#i just. can’t wait for 2025. and to show them that we never ever went anywhere nor will we ever ever go anywhere

[bisexualrapline]

bangtan literally everyday of chapter 2: don’t forget about bts please

armys literally everyday of chapter 2: i saw seven rocks together at the park today and i cried

[im-a-lonelyheart]

Fitzsimmons Family Headcanons in case canon fails me

And before they destroy them. Buckle up.

(I wrote this in less than an hour and english is not my first language, sooo sorry for any mistakes)

Edit: I re-posted it because it wasn’t showing up in the tags. sorry.

Enjoy! (Gift credit: X)

They finally decide to retire to their cottage.

Daisy and May lived with them for a while but at different times. Daisy around the time their first kid was born and May when the youngest was a kid already.

May and Daisy totally live together in the USA.

Fitzsimmons started a biomedical company, they make prostetics and medical supplies. They fund small researchers and become relatively known in the medical field (under aliases of course). They run their company from their home as much as they can.

Deke got bored of his company, so he eventually fused it with FS’s, he has enough money to travel around the world and be whatever he wants. Once was a TV chef, and he got bored and became a travel blogger, then launched a clothing line so it goes…

Tried to convince the team to turn their story into a broadway musical. They all said no. He brings it up everytime they are all together (you never know)

Fitzsimmons have three kids, they were all planned ;) of course

Daisy teases Fitz about how the three of them look like Jemma. “You are adopted”. the son is the only one who kinda looks like him. Fitz doesn’ t mind.

After the kids go their own ways they leave together again.

Have their own quinjet in case of emergencies, they say. Let’s be honest after years of flying with SHIELD, commercial flights lost their charm.

Look retired Fitzsimmons would be that kind of couple who travels the world together (properly this time), they say the quinjet is to visit their friends and Family around the world but would randomly send pictures of them in front of a famous landmark.

Mackenzie Skye Fitzsimmons (Daisy calls her Kye) (Born around 2021) (Quarantine baby) or (Timetravel baby)

They never asked Deke about their daughter’s name in the original timeline, but once they told him, judging by his reaction they knew it was this. (but in the lighthouse timeline her nickname was Kenzie)

Fitz was really adamant on this name, Jemma thought it was cute and a great way to honor their best friends, but years later he told the kid:

“you were named after two of the bravest persons I’ve ever met”.

Jemma just stared into the space as it dawned on her that her husband was really an idiot.

He winked at her and she forgave him. Eventually.

When she was a toddler Fitzsimmons moved back to the city and left their cottage, they wanted their daughter to have the best education and also didn’t want to wake her up early because the closest school was still an hour away.

Around that time Daisy found Bobbi, they met up, and Bobbi introduced her to her baby son Owen. 

“oh my god. I need to call Fitzsimmons” 

“what” 

“shhhh. wait, it’s connecting... Hey guys! Look who is here! Bobbi and her baby Owen Shaw” 

Fitz spits his tea all over his phone. Bobbi doesn’t know what’s going on, and they eventually explain it to her, well, after Daisy stops laughing and Fitz stops coughing.

Bobbi and Hunter had changed names and moved to England. After learning that Fitzsimmons live nearby, they make plans to see each other as much as they can. Look this is my headcanon AU so Fitzsimmons offer them positions in their company, Bobbi in the lab and Hunter in a made up security position that doesn’t fit his nametag. 

Some weekends Fitz and Hunter take the babies to the park together, while Jemma and Bobbi work or hang out together. One day kye and Owen were playing and Owen proudly declared he was going to be an astronaut. Fitz was like “you and your son are the bane of my existence”.

The kids become best friends. Duh 

BUT this is Bobbi and Hunter we are talking about, they’re nomads so they eventually move out around Europe and America, when the kid started high school they agreed to stay in one place.

Anyways,

Amazing kid, took a while for her parents to figure out the whole parenting thing but she was so great, as long as things went her way.

Fitz can’t say no to her. A dog? We’ll manage. Ice cream for breakfast? c’mon you know how convincing she can be. 

She is a really calm kid, well behaved. Responsible older sister, mom friend, but messy af. “look mom, I have a system and I know where everything is”.

Nicest kid you’ll ever meet, but if you mess with her siblings be careful, you never know if you will find trash in your backpack.

She is an MD. Eventually, her parents moved back to the countryside but she stayed in the city with her sister to finish her education.

Makes friends everywhere she goes.

She and Owen started dating in their teens but were on and off several times, they even briefly dated other people because one of them would get scared of things becoming too serious (even more when they learned that Uncle Deke was genetically their son). 

In their late twenties they decided to get married as a compromise to stay together and work things out, after all, some things are inevitable.

They had two kids: Daniel Shaw (Deke, but They wanted him to be his own person so they changed the name), Gabrielle Shaw (Born as Oliver Shaw)

Owen worked for a while for SWORD. Eventually decide to move to Germany to work as researchers.

Margaret Abigail Fitzsimmons (Maggie) (Born 2025)

The odd one. Grew up to be a successful artist. Really independent as a child, could play hours by herself or caually chill around her parents or her brother’s crib.

Despite being the only one in her family who isn’t into science, she loves doing experiments all the time, in the name of aesthetic. One time turned the dog blue. There’s a fire extinguisher in the living room just because of her. Banned from her parents’ lab “Pretty colors can go boom”. Aparently.

After being constantly told she is diferent from the rest of her family, she feels happy when someone tells her she looks like her mom. She scoffs but she doesn’t really mind.

Acts though but is a softie, vegan, activist, animal lover. Loves to tease everyone, prankster, makes fun of her mom but it’s the first person she thinks of when something troubles her. Late night calls are not unheard of.

Can’t commit to a single hobby. Photography, cooking, volunteer work... name something, and she has probably already tried it.

Really close to Deke, sometimes travels with him. They are kindred spirits. Feel like only them understand the need to explore and try new things.

She grew up to resent shield. Look she loves what her parents and their friends did, but hates how it affected them. Forgive and forget? in this economy?? 

Lives in Paris by herself but somehow always manages to get everyone to come to her art exhibits. You won’t be able to stop her once she sets her mind to something. Stubborn as her dad.

Doesn’t want kids, maybe one day if she feels ready she will adopt but she is happy as an aunt.

Matthew Phillip Fitzsimmons (Matthew) (Born 2030)

Ray of sunshine, Momma’s boy. He loves it when his parents take him to their lab. Ever since he could walk he is always following his sisters around, if they are up to something he is the first one to know. They love to tease him, but he has enough blackmail material to get them to shut up. He would never use it tho.

Computer genius. He has his own video game company. Launched his first video game at 16. Fitz is mildly offended he sees the Framework code as “old stuff”.

He is a sweetheart, adores his parents and calls them every single day. He met his wife in college and has been happy ever since. It was fast and passionate, they got married within a year and a few years later they had a baby. 

Truly an example of living fast. 

Melissa Fitzsimmons (his daughter) a sweetheart, may is her godmother. (The babies’ baby’s baby, i cry). The cousins are thick as thieves. 

May loves the kid, “age is making you softer”, Daisy tells her and laughs, May’s glare while holding a baby is too much for her.

Emma Johnson (born 2029) (the honorary fourth kid)

Daisy’s daughter. Jemma cried when she told her the baby’s name. She wanted May and Jemma in the delivering room with her. 

I can see Daisy being a badass single mother but I also see her finding love, I haven’t made up my mind but I think she will be loved either way.

Only child, so loves to hang out with the FS kids.

She and Matthew are best friends since they were little, even having video calls when they couldn’t see each other in person.

Fitz and Daisy had a bet on whether they would get together, but it was called off when it became apparent Emma wasn’t interested in men altogether. She was the first woman in his wedding.

The “Quake” legacy was too much for her so she decided to focus in something different. Currently works as an architect and on her spare time works as a freelance illustrator.

All I can imagine is a scene where the are all together in a field (probably the same one where they buried Coulson and Loop!Fitz) May, Fitzsimmons and Daisy. They try to meet up there at least once a year to chat and reminisce about old times, sometimes with Deke, Mack and Elena (and their twin boys) or just them. 

Their kids are playing while their parents watch, but May’s watching them, with their backs to her they almost look like the kids she met in the bus all those years ago. Coulson would’ve been so proud, this is the future we were fighting for all along, she thinks.

“You did good”.

Daisy turns around with a soft smile on her face and says “yes, we did.”

The end

[aparecium-hq]

Welcome once again to Aparecium, Reagan! You have been accepted for Ivy Blum. We think she has a lot of potential to be a fun character who should be right at home in our mix. We can’t wait to see you get going! Check out the new member checklist, and jump right in. 

Character Basics

Birthday (Age): November 23rd, 2002 (25) (also a Sagittarius)

Gender (Pronouns): Female, She/Her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Blood Status: Muggleborn, a little bit of a Seer

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Occupation: Ivy owns a small teashop in London, just a street away from the Diagon Alley entrance in the Leaky Cauldron. More details in bio…

Faceclaim: Odeya Rush

Biography:

Ivy grew up as the youngest of four, with two older brothers and an older sister; The oldest, Rowan, 32, working as a lawyer in London. He has two daughters and an amazing wife. Ivy and Rowan got along pretty well as kids but didn’t form that strong of a connection, considering Rowan is 7 years older than her. Next is Flora, 28, who doesn’t really work. Her wife is some sort of business CEO in America, so Flora takes care of their three adopted children. Flora and Ivy were very very close as children, and it lasted all the way to adulthood. They talk frequently and Ivy goes to visit at least once a year. Finally, there’s Oliver, Ivy’s twin brother. They were inseparable as children, but when Ivy received a Hogwarts letter and Oliver didn’t, he got jealous. The summer between second and third year, they had a huge fight that ended with both of them swearing to never speak to the other again. They’re both too prideful to apologize, and never stayed in contact after Ivy moved out. She knows he’s working in their father’s shop, and that he met a girl who he’s dating seriously, but that’s all her parents told her.

As for her parents, Daisy and Thomas Blum are the proud owners of ‘Comics & Coffee’, a semi-successful bookstore-cafe franchise in the UK and select locations in America. Thomas started up the company in the late ’90s, while Daisy worked full-time as a nurse, covering expenses that come with starting your own business. Eventually, in 2010, the company started gaining traction after the Avengers movie was announced, and people wanted to get back into comics more than ever all of a sudden. There are seven locations throughout the UK, and three in America. Daisy quit her nursing job in 2011 to help Thomas take care of business, and they’re both happy, despite the busy schedules.

Ivy was a peculiar child, even without the surprise magic. Her mother claims that Ivy rarely cried as a baby and that sometimes she would walk into the nursery in the middle of the night to make sure her daughter was okay, only to find her standing in the crib as if expecting her to walk through the door at that moment. “It’s almost like you could tell the future,” she would joke when she had a few too many glasses of wine and spoke of the incidents, but once Ivy started at Hogwarts and learned what Divination was, she thought maybe she really could tell the future. She dismissed it as coincidental, she was just ‘force sensitive’, as her father would put it.

These occurrences continued throughout her childhood, in very different ways. Sometimes a utensil dropping on the floor would make her suddenly feel the urge to ask when such and such would arrive, even though her parents hadn’t invited anyone over. Sure enough, their grandmother, or some other individual, would show up out of the blue.

Ivy was a very quiet child. She didn’t say her first word until she was 18 months old, whereas Oliver had started talking at a year old. She preferred to sit and color over running around the playground screaming and causing chaos. Her schoolmates would call her a ‘freak’ most of the time, though she didn’t quite understand how rude it was until she got older. When her mother asked her why she was so quiet, Ivy merely shrugged her shoulders and said “I don’t really have anything important to say.”

One thing, however, that did get Ivy talking was comic books. Ivy spent a good part of her childhood between the rows of her father’s shop. You could usually find her in the X-Men section, a pile of comics surrounding her as she essentially devoured the one in her hand. If you even brought up any of the X-Men, you would see her light up like never before. She felt a special connection with the X-Men series specifically because they weren’t just superheroes; there were kids and teenagers like her, who were just trying to figure out why they were different. Up until her 11th birthday, she thought her accidental magic was actually her mutant powers, and that once she got older, Professor X or someone would come to get her. That obviously wasn’t the case.

Because Ivy’s birthday is so late in the year, she had to wait 10 months after receiving her letter to go to Hogwarts. She was also a year older than everyone in her year, which was convenient in 6th year because Ivy turned 17 before most of her classmates and was therefore sent out on Firewhiskey runs for them.

At Hogwarts, she really ‘blum’ed (I had to do it at least once). Despite the initial disappointment that she wouldn’t be heading to the X-Mansion, Hogwarts proved to be almost cooler. She wasn’t much of a hat-staller, but the Sorting Hat did debate for a little bit on whether to put her in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. It eventually decided on Hufflepuff, because her hard-working and loyal nature was more over-powering than her pride. As for classes, she discovered a natural gift for Herbology and quickly developed a love for plants of all kinds. If you couldn’t find her in the common room, your best bet was to search the Greenhouses, where Ivy was usually helping Professor Longbottom with some sort of plant.

Another class she found she excelled in was Divination. Professor Trelawney was well past her prime, but she did offer a starting point for Ivy, so she could slowly develop her Seer abilities as time went on. It was a nice distraction from the sadness of her fight with Oliver. Immersing herself in the world of Divination distracted her from dealing with her feelings. Ivy took the class every year for her remaining years at Hogwarts and found that no matter how hard the tried, she couldn’t get the hang of crystal balls or fortune-telling. She was very good at interpreting dreams, tarot cards, and tea leaves, however, which is why she calls herself ‘force sensitive’; She doesn’t visually see the future, but she can read the messages that the future sends.

After graduating from Hogwarts, she spent a year living abroad, trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She visited wizarding and muggle villages alike, all across Europe. She made money by reading palms and offering tarot readings to anyone who would ask. She eventually found that she enjoyed doing just that, minus the nomadic lifestyle. She wanted a store, her own business, just like her parents. When she returned home, she told her parents about her plan; open a tea shop for muggles and wixen alike. Muggles can come in and enjoy a cup of tea, or purchase tea if they’d like. Witches and wizards can come in and ask to use the upstairs washroom. This would prompt Ivy to lead them upstairs, where there was no bathroom, and that was where she would hold all of her readings (palmistry, tarot cards, tea leaves, etc). Ivy decided not to offer her readings to muggles because of the Statute of Secrecy; she isn’t 100% positive, but if her gifts are indeed Seer abilities, she could get in serious trouble for using them on muggles. If she was lucky, they wouldn’t find out about her year abroad. Though her parents didn’t quite understand the magic aspect of it, they were happy one of their children wanted to start their own business, and they gave Ivy a loan so she could buy a place in London and get things started.

After a lot of back and forth with the Ministry, Ivy finally opened the doors of ‘Leaves’ in 2023, at the age of 21. Though she received quite a few wixen clients, she didn’t initially receive many muggle clients. People weren’t as interested in sitting and enjoying tea in a shop if they could just do it at home. Her muggle clientele has grown slowly over the years, but her primary customers remain witches and wizards.

She almost gave up her business in 2025, when she became pregnant with her daughter. She’d been seeing someone for a few weeks, nothing extremely serious. Ivy called Flora before she told anybody else. Flora told her to tell the father, which did not end well for Ivy. He did exactly what she thought he would do, which was disappear. After he told her she wanted nothing to do with the baby, Ivy called Flora again, only this time, she was crying harder than she’d ever cried. Flora couldn’t understand any of what Ivy said for the first half-hour of their phone call. Eventually, Ivy calmed down and explained the situation, which prompted Flora to grab her kids and jump on a plane. Ivy spent two weeks holed up in her apartment with Flora, the kids visiting their grandparents, and looking around London. During this time, Flora and Ivy barely spoke; Flora knew Ivy just needed someone there, and that she’d ask for help when she needed it. After two weeks, she finally asked Flora what to do.

They concluded that she couldn’t do this alone. Ivy had to hire a shop assistant, and she wouldn’t be able to offer her readings for a while. Eventually, she chose to hire [TBD], who ended up being a pretty good help. Ivy only showed up every other day to check in on them.

Although it was unexpected and a little inopportune, Ivy was ecstatic to become a mother. She gave birth to her daughter, Olivia Iris Blum, in October of 2025. Though she’ll never admit it, Ivy named her daughter after her twin brother. Even though she’s only two years old, Olivia is as energetic and excitable as Oliver was when he was a kid, which makes Ivy feel like she still has a part of Oliver in her life. Ivy and Olivia live in the loft above the tea shop, and customers often see the young girl playing on the ground behind the counter or under unoccupied tables.

Character Questionnaire

How does your character feel about their family?

Ivy idolizes her parents even if she doesn’t outwardly show it. She watched her parents build a company from the ground up, and she watched them continue to love each other and build each other up throughout it all. They also always made time for their children, no matter the situation. If Thomas had to work late, he’d find thirty minutes of his time to call home and talk to all the kids before they went to bed. Daisy always had everyone’s lunches packed and ready to go in the morning, even if she had just worked all night. Every kid believes they have the best parents in the world up until a certain age, but Ivy never stopped believing that.

As for siblings, the feelings vary.

Ivy adores Rowan, but they’re so far apart in age that they never properly bonded. They talk on the phone at least once a month, and Ivy comes for supper on Fridays, but that’s mostly because Rosie, Rowan’s wife, was two years older than Ivy and rode the bus with her when the young witch attended muggle primary school. They reconnected and became good friends when Rowan and Rosie started dating.

Flora and Ivy, however, are much much closer. Even though Ivy was a quieter-than-usual kid, she always seemed to open up to Flora; Flora had some sort of gift with children and always seemed to get along with them. Their friendship remained sturdy even when Ivy started attending Hogwarts. They wrote to each other consistently, and it was actually by letter that Flora came out to Ivy, her being the first person she told. To this day, Ivy and Flora are the closest sisters in the world, despite being continents apart. Ivy doesn’t necessarily want the ‘housewife’ life for herself, but she’s happy her sister has found someone who gave it to her.

And of course, Oliver. Ivy hasn’t spoken to Oliver properly in over a decade. Nothing more than ‘pass the peas’ or ‘mom said she wanted to talk to you’. She misses her twin brother, but she can’t bring herself to apologize for the fight; he said some unforgivable things to her. She knows he was angry, but he could have just expressed his feelings and they could’ve talked through it. Ivy will always love Oliver, but she won’t be the first to apologize.

I couldn’t forget Olivia. Despite the fact that Olivia was a BIG surprise, Ivy is grateful for her every single day when she hears her daughter’s voice. Olivia is the most important person in the world for Ivy, and she would do anything for her

How would your character describe their own work ethic? Is that an accurate measure of themself?

Ivy sees herself as a very hard-working individual; she always puts in 110% and never gives up, no matter how hard the issue. She’s a bit of a perfectionist, which is both a good and bad thing; Good because the final product is always top-quality, and bad because she isn’t very good at accepting the help of others. She likes to do things herself because things need to be done in a specific way.

What does your character value in a friendship?

Ivy values honesty and communication above anything else. She wants to avoid another falling out like the one with her brother at all costs, so she prefers friends who won’t just shut her out or be super secretive all the time. She just wants a proper grown-up friendship.

Para Sample

BEEP! BEEP! BEE-

Ivy’s hand sneaked out quickly from under the covers to turn off the alarm, then returned quickly back to the warmth of her comforter. The air was cold, which was to be expected considering it was January. The heater was lackluster, s Ivy usually had to cast a heating charm on her blanket, so when morning came, she would end up in the exact position she was in now; her duvet covering her head all the way to her toes, while she was curled up in a ball underneath, trying to keep warm. She lay there for a moment, almost drifting back to sleep when the alarm went off once more. This one was to ensure she didn’t do exactly what she was just doing. Ivy turned the alarm off with a sigh and removed her blanket from her body. It was time to start her day.

Ivy made her way to her kitchen, starting the kettle and grabbing a bowl of cereal. She opened her drawer to pull out a spoon when she dropped said utensil on the floor. An overwhelming sense of dread came over her, and she froze where she stood, bowl in hand. She stared at the spoon, which was pointing away from her front door, which only meant bad news. An unexpected visitor, but who? Then, Ivy noticed that it was a spoon. “An unexpected child is going to be visiting? But wh-” and that’s when it hit her. Her bowl joined her spoon on the ground, and she was soon running to the bathroom and opening the medicine cabinet. She grabbed the muggle pregnancy test- the potion took too long to brew, she needed answers immediately.

Minutes turned into hours as she paced throughout her apartment. She stared at the phone in her kitchen, debating calling her sister, or maybe even her mom. But she shook away that thought very quickly, there was no need to worry either of them for no reason. She’d been wrong with her instincts before, she could be wrong again. She stared at the clock for a few seconds longer, until she heard the alarm on her phone go off. She stared down the hallway that led to her bathroom, her heart beating faster and harder than it ever had before. She made way into the room and looked at the stick that could change her future drastically. She stared for a few seconds at the stick, a single tear falling down her face before she took a deep breath and picked up her cellphone. She clicked on the contact name ‘Flora’, her hands shaking as she waited for the only voice that could calm her down right now.

“Hello?’

Another deep breath. “Flora?” Her voice shook slightly as she spoke her sister’s name. “I have a problem.”

Additional Information for Original Characters  

Character Teaser

Growing up muggleborn and being able to read the future wasn’t a great combination. Her family called her peculiar, but schoolmates used another word to describe Ivy Blum: a freak. It wasn’t until she was introduced into the world of magic that Ivy realized how special she truly was. Over the years, she’s developed her skills both in school and out in the world, while overcoming any obstacle in her way. She’s even opened a tea shop, where she offers teas and readings of all kinds. You’ll either find her behind the counter or chasing a little girl around the tables.

Feelings on Magical Integration

Ivy is absolutely an integrationist. She wishes she could have a conversation with her mother about the wizarding world and not have to explain every little thing. She wants her daughter to be able to mingle with muggles and wixen alike, as she has roots in both. She has a very long list that goes on for ages, but it’s mainly because she wants her family to be involved and know more about the wizarding world.

Wanted Connections

The Assistant: Someone who’s been working in the shop for a few years now, and who is pretty close with Ivy. Ideally, a character who is hard-working and trustworthy, but I’m open to a sweet employee who is Doing Their Best™.

The Baby Daddy: The father of Olivia, who has recently come back into the picture. Someone a little flaky, but who’s also Doing Their Best™.

The Best Friend: Someone Ivy has been friends with for years. They’ve gone through a lot together, and will always have each other’s backs.

[captaincanarygotmelike]

Fic: Doors Open ch. 1

A while ago my lovely friend Gabby asked me to expand on the Unconventional universe and nearly two years later, here we are. This is part one of eleven (maybe, we’ll see). Anyone unfamiliar with the series might want to check out the original fic here, bc this might not make a ton of sense (or don’t, you do you).

Read on AO3

Read on Fanfiction.net

Nothing particularly exciting happening during the first year Elsie was on the Waverider.

She got acclimated to the timeship (both Sara and Leonard thought she made the switch to the future remarkably well) and to her new family. She was truly loved on the Waverider, even managing to grow on Rip — he had initially been unsure about Sara and Leonard’s decision to adopt the little girl from the 1930s, however, as he watched Elsie’s relationships with her parents grow (and when he saw that her removal from the thirties didn’t destroy the timeship) he couldn’t ignore the benefit she was bringing to the team. They all enjoyed having Elsie on the Waverider. She added an element of fun to the dynamic amongst the team.

She played dress-up with Kendra and Ray, Jax was teaching her how to play football just like he promised, even Mick had a soft spot for her. Early on in their time on the Waverider, Mick had proven to have quite a knack for cooking, and since Elsie’s arrival, the two had taken to making meals for the team together. She would sit on the metal counter and watch him chop vegetables, and he would always let her stir ingredients together with a big wooden spoon — he even let Elsie stir things on the stove, even though Sara always told her no.

During a brief shore-leave a few months after Elsie moved onto the Waverider, the team returned to the present time and Sara and Leonard introduced their daughter to their families. They legally adopted her on that visit as well, and she officially became Elsie Lance.

“Lance?” Lisa had repeated when they told her.

“The Snart name dies with me,” Leonard had replied, answering her confusion.

“Unless I keep my name when I get married,” Lisa then pointed out.

“That’s not funny,” Leonard had replied seriously.

Elsie’s fourth birthday came and went. They celebrated it on the Waverider with a big game of hide-and-seek that even Rip joined in on, and a trip to Pompeii to watch Mount Vesuvius erupt.

Not too long after, Kendra said goodbye to the team and they welcomed two new members: Nate and Amaya. Rip was relieved to see that Elsie had not become a distraction for the team, but a motivator. Sara had become less reckless on the field, but had lost none of her will or tenacity. Leonard had grown increasingly protective of his team, even the new members. They all seemed to work better together.

Even though Elsie attended all the team meetings and sometimes journeyed into the times they traveled to, she had never joined the team on a mission. That is, she hadn’t joined the team on a mission yet.

“Time to get dressed,” Sara said to Elsie as she walked into her bedroom, “Did you pick out clothes for today?”

“Uh-huh,” Elsie nodded, holding out a bundle of clothing.

“Pink jeans and a pink dress,” Sara commented with raised eyebrows, “Wow. Really?”

“Yup.”

“Okay,” Sara let out a sigh as she shrugged, crouching down to help her get dressed.

“Miss Lance,” Gideon said as Sara helped Elsie pull off her princess nightdress, “Rip would like you to know that he has called a team meeting.”

“Okay,” Sara nodded, “Thanks Gideon.”

“Of course,” Gideon replied. Then she was silent.

“I wanna play with Kendra,” Elsie said.

“We’ve been over this,” Sara said, pulling the cotton dress over Elsie’s head and beginning to help her arms through the sleeves, “Kendra went back to the real world. Then Amaya and Nate came, remember?”

Elsie shook her head

“Yes you do,” she replied, “You played restaurant with them yesterday.”

“Oh,” she replied, gripping her mother’s shoulders as she stepped into the pants Sara was holding out in front of her.

“Ready?” Sara asked, once the pink jeans were pulled up and buttoned.

“You gotta do my hair,” Elsie said.

“I’m gonna do it on the Bridge during the meeting,” she told her, picking up a brush and several hair ties from the surface of Elsie’s dresser, “Let’s go.”

Elsie bounded out the door and down the corridors of the Waverider, Sara following at a much more comfortable pace.

The rest of the team was already at the meeting when Sara arrived; even Elsie beat her to the bridge, waiting for her in a metal chair.

“Miss Lance,” Rip said, “Thank you for finally joining us. Let’s begin.”

Sara crossed the room and sat in her chair next to Leonard. Elsie stood in front of her, leaning against her legs as Sara started to run the brush through her blonde hair.

“Here’s the plan,” Rip said, “Our latest adversary is taking refuge in the year 2025.”

“Hey, that’s close to our time!” Ray said.

“Yes, Mr. Palmer, it is indeed,” Ray nodded, “In 2025, he doesn’t pose any threat to society, but he is in something like a planning mode. He knows what he’s doing, now he’s just getting ready.”

“So what are we trying to do, exactly?” Jax asked.

“Figure out his plan so we can head him off at the proper moment."

“Awesome!” Nate said, “We’re gonna snuff him out before he burns!”

“Did someone say burn?” Mick asked, seeming to tune into the meeting just then, “I’m in.”

“I appreciate the enthusiasm, Mr. Rory,” Rip said, “but we’re going to be doing this mission a little differently. Think early days, Raymond and Kendra buying a house in the fifties. Some of you will be scattered throughout the city. The rest will be posing as the occasional tourist when necessary, and parsing through the information we collect on the Waverider.”

“What happened to diving in and hoping for the best?” Amaya asked.

“Our success rate with that tactic dropped to a level so low it warranted a change in plan. We’re trying something a bit more strategic this time.”

Amaya nodded.

“So,” he continued, “Our new mission will be taking us to València, a coastal city in the south of Spain.

“We’re going to Spain?” Ray exclaimed, “Cool!”

“Yes, Mr. Palmer,” he said, “Our target is Sebastián Reyes. In 2025, he is thirty two years old, and within the following decade, he will become one of the world’s most dangerous people, joining the ranks with Ivan the Terrible, Robespierre, and Osama bin Laden.”

“What exactly is he doing?” Nate asked.

“What any man of his kind does: tries to eradicate what’s unlike him. For him, it is people under a certain tax bracket. It’s his opinion that a lack of money is the result of a lack of intelligence and poor decision-making. There are, of course, other factors involved, but his goal is to eliminate those who earn under a certain amount, take the money they leave behind into the government of Spain and therefore solve the debt crisis and leave more money for the remaining citizens, including, of course, himself.”

“Why are we only hearing about him now?” Sara asked as she wrapped a hair band around one of Elsie’s braids, “If he’s really this bad, why haven’t you ever mentioned him before?”

“Because, until recently, he didn’t exist — that is to say, he wasn’t the person he is now. Something we did in the last month or so changed his story and inspired some terrible actions from Mr. Reyes. We are going to València to fix it.”

“Who are you placing there more permanently?” Nate asked.

“I’m sending Jax and Martin straight onto the campus of the University of València. Martin will be taking up the position of professor of physics and Jax will be a graduate student in the biotechnology department.

“Do they have a good football team?” Jax asked.

“If by football, you mean the game with a black-and-white ball you can’t touch with your hands, then yes, I believe they do,” Rip answered, “To continue, I’m placing Mr. Palmer in the same apartment complex as our target in the hopes that you can get close to him and we can find out more about his day-to-day life.”

“Cool!” Ray said, “I’ve always wanted to be friends with a sociopath!”

He didn’t seem to notice the bemused faces the rest of his team shot him.

“The last group I’m sending in on a slightly more permanent basis will include Sara, Leonard, and of course, Elsie. You three will be placed in a suburban neighborhood a little outside the city. You’ll be posing as a family who moved to the area for work. I have a spot for Elsie in a preschool and jobs lined up for both of you — and I request that you both actually attend them please.”

“Hey!” Sara protested as Leonard said, “That’s fair.”

“The rest of us — Mick, Nate, Amaya, and myself — will be staying on the Waverider to parse through and organize all the information you collect.”

“When do we leave?” Jax asked.

“Tomorrow,” Rip replied, “I suggest those who will leave us start packing.”

“Where are we going?” Elsie asked her mother later that evening.

“We’re going on a vacation,” Sara answered.

“What’s a vacation?”

“What?” she asked absently, “Oh, right.”

Sara often forgot that Elsie had come from the 1930s. She made the jump to the futuristic setting of the Waverider very well, but part of that was because she was going from one extreme to another; her new home held no resemblance to her old one. It existed in a kind of bubble, separate from any particular moment in time, so Elsie still had some gaps.

“A vacation is when you go somewhere else besides where you live, just for fun. Some people go to relax and some go for sightseeing,” she explained.

“Where are we going?” Elsie asked.

“Spain,” Sara replied, “for a mission. Daddy and I will be working, so I guess it’s less of a vacation than actually moving there…for a little while. Daddy and I are gonna go to work and you’re gonna go to school.”

“School?” Elsie repeated.

“Yeah, like how Sofia goes to princess school in that show you watch. You’re gonna go to school and have a teacher and learn new stuff everyday with kids your age.”

“Cool!”

Sara was feeling cautiously optimistic about the mission, although she would be lying if she said she didn’t feel a twinge of worry about the sudden change in tactic. Rip wasn’t wrong in his comment about their previous few missions not going particularly well, but they always accomplished what they needed to. They had a routine: screwing things up before they made things better. Maybe it wasn’t particularly efficient, but it managed to be effective. Changes in their routine might not go over well, and this was the source of Sara’s anxiety. 

Her main concern was Elsie, who had only ever left the Waverider for more than a few days at a time. This was her home, the only one she had known since war-torn Norway. Perhaps choosing this mission, one that would completely uproot her daily life, as her first mission wasn’t the best idea. However, Elsie didn’t seem too fazed by the prospect of moving to Spain for an indefinite amount of time, so Sara chose not to worry — or, rather, pretended not to worry.

Rip had told Sara and Leonard that, to spare them the inconvenience of furnishing an entire house, Gideon had generated everything they would need, down to the silverware and toys. All they had to worry about was clothes and any personal items that would be missed during their time away from the Waverider. Both Sara and Leonard had packed everything they needed into two boxes and while the latter began dinner (the chore wheel had landed on him that day, much to Leonard’s disgruntlement, as he thought he’d get to evade the job entirely for at least several months), Sara began going through Elsie’s clothes, tossing the ones more apt for warm weather into a cardboard box with Elsie’s name printed on it.

She hit a roadblock when she told Elsie to pick just a couple toys to bring with them to Spain.

“But who’s gonna play with them while I’m gone?” Elsie whined.

“Maybe Nate will,” Sara said, trying to hide her frustration, “You can’t take them all. Rip said there’s toys for you at the new house so, like I’ve said seven times, pick three and put them in your backpack. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

She turned away and headed for the door so she wouldn’t have to see Elsie’s pout (she made a mental note to make sure Leonard stayed away from her room for a while — if Sara thought she might cave, he certainly would).

Eventually Elsie picked her three toys — a stuffed elephant, a Rapunzel dress-up dress, and a set of markers that Sara traded out for a deck of rainbow playing cards when she wasn’t looking because she knew Elsie would miss them more (and they would be impossible to find in València because Gideon made them herself). The team ate dinner together in the mess hall (the last team dinner for a while, Ray realized sadly) and then Sara and Leonard let Elsie have dessert — blue popcorn, another one of Elsie’s farfetched requests neither Sara nor Leonard knew how Gideon accomplished — in their bed while they watched a movie.

“What happened to not letting her sleep in our bed anymore?” Leonard asked quietly, gesturing to Elsie who had fallen asleep about an hour into Bridge to Terabithia, curled up in Sara’s arms.

Sara locked down at her daughter.

“Yeah, wishful thinking, I guess,” she replied. She looked to him, furrowing her eyebrows when she saw an expression on his face that usually signified he was having some kind of internal debate, “What?”

He let out a sigh, “I just was wondering if this is a good idea. We never involved her in a mission before, never mind a new type of mission. We don’t know how this is going to pan out.”

“I know,” Sara nodded seriously, “I’ve thought about that too.”

When they decided Elsie should stay with them on the Waverider, they hadn’t been ignorant to the knowledge that having a toddler onboard the timeship during a mission to safeguard all of time would not be easy. Leonard and Sara had quickly agreed they wouldn’t bring Elsie on missions, not even simple reconnaissance trips — they had seen those go sideways — but that still left the concern of what to do with her when they had to be out on the field. More often than not, at least one person from the team wouldn’t need to go on the mission — usually Rip, as of late — and that person would watch her. Occasionally, however, a mission would require the efforts of the entire team. In that case, Gideon had assured Sara and Leonard she could make sure Elsie stayed safe.

Although those types of missions were few and far between, and nothing bad had ever happened during any of them (in fact, the Waverider hadn’t been attacked in a while — not since long before Elsie came onboard), Sara and Leonard still hated the idea of leaving their daughter alone on the Waverider.

“And I know we said we wouldn’t take Else on missions,” Sara continued, “but this is gonna be different. It won’t be like our normal missions where we, you know, kick ass and then get the hell out. It’s gonna be longer, more strategic.”

Leonard nodded his agreement.

“And,” Sara continued, “I actually trust Rip with this stuff. He’s a dad too. He wouldn’t do anything to put her in danger.”

“I know you’re right, but you know me, I get stuck in the hypotheticals. If something happens to her…” he trailed off.

“I know,” she nodded, “We’re just gonna have to be careful. If something bad does happens, we bring her back to the Waverider — and hey, bonus points: we get to hold it against Rip for the rest of his life.”

Sara saw Leonard smirk slightly.

“I should get Else to her bed,” she said, carefully shifting Elsie in her arms and getting to her feet, “Long day tomorrow; we’re moving to Spain.”

[mychameleonsix]

ILY Epilogue

**Year 2025** "Are you ready?" Soohyun said coming into my room. "My God, I'm not sure! I don't know what to feel anymore." I said looking at her through the mirror as she stood behind me, fixing a few stray strands from my chignon. "Relax, it's going to be okay." "What if something goes wrong?" "Everything will be okay, you're worried for nothing." "I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm only 31, Soohyun, are you sure this is a good idea?" "Kang Soobin can you stop? You're doing this today, stop thinking about it. Breathe." I was about to retaliate but a knock on the door ruined my train of thought. Soohyun and I turned our heads to the figure entering - it was Jiyoung, my sister's friend who did my hair and makeup today. I don't even look like I'm wearing makeup, she's that good. "Thank you for doing this in short notice, Jiyoung, you're a life saver." "My pleasure, I'm glad to be of service." "I'll definitely recommend you to my friends." "Thank you, Ri. Everything's looking good here, you're good to go. I'll see you out there." She said before checking my lashes one last time, and tucking a curl behind my ear. As soon as she left, Ken entered the room, with Chaerin on her tail. "What are you still doing here? Girl, let's go! Everybody's waiting for you." Ken said wagging a finger at me, over-exaggerating her movements, causing Chaerin to laugh at her expense. "Can't keep everyone waiting forever, you know." Chaerin said sitting down on the couch next to where I'm seated, texting on her phone. "This is all happening so fast. Please remind me again why I'm doing this?" "We've been going at this for the past two hours, give it up already Ri. You're doing this, you're ready. Now let's go!" Soohyun said rolling her eyes at me. "Okay, here we go!" ***Jae's POV*** It's a generally beautiful day today. The sky's clear, no signs of rain or any mishaps whatsoever. The weather's fine, not too hot, the wind just right. However though, what isn't right... is this tie I'm wearing. Goddamint, I've been trying to tie this damn tie for the past 15 minutes. "Can you please chill? Here let me do it." Brian said, walking towards me, grabbing my shoulders so I can face him. "You're more nervous than Riley, it's laughable." Sungjin said. "How'd you know?" "Chaerin sent me a picture of Riley looking as if she's about to have a mental breakdown." "What?" "Okay, calm down, I was kidding. She just sent a text saying Riley's just as nervous as you are right now. So can you, please, breathe for a minute." Sungjin said sighing. "Where's Wonpil and Dowoon?" I said throwing a pillow at him, slightly annoyed that he's making jokes at this time. "Wonpil's on his way back from picking up Hana. Dowoon's getting something from the car...hold still, I'm almost done." Bri said, focused on my tie. "There, all done! Good to go, hyung." "Finally!" Sungjin said standing up, at the same time Dowoon walked in with Wonpil and Hana in tow. "Why are you all still here? Aren't you supposed to be out there already? People are waiting!" Wonpil said to us; to me especially. "Wait a minute, I just want to say a word to all of you." I said, facing them - the four people who meant everything to me all these years. "Thank you for everything boys. You've been a family to me since day one, I don't think I'd make it through if it weren't for y'all. And now that there's going to be an addition to this family, I hope nothing's going to change. I'll always be here, still, no matter what happens." "Well duh, you're just getting married. We're still DAY6; tomorrow when we all wake up, everything will be the same between us. It's just that, now, you won't be in the room next to mine." Dowoon said. "Yeah, but you and Riley bought the house downstairs so nothing's really changing. Your room's going to stay as it is, hyung, don't worry." Brian said to me, patting me on the back. "Save your sappy self for your bride, will you? You might run out of words to say for your vows. Now can we please go? You can't be late to your own wedding Jae." Sungjin said and walked straight out. "Congratulations to the both of you, Jae. I'm so happy for you and Riley." Hana said to me as we all headed out. "Thank you, Hana. Don't worry, soon you'll be another addition to this growing family." I said with a wink, laughing at how flushed she immediately looked. "Hyung!" Wonpil said, slapping the back of my head. The audacity of this man? How dare he slap me on my wedding day. "What? It's true." "Shut up, today's not about Hana and I." "See, Hana, he's neither confirming nor denying it" I said still laughing. When we entered the church, a lot of people were already there; mostly close friends and family. We decided to have the wedding in LA so that we can have the privacy that we want. It was a mutual decision. "We'll start as soon as she gets here, okay Jae?" Our manager said to me before he went to sit beside the rest of the boys. I got my phone out to check the time but saw that Riley sent me a text. Jae! Yes, my love? I'm getting married today, can you believe that? What? No way? Who's the lucky groom? Some guy who plays in a band, amazing visuals, heavenly voice, tall, looks like a chicken. His name's Park Jaehyung! You know him? Isn't he that handsome guitarist from DAY6? Oh my God you know him? Yes! But wait, you know I'm getting married today too! Really? What are the odds. Who's your bride? Oh you know, the smartest and the most talented surgeon ever! Name's Kang Soobin, you know her? Omooo, Kang Soobin? You mean you're marrying THE Kang Soobin from cardio? She's like...my role model! She's amazing! And I love her. And she loves you too. See you in a few minutes! See you soon, wife See you soon, husband I smiled reading that last one. Husband. In a few minutes, I'm really getting married, wow. "Jae, she's here." Brian said beside me. He's my best man, they all are. Everybody in the church stood up and faced the back; anticipating the moment the doors open, and Riley walks in. God, I'm so nervous, my palms are starting to sweat. Okay here we go... 3... 2... 1... Wonpil started playing the piano as soon as the doors opened; my entire world stopping. I'm having a hard time breathing now, because I can't seem to comprehend how I got so lucky to be marrying the only girl I ever loved. The moment my eyes landed on Riley, it's as if it's the first time I'm seeing her. She looks so beautiful in her white dress, with a smile that reached her ears - no traces of tears. Meanwhile I was standing here, tears so uncontrollable it's starting to get embarrassing. When she reached the end, her dad gave her to me, giving me a tight hug and a firm handshake... telling me to take care of her daughter. Don't you worry, sir, I will; even if I have to take a bullet. Riley reached her hand up to me, wiping the tears streaming down my face. I got a hold of her hand in the process, pressing it more into my cheeks - feeling her warmth against my cold skin. I locked our hands together and walked with her to the altar. "We are gathered here today to witness a beautiful union between this lovely couple: Jae and Riley." Pastor John said. The pastor was saying a lot of things, the audience reacting to the stories he was sharing about Riley and I. We've known him our entire life since we grew up going to  this church. But my mind's not really processing anything that he's saying. I'm so focused on Riley right now, I can't stop staring at her. Can this day get faster, I just wanna go home and have Riley all to myself. "Jae...hello earth to Jae..." "Huh, what?" "It's time for your vows." The pastor said. "Oh right, yes...um my vows..." "Are you feeling alright, Jae? Do you need a minute? You look like you're about to cry." Pastor John said teasing me, while Riley and the audience laughed at me. "I'm okay, I was just sidetracked." "Your vows then, Jae." Taking a deep breath, I faced Riley and took her hands and locked it in mine, giving it a small squeeze. "People have different ways on how they call you. To some, you're Riri, Riles, Soobinah, Binbin, or even Rilester or Binah. Others call you by your real name: Kang Soobin or Riley Kang, and now Dr. Kang from Cardio has been added to the list. However though, to me, you're my Ri-bear, and you'll always be Jae's girl. We've been through so much already, Ri; and if there's one thing that I've learned in the years that we've been together, it's that love is not just full of romance. You need to work hard for it to make it work, to make it last. That's why today, as I stand before you, I promise not just to love you forever, but I promise I'll love you in every single waking moment of our lives. I can't promise you I'll be the perfect husband, because I won't. I also cannot promise you the fairytale life you dreamed of as a child. But I promise that I'll never stop loving you even when I hate you. I promise that I'll keep making you laugh even when you're angry, give you hugs when you're cold, feed you when you're too tired to eat for yourself, sing you to sleep when you can't, and to be the peace whenever you're battling a war with yourself or with anything.  You and I, we balance each other out. And that's how I want this marriage to be: a balance between love, respect, time, and effort. Today's only the beginning of a lifetime that we'll have to face together; and to be able to spend the rest of my life, standing beside you - supporting you, is a privilege that I am beyond honored to have. I love you Riley, in every language that I know, in every way that I can show, and with every piece of me. You are mine, just as I am yours." I ended my vows with a kiss to Riley's forehead, stopping myself from crying more than I already am. I can see her having a really hard time controlling the waterworks, probably scared she'll ruin her makeup. "Riley, I believe it's your turn to say your vows" Pastor John said, handing her the mic. "To many, our love story will probably seem as the typical friends-to-lovers type of story. But to me it isn't. Ours is special because I knew I loved you even before we were friends. I used to be that shy little girl who had no friends, was bullied and teased a lot because of my glasses, add to that the fact that I'm Asian, and that I'm actually good at math. But you, my fellow Asian boy, who were also teased and bullied a lot as a kid, saved me from those monsters and became my friend. It was in that moment I knew, you were special to me. You've always stood by me, defending and protecting me from the world. But let me tell you, my love - today I promise you, that from this day forth, I will fight the world to protect and defend you as well. We'll conquer the world day by day, just as we always had. Jae, as I stand in front of the people closest to us, to the witnesses of our love, I will only promise you one thing: that I'll never stop trying. I will try to always love you more than I already do; to make things work even when it gets tough; to understand you even if you start sounding unreasonable; to support you with your dreams and help you attain them, and to keep our love story never ending. Today our love story is turning its pages to the next chapter, and we'll keep turning its pages to the next chapter, and the next, and then the next one, til death do us part. And you know what makes this love story, our love story, a great one? It's because God wrote ours, with you and I as the protagonists.

I love you Jae, yesterday, today, and all the days that are yet to come. And just like that line our lyrical genius, Youngk, once wrote: you are my day, Jae. Forever."

After Riley said her vows, Pastor John continued on with the ceremony, saying a few more words and whatnot. But I'm only looking forward to one thing now: the kiss. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you, husband and wife. Jae, you may now kiss your bride." He said. Gladly, pastor! I stepped closer to Riley, cupping her face in my hands, staring into her eyes. God, she's so beautiful. "I love you husband." She whispered. "I love you too wife." I said as I closed the gap between us, kissing her softly as the crowd cheered for us. 

[deanogarbage]

find me in the drift (FiKi)

FiKi Week Day 4: Science Fiction or Fantasy.

Anyone who knows me knows that Pacific Rim has slowly consumed my life and I am trapped in the perpetual hellscape that is Newmann. So of course I’m going to pick sci-fi and finally write my Pacific Rim AU that I’ve told @safarikalamari that I’m going to write for over a year. I wrote this in one sitting again like a crazy person.

If you’ve never watched Pacific Rim, I tried to explain the best I could within the fic so watching the movie isn’t necessary but it sure would help. Plus I need more people to join in the sadness of Newmann.

Pairing: Fili/Kili Rating: T Words: 2k-ish Summary: Pacific Rim AU. K-Scientist Killian Durin is thrust into a new position when his uncle is injured and his brother needs his help. The drift reveals some things.

2025. Hong Kong Shatterdome.

Other worldly creatures, known as the Kaiju, have been terrorizing cities on the Earth’s Pacific Rim for nearly ten years. The human world has not sat idly by and let these monsters destroy the world. Jaegers, large human operated robots, have become the saving grace of the world. These Jaegers are each powered by two human pilots through a neurologically controlled processed called the Drift. The Drift allows the pilots to move in sync to operate the Jaeger, but not just any two people are able to drift. A compatibility process is necessary. Jaeger pilots often being siblings or lovers. While the Jaegers, their pilots, and the science around them are important, there are also scientists dedicated to understanding the Kaiju and how to help the Jaeger pilots find their weaknesses and eradicate them for good.

Dr. Killian “Call me, Kili” Durin was one of the leading K-scientists in the world. He held several doctorates in several fields of biology having gone to and taught at some of the most prestigious universities of the world.

While he was proud of his job and the research he had provided toward the Kaiju Wars, he was still the black sheep of the family overall.

Back when the Kaiju had first attacked ten years prior, his two uncles became the heroes of the First Kaiju War as the top Jaeger pilots. It was assumed that he and his brother would follow in their footsteps, but that didn’t seem to be his plan.

On the other hand, his brother Philip “Please don’t call me, Fili” Durin was perhaps the best Jaeger pilot to have ever existed, or so he thought. After their Uncle Frerin’s untimely death at the end of the First Kaiju War, Fili became his Uncle Thorin’s copilot.

The Second Kaiju War had unfortunately began, the giant Godzilla-esque monsters had been spotted outside of Sydney and all hands were back on deck after a decade of relative silence.

Kili was excitedly elbow deep inside part of a kaiju carcass when one of the floor assistants came in with a worried look.

“Dr. Durin, there has been an incident with Oaken Shield. It was severely attacked by one of the Category 3 kaiju. Your uncle and brother are being transported to med bay as we speak,” her voice is worried and a little frantic.

Kili hardly has time to clean himself off before he is running off to the medbay demanding to see his family.

Fili turns out to just have minor injuries that will heal up over a week or so of rest (Kili heard that as a day or two, knowing Fili). His uncle however was not as lucky. He was suffering from some major, but not life threatening injuries.

His piloting career was over at the worst possible time.

Kili knew that there would be knew kaiju coming any day, any moment, and they were officially one Jaeger team down.

Fili had healed up in a matter of days and was already back training. He had been a Marine recruit when the First Kaiju War started. He immediately was deferred to the PPDC’s Jaeger piloting bootcamp. He was never on the deployed teams, having struggled to connect with another pilot.

It was the cruel twist of fate that his career began at his uncle’s end. He finally made a drift compatible match with his uncle. They were able to take down some of the smaller Cat 1’s and the random kaiju sighting over the past decade.

This kaiju was the largest either of them had seen and it was their undoing. While their drift was compatible, it wasn’t the strongest. Now he again was copilot-less and would have to try to find some random pilot to try and bond with.

It was his first day back from the accident, he was healed up but his muscles and body were still sore from a combination of disuse and the injury itself. Many other pilots and crew members filled the on-base gym full of machines as well as a private sparring room.

Kili is working on a punching bag with another scientist when he sees his brother walk him. He excitedly launches himself in his brother’s direction, hugging him tight.

“Look at you! Good as new!” Kili grins patting his cheek teasingly.

Fili chuckles and peels him off gently.

“I need to spar, but I need to start easy. Think you can handle it?”

Kili scoffs in offense crossing his arms.

“May I remind you that I went through all the same martial arts classes as you when we were kids. Ask Hae-Won, I was tearing that bag up over there,” he scrunches his nose.

Fili grins clasping his shoulder and pushing him toward the sparring floor.

“Well then you have nothing to be scared of then!” He pulls his own curly blond hair into a bun and slips padded gloves onto his hands.

“Jiu jitsu rules?” He offers to his younger brother who shrugs with a smile and a nod.

“Sounds good to me.”

The two meet on the middle of the floor, one of the other pilots playing referee. Kili ignoring the whispers of mostly the other pilots.

“He’s a scientist, Philip is going to kick his ass.”

“Ah, he’s injured. I bet the kid gets a good hit or two in.”

“Injured or not, I wouldn’t want to be on the opposite side of Philip.”

They bump their padded knuckles against one another before the reffing pilot signals for them to begin.

Fili easily takes Kili down on the mat within the first few second, Kili nervous about hurting his already injured brother. The knock of air out of his lungs is enough to light the spark in him.

Kili is surprised himself when he is able to go toe to toe with his brother, each fighting and maneuvering easily around one another on the floor. When Kili finds an in and has Fili pinned to the ground and having to tap out, there is nothing but a bit grin and excitement.

Less than an hour later Kili finds himself in his uncle’s hospital room as Fili and Thorin are in the throes of an argument.

“It only makes sense Thorin! Who else better for me to drift with?”

“He isn’t like us Fili! This isn’t the life he signed up for!”

Kili clears his throat realizing he must be the topic of the argument.

“He can talk for himself, you know? Fili, you want me to...drift with you?” His voice is almost incredulous.

“You’re an amazing fighter, Kili. Sure, you need some training and some finessing, but I think you could make an amazing pilot.”

“But I’m a scientist.”

“Yes, but you can be more too! Please Kili, we can do a practice drift and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. But I can’t not let us try,” Fili begs with a renewed energy.

“I don’t like this,” Thorin says resolutely from his bed.

“You don’t have to like it, Kili just has to. You’ll give it a shot, won’t you Kee?”

Kili looks between the two of them before focusing on Fili.

“One time. I’ll give the practice drift one shot, if I don’t like it, I’m not doing it,” He says seriously to his brother, “I’m only considering doing it because I want to see a kaiju up close and personal.”

Fili rolls his eyes but is beyond excited at the idea of having a true drift partner.

They schedule the test drift in one of the Jaeger practice pods the next day. Fili unable to wait any longer.

Even though it is just a practice, the idea of drifting has always scared him a bit. He’s heard the pilots coached enough to know that you don’t hang onto anything in the drift, you just let it ride through.

The drift exposes each pilot to the memories, thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the other. There are no secrets in the drift. Both pilots share an intimate and genuine connection where their minds temporarily become one.

Kili swallows nervously as he steps out in the Jaeger operating outfit, his worried eyes finding Fili who offers a reassuring smile.

“These outfits are ridiculous,” Kili nervously laughs as some of the J-tech crew shows him how to get set up in the mock Jaeger unit.

Fili laughs a little in response, needing no help himself. “Yeah, they are. Hopefully, you’ll get used to it.”

Fili’s voice switches over mid-sentence to the comm link within the helmet.

“Okay Kili, just trust me. Follow my lead and don’t hold onto anything in the drift.”

“I feel like I should start a confessional for all the fucked up things you might see in the drift, so I’m apologizing now.”

Fili laughs again as he speaks in to the mic, pushing in buttons on the HUD of the Jaeger interface, “Activating neural handshake. In 3...2...1…”

Kili gasps as a wall of blue hits his vision and he feels like he may be sick from the spiraling feeling as memories and feeling flood him.

He sees first days of school, Fili fighting bullies, their first martial arts classes, their sleepovers they share as children, Thorin yelling at them.

“You are teenagers! This childhood dependency stops now.”

Fili being sent away for military school. Both sobbing at night, the intense heartache, emptiness.

They feel their first hug in Hong Kong, they hadn’t seen each other in years. A decade spent making up for lost time in their childhood.

Accidental drunken kisses. Fear, shame, they have to hide, if anyone were to know. Their lives would be over. He’d ruin Fili’s life. Fili he loves Fili but he can’t love Fili. Brothers, they are brothers and brothers aren’t like this why is he like this? Why can’t he be better? Fili don’t go-God, ithurtsithurtsmorethananythingwhycanttheyjustbetogetherwhydoesithurtsomuchmakeitstoptheblueisswallowinghimmakeitstopbrotherfilifilifilifilif-

“Kili, let it go! Kili you have to LET GO!”

He surges forward, gasping for air as he makes it onto the other side of the drift. Fili looks concerned at him from behind his helmet.

“Kee, you okay? You made it through. You’ve let it go, now let’s focus on the mission okay?” Fili orders in a reassuring tone as Kili nods catching his breath.

“Yeah, I’m good,” his breath evens out some before he pushes a smile on his face, “Let’s kick some virtual kaiju ass.”

Kili isn’t surprised when they take down the kaiju with relative ease, his mind feeling clear and strong with the guidance of Fili there. It’s reassuring and calming. Like he doesn’t have to think as hard with Fili doing half of the work as well.

Kili however is surprised when the J-tech crew excitedly clap them both on the back.

“You guys just beat the current record of beating Knifehead! With minimal damage at that! It was incredible!”

They both are helped out of the mock Jaeger, the drift ending. Kili searches Fili’s face when he hears a soft rushed voice in the back of his head.

So proud. I love him so much. Kili, I love you.

Fili takes off his helmet not saying anything at first.

“Well then.”

“Well then what?” Fili says softly looking at him.

“I’m going to really, really miss my lab,” Kili sighs holding the helmet under his arm.

Fili couldn’t possibly grin brighter hearing in his own head a soft, I love you too.

[chasholidays]

bellarke + 'out looking for another bunker when they accidentally stumble across an old intact museum, bellamy gives clarke a tour using his History!Nerd knowledge'

Vague S1 AU go!

When Clarke thought about the ground, she thought about a lot of the things they got, grass and trees, running water, the feeling of dirt under her feet and the sound of birds in the trees. Sunlight is just as good as she thought it would be. Nature, for the most part, hasn’t let her down.

“But shouldn’t there be more stuff?” she asks Bellamy, with a huff.

He glances at her over his shoulder, snorts out a laugh. “What, there isn’t enough down here for you, Princess?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t want more too. We should be in the middle of civilization here, Bellamy. There should be history, right?”

“There should be, yeah.” There’s a pause, and Clarke lets the silence stand, waiting for him. Their friendship is still a tentative, nebulous thing, and she’s trying to figure out how it’s going to go. She’s trying to get a feel for him.

He doesn’t make her wait too long. “Do you know where we are?” he asks.

“Right now?”

“Historically speaking. Where they put us down.”

“United States, eastern seaboard.”

“Near D.C. The capital is around here somewhere, Clarke. There must be so much stuff around here, if we could find it.”

“Have you been looking?”

“I figure we can survive winter first,” he says. “And then work on exploring.”

“What do you call this?” she asks. “If it’s not exploring.”

“This is surviving. We’re looking for bunkers, not–”

“History?”

“Ruins.”

“Aren’t bunkers ruins?”

“Useful ruins. And we’re not looking for them for historical reasons.”

“But they are history.”

“What, does that really matter to you? They’re history, fine. That’s still not what we’re actually looking for.”

“But do you know, in theory, where any history might be?”

“You want to go on a field trip?” he asks, sounding dubious.

“I’m just wondering if there’s anywhere you’ve been wanting to go.”

“My geography isn’t that good. But if we’re out here enough, we’ll probably find something, right?”

That’s the answer she was really looking for. “So, you’re going to be out here a lot?”

He shoots her a smirk. “Just until you want to bring someone you actually like,” he teases, and she laughs.

“So, you’ll be out here a lot.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Sounds like it.”

*

When they find the museum, it’s completely by accident. Three days later, on the trail of what they think is another bunker, but when Bellamy gets the hatch open, even the air smells different.

“It looks bright down there,” he says.

“Automatic lights, maybe?”

“Maybe. What do you think is powering them?”

“Could be solar cells. Rigged to turn on when—“

“Someone breaks in? Friendly.” He glances at her. “Going in?”

“Like you said, they seem friendly.”

He climbs down first, like he always insists on. He’s not one of those people who wants to lead so other people will do his dirty work; Bellamy Blake is always willing to be first in the line of fire.

Instead of looking back up to spot her as she follows him, though, he’s staring into the bunker, apparently transfixed.

“Bellamy?” she prompts, soft enough she hopes no one will hear, if he’s found people down there. “Problem?”

He looks back at her and grins; it’s an expression she’s never seen on him before, not even when they found the gun cache. There’s no mean edge to the expression at all; he’s delighted.

“You have to get down here.”

He does watch her as she climbs down, but he’s looking almost giddy, like a kid in a candy store.

“How many guns are down here?” she asks. “Is there a tank?”

He turns to the room with a flourish of his arm; all drama, all the time. “You said you wanted history, Princess.”

The Apocalypse Archive, says a bright sign over a set of clear double doors. A Museum for the After Times.

“Holy shit,” she breathes.

Bellamy is practically bouncing. “They must have seen it coming. Whoever made this place. And they wanted to store it for posterity.”

“Do you think we’ll find anything useful in here?”

“You were the one who wanted to find something historical,” he says. “Don’t tell me you changed your mind now that we actually did.”

“Just wondering where you stand on raiding a museum for supplies.”

His look of absolute horror is an answer all by itself. “It’s a museum, Clarke.”

“What if they have a tank?”

“So you wanted to find historical ruins and take their stuff.”

“Isn’t that where the first museums came from?”

He glares at her as he holds the door open. “We’re not taking anything unless we need it.”

“I’m actually more interested in the space,” she says, looking around with interest. “If this place is big enough and has actual power, we could live here.”

“You want to move into the museum?”

“Just if it makes sense. But we should investigate first. See what’s around. Although,” she adds, frowning, “I don’t know where to start.”

If anyone had ever asked, Clarke would have said she had a decent understanding of museums. She read about them when she was a kid, and there was a display of artifacts from the ground in Alpha Station, curated carefully, but it was nothing like this, a strange hodgepodge of things, with no clear order she can see.

“With the introduction,” says Bellamy. “We, the staff of the Apocalypse Archive, recognize that many of our current facilities may not survive climate change, nuclear war, and everything else humans are doing. We hope that some of us will survive it, and that if we do, this museum will serve as a record of what came before, both good and bad. It would be impossible to capture the full scope of human history, but we’ve done our best. It repeats in a few other languages,” he adds, fingers tracing the words on the wall. “Spanish, I think Chinese, French, maybe Arabic?”

“That’s Korean under it,” says Clarke. “I’m pretty sure.”

“So, this looks like a timeline,” he says, moving down the wall. “I guess they wanted to keep it as universal as possible, I don’t see any other text. Starting with the Big Bang here–” He gestures to an image of an explosion that Clarke wouldn’t have immediately called as the start of the universe. “And then we go into the history of life on Earth.”

“Imagine not knowing if all this knowledge would survive.”

“It might not have,” he points out. “Grounders seem to have lost it.”

“Which is weird, if you think about it. We had people who survived and remembered, that’s part of why we know. They lived down here, but they made whole new lives.”

“Maybe the reason they survived was that they’d already given up on all this stuff.” He follows the timeline, pointing out innovations as he spots them. It’s quite a piece of work, huge, showing how continents moved, splitting, when humans show up, and tracking different civilizations across the world. It’s not comprehensive, but it’s detailed enough that even with both of them working together, they can’t figure out what all the pictures represent.

Bellamy still gets most of them.

“I wonder how long this took,” he muses, tracing an image of a mushroom cloud.

“I wonder when they started.”

“The introduction said climate change,” he says. “That puts it after 2000, I think. Global warming was preferred before that, it was this political thing to switch it so people couldn’t say that a colder spring meant the problem wasn’t real. Probably 2010 to 2020.”

Clarke blinks. “You have it down to ten years?”

He shrugs. “That was when the climate change problem got really noticeable, and it just got worse in the Trump presidency, when the United States was doubling down on destroying the environment. It’s amazing they put off the end of the world as long as they did, honestly, after that mess. Plus, this is the new UN symbol here,” he adds, pointing to the end of the timeline. “That went into use in 2025, and it would have taken them a while to build this place. Probably started around 2018.” He looks around. “I think we’re supposed to start here. Ancient civilizations.”

“How did you get interested in this stuff?” she asks, curious.

“What stuff?”

“History.”

“My mom always liked it. Octavia too. It wasn’t like we could socialize much. Even if–having friends meant they wanted to spend time with you, and it wasn’t safe, so I just didn’t have friends. I read to O a lot, and she always had a lot of questions. I was her brother, I was supposed to know everything. And I like it. I like the true stuff.”

“Okay, so–tell me about the ancient civilizations we’re seeing here.”

“Don’t act like you don’t know plenty about it too.”

“I’ll handle the art, you can take the history.”

He smiles. “Deal.”

It doesn’t feel like meeting Bellamy for the first time, not really. But it feels like finding a new part of him, a part she’d always known about, but only in the broadest strokes. He knows who Oppenheimer is, but she never knew why he knew, and she tells him about her father’s fascination with the atomic bomb, while he shares his own favorite historical periods, the ones that interest him most.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about how we got here,” he admits. “And why the Ark was how it was. I still don’t get how we all decided to speak English.”

She has to laugh. “Yeah? What would you have picked?”

“Esperanto is a pretty logical choice.”

“I’ve never even heard of that one.”

“It’s kind of cool. I don’t know if it ever could have taken over completely, but it would have encouraged people to stay multilingual, which would have been nice. Some guy in–late 1800s, I think? Made it as an international language. I actually learned it, for fun.”

“You never stop surprising me,” she says without thinking, and he frowns.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I remember when we first got down here. I never would have guessed you taught yourself languages for fun.”

“I thought that was the only way to lead. To protect everyone.” He smirks. “You saw how much good trying to talk about survival was doing.”

“You were the one who was arguing with me!” she protests, laughing.

“What, you think Murphy wouldn’t have done the same thing?”

“He wouldn’t have been as good at it.”

He taps his finger against one of the statues. All of the works of art in the Archive are reproductions, she’s pretty sure, made to survive and educate, and they’re well done, if not completely convincing. They get the job done. “I was doing what I thought I had to do. To protect myself.”

“And us.”

“I wasn’t protecting everyone.”

“We needed a leader, and like you said, what I was doing what I wasn’t working. I’m not saying you were perfect, and we could have done better those first few weeks, but we could have done worse too.”

“Wow. Don’t get too enthusiastic,” he says, but he doesn’t quite land the delivery. Now that she’s getting to know him, she knows how he uses sarcasm. “Oh, hey,” he adds, the most obvious subject change of all time. “Philippines. I want to look at this.”

“Yeah?”

“That’s where my dad’s family was from. At least that’s what my mom told me.”

“I don’t think I know anything about them. My history is pretty spotty.”

“That’s another language I tried to learn, Tagalog. My mom told me my dad spoke it too, but he died before he could teach me.”

She slides her arm through his, deliberate, and he startles, but just for a second. “So let’s check that out,” she says.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Let’s see what they’ve got.”

*

By the time they’re thinking of leaving, it’s too late to make it back to camp that night, and the archive is getting cold and dark.

“I guess it is solar powered,” says Clarke.

“And they weren’t planning on anyone living here.”

“Which is weird. I guess it was designed to survive whatever happened, but not keep anyone alive in here.”

“Maybe after they did all this, they weren’t sure we really deserved to survive.” She cocks her head at him, and he raises one shoulder. “Sometimes, reading history makes you think humanity was a bad idea.”

“But you still want us to survive.”

“Us personally, yeah. But I don’t think I would have made it on the Ark. If they’d floated O, I don’t know–”

He looks away, and Clarke’s heart lodges in her throat. It’s easy to remember how close they all came to not making it, to being floated to give the Ark more air, to dying even if they didn’t. But Bellamy should have had his whole life ahead of him, and it’s hard to remember that even without knowing anything, he didn’t see a future for himself.

“We should just spend the night here,” she says, giving him a smile. “See how it is. If this is somewhere we could live, it would be a lot better than the drop ship. There’s a lot of space.”

“If we got rid of the stuff.”

“Survival first, history second, right?” she asks, and he looks around the museum, clearly unsure.

“Maybe we’re making history now,” he finally says. “We just need to figure out where we fit in with all this.”

“Let’s do that in the morning. This cloth isn’t historically relevant, right?” she adds, nodding to a drop cloth under a bust of an ancient philosopher.

“I doubt it.”

“So lift that up so we can sleep on it.”

He does, but his eyebrows are raised as he looks at her. “We?”

“It’s cold in here. And there’s only one blanket.”

He doesn’t object as she finds a clear patch of floor, and when she gestures for him to lie down, he does it. The cloth isn’t huge, so she settles half on top of him, and between the two of them they get themselves wrapped up, close and tight.

“We are going to make history,” she tells him. It’s easy to feel sure of it, when they’re close and warm in the darkening bunker. “You and me. Together.”

“Yeah, I think we are. In the morning, though.”

She smiles against his neck. “Yeah. In the morning.”

[thesportssoundoff]

“Hey Pittsburgh, we uh...we got a thing for ya” Fight Night: Rockhold vs Branch preview

So for the majority of you/us, Gennady Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez is THE fight of the year in boxing and maybe even in MMA if we never get McGregor vs the winner of Ferg/Lee. For the slimmest of you, aka me and other hardcore UFC fans who have compulsion problems, we will be watching the UFC's Fight Night LIVE from Pittsburgh. I almost thought about heading out to this show but the ride would've been too much for a main event involving David Branch. I'll just wait for an inevitable return to Philly I suppose. Sometime before 2025 please? Anyways this show is...it's weird. There's been far worse free TV offerings from the UFC but it's also not great. What's more, it's not great on a night where great programming abounds everywhere (Louisville/Clemson, LSU/Mississippi State, Texas/USC on free TV, GGG vs Canelo) and the entire MMA and boxing community are recovering from the Mayweather/McGregor show. In the end, we're left with a fine show pitting some fine fighters against one another in some fine contests. The headliner is what a boxing trainer I knew would refer to as "mandatory non-destination programming." In other words, it's an important fight that's hard to care for. Beyond that the show has a nice mix of fighters who COULD be major players in the division vs established veteran challengers and intriguing on paper fights which would be hard pressed to not at least be amusing. All in all, this is just a card on a Saturday designed to fill out a predetermined schedule. Proceed accordingly.

Fights: 11

Debuts:  2 (Azunna Anwanyu and Alex Reyes)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 2 (Thiago Alves OUT, Alex Reyes IN vs Mike Perry/ Dimitriy Sosnovski OUT, Azunna Anwanyu IN vs Justin Ledet)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 4 (Luke Rockhold, Hector Lombard, Sergio Moraes and Anthony Hamilton)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC:  2 (Hector Lombard, Felipe Arantes)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 8 (Sergio Moraes, Kamaru Usman, Gregor Gillespie, Anthony Smith, Justin Ledet, Tony Martin, Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Uriah Hall)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 25-23)- Zu Anwanyu, Alex Reyes

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 17-25)- Zu Anwanyu, Alex Reyes

Second Fight (Current number: 22-27)-  Daniel Spitz

Cage Corrosion (14-7)- Luke Rockhold

Twelve Precarious Ponderings:

1- I wonder if I didn't give this main card enough credit on paper for being decent enough to get by. It's not going to wow anybody BUT that's neither her nor there; it's just not an awful showcase. The main event is a dull fight on paper BUT Rockhold vs Branch has some serious divisional relevance and you can absolutely appreciate on paper what the point is behind said fight. Mike Perry vs Thiago Alves on paper was a great test for both guys but Alves fell out. It would be easy to just call this a scrub fight BUT Mike Perry himself was like a week notice replacement for somebody once. The same could be said for Justin Ledet vs competent regional HW Zu Anwanyu on short notice. I have little interest in Anthony Smith vs Hector Lombard on paper but Smith is on a finishing roll in the UFC and Hector Lombard COULD be fighting for his job. Gregor Gillespie is coming off a really impressive mowing down of Andrew Holbrook and could be a player at 155 lbs. Lastly you have an intriguing fight between Kamaru Usman and Sergio Moraes primarily because Moraes is the first guy who stylistically people would say has a shot at stifling Usman (a bigger stronger grappler type). It's not as bad as I imagined.

2- Is Luke Rockhold the most hated UFC fighter ever? This Bisping-GSP fiasco is entirely on his shoulders because if he beats Bisping, we're not dealing with any of this mess.

3- It's believed that Branch is getting this fight because a) Anderson Silva said no, b) Romero would take it but only if it was three rounds and c) Jacare doesn't want to fight any time soon. So David Branch draws Luke Rockhold in the main event and lest we forgot, Branch is absolutely Mr. Ratings. Now what can David Branch necessarily do to Luke Rockhold? I mean....I 'unno. Branch has been training for five round fights since he essentially wound up at WSOF. Now counter to that, so has Luke Rockhold. Branch has been successful at LHW but I have little doubt Rockhold's future is at 205 lbs by the end of 2018 at the earliest. Branch is pretty strong in the clinch but Rockhold made Weidman look small in the clinch. Rockhold's grappling is world's better than Branch. The one key caveat is that Rockhold has, at times, looked chinny during his UFC run. Getting finished by Vitor is not the end of the world given Vitor's.....physique but there's simply no way to justify getting flattened by Bisping. No way no how.

4- Without looking it up, guess who is younger between Rockhold and Branch and also by how much.

5- How many finishes would Mike Perry have to get in a row before his detractors acknowledged that he brings excitement to events?

6- Of all the fighters on this main card, no one guy has the ability to challenge for the title and soon the way Kamaru Usman has. Usman's wrestling is above and beyond the call of duty and his striking seems to be improving as well. The downside is that beyond the best wrestler in the UFC is like a big glowing tag that reads BORING on it, even though Usman tends to be a hyperactive ground and pounder who just seems to lack the ability to get that ONE fight finishing shot. If he can finish Kamaru Usman, he might take that BIG step up the rankings that people seem to be waiting for him to take. Sergio Moraes has been successful across a collection of weight classes (185 on TUF, 170 in the actual UFC) and he's a crazy good grappler who AT LEAST has pop in his hands. It's a good test for Usman as the UFC tries to figure out if he's a nuisance or a star on the rise.

7- Is Anthony Hamilton vs Daniel Spitz potentially the worst sanctioned fight  (MMA, boxing, kickboxing, shoot wrestling, pillow) in the history of the universe?

8- There are a lot of wrasslers on this card and grappler types matched up; one such fight is Olivier Aubin Mercier taking on Tony Martin. OAM is a grappler first and foremost with a knack for submissions (although getting there is a chore). Tony Martin is a grinder who has suddenly discovered that he can strike over his last few fights. Mercier is hard to hit but doesn't react well when he IS hit while Martin seems to struggle with his cardio and his angles. It's a well matched clash on paper.

9- Felipe Arantes vs Luke Sanders is a really intriguing fight and one of those sleeper bouts you get one of those  FS1 cards during a block of FS1 cards where you go "Oh shit that's a freakin' great fight." Sanders is 1-1 in the UFC but he could be 2-0 had he not made a tactical error vs Iuri Alcantara. Felipe Arantes is one of those guys who dropped down in weight and seemed to find himself. After going 3-3-1 at 145 lbs, Arantes moved down in weight to 135 lbs and he's gone 2-1 and could be undefeated in the weight class  depending on how you view his split decision loss to a one legged Erik Perez. Both guys are action oriented fighters although Sanders tends to keep things upright and batter dudes while Arantes has become more sub savvy at 135 lbs.

10- Okay so is Hector Lombard the biggest UFC bust ever? Also let's not forget that at 28, Anthony Smith would be among the younger top 15 guys.

11- Justin Ledet came into the UFC and boxed up Chase Sherman at high altitude for three rounds; a win that in hindsight looks a lot better. Then he went into Belfast and submitted Mark Godbeer in relatively easy fashion. Zu Anwanyu is a good veteran HW who hits hard, hits infrequently and is one of those guys who just does stuff just to do it.

12- We still in on this Uriah Hall buzz or nah?

Must Win

1- Luke Rockhold

There's simply no way to describe this; Luke Rockhold cannot lose to Michael Bisping and Davis Branch back to back. You cannot be a top 10 MW and do that. You just can't.

2- Hector Lombard

The argument could be made that Lombard is the biggest flop in UFC history. A win over Anthony Smith doesn't prevent that from being the case BUT a loss might as well solidify it.  Aging Hendo to bloated Hendricks to Anthony Smith? Irreplacable.

3- Kamaru Usman

Usman may be the best prospect between 170 and 205 lbs----but he's lacking a really signature win or finish to cement that. As of right now, he's just a really talented wrestler with powerful g-n-p who fight fans do not care to see. A win over Sergio Moraes would absolutely challenge that thought process ESPECIALLY if he gets a finish.

Five Must See Fights

1- Gregor Gillispie vs Jason Gonzales

Simply put, Gregor Gillispie is a very unique talent in a division filled with them. Jason Gonzalez has the ability to challenge Gregor in a few areas but this should be a fun exciting showcase for a good fighter.

2- Mike Perry vs Alex Reyes

I know nothing of Alex Reyes but Mike Perry has finished 3 of his 4 UFC fights, all in relatively violent fashion. He's an all offense, no defense sort of fighter who relies on his chin. He's got some scary Leben-esque tendencies to his game.

3- Kamaru Usman vs Sergio Moraes

This is a total stylistic clash but one where the stylistic advantages of both fighters suggest whomever has improved the most outside of their strengths will dictate who wins. That makes it fun and compelling.

4- Luke Rockhold vs David Branch

The question re: Rockhold's chin make this a compelling fight on paper. Chances are once the bell rings, it'll be a whole lot less compelling.

5- Daniel Spitz vs Anthony Hamilton

This has "must be seen to be believed" written all over it.

[vrheadsets]

VR vs. Swans & All-Stars

Ah Gamescom. By the time you’re reading this it’s of course already here, although from my point of view at the time of writing it’s still a day or so away. One of the big events, where the games industry pours into Cologne via any available coach, bus, train or plane, spends several days complaining about the wi-fi and discussing on Twitter where the best place to eat out is before packing the whole thing back up and setting off home again. Oh yes and there’s some videogames in there too or something.

Inevitably I’ll be spending Gamescom back in the UK sorting things out from afar.  I say inevitably owing to my precarity for spending every major gaming event over the last decade plus of me being in and around the games industry away from it.  That’s not through choice either. As I’ve mentioned here before (see: sobbed onto my keyboard) back at E3, there just seems to be some sort of eternal cosmic block on me ever being able to work the damn things. In recent years, I’ve half-wondered in a vague effort to patch together what passes for my ego, if it is because I’m too valuable to take. My own reliability conspiring to make me the guy you trust to mind the ship and actually can’t afford not to leave behind. Which is, you know, lovely. Hardly career helping, but… lovely. I do try my best to treat the whole thing as a joke, like some reverse version of the ravens at the Tower of London. With, instead of the kingdom falling if they ever left you’d have the event collapsing if I ever turned up. Still, at least I was registered for Gamescom this year. I was getting invites to parties and everything. Who knows, by 2025 I might work my way up to being refused at customs. Or be disallowed from entering the venue owing to having the wrong shoes on or something.

The only relatively major event I have ever worked, barring ones of my own co-creation and an MCM where I demoed a Square Enix game I’d been working on for free despite being out of contract at that point as my role had been down to be replaced before I ever started – because, you know, videogames industry – was the most recent Eurogamer Expo (EGX) back in 2016 where my appearance caused a delighted former colleague now at Bethesda to actually doubt the evidence of her eyes. Even then I was only able to make EGX owing to living a bus ride away from the venue, and even that was in doubt for a bit. It wasn’t my first EGX, however.

Back when I was between jobs in 2012 I decided to take a risk, a big financial one at the time, and attended what I think amounted to several days at the event, staying overnight in a hotel nearby in order to make some industry contacts and generally try and enjoy myself. My big hope was that it might pry open some doors to getting me another role but that never panned out. I did however get to try out a bunch of games I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

From the PlayStation side one game stood out above all the others. It was the most promoted financially and had the most focus at the event, that game my friends… was PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Oh boy did Sony put a lot of stock in that game. It was going to be their franchise brawler. Their new AAA franchise, that was going to bring old characters back and give them a new lease of life. It was going to be the character fighting game, for both professional tournaments and events. And it was totally, unequivocally not a rip-off of Smash Bros. Uh-uh, totally not, nope, cross-my-heart, honest guv’.

When I came in it had BIG queues. However, in a very short space of time these queues seemed to vanish like steam in a strong breeze. Confused, I stepped up to one of the multiple free consoles (yes, free consoles at a Eurogamer Expo) and played the game myself. and it became very obvious as to why.

It was utter shite.

There were nice refences and nods to be sure and some of the set pieces looked great. But it almost felt like the game was waiting for you to pat it on the back and tell you how cool it was. Clunky, clumsy and devoid of the charm Smash Bros has in spades it came across very much as Sony did in that part of the PS3 era. Too damn smug with itself to be likable. The crowd went mild faster than a Nandos customer with a PERi-PERi allergy.

People trundled off in search of other things, like Hitman: Absolution or the ludicrously titled Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – the fact you could get some nifty merch for playing both of these titles also helped. I however was drawn to a couple of ‘side pods’ nearby, a pillar almost, with three systems on either side where some of the lesser promoted games were getting their day in the sun. They were being ignored for the most part. One game in particular caught my eye. I’d heard precious little about it, the name being vaguely familiar and I had perhaps seen a poster advertising it, (a very small poster, mind you) somewhere.

That game was The Unfinished Swan.

Now it’s highly unlikely you’ve heard of The Unfinished Swan, which, frankly is a shame. It was, like the aforementioned PlayStation All-Stars developed under the watchful gaze of SIE Santa Monica Studio.  It was however also developed by Armature Studio and another studio was setup specifically for its creation. That studio is Giant Sparrow. That…. that name not ringing a bell either? Hmm. Well they’re the people behind the critically acclaimed What Remains of Edith Finch.

Yup, thought that might help.

The Unfinished Swan was their first title and as things go it’s a relatively simple affair and yet astoundingly absorbing. Play is deceptively simple. You start in a world that is, more or less, completely devoid of colour. An entirely blank landscape. Nothing but white as far as the eye can see. Playing the role of an orphaned boy, you venture into the unknown armed only with a paintbrush belonging to your deceased mother, who despite being an avid painter never the completed any of the canvases she began – hence ‘The Unfinished Swan’, the character of the one painting the protagonist is allowed to keep and which has now gone missing from the frame.

Using the paintbrush, you hurl paint out into the world, revealing that which is hidden. The path to travel, the path not to, residents of the world who are both friend and foe, features, details and the story.  It’s up to you to expand your understanding of the world in the only way you know how. I loved it. For the same reason, I really love Firewatch now (you can watch my recent let’s play of Firewatch here), it’s a game heavy on story and discovery though in many ways they are the complete opposite. One colourful and talkative, the other monochrome and more restrained.

There was just something about it. It was different and it caught the eye, maybe not on the first glance but you definitely gave it a second. Within a short space of time it seemed people were agreeing with me as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I cast a suspicious look over my shoulder – seeing that, at the same time, the guy on the machine next to me. The one also with The Unfinished Swan on it, was doing the same thing. We suddenly realised we had a crowd. Not just any crowd either, but about fifteen to twenty people were watching us play the game and were queuing up. I was astounded. So was the other guy. A brief glance across the way showed PlayStation All-Stars totally sparse in comparison.

The Unfinished Swan was never going to set the world alight in terms of sales, it never had the critical acclaim of, say a Journey or a Limbo but it certainly had its plaudits. It even picked up two BAFTA awards one of which was for game innovation. Sometimes with games you don’t need all action, sometimes it’s the world around you which is the thing that engages you. Which brings us back to virtual reality. VR is, of course all about the world around you. So, with the game receiving a port to PlayStation 4 (and Vita) back in 2014. I’m wondering… how about revisiting it again for the PlayStation VR? Maybe The Unfinished Swan is indeed unfinished.

I mean, why not? It’s an engaging first-person story driven videogame for all ages. It’s an existing title, that’s internal to Sony, it’s minimal on graphics but you could still probably turn up the ante a bit with some added polish. So there’s minimal cost there, at least in theory. There’s already a game using a similar-ish mechanic to it in VR in the form of stealth title Stifled which uses sound. So you know that the mechanic would work in VR. Need a clincher? It already has PlayStation Move support.

One for you to consider at any rate. I’m off to prepare for the onslaught. See you next week.

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2inwKFW