#and if i wanna i can finish up exploration now that the quest's over

[violetsareblue-selfships]

good morning!! <3

[oh-my-may]

LET'S TALK GENSHIN AND REMURIA AND ARLECCHINO BEFORE I FORGET AND WE'RE ALREADY IN SECOND HALF OF THE PATCH WHY DOES TIME FLY WHEN YOU'RE AN ADULT

I'm gonna start the post with a few paragraphs I wrote just a few days after the patch went live:

So I finished the first Remuria world quest - it was beautiful. And really not as long as I first expected it to be. I probably could have finished it on the first day if I wouldn't have been as tired as I was

First of all the new map is beautiful. You'd think after 3? patches of map expansions where we already got underwater stuff it would feel repetetive but somehow it looks and feels different and refreshing. Maybe because majority of the map are caves where you can walk normally or they're ruins... idk.

I couldn't help but draw parallels between Remuria and HSR's Penacony tho, especially look-wise, the talk of a dreamscape and the theme of music. Especially now after finishing Penacony 2.2 I can't help but feel the two are very similar in certain aspects... the motive of Harmony and Song and Peace and saving a people and Gods? Also the way Remuria looks is so similar to certain things in Penacony? I already said rhis in my post on HSR, this is absolutely no hate whatsoever. I reckon there's only so much you can do with these motives? It's interesting how differently it looks in both games tho.

So yeah, Remuria is beautiful. The music is an out of body experience and encapsulates the whole thing perfectly. I haven't explored all of the map yet, but I like the new mechanisms a lot. The floating books look so cool and just generally the significance of music through it all... *sigh* it's so enjoyable.

So far for Remuria... i definitely missed a few things I wanted to say but it's been like 2 weeks since I played this and I definitely forgot something haha

AS FOR ARLECCHINO THO

First of all she's broken omg. It is kind lf annoying that it'll take weeks to max out her talents, rn for me she's sitting at crowned NA and skill and burst are level 7 each. But she still hits for like over 50k with each normal attack when she has a bond of life. Don't even get me started on her with Yelan MY GOD.

Okay with that out of the way let me talk about her story quest. First of all I find it very intriguing that hyv gave up on the usual pattern of having the second weekly boss for a nation be tied to the Archon and their respective second story quest (besides Mond ig)... i mean yeah Fontaine's archon situatipn is very peculiar but technically Neuvilette has taken over the role for now, right? Neither him nor Furina getting a second story quest makes me think Neuvi's probably gonna get his way later because it'll be HUGE. Again I wanna say that lore wise Neuvi is my fav character... HES JUST SO FNDNDBDN. And Furina is probably gonna get a pretty "random" one at one point kinda like Yoimiya did or Cyno... like its gonna be a good quest but it'a gonna be random. ANYWAY

I wonder how much different I would habe perceived the quest if I hadn't watched the Animated Short about Arlecchino that they put on Youtube... like it's her whole backstory? I could see where the quest was going right from the beginning because of it... that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, tho

Childe's little surprise cameo made me so happy c: MY BOY. He's alive snd well AND IN FONTAINE. Let me remind ypu we last officially saw him in the last Atchon quest gwtting yeeted into a black hole by Skirk. Then it was mentioned at the end that he was being treated and sent gome to Snezhnaya. Well...

The whole cryptic talk between Arle and Childe was quite interesting... so this project by the Fatui, right? (Forgot the name rn bc it's been a few days since I played the quest) Is it fonna be significant for Natlans story? What does it entail?? THE TEASE NNNNGNNGHH

I wonder if at some point in the game we're actually gonna see Lyney become the new head of House of the Hearth. Like... it's mentioned quite a lot in his story as well as in everything that has tp do with the House and Sröecchino herself... I wonder 🤔

Throughout the story I was reminded that one of the first things we heard about her (Childes voiceline that came out in like??? 3.0 or so???). It was that she would turn her back on and betray the Harbingers (AND THE TSARISTA) without second thought. She even says this herself in her voicelines. I just wonder what her ultimate goal is? To free herself from the curse? Which btw they tell us nothing about in the story. Story is all about the House and its inner workings and Arle's feelings about it and plans for the future (which I love btw but still not quite understand)... we also casually get told that Arle is not even that old??? Like the whole thing with Crucabena is so recent that Freminet remembers her???? Amd Arle was maybe a Teenager when she killed her so like??? She's only around 10 years older than the kids????

So how come she's a descendant from Khaenri'ah? I don't know if I read somewhere abput it or if its a rumor but not confirmed or if its said in her personal story which I haven't read yet but... she'a from the crimson moon dynasty? Or has some ties to it? And her curse is definitely related to it BUT WHAT IS HER CURSE EXACTLY. WHY DOES SHE HAVE IT. If she's only in maybe her late 20s she couldn't have been an actual Khaenriahn citizen (same as Kaeya and he still gives me the same headache thinking about this) so how does it all tie together in the end?? Does it have to do with the God of time maybe??? (Nevermind if this is talked about in her personal story in her profile I haven't read that yet)

So yeah... the fight woth her was so cool. The animation??? I saw people get upset about the fact that Traveler couldn't beat her but I actually love that?? Like... She'a #4 of the Harbingers and has some curse probably tied to Khaenriah and she KILLED A HARBINGER WHEN SHE WAS A TEENAGER??? Traveler nlt being this almighty MC makes them so much mlre likeable like yeah... they are obv far from having their actual power back? It took us ... how many times to fight Shuki No Kami before we could defeat it in the final try to learn all the patterns? The game wants to tell us that there's much more powerful enemies in Teyvat and rhis is only the beginning. Let me tell you yeah we beat Signora but it was Raiden who killed her... it was Zhongli who subdued Azhdaha. We only healed Apep with Nahidas help. Traveler has never been able to easily defeat these big enemies, they always had help. Yeah they have been getting stronger, they've been getting access to more elements but the bis enemies are just getting stronger and bigger too... I wonder where that will lead. Maybe the twins are only gonna get their true power bavk once they're united... ANYWAY

Her weekly boss fight is cool too. Using different mechanisms again, with the whole Bond of Life thing and all. She does this one attack in her second phase that I just... can't get behind tho. Someone always has to be the victim, THE SACRIFICE, to get me through haha. Idk how to dodge or avoid that attack. The one where she floats above the arena and then these bombs? Idk? Come down and basically crash down on the whole arena and I haven't found a spot where you can aboid getting hit and therefore killed immediately idk.

So yeah that's all for now. Very excited to play Cyno's second story quest. Heard only good things so far about it, which is good because I really didn't like his first one 💀 probably gonna get around to play it one of these days. Same as with the rest of Remuria exploration, gonna need mlre Clorinde funds :3

(Gonna add screenshots later, it's been so long that the ones I took aren't saved in the PS App anymore 💀)

[albatris]

Honestly, I just wanna vibe with you for a bit. You said to ask you questions and, to be fair, I would love to know about rentalcar!, Because I just started following you and your blog feels like a deepdive-fandom-lore for a fandom I'm not in. Like, it is a scary story, and then something something vampires? But what else? How would you describe your Baby ™ as?

Hiiii hello! Let's vibe! I am pouring you a sweet warm drink of your choice and offering u a biscuit :D

I can absolutely tell you about rentalcar aka A Rental Car Takes a Left Down Rake Street and Disappears! my very first foray into writing proper horror c: plus my first time writing a viewpoint character who's schizotypal like me! it's been very fun on both counts

I'm going to borrow my description from the discord 'cause it's the neatest one I've got right now~

This is a campy queer horror trilogy about a freshly-turned body-horror vampire and an equally monstrous human bastard on their quest to murder the giant vampire hivemind god known as "the Garble". It's violent and silly and full of rage about capitalism and ableism, among other things!

Schizotypal hermit Nat Finch leaves work one afternoon, and the next thing he knows he's waking up on the side of the road covered in mud with no memory of the last nine days. All attempts to return to regular life are quickly thwarted - whatever happened during his blackout has left him morphing into something distinctly inhuman. When his new condition reaches a bloody, ravenous breaking point, a human stranger steps in: Quinn Cooper, powerful and dazzling manipulator with a cruel streak, here to mitigate the damage and offer Nat safety under their wing... as long as Nat does exactly what he's asked and doesn't ask questions.

The story in book one is mostly Nat trying to solve his little mystery (What Happened During His Blackout And Why He Got Vampired) while slowly uncovering the grim secrets Quinn is hiding. Book one mostly lays the groundwork and foreshadowing for my "vampirism as a condition is just one giant hivemind" worldbuilding, while books two and three explode it open and explore it properly :3

Other MCs include Alex, rigidly moral vampire lawyer having ten existential crises at once, Yvonne, cheery video game fanatic full of barely-contained simmering fury (she works customer service, you get it), and Zeke, romance novelist by day and vampire hunter by night, who desperately needs to stop burning herself out every other week and practice some self-care.

I've been working on it for a bit over a year now! I'm aiming to have a draft of book one finished and ready for beta readers by the end of the year :3

I also have a lot of fun facts and lore about rentalcar brand vampires I can tell you about!! it's some of my favourite worldbuilding I've ever done!

also there's a playlist!!

[randomnameless]

Regarding to the negative character development in Nopes. How do you consider Supreme leader's route to be worse than the original route? I wanna know your thoughts on her character and the route itself.

You mean on Supreme Bullshit?

I prefer her in CF - even if we have the "lel professor Supreme Leader was mourning you for 5 years while you were absent (and no one conveniently thought to explore that damn ravine where you fell to see if maybe you were still alive) but now that you've returned we can maybe stop being in a stalemate against Faerghus and finally roll over Derdriu!" pandering shit, because even if it came with wonderful Supreme One Liners and Replies, in CF, Supreme Leader kills her enemies herself!

Sure it comes at the cost of the most badass Shonen Explosion I've ever seen in the FE Series, and yet, for her, that explosion meant her role was ultimately reduced to the role of a mosquito : sure it's annoying and you want to smash it, but when you look around to find someone/something to smash it, you happen on an agressive venomous snake, who cares about the mosquito now?

We know how fandom is about Supreme Leader and her actions and her uwu agency - in Supreme Bullshit, we're left in the vague about what her MAGA plans entails because she doesn't finish her quest - Nopes ends before the epilogue - and it's almost as if the Nopes!devs didn't want her to deal final blows herself, or have her hands be "as clean" as possible as the ones who are erased are either peons or secondary/tertiary characters : Supreme Leader isn't the one who splits Rhea's head open in this route, Rhea and Thales take each other out, heck, she doesn't want to liberate Fodlan from inhuman monsters anymore, it's Claude who parrots to whoever wants to listen that Rhea has to die (and yet, Supreme Leader still wants to make Garreg Mach Rhea's tomb... maybe it's a considerate gesture on her part, to have her reunite with her family?) Speaking of him if conditions are reunited, he "forces her" to kill him, because he betrays her first :'(

In CF, Supreme Leader - when she finally has the means (aka Billy!) to do so - attacks all of her enemies, even turning against the Agarthans (rip cornelia?) and it's only because the plot is held by duct tape and chewing-gum that she somehow avoids retaliation because Uncle is too stupid and wasted his nukes on Arianrhod instead of nuking Firdhiad when both Supreme Leader and Rhea would be there !

However, the facts still stand : Supreme Leader dealt a blow at the Agarthans, ended the Nabatean presence in Fodlan, personally erased Faerghus' line of Kings and conquered the Alliance.

Sure she tells Balthus she will crush everyone who doesn't side with her, but when it comes to Lords/Main antagonists... when CF had her swing Aymr - even against defeated characters who fell on their knees and aren't fighting anymore - SB brings out convoluted circumstances to either has her fight because she is attacked and thus on the defensive (which is rich when she's supposed to be the invader!) by an ally whose motivation never made sense but who is now suddenly betraying her and all of his former allies who joined with her (GG Clout) or... Rhea gets her Big Damn Hero moment, fulfilling the initial promise/oath she swore on that route (help humans to get rid of Agarthans) and supposedly dies in the process, while Supreme Leader - the oathbreaker - pulls out her best impression of Tuxedo Mask "my job here is done - but you didn't do a thing" ending on a High Five.

Imo it's very telling that the only main character who can be alive at the end of SB is Dimitri - because he is the character Supreme Leader wants dead at all costs, and if the Nopes!Devs wrote Zarhofl as they did, I wonder how they could and might have justified a metting between the two that doesn't end up in Supreme Leader Aymr'ing him (maybe Cornelia would have conviently warped there and stabbed him to death, so her hands would still be "clean" ?).

In short, I prefer CF!Supreme Leader (or her FE16 version sans the pandering) because she is determinate and wants to achieve her goals, even if she has to be ruthless to do so - and we see that ruthlessness (even if it's poorly executed) in CF, Supreme Leader kills named and main characters to MAGA (and to free humanity from those vile subhumans).

In SB, she is always... put in situations where she "has to" protect herself from either backstabbing allies, or, when push comes to shove, her enemies are conveniently at the same place at the same time and take each other out : FFS, it's Rhea who takes out the leader of the Agarthans, and it's Thales who removes Nabateans from Fodlan. What is all that determination good for if, in the end, she's not the one solving the issues?

Oh, and because I'm petty like that : why the fuck the sailor fuku, seriously - sure her red dress (the one from her legendary version!) isn't as, uh, battle compatible as, say, Queen Elincia's battle outfit, and yet there's something really disturbing about the Sailor Fuku. Supreme Leader is regal, commanding, even with the red dress. Her final outfit (Willy's armor retrofitted with boobplates?) is, well, a full suit of armor, Supreme Leader is a warrior and leading her troops to victory, she will battle and fight herself even in melee.

The Sailor Fuku is... just some generic Anime design, I know she has a plate but come on, comparing this to her Emperor battlesuit, it's almost as if we're not in the same genre anymore - it's war phase now, Supreme Leader is dead serious about her plans and her ambition, she's not the "school girl who will also go to war!" - compare the three outfits, which one doesn't scream "Emperor" to you?

So yeah, short (short) story : while I like SB for Shonen explosions and more exposition about Adrestia, imo, this route is worse for Supreme Leader's agency than any other route in FE16 (AG takes the cake in its last part though!) because while she has it, in the end, she doesn't do a thing with it :

MAGA? Dimitri cannot be killed in the game, she leaves the task to Clout who doesn't do it and worse, who can betray her :( so she has to kill him :(

Frre Humanity from the sekrit nabatean illuminati and the agarthan terrorists? She just kicks them from their homes (Agarthans managed to infiltrate Adrestia, she kicks them out of her land) and they managed to take each other out.

Sure, she knows how to highfive at the end of this route, but was it really worth all those sacrifices, aka, to get rid of conqueror and determinate!Supreme Leader to have instead sailor fuku!Supreme Leader who knows how to highfive?

I know they're not meant to be compared because different circumstances and all, but can you imagine a second, a Jugdral spin-off AU much like Nopes is, where Arvis wears a high school uniform but Siggy, Manfroy and Travant accidently kill each other so he gets the continent on a silver platter without having to do any fighting or planning himself?

That's Supreme Bullshit for Supreme Leader, and that's why I think this route doesn't paint her in the best light, especially compared to her FE16 version.

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

Just how much time management is required to play Disco Elysium? I really wanna get back into it but I got scared by the different times of day thing

It's not too bad! I had to look it up because I was getting anxious, I think I saw somewhere that there's 10 days or something but you can finish before there (on my first playthrough I didn't understand much about the game and side-quests or anything so I finished on day 5). Very few tasks are time sensitive, and the ones that are show up in your task list with a lil timer icon. And by time sensitive I mean that some things only can happen at certain times, whether it be a meeting or 2 that starts at 22:00, or needing to wait a day to hear back information. And there are things that happen starting on certain days, like the bridge to the fishing village and church will be closed until Wednesday, on day 3+ Jean can be found on the main floor of the Whirrling-in-Rags, etc.

From my playthrough right now, I've been doing every quest I can pick up and I haven't had any issues with wasting too much time or anything (though Kim doesn't always seem thrilled at the many diversions lmao). Also time itself only really moves when you're in dialogue/conversations or reading a book, so you can take your time and explore and check out every nook and cranny.

So while there might be like, some degree of time management, I really don't feel like there's a lot. My brain is always all over the place and I forget about tasks and jump around between them wildly and inefficiently but there's not any issue when it comes to that. The game gives you plenty of time, enough that you might read a book from the bookstore to pass some time while waiting on thought completion or for time to pass.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Cauldron IOTA

Well. That was ... more than I was expecting it to be. I mean, the Cauldron too, but also just ... everything I ended up doing the last few hours. Sometimes Horizon Forbidden West is just ... chasing campfires is like chasing related links on Wikipedia - it never ends, and it takes you to places you don't necessarily expect.

Right. Big crevice through there, maybe that'll help. But I'll approach from above because something's going to be guarding...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand you're all standing just out of view. Fine. I will jump into this bush and then I will quietly murder you.

Ah, here we go. Wow; this thing's a fair bit more heavily guarded than the last one. Maybe they used beasties to give us the problems instead of just ... accessibility?

Okay, they're using both, but this could be worse...

You want me to do WHAT?!?

First attempt: failure. THIS IS NOT MY FAULT I WAS PRESSING THE BUTTON AND ALOY WOULD NOT JUMP GAH I HATE THIS. Well, at least I didn't die-die. I guess those few Survivor passives I picked up were worth it.

Second attempt: Success! Okay, now can I finally go into the Cauldron? THANK you.

Right. What's going to come at me? Rollerback, if I remember right. What don't Rollerbacks like? Purgewater? Acid? I'll go for one of each. Why not? I craft traps; may as well use them.

Oh the traps were a good thing because that came out of nowhere so lemme just step out of the way so I can shoot when it's weakened from--

...Did ... did I just one-shot a Rollerback with an acid trap? I mean, okay, it was an advanced acid trap, but... Wow. I should set up trapped sniper's nests more often.

Right. It couldn't be that easy, could it. Now, how do I get down without dying? Okay, here we go.

Wait.

Waitwut.

Waitwutno.

AAAAAAAAAAAA!

Okay got through that first time! Great! Now ... onward to clearing ... debris ... off a Tallneck head.

Okay, so I am supposed to just jump on its head. Okay.

So I just ride this head to-- Oh, FUCK OFF!

First attempt: failure. And actual death because I didn't prioritise the one with the ranged concussive blasts that can knock me off the damn Tallneck head. AIM BETTER, IDIOT.

Second attempt: success! Managed to one-shot everything, so that's good.

Right. Compared to some of the jumping puzzle shit I've been doing, this is easy. And I actually get to climb the Tallneck this time! I used to get a bit stressed over those, but seriously - compared to some of this shit? EASY.

TALLNEEEEEEEECK! And that just ... unlocked ... everything I'd already unlocked through exploration anyway. But never mind!

Okay, collecting campfires I missed last time and I think there's some greenshine and a data entry around here somewhere--

Wait. Wut.

Where the fuck did this Thunderjaw come from, and why the fuck is it charging right for me when I wasn't anywhere near it?!?

...Wait. Does that say APEX?!?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Okay. Fine. That's done. Greenshine. Sommeliers complaining. Stuff.

GO AWAY YOU LUNATIC MACHINES I WAS ONLY TRYING TO HUNT OWLS.

Look, Chargers, stop staring at me; I was only trying to shoot the damn goose! Okay, fine, you die too.

There's a ... Tremortusk out there? I WANNA SEE-- Oh. They're saving that for boss battle or something, aren't they. Boo.

But at least there's greenshine behind some firegleam and... Wait. Did that just give me the option to catch the salmon? Like, with my hands or something? I may have preferred shooting them but this'll do! POUCH UPGRADES!

Right. Question mark over there and... Oh. Rebels. They're probably guarding a campfire or something; lemme just get those out of my way and--

Oh.

I just ... started ... a rebel camp side quest. By accident. Oh well; never leave a job half-finished!

I really love it when none of them get a shot off at me. More tags. I will figure out what those are for eventually. Maybe even without Googling it. (I lie - I will almost definitely Google it because the curiosity is killing me.)

Okay. Right. Yes. I really need to log off now. Just lemme get to a shelter and-- YES! POUCH UPGRADES! Fine, it's regular ammo only, but I'll find moonfish eventually. AND I got to upgrade my short-range combat bow, because one-shotted Rollerback!

So a day in which I got stuff done, virtually speaking. Hell, I got Motherfucking Adult Stuff done too; took out the garbage and cleaned out the fridge in preparation for the groceries arriving tomorrow. This month has some gloriousness; there's going to be roast chicken and roast pork, and I am going to boil the chicken bones for stock (with herbs out of my very own little balcony-and-windowsill garden), and the leftovers will probably go into a jambalaya-ish sort of thing, or maybe a couple of batches of risotto. And I have fixings for chilli, and for bolognaise sauce. Add some gluten-free breaded chicken fillets (for lazy chicken katsu curry) and some of the long-life usuals (tinned tuna and frozen broccoli for the tuna broccoli lemon pasta, stuff like that), and with the occasional stop for fresher ingredients, I will eat well this month, and possibly on into next month.

I also treated myself to some coffee ice cream and fixings for French toast, because Being A Motherfucking Adult means you can have treats if you want them. And it's been a hard week.

[fatuismooches]

SMOOOCHES!!! Hiii darling! ૮꒰˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ꒱ა

This isn’t a story but really just me coming on here to talk so I hope you don’t mind! I’m sorry if it’s ever a bother or disturbs you! But I finally finished with all my exploration~! Well, I actually finished on the 10th of July (aka this month) BUT I felt a little shame to just come on here and say that I had finished I was too embarrassed;; but how has everything been? I hope you’re staying fresh in this blazing summer (it’s literally like 115° every single day here it’s unbearable for me and my dog) and also making the most out of it! I’m dreading going back to school in less than a month I’m not ready!!! (Leaks mentioned: ALSO HAVE YOU HEARD OF A SUPPOSED NEW DOTTORE SOUNDTRACK? It sounds so good AND IT MAY BE A CUTSCENE kinda like Kazuha’s friend or Makoto’s in the Archon Quests! I’m really hoping we get more lore on our boo boo Dottore he’s just so interesting!!) I also just recently read a VERY lengthy character analysis on him and oh mygskkd. It really helped me get to understand Dottore as a character and how it disapproves of many misconceptions of himself. (Like being a sadist for ex.) if you ever want the link I can send it since it was on tt. And the day I’m writing this it’s Childe’s birthday, which ironically enough my mom also shared a birthday with him LMAO. (She’s only aware of this bc of how much I dawn over the chars 😭) and to answer your question from one of the recent brainrots I had made “who are you saving up for” I’m actually saving up for Zhongli cons! He’s at C0 rn but in hoping to at least get C2 or C3, but I also won’t be spending my almost 400 wishes on him since I really want a lot of the Fontaine characters, and I’m still hoping for Dottore to become playable soon 😭 (this is me trying to cope) but I hope you have a wonderful day and week!! But before I end this off, can we agree the Dottore pictured in Nahida’s cute story with Wanderer IS ADORABLE?? Like i sometimes just wanna write about the little creature because it’s so cute. Is he ugly? A little but he’s ugly in the cute way!!! I swear I would just want to hug him to sleep. (Many ideas with fragile reader come to mind now LMAO) but anyways !!! I give you so many chu chus n cuddles n a lot of love!! Make sure you’re staying healthy and drinking water in this scorching heat. I give u so many kisses your heart explodes!!! ><

- from your boo boo bear 🎐 anon!! ૮ ྀི◞͈ ˔ ◟͈ ྀིა

🎐 ANON!!! I MISSED YOU AHHH!!!!

It's more than okay i love talking to you!!! And OMF I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!! I know it was such a grind and probably a bit exhausting at times but I'm so proud of you 😌💖 Giving you lots of kithes and hugs!! Mwahhhh!!

115 DEGREES??? HOLY- I thought it was hot where I live 😭 I'm barely surviving like every other summer but omg I'm so sorry 😭 And you have a dog?? How cute! What type of dog do you have, if i may ask?🥰 Though i have been unproductive all summer unfortunately, the heat makes me not want to do anything haha

AND YESSSS IVE SEEN THE LEAKED OST MY EYES POPPED OPEN AT THE POSSIBLE DOTTORE APPEARANCE 👁 IM SO EXCITED I WANT HIM IN FONTAINE BADLY!! Also i think I've read the same character analysis on tiktok like you, was it called "Sadist or Scientist" and had many many slides? With the character and design analysis? If yes i too read it and it was so good! I love seeing analysis on him especially since there are not much crumbs on him. Oh and happy belated birthday to your mom! I hope you had fun with her!💖

Omg almost 400 wishes??? I havent had that much since the time I've saved for Wanderer 👏 I really hope you get lots of cons for him! I also love Zhongli sm but that man has avoided me on all three banners. First banner i didn't have enough primos and missed him, second banner i lost to Qiqi, third banner i lost to Jean lol. I forgot he is coming so i will try to get him again for the fourth time 🤣 Manifesting hard for you 💖🙏 (Dw I'm also coping on playable Dot😭😭)

AND YESSS OMG I LOVE THE LIL STRANGE DOT CREATURE SO MUCH. I need someone to make a good quality plushie of that creature so i can cuddle it 🥺 HYV was probably intending to make the creature look unsettling, but nah, i wholly think it's adorable. I would hold its little hand. (Always ready to listen to your fragile reader ideas tho 😌🤞)

Hehe I'm giving you lots of more cuddles and kisses!! 🫂 I hope you're staying hydrated as well!! We shall get through this heat together 💪 Smooch smooch !! <33

[thegeminisage]

ok, i'm shifting into zelda mode. i have until friday to finally beat this sucker which i think has actually wound up being a good thing - i was playing less and less of it and less and less often, partly because of time, partly because of brain chemistry, but mostly because i was getting tired of the like. grind. koroks shrines lightroots etc. i don't really want to burn out on totk, so i think if i stop and play pikmin, it will be a nice little break and motivate me to come back to zelda and actually enjoy it instead of just. going through the motions. which is great because i do enjoy this game and i want to remember that i enjoy this game, and also it means i have more of it to enjoy later - at WORST, i will come back for 100% when the inevitable dlc comes out. map fatigue of doing botw twice (nearly 100%ing it the first time, doing it all the way the second time) has been my biggest problem with totk, and it's possible that i will never play either game again (or if i do it will be a very, very, very, VERY long time from now, like at least a decade), so ultimately i'm not mad about stretching it out to make it last longer than just one summer. it's going to be a REALLY long time before we get another zelda. as in, i could very well be in my 40s by then. might as well shorten the wait if i can

anyway the first order of business is to go back and finish the mineru quest. i wanna enjoy actually having her in my party for awhile before i take her to the final boss fight - i should have done it ages ago lol

oh yeah i quit bc of a hinox lol but he was super easy

deeply unfortunate: found several enormous piles of minable rock. which i felt compelled to break all of even though it wasn't fun. the good new is one of them was made of zonaite somaybe soon i can upgrade my battery again

another giant pile of zonaite. im thrilled to have the mats but like...please let me do something else now lol. even mineru's arms have durability. i need my weapons. i've used like 40 bombs. i can't do this with yunobo over and over

also love and light to mineru but she is straight up in my way, and at this point in the game i can't dismiss her. like she wants to be close so she can kneel so i can piggyback and the mech is awesome when im in the mood for it but i am trying to do something. and she makes so many noises also. i think the sages, controlswise, are my least favorite gameplay element of this. they are SO. ANNOYING. i wish there was a limitation where only one could walk around with you at once and the rest were mapped to buttons lol

ok, got it mined. now to the actual spirit temple

aww i like the music here. i like the little lightroot piano cue. i wish i had an actual lightroot lol my hearts have been decimated

little bit worried about this boss.

oh shit i was exploring the arena and fell into the water while riding the mech and now i cant find her?! is she ok......................

oh whew there she is. rip i wanted to go get that big poe...i guess not. i'm sure after the fight i'll be teleported out and even if not it is so much swimming in the dark

oh SHIT evil construct?? DARK MINERU??? why can we have dark mineru but not dark link???

aaaah the old electrified fence arena

i wish i hadnt had to use a rocket to get in here. this fight feels slow and clunky without the benefit of a fan on mineru's back

FOUR ARMS?? OH SHIT WE GOT GENERAL GREIVOUS OVER HERE

GOT HIS ASS

oh my god it's MINERU like it was mineru but now she looks like a person and not a robot

oh god is she gonna give me a CUTSCENE?

like we just got one but am i gonna get another memory

THE

MURAAAAALLLLLLLL

this is breaking so much lore.

NOT THE HYRULE CASTLE THEME

oh a man of great evil here we go show me the boy it's been too long

SCREEEEAM THERE HE LITERALLY IS!!!!!!

oh my god the theme from that very first announcement trailer

THE SHOT FROM THE TRAILERS!!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT ZELDA USING RECALL BABYGIRL YOU ARE SO COOL

YOOOOOOOOO

rauru sealing ganondorf with the fma scar movement. he threw his whole body weight behind that fist 😏

this is gay

IM LOSING MY WHOLE ASS MIND. REMEMBER THIS NAME: LINK. AND THE MAIN THEME STARST PLAYING

AND AT THE BEGINNING. IN THE VERY FIRST CUTSCENE. I REMEMBER SCREAMING OUT LOUD BECAUSE HE RECOGNIZED US. HE REMEMBERED. THE NAME

holy shit. holy shit!!! they literally are just frozen like that just like in my movie pitch <3

ANOTHER cutscene?? i am literally eating

WAHHHH fi's theme

oh im wailing she and mineru love each other so much...neither of them wants to lose the other bc theyve already lost sonia and rauru :(

GOD ZELDA BEING WILLING TO DIE FOR LINK...girl they said you WONT be able to change back ik bc of spoilers that she does but AAAAAA

idk why all the zonai are so long and wiggly. like kaminoans. i don't like it

"even if my body should perish i will be with you in spirit" zelda about to lose mom #4 :(

oh NICE i have unlocked some cool zonaite shopping options...which i refuse to use until i max out my battery, lol

wow. i even got to get those poes

popped out of the spirit temple and was able to grab a lightroot. perfect stopping point bc now i have stuff i have to do lol

[thealterscrolls]

summer reading/writing/arting tag

tysm for the tag @wispstalk !! <3

1) describe one creative WIP project you’re planning to work on over the summer - my brain is always juggling creative ideas and projects which is a constant struggle, but the main one i plan to work on is my oblivion fic, working title Raining Stars. it's my slightly alternate take on the main quest, following the relationship of my hero of kvatch, ambrosius rex, and martin. ambrosius is part of a DID system so i'm looking forward to exploring stuff like memory and dissociation and surviving trauma. i'm going to post some more about ambrosius at some point soon because i really do not post enough about my OCs or stories here lol

2) recommend a book - the funny thing about this is that i honestly havent finished any actual books in years. but i just got myself a library card and finished a book yesterday! so my rec is Cannibalism by Bill Schutt. fascinating read and hilarious at times. he mostly discusses examples of it in nature and debunks some myths regarding historical cases, among other briefer topics. much respect for him choosing to not write about recent criminal cases out of respect for the victims' families and not wanting to add to the long list of sensationalized media out there already

3) recommend a fic! -

for TES: i don't do as much fic reading in general as i used to but im enjoying keeping up with wispstalk's nature of fire, but you'll definitely wanna read the fic that it's a sequel to first, of course. definitely my favorite TES series atm!

for MK: haven't read anything lately but i know my homies tiptapricot and pokimoko are putting out some good stuff still so their profiles are worth checking out! they both write for other fandoms so you might find other works that strike your fancy as well!

4) recommend music! - some metal penis music for all your experimental avant-garde metal needs! now you can experience fix it felix screaming at you about criticizing consumerism and eating cops and mental illness over chaotic instrumentals! liars and therapy are the standout tracks from this ep, and if that tickles the taint of your mind, rest assured that you can enjoy their whole discography in one sitting if you want because they just have this ep, an album, and a handful of singles!

5) share one piece of advice! - If you want to live to a ripe old age, buy a weapon and as much armor as you can wear and still run from trouble. Buy a spell or two. And practice your skills. Don't practice on citizens. We call that foul murder, and we don't like it. But you can kill smugglers and bandits and other outlaws all you like. Outlaws have no rights. Plenty of adventurers make a living from killing and looting outlaws. That smuggler scum down in Addamasartus, for instance. The cave down near the silt strider platform.

tagging @tiptapricot, @pokimoko, @cheeseandstrawberrytartlover, @theoutli3r, @raechology, @fdelopera, and anyone else who sees this n wants to consider it a tag can do so because memory bad and im bound to forget some people </3 have fun!

[dogydayz]

SPOILERS FOR SONIC FRONTIERS AHEAD!!!!

So i was playing Frontiers for a few hours today- okay most of the day actually. But like, i nearly fucking cried already??? And im not even at the end??????? Im at the last island though. It physically pained me seeing his idle animations slowly start to show him more and more tired, and how he looks in cutscenes too. The whole Tails quests have left me REALLY hoping we might get a Tails game, like one literally just based on him and his own independent adventures and shit like that. That'd be such a neat way to build off of what Frontiers has set up for him! The brotherly relationship between Tails and Sonic makes me so fucking happy too man,,, Like god fucking damn it, SONIC CALLS HIM "LITTLE BRO" LIKE THEY'RE ACTUALLY JUST BROTHERS,,, I played a lot of the fishing minigame stuff with Big and it made me really want a post-game DLC where you can keep the fish you catch if you wanna and like.... put em in a fishtank or smthn, like a really BIG fishtank that you can decorate and shit, and you could buy decor and details + space for it with the tokens you get (because infortunately it seems that Big's fishing spot stuff has little purpose after the story is finished). On the fourth island, Rhea Island, I nearly started to fuckin cry i was hit with so many emotions. The Ancients having to leave then being destroyed in the end, Sonic's idle animations showing the worst of his condition, the corruption taking over him more and more each tower.... AND GOD. FUCKING. DAMN IT. You start off the island before the first tower and are in a MASSIVE FUCKING FIELD OF LAVENDERS. Afaik that's one of the only places in the game with a lavender field???? So now im just begging SEGA to make the Twitter Takeover stuff about Shadow liking lavenders canon by referencing him in that area, like.... if you go back there after the story (since having Sonic randomly mention Shadow while he's about to fuckin keel over would probably ruin the moment entirely lmao). LIKE COME ON. It's SUCH a pretty spot too you better fuckin believe I'm gonna draw art of Sonic bringing Shadow to the Starfall Isles post-story and shit like that just to show him the fields and the sights. You absolutely know I am. The game overall just has such good fucking MUSIC!!! I'm like 90% certain that every mini-boss (big crazy battle enemy) has its own entire battle theme, which is ABSURD. There's none of the eventual monotony that BotW unfortunately ended up having, the enemies on every island differ AND they have features to them that actively prepare you for what you'll have to do in the future with the bosses and Titans. The game design, sound design, controls, designs.... It's all just so fucking amazing I can't even explain it properly. Every goddamn time I ran into another boss I'd be like "the fuck is this thing" and have to learn "new" mechanics that had ALWAYS been there, yet I'd just never used before. The world is INTERESTING, it's FULL and FUN to explore! That was one of the fanbase's biggest fears when the game was first announced, that the world would be empty and boring due to how Sonic needs space to go fast properly, but holy FUCK they nailed it!! They actually did it!! There are so many small locations that are just so beautiful. I really am excited for that future photo mode update, that's gonna be such a blast auuughh!!! I really hope they continue to add more through DLCs as time goes on. While I'd KILL for a "Dark Expansion" DLC that adds in Rouge and Shadow (or even Omega as a secret borderline OP playable character lol), I know it probably wouldn't be able to work into the story so I doubt it'd happen? Would be fun though, to get to explore as different characters during the post-game, hell maybe even have some characters explore together and interact in various locations somehow.... I wonder if someone would end up modding that or some shit lol. But yeah, the game is fantastic and I'm going crazy over it, I just hope we do get some good stuff for the post-game, even if in the future.

[sturmovik]

some personal ramblings about FFXIV and GW2

Context: I am a longtime Guild Wars 2 player that tried out FFXIV for about a month before I quit* and went back. I enjoyed FFXIV for the most part, but playing it also helped me realize why I love GW2 so much. 

*disclaimer: i didnt even make it to Heavensward cuz the quests between destroying the Ultima and starting HW were so damn boring and tedious, sorry

Though, there are a couple things I really liked about FFXIV and wish GW2 had more of, so I’ll start with those:

Roleplaying. And I mean in terms of gameplay features. E.g., joining a Grand Company in FFXIV really makes you feel like you have a role there compared to GW2's Orders. In GW2, there is no interaction with your chosen Tyrian Order outside the main story quests. Once you join you can buy order-themed gear, that's it. In FFXIV, joining a GC gives access to tasks/jobs/quests and a rank system that makes you feel like you are working for this group.  Rising through the ranks of your FFXIV GC is a process, a grind, and that's a good thing. It's an RPG and you are playing the role of an adventurer rising up the ranks of the GC. In GW2, it's all just the story. You finish a questline, you get "promoted" but there is no system in place to make you feel like you’re really a part of it when you’re out in the world.  

Emotes in FFXIV are much better as well. For some, this might be inconsequential or even meaningless but this is a ROLEPLAYING game, and for people who want to roleplay, a good emote system can go a long way. You rarely see RPers in GW2 while in FFXIV they're all over the cities

Party Finders / LFG. I really cannot fathom why GW2 still doesn't have matchmaking/duty finder for Dungeons and Strikes. rn you need to form a party manually and either invite people or hope people join. Sure, I don't think GW2 Raids should have matchmaking bec. they are super difficult and technical, and bec. it's hard to automate balanced parties w/ GW2's super-flexible buildcrafting system. Though strikes share that problem afaik it's not as punishing and I think could benefit from matchmaking. But a duty finder system that rewards players for clearing dungeons, strikes, and less-popular map metas might really help give new life to older content.

Armor / Fashion. Not really better than GW2 imo, but I wanna make a point about armor variety. Making pretty armor/dye combos is one of my favorite things about GW2, and I’ve gotta say FFXIV's expansion armor sets looked really dope compared to some endgame/expansion GW2 armors (most ARR armors were ugly though, GW2 still has way better pieces than those). Like I wish GW2 had more well-designed armor sets for us to mix and match. That armor set they released for GW2′s 10 year anniversary is kinda ugly imo (no offense ANet). sadness. Will say, though, GW2′s dye and armor transmutation system is leagues above FFXIV.

Now, on the flip side, here are some of the things I absolutely love about GW2 and keep me coming back to this game:

Overall, FFXIV was fun but really every "traditional" MMORPG I try just makes me appreciate GW2 more. Really wish more RPGs would copy GW2's questing, exploration, and dynamic event systems.  Like seriously, in terms of open world questing and exploration, no MMO feels as good as GW2. GW2's zones feel so much more open and alive thanks to ANet's unique approach to map design.

Exploration and Dynamic Events. In FFXIV ARR, the maps are lifeless and boring. You unlock the entire map for a zone when you first enter it so there really is no need to explore. They look pretty and big at first glance but the invisible walls and fixed pathways quickly kill the illusion. The maps are very pretty though and there are some really sweet views. But again, there is really nothing to find or "explore" aside from the enemies your quests and hunt board want you to kill. It's a tired traditional MMO trope but I expected more from the most popular MMORPGs. 

GW2, meanwhile, has phenomenal zone design especially in its expansions. The wide open spaces actually -feel- open and vast, but they never feel empty or dead, even if you’re in the middle of a desert. Then you have some truly labyrinthine maps with so many paths, nooks, and crannies to explore, and often times you are rewarded with loot, vistas, or other surprises when you explore. Maps often have several layers of verticality as well, and many GW2 maps have underwater environments to explore as well.

As for dynamic events, the “FATE” system in FFXIV is pretty disappointing compared to GW2′s map events. Whether they be small solo events at a certain location or a map-wide meta event requiring hundreds of people, GW2′s dynamic events are probably the best dynamic “questing” I’ve experienced in an MMO. They tell stories, grand and small, that help make the world come alive - whether its defending a village or a caravan, assaulting a fortress, or taking on a dragon and its army of minions, GW2′s events pull you in and make you a part of its world.

Mounts. Some people are complaining that WoW is copying GW2's mounts but what helped make the mounts so good was that they were tied to GW2's approach to exploration and questing too. The mounts in GW2 Path of Fire felt so good because you needed them to traverse environmental challenges in the open world - and it was FUN.  GW2's mount system was built with their open world design philosophy in mind. They didnt just make travel faster; they were made to interact with the open world. New puzzles, minidungeons, and other navigational challenges around the open world were designed with mounts in mind.

okay that’s it. dont mind me, just needed a place to put this wall of text lol. i didnt talk about PvP or WvW (even thought I love GW2 WvW) cuz i’m not a big PvP person and didnt try any of it in FFXIV.

[noelleai]

"Hey, what's up?" said Noelle, looking at Berdly from the corner of her eye as he stared intently at his laptop screen. She smiled at him but couldn't help but look a little anxious in front of him. They were both seated at a table in the cafeteria, eating their lunch. He had a sandwich while Noelle ate some cheese pizza. "I'm just doing homework," Berdly replied, without taking his eyes off his laptop. Noelle nodded, feeling relieved. She didn't want to have to deal with any awkwardness right now. Even though they've known each other for a long time, Noelle still found dealing with Berdly hard sometimes. Usually, she could handle her social anxiety by hiding behind her friends, but she wasn't so lucky today. Today, she was alone. The only thing keeping her from panicking was the fact that Berdly seemed completely engrossed in his work.

"Oh? What are you working on?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation going. She looked down at her plate as she waited for his response. A moment passed, and then Berdly answered.

"…Uh, I'm, uh…working on my computer game."

"Your game? You make games!?" Noelle exclaimed excitedly, almost forgetting how shy she was. "Really!? That's awesome!"

Berdly nodded slowly, looking a bit embarrassed. "Yeah…but it's pretty bad…"

Noelle laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I'll play it! If anyone can make a good game, it's you!"

There was silence for a few moments before Berdly spoke again. "Y-yeah. Thanks." He smiled nervously, looking down at his laptop.

"So…uh…what's it about?" Noelle asked, trying to steer the conversation back to something fun.

Berdly glanced up at Noelle briefly before looking down at his laptop once more. He took a deep breath and began speaking. "It's called 'The Quest for the Ultimate Easter Egg' and it takes place in this world of mine where you, uh, explore dungeons and find, um, eggs and stuff, y-you know, like in Mario 64 or something."

Noelle smiled, nodding along. "Sounds cool! And…how do you play it?"

"Well, you start out in a room and, uh, you walk around until you see a key, which is hidden somewhere, and you pick it up and unlock the door, and then you go into the next room, and maybe that's a treasure chest or a monster or something, and, uh, you open it and take what's inside and, uh, that unlocks the next room and, uh, it goes on like that, you know?" Berdly's voice trailed off as he finished talking.

Noelle laughed, a smile spreading across her face. "That sounds great! I can't wait to play it!"

Berdly chuckled nervously, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. "Thanks. So um, yeah. That's the basic idea. Like I said, it's pretty bad."

Noelle laughed. "You're not gonna get better by thinking about it, right?"

Berdly nodded, smiling weakly. "Yeah, you're right. I just need to do it."

They kept talking for a while longer, and Berdly finally looked up at Noelle. "So, uh…do you wanna hang out sometime?"

"Me? Um, sure!" Noelle beamed, nodding enthusiastically. "I'd love to!"

Berdly smiled, looking relieved. "Great! Let me text you later and we'll set something up."

"Okay! Sounds good," Noelle replied, smiling happily.

"Cool! Bye!" Berdly said, standing up from his seat and waving to her as he left the cafeteria. Noelle watched him go, feeling excited all over again. She felt like she was finally getting close with Berdly. Maybe they really did have a shot at becoming good friends after all. { TYPE: Short-form story * M2 }

[eligaxy]

Wind

☆ℜ𝔢𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔭 : Venti x gn!Reader

☆𝔚𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 : near death experience, you’re confused asf about everything, bad writing cause i suck, spoilers for the we will be reunited quest!! And also for venti’s backstory, venti is serious for once (yes it’s a legitimate warning🤚)

☆𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢 : Some angst, some fluff? Idk bye🤨

☆𝔖𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶 : "It's okay, it's over now" he kneeled to be at your level, his arms still wrapped around you, and you didn't have the energy to fight your urge of nuzzling into him. "I'll always be here for you, wherever there is wind, remember I'm here too. You only need to ask." (2.8k words)

♪𝔑𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰 : i’m an idiot simp, i did this in one sitting and half asleep, english isnt my first language BLA BLA IM SORRY FOR MY POOR WRITING BUT HAVE THIS

basically you don’t know if you can trust venti or not, head says no, heart screams yes

Also, I was listening to stormterror’s lair ost while writing it, just because its fucking amazing, you might wanna listen to it too

I’m nervous to post this?/&:! This is the second fic i’ve ever finished in my whole life

i love venti and he’s hot in his god outfit i don’t make the rules

KAY ENJOY <3

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

Saying you were exhausted would have been an understatement. After reuniting with your sibling, you had been frantically searching for clues about khaenri'ah and ways to Inazuma. With no luck, you couldn't find any traces of Dainsleif or of your twin. The ruins had been sealed and you had no idea what happened to the inverted statue or the corpse you had found there. Desperately, you clung into every little information you had, you would have turned every rock on this archon damned continent if you had to, which is what led you into those ruins near Guilli plains.

Walking along the destroyed buildings your eyes caught sight of a dandelion and you froze. You missed them so much, why couldn't they go back home with you? All you ever wanted was to be by their side why, why were they running away from you?

You remembered your travels, the moments you shared together, their protectiveness over you, the fondness in their eyes when you smiled at them. You remember the times you got hurt and healed one another with your now missing powers. You remember sleeping by their side and being grateful to the universe to let you keep your ray of sunshine everywhere with you. How ironic.

What had they meant 'once you reach the end of your journey' ? What does that even mean? Stupid twin, if they knew you were here the whole time, why hadn't they come to you? Why were they always leaving just when they were within your grasp? Why? Did they know how much you missed them and how much your heart broke when you finally saw them? Did they?

You only realized you were crying when a small gust of wind had your wet cheek react to the cold, breaking your train of thought. Wind.

The wind is everywhere, you think, free as a bird, always accompanying every citizen of this world, never truly alone. With this in mind, you resumed your exploring, slower this time.

A sigh escaped your mouth. You didn't want to admit it, but the wind did comfort you a little. Almost as if he was here. God of freedom and of the breeze, he was more a singer than a protector and you couldn't bear to think about him. Was it true? What Dain said... Did he destroy this nation? Was he the cause of the scenery that still haunted your nightmares up until 500 years later? Your brain simply couldn't accept that Venti, your Venti, you catch yourself thinking, could have made such an act of wrath. He was the epitome of freedom, why would he take the very thing he based all of his existence on from mere mortals? Barbatos simply couldn't be afraid of being overpowered, he didn't even care about power. All he wanted was freedom and happiness for his people. Surley this couldn't be right?

But then again, who were you to deny the wipe out of an entire nation? The gods did it. They were afraid that Celestia would be overthrown by the pride of humankind, the destruction of khaenri'ah by divine beings was a fact. There was no misunderstanding about this. That was the one thing you were sure of. So why did you feel like crying even more now?

The mere thought of a gentle soul such as Venti committing innocent people to an eternity of suffering didn't sit right with you. Even when his dearest friend Dvalin had turned against him, he didn't try to stop him, didn't even ask the dragon to save him. He healed and helped him, gave him a choice.

'What is freedom if demanded of you by a god?' was the same person that asked this question the same one who committed mass murder? Genocide?

Did the little wine-lover bard you had grown fond of destroy all hopes and light your kin had?

You remember that night when he freed Stanley from his burden, freed his and his friends' spirits. You had marveled at his action, in that instant he was a god, and he definitely hadn't struck you as a murderer. You remember that look of silent pain and grief in his eyes when he sang the tales of the nameless bard he had taken the appearance of. You knew he trusted you enough to share his story, something so personal, you could almost feel the war that took down the tyrant of Mond. Oh how much you cherished that evening, treating him to some well deserved dandelion wine afterwards, his favorite, and asking him to sing you more about the time where was nothing but the spirit of a breeze.

Your heart broke a little, remembering his rosy cheeks and drunk smile, you wish you could talk to him, ask him what happened. What did he do, was he really as dangerous as you had been told? If so, then why did you feel so good around him? Why did you feel like you could give hi-

You stopped walking upon seeing a ruin guard up ahead in the distance. You're so stupid, you think. Feeling this way is not gonna get you anywhere, especially with how the bard had been missing for a few weeks now. Ever since you had last seen your sibling.

Where was he, where was he wandering off to? You walk towards the disabled ruin guard, not really paying any mind to it, still thinking about the god you longed to meet with. If you could see him, what would you even say? Would he even answer your questions? Why did your stomach feel so light and funny when you thought about seeing him, why aren't you angrier?

You're almost at the killing machine's level now, so lost in your thought you don't notice the five other similar robots hidden behind a wall next to it. You notice them only when it's too late and you've already turned them on while thinking about examining them and collecting their serial numbers. When you hear the familiar tick of the mechanism turning on, you internally panic and think about running away only to calm down moments later and think to yourself that you can simply beat it and take what you came here for. Even if you are emotionally and physically tired, you can manage, you think.

That was before hearing five other consecutive ticks right after it, and all around you.

Turning around, your gaze falls upon the small army of field tillers. Fuck.

Paimon wasn't with you today, you had asked for some time alone which she hesitantly accepted, so you couldn't ask her to go fetch help. You would have been worried if you had all your capacities but with the state you were in, you were wondering how you were going to survive this fight. You were alone, none of your companions with you, and deeply weakened by the busy day you had and the few hours of sleep you had managed to steal away from the night. Was it today you would meet your doom, with all your questions and uncertainties unanswered?

You tried your best to fight with the strength you had left, but quickly grew desperate after what felt like hours of efforts to swing your blade and being able to only take one monster down out of the six. It didn't help that you got injured along the way, their blows becoming harder and harder to dodge. After being thrown on the grown for the third time, you understood you had at least two broken ribs and that your shaking legs would soon fail you as well.

Fear crept upon you, you would die here today, alone. Alone. You couldn't talk to your sibling after all, couldn't understand. You didn't even get to talk to him one last time. Him... You would die without the knowledge of the truth about your bard. You would die alone. You didn't want that, you couldn't look death straight in the eye.

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

-

In Mondstadt, there was a musician, a weird singer everyone had heard about at least once. He lived off of his songs and was mostly known for having a great story-telling and being an alcoholic.

The number of people who knew the true nature of his identity were few and he was perfectly content with that. He didn't wish to be a god anymore, his gnosis had been taken away anyway and it's not like he had any power over the city of wind nowadays. Even if his people still worshipped him as Barbatos, it didn't sit right with him to be called a god anymore. It actually never did, he thinks to himself with a smile, he never really took any responsibilities that came with the divine title which is why he was so weak today. But it didn't matter to him, his smile turns into a soft giggle.

Sitting on a mill that was once born from his steps he looks fondly over the city he founded. Even if they were godless, the citizens were still thriving and free. He cared oh so very deeply about the place even if he rarely, if not never, showed the affection within his heart. He remembers the day he grew strong enough to dispel the storms over his actual Mondstadt, and made the weather gentle enough so that there was no need for fireplaces. Nowadays, he loves watching birds nest into the chimney tops and seeing them found their own home. It gave him a sense of belonging like no other, not above his people, but walking among them and watching them nest into this cocoon he created. He was proud of what happened to his land and would do it all over again if he had to.

Especially since it led to him meeting you. This thought doesn't catch him off guard, you often roamed around in his mind after all, and it's not like he didn't write at least three songs about you and your feat, your smile, your courage...

Ah there he goes again, rambling about you in a whisper. He turns around to the statue of him his people erected in his honor, chuckling at how they never made the connection with his signature braids. His, but not really his, since he had stolen this form from someone who was much more deserving of this power than him. Seeing his friend being honored with the statues of the seven around the land made him happy, he hoped that it was a good enough thank you gift in return for everything that the bard whom he couldn't even remember the name of anymore did for him.

Upon gazing at the statue, he remembered telling you of his long gone friend. It was the first time he had talked about him to someone else, he didn't even mention it to Venessa, she who made him believe in himself again. He could ask himself why, but he simply knew that you had something different, more than meets the eye. Perhaps it was because you weren't from Teyvat, or perhaps it was just you being as simple as your natural self but he was simply and utterly captivated by your being. You inspired him to no end, at first he thought it was because he had never met someone like you and he loved new things! But as time grew and he got to know you, he understood quickly the meaning and depth of his passions. He thought of it with a light chuckle, content with your presence alone. He really did need and want you around.

So why did he purposely avoid you like the plague?

The wind had brought to his ears that you had met with Dainsleif.

And your twin.

His first reaction was to search for you, talk to you, he wanted to be here to know what happened! You had searched so long, he couldn't contain himself, still listening to what the wind told him, he started running with excitement but... But wait, Dainsleif was... He told you what?

Oh.

So you heard about Khaenri'ah. He had stopped dead in his tracks and turned back, only sending a warm current of wind your way, hugging you from afar.

He wasn't ready to talk about this yet, not ready to face you and absolutely not ready to answer your questions. He was a coward, he thought, running away like that but what else could he do, really. It was only natural for him to be as uncatchable as air.

A sorry excuse to avoid the fact that even if his past had marvelous story like the one of the nameless bard, it also had its share of darkness, something he wasn't ready to dive back into. Especially not now when your arrival has been shaking this world up like it hasn't been since at least 500 years.

But oh, how he longed to see your face or to hear your voice. So he asked a breeze to report to him what you were up to, and where you were. Just in case! he tells himself, what if you needed help ehe? But he knows you're competent and you won't need the help of a weakling coward like him anytime soon. Or so he thought.

Because when the breeze only gives him a few words back, his blood runs cold.

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

-

As you murmured these words in your desperate state, not really for anyone but yourself as a last resort, a prayer of some sort, you tried to stand by leaning yourself on your sword and failing miserably. You didn't dare look up as you heard the loud footsteps of the metal giants coming your way. It was over, and you barely managed to accept it.

As you rested your forehead against the cold handle of your sword, you closed your eyes, tears starting to make their ways out of your closed eyelids. All you could feel was remorse.

A soft breeze moved your hair slightly and your chest felt like a black hole had taken place where your heart used to be, regretting to not have been able to meet him under the tree at Windrise one last time.

The breeze quickly grew stronger, until it felt unnatural and you looked up from the ground, only to close your eyes again immediately when you realized the wind was too powerful for you to keep them open. If you had struggled to see though, you would have been blinded by the white light that soon illuminated the whole ruins. You didn't have enough time to register the situation when you felt a hand being laid atop your shoulder, snaking around your collarbones and pulling you back into... nothing? Another arm circled your weak form and a voice you immediately recognized said

"I've dealt with things worse than you, now crumble."

You realized that if you couldn't feel a chest behind you while still being embraced by his arms, it was because he was floating above you, and not standing behind you. A look in his direction confirmed your suspicions but what stunned you wasn't the fact that he was flying, but the attire he wore. Barely covering his body, a white set made of materials that seemed like clouds and liquid gold contrasted perfectly with his regular green clothes. His hair was glowing green and his eyes that were focused on the ruin guards up ahead had a marvelous shine that you had never seen before. He had that same aura he did the night he freed Stanley, but there was also something different about the way his hands gripped you a little too tightly or the way his voice sounded.

"Venti.." You muttered his name, relief and affection flooding you all at once, in his presence you felt as if nothing bad could happen to you. How foolish could you be, just a few hours ago you were speculating wether or not he had wiped out an entire civilisation and now here you were, being saved by him and feeling safer than you had in months.

"Close your eyes, I don't want give you a headache" he said, slowly floating legs first towards the ground. His unusually serious voice surprised you (and him) but you did as he told you. Letting go of your sword and leaning back into him, you let him deal with the monsters ahead of you.

"It's okay, it's over now" he kneeled to be at your level, his arms still wrapped around you, and you didn't have the energy to fight your urge of nuzzling into him. "I'll always be here for you, wherever there is wind, remember I'm here too. You only need to ask."

Being protected by a god really didn't feel that bad. Especially when you were in love with said god.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Thank you so much for reading whatever this is until the end :’)

Don’t hesitate to comment or reblog, tysm <3

Ps: venti loves u and so do i do pls take care of urself mwah

[starlightshore]

Angel’s Lullaby update:

i wrote two devlogs this month.

first: i cover the history of Angel’s Lullaby and the current progress.

second: the plans I have for gameplay

TLDR; Angel’s Lullaby is a Open World Action/Turnbased RPG hybrid. You’ll have a small island to explore with 3 main areas and multiple side-quests. For the demo, I plan only having 1 area finished.

Game progress: eh, hard to put a good number on it. main characters and the main overworld are mostly finished, mapping + main area need planning. i’d say a bit less than 50% done with the demo.

below the read me i discuss game development that i’m not talking about on Gamejolt, but feel more comfortable talking here.

so been working with a friend on remaking (well, rather, i’m helping a little but it’s mostly just him,,, i’m not a skilled programmer but at least i’m keeping up with what he’s teaching me ^_^; so thanks to eternal shine, u rock!) the char_player object to work better for Angel’s. also, aside from the outfit code, this main stuff will be added as a pack for TML’s engine for better functionality. hooray! this includes:

adding arrays and macros to dialogue text

cut-scene system (almost done)

char_player state machine (has a couple issues for Angel’s specifically, which is discussed below.)

(WIP) Gameplay wise, I’m going for a Zelda-Like over-world: you can walk, run and attack. Monsters will be on over-world, you can get an advantage if you strike first. You’ll also need your weapon to move around the terrain or solve puzzles. (potentially will add more to the move-set as you progress, but that’s later in the development to consider)

i made a base-player object to fine tune the animation and add details like optional gloves + boots easier for me to add (gotta get into the headspace of using layers more in aesprite!) I’m unsure if I like the dust effect, but I think it helps the running look speedy and feel different to walking!

honestly all this development should of been done before but i was torn between using TML’s base project char object and remaking my own for ages. (plus, i spent the last few months unsure if i was moving to Unity or Godot) but hey, doing that now. i’ve been mainly working on story so its nice to actually start building the game again! the non-player stuff with naming + intro are already done of course, though will need to be remade as I’ve improved as an artist and with the new cut-scene system I can do this more efficiently.

my main plan is to get a prototype of the first 5 minutes of the game done within a week. ideally i’d like to make a fully-polished prototype within that week as well, but that’s idealistic at best... i’m shooting for 2 weeks, though that could easily become 3 weeks.

none of this will be available to play yet btw, after the prototype, i want to be able to get some feedback (heyo if u wanna be a play-tester hmu) then i’ll get to making it so you can get the first “area” mapped out.

my idea is that the above will be playable in the demo. you’ll have a house (to farm and have chores) explore the local woods and mountain area for side quests and just for fun.

the one main area will be the start of the linear story. the final release you’ll have access to the whole island -within reason. The other 2 areas will be soft-locked until you progress the plot in the main area. while this limits the open-world aspect, i like the idea of holding back the choices until certain parts of the game are established first. then you can run around wild! The second and third main areas are your choice to which to do first -and the plot will play out differently depending on that.

There’s still the obvious No Mercy - Neutral - Pacifist choices in play here as well. I’m limiting the scope of this to have the last 2 areas be different, but the overall plot line stays some-what the same. (if i was being paid, that’d be a different story lmao) but still, all of this will add up and hopefully be exciting to experience.

I really want exploration and the feeling that you are living in this world to be the main get-away from the game. while the most important core of the story lies within The Knight and the Player Character, this is my second biggest goal for the game.

I hope you all enjoy Angel’s Lullaby and are as excited as I am to see it progress! thank you so much for all those who’ve been sticking by me and my stories throughout the years. i’m really hoping for a demo release in 2022.

if any mutuals are intrigued by this game’s potential... i’m up for talking story again once this prototype stuff is finished up with. atm i wanna concentrate on making the core game-play feel good and i’m not worried about the story. but once that’s finished, there’s a lot of story problems -that some have been solved by the open-world structure, but just as many glaring issues have arisen. it’s a pretty daunting story now haha.

while i got a few new team members, I’d like a few more people to talk to deeply over this project. It feels great to spit-ball ideas back and forth! but I also understand people are busy and I’ve already asked a lot from people with the rough draft peer-reviews lmao. i guess i’ll just put this here in the off chance something comes out of it.

[sanguine-tenshi]

I just finished Inazuma and I have words

TL;DR: Hate the story, mixed on characters, love the design and tired of being treated like a 4-year-old with a learning disability.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

Let’s start with what I like.

Inazuma is absolutely beautiful. I’ll admit Inazuma hits a lot of aesthetic points for me. All the islands are different enough to feel unique but they still look like they are a part of the same land. There are a lot of secrets to discover through just exploring. Each island has a world quest to help it (make it less hostile towards you) so it very much feels like you are saving Inazuma from itself.

.

The puzzles are alright.

I like the cubes that rotate, I always put in the effort to figure them out properly.

Hate the ones that don’t rotate, they just aren’t engaging enough for me, so I just hit them at random and hope for the best.

The glowing floor tiles were fun, once you actually realized what they wanted you to do. A little bit too easy if I’m honest.

The electro compass isn’t really much of a puzzle, more of a fetch the nearest electrograna quest.

Those little pillars that require an electro connection are kinda boring to me, again not much of a puzzle, the hardest part is finding both pillars.

I love the new electro seelie, kinda hard to follow the jittery thing in certain parts but they make a nice contrast to the regular seelies.

.

I’m very much mixed on characters.

Yoimiya is adorable. She is so bright and bubbly. What little game play we had with her was fun and I love her over the top style of fighting. Kinda disappointed she’s another pyro archer but I do admit it fits her character well. It was also wonderful seeing her just settle down and be quiet, just be a part of that moment that obviously meant a lot to her. It’s always nice to see that bubbly, energetic character have that one quiet thing, ya know. Kinda funny it’s fireworks, of all things, for her.

Gorou I like, from what little we’ve seen of him. My man killed a dude with his thighs so I’m down. I do find it kinda ridiculous that a resistance general has his whole damn belly exposed. There is also something about his voice that just does not fit. I cannot for the life of me put my finger on what exactly it is. Could be the tone itself, could be just voice acting. It sort of feels like the VA is trying to sound deeper than he actually does.

Sangonomiya Kokomi, mixed. I like her design, she looks like some sort of mystical priestess. Again something about the voice is jarring. I expected her to sound sort of airy, like she isn’t 100% present, like she’s seeing something we can’t. TBH she reminds me of Luna from HP for some reason. 

Yae Miko, I was interested because of her design. She sounds very arrogant and up her own ass, which would have been fine...if she hadn’t given us that god-awful line. “...I have high hopes for you, child. Don’t disappoint me.” Dear lord I wanted to punt her off the mountain. Or fucking what! Also she’s some bigshot priestess of the Sacred Sakura and yet she can’t do her damn job properly. Why couldn’t her arrogant ass come down from her high perch and cleanse the stupid roots? Why did the traveler have to do that shit?

Baal looks dead inside. Booba sword is overrated, get a life. I want a remach! And no cutscene shenanigans this time!

Kujou Sara seems like one of those ‘honor above all else’ characters. Those are either hit or miss with me. You have my attention for now. Also what are those shoes woman?! I’d rather you wear those leg-killing, needle point stilettoes instead of those Wish gag shoes. How in the name of all that is holy can you run in those?!

Thoma, I like him. At first I thought we were gonna get another Childe incident, but Thoma is too much of a innocent puppy to pull anything that horrible. To me he fits a fox a lot better than Childe does. Childe is a dingo and I stand behind that.

Kamisato Ayaka...hate her. At first I was neutral on her. Nothing about her design really spoke to me, but I was willing to wait and see. But then miHoYo started to violently push her friendship at us. We are totally friends now, this is the first time you see my face, but we are so totally friends now. And during her story quest everyone was like “Ah, you are so good Ayaka. You are so nice Ayaka. You are so perfect Ayaka. We all love you so much Ayaka. And oh, how could a mere merchant like myself...” Ew, go away. This is the first time I’m actively not pulling on a character banner. Normally I pull even if I’m not particularly interested in a character, because you never know how good their gameplay is until you take them out in the map. But I think I’ll be skipping this one. No thanks.

.

And now, the worst part, the story.

We’ve been hearing about the situation in Inazuma for a long time. There has been also a lot of talk about how hard it is to get there. About the wall of thunderclouds that surround the islands. So to have it cut to black and then voila Inazuma, feel just so cheap.

I was expecting something. An animation. A struggle. A quest. A minigame. At least show us the horrible weather! Something! Anything!

Hell if they wanted to be assholes about it they could have made it so that if the player fails at this point the ship is damaged, you return to Liyue and have to wait until tomorrow for the ship to be repaired. No Inazuma for today. That sure as hell would have raised the stakes.

The next complaint I have is with Yurika, the 2 milion mora processing fee girl. Later on Thoma mentions that the agency people see the fees as easy money, so her attitude doesn’t make much sense. After all someone like her would want to extract as much money as she can, but you still want the people to be able to pay that.

So it would make more sense to me if she was overly friendly and asked way too many questions. She’d need to get a much information as she can and after all the previous hostility people would be very open with her. So she’d be able to quickly find out why someone is here, what they are selling and roughly how much money they’d be able to pay. A merchant selling expensive silk would have more many than a regular ore merchant. So she’d be able to extract as much money as she could.

“I know this is a lot of money, especially for something so simple, but there is nothing I can do about it. I’m so very sorry.” And people wouldn’t say anything bad to her because she’s the first friendly face they see in Inazuma.

The stealth mission was just god-awful and I hope we never have to do that nonsense again.

Getting off of Ritou was a bit janky at the end, Chisato should have had a better reason for coming along. But I’m honestly just glad we didn’t get out the usual way...getting stuffed in a crate and smuggled out.

As a side note, I’m getting really tired of characters overexplaining things to me, especially Paimon. Dear lord, not everything has to be said, you can leave me to come to my own conclusions and solutions. Just please, who cares if a few player struggle for a bit, you don’t have to hold my hand through the whole thing.

Ayaka’s three were...ugh. It was basic emotional manipulation. Oh no this guy forgot about the love of his life and he’s been waiting for decades. And oh how sad this guy was so good and he helped these people so much but now he can’t remember. And oh the tragedy this guy forgot his life goal and is now hunted by the demons of the past. Oh the humanity! 

And it did not work. Know why? Because I have no emotional investment in any of these people, in this land. What is happening to the vision bearers in Inazuma is tragic, true, but that doesn’t make me want to overthrow the government. I don’t live here. I just got here. I wanna ask a question or two and then move on. None of this concerns me.

I was so happy when the traveler just flat out refused to start a revolution. And then we had to go and meet some people and immediately I knew this was going to be some oh noes the tragedy moments and then we would agree to help them.

It’s so forced.

Wanna know what would have been better?

Just as we are leaving the Kamisato estate Thoma catches up with us. And he tells us he gets it. We are an outsider and this doesn’t concern us. He was hopeful but he expected the denial. We shouldn’t hold it against Ayaka.

He joins us as a guide because he knows of the people we have to meet.

And so as we help these three we also get to know Thoma. We find out he was an outsider too. He got in just before the worst of it started and then he was stuck in Inazuma. He lost someone to the Vision Hunt. They slowly lost their mind after loosing their vision, their ambition too closely tied to their personality to continue without it (what is happening to Domon hits a little too close to home and he has to walk away, this is where we hear the story of the one he lost). And the same would have happened to him if the Kamisatos hadn't taken him in. He owes them his vision, his sanity and his life.

So this rebellion is personal for him.

At the end of the three wishes the atmosphere is somber. We tell him we understand why Ayaka fights, why he fights. We know that this is all wrong, that it should be stopped...but not by us. We came here to get a lead on our brother. And rebellion isn’t an overnight affaire and we can’t loose so much time in Inazuma.

And yeah, he expected as much. He just asks that we let Ayaka down gently. It’d be a shame if someone as idealistic and hopeful as her lost their spark.

And so we are gentle but firm with Ayaka. She looks like she wants to argue with us but Thoma shakes his head at her. So she sighs and tells us that a promise is a promise. We should come to the Komore Teahouse in a few days and she’ll have a plan for us to meet with the Shogun.

Now we can still have a character story quest with Yoimiya and we can still somehow get involved with helping Master Masakatsu, but it’s through Yoimiya instead of Ayaka.

And instead of a character story quest with Ayaka we have one with Thoma. Hell, give him a whole damn hangout event even.

You can probably guess why I’m pushing the friendship with Thoma so much.

Because. He. Gets. Kidnapped. For. The. 100th. Vision. Ceremony. 

And that would have been the perfect emotional in to get us involved in the rebellion. After all we just saw what happens to people who have their visions taken away and we are not letting that happen to Thoma, someone we just got close to.

So Baal makes it personal for us as well.

.

I have a few more minor complaints.

Aoi is stupid for asking for compensation after she tells us everything we needed to know because, ya know, we could have just walked away. We should have.

The whole stupid misunderstanding about the value Kurosawa’s sword holds. Kinda obvious he meant emotional value instead of monetary.

The suspicious amount of visionless NPCs and by that I mean this is the first time we have NPCs with vision. This wouldn’t have been a problem if we’ve seen NPCs with visions in Mond and Liyue.

The whole rebellion camp bit feels incredibly rushed. We just sort of lollygag over there and then there is a fight (against Sara and her stupid shoes).

Don’t make us fight Baal just to force us to lose. It would have been better if we were forced to retreat, because Thoma was injured, because there are too many soldiers for us to handle on our own. Hell, you can have a funny scene where we straight up jump off a cliff with Thoma clinging onto us and screaming bloody murder until he realizes we are slowly gliding away and he’s not about to plummet to his death.

The Sakura cleansing quest should have been voice acted.

The Mirror Maiden and Pyro Agent are totally on a date, I will not be told otherwise.

[gra-sonas]

So just wanted to tell you how cute I found your answer to an ask where you asked are you a terrible Alex fan if you wanna see him hurt. To me that is usually a reason why I watch a TV show cause I just love the hurt/comfort storylines 😅 To this day I think one of my most favourite Teen Wolf episodes is Motel California cause that scene where Stiles is possessed and is trying to hurt himself is just pure perfection. This is one of those emotional whumps that I love. I kinda think those scenes really show how good of an actor someone is. So yeah to me you're not terrible for wanting some hurt and comfort with his OTP after that 🥰 But maybe I am weird so I'm not a representative person to judge 😅

Haha, thank you, nonnie! 🥰 [Sorry that it took so long to answer, but this turned out longer than intended and... uhm... see for yourself? 😳]

I'm usually a huge fan of the hurt/comfort trope (my favorite Sterek fic is the most perfect h/c fic ever), but it pains me (ha!) to think about Alex or Michael getting hurt in any way. 🥺 I want them to have nice things, wrap them in fluffy blankets in front of a cozy fire and feed them hot chocolate.

I think I handle h/c better in fic, bc it all only happens in my head, but seeing Alex or Michael hurt on screen? 😱

Like... [h/c ficlet, blood cw, implied temporary almost!character death, NO ONE DIES]

Michael is sobbing in agony because Alex is bleeding from a chest wound he just can't stop from spilling fresh blood. Alex goes limp in Michael's arms, and he can barely hear Alex breathe any longer.

Michael frantically presses his hand on Alex's wet chest in a poor attempt to apply pressure, but the blood continues to seep into the fabric of Alex's jacket and turns it an ugly shade of dark copper.

Michael is so desperate, he's whispering Alex's name over and over, calling him every endearment under the sun just to get a reaction from him but Alex can't hear him because he's already unconscious. Or worse.

Michael kisses Alex's clammy lips and whispers "I love you, please, Alex, don't leave me. I don't want to live without you. I can't!"

Michael tries to think of something. Anything to save Alex, tears are spilling from his eyes and he can barely see when—

Suddenly, he knows with absolute clarity what to do. He fumbles with his free hand to open the buttons of Alex's bloody jacket before he hits the next barrier. He tears the shirt Alex is wearing to shreds with a single thought and looks at Alex's bloody chest in an attempt to locate the wound. To no avail.

Without further thinking he places his left hand - the one Jesse Manes mangled, the one that Max healed, the one Michael's kept hidden from the world (and his own eyes) for more than two years under greasy bandanas, the one Alex kissed so tenderly when he took the bandana off for good just last night - on Alex's chest, ignores how slippery the blood makes everything, closes his eyes, and then—

His hand starts getting warm. And warmer. It's getting hot, he blinks his eyes open, and his hand is glowing a deep and pulsing red.

Not a second to waste, Michael pushes with everything he has, every ounce of love he feels for Alex, begging for all the stars to align, and the universe to aid him in his quest to save the person he loves more than life itself. He's screaming now, desperate to push Alex away from the brink of death.

He has no idea how long it takes, but suddenly he feels Alex stir in his arms, he's taking a deep gasping breath, he opens his eyes and stares at Michael. "What?"

Michael collapses and falls on his back, pulling Alex with him into the safety of his embrace. He feels like he's about to vomit, but after a few deep breaths, the nausea caused by the overuse of his powers is manageable. Alex struggles against his tight grip.

"Michael? Michael, what's going on? Are you okay? And why is my chest wet?"

"Gimme a second," Michael mumbles. Alex turns in his arms until he faces Michael.

"Michael, have I been shot?"

Michael nods, which isn't a good idea because another wave of nausea hits him.

"And you healed me? Or was it a resurrection?"

"Not sure, you stopped breathing," Michael mumbles. He squeezes his eyes shut before he tries talking again. "Nail polish remover. Backpack," he gets out before he has to stop. The back of his throat tastes like bile.

Alex scrambles to get up on his knees. He looks around and sees the backpack Michael dropped on a nearby chair. He stretches to reach one of the backpack straps and pulls. The backpack topples over and falls down on the floor. Alex drags it across the floor until he can reach inside. He pulls a bottle of nail polish remover out, uncaps it, and turns around to Michael.

He holds the bottle softly pressed against Michael's lips until he's able to take a couple of carefully measured sips. About five minutes later, he's feeling a little less peckish, and he's able to tell Alex what's happened. They are lying on the floor again, facing each other and holding hands.

When Michael's finished, Alex looks down at his chest. "This is incredible, Michael. I don't feel any different than before. Only that my shirt is kind of glued to my chest hair in places. But other than that, there's no pain, nothing," he says, in awe of Michael's new ability.

He leans forward to press his lips against Michael's in a tender kiss. "I also feel you," he whispers. "It's like you're a part of me. It's this golden presence, I don't know how better to describe it."

Michael smiles at him. "I love that. According to Max, I should also be able to share memories with you. I'm just not sure if that uses up more power, and I'm still feeling pretty weak."

Alex captures Michaels stubbly cheek in his hand. "There's no rush, baby. Let's go home when you can walk again. And then we have a lifetime together to explore everything we can do with this new ability and you leaving handprints on me."

"Home and a lifetime together with you? That's all I've ever wanted, Alex."

Alex winks at him. "I know."

"A lifetime of Star Wars references sounds like heaven to me," Michael chuckles. "Let's go home, Chewie."