#fairy!emble

[glacierruler]

Of Magic and Mortals

Alright, this is the last chapter I have so far, and it's probably the most dull out of all of them, but the next one should be more interesting, when I'm finished writing it.

TWs: Fantasy Racism, Cursing, Anxiety, Alcohol, Mentions of death, Mentions of sex, Sexual innuendos, gender dysphoria, feeling like an outsider in one's own body, 

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

Virgil went partying with her friends, and called off of work (making a mental note to talk to her boss about the scholarship and what that means for her schedule). They ended up in a bar called the Lucky Hen. It was known for it's more questionable drinks, and the food was supposed to be okay. As she ordered her first drink, she heard a werewolf tell someone, "this place would be awesome if they didn't allow fayries in here." Don't say anything, you've had a great day. Don't ruin to give the what for to some asshole who doesn't know what he's talking about. Virgil breathes in and out when she hears Birtlin murmur, "At least we don't leave our fur every place we go." As Emble laughs at that, Virgil hears the werewolf get closer. She looks over her shoulder and sees the person getting a little too close, as her two friends turn around. Fuck, I was hoping to avoid something like this. "Did you say something?" The werewolf growls out, glaring and making sure to show his teeth and shove his face a little closer than necessary. Virgil gets off of her seat. "Hey buddy, back the fuck up. If you get to diss on fairies, then we get do diss on werewolves. It's only fair." She claims, rolling her eyes. The werewolf backs up, only to turn their rage onto her. "You fayries think that you're so special. But you're not. You lot are all lying, cheating, scum bags who don't know how to work for a living."

Virgil starts looking the werewolf up and down. This ought to be fun. She scoffs. "As if you do, I mean, can you even afford a glass of water here?" The werewolf walked over to her, and raised a hand. And now I die. I blame Birtlin and Emble. Virgil stands up a little straighter, realizing that everyone is looking at her and this person. She looks the werewolf in the eye. "Do it, I bet you won't!" As the hand goes to hit her, it gets intercepted in mid-air. "Yooo, leave the sexy fairy alone dude."

Looking over, Virgil sees her knight in thrift store armor. Kind of glad she's not getting killed right now, she decides not to comment her inner thought of I had it handled bitch. Watching as this fake mustache wearing person is chewing out this random werewolf guy, apparently. One can never be too sure, but thrift store person was using masculine pronouns for this person. After a few minutes the werewolf leaves. The person, who's probably human, who saved her turns to Virgil. "Hi, are you okay? Sorry that dickhead was bothering you, too bad he goes to my school. I'm Remus, he/him pronouns. Would you mind telling me a name to go with this stunning faerie?" Virgil could feel her blush. I need to stop getting so flustered with just a little flirting. Looking Remus up and down, Virgil sees a bracelet with the crest to Cypress Independence University. Better not give him my name, if I want to pass as a male there. Just because he gave me pronouns, doesn't mean he's not transphobic. "Well, you can call me Anx, and I use she/her pronouns." "Cool, Anx, feels like some kind of super secret code name. Do you have a job where you kill people, or string them up for information. Oooh, I get to tell my twin that I met the sexiest and deadliest fairy in the world!" "Woah, hold on big boy~. The deadliest thing about me is my tongue, and you might want to stop asking questions like that to random strangers. Wouldn't want to die because of it." "Well, it's actually my dream to die in the middle of making out with a deadly sexy fairy~." The flirting went on like this for a while, before Virgil yawned. Realizing that she should get home soon, so that she can get to her school tomorrow, she says, "well handsome stranger, this is where I must go. Maybe we'll meet again, wouldn't want this to be just a one night stand~." With that, Virgil went to her two friends (who she forgot about while flirting with the random stranger,) and left.

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

As Virgil woke up the next morning, the first thought in their mind was, did I seriously pay for a drink that I didn't drink. Then they went to the bathroom mirror. Looking at their feminine figure, they felt sickened. Shit, I haven't felt this dysphoric in ages. Why now?  Virgil got their binder and put it on. "Alright, time to see what my pronouns are. Hey did you see Virgil isn't she- Nope! Not trying that again!" Virgil exclaimed, having to look away from the mirror in order to keep from criticizing their appearance. After breathing for a bit, Virgil looked in the mirror again, ready to try more pronouns. "Did you see Vee today? He looks like shit." Virgil nodded at himself, but it still felt like something was missing. He'd talk about it with his friends when they woke up. Then he got dressed in baggy jeans, and an oversized dark purple shirt with a bleeding black heart. Fluffing out his shirt a bit, to keep it from sticking to his binder, he went to his closet and put on his dark grey jacket. He put on his he/him pronoun pins. Then he decided that it was time to start his day, and went downstairs.

When he got downstairs, he noticed that Emble had already made food. As he was eating, he was pondering what was missing, before deciding to try some new pronouns. "I know Virgil looks deadly and scary, but they're really cool when you get to know them." Those pronouns felt great, so they decided to use them.

1st chapter / Prev chapter / Next chapter

[sweater-daddiesdumbdork]

This Is Still Marvel, Right?

Summary- 2.5k Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes x Wade Wilson x You. Deadpool the character from the comics is sitting across from the table from you, real right in front of your eyes. Not only is time travel a thing, but dimension travel is as well, and he is here for a very serious reason. Warnings- swears. Written for @what-is-your-backupplan-today​ CATFA 10th Anniversary Challenge. Prompts are highlighted. 

Masterlist

“You came from where?” Sam questioned with a tilt of his head, arms folded across his chest as he raised a quizzical brow at the man in all red. 

“And why the clown suit?” Bucky right next to him asked, trying to make sense of what was going on. 

“I’m from the X-Men verse, you know… bald dude in the wheelchair, Wolvie with butter knife hands, we have our own pigeon boy. Not as sweet as your wings though.” Wade said with a sigh. “And we had a Peter, but the winds… god the winds were too strong. I will never forget you Sugar Bear.” He sobbed in his hand a moment, sniffling a moment. 

You were thoroughly in shock, your jaw was dropped to the floor as Wade mother fucking Wilson sat in the interrogation chair, one leg crossed over the other, his ankle jiggling as he leaned forward on his elbows, planting his chin in his palms as he made an cooing sound at the two men. “Aww, they are so cute when they are confused, aren't they cute? The cutest little puppies.” He went to boop Bucky's nose, but Bucky reared his head back away from his hand and a whir of his hand closed around Wade's wrist, which caused the masked mercenary to gasp out excitedly. 

“THE WINTER SOLDIER ARM, VIBRANIUM UPGRADE. I keep telling Cable he needs this hook up, his isn't nearly as cool as yours. Mister Bucky Barnes Sir, can you sign my suit? I’m a super fan.” the white eyes of his mask widened and you finally managed to close your mouth watching all this.

Whatever this was, you were actually wondering if you weren't in some drugged hallucination right now. Mission gone wrong? You had eaten that turkey sandwich out of the compound fridge, maybe it was drugged and this was someone's payback for stealing their food.

“Come on man.” Sam snapped out, still trying to get a straight answer out of him. Bucky let go of his hand which Wade muttered to himself. 

“I'm never washing this hand, not ever.” He cradled it to his chest. “Just wait till I tell Chrome Dome who shook my hand.” 

“ANSWERS!” Bucky yelled out and Wade gasped at the outburst. Bucky reached over to grasp the mask and yanked it off, grimacing as Wade's appearance showed. Both Sam and Bucky recovered quite quickly, you were still freaking out in the corner and Wade gave a suggestive wink to the two of them. 

“Names Wilson, Wade Wilson. No relation to this saucy stud though.” He eyed Sam up and down with a purr, who scoffed at the sudden attention. “Don't worry, I know that one is crushing on you hard. The chemistry. I won't make a move on you. Winter Soldier though is fair game, eh?” He made a chef’s kiss motion after pointing at you. “So are you two… do you… fondue?” Wade asked, Sam and You looked at each other and made disbelieving faces at one another. “Oh we're not admitting feelings? My bad. I jumped ahead in the comics. So much sexual tension.” Making a donut shape with one hand and a pointer with the other, meshing them together, you could feel your throat close up and Sam’s eyes widen. Bucky was struggling to keep his calm at this point, Sam too. Wade made a motion to stand and get up. 

“Do we have any eats here?” He puts his hand on the handle to open the door and a knife flung through the air, landing right next to his face. Wade paused and turned around. “Here I thought this was still Marvel and not Dc. Tony would have offered me a snack by now.” He grumbled while sitting back down. “A falafel, blueberries, I know he likes to snack, I've seen the movies.” 

You finally got over your shock and went to sit across from him. “Mr.Wilson…” 

He put up a hand. “Pool please, Deadpool. Or Wade. Or you can call me Captain Deadpool. Too much?” He glanced up at Sam and Bucky. “Yea too much, just call me Wade.” 

“Wade.” you started again, trying to figure out how to approach this. “We’re confused, because you are a comic book character.” You pulled up your phone and pulled up a screen clip of his movie. 

Wade gasped and grabbed at your phone, studying it. “Look at that handsome son of a bitch. I'm so glad they picked Ryan Reynolds for the part, he looks just like me.” He held the phone up next to his face. “He’s so good looking, it's the Canadian genes.” Then handed it back, you tucked it away and he leaned forward to toss what looked like a beat up comic book on the table.

“What’s this?” You question, pointing at it.

“A comic book. You guys are just comic book characters and I'm here to fix your story. What? You seriously didn't know you are comic book characters in another universe?” 

“Our story?” You pulled the comic towards you and sure enough plastered on the front was Sam in his Falcon Suit, Bucky with his own gear and you were soaring in the air above slightly out of focus. 

“Yes, your story. Listen Cable, you all know Cable right? He's like a moodier you Buckaroo…” The name caused Bucky to growl a bit, but Wade continued without noticing. “... hooked me up with this cool device. Not like those stones you all have, this is some actual batman kind of future fuckery that I got rigged to not just travel back in time. But other dimensions. Whoo... “ He made wiggly fingers. “It's like magic right? Cool.” 

You were flipping through the pages as fast as possible, skimming the storyline. Amazingly all of it was there, the mission report Nick Fury brought Sam this morning, you and Bucky sparring and how he pinned you against the mat, the heart to heart about how you two missed Steve. 

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose while Bucky looked over your shoulder at the comic book. “I'm getting a headache, or I'm losing it. Did I get hit in the head?” Sam rambled a bit and you got to the end of the comic, seeing that the mission Fury had given you three was completed, successfully. 

“Says there we did just fine.” Bucky said and you closed it before pushing it towards the center of the table. 

“It's not all just fine.” Wade threw up his hands in exasperation and you shook your head so confused. 

“Explain it to us Wade.” You grasped the comic again, flipping through it, scanning the pages as quick as you can. 

“Go to page 53.” He tapped his finger against the steel table and you did, the panel showing you and Sam standing on a roof top about to enter a building from above and Bucky was shown in another panel scaling a building. 

“I don't see it…” you shook your head confused as to what he was talking about and Wade pointed at the bottom, that was just barely in view. A hot dog cart. 

“You are here, from another dimension of life… because of a hot dog cart?” 

Wade nodded firmly. “If we don't protect that hot dog cart, bad things will happen.” His voice lowered, turning shifty. “Spooky stuff… anal stuff.” He shuddered and sat back, staring at the hot dog cart in the bottom of the picture. “If we don't protect that hot dog cart, it causes issues you couldn't even fathom. Another life just poof… what did y’all call it? Spanked out of existence?”

You just automatically corrected him. “Snapped.”

“Spanked sounds better, maybe consider changing it to spanked?” 

Sam cleared his throat. “You traveled through dimensions to get here so we could save a hot dog cart? I'm just- trying to keep it all straight. This isn't entirely the weirdest thing I have heard, but it's close.” 

Bucky scoffed. “I say this guy needs some help, maybe his brain got scrambled like mine.” 

“Nah, I didn't get the mind trip you did. I was tortured by a guy named Francis.” Wade snorted gleefully. “Called himself Ajax, like the dish soap!” Slapping his knee, he busted out laughing heavily, starting to cry. 

You rubbed at your face and looked over your shoulder. “I think we should trust him guys. What if what he says is true? We’ve dealt with crazy shit before.” 

“You can't be serious Y/N.” Bucky shook his head and Sam looked doubtful. Wade giggled as he wiped a tear from his eye, pointing a finger at you. 

“I like you, you're the smart one here I can tell.” 

You all turned to Sam who hadn't said anything yet. He sighed and rubbed at his face a bit, before finally saying under his breath. “I'm never going to hear the end of this… Lets take him.” 

Wade did a fist pump in victory, leaping up to grab his mask back from Bucky. “X-Force Ass-” You were quick to cover his mouth, leaving the “-emble” garbled. 

“He's going to get us killed, Wilson.” 

“I said to call me Deadpool or Captain Deadpool.” 

“I WAS TALKING TO HIM!” Bucky jerked his thumb at Sam, gritting his teeth while he yanked open the door and left the room. Deadpool followed after him, the next thing you heard was Bucky hollar. “I'm going to kick your ass Prick.” 

“Will you? You're making me all excited. Like a fairy making a little girl's wishes come true, I feel like I could fly.” 

Then you and Sam heard something loud crack and Wade’s cooing grew fainter. “Nice boots, Tinkerbell!” 

You snatched the comic book and stuffed it in your back pocket. “Uh we probably better go stop Bucky. It's pointless for him to try to kill Wade and will just tire himself out.” 

Sam opened the door, holding it open for you. “Should we really take that away from him?” 

“True and it sounds like Wade is having himself a fan moment anyways and doesn't care.” You stepped out to see Bucky and Wade tangled together wrestling.

Just as the comic stated, You and Sam were able to go in from the top. You could see Bucky below you using rigging to scale the building. Down further below you could see a red dot pushing a hot dog cart down the street well out of harm. Speaking into the comm’s, your wings folded to pull you into a spiral, spinning towards the roof. “Wade’s got the cart moved, and were clear to enter.” 

There was a grunt in the comms and Bucky's voice crackled through. “Well damn, I'm glad the hot dog cart is safe… for reasons spanning an entire dimension that we still don't know.” 

“Who are we to question it, Bucky? I mean, we’ve seen some pretty strange shit.” You stated as Sam landed next to you, shooting at the door and ducking inside together. “Maybe this is just another one to add to the pile.” 

Silence descended on the group as you each made to fulfill the mission. Once the building was clear and the three of you were working on exiting, Wade was waiting on the roof, sitting on the edge eating a hot dog and had three more lined up next to him. “I brought you all lunch, you guys do that sort of thing right? Good Mission? yes I bet. Buckaroo has the happy murder gleam in his eyes.” He took another bite of his hot dog and chewed while studying Bucky closely. 

“Don't do that.” Bucky shuddered a bit and Wade proceeded to pop the last bite into his mouth and chewed slowly while rolling the bottom half of his mask down. 

“Do what Buckaroo?” 

“Stare at me or call me Buckaroo.” 

“While eating a hot dog? Only way to properly eat one. I know you love it James. Well my mission here is done.” He pushed off the ledge to give you a hug and handed you a manilla envelope. “This is for you, it explains everything. Toodleloo Kiddies, it was fun knowing you. Oh and if you see Hugh Jackman on the street, tell him his coffee sucks and bitch slap the prick.” He jumped back on the ledge and looked over the edge. “Oh this is gonna kill my knees but this is a true superhero moment. Wait for it…” He gave you all a salute and stepped over, plummeting down. Sam and Bucky rushed the edge, looking over. 

You knew better, a superhero landing wouldn't kill him. 

“NAILED IT!” you three barely heard, then in a flash of sparks, Deadpool was gone. 

“I thought for sure he was going to pancake down there.” Bucky said with a hint of sadness and Sam shook his head. 

“We gotta get out of here before we're caught and get this back to Fury.” Sam held up a chip that held the actual intel of the mission. 

You silently agreed and together the three of you made your way off the building and back home. 

Afterwards once you were back in the tower and changing out of your suit, you glanced at the manilla envelope Wade left you. 

Sitting down on the bench, you opened it and peeked in. What looked like another comic book was in there as well as a letter. Pulling out the letter, you scanned it. 

~To the Super Duper Trio, 

Thank you for believing me. It was crucial. We're not the only comic book verse out there living our lives. Sometimes they cross intersect in ways that I can't explain, go find the wizard, he can tell you more about it. Also ask him to your next party, because he can do the COOLEST TRICKS. But if you take out the comic book enclosed you will see on page 23 there is a hot dog cart as well as a familiar looking dork named Jake Jensen. Alias- Capt Jensen. 

Perhaps your Captain is alive in some way, the DC universe having changed him to a loveable, cat hating, Petunias loving, super smart idiot.

Tell Birdman thanks for the vote of confidence, caw caw mother fucker.

Tell Buckaroo he forgot to sign my suit, I will be back. He is my favorite after all. 

And what I wanna tell you is take care of those idiots so they dont kill each other. 

With Love, 

Captain Deadpool

Ps- Yes Cap’s as awkward with women in DC as he was in Marvel. 

Pss- Welcome to X-Force! I will be in touch. 

You pulled out the comic book and glanced at the cover seeing six people staring down, the title of the comic- The Losers. Flipping to the page, you found a photograph tucked in between the pages, showing another version of the page. One where the street looked demolished and a man lying crumbled by a cart. Also a familiar hot dog cart leaned on its side, demolished. 

Setting the picture aside, now you glanced over this panel to see the same man making a show of pulling out a crossbow, the bubble above his head with the words “That’s right, bitches, I got a crossbow!” 

The scene didn't really surprise you that much, more like the character now alive in the comic looked just like Steve. 

A thinner version, he had facial hair, and the entire get up was never anything Steve would have willingly worn. 

But it looked just like Steve Rogers and for the second time that day your jaw dropped. 

Maybe Wade Wilson was right, after all… 

Nothing was off limits and stranger things have happened.

[wallpaperpaintings]

Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium

Create capricious compositions with acrylic cloudburst paint. Although in contempo years, cloudburst acrylic has become absolutely popular, the address has been about back the 1930s, back Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros happened to ascertain the busy furnishings of cloudburst altered shades of acrylic imilate a board console to aftermath what he termed “accidental painting.” It is aqueous dynamics at ignment in the average of cloudburst paint: back a colorant of greater body is caked aloft a beneath close one, the two collaborate to mix and swirl—the added close colorant tends to move bottomward and the beneath close one tends to move up. The adverse pour, a beneath close acrylic over one of greater density, will not work. Channel your close Pollock and comedy about with cloudburst colorant over canvas. Investigate the possibilities by browsing our embly of acrylic cloudburst acrylic below.

Arteza’s set of acrylic cloudburst acrylic works able-bodied on canvas, gl, paper, wood, tile, and stone. The kit includes 28 active controllable colors in neon, metallic, delicate and archetypal shades, additional 4 bottles of Titanium White and 2 of Mars Black to adapt all the others. There’s no charge to basic the paint, anniversary high-flow 2-ounce canteen has the average already mixed; all you accept to do is agitate well.

Liquitex’s acrylic acrylic cloudburst set includes three primary colors and a Liquitex appearance cloudburst medium. Unlike the added articles here, this cloudburst acrylic does not appear with the average alloyed in. Instead, mix the acrylic ink with the 4-ounce canteen of cloudburst average that’s included in the kit. This average is advised

Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium – acrylic gloss medium | Pleasant to be able to my personal weblog, on this time I’m going to provide you with about keyword. And now, this is actually the very first impression:

Golden Acrylic Polymer Medium Gloss – GLOSS MEDIUM – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Why don’t you consider photograph earlier mentioned? is actually that remarkable???. if you’re more dedicated consequently, I’l m explain to you many graphic once again below:

So, if you want to have these wonderful photos about (Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium), press save button to save the graphics to your laptop. There’re ready for save, if you love and wish to obtain it, simply click save badge in the article, and it will be directly saved in your desktop computer.} As a final point if you like to get new and latest photo related to (Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium), please follow us on google plus or bookmark this page, we attempt our best to provide regular update with fresh and new photos. Hope you enjoy keeping right here. For most up-dates and recent news about (Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium) pics, please kindly follow us on twitter, path, Instagram and google plus, or you mark this page on bookmark section, We try to present you up grade regularly with fresh and new images, love your surfing, and find the best for you.

Here you are at our website, contentabove (Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium) published .  Nowadays we are delighted to announce that we have found an awfullyinteresting contentto be discussed, namely (Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium) Many individuals attempting to find details about(Ten Acrylic Gloss Medium Rituals You Should Know In 17 | Acrylic Gloss Medium) and certainly one of them is you, is not it?

Liquitex Acrylic Gloss Gel Medium | MisterArt | acrylic gloss medium

Acrylic Gloss Glaze Medium – – Dala – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Winsor & Newton Matt Medium & Gloss Medium for Acrylic Paint – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Art Supplies at Dick Blick Art Materials – Art Supply Store – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Blick Artists Acrylic Medium – Blick Acrylic Medium, Gloss, 17 oz jar – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylic Gloss Medium 250ml .. | acrylic gloss medium

Glittery Collage with Acrylic Gloss Medium | TinkerLab – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

BUY Golden Open Acrylic Medium 1 Oz Gloss – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Liquitex Acrylic Matte Gel Medium | MisterArt | acrylic gloss medium

Golden Acrylic Color Pouring Medium Gloss (17 ML) Get 17 Free Golden Fluid Acrylic 17 ml Paints Worth Rs | acrylic gloss medium

Basics Gloss Fluid Medium | Liquitex – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Easy Fairy Garden Idea – Lighted Fairy Jars – Project .. | acrylic gloss medium

Liquitex Gloss Acrylic Gel Medium-17Oz – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Holbein Gloss Medium – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Atelier : Acrylic Medium : 17ml : Gloss Medium – acrylic gloss medium | acrylic gloss medium

Necessity Breeds Invention – A work in progress, I think | acrylic gloss medium

from WordPress https://www.bleumultimedia.com/ten-acrylic-gloss-medium-rituals-you-should-know-in-17-acrylic-gloss-medium/

[tinymixtapes]

Feature: Screen Week: Favorite 20 Video Games of 2016

“I’m not a girl/ Not yet a woman/ All I need is time/ A moment that is mine/ While I’m in between/ I’m not a girl” – Britney Spears Reality, in 2016, existed largely as an extension of technology-borne relativism, as a playful liminal space in which anything was possible and nothing was true in the absolute. The world around us has become increasingly gamified, as if last century’s technology was finally reaching pubescence, albeit to predictably tumultuous ends. Social media itself proved to be a better real-time simulation than most video games, a grind of likes and reposts, a playable model of contagion and virality, populated by a cast of heroes, villains, and a few true neutrals, featuring dramatic twists and shocking revelations, of both scripted and emergent varieties. All formed through the convergence of seemingly disparate cultural currents — one part CIV-style geopolitical conflict, another part Decline of Western Civilization culture clash — the stream they formed together feeding into the literal end of American exceptionalism. But as game design concepts seeped further into the decaying foundations of liberal democracy, games themselves began shedding generations of orthodoxy, with some developers establishing new modes of interactive expression, while others found ways to work within the traditional AAA framework to create works of personal, historical, and political relevance. At their best, last year’s games provided indelible moments of emotional depth and structural ingenuity. Meanwhile, advancements in VR and AI finally made it to market, transforming the terra firma of the present into a literal manifestation of a long-predicted future. It remains to be seen whether these advancements will prove to be a utopian boon or a dystopic boondoggle, but one thing is certain: we are in a period of profound transformation. The landscape has shifted. The future is finally now. In 2016, games — or at least the best examples of the form — finally became competitive with more established artistic mediums, whether shortform (film) or long (novels, serialized television). In fact, in terms of breadth, depth, and variety of games available, 2016 was a watershed year. As with music, TV, movies, and books (to say nothing of the many unread piles of magazines strewn about our domestic realms), there were finally more good games to play than there was time availble to play them. And even a technically middling game like Pokémon Go was culturally prevalent enough to shape the way we experienced and interacted with the physical world. But despite significant leaps in sophistication and monocultural penetration, gaming still faces daunting limitations. Unlike other narrative artforms, the range of criticism and discussion continues to be narrow and reductively market-focused. We here at Tiny Mix Tapes might be neophytes at this whole “gaming criticism” thing, but at the same time, we certainly aren’t strangers to unique, unconventional, diffuse, contrary, or otherwise digressive opinions. Furthermore, we’ve spent — or wasted — more than enough time gaming to know that tangents, side quests, and mini games are often more edifying than unifying narratives or universal critical theories could ever promise to be. With that in mind, it’s our honor to present this totally subjective, by-no-means exhaustive list of our favorite gaming experiences of 2016. –Embling --- ABZÛ Developer: Giant Squid [PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows] Giant Squid, the development studio led by Matt Nava (art director for indie hits Journey and Flower), delivered its first game in 2016, and while ABZÛ’s broad stylistic strokes easily land it in “spiritual successor” territory, it’s also unique enough to warrant distinction. With ABZÛ, Nava made full use of the potential in transposing his bright, cartoonishly abstracted vision from the minimalist, post-apocalyptic desert landscape of Journey to a maximalist, post-apocalyptic ocean world populated by placid deep-sea creatures and a malevolent but deteriorating network of mechanized beings. As classically video game-y as that sounds, ABZÛ is far less goal-oriented than its more linear cousin Journey, as befits a game more about creation and the vibrancy of life than the routine of mortality. Instead, the result of the game’s lush, alien visuals and its equal-parts rapturous and elegiac orchestral score is a pure ambient world, an immersive meditating space that veils the typical mechanisms of progression-based gameplay behind the fullness of its atmospherics. In both its loose narrative and its design, ABZÛ confronted the game industry’s obsessive fixation on mechanical functionalism in a necessary way. –Colin Fitzgerald --- Destiny: Rise of Iron Developer: Bungie [PlayStation 4, Xbox One] Well into Year 3 of its promised 10-year cycle, Bungie still hasn’t determined what type of game they want Destiny to be. And yet, with each eagerly-anticipated update, the fanbase rallies back to the looter shooter MMO chasing the newest exotics and god roll PvP weapons. Rise of Iron, the supposed last expansion until Destiny 2, was a great step forward in realizing what fans want most while Bungie figures out just how to frame the gameplay ahead of its sequel. The new raid was the best yet (yes, better than the eternal slog of Vault of Glass), the visuals were varied (the brightness of SIVA nodes to the dank underground of Archon’s Forge), and the weapons felt better than ever. Sure, the same PvP albatrosses and class imbalances are still ever-present (and it would be nice for Bungie to openly admit that they don’t care because Destiny 2 is more pressing), but there is a feeling — even as another content drought sets in — that Destiny 2 will be a fully realized and completely immersive experience because of the strengths of Rise of Iron. The game that has taken over my gaming schedule still has its kinks, but we all have kinks. –Jspicer --- DOOM Developer: id Software [PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows] There comes a time to admit the obvious, that most games are juvenile power fantasies, written and programmed by timid indoor-types, for timid indoor-types, as a means to reward the human tendency toward violence and aggression. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; acceptance of our animal nature is often followed by a certain pearl-clutching censoriousness, but it can just as easily lead to a loving kind of self-awareness, an embrace of certain ignominious truths, the most fundamental being that violence is physically-invigorating, no matter how much we’re enculturated to deny that about our species. DOOM (the original) was perhaps the first game to apply modernist techniques to simulated violence as interactive entertainment. Gone was the euphemized violence of the platformer or arcade game, replaced with a visceral, unsettling simulacrum of combat, which played out somewhere between the screen, where the violence was explicated, and the body, which relayed and translated the message, manifesting it in physical form. DOOM (2016) followed the same radical philosophy, one that drew upon the immutable and inherent. For all the killing I’ve done in my virtual lives, none has been so gratifying, joyful, or kinetic as this new DOOM. It didn’t ply us with disingenuous moralizing, with frivolities such as scripting and characterization. Instead, DOOM was perhaps the most rarefied variation on one of gaming’s crudest forms. Its intelligence was exhibited not through anything so trite as narrative, but rather through balletic economy of movement, hellacious environmental storytelling and design, a thrashing of guitar strings, and, yes, the giddy thrill of bones crunching and skulls caving in. –Embling --- Final Fantasy XV Developer: Square Enix [PlayStation 4, Xbox One] Final Fantasy XV was a three-word dream that lingered for years on the tips of the outstretched tongues of fans waiting to catch the smallest snowflakes of information about its release and plot. And then it finally arrived. The game, as its opening screen reported, was for both new and old gamers, and the self-assessment was accurate: the game was as welcoming as could be to those unfamiliar with the franchise. Beyond being a visually beautiful and immersive game, one that boasted an impressive open-world approach for a good portion of its narrative, Final Fantasy XV reached for something far deeper and more meaningful than the average RPG. The nucleus of the game was the relationship between Noctis and his three childhood friends/protectors, and their bond was what made every quest and mission worthwhile, from catching fish to feeding a stray cat to stalking an enormous mutant wolf to its cave, destroying it under cover of darkness. The real-time fighting system was one of the most fun and difficult to master in recent memory, relying on one’s ability to, within a split second, synthesize information about character HP/MP, spell potency and availability, potions, enemy weaknesses, and, most importantly, your friends’ battle skills and recovery techniques. FFXV was a ratatouille of goodness, combining everything that was historically fun about Final Fantasy with everything that was relevant about being alive in 2016. –Adam Rothbarth --- Glittermitten Grove / Frog Fractions 2 Developer: Twinbeard [Windows, OS X, Linux] Glittermitten Grove was not what it seemed. The veil of building yourself a fairy village complete with waterfalls, berry picking, and fireworks was actually part of an elaborate plan to release a sequel to Frog Fractions, one of the most bizarre gaming experiences since Seaman. The original Frog Fractions was released in 2012 as an innocuous browser game about frogs learning fractions. Playing for more than a few seconds, it was obvious nobody was being taught anything and that the game was intentionally off. After thinking below the box, the game opened up into a complete deconstruction of genre, gaming, and the surrounding culture. A cult following quickly established to deconstruct every aspect of the game. It would take four years for a follow-up, but half of that was the community attempting to uncover an unbelievable series of clues that spanned 19 other game titles by independent developers and also included physical objects, downloading data from a Nintendo Amiibo, and shipping items across the country (read more about it here). But in an era when secrets are often revealed before a game launches, that it took two years of constant effort by fans to even play the game, let alone start to uncover all the secrets within, is nothing short of a revelation. Context aside, how was the actual game? Every bit as deconstructive and brilliant as the original, with more content, more abstraction, and even more absurdity. There were elements from every corner of the gaming universe, with just enough cohesion and substance to make it all hang together. If you ever played Undertale, Papers Please, or Stanley’s Parable and wondered if anyone else was playing with the very idea of a “game,” then check out Glittermitten Grove. Get the fireworks. Go down. –munroe [pagebreak] --- Hyper Light Drifter Developer: Heart Machine [PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Linux, Macintosh OS, Ouya] Why do we fight? Futility always stands by your shoulder in any struggle. Whether it’s traversing vast lands to seek a cure to a indescribable sickness, or to fight your own limitations to accomplish a simple task, or to escape something that is destroying you, or to have any sense of conscience… there’s always someone or something there, pointing out the pointlessness of the effort, encouraging you to give up. Maybe it’s that nobody supports what you’re doing. Perhaps the people you care for most have turned against you. Or maybe it’s your own body that keeps hitting a steel wall. The question becomes, Why bother? We need not answer that. Futility comes from selfishness. And we struggle not for ourselves. Drifting through the plains and ruins with a sword and arsenal, fighting off hordes of forgotten times, while inside your body wastes away from illness and exertion. Maintaining principles and attacking sacred beliefs among your friends. Grinding against your body’s imperfect designs to function within normal parameters. Even being able to face up to yourself and admit that you are flawed and capable of doing wrong to others. We fight because we must. No matter the cost. Even if it’s our lives. –Ze Pequeno --- Inside Developer: Playdead [PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows] It was Playdead’s clever combination of a singular visual style, a classic puzzle design, and an ambitious but ambiguous narrative that made Limbo an instant hallmark for the modern independent gaming movement. And while Inside, the studio’s follow-up, emulated that winning formula perhaps a bit too faithfully, it did refine each element to a new pinnacle. The game asked the player to fill the role of a nameless (and faceless) child protagonist on his quest to escape (?) a sinister authoritarian nightmare (?) in which predatory forces seem to capture and indoctrinate (?) innocent people (?), but naturally, a couple narrative twists and an alternate ending made for murky analysis and, ultimately, ripped the game away from cliché. With artfully sterile, detached aesthetics and nods to the desolate dystopian ambience of Philip K. Dick and Cormac McCarthy and even Cronenbergian body horror, Playdead once again expanded the relatively limited narrative and mechanical language of the independent platformer genre with Inside, reaching toward established literary and cinematic traditions that, unlike so many others, haven’t yet been exploited to the point of oversaturation within the interactive media space. –Colin Fitzgerald --- Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2016 Developer: Konami [PlayStation] Successful sports simulations, bound by their subservience to realism, can rarely be commended for their artistic originality. As immersive as the uncanny valley-traversing visuals of NBA 2k and Madden prove to be, it isn’t hard to become fatigued staring down a scarily accurate reflection of the reality you’ve plopped in front of the console to escape. In terms of timelessness, many of the first sports series that come to mind are among the least grounded in reality that I’ve played: the Backyard Sports CD-ROMs of the early 00s; Mario’s ventures into Tennis, Golf and Soccer; and Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu, Japan’s long-running franchise starring Mii-esque caricatures of the Nippon Professional Baseball League’s entire roster. JPPY celebrated its 20th birthday in 2016 with the series’ deepest installment yet, featuring a smorgasbord of manga-inspired story modes, a frustratingly addictive arcade challenge that revisited fictional “boss” teams of years past, and inviting gameplay that was as easy to pick up as it was deep and intuitive. –Jude Noel --- Kentucky Route Zero: Act IV Developer: Cardboard Computer [Windows, OS X, Linux] A couple things have been evident about Kentucky Route Zero from the beginning: its voice (a deadpan blend of Southern Gothic and Ionesco absurdity), and its distinctly expressionist visual style. KRZ has always been “different,” but over these last few years, it has matured into a fine examination of how memory shapes our lives — and often fails us. Set along a mysterious river, Act IV exploded the game’s text adventure design into a series of forking paths that reinvented its plot at every turn. It’s the most complex thing Cardboard Computer has made, held up by their most memorable and eerie passages to date: a mechanic who teaches French literature, the search for the song buried inside a robotic mammoth, a distillery run by electrified skeletons, and a gorgeous sequence staged as security camera footage that is possibly Zero’s masterstroke. Maybe it’s because we know our time with Shannon, Conway, Ezra, and their friends is coming to an end, but there was an unshakeable feeling of sadness within this Act, the regret of learning that all things pass away, that nothing is final, and that, whether or not we ever get back to the highway, the night can’t last forever. –Dylan Pasture --- Mother Russia Bleeds Developer: Le Cartel Studio [PlayStation 4, Windows, Linux, Macintosh OS] The beat-em up genre thrived during a time when 25¢ bought you three lives and a dream in classics like Double Dragon, River City Ransom, and Final Fight. The style was defined by a left-to-right progression in pixelated 2D, dispatching a variety of punks, vagrants, and drug users with Reagan-era hero efficiency. The genre relied on crushing difficulty and overwhelming odds to sap quarters from arcade denizens, and it died when gaming moved to living rooms and updated to 3D. While elements of the genre carried over into modern titles, the core gameplay experience of the beat-em up game was dead by the end of the 90s. Mother Russia Bleeds, however, stepped into the shoes of that dead genre, driven home in the opening scene by literally bringing your characters back to life, with even a storyline echoing the leftover paranoia of the 1980s: a powerful new superdrug has taken over post-apocalyptic Russia, and it’s up to our heroes to punch, kick, and murder their way through countless enemies to get answers. What made this game stand out from the half-baked nostalgia dumps of years past was that it understood what made those games fun. The characters moved quickly, dealt devastating damage, and bled. The limited pixel count of the 16-bit era was replaced with graphic depictions of viscera and rot that would have been the talk of every playground, on the level of Mortal Kombat. The story was inconsequential and short, but with a 4-player couch co-op option, this game was a beast with friends. –munroe [pagebreak] --- No Man’s Sky Developer: Hello Games [PlayStation 4, Windows] A game with all the hype and none of the delivery. That’s the sad sandwich board Hello Games and No Man’s Sky wore for most of 2016. After an initial delay in its release and a much-needed Day 1 patch, the game was still missing many of the teased components hype people and Reddit users banged the tables about, further fueling such fiascos as GamerGate. There is much to loathe about the new marketing machine that No Man’s Sky represents, but at its core, the game was one of the most beautifully enticing and economically sound exploration sandboxes of our time. Much like Minecraft and Terraria before it, No Man’s Sky was a base to be built upon with subsequent updates. If all you wanted was a gloriously designed and tickling bit of hyperspace mystery coated in technicolor wuzzles and lush planets, No Man’s Sky delivered. But in a year’s time, when No Man’s Sky is a rich, expansive experience for all the senses, I’ll be hoarding all the shares callously tossed aside while I cruise around in my tricked-out cruisers to enjoy the scenery. –Jspicer --- Overwatch Developer: Blizzard Entertainment [PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows] The transformation happened slowly and before our very eyes. When the first-person shooter went online, it cross-pollinated with the itchy, addictive skinner-box reward structures of the role-playing game — linear, level-based progression as the carrot, randomly-generated loot payouts the stick. You might think that the deepening of the relationship between character and player could only be positive, but you would be wrong. Online shooters became not only one of most ubiquitous formats of online multiplayer gaming, but also a mind-numbing grind of progression without end. This, in turn, generated inequality between the various strata of the gaming eco-system, pitting veterans against novices, those who could afford to pay for hastened advancement against those who couldn’t (or those who simply refused to participate in pay to play). The future was uncertain, if not grim, until a sea change occurred this past summer, when the modes and tropes of the multiplayer FPS were upended by Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment’s newest franchise. Overwatch boldly departed from convention, eschewing such stodgy design ideas, like progression trees and stats (or scripting!) in order to focus on the purest, most creative — not to mention democratic — communal gunplay since Rare stopped developing Nintendo exclusives. One of our long-enduring cultural myths is that you can’t go home again, and yet, miraculously, Overwatch proved that sometimes true progress requires the courage to risk going backwards, to admit that a lack of imagination is the only actual factor keeping us from finding better ways to play the same old games. –Embling --- Pokémon Go Developer: Niantic [Android, iOS] When Pokémon Go was released in July 2016, it seemed tailor-made for casual players. Here’s the truth: it wasn’t. Sure, the GPS-based augmented reality game was intended for the masses — it doubled the size of the mobile gaming market, was 50 times bigger than initial estimates, surpassed Twitter’s 20 million users within two weeks, and swiftly became the most downloaded app ever — but as time went on, the disparity between casual players and hardcore obsessives started looking as dramatic as global wealth distribution. While many players (dubbed “trainers” in the game) caught Pokémon casually and maybe battled a couple neighborhood gyms before quitting altogether (spurred in part by Niantic’s terribly misguided priorities), the dedicated freaks dove deeper into Pokémon Go’s complex, multi-faceted metagame, scouring maps for ever-changing habitats, calculating IVs, Pidgey grinding for XP bumps, “Bubblestratting” gyms, datamining APKs, debating scanner/botting politics, taking road trips for rares, and, most memorably, joining impromptu gatherings around Pokémon hot spots, most often in parks or busy downtown areas. The latter was a weird, explosive, boundary-pushing glimpse into the vibrant yet disruptive possibility of augmented reality gameplay. Here, a mishmash of trainers — hipsters, gamers, nerds, kindgartenders, grandparents, editor-in-chiefs, etc. — all huddled around clusters of PokéStops and gyms, waiting for a Dragonite to spawn so we could all run like idiots into and out of traffic, hundreds of people pouring into the streets rather than sitting on the couch. We lost a lot of weight, drove like assholes, and even inspired legislation. It was thrilling. Next up: Generation 2. –Mr P --- Pokémon Sun & Moon Developer: Game Freak [Nintendo 3DS] Nobody imagined Nintendo’s iconic monster-hunting franchise (which, however commercially successful, more or less receded from the public consciousness post-Y2k) could produce a similar, meteoric impact upon broader cultural landscape 20 years after its 90s heyday in the form of the mobile gaming (and data plan-draining) phenomenon known as Pokémon Go — and yet, in 2016, the critters proved inescapable. Pokémon Sun and Moon, too, commemorated Pikachu and company’s anniversary in the best way possible: a tropical getaway doubling as a welcome break from the formula, as well as the series’ best entries in a decade. Instead of marching along on a predictable hunt for badges, we searched for soup ingredients and faced off against super-sized Raticates; we climbed from the seat of a bike onto the back of a Tauros; we cured our ailing teammates with the stroke of a stylus (“petting” them through the screen) rather than the purchase of an antidote. The ensuing adventure was nothing short of magical for Poké-veterans, 90s kids, and newbies alike. –Zcamp --- Reigns Developer: Devolver Digital [Android, Windows, iOS, Linux, Macintosh OS] Reigns managed to squeeze an immense, ambitious parable on the foibles and follies of power into a ridiculously simple Tinder-style phone app. As the leader of the kingdom, you must carefully tend to the balance between varying sectors of your society, represented as the economy, the church, the army, and, of course, the people. Each of your choices can bring prosperity or ruin to your dynasty, but it’s not just a matter of keeping all your elements in the green — let any one faction of your country flourish too much, and they’ll throw you to the dogs in a savage coup. There is plenty of silliness to balance out all the politicking, but Reigns will kill you over and over again, passing the crown from generation to generation, constantly testing you to see how long you can maintain power. Even in its swipe-right simplicity, the game carried a surprising depth, rewarding us for ruthlessness as often as it punished. It was an impossible attempt to manage chaos, a game of luck with the lives of thousands at our mercy. And at the heart of it all was a queasily honest assertion: being a leader isn’t about making your kingdom great — it’s about making it yours. –Sam Goldner [pagebreak] --- The Last Guardian Developer: SIE Japan Studio [PlayStation 4] In 2017 and beyond, we may continue to hear about cathartic distractions and positive gleams of hope. When it comes to young and old minds alike, it’s necessary to nurture our instinctual affection for life, but it’s always been challenging for video games to replicate qualities such as love and belonging. Then came The Last Guardian, one of the most anticipated games of 2016 after announced as in-development by Team Ico back in 2007. While gamers expected the action-adventure experience of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, what we got instead was more of a cinematic experience, a genuine test of patience and pathos in an era veering on a lack thereof. Designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, The Last Guardian was an experience unlike other “cold” gaming explorations. The gradual bonding and care between a young boy and a giant griffin creature, named Trico, felt perfectly natural, creating an undeniably unique experience to journey in the senses of pragmatic and empathetic actions throughout a lush, dreamlike world. Guaranteed to be a challenging slow-burner for some, Ueda’s newest creation reminded of the artistic merit of video games, giving us a cult favorite that could be felt on a personal and familial level. –Emceegreg --- The Witness Developer: Thekla Inc. [PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, iOS, Xbox 360] I’m not convinced that there is an end to The Witness. The deeper I become mired in Jonathan Blow’s latest vortex of uncertainty, the more it seems to expand in all directions at once, leaving me to gaze upon its scale in brutal and humbled amazement. Its lush design and scenery betray one of the most massive, intricate mazes I’ve ever attempted to cross, so blank in its circumstance yet rife with semantic consequence. As I journey further within, it becomes clear that the only real blockade to progress is myself, that I am both my own greatest enemy and my one true ally. I step away from the game and see puzzles in my own life that need solving, complex patterns that require dedication and complete understanding to successfully ford (to say nothing of how suspicious I’ve become of naturally occurring circles). I’ve experienced such a shocking emotional range during my time with The Witness, gliding through pits of loathing, passages of inertia, vestiges of serenity, and suddenly, moments of triumph. Perhaps soon I’ll discover a final puzzle that connects this whole island together, but I have a feeling my search will continue long after I’ve put the controller down. –Sam Goldner --- Thumper Developer: Drool [PlayStation 4, Windows] Is Thumper the pong of the future? Sure, the mechanics of this rhythm-based game, designed and developed by Lightning Bolt’s Brian Gibson, contained kitsch elements, but it was fun as hell. As a fast-moving beetle (named “Junebug Joe”), you move along a sleek track passing through wormholes into inventive atmospheres, the hell and ethereal landscapes to which your mind is toe-tapping along. Players must absorb the timing by hitting the correct notes to avoid spikes, walls, and tight corners, all executed with the addictive nature of a Guitar Hero meets Tron. While it was surprisingly dimensional and tonal on the PC and PS4 platforms, it was on the PlayStation VR where Thumper really came alive. Your head could now control the rhythmic tilts, the complete sensory exposure exhilarating and captivating. The novelty of the game was explicit, but it was a thrill ride unlike any game before it. Our hearts raced until the very last beat. –Emceegreg --- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Developer: Naughty Dog [PlayStation 4] Uncharted 4 was ostensibly the last game in a beloved franchise whose finitude is so thoroughly woven into its narrative and drama that its finale felt legitimately sincere and total. This was the last chapter of Nathan Drake’s story. And whether you were guiding him up a shimmering, slippery rock face in a brutal thunderstorm, driving a 4x4 through an African oasis, or hanging off the back of a motorcycle while shooting at an impending armored truck, Uncharted 4 was one of the most gorgeous-looking games to have been released on the PlayStation 4. Its visual mastery, its absolute idiomatic perfection of gameplay, and its gripping, unparalleled action scenography were top of the class. There was one gesture available in Uncharted 4 that more or less embodied how it felt to play this game: if Drake was looking to attack a villain from a long distance, the most satisfying option was to throw a rope across a tree branch or post, jump off the side of a chasm, and swing at high speed toward the marauder, leaping through the air after he let go of the rope to land a bone-shattering aerial punch. When I think about doing this, I fill with joy and wonder at Naughty Dog’s incredible achievement. –Adam Rothbarth --- Xenoblade Chronicles X Developer: Monolith Soft [Wii U] Xenoblade Chronicles X functioned as much as an open-world JRPG as it did a Wonder of the Virtual World: more than triple the size of Skyrim (plus change), the title’s planet Mira was a colossal landscape teeming with six continents’ worth of alien flora and fauna. From the moment one’s avatar left the fortified confines and futurist nu-metal muzak of New Los Angeles, their exploration of bordering territories entered and remained in a state of aesthetic flux. Interplanetary stretches of pastoral fields gave way to vast deserts. A gleaming shoreline composed entirely of precious metals was contrasted by a sulfurous hellscape. The limbs of beasts too large to even notice a wandering human-ambled past, constantly hinting at awe-inspiring encounters to come: Xenoblade X’s high-level “Tyrant” species were omnipresent, yet often passive in their lumbering approach. The game ultimately served as a reminder of mankind’s smallness and fragility while still emphasizing the beauty of the (capitalized) Human Experience — even if that experience was viewed through the windshield of a flying mech suit. –Jude Noel http://j.mp/2kkiNEJ

[glacierruler]

Of Magic And Mortals

Well thisTWs: Threatening to commit arson, prelude to future accidental misgendering

Waking up today, Virgil went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. "Alright, let's get this over with. Virgil is such a great friend, she's the best. Okay, yeah, that sounds good for today. Now for the next one. Virgil's the best, isn't he? Nope absolutely not, guess it's just one today." She went to her closet and got her clothes and pronoun pins for the day. She put on a grey dress with intricate black designs on the sleeves and bottom of the skirt, black mesh gloves with chains on them, dark purple spiderweb tights, and black combat boots. Then she put the she/her pronoun pins on. Stretching out her wings she went downstairs to meet up with her friends, and for the daily wing care routine.

When Virgil gets downstairs she goes to the living room and picks up her wing care stuff. Looking around, she realized her friends weren't up yet. So she proceeded to yell, "If you two don't get down here right now I will burn the house down again!" Virgil heard her friends start running down the stairs, hearing their voices overlap each other. "Vee don't you," "not burn the house! We just bought," "fire damage is," "done with this!" Virgil started to laugh uncontrollably, "I can't believe that still works!" "Only because you mean it, if you didn't it wouldn't. The fact of the matter is that the one time that we didn't get up immediately and start our routine, you had the bathtub on fire! With water in it! How the follywock do you set the bathtub on fire if it's full of water! That's not your specialty." Said fairy was in a dragon onesie with a bedhead. They had fiery red hair and reddish-brown eyes that looked like the embers of a fire if the light hit them right. They also had a naturally warm aura, but right now their aura felt hot enough to burn. Their wings were different shades of a fiery orange, duller closer to the center and brightest at the ends of the wings, with bright red -a little duller than their hair- detailing. When Virgil looked at their wings, she was glad to see that there weren't flames frolicking on the edges of their wings yet. "Look Emble, I don't know how I did that. And I payed both of you back. Also, I promised I wouldn't threaten that again, unless it's important. I've got to look my best today the letter should be in!" The other fairy in the room laughed, but then his face grew serious. "I know you're going to pretend that you're human, but in order to do that we need to dye that purple hair purple. Don't want a lie detector catching you." He had a Batman pajama shirt and Superman pajama shorts on. His hair was a forest green color. His eyes were brown, the color of rich dirt. His aura naturally felt calm and peaceful, but it had a tinge of protectiveness right now. His wings were different shades of leaf green, the duller colors closer to the center and brighter colors near the ends, with some wooden brown detailing. Virgil scrunched up her nose in distaste at the statement her friend had made. "I know Birtlin. I'm pretty sure there's a chemical free fairy dye store nearby. I don't like it much either, but I'd rather avoid everything being a fairy brings. It's the best medical school sure, but I've heard the horror stories there. I don't wanna risk it." She sighed, before remembering why she had called both of her friends down here. "Come on! We need to do our wing care routine! I have to look my absolute best when we get the letter! It means free food and drinks from strangers if I'm not accepted!" She gushed out, both of her friends smiling at her. "And if you get in?" Emble asks. "Then we celebrate somewhere fancy of course! Now hurry up! The mail person will be here soon!" Virgil was practically jumping up and down. Neither of her friends had seen her this excited in years, so they were smiling almost as wide as her. "Alright princess, let's get our stuff. We'll do your wings first."

After all three of them got their wing care stuff out Virgil laid down on her stomach, stretching her wings out. They were a beautiful pitch black, like a cave with no light on, with royal purple detailing. A darker shade of purple than her hair, which was amethyst. After her wings were taken care of, she got up and helped her two friends; Emble first, then Birtlin. About ten minutes after they finished taking care of everyone's wings they heard the doorbell ring. Virgil jumped up and ran to the door, opening it up to reveal the mail-fairy. "Hey you have three packages and a letter. If I heard you three correctly yesterday, the letter is of utmost importance, is it not? Something about an acceptance into a certain college." The mail-fairy gave a wink to Virgil, she blushed. This was the cute one, Virgil remembered, who wasn't supposed to work today. "What are you doing here Junir? I thought today was your day off, and you ought to stop flirting when you have a partner." Emble got up. "Junir! We have a date tonight, what are you doing working? Also, Virgil already said that she won't join us, leave her be. Why don't you come in?" "Sure, that was my only delivery anyways." Junir went inside the house carrying the mail. She gave the letter to Virgil. "Open it up, read it out loud!" Virgil took the letter, and read.

"Dear Virgil Storm, We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted into Cypress Independence University. We have also given you a full ride scholarship, but due to what you have told us, we will not be giving you a dorm. Instead we will be switching your scholarship with a different student. This only means that you won't have a dorm unless you pay for it yourself, everything else will remain the same. With this letter, you should receive three packages that contain your books for this year. We hope that you shall enjoy your time at our school. When you get to the school, please head to my office to tell me how you will want to present. I know that some people are still in the closet, so there is no pressure and you can change how you wish to present yourself at anytime. I will notify your teachers immediately. Sincerely, Headmaster Mars Gestingon"

Virgil was practically jumping up and down with glee. "I GOT IN!!!! I GOT IN!!!!" She reread and reread the note, before she paled a bit. "I don't know if I want to be out to a whole college of people I don't know. I mean, sure they won't know I'm a fairy, but if they find out I don't want more reason for being weird." Emble sighed, knowing that their friend was about to start overthinking. "Look, I think that you should present as yourself, but if you must insist then why don't you flip a coin." Virgil thought about that for a moment. "Sure, heads means I present as male and tails means I present as female." She reached into the pockets of her dress, knowing she shoved stuff in them all the time. Finally she found a penny and flipped it. When the coin landed, it landed on heads. "Alright, guess I'm a guy at school." The three other fairies looked a bit disappointed at the outcome, Virgil noticed, but it was probably because they would rather her be herself. Hopefully she could deal with what she just got herself into.

Prev chapter / Next chapter