#hope it doesn't just. POOF out of existence y'know

[nonogram-hell]

Hey. What. WHAT.

what do you MEAN the Pegasus set is leaving shops soon....

you know. one of the few sapphire shop sets that have been there since the beginning?? unless it has been rotating out for awhile and I just never noticed??? uhhh.

[matrixxsystem]

Luck Runs Out Part 5

Everyone squeezed into a booth in one of the corners of the restaurant and took a look at the menus laid on the table, Leo and Usagi looked so.. Natural? At this sort of thing, they were chatting away cracking jokes and not even worried about anyone else who looked their way. When the waitress came over to ask about drinks everyone basically froze up, save for April, Leo and Usagi. Which in all fairness they were all fairly terrified of the human population seeing as if they were found out, anything could happen, including something terrible like what happened to Leo. That was more than enough to make them worry about being found out. After they decided on drinks the waitress smiled and left not even giving thought to the tables weird demeanor. 

"Wow" Leo started with a little chuckle, "That was- Hard to watch, see this is exactly what I was talking about! You guys have like no social skills, I mean we're shut ins and hermits so I get it- No ones fault- But we really gotta work on that." He smiled over at Usagi feeling his boyfriends hand against his own, "Anyway- Casey! How've you been adjusting?" Casey perked up from inspecting a salt packet like a deer in headlights. "O-Oh, well... Good? I mean- I kind of didn't think I'd be, y'know, here? Not like- I just.. When the timeline was reset and stuff I thought.."

"That you'd cease to exist?" Donnie cut in, "It's a common trope in movies and media that once the time branch is disconnected or ended that all its inhabitants 'poof' from existing, but after seeing the timeline be actively altered I started thinking that may not be the case if it'd just now an isolated timeline.."

"In English Donnie-"

"Eye roll.. Fine. If he changed the future that might not mean that his past doesn't still exist somewhere. So there's a few things that could happen since he's still here in the past alive and well." Casey tilted his head a bit, "Oh? Like.. What?" Donnie gave a little shrug as he tapped away on his phone, "I'm thinking that because there's no other you in this timeline this is still your timeline in a sense, but once you're born into this timeline if you ever do now that the future is changed, you could cease to exist. So you might only have a few years left. Or you might only exist as long as you don't interact with any other versions of you? Since there aren't supposed to be two versions of you in one timeline it might try correcting itself if you two came into contact."

"Or..?" Casey asked, really hoping for a better alternative. Donnie gave a not so reassuring shrug as he spoke, "Or, because you're from a different timeline all together it might have no effect on us and the timeline might not even register you as the same person, which is how it seems. No rifts or world shattering events have happened since you got here, y'know, besides the one.. But that's unrelated to you." Casey nodded a little as he listened, getting a little tense again when the woman brought everyone's drinks and took orders, Leo taking the lead and ordering for nearly everyone since he already knew what his brothers would want to eat. Once she left again they all took a moment testing the drinks, nothing new about water and Pepsi. Casey still made a face at the carbonation of his drink, but then took another sip making the same almost painful expression, like watching a toddler try a lemon or a pickle for the first time. Leo let out a little chuckle as he pulled his phone back out, "Anyway- Since were all here I wanted to talk about the festival coming up, and about the plans we all had." Casey perked up a little, "Plans? Was going there itself not the plan?" He asked, his head tilted a little. Leo shook his head with a little chuckle, "I mean, before and after that plan we wanted to.. y'know, make.. more plans? Usagi had an idea if you guys would wanna go eat out somewhere before going, then maybe split up for a bit, get back together for some games and the firework show they're gonna do, then go our ways for the night? Or something like that?"

"Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense too." 

"There's a few places we were looking at, since Leo was trying to check out the East end of town for a while now and they have a pretty good mix of food it might be fun, and not to far from the festival.. Only if everyone else was okay with that of course." Usagi said with a little nod as he spoke. "The expensive end of town?" Donnie asked, head still turned downwards looking at his phone, "Well-Technically yes, but since Leo's been helping me with a some work here and there we have a bit saved up. We wouldn't ask any of you to pay" He glanced over to Leo who was busy staring back at him, apparently lost in thought. He rolled his eyes with a little chuckle and booped his nose, "Anyone home~?" Leo blinked a few times, crossing his eyes to look at Usagi's finger then back to his eyes, "Ah- Sorry- What were you saying-?" The woman came back over with the food and everyone got quiet again for a moment till she was gone. "Nothing important" Usagi said once they were in the clear, "Are you okay though?" Leo nodded, taking a fry off Usagi's plate, "Mhmm, no I'm good" He put his phone away as Usagi took Leos plate without him needing to ask and help him cut some of the food he knew Leo would struggle with. He slid the plate back over to Leo stealing a small piece with his fork before Leo could protest, as a tax for the fry of course.   "So.." Casey glanced between them a little then over to April still a little confused on the overall plan. "We're gonna.. Go eat first? Or go to the town first? Then watch some.. good explosions? Then go home?" Donnie nodded, "That's about the jist of it yes. We're just deciding the order of those events so everyone is clear on them. "Casey nodded a little as he started to eat, even after all these months of him being back in the past he was still amazed by the small things like the variety of foods and drinks available. He paused for a moment to savor it before continuing, having to remind himself that things like this were just the norm now. He smiled a little as he listened to the boys argue about what they all wanted to do first, and what time would be good for everyone. It took a good while but eventually they all gave in to the plan of running around the festival first then meeting for dinner, watching the fireworks then going their separate ways, weather they wanted to stay till the festival was well past over or go home right away it didn't matter too much. "So, future boy." Usagi said after a bit of silence, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh-? Sure Usagi-san"

"I know I shouldn't ask much about affairs that could endanger the present, but I'd really like to know about the other versions of me and Leo, we were together in that timeline if I'm not mistaken?" Casey nodded a little as he ate, "Yeah, well, you weren't like.. As close as you are now- Physically I mean. Showing affection wasn't really something people did in the open, it showed weakness, sentiment that could be exploited.. So we didn't really know just how close you guys were, and for how long. I mean in the hideout it was different, and you guys seemed... Happy, sharing glances and helping the other with stuff when they didn't have to. I was still pretty young when you died so I-" He froze for a moment and looked up to see everyone's concerned expression, only Usagi and Leo didn't seem as phased as the rest. Right, they didn't know much about the grim ends they all met fighting the Kraang.. "I'd like to know if you're okay to continue" Usagi said softly, trying to sound as calm and honest as possible. Casey just nodded again after a moment of hesitation, "One of the big ones, the fights I mean.. There were a handful of full-scale battles before I left, I wasn't old enough to fight in this one, but I got to go with as a medic and to carry wounded home so.. I got to see it happen, I was right there..." Casey looked back down at his plate, "He rushed to help sensei fend off what we called kroggs, animals that'd been infected and sicked on us, tearing apart everything in their path. Sensei was already hurt, and half the pack was running at him, Usagi-san saved him. He saved a lot of people that day and gave us all time to retreat. When I circled back to make sure everyone alive had been taken back I saw them both, laying there on the ground. I wasn't close enough to hear it but Usagi-san grabbed sensei's hand in his and told him something that made him start crying.. I called for backup, I wasn't strong enough to take sensei back myself yet."

"How old were you?" Usagi asked, seemingly unphased by the rest of the story. "..I was eleven." He said back, there was another pause between everyone. "I guess it's comforting in a way, to know that Leo was there with me, and that I would be able to save him, and that we ended up together regardless." Leo took Usagi's hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze, "I should also say, sometimes after talking to Casey about his future you might uh.. Get some memories from you're future self, it's totally normal though and its usually just like, having weird dreams or something just so you're warned about that-"

"Oh? Interesting.. Is that what happened to you the other night Leo? Or was it just a weird dream making you talk out loud?" Leo shrugged a little, "I honestly don't remember, what'd I even say?"

"Something along the lines of dismantling a robotic version of your oldest brother I think?" They turned back to Casey, "Well Jr-" Leo asked with a little smirk, "Ring any bells-? Uh- Casey..?" Leo quickly wiped the smug expression off his face, a slightly concerned one replacing it immediately seeing his reaction. "Wait- I become a robot in the future?" Raph asked, nearly choking on his drink hearing that it was in fact something that the future held. Donnie put a hand on Casey shoulder and nodded, "Yeaaah, so I'll take this one, I analyzed some of the logs from Casey mask that my future self apparently modified for him and there's... A lot of information that was there but there was a good amount on the schematics and general upkeep instructions for an oversized Raph-bot of sorts. It seems his body wasn't able to be fully recovered but they devised a way to keep his consciousness in a container and allow that container free reign over the metal form. One that was eventually used as a last resort power source once I was no longer around to fix things myself."

"Wait you died?!" Raph looked a lot more concerned that he did about his own 'death' it seemed, Donnie just shrugged, "What did you expect? I'm an autistic softshell who'd lost his ninpo and been infected, my physical form was crumbling months before you died, it was only a matter of time, I'm honestly surprised that my future self managed for as long as he did. Me personally, I'd just take the L and call it a day haha-" 

"You wHAT?" Raph said putting his drink down, causing a few heads to turn to look their way. He quickly quieted down and tried to compose himself to look as normal as possible before continuing in a whisper. "What do you mean you were infected??" Donnie rolled his eyes, "Oh relax Raph that's not now, it didn't happen in this timeline, so we're in the clear on that. But Casey informed me the Kraang had engineered a bioweapon that I happened to fall victim to." Casey nodded, "They used it to limit out food in hopes that we would start fighting among ourselves for resources and fall apart or starve to death. A few got infected, but they all died within maybe a month or two, Donnie managed to fight it for nearly three years... He was bigger and stronger than the others though when he got sick.." Donnie nodded and started doodling on his napkin, "Yeah apparently I was like, twice as tall as I am now, like, Raph sized- But the infection sucked the life outta me so I got really weak and thin, near the end I was at the point where I couldn't even walk without help. I used the last of my time writing code and all of my notes on how to keep things running. Which I don't know why my suture self didn't just log all his instructions as he went to make everything so much easier, it would have saved to much time to write everything as he was going to if anything happened that was unexpected or if he needed to be away doing who knows what, that things would still be taken care of. Whatever, it's in the futures past now, it doesn't really matter."

"Doesn't matter??? Donnie you basically got alien cancer!" Leo said flicking one of Usagi's fries at his head, "But I didn't in this timeline and that's what matters-" He said flinging the fry back at Leo. Usagi caught the fry before it hit Leo and set it on a napkin, "Lets not use the food as ammo and risk a food fight and getting kicked out." Leo and Donnie both huffed a little but listened, since he was right obviously. Leo latched onto Usagi looking up at him with his usual dramatic pout. Usagi just rolled his eyes and gave in, kissing his head, and letting out a little chuckle when Leo decided that was clearly not enough to keep him behaved. He leaned down giving him a quick kiss, not wanting to over do it in front of his family, "Now behave." He said in a whisper, "You can do that for me can't you~?" Leo huffed again and nodded, "Fiiiine" He said as he sat back in his seat, finishing his food as the conversation got more light hearted and they started talking about thinks like April finishing college this year and Casey starting a business with Donatello for his inventions and skills in coding. He was easily able to get a part time job doing coding and since he'd been trained by Donnie it was like doing first grade math to him so he was quickly offered better positions and it seemed to be going well for him. Leo couldn't help but think about Usagi's voice and kept getting distracted, once everyone was done Leo pulled out his phone and texted the group without Usagi. 

Leon: Hey would you guys be down to like, go somewhere else? Like the movies? I know you guys wanted to see that new JJ movie and show Casey around, you don't have to but I figured I'd ask cause we're already out

Angelo: Ohmigosh we should!! The JJ movie looks soooo good!! Can we? Can we? Can we?

Raphie: I mean... I guess, if everyone really wants to it could be nice?

DonTron: Might as well, it'll give me a chance to try out a new feature on my headphones that filters out chatter and random noise. 

Angelo: Awwww yiiisssss babey I can't wait 

Leon: On another kinda related note, would you care if I wasn't there? I uh, kind of wanted to try some of those what ever its called, the practices Donnie made me do when I was in the med bay recovering the past few times? Physical therapy right? That's what it's called? Well, that- But- it just looks real stupid so maybe don't be in the lair while I do em okay-

Raphie: Oh so it was a trap to get us outta the house huh? 

Leon: ...Is it working?

Raph sighed out loud and looked over to Leo with an unamused expression, while Leo had his signature shit eating grin. "Just- make sure you clean your room when you get home first got it?" Leo nodded and hailed a waitress over paying for the table and leaving a tip too before getting up and taking Usagi's hand and waving them off. "Oh are we going?" He asked, since he wasn't really aware of what happened over text. Leo nodded as he walked out leading Usagi towards his place, "I'm gonna be honest, and you can say no but you got me in a mood to make out and I really didn't wanna wait so I told everyone else to go see a movie cause we were gonna do some physical therapy stuff.."

"So you lied so we could be alone?" He asked with a little chuckle, Leo wrapped an arm around Usagi's waist as they walked, "Well physical therapy can be a lot of different things, who's to say exactly what I meant versus what they took it as y'know~?" 

"Ohh, you sneaky little~ Fine, only for a little bit, you've only bought us about an hour or two so we'll need to be carful, and quiet" Leo nodded, "Yeah and I know dads gonna be out too, or at least dead asleep in his sound proofed room so he won't bother us~"

"In that case~ I have a little request~"

"Oh? What is it?" LRO Part 1 Part 6

[shslpunkartist]

This is so so random, but I HAD to write something after a particular part in Persona 5 Strikers. Hope you don't mind!

Summary: Sophia confronts Ryuji on his reaction to the voice from before

**(SPOILERS FOR JAIL 4 (and vague Jail 3))**

"An AI like you should not exist. You are bugged beyond worth. Such an existence does not merit any further inquire. Wholly worthless."

The battle against the fourth warden ended almost as quickly as it began, thanks to the strength and support shared between the Phantom Thieves. With the materialized Desires free and back to their rightful owners, it was only right to return back to the real world to see if the locals were back to normal.

And yet.. those words that were told to Sophie still lingered in her mind. Perhaps it would be smart to delete that memory from her database, but.. the moment that had happened afterwards? That seemed to linger just as much, but it wasn't a negative one. She had already expressed her gratitude to the others, but for that moment to continue to replay in her head, over and over..

"Skull?"

The blonde thug paused in his step when his codename was called, looking over to the AI, who was shy behind him. "Yeah? What's up?" He asked. "Are you still thinkin' about what happened earlier?"

"Huh? Are you a mindreader?" Sophie tilted her head in awe from how Skull was able to figure out exactly what she was thinking.

"Huh?? No, no! I just.. figured, y'know?" He scratched his head and cleared his throat to hide his slight embarrassment. At least she didn't lose that innocent lil charm of hers. "Look, don't believe what that shithead voice told you. It was nothing but lies from somebody who doesn't know a great person even if it smacked them in the face.. which, by the way, we smacked 'em good, didn't we~?" Skull perked up at that, clearly proud of their victory over that piece of shit warden.

"Yes, you're right.. but there's something else on my mind." Sophie fiddled with the poof on her sleeves as she collected her thoughts properly. What would be the best way to ask this..?

"Hm? What is it, then?"

"Well.. it's about you."

"Me??"

"Yes. We may not have been friends for a long time, but from what I've gathered about you, you yell a lot. Whether it be to a Monarch, to strangers on the street, or even your friends. You are a very loud person."

Skull's head drooped. Geez, what a callout.

"But.." Sophie continued, "when you yelled at the voice back there.. it was different. You were angry, very much so. I think that's the angerist I've ever seen you. Your voice volume was higher than normal, and you were cursing so much more.

"I wonder.. why is that?"

Skull blinked after hearing Sophie's question, clearly stunned. Thinking back on it now, however, this really may have been the angrist he had been this entire adventure. For sure, the monarchs and the people that created their traumas pissed him off, and there have been times where he was angry BEYOND belief way before this last month, but.. it was true: he hadn't yelled like that in front of Sophie before. "Well, 'cause.." Skull shrugged, trying to think of his own way to phrase his thoughts well. "I just.. hate people that are like that, y'know? People who think they're so high 'n mighty, who think they can just say whatever they want about people they don't know jackshit about.. it's so annoying to have some piece of shit act like their words are fact, when it's all baseless insults and.. just bullshit!" God, just thinking about it was getting Skull all riled up again; he had to look at Sophie's surprised expression to force himself to calm down again. "I.. shit, sorry. I've seen people in ugly colors these past few years, so hearing someone disrespect my friends, or to people that don't deserve that bullcrap? I just wanna punch 'em until they get it."

"Have.. people really disrespected the other Phantom Thieves?"

".. yeah. A shit ton of 'em."

"Have those people disrespected you too?"

"Mhm.."

"I see.."

"...."

".. don't listen to them, Ryuji."

The sound of his real name surprised him, but it was the sudden hold of his hand that got him to jump. "You are a very good person." Sophie continued. "You are a strong person who fights for AND protects your friends. You have such passion for food, fun, and everyone's happiness. You work hard to bring justice to others, too. All of you are amazing people-.. no, amazing friends!

"So please don't believe that you are worthless, either! You're a very important friend to the Phantom Thieves, and to me as well!"

"... heh.."

A rough hand reached around the back of the AI's head and pulled her closer to the thug, embracing her in what felt like a weak hug. "Don't worry," Ryuji said, "I don't believe those kinda people. Not anymore. I got you guys to keep me goin'. It's only fair I do the same."

Sophie stared blankly at nothing when being hugged like this, unsure what to feel or how to respond. This is what people would call a hug, right? She has seen others do it, like how Haru and Mariko did in their last mission, but.. she had never experienced one for herself. ..perhaps she should replicate it?

Sophie lifted her arms up, and wrapped them around Ryuji's waist. He didn't seem to push back; if anything, he seemed to hold her closer. His clothing felt a little rough, but it felt.. warm. She felt warm.

".. strange.. I am an AI, but I feel like crying.. even though I also feel happiness.."

Ryuji chuckled at her confusion, petting her head as a sign of reassurance. "That's fine. That's how emotions work. Weird, huh?"

"Yes, very. But I like it. I like learning about emotions. And.." she looked up at the taller male, smiling, "I like feeling happy."

"Heh, good. We'll try to help you experience happiness more often. It's a promise."

"A promise? .. hehe, yes, a promise!"

An AI that has no purpose.. tch, what bullshit. She's already got a purpose: being true to herself, and being our friend..

[leonidas1754]

Genshin Impact Is Great- Except It's A Gatcha

Alright, I need to rant. Because Genshin Impact came up in a convo and this game infuriates me, and y'know why? Because it's so good (for what I played), except for the gatcha, which outright ruined it for me. (Under cut bc it's long and I'm kinda fuming rn)

And before you say "Oh but Leo, they give you enough free currency, you don't have to use the gatcha-" No. No, you don't have to. But here's the thing for those two points I've specifically had brought up before.

1) Free currency is bait. It's there to get you to start rolling in the hopes that you'll spend money when your rolls fail, which they invariably will no matter how good or bad the rates are.

2) If you don't use the gatcha, your progress will be hamstringed in some capacity. From what I've heard, it's pretty damn difficult to go gatchaless if you haven't been playing from near the start to get a lot of the free stuff they've handed out since the game's launch.

3) There is ZERO reason for this game to be a gatcha besides predatory monetization.

That third reason is the one that seriously pisses me off about Genshin, because when I tried the game, I enjoyed it, I enjoyed it a lot! The world looked cool, the combat was good enough (I didn't quite have the hang of it but I still wanted to get better with it), I liked the cooking mechanic, the characters, the story, the gliding.

But the moment the gatcha reared its ugly head, all of that came crashing down. It's not just about it being a gatcha game, it's about how that effects the other parts of the game. I suddenly realized, with a small bit of research, that most of those characters I was seeing? The only way to get them was luck. The leveling/progression? You're probably gonna have to roll if you want to do so in anything resembling a timely manner.

I did the guaranteed roll because I was still in the mindset of tolerating it, and then I realized- The character I'd just gotten, one of the things Genshin is so known for? They meant nothing to me, because I knew absolutely nothing about them. Sure, you can read their blurb, but uh... If I wanted to read a book, I'd read a book. I was invested in the characters through their actions and dialogue, how they appeared in the story. Suddenly having a stranger poof into my party is pretty much the antithesis of that strength.

The gatcha mechanics just ended up soaking into everything else. I realized I'd have to focus on trying to earn the gatcha currency and level characters I didn't currently care about and likely wouldn't find out info about until way later in the story, all while the characters I actually care about are inaccessible unless I get absurdly lucky.

The menus being somewhat unclear is more a UI problem than a Gatcha problem, but it's one that likely wouldn't exist if the game wasn't a Gatcha. You wouldn't have to toy with all these resources and currencies for progression if the game just worked like you would expect from an action RPG. This is more a minor point, but it emphasizes my big problem with the game:

This could easily be a standard RPG you pay for out the gate. And it's not, purely for the sake of predatory monetization. It was made into a gatcha to prey on people with addictive personalities, and say whatever the hell you want about how much people should be responsible for their own spending, but you can't deny that deliberately setting up your game to tempt those people into spending more money is not a good thing. Genshin could have easily had a standard progression of exp and character obtaining from a story-based RPG, and it doesn't for the sake of monetization.

Gatcha needs to die and Genshin Impact is the perfect example of why.