#//i don't really agree with this one for vita

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 8: No. 1 In Heaven (Beat The Clock)

Best album ever made?? I'm honestly very glad that this year has been a pretty big No. 1 In Heaven celebration, because even though I love this album to bits I used to have a bad habit of forgetting about it... And each time I come back to it I'm blown away some more. Despite its short length, this album is packed with amazingness and such personality and energy!! Or maybe its actually thanks to its length that there's no room left for any "filler" (not that Sparks have much of a problem with that otherwise, I'd say that's another of their big strengths: nothing feels extra on unnecessary) and so what we're left with is all top-tier and unique material. Once freaking again, Sparks have made something that's one of a kind and absolutely cannot be compared to anything else.

Of course it's a huge turning point in Sparks' career and a highly influential work too - can't forget to mention that. This whole time period also has a very strong image and identity that I really love: all those amazing music videos! And I think most of us will agree that this was THE #1 iconic Ron look. Can't forget the 21×21 show of it either: every song gains even more life and almost magical properties in this form, and that applies to later performances of them as well (Dee Vee Dee Tryouts performance, like, hello??? Also, Number One Song being home to one of the most iconic Sparks things - Ron shuffle!!!). Can't lie that I also really like this outfit on Russell... All in all, might even be my number 1 choice for if I had a time machine and could go back and experience one live show but in person this time.

And now, of course, while I still remember, The Season Association Of The Day: this album is very summery to me, but it's like a clear summer night with all constellations in the sky being visible. Most spacey and otherworldly of Sparks albums - it's really too good for this earth!!

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

As I've said, hard to cut it down to just a couple favourite songs and moments when everything here is so brilliant, so take this as more of an either very early or current (as in, this week or month at most) standouts, because seriously, everything here deserves a mention!! And my favs keep changing about every week.

Tryouts For The Human Race: such an important early fav of mine, I kept being blown away by all the different sections of it, and replaying it over and over all summer last year, an incredibly powerful album opener that's sure to leave a huge impact right away

La Dolce Vita: the instrumental bridge is soooo perfect, and when the vocals come back in, I don't know if there's some sort of key change or what but that right there is one of the most satisfying moments in all of music. Also, it wasn't until pretty recently that I've noticed how much I dig the bassline on this track in particular

Beat The Clock: the instrumental bridge is soooo perfect, once again, and this is funny because this was actually the song I liked the least at the very start... And now it might just be my favourite here really, this week at least I mean, the lyrics are also a real highlight, and the music video is so iconic and cool, my fav of the bunch

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Scripting: Soffio di Vita

WARNING!: This post will assume that you've played, or at least seen, the entirely of the .EXE Saga by Oldum77 and/or read the accompanying story written with help from me and RockyBro10. If you haven't, there will be MAJOR spoilers for the aftermath of both of those, as well as a massive secret found in TS.EXE Remastered, here, so please do not proceed unless you've done that. If you wish to go forward anyway, please proceed with caution. You have been warned!

As a reminder, none of the scenes presented are canon to the original pieces, which includes the .EXE Saga.

Dimension TNL-2015 - Quill Society HQ -Two weeks following More than One Universe-

After getting a meeting call from Tekno, EV!Sonic, EV!Tails and LM!Sonic headed to the meeting chamber where Tekno was.

EV!Sonic: What's the issue, Tek?

Tekno: Very bad news, I'm afraid.

EV!Tails: What happened?

Tekno: I was monitoring Dimension OLD-2014, and... the monster causing trouble there pretty much wiped everything clean.

E-21 was trying to scan for anything remaining there.

EV!Sonic: Is there anything left of that set of dimensions, Elise?

E-21: Very barely. Respiro's destruction erased almost every fragment of them, and all that's left is some kind of fusion landscape.

EV!Sonic: Not good. I knew LM was adamant on letting things flow as they're intended to, but we need to see if there's any survivors left in that mess aside from the three warriors.

LM!Sonic: Honestly... I agree with you there, EV. Respiro deserved his destruction and erasure. Urgh, I hate that scourge...

Tekno: I'm detecting something. A couple of barely identifiable signals within what's left of OLD-2014. One of them sounds similar to OMT Mina, while the other...

EV!Sonic: We may need a small group to investigate what's left of the space and try to get whoever's still stuck there back out to safety.

Tekno: Right.

EV!Tails: Why don't we go together, Sonic? We could bring Cosmo along as well.

EV!Sonic: Buddy, I like the way you think. You sure you've got enough stamina for once we get in there?

EV!Tails: You got it!

LM!Sonic: I'll come, too. If anything, I want to make up for failing to save those from my own dimension.

EV!Sonic: Very well, LM.

Dimension OLD-2014 - ???????????????????????

A little later, the team arrived in the dimension, seeing how it was flat-out an amalgamation of various assets in its remaining state.

EV!Cosmo: Gosh... This place really does look a mess.

Zonic: Toy box components, furniture, Arabian architecture... Is this all floating here what's left of the dimensions?

EV!Tails: Sure looks like it, after what Respiro did. Doesn't really explain the whole object floating thingy, though. These don't even have a stable state to keep them bound, and there sure doesn't look like there's much safe ground here, considering how the collision's constantly shifting.

LM!Sonic: Are you detecting any survivors around here, Tails?

EV!Tails: I've picked up six signals, but... not all together. Three of them seem to be... corrupted. Good thing I brought my Data Restorer device on me.

EV!Sonic: Let's go check on the corrupted bunch first. They're gonna need our help.

EV!Tails and Zonic carried them down to where the broken data was, noticing some familiar silhouettes around where the data was trying to reconnect.

EV!Tails: Is that Amy there?

EV!Sonic: And Jasmine and Abu, too. Is this what became of them after Respiro's universal wipe?

LM!Sonic: Well, we'd better restore their data quickly.

EV!Tails: I'm on it!

Tails aimed his device at them, the flash rebuilding their code and restoring them to their old selves.

O77!Amy: H-Huh? Where...?

O77!Jasmine: What is this place?

EV!Sonic: You okay there?

O77!Amy (noticing EV!Sonic): Sonic!

She quickly ran into EV!Sonic's arms and hugged him close, quietly sobbing.

EV!Sonic: H-Hey. What's wrong?

O77!Amy: I... I wasn't strong enough, Sonic... I thought I could stop the t-thing possessing you, but...

EV!Tails: Easy there, Amy. You're safe now. Well, kinda.

She loosened the hug after a moment, wiping her tears and taking a moment to look at the Sonic before her.

O77!Amy: You're... not my Sonic, are you?

EV!Sonic: I'm afraid not, but we have come here to get you, Jasmine and Abu to safety.

O77!Amy (genuinely curious): Huh? Jasmine and Abu?

She looked back at the two foreigners.

O77!Jasmine: That's us!

O77!Abu: Hello!

O77!Amy: Oh! Nice to meet you two!

O77!Jasmine: How did we get into this... magical dimension, though? Last thing I remember, I got crushed under some debris from the palace.

EV!Sonic: Part of Respiro's act, guys.

O77!Amy: You... know the monster that corrupted my Sonic?

EV!Tails: Afraid so, Amy.

EV!Sonic: Your dimension was the last one he attacked, Amy, and after turning you into his servant after preying on your insecurities, he sent his new slaves to attack Jasmine's world, alongside the world where all the modern-day furniture's from.

Abu was in a thinking pose, trying to process what was going on.

O77!Jasmine: That must explain Aladdin's seeming "dream" before.

LM!Sonic: No wonder. That was when Respiro attempted to possess him, though he fought the scourge off the first time.

EV!Cosmo: Hang on... There's you guys from two of the affected dimensions, but... there's nobody present from the last of those three worlds.

O77!Amy: What was the other one? From what I recall hearing in my sealed mind, Respiro mentioned the first who opposed him was from plains of scorching sand, which is where Jasmine and Abu are from, while the other "adorned old western garb". But if the other's from Western heritage, I don't see much stuff related to it around here, except... maybe that cardboard box styled like a Western bank.

EV!Tails: Well, that's because he's a sentient toy, who, like those from the room where all this furniture came from, only came to life when humans weren't looking. He ended up being the second host of Respiro and used to slay the toys as a result of Woody's past jealousy against Buzz Lightyear.

O77!Amy: I still don't get it. How could Respiro even kill toys when they're not made of flesh and bone compared to us?

Zonic: It's because Respiro altered their reality to cheat that fundamental rule and allow him to gain power from the kills.

O77!Amy: Ah, right.

EV!Tails: Oh! Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but I've picked up the other three signals close by. They must be the three who stopped Respiro!

O77!Jasmine: Then we don't have much time to lose. Let's go find them!

Zonic shot a beam to the ground that formed a light bridge for the non-fliers to safely navigate together.

Zonic: That's our safe route through this realm. Everyone, let's get moving!

During their walk, EV!Tails was having a chat with O77!Amy about what had happened.

EV!Tails: Being under Respiro's grasp must've been scary, huh?

O77!Amy: Yeah... I guess it explains Sonic suddenly declaring that he hated me, which... was what drove me into depression...

EV!Tails: Hey, I know your Sonic would never have really hated you. I mean, he had your back the whole way before the disappearances started happening, right?

O77!Amy: Yeah, I guess so... Even after I died, I could still hear what was going on, and... I c-could hear myself trying to hurt Cream... I w-wanted to stop so badly, but I wasn't in c-control of myself...

EV!Tails: I can relate there, Amy...

O77!Amy: Y-You can?

EV!Tails: My dimension had to put up with facing three entities akin to Respiro. It felt like we were well and truly done for when... T-Toxinfect struck. He could've w-wiped out our entire universe if it wasn't f-for one of my best friends being a part of s-stopping him...

She comfortingly put her hand on EV!Tails's shoulder.

O77!Amy: Hey... What matters is that you managed to make it, and you found a way to bring us back, so it wasn't really all for nothing.

EV!Tails: Heh, I guess so.

O77!Amy: You know, since you and the other Sonics are from other dimensions... Did I get to be with Sonic in one of them?

EV!Tails: Well, I'd say so. I've seen quite a few where you and Sonic managed to tie the knot!

O77!Amy: Yes! Oh, that's made me feel better knowing my dreams still became a reality at least somewhere in the multiverse.

EV!Sonic: I can see them really close by. Let's pick up the pace!

At one area of the sub-world, the three warriors were having a small break.

O77!Woody: Alright, let's face the facts, guys! We're never getting out of here! The sanctuary Rovina provided us was all we had left, and now it's gone!

O77!Aladdin: T-There's gotta be a way back out, right?

O77!Woody: We've been trying to escape for what feels like years, and there's literally no concept of time here.

O77!Blaze: We'll figure it out one way or another, boys, even if we have to find a breach into a completely different universe to do it.

O77!Woody: How? All this? This is what's left of the "creator's" work! *sigh* Let's just close up shop. All we can do now is pray something happens, something good...

Blaze sighed glumly, sitting down on one of the huge drawers. However, she soon heard voices nearby.

EV!Cosmo: I can see them! This way!

O77!Blaze: Huh? Those voices...

O77!Aladdin: Could that be...?

Jasmine saw her lover there, and with Abu, she ran towards him.

O77!Jasmine: Aladdin!

O77!Aladdin: Jasmine! You're okay!

The two held each other in a longing embrace, with Abu joining in, happy to see his best friend again.

O77!Abu: Aladdin!

O77!Aladdin: Heh, it's great to see you too, Abu.

The others arrived, Amy noticing Blaze sitting down while despondant.

O77!Amy: Blaze? Is something wrong?

O77!Blaze: O-Oh! Amy! Are you alright? You look... different?

O77!Amy: I do?

EV!Sonic: Yeah, now that you mention it, your clothes and eye colour are different. Same with you, Blaze.

O77!Blaze: Oh, right.

EV!Tails: On the bright side, it's a good way to tell you two apart from others.

O77!Blaze: I just...

O77!Blaze: I feel like I wasn't doing enough before. I failed everybody, all because we couldn't stop Respiro before he erased everything. The sanctuary Rovina made for us was all we had left, and when we abandoned it to try and fix things... well, that's why we're stuck here.

LM!Sonic: Gosh...

LM really couldn't help but feel sorry for their predicament, knowing this kind of fate really wasn't what the three warriors deserved.

EV!Sonic: Hey. We'll help you guys get back out of this world to a safer place to let you have a breather.

O77!Aladdin: You can actually do that?

O77!Woody: Did you see any fragments of my friends, or at least one of them, out there?

Zonic: Not in our initial search, but we'll continue checking to see if we can find any survivors from your world, Sheriff.

O77!Woody: Thanks, Space Hedgehog. That's the least I can ask for.

Zonic: Er, the name's "Zonic"? Z at the start.

O77!Aladdin: The variants of you guys have different names?

EV!Sonic: Well, some of us, anyway. You eventually get used to it.

LM!Sonic: Well, we don't have much time to lose. I'm not sure how much longer the remains of this place will hold for, so we'd better get you guys to safety.

O77!Blaze: A-Alright.

O77!Amy: It'll be okay, Blaze. Don't worry.

She stood up.

O77!Blaze: Okay. Twigs, Dusty, you ready?

O77!Aladdin: I'm ready!

O77!Woody: Well, copy that, partner.

EV!Tails: Alright. Let's open a portal back to the HQ!

EV!Cosmo: Do what you need to, Tails!

Tails opened the portal.

O77!Aladdin: That's definitely a lot of, er... what's the term?

EV!Tails: Technology? Yeah, I understand it's pretty foreign. There's plenty of nature about at the place, though.

O77!Woody: Okay, let's not waste another second and get moving! Ride like the wind, guys!

They headed through the portal back to the HQ, with Blaze looking back at the old world one last time before leaving it behind.

O77!Amy: So, what next?

EV!Sonic: I'll go get you to our therapists, Amy. From what you told Tails, you don't really seem in the best state mentally right now.

O77!Amy: Yeah... I honestly really appreciate the gesture, Sonic. Thank you.

EV!Sonic: Anytime!

O77!Amy: Heh, wow. There's so many people here.

O77!Woody: You said it. I'd get lost memorising everyone compared to Andy's room. I still really appreciate the change in scenery, though. Being stuck in an amalgamation of your home and others can really ruin your hopes.

O77!Aladdin: Yeah.

EV!Tails: We'll get a room sorted for you, Jasmine and Abu shortly, Aladdin. Same for the rest of you.

O77!Jasmine (smiling): That's really appreciated, young one.

EV!Tails: You're welcome! Well, I'm gonna go see Tekno and get things sorted!

EV!Cosmo: I'll come with you!

EV!Tails: Sweet!

He and EV!Cosmo headed out.

Zonic: EV? Before you go, there's something I uncovered during our time back there. Some log connected to some other entity that must've been holding everything together back there. It mentioned about some... "Rovescio"?

EV!Sonic: Rovescio? O77!Blaze: Rovescio? I might have to look into that later.

Zonic: Fine with me, Blaze. I'll go store it in the library for you to look through later.

O77!Blaze: Much appreciated, Zonic.

EV!Sonic: Alright. I'll look into this Rovescio later, too. Whoever or whatever they are, we've got research to do. Alright, let's go, Amy.

O77!Amy: Oh! Coming!

She followed him to the therapy sector.

Post-er... POST, Trivia

The palette I went for for O77!Amy is based on this art Oldum had made in the past during his Amy craze. And yeah, she got the blue jacket later on to help her further stand out.

You might have noticed that LM!Sonic is still sympathetic at this point in time. In this sense, it's because this is the second case of a universal wipe he's had to see happen, and as such, he's got a direct hatred for Respiro for being the one to cause it. It's after what Dr. Finitevus did to the Superstars universe when he started going off the deep end with his ideals and personality, though I'll explain the cause in a later post. Just know it's got something to do with "MD-X".

Zonic is upright here, since collision is out-of-whack in what's left of the three worlds, and he already saw the endless abyss in the amalgamated world, so opted to look upright so as not to get further unnerved.

O77!Amy was able to quickly identify Errorverse Sonic and Tails as not being her own thanks to the lack of eye colour on both of them (due to both adapting the Mod.Gen sprite style).

For anyone out of the loop at this point, the "Rovescio" mentioned was uncovered as part of a complex string of actions performed outside the TS.EXER itself and in the files. Think DDLC's method of hiding secrets, and you'll see what I mean.

The conclusion to the saga had happened 5 years prior to the Quill Society picking up the trails of the survivors, meaning Aladdin, Woody and Blaze were stranded in the glitch level for that long before salvation came. No wonder the poor cowboy was giving up hope by that point, and thank god aging is vastly limited in the SEGAVerse and connected territories.

Want to see the glitch level happen for yourself in TS.EXE Remastered? If so, delete the "Data.sys" file in the game's files and THEN attempt to play the game without it. To get it back, simply re-install the game. You'll need it to uncover a remaining secret.

[strwbmei]

I just woke up and i realize just how terrifying some of the honkai characters would be if they were yandere's beat with me here.

Mobius- would be controlling and sadistic and the fact that she is a scientist makes it worse

Aponia- she can control you without you even realizing and can see the future so she is one step ahead always, although i don't see her abusive she has her was and the fact that she has a good composure make it hard to know what she is thinking

Yae sakura (having been influence by the herrscher of corruption)- one word possessive as heck, pobably sadistic.

Raiden Mei- honestly this one could depend on which one. In my personal opinion her most dangerous phase is the HoT. Possessive, controlling and possibly abusive. I see her HoO more tame but could relapse

Kiana Kaslana- i see her more harmless compare to the others but if she is possessed by the HoV then we have a huge problem and the fact that the end she became HoF means she is basically the strongest character.

Otto- I don't have to explain this one.

Fu hua- She basically one of the most experience characters out there when it comes to combat. Although i personally think she is one of the tamest yandere (As long as it isn't azure empyrea) gotta sleep with one eye open.

Kalpas-Again i don't have to explain this one.

Veliona-rejecting this one is a death wish not only she is very powerfull in her on right but she can be sadistic.

Rita- this woman is dangerous on soo many levels that is not even funny. A very experience valkyrie and one of the most clever ones out there.

Raven- she is basically mercenary so too much details aren't need and the fact that she works for world serpent speaks volumen.

Kevin Kaslana- Another one thay doesn't need much explain why.

Dr.MEI- something tells me she is the type "by any means necesarry" need i say more?

The only yandere i see more or less harmless are: Bronya, Seele, Himeko, Kallen Kaslana, maybe Theresa and Durandal, Cecilia, Tesla and Einstein, Su, Elysia (maybe), Griseo, Siegfried, Sushang,etc...

Honorable mentions on high red flag: Jackal, Any other Herrscher really, Vita

Agreed with all of them!

Especially Mobius. She doesn't need much reason to kill someone or put them through something worse than death, so her being a yandere isn't too far off. I feel she'd be the type to threaten you first, instead of going full yandere right off the bat. Not even death could free you from her grasp.

Kiana, Aponia, Dr. MEI, Fu Hua, and Sakura actually have pure intentions. They've seen the worst horrors both humanity and honkai have committed, and all they want to do is protect you from any possible harm. Definitely the type to lock you up. Dr. MEI and Kiana, especially! All of them want to protect you, but only Dr. MEI and Kiana actually have the means to do so; Dr. MEI with her unmatched intelligence and wit and Kiana with her power second to none.

Kevin and HoT Mei, though... I feel like they'd use you as a coping mechanism/replacement for their past lover that they failed to protect. As a result, they end up being mentally abusive because you remind them of their weakness.

[sketchbook-of-shadows]

As a slasher girlie and analogue horror girlie, I can tell you with certainty that urbanSPOOK's "The Painter" is not very slasher-inspired in the tiniest despite what they say. Don't get me wrong, the artwork in itself is good but uh, for the things I'm gonna talk about a bit I'm gonna put a warning for the mention of CSA, SA/Animal related SA topics, I'm not going into much detail for these but I understand it's a very sensitive topic for some people

I'm not exactly keen on taking someone's excuses for their lazy work (aka making an analogue shock horror horror series just to sell merch of their artwork and also financially benefitting [merch and YouTube ad revenue] from really obvious implications of csa & sa/animal related sa in their work & on their merchandise while not even implementing it respectfully and using it only for shock value) by someone who still uses 2016 edgelord insults like 'autistic furry' in response to any amount of criticism because of said disrespect and distastefulness towards that topic.

Even after watching videos from people such as Hey Peter, Pastra & Wendigoon, I agree that the series has some moments where it showed potential but unfortunately the creator seems to be too lazy to implement a decent/cohesive storyline and resorts to shock value for their horror aspect. It's not horror, it's just nasty, disgusting and not well or respectfully implemented. At one point I couldn't tell if this was a horror story that they had passion for or if it were just some fucked up fetish they were putting out on the internet.

I don't recommend it, go watch Greylock, Vita Carnis or Gemini Home Entertainment and save yourself the displeasure.

[strawberrywindow]

Something I really love about Amnesia is how all the games have echoes of each other in them. It's almost the same story being played out over and over, the universe of Amnesia is quite a tragic one and while not ACTUAL loops, there are cycles that repeat that people can't seem to avoid.

When I first played Rebirth I really enjoyed learning more about Alexander's past and his time with Temaku. Alexander shows up as Ayandra in Tihana's city begging sanctuary and is taken under wing by Temaku and the two become incredibly close through their workings of finding better ways to gather vitae. Ayandra proves his worth by being the first to suggest the amnesia concontion which is what TRULY impresses Temaku on Ayandra's brilliance. I assumed when playing, although I'm not sure if it's comfirmed, that Temaku was the love that Alexander refers to in the first game. His entire goal in the first game is to go back to his love after being banished.

I wonder if Alexander sees any of his younger self in Daniel - also a young man come to a strange new place begging sanctuary and then made to partake in the vitae rituals. Daniel, while not as alchemically gifted as Alexander, definitely proves himself as a worthy apprentice and the two also grow very close during their work, to the point Alexander considers Daniel a true friend and feels genuine regret that he must leave him behind when the portal is ready, doing unto him as Alexander says Weyer did to HIM, and also in a way what his homeworld did to him. Alexander has become the evil he seeks justice for and leaves a person forlorn and broken as one done to him thousands of years ago.

I just think there are a lot of interesting parallels between thess two relationships as well as some very interesting themes regarding loss, corruption, and betrayal (obvs the Daniel and Alexander betrayal but also with how much Tihana seemed to listen to Temaku - how much of Alexander's banishment was perhaps also agreed on by the love he is trying to return to? We are never told the exact crimes he is banished for other than being 'the apostate' after all. With how fiercely loyal Temaku is to the Empress I don't think it unlikely that he may have had his hand forced when it came to passing judgement on his friend 🥲)

I also just think its really funny that from a shipping angle Alexander's type is 'freaky little nerds who get WAAAAAY too into torture' 💀

[anderjak]

i'm just gonna be a hyperfocusing goober for today, so let me have this

so i really like the pikmin games. for the longest time, i was no good at them, because my brain was a disorganized mess. however, by god, i tried, mostly because there is something inherently infectious about the core of this franchise that hits right on a mechanical point, and i mean this about every game (except Hey! Pikmin, because we all kinda quietly agreed we wouldn't talk about that one, which, hey? c'mon. it's good. it's just a weird spin-off.)

so, lemme talk about each game, and how the developer decided to approach each title.

it's a long one, and i don't expect anyone to be, like, hanging on to every word, but I CARE A LOT ABOUT STUFF LIKE THIS OKAY

okay you got warned so here you go:

pikmin 1 was a launch-window game that popped in a little under a month after the release of the simultaneously maligned and dearly beloved Gamecube. those of you with a big ol' trivia brain will remember that the old Super Mario 128 rumors, including its tech demo of all the li'l marios running around to show off the Gamecube's processing power, would act as the seed idea for what would eventually become Pikmin: The Game. alongside the bizarre and fun Super Mario Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion, it was one of those games that showcased how early on Nintendo didn't really consider itself in competition with Sony or the newcomer Microsoft, cuz, like, who was making a game like pikmin. nobody in major publishing and development, that's for sure.

it's a simple concept: you're a li'l guy leading 100 li'ler guys around to collect ship parts from your very destroyed spaceship that got you there in the first place. natch, the nature of the world is largely out to kill you and all your diminuitive minions. whereas Overlord would take this concept for the purpose of murdering everything in sight and generally causing chaos (which would itself be the seed idea for a PS Vita game built on the inbetween point of Overlord and Pikmin, and it was aggressively okay), Pikmin was more about structure and strategy and planning and, on occasion, taking a chill moment to build up your numbers to lick your wounds and make up your losses.

taking its camera angle low to the grass to present the mundane as gigantic was an inspired move, clearly showcased by just how lush the world was for its time, and how simple a concept it is to make the everyday seem larger than life and fantastical. y'know, like Honey I Shrunk The Kids, but you're managing a hundred kindergarteners who are all weirdly just obedient enough that you can have 'em fetch stuff for your own singular ends. (who doesn't envy that JUST a little?)

add to that the three different pikmin suited for different situations, and you have a game with some nice, unexpected complexity. your bog-standard rank-and-file red pikmin have the added benefit, apart from being adorable, of being completely and utterly fire resistant, and are the strongest attackers in the game. yellow pikmin have great big ears and are lightning-proofed, alongside being incredibly chuckable, able to reach areas others cannot. blue pikmin, however, can handle water just fine, able to walk underneath as easily as on land. each areas' challenges are built around ensuring you have and use the right pikmin for the job, as sending the wrong pikmin can mean that heart-breaking death rattle that everyone wants to avoid.

the game was notoriously short -- one could spend about eight hours on first play if they figure out the controls and strategies early on -- and so for many, it acted as a neat launch window novelty. for me, the concept carried it for multiple playthrough attempts; as terrible as i was at it, the core mechanics, limited though they were, seemed primed for teasing out a near-limitless well of ideas. and, well, clearly, that novelty continued for many, as it would get a sequel not too terribly long after.

one thing to point out is, with its short length, it actually has an in-game timer -- not just the day cycle, where you gotta get yourself and your li'ler guys aboard your respective ships before sunset, but also a 30-day timer. if you couldn't manage to collect the critical parts in time, it's game over, buddy. try again.

it's semi-roguelite in that way; it was perfectly possible to beef it so terribly that you weren't guaranteed to wind up finishing in time. however, the game… really isn't terribly tough, so most managed pretty well. the 30-day limit felt like an arbitrary limitation, especially on additional playthroughs, which, apparently, Nintendo agreed with.

enter Pikmin 2. now, for the record: i don't… love this game. however, how it approaches being a sequel is utterly fascinating to me, as I think I understand why it chose to handle its new mechanics.

gone is the day timer, and new is the extra partner: Louie. with the ability to swap between two leaders or have them work in concert, multitasking became the backbone of this game… well, I mean, in theory. we also swap ship parts for treasure, as the crux of the game is paying off Olimar's employer's massive, crippling debt. thankfully, you have all the time in the world, because Hocotate Freight, the aforementioned employer, doesn't have continual interest applied to their loan. weird. but acceptable. (god, can you imagine a constantly ballooning debt goal to clear for this? someone mod the GC original, I wanna know how impossible it would be.)

there's also new pikmin: purple pikmin, who are large, can shake the earth when they're tossed (thus doing quite a bit of damage as an opening gambit), and have the strength of ten pikmin when carrying stuff; and white pikmin, which are tiny, great at finding and digging up hidden treasure, and also they'll fucking kill you if you eat one, being highly poisonous. they're also heavily poison-resistant, so feel free to send these tiny children into gaseous areas free of worry. balancing out when to yoink out these new ones -- which can only be created from specialty flowers where you exchange one of your core three pikmin, rather than growing them naturally -- becomes an additional hazard, so it's easy to be incredibly precious with these new types.

alongside that, bombs are added, which can be exclusively carried by Yellow pikmin. great for blowing up stone walls, and great for blowing up a nasty enemy in your way if you're not too precious about those bombs -- which do go away if you collect 'em all, and you gotta wait another day to pick up more.*

(note: it's been pointed out that bomb rocks were a Pikmin 1 feature, not 2; also, electricity wasn't really a feature in Pikmin 1 at all! thanks to folks tagging for this correction, though it's funny how inconsistent the games are about these sorts of things -- not that it's a huge deal.)

what's also added… are dungeons and a mission mode. dungeons, in theory, are fascinating, as they are sectioned off portions of the game meant to challenge the player. while the overworld segments are largely identical to the first game in basic scope -- one of the areas is even reused, though much expanded -- the dungeons add an honestly overwhelming amount of content.

these bits are interesting: you can't get more pikmin, so if you lose one, that's it (with, like, one technical exception). all enemies picked up after defeat are converted into a pittance of in-game currency. thankfully, the timer of the overworld is completely absent, For Reasons. (and thank goodness for that.) you're down there to find new treasure and maybe the occasional ship or suit part, get into scraps, and that's it.

i'd sort of figured, three years after the original's release, they took the claim that the first game was too short and too easy to heart, as this feels much more of a white-knuckle game. dungeons also feature unique enemies not found elsewhere, including that motherfucker the WaterWraith, an invincible steamroller that chases after one of your two leaders relentlessly. i hate this guy so much as he is sorta representative of the issues i have with this game.

now, this game was critically acclaimed, and for good reason: it was more of a really neat idea for a game, expanded with new stuff that made it highly replayable. what's not to love? however, an issue i kept running into is that there are two hundred plus treasures in the game to find, and, after eight hours (roughly the length of Pikmin 1 on first play), you'll be in good shape if you get half that. there are a lot of dungeons, and you can hit the game's first clear condition well before you've even found a good handful of dungeons.

since each treasure has a set amount of currency attached to it, you would naturally (and, largely incorrectly) assume the most dangerous dungeons hold within them the most lucrative treasure. in reality, it's a pure numbers game: most treasure, save for in the final dungeon, are worth a fairly small amount that still adds up quick. instead, the deepest dungeons, which ironically are also the most dangerous for many reasons, hold the most potential for treasure, and these bits… i will be honest, wear me out.

the volume and frequency of these dungeons do an interesting thing to a game that is otherwise fairly short and concise: it brings about fatigue. it puts a quantity-over-quality aspect to the game that works in its detriment, though the designs of these dungeons, by and large, are tight and concise, with just enough randomness to make even samey-looking areas still feel just fresh enough. you don't always start in the same area on each floor, and enemies aren't consistently laid out in set positions.

this is probably the only game in the series so far that instills in me a sense of dread when I reach a new dungeon, and it has a lot to do with pikmin 1: each day has a set length that's easy to predict, and dungeons throw a huge wrench in that. you don't know how deep things go until you're done, so you wind up setting aside time some other day to tackle them -- and you should do it that way! because those dungeons will chew you up and spit you out if you let 'em!

anyway it's great and i don't like it. you should play it. just don't go in expecting the experience to have the same satisfying loop as Pikmin 1, because it does, but it does so in sneaky, exhausting ways if you aren't prepared. it's a game meant for replays, where the first play is the worst.

now i get to talk about how much i fucking love Pikmin 3.

gone are dungeons, for the most part, and we wind up with a game much more in line with the original. the narrative is more front-and-center, focusing on three squad members who reunite after getting separated during a crash landing, and are trying to find a way off the planet while also conveniently harvesting the planet of its fruit and seeds. the central macguffin is juice: every time you collect a piece of fruit, it's converted to juice to be placed in a growing stockade of vials, each one giving a whole day's sustenance shared amongst the whole squad. rather than a hard deadline, your task is merely to make sure you don't eat more than you gather, changing the first game's hard time deadline into a more casual affair where each day can be taken on its own. considering you'll ultimately wind up with more juice containers than there are pieces of fruit to gather, it's a decidedly less stressful affair.

new pikmin naturally are added here, including rock pikmin -- craggy li'l guys great for dropping on enemies, and especially good at breaking glass and crystal -- and flying pikmin -- the only other type capable of moving over water alongside blue ones, and capable of uprooting the strange pink vines which have grown all over the place. unlike pikmin 2, these new types can be grown the same way as the standard three, and they had the big brain genius move of combining all the sources of pikmin, the Onions, into one device, making team management and composition infinitely easier.

the name of the game for Pikmin 3 really is sanding down all the friction of the first two, and making a modern entry that felt like it was learning how to provide more fun with better, more intuitive controls and more complex tasks. the world is filled with more puzzles, so the game provides a new Charge, which sends all pikmin in a group toward your target, and the ability to swap between entire teams of pikmin without accidentally tossing an errant one. GAME CHANGER. you can also send your other squad members out on their own on automated paths (one-way, sadly) so you can stay on the move at all times.

with the dungeons gone, Pikmin 3 isn't a particularly long game -- though Mission mode returns, as well as mission-like Side-Stories starring Olimar and Louie from Pikmin 1 and 2, going over the events before and after the main game in a bit of a comedy duo-style cheap excuse to play some tightly constructed timed missions that are frankly more fun than they have any right to be. it's a generally well constructed package which seeks to fatten up its stores with a variety of modes rather than attempting to pack in everything all in the story, which works massively to the game's benefit and maintains its core loop incredibly well.

its final dungeon is also worthy of note: while it is a dungeon in all ways similar to Pikmin 2, it maintains its time crunch, and adopts a roguelite mechanic of maintaining your progress, even if you fail and have to retreat. any shortcut created is retained in future plays.

i mentioned the WaterWraith in Pikmin 2 earlier, and while there is a similar creature here that I won't spoil (you should play pikmin 3, it rules), the rules and conditions are very different. while it's ever-present and looming, it more acts as a slow timer to keep you mobile. it can crawl up walls you can't, and take shortcuts otherwise unavailable to you, but it isn't particularly keen on killing you, just impeding your progress. it can be damaged and stunned temporarily, but it's utterly unkillable during this dungeon phase.

with those two elements, I figured out why I didn't have a great time with Pikmin 2, and it really just has to do with very different goals. Pikmin 3's final area is a dungeon in a lot of ways, with a focus on time management, multitasking, and puzzle-solving, but it mostly acts as a stress-test for the skills you've learned so far. meanwhile, Pikmin 2's dungeons almost feel like you have to flip a switch in your brain: you can move as slow as you want, which means the game is allowed to crank up the difficulty and create some unique challenges not faced anywhere else. pikmin 3's final area is a test of everything you learned: pikmin 2's dungeons are a new skillset you have to build on the fly.

and I suppose this is where my friction is with 2: it feels like two otherwise very good games smashed together, without as much consideration toward maintaining the skills and understandings developed over casual play between those two modes. if you're like me and keep going into pikmin 2 with the thought, "oh boy! more pikmin!" you'll get your face smashed into the floor. fun! and pikmin 3 simply isn't that kind of experience: it has its own goals which feel distinct from both, and it also makes me realize how good Pikmin 2 is, even if it's my least favorite so far, for one simple reason:

it is its own game. much like pikmin 1 and 3 are their own games. they each hold an interesting "spirit" of the core mechanics, and try to find new challenges and interest which make them feel less like subtle iterations and more like distinct flavors. they're all ice cream, but sometimes you're in the mood for chocolate, vanilla, or rocky road.

but what if you want butterscotch in a waffle cone

pikmin 4 ain't out yet. but it DOES have a fairly extensive demo containing the first portion of the game, and hoo boy does it take some liberties. somewhat similarly to 3, you don't play as Olimar or Louie, but a whole new crew, out to rescue folks who landed on the planet… only for your ship to crash and now you need rescuing. the game takes a more "survival" approach even when compared to Pikmin 3, but not in a resource management way; instead, it's more like a base builder-lite, with iterative upgrades and unlocking features which alter your play in micro- and macrocosmic ways.

this entry allows you to create and name your own li'l guy, and even drops the other squad mates as functional on-field components in favor of a dog who is less capable as a squad member and more capable as a transportation/assault vehicle. seriously, Oatchi rules. there's a home base where time doesn't move and you can talk to all the folks you rescue and navigate menus exchanging gathered resources for new abilities, gear, and more. it sounds intense, but honestly, it's all boiled down into accessible and simple systems that are pretty easy to read and interface with.

they also weirdly changed the camera; gone is the more isometric approach in favor of something closer to a third-person shooter, though it never quite feels like, say, Gears of War. while you can zoom out for a nice top-down approach, I kinda love how this game handles its camera: everything feels way more massive and intimate at the same time, and with the upgraded visuals (even beyond Pikmin 3), everything's got that umami that Nintendo is known for when they apply their efforts to, say, food or nature. they're alarmingly good at it, and it's weird.

however, they also did something i got scared of initially: dungeons are back. and in much the same form as they used to be. sssssort of.

the thing is, they did a lot of quality of life upgrades, allowing you to select which pikmin you want at the entrance before diving in, and not requiring you have everyone in arm's reach before moving on. the dungeons also feel, so far, more like puzzle areas than combat zones, so in spite of the timer being eradicated for this one (it's still around for the regular overworld segments), I haven't gotten the inclination that this title is going to commit some of the same exceptional and unique challenge that Pikmin 2's dungeons offer.

what's more, they're also used for transportation: many dungeons lead you to new areas in the overworld that are otherwise inaccessible, which means dungeons are no longer just a conveyance for weird enemy bullshit or an excuse to get a whole bunch of treasure (though you very much collect treasure in this one, much like 2). the added functionality and lessened reliance on combat makes 4 feel cozier initially, and, while the controls are still Nintendo Weird (seriously, they will never be satisfied making a control scheme that everyone is satisfied with, because they will never let us remap things ourselves, the fools), they largely stay simple and more than get the job done.

it's an experience that, unlike pikmin 2, made me immediately go, "oh, i canNOT treat this like pikmin 1." i was constantly reevaluating my relationship with the game and what it was expecting of me, and, by the end of the demo, i was more enraptured with the idea of sitting and enjoying the experience longterm than i was prior.

i don't know how well the final product will shape up: i'm worried about dungeons because i do not like pikmin 2 very much, and i worry that the upgrade systems will feel needlessly tacked on and make the game feel arbitrarily longer than it should be. i worry it'll be a much longer game than it needs to be! however, its core loop comes off as far more satisfying, and the new systems like gathering castaways and fellow crew members, building bridges with your own materials instead of relying on clearing paths to arbitrary piles of shards, and Oatchi are all things i want to keep playing with.

more than i think any game prior in the franchise, Pikmin 4 feels like a toybox. however, it's gonna live or die based on how readily it lets you play with its toolset, and if it doesn't strike the right balance, it's going to falter in a lot of the same ways as most weird experiments Nintendo's done to its flagship franchises: otherwise fine but ultimately creating unnecessary friction between itself and the players it hopes to please.

[alias-sam]

Pierced by a Golden Soul

Chapter 37. Dodgeball is a Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Platonic Jojo's x Reader

Summary: Fate is a bizarre concept with countless more bizarre implications. In life sometimes such extraordinary events happen that the only reasoning left must be fate. The tragedies that constantly befall the Joestar bloodline for example may be the unluckiest series of cards drawn in human history, or perhaps the work of a greater power. There is no way to tell for sure. Had Dio Brando or Jonathan Joestar moved slightly on a divergent path the world itself would be left very different. The fate or luck of the noble Joestar bloodline has led to destruction of evil likes of the Pillar Men and DIO. This story is of a similar caliber to that of the other Joestars (as I am sure you are familiar with them). This is a story of lost souls, compassion, hope, and above all fate.

Word Count: 1,928

(Crosspost from Wattpad, full fic is already posted there.)

At this point, you gave up on walking to school with Jaya, so when it came time for your morning commute you simply went. You surprisingly felt good today. Who knew two days without getting your ass handed to you by an enemy stand user could make you feel so rested? You didn't even have a nightmare last night. It was your first fulfilling rest in what felt like forever. Rain from the previous evening soaked the ground, leaving a light fog in the air. The sky was still dark and overcast, promising more heavy weather to come. As your sneakers splashed through a shallow puddle, you suddenly found your leg blocked by something.

"What the-?" There, on the wet sidewalk next to your foot, sat your oddball companion Vita. He was wearing a bright yellow rainslicker, despite there being no rain at the moment. The boy slowly turned your way, looking up at your with a glare for a moment before realizing who it was.

"Oh hi Y/n!" Vita greeted, his head tilting to the side a bit.

"Sorry, didn't..." You trailed off as you noticed Vita was holding something. "See you there." You finished, not being able to help but stare at your friend's hand. Worms. In the palm of his hand, he was holding a handful of slimy, wriggling, living worms. "Do I even want to ask about...?" Hesitantly, you pointed at Vita's hand.

"Whoops! My bad." Vits scurried over on his hands and knees to a nearby patch of dirt, and gently set the worms down. "I was saving them." He explained while standing up. "They wanted help." He whispered, tilting his head further to the side and staring at you with wide eyes.

"Whatever you say buddy." You sighed, already used to the boy's shenanigans by now. After taking a few steps down the pavement you looked back to find Vita just watching you expectantly. "...want to walk together?" You asked carefully. Vita simply nodded and ran over to match your stride.

"You look well rested." Vita chirped while you pressed the crosswalk button.

"Thanks? You too."

"Really?" Vita glanced at you quizzically. "I didn't sleep one-bit last night! The sound of rainfall is too distracting. Don't you think?"

"Not really..." You admitted, examining your friend carefully as he was distracted by passing cars driving through puddles. He looked suspiciously well rested for someone who stayed up all night. If anything, he looked better than you had ever seen him. Vita, in the time you'd known him, always looked sickly in some way. It was rare to see him without dark circles under his eyes, or a bandage somewhere on his body. His skin, which usually held an unhealthy bleakness, looked warmer and healthier. He seemed more alive overall.

"Ready for this afternoon?" Vita asked out of the blue.

"Huh?" You asked dumbly.

"Aren't you are coming over?" Vita reiterated slowly.

"Oh!" Crap. You completely forgot agreeing to that yesterday. Vita was giving you an intense and serious look, the kind of look that spelled 'If you say no I'm going to kill you'. "Of course!" You laughed nervously, doing your best not to cave under the pressure of Vita's stare.

"Cool!" Vita suddenly smiled. "My Umi insisted on making you dinner, so I hope you have an appetite. She's making Koshari."

"Sounds wonderful V." You breathed in relief, glad to be free of Vita's angered expression. It was surprisingly intimidating. You now understood why nobody at school messed with the guy more than once. Before you could continue to school, you realized your walking buddy was no longer by your side. Looking back, you found him stopped stock still in his tracks. "You okay?"

"You started calling me V." He whispered, a mix of confusion and wonderment floating across his features. "I need a nickname for you."

"Oh no..." You mumbled, facepalming.

"Is something wrong?" Vita frowned.

"No." You groaned. "I already have a nickname but it's really dumb." You briefly uncovered your face, only to find Vita watching you pleadingly. Finally you sighed, caving from the pitiful expression. "Awhile back my friend Jaya started calling me Jojo."

"Jojo..." Vita tested out the name and smiled. "I like it! Jojo suits you."

"Great..." You grumbled in embarrassment. The two of you parted ways after reaching the courtyard, agreeing to walk to Vita's house together after school.

...........

PE class, in your eyes, had always been a cruel and unusual punishment. For some odd reason, your school required all students to serve a one year sentence in the class in order to graduate. So here you unfortunately were.

You hated days like this. Days where it was too wet to go outside so the coaches locked you in the gym, dumped a container of balls in the middle of the room, and told you to have a field day. The beautiful and chaotic art of dodgeball has one simple objective, dodge the ball.

The crack of cheap rubber balls hitting the brick wall behind you rang out like cannon fire. To the opposing team it wasn't a game, it was war. Meaning, you were going to die. Or....at the very least, walk out of class with a bruise or two. Maybe this was why you hadn't died fighting an enemy stand yet. It didn't matter if you were an outcast, loner, Star football player, nerd, geek, or just a plain student. Nobody was safe. In this battle, there were those who limped out of class sobbing, and survivors. It was evil, it was cruel, and it gave the most savage side of your peers some time to shine through.

At this point, three rounds had gone by. So far you had been hit in the shin, ribs, and shoulder. The hit from round one made you trip, skinning you knee in the process. Round two knocked the wind out of you. And round three left you with a sore spot on your shoulder. It was a wonder you were still well enough to endure one final round of torment. It was a miracle when you managed to be one of the last five men standing.

You managed to keep your eyes on the opposing team the whole round, but your luck had to run out eventually. As you were sidestepping a poorly pitched ball, you failed to notice you walking right into the crosshairs of a strong armed upperclassman.

The next few moments happened in perfect, succinct sequence it would be impossible to replicate. The stars aligned for you today. Just as you noticed the ball sailing in the direction of your face, a hand reached out and caught it. The catch was so close the smell of rubber wafted across your face. You stood frozen in shock at the turn of events.

"Thanks." You murmured breathlessly, still gazing straight ahead at the ball that had been barely an inch from giving you a broken nose. Looking up, you found the familiar and reddened face of Lennia Heart.

"No problem." She replied, quickly hurling the ball back to the other side of the room.

.....

Your team wound up winning the final round of the game. As your classmates quickly ran from the gym upon class change, you lagged behind, having some trouble with your bookbag. You couldn't help but scratch your head when you found the strap of your bag was completely missing. There was no way it could have come off on its own, it had to have been cut. For a moment you were worried someone had been rifling through your bag, but after a quick check, you found everything in its rightful place. During that same check though, you oddly found the metal shard among your school supplies. You didn't remember putting it in your bag yesterday, but with everything that happened, you wouldn't put it past yourself to have forgotten doing something as simple as that.

"Everything alright Y/n?" Turning around, you were once again face to face with the student council vice president. Lennia stood over you, looking curious. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She had also changed out of her PE uniform into a black skirt and plain white blouse.

"Yeah, everything's fine." You smiled, picking up your bookbag. "By the way Lennia, you definitely saved me from another trip to the nurse's office. So really, thank you."

"It was nothing, my instincts must have kicked in." Lennia looked away, pink dusting her cheeks. As you were situating your now strapless bag in your arms until something fell out. Lennia gazed down at the object strangely. It was the bag containing the metal shard. "What is that?"

"Nothing." You momentarily panicked, scrambling to pick it up. "Don't worry about it." Lennia managed to reach the bag before you did. Out of panic and a lack of time to think you grabbed the girl's wrist. "Don't." You ordered sternly.

"Oh..." Lennia stared into your eyes, too encapsulated by the feeling of your hand to notice she was unconsciously clenching her fist. "Ow!" Lennia suddenly dropped the bag in favor on cradling her now bleeding palm.

"You okay?" You looked down to find the metal shard had cut through the bag and sliced the girl who was holding it.

"I'm fine." Lennia breathed, examining her small wound.

"No, that's bleeding a lot. Here." You motioned for her to wait a moment. In a matter of seconds, you retrieved a small first aid kit from your backpack. "Lucky I started carrying this around." You laughed, taking out a Band-Aid.

"Y/n..." The words caught in Lennia's throat as she watched you place the bandage on her injury.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, but I really can't afford to lose this." You quickly picked up the metal shard and put it back in your bag.

"What-" Lennia started, but you fixed her with a hard look.

"Don't worry about it." You insisted while walking towards the exit. "Trust me, you're better off staying out of it."

"Y/n wait!" You stopped, turning back to Lennia. The girl suddenly became bashful, unable to meet your eyes. "C-can we talk sometime?"

"I thought we were talking right now?"

"W-we are, but...I wanted to talk about something personal with you." Lennia paused. "Privately."

"Sure." You shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you about something as well."

"R-really?" Lennia's eyes lit up as she looked up at you expectantly.

"I wanted to ask about the whole rumor going around about you and I dating."

"Oh! That..."

"I just wanted you to know I have no idea who started it, but it wasn't me. I genuinely hope it isn't causing you any trouble."

"Right." Lennia looked away to hide her disappointment. "It hasn't caused me any trouble." She assured you.

"Great." You breathed in relief. "I really didn't want to hurt you Lennia." The girl went completely rigid as he face got redder.

"Y-you got my name right..." Lennia murmured quietly to herself with wide eyes.

"Well I hope we can move past this, maybe we could become more than just acquaintances." You gave the vice president a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Certain events recently have taught me not to judge people too quickly." You thought back to when you first met Vita and Tim. "I think maybe the two of us can be friends someday."

"Right...friends." Lennia sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I really need to get to my next class." You apologized while heading to the gym's exit. "See you in literature class."

"S-see you then." Lennia waved sadly as you left. After you were out of sight she looked down at her bandaged palm and frowned. It didn't hurt anymore. Curious, the girl slowly ripped off the adhesive and examined her palm.

The wound was gone.

[aaleaqlania]

there is a weight in the air reserved usually for those who wrong kaeya - & while that description does not quite fit, it is what sharpens his posture. "man. i knew this was going to be brutal, but you really don't hold back. that must be what makes you so good at this." the curve of his smile is darker, h u n g r i e r than the crinkle of his eye. when an audience would glance away to cover their own shame they'd certainly follow chin's tilt / into the plunge of kaeya's cleavage.

it is always meant to distract.

especially like this.

al haitham is so brutal about dissecting him. ( kaeya hasn't been on the receiving end in a good few years. ) it's the utter lack of care; all the pleasantries employed by one of them lacking in the other. but, he's sure to understand this gesture: the purpose in touch's meander down the soft swell of his- "i have to wonder what else you'd be good at."

[ ooc : lmao there u have it-- ]

      disbelief is the emotion al haitham would have manifested if somebody ever predicted to him that he’d have to add ‘therapist to ( almost ) lost causes’ to his curriculum vitae. yet here he is.

      when kaeya alberich walked in, the scribe was reading a book nearly not as peculiar as the other man. 

      for the next hour or so, al haitham takes one, good look at kaeya and spares no mercy in deconstructing that carefully crafted appearence of his. the words he uses are lacking niceties, pierce him like scalding hot pokers as he abides to his new job with something close to vindicaton, considering that his alone time was interrupted.

      what kaeya dissimulates, al haitham closes an hand around and launches back at him with force. what he hides, he unravels with brusque gestures, fingers tearing apart the carefully constructed webbing he made. he tears the paper masks off this man one by one, because if there’s something that he dislikes is the thinly-veiled, passive-aggressiveness he has been nothing but patronized with. seducing to distract only meets a steely gaze, and nothing more.

     al haitham dislikes the fluid skirting around words: he doesn’t dance, not that kind anyway. and all those braincells could be put to much better use somewhere else.

     he concludes that, yes, this is somewhat of a rewarding job, when the other man sharpens his posture like a dagger. when anything the other man could hide behind has been razed in burning heaps to the ground, the game kaeya so wanted to play is over.

      ( he never kind of agreed in being player two anyway. )

      ‘ you asked me to do this. if you wanted to not be told the truth, you would have asked someone else who could have sugarcoated their words, or be distracted by your exposed bits. ‘

      the millionth attempt at moving his gaze from a diamond-shaped pupil to a very prominent, exposed window over his chest is met with failure. a cold, reptilian gaze is affixed better on the man as the scribe leans back in his chair, legs crossed over his discarded book.

      ‘ also, this makes it your eighteen attempt to seduce the conversation away from the main points. if it hasn’t worked for seventeen times, what makes you think that trying again would make you successful in that? ‘

[killerandhealerqueen]

Hi! I haven't written for a long time and I want to offer a new headcanon. Crossover with S.C.I.Mystery. I want to surprise others at Chen Yuzhi's composure. Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao were in the restaurant when the robbers broke in and took all the customers hostage. Bai Yutung didn't bring a gun with him this time. One of the robbers did not like the look of Yutong and he hit him hard in the face. The policeman cannot answer, because hostages may suffer. At some point, a guy in a light suit approaches Bai Yutong and, opening his bag, gives him first aid. The robbers see this and in a rage one of them put a gun to the back of the guy's head and asks what the hell is he doing? To which the guy with the deer eyes replies that he is a doctor and provides first aid. The robber threatens to kill him if he doesn't stop, but the doctor replies with absolute composure that he will do his job. And in general, they will receive more ransom for living hostages, and if someone dies, they will definitely not receive money. The doctor continues to treat Bai Yutong, ignoring the gun on the back of his head. Zhan Yao is shocked by the doctor's equanimity. He says his name is Chen Yuzhi and he will help them. The robbers want to take the little girl and go out with her so that the police will let them through. Chen Yuzhi offers himself instead of the child. The robbers agree after an argument. Bai Yutung tells his team to rescue the doctor. But as soon as the robbers leave the restaurant, Yuzhi fights them and knocks them all out. The S.C.I. team is in shock. Soon, Jian Yuelou, the head of the anti-drug department, bursts into that restaurant and immediately rushes to Chen Yuzhi. So everyone will know that the Jingchen demon is ready to do anything for the sake of a simple doctor. Jian Yuelou says that Yuzhi has always been so fearless and even carried out operations at gunpoint without flinching.

P.S. I'm sorry that so much, I can't write less forever😁

Vita! I'm so happy to see you in my ask box again! (And please don't ever apologize, I love receiving your headcanons)

It was a beautiful day as Zhan Yao and Bai Yutong, who were in Jing City for a conference that Zhan Yao was attending, walked down the street, Bai Yutong looking over at Zhan Yao

“What are you feeling for lunch today, Cat?”

Zhan Yao hummed

“I’m not really hungry…but I could go for something sweet”

Bai Yutong raised an eyebrow

“Oh? I guess I could go for something sweet too…there’s a café nearby, let’s head there”

Zhan Yao nodded and they quickly headed to the nearby café, stepping inside

They then headed over to the counter, Bai Yutong quickly ordering their coffees and their pastries before they walked over to their table, sitting down to wait for their order

They had barely even sat down when a gunman holding a shotgun burst into the café, pointing the shotgun at the customers and the baristas

“Nobody move!  Everybody down on the ground!”

All of the customers, including Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao, quickly got out of their seats and got down on the ground as the gunman reached into their pocket and pulled out a burlap sack

“Everyone take out their phones and place it in this bag.  If you do not place your phone in this bag, I will shoot you.  If I hear a phone go off, I will shoot you. If you cry or scream, I will shoot you. Do you all understand?”

Everyone nodded and quickly took out their phones, save for Bai Yutong, who quietly slipped his phone out of his pocket and placed it underneath him, making sure that it was completely hidden just as the gunman came over to him

“Phone”

Bai Yutong shook his head

“I didn’t bring it”

The gunman narrowed his eyes

“Liar. Stand up”

Bai Yutong tsked

“Do we really have to do this?  I’m not lying, I don’t have my phone”

The gunman pointed the shotgun at him

“STAND UP!”

Bai Yutong then glanced at Zhan Yao before he slowly stood to his feet, the gunman’s eyes on him the entire time, not realizing that as he was standing, Zhan Yao was reaching over to grab his phone and slip it under his thigh

Once he was standing, the gunman quickly checked Bai Yutong over before he huffed

“So you were telling the truth”

Bai Yutong huffed

“Obviously”

The gunman growled before he clocked him in the face with the butt of the shotgun, sending him to the ground

“Bai Yutong!”

Zhan Yao then reached out to grab him when the gunman turned and pointed the shotgun at him

“Don’t move unless you want your brains blown out”

Zhan Yao glared at him but didn’t move, the gunman nodding before he made his way to the other customers to take their phones

Once he was gone, Zhan Yao looked over at Bai Yutong in concern

“Yutong…Mouse, are you okay?”

Bai Yutong nodded as he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, clutching at his face

“Fine…just hurts”

Just then, a young man dressed in all white with a doctor’s kit in his hand appeared before him, a gentle smile on his face

“Hi. Mind if I take a look?”

Bai Yutong’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but the man was already opening up his kit, pulling out forceps, a cotton ball and a bottle of iodine

He then opened the bottle of iodine before he grabbed the forceps and picked up the cotton ball with them, dipping the cotton ball into the iodine before he began to clean the corner of Bai Yutong’s mouth, which was split

As soon as the cotton ball touched his skin, Bai Yutong hissed, alerting the gunman that something was happening that wasn’t supposed to be happening

He then looked over and when he saw the young man treating Bai Yutong, his eyes widened and he quickly stormed over to him, pressing the gun to the back of his head

“Who are you?”

“Dr. Chen Yuzhi”

The gunman growled

“What are you doing?”

Chen Yuzhi hummed

“Treating someone, as you can clearly see”

The gunman snarled and shoved his head with the gun

“Well, stop it.  I order you to stop”

Chen Yuzhi shook his head, still calmly continuing to clean Bai Yutong’s mouth

“I won’t do that”

The gunman growled, not used to being defied

“Then I’ll shoot!”

“If you shoot me, the entire Jing City police department will descend upon you like a pack of ravenous wolves.  And besides, if you want to ask for money, you have to ensure that all of the hostages are safe.  If you cannot assure that, you will not receive the ransom you so desperately want. So, how about this?”

Chen Yuzhi then turned to look at the gunman

“How about you make the call to the police station and ask for your money, and I’ll continue to treat this man?  Does that sound good?”

The gunman looked at him before he huffed and turned away, heading over to the counter to grab the phone to make the call to the police station

While he was making the call, Zhan Yao and Bai Yutong looked at Chen Yuzhi in shock

“Who are you?”

Chen Yuzhi looked at them and smiled

“Like I said before, Dr. Chen Yuzhi”

Bai Yutong shook his head

“I’ve never…seen someone so calm before when having a gun pointed in their face”

Chen Yuzhi smiled

“Really?  My husband’s very good at remaining calm in these sort of situations…I suppose I’m just emulating him”

Zhan Yao huffed

“Well, thank you for treating him.  You didn’t have to”

Chen Yuzhi chuckled

“No, I didn’t, but I don’t like to see people hurt”

Just then, while the gunman was still distracted by the phone call to the police, a little girl around eight ran over to Chen Yuzhi and quickly sat beside him, wrapping her arms around him

“Gege”

Both Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao looked over at the little girl as Chen Yuzhi smiled softly, patting her head

“It’s alright, Keying.  Don’t be scared”

He then looked over at Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao, flashing them a smile

“My little sister, Keying”

Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao nodded slowly before they both smiled at Keying, who dipped her head in return

Bai Yutong then looked over at Zhan Yao

“Do you think you can contact with the team with my phone?”

Zhan Yao shook his head

“There’s no way they’ll make it in time”

Chen Yuzhi then tilted his head

“Where are you two from?”

Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao looked over at him

“We’re from Hong Kong.  We’re here for a conference that Zhan Yao’s attending”

Chen Yuzhi nodded slowly

“The train ride from here to Hong Kong is almost a half a day’s journey…your team, even if you contact them now, won’t make it in time”

Bai Yutong growled

“Fuck”

Just then, the gunman put down the phone and turned to face everyone in the café

“The police will bring my money in two hours…and when that time comes, I’ll need a “volunteer” to come with me”

He then looked around the café at the customers before he noticed Keying and smiled, pointing at her

“You.  You’ll do”

Keying’s eyes widened and she quickly buried her face into Chen Yuzhi’s chest as Chen Yuzhi wrapped his arms around her and shook his head

“No.  If you want someone, you take me”

The gunman growled as he stormed over and glared at him

“You are seriously getting on my nerves”

Chen Yuzhi glared right back at him

“Either you take me or you take no one”

The gunman growled again before he swung the butt of the shotgun in his face, sending him to the ground

“Fucking insolence”

He then stormed away from them as Keying looked at Chen Yuzhi with wide eyes

“Gege!  Gege!”

Both Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao looked at Chen Yuzhi with wide eyes as well before Bai Yutong reached out and pressed two fingers to his pulse point

“Still alive…”

Chen Yuzhi then let out a soft groan and slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, clutching at his head

“You alright, Dr. Chen?”

Chen Yuzhi nodded

“Fine…but Jiang Yuelou’s not going to be happy”

Keying nodded in agreement

“Gege’s gonna be real mad…that bad guy doesn’t know what’s coming”

Chen Yuzhi looked over at her before he laughed softly and nodded

“No…no he does not”

Two hours later, the phone inside the café rang, making everyone look over at it as the gunman ran over to it and quickly picked it up, answering it

“You got my money?”

He then listened for a moment before he nodded

“Alright, I’ll come out…and I’ll bring a hostage with me so that you don’t shoot me as soon as I step out”

He then hung up the phone before he walked over to Chen Yuzhi, Keying, Bai Yutong, and Zhan Yao, reaching out to grab Chen Yuzhi by the arm

“Come on, get up.  Since you’re so insistent that I take you, you’re going to be my shield”

He then yanked him to his feet and pressed the shot gun to his back, giving him a shove

“Walk”

Chen Yuzhi nodded and began walking towards the entrance, the gunman following behind him at a shotgun’s length

Once they were outside, Chen Yuzhi glanced up at the surroundings, trying to see if he could see any snipers and make eye-contact with them

Thankfully, Song Rong was one of the snipers in position and the minute he made eye contact with him, he nodded minutely before he turned on the laser on his scope and shone it in the gunman’s eyes, causing the man to cry out in pain

While he was distracted by the laser, Chen Yuzhi spun around and wrenched the shotgun out of his hands before he swung the shotgun like a bat, hitting the gunman in the head, just like he had hit him

As the gunman hit the ground, he let out a cry before he turned and glared up at Chen Yuzhi, only to see him pointing the shotgun in his face

“Don’t fucking make me shoot you”

The gunman huffed but didn’t move, just as a few officers came running over

“We’ll take it from here, Dr. Chen”

Chen Yuzhi looked over at them and nodded, passing the shotgun off to one of them before he let out a shuddering breath and took a step back, nearly collapsing had two arms not wrapped around his waist and caught him

“Woah, easy”

Chen Yuzhi then looked over his shoulder to see Jiang Yuelou looking at him in concern

“Yuelou”

“Hi baby”

Chen Yuzhi then slumped against him, letting out a heavy sigh as Jiang Yuelou frowned

“What happened to your face?”

Chen Yuzhi sighed and shook his head

“It’s nothing—”

Jiang Yuelou, however, didn’t believe him and gently pushed him off of him before he spun him around and reached up, reaching out to gently grab his face in his hand

He then gently turned his head so that he could see his face better and at the sight of the growing bruise, Jiang Yuelou let out a low growl

“I’m going to kill him”

Chen Yuzhi sighed

“Yuelou—”

“No, he hurt you.  He doesn’t get to walk away from this scott free”

Chen Yuzhi gave him a look

“Yuelou.  Don’t hurt him.  Just lock him away.  You better than torture”

Jiang Yuelou growled

“But Yuzhi—”

Chen Yuzhi shook his head

“No”

Jiang Yuelou sighed

“Fine”

His eyes then widened

“Keying.  Is Keying okay?”

Just then, the customers in the café came out, Keying immediately making a beeline for Chen Yuzhi and Jiang Yuelou

“GEGE!”

Both Chen Yuzhi and Jiang Yuelou looked over and when they saw her, they both quickly walked over to her before they knelt down and held out their arms

“Keying”

Keying then jumped into their arms, wrapping her arms around their necks

“Gege”

“Nice whack, doc”

Jiang Yuelou, Chen Yuzhi, and Keying looked up to see Bai Yutong and Zhan Yao walking over to them, Jiang Yuelou and Chen Yuzhi pulling away before they stood to their feet, Chen Yuzhi smiling slightly

“Thank you”

Bai Yutong chuckled

“You really saved our ass back there”

Chen Yuzhi blushed as Zhan Yao looked at Jiang Yuelou

“Your husband has nerves of steel…didn’t even flinch when a gun was pointed at the back of his head”

Jiang Yuelou laughed and wrapped an arm around Chen Yuzhi’s waist

“Ah yes…my Yuzhi has always been fearless.  He really is something”

Chen Yuzhi clicked his tongue and gently elbowed him in the side

“Oh hush”

Bai Yutong, Zhan Yao, and Jiang Yuelou laughed as Keying wrapped her arms around Chen Yuzhi and hugged him tightly, Chen Yuzhi smiling softly as Bai Yutong looked at them

“Well, it’s been a pleasure, but we really need to get back to our conference…”

He then held out a hand

“Thank you again, Dr. Chen”

Chen Yuzhi nodded as he reached out and shook his hand

“You’re welcome”

Zhan Yao then shook his hand as well before they both shook Jiang Yuelou’s hand, Jiang Yuelou dipping his head in return

They then turned and walked away, Jiang Yuelou, Chen Yuzhi, and Keying watching them leave before Jiang Yuelou looked over at Chen Yuzhi

“Come on, let’s go home.  I need to take a look at that bruise of yours”

Chen Yuzhi huffed

“Yuelou, I’m fine”

Jiang Yuelou shook his head

“No ifs, ands, or buts.  I’m taking you home to take care of you and that’s final”

Chen Yuzhi looked back at him before he sighed and nodded

“Alright”

He then looked down at Keying and smiled

“Come, Keying”

Keying looked up at him and nodded, taking his hand as they began to walk away from the scene, Jiang Yuelou’s arm tight and possessive around Chen Yuzhi’s waist

Even though Chen Yuzhi told him no…he was still going to let the gunman have it.  Or…some of it.  Because no one hurt Chen Yuzhi and got away with it

No one

[brightwingedbat]

Galvar/Vita: Does either of you sometimes struggle with the attention or expectations you get because of your parentage?

(I'll be answering these from the perspective of the twins grown and in their early 20s.)

Galvar crosses his arms, lightly huffing. "Attention and expectations. Yeah, it can honestly be a lot to deal with sometimes. Especially the attention." He sighs. "There's a lot of times I'd prefer to not have people staring at me all the time."

"Yeah, cause of how much of a clumsy arse you are." Vita cheerily slams a paw to his back.

Galvar stumbles forward, uncrossing his arms to steady himself, he grumbles back at his sister. "My dexterity has nothing to do with it, Vita." Galvar shakes his head. "Ignoring that, the expectations I find easier to deal with. I've made sure I studied hard in fahrar, I'm well prepared for many situations and have the physical ability to advance-"

"Except for your bowmanship, or gunwork." Vita once again butts in, leaning forward with a smirk. "Never give him a rifle, the first time we did the recoil smacked him right in the face-"

"VITA!" Suddenly the brother grabs his sister's muzzle shut, though she just snickers through it. He lightly pushes her away. "Once again, without her interruptions. I feel that given time I can make my parents proud, I may only be a legionnaire currently, but it's a leadership role already. It fits me well, I want to follow in my parents footsteps as renowned leaders, for the good of all people."

"Bravo, bravo!" Vita adds on in a rather mocking tone. "Now that you've done throwing around your goodiness..." She stands proudly, a clawed thumb pointing to herself. "I thrive in the attention, everyone knows I'm the great Ragewelder and Furyclash's daughter, people always say I look just like mom too."

She flexes her arm, bare due to her sleeveless top. Muscular just like Nastazya's is. "I've got her strength, and people love to try challenge me, I always knock 'em flat on the floor. It's a riot." Vita looks very enthused about this. "I don't really care all that much for the expectations. Except maybe my mom's strength, I wanna be just as strong as her. So I keep training, with all the weapons I can. No one in our warband is as much as an expert with weapons as I am!"

Galvar sighs, crossing his arms once again. "That may be true, but you're useless with magic."

"Who needs that swishy glowy stuff anyway, I got all the 'magic' I need right here." She flexes again, this time with both arms.

The brother groans, rubbing his brow, an action his mother is often seen doing.

Vita continues, easing her stance. "Besides, not like I need to fulfil mom and dad's expectations right now. They were like 30 when they started the whole hero thing, I've got plenty of time to work up to that!"

"I suppose that's true." Galvar at least agrees with his sister on something. "I will keep working at bettering myself further, and you can..."

"Surpass you in combat?" Vita prods back with a snarky grin.

"...I think we're done here." Galvar disappointedly turns away, taking his leave.

"Burn me, what a wrench in the gear." The sister shrugs jovially.

[pazodetrasalba]

Τύχη (and 3)

Dear Caroline:

The Wheel of Fortune was a very popular meme in the Catholic Middle Ages, which you'll probably remember well from your trad background. In this regard, I highly recommend our poet Juan de Mena and his masterful Laberinto de Fortuna. Perhaps it has a decent English translation.

Luck is sometimes depicted as an excuse that the lazy and the risk-averse coin to justify their lack of success. I don't quite agree with this: while it is generally used in this manner, there is some truth to the fact that very small chance events have a disproportionate amount of influence in most of our outcomes. Things like talent and hard work go a long way to hedge our bets, but nothing is ever guaranteed in life, no matter how much one thinks one deserves it.

I bring this up in this concluding post of three because you had a singularly bad turning point that has affected you ever since. I suppose you have tormented yourself a lot with thinking what might have happened if Sam hadn't opened up in that fateful cafeteria meeting in which he broached the topic of Alameda, or if you had done some previous 'due diligence' and heard Tara Mac Cauley and the other EAs about what was really going on in the business. You very probably would have continued for some years in Jane Street, perhaps until now, and might have started and effective charity of your own, or been involved in one. It is difficult to imagine that you would have been worse off in the choice of partners, sentimental and professional, and would probably dedicate very little thought to how you had narrowly dodged the bullet.

Sadly, this one Caroline that lives under the collapse of this universe's wave function has found herself where she's at, and there is no point in crying over spilt milk. And perhaps you haven't devoted any thoughts to the what ifs, which might be all for the better.

You will have thought, though, about how previous Carolines would be judging and contemplating your present with terror and disbelief. If March 2014! you couldn't understand November 2013! you, I doubt any of your pre-2018 selves would be very forgiving and understanding with your Alameda self. And yet in a way, they can't complain of a betrayal, as they are you, and they ended up making your own exact decisions.

You know I have my skirmishes with consequentialism, and have some faith in a relatively stable self. That includes my conviction that core-Caroline is a wonderful and virtuous person, and that whatever errors and temptations moved her from the right path, she will find her way by just following her natural inner compass, and pass from Inferno and Purgatorio to Paradiso. Don't we all lose our way to some extent or other?

Quote:

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita

mi ritrovai per una selva oscura

ché la diritta via era smarrita.

Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura

esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte

che nel pensier rinova la paura!

Dante, Canto I

[mojogaragedoorrepairsanantoniotx]

Top 3 Cuisines near San Antonio, TX

Introduction

San Antonio is known for its Tex-Mex cuisine, but there's more to this city than tacos and enchiladas. Here are the top 3 cuisines near San Antonio:

Mexican

Mexican food is a staple of the San Antonio region. With such a large population of Latin American immigrants and descendants, it's no surprise that their food culture has permeated the city's dining scene. The flavors are rich, varied, and complex; they range from spicy chilies to milder peppers to tangy citrus fruits. While most Mexican dishes are easy to prepare at home with ingredients you can find in any grocery store, there are also plenty of excellent restaurants around town where you can enjoy your favorite Mexican dish at any time of day or night!

American

There's no doubt that American food is the most popular cuisine in San Antonio. In fact, it's often thought of as the official cuisine of Texas, so it's not surprising that you'll find an abundance of BBQ joints and burger joints throughout the area. What makes American food so unique is its broad range. Although there are some dishes that are common across all Americans (i.e., apple pie), each region has its own variations on classic dishes that make them unique—and delicious! For example, jambalaya will never be quite like gumbo; fried chicken can be spicy or sweet depending on where you go, and barbecue sauce can range from vinegar-based to tomato-based—the possibilities really are endless here!

Another thing to keep in mind about American cuisine is how closely linked it is with comfort food; for many diners, this means something simple but satisfyingly tasty like meatloaf or macaroni & cheese (or both!) After all these years of indulging ourselves with these comforting favorites, we've forgotten how good they really are!

Italian

Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines in San Antonio, Texas. The city is home to a large population of Italian Americans and offers many authentic Italian restaurants. Many of these restaurants are known for their pasta and pizzas, but they also serve delicious desserts that you don't want to miss out on!

If you're looking for something traditional, try the cannoli from Mama's Pasta & Pizza (3909 Nacogdoches Rd) or gelato from Dolce Vita Gelato Cafe (1020 Austin Hwy). If you're feeling adventurous, try some Nutella crepes at Eat My Crepe! (700 E Sonterra Blvd), or just stick with an old standby like spaghetti and meatballs at Maggiano's Little Italy (8715 Tesoro Dr #100).

North San Antonio Hills

If you're in the Hill Country, and you want to try some good Mexican food, there are plenty of options. If you're looking for something a little different, these three restaurants all serve up some delicious American food as well.

Sopapillas is one of my favorite places in San Antonio because they have amazing Tex-Mex style dishes (like nachos) and amazing American dishes like chicken fried steak or chicken pot pie. The restaurant has great service and a really fun atmosphere that makes eating out with friends super enjoyable. They also have live music several nights per week which adds even more character! The only downside is that it can get crowded during peak hours so if you go during those times be prepared to wait in line or eat at off-peak hours when possible (like before 6 pm).

Tex Mex without breaking the bank? Yes, please! This place has been around forever but still feels fresh today due to the great service and quality ingredients used here each time I come back again after not visiting here since moving away from SA years ago... There were many reasons why we couldn't return sooner - kids being too young etc., but now we'll definitely be back soon because this place feels like it never changed.*I would recommend getting takeout instead*

Far West Side

The Mexican restaurant scene in San Antonio is a bit of a mixed bag. There's plenty of good stuff, but it can be hard to find the right place for your tastes. Most people agree that the best places are found on the city's Far West Side. Here's what you need to know about this neighborhood:

The area has been described as "upscale" and "hip." If you like going out at night, this is definitely where you want to be.

There are dozens of restaurants offering different styles from traditional fares like tacos and enchiladas all the way up through world cuisines like Thai food or French pastries.

For those who don't live nearby, there are some options closer by—like Boerne or New Braunfels—but none quite match what San Antonio has to offer on its own turf!

Conclusion

The Far West Side is a great place for those who are looking for a new and exciting experience. With its many Mexican restaurants, Americans can enjoy the traditional American food they grew up with while still having access to some of Mexico’s best dishes. And if you're looking for something more exotic or unique, there are plenty of options as well! Whether it's Italian cuisine or North San Antonio Hills' best burgers in town -- there will always be something new waiting just around the corner...

Garage Door Repair

Garage Door Repair is an essential part of every home, and with so many different types of garage doors available on the market today, it’s important to know how to choose the right one for your needs. From materials and style to price and durability, there are many factors that can affect your decision when you’re ready to buy a new garage door for your home. In this article, we will discuss some of these factors as well as provide tips on how Garage doors are a vital part of our homes, and they need to be in top shape at all times. You don’t want your garage door to malfunction when you have important things inside it—like your car! Mojo Garage Door Repair San Antonio can help you ensure that your garage door is in good working order. If you need a new garage door, we can install one for you. You can find online using these keywords Garage Door Repair, Garage Door Repair San Antonio, Garage Door Repair near me, and Garage Door Service.

Mojo Garage Door Repair San Antonio

11103 San Pedro Ave #215, San Antonio, TX 78216, United States

210-997-7777

[awakened-harmony]

Greek loves test

Good Philia

All philia types are organized around union and attuned to fellowship and merging. Philia types are pensive and introspective lovers who endeavor to look out for the interests of others, just as much as they look out for themselves. Through fellowship and union, philia types hope to dissolve their personal subject and to ascend the ladder of Being so as to ultimately become one with the universe. However, the philia type's quest for transcendence, merging, and meaning in a universe that is mostly meaningless, and where most of its inhabitants have only their own interests at heart, also gives rise to a tragic element in love as philia, and by and large, it will be the philia type's response to this instillation of sadness that determines whether his love will be good or bad philia.

As for good philia, while there may be a sizeable minority of people in the world who feel the pull of the transcendental upon the phenomenal, only a few of them manage to steer clear of the numerous temptations and multifarious mistakes that abound on the path to the attainment of the highest non-phenomenal state (that is not itself a state). Stepping back from the humdrum of coming-into-being and passing-away, yours is the realization that all mundane perspectives are fundamentally inadequate and incomplete - indeed no more than "children's playthings" - and that the underlying sense of suffering that you find to be ubiquitous in the world originates with the attachment of mortals to such perspectives. Instead, you have it in you to understand that liberation comes, not from intellectual means, but from the relinquishment and self-negation of conceptual thought. In your own, non-directive way, you may quietly attempt to dissuade others from their attachment to the phenomenal, probing them to pry open the tightly-clutched fist of conceptual thought that prevents them from seeing the greater unity that lies before all of us, and that each of us is really a constituent of, if only we dare become awakened to it.

Famous Greeks who have Philia: Plato, Pythagoras.

Your ideal partner is someone who has Philia too.

[dont-let-me-drown-in-you]

Because of you, idiot!

Summary: Victoria suddenly comes distance, and you try to find out why.

Pairing : Victoria De Angelis x Reader(neutral)

Genre: Angst(I guess), Romantic fluff

Words:1117

Warnings: My writing probably will kill you! Most of the Italian phrases are translated with Google Translate, so I am terribly sorry if I assaulted someone in Italian.

A/N: Laura and Paula convinced me to post it, so you know who to blame😂

Tagging — @oro-e-diamanti @mywritingonlyfans, @wannaabe-writer

Lately, every time you hung out with the guys, Victoria seemed off. You had the impression that she was avoiding you. She did her best not to stay with you in the same room, and she answered you with one word every time you asked her something or maybe not at all, pretending that she did not hear what you said.

You could not understand what was happening or if you had done something that made her step away from you. She also pulled away every time you went to touch her, as if you were something toxic.

The whole situation had started to affect your mood, and you constantly seemed melancholic, and you did not talk as much as usual.

There were also, times when you did not even want to meet them, but you knew you could not avoid them constantly. You said to yourself that there is no problem between Victoria and you, and that her behaviour was simply due to tiredness or some other personal issue that has been bothering her lately.

One afternoon you sat on the grass a few feet away from the pool, lost in your thoughts, when you heard a voice talking to you. You looked up and saw Thomas standing above you with a glass of iced lemonade in his hand. He offered it to you, and you thanked him with a smile. You let a few minutes pass before you realized that he had spoken to you.

‘’Cosa hai detto?’’

‘’Is everything okay biscottino? You seem a bit down’’ he asked as he sat next to you on the ground.

‘’Yes, I am just a little tired.’’ But then you thought of asking Thomas discreetly if he knew what was going on with Victoria, since he knew her better than anyone. ‘’Can I ask you a question?’’

‘’Si certo’’ he said with a sweet smile.

‘’Is Vic okay?’’

‘’Yeah, why?’’ he asked, confused.

‘’I don’t know. She seems icy. It is as if she tolerates me by force. Have I done something I don’t know?’’

‘’No biscottino’’ he said sweetly.

‘’I do not know. Every time I try to touch her, she steps away as if I am holding a power cord or something’’

‘’That’s weird'' he said, surprised.

‘’I know, right?’’ you agreed.

‘’No, I mean-’’ he started, but he stopped.

‘’Yes?’’you asked impatiently.

‘’She is only like this when she has a crush'' said, bringing his hand to the back of his neck in embarrassment.‘’ Porca puttana’’ he exclaimed when he realized what was going on.

You stood up abruptly. Thunderstruck! That’s what you felt when you found out that there might be a possibility she- No, no, it could not be true. You have always been madly in love with her, but you had accepted the fact that you are never going to be together because you did not want to ruin your friendship, but at this moment you were about to.

You went up to her room in a flash, where she had been hiding since you arrived. But here and there you could see her shadow in the window looking at you.

Every reasonable person would be happy if they learned that their crush had the same feelings as them, but you were angry.

You felt mainly disappointed. After so long, you thought that she would tell you straight to your face what is happening and that she would not hide behind this behavior.

You really believed that you had done something wrong, and you spent nights wondering what happened. So yes, in your mind, you thought you had every right to be mad at her.

You kicked the door of her room open with such force that you thought you had broken it. But you were too upset to even care. ‘’What is your problem?’’ you shouted.

Victoria jumped in horror and almost fell out of bed, ‘’Che diavolo? What is my problem? You came in like the fucking FBI or something! I could be naked!’’

‘’Oh come on! It would not be something that I haven't seen before! So tell me, what is your problem?’’

‘’I don’t know what you mean’’ she said, and she returned to what she was doing before you came in like a caveman.

‘’Do not test my patience, Victoria!’’ you said, but she did not seem to care. ‘’You know what?Fanculo Vic! I am done!’’

"What do you mean?"she demanded to know.

"I mean, I don't care about you anymore. You can walk around acting like a brat with the guys tolerating you, but I can't anymore. The friendship or whatever the hell that was between us is over," you said, and you walked towards the door, only to be stopped by Victoria grabbing your arm.

"Aspetti! Per favore!"she whined.

You felt the fingers brushing over your arm as you stood there, refusing to look at her. "Mi dispiace davvero"

"Too late, Victoria!" you announced.

"You can't leave me, please"

"Watch me!" you said as you released your arm from her hold.

‘’Non posso vivere senza di te’’ her voice cracked.

‘’Oh trust me, you can’’ you said sarcastically.

‘’Ma non voglio!’’ she protested.

‘’Not my problem, Vic! Not anymore’’ you shouted, giving her a cold look.

"Io...- Ti prego. Rimani con me per favore." she whispered your name, "Sei tutto per me.Sono innamorata di te." her voice cracked again. "Per favore! Sei il grande amore della mia vita." she cried.*

You turned around and looked at her for a moment before you rushed towards her. "Infine!" you whispered.

‘’Che cosa!’’ was the only thing she managed to say before your hands grabbed her face, and you crushed her lips with yours. The kiss was sweet, and her lips were warm. Her hands wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer, but you broke the kiss.

"I already know you had feelings for me. Or at least I suspected it"

"How?" she asked.

"Thomas accidentally said something and I just connected the dots. Oh, by the way, the whole thing with the door and all, was just a show" you admitted.

"What do you mean?" she looked at you puzzled.

"I knew the only way to get you to admit your feelings for me was to make you believe you were losing me." you confessed while you refused to look at her.

''Figlio di puttana'' she shouted, but before you could say anything you heard someone scream in shook.

"Che diavolo! Cos'è successo qua?" said Damiano with pure shook in his eyes.

You stared at Victoria and you end up laughing at his reaction. "I will explain that to you later"

*I beg you. Stay with me, please. You're everything for me. I'm in love with you. Please! You are the love of my life.

★──────────★─────────★

[mywritingonlyfans]

So here I am again because my mission for the day is to kill you ... No I'm just kidding 😂

Okay, so I am not very good at writing in English, as you can see. I can't write to save my life so I apologize for this awful thing 😅 I just let my thoughts out and this happened!

So you're dating Damiano for a long time, but out of the blue you start to avoid him and spend more time with Thomas. At first, he doesn't think anything, but he starts noticing how your attitude changes when he enters the room, or he sees how you stop whispering to Thomas and try to act cool.

One night, he comes home exhausted and finds you with Thomas. You are really close, he confronts you because you're upset. So he misunderstands the whole thing and thinks you are cheating on him with one of his best friends.

So he is like '' Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?'' and Thomas is like ''It's time to tell him the truth'' before he leaves you alone.

So Damiano is looking at you waiting for your explanation, but you're barely looking at him. You can't find the right words, and he tries so hard to stay as calm as possible, but he can't wait any longer, so he asks the question but has been burning hid mind for so many days.

''Are you cheating on me? I mean… You free to leave me if you want but don't deceive me please. I deserve better than that''

You look at him in pure shook, trying to understand why he would think that ''What? I mean, it's Thomas, how could you think something like that?"

''Then tell me what the hell is going on!''

You took a deep breath and you before you realize the words leave your mouth '' I am pregnant''

Dead silence…

You look at him, but he wasn't looking at you any more. ''Say something please… Yell at me, swear, I don't know. Just say something! This silence is killed me. Damiano, please''

He doesn't say anything, he just leaves the room, leaving you there all alone while you feel hot tears running down your face.

"This is the end, it's over" you think to yourself, but you do not believe it. He is not the type of man who runs away from his responsibilities.

A few moments pass, and he comes running into the room and kiss you like he never kissed you before.

'' Il mio amore, la mia vita, il mio tutto'' he keeps saying with his voice cracking while he places kisses all over your face as you stand there trying to understand what is happening. Then you look at him, and you realize he is crying.

Oh, you are so relive that he is not going to leave you, and you start crying as well, causing him to panic.

''What happened? What did I do? Did I hurt you?''

''Nothing, nothing. It's just - For a moment I thought that you didn't want the baby''

''No, no, of course not. I just wasn't expecting that. That's why I reacted the way I did. I am so sorry. You are my life and knowing that you're carrying my baby… Our baby! God, I could die from happiness this very moment! Why you didn't tell me sooner?''

''I was afraid of how you would’ve reacted. I mean, we are still so young… You have your career. I don't want to take that away from you''

''Nothing would take that away for me. We will work this out all together. The 6 of us''

''The 6 of us?''

''Yes! You, me ,the baby, Thomas, Vic and Ethan!Okay, 7 of us, including Chilli!''

''One big crazy family!'' you agree before you kiss him.

Of course the moment after Damiano tell the others to come over, and they think that the house's on fire or something only to find Damiano yelling at theirs faces ''ASPETTIAMO UN BAMBINO'' the moment they step into to the house.

Imagine the whole gang spending time with the baby!!! UGH! I CAN'T!

PS. I love you and thank you so much for your support ❤️

the drama 😅 we like that!! this time i'll just leave for people to read, bc you wrote a fully one, so it's totally your credits!

[fablecore]

oh my gosh i will have to put a gentleman in moscow on my to read list immediately those are some high words of praise! it also looks very, very intriguing. thank you!! im excited to dive in! and yeah vita nostra was... i agree with u that i didnt quite find the main character likeable, but i was so curious and so confused and i was like please make sense. i kept expecting it to. make more sense. but it did not LMAO. it was an interesting transformation on humanity. is all i can say.

i don't really have anything half as poetic to say about priory like you with a gentleman in moscow, since i unfortunately have the shortest term memory ever and lost a lot of my emotional fervor but i remember enjoying it Very Much orz. it was a wonderful world & cast & fantasy to sink my teeth into. sorry for spamming your inbox! you are just a delightful conversationalist. i hope you have a great day <3

not spam at all, i love hearing people's thoughts on books they've read :-) if you do end up reading a gentleman in moscow, there is a particular scene involving a rooftop and bees. when you finish reading that scene (and you will know exactly which one i'm talking about), i want you to take a moment and hold that feeling you experience deep in your heart. wishing you joy in your future reading endeavors 🌙 🌉 🏮