” Bobby said.

“Seriously? I mean, I’ve heard stories but--”

Bobby gave Dallas a reassuring nod. “But Castiel here’s a little different, a little more human than most angels, and we trust him with our lives.”

“And what is your name?” Castiel questioned.

“Dallas,” she answered.

“This is the hunter I was talking about,” Dean added.

Castiel spent a longer time looking at Dallas, analyzing her, than Bobby had when she first appeared on his doorstep. She crossed her arms as if the action would add a barrier to his piercing gaze, protecting her heart, and her secrets, from the celestial creature.

“So, can I ask why an angel was chasing you?” Bobby asked, having no time for the awkward silences.

Castiel broke his gaze with Dallas, attention turning to Bobby. “We went looking for clues about an artifact,” Castiel answered, “stolen from a missing collector, Bela Talbot. I believe you all knew her?”

Dallas tucked away her reaction as an uneasy feeling began to grow in her stomach.

“What artifact?” Bobby asked.

“An angel blade, which I first believed to be a common blade wielded by the common angel, such as myself. But then one of my sisters showed up at Bela’s home and told us she was meant to watch over the house. This omission seemed to be an oversight of communication between our superiors at first. I was not told there would be any angels watching the house. But the more questions I asked, she began to act strangely.”

Dallas felt a pit growing inside her stomach, gnawing at her insides, churning the contents of her stomach, as she maintained a calm outer appearance. There’s no way they could connect me to Bela. I didn’t leave behind evidence. I made sure of it.

“I was told by an angel named Zachariah to look for clues. When I communicated with the other angel’s superiors, they acted as if they knew nothing about my quest. Someone is lying, but I’m not sure who. This angel at the house, she attacked me. That’s why we had to flee.” Castiel finished solemnly.

“What was it you were saying about the angel blade? What’s so special about it?” Bobby asked.

“As I said, common angels such as myself and my superiors all carry the same, simple angel blade.” He pulled a blade out from under his trench coat, demonstrating his description. “Silver, a straight blade, but the highest rank of angels, the archangel, carry a modified, more powerful version. The blade is twisted and slightly bigger than a standard blade, but also silver. I was told by Zachariah that this is the kind of blade that was stolen from Bela. It is unclear whether Bela knew what she had in her possession.”

Dallas stared at Castiel’s angel blade, know immediately that her blade--the one she stole, the one that Ruby now possessed--looked nothing like the one in front of her.

“Did you find anything about who took it?” Bobby asked.

Dean answered this time. “Not much. But the warding in that place nearly knocked Cas on his feet, which means whoever stole the blade is most likely human. That and they shot up the safe where Bela had it locked up. Couldn’t find any shells, though.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Dean finally looked over at Dallas.

“You ok?” he asked. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”

Dallas couldn’t take her eyes of Castiel’s weapon. “Yeah, just, uh, the whole angel, archangel, angel blade thing.”

Dean chuckled. “It’s like that for everyone the first time.”

“Yes,” Castiel added, putting his blade back under his coat, “I imagine it’s been very challenging, especially after meeting Sam Winchester. How has your stay in Hell been?”

“Dark, boring, uneventful,” she rattled off, “Nothing special really.”

Castiel’s interest seemed piqued. “Sam, he treats you decently?”

“Yeah, I guess. He feeds me. Hasn’t put me up on a torture rack yet,” Dallas gave a half-hearted smile, then tucked her arms together again and looked away. Sam Winchester has treated me… decently. The words felt like betrayal on her mind’s tongue.

His curiosity sated, for the time being, Castiel turned to Dean. “What will you tell Sam?”

“I’ll tell him the truth. Don’t know if it’s connected to anything, but he’ll want to know.”

“I agree,” Castiel added. “It seems my family may be up to something in secret. I’ll be keeping some distance from heaven for now.”

“Well, I guess my only question after all this, is whether or not my house is going to be blasted to smithereens by some angry angels in the near future.” Bobby sounded half-serious, half-joking.

“Maybe, but it's unlikely. If you stay in this room most of the time, you should stay alive if that were to happen,” Castiel stated.

“Gee, thanks,” Bobby remarked.

Dean now looked at Dallas. “You heading back with me?”

Dallas considered refusing, hopping into Sam’s loaner, and driving across the border to Mexico. She could start a hunting career by the beach, maybe find La Llorona or El Chupacabra. That would be a nice life, calm life. But this life would still be here, not gone, only paused, waiting for her the second she got bored or dragged back in. And that was no way to live anyway, with no aim or purpose, a history waiting to attack her the second she lets her guard down.

“Sure am,” she said. “How are we getting back?”

Readers List

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#the boyking #boyking au #boyking!sam #supernatural

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gold-and-rubies · 4 years

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Fallout’s Use of Dead Wives For Companions

So this isn’t a full on essay, but I want to take a look at the dead wife trope in Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4, I haven’t played the others so I won’t make a comment on them. These are my opinions on it. I am not a professional at analysis, I just want to clear out my head. I will be talking about Boone, MacCready, Deacon, Valentine, and Longfellow. I thought about talking about Doc Mitchell, but I don’t really see people bring him up. Probably because it’s just used to explain why he has a female vault suit. I’m not going to talk about M!Sole Survivor, because in my opinion that is a different conversation. I talk more about Boone and MacCready, since I am explaining why it works for them. I don’t think many would argue with me that the others could use some alternatives though. Anyway, everything is below the cut.

So let’s start with Boone. He definitely is not the first, but he is the big one. If Bethesda did not overuse this trope in Fallout 4, I don’t think people would go off on him as much, but then again I am relatively new to the fandom. Overall, I think he is the best execution for two different reasons.

I already made a small post about it, but I want to expand on it. When people talk about how focused he is on Carla’s death, I don’t think most people realize that it was recent. It happened while they were living in Novac, and when you meet him he says he has been living there for a year. Meaning that at the most she’s been dead for a little over eleven months, but I think it is way less than that. I think if it had been that long, Boone would have already figured out who was responsible. He’d probably be long, long gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is as recent as a little over a week. Not only is it recent, but he’s the one who did the deed. And he hates himself for it. He knows what he did was wrong, but it was that or let her and their unborn child become slaves. That’s another thing I don’t think a lot of people know. Carla was pregnant, and I’m pretty sure they were planning on keeping the child. He was given a choice that consisted of two very dark shades of grey, and he had to figure out which one was just a little better. Not only is it very recent, and tragic, but it genuinely has a very deep affect on him. It is apparent from the beginning that it isn’t just something that is supposed to make the player feel bad for him, it is an important part of his character.

The second reason is that this isn’t the only thing affecting him deeply, though he is the slightest bit more open about what happened to Carla. His participation in what happened at Bittersprings, and how that affected his relationships and how he views Carla’s death make him a deeper character. It serves to show the horrors of war, how willing people are to turn on each other when afraid, and it makes Boone a deeply traumatized character. Unlike other things, it isn’t just some cheap grab at pain. It’s made clear that he isn’t getting over her anytime soon, or maybe he might not at all.

Let’s look at MacCready next, shall we? I think he is the second best execution of this in this group, and by far the best one in Fallout 4.

I think this is because while Lucy’s death was incredibly sad, and affected him deeply the focus is more on Duncan and how he mirrors the Sole Survivor. A parent with a dead spouse who desperately wants to save their child? They’re practically twins. But jokes aside, unlike the others in Fallout 4, Lucy’s death provides substance and cannot be easily switched out for another person.

While twenty-six is a young age to have experienced all that Boone has, twenty-two is even younger. MacCready lost Lucy in a horrific way and became a single parent at quite a young age. We know that he met Lucy after leaving Little Lamplight, and she obviously died after Duncan was born. We know she’s been dead for a least two years because MacCready says she’s been gone for a few years. That means he lost his wife, the person he trusted the most and became a single parent when he was likely still a teenager. And despite this he has arguably the healthiest relationship with the death. He still blames himself for it, but he has come to terms with it the best he can.

It serves as the reason as to why he is a single parent, which I think has more of an affect on him as a character than her actual death does. Growing up in Little Lamplight, and being in charge of it for a bit likely forced him to grow up faster than is healthy, but having a child at such a young age with no one to lean on but your partner who died sent that into overdrive.

Yes, the final affinity talk is about Lucy, but given this is when you are able to pursue a romantic relationship with him, it makes sense. But here is why I think it makes sense that she died, and didn’t walk out on him, which could be seen as an alternative. He says that he never got the chance to tell her who he really was. She died believing he was a soldier and not a mercenary, which seriously messed him up. Part of him feels like she might have not loved him if he had told her the truth. It not only adds to the grief he feels, but also the joy he feels when Sole tells him they love him, because they truly do know him for who he is.

They could have gone in about a million different ways with his character in Fallout 4, but with the way they went what happened makes sense.

Then there’s Deacon, who I have mixed feelings about. Him being violently against synths before joining the Railroad makes for an interesting story, and a good reason as to why he is the way he is, but I’m not fond of how Barbara fits into the story. I understand that there would have to be some sort of redemption in order for him to join the Railroad, but I don’t think Barbara’s death was the best choice.I mean a death of someone he is close to makes sense, but it didn’t have to be his wife. Unlike Boone and MacCready where it makes sense for them specifically to be dead, it doesn’t for Deacon. Her death is just seen as retribution for the pain he caused. They could have very easily have just made it a close friend. While it makes sense for him to have such a dark history, they could have gone with anything, as the specifics of what happened don’t play a large role in who he is as a person.

Now, Valentine. Yes, Jenny was his fiancée not his wife, but close enough. Unlike Deacon, where they could have done anything for his background, it makes sense that someone had to die to make sure Nick was well and truly invested. The thing here is that it absolutely did not not have to be his fiancée, his professional partner dying could have achieved the same effect for him. Now, what’s different here is that her death isn’t really the sad or important part, it’s his identity crisis and justice that are. It is the Original Nick’s memories that spur him on, but justice for her death specifically isn’t the takeaway. It is the desire to do the right thing, and your actions being your own are.

Finally, we have Old Longfellow. This one is going to be super short. Old Longfellow is old by human wastelander standards. While I understand they want to provide a proper explanation as to why he dislikes the Children of Atom, him just being around for a long time and seeing and hearing everything would be reason enough. Hannah, that was her name if you didn’t know, I had to look it up, dying does the opposite of what the writer’s want. Instead of gaining sympathy for him it pushes players away, making her death the most unimportant one. You can’t even tell that that’s what is affecting him. They should have just focused on the thing with Shipbreaker. That would fit both his character, and the whole aesthetic of Far Harbor very well.

#craig boone #maccready #Robert Joseph MacCready #nick valentine #deacon fo4 #deacon fallout 4 #old longfellow #fallout 4 #fo4 #fallout #fallout new vegas #fallout nv #fnv #new vegas #death tw #death trigger warning #tw death

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eloarei · 3 years

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Okay, I’m going to babble about Greedfall under a cut. I just have to. tl;dr, you should have been able to romance Petrus and Constantin, no I am not taking critique. Under the cut: 1500 words of basic Greedfall explanation, and then me lamenting ships that didn’t happen; includes spoilers (noted).

So. Greedfall. Basically, I had never heard of this game until it was free on Playstation Plus a few months ago, and I was like “yeah okay sure, I’m not doing anything else”, so I played it. I had no idea what to expect. I don’t recall watching the trailer. From the icon, I expected maybe pirates? As it turned out, no pirates ...exactly? But kinda. They’re mostly just colonists with pistols and big hats. Lots of big hats. There are a faction of characters that live on ships, but they’re not pirates. I don’t think they’d appreciate being referred to as such. Anyway, it’s a rather Dragon Age-like game. I don’t mind saying so, since everyone else has. It has its similarities and differences, but it definitely feels familiar in that way. It’s definitely not a copy, just... inspired, I guess. You play as Lord or Lady de Sardet, (that’s a silent t, btw), who’s tasked with representing her people on the ‘new continent’ of Tir Fradi-- mostly to the other countries that settled there in the past few years, but also to the natives, who’ve lived there for ever and ever and actually respect the land, unlike you dumb colonizers. The factions are real pains in the ass, but in a way that’s a litttttle bit charming. Theleme is full of propagandizing Catholics who aren’t above a little witch hunt now and again. The Bridge Alliance are all science-obsessed atheists who think progress is more important than basic morals. The natives are VERY in touch with nature, and have cool Russian accents, skull-like face paint, and sometimes branches growing out of their heads. (The natives have the most diverse opinions, so they’re the least annoying. In fact, they’re rather likeable, except that sometimes they hate you, and don’t bother with pretending they don’t for diplomacy’s sake.) There’s also the Nauts (the pirates), the Coin Guard (mercenaries, but they kind of work for your country?), and the Congregation of Merchants, aka your country, which are basically neutral ground capitalists that everyone sort of doesn’t hate. (Theleme and Bridge Alliance despise each other, roughly a little more than they hate the natives.) You’ve got one companion from every faction: Siora from the natives, Kurt from the Coin Guard, Vasco from the Nauts, Petrus from Theleme, and Aphra from Bridge Alliance. They’re all representatives of their people, but also (as you might guess) non-extremists. Because otherwise you’d want to murder them. Siora isn’t desperate to kick out the foreigners, she just wants her people to be safe and respected. Kurt and Vasco are basically just following you because it’s Kurt’s job and Vasco’s boss told him to. Petrus is a conniving old man, but he doesn’t shove God down your throat too much and seems to respect the natives, sort of. And Aphra has enough morals to agree that killing for science ain’t cool, and maybe the natives aren’t just savages. All in all, they’re all pretty reasonable. Compared to Dragon Age, none of your companions (or other NPCs) have a ton of personality, but somehow they still manage to have a good bit, and I ended up really liking them. SO LETS TALK ABOUT SHIPPING You can romance Kurt if you’re playing a woman, Aphra if you’re playing a man, and Vasco and Siora in either case. But, oh my god?, getting the romance to happen is practically impossible. Save first. I romanced both Kurt and Siora (in different saves; can’t do ‘em both in one), using a guide, but by the time I had thought about romancing, I’d already said one wrong thing to Vasco and screwed my chances hahaha. There’s basically 3 specific conversations you have to have with them, and each time you have to pick the right thing to say, out of three choices. If you offend them at all, there’s no going back. Wow. They’re not very intuitive, either. ANYWAY. The romances aren’t all that interesting, but they add a bit to their stories, so it’s cool. I think my ship preferences with these four characters are Kurt, Siora, Vasco, and Aphra, in that order. But you KNOW WHAT? I wanna romance Petrus. Yes, the old man. The bishop. And yeah, I know why you can’t. (It’s spoiler time!) You can’t romance him basically for the exact reason you should be able to romance him: he was in love with your mom. Your birth mom, who was a native, which you never knew about. He pined for her after she was captured and taken from her land, and when she was in pain and wanted to die, he didn’t help, and now he’s like “woe is me, I’m flooded with guilt”. Which is partly why he’s following you/ de Sardet around. So you can’t romance him because he sees you as his kid... kinda?... ish?... I guess? Sure. Ok. I mean, that’s cute. I like it. He makes a pretty bad dad, to be honest, because he’s more like that one slightly morally corrupt uncle who lets you drink hard alcohol when you’re a teenager but only under his supervision. But he cares, and that’s the important thing. I don’t dislike dad-Petrus at all. But you should still be able to romance him because of the good old classic “you’re so much like your mother”. Problematic? MAYBE. =D But a real missed opportunity. Also he’s my favorite companion. He’s a real manipulator. Gets excited about blackmailing politicians. Sounds like he’s smoked a pack a day. I just like the guy a lot. (And you know how much fanart he has? Like none. Le sigh.) (Also very few ship fics with him; I’m not surprised, but of course I must remedy this. I’m 4k in already and it’s a lot of de Sardet thinking, and her friends poking at her.) BUT ALSO, to move on from Petrus. There’s a character I neglected to mention at all, because he’s not a playable companion (except for a tiny while in the beginning, iirc). He’s perhaps my real favorite character... or maybe tied with Petrus. Yes, it’s Constantin, de Sardet’s “dear cousin”. Oh my lord, Constantin. What a cutie??? He’s basically the prince. He’s been appointed as the governor of their city on the new island, and he’s precious. Genuinely a puppy. And I think you should be able to romance him. (It’s less crazy than you might think!) MORE SPOILERS TIME So, as it turns out (well, I already sort of spoiled it up there), because de Sardet is actually a native, s/he and Constantin are not actually cousins. They love each other immensely. The game makes no mistake about this. They’re absolutely besties. I think Constantin calls you his lucky star. He’s always so flattering, and seeing de Sardet just makes his day. And since it turns out you’re not really cousins, you should be able to romance him. And do you know why? I mean, because they love each other, clearly. But also, that ending. Good lord that ending. I mean, if you didn’t think that they loved each other that much, the ending basically says, “HEY ACTUALLY they totally love each other more than anything”, which makes it terribly depressing either way, because you can either... well, stay with him forever, to the detriment of literally everyone else, or, you know, not stay with him, in order to kind of save everyone. It’s already very heart-wrenching, but letting them literally be in love? GAWD. Talk about pulling heartstrings. It would have made the ending like... an actual choice. (BIG SPOILER BELOW although you probably already guessed.) Yeah so you have to kill Constantin to save the island. OR, you two can become the new gods, and everyone fears you and it’s terrible. Lordy. Just terrible either way, because there’s no way you played the game and didn’t end up loving Constantin somewhere along the way, even when the red flags started going up that he’d gone power mad. (Because even when he’s power mad, he still obviously loves de Sardet SO MUCH, OH my god...) So. As I said. You should be able to romance Petrus because, well, I want to. Need me that problematic ship, c’mon! And you should be able to romance Constantin because the whole plot is literally written that way??? It’s like the romance that is set in stone, you know? And it literally drives the plot. The whole “Constantin gets native powers and decides he wants to be a god” thing was sort of predictable (as soon as it started happening, because shit, I didn’t have a clue what was going to happen before!), but overall I thought the game and story were pretty good. I recommend playing it if you’re got 40 hours free and it’s really on sale or something. I give it an 8.2 out of 10. (Higher if it didn’t start to feel kind of grindy at points. Lower if I’d had to pay for it. Much higher if they let you romance your pseudo-dad or pseudo-cousin, hahaha.)

#elo talks #Greedfall #elo rambles #not a coherent review actually just me giving a rundown of the game and characters #and then babbling about ships that didn't happen #long post

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alarawriting · 3 years

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52 Project #40: Angel of Darkness, Demon of Light

Tala par Kyleth, Darkchild, had been on the road for 12 nights, heading home. There had been no unpleasant incidents thus far, and she fervently hoped things would stay that way. Tonight, however, was a warm, moonless night, the kind the creatures of the night liked best, and the stink of demon was on the air. She would be extremely fortunate to make it through the night without having to deal with some sort of disaster.

The best thing to do, she decided, was to find the demons first, and get rid of them, before she was forced to show herself to anyone. Tala was a warrior-- she didn't like fighting, but she could hardly avoid it, being what she was. What she could avoid was undue notice. She had to go out of her way to help people, but she didn't have to let them know about her-- and being a Darkchild, she craved invisibility more than anything else. So she drew a handful of demon darts and walked the forest in her shadow form. Neither human nor demon nor any other living creature would sense her presence in the deeper shadows of the forest until it was too late.

Then the forest's quiet was shattered by earsplitting shrieks. Tala cursed quietly-- so much for being anonymous. People's lives were at stake now. As she ran toward the source of the cries, she felt annoyance for another reason--what sort of idiots would be out on a warm moonless night? Didn't they know the danger? Still, not even idiots deserved to be demon meat. She focused her darksight until she could see what was going on.

There were four or five travelers and some children being beset by demons. Two men and a woman were laying about themselves with swords, flintlocks, anything they had, trying to destroy the demons. Another woman crouched in the center of the triangle the others formed, with two children by her, maybe more-- the firelight in the center hurt Tala's eyes too much to look directly at it. The demons were ignoring the fighters, and heading straight for the children-- only logical, since they always preferred child-meat, when they could get it.

Tala shifted out of shadow form and flung the darts at the demons nearest the children. She yelled, "Don't fire! I'm here to help you!" The woman with the gun, panicking, almost fired anyway. Tala was used to this sort of thing-- to frightened travelers, a strange woman's voice coming out of the darkness could easily be another demon's. Human flintlocks could hurt Tala considerably more than they could hurt demons, however, so she needed to take immediate steps to keep the woman from hitting her. She flung another of the darts at the woman, striking the arm with the flintlock. Since the woman wasn't a demon, all this could do was sting and make her drop her gun. By that time, Tala had her blade out and had begun to slaughter the demons.

Even demons needed some light to see by. Tala didn't. She swept the blade in a circle, generating a sphere of darkness, and then popped it with the point. Every light-- even the fire, even the starlight-- was extinguished in a wide radius, encompassing Tala, the travelers, and the demons. The darkness that Tala brought extended to all other senses as well, and plunged travelers and demons both into a soundless, scentless, empty world. The only one left able to sense anything was Tala, with the darksight that was not exactly sight, sound, or anything else, but something combining aspects of all the senses it negated.

The demons, unable to see, smell, hear or even feel the ground under their feet, charged confusedly at where they thought Tala might conceivably be. Of course, since her darkvision was at its clearest, she saw them coming with no difficulty, and easily dispatched them. Her Lightbrother Haren would be horrified, she thought to herself, smiling. It was the ultimate in unfair fighting to kill things that were blind in all senses. But then, the concept of being fair to an enemy was a Light thing; to the Dark, if you’d decided to fight, you’d fight to win.

Disposing of the last of them, she wiped her sword clean and sheathed it. Instantly the light came back, and the fire's brilliance stabbed her eyes cruelly. Quickly she shifted her vision, dulling it so the light was not as painful.

"You-- who are you?" one of the men asked, staring at Tala with the usual surprise in his face. Dark-skinned people were a rarity this far north to begin with, and Tala was darker than any normal human these people could have met. Her features matched no known specific racial type, making her appearance somewhat unusual even if one overlooked her odd color. Then there was the fact that she was a woman, adventuring alone, at night, which while not exactly unheard-of was terribly rare. Add to that the fact that she had just decimated a troop of demons, and it was easy to understand why they were so leery of her. By now, Tala was used to it.

Her usual inclination was to disappear into the night and answer no questions, but she wanted to find out why precisely these people were out in the forest at night, with children, even. It seemed to her that either they were absolute idiots, or they were under some extreme form of pressure. And if it was some kind of pressure, it was Tala's duty to find out what, and deal with it if she could. So she put her hands up, and stepped into the firelight so that they could see she meant them no harm. "Tala par Kyleth, Darkchild, called the Dark Angel," she said. They all looked horrified, and cringed from her. The woman she'd struck dove for her gun again. Inside, Tala winced. Giving her parentname had probably not been the smartest thing she could have done. She had a brother and sister who were, to put it mildly, not nice people, and from the reaction to her name, she guessed these people had met one of them. Offhand, she would think Maru-- her Darkbrother was similar in appearance to her, had identical powers, and was obviously also a par Kyleth. Unlike Tala, however, he was sadistic and power-hungry, which generally translated into committing evil. Perhaps they had been chased out here by him?... But that didn't make any sense-- the worst place to go to escape a Darkchild would have to be a darkened forest at night. Sighing, Tala set herself to assuage their fears, never a task she was very good at. "I'm not going to hurt you," she said acerbically. "If I served evil, I'd've left you to the demons. Speaking of which, don't you know better than to go out on a moonless night, away from the city's wards? You could all have been demon meat."

The man who hadn't yet spoken said bitterly, "You speak as if we had a choice, Darkchild, but you must know better. You call yourself par Kyleth, and you wear our tormentor's face, but you pretend not to know our reasons for fleeing the City of Light. I ask you again, who are you?"

"I'm not your tormentor, that much you should know," she said. "Did he give his name as Maru par Kyleth, by any chance?"

"There's another of you?" one of the women asked, frightened. The other one was attempting to reach her gun. Tala sighed.

"Perhaps you should tell me why you left your city, and who the par Kyleth who's been bothering you is. I may be able to help." On the other hand, considering who she was beginning to suspect their tormentor was, perhaps not. She turned to the woman who had loaded her flintlock again. "And you can put that thing down," Tala told her. "I just defeated a score of demons. Do you think your weapons mean anything to me?" The truth was, Tala was quite human enough for the gun to have power over her. But when she had to reveal herself to people, she liked to project an otherworldly mystique. That way she wouldn't be asked unnecessary questions or feel compelled to answer such.

The woman put the flintlock down, but left it within easy reach, as the man said levelly, "We braved the possibility of demons to save our children from certain death, at the hand of a woman named Shien par Kyleth. A woman whose features are so like yours, except for her color, she could be your twin sister-- and whose parentname is the same as yours. And you tell me, Darkchild, you tell me you know nothing of this?"

So it was Shien, her Lightsister, after all. Tala had thought she knew Shien well, and the depths to which she would sink, but apparently she was wrong. If they were fleeing Shien, it did make sense to head into the night-- Shien was a Lightchild, and couldn't bear the darkness. But there were other aspects in which the story didn't make sense. Shocked, Tala said, "Shien, making human sacrifices? I don't disbelieve you, but—Shien draws her power from light, and human sacrifice is typically a practice of the dark.” Light was more than pleased to set its enemies on fire, but it generally justified itself by claiming its enemies were evil. Light loved the truth, but hated ambiguity and nuance. “I'd expect sacrifices out of my brother, but Shien? You have to tell me more. When did this happen?"

They all looked at Tala with hard eyes. "What's your connection to Shien par Kyleth, the Lightbringer?" the woman with the gun asked harshly.

She was Tala's twin sister-- that was why they looked so much alike-- but Tala didn't think it prudent to state that quite so bluntly. "She is... my mirror. Everything I am, she is not." This was, at best, an oversimplification-- they were quadruplets, and each of them had an opposite in sex, source of power and personality, but Tala was not about to complicate the situation by mentioning her brothers. "It's my job to stop her, if she's doing evil again. Tell me what she's doing, and I'll be able to help you."

They proceeded to tell her the following story:

Shien had set up her encampment in a glass city, a marvel constructed by wizardry, with a reflecting crystal dome over it. Since she had arrived, night had never fallen. Because she was weakened by the lack of sunlight, just as Tala was by its presence, her motive was obviously to create a place where there would always be sunlight. Of course, she could generate sunlight herself, as Tala could absorb light to create darkness, and from what the refugees told her, Tala guessed that that was exactly what she was doing-- but then, why was she sacrificing people?

The refugees informed Tala that Shien was choosing children to be sacrificed in secret, and that really seemed uncharacteristic. Shien had been known to make an example of people by burning them publicly, but it wasn't like her to do anything in secret. Why was she sacrificing the children? What did she have to gain? Or was she sacrificing them? Perhaps it was something else she was doing... but what?

“They don’t know,” one of the women said bitterly, of her fellow citizens. “They worship her. They call her the Lightbringer and they think she’s responsible for everything good, everything benevolent. When she began the child sacrifice, she was claiming that our former leaders were the ones letting demons into the city, to kill our children… which is nonsense. How could demons be getting into the city, when Shien par Kyleth never allowed it to be nighttime, and demons only travel at night? Why would the leaders we once followed before Shien came have any interest in doing such a thing? But they’re blind fools. They see that she’s beautiful and they see that she brings light and they won’t hear that she’s lying. They won’t believe there can be anything evil about her. She lies, and they believe it.”

That was especially odd. Shien was usually too arrogant to lie.

"Don't worry," Tala told them. "I'll lead you to a safe-house tonight. Tomorrow night I'll go to your city, and I'll free your people from Shien."

It was due to things like this that the legend of the Dark Angel tended to grow, despite all Tala's efforts to stay obscure.

***

In the heat and terrible light of the day, Tala slept in the forest, fitfully. She hated the summers-- they were too hot, and the days were far too long. Tala was too weak to travel much in daylight, but couldn't stay asleep all the hours of the summer day, leaving her to lie about weak and bored for the better part of the afternoon, able neither to sleep nor to continue her journey. As she rested in the trees' shade, she debated whether she should go to battle Shien, or if she should wait until she could talk to Haren. She was on her way home to the Place, anyway, and had been greatly looking forward to a chance to swap stories with her Lightbrother there, her ally in the service of humanity. Haren was maybe too focused on following rules, and fighting fair, and less on getting the job done, but his heart was in the right place and he strove, as she did, to protect and aid people. Maybe she should continue on home and drop this problem in his hands. As Shien's fellow Lightchild, possessing her powers, Haren was usually the one to fight her, as Tala was usually the one to fight Maru. And Tala really did not want to have to handle Shien all by herself.

She considered it further. Usually Shien and Haren battled in wide open places, where it didn't matter if they burned everything around. If they fought within an enclosed city, however, the chances were good that they would demolish it, and kill the people Haren had come to save. Light was a destroyer-- dark was far more passive. Dark could kill, but it killed cleanly and quietly-- light burned. Also, if Shien was performing human sacrifices, did Tala really have time to go get help?

No. No, she didn't. Shien's murder of children-- if she was in fact killing them-- could not be permitted to continue any longer than possible. With her powers, if Tala did defeat Shien, it would be a bloodless victory-- and although Shien could do quite a bit of damage to Tala, she couldn't actually kill her, not without disrupting the balance that gave them their power beyond repair, and perhaps killing herself and their brothers as well.

She had no choice-- she had to take on Shien herself.

When dusk fell, Tala par Kyleth got up and began heading for the city of Lumida.

***

Back when they were children, all the created children of the mage Kyleth were close, despite the usual sibling rivalries. In the Place, their father/mother's domain, where they were born and raised, there was neither night nor day, and so they could all sleep and wake at the same time. Maru and Tala played together a lot, due to the similarity of their temperaments, and Shien and Haren played together often as well. But the four of them played as a group, too. They had no idea, then, that they would split in the middle, becoming enemies.

In retrospect, she could see the seeds of what they became in the children they’d been. Maru was a silent, brooding boy who would explode in violence, a boy who enjoyed hunting and pulled the wings off bugs, and scaring people. And Shien was a spoiled brat who thought she was a princess, the most wonderful person in the world, and who threw tantrums when she didn't get her way. But they’d been children, then, and innocent, and although she'd loathed what Maru and Shien did sometimes, they were her siblings, and she'd loved them.

She didn't love them anymore.

But it seemed much more Maru's style to perform human sacrifices. Maru was the sadist, the one who enjoyed hurting people for its own sake; Shien simply wanted everyone to fall at her feet and worship her. When they didn't, then she hurt them. There was no reason Tala could think of why she should be sacrificing children. Also, Shien was generally not a liar. Tala lied to protect people and to protect secrets; Maru lied to hurt people; but Haren never lied, on principle, and Shien didn't lie because she couldn't be bothered. She was too arrogant, and also, Tala thought, like Haren, she believed there was something inherently wonderful about the Truth. Maybe there was, for a Lightchild whose existence was based on openness and brightness.

Shien sacrificing children in secrecy? Shien lying about it? Those were not consistent with her identity as the Light, and Tala couldn't see her motive. But those refugees had believed it, strongly enough that they’d fled into the darkness of the night, risking demon attack. And if Shien was really claiming that demons were stealing children away, when she had filled a city with light… obviously that had to be a lie. Demons needed darkness to operate.

But she would find out soon enough, she knew. Shien was no good at keeping secrets, either. Not from Tala, at any rate.

***

She reached Lumida in two nights. The city's glow lit up the forest for miles, at least to Tala's oversensitive eyes. In a city of such brilliant light, she would burn-- her skin was black, but it didn't protect her from the sun the way dark brown skin protected normal people. She could even be blinded. Once again, she thought of going for help-- Haren would be strengthened by this light.

But there was no time. She pulled the hood of her cloak to shadow her face as much as it could, and drew the clasps tight, so it fell around her body, protecting her arms and legs. Then she concentrated on swallowing the light.

When she was very young, Tala had intuitively understood that dark was the absence of light, the natural state of things and not truly an entity of itself. Her darkvision was the ability to perceive things in their natural state, without the illusions light could cast. Her ability to create a sphere of darkness was actually the ability to make a magical hole that sucked in all sensation. And she also possessed the power to swallow light into herself, negating it with the sheer vastness of the darkness within her. But the more light she absorbed, the more full with light she would become, and it would begin to corrode her very essence. Still, for a time the technique would protect her from being seared. So as she approached the city of light, she swallowed the light into herself. To those who saw her, she would have been a dark, fathomless nothingness-- they might have taken her for a shadow, if they didn't notice she moved on her own, or for an evil spirit.

The city of light was protected by burning slender beams placed across the entrances. They were powerful enough to burn their way through a human being. In her lighteating form, however, Tala's body absorbed them, and they did no damage to her.

There were plants everywhere in the city of light, dying plants brown and blackened. For a while, it seemed, the light had encouraged their growth, but eventually light had been true to its destructive nature and killed them. There was no shade-- the light was everywhere. It was blinding, brilliant enough to hurt even ordinary people's eyes. Tala was virtually blind to ordinary light, and her darkvision became more ineffective the more light there was. The pain the light caused her eyes was agonizing, even in her lighteating form. She intensified her light absorption until she could no longer see any light, and she could make full use of her darksight for vision. Even then, it was blurred and wavery.

There were replica-paintings and statues of Shien everywhere.

There was no sign that it was night outside the walls-- a large number of people were up and about. They wore sunglasses or shades, and many of them carried flowers, which they would lay down in front of the paintings and statues. She wondered if the light intensified during the true daytime, when Shien would have the sun to draw from. She also wondered where Shien was getting this kind of power from. Shien had the ability to turn night to day, if she so chose, but not for a whole night. The Lightchild drew her energy from sunlight-- as far as Tala knew, she could not possibly generate the full spectrum of daylight for the 8 hours or so of a summer night. She simply didn't have the strength. But from the refugees' reports, that was exactly what she was doing. How?

The longer Tala stayed here, the weaker she would become. She had to find and defeat Shien before she lost all her power. So she headed purposefully through the city, knowing Shien, with her ego, would be near the center.

The closer she came to the center, the more the light began to seem like a physical barrier, pressing her back. From her experience with physical barriers, Tala kept feeling that she could get through by shifting to her shadow form-- but rationally she knew that was suicide. Her shadow form was insubstantial-- she could pass through any solid object-- but light would burn it, and destroy her. Light was filling her, reaching the limits of her tolerance, and slowly she began to feel the burning begin, the closer she approached.

She decided not to put up with this. Maintaining secrecy would be of no use to her if she burned to death before she got where she was going. Shien, theoretically, had no more power than Tala-- though Shien could generate light, Tala could cause darkness. She drew her sword, so black it, too, swallowed light. Then she sliced it through the air, ripping the fabric of space to let out all the light. This made great patches of darkness. Swiftly the patches filled in again, but they were dimmer, as was all the light. She swung her sword in a circle, creating a sphere of darkness, and with the tip she popped the sphere. Light poured in, vanishing, along with all sensation, and there was total darkness.

Tala carried the darkness with her further, toward the center of the city. She entered a plaza, with a fountain in the center, and a palace of white marble and gold in front of her. Then there was a sudden gleam of light in the darkness she had made. It was all the warning she had-- she shifted from darksight to her weak normal vision, and yet the explosion of light that followed still blinded her for several seconds. She heard a familiar giggling, breaking the silence her darkness had brought, and when she could see again, Shien stood before her.

Anyone looking at them would have known instantly they were twins, or rather more than twins, since no ordinary twins could be colored as differently as were Shien and Tala par Kyleth. They were not tall, nor built to look strong, nor did they have the large breasts and hips thought to be beautiful among human women in this part of the world. Their eyes were almond-shaped, and a deep hazel. These provided the only color in Shien's pale face, and the only light spot in Tala's dark one. Both had long hair-- Shien's white and fine, much finer than Tala's coarse black hair, but the same length. Both seemed somehow otherworldly, and neither precisely fit any known racial category, but despite the fact that they were identically featured and identically built, Shien was usually thought to be far more delicate and ethereal, even more beautiful, than dark Tala, probably due to the fact that all the fragile noble beauties were pale, here in the north.

Tala had never seen herself-- her darksight was not reflected in mirrors, and her normal vision was too weak. All throughout her childhood, she had used Shien as her pale mirror. Viewing Shien as like herself, she had never fallen for Shien's illusion of fragility, and had always known that, however she might appear to normal people, Shien was not delicate, not fragile, in the slightest. Her powers had far more purely destructive potential than Tala's, and so it could perhaps have been said that she was stronger.

But she wasn't supposed to be stronger in any real sense-- Shien and Tala were supposed to have exactly the same amount of energy to draw on, and so Tala was shocked. After this kind of output of energy, Shien ought to be utterly drained. Tala should be able to defeat her with ease. But here she was, giggling-- and that meant that somehow, she had access to more power than Tala did.

Tala began to be truly afraid.

"I'm so pleased to see you, Tala! Such a surprise! You should have told me you were dropping by; I could have arranged so many things for us to do together!"

"The balance must be restored, Shien," Tala said quietly.

Shien looked irritated. "What can't you Darkchildren ever come out and say what you mean? Don't spout that nonsense about balance; I've been hearing more than I want to from Kyleth."

Kyleth? Tala thought, surprised. Kyleth was the mage who created them all, their father/mother. Haren and Tala had always assumed that Kyleth was on their side, and had broken contact with their twins, since Maru and Shien had become dedicated to fulfilling their worst desires regardless of cost. She hid her surprise. "Why are you sacrificing children?"

Shien looked startled. "Who told you that?"

Tala smiled. "I thought that would get a reaction out of you. Something else is killing those children, or making them disappear. What are you really doing?"

Shien's laugh was chilling. "Oh, no, no, you've misunderstood me," she said sweetly. "I certainly am killing the children-- I just wondered who told you. I tell my people it’s the demons snatching them away, and if I increase the light, the demons will flee… and they all believe me!” She giggled again. “So I’m very surprised that any of them figured out it was me!”

Tala told herself silently that darkness was calm, darkness was cold. To rage, to burn, was to play into light's hands. So she stared her sister down coldly and asked, "Why?"

"Did Kyleth ever teach you any of the Life Magics?"

"Did Kyleth teach you?" The prospect filled her with fear and unease. Kyleth was a Duality Magician, drawing power from the tension of opposites. The Life Magics were properly called the Magics of Life and Death, and were an integral part of Duality Magic. She could see no reason why Kyleth would teach them to Shien-- they were deadly, powerful magics, and Kyleth was on her side. Her fear intensified as Shien smiled, and answered.

"You sound so shocked at the prospect, dear sister. Yes, in fact Kyleth has taught me the Life Magics-- which should really be called Death Magics if you have to use a short form, actually. I've learned how to use the power of murder to increase my power. Why are you so surprised? Kyleth always loved me the most, you know. Always."

Tala's mouth was dry. "I don't believe you. Kyleth's on our side. The side of good. Kyleth would never--"

"Are you really so sure?" Shien giggled. “You’re so ridiculous. ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ like those are actually sides. I expect that kind of talk from Haren, but I thought you were smarter than that.”

Suddenly light blasted her. Tala had been steadily darkening the area-- but now the light returned, burning, destroying her. She screamed, and flung up her sword, enveloping herself in blessed darkness-- but the light intensified, reaching in deeper and deeper. She clung to the sword for life itself, trying to summon all the darkness she could-- to no avail. Weak beyond the ability to stand, she collapsed to the ground. Terror whipped at her, and she understood that if Shien continued, she would die.

But that would disrupt the fragile balance that kept them all alive, and apparently Shien knew better to do that. She stopped, and regarded her helpless sister with a self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Was I ever so much more powerful than you before, Tala?" she said. "I get my new power from the energy of life. Sunlight is energy, after all. Weakness is all right for darkness, but light is the source of all energy-- light should always be strong. So." She clasped her hands in front of her. "The life of a child is filled with so much potential. When I kill a child, I acquire that potential and transmute it into light. For every night my sunshine burns, someone dies." At Tala's expression, she giggled again. "Does that really bother you so much, Tala? But listen! Life feeds on life. Children die, but I thrive. Who's to say a human's life is worth more than mine?"

Kyleth, Tala thought bitterly, tears stinging her face. Her mother, her father, her creator-- she'd always assumed, because Kyleth helped her and Haren against their twins, that Kyleth supported her side. She should have known better.

Haren had once asked Kyleth, a long time ago, why Kyleth had created him and Tala if it meant unleashing the evil two. Kyleth had replied, "You persist in thinking I'm good, Haren. I'll tell you what I told the city council-- just because I don't seek to kill and enslave everybody doesn't mean I'm nice. Good and evil are social constructs, and they change depending on your point of view. I’m not some sort of ‘good’ mage. I'm duality."

To Tala, Kyleth had said privately that the issue wasn’t honestly of good and evil at all. Kyleth had intended to create children of opposite sexes and opposite sources of power. The fact that it had worked out that two of them wanted to be heroes and save people, and two of them wanted to be selfish monsters… that was an accidental side effect of Duality Magic, most likely.

She should have known Kyleth couldn't solely support her side, the righteous side-- Kyleth was far too complicated to do that. But why, why had Kyleth given an advantage to Shien? The one thing they could always be sure of, when they were children, was that Kyleth was always fair, incapable of favoring one of them over another. The balance had to be maintained.

So why had Kyleth given Shien such a tremendous advantage? The only explanation Tala could think of ripped her to shreds inside. Kyleth was a mage, dedicated to duality, but Kyleth was also a human being and a parent-- and what if the parent did love Shien more?

"How?" she asked weakly. "You can't store energy..."

Shien giggled. "That's right. I can't. But this city was built to be the City of Light. There are banks and banks of crystals for storing light." She flung out her hand in an expansive gesture. "I don't know how they work, exactly, but I can store the energy of life in them, as brilliant sunlight. Would you like to watch me do it?"

"Shien. No!!" All the blood drained from Tala's face, and she felt suddenly sick and dizzy with rage and helplessness. She tried to summon the power to stop her sister, but Shien blasted her with light again, and she lost consciousness.

***

When she woke up, she was in a vast chamber full of glowing cubes of light. She was bound to a pillar, in shadow-- obviously Shien wanted her alive and mostly unhurt. But the light just around her was brilliant enough to give her pain, far too brilliant for her to risk shifting to her shadow form and escaping.

In the brightness, she could barely make out the form of Shien. "Do you always sleep so late? It's time for me to renew my light, and you nearly missed it. And that would have been such a shame, wouldn't it?" The light faded, just a little, until Tala could see a little boy, staring mesmerized at Shien, in between the glowing storage cells.

Dark must maintain control, Tala told herself. She held her tongue as Shien, gloating, began the ritual. There had to be a way to defeat her. Kyleth's actions never had just one result. The balance needed to be restored.

Balance-- balance! she thought suddenly. She hadn't the power to simply break free and save the little boy-- and if she did, Shien would just kill another. But if Shien could draw energy from death... everything was balance. It took energy both to take a life, and to save it. Therefore, there had to be a way to gain energy, or at least an advantage, from saving a life...

When Shien linked the boy to the crystals, Tala enveloped him with her mind and her darkness. Not so deeply as to quiet his heart and kill him, but enough that the searing light Shien poured upon him didn't harm him. Unreplenished, their light bleeding away into Tala's darkness, the light cells shut down. All went dark-- a blessed balm to Tala after the burning light. She slipped into her shadow form, came free of her bonds, and attacked Shien.

Without the stored energy of light to give her power, Shien had only as much strength as Tala-- and after so long in the light, she couldn't readjust her eyes even to dimness, let alone the darkness Tala saw best in. Shien fought back with flares of light, but Tala grabbed her and enveloped her with darkness, swallowing her light, until she felt her sister turn limp.

As he came free of Shien's spell, the boy began to scream. "It's dark! Mommy, mommy, I'm scared, it's dark..."

"I'll bring you to your mommy," Tala told him. "Take the hem of my cloak and follow me." She put the hem into his hand, and carried Shien outside, walking slowly enough that the boy holding her cloak could keep up.

For the first time in weeks, it was nighttime in the City of Light; but the people were thrown into panic and terror, not realizing that their tormentor had been overthrown. Most not even realizing she had been their tormentor at all. Maybe the refugees had been the only ones to know the truth, and all the rest mistakenly believed Shien to be their savior. To them, Tala supposed, the death of the light must mean something terrible must be in store. It was a thankless job, being an angel of darkness.

She led the boy to his family, who were overjoyed, and she told them the truth about the darkness. "This is the natural nighttime of the world,” she said. “Shien par Kyleth, the Lightbringer, is gone."

Dark could hide and dark could blur. They didn’t recognize the woman Tala carried in her arms, because Tala’s magic blocked the clarity of recognition. Yet it was the power of Light that had tricked all of these people, making them believe a woman who murdered their children was a benevolent and caring ruler even as the light had brought famine and the children had continued to vanish.

They wailed in grief, believing Shien was dead.

Would it could be that simple.

She went outside and carried Shien until her arms were too weary to continue. She laid her sister down under a tree, and made a web of dark confusion about her, to sink into her sleeping brain so that she could never find her way back to Lumida. The web would also keep demons and other creatures of the night from finding her.

Tala looked down at Shien's beautiful pale face. It would be so much easier if she could kill her. How many more people would burn, because she let Shien live? But to destroy her would upset the balance, and would probably destroy Tala and her brothers. Perhaps that was the solution-- perhaps Tala and Haren should willingly yield themselves to death, and take their evil twins with them-- but Tala, for one, was not yet willing to die. There were other ways to deal with Shien and Maru. There had to be.

She was still furious with Kyleth, for teaching Shien the Life Magics. She knew now that Kyleth had been seeking balance yet again; just as Shien had learned to draw power from death, Tala would learn to draw power from life. There would be no unfair advantage. But she didn't feel it was necessary to escalate the battle in such a way. And now she knew consciously, as she'd always known deep in her heart but never wished to acknowledge, that Kyleth was not on her "side." Kyleth would help her enemies as much as her. It was a bitter thing to know, of her only parent.

Tala turned and headed home, less eager than she had been.

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I originally wrote this in 1989, revised in 1991, and revised again recently. The original concept was to lampshade the idea of Good and Evil as forces being connected to Light and Dark. In the recent revision I have tried to remove the concept of Good and Evil being forces rather than personality traits, entirely. I still like the idea of a hero who represents darkness and a villain who represents light.

In the earlier versions, the people were well aware that Shien was sacrificing their children, but were beaten down and couldn’t fight back. The latest version where the people are taken in entirely by pretty lies told by someone they look up to is very, very recent. Gee, I wonder what I could have been thinking of. /s

I’m also still fond of technological advancement in fantasy stories being greater than traditional quasi-European medieval sword and sorcery, but not necessarily identical to the tech levels of today, either.

#52 Project #fantasy #light and darkness

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