#also I guess there were three of us on it? Whoopsie but like hey! The more the better!!!

[dystopiagnome]

Aaaaaaaaaaah! So one more piece for @sandersidesbigbang and @jaderj1209’s story! Which is like fine, but have you SEEN what @charlie-dawg and @talking4the1 have done?? GIRL.

Story Title: Running Away From You Author: @jaderj1209 Characters: Janus (top, left), Roman (middle, right) Rating: Mature [ID] [A digital drawing of a cat themed cafe with Janus (left) and Roman (right) meeting at a table in mid day next in front of a large window. On the cafe walls besides the windows are posters of cats, the one of the right has a calico playing with indigo yarn in grass and one on the right has a white background with a grey cat sitting and fish outlines in the background. Between the two posters is a large window, it shows a street outside facing another building with flowers in sills and a hydrant. On the bottom, Roman is wearing a red track jacket with rainbow lining on a white shirt with a red circle on it and blue jeans while Janus is sitting wearing a brown bomber jacket over a black shirt with two yellow stripes, a sunhat on his blond hair, and yellow gloves. Overlayed on the drawing is a gif zoomed in on Janus and Roman’s eyes cutting off slightly above eyebrows and where noses should be with changing lighting and changing costumes to indicate time passing into the image seen at the bottom. Janus’ left eye also changes from snake-like to human-like.]

[an-eldritch-peredhel]

Ethics of Creating/Adopting/Influencing Sentient Life, as Ignored by the Valar

It's been a steady headcanon of mine that most Valar have their own form of sentient life that they had a metaphysical hand in shaping. Is this because I feel like everyone gets jilted bc of the big three? Yes. Is this how I explain all of the weird one-off things in the Hobbit? Also yes. No particular order here, just vibes.

Manwe: Giant Eagles, obvious, he asked his Parent's permission first.

Aule: Dwarves, also obvious, did not ask permission from his Parent but they ended up splitting custody so a pretty good deal all around. (Also maybe made sure that the possibility for AI was in the Song. Is very excitedly awaiting his robot children.)

Yavanna: Ents, again obvious, asked her Parent's permission, got it, dunked on her husband. Ents are strange because they aren't so much plant-like sentients as decidedly sentient plants. Most everyone but her (and Vana) are kinda weirded out by this.

Vana: Hobbits. With some input from Yavanna and Nessa. I know the prevailing hc in the Hobbit fandom is that it was Yavanna for those sweet Aule/Yavanna Dwarves/Hobbits parallels, but I feel like Vana's Domains fit them better. She didn't (technically) Create them, she was just wanting to make her own People without getting in trouble, and Yavanna offered sisterly advice in the form of "Evolution was already Sung, so if you just guide that evolution a little and happen to get a new People out of it... well, whoopsies, who'd've guessed ;)". Nessa, of course, heard about this and insisted on helping her girlfriend out. No one knows how Hobbits came from Humans, because it makes very little logical sense. This is why. Also she coopted mushrooms from Melkor and those things are if not sentient at least getting there.

Orome: The Beornings. Vana was like "LOOK WHAT I'M DOING :D!" re. evolution (and Magic/Song shhhh) and Orome went "SICK! I WANNA DO THAT!!" but didn't want to put quite as much effort in (he's busy) so he took a group of humans and was like "Ok you can have awesome disney princess bear powers for the low low cost of not technically being human anymore" and they all went "well, best not to reject gifts from gods, also that sounds cool, so sure I guess?" Some adaption/evolution was also involved, which Nessa helped with.

Nessa: See Vana & Orome above. She's the reason Hobbits have the crazy high stealth bonus, and the reason for the whole bear-dancing thing the Beornings do. Also I'm pretty sure she came up with an idea for talking animals really early on, carefully and subtly implemented by her, Orome, and Yavanna.

Tulkas: Giants. Orome and Vana and Nessa were all like "DUDE LOOK WHAT WE'RE DOING ISN'T IT COOL!" and Tulkas was like "YEAH THAT'S SICK BABES! GREAT JOB!" and they were like "don't you want to try? OwO? give us more niblings to dote on?" and he figured "hey, might as well, that sounds dope". He got Aule's help (bc experience w/ sentientifying rocks) and managed to accidentally find a bunch of new loop holes in the "Thou Shalt Not Casually Create Sentience What Are You Guys Frankenstein Or Something" doctrine. Manwe was like "...why" and Tulkas was like "Look, there's not even triple digits of them, their sentience is debatable at best, and it makes Arda cooler. Surely you want Arda to be cool? Also they throw rocks around!" And Manwe had bigger problems to deal with at this point and gave up. This is why giants are fighty.

Namo: Did NOT create sentience are you kidding? It's bad enough that SOME moron Sung the possibility for Necromancy into Arda (interesting as it is he desperately wants to slap the Maia who came up with that idea. it's So Much Work, and ever since Humans first woke up he has been So Busy. this is what he gets for wanting to micromanage the Death system), he's not creating MORE work for himself. He has technically adopted sentient life in the form of Spirits. He staunchly ignores anyone who tries to point this out.

Nienna: Did not create sentience but has adopted the Orcs. The ones that were corrupted elves can heal with a lot (a LOT) of time and therapy in Mandos, but orcs do end up as a separate People. A People who is Nienna's now. They're her babies. (Yes, this is a Threat.)

Irmo: As creator of dreams he occupies a very weird place re. creating sentience, since he's technically actively influencing it at all times regardless. Has not made a People but did very quietly figure out how to make not-quite-Maiar. He didn't make many, but there are a few Wishing Spirits in unexpected places.

Vaire: Similar to her husband, she's too busy to create sentience, and doesn't want that responsibility anyway. Perfectly content with being a mentor-friend to her Weavers, no desire to be a mom.

Este: Has not created sentience but did help Aule work on robot bodies once she learned about his little project. Is not a mechanical engineer, but can pass pretty well as a bio-engineer. Plus she needs to learn how to heal all the Peoples, not just organic ones. (They keep the project quiet.)

Ulmo: He was to busy trying to help the Original And Intended Children to make anything of his own. Did several of his Maiar figure out Fully Incarnate Bodies? Yes. Did they also figure out how to have kids? SOMEHOW, yes. Did these kids become their own People? Yes. Is this Ulmo's problem now? Yes. Anyway that's how mermaids happened.

Varda: She is competent and respectable. Are her constellations sentient? That's between them, her, and her Maiar. She's worked out the logistics on her own, thank you very much. No need for worrying about afterlives or whatnots, she's got it covered. (She just wanted some kids, ok? And it's so much easier if she isn't the only one watching over the skies of Arda.)

[twokinkybeans]

Hello! I absolutely love all of your stories! I have a request, can you do a Starker story where Peter and his class go on a field trip to stark tower? I don’t really mind what happens there I just really want to see the ship. If you can thanks so much 💗

CHAPTER 2: BACKPACK

(Read chapter 1: Science Rules on Tumblr / AO3)

Summary: Peter is 14. Recently got his Spider powers and is no longer friends with Flash. Ned is in the picture. They go on a high school excursion and Peter is set on finding Tony to ask if he can join the Avengers. Side note: Tony is not romantically/sexually interested in Peter until chapter 3, when they are in an established relationship. Warnings: Angst. They talk about death whilst not actually mentioning it. Flash is an absolute asshole as always.

Rating: Mature (just to be sure for later on lol).

I actually had this one finished last Sunday but never got around to posting it. It isn’t edited at all, so I hope you enjoy! :P -Lien

“Mister Thompson, if you don’t take a seat this instant, it’ll be detention for you,” Mister Harrington threatens. Flash immediately presses his ass back into his seat and grins at Peter from a distance. They might resent each other now, but their infinite common interest in science, technology and Tony Stark has never faded. They don’t really talk to each other anymore and Peter is not expecting their broken friendship to ever be mended. Not with how Flash treats him these days, at least. The first cracks in their friendship appeared during their last visit to Stark Industries, when Flash became jealous of Peter for spending time with Tony. Flash’s behavior completely changed with his growing popularity at Midtown High. With regards to friendships, he ended up choosing quantity over quality. This resulted in him attempting to gain the schoolkids’ favors by bullying. Since Peter used to be his friend, he became an easy target. Peter might miss what they once had, but at least he managed to trade his friendship with Flash for an even better one. Ned Leeds enabled his geeky side and ever since the boy had helped Peter up after Flash had pushed him to the floor the first time, they became inseparable. Obviously, the school wanted to go to Avengers Tower to get them interested in pursuing careers in science and technology. Something both Ned and Peter already kind of were. As excited as everyone was to get a look inside the labs and workshops, there is a significantly higher interest in getting a glimpse of not just Tony Stark, but of any of the Avengers, now that Stark Tower has been rebirthed as Avengers Tower. However, there was another occupation that Peter also took interest in now that he had gained his Spider powers a little over half a year ago. Becoming an Avenger was his number one career dream. He’d no longer just help the little guy. He’d be able to help everyone. There’s nothing Peter wanted more than to run into Tony again like he did when they had the class trip in middle school. Maybe Peter could train under him? Learn from him? Tony would be the Master to his Padawan. He’d be an Avenger. All he needed right now was the courage to actually ask. Well, he’d have to find Tony- or any Avenger for that matter- first. … The second they set foot in the building, Peter grabs his bag and takes out the Science Rules cap that he wore as a child. He didn’t expect Tony to actually recognize him after all these years, but at least he has one point of reference he could fall back on. Security reminds him he’s not allowed to wear the cap inside, so he opts to attach it to his belt and have it hang from his hip. Flash makes an off-handed comment about it, but Peter ignores him. It still baffles Peter that Flash seems to feel no remorse for joking about the cap that he knows was Peter’s father’s. After the first two hours of the excursion Peter already starts losing hope. Most locations they go to are quite secluded and it’s not easy to get away from the security’s watchful eyes. They had to put their bags in a locker room earlier, so save for his web shooters, Peter couldn’t show Tony the suit he'd so proudly put together. If he would ever run into him. After hour three they’re finally allowed to go into the labs and actually do some tests themselves. Most of the materials they work with are quite harmless. The only thing that really could hurt them if they’re not careful is the bottle of slightly diluted bleach on their desks. At least all of the students want to make a good impression on Stark’s scientists, so they’re all on their best behavior. Everyone, but… “Whoopsies,” Flash deadpans next to Peter. The teen looks up surprised from his own workbench to see Flash, who is stationed next to him, purposefully elbow the bleach bottle. The opening up top is small, but some of the liquid still splashes out of it. Onto Peter’s hip. Peter stares at the cap that now has bleach splattered all over it and then back up at Flash who grins. “Guess it really is a one of a kind now.” Peter runs away from his spot to one of the security guards. He doesn’t trust himself to not start crying if he actually takes time to ask his question properly so all he can blurt out is: “Toilet?” The guard sees Peter’s panic and lets him out. “Uh, there’s one on the left right there.” “Th-thank-“ Water. Peter needs water right now. Needs to wash it out, even though the fabric is already lightening. Who knows, maybe he could wash it out with the tears that are forming in the corners of his eyes. He rushes and throws open the door, immediately starting the stream of water and shoving the cap under it. The further he can dilute the bleach, the better. His left hand clutches the little tag on the inside in an attempt to keep anything from spilling into it and messing up his father’s handwriting. A soft sob escapes his throat, but he’s startled to hear a urinal flush in one of the stalls. He sniffs and attempts to wipe away the tears with the elbow of his shirt. When he hears the door unlock he looks down in a half-assed attempt to focus on cleaning the cap. He bites on the inside of his cheek and clenches his jaw, feeling the presence of the man from the stall emerge. The man casually washes his hands next to Peter but his movement suddenly halts. “Peter?” Peter could recognize that voice in his sleep. His heart beats loudly in his chest and the world is spinning. He blinks before whipping his head up to lock eyes with Tony Stark. “Jeez, you’ve grown.” The man’s brows curl together at the look on Peter’s face. The boy breaks eye contact and looks forward into the mirror, only to realize his cheeks are red and his eyes are puffed. “What the hell happened?” There’s a moment of silence. Peter barely realizes that Tony recognized him. Knows him, still. Is concerned for him. Peter’s mouth opens and closes and he takes a breath before looking back down at the cap and continuing to attempt to wash out the bleach. “Bleach,” he mumbles. “Didn’t take you to be that clumsy.” “Wasn’t wearing it.” “Still.” Peter scrubs more aggressively now, tears threatening to spill again. He’s making a fool of himself and he wishes he could just disappear. “Hey,” Tony says quietly. “Hey-“ Peter’s eyes widen at a hand suddenly holding onto his lower arm. Peter’s frozen where he stands and can only watch defeated as Tony turns off the tap. Only now he feels how wet his cheeks are. When did he start crying again? “Damage’s already been done.” Tony takes the cap out of Peter’s hands and studies the lightened splotches on the front. “Don’t you think this looks cool?” He tries. “Don’t want it to look cool.” “I’m sure your dad won’t-“ Tony stops himself, knowing exactly why he shouldn’t finish his thought. He sucks at his teeth and looks away. “Sorry, how’s your mom?” Peter nearly laughs at Tony’s inability to read the room. “She was with him.” Mortified at his previous decision on how to continue the conversation, Tony takes a step back. Peter looks down at his wet hands and adds: “It’s okay.” “To be honest, no, not really. Are you taken care of?” “My aunt.” “Didn’t Richard have a brother?” Peter looks up again and grimaces, feeling like every word falling from Tony’s lips is a stab to the heart. “Fuck, I’m-“ “It’s okay.” “It’s not.” Tony shakes his head and moves closer to Peter again. “I’m sorry, kid.” The man scoffs. “I used to be better at this… Well, no actually, that’s a lie.” Peter swallows as the two just stare at each other in silence for a few seconds, neither of them sure where to go with this. The boy then clears his throat and moves to stand up straight. “I am, eh… Here on another excursion.” “High school this time, I presume? Or are you in uni already?” “Parents wanted me to have a somewhat normal childhood, so they didn’t want me to get ahead that far. My aunt honors that wish.” Peter now properly washes his hands, since his hands had started to tingle from the bleach. “Aren’t you bored out of your mind, then?” Peter raises his eyebrows and chuckles. “Maybe.” Tony’s wrist beeps and he takes a glance at his watch, sighing exasperated. He heads for the door and hands Peter the cap back on his trek. “Pete, I’m sorry, I gotta go. Give reception a call-“ No, is all Peter can think. Before he can form a rational though, he reaches out and webs Tony’s hand to the door handle, locking both of them in the bathroom. Tony stares down at the substance keeping the door shut and his hand attached to it. “What the-“ “I want to join the Avengers.” Peter is ready to hit himself in the head. That question was way too direct and now he’s really done it. Tony laughs surprised. “Oh, bother. You’re Spider-Guy?” Peter’s eyes widen. The man hadn’t said no. “Spider-Man.” “Right.” “Wait, aren’t you fourteen?” Tony asks confused. Peter’s aware his physique as Spider-Man is wildly different from what he appears as in daily life. “And a half.” “Kid, if that really is you, you need to stop before you get in over your head, okay?” Tony wants to step towards him, but is held back by the webbing. “You think I’m lying?” Peter crosses his arms offended. “Well, no, but-“ The billionaire shakes his head at the substance and scoffs. “You’re putting yourself in danger when you shouldn’t.” “I’m not stopping.” “What- are you an adrenaline junkie? Please, don’t tell me you’re doing this because of me. It’s not worth it, I promise you.” Peter stares at the wet cap in his hands. “Not everything’s about you.” He wishes he swallowed those words, but Tony seemed to be self- aware enough, taking the comment somewhat gracefully. “Then what is it about?” “Half a year ago I got these… Powers.” Peter raises his hands up to look at them and sighs. “I’m stronger and faster… And I- well…” He trails off and pulls his face together in a frown. “When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you.” “As inspiring as that is, you shouldn’t be doing any of the stuff I’ve seen in those videos.” Tony’s pulls at his wrist and swears silently. “Jesus, what is this made of?” “You… Watched the videos?” “Yeah, kid, I did, now please get this stuff off me?” “Right! It usually dissolves after two to three hours, but I have a dissolver in…” Peter falls silent as he realizes that what he needs is locked away by security. “Kid,” Tony threatens. “My backpack.”

[vespertine-legacy]

Ops shenanigans tonight:

Undermanned Dread Fortress, during which we discovered during the Nefra fight that we somehow had three healers? And we had two tanks, even though I told the raid leader that SM DF only needs one tank and a dwt? 

So with only two actually dps, it took a little longer than necessary to get Nefra down, whoopsies. One of the healers swapped to dps, as did one of the tanks, since I was on Eleison and could taunt when needed. 

Draxus fight got a little bit squirrelly--a couple of us had been in either HM or NiM more recently and had forgotten SM mechanics, but we made it through fairly okay. 

Grob’thok also got a little messy, mostly because someone ran in too far before we pulled and started the magnet, so it wasn’t where the tank expected it to be (and the tank doesn’t usually tank DF, or tanks it with someone else leading the raid and telling them what to do). 

Corrupter Zero was super quick, dude melted and also pointed the wrong way for at least one of the chest lasers. 

Brontes (my beloved) went fine, with some minor confusion over what we could ignore in SM, and one rogue Finger due to being undermanned that wanted to kill us all (but we didn’t let it).

Then we did an undermanned KP, with no tank (tank didn’t want to tank anymore, and decided KP doesn’t need a tank) and one healer. So I got to skank tank it. We had three marauders in the group, so on the first mob, they accidentally pulled an additional mob, and we decided to make it a meme run. So I ran ahead and grabbed the mob at the next door and brought them back down to the group (hey, I was helping everyone fluff their numbers).

Everyone did fine on the rancor, aside from one death to Eating Too Many Ground Pounds. 

We got to Jarg and Sorno. Right as I asked how we were doing this, someone did a saber throw, so I put in ops chat, “I guess that’s how we’re doing it, lol.” I managed to get (and keep!) threat on both of them (woo DoT-spread), and we burned Sorno until he jumped, then wailed on Jarg, then killed Sorno, then killed Jarg.

I died at the Machinesmith somehow? Then died twice to trash on the way to the Foreman Crusher, whoops. Managed to hold the Foreman Crusher pretty well (aside from his aggro dumps, after which I was able to get him back into position), and managed my dcds decently. Nearly got killed by a Murder Droid en route to the Fabrication Droid.

Before pull on the Droid, I put in ops chat “I’m gonna die :3.” And then I did. Twice. He hits the tank pretty hard, and skank tanks go squish. But we recovered well. Made it up to Karagga without incident.

Couldn’t get Karagga to follow me? Had threat on him, but he wouldn’t move after he dropped the first fire puddle, so stood in it a little too long, and had Too Low HP Disease when he finally did start moving, and died. And had a very long cooldown on accepting the res, because I had died like 7 times. When I was able to accept the res, I immediately got the grav bomb, but didn’t see that it was on me, so didn’t cleanse it off myself but did get threat on Karagga because he was getting stuck in the corner and everyone was on fire. So I had threat, but couldn’t move, finally shrouded, but Karagga shat fire all over me right before I could get out of the way, but my valiant sacrifice was just enough for the group to finish him off.

[fangirlshrewt97]

Doctor Who (2005) Fic - The Goldilocks Vacation Conundrum

Title: The Goldilocks Vacation Conundrum

Author(s): Fangirlshrewt97

Fandom: Doctor Who (2005)

Pairing: None

Characters: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz Khan, Ryan, Graham

Rating: General

Warnings: None

Banned Together Bingo Prompt: Alien Weatherman

Additional Tags: Crack-ish, Prompt: Alien Weatherman, Banned Together Bingo 2020, Humor, The Doctor does not know how to pick human appropriate vacation spots, Poor Graham keeps falling because of the Doctor’s poor TARDIS parking skills, Post Season 10

Summary: Essentially, a semi-crack-ish fic where the Doctor tries to suggest vacation spots to her companions, and misses the mark. Until she gets it right.

After all, third time is the charm.

Excerpt:

The Doctor swiped through a few more potential vacation spots, this time, Ryan joining them. There were several that caught the eyes of the crew, but each time that Graham asked for the dangers, there was always one.

Tentacle monsters, giant crabs, Multiple-headed monsters, noxious gas, acid-spitting monsters, poisonous fruits, monsters with giant horns, unfriendly natives, evil tyrannical rulers that were wary of tourists. What was with all the monsters, honestly?

By the end, Ryan and Yaz had joined back on the steps with the Doctor standing in front of them.

 Link to A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25314952

                                                          /// 

The TARDIS fam were sitting on the steps next to the central console waiting for the Doctor to return. She had said she would only be a moment and for them to stay.

“I just need to grab this one thing from a friend, I’ll be back before you know it. No need for you to follow me!” she had said, bouncing around the console as the TARDIS landed on another planet, nearly sending Graham to the floor from the abrupt stop.

“But doc-” Graham had started to protest only for her to already be halfway out the door, coat in one hand, and an extremely long rainbow scarf in the other.

“Five minutes at most. Just wait here!” was all the humans heard before the door swung shut.

Graham sighed. “Well that is not going to happen.”

“Who wants to bet she will get stuck on an adventure?” Ryan had asked, mischievous glint in his eyes.

Yaz barked a laugh. “What kind of a naive idiot do you take me for Ryan? The bet should be the kind of adventure she goes on. My guess is tentacle monster.”

“You’re on, I think it is alien species that wants to conquer the planet.”

“Ohhhh, good one, damn I want to change my bet.”

“No way too late!”

“Graham, what about you?”

“I don’t know about the doctor, but personally, I am going for an adventure to the kitchen. I want tea.” Graham had said, waiving off the groans from the other two. He did press the pedal to get a creamy custard biscuit as he walked by though.

That had been almost four hours ago. In the meantime, Graham had had his tea and biscuits, finished his book, taken a small nap, and wound up back in the console room, playing poker with Yaz and Ryan. The younger two members of the ship had tried to venture out of the ship, only to find they were parked at the top of a very steep cliff with no houses or identifiable signs of civilization in sight. And rather than risking getting lost, had ventured back into the ship.

Graham was chuckling as he won the hand for the fifth time in the row, collecting the candy they were using as betting markers when the Doctor burst into the room, tracking mud throughout the entrance as loud bird screeching followed her. She quickly barricaded the door with the bar she kept next to the door and ventured inside.

“Well fam, sorry for the delay, but I see you kept yourselves entertained.”

“Say doc, have you ever actually run an errand where things didn’t go tits up?” Graham asked as he opened one of the mints from his winnings. From the corner of his eye, he saw Yaz passing some money to Ryan.

“I resent the implications Graham, I will have you know I have had plenty of successful errands where nothing went wrong.”

At the silence from the three humans, she looked up from she was fiddling with the console controls again. “I have!”

Graham scoffed as Yaz made an empathetic noise and Ryan rolled his eyes fondly.

“Sure you have Doctor.” Ryan said as he stood up.

The Doctor’s comeback was interrupted by a piercing cry and the distinct sound of claws (or talons) against wood.

“Whoopsie, looks like we have overstayed our welcome!” The Doctor said before pulling down the lever. The trio of humans just managed to brace themselves before the ship took off, shaking like a teacup during an earthquake.

After a couple more minutes, the wheezing sound faded as the ship managed to land somewhere.

“Hey Doctor, where are we?” Yaz as as she peered into one of the monitors on the console. It was still displaying that odd (but beautiful) circular writing the Doctor had called Gallifreyan, but she could also make out a landscape. It was a flat field, with what looked like medium height grasses (green), under a clear sky (purple, which weird but cool), and a scattering of trees that almost resembled pine trees but had normal leaves.

“Ah, thanks for asking Yaz! Welcome to Brosha, in the Aresa galaxy. I figured I owed you guys a proper vacation, and this place has the best food this side of the Andromeda galaxy made from corn. Well, it is actually eir but tastes very similar to Earth’s corn. Looks similar too!”

The three humans were not looking at her as impressed as she was hoping. Her smiled dimmed a bit. “No?”

Ryan answered. “Doctor, that is really nice of you, but none of us are really big fans of corn. Also you are hiding something from us.”

“No I am not.”

Yaz chuckled. “Yes you are. You have a tell.”

“I do not!”

“You do too!”

“I do not!”

“You do too!”

“I-”

Graham cut off the childish squabbling. Honestly one was an officer of the law, and the other was a two thousand year old alien. It was undignified. “Alright enough. Doc, this sounds nice, but what’s the catch?”

“There are, rarely, every once in a while, stampedes of these huge moose like things. But honestly the chances of that happening while we are there are-”

“Sky high. Doc, we tend to always be around for the once in a blue moon situations. How about elsewhere?” Yaz said gently.

The Doctor pouted, but turned and fiddled with her monitor before brightening.

“Oh, I got one. What about Brakem in the Uccas galaxy? Hot springs filled with healing crystals, soaps and scents from around the universe. Never really rains, two suns, three moons. Gorgeous orange skies.”

“And?” Ryan asked, a wicked smirk on his face.

“Doc, this would be easier if you just mentioned the catch too.” Graham added.

“Average temperatures outside of the resorts are about 40℃.”

No way in hell. Mainly cause it sounded to be about the same temperature. “Next option Doc.”

The Doctor whined but looked at her monitor again. Graham went to sit on the stairs, he had a feeling they’d be there for a while.

“Ok, fine. How about, um, no not that one, ooh that would be, no nevermind, oh! No.” The Doctor muttered as she swiped at her monitor. Yaz went to stand beside her, watching her flick past some amazing landscapes. One in particular caught her eye, and she must have a sound because the Doctor looked at her. “Yaz?”

“What’s that?”

“This one? This is Chebara.” On the screen was a massive lake, extending seemingly to the horizon. The sky was so purple, but so clear she could almost make out stars and other planets in the photo. To one side of the lake she could see a massive hill rising from the ground, clouds covering it from about midway. In the middle of the lake, giant trees that seemed to be floating?

“Are those trees floating?”

“Oh yes, they are Ubal trees, their fruits produce dyes that don’t fade even after a thousand years. Very valuable.” The Doctor explained, glee filling her eyes again.

“Is it safe?” Graham asked. He loved the Doctor, but safety somehow never made it into the woman’s priority list.

“Graham, where is the fun in that?” The Doctor asked, only to be met with a raised eyebrow that would not be swayed. She sighed. “There is a small chance we may encounter the giant alligator-hippos that inhabit the lake.”

“No.”

“But Yaz wants to go!” the Doctor protested.

“Actually Doctor, I think just the photos might be enough. We have had so many adventures, and I would really like a vacation before we head back to the fray.” Yaz said, apologetic.

The Doctor’s shoulders slumped. “Back to the drawing board then.”

The Doctor swiped through a few more potential vacation spots, this time, Ryan joining them. There were several that caught the eyes of the crew, but each time that Graham asked for the dangers, there was always one.

Tentacle monsters, giant crabs, Multiple-headed monsters, noxious gas, acid-spitting monsters, poisonous fruits, monsters with giant horns, unfriendly natives, evil tyrannical rulers that were wary of tourists. What was with all the monsters, honestly?

By the end, Ryan and Yaz had joined back on the steps with the Doctor standing in front of them.

“Guys come on, I promise, the vacation will be fine, I’m sure the bad things won’t happen, they are all statistically very unlikely.”

Graham stood up and walked to the Doctor, laying a sympathetic hand on her forearm. “Doctor, I am sure you have noticed, but let me point it out again. We are kind of one-in-a-million central here. All I want is someplace to put my feet up, a nice cuppa, maybe a chance to tan.” Graham said. Beside him, Yaz and Ryan nodded in agreement.

The Doctor stood in front of the three humans, arms crossed, and cheeks puffed out like a squirrel. Yaz internally squealed at how adorable this couple thousand year old alien could be.

The Doctor tapped out a distracted pattern on her forearm before brightening. “I know the perfect place!” she said.

And then, without waiting for the companion’s response she went back to the console and pressed a few buttons before pulling the lever.

The TARDIS’s wheezing sound was heard before the ship rattled and transported. Graham, who had been standing on the stairs still fell hard on his butt. Ryan and Yaz managed to stumble forward and brace themselves on the console.

“Ow Doc, a couple more rough landings, and you are going to owe me a new hip!” Graham complained as he rubbed the small of his back. Ryan came to his side, helping his sit up against one of the columns around the console.

“Sorry about that Graham! I just thought of the perfect place for a lovely holiday, and wanted to get us there ASAP!”

Ryan and Yaz exchanged glances before looking at her hesitantly. “So…”

“Where are we?”

If possible, the Doctor’s grin got even wider, her eyes alight with delight. “My lovely fam, welcome to Earth, third planet in the solar system, in the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy. We are in present day Sheffield, the temperature is a pleasant 23℃, there is a humidity of 65%, and chance of rain is 7%!” The Doctor said as she clapped her hands once in delight. Ryan shook his head at the antics of the Time Lord and began to chuckle.Yaz started to giggle before the Doctor waggled her eyebrows at her, at which point she burst out laughing, using the console edge to keep from falling over. Even Graham had a grin on his face as he continued to rub his back. He used the column to brace himself and got up.

“How long will we be staying then doc?”

The Doctor swayed back and forth on her toes and heels. “Up to you guys. How long do you want to stay?”

“Wait, you are staying too right?” Yaz said, squinting at the Time Lord.

The Doctor brought up her hands in surrender. “I’ve got a whole universe Yaz!”

“And I’ve got a spare room with your name on it. Come on, just stay. I know we don’t have crystal pools or floating trees, but Charlie’s pub down the block serves some of the best falafels in the country.”

The Doctor bit her lip, but looking at the hopeful faces of her companions, she gave a single nod.

“Alright, why not.”

She turned and pressed a couple buttons, dimming the lights of the main area of the TARDIS. “There, she is in hibernation. Let’s go enjoy Sheffield.”

With a cheer from the humans, the Doctor let herself be led outside by her fam. Yaz dragging her by the wrist as Ryan lightly pushed her from the back, with Graham closing the ship doors behind himself.

Sometimes, the best vacation from a life traveling was a little bit of home.

[psychosistr]

FOWL Facets- Chapter 10

Summary: Steelbeak tells the girls he’s alive, and Domino tells everyone what he has planned for the future.

Notes: Ah, a short, sweet chapter to close out this emotional rollercoaster of a story. Hope you guys enjoyed it ^^

-First Chapter-

When arriving back in the main entryway, Steelbeak is hardly surprised to find a pair of striped arms wrapping around him from his shoulders to his ankles like a pair of snakes and pulling him right up to an overly-excited spinel hanging from the ceiling by her legs.

“Steely, you did it!” Loony stretches her neck and turns her head so that she’s looking at Steelbeak right-side up. “You made Dommy’s bad feelings go down!”

Steelbeak shrugs with one of his usual arrogant smirks. “Eh, what can I say? I’m just THAT friggin’ good.” After a minute, though, his face changes to a more strained smile. “Hey, Loons?”

“Yeah?” The stretchy spinel tilts her head curiously, still smiling brightly at him.

“Be a doll an’ put me down, would ya?” His eyes flick poignantly towards the floor a couple feet below.

Loony suddenly realizes that she is, in fact, still keeping the melanite suspended mid-air and gives him an apologetic smile. “Whoopsie-doodles! Sorry, Steely!” She sets him back down and unwraps her arms from around him.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, stretch- no harm done.” He tells her while fixing his suit.

“Surprisingly.” A voice from the lounging area beside him says.

Turning his head, to get a better look, Steelbeak is even less surprised to see Gandra reclined back on one of the benches while idly scrolling through something on a projected hologram-screen coming from the watch on her wrist. “And what’s that supposed t’ mean?”

“That you’re still alive.” The star-sapphire replies bluntly. “I’m surprised you made it through that in one piece.”

“Guess I’m just lucky.” Steelbeak’s eyes narrow at the other chicken, before he regains his earlier smirk. “Either that or SOMEONE’S lost her touch.” Oh, how he loves that challenging and frustrated glare he can always draw out when he pushes her buttons just right. “Somethin’ wrong, stardust?” He asks with the fakest sounding attempt at sympathy in the universe. “Hey, you ain’t lookin’ too happy there, toots. Shouldn’t we be celebratin’? I mean, it’s not like you really WANTED me gone, right?”

Gandra rolls her eyes at his taunting and makes her screen bigger to block out his smug face. “Think I’d celebrate more if you’d actually kicked the bucket..”

“So sorry t’ disappoint ya, Gee, but goin’ down that easy ain’t exactly my style.” The only thing Steelbeak enjoys more than teasing the star-sapphire for her height is calling her out on the extremely rare occasions where her predictions end up being off- it’s one of his favorite pastimes.

His laughter is interrupted by a voice too deep to be Gandra’s. “No, but being loud enough to shake the walls certainly is.” Turning to look at the hall he’d come in through earlier, Steelbeak sees Domino entering the main room as well.

“DOMMY!” Loony drops down from the ceiling next to the obsidian, arms ready to wrap him up in an excited hug. She stops just an inch shy, however, when a single black hand is raised in a silent request. “Oopsies!” Her arms instantly stop and retract before they even have a chance to grab the other gem. “Sorry, Dommy..”

Domino gives her a half-smile and shakes his head. “It’s fine, Loony..just..not right now, okay? Maybe later.” After receiving a happy and agreeable nod in return, Domino redirects his attention to the room as a whole, his demeanor shifting into something far more serious. “F.O.W.L. has been compromised by a Diamond loyalist.”

“If it’s true, then that’s a pretty big deal.” The screen in front of Gandra vanishes as she sits up properly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Domino answers definitively. “I always thought it was odd that none of my requests for information were ever answered or even followed up- if anything, there should have at least been a negative reply- but we were always sent out on long-term missions immediately following a request, most likely to distract me from how much time had passed. If it had happened only once or twice, it could have been blamed on coincidence, or carelessness, or a report falling through the system’s cracks..but I’ve submitted more than eight hundred requests over the years and have never ONCE received an acknowledgement on it.” He shakes his head, the look on his face showing his frustration. “At that point, it’s impossible to call it an accident: Someone within F.O.W.L.- someone very high up in the chain of command- has been intercepting my requests because they KNOW the truth about what happened and are trying to keep people from finding out.”

“So,” His partner looks down at him with a raised brow. “Whattaya wanna do ‘bout it, Deedee?”

“I’m going to find out who that person is and remove him, and any of his co-conspirators, from F.O.W.L. personally.” Domino reigns in the deadly intent of his voice so that he can speak to his team calmly once again. “It won’t be easy…and, if I’m not careful, I could be branded as a traitor, or worse..but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’ll take one of the back-up pod-ships and try to keep in contact with you as much as possible with updates on my location and any information I find.” He looks at the assortment of dark gems in the room with him, at the gems who’d become his team, his family, over the past few thousand years, knowing that, this time, he couldn’t ask them to-

“Count me in!” A cheerful voice to his left says.

Domino looks beside himself to see Loony giving him a confident smile. “Loony, you can’t-”

“We’re a packaged deal, right?” The smile on Loony’s face is as bright as ever, but the softness of her voice and the look in her eyes are far more meaningful. “Where you go, I go- that’s the rule, remember?”

Domino tries to fight the smile forming on his own beak, but it’s practically impossible. He’s not surprised at all to have his own words thrown back at him in such a supportive way. After all, what else would he expect from the gem who was practically a sister to him?

“Guess I’m in, too.” To Domino’s surprise, he sees Gandra get up from her seat and look at him with an indifferent roll of her eyes- the effect greatly diminished by the small smile on her face. “If White Diamond messes things up with F.O.W.L., where else am I gonna go when I’m bored?”

He knows the star-sapphire is just putting up a front. While she’s still the newest member of the crew, she clearly enjoys her spot on the team and the freedom it offers her. Domino and Steelbeak may still be quietly keeping to their promise of seeing anyone else on the ship besides themselves and Loony as expendable, but they knew that Gandra was handy to have around and, given that they scouted her and invited her to join F.O.W.L. themselves, they knew she was more trustworthy than some of the agency’s more senior members.

“Three of you crammed int’ one teeny tiny pod? That’s gonna be a pain.” Domino looks to his other side to see Steelbeak grinning down at him. “Tell ya what, short fuse- why don’t ya just stay here and we ALL take the Black Iron Comet? It’d be roomier AND faster.”

Domino stares up at the melanite before, with a fondly exasperated sigh, he closes his eyes and shakes his head, unable to keep the equally fond smile off of his face. He should have seen that coming. Steelbeak’s been his partner for more than eight and a half thousand years now. Time after time the melanite has proven how far he’s willing to go for him and has more than earned his trust- the incident in his room just a few minutes ago serving as yet another prime example of his partner’s loyalty.

“I suppose you do have a point.” He looks to each gem in the room as he speaks, his voice serious but far less grave than it had been a minute ago. “From now on, we’ll need to be prepared for anything. We’ll have to be extremely careful with who we trust- any information we find stays with us until we know for sure whom we can trust within F.O.W.L. and who we cannot. We’ll also need to stick together to avoid being caught by the enemy- no going off on our own anymore.” He briefly side-eyes one gem in particular after that comment, the rooster rolling his eyes but nodding in agreement at the subtle jab regarding his recent capture. “Now,” He gives the gems around him a confident smirk. “Let’s show those traitors what happens when you double-cross F.O.W.L.”

The chorus of agreeing cheers around him makes Domino’s confidence in their future grow ten-fold. After all, with a team this good backing him up, not even the Diamonds will stand a chance.

<-Previous Chapter

End Notes: And there we have it- an end to one story, but the beginning of a new one. This group was SO much fun to write and I definitely have plans to do more with all of them in the future after I get the main universe more developed. I’m thinking of having the FOWL Facets story run as a sort of side-story to the Fearsome Facets universe that will occasionally cross over with the FOWL group tracking down the origins of the cluster before everyone comes together in the big series finale.

Wanted to give another HUGE thank you to both @eleanorose123 / @thefriendlyfour and @deldraws19 for allowing me to write this story using their awesome OC’s! They’re wonderful and I look forward to doing so much more with them later on ^^

[vyladromeave]

Mr. Zvahl has updated!

Chapter 5: Growing 

(Read the full thing on AO3!)

FUCK cannon, dale and molly stay in phoenix drop, kiki would too for now but i think she would move to scaleswind later so there's still a bit of cannon continuity there. Brendan still lives out by meteli ruins but he visits town often. Also I dont think i wanna write his wife in cuz she had like No character or relevance?? Also gay rights. Luca (Donna and Logan’s youngest kid) is Babie years old by the start of S2, so i dont think she exists yet right now. Half of these notes aren’t even relevant to this chapter whoopsies.

It had been a week since his conversation with Levin. And he had stayed. He still wasn’t quite sure why- he promised himself he would have no attachments, that is the only way to stay sane as a Shadowknight after all. But he had stayed. And he had a new list of observations to add to the town.

1: Many of the children of the town had stayed, save for one named Brian, who was apparently a traitor. He hadn’t been seen since the day Aphmau disappeared. Many of the children had grown up and taken up jobs in the town, despite being all too young in Vylad’s opinion. Levin was apparently only 17, and had already taken up position of lord. Levin’s brother and assistant was also apparently 16, but he gave off an odd air that made Vylad think otherwise. He had only passed by him once or twice, but he didn’t give off the air of a Shadowknight, and he didn’t seem to be immortal due to any elvish heritage, so Vylad had no clue what his deal was. (He did approve of his sense of style though.)

2: Many of the guards were teenage as well, save for Dante and the ex-guard Dale who assisted from time to time. He wanted to have faith in the safety of the town, but he knew it couldn’t be too reliable judging by the durability of the wall, and the qualifications of the guard. Many of the houses that he assumed were just abandoned at first glance, he now knew were most likely ransacked too. If he was really planning on staying, town security would be something he would need to focus on. (Vylad considered becoming a guard for a split second, but decided against it. He wasn’t cut out for the job. Not that he wasn’t qualified, he figured he was much more qualified than the many children who were recruited to guard it. But his talents lied better used elsewhere.)

3: Some of the older residents had actually stayed, or at least stayed nearby. Kiki, the local animal expert and now farmer, stayed on the edges of town. Not a very safe place to live, but apparently the only place with a big enough building to house her animals. Brendan, her brother, lived a bit further away, but came in to visit often. Dale and Molly had stayed to take care of their daughter, who had refused to leave the town she had grown up in. Donna and Logan had a large family that seemed to only be getting larger, with three sons, two of which were twins. The eldest seemed to often be out on business, and the twins were convinced he was part bird. (Long story. They had spotted him in an odd part of the large tree in town, and yelled up at him for hours trying to ask how he had made it there. It was a bit annoying, but it reminded him of Garroth and himself as kids, so he tolerated it. They seemed like good kids.)

4: In better news, Vylad had found a decent place to live. The Yggdrasil tree in town was absolutely huge, and even better, nobody dared climb further than the already established paths up it. Vylad did though, and he’d found a nice, (mostly) quiet spot in the branches. He basically lived up there, he “slept” there at night, and went there when he was tired of the town. It reminded him of his days spent camped in the woods outside Phoenix Drop, except with a much… much larger tree. He was sure many of the town residents thought he was odd, although he didn’t particularly care. He liked staying in the tree much better than staying in an abandoned, ransacked house.

 And so in the tree he stayed. He wasn’t particularly busy, just looking out over the town like how he’d done in the good old days. The view from his perch was nice, much better than any view he’d gotten from his early days of spying from outside the town. From up here, the town didn’t look as bad off as he’d originally thought. Sure, the wall was a bit ruined, there was no way around that, but the houses were mostly just empty, not broken, and the overgrowth had a certain charm to it.

 He heard an odd shifting in the leaves, and a creaking from the branches closer to the trunk of the tree. He looked over to see Dante, shakily making his way towards him. He stared curiously, climbing wasn’t his greatest forte. He tried his best, but the tree groaned precariously whenever he tried to make his way out too far.

“That… miiight be the closest I can get. This armor isn’t meant for climbing.” He laughed awkwardly, although after a bit of struggling in the branches, he wasn’t too far away.

“That’s alright. Did you need something?”

“No, not particularly. I just wanted to chat.”

Vylad raised an eyebrow. “I’m not exactly the ‘chatting’ type.”

Dante laughed. “A bit blunt, but I gathered that. I guess that’s why I wanted to talk, if that makes sense.”

It didn’t really, but Vylad didn’t say anything.

“Like uhh… I dunno. Where are you from?”

Ah. So that’s what this was about. Luckily, a week of free time gave Vylad time to make a workable cover story, though he really didn’t need to change much. The best lies are built on truth, after all.

Vylad shrugged. “O’khasis.”

Dante seemed a bit shocked. “Really?”

“Yeah. Grew up there.”

“... And how do you feel about it now?”

“Well, I don’t live there anymore and don’t plan on going back, so I think that’s clear enough.”

The tension eased.

 “What about you?”

Dante blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I answered your question. So what about you? Where did you grow up?”

Dante paused a moment, then laughed a bit too stiffly. “Middle of nowhere, really. The town’s probably been wiped off the map by now.”

Something about it seemed off, but maybe it was just a bad memory of him. Vylad had no intention of judging. (For all he knew, it could’ve been him doing the wiping. His early history as a Shadowknight was not the brightest. He swallowed hard at the thought.)

 Vylad paused a bit too long, so Dante butted back in. “Ok, my turn again.”

“What? That’s not how this works.”

“That’s exactly how this works! That’s what you did.” Dante continued. Vylad was wise enough to know that there was no winning an argument against a child.

“Aaaanyways. Why’d you leave?”

“I… well I used to work as a guard there. But it wasn’t for me, and I got sick of it. One day I just… packed my bags.” A bit bland, but it seemed realistic enough of a lie to him. Strangely enough, it was much more believable than the truth.”

“A guard, huh? So you’re combat-trained?”

“Hey, it’s my turn.”

“You said you didn’t like to chat.”

“I don’t, and it’s my turn. Anything else you’d like to add?”

Dante scoffed, but remained silent, so Vylad continued.

“Why’d you stay here? I mean no offense, but the town has seen better days. Why not just get up and go?”

Dante sighed. He took a moment to think on this one. “This town… means a lot to me. The place it used to be, the people who used to live here… it all means a lot. I think even if I did move, it’d still come back to haunt me.” He laughed hollowly.

“Besides, I’ve got a family here. Wife and kid. And the people who are still here, we might as well be family too. We’re happy here.”

Fair enough.

 Dante cleared his throat. “So. Combat-trained? Wouldn’t mind a little help with the guard. Or a spar sometime.”

“I haven’t picked up a sword in a long time. Besides, I’m better with archery, and I haven’t done that in years either. Too rusty for a fair fight, probably.”

“Ah, oh well. Keep it in mind, I’d really appreciate the help with the guard sometime if you ever felt up to it.”

“Mm. I’ll be sure to do that.” He did not plan on doing that.

 ~~~

Mr. Zvahl had begun to look a bit bored. He’d began to pick at the bark next to him, and seemed more focused on the tree than the conversation. Perhaps Dante had overstayed his welcome. One more question each, then he’d get out of his hair.

“Why do you call me Mr. Zvahl?”

“...Zvahl is your name, is it not?”

“No, not that. What’s with the ‘Mr.’ title.”

“Oh. I guess it’s just formalities? I can just call you Zvahl, if you prefer that.”

“Formalities were never my thing either. Go ahead.” He gave him a slight nod.

 “Alright. One last question and I’ll quit bothering you for the day. Why do you stay up here so much?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. I’ve always liked nature. Plus its quiet, and the view’s nice.”

“You know, you can get just as good a view from the guard tower, and you don’t have to worry about falling off constantly.”

“The guard tower? You mean the one that’s so overgrown that you can’t see out of it?”

“I… You get used to it.”

“Mmm. I think I’m good up here, thanks.”

Dante sighed. “Fair enough. I’ve got work, so I should probably go. I’ll see you around, Zvahl.”

He awkwardly scooted back to a platform built into the tree, and walked away. It hadn’t gone as bad as he thought it might, they’d actually managed to have a conversation. This one wasn’t even steeped in tension and mistrust! Definitely a success in Dante’s books. Maybe he could grow to get used to him.

 The next day, before Dante went on his morning guard duty, he couldn’t help but notice that the overgrowth on the main guard tower seemed to be gone.

 ~~~

[gamearamamegathons]

Trauma Center: Second Opinion: HEART GLASS

[Content warning for surgery and stuff! And also for suicide, a topic that this game handles miserably, so be prepared for that. Actually, let's also add a content warning for verbal abuse towards a suicidal person, just to be safe.]

Circe here! Time to fix more organs! We open with episode 1-6. Angie is really worried about this patient, because his blood tests are off, but Derek just blows off her concerns. This surgey is pretty straightforward, we're treating inflammation and removing tumors, but Derek is continually ignoring Angie pointing out that something more seems wrong. Our protagonist has gone from a newbie doctor to a bigshot episode in the space of six scenes. Amazing. Well, after we finish up the surgery, Derek hurries off to some doctor event thing, but it turns out that the patient had more inside bad stuff that blew up, so he almost died. Whoopsy. We don't actually operate on this patient again, instead Derek basically gets fired for negligence. Angie says that any suspicion, no matter how tiny or inconsequential, should be taken seriously, which is an absolutely ridiculous thing to say, because there were actually quite ample reasons to think something was wrong.

Have I mentioned that this game's writing is...uh...a little strange? The characters react to every surgery basically as if they were operating on someone they know, and while it's admirable to care about people that passionately, this just isn't realistic, because that kind of attitude isn't sustainable when you're treating life or death situations every day. I dunno if this is typical for medical dramas, but I find it a bit jarring. At the very least, though, I guess comments like this help us understand the driving philosophy of the game's narrative.

Anyway, Derek is moping outside, when he hears about a car accident. It seems that one of the victims is being taken into emergency care, and Derek knows that there aren't enough doctors, so he rushes in and is, like, emergency un-fired, I guess. Was he really fired, or did they just yell at him a lot? I dunno, this game's fuzzy about that. But who cares because this guy's got HEART GLASS! That's right, when we cut the guy open, we find that his heart has been pretty much pincushioned with glass shards, which I'm pretty sure would mean he'd just be dead. To make things worse, as soon as we remove all the glass, another huge piece just, chestbursters out of his heart, which

I mean

I'm *pretty* sure that'd kill him.

Just when we think we've got this guy all patched up, another laceration appears on his heart, for reasons that aren't even really clear this time. In a moment of panic, Derek fixes it with magic.

...what? You heard me. This is the point at which we're introduced to the Healing Touch, a rare magic power possessed by only a handful of surgeons that allows them to go into bullet time to do surgery super fast and save people from dying. Have I mentioned that this series is a bit weird?

Anyway, no time for that now. This is the remake, remember, and bit that I'm pretty sure is new to this version is a side story featuring another surgeon named Nozomi Weaver. We don't learn much about Dr. Weaver except that she's a master Japanese surgeon who's currently practicing in America, and also she's shaaaady. In this surgery, our patient's arm bones are shattered, so we do the logical thing and collect all the pieces, jigsaw them back together, and smear some antibiotic gel all over it so it heals real good. Uh, I didn't mention this, but there's a line of dialogue early on about this gel being a cure-all, and I guess they weren't fucking kidding, were they. This surgery also introduced an unfortunate complication to my clever emulated control scheme. To put the bones back together, you have to rotate the Wii remote, something I hadn't really bothered to configure. I had to concede the need to use an analog stick here for precision, so I ended up with the controller sitting in my lap so I could operate the stick and the mouse at the same time. It was, uh, a little less than elegant, but it was the best I could do. I kinda hope they don't require any more of the Wii remote's features in future surgeries.

Back to Derek. Next up, we gotta fix these little blobs that are traveling through a guy's spleen, and every time they go through it hurts him. We're doing pretty good until there's a lot of them going really fast, so Derek once again draws on the power of magic to fix it all in time. Word of Derek's dark magic reaches the hospital director guy, and he explains that Derek has a rare magic power, and that having such great healing power is a heavy burden to bear, so he should give up on it or he'll never be happy. Derek ignores him though, like any good protagonist, so we learn how to activate Healing Touch manually by drawing the shape of a pentagram in the air.

Nope. Not kidding.

Derek explains this away as him concentrating on a simple shape to increase his focus, but also fuck you, you're invoking dark magic with a pentagram. I fucking own it when I use dark magic, Derek, and you should do the same. I should also note, invoking the Healing Touch involves holding B and Z and drawing at the same time, which is a manuever that was definitely kind of a pain to configure so I could carry it out comfortably. Oh yeah, I forgot, we also learned how to use defibrillators earlier! That requires you to use B and Z at the same time also. Gotta be real careful about zapping a guy's heart and stuff.

Aaaanyway. The next patient's got lumps on his organs that keep bursting, so we gotta cut the lumps out and stitch his veins back together. This surgery actually kinda sucks, and I lost several times before I got it, because it takes a massive chunk out of the patient's vitals when his stuff bursts, and they will, no matter how quickly you work. Near the end, there's four of them at once, and you gotta use the Healing Touch to not lose. Unfortunately, this leads to Derek passing out for three days. Whoopsy again. When Derek comes to, veteran doctor guy tells Derek that dark magic places a lot of strain on the body and he really shouldn't overdo it, because if he passed out in a surgery that would be, uh, pretty bad. I gotta side with veteran guy here. Pulling a spirit muscle is *way* worse than pulling a physical one.

So then we get to Linda. Let me tell you about Linda, and how Angie becomes the worst character in the game for all time. So, Linda is a 17 year old girl who comes in with lacerations on her lungs. Which sounds pretty bad. This is a fairly basic surgery, although we also learn that we need to close very large lacerations with the forceps before we can stitch them closed. Where things really go bad is after the surgery. It turns out that Linda was suicidal, and didn't really want to be fixed at all. So Angie does the logical thing, and yells in her face that clearly the surgery was a waste and Linda should just die if that's how she feels about it.

so

uh

hm

So yeah, Angie is total scum. Let's move on and see how it gets worse. After that shameful display, Derek tries to help Linda by giving her a little pep talk, which I don't think would actually help, but hey, the guy's heart is in the right place I guess. Later, we learn a bit more about Linda's home life, and there's some stuff that kinda sucks, but, in Angie's words, 'nothing worth dying over'.

as you can see angie understands suicidal ideation very well

Later we learn that extremely high levels of some kind of antihistamine was in Linda's body, and it's not even on the market yet, nor is there any evidence she was taking it, so her body was just kind of, creating it somehow. Apparently this huge drug overdose caused a mood swing that led to her feeling suicidal, which means

w h i c h m e a n s

which means Linda was feeling suicidal because she was sick. Angie screamed in a sick person's face that she should die because she was sick. Angie should be fucking fired, quite possibly even sued for some kind of negligence, I don't know. She certainly shouldn't be allowed back into the plot as though she just got a little upset and said some things she didn't mean. Angie even has the gall to later whisper ominously about a rumored 'death doctor' who euthanizes patients, and how it's good that Linda was treated by Derek instead of that guy. As if Angie herself wasn't literally saying Linda should be dead fucking yesterday. Fuck.

Okay, deep breaths. I'm getting ahead of things a little. While the plot is getting horrible, the surgeries are getting *amazing*. After all this, Linda suddenly starts complaining of excruciating chest pains, so we gotta treat her again. After we fix up more lacerations, we find out the reason why Linda's body has been all weird and messed up: tiny monsters in her lung! Yes, that's right. We use the ultrasound to detect a tiny winged creature moving around inside Linda's lung, and it's creating more lacerations, so we have to cut the sucker out and laser it to death. A few more of these things crop up, and we take them out one by one, until all of Linda's lung monsters are taken care of.

This is GUILT, the game's made up...disease...monster...thing. It's a little hard to be sure what they are, because the game talks about GUILT as though it's a disease, but they appear to be, like, parasites or something. Maybe it's a visual metaphor? For...something? Well anyway, Linda's all better. Veteran doctor guy whispers in hushed tones about GUILT, and says that nobody outside of this room should talk about what we saw.

So, with that major development, I think this is a good cutting off point for now. I wanna focus on the fun parts, and not as much on how Angie is a detestable human being, so let's review: HEART GLASS, jigsaw bones, and lung monsters. This game is only going to get more absurd from here, and as far as I remember, there is 100% less of characters being absolutely monstrous to teenage girls, so I hope you're looking forward to it.

[paranoid-rhythm]

Interlude Translation: Caster Gilgamesh Part 3

Warning: Spoilers for those who haven’t finished Babylonia and Solomon. And oh, feels hitting like a truck.

Sorry for the delay, Christmas was busy. In any case, please enjoy humanity’s oldest King of Tsunderes in all his glory!

I’m using the female avatar, so for convenience’s sake, I named the MC Gudako.

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

Angra: Gah! That hurts! But too bad, you failed to kill me, King of Heroes!

Here I go! This is the power of an Avenger! I’ll return the curse in double!

CasGil: Verg Avesta…?! As if I’d let you, bastard!

Amakusa: Hah!

CasGil: Tch, how cunning…! The accuracy was precise. Did you learn that from your time with Fuuma? To think that you’ll be able to rise up from that.

What, did you meet a monster? A beast that is outside the limit of common sense?

Amakusa: Yes. Because of that, I’ve become traumatized of jaguars. I was completely defeated by that servant.

I wonder about you though. We seem to share the same way of doing things, the same rationality.

I wonder if we can come to an understanding. And through that, if I can make an opening.

CasGil: Heh. So while you were calmly trying to reason with me, you’ve managed to block my feet from moving. Though it’s not bad to try and to reason it out, you lack authority!

I shall show you how it’s done!

Draw your arrows, I will permit it! Witness the defense of Uruk, this greatest and richest of cities! The deluge of the land--…

Amakusa: I know that! That’s why this is a struggle for that…!

CasGil: Ugh!

Gudako: God’s Resolution?!

CasGil: Don’t panic! Don’t you have the same ace as him?! Use those hands of yours for something!

Gudako:

1 Use Gandr on Amakusa

2 Use Gander on Angra

1st Option

Amakusa: Ugh!

Angra: Whoopsy, so you’re going that route huh.

Oh well, Super Amakusa-kun’s Noble Phantasm is strong is strong after all? Honestly, I don’t want to get blown away by it too.

And at this point, don’t worry, I’m only aiming at Gilgamesh. I’m sure someone’s gonna save you!

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

2nd Option

Angra: Uwah! Oww, this Gandr is the woooorst!

Amakusa: So you stopped Verg Avesta? As expected of my master, making such a critical decision.

Had you not stopped it, the King of Heroes would’ve been struck down by the return curse.

But… what will you do after that? I can fire my Noble Phantasm faster than the King of Heroes to regain movement.

Why not test it now?

Heaven's Feel begin. An end to all things--…

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

 CasGil: How ridiculous! To look down not only upon me, but also my treasures?!

CasGil: I will show you that even if you have stopped my movement, my magic wands can still function!

Take this, Melamu Din--…!!

Roman: Wait! Wait! What are you guys doing in that place?!

Gudako: Eh?! Doctor?!

Da Vinci: Just now, Roman came rushing in… it was so sudden that even we here has not grasped the situation at all.

Just where were you until now?!

Roman: What do you mean where… I’m more interested to know what this fuss is all about…

I was just in my room, taking a nap. If you’re going to ask me how long, then about four hours.

I was even having a very nice dream. And now I’m being treated as a missing person…

Da Vinci: No way! But there was nothing in the feed from the camera inside your room!?

Amakusa: Hmm… it seems like Doctor Roman has awakened, I guess this ends here.

Angra: Yeah. But Saint-sama, don’t you think that it’s a bit of a waste, since we were almost able to defeat them? Oh well, then I’ll disappear quietly too.

Aah, ah, anyone would’ve been great, I just wanted to kill someone shaped like a human!

CasGil: Tch… that bastard Merlin, was he trying to gain a favor from me? Ending this while I’m in a tight spot…

Oh well. Since he’s awake now, there’s no reason for us to stay in this place.

The rest shall be explained once we return to Chaldea.

Mashu! Start the return leyshift operation.

Roman: Haaah, I keep telling you guys, leyshifting is not free…

I don’t even know what’s happening, but I’m starting preparations for the return leyshift. Da Vinci-chan, Mashu, help me out.

Amakusa: Please don’t forget to retrieve Jack the Ripper and Paracelsus as well. Especially since Jack was great at following instructions, please don’t forget to give her a reward later.

CasGil: Let me conclude this for you. All of these was just a field practice. I was the one who thought it all up.

To make it look like Romani left Chaldea by leyshifting, I arranged for someone to make copies of the staff, and made it look that they were knocked out.

And then I arranged for three servants to be the enemy.

Mashu: Huh… huh?! B-but why did you do such a thing?

CasGil: When I was toured around by Gudako, I was able to roughly grasp, the weakness of Chaldea.

I have many things that I want to point out, but for now, it’s you humans.

The operation of this place is highly dependent on the skills of each individual. If one were to go missing, the collapse of the operations would be inevitable.

Everyone should be aware of that. But no specific solution nor any countermeasure has been taken.

The solution should be… well, I guess it could wait until the Human Order has been saved. It is impossible, after all, to procure additional staff as of the moment.

At the very least, I am telling you to prepare at least one countermeasure to use for an emergency.

Thus, this activity should help Chaldea prepare to be calm, should any emergency arise.

This should be taken as preparation for when the King of Magic attacks Chaldea directly. There is a big possibility of that, so this is in anticipation of that.

Gudako:

1I see…

2 But the King looks like he had a lot of fun though…

(Same result for both answers)

Jack: Hey, hey~! King, where’s my reward?

CasGil: Wait for a bit longer. I shall prepare an appropriate reward for you. Your excitement would increase while you wait.

Jack: Okay~! Please don’t forget Nursery’s share as well!

CasGil: Now. Even though you slacked in the setting up of the situation, you still worked hard. I shall give you compensation for the materials that you lost.

Though if they knew how this would end, those still asleep would take this situation for granted.

Mashu: Speaking of which, just what was that medicine from Paracelsus-san…

Paracelsus: Though I have explained it before, it’s medicine that will force you to sleep until you’ve recovered from fatigue.

As long as it’s one takes only a single dose, there is no strong side effect.

Though I’ve prepared medicine to help them wake up, it seems that it won’t be necessary. It’s about time that they would be waking up.

Da Vinci: Didn’t you just say something really terrible at one point though?

Paracelsus: That is… only if you overdose on the medicine…

Even though what happened was just an exercise, I will not tell any lies to Gudako.

Well, it’s all my fault if you do not wish to believe me, please don’t worry too much about it.

CasGil: I chose the staff who are, realistically speaking, highly likely to drop out. I wanted to see how they would respond should an emergency situation arise.

With the way you were able to analyze the cause of the trouble, even making the leyshift a success, I give you a passing mark.

Roman: So that’s what happened… I’ve finally understood the situation…

I understand your concern*, but isn’t what you did way too over the top?

(*Romani used “老婆心/roubashin” here, IDK if it’s a jab at Caster Gilgamesh’s age, but it literally means “grandmotherly solicitude for another's welfare”, so uhm…ww)

What if the King of Magic attacked us at this time, what are we gonna do?

CasGil: Of course I have thought of that possibility. If a real emergency occurs, I have prepared for us to be taken to the scene immediately.

The fact that you fell asleep immediately, and that no one was able to find you, all of that was Merlin’s doing.

Da Vinci: Aah! I knew it! If it’s that useless Caster, I’m sure he’d accept this job with a smirk on his face!

To think that not only humans, but also electronics can be affected by his magic, that Magician King of Scammers, he even deceived the cameras!

CasGil: Of course, it’s not only Chaldea that I tested in this little adventure, mongrel.

Why did you assume that a servant would not betray you? There should be a limit to your benevolence.

Gudako:

1 But, isn’t that a necessity…?

2 I’ll do my best not to let that happen!

(Same result for both answers)

CasGil: Huh? It seems I am the fool here, for thinking that you’d understand this.

It’s no use explaining anything to a simpleton. It was foolish of me to not think of that possibility.

Mashu: What are you saying, King Gilgamesh? This is Chaldea, the last stronghold of the Human Order.

Talks about fighting and hostility should come after the Human Order is saved. After all, be it humans or Heroic Spirits, we all came here for a single purpose.

CasGil: Well, it’s as you say. If only that were not the case, you will not be able to summon me.

Then let’s forget about this talk of betrayal. Then next is… ah yes, that.

Mongrel, you’ve amused me with your reactions and judgement.

Though they might not be the best, you made some meaningful decisions.

You should remember them and when you’re alone, you should reflect on them.

Roman: After hearing what happened, I think I’m the one who got the best out of this deal? Not only was I able to sleep well, but I also got to see such a wonderful dream…

In my dream, Magi☆Mari--… ah, no, no, I was supposed to keep her private live show for me a secret~

CasGil: Are you still half asleep? Talking like that, you’re making it look like I did this exercise for your sake.

Roman: Oh? Was it not the case?

This is the first time that I’ve seen a dream different from the one I always see.

CasGil: Hmph! I’m going to sleep. If anything happens, just wake me--… Ah, no, just wake me if you wish.

Roman: Aah, he got angry and left… Oh well, I’m sure he’ll be in a good mood soon.

That king has a lot on his mind after all. I’m sure he won’t get hung up about this small thing for long.

In any case, everyone, I’m sorry about what happened. If only I were a bit more resolute, I would’ve waken up sooner…

Da Vinci: It’s fine. It’s good that you were able to sleep well. We’re fine just knowing of your gratitude.

Mashu: Yes, we realized that it would be troubling if the doctor is not around. You’ve done well pulling Chaldea together until now.

Gudako: Yeah, please stay with us forever!

Roman: Ah, of course. We’re all working hard to be able to take back our future after all.

I know I’ve inconvenienced you this time, so please let me say my gratitude.

Thank you, I was able to rest well.

Gudako: Wasn’t it thanks to Magi☆Mari?

Roman: Uh… I don’t think it is… well supposedly… uh, maybe just a little?

In any case, I should start picking up on the work I left off! Since it’s almost dinner time, I’ll end this quick and then all of us should go to the cafeteria together!

So uh, yeah, we see now that the "king" who relaxed in this interlude is most obviously, not Gilgamesh. Though seems to have enjoyed playing detective.

And this might just be me, being a Clairvoyance trio fan, but Romani talking about how the dream (from Merlin) is way different from the one (nightmare of the incineration of the human order) he always sees, and that it's the first time he's seen a different dream.... just hits a chord somehow. Remember how Da Vinci said that Romani's 10 years was without freedom from the premonition that he saw. :(

[megalunawink]

Apocalyptocrankiplier X Reader

Hey, this fan fiction will be based off a song by Bruno Mars, “What I Like.” I will be changing some of the words and situations to better suit the story. In this story, Mark, Ethan, Tyler, and yourself are in a polygamous relationship.   Enjoy!

It’s late and you are soaked by the pouring rain. You shut your car door forcefully and trudge into your house.  As you walk in, you are greeted by Ethan, who is doing some snacking. You smile weakly at him and continue into the living room. Mark and Tyler are on the couch watching some funny videos.

“Hey sweetheart,” Mark and Tyler say in unison.

You grunt a response and walk up the stairs to your bedroom. You throw your jacket and suitcase to the floor and begin taking off your soaked clothes; just as you finish putting on some cleaner and more comfortable clothes, you hear a knock at your door. You open the door to see Tyler standing there with a small grin on his face. You wave him inside and you both sit on your bed; he grabs your hands and holds them gently.

“Talk to me baby, tell me what’s on your mind,” Tyler prompts as he looks into your eyes.

You give a sigh and begin to speak, “Today was just a bad day; everything was hectic. Everyone piled their work on me all at once, forcing me to stay late; then, the rain started just as soon as I walked out of work and I got drenched. Matter of fact, this whole week has been terrible!” You let out a big sigh and collapse back onto your bed. Tyler looks at you with concern.

 “I’ll talk with the guys and see what we can do to help,” he says sweetly. He bends down and gives you a peck on the forehead. You pull him in for a hug, and a small smile spreads across his face. You release him and smile at him.

 “Thanks, babe, give the boys a kiss from me,” you instruct him. He nods, turns off your lights, and leaves your room. You pull the covers back and climb into your bed. You try to sleep, but Mark, Tyler, and Ethan keep talking so excitedly. You can’t hear what they are saying, save for a few exclamations. You are too tired to get up and tell them to cut it out, so, you allow them to keep talking. After about 30 minutes, they quiet down and allow you to finally go to sleep.

 ~*~

 You feel gentle hands softly shaking you. You open your eyes to find Ethan sitting on your bed. You groan, letting him know you are awake. You open your eyes and immediately regret it, someone has opened your curtains so that morning light is pouring into your room and blinds you. You hiss and recoil from the light.

 “Whoopsie,” Ethan exclaims, “I thought the sunlight would help.” Ethan begins to stand up to close the curtains, but you grab his wrist and smile.

 “No problem at all sweetie,” you assure him. You sit up and pull him in for a hug. He squeezes you and gives you a kiss on the cheek. As you and Ethan pull away from each other, Tyler and Mark walk into your room.

 “Well, would you look at that! All my boys are here to wish me a good morning,” you declare. You stand up and pull all three men into a big hug. Once you release them, you see that they all have big cheesy grins. “Okay, what’s going on,” you question.

 “Get dressed and all will be revealed,” Mark says. All three men begin to giggle like young children. You squint at them as they leave the room, but decide to go along with their plans anyway. You put on a semi-fancy shirt and a nice pair of pants with your favorite pair of socks and shoes.

 You walk out of your room and down the stairs to meet up with the boys; they are all standing in the middle of the living room, you can also tell that Mark is hiding something behind his back. You stop in front of them and smile, expectantly.

 “Close your eyes,” Mark demands. You roll your eyes but close them. You hear Ethan giggle and you can’t help but smile. “Ok, you can open them now,” Tyler instructs.

 When you open your eyes, you see that Mark has a small box open with gold jewelry inside, more specifically a watch. The way the sunlight catches it makes it shine so brightly. Your eyes widen and your jaw drops. You are speechless and can’t find your words.

 “Well, what do you think,” Ethan asks, “We all pitched in and bought it for you.”

 You tackle all of them into a hug, making Mark nearly drop the box. You pepper each boy with kisses of gratitude. “Thank you, thank you so much!” You break away from them and allow Mark to put the watch on your wrist. It looked so nice on you; you still couldn’t believe that they had done this for you.

 “That’s not all,” Mark pipes up.

 “Yeah, we still have a lot planned today,” Tyler continues.

 “First off is breakfast,” Ethan proclaims as he grabs your hand and pulls you toward the front door.

 “Slow down Ethan, I have to get the keys,” Mark shouts. You know Ethan heard him, but the small blue boy keeps jogging toward the door with you in tow. When you finally get outside you see a brand new Cadillac in the driveway.

 “Look (Y/n), look! It’s SO SHINY,” shouts as he practically jumps up and down. He is so cute when he is excited, and you can’t help but giggle.

 Mark and Tyler exit the house. Tyler locks the door, while Mark stomps over to Ethan. “If you weren’t my boyfriend, I’d clobber you,” Mark scolds.

 “Sorry Markimoo, I just got so excited,” Ethan replies as he gives Mark a quick kiss on the cheek. Mark sighs and gets into the car. The rest of the boys get in the car, leaving you standing in the driveway.

 “C’mon (Y/n), hop in the Cadillac; let’s put some miles on it,” Tyler cues.

 You get into the passenger side of the vehicle and buckle up. You ask where you are all going, but you just get cryptic answers. Finally, Mark stops the car in front of a restaurant called “Puerto Rico.” Mark opens your door for you while Ethan escorts you into the restaurant. Tyler pulls out your chair for you. Your boyfriends smile at you and take a seat around the table. Your waiter walks up and introduces himself as Chris, he takes an order for your drinks, then gives you time to look through the menu. All the food is Mexican food, you have never eaten here so you have no idea what to get. When Chris comes back you decide to order a plate of churro donuts (because mmmmmmm… churros), and the boys order their food.

 You all talk and joke with each other as you wait for your food. You try to worm a few details about their plan out of them, but they deflect your answers with ease. When the food arrives, it is almost silent at your table as everyone begins to chow down on their food. Your donuts are so crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside, they have the perfect balance of sugar and cinnamon, and the warmth of them is outstanding. You savor every bite of the amazing pastries. After everyone has finished eating you tell Chris your food was good and hand him a five-dollar tip.

 Tyler grabs your hand and begins to walk you down the street, Mark and Ethan follow. “Where to next,” you question.

 “Little Paris, for a shopping spree,” Mark explains.

 “Anything you want, you can have it. Take my wallet if you need it,” Ethan chimes in.

 Little Paris is just a store with all kind of imported items in it, once you walk inside a small man with a pencil mustache greets you, “Bonjour Madame and Messieurs, welcome to Little Paris.” His accent sounded fake, but you smiled and nodded anyway.

 “Tyler, Ethan, and I have to go pick some stuff up,” Mark explained, “but we will be back in time to pay for whatever you want.”

 You start to object, but you are silenced by Mark kissing you, Tyler and Ethan follow suit and disperse. You get flustered and quickly walk to another part of the store. You had never shopped here before but it seemed like a cheesy store. They were playing the stereotypical French music over the speakers, there was tons of simple French words and Eifel Towers plastered everywhere as well. You decide to look at the clothes, you pick out a few outfits and make your way over to the jewelry section.

 You’ve always been attracted to shiny stuff, and let’s face it, jewelry is as shiny as it gets. You look at all the beautiful sparkling pieces in the case, but the majority of the jewelry is too gaudy for your taste. You are just about to give up on looking at the jewelry when you spot a simple diamond necklace. It is so cute and shiny, you practically drool over it. You politely ask the attendant to grab the necklace so that you can see how it looks on you. You place it on your neck and it looks amazing… until you look at the price on it. You wince and whimper as you hand the necklace back to the attendant.

 Just as you are about to turn away, you feel two hands cover your eyes.

 “Guess who,” Ethan says in a sing-song voice.

 “I know exactly who this is,” you say with a smile, “it’s my wonderful smol boi boyfriend Ethan!”

 “Darn right it is,” he replies as he removes his hands. You give Ethan a kiss and his face turns red. Then, he seems to focus in on the small mirror behind you.

 “What,” ask.

 “Oh nothing, just looking in the mirror to find out who the fairest is, me or you?”

 “I think it’s us,” you counter. His face lights up and he laughs.

 “I agree! If you are done, we should head up to the front so we can pay for your stuff.”

 You nod, you and Ethan walk to the front of the store to meet up with Tyler and Mark. You place your items on the counter and start to reach for your wallet, but Tyler pats your hand.

 “No, no, no; we will pay for your stuff, you just stand there and look pretty,” Mark says while wagging his finger at you.

 “Besides, you have been working very hard and you deserve a worry-free day,” Tyler says with a smile.

 You’re not used to being pampered, and you never liked anyone to do something for you, but you couldn’t really refuse your boys. You know that once they are set to do something, it is hard to get them to stop. After all your items are paid for, Mark and Tyler put your bags into the trunk of the car while Ethan escorts you to the passenger seat of the car. They all pile in and you all drive back to the house. Tyler suggests you go inside and wait, while all three of the boys unpack the car. You know this is more of a nice demand rather than an actual suggestion. You sit on the couch and wait for them to finish unpacking everything.

 Once they are done, Ethan and Tyler walk into the living room. Tyler turns on the T.V. and starts a fire, while Ethan lays a giant blanket in front of the fireplace. Ethan and Tyler plop down on the floor and pat the space between them. You smile and slide off the couch, onto the blanket. The two of them hug you tight and plant a kiss on either side of your face. Your face flushes a deep red, but the two men just chuckle. Next thing you know, Tyler hands you a wine glass, then, Ethan puts ice into it. And Mark shuffles into the living room to fill up the glass with some type of alcoholic beverage. Then Mark walks back to the kitchen, but not before blowing you a kiss.

 “It’s strawberry champagne,” Tyler explains.

 “On ice,” Ethan adds.

 You giggle and take a sip from the glass. Ethan and Tyler wrap their arms around you and cuddle you close. You all stay like this for a while, just cuddled up with each other as you finish your champagne. The fire keeps you all even warmer, every now and again Tyler or Ethan would give you a quick peck on your hand or jaw.

 Then you hear Mark yell from the kitchen, “Dinner is served!” You stand up and stretch. Tyler and Ethan tell you to go ahead to the kitchen. When you walk in, the table has a pretty tablecloth over it, as well as a few lit candles. Mark motions for you to take a seat, he even pulls out your chair for you. He sets a plate in front of you as he backs away, he kisses you on the cheek. “Dome snap the meat,” Mark says, holding back his laughter. You roll your eyes and turn your attention to the plate in front of you. It has a nice, plump looking, boiled lobster tail on it; with garlic butter and a beautiful side salad.

 “This looks great.” You take a bite of the lobster meat, and your eyes widen. “Tastes amazing,” you compliment. Mark smiles and sets down three more plates like yours. Ethan, Tyler, and Mark take their seats at the table and you all eat dinner together.

 Afterward, Tyler and Ethan clean the dishes while you and Mark have a cuddle session with champagne by the fire. Tyler and Ethan soon walk in and sit on the ground and join the cuddle pile. You all crack jokes, laugh and watch T.V. for a few more hours, then you start to feel sleepy. You stand up and stretch.

 “Thank you for today. It was a really great day and I really appreciate all you boys have done for me,” you give each of your boyfriends a kiss, “I’m really feeling tired now, so, I bid you, good gentlemen, adieu. Besides, I have work tomorrow.”

 “When you go upstairs you have two final surprises waiting for you,” Tyler warns. You nod, give each of them one last kiss, and make your way into your room. When you get close to your bed you notice it has new sheets on it, you also notice a small rectangular box in the center. You pick up the box and open it to find the diamond necklace you were looking at earlier today. There is also a little note inside the box, it reads:

 I saw you fawning over this, and just had to get it for my cutie XOXO -Ethan

 You smile and hold the necklace close to your heart before putting it back into its box. You undress and pull back your cover and feel the new sheets, they are white silk sheets. They feel so good and comfortable, you slip into to bed and have no problems going to sleep. You are out like a light.

 The next morning you wake up from the sound of your alarm clock, your boyfriends walk in to wish you a good morning but become immediately flustered. At first, you are confused, but then, it hits you… You woke up without Pajamas on!