#atom's is up next in queue!

[deerspherestudios]

🔍 QNA MASTERLIST (LYS VER.👻) 🔎

This masterlist contains all questions and posts relating to Alma from Lift Your Spirits. They might also be referred to as Vida.

General Info about Alma❕

They love junk food. + dev ramble about their design inspiration.

Their favorite food is popcorn and chocolate-dipped churros.

They can form legs if they wish, but prefer to float.

Their birthday is on 20th July! 🎂

Their race is ambiguous as Alma. (If someone asks me about Vida specifically I'd be happy to answer in it's own post and add it here since their appearance in MO.)

Their reaction to discovering someone pushed the vending machine that killed them on purpose.

They can touch things if they concentrate.

Their favorite color is red. + Their height is 6'4 (193cm).

Their reaction to another ghost in the campus building. (same post as above)

Their favorite character in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic pre-death would be Rainbow Dash. Post-death would be Zecora. + dev rambles.

Their MBTI is INTJ-J.

They love listening to city pop, math rock and swing jazz.

They would win against Mychael (Mushroom Oasis).

They would visit MC if they lived on campus.

They would disappear if the campus building is torn down/destroyed. + dev ramble about ideas for a sequel.

They have an interest in space and would've majored in astronomy.

Alma’s romantic traits…❔

They identify as panromantic demisexual.

Their love language is performing acts of service for others and receiving quality time.

Their preferred pet names for themselves are ones that're sweet and dessert-like. + They would call their partner "my comet."

Their gifts for MC + favorite Christmas activities + thoughts on hot cocoa (as Alma and Vida.)

About Laika…🐕❔

Their dog's name Laika is based off the Soviet space dog.

Laika is hinted to be an ex-service dog.

Laika is given to a family member after their death.

Extras❕

Some in-game and general loredump!

Alma giving you coins for the vending machine.

Alma accepting sodas from the player.

Silly Alma monster-form edit.

Alma being (not) hit by a snowball.

Their reaction to mistletoe.

[gallusrostromegalus]

You ohhhandedly mentioned tessai livong through ww2 and… wow thats true there were a lot of characters that got a first row seat to both conflicts, even if only the second was really impactful on japans history. Does urahara, yoruichi, tessai, the vizored or any of the shinigami have any specific feelings on ww2/the nuclear bombs? I know its a wild fucking question but it literally just occurred to me and i cant stop thinking about it.

Yeah WW2 is an entire 5-chapter arc in the fic because apparently Kubo is from Hiroshima, and Karakura town is based on his memories growing up there. Stuff that happens during that arc:

The Soul Society's sole warning that something catastrophic might be coming is the arrival of an irradiated and enraged Coyote spirit from the Trinidad test site. It's up to Newly-appointed captain Komamura to calm it down and explain what happened, and Mayuri is able to work out that atomic weapons are real from it's descriptions. He gives Soul Society about a month before the humans drop one on a city.

Unfortunately, he's correct.

***

Urahara and the Visoreds use the fact that they're already dead to mitigate some of the damage from the bombing by walking into the epicenter and shoving carbon rods into the most radioactive points, stemming much of the radiation damage, but there's nothing they can do for the initial wave of destruction.

It involves going through a new gigai every trip and learning what if feels like to have the flesh actually melt off your bones, but Hirako Shinji and the other Visored are no cowards, least of all about Hard and Dirty Work.

Tessai makes Ururu and Jinta out of spare parts from Urahara's Gigai experiments to house a heavily damage Kitsune and Tanuki spirit pair from a shrine that was destroyed. Ururu is the Tankuki, and the older one- Jinta seems a bit more 'organic' because Tessai learned a lot making his sister, and because as a Kitsune, he's a better actor.

***

Soul Society is in major trouble though.

with the sudden influx of souls- first from the bombing, but then from the radiation sickness and the famine that followed, the living and spirit worlds are in danger of becoming unbalanced.

It's a Major Crisis!

Fortunately for them, people with sociopathy tend to operate really well during Crises, and I realized the reason Mayuri hasn't been fired or killed by the time Ichigo shows up is that when shit hits the fan, Mayuri's lack of emotional response to the suffering of others means he can buckle down and fucking DELIVER.

Expansions to the pocket dimension that the queue of incoming souls is housed in? He didn't sleep for two weeks to get it done on time, but there was more than enough room when the bomb dropped and for the few months after as casualties continued.

Emergency rations for all these incoming factory workers that know nothing about farming? Behold, Nutritionally complete meals that you can eat right out of the box! And smaller, friendlier ones for the kiddies!

Hell, the 12th division even makes instructional propaganda videos about how safe and tasty these new foods are, featuring The Grand Clown Himself, and distribution centers featuring his likeness, so Mayuri enjoys a peculiar popularity in the Rukongai, not unlike an off-brand and sometimes educational Krusty The Clown.

Just ah. Stop asking questions about the ingredients list.

***

"I'm not fucking killing civillians." Says Kenpachi when Yamamoto begins to bring up the historical method that the Shinigami have used to balance out sudden influxes of souls from the living world.

"Oh?" Yamamoto glares at him. "You have a better idea?"

"What's them big fuckers that come outta tears sometimes? Hundred feet tall, black, bird faces?" He asks, waving as he tries to remember the names.

"...Menos Grande?" asks Ukitake, who has gotten remarkably good at interpreting for the man next to him at meetings.

"Yeah!" Zaraki grins, patting his six-foot-tall colleague on the head like a small child. "You said they're like... combination creatures of a thousand souls each right?"

"Zaraki is correct." Pipes up Tousen, who is also extremely eager to not murder civilians and even more eager to absolutely fuck up the army of Menos Aizen has been gathering in Hueco Mundo. "-It wouldn't be *easy* but dispatching approximately Five hundred Menos in the next week seems much more doable and much, much more morally sound than killing five hundred thousand civillians. Sir."

Kaname can feel the curse nails on his back starting to bleed from Aizen's glare but he presses on.

"-There appears to be a significant population of them gathered on the far eastern edge of Hueco Mundo. It would probably take most of the 11th Division's forces but-"

"IKKAKU!" Zaraki is already bellowing out the door to his lieutenant. "TELL EVERYONE TO PACK AN EXTRA PAIR OF PANTIES, WE'RE GOING ON A HOLLOW HUNT!"

There is a distant but enthusiastic whoop form Ikkaku in reply.

"An excursion into Hueco Mundo is exceptionally dangerous." Unohana notes, voice placid as he returns to the table.

"-and? I don't do this job because it's safe 'n' easy." Zaraki shrugs.

Her neutral expression softens just a bit into a small, affectionate and perhaps ever-so-slightly lascivious smile. "May I suggest that a detachment of the 4th Division accompany the 11th? It won't make the work easier, but it will mitigate some of the risk."

Yamamoto groans, aware that the decision has been made for him.

"Fine." He grunts. "Take a detachment of the Ninth too, you can use that newfangled radiodar whatsit to keep me updated."

"Pardon?" Mumbles Kaname, slightly woozy from blood loss.

His circulatory situation is not helped when an illusion-blind-to-the-blood Zaraki grabs him about the middle and starts carrying him off under his arm in exactly the direction the 9th and 11th are not like a particularly bewildered purse Chihuahua.

***

Aizen... almost strays from his path.

The Hogyoku is slow and tiresome, his first plan to barrage Karakura with Menos to create the Oken is being trashed and actually being forced to work his job of Rukongai Management is- Well, it's reminding him just why he started this quest to Dethrone God.

What loving creator would make an afterlife of squalor, where the 'lucky' are cursed to outlive everyone they know and love? Not one worth worshiping, surely.

But actually being out here, setting up emergency food distribution, implementing the latest in civil engineering from the newly arrived and seeing it immediately improve the quality of life, uniting families and... actually helping people? it's making him question his path. Perhaps- Perhaps God is not some uncaring regent on a distant throne. Perhaps God is something that lives in all souls, a kindness and goodwill towards one's fellow man, and to spread the will of a loving creator, one must Act to Enact God's Will...

Gin Panics.

He has not spent the last 300-odd years dangling the Hogyoku in front of Aizen, stuffing him full of spiritual energy to feed to the machine that generates reality like he was fattening up a goose for Pate, only to have him give up his quest for divinity NOW.

He's gonna have to do something drastic.

He's gonna have to convince Aizen he was right all along, and that he needs to keep using the Hogyoku.

He's going to need to use Aizen's own Illusions against him, and convince Aizen that the souls of the citizens of the rukongai aren't worth playing a Benevolent God for. That the whole thing needs to come out and be replaced.

Sure, it's a dick move

but those are his specialty.

***

It's the night before the 11th and the two detachments are supposed to leave for Hueco Mundo, and Yamamoto's been doing some thinking.

He is also in Zaraki's quarters at midnight sharp. "Captain-General." Nods Unohana, pausing mid-activity to acknowledge him. "Bruh." Zaraki grunts to indicate they were busy. "I need to borrow Zaraki for an hour or so, and then you may continue." he says, and then steps back outside so the man can get untied and dressed.

"This better be good old man, I know you haven't been married for a few centuries but REALLY-" Zaraki grumbles, emerging and putting his sandals on. "Don’t worry, it’ll take twenty minutes tops, all you have to do is stand behind me and don’t hide your rage." Yamamoto explains. "-We'’re going to go see the central 46." Zaraki pauses mid-sandal, slowly looking up at him with an intrigued arch to his brow. "Yes, it’s forbidden." Yamamoto says, not tearing his gaze away from the moon above them. "-But I've received reports that the Central 46 has acquired blueprints of the... Device. Used in the living world earlier this month and I'm nipping this at the damn bud." Zaraki grins, and finishes putting his sandals on.

The Central 46 are alerted to the Presence of Yamamoto and Zaraki by the main gate to their district being kicked through the wall of the council chambers.

"Hello, Sages and Wise Councilors of the Soul Society!" The Old Man greets them as he steps through the hole he just made, and The Barbarian squeezing through after, sword casually over his shoulder. "Well isn't this a surprise, everyone here in a full meeting at One in the Morning on a Teusday!"

"Wh-What is the meaning of this?" one of the head councilmen sputters, mustache bristling. "Shinigami are forbidden form this place, I'll have you both execu-!"

"Shut up." Yamamoto glares, and sparks fly from the corner of his eye. The hem of his Haori is starting to smolder and singe as well as he approaches the table the councilors are crowded around the blueprints from the living world.

"Now, we are all good and honorable people here." Yamamoto says, casually waving a hand in what would normally be a placating gesture but now only made his sleeve flicker as Ryujin Jakka grew hungrier. "-But I've been around long enough to know how Power corrupts."

"And we've all been exposed to a new, horrific level of Power."

"Oh, of course, you would never! It's unthinkable to sink to such a level!"

"...but it's been a few weeks. The initial shock has faded, and you're starting to understand the full toll of the destruction." he explains, strolling up, the diamond insignia on his back spreading across his shoulders as the Haori singes. Behind him, Zaraki is following with an unpleasantly carnivorous stroll, yellow eye lazily moving from face to face, taking stock of all those present. "...and you are perhaps developing a new standard of devastation and suffering to wish upon your enemies."

There is some muttering, some protesting, and worse, some agreeing. They are silenced by a sudden electric crackle of Energy from Zaraki.

"I’m just here to tell you all-" Yamamoto continues, unperturbed. Or perhaps so perturbed he's warped all the way around to a deep, ruthless peace.

"If I hear any ONE of you has taken steps to develop a weapon like this-" he points a finger at the blueprints, which singe and then burn, a low, slow flame that reduces them completely to ash.

"-I’m going to kill all of you."

"Actually," he explains, as the blueprints finish burning and the table catches as well, fire blooming and crackling, lighting him from beneath. "I’m going to kill all of you and your families. By which I mean, I’m figuring out who all your ancestors were going back Five generations, Kill them, and kill all their descendants."

The table burns, and the floor is threatening to catch, but nobody can move to ring the fire alarm or grab a bucket of water.

"-Because that’s the kind of indiscriminate destruction these things cause." he explains. "It's a damn shame to say this, but this is the first time we've been able to settle whole families in the same town- because five, six, even seven generations of families, from great-great grandmother to the newest infants were burnt together in an instant."

"So if you want to wield that kind of destruction, you best be prepared to deal with those kinds of consequences." he growls, and suddenly sweeps his hand over the fire, which snuffs out immediately.

Slowly he turns to go, and regards Zaraki behind him.

"Oh, and just in case any of you had thoughts of hastening my retirement in regards to this matter-" he speaks up, and points to Zaraki "-Near as I can tell, this asshole is immortal and indestructible, so if I happen to be dead, he'll do it for me, won't you?"

"Yes, sir." Zaraki Nods, eye fixed on the head councilor, committing his face to memory, blade and crackling eagerly.

"-and he's nowhere near as speedy and clean a killer as I am, so I suggest you don't test either of us." Yamamoto grins, and Ryujin Jakka can't help but flicker off his brow for emphasis.

"Goodnight, and go fuck yourselves." Yamamoto bows, and exits through the same hole he entered.

The walk back to the 11th is largely silent, but Yamamot can feel the pleased-yet-curious thrum of reiatsu from Zaraki.

"Question, boss-" he suddenly speaks as they approach the 11th.

"You're not supposed to question orders, Zaraki." He sighs. He'll make a proper shinigami out of him. Eventually.

"...Request for clarification, Boss-" Zaraki tries again, and Yamamoto nods. "-Why me?"

Yamamoto arches an overgrown brow at him.

"Not complainin'-" Zaraki explains, pointedly looking up at the moon and scratching his neck in deferment. "-But Byakuya's got more sway with them and Gin's definitely better at terrifying first impressions."

"Hm." Yamamoto nods. "It's in the follow-up, not the impression, you see."

"I do not." Zaraki says. For all his faults and frustrations, Zaraki sure keeps Yamamoto on his toes about not being lazy and actually explaining himself.

"-I am very serious about you killing them and their descendants if they ever think about making one of those devices." he sighs and Zaraki nods, waving a hand for him to continue. "-So I picked the Shinigami most invested in a peaceful future to make sure my orders would be carried out."

Zaraki still looks confused.

"You're my only captain with children, Zaraki." Yamamoto explains. "I know you only give half a rat's ass about the court guard, but I've seen what you'll do for Yachiru."

Zaraki nods understanding now, and a few more paces of silence pass between them.

"...Thank you, Sir." Zaraki mutters, bowing his head and using the honorific with genuine intent for the first time since Yamamoto had known him. "-For understanding."

"Thank you, Captain Zaraki." Yamamoto nodded slightly, stopping before the gate to the 11th. "-For understanding as well."

"-Now get back to Captain Unohana before she schedules some sort of blood test of a thousand needles for me!" Yamamoto grunted, prodding at Zaraki with his cane, and the man didn't need to be told twice.

[thollandneedy]

Bunny- Nathan Drake

A/N: Missing Nathan Drake btw cause he's SO HOT (Loving the Halloween themed stuff btw)

Summary: You take Nate to night out, but he gets jealous with the guys hitting on you

Warnings: Language and teasing

Don’t forget to share, like, comment and leave your ideas here

Bellah’s Masterlist 🪻

“Do we really need to go?” The brunette with the hair fixed with styling gel says

“Yes! You've spent the whole week worrying about Sully and he hasn't given you any feedback about your next trip. You need to calm down a bit.” Y/n, her best friend mentions, as she stares at some of the people in front of her in the queue at one of New York's biggest nightclubs.

Y/n knew everything that was going on in Nathan's life, not least because he could be anything, but he was terrible at hiding his feelings or big news, especially from her. Y/n and Nathan had met as soon as he got his first job working in a coffee shop near where she was studying. It didn't take long for the two of them to get close and begin to develop feelings that went beyond friendship. Y/n wouldn't admit that she liked him to anyone, because she believed that if she ever confessed, he wouldn't react in the same way.

Nathan was the typical guy who liked to enjoy the evening, regardless of whether Y/n was by his side or not, but after his best friend broke up with her boyfriend, he decided to focus all his efforts on looking after her. Nate liked Y/n, not least because it was hard not to fall in love with the girl who let him cry on her shoulder when he stopped receiving letters from his brother Sam. The streets were crowded, even though it was close to ten o'clock at night, and the danger of New York was creeping up on the girls with expensive handbags and cell phones.

“That costume is itchy, bunny.” Nate complains, smoothing down the Space Jam basketball jersey that was chafing his chest.

Y/n rolled his eyes at the nickname. He knew she hated being called that. Halloween week was approaching, and it was almost impossible to find a costume party. The brunette didn't like dressing up, especially in the clothes of his best friend's ex, but he had promised himself that he wouldn't let his desires get in the way of Y/n's “healing” process. The cold wind whipped against his exposed legs, making him hug his own body for warmth.

“I told you to put a blouse on underneath.” Y/n turned her face to the brunette, and smiled at him as she noticed how adorable he was wearing rabbit ears.

“It's not funny. I told you to go Matrix.” The man crosses his arms, trying once again to explain his flawed idea.

He couldn't lie and say that she wasn't flawless in that costume. It wasn't the most original idea in the world, but it was certainly one of the best on her body that night. The white top perfectly outlined her breasts, while the shorts managed to effortlessly hug her ass, even making it look bigger than usual. A few men passed by looking her up and down, but she didn't mind since she had someone to protect her if she needed it.

“But I already had my Lolla costume ready.” The girl taps her foot, causing her fake ears to wiggle on her head.

The queue moved long enough for both of them to be seen. A pink bracelet was placed on the couple's arm, and then they headed down a narrow corridor with neon lights directing them to each space according to the package they had bought. Fortunately for Nathan Drake's fortune, which until now had been hidden from the media and any other curious people who might jeopardize his reputation, the place they had picked up was VIP. The dark-haired man took one of his best friend's free hands, gently guiding her to the stairs above one of the main stages, which was already packed with several costumed characters. Y/n squeezes the man's hand, who responds with a squeeze of the same intensity. The colored lights blended into each other, while the music was so loud that it could make the atoms in Y/n's body move in sync.

Nathan made his way to the VIP area, where his pink bracelet was checked, as was his friend's, by the security guard at the door to the other area. The space was large, with a long table with several bartenders on hand to serve him a cool drink, while there were several sofas for him to sit on after a few hours of dancing.

“Shall we get something to drink?” Y/n asks as soon as his eyes meet the bar.

“Don't you want to dance first? The dance floor is downstairs, we just need to put your bag in the locker.” Nate approaches her ear, saying loudly over the loud 2000s music that was invading her ears.

The girl nodded, once again following her best friend as he held her hand. She didn't know if it was because she had recently broken up, or the simple fact that she was completely in love with Nate, who made butterflies fly around in her stomach every time he took her hand to lead her somewhere.

Y/n excitedly walks down the stairs, watching from above the crowd nearby, dancing to the electronic house beats played by the night's DJ. Nate positioned himself at her side, touching her waist and guiding her steps at the same speed and in the same direction as his. The middle of the dance floor seemed to be too small with so many people inhabiting it, while Y/n didn't even care about the people passing by. The girl straightened her ears, facing Nathan and smiling in satisfaction. The man allowed himself to be carried away by the agitated beat, moving his shoulders and the rest of his body in one continuous rhythmic step, while Y/n closed his eyes to feel the music around him.

It was almost impossible for Nate to close his eyes when he was with Y/n, as if his eyes wouldn't allow him to focus on her. His body moved closer to her, causing their breasts to rub together and both of them to smile awkwardly at each other, their emotions melting in the heat of the moment. Their bodies seemed to be enchanted by each other, while their eyes read each other's souls.

It was sensual, frantic and frightening

Just as Drake had his intentions, other men thought the same, and it wasn't long before others caught Y/n's eye and bought him a drink.

The clock was about to strike 2:40 a.m., and Nate was leaning heavily on one of the leather chairs in the VIP area talking to a blonde girl with green eyes dressed as a fairy. His feet were restless, and he kept paying attention to the other side of the room, where Y/n was laughing about something with a man dressed as a policeman.

“Are you listening to me?” The blonde caught Nate's eye, and he just nodded and turned his eyes to the woman in front of him. “I think you're distracted by something else.” She insinuates.

“Yeah, yeah, love.” He denies it, placing one of his hands on the exposed knee of the girl in the pink dress. “Go ahead. I can hear you. You were talking about your trip to Mexico, right?”

“Yes!” The girl smiles, returning to the subject.

But he wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. Nathan found himself wondering why Y/n was laughing so much, or why she had accepted the invitation in the first place. They were together, with matching costumes and even sharing the cost of the drinks they had (even though he was going to pay for everything himself out of chivalry for his friend). She was a magnet, but she didn't seem to realize it, or it was all just a game to her.

On the other hand, Y/n looked away from Nate several times, but he never seemed to look when she was looking at him. The conversation with the policeman was empty, and not even the most expensive drink could buy his attraction. Nathan had something that made any woman want his lips, his touch and his attention, it seemed to be a magic that summoned the sex gods when his name was mentioned. The girl just agreed and laughed forced at the comments she couldn't even hear over the loud music. She wondered why Nathan was buying drinks for the blonde in the fairy costume, and why he hadn't picked her up from that lousy conversation until now.

The two seemed to be having an internal dispute over an external conflict.

Until finally their eyes met once more and locked like a padlock.

“And then I said to him: Since we're right here, we'd better go in headfirst.” The man dressed as a policeman finishes his office story, laughing out loud like a great comedian. “So. What do you say we go somewhere with fewer people?” The brunette moves closer to Y/n, causing the woman, who was holding a glass of red drink, to laugh humorlessly.

“I don't think so.” A male voice caught the policeman's attention, causing him to turn and face Nathan. “Y/n, shall we? It's late, and the party ends at four in the morning.”

Y/n opens her mouth to answer, but only a silent yes seems to be used. The girl hands the drink to the man who had paid for it, mumbling a well-articulated “sorry”. The dark-haired man takes the girl's hands and guides her to the changing room, getting in line to take her bag and coat. Nate stared at his own feet, until a sense of courage entered him so that he could be brave enough to ask:

“Did you want to hook up with him, Y/n?” Nate asked, catching the girl's eye.

“Did you want to stay with the fairy?” She retorts.

“Why do you care so much?” He crosses his arms.

“Because we were supposed to be together at the party, as far as I knew.” She replies, causing a certain confusion in the older man's eyes.

“Calm down, wait.” He steps in front of her, holding out both hands in a gesture of waiting. “You're the one who accepted the guy's invitation first.”

Y/n frowns, denying it.

“No.” She says. “It was you who got a call from the blonde who was dancing behind you and called you a cutie, asking if I was your girlfriend. And you said we were just friends, and then she asked you to buy her a drink.”

“As if I hadn't noticed that you were enjoying talking to the new member of the 99,” Nate rolls his eyes.

“I don't understand why you seem to be angrier than me. I came up with the costume idea, and you should be buying me a drink.” She says without patience, then covers her hand when she realizes what she's missed.

“Did you want me to buy you something?” Nate asked, still trying to pick up on the signals Y/n was sending out through his own mental confusion.

“That's not what I meant. It's just that… ugh.” The girl throws her head back, running her hand through her loose hair.

Nathan pulled her out of the queue and led her down one of the corridors to another VIP lane. The place was a little dark, with only a few white LED wires to illuminate the passage without people bumping into each other when they wanted to change lanes. Y/n leaned against the wall, relaxing her posture and snorting to herself.

Shit

“Y/n” Nathan catches her eye, removing the stuffed ears from her head.

The girl stares at him, keeping a guilty look on her face. The older man moves closer to the girl's drawn body, who insists on looking away and denying it to herself, as if everything in her head was a joke.

“I hate the fact that I see you with other people… well… women.” She admits. “I know I don't have the right, and you don't have the right to ask me who I talk to or don't talk to, but I can't stop looking at you when you're talking to a girl who isn't me. I didn't care before, but now I do.”

Nate smiles to himself, using one of his arms to support his body as he stretches out against the wall in an attempt to bring his face closer to Y/n's. The warmth of their breaths passes through each other. The warmth of their breaths merges, and their eyes meet in a discovery of feelings translated into the language they wanted so much to be verbal.

“So you accepted that guy's drink for what reason then, bunny girl?” The brunette asks, even though he already knows the answer.

Y/n didn't even know how to answer, because all her actions seemed to be on autopilot. She nodded, biting her lower lip and looking once again at Drake's face, which seemed to be getting closer and closer to her. She didn't need to say anything else, just feel what she needed. To feel wanted and loved, but not by just anyone, by him. Her lips grazed each other, playing with her heartbeat rather than allowing her desires to come true without a base. His eyes closed slowly, finally feeling the butterflies go away, leaving only the need for physical touch. Their tongues danced in sync to a sensual rhythm, while their hands embraced every part of each other's bodies.

Nate lightly squeezed Y/n's waist, trying to bring her closer to his warm body, feeling her breasts against his chest. The man slid one of his free hands around the back of the girl's neck, deepening the kiss that was no longer an innocent action. Every part of their bodies begged for more, since it had been a fantasy for so long. He was yours, and you were his, and no one could take that away from her. The fact that it was selfish was almost unavoidable, as the individual desires of each of you collided with each other in search of more pleasure.

The brunette grunted against the girl's mouth, who smiled against his lips in silent approval.

“I've wanted to do that for a long time.” He admits against the younger girl's ear, before the girl cups the brunette's jaw with her icy hand, bringing his mouth against hers again.

“Then finish what you started.” She urged, oblivious to the people passing by

“Let's get our coats quick” the brunette said, gently pulling her by the arm to leave the corridor.

[ask-de-writer]

About NORE’S CHOICE :

Parts 8 to 10 of 10 : MLP Fan Fiction

@nevermord​ READ, LIKED, REBLOGGED

and COMMENTED on

NORE’S CHOICE

Parts 8 to 10 of 10

MLP Fan Fiction

Of NORE’S CHOICE Parts 8 to 10 he said :

Of Part 8 : In teaching the Rom how to fuse these wodden pieces together, and learning how these horses hold things with their own version of magic, It makes me wonder. Does magic simply pass through all things at an atomic or molecular level, or are there some materials that would block even magic itself, meaning that ponies or horses couldn't lift it or move it?

In my AU, magic is fundamental. No such material exists. That was an error on the part of the Creator Titans. The whole world had to be made to follow basic laws of physics. The manipulation of magic, by ponies and other races, goes in direct violation/alteration of basic physical constants on a very small scale. This really didn't matter much, until there were millions and later billions of such events. The physical errors caused rapidly became huge.

Collectively, they work to cause major problems with the world, damaging its physical equilibrium and eventually rendering the world uninhabitable for its beings. Celestia and Luna were created by the Titan of Life Creation and given both the powers and the knowledge to make the necessary corrections to keep Equestria a safe place for ponies and others to live.

Of Part 9 : The soon-to-be Rom learn about pony weather teams and why they do not send the rains over Celestia's Anvil.

Marchhare learns more about the customs and music of these wonderful horses, and falls in love.

This was a fun, wonderful chapter.

Also, I just might have a little gift to post for you tomorrow, old friend. :)

Right. It is usually a matter for complex international diplomacy to send rains or set up weather control for other nations. In this case, due to the paired emergencies, the salvaged cloud systems were sent to and did break the drought in Gyptia.

Marchhare, as you observed, learns more about the customs of the band and realizes the importance of both music and dance to his new friends. And, as you observed, falls in love, though Nore had to sort of hit him over the head to make him realize it.

Glad that you enjoyed it.

Got your present and it was delightful! Posted it for all to read.

Of Part 10 : While their path will not be free of strife, the Rom have a very bright future before them, full of hope, love, music and dance. I do love this origin story, difficult though the journey may have been for them. It was more than worth it in the end!

Got to agree with you in every particular! This was the first section of the ORIGIN OF THE ROM. The next section is already in the queue.

[avislux]

Anime Expo 2023 recap

Well it's long since I've lost my fervant passion for Bocchi The Rock. I still love it, just not to the extent that I'm thinking of it every second. I went to Anime Expo 2023 for 4 days, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Made some friends. Got to see Rie Takahashi in person. I wish I was more excited for that but I was excited enough.

Day 1

Panels all day long. Got up to 6 to arrive in LA around 7:20. Encountered some traffic on the way surprisingly, so I made a note to get up earlier. Lined up for the queue to get in then for the first panel of the day, Colorful Stage with Tomori Husonoki and Hinata Sato. Unfortunately I don't know these two seiyuu that well. I downloaded the game but haven't played it yet. Dunno if I will, I have enough time invested in gacha games. They basically talked about the game and answered some trivia about it. The voice actors visited Santa Monica and they said it was like a pilgrimage for a Japanese show that was shot there. Next up went to the Eminence in Shadow S2 premiere which had Cid's VA Seiichirou Yamashita. I got in while the panel was on going so I missed part of it. Apparently he speaks decent English. Kind of an entertaining guy I think. He didn't say "I am atomic," though. Then saw the first ep of S2. Checked out the entertainment hall for a bit before lining up for the next panel. To my surprise and excitement, they were playtesting Taiko no Tatsujin. Apparently I was the first person to do Oni difficulty. Lined up for the TOHO Animation panel after. Room was full though I barely got in. I was lowkey hoping they would announce something for Takagi-san with Rieri on the panel but that was not the case. They showed some upcoming shows such as JJK, spice and wolf. Last was Spy family, which Takuya Eguchi appeared for. I was walking out to line up for the spy family panel up until Eguchi appeared. Then I stayed. Spy Family Panel with Eguchi was right after that. A friend saved a seat so I got to be near the front. He basically answered a bunch of questions about himself and the show. Did a live reading of one of the lines in the first episode where he is in the train. He also did another scene I think it was about protecting children. He's pretty entertaining. I've listened to the Spy Family radio so I'm kinda used to hearing him. He really likes drinking. Half his answers were related to beer. What's the best way to eat peanuts? With beer. They also gave away a shikishi with his "absolute masterpiece" of a drawing. "Do you guys really want this?" he asked. After the panel, played some Taiko in the entertainment hall. Saw a real pro FC Hibana Ura. Lined up for the Mashle panel. They had the EN and JP voice out for this. Aleks Le apparently went to Japan to work with Kobayashi. They made molds of their fists. No cream puffs though. I'm not the biggest fan of Mashle. I like gag humor but the show's humor doesn't really hit for me. Aleks wore a robe out and brought one for Kobayashi.

Day 2

First was Twisted Wonderland panel. I do not play or care for it, I just wanted to see the voice actors. It has a more female demographic it seems. It was Natsuki Nanae, Chiaki Kobayashi, and someone else I forgot. They did some trivia on stage. Got to check out the exhibits today. Found a lot of bocchi stuff. Lined up for the CDawgVA panel with Ironmouse. Not a huge fan but I saw a clip of them last year and it seemed good. I lined up 30 mins in advance rather than the typical hour. The line went out the hotel. It was fun. Although I wish I left it early as I needed to catch the next panel. The Yakuza panel filled up, I didn't think it would. A lot of people were there to camp for the FGO panel that was next. I watched the panel on stream instead while in line. Strangely, once the doors closed, the line collapsed on itself. Anyway, I got to be on the right most side for the FGO panel and I was able to get into that. I don't care about FGO at all but I needed to see my oshi. She covered her mouth with her hands as she walked out due to all the cheering. The panel itself wasn't very smooth though. It seemed very awkward for the guests. It seemed like they answered questions the guy wasn't asking. Not sure. Overall the guests didn't talk much so they didn't seem like they were necessary for the panel. I just stared at Rieri all the time. She tends to make a lot of cute gestures as others are talking. The panel itself announced a bunch of Fate stuff and updates for the game, none of which I cared about. RIERIIII.

Day 3

I woke up particularly early today for the Rurouni Kenshin panel. Needed to line up early then book it to the queue for the event hall. It worked, I got seated near the front. And for the moment, I was happy. I got to see Rieri up close. She apparently shopped at vintange stores while Soma Saito bought a guitar. Apparently Rieri only addresses Saito as Saito-san whereas she uses "kun" for others. First time for both of them to be in America. Overall a better panel than the FGO one. They got to talk a good amount. I'm trying to remember more from the panel but it's not coming up. It was a good panel though I hope they release the vod somewhere. I checked out the Aniplex and A1 panel for a bit before dipping to explore everything. Had to line up for the Yamada panel at least an hour in advance, and I got in somewhere near the middle or so. This one featured Koki Uchiyama. The whole time he didn't seem like he wanted to be there. Maybe he was tired. I don't think a whole lot of interesting things happened but they announced an English dub. Uchiyama talked really fast. I then stayed to camp for the Rascal movie. It was fine, won't rock your socks off but wasn't bad. Checked out the entertainment hall again before leaving

Day 4

Just lined up for the Horimiya panel and saw that as my only panel for the day. Uchi is here again and he seemed more energized. They actually did some live readings in this panel. Rest of the day was exploring things.

[tearofisha]

One Ork screamed as its atoms evaporated into super heated slurry, and another was incinerated before its weapons were even drawn. But when the weapon was trained on the Shaman, every cell in the perpetuals body seemed to freeze at once. The Great Prophet had caught her in time and levitated her body in its place. It looked at the Ranger and then dismissively at Ana.

"Foolish 'umie. Don't ya know ya can't kill a god?" It smiled, all tusk-teeth and pompous cruelty. "But a god can kill you."

The room went blindingly white for a moment as a plume of directed lightning strong enough to tear through a Land Raider cascaded into Ana's body.

"NO." Rishaeron screamed as her body fell to the ground, and he sprinted towards her immediately. For the first time since he had net her, Ana was thoroughly unequivocally dead. In a moment of reverence and shameless performance, Rishaeron leaned over her body and whispered. "Thank you, sister." Uncliping the vortex grenades from her belt as he did so.

Foolishly, hopelessly, he thought of Y'pollea. His life was set to end or be extremely painful in the following few seconds. I want you to think of me during your quest, when it hurts, she had said. How delightfully smug she would be to be amongst his last thoughts.

He gripped his knife in his right, the vortex grenades in his left. This was it. Time slowed, and the Ranger took off like a sprinter. First, he ducked beneath a gigantic Ork Nob, then rolled through the strike of another bodyguard before ascending the throne at the heart of the Gargant. His dagger aimed for the throat of the Shaman, he leapt...

Like Ana before him, he was suspended in the air, his dagger only an inch from the Psykers throat. It chuckled, seemingly amused by the attempt.

"Stupid Knife Ear, when you meet your dead Gods, tell dem da God of da W'aaaaagh sent you."

As if on queue, an Ork brought down a Chainaxe through the dagger wielding arm. For as long as he lived, Rishaeron would never forgive himself for what he did next. As the teeth of the axe bit through armour, skin, flesh, and then bone more slowly than the Ranger thought possible, Rishaeron screamed.

Free from the levitation, Rishaeron gazed at his arm in almost delirious shock. It was gone up to the elbow, and Rishaeron began to laugh. He laughed at the pain that robbed him of his faculties, he laughed at the irony of a sniper losing his arm, and most of all, he laughed at the two pins to thrown Vortex Grenades that detonated the throne behind the Shaman.

In the first heartbeats after the detonation, Rishaeron dove for Ana's body as the Shaman summoned the strongest kine-shield the universe had ever seen.

Reality warped at the edges, the throne of Weirdboys erupted, and Rishaeron experienced falling. Falling. So much falling. He should have died in the impact, but he was protected within the clumsy energy bubble summoned by the Shaman, and it too struck the ground with none of the killing force falling from a Titan should have created.

Exhausted, delirious Rishaeron woke beside Ana on the earth before the now headless Mega-Gargant as it reigned debris the size of Cargo Haulers.

"Ana. Sister. Are you alive? Get up" He shook her as best he could with only one arm. "We are not done. We're not done."

Across an open field and with the debris of a God Engine falling all around, dazed Orks gathered around the Great Prophet. He offered Ana his hand to lift her to her feet, before pulling a knife from her belt.

"You take the Greenskins. That one is mine." He pointed his blade at the Shaman and summoned the last reserves of his strength to charge.

This is it.

This is it.

A Journey Of Revenge. (2/?)

The pair continued their march towards the capital in silence that was broken only by the howling wind through broken buildings and the far distant noise of apocalyptic warfare. The adrenaline had faded somewhat, and Rishaeron had spent the last few hours thinking about the last battle with the Shaman. Thinking about his shot that failed to kill the Shaman and about the Shaman's returning warpfire that eradicated the souls of his closest friends, leaving him the only survivor.

On the far outskirts of the capital, craggy salt flats extended as far as the eye could see, and Rishaeron stopped silently in his march.

"You are taking a huge risk here with me, Ana." He said, as though she wasn't already aware.

"Do you remember your first death?" Even as he spoke, he could see the memory of the warp lightning coming towards him as if in slow motion. "I worry because this creature might be something that could be your last death too, if you're not careful. I have had years to accept my fate in this matter, but has the thought of where your final grave lies ever concerned you over the last 1,000 years?"

@some-old-psyker

[neutron-stars-collision]

The Art of Inversion

Neil x Reader 

Chapter 4 - Bound by Fate 

Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2 , Chapter 3

Summary: You travel to US to meet The Protagonist. There you learn that you have much bigger part to play than expected...

Warnings: None.

Author’s Notes: 4k, ladies and gentlemen! Sorry! Thank you for all the kind words and as usual welcome all the feedback. Enjoy!

When Neil said that he intended to jump on the plane to the US soon he meant it. Friday afternoon you found yourself aboard an 8-hour-long flight to Boston with seats in business class. While going to see the Tenet’s founder in person was bound to be a good excuse for missing the training, you did worry about being behind. As soon as the plane has reached cruising altitude, you took out the notes with serious intent to focus on them. You also wanted to avoid sharing an awkward silence with Neil. But it was not meant to be.

“Are you going to study now?” he asked, peering incredulously over your shoulder. 

“And why shouldn’t I? Got eight hours to spare” you sent him a glare and looked back at the pages.

“Well we could always talk…” he spoke up after a brief silence and you eyed him suspiciously.

That was tempting, you had to admit. You have barely spoken to each other since the day he came back, except for the conversations about the details of the trip. Yet after everything that happened you were grateful for that. But now, with stress about the upcoming meeting rising exponentially and tiredness gnawing at your brain, maybe it was time to change it. Before you could answer, you were interrupted by the smiley stewardess passing through:

“Drinks? Snacks?”

You immediately turned to Neil, glaring at him with a clear message: don’t you dare. But he only smirked at you and answered the flight attendant:

“Vodka tonic and whiskey coke. Thanks” your murderous frown had no effect on him.

You resorted to staring at the little flight map on your screen until the drinks have been served. Once the stewardess has moved along you went back to shooting daggers at Neil:

“What? Are you not a whiskey coke kind of person?” he asked with that innocent smile.

“I am” you admitted, and he grinned in response “But are we even allowed to drink on the job?”

“Technically we’re not on the job. Yet” he took a sip of the drink nonchalantly and you took the liberty to observe him.

Once again he has ditched the suit jacket and wore a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. You had to admit that it did look good on him. His hair was in perfect state of dishevelment and you briefly considered brushing it away from his eyes. But his intense stare stopped any intent you could have had. 

“I never asked how you’re settling in” he spoke after a beat, looking at you with genuine interest.

“Well it’s not your fault I decided to get a whiplash that day” you joked and enjoyed the laugh it prompted “I’m managing. Like I said at the party, it’s difficult to understand and inversion is tricky but it’s so fascinating” the sparks in his eyes urged you to continue “When I finished uni I never thought I could have a chance to work for an organisation like Tenet. The best I wished for was the UK Government” you grimaced at the idea “Still no clue what the nuclear fission is though” you added and reached for the drink.

“The offer to help with physics still stands you know” Neil was looking at you with a gleam in his eye.

“And I’ll surely consider it” you winked, feeling glad you’ve ditched those notes.

“What’s your favourite part of the training?” he has turned in his seat so that he was facing you.

“Probably guns”

“Good choice” he sent you an impressed smirk.

“Well maybe not the inverted rounds, but all the different types of arms and artillery are fun to play with” you elaborated with a gleeful enthusiasm.

Neil smiled at the sight.

“My sources tell me your good at shooting too” he added after a short break, eyeing you with interest.

“I’m not a rookie” you shrugged “And apparently have a good eye as well” you held his gaze, feeling a boost of courage “Maybe one day I’ll show you”

Neil stared back at you with a slight shock on his face. He recovered quick enough to retort:

“Can’t wait” he smirked, and you looked down suddenly aware of what you said.

Can always blame it on the alcohol, you thought while staring at your lap. But before you could overthink it, Neil reached out and tipped your chin so that you met his gaze. He was smiling at you, but this time it was not a cocky grin. He searched your eyes for a short moment, making sure you were fine before dropping away his hand. You stared back puzzled, but before you could think about it too long, he asked:

“So it’s fair to assume that you don’t hate me for introducing you to this madness?”

“Could never” you laughed, and he grinned back “Even though I must admit I became quite a loner because of it. It’s hard to have friends when you train at a secret spy agency”

“There’s always me” he shrugged.

“I can’t say I know you” you replied truthfully and took a moment to stare at his face.

He nodded, accepting your statement and then smirked. You watched, wide-eyed, as he undid the top button on his shirt and leaned into the seat. If he noticed your silent panic, he did not show it.

“What do you want to know?” there was something almost challenging in his gaze.

You took a moment to recover before thinking hard about what to ask. You knew that this was potentially a one-off chance to learn something about him.

“How long have you been doing this?” you gestured vaguely.

Neil frowned, thinking hard and you focused on the face he made.

“Four years, I think” he ruffled his hair again “Thinking in linear terms is difficult after all those inversions” he added with a little smile “I’ve been recruited by the TP while still at my old job”

“What were you doing before?” 

“I’ve been in the Navy” you stared at him surprised “Turns out they are willing to take in lost Physics students”.

He noticed your dazed look and grinned:

“What? You thought I was an ex-MI6 agent or something?” he cocked his eyebrow. 

“Well you could definitely be a James Bond” you muttered and ignored the smug smile you got in return.

“I met TP one day while on the field mission in Asia and we cooperated very well so at the end he asked me to join Tenet. Naturally I said yes” he explained, and you nodded “You don’t turn away an offer like that. You know that best” you exchanged a smile “Has that satisfied your curiosity?” he finished the drink and turned to look at you expectantly.

“A bit” you admitted.

Before you could say anything more you yawned widely and then looked at Neil sheepishly.

“Shit, sorry. Swear am not that tired” 

He laughed, looking at you softly:

“Maybe my life story was that boring”

“Certainly not” another yawn and you covered your face with your hands.

“You can sleep, we still have six hours to go” he reassured you.

You felt very tired. All those hours of training and the stress made you feel worn out. So you decided to give in, letting your head lean on the headrest and reclined the back of the seat. 

“Wake me up for food” you joked and closed your eyes, feeling Neil chuckle next to you.

Slowly you felt yourself drift off to sleep, hoping your dreams won’t make you regret the decision when you wake up.

*** First thing you noticed after waking up was that you no longer had the leather head rest acting as your pillow. Instead it was something warmer and firmer. You could smell intense cologne and that revelation made your eyes widen. Somehow in the sleep you have moved so that your head was resting on Neil’s shoulder. And judging by his small smirk he was fully aware of that and did nothing. Quickly you straightened and looked at him shyly. He grinned and said:

“Don’t worry, they haven’t served the food yet”

“Great” you felt your cheeks burn with embarrassment.

You opened the notes again and forced your brain to focus on the nuclear fission. You felt Neil’s gaze on you and fought hard to ignore it.  

God, this is going to be a long journey…

*** You managed to avoid further humiliation by focusing on studying during the rest of the flight. Neil has even contributed with a couple of explanations. Hearing him talk about the atoms and electrons with passion made you want to ask him about the topic again. 

Once you landed in Boston, he practically dragged you through the customs and the arrivals hall. You stopped outside by the taxi stop and you finally caught your breath:

“We’re getting a taxi?” you looked sceptically at the forming queue.

Neil finished typing a message and glanced at you:

“Do you think we’re on a budget cut?” you laughed at his affronted expression.

“Judging by your suit…” you eyed him quickly “Most certainly not”

“You like my suits?” the hint of the sly grin started to form on his lips.

You were saved from answering by a black Tesla stopping in front of you. Neil opened the door and gestured for you to get in. 

“Got to admit that this organisation has a good taste in cars” you noticed.

“Maybe one day you’ll get one those” Neil winked, and you grinned back.

You watched through the window as the the city sights passed by, curious about Boston. You were headed to the outskirts of the city, judging by the signs on the highway. After a short silence, you asked Neil:

“So… the Protagonist. What is he like?”

“He’s...” he took a moment to think and you observed him with interest “Fun” his face lit up “Charismatic. And very mysterious but not in an intimidating kind of way”

“You’re close with him?”

You liked the happy smile that showed on his face.

“You could say so. When he hired me, Tenet was only starting out and it was mostly us two on the missions” he recollected with fond look “These days he rarely goes into the field but if he does, it’s usually with me”

“A dream team” you grinned, and he chuckled.

Suddenly the car stopped, and you looked through the window at the building exactly in front.

“Welcome to the Tenet Headquarters” Neil grinned at you widely as he opened the door.

You got out of the car and stared at the tall glass building with a large parking area and a tall fence. Following Neil, you showed your ID to the security camera and walked through the sliding door. Interior was very like what you were used to in London, but more modern. As soon as you entered, a tall man in a suit approached you:

“Welcome back Neil!” they exchanged a handshake “And it’s nice to meet you” he turned to you and you accepted his hand “I’m Richard”.

“Y/N” you smiled.

“TP wants to see you now” Richard spoke to Neil “And he’ll talk to you both later during dinner” he explained.

“That’s good news as you can continue that nap” Neil glanced at you and you glared.

“Very funny” you muttered and chose to ignore the curious look Richard gave you both.

“I’ll show you your room now” the agent broke the awkward silence.

“Okay” you moved to follow him with your duffel bag thrown over the shoulder.

As you passed Neil, he swiftly squeezed your hand and then disappeared into on the side corridors. You briefly wondered why that became a goodbye gesture between you.

Not that you did mind.

*** You never got to have that nap. While the room Richard lead you to was very like what you were used to in London, your brain was too hyperactive to let you rest. Every time you shut your eyes, you kept thinking about the upcoming meeting and all the what ifs. Finally you gave up with thirty minutes left till the dinner and got ready. When Neil knocked on your door, you leaped out of the room, fuelled by anxiety.

“Everything alright?” he asked once he saw your wild gaze.

“Yeah, I’m just scared, that’s all” you admitted and looked at him pleadingly “Can we please get going before I change my mind?”

He eyed you carefully, making sure you were indeed ‘okay’ before pointing the direction of TP’s quarters.

“There’s no reason to be scared” Neil said after few minutes of tense silence “He’s probably the nicest person here” he looked at you with a reassuring smile.

“Nicer than you?” you looked at him sceptically.

Being this anxious meant that you no longer cared much about what you said. In this case your voiced thought was awarded with a sly grin from Neil.

“Oh you think I’m nice?” he winked, and you laughed despite the tension.

“I’m not so sure anymore…” you sent him a fake glare.

“You can think about it again after the meeting” he replied and gestured towards the door to your left “Here we are”.

You stared at the door, fighting the fleeing instinct. As though Neil knew you can run away any second, he took your hand in his and knocked on the door. Approximately five seconds later the door opened to reveal a smiling man in a suit. He exchanged a happy grin with Neil and then looked at you with interest. When his eyes darted to your linked hands, you felt your face heat up and was surprised to see him smirk knowingly. Before you could overthink it, TP broke the silence:

“Come on in” he smiled at you.

You had the strange feeling that he was looking at someone he knew very well. You ignored the spike of anxiety, let go of Neil’s hand and followed the Protagonist. His quarters had a separate private bedroom, a briefing room and a living area with a large table, set for dinner. When you all sat down, Tenet’s founder addressed you:

“First of all, I want to say I’m excited to finally meet you” he smiled at you warmly and you beamed back.

“Didn’t know I’m that important” you admitted and was surprised to him amused “But I’m glad I can be here”

“You probably have a lot of questions” you just nodded “But I thought it’s best we eat first. Is that okay?”

“Sure”

Once the food has been served by the cooks from the mess hall, the conversation has changed onto more mundane topics.

“So, what were you doing before Tenet?” the Protagonist asked you.

“I actually finished university not that long ago” you answered “I graduated two years ago and since then only did some part time jobs” 

Neil was looking at you across the table with a surprised expression. You tried to search his face for answers, but he schooled his features before you came to any conclusions. After conversations about your past and how you were getting on with the training, you have all cleared the plates. Neil and the Protagonist exchanged a mysterious look before the second one spoke:

“As you know by now from your training, I have knowledge about things that haven’t happened yet…” he started, almost tentatively.

“You mean that you came from the future? To set up Tenet?” you blurted out and got met with slightly worried looks “Because that’s what everyone says among the recruits” you explained, shrugging.

When you first heard this rumour passed around by the younger agents you did not pay it much attention. But after seeing more of what Tenet was capable of you were not so sure anymore. Looking at Neil and TP right now, you knew that all the stories were true.

“That’s probably a more straightforward way of putting it” the Protagonist joked “I’ve founded Tenet to prevent world ending catastrophes involving the technology of inversion. That’s the part you already know. There’s another reason why the organisation has been founded though”

You stared as he purposefully made a dramatic pause. Glancing at Neil, you noticed that he was studying you with a rather serious expression. You got the feeling that what was about to be said, was not common knowledge.

“In the future there will be an attempt an attempt to reverse the entropy of the whole world” your eyes widened in shock.

Even with your poor grasp of physics it sounded like a catastrophe.

“For this purpose something called The Algorithm will be created and constructed. It’s a formula in a physical form, broken into nine parts so that it is not so easily found and assembled. But now the different parts of it are beginning to resurface in this timeline. Our job is to stop it from being used in the recent future” the Protagonist explained, as though he was repeating a manual for the hob.

You felt the panic rise again. All this information was too much to take in.

“What does it have to do with me?” you asked, unable to wait much longer.

The serious look in Neil’s eyes did not help you either.

“TP thinks you have a part to play in stopping the Algorithm from being used” he explained while looking at you almost apologetically “So he’s sending us on a mission to investigate some intel on one of the parts being a subject of trade in New York”

“But why me?” you frowned.

It didn’t make any sense.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that” the Protagonist apologised with a sad smile “It wouldn’t do you any good to know this early”

You looked at Neil, hoping to find some answers. But he seemed as lost as you were. You had a feeling that only TP knew the full story and he decided who was to be let in on it.

“You will leave on the mission in two days. Until then you can prepare here, and I’ll brief you both tomorrow” he added, and you could only nod “Finally, the last thing you need to know is that everything that was said today is between us three. Is that alright?”

“Of course” you got up, desperately wanting to get some rest “Neil is the only person I talk to anyway” you shrugged and received a knowing glance from TP again.

What even…

“Sorry, I’m very tired. Is it alright if we come back to it tomorrow?” you asked, suppressing a yawn.

“Yeah sure, you need a rest” TP patted your arm reassuringly “No need to be worried though, you’ll have Neil with you. And I know he’ll take care of you” there was something way too certain in his voice.

You looked at Neil, but he pretended to study a dossier, with tension radiating from his form. You wanted answers but could not even voice the questions.

*** After the meeting finished, you both left TP’s quarters in silence. You were scared and dreamt of nothing but locking yourself away in your room. But Neil had other ideas. As soon as he stepped out into the corridor, he took your hand in his and started leading you with purpose in his stride. You didn’t even protest. At this point you resorted to following him without questions.

He lead you to the staircase and then upstairs, to what was indicated as an evacuation route. You tried to search his face for any clues, but it was pointless. Finally he stopped in front of heavy metal doors at the top of the stairwell and opened it for you. You stepped into an expansive terrace overlooking the city and the neighbouring areas, with the stairs to the helicopter pad. The night has fallen on Boston and the view was illuminated with thousands of lights. You took in the sight with parted lips, not expecting to see anything like that on this dramatic night. Neil was leaning on the railing, looking at you with a small smile:

“Do you show this place to all the girls?” you asked him, while slowly approaching the balustrade.

“What girls?” he looked genuinely confused and you laughed at the face he made.

“Oh you know, like Anna…” you gestured vaguely at the lines of women that were waiting on his every word.

“What? No!” he finally caught on what you were asking and scrunched his face in offence “Anna is cute but she’s not… no”

What was he trying to say? But he turned towards the view and clenched his jaw. You stared at him for a while before resigning to look at the cityscape as well. Every now and then you would steal a glance at Neil, only to see him staring into the darkness. This was not what you were used to from him. When the tense silence dragged on for too long, you decided to act.

“Neil is everything alright?” you stepped closer to him “You’re awfully quiet” you noticed.

He turned his head to look at you with a small smirk that didn’t reach his eyes.

“You miss my voice already?”

“Stop it” impulsively you reached out and touched his hand that was clutching the railing.

He looked up at you with a slight surprise. Now that you made the move, you felt less scared. You gently rubbed a thumb over his hand and tried again:

“What’s wrong? Because if it’s my poor jokes about Anna and stuff, then sorry-”

“No” he cut you off with a smile “It’s not you. It’s just that all this talk about The Algorithm and world ending… it’s a lot sometimes” you nodded “And today when TP told me that you’ve got a role to play in it too…” he inhaled sharply “I…”

You looked at him intrigued and worried at the same time. You were not used to Neil speaking in broken sentences.

“What?” you prodded, letting your hand trace an invisible line up his forearm.

He looked at you with an unreadable expression before relaxing his hold on the balustrade. You were surprised to see that there were goosebumps on his arm where you have touched it.

“I hoped that you won’t have to be involved in this” he sighed “Maybe it’s foolish for someone who’s worked at Tenet for four years, but I wanted you to be safe from all this Algorithm related bullshit” he met your gaze with defeat.

You stared back at him, confused.

“Why?” your voice came out quiet and hoarse.

He shrugged helplessly, with an expression of sadness in his eyes. That alone made you forego any sense of awkwardness or fear. You closed the gap between you, embracing him tightly. After a second of hesitation you felt him return the embrace. He exhaled shakily and you allowed yourself to rest your head in the crook of his neck. Your heart was hammering in your chest, finally catching up with what was happening. Inhaling his scent, you forced yourself to calm down. You felt his hand caress the nape of you neck, making all the thoughts disappear from your head. You were frozen in place for what felt like hours before Neil relaxed his grip and took a step back. You met his gaze with an unspoken question and he just nodded, composing himself. Then he studied your face for a beat, before finally breaking the silence:

“I’m sorry”

You knew he meant everything by that: the news, the plan, his outburst.

“It’s okay” you smiled at him reassuringly and placed you hand on his shoulder “Happens to the best of us” you smoothed his wrinkled shirt collar.

He stared at you with astonishment that made your face heat up. Then he smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the exit from the terrace:

“Want to call it a night?” he asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

“Sure” you smiled back and followed him back to the stairwell.

Somehow this night felt important. And not just because of what you learned.

[processthings]

silo silence

a little clatter. someone dropped something about half a mile off and it echoed into oblivion.

that was exciting and new. someone else decided to follow suit and try dropping something else.

soon all my friends were dropping things. it became an informal greeting. i myself even knocked stuff over in response just to seem like i was on the level.

everyone in the neighborhood started doing it, day and night, dropping on hardwood floors that became so badly damaged they themselves fell through.

it was contagious. in fact, a CDC official heard people were dropping and caused a public health scare by announcing it on the radio.

in response, as though it was the last action they’d take, many people gathered in a public demonstration and all dropped something at the stroke of midnight in Union Square Park.

the surrounding businesses and residences took no notice, because after all, this is New York City, and people are dropping all the time.

(what did you think this was, some trend-ignorant, ass-backwards little hamlet in East Nowhereton?)

it descended into a furious roar a torrent of metallic, plastic, wooden raindrops such that anywhere one went, a good sturdy umbrella was necessary.

to stand out, or perhaps to drown out, some began throwing their objects heavily against the ground or the floor hoping to shape the landscape.

from this, i retreated. i went home and locked my door, shut off the lights, put earplugs in, pulled up the covers, and

immediately the cacophony of drops yielded my attention to a cacophony of thoughts which had lain dormant, distracted, unprocessed, raw, ready, raring

a deferred queue now suddenly streaming thrueue unable to stop, an atomic transaction bomb

more chaotic than the storming of objects meeting floor above me more antagonistic than high winds in winter.

i shivered for hours. i rotated at such a rate it would make your head spin. i could not. i could not. poor pitiful me.

a braenstrom, a heap, the cattle whiz by, the barn orbits the spiral debris column that munches and defecates everything in its path.

O silo! be free! spill thy contents far and wide! let the tornado upend you open! Drop All Your Knowledge!

before i could even, i was awake the next morning. the sun beamed through my window, and everything was silent.

outside, everything was a pile of nothing. splinters of wood, shards of glass, dust of asbestos, all what had been was now not. and in my home, i stood alone.

[system76]

Behind the Scenes of System76: Web Team

On this installment of our Behind the Scenes series, we spoke to Mike Garegnani of the Web Team for an inside look at them Internets. Mike is a Full Stack Engineer, meaning he dabbles in front-end and back-end development—a man of many talents.

Check out our Behind the Scenes of Marketing article here.

What are the main duties of the web team?

Our main task is designing the website. We’re spending a lot of time working with various teams to improve the UX/UI experience. In addition to that, we manage the homepage on a regular basis. Those requests come in every time there’s a new product or an updated model. In those cases, we work with the Sales and Marketing Teams and [Product Manager Benjamin Shpurker] to make sure the new machine is featured properly. We work very closely with [Maria Komarova], who’s in charge of the user experience. She designs the website UI and we bring her dream to life from there.

There’s also the back-end administrative work, handling requests that come in from other teams. Like when someone accidentally posts their credit card info in a support ticket, we’ll manually go in and delete that to protect the customer.

Not to mention everything going on at the factory.

You name it, we probably have our hands in it. There’s the assembly side of things, where people are pulling down builds and shipping out computers. The systems we set up for them tell the Assembly Team what parts to use in a build, where things are located in the warehouse, prints the shipping labels, things like that.

One of our biggest responsibilities is building and supporting the inventory system. Early on [Sean Callan, Director of Web Engineering] was having to source a lot of questions with regard to looking up computers and different builds, which was taking up much of his time. We eventually decided to develop Samwise, our resident Slack sidekick who’s helped immensely with the workload.

What does Samwise do? (WDSD)

Samwise is a Slack bot that was originally developed to increase efficiency by quickly providing build and order data to the Assembly Team. Since then, we’ve taught him to help manage the build queue entirely in Slack, and equipped him to help the Support Team as well.

You’ve been working a lot with assembly and inventory systems lately.

Right now we’re trying to migrate away from our legacy PHP app, which runs the internal systems for various departments. It works, but it’s not sustainable long-term. We’ve been working really hard to get everything ported over to a different architecture on our Elixir app, which also has a front end for it.

Are those apps you build yourselves as well?

Yeah, for the most part everything has been developed in-house. But once we get our sales and support systems integrated, we’ll start moving away from our legacy app to a third-party system. This will help us increase efficiency with things like assigning support tickets, and in doing so it’ll enable us to continually improve the customer experience.

What is the next big project in your pipeline?

After the new integration, it’ll be a new configurator. We’re working with Maria and [CEO Carl Richell] to put together a more streamlined experience with regards to configurating your computer. We like to sell high-end products, so we want to create a high-end experience for our users.

Do you work a lot with open source tools?

Almost exclusively. For the homepage we use Nuxt and VUE. Elixir for the back-end is open source. Visual Studio Code has a pretty open architecture, but I’m not sure that one’s fully open source. I also use Atom which is a GitHub product, so that’s pretty much open source by default. When it comes down to it, open source is a way of life for me.

What do you enjoy working on the most?

I really enjoy having a team to work with. Having people to bounce ideas off of is a game-changer for me since I’ve always had to figure things out by myself. I like to call myself a “Google graduate”. I’m really good at googling things. But to answer the question, we really enjoy making tools to make people’s lives easier. Being helpful is really what we’re in it for.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far this year as a team?

What we’re doing to improve support and sales will go a long way towards helping System76 grow. That, and all the ways we’ve made our own team more efficient is going to help us a lot going forward.

What’s the process like for developing a new feature?

We’ll start by getting together in Slack and discuss the most logical way to address the problem. From there, we plan out individually what tasks need to occur and assign them in Trello, which we use for project management. Before we write any code, we usually have several iterations of how we’re going to approach the problem. It’s got to be a combination of speed and approachability. We need to make it usable, and we don’t want it to be too complicated. Like with Samwise, we didn’t want to build a whole front end interface, so we integrated it with Slack. It’s been a really big success.

In terms of something that might end up on a user-facing page, we’ll bring in stakeholders to figure out what changes have to be made. Usually this means getting designs from Maria, and we’ll work off of the mock-up. Sometimes we have to use our imagination, and that’s always fun to collaborate with other teams in that regard.

How do you divide up the work?

We tend to go with our strengths. I’m more of a front-end developer so I’m charged with that, [Blake Kostner] will work on the back end, and Sean is really good with architecture.

Do you use a System76 laptop?

Absolutely! I’ve got an Oryx Pro 4.

How was the transition to Linux?

For development tools I’d actually say it was easier. Often on macOS I’m having to find software libraries that are ports of the officially supported tools, When I finally got a hold of one of these [System76] laptops and had to set everything up, it was like butter. Everything just worked. It was great.

[aion-rsa]

What’s Happening With Marvel’s X-Men?

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This article contains spoilers for recent Marvel X-Men stories.

A long time ago, back at the beginning of the interminable, endless month of March that the pandemic has trapped us in, Marvel’s X-Men books were barrelling towards their first big post-Dawn of X crossover, X of Swords. And then the world stopped, and plans changed for the X-Men while everything was paused.

Now that we’re back, plans have changed, and books are coming fast and furious. So what’s going on with Marvel’s Merry Mutants? Which book did Storm get sick in? What book should you read for a good Laksa recipe? New Mutants, but we can answer all your other questions on what’s going on with the X-Men below. 

While we won’t rehash the entire thing, House of X/Powers of X reset the entire X-Men line. Mutants can’t die anymore (or rather, if they do, they’re resurrected from clone bodies and emergency backup minds by The Five and Professor X). The X-Men, and all mutants alive, are now living on Krakoa, a living, mutant island in the Pacific that, at some point in the distant past, broke in half, sending one part of it to a dangerous, monster-infested realm with Apocalypse’s first Horsemen standing guard making sure it didn’t return. 

Humans are back to hating and fearing mutants on a wide scale, but this time it’s mostly because the mutants are vehemently anti-capitalism, flooding markets with cheap, life-extending and health-improving drugs and vowing to take down the human world with economic weapons of their own making. This has the humans initiating some pretty intense Sentinel programs, particularly around the sun, where Nimrod – the adaptive Sentinel whose existence dooms mutantkind in one Powers of X future – was very nearly created. 

And amidst all of that, Moira MacTaggert, the secret mutant mastermind with the power of Groundhog Lifeing (when she dies, her consciousness is immediately transported back to her prenatal self to be born again with all her old memories. She’s on life ten now, btw), is frantically trying to manipulate events so that mutants continue to exist in the long run as the next phase in human evolution, averting a future where man-machine hybrids (like Omega Sentinels and the Children of the Vault) develop while humans and mutants are busy fighting among themselves. She’s also not allowing Charles and Magneto to revive any mutants with precognitive powers, expecting them to see her plan and ruin Krakoan civilization.

X-Men

X-Men, by mastermind Jonathan Hickman with art mostly from Leinil Yu, is where big ideas are being seeded for later use.

This is where the story of Krakoa and its estranged, otherdimensional partner Arakko was further developed (following its introduction in Powers of X and setting up X of Swords, the first mutant crossover of the Dawn of X era). X-Men introduced Hordeculture (think the Golden Girls if they were also ecoterrorist botanists); reintroduced the Children of the Vault; showed how depowered mutants get in line to get their powers back; and saw Magneto and Apocalypse threaten humankind with the most terrible weapon of all: finance capitalism.

New Mutants

It also, just prior to the break, X-Men had a spiritual crossover with New Mutants, initially a split book by Hickman and Rod Reis on the space issues, and Ed Brisson, Flaviano, and Marco Failla on the Earth issues. Brisson, Flaviano and Failla’s story follows a group of Earthbound mutant kids (including Glob Herman and Boom Boom) as they track down stragglers to Krakoa, like Beak and Angel.

Hickman and Reis took the original New Mutants plus Chamber and Mondo into space to go pick up Cannonball (who was living on Chandi’lar with his wife, Smasher). On the way there, they stole a King Egg from the Starjammers and brought it back to Earth, where it turns out, we discover in X-Men, the King Egg is a bioweapon created by the Kree to control the Brood for an eventual war with the Shi’ar. Broo, the supersmart mutant Broodling from Wolverine and the X-Men, eats the egg and becomes the Brood King.

Excalibur

Excalibur is the shining star of the line so far. Tini Howard and Marcus To are growing the mythos of mutant magic with a very odd team that includes Betsy Braddock (now back in her original body and the new Captain Britain); Rogue and Gambit; Jubilee and her mysteriously dragonified son Shogo; new earth mage Rictor; and Apocalypse, who is clearly up to some stuff. Apocalypse picks a fight with Otherworld and places a newly resurrected but still batshit Jamie Braddock on the throne of the magical realm.

Excalibur was one of the first books to return from hiatus, and it came back with maybe the best single issue of the entire relaunch in issue #10. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Marauders

Marauders launched as the story about the Hellfire Trading Company, the corporate arm of Krakoa that distributes the miracle drugs around the world while also smuggling mutants in trouble home to Krakoa. But Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli’s book quickly turned into the mystery of Kitty Pryde – why she’s not able to use the Krakoan gates that allow instantaneous travel around the galaxy, and whether she can be resurrected by The Five. That story has just about come to a head, but it is worth noting that it still contains a great deal of Hellfire Trading Company intrigue between Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw, and a lot of drunken pirate antics. The resurrected original Pyro does get a tattoo of the Marauders skull on his face at one point. It’s fun.

X-Force

X-Force, by Ben Percy and Joshua Cassara, immediately killed Professor X. He was resurrected, of course, but it served as both a notice that everyone is fair game, and alongside Marauders, keeps some slight mystery to character death alive post-The Five’s perpetual resurrection machine. It’s also the story of the Krakoan CIA, so it sets up the global threats facing the mutant nation, and then sends Wolverine to get cut in half fighting them. Also, Forge creates a bio-mech loader suit and smashes the two halves of Logan back together at one point. If that’s something you find yourself chuckling at, this book is going to exceed expectations.

Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels focused mostly on resetting the current Psylocke’s status quo. Kwannon was brought back to life and placed in her old body shortly before the reboot (very quickly: Spiral switched Psylocke and Kwannon’s bodies, then before they could be reverted, Kwannon got the Legacy Virus and died, then when Betsy used a villain’s powers to recreate her old body and reinhabit it, Kwannon…uh…got better…). Here, she teamed with X-23 and Cable, with ops backup from Mister Sinister, to track down Apoth, a technological being selling cybernetic drugs to humans.

It’s mostly setup for Psylocke, X-23 (now Wolverine again, I think), and Sinister while adding another technological foe to the mix. It leads almost directly into Zeb Wells and Steven Segovia’s Hellions, a book about Sinister’s team of mutants who are all gleefully, unrepentantly screwed up and are currently on a mission cleaning up some old clones Sinister left lying around.

Cable, Wolverine, and More…

Cable, Wolverine and the Giant Size issues, are still mostly seeding future storylines. Cable, from Duggan and Phil Noto, has only had a couple of issues so far, but it’s brought the Galadorians (the Spaceknights minus ROM, who belongs to IDW now, I think) into mutant orbit and given Nathan a sword for the crossover.

Wolverine, by Percy, Adam Kubert and Victor Bogdanove, has Logan tracking down illicit Krakoan flower dealers, and also Omega Red works for Dracula now. And the Giant Size issues are mysteries piled on mysteries piled on incredible art. Hickman has scripted all three, and so far, Storm caught a technovirus from the Children of the Vault in the Jean Grey/Emma Frost issue (drawn by Russell Dauterman); we find out what’s up with Cypher’s techno-organic arm in the Nightcrawler issue (from Alan Davis); Magneto buys Emma an island from Namor with art from Ramon Perez; and we get actual backstory and incredible Rod Reis art in the Fantomex issue. 

Empyre

The recently wrapped Empyre: X-Men’s opening scene is simultaneously one of the most important to the metanarrative of mutant struggle that’s been developing since the Professor’s “No More” scene in House of X #4 AND the best setup/punchline in any Dawn of X comic. It also starts to deliver on some of the rumored-but-never-announced X-Men ideas that were floated early after the reboot – Angel and M are two of the leads, playing out a little of the boardroom drama we hoped for after an X-Corporation book was rumored.

X-Factor

X-Factor, from Leah Williams and David Baldeon, more or less just launched. It’s about the team investigating and verifying mutant deaths, to put those lives into the queue for resurrection. This feels like the book set up to deliver on the weirdest promises of the relaunch, and the creative team are inventive, fun storytellers, so keep an eye on this. Williams has a very sharp ear for patter and knows her characters well – while it’s not an X-book, Amazing Mary Jane is a stunning accomplishment of delightful character work. Early X-Factor is more of the same, with more mutant high concept.

And all this is leading to X of Swords, the new X-writers room’s attempt to outdo X-Cutioner’s Song: a 22-part Tini Howard-led crossover where everyone swordfights over half of Krakoa. And still dangling in the ether, unannounced but long discussed, are Vita Ayala and Bernard Chang’s Children of the Atom, following a group of mutant teenagers who idolize the X-Men, and a Moira X book that’s expected to fill in some of the gaps in Moira’s many, many timelines. 

The post What’s Happening With Marvel’s X-Men? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[illfoandillfie]

Seaside Rendezvous - Part 2

READ PART 1

Request:  Can you please write a hc for going on a island vaca at a resort with your family after college finals and you meet joe (also a college student) and you two see each other a ton but you are always with your family so not much happens but flirty small talk and you both end up having a lot of sexual tension and go into one of your rooms when you’re family is out and just some smut happens?

Pairing: Joe Mazzello x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Some outrageous flirting, mentions of oral sex, fingering and handjobs, but nothing explicit (yet).

Words: 7977

A/N: Sorry I made ya'll wait so long for this one. Ended up getting way longer than I planned so this is now a three part series.

The scene in the market is based off the International Market Place in Waikīkī (how it looked in the 2000s based off images and stuff I found through google) though I took a bit of artistic licence. It's changed a bit in the last few years but it does still have the banyan tree in the middle of it.

(oh my god he’s a baby in that gif)

Taglist: @laedymoon  @somekind-ofcheese @dtfrogertaylor   @ezmina98  @vee-ndetta @atomic-watermelon @kellypenac @labessieisallama @deakyclicks @jennyggggrrr @drowseoftaylor @bowiequeen

@ramibaby  @briarrose26 @d34d-0n-th3-1ns1d3  @painkiller80 @stephydearestxo

It was much too early to be woken up. Your parents didn’t see it that way though, not even after you, leaning sleepily in the doorway, explained that holidays usually meant sleeping in. In a perfect world that would have been enough for your mother to declare you were right and let you go back to your dreams about the previous night’s kiss but, this not being a perfect world, all she actually said was, “get your sister up, the bus leaves in an hour.”   Right, the bus. The bus for the tour of the island your parents had mentioned last night. If you’d have known it meant getting up so early you would have been tempted to cry sick, no matter what Joe said about that plan. At least you could thank him for cutting you off early so you didn’t have to fight off a hangover too. You rubbed the sleep from your eyes as you turned to get Erin up. Luckily, being twelve, she hadn’t worked out the sheer joy of a lie in yet, so she was already awake and moving. Unluckily, for you at least, she’d also been thinking about the previous night and was full of questions.  “How did you meet Joe?”  “He was on the plane with me.”  “So does that mean you know him well?”  “Kind of, I guess. Define well.”  “Can he come hang out with us again?”  “Probably not.”  “Why not?”  “Can you please be quiet? At least let me get a coffee before you start interrogating me?”  “Okay. I’ll wait till breakfast.”  Fuck. “No, wait. You can’t.”  “Why not?”  “Mom and Dad can’t know. You are not to mention last night at all around them.”  “Why not?”  “Because if you say anything within their hearing about me and you hanging out with a guy they don’t know they’ll flip out.”  “But he was nice.”  “Yes, but they don’t know that. They’ll worry something bad could have happened. Also, they’ll ask why we weren’t in our room and I’m not going to be the one to tell them what we overheard.”  “Does that mean it’s a secret.”  “Yes. Very secret. In fact, if you see Joe you have to pretend you don’t know him. Okay?”  “I guess. But secrets are hard to keep.”  “What do you want?” you sighed. Not the first time she’d tried her hand at extorsion.   “Buy me some good souvenirs.”  “Okay, but nothing too expensive and it’s gotta be able to fit in your bags.”  “I’m expecting better than a tee shirt.”  “Snow globe it is then,”  Erin rolled her eyes but she seemed content with the deal. You supposed you’d find out when you inevitably ran into Joe again, which happened sooner than you’d expected.  

The bus you’d had to get up so early to catch was smaller than you’d thought it would be, only big enough for around fifteen people. There weren’t quite so many waiting when you arrived at the pick up point. Ahead of you in the queue was five others, a very loved up couple who seemed to have glued their hands together, and a group of three who you took to be related – a woman, with her mother and teenage daughter. Slowly you all filed on board, the tour guide checking off names on a list of everyone who’d signed up for the adventure. You ended up sitting towards the back of the bus, legs stretched out over the empty seat next to you. Erin and your mother were sitting about four rows ahead of you with your father on the opposite side of the aisle from them, talking to the grandmother you’d seen before. You’d opted to sit further back so you could have your own window seat. The space from your family was just a small bonus, giving you a chance to dwell on everything that had happened last night.   “Alright folks, we’ll be heading off in a moment. Just waiting on one last person.” The tour guide announced, double checking his clipboard.   You closed your eyes, tilting your head back against the window with a yawn. A few seconds later you heard heavy footsteps hurrying up the aisle as their owner apologised to the tour guide and driver for being late. You opened your eyes as Joe slid into the seat in front of you.  

“What are you doing here?” you asked, leaning forward slightly.  Joe turned his head, looking out the window, “Wanted to surprise you,” he laughed quietly, “Didn’t tell me about the fucking seven o’clock start though,”  Your eyes darted to Erin but she was holding up her end of the deal, ignoring Joe, listening to the tour guide as the bus roared to life.   “How’d you find out then?”  “Called reception last night. Told them my friend Y/N had mentioned the tour to me but neglected to say what time, they were very helpful. Silly Y/N forgot to add my name to the list too.”   “What are you, a stalker?”  “If I’m a stalker then stalking’s too easy.”  “Y’know a proper stalker would have sat behind me. Done the whole creepy staring, hair sniffing thing.”  “Then obviously I’m not a proper stalker.” he paused to check no one was listening in, “I did almost sit beside you though. Then I remembered the whole clandestine, hide-it-from-your-parents-and-overly-nosey-sister deal. We should get trench coats.”  “As fitting as that would be, somehow I think it'd make us stand out more,”  “Oh, I didn’t mean we’d wear them round the resort or anything. I was thinking of you, showing up at my room wearing nothing else.”  You shifted in your seat, pressing your legs together slightly, “Would you settle for a bikini?”  “The one you were in yesterday? Yes.”  “I’ll keep that in mind.”  “That makes two of us.” 

Most of the tour was spent either talking to Joe quietly at the back of the bus or posing for photos with your family. Every time the bus stopped at a scenic or historic site you would shuffle off, leaving Joe behind, and let your mother position you in front of whatever landmark was there for a photo or two. A couple of times you caught Joe’s eye, almost laughing. Then you’d follow the crowd back on board, fall into your seat and wait for Joe to come back so you could continue your conversation and casual flirting. So, when the bus pulled up at a market around two hours into the expedition, you were expecting more of the same. You hopped down the steps and joined your family as they crowded around the nearest stall.  “Oh, there you are Y/N! I want to get a photo of you and Erin at the market entrance. And maybe one with your father as well.”  “Honey,” your Dad chimed in, “At this rate people won’t know you came on the trip too. You haven’t been in a single photo. We should get at least one with all of us.”  “And who’s going to take it Dear?”  “We’ll ask someone from the bus, I’m sure they won’t mind.”  Your Mom didn’t look entirely convinced. She generally preferred to be behind the camera than in front of it, but you could practically see her planning out the scrapbook pages she was going to make to document the trip and how much better it would look with a family shot. It was enough to make her agree and your father hurried to catch someone from the bus before they all disappeared amongst the stalls. 

“Alright, I found someone. This is...what did you say your name was?”  “It’s Joe.”  Fuck. You whipped around at the sound of his voice, trying to act unfazed. Erin pinched you on the arm but otherwise acted just as you’d asked her too.    “Lovely to meet you Joe,” you mother cooed, “We were just hoping you could help us out, take a photo or two for us?”  “It would be my pleasure,” He held out his hand for the camera, throwing you a wink when your parents turned around.   “Okay, ready?” he asked once you were all in position, “Big smiles, three, two, one,” There was a click and then another and another as he fired off a few shots.  “What about a goofy one?” he suggested, looking directly at you.  “Everyone pull a face,” Erin yelled.  You flipped off Joe as he looked through the camera, noting the way he smiled when he saw.   “Alright, I think we’ve held you up long enough Joe. Thank you so much,” Your mother said as she took the camera back.  “Any time,” he said with a ridiculously charming smile before heading off into the market.  “What a lovely young man,” Your mother said as she flicked through the photos he’d taken, “Cute too.” She looked directly at you when she said it.  You rolled your eyes, “Sure, I guess.” Inside you were screaming. You could see things going two ways once your mother got involved. Either she was going to make it her business to push you and Joe together or keep you apart and you didn’t know which was worse. If you had to guess you’d say she was leaning more to trying to set you up. One thing was sure though, her sudden interest in Joe was going to make it harder to sneak off with him. He wouldn’t be able to enter the same room as her without her gossip detector going off and all her attention would be focused on him and anyone who might be trying to sleep with him.   “Oh, really Y/N? That’s entirely inappropriate,” she showed you the photo where you’d stuck out your middle finger, “but I think I have enough photos for the moment,”  “Can we go look at the stalls now? Y/N said she’d buy me a present.”  “Oh that’s nice of her, what’s the occasion?” She asked, turning to you.  “Oh, you know, nothing specific. I thought it’d be nice to get her something to remember the trip.”  “Well I’ve already promised her a shirt,”  “Yeah I figured. I was thinking of something else.”  “Well why don’t I take Erin and that way you can make it a surprise.”  “Are you sure? I don’t mind walking around with her, she could give me some ideas.” you said, already thinking about finding Joe and using this freedom to your advantage.  “No, she can come with me. We’ll see you back on the bus.” 

You could have skipped as you turned with a wave and headed in the direction Joe had gone. Instead you walked like a normal human adult, unsure if your Mom was watching you. You wouldn’t put it past her. You rounded the corner and breathed a sigh of relief which turned into a gasp of shock when you felt someone tap you on the shoulder.  “Jesus Joe, fucking scared me,”  Joe had a hand over his mouth trying to stifle his laughter, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”  “Alright, it wasn’t that funny.”  “It was pretty funny; you didn’t see your face. You managed to ditch the fam then?”  “Yes but I’m still a little worried Mom’s watching.”  “You’re paranoid.”  “She called you cute.”  “You called me cute,”  “Yes, but I’m trying to get in your pants. She’s just trying to find out if I’ve managed it yet.”  “Aww, you wanna get in my pants?”  “Oh shut up. Just keep an eye out for my Mom.”  “Well I've got something to show you that I think’ll make you feel better. Just over this way.” Joe grabbed your hand and began pulling you along. You walked straight past every stall, ducking around corners, making your way to the middle of the marketplace.  “Where are you taking me?”  “Not far, just....” he stopped, “here,”  “It’s a tree Joe.”  “Not just a tree, a banyan tree, didn’t you listen to the tour guide at all?”  “I was thinking about...other things,” you said glancing at his lips and biting your own before turning your face upward, craning your neck to see as high as possible. The tree was huge, branches criss-crossing over your head, stretching out over the entire marketplace, roots twisting over and around each other on the ground.  “Okay, it’s pretty cool,” you conceded, “for a tree.”  “You haven’t seen the best part,” Joe glanced around before quickly ducking through a gap between the main trunk and some of the smaller trees growing beside it. He pulled you behind him and you found yourself in a secluded chamber, half hidden by trees and half hidden by market stalls, the worn material of the pop-up tents blocking everyone’s view. Before you could say anything Joe was kissing you, pulling you tightly against him as your lips met. It was ungraceful and chaotic, noses bumping together, teeth colliding, in danger of overbalancing and toppling backwards in your desperate need for more. You felt like a live wire, electricity running through you. All the pent-up energy was suddenly released making you feel dizzy and hyper aware of every brush of his fingers, the scratch of his stubble, his knee bumping yours.  “Wow,” you said softly when you parted, lips still so close to his they were almost touching, eyes still closed.  Joe inhaled deeply like he was trying to breath in the moment, dropping his forehead to yours, “Is it wrong of me to say I wish we were back in my room right now?”  “No, I wish we were too,” you lay your hand flat on his chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath your palm.  “We could just...” he raised his eyebrows as he pointed at the ground.  “I’m not fucking you in the middle of a market where anyone could find us,” you laughed, pushing on his chest till he took a step back.  “I never said fuck,” he said, holding up his hands, “I was talking about a blow job,”  You burst out laughing as he tried and failed to keep a straight face.  “I’m kidding,” he reassured you, wrapping his arms around you again, yours automatically looping around his neck, “happy just to keep kissing you for now.”  The next kiss was less frantic. Soft to start, both of you still giggling a little, gradually building into something deeper. The same electric energy but calmer.   “Probably don’t have long before we’re called back to the bus,” he said as he pulled away.  “And I’m meant to buy something for Erin.”  “Guess we should get going then.”  Neither of you made any move to let go of the other, just squeezed tighter as your lips met again.  

Eventually you did have to go, reluctantly letting your arms drop and straightening your shirts. Joe poked his head out of the trees to make sure the coast was clear before he slipped outside and held out his hand to help you through the gap.   “Don’t worry, no sign of your family,”  “Not at the moment anyway,” you looked around at the crowed, double checking for any sign of them. Maybe I am paranoid. You set off towards the nearest stall, hoping no one could tell you’d been making out.  “You said something about a present for Erin?”  “Reward for her not letting slip to Mom about us hanging out with you last night.”  “Ah, of course.”  “Had to explain that, even though you were nice, Mom wouldn’t have been happy if she found out. Though I spose she doesn’t have to completely ignore you now that Mom and Dad know you exist. God I still can’t believe you were the one they asked.”  “Lucky break,” Joe laughed, “what about this?” he held up a necklace with a cartoony dolphin on it,”  “Oh that’s cute! She’d like that.”  “What about you?”  “What about me what?”  “Anything here you’d like?”  “You’re not buying me a necklace Joe,”  “Oh come on, let me. Look this one’s nice, got a palm tree on it. Or what about this one with the matching earrings?”  You handed over the money for Erin’s necklace to the woman running the stall, turning back to Joe as she wrapped it up in brown paper.  “If you think buying me a present is going to get you a hand job on the bus or something you can think again Mister.”  “Not what I was trying to do.” Joe followed you as you thanked the woman and moved towards a different stall, “Just thought...look I know that whatever is happening here is a short term thing. We’re gonna get to the end of our holidays and then fly back to our regular lives and probably never see each other again. And that’s fine. That’s clearly what we’re both looking for here anyway, just something fun and easy for a couple of weeks. But I thought it might be nice to buy you something you can take back home to remember the trip. Not just me but the whole thing. But also me."  “Well, that is sweet.”  “Besides,” he leaned in close to your ear, “I know that to get a hand job I have to finger you.”  “Oh that’s how it works?” you asked leaning back to look at him.  “That’s the exchange rate, yes.”  “You’re a dork,” you chuckled, shaking your head.  “Maybe. Or maybe I just like hearing you laugh.”  “No, you’re definitely a dork. Just used exchange rate in the punchline of your joke.”  “Valid point, but who said it was a joke?”  

You ended up parting soon after that, deciding there was too high a risk of running into your family. It was a good call because that’s exactly what happened as you ambled back toward the bus on your own, pausing to look at tables of trinkets and racks of touristy clothes. As soon as she saw you Erin was asking about her present but your Mom’s insistence that she could wait had her pouting all the way to the bus. Before you could make your way towards your regular seat behind the one Joe was already occupying, you were pulled into the one next to your sister. Her excitement about the present and curiosity as to what it was couldn’t wait. You caught sight of Joe snickering to himself as Erin grabbed your arm, already babbling about how she hoped whatever you’d got her was better than the shirt you mother had got her.  “It says aloha in big letters on the front and the back which Mom found so funny.”  “Because it means hello and goodbye? That’s pretty good.”  “No, it’s lame. Please tell me you got me something better.”  “Tell me yourself,” you said as you handed over the brown paper package.  Erin beamed as she tore into the paper, gasping as the necklace fell out onto her hand.  “Oh my god!” she squealed, “It’s so cute! Can you help me put it on?”  “So you like it then?” you laughed, taking it from her and undoing the clasp, “Does that mean we’re even?”  “For now.”  “Even? I thought this was just a nice gesture.” You mother piped up, breaking off her conversation with your father to narrow her eyes at both of you.  “Oh, it is but I also promised Erin I’d buy her something to make up for last night. We got a little bored and went to try and find the rec room but ended up wandering around lost and then coming back to the room.”  “Y/N, I don’t like the idea of the two of you walking around by yourselves so late. You never know who you might run into or what might happen. And don’t try to bribe your sister like that.”  “I know, it won’t happen again.” 

The rest of the day passed without incident. The tour continued on its route and you were made to pose for more photos. Thankfully no one asked Joe to take another group shot, though you did manage to sneak off for a quick pash a couple more times at various stops. Crowds were convenient excuses as to why your family couldn’t find you and whatever buildings or landmarks that were large enough to hide behind became convenient spots to sneak a kiss or a grope. You came close to being caught out more than once, having to hastily pull your lips apart, his hands falling from your ass at the sound of approaching footsteps. You’d lean against the wall or rocky ledge or whatever you were using as cover and pretend to be talking or else you’d start walking in opposite directions, pretending to have just been passing by each other. It was risky, lest one of your relatives be the one to discover you, but somehow knowing that you could be caught at any moment only made it hotter. By the time you got back to the resort you were dying for more, sick of just having his knee pressing between your legs while he kissed you.   “I think I need a nap after all that,” you said, fake yawning as convincingly as possible.  “A nap sounds quite nice actually,” your Dad said, yawning for real. You didn’t know if it was better or worse that your Mom agreed too. On the one hand it did mean Erin would have no choice but to join you in your room, on the other though, if all three of them were asleep it would be easier to sneak off for a bit.  Or it would have been, if Erin had actually gone to sleep. There was clear snoring coming from the room next door but everyone in your room was wide awake.  “Are you sure you don’t want a nap?”  “I told you, I’m not tired,”  “Really?”  “Why don’t we go see Joe again?”  “I’m sure he’s busy doing other things.” He could be busy doing me if you’d just go to sleep.   “Well I’m bored. Let’s go down to the pool.”  “I don’t know if we should. You heard Mom on the bus, she doesn’t want me taking you out alone.”  “She meant at night. It’s like, two o’clock and it’s just the pool,”  “I guess so. It would be better than doing nothing here.”  Erin clapped her hands as she jumped up to find her bathers, rushing into the bathroom to change. You briefly wondered whether you should call Joe, even going so far as to pick up the phone, but ultimately decided against it. Realistically nothing could happen for the moment, not when it was just you watching Erin. You didn’t bother changing out of your shorts and tee-shirt, just slipped a note under your parents door in case they woke up, and then let Erin lead you downstairs and out into the sunshine.  

Erin was exhausted by the time dinner was finished, practically falling asleep in her plate. You offered to take her up to bed while your parents retired to the bar, figuring you might at least be able to talk to Joe for a while. You changed into your pyjamas while you waited for Erin to drop off completely but as soon as you were sure she was asleep you called Joe’s room. It rang once before he picked up.  “Hello?”  “Gosh, you’re eager. Expecting someone?”  “I was hoping you’d show up in your bikini the way we talked about but I guess this will do.”  “Well I’m here with Erin who happens to be asleep. Deeply asleep. And I was thinking we cou-”  The line went dead. What the fuck?  You were on the point of redialling when there was a soft knock at your door. As soon as you opened it Joe was on you, making you giggle as he held your face and kissed you. A snuffle from Erin made him stop, peaking at her from over your head.  “Bathroom,” you said softly, pointing at it as you closed the front door.  Joe grabbed your hand, covering his mouth to muffle his laughter as he pulled you along.   “I’m so glad you called,” he mumbled against your lips, hands already firmly on your ass, pulling you against him as you locked yourself in the bathroom.  “Mmhmm, me too.” You pulled away for a moment, “I was gonna suggest you bring the rest of that vodka over and we just hang out on the veranda and talk but this is better, want you so bad,"  “You sure this is okay? We won’t get caught in here?”  “Not if we stay quiet,” you breathed out, pushing yourself onto your toes to kiss him again. Joe didn’t argue, kissing you back fiercely as he backed you up against the sink. You could feel the cold sink top pressing against your lower back where your shirt had ridden up, a chill running along your spine, but you were far more concerned with trying to press yourself as close to Joe as possible. One of his hands as slipped up to your back but the other remained on your ass, pulling your hips against his. You threated one hand through his hair, tugging at it as he moved to kiss your neck.  “Careful Joe, don’t leave any marks,”  “I won’t. As much as your neck is begging to be covered in hickeys.”  You whined as he ground his hips against you, able to feel his semi-hard dick through his pants.   “Gosh, you’re eager,” he echoed your words from earlier, as he slipped a hand under the waistband of your pyjamas.  There was a knock at the door that made both of you pause. You held your breath, waiting, and then it came again accompanied by your mother’s voice calling your name.  “Shit,”  “Your Mom?”  “Yeah. Jesus Christ that sixth sense for gossip she’s got still fucking works. I’ll try and get rid of her, just wait here.”  You quickly readjusted your clothes as you stepped back out into the main room, pulling the bathroom door shut behind you.  “Y/N, open up,”  “Mom?” you said quietly, opening the door just wide enough for you to be seen, “thought you were down in the bar,”  “Your father and I felt bad that you were spending the night here with your sister. Thought you might want to come down and join us. Erin’s still asleep right?”  “Yeah, completely out of it.” Thank God.  “She’ll be fine on her own for a couple of hours, you should come downstairs.”  “Oh, I don’t mind staying here.”  “Don’t be silly, you must be bored out of your mind,”  “Not really. There’s the TV and then I’ve got a couple of things to read before school goes back. You and Dad should enjoy yourselves.”  “Honey, I see your father every day but I haven’t seen you properly in months. Now, I insist you come down and have a drink with us. The books will be there when you come back.”  “Are you sure it’s okay to leave Erin?”  “It’s fine, the door will be locked and she probably won’t wake up. Just leave a note in case she does.”  “Yeah, okay, I’ll come down then, just give me a couple of minutes to change out of my PJs.”   You shut the door and hurried back into the bathroom, grabbing a pair of shorts on your way past.  “You’re leaving?”  “I’m sorry, she didn’t really give me a choice. I’ll try and keep it short, see if I can get to your room afterwards.”  “Okay, yeah, I get it.”  You dropped your pyjamas and stepped into your shorts as you talked, “If not tonight then tomorrow for sure. Don’t think there’s anything planned except relaxing on the beach, so I’ll probably be in my bikini when I come up.”  “Well I guess I can wait for that.”  “Thank you for being so understanding,” you leaned up to kiss him again, much too briefly, “Give us a few minutes before you leave just to make sure we’re in the elevator.”   

If you were hoping to get back upstairs without much fuss you were in for some disappointment. The quick drink you intended turned into a few more, your parents wanting to know every detail of the last few months of your life. They flatly refused to accept short answers and you ended up explaining every class you were taking and telling them about all your friends. In the morning you’d blame your mother. She was always good at getting people to talk even when they didn’t intend to. It was part of how she stayed on top of neighbourhood gossip. A couple of drinks and a few soft words and she could have someone spilling their guts about the affair they were having or their failing marriage or any other myriad secrets they could be keeping. You were mostly thankful she hadn’t mentioned Joe, knowing full well you would have ended up caving and telling her much more than she needed to know. Luckily, she’d been too focused on finding out every detail of your breakup with Eddie. It was over your third gin and tonic that you told her about how you’d dumped him over dinner one night. How there hadn’t really been a specific event that made you want to end it, more of a build-up of little things – he never said thank you and he was always making jokes that seemed like jokes but were actually really mean when you thought about them later and god he’d bought you a coffee mug for Christmas which is such a non-gift like it’s what you get for a co-worker you don’t know well in a secret Santa, y’know? And it wasn’t even a good mug with like a funny saying on it or whatever, just boring grey.   Your Mom just nodded along, filing away every scrap of information in case she ever needed it later.   “But that’s one reason I was glad you said you were organising this trip. Just needed to get away for a bit.”  “So you’re enjoying Hawaii then?”  “Oh, so much. It’s so beautiful here. The tour we went on today was incredible.”  “Wasn’t it just? You enjoyed it didn’t you darling?”  “It was fascinating, all that history,” your father chimed in, looking a little relieved you weren’t talking about boys any more.  An idea came to you that would help you get away to see Joe tomorrow, “Hey, do we have anything booked for tomorrow?”  “No, I thought we could all use a day to just relax on the beach or whatever. Why?”  “Oh, I was thinking about making an appointment for a massage in the spa but I didn’t want to book a time if we were going to be doing a volcano walk or something.”  “Oh a massage does sound nice,” you Mom said, “maybe I’ll join you. Your father can take Erin for a few hours and we can have some girl time.”  “Oh,” shit shit shit, “yeah, that’d be nice.”  “Okay, it’s settled, I’ll make an appointment as soon as we go upstairs.”   

By the time you were heading up to bed you decided it was too late to call on Joe, and the possibility your Mom would come knocking to ask you about massages was too high. The next morning, as soon as Erin was in the shower you called his room, intending to apologise again for the previous night and for how you’d fucked up today’s plans. It rang out. You figured he must be in the shower himself or else have already gone downstairs for breakfast, so you replaced the receiver and went about your morning routine.  Before you left to head down to the beach with the rest of your family you wrote a quick note to Joe, explaining what had happened. As the elevator doors opened you feigned forgetfulness and claimed you’d left your sunglasses back in your room, telling everyone to go on ahead and you’d meet them down there. You dashed back towards Joe’s room and slipped the note under his door hoping he’d see it, before hurrying back to the elevator.   “Got your sunnies?”  “Yeah right here,” you pulled them out of your pocket and held them up.  “Honestly Y/N, you’d forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on,”  You shrugged, “Probably,” as you followed everyone down the path and onto the sand. When you got there you looked around for any sign of Joe but, much to your disappointment, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. You tried to push him from your mind as you relaxed on the sun warmed sand and swam in the ocean, but you couldn’t help looking for him every time you resurfaced. Erin was something of a distraction, asking you to help build a sandcastle, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep you from scanning the steadily growing crowd, looking for his familiar face in the sea of strangers. It was almost welcome when your mother told you it was time for your massage, if only because you felt tense after not being able to explain what had happened to Joe. Though, you weren’t entirely sure how relaxing it was going to be when you were constantly on the alert for any leading questions about your love life. 

You were right to be worried. Before you even left the beach she started in on you.   “So if things between you and Eddie are definitely over,”  “They are,”  “Does that mean there’s someone else you’ve got your eye on?”  “No,”  “Really? Not even a little crush or anything?”  “Nothing. Surely there’s something else we can talk about. Tell me about that thing at Erin’s school that you mentioned last night.”  “I remember when I was around your age,” she barrelled on, completely ignoring you, “I broke up with my boyfriend and within a week I’d found someone else to flirt with.”  “I mean, I’ve done that a bit,”  “Oh?”  “My friends have taken me out a few times and,” you paused realising how easily she’d got you to started, “And I’m not talking about this anymore.”  “Alright, honey, I won’t push. But you can talk to me, I’m your mother and I just wanna know you’re okay.”  “I am.”   You made small talk the rest of the way, about how pretty the scenery was and how nice it was to get away, but you felt on edge, constantly waiting for another mention of Eddie or, god forbid, Joe. It was a relief when you entered the spa area and your Mom was distracted with the process of checking in. You waited, listening to the calming music and the sound of running water that flowed through the entrance room, suddenly aware of how tense you were. As much as you would have liked to be with Joe, perhaps a massage wasn’t a terrible alternative.  

It started off well enough. The calming energy of the spa relaxed you as the masseuse worked the muscles in your back and shoulders until you felt loose and calm. It helped that there wasn’t much opportunity for you mother to badger you, neither of you wanting to break the tranquillity of the moment. It lulled you into, what you later realised was a false sense of security. Once you were settled in a tub of warm water, the aroma of rose petals and lemon slices rising into the air, she started in on you again.   “This is such a lovely place, isn’t it Y/N?”  “Huh?”  “Hawaii. Just stunning.”  “Oh, yeah, for sure.” You closed your eyes, leaning back against the edge of the tub and reaching for your complimentary glass of champagne.  “And not just the scenery either, so many attractive people,”  You took a sip of your drink and tried to ignore her.  “Easy way to have a rebound fling, help you get over the breakup,”  “I guess so. Haven’t really thought about it.” You hoped she couldn’t hear your heartbeat speed up, loud in your own ears.   “Not once?”  Don’t fuck up, “Nope, guess I’ve been more focused on relaxing, catching up with you guys,”  She paused for a moment, taking a sip of her own drink, as she recalculated her attack, “I keep seeing that fellow from the island tour around the place.”  You resolutely kept still, not wanting to incriminate yourself with a single gesture.  “What was his name? Jim?”   Joe! “Who?”  “The lovely young man we got to take our photo. Jim doesn’t sound right,”   It’s not! “Oh, him,”  “Joe, I think that was it,”  You glanced over at your mother, she was watching you intently, trying to spot any hint that you were lying. You could just imagine her if she found out that you’d spent the last two days flirting with Joe. As soon as she got home she’d be telling everyone how you hooked a man within the first days of your holiday. It would be just like when you told her you’d had your first kiss and somehow the next day the whole street knew.  “I was thinking of inviting him to join us for dinner one night.”  “What?” You hoped your slightly raised voice went unnoticed or at least was taken for surprise rather than horror.  “Well I think he’s here on his own and I thought since he’s around your age it might be nice to meet him properly.”  “Oh my god, you are unbelievable.”  “He thinks you’re pretty. Barely took his eyes off you while he was taking the photos. I probably could have stuck my finger in my nose and crossed my eyes and he wouldn’t have noticed. A miracle we got some decent photos really.”  “So?”  “So, if you wanted to, I don’t know, spend some time with him...”  For a brief moment you were tempted to spill everything, put an end to the sneaking around and just admit that’s what you’d been hoping for since you first laid eyes on him. But the thought of how obnoxious your mother would be about it stopped you in your tracks. Plus, it was weird how curious about your sex life she was.   “I’m not really interested,”  She didn’t seem wholly convinced by your lie but she dropped the subject, knowing a losing battle when she saw one.  

As soon as you were out of the spa you made your way back upstairs, claiming you wanted to have a short nap before dinner. You headed straight to Joe’s room and knocked at his door. There was no response. You knocked a bit louder. Still no response. Looking over your shoulder in case anyone was approaching you knocked again and called his name. He definitely wasn’t there. Not entirely sure what to do with yourself now that your idea had fallen through you headed back downstairs. For a while you wandered around the resort, keeping an eye out for any sign of Joe, but eventually you gave up and went to meet your family for dinner.   “So how was your morning dear?”  Your father stopped with a couple of fries half way to his mouth, “Yeah, good. We had fun didn’t we Erin?”  “Yup! We saw Joe!”  You dropped your fork with a loud clatter, drawing everyone’s eyes.  “Sorry, slipped outta my hand.”  You looked back at your plate, unable to face your Mom’s self-satisfied smile.  “We did, ran into him at the pool. Me and him are going to play a few rounds of golf tomorrow. Any of you are welcome to join us.”  “Well, me and Erin are going to skip out I think,” your Mom said, “we’ve signed up to one of those painting activities. I think we get to paint a little tiki statue we can take home with us. And then we might try and catch a hula show too. But Y/N, you should go.”  You were torn, unsure how to answer, aware of your mother watching your reaction.  “Yeah, Y/N, that’d be great.”  “Golf....isn’t really my game,”  “That doesn’t matter, it’ll still be fun. C’mon, come with us.”  You sighed, “Yeah okay,” at least this way you’d be able to see Joe, maybe manage to sneak off for a make out sesh, or, if you were lucky, be able to head back to his room together. You were lost in thought, picking at your food when you saw your mother wave at someone over your head.  “Speak of the devil,” she said as footsteps approached, “Joe, come and join us. My husband’s just been telling me you’re playing golf together tomorrow.”  “Hi,” Joe seemed a little awkward at the sudden familiarity, eyes flicking towards you very briefly, “yeah we are. I’m looking forward to it, but I don’t want to intrude on your family time.”  “Oh intrude-schmude. Please, have dinner with us. You remember Erin of course, and my other daughter Y/N,”  “Nice to meet you properly,” you smiled at Joe, sure he was about to laugh at your improvisation.   “Y/N’s agreed to come with us tomorrow, play a few rounds.”  “Really?”  “Sure. I’m afraid I’m a terrible golfer, but how could I resist? When in Hawaii after all.”  Joe chuckled as he pulled an empty chair over and placed it next to you, “Surprised I didn’t see you with your father and Erin then. They were fully embracing that attitude by the pool all afternoon.”  “I was embracing it elsewhere. Mom and I had a surprise girl’s day at the spa.”  You hadn’t been sure Joe would get your hastily written note that morning but at least you could breathe easy now, his nod showing he understood why you hadn’t been around earlier.   “It was incredibly relaxing,” your Mom chimed in, “but what about you Joe? Here on your own?”  “‘Fraid so. Thought it’d be nice to get away on my own after I was done with exams.”  “So, no girlfriend then?”  You rolled your eyes as your Mom pointedly looked at you.  Joe just chuckled, “No, not for a while.”  “Any particular reason?”  “Alright dear,” your father said, laying a hand over hers, “No need to interrogate the poor lad.”  “Sorry Joe, I can get a little carried away,” your mother said with a smile, “it’s just that me and Y/N were talking earlier about her recent breakup and it was still on my mind.”  “Sounds like Y/N could use a little rebound relationship,” Joe said, cocking his head and smiling as he turned to you.  “Thank you, Joe, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell her.”  “Yes, thank you, but I think Y/N can decide what Y/N needs on her own,” you huffed, crossing your arms and trying to kick Joe subtly under the table. As soon as you made contact with his ankle he winced. You tried not to look too pleased. 

Gradually the conversation moved away from your love life into the casual chatter reserved for new acquaintances and you could relax a little. Although not entirely. Your mother hadn’t given up whatever game she was playing, and Joe seemed to be doing everything he could to encourage her, much to your annoyance. You tried to kick his ankle again in the hopes that would be enough to stop him but he shifted in his seat, moving his foot before you could reach it. The corner of his mouth lifted which only made you want to kick him harder. Instead you froze as he dropped his hand to your knee, squeezing it in warning. His voice didn’t waver as he talked to your parents, at the same time slowly dragging his fingers up your thigh until he reached the hem of your shorts. You completely lost track of the conversation as he held his hand there, his thumb rubbing over the patch of skin it could reach. It was hard enough just remembering to breath properly. You only started paying attention again when you heard your name.  “Huh?”  “I asked you what you thought,” Joe said, entirely too pleased with himself.  “Oh, sorry, I uh, I wasn’t listening,”  “Y/N, are you okay?” your Dad asked, “you look a little off,”  “Feel a little dizzy actually. Probably just haven’t drunk enough water today.” You reached for your glass of water but only ended up knocking it over as Joe chose that moment to move his fingers to the seam along the front of your shorts, pressing down on it as he traced its path between your legs, seemingly unfazed by the potential attention he could be drawing.  “Shit, sorry,” you grabbed your napkin, trying to mop up the spill but it had already started to run over your edge of the table. Joe quickly pulled his hand away from you as ice cold water dripped onto his lap. Serves him right was all you had time to think before it reached your leg as well. You shivered at the cold but it was nothing to the shiver that went up your spine as Joe reached over to wipe the water from your leg with his own napkin.   “Sorry,” you said again, “think I might go hop into bed early. Make sure I’m okay for golf tomorrow,” you pushed back from the table to make a quick escape but Joe stood up too.  “Wait, I’ll come with, make sure you don’t knock over anything else on your way.”  “You really don’t need to do that,”  “No it’s okay, I’m gonna change my pants anyway since it looks like I’ve had a uh, rather unfortunate accident.”  You laughed when you glanced at the large wet stain on the front of his pants but nodded before turning to bid your family goodnight. Your Mom was looking exceptionally pleased with herself.  

Once you were closer to the elevators and out of sight you turned to hit Joe’s shoulder, “you jerk. I can’t believe you did that,”  “Did what?” he raised his eyebrow and grinned at you.  “All of it! Encouraging my mother’s ridiculous notions of playing cupid. Feeling me up while my Dad was right there. Agreeing to play golf with him? What the fuck?”  “Well you were a no show today and I was pissed off you’d ditched me again without warning. Besides, no need to worry about him. You said he doesn’t do the whole overprotective dad thing and even if he did, he likes me.”  “That’s beside the point. And I tried to call you this morning but you didn’t answer. Even slipped a note under the door for you.”  “Whatever. I managed to get us away for a bit didn’t I?”  “Oh, if you think I’m sleeping with you tonight you are mistaken.”  “C’mon Y/N, it was just a bit of fun,”  The elevator dinged and you stepped in, crossing your arms over your chest as you leaned against the back wall, letting Joe press the button for your floor, “Fun for you maybe. Mom’s gonna come past the room later to put Erin in bed and expect it to be empty. She thinks we’re off fucking right now and that’s what I’ve been trying to avoid. Christ she’s gonna go home and tell the whole fucking neighbourho-”  You stopped talking as Joe ran his fingers along the seam of your shorts again, “think I can save the evening, make it fun for you.”  You closed your eyes, whimpering as he traced his touch over your clit. It took all your willpower to grab his wrist and pull his hand away from you.   “Really? You’re gonna punish yourself because of what happened at dinner?”  “No, I’m gonna go get off while I have the room to myself and you’re gonna be left with that image being the only thing you can think about.” you pushed past him as the doors opened on your floor, “See you at golf tomorrow Joe.” 

[areyouafanofdeliciousflavour]

tagged by @notjanine​ 🤩

1. HOW HAS YOUR DAY BEEN?

Yeah had better days and worse days? Currently working on an assignment for uni about teaching numeracy which has been... frustrating to say the least. The unit has been reminding everyone that “numeracy is more than maths!” but then the assignment only wants to know about what mathematical concepts we’re explicitly teaching in class... which is not how the real world works, at all. My experiences have involved students who have super low resilience with maths and have scored low on institutional “ “ “ numeracy “ “ “  tests (read: government testing treats numeracy as just maths) actually performing well (and in fact, could be considered numerate) when you decouple numeracy language from the task at hand. For example, the kids I was teaching geography to shut down when presented with a task that asked them to read topographical maps and find elevations, but when I presented it as a colour association task (match the colour of the map to the legend) they actually got engaged and completed the task successfully. Kinda like sneaking veggies in to a meal. But nooooo, this unit disagrees and says we should be upfront about our numeracy intentions and instructions. Urgh. So yeah, just working through that begrudglingly.

2. WHAT IS THE LAST THING THAT MADE YOU SMILE?

My doggo! The lil rescue pup doesn’t get on great with other dogs due to her start in life, but on a walk she actually let another puppy come close to her and LICK HER FACE. Which for her is completely unheard of! Have a quick pic of her lazing about.

3. WHAT’S KEEPING YOU ENTERTAINED THESE DAYS?

Actually getting back in to some birds-eye cRPG style games. Thirsting for some more Fallout action I’m going back and playing Wasteland 2 (which I never finished), and I’ve got ATOM RPG slotted in for next. I’ve also tried to get back in to Hunt: Showdown because I ADORE the theme and art direction but can’t stand the PvP nature of the game. Destiny 2′s... there I guess? Pretty burnt out on it right now and guess I won’t be getting Heir Apparent because I can’t be assed.

Also Matt & Alex who hosted breakfast on triple j during my undergrad days are back out with a daily podcast and I’ve been enjoying that so far. It’s a pretty easy listen. The story-driven podcasts I listen to I’ve kinda taken a break from due to not actually driving anywhere, barely started Graduation from TAZ and I know NADDPOD is finishing their current season up soon while I’m way behind. Also wanted to get in to TMA but that’ll have to wait. 

Playing board games online has been good with mates, and also having a weekly movie watch-party has been keeping me sane.

Can’t say tumblr is keeping me entertained much of late. I’m actually not on here too often these days? I’ll come on maybe once every two days to add to the ~queue~ but my general internet browsing time seems to be down (barely even watching stuff on youtube much).

4. IF YOU ARE IN SOME KIND OF QUARANTINE/SELF ISOLATION: IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN THIS TIME?

lmao my final placement experience? But nah, obviously just finishing my assignments before everything opens would be nice because when stuff does start back my year is going to be hectic. Been doing some minor writing and worldbuilding for D&D which I’d like to keep working on but that stuff won’t ever be “finished”.

5. POST A SELFIE (IF YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THAT)

Here’s me, pretty done with this assignment but still chugging along after rolling out of bed and working on it solidly for the last three hours.

6. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, SEND THIS TO SOME MUTUALS TO KEEP THE GAME GOING:

uhh I guess @alittlebitridiculous​ @thehistorians-jewels​ @4ooluxe​ if you wanna if you’re stuck in iso? don’t feel obliged!

[doomedandstoned]

Austin Doom Powerhouse FOREBODE Issue Explosive EP

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

We've all experienced it. The unnerving feeling that something, somewhere out there is not quite right. Perhaps some ominous fate is about to befall. You can feel it palpably throughout the new five-tracker by an Austin band that has a name for the dread: FOREBODE.

Look to the sky and you see Fire raining down, as you plea For your God to save you But you see only me

From the solemn Sabbathesque chords that open "Firebrand" you can tell a storm is in queue on the horizon. Then those deathly vocals reveal themselves and everyone within earshot is feeling the trepidation, too. A torrent of riffage -- alternately groovy and blackened -- erupts, joined by furious drumming and a bitchin' bassline.

Introducing singer TJ Lewis, guitarist Eddie Konopasek, bassist Guillermo Madrigal, and drummer Zach Donnelly. While it's hard to write in the strictest genre terms about the sound these guys are belting out, one thing is for certain: this is some seriously sludged-up, ferociously doomy metal-making with a southern stoner twist. How's that suit your fancy pants?

You will circle the earth As in death, so rebirth No more physical form As in death and so the storm

I was advised from the outset to just let 'Forebode' (2019) play out from song-to-song in one consecutive listen. I'm so glad I did, because the experience intensifies, sonically and emotionally, as the second track "Soul Trip" takes hold. This one alternates between solemn plodding and dancing rhythms, culminating in TJ's sky-filling vox directing all eyes heavenward as the end of the age is upon us.

I agree with my colleague JJ over at The Obelisk when he says that Forebode's sound is "a wide space" that's "cavernous and bleak in like proportion." The team of Matthew Alvarez (recording), Alec Rodriguez (mixing), and Kevin Butler (mastering) have done an outstanding job of capturing "massive" in a way our ears absolutely believe. It feels like we are indeed in wide open spaces, yet fully present -- a front row seat for the Apocalypse, as it were.

Forebode the coming end Hide behind The book of holy lies Forget the worlds helpless cries Don't forget you will die

Next, we enter into "Forebode PT I" and "Forebode PT II" and it feels like Judgement Day has already begun. Only there is no one there to judge us ("As above, so below. Heaven/Earth die slow"), for we have borne witness against ourselves -- and the judgement is death ("Vacant man, save us not. The world must end for what it has forgot"). Doom was born for such a time as this. Everything in our world -- past and present -- is awaiting this mighty rebuke.

I am searching for a way to breathe Pulled under in my own grief Broken dreams are all I keep Walk amongst the tombstones everyday Watch me hang from my noose again

By the time we reach "The Primitive Realm" we're grooving on a whole new level. We're dancing in our graves during the End of Days. I'm talking Bongzilla-style sway and stomp, people. This is the real deal. And with that, I leave the listening to you. Keep your eyes peeled for the June 16th release of Forebode on CD, cassette, and digital formats (pre-order here).

Give ear...

Forebode by FOREBODE

Forebode: Live 'n' Loud

June 14th - Atomic House in Houston

June 15th - Jandros in San Antonio

June 16th - Carousel Lounge in Austin

June 25th - Come and Take It Live in Austin with Sixes and Atala

July 3rd - Safehouse Sessions in Austin

Sept 1st - Come and Take it Live in Austin with Orange Goblin, Black Cobra, Mothership and The Skull

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[fortunatelylori]

Jon’s speech to Dany

In the comments section for my last meta I was asked a couple of questions that I thought would be interesting to address more at length, since the comment character limit is so small. If you haven’t noticed, I tend to be a very wordy writer. Anyway, thank you @yol101 for your lovely comment and for giving me the opportunity to talk about this.

Btw, if you ever want me to discuss anything in particular, please leave it in the comments or message me. I’d be happy to answer if I can. :)

 The comment is below:

Bravo again for this great analysis. Thoroughly illuminating and a joy to read. Question about the speech Jon gave about her accomplishing extraordinary things. Can that be interpreted as romantic, real admiration on his part or just a bit of ego stroking? And another question that has kept me awake for many nights: why are Jon’s hands and nails so dirty in the Drogon scene? Is that deliberate too? Why? To show us he has been personally mining dragon glass? Or did Kit just not wash his hands?

 So … I’ll start with the second question first since it’s quicker to answer:

why are Jon’s hands and nails so dirty in the Drogon scene? Is that deliberate too? Why? To show us he has been personally mining dragon glass? Or did Kit just not wash his hands?

 Well … I can’t speak to Kit’s personal hygiene but I hope he does wash his hands regularly. It’s a health hazard not to. :))))  @trinuviel mentioned in the comments that they used a hand double for the scene so I think it’s safe to assume that the dirty hand is deliberate. As to why, I believe you are correct in that it’s an indication that he is personally mining dragon glass.

Aside from that, though, it also creates an interesting juxtaposition with Dany, for those that notice this small detail. Let me explain …

Dany’s world is extremely sterile, formal and deliberately isolating. Whenever I think of Dany, I think of this image:

Or this:

She’s always high up there, somewhere apart from everyone else, looking down on the rest of the world. This is not a critique of her, btw. It’s an observation. I actually find it very sad to think about just how alone she really is.

She has no real relationships with anyone, no friends. She has people who serve her. They’re either advisors like Tyrion and Vayrs, who are with her because they see in her the best chance Westeros has or people who worship the very ground she walks on, like Missandei and Jorah. While being worshipped sounds great in theory, it’s an extremely isolating place to find yourself in. There isn’t even anyone in her entourage that calls her by her name. She’s always Your Grace or My Queen.

Maybe that’s what makes her fall so hard for Jon. She sees in him a chance at a real, grounded relationship. So if the political!jon theory is correct, that would only make the blow that much harder to bare.

In contrast, Jon is down on earth, with the rest of the people around him. All of his relationships are grounded. Even Davos, bless his heart, who is the only one who tries to enforce Jon’s title struggles with whether he should be called King Snow or King Jon. Me thinks King Jon Stark, the First of his name has quite the nice ring to it ….

Even when Jon is in positions of power, he is never completely isolated.

As Lord Commander he sits at a table above most of his brothers, but there are still people sitting next to him:

King in the North? Sansa is right there next to him

So that small visual queue actually gives us a lot of clues about the inherent differences between the King in the North and the Mother of Dragons.

Onto the other question:

Question about the speech Jon gave about her accomplishing extraordinary things. Can that be interpreted as romantic, real admiration on his part or just a bit of ego stroking?

The reason why I like to quote the lines of dialogue without the visuals that go with it is because the meaning of the words become clearer without all the visual and auditory context. Plus Jon looks really hot in this scene which I think distracts people from what he’s saying. So let’s just look at the speech without the deep voice, dark, penetrating gaze and gorgeous cascade of black curls:

I never thought that dragons would exist again. No one did. The people who follow you know you made something impossible happen. Maybe that makes them believe that you can make other impossible things happen, build a world that’s different from the shit one they’ve always known. But if you use them to melt castles and burn cities, you’re no different. You’re just more of the same.

So, is it romantic?

You know what the single most romantic thing about this speech is? The music that is playing in the background. It’s beautiful, sweeping, haunting and bitter-sweet. Just the kind of piece you would expect to hear over a romantic scene.

That being said, call me crazy but what I want in a romantic speech is someone telling the heroine how special she is because she’s smart, or strong or how she affects him. Anything that has to do with the personal qualities in that person, not the fact that she has dragons. This is about as romantic as a guy telling you you’re special because you own a Chanel bag.

Maybe that makes them believe that you can make other impossible things happen, build a world that’s different from the shit one they’ve always known.

Here, he is even questioning why people follow her. Maybe they follow her because they believe in her … maybe they’re mistaken … that sounds like the message there.  It’s telling that when he talks about building a different world, the camera cuts to Varys. Because that’s exactly why he says he’s following her.

The end of the speech is punctuated by a shot of Tyrion. Why? Because he’s been telling Dany the same thing since they landed in Westeros.

If we turn the dragons loose, tens of thousands will die in the firestorm.

Conquering Westeros would be easy for you but you’re not here to be queen of the ashes. We can take the Seven Kingdoms without turning it into a slaughter house.

So if we were to think of Jon’s speech as romantic, why shouldn’t we think of Tyrion’s as romantic as well? The truth is that the speech isn’t about romance at all but rather the basic conundrum at the heart of Dany’s arc.

She is special because she made the impossible possible by emerging from the fire with 3 dragons, people follow her because she has dragons which makes them believe she can do other impossible things but in order to do these impossible things (break the wheel), she can’t use the dragons. It’s a catch 22. It’s like the atomic bomb. It keeps the peace but it can also destroy life on Earth. And there’s nothing romantic about the atomic bomb.

Is it a bit of ego stroking?

I think Dany feels he is stroking her ego. I think she thinks he’s telling her she’s special. But Dany, and I apologize to her fans for this, isn’t very smart. But don’t take my word for it. Take hers:

Enough with the clever plans.I have 3 large dragons. I’m going to fly them to the Red Keep.

I’m sure Napoleon scoffed at “clever plans” all the time, too … Not.

What Jon actually does is ego depravation, not ego stroking. I don’t know if he does it consciously or not, but what he’s really saying is:

People think you’re special but if you burn people alive, you’re not.

Essentially he is pushing her to prove to him that she is the kind of leader that can “build a world that’s different from the shit one they’ve always known” and is not “more of the same”.

Is it real admiration?

Hmmm … this is harder to tackle because there’s nothing in the text to settle the question conclusively either way.

What we can do is ask ourselves that is it that Jon admires? Can we find someone whom he actually admires and see if we can compare them to Dany?

I would point to two people actually: Ned, of course but also Joer Mormont. And it’s the latter that comes into direct contrast to Dany in this scene.

Here, Dany is attacking and humiliating Tyrion is front of everyone, including people that are not in her inner circle (Davos and Jon). Even more than that, when they want to excuse themselves, she makes them stay so they can witness Tyrion’s public spanking.

Jon and Mormont had a similar moment in season 2, in Craster’s keep when Jon speaks out of turn and upstes Craster. While Mormont tells him to shut up, he doesn’t unleash his anger on him in front of everyone. He waits until they’re outside and talks to him privately. He is stern and obviously angry with Jon but he doesn’t humiliate him publicly.

This is just a small snippet I found that I think shows that what Jon admires in people isn’t something that is found in Dany, at least not in the scene we are talking about.

[blubberquark]

AsyncIO for the working PyGame programmer (part III) - Pitfalls

Table of Contents

Race Conditions

Resource Conflicts

Architecture and Composability

Future-Proofing

Best Practices

Race Conditions

Here is a simple multithreaded python program to demonstrate race conditions. One thread sequentially increments my_numbers["b"], while two more threads increment my_numbers["a"] in parallel. Can you guess what this program will print out?

import threading my_numbers=dict(a=0, b=0) def incrementer(key, times): for i in range(times): my_numbers[key]+=1 thread_1=threading.Thread(target=incrementer, args=("a", 5_000_000)) thread_2=threading.Thread(target=incrementer, args=("a", 5_000_000)) thread_3=threading.Thread(target=incrementer, args=("b", 10_000_000)) thread_1.start() thread_2.start() thread_3.start() thread_1.join() thread_2.join() thread_3.join() print(my_numbers)

Even a simple line of code like my_numbers[key]+=1 is made up of multiple operations in the python interpreter. Getting the value of my_numbers, resolving the __getitem__ method, getting the value, incrementing, et cetera. CPython's GIL guarantees that all this will never lead to segmentation faults, premature garbage collection, or corrupted memory. It does not guarantee that everything executes in a sensible order. Too often, both threads read my_numbers[key], increment the value at the same time, and write my_numbers[key]+1 back, so one incrementing operation was superfluous. Even worse, there could be a situation where one thread wants to write my_numbers[key]+1 back, but it gets pre-empted. The other thread runs on, incrementing the value hundreds of times, until it itself gets pre-empted, and the first thread finally writes my_numbers[key]+1 back, even though at this time the number is much less that what the other thread had already computed.

It's not as easy to make the same mistake with asyncio, but if you try hard enough, you can also shoot yourself in the foot. At least, you can spot the bug in this version of the code right away: There is an await in between reading a value and writing back the result.

import asyncio import random my_numbers=dict(a=0, b=0) async def bad_async_incrementer(key, times): await asyncio.sleep(random.random()) for i in range(times): x=my_numbers[key] await asyncio.sleep(0.01) my_numbers[key]=x+1 coro1=bad_async_incrementer("a", 50) coro2=bad_async_incrementer("a", 50) coro3=bad_async_incrementer("b", 100) loop=asyncio.get_event_loop() loop.run_until_complete(asyncio.gather(coro1,coro2,coro3)) print(my_numbers)

I had to add random sleep times to overcome the somewhat deterministic nature of the event loop scheduling to make this example work, but in a real-world application, the timing of network input won't be deterministic either, and you can have multiple await statements in one coroutine.

It's probably best not to read and write global state in threads or async tasks. You should rather use local or thread-local variables. If you really have to modify global state, wrap all your critical sections in locks!

Resource Conflicts

I don't know what happens when two threads are trying to read from or write to the same socket in a multi-threaded python program. Maybe the input gets duplicated, maybe the output is interleaved, maybe there is some low-level locking. Even if the underlying OS operations are atomic, I have no clue if the Python standard library maybe splits the data up and processes it via multiple system calls. If you write code on top of well-behaved libraries (which correctly lock a socket before while reading or writing) your code could still invoke multiple of these "atomic" function calls in a row from different threads, leading to interleaved input or output.

When two coroutine tasks inside the same event loop await input from the same source at the same time, the result is usually this: The event loop does not know which one task to wake up next, and raises an exception.

If you have multiple tasks that want to send requests or do back-and-forth handshakes over the same connection, they each need to acquire a lock on the connection before they can communicate, and release it afterwards. Otherwise, your scheduler might raise an exception if you are lucky, or as above, the data coming from different threads could be interleaved or switched around! You must avoid resource conflicts by correctly using locks, and incorrect use of locks can cause deadlocks.

This might not look like a common occurrence in client software, but every time you have a bi-directional request-response protocol, like JSON-RPC, or a chat service where multiple users can send messages, the protocol is already more complicated than the simple, deterministic lock-step of HTTP.

Even though asyncio is completely single-threaded, it still provides concurrency. You will fave to deal with the familiar problems you know and hate from multi-threaded concurrency: Race conditions and deadlocks. The asyncio module does not help you with timing and correctness, is not a way to sidestep the GIL for CPU-heavy multi-core parallel computation, and will not make your programs easier to read. It is just a standardised API for concurrent, single-threaded, asynchronous I/O.

Architecture and Composability

Broadly speaking, you can't call asynchronous code, as in code marked with async def from regular synchronous code. That is also true in other asynchronous, event-based architectures like node.js, and shown with a table like this:

  in synch code in async code can call synch code yes yes can call async code NO yes

This is technically correct, but at the same time somewhat misleading. While you can call synchronous code from async code, and you cannot use await outside of an async function, in practice you cannot just invoke any old bit of synchronous code from async code running inside an event loop. Any blocking I/O inside a coroutine will cause the whole event loop to block. That won't be a problem if you debug your application with a single client, or a single task in your event loop, but it will come back to haunt you in production. Python doesn't track which functions are pure functions, which functions have side effects, and whether they cause I/O or other system calls.

If your "synchronous" code is actually creating threads, you have to be extra careful, as Pythons thread synchronisation mechanisms and data structures in Python are different from those in asyncio. If your async code calls synchronous code that invokes callbacks, you might need to make sure that these callbacks are scheduled as tasks in your event loop again. Probably that means using as callbacks synchronous stubs that create coroutines and submit them to your event loop to be executed as tasks. It gets hairy fast.

Similarly, you can just evaluate a coroutine inside synchronous code if you really want to, by creating a new event loop and using loop.run_until_complete(coroutine). But you probably shouldn't. If you are inside async code, you should just use await instead of messing with the loop. The worst-case scenario here is creating new loop from synchronous code that was called from async code, causing the outer event loop to hang until the inner event loop has been completed. This way, as long as any task in the inner loop is waiting, no task in the outer loop can do anything, even if there is input available.

As a general rule, your asyncio programs should use one thread and one event loop. If you absolutely have to use multiple threads, you should still only use one loop, and have that run in its own thread, and use thread-safe methods to submit tasks to it. Don't have multiple loops in multiple threads, and don't call loop.run_until_complete(coroutine) or loop.run_forever() from different threads.

If you are using a GUI toolkit with asyncio, you will probably have to spawn one GUI thread, and one "worker" thread with the event loop. You could also try handling UI events inside the event loop, or writing your own GUI mainloop that periodically calls the event loop (like my own approach to using asyncio with pygame at 30/60 FPS).

You get the most out of asyncio if you run a single-threaded server with only one event loop that handles all concurrency for you, and any long-running computations are either done by a fancy message queue middleware, or with concurrent.futures.ProcessPoolExecutor.

Further Reading

What Color Is Your Function? - Explanation of what can call what in node.js

I Don't Understand asyncio - Outsider view of the asyncio ecosystem from 2016

Controlling Python Async Creep - Critical view of the asyncio architecture and ecosystem in 2018

Future-Proofing

It gets worse. Application code might do weird things like calling your async library from a thread, or calling your threaded code from a coroutine, but application code might also use something like gevent, twisted or tornado - async frameworks from the Python 2 era. Gevent adds green threads to the Python interpreter, and monkey-patches common i/o operations to allow task switching while waiting on blocking input. Twisted implemented its own event loop, but can now be used on top of a Python 3.6 SelectorEventLoop. The same goes for Tornado.

If your library monkey-patches i/o operations, that could create problems when you use more than one of them. If your library uses its own event loop, or even worse, implements its own event-based scheduling, then two different event-based libraries will block each other.

If you use a non-standard event loop/scheduler, it better be compatible with asyncio coroutines, and you better make sure to schedule all tasks in the same loop. If one library uses the default asyncio loop via get_event_loop(), and another creates a new one with Twisted or Tornado, you have a problem, and the tasks from these two libraries will not be interleaved.

In the future, we might get API improvements for=asyncio, but for backward compatibility, everybody has to support the old API. Somebody might write a nice, stable, thread-like interface on top of asyncio, like thredo (https://github.com/dabeaz/thredo), but if such an interface will need to have a way to call async code that uses the low-level asyncio module. Otherwise, you will get the same problems again, with the event loop and coroutines inaccessible and hidden behind a swanky interface.

Best Practices

If you are doing request-response-request-response things, wrap every request-response cycle in a lock to make sure another task doesn't accidentally get the response to your request.

If you read multiple times from a socket, for instance a first you read a length field, and then you read until you have read that many bytes, then wrap the whole thing in a lock.

If you read and write global or shared data structures, then make sure to either use locks, or to not await in between reading and writing.

If you are writing a library, don't hide away the async behind a synchronous API. Just write coroutines, and let the use create the event loop and schedule tasks.

If you provide a synchronous API, at least allow the user to pass in an event loop.

Do not create more than one event loop per program. You can have one per thread, but even that defeats the purpose of the event loop.

If you write your own high-level asyncio wrapper, please make it interoperable with plain asyncio.