#if he asked me to join his glorious evolution I would

[salethe2]

I like drawing unhinged Viktor a little too much, hahaha. The mask is giving me more trouble than anticipated, but it’s a fun challenge at least. Anyway, this is just the rough sketch of my current WIP 🚧 🏗️

[saey707]

As We Fall

✿ Prompt: Jayce reminisces with Caitlyn about his old friend and you ✿

♡ champion focus: jayce and viktor ♡ tw: war ♡ Gender-neutral reader (mentioned)

Author’s Note: This is a little drabble I was hiding away. I didn’t have plans for a part two. If I were to do a part two, I was hopeful to do Viktor’s reign with the reader by his side. So, if you are hopeful for more, feel free to shoot me an ask! Enjoy <3

Raising a clean cloth to her gun, the Resistance sniper stared at the weapon, rotating it accordingly between her fingers. One eye was shut, looking closely to nit-pick at every precise detail. It had to be cleaned. It had to be spotless. She made sure to rid every bit of her weapon from the oil and grime that stained its delicate surface. Even then, it wasn’t enough, one small scuff that scraped near the tip of the rifle driving her mad. She scraped her nail on the edge to pick at it, huffing as she placed the weapon to rest on her lap. She’ll ask Illaoi to help her fine tune it later.

“You’ve already shined that thing five times.” A voice spoke behind her, the woman turning to give Jayce a rather annoyed stare. Her lips curved upwards, shrugging as she flipped it up, folding it to store away in her pack. “And what of it? A weapon should always be polished. One dent allows the enemy to see your weak point.” The battlebots were analytical of those sorts of things, that’s for sure.

Caitlyn motioned for him to sit beside her. Jayce set his hammer down beside him. His fingers brushed at his coat, pulling it up and folding it between his fingers before he sat. As much as he didn’t want to stop and take a break, he could humor Caitlyn. After all, they have been friends since before he…

“Viktor,” Caitlyn began, “With the pace Viktor is moving at, I would expect another wave of the BC’s looking for us right about now.” Caitlyn informed. She pressed a finger to her bottom lip, shaking her head. As if things couldn’t get worse with Viktor mass producing acolytes. 

“The V-BC-Corp opened another facility. With it, production will only be faster… Jayce. We’ll loose more people than we’ll gain.”

Sure, anyone in the Resistance knew that. With every empire they brought down, another rose up. Everyone was subject to follow the Glorious Evolution. 

And with the ongoing rise of the proclaimed “Battlecast Armies”, soon- humanity- as all knows it- will be wiped out. The only thing stopping the advancement of this movement was a scrappy group of those resisting to adaptation, of furthering to a more divine body. 

Nobody would have thought the once frail and weak man from Zaun could lead such a cause, rising to power as Runeterra’s soon-to-be ruler, Zaun’s “waking savior of tomorrow”. In the eyes of the Resistance, Viktor found ways to bind souls to machines, victims becoming “living pawns” to the ever-growing army the Machine Herald built. Innocent people didn’t have a choice to join his self-proclaimed “utopian society”.

“We won’t let him get to that point, Caitlyn. It’s not what they would have wanted-“ “They’re dead.” Caitlyn reasoned, interjecting whatever motivation Jayce was trying to insinuate. 

With his head lowered, the blond brought a hand up to the bridge of his nose, inhaling sharply. “I know. I know. I’m sorry.” He raised a hand, motioning to the foregrounds beneath them, brought up in red smoke and flame. He was desperate. “But it should give us more of a reason to fight back. He made these monsters. And we’re the only ones now who can stop him.”

But Viktor was misunderstood. At the start of his movement denizens came to him with free will, choosing to augment themselves. In fact, people worshipped Viktor, thinking he a god. Pedestals and shrines loitered throughout Runeterra, with peculiar idols placed upon them to honor the machine Herald himself. Statues of opaque metal, shined and crafted to model his towering presence, even in regions where such advancements would typically be shunned. He was a savior to the weak, the elixir of life, the leader that would lead manmade machinarium into a new age! 

Those with power always looked down on those weaker- those who were like Viktor. Zaun: they were looked down upon. And Viktor was only doing his part is raising his people to the surface so they could all be equal.

“You sure do know how to say the cheesiest things, don’t you?” Caitlyn pointedly joked with him. She nudged his arm, trying to lighten the mood, Jayce half-heartedly chuckling at her sudden enthusiasm. “(Y/N) loved Viktor. They woulda followed him in a heartbeat. And despite that, they knew what he was doing was wrong.” Caitlyn stood, placing her hand on Jayce’s shoulder. 

“They did was they had to do to try and stop him. And now, we gotta do the same for them.” Jayce concluded, raising a fist, the young sniper staring at it for a moment, before bringing her own up to bump against his: “For them.” 

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

The Herald is near silent as he watches Robin. It's sad seeing him in such a state, and knowing that he could help if the permission was given... He steps closer, hand hovering over the other's shoulder for a moment before he pauses. "You do not have to suffer like this." His tone borders on gentle. "Join me. Join the Glorious Evolution and you will never feel this pain again."

═══ CANON VERSE ═══

"..." He senses the Herald approach him from behind, but does little to move away from the gentle, almost-touch upon his shoulder, there is no malice within this man; not for Robin, at least. The Herald's words are honeyed and the mage recognizes the voice, perhaps one he had been close to in another life, one he wishes to hear more of. Robin turns his head silently as so his large milky eyes catch the golden glow of the Heralds, unable to stop the pang of pain he feels when looking into the face of something so undeniably human, and yet so...changed. He imagines the pain this person had felt in order to fundamentally shift so much of themselves, how loud could a human heart cry before it wishes to stop its own beating? To erase itself entirely as to not feel anything ever again?

"If I did...I would never feel anything again."

He takes a deep breath and lifts his hand to caress Viktor's, finally taking hold of it with a strange understanding in his movements, a spark of life dancing between the two of them, after all, even after everything...they were still human. Even if they didn't wish to be anymore, it was an undeniable fact that could never be changed or redefined. However it was rare to find someone who had equally tried to toss their humanity, someone who could possibly relate, a kindred spirit within the hellscape of their reality. And so...Robin shifts his entire body to stare up at the Herald, or what he can see, his expression teetering on empathetic, as if asking...

What happened to you..?

"I can't live in such a way that I could not feel the sunlight on my skin, or the rain when it falls. I have seen an emptiness such as that before... I cannot go back to it."

[takeflight-hermitcraftau]

Chapter 1- New World

Grian first came too to the sound of an explosion overhead. He slowly pushed himself up, looking down at the sandy beach he was now on. “What the- Where am I?” He asked, standing up and brushing sand off his clothes and shaking out his wings. He looked around the small island, and saw crafting tables and saplings galore. His eyes caught onto a sign in the center of the little island.

“Welcome to Hermitcraft Season 6!

- Scar”

“No way.” Grian covered his mouth as he looked at the sign. “I’m in a new world! Oh my god. The watchers let me go?? No they couldn’t have.” He mumbled, and jolted as the communicator on his wrist started to buzz.

Grian has joined the game

Falsesymmetry: Grian?? Who the heck is Grian??

Ijevin : I have… no idea.

Stressmonster : I can go find out!! Im really close to spawn!!

Grian looked around, and just quickly took off. His red and black wings quickly lifting him into the air as he zoomed off into a random direction. Usually he wouldn’t be so… shy. But he didn’t want to be thrown into conversations with people he really didn’t know, especially with his wings. They had been gifted to him from the Watchers, and he wasn’t sure how people outside of Evo would react to that. He felt his wrist buzz again.

Stressmonster: No one’s here. Hey Grian!! Come back to spawn! We wanna meet you!

We?? Grian turned off his communicator, flying to the top of a mountain and looking over the ocean. His eyes widened as he actually looked into it. What were those things in it? The oceans weren’t supposed to have life in them besides just blue fish. And those you couldn’t even see! He checked his inventory, only to see a piece of paper and his recording equipment.  He pulled out the paper and read over it, his eyes widening.

‘Welcome to your new home, Grian.’ The paper read, and it gave a quick run down on some of the things he had never seen before. There was new mobs now, Drowned, Dolphins, Fish, and even temples and ruins! He hadn’t ever heard of the watchers being this generous. Not to him at least. They hated him. Grian yelped as he heard an explosion, looking around and seeing three people flying. He saw the wings on their back, and his eyes widened, but for some stupid reason he quickly flew underwater. He looked around this underwater landscape, and he grinned as he saw what the paper had called a shipwreck. He swam over to it to investigate.

Grian quickly swam into the ship, cautious of his air. He found a chest and pulled it open, grinning at the iron and lapis it held. He quickly swam back up, putting the valuables in his inventory before suddenly taking damage. He yelped, looking around and seeing the Drowned mob the paper warned him about, quickly swimming to shore. He scrambled up the mountain, watching tridents being hurled at him. He laughed excitedly.

“Oh my god. I can’t believe this! This. This is going to be awesome!!” He looked around the world, at the block generation. “Okay. Okay. Don’t get too over your head here.” Grian ran a hand through his hair, but he couldn’t stop the excited smile that pulled over his face. “Grian. You need to collect resources. Wool, wood, and weapons. You have to start mining.”

“Ah i see. Another guy who talks to himself.” Grian screamed and fell back into the ocean, gagging as salty water filled his mouth. “Oh heavens-!” He heard, before he was being pulled out of the ocean by a man with a glorious mustache. Grian quickly took in the mans appearance. Black hair and pale skin, wearing a suit, with gorgeous iridescent wings keeping them in the air. “Seems like the drowned are proper after you mate.” He flew them back on top of the small mountain. “So, You must be Grian then right?” He asked. Grian let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Yea! That's me, Grian!” He smiled, holding out a hand to him. The man in front of him chuckled.

“I’m Mumbo, nice to meet you. False and Stress and real curious about you mate.” He smiled still, the expression nothing but warm and welcoming, “We should message the rest of the Hermits, tell them about you.” He said, more to himself than anything as he pulled up his communicator screen.

Mumbo: Found him, He’s one of us.

Docm77: One of us!

Falsesymmetry: One of us!

Stressmonster: One of us!

“Oh dear.” He sighed, looking up at Grian who was just curiously looking at everything. “Your… not used to this stuff aren’t you?” He asked. Grian nodded.

“Yea, the world i was in is still in 1.7.” He said, Mumbo’s eyes widened.

“This is 1.14!” He said, and Grian laughed.

“No.”

“Yea.” Mumbo grinned, and looked him over. “We need to call a Hermit meeting. You comfortable with that? All the hermits are just like us. I promise.” Mumbo smiled again, and Grian couldn’t help but say yes to him. He shook out his wings, drying them off as the two took flight. Mumbo started typing again as they flew. “We just started this world, your in luck! Hermitcraft is a thing we came up with. Its essentially a group of misfits, we all make videos of our travels and post them. A lot of people really like what we do.” Mumbo said, his voice oozing with pride.

“Oh really? I do videos too! This seems like fun!” He said, listening as Mumbo described the sections this world was in, explaining that they’d be different building styles and whatnot. Grian couldn’t help the surge of excitement that flowed through his finger tips. He was a builder at heart after all, and he was over the moon in learning all this. They were just flying to the shopping district. A few buildings were already in the works, and Grian felt a surge of energy he just hadn’t had in Evo. This was all new, exciting. And he was going to have so much fun.

Grian watched as others quickly flew towards them, each and every one of them having wings. It filled his heart with relief. He wasn’t an odd one out anymore. Of course, there was someone carrying another person. Grian frowned in concern, seeing her wings were rotting and thus unable to fly.

“So Mumbo! This is the new guy?” He turned at hearing a heavily accented voice, seeing a larger man with a beard, and a visor over his eye. His wings were large and a darker brown, and yet seemed incredibly fluffy.

“Hey! I’m Grian.” He introduced.

“I’m Iskall! Nice to meet you! Your wings are amazing by the way.” He said, and Grian couldn’t help the flush that came onto his face. He wasn’t quite used to being complimented.

“You too!” He beamed. He turned as the others gathered, seeing many faces and many wings.

“How did you even get here?” A women asked. Grian looked at her. She was the one with the rotting wings. Her skin was a blue-ish gray, patched together. She looked like a zombie, the only thing bright about her was her bright orange hair.

“Uhh nice to meet you too?” Grian’s smile turned nervous as he looked the women up and down.

“Oh! My bad! I’m Cleo, Zombie Cleo!” She smiled, and Grian nodded a bit. The others introduced themselves, Grian trying to memorize names to faces. But he knew it was a fruitless endeavor.

“So mate, how did you get here?” Mumbo asked, sitting down on a rock as the others just sat on the ground.

“Yea!! Story time!!” Scar grinned as he plopped down next to Cub. Grian chuckled.

“Well. I was in my old world, we called it Evolution, or Evo for short. I was building my little town of farms and whatnot, and i heard a void. I saw this obsidian piller and thought if was the Watchers, who kind of overlook our world and make sure we’re ‘playing nice’ or whatever. I followed the pillars and the voice, when i got to this boarder wall or whatever. Sooo I… Blew it up. And walked through. Next thing I know, I wake up on your spawn island.” Grian explained calmly. He looked at the others, some who already had diamond armor. But why was it glowing like that?

“You said your world was stuck in 1.7 right?” Mumbo asked and Grian nodded, earning a few gasps from the others.

“Oh lord I’d hate being stuck in that! No beacons? No efficacy five? Awful.” Iskall sighed, and Grian stared at him.

“Wait wait what?” He asked, and a few of the Hermits jumped up, eager to brag about their loot. Grian was shown tridents, told what enchantments were, beacons, everything. His eyes were wide as he listened to everything, Doc even handing him a trident and saying to try and throw it.

Grian quickly took that opportunity, aiming high and throwing hard. Doc whistled lowly as he watched it fly. “Damn, good arm Grian.” He said, his lips pulling into an amused smile. He took off to go find it, and Grian watched the mechanical wing the man had seemingly built himself. Grian yelled a thanks at him as he flew off, and the other hermits were kind of dispersing. But a blonde women- he had learned that was Falsesymmetry-walked up to him, smiling.

“So Grian! It’s nice to finally have a new guy on the server! If you ever want a healthy match of PVP, feel free to message the queen of hearts and body parts.” He grinned with a laugh, taking off. Her wings were sleek, and yet seemed robust. The others said their goodbyes, a few giving Grian some basic starter materials of food, and some iron gear.

Grian looked over at Mumbo and Iskall, that last two standing there with him. The two smiled. “And if you want some redstone help, just give us a call! And feel free to drop by anytime. Okay?” Mumbo said, and Grian nodded.

“Yea man! Thanks!” He smiled, and the two took off. Grian quickly rushed to get resources, having already formulated a plan in his mind.

___

Grian’s plan… lead him to die many times by Drowned, thankfully he had built a little platform over the water with a bed to respawn in, but it was done. He had made a shipwreck in a bottle! And frankly, he was quite proud of himself. Grian had recorded the whole thing, even going back to the spawn so he could explain in a video what was going on. He swam into his starterbase, already planning on a megabase for this futuristic district.

He had dumped resources into his many chests, trying half hazardly to be organized with everything. But deep down he knew it would end up just like Evo; with chest monsters everywhere. He glanced down to his communicator, starting to type. He needed to figure out what the hell a conduit actually did, and had a plan to build one, but he needed a little bit of help. And one of the only people who were online were Xisuma. He sent him a quick message, going down to his farms and just collecting more food and eggs (those he was saving for Mumbo later).

Xisumavoid: Yea sure i can help you out! Just come on over.

Grian had quickly learned who his neighbors were. Mumbo, Biffa, Scar, and Xisuma. He rushed over to Mumbo’s base via the strip mine, that being the easiest way to get onto land to fly. As he ran, his mind briefly went to Taurtis. To Netty and the others. Did they miss him? Did they even realize he was gone?

“Probably not.”  Grian thought to himself, climbing up the stairs and shaking off his wings before taking off. He’d be the first to admit he was happy to be here. He could fly around without feeling like he was cheating, or that others were mad at him. The people in this world were so nice and accepting, they loved talking to one another and cracking jokes. This was the kind of environment his personality type thrived in. Fun, fast, and chaotic situations that one needed to adapt too quickly. In fact, that gave him an idea for a game they could all play.

He landed at Xisuma’s base, looking around at how organized everything seemed. Especially in comparison to his own base. But it didn’t really matter to him. He was having fun again, meeting new people and starting on new adventures. Surely the Evo gang wouldn’t mind him being gone if it meant he was having the time of his life. Right?

---

Grian finished recording, sighing as he just uploaded the footage onto his communicator to edit later. For now, Mumbo invited him over to relax for a bit (and probably to gloat about his base) and he wasn’t about to say no to something like that. He took off from his small cobblestone platform and flew the few hundred yards over to Mumbos base. He saw the raven haired man sitting on top of the structure, and he quickly landed next to him.

“Hey Mumbo!” Grian smiled, plopping down and rubbing his neck. His throat was starting to hurt again, and he had been thinking that he might have been too loud in his recording. His throat was murdering him.

“Hey Grian, you doin alright?”

“Oh yea! My throats just been a little sore for the past few days.” Grian smiled, leaning back and looking over the ocean. “But what’s up?”

“Nothing really.” Mumbo said, his voice trailing off and into a bit of an awkward silence, before the redstoner exploded, “Whatarethewatchers-?” He asked quickly, and Grian was slightly taken aback.

“What?” He laughed a bit, coughing into his arm.

“When you first came here a couple of weeks ago, you said you thought this was the fault of ‘the Watchers’. What exactly are they?” Mumbo asked, reaching into his inventory and pulling out a bottle of water, handing it to the other.

“Well… It’s a little bit of a long story.”

“We’ve got all the time in the world, mate.”

[kumeko]

A/N: I’m having fun writing this. Part 3 of the  @marveltrumpshate fic I wrote for @wombatking

Summary: There was something luxurious about waking up at 7:30am, to an empty room, with an empty bathroom, and the kitchen all to herself. Kitty hit the jackpot.

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There was something luxurious about waking up at 7:30am. Absolutely luxurious. Kitty wanted nothing more than to sprawl over her bed, languidly stretching before she finally rolled off. Unfortunately, her right leg was a dead weight to all of this, so she had to settle for lazily yawning and spreading her arms above her. The birds had been awake for hours, her dormmates equally so, and she had the most glorious sleep. She hadn’t even noticed when Rogue had left for training, her roommate for once not waking her up with her extensive morning prep.

 For a girl who claimed that she didn’t care what others thought of her, she spent an awfully long time in front of the mirror. Kitty chuckled at the thought. Rogue was full of strange contradictions and the more she learned, the more she liked. It was strange to think that at one point they’d fought like cats and dogs.

 Well, if Kitty were honest, they still fought sometimes now, but they always made up after.

It was harder than she expected, to get off the bed. Her leg felt weird, her movements even more so—her legs didn’t feel in sync, her left far too light and quick, her right too slow and heavy. Walking was a strange hop and dance. Dressing even more so. She half-wished she had Velcro pants, like the ones Spike used for his stupid “my pants ripped off!” joke. The only problem was that they were ugly. On the bright side, she was more than used to putting a little pain in for her fashion.

 As she passed by a window, she caught sight of Jean and Amara running through the obstacle course, sweaty and tired. “Glad that’s not me,” she murmured, grinning as she stepped into the for-once-empty bathroom.

 She’d been wrong. The best part of her broken leg wasn’t sleeping in, it was the fact that there was no rush. No one knocked on the door, asking her to get out. Kitty didn’t have to bounce impatiently on her feet, waiting for the door to open so she could rush in. Nope, the bathroom was all hers, for however long she wanted.

 So was the kitchen, so was the tv—if she’d realized how good it was, she’d have broken her leg ages ago. Maybe in six weeks she could break the other one. Chewing on a piece of toast, she idly flipped through the channels. News, weather, Say Yes to the Dress, Psycho—

 “Ready to go?” Scott said, suddenly appearing behind her.

 Kitty almost dropped her toast, surprised.  Instinctively, she turned off the TV, flushing a bright red. “I, that—” She wasn’t even sure why she was feeling flustered. This was fine! Technically allowed! No one expected otherwise!

 Yet it was one thing to relax when no one was around, and another to do it in front of her slightly sweaty housemate. Scott’s hair might be carefully combed, but his skin still had a light sheen to it from all the exercise. Noticing her stare, he cocked his head. “What’s wrong?”

 He’d always been a slightly dense brick. Fighting back her embarrassment, Kitty scarfed down her toast and stood up. “N-nothing. Let’s go.”

 “Alright then. I pulled my car up front, so just slip in.” Scott picked up her backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “You know, instead of a reality show, you should try watching the news.”

 If Kitty could have, she would have stomped to the car.

 -x-

 “Hey girl!” Kitty got no other warning before a pair of slightly tanned arms wrapped around her neck, hugging her tight. Tabitha pressed her cheek against Kitty’s, her messy hair tickling her neck. As usual, her perfume was as loud as she was. “Heard you got hurt.”

 “Tabitha!” Kitty laughed, leaning into her friend. She’d been getting lonely anyways, sitting in the playground as she was. Kurt had gone to get lunch and unfortunately the track team wasn’t practicing, so she couldn’t even stare at them. “Did Amara tell you?”

 “Didn’t have to, I have eyes.” Tabitha let go and rested her hands on her hips. “I hear Blue is now two for two for training accidents?”

 “It was my fault this time, not his.” Kitty rubbed her neck sheepishly. To be honest, the other time hadn’t been entirely his fault either—Tabitha had a little to do with it. Gesturing at her leg, she explained, “I broke my leg, so now I’ve got that ugly thing.”

 “I know training sucks, but I didn’t think you’d go that far to get out.” Tabitha whistled as she saw the cast. “Damn, that’s clunky.”

 “I know, right! It’s like I have snowpants or something.” Kitty rapped on the top of her cast. “It’s so thick! I don’t want to know what’ll smell like after all of this heat.”

 “You’re lucky it isn’t summer, or you’d be roasting in it.” Tabitha scrunched her nose, her lips curling with disgust. “Broke my arm once, on a job, and not only was I utterly useless after, I reeked like Toad.”

 “Seriously?” Kitty didn’t have to ask to know what sort of ‘job’ she was referring to. Wincing, she looked at her cast again. Tabitha had to be exaggerating, right? “It’s not that bad, right? I can’t get it off for six weeks. I don’t want to deal with smell on top of everything.”

 “Just spray some perfume on it.” Tabitha winked. She mimed spraying it on. “Works like a charm.”

 “Eww.” Kitty glared at the offending cast, her heart sinking. Just how stinky could the thing get? She groaned. “So either I smell like Toad or a flowershop.”

 “Hey, the choice is yours.” Tabitha grinned, shrugging. “I bet Logan won’t like either smell.”

 “I don’t think Rogue or Kurt will like it either.”  Resigning herself to her fate, she hoped they’d still hang around her after six weeks were up.

 “Cheer up, it’s not that bad. You get a lot of sympathy goodies.” Tabitha crouched next to the cast, a marker in hand. She started doodling something, just out of Kitty’s sight. “People open doors for you, give you seats, sometimes even food—”

 “You shouldn’t eat things strangers give you,” Kitty warned, worried about that last one. Sometimes, she was amazed Tabitha made it to high school. More often, though, she was impressed the school hadn’t burned to the ground multiple times, considering her short temper. “And what’re you drawing?”

 “You’ll see!” Tabitha replied cheekily, her brow furrowed as she finished her masterpiece.

 Kitty rolled her eyes. “Fine, keep your secrets.”

 “I’m pretty good at that, ask anyone.” Tabitha smirked up at her. “How’re the geeks taking this? Bet Logan ain’t happy.”

 “They’re like, the only bad part.” Kitty grimaced, remembering Scott’s lectures. And she had to get a ride from him for the next six weeks—her mornings were going to be so ruined. “I swear, Scott and Jean won’t shut up about it, and Logan’s just counting down the days till he can make me suffer again.”

 Tabitha stood up now, laughing. “Sounds like ‘em.” Hand on her hip, she gave her a wry look. “Honestly, you should just ditch that whole scene and join me. It might not be the best place to stay, but it’s the funnest.”

 There was absolutely no way Kitty was staying in that rundown house the brotherhood claimed was ‘livable’. She’d been there a handful of times, and each time she wasn’t sure how the place hadn’t been torn down. At the very least, it had to be filled with lice or something. “I’m not that desperate.”

 “Yet.” Tabitha pocketed her marker and waved before waltzing away. “Lemme know if you change your mind.”

 “Not happening!” Kitty laughed, watching as a garbage bin exploded.

 -x-

 Kitty lay on her bed, examining her cast by her tablelamp light. It was, perhaps, the first time she’d gotten to use that thing without having to cram for a test or something. Today was actually full of firsts—she finished her homework without having to rush, she had dinner on time, and hey, she saw an episode of her favourite drama on time instead of catching a rerun.

 Even now, she was lying in her bed, at 11pm, and not bone-tired for once. Across the room, Rogue snored lightly as she slept, too tired from training to complain about the light. The house was utterly silent at that this time and if it weren’t for the lights-out rules, she’d have snuck around to see just how different the house was at night.

 For now, she bent over her cast, running her fingers along the different signatures she’d collected. After Tabitha had signed it, the rest of her friends popped in, one after another, all ready to make a mark. The once white cast was now a collage of signatures and messages. Rogue had written her name in purple ink, with nothing else added to it, and Kitty couldn’t figure out if it was because she didn’t have anything she wanted to write, or if it was because she was too embarrassed to put anything.

 Feel better soon, Honey, Kurt had written in blue ink, and Kitty smiled as she pressed her fingers on the pink heart he’d drawn beside his name. It was utterly cheesy, but she liked that about Kurt.

 There was a picture of a grumpy Logan next to Spike’s name, and Kitty covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. He was a terrible artist, and that only made it funnier. Logan was either a furious hedgehog or he was some new evolution of a bear. Definitely not human, at the very least.

 Finally finished with all the easy to read signatures, Kitty leaned forward and strained her neck to see what was on the back of her cast. More importantly, to see what Tabitha had spent so long drawing. Biting her tongue and squinting, she could just make out the picture.

 It was a dick.

 Of course it was. She flopped back on her bed, and silently swore revenge.

[dreams-in-charge]

Vicious

Pairing: 10th doctor x Neutral!reader

Warnings: - (pure fluff?)

a/n: Felt bad for the one before, making it up. Really need to write more fluffy pieces...

Summary:

A light-headed little adventure with the 10th doctor that ends up with you both laughing and maybe, just maybe a little bit more...

______________________________________________________________

The door of the TARDIS nearly broke with the intensity the doctor pushed it to close, seconds before a hoard of not-so-happy-looking-aliens crashed against it.

Even with the danger of the situation, everything that struck the air around you seemed to be the laughter of the both of you:

The doctor and his wonderful companion; you.

“Did you – did you SEE their faces?” you laughed, almost tripping over your feet with trying to breathe and getting fresh air inside of your lungs, while also pushing all of that out at once with laughing so much.

With the biggest grin possible the doctor rushed past you, instantly grabbing what seemed to be a lever and a compilation of many different buttons. His brown, gravity defying locks wiggling up and down with the movement of his head.

“I mean, what did they expect? For me to just stay there and ignore that OBVIOUS big, red button? Come one!”

You joined the doctor at the console as the TARDIS moved, hopefully leaving the angry minions behind in a cloud of dust. That was when the doctor turned to you, all giddy-biddy-happy.

“Aww, I wanted to press it first! And you know, these will be vicious, huge things in a few thousand years” he told you, watching that glimmer in your eyes burn for anew, into – again – a big laugh tirade.

Your mind flew to the little gremlins you've seen before, the biggest of them not even reaching your hip, with their big heads and ugly faces. You couldn't contain yourself.

“Oh right, sure, I will look out for them. I mean, I could've just picked them up and tossed them around like a rubber ball. But I'm just too nice for that.”

“Mhm” hummed the doctor, still grinning from ear to ear and leaning against the console, pushing his hands inside the pockets of his coat. “You did kick one on the way to the TARDIS like, what do you humans call it, a football.”

“Oh yes, don't even start with that. I was just protecting myself” you said, smiling your best angel-like-smile at him, making the doctor chuckle again.

Sometimes you were everything but that, however, the doctor kept his mouth shut. Even with his more than protective sense for you, he liked the thought that you could protect yourself in such situations.

After all, he already worried to much about you.

You were an independent human being, totally able to protect yourself from others. Especially against tiny gremlins, shaped like a ball.

There was the thought again.

“Vicious, huge things?”

“Oh, yes, definitely. May have stumbled upon them a couple of times, billywig, evolution did great on them. Still furious buggers, may remind me of you” the doctor rambled, still concentrating on your shining eyes that were locked with his. The two beating hearts inside of his chest danced together a sinful melody when you grinned at him like that, with that look. That look of mischief.

Oh no.

“Of me? Doctor, but you know that I'm the innocence in person. Where would you get such an idea?”

All that running and the fun, laughter and joyful energy within and around you made you brave. Brave and teasing, but you couldn't help it. That annoyingly smug grin on the doctors face, the way his eyes flew over your flushed red cheeks, your still messy hair from the adventure...

How you wanted to take those skinny hands of his, out of his pockets and into your own. You imagined how warm they would be like every time he joined them with yours.

With every thought and an amused grin you leaned forward towards him, making him stumble a bit over his own tongue. He didn't like it, but somehow... He liked it.

“Oh, yeah, yeah of course. No – I mean” he stuttered, keeping his eyes on you when you took his hand out of his pocket, joining it with yours. “Nowhere. OF COURSE from that football kick. Brilliant, if you ask me.”

The grin returned to his face, together with yours.

“Especially brilliant, really. Not that you're not brilliant as you are – I mean...”

With a huff, a frown appeared on his face, making you laugh again and squeezing his hand.

“Don't tell me, I, a mere human, made the doctor speechless!” you grinned, stepping away from him to give him the time and space to regain his usual I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about-composure.

“Well, obviously not! Did you ever see me speechless?” he began to ramble again, watching you dance around the console towards him.

“Oh I did and it was – how do you always say? - brilliant.”

That got him to pout, moving himself closer to you and taking your hand again in his, now him pulling you towards his body, making your one heart stumble inside of your chest. He had that look again, that glimmer within his brown orbs.

“You humans are cheesy little fellas, aren't you? Sometimes, these mouths of yours will get you in much trouble, I can tell you.”

Oh, that was the perfect line for you. Brave as you were in that moment you sorted the perfect, flirtatious line in your head, tasting it on your tongue a second before, trying the heaviness of it.

“Well, our mouths can do so much more, I can tell you.”

With that, both of the doctors eyebrows were tugged upwards, surprise and amusement flowing through his veins as his eyes settled onto your oh so soft looking lips.

Maybe you were right, he wondered and kept his gaze there, where it should not belong.

But, perhaps it does? He wasn't sure.

At least you were and your heart swelled with all the happiness your teasing brought you. You caught his glance to your lips and couldn't say that your eyes haven't travelled to his at all.

“Oh, I can imagine, believe me...” was all the doctor, in all his glory, could whisper. This time, it was you who was speechless.

And his lips...

They looked slim but welcoming and as you both were so fixated on each other, both of your hearts jumped into new highs. Adrenalin flushed through your body, everything you felt was so intense and not shortly after you felt the doctors hand on your hip, helping his other one to keep you flush against him, maybe to pull yourself towards him even more.

The hot breath of him caressed your lips and cheeks, softly like you wanted him to do. Swallowing, everything it would need was for you to lean forward to capture the air from his lungs again, to close what kept you apart.

His heavy lidded eyes searched yours, with his fingers gliding over yours, until they travelled towards your lips again. There was no time lord in that moment, only a lonely man in a box, wanting to touch something he wanted for the first time. And he would, if you allowed him to.

The brain of him was silent, no thoughts running and it was marvellous.

Then it snapped a little as you moved forwards, instantly shutting his eyes close and waiting for the contact he wanted and needed from you.

Only to get it onto his left cheek.

Not where he wanted it, DEFINITELY not where he needed it.

The look on his face was glorious as you pulled away a bit, grinning and glowing with happiness and mischief you, oh so tormented him with.

“Gotcha, doctor.”

Pulling away you tried to hide your rapidly beating heart and the flush of your red cheeks behind that smile of yours, but the doctor had none of that.

Absolutely none.

With one tug of his arm your body spun around, facing him and in the next heartbeat his lips were joined with yours. Every breath you took before was needed, every little drop of air, as the patience of the man in front of you slipped into nothingness.

It was everything and none at the same time, new but just as you expected it to be, everything. Up to the point where you were the stumbling damsel, the moment you waved your fingers through his hair, shaping it without knowing.

The slightly chapped lips of his made the butterflies looping and the slight tug on your hip towards him made you jelly. There was nothing you could do but lean into the curve of his body against yours to get as close to him as you could.

Too soon, much too soon for your liking, you couldn't feel him against your lips any more and it made you pout. And the time lord had the audacity to grin and say:

“Gotcha.”

He got you.

“Okay, okay, I get it. I'm a bad human. But, maybe, we could get back to where you stopped?” you began, smiling that angelic smile in the arms of the 900 year old child. Making him and yourself laugh again.

“That's why you remind me of them. Always so vicious with me.”

[tvarhegyi]

Helen of Eden

 Tamas M. Varhegyi

(c) 2015-2020

             A weary passenger, tired after completing a critical assignment which seemed like  was going on for millennia, walked toward his first class seat on a transatlantic flight. He reflected on the unfairness of the throw of the dice which might randomly pair him with an annoying companion of unknown gender, age, interests, temperament and of course looks :   “An oversized, restless, talkative busybody of either sex would make this a long flight with little opportunity for rest or reflection.”  

           As he approached his seat, he stole a glance of the passenger already occupying the window seat adjacent to his.  First impressions are everything.  “Gender, female...it is his lucky day” - he thought somewhat relieved. “Correction”, he added silently, - “a very obvious female.” A lingering but respectful second look rendered the final visual verdict : “A gloriously feminine creature with a body second to none and with a stunning face to match.”  

           His knees buckled ever so slightly, his heart pounded as he happily uttered a confident greeting while silently prayed :  “Let her response be worthy of the vision before me.”              She delivered on his secret wish without fail.  A voice - more like a short symphony - floated toward him, intended not only for his ears but all his senses.  It enveloped him and penetrated his soul.  He briefly wondered about the ancient tale of the sirens tempting sailors to rush toward danger.  Somewhat sheepishly he conceded, that her lovely voice would have drawn him anywhere she commanded him to go.  

           While he reached up to stow his carry-on luggage, she ventured a quick glance of her own as well.  She liked what she saw; he was neither overweight, nor muscle-bound.  His face revealed a happy mixture of calm, intelligence and serenity.  Within seconds her estimate became a focused conviction and she revised it silently : ”A vastly improbable gift of nature : unshakeable confidence, superior intelligence and irresistible masculinity in perfect harmony.”              A colorful shirt and light slacks only partially covered his exquisite body on which it seemed like any outfit would find a home.  She allowed a quick, silent one-liner altogether inappropriate but accurate : “Come to think of it even myself would be a good fit on him.”              She blushed, while scolding herself for going off the rail so quickly and promised to control her impulses from that moment forward.  That, as she was soon to find out, would prove to be an impossible task.  

           He settled down and struck up a conversation as if he had known her for a long time.   The quiet, unassuming confidence unnerved her.  Most men, after sizing her up, knew only too well that they were hopelessly outclassed and quickly retreated, unable to think or speak coherently in her presence. Not this stranger...with a hint of panic she wondered what his secret was.

           For a while they exchanged pleasantries until he reckoned that he could risk a more intimate line of conversation. Pulling out a thin black book from its folder, he offered his travelling companion to share its secrets. She - quite intelligent and unattached - was briefly taken aback and considered brushing him aside.  But the flight has barely started and she did not relish to be sitting stone-faced next to this improbably handsome and strangely confident,   although somewhat eccentric man... a puzzling contradiction she feared might keep her occupied for the rest of the flight.

             She agreed to pay attention, to which he responded with the most grateful and satisfied smile she has ever seen on a human face.  As he was bouncing his grin off of her she counted her blessing that she was sitting down, otherwise - as she was certain - her legs would have not supported her for long.  An intoxicating cavalcade of almost invisible twitches, tingles and flashes marched through her body.  

           Her throat parched, she reached for her glass, hoping that its contents would steady her nerves as well.  As she sipped her drink she glanced at him and realized instantly that steadying her nerves were not in the cards as long as he was sitting inches from her.  He slowly unfolded the object of his boasting, but his face was no longer tentative as if it belonged to a hesitating and somewhat clumsy office worker.  He was bent on conquest, trying to impress the most attractive, perfectly shaped and groomed woman he has ever seen on this planet.              She finally glanced at the open book, dreading the moment when she expected he would try to entertain her with pitiful tales of past conquests of woman most likely inferior to her.  

           She sighed with relief. The book contained no list of names, addresses or phone numbers nor did it betray evidence of some infantile date-rating shorthand system.  The pages she saw was made of no ordinary paper but belonged to some kind of electronic book simulating a window into a high quality three dimensional virtual reality world.  

           As he spoke, his words brought the book alive.  Images of creatures, advanced to the foreground, paused then faded away.  She noticed that his voice flawlessly controlled the device.   She was no stranger to advanced technologies so she took this bit of magic in stride, only to realize to her surprise that his voice also directed another, far more complex machinery, her own mind, her body and her rather unsteady emotions.  Spellbound, she let him go on, wishing that his fascinating demonstration would never end.

           Then, without warning, he asked the strangest and wholly unexpected question, wanting to know whether she was taught evolution in the schools - and if yes - did she believe in it.  He immediately regretted his folly and wished that he could have run after the words and catch them before they reached her. He silently berated himself : “Who in his right mind would lead off a casual conversation with a lame question like that?” But he needed not to worry.

           As she replied in the affirmative for the first part but with a firm denial to the second, he slowly realized, with an odd mixture of surprise and pride, that for some strange reason, in her presence he can be himself without reservations. He continued :              “I attended a different institution which subjected me to extensive training conducted by first rate Intelligent Design advocates.  “Homeschooling on steroids we used to joke.”

           She nodded silently to indicate that she was aware of the term and its pariah status in the educational and scientific community.  Then she ventured a comment :

“ You look like a very intelligent, rational, and independent person.  Does your line of work demand that you believe or at least pretend to believe in evolution?  If yes, did you ever consider switching to a top notch scientific research team on the forefront of the unfolding Intelligent Design revolution?”  

           His jaw dropped for a moment. Soon a glorious mental confusion induced by the mixture of rising euphoria and a tinge of fear set in.  This was no ordinary pretty face sitting next to him. He resolved to be even more careful in every way possible. His words barely hid his apprehension.  “Pray tell me just where did that very insightful suggestion come from?” Receiving only a gentle shrug of her shoulders and an enigmatic smile, he capitulated.              Letting his guard down he confessed:  “As I am growing fond of you with every second ticking by, I will level with you. I did join just such a research team a very long time ago. “

             His expression changed, with an impossible mix of pride and happiness evident as he continued :            “After looking at those pictures I shared with you, perhaps you are convinced that I am not a collector of meaningless one-night stands - and you are right.  In this black book I hold in my hands, are the detailed descriptions of the countless exquisite creatures this planet shelters and nurtures.  

           You see, I am a galactic DNA design engineer and librarian, writing and safeguarding software whose function is to describe  the design and fabrication details of living creatures down to the last cell, including every protein and molecular machine within each cell.  Once verified and approved, we hand the blueprints to our cloning teams, who soon bring the creatures to life - which up until then existed only on paper or in computer storage.  They perform extensive testing and let us know whether we did or did not design them right.  Usually, after some minor changes, the species obtain final approval and are released into their target ecosystems. Just like on Noah’s Ark, two specimen, one male, one female.

Yes, I am one of those intelligent designers the Darwinists rejected as either impossible - or worse - as those who would produce creatures inferior even to random, blind and unguided natural selection. I, and my team were responsible for populating the Northern Hemisphere of this planet.  We have been working on it for the past eleven thousand years.”            With a self-satisfied grin he teased her : “So what do you say, did we do a good job so far?” He expected utter surprise, disbelief and perhaps indignation accusing him of spinning such a tall tale.  None of that came, which slowly sent chills down his spine.              His brain was working overtime. “Something is way out of kilter here, could it be a possible security breach? I better find out what is going on and do it soon.” - went the silent conversation with himself.            He did not have to wait too long to solve the riddle.  Her response started  not with words but with a gesture.  As she slowly put her perfectly designed hands on his arm, their minds touched for an instant in complete agreement.  They realized that life for them would never be the same and that for some divine reason they will lead a charmed  existence far into the future, rolling past endless horizons.             She leaned closer, nearly burying his face in the canopy of her lush hair.  Her lips touched his ear as she whispered these impossible words :  “I congratulate you and your team ... and now let me show you my Pink Book !  We used it to populate the southern half.”

 Epilogue

            Above, invisible, a very ancient being observed them, fighting back tears for things buried in the misty past, for a hopelessly long chain of regrets; projects never finished, romances missed that could have been.  Finally, it pulled itself together and whispered silently :

           “Usually I do not approve of on-the-job romances, but these two were my hardest working and most successful designers, so I make an exception.  Between them, almost single-handedly, they created a world teeming with life so rich, so unpredictable and so spectacular that it gave me a new lease on life and the strength to go on every time I witness the miracles they brought forth. They deserve to enter into the most fitting union my creation has ever seen.   I give my blessing.  

           But it is in my nature – maybe even my destiny - to meddle a bit, and I can’t resist now either.  These two are mighty proud of their respective designs.  They almost regard them as their own offspring and rightly so. Well, I feel the same way about them. Over the eons I learned a thing or two about unusual, exquisite creations.              And now I have altered their reproductive machinery to give forth the best I could have ever designed.  I can’t wait to see the wonder on their faces when they greet their first joint project.

           This happy occasion calls for a matching gift.  I have a world prepared for them. Adam and Eve welcome to my true Paradise, without serpents and without challenges to trip you up.  Design away my children! I know you will make the best of it.” Tamas Varhegyi © 2011-2020  Monroe, North Carolina, United States

 Author’s comments :

             Those of you who live in a real world with its many challenges and struggles - which frequently end in disappointments, disasters or annihilation - will perhaps find this story unbearably optimistic, uneventful and over-the-top romantic.              You are right, the shoe fits and for me it is a perfect fit.  I wanted to write a galactic fairy tale, uncomplicated, kind and somewhat steamy at least in the minds of the two main characters. The surprising ending for sure went over the top you might say.              Indeed it did.  I simply could not find a single plausible scenario which would be a fitting reward for two top-notch, planet-forming design-engineers who fell for each other the moment they met. That is where the designer God helped me out.              A new start bequeathed to two supremely deserving humans was a way to put away all the horrific trials and tribulation of our race bleeding from thousands upon thousands of wounds which might never heal.            The ending is a new start… a second chance for the Garden of Eden, this time a true one, gifted to two aliens who deserved it better than anyone else.

[revolutionwhoop]

(R)Evolution 04: The Old Tuck and Roll

Dahlia groaned as she climbed from beneath the rubble. It smelled horrible! What in the world had happened, here? She was in pain, but looking around, she wasn’t sure why she was even alive! But, then again… That guy SHOT her! She checked herself for signs of the shooting, and there wasn’t even a scar there. She heard something and looked over to see a drone fly by her head. She didn’t know who was in control of it, but she wanted to get out of it’s way.

After a moment, soldiers were coming in her direction. She began to run, her breasts and buttocks bouncing around as she tried to get over the piles of stone and broken glass. “You, stop!” They might as well had said run faster, because that was what she did. Someone fired at her and she winced when she was hit by a dart? Tranquilizer, she guessed. The dart shot out of her flesh and the tranquilizer didn’t seem to do a damn thing. Either it was defective, her adrenaline was pumping too much, or something else altogether that she didn’t have the time to think about. Now, she wasn’t particularly fast, but the soldiers were briefly taken aback by her resistance to the dart, so they gave chase a little late. Someone grabbed her and she yelped, but they covered her mouth. “Where the hell did she go?” a soldier asked and they ran right past her and whoever had grabbed her.

When they were out of sight, the woman unhanded her mouth and said, “You should leave with us.” She turned to see a beautiful woman wearing a shash and garbasaar, accompanied by a few other people. “I am Bishaaro. What is your name?”

“Dahlia,” Dahlia answered. The soldiers came back and she almost took off running, but Bishaaro and her friends joined hands and grabbed her too, and the soldiers passed them again. Bishaaro placed her finger over her mouth at Dahlia, and led the way, walking opposite of the soldiers, nobody breaking contact with her.

They got off of the site, and into a nearby abandoned building. Dahlia wondered, “What the hell is going on? One minute, I was being told that I have a condition that’s like a second period, the next, I’m being shot, and then I wake up buried under I don’t even know how many feet of just a whole ass crumbled building? And why the soldiers couldn’t see us?”

Bishaaro reached for one of her friends’ hands, and the two vanished, then they reappeared. “It is my blessing. If I don’t want them to, people can’t see me. If I touch you, the same becomes true for you. Those men meant you harm. You were wise to run from them. The missing people, all over the city? They are actually being taken from all over the world, not just here.” She opened her phone and showed Dahlia a photo of Niyilolawa Uchechukwu. “Did you see her, while you were inside?”

“The girl who’s been in the news? No! Should I have? Was she in there? Is she sick, too?”

Bishaaro smiled sadly, “No, she isn’t sick and neither are you. You have no idea what we are. We are glorious, Sister. We are magical. We are evolved.”

“Look, I love me some black pride too, but I’ve been miserable. I’ve been extremely ill,” Dahlia argued.

Bishaaro thought for a moment, then said, “Whenever my evolution began to process, I would literally vanish at times, sometimes, only a little - They said that I looked like a ghost, like you could see right through me… Maybe what you are capable of has to do with health. You told me that you were shot. What happened with that?”

Dahli checked for the shot wound again, even though she knew it wasn’t there. “Well, I maybe had a bad dream, because I thought I was shot right here, but there’s nothing there, you know?”

“Perhaps you can regenerate. I have a friend who is capable of this. He does get hurt and it does make a temporary effect, but then he heals completely. This must be your blessing, as well.”

“Shut up! You think… I can’t be killed?” Dahlia wondered. She had just seen an invisible woman, so, hell, maybe.

“I can’t be sure. It could be something else, but whatever it is that you can do - you aren’t sick…”

One of the men with her said, “She hasn’t seen Niyilolawa. We need to report back to the King of Spades.”

“King of Spades?” Dahlia repeated, “Princess of Spades! I heard that name whenever I was in there. They put me in some kind of chamber. They would knock us out, but I would always wake up, and sometimes overhear stuff. The Princess of Spades was being taken out before they…” She covered her mouth, “Before they destroyed the building. It wasn’t an accident! They meant to blow up the building, with us in it, but they said that they were taking her away.”

“Should we bring Dahlia back with us? Papa Diamond might want to check her out and see if there’s anything in there that we can use to help us find Lola,” one of the other women asked.

Bishaaro smiled at Dahlia and wondered, “Do you consent to coming with us, so that one of our leaders might search your mind for information?”

Dahlia put both of her hands over her chest, “That sounds scary, but being here seems scary, too. I have no idea what has happened to my life. All because I was worried about losing some hair and some weight…” They were waiting on her answer. “Oh, yes… I’ll consent to that. Though, the last time I consented to something, I ended up getting abducted, shot and blew up…” They had all joined hands again and within moments, were vanishing again - but this was different. It was scary. It was quick, and it moved, instantaneously. They ended up somewhere else and while everyone else seemed fine and returned just how they vanished; she landed on her butt, then she vomited. “Oh, Lord…”

The crabby guy said, “Sorry. Didn’t have much time to prepare you for long distance teleportation. But, I anticipated this.”

The woman who suggested that they bring her offered, “This ought to be easier.” She opened her arms wide and a hole opened in the sky, which led to a room. The others stepped through, so Dahlia followed.

“Y’all got some good blessings!” As quickly as she commented, the others were gone. She didn’t know if she should take a seat or remain standing, but there was a chair, so she sat down. Moments later, what she mistook for a wall opened like an elevator and a completely different group of people stepped out of it. She jumped, startled, and stood up.

“Please. Remain seated,” one of the men said.

“That girl that’s missing… She a real princess, huh? Y’all like some African dignitaries, here to get your princess back and because I came out the building, I’m about to be tortured for information!” Dahlia panicked.

Two of the men slightly chuckled. The other two What’s her name’s parents were very grave in appearance. Everyone looked well off. The first man, a dark brown with a bald head and a mustache told her, “I’ll clarify for you. One could say that she’s a princess. We tend to refer to her as a queen, however. And we are dignitaries, in our own right. But, nobody is going to torture you Dahlia. You have already consented and this will not hurt, though you may feel overwhelmed and dizzy at certain points. I’m basically going to take a journey into your mind and only sift through the moments spent inside of that facility.”

“How do you do that?” She wondered.

“It’s quite simple for you. I do all the work, and I’m very good at what I do. First, I search for your earliest memory of the facility, and you do me the favor, just from me mentioning it, of thinking of it for me. Then, I take a glance around, cataloging what I see, and scanning it, like software, to find anything related to Niyilolawa, Princess, or “that girl.” Then, I meet you back here, at this very spot where we first met.”

“Okay. Okay, that sounds simple. Let’s do it.”

“It’s done. Thank you for your time.” The four of them left and she frowned. “We’ll have Bishaaro’s search team take you back to wherever you desire.” As the four vanished through the camouflaged elevator, she heard him say, “She knows less than we do, but I did see the face of the man in charge of the place.” The elevator closed, then opened and the same four people who found her and brought her here came out of it this time.

“Okay, look… I can’t tell if this is some kind of weird laboratory simulation, a drug induced nightmare, or real life. Make this more real for me. Who are y’all?” Dahlia insisted.

Bishaaro gave her a warm, small smile. “We are friends of the woman that you recognized from the news. She is missing, and we are a search team, trying to find her. We brought you here because you survived the destruction of the lab. Not all of us did, and some who were there may have seen something that can help us to know where they took our friend. We’ll bring you outside of the danger zone. There is a quarantine. We have several friends trapped inside, trying to find each other and touch base with one another, so that they can be retracted when ready.”

“Has… The world ended?” Dahlia asked.

“Maybe. Maybe the world has only begun…” She placed a hand on her cheek, and the others touched, up through where the teleportation guy did his thing and they wound up right outside of Dahlia’s apartment. “There are soldiers here,” Bishaaro observed. “Stay in this spot, I will take her inside, to look around.” The other three nodded. As they entered, Bishaaro reminded her, “I can only affect them not seeing us. Be very quiet.”

Dahlia opened her front door and had to immediately cover her mouth with both hands to hide a gasp. Her things were thrown all over the place.

Bishaaro had hold of her pocket and they slowly went through the place. She whispered, “It’s empty, but there might be cameras. If you need to pack anything, move slowly, in case they’re watching from outside in a van or something.”

Dahlia whispered in fear, “I have no idea what they could be looking for or would have wanted!”

Bishaaro cupped her cheeks, “Please keep calm… They probably wanted to check with your friends and family to see who they may be able to use to find you. It will not be safe for you to return to anyone that you know. If you’d like, I am willing to offer you refuge at our compound.”

“I… Can’t. If they’re going to be visiting or watching my loved ones, I can’t just hide and let them go after them to get to me. They don’t have healing skin. They won’t be able to protect themselves from these crazy people!”

“That is very brave of you. I’ll stay until you’ve packed a bag, and we’ll see you to some drop off spot. But, if you do need an extraction, or even just a sit down with our leader, use this.”  She handed her a playing card - the 2 of diamonds. “You remember what Tonya did, when she spread her arms and opened the air?”

“She created a portal,” Dahlia confirmed.

“Yes. She also created these for us. I am the Deuce of Diamonds. Whenever you lift this to the sky and open your arms, you will open the sky and the portal will lead you to me.”

“What if… You in a shoot out or something?”

“Well, then, hopefully neither of us dies. I can’t just leave you without a means to return to safety.” She hugged her. “Let’s finish gathering your things.”

.

Everywhere they teleported to, there were guards or had been guards. Ife, the teleporter, grew weary. “We will have to leave her,” he said. Bishaaro wanted to argue with him, but Dahlia could see that she knew he was right. They were on a mission, and they had gone off mission to help her and were taking a lot out of him to do so.

“Yeah, this is fine. I’ll be alright,” she said. “Thank y’all for everything, even you Ife. You are so fine, but you need to lighten up, Bruh.”

“Our friend may be being tortured right now, Dahlia. And she doesn’t heal. So, perhaps I’m under pressure!” He fussed.

“Sorry. Thank you. I hope that you find her unharmed,” Dahlia said, and just like that, they were gone. She covered herself in her hoodie, to hide and went along. They had taken her to withdraw all of her money from an ATM, then teleport away from it, in case her card was being monitored. So, she had a little cash, but only so much as to survive a little while, if extremely frugal. She went into the library to check on the stories about the lab and saw a list of people who had died there. She saw the name Folami Adebowale. She wasn’t sure why that looked familiar, but for some reason, it jumped out at her. She checked social media, to double check it and saw the lady that she met whenever she first signed in. “Oh no!” She said, upon seeing her face. She seemed alright. Dahlia had a feeling that she wasn’t a part of whatever they were doing to people in there.

Her page had a photo of her with four other women who were basically identical in looks, to her, and she sent one of them a message. Hi, Faith. I wanted to say that I’m sorry for what happened to your sister. She seemed very nice, and I’m positive that whatever you might hear, she didn’t have nothing to do with the mess that was going down in that place.

Faith: Hi. Who is this, might I ask?

Dahlia: People may be looking for me, so I don’t want to get you into any trouble.

Faith: My sister knew what was happening. She was going to try to stop it. We were going to try to help… Please, tell me who you are!

Dahlia: My name is Dahlia Henderson.

Faith: Dahlia! Bloom! It’s me, Folami. We have to meet. I’m not dead, but it’s a long story. You’re the first person that I know of, besides me to have survived.

Dahlia: That’s a long story, too… Are you… You know?

Faith/Folami: Special? Lol. Look… Let’s meet some place neutral. I need a friend. I’m so glad that you made it out. Where can we meet?

[deepintoforestwego]

A summer morn

.’‘‘‘The rusalkas from Mareza called me to join. Said that they think I’d fit right in, that it is obvious I should have been born a fish. And that drowning would suit me.’‘ The girl says, less to boy next to her and more to those dwelling in river in front of them, because there is something old and beloved by it’s waters that tried to steal what is hers, and will suffer until river runs dry.

‘‘Mhhhm.’‘ Mumbles boy, black eyeglasses over eyes and white stick clutched in hands, feeling wind wash over his skin, cool and full of dust. Girl twirls her hair, black as ink, as murky depth, as reflection of starless night.

‘‘What you think? Could I do it? Join the river?’‘‘She asks, already plan spinning in head-how she would change geography of land, how Mareza would go fat and overflown, until it floods, until it is greatest river on continent, until Danube and Volga are but streams compared to it.

‘‘I think you could do anything you set your mad mind on, but that you made your choices long ago. Would you settle for a river of all things?’‘ His voice is slow, like thin stream trickling over stones, and disbelief is thick in it.

‘‘Maybe I could. Maybe it could satisfy me. What you think?’‘ She says, and almost snorts. Pigs could learn to fly too, if it took ages of evolution, until they became something unrecognizable. And change isn’t something she is fond of.

‘‘Again, you could do with anything, even a drop of mud and shadow and failing memory. But rivers are fresh. They can be drunk and don’t sting eyes and can nourish cities. You are too fond of salt, of pain it brings upon wound, of taste of brine on lips, the itch it gives eyes. Stuff world is made of, that we need for food, all dissolved in water, and none of humans can stand it long. Saltwater is hard to master.’‘ Her smile curls, he knows that, with strange flattery. Easy things are boring and weak. Give her path well-traveled and she will go seeking one overgrown in thorns, just to prove herself against everybody else.

‘‘Hard things are most worth of treasuring. What else?’‘ They are what makes history, what makes you legend, gets you afraid glances when they think you aren’t looking, gets you song sung around fires in winter. 

‘‘River can be tamed, too. Put a bridge over it, a dam, make it lake, and you hold some power over it. But who can tame tides, the tsunamis, who can say no when storm comes and water that has been so quiet and beautiful sinks ships and armadas? All water is shifty, but rivers aren’t capricious, can be predicted. And that is limitation, right?’‘ She knows that he always has more then one reason, that when he asks who can he means you, of course.

‘‘ I saw ships and boats crash against icebergs. Looked like diamond breaking. Or old egg. What else?’‘ She thinks on it, of fragile forms hitting hardened ice, of wood and metal flowing away as men fall down as rain, as ice breaks and cracks. She wants to do that with world, she thinks. Crack it like egg, like bone, like those icebergs, then let pieces flow as she needs them.

‘‘ Rivers are full of them, you know. Flow here, move in one direction, got spring there, end up becoming part of something else, some lake or other river. And they need rain, or they are gone. You want me to believe you’d like to have one river, when you can have them all flow to you.’‘ He traces his hands through water, feels thin sheen of water drops cover his fingers, and tries to imagine how sunlight would reflect from pink of his fingertips, fat and soft and glittering.

‘‘It is better for others to depend on you. You are free and strong, and you are generous and they owe you, and you decide what will become of them. What else?’‘ She sits crouched, drinking up in his words. There will be others who will praise her, and far better and longer and more deserved, but this is start, where somebody praised her on their own, because they wanted, and nobody else will get it all right anyways, nobody will call her glorious and greedy and incredible.

‘‘Their potential is tiny, finite. You know, you got some fishes and pebbles, maybe sand and weeds and murky depths, but there is so much more out there. There is hot and cold, and foam and brine, and forests of kelps and schools of so many species, and you have got eternally dark abyss and place where life crawled out of, and sometimes I think I can feel it in myself, the memory of longing, when we all have been just potential among foam and salt. Treasures buried at bottom and power to bring life to world.’‘ She dreams of it, of it being all hers, of snatching up world in her jaws and not eating her, but only so everybody else would know she could and she didn’t and they couldn’t stop her and now they owe her.

‘‘I love more. It is my favourite word, in all languages. Well that and water and power and mine and human. What else?’‘You don’t want fame and fear and glory, you want small cottage and cats and days that slip like water through hands until only thing left of you is weed on threshold, she said once, not in accusation, but wonder, fear. Yes, and I understand that isn’t for you, and I’d rather you leave and go fulfill your dreams, because you don’t need me or anybody to drag you down, and you are going places whether they like it or not in all possibilities.

‘‘ They are small. You can see their borders, their shores. You need place where you can go for months and see nothing but blue and horizon blurring, where land is distant dream and Sun drowns in waves at dusk. You need whole world at flat of your palm and stars tangled in hair.’‘ Would you die of heartbreak, or kill yourself if I went and never came back, she asked through giggle and he answered If you wanted so, but isn’t it better to remain and forever mourn and weep and compose you odes and epics and spread words of your glory, and that will make me happy too.

‘‘You really know what to say to make woman happy and sure.’‘ There is no need for that, for I can’t imagine better man in service, and I already made sure you will go in history because of my whims. I can settle for little less luxury, and he frowned-smiled and said as she sighed They are my family to care for and protect, you don’t need bother, for she couldn’t see why any family-much less one like that- is worth sacrificing your chances to support them, when they could spend that time and resources on yet another scheme, but he wanted quiet and she gave him bombing and he gave her odes and combed her hair, so she could manage seeing him rooted here for sake of sick parents and poor sister.

For now.

‘‘ I am glad you find it nice. But you will get better, so soon.’‘ I have only a trench in Arctic for myself, she said, and he answered For now, you are just starting.

‘‘So you think I am truly fit for sea? That I haven’t made mistake?’‘ Girl said, getting up and putting hand under his, to help him rise. There are no mistakes, truly, just things you can make better, as long as nobody undeserving is harmed, he would say. But she knew that already.

‘‘You? To master the magics and tides of sea? Of all people?  Don’t make me laugh.’‘  He says as he recalls sound of boots hitting pebbles and wonders what will they make for dinner.

‘‘Nah. You are for ocean. Oceans. All of them.’‘ He says, as she smirks.

‘‘Mhhhm.’‘ They would sing her odes later, she thinks, and they will be better and longer and call her beautiful and wise and fearsome, but even gods needed one man to put first stone for altar.

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

BG Sultai Guide

Faction Name: No internal name. Outsiders have yet to agree on whether this faction should be considered a kingdom or a single growing, slithering being. It’s called variously “the Beast,” “Silumgar’s Hold,” “the Rotted Lands,” or simply “the Mire.”

Dragonlord: Silumgar, the Creeping Death, the Great Beast

Dragonlord’s Seat: The Palace Animate, sited in the oldest part of the Rotted Lands and the first region the dragonlord claimed, given the name “Weeping Heart” by the Sultai who watched in confusion at its transformation before it claimed them too. Silumgar’s body rests within the throne chamber on a great couch of jade, surrounded by heaps of treasure overgrown with vines and rot. His mind and will, however, are manifest everywhere within the Rotted Lands, and he is aware of everything that occurs within. Wherever an emissary of the Mire goes, Silumgar’s desires go also.

Brood Magic: Silumgar’s will creeps and corrupts, ensnaring the thoughts until his target realizes too late that their mind is no longer their own. Dragons of Silumgar’s brood have this power of mental contagion and dominance. Their breath weapon is a corrosive mist. They are masters of necromancy, curses, and poisons. The most powerful of the brood can shapeshift. Non-dragons are often imbued with temporary magic to perform various tasks, but their power is severely limited. The rakshasa groups that failed to leave in time are kept under Silumgar’s direct control and allowed to continue practicing their own demonic magic, so long as they do so in firm accordance with their dragonlord’s will.

Faction Species: Primarily human, orc, naga, vampire, and demon. Most rakshasa abandoned the Sultai before they could be subsumed, but Silumgar managed to seize a few weaker clans, Pockets of every species on Tarkir - even dragons of other broods - can be found among those ensnared by Silumgar’s will. Sibsig (zombies) are common. A number of elementals have also arisen within the Rotted Lands.

Faction Structure: The new BG Silumgar are bad news. Trust me, you don’t want to get involved. The corrupt, decadent hierarchy of the Sultai crossed with the swarm nature of the Golgari yields a bizarre half-hivemind half-dictatorship that no one enjoys except the few on top. It’s a bit like the Zerg in that individuals are subservient to a collective mind, but there are levels of control similar to a military hierarchy. Factions exist within the swarm that battle for resources and control; indeed, this competition is encouraged, as it improves the collective survival by culling the weak and forcing evolution. Imagine the ferment and constant decay/growth of a tropical rainforest, the eternal pressure of competing organisms with no concept of morality or restraint. The collective acts like The Thing from the John Carpenter movie: it has no awareness of a difference between living and dead biomass, no understanding or interest in the pre-existing organisms - it sees only resources to be utilized.

Individuals being mentally subsumed into the hive don’t appear changed at first, and even close companions may not notice the infection in their thoughts. Subtle alterations in vocal patterns, sleep habits, and eating habits are the first outward signs. Once the mental contamination has taken hold, the individual voluntarily submits to physical incorporation into the swarm, mediated by the implantation of tendrils similar to vines or roots that grow through the individual’s existing nervous system to allow direct physical control should the collective will deem it necessary to override local thought processes. When swarm individuals interact, these tendrils will emerge from their bodies and join together into a larger network for the swift exchange of nutrients, pheromone signaling, and sensory information. Later stages of incorporation, depending on the needs of the collective, may make it necessary to alter the individual, break it down entirely for parts or resources, or combine it with others to create a tool suitable for the given purpose.

Silumgar grants a select few individuals a degree of physical and mental autonomy in order to preserve useful skills. Those rakshasa who failed to leave the Sultai in time and fell under his influence are allowed physical autonomy and permitted to keep some control of their own minds so they can continue to practice the powerful demonic magic they shared with the Sultai. Wary of that power, Silumgar monitors them directly and does not hesitate to cull any who show the slightest rebellious tendency. The few subsumed dragons of the Mire also retain some level of their original thoughts and skills, but have been imbued with utter loyalty to their new dragonlord.

No member of the collective is permitted a truly individual identity; the only name ever spoken in the Rotted Lands is that of Silumgar.

Faction Goals: Live. Grow. Take. Change. Kill. Eat. Grow. Live.

Faction History: Nothing distinct remains of the Sultai’s culture, history, or most of the population. Palaces and wealthy estates have been abandoned except for the occasional expedition to extract a needed resources. Many of the original settlements remain as twisted echoes of their former selves, farms and fisheries still worked by the remnants of the inhabitants in great drone swarms. Any unnecessary items or information - scrolls or tapestries of history, for instance - were ignored by the collective and have long since crumbled back into the jungle.

Silumgar himself didn’t conquer the Sultai directly. He didn’t need to. He is called the “Creeping Death” for the nature of his own will, which spreads and corrupts those he seeks to control. Newly-born, Silumgar found the riot of growth and decay and violent symbiosis exemplified by the deep jungle greatly to his liking. He selected an area then uninhabited by the Sultai due to its unpleasant climate and tenacious jungle life, and settled himself in the heart of it, fixing his will on seizing it as his territory alone. This patch of rainforest soon began to exhibit unsettling changes: Sultai travelers and scouts reported previously-unseen beings that seemed part plant and part animal, creatures that should have been mortal enemies working together in eerie, silent harmony, and the rapid spread of unknown plant life out from the area. Sultai rulers dismissed these accounts, however, interpreting the odd behavior as some new elemental magic in the region and receiving reassurances from the rakshasa that it certainly posed no threat to them. Soon the travelers and scouts stopped reporting back at all. 

The corruption in the heart of the jungle grew, and whole estates began to disappear into its shadow as Silumgar consumed, killed, created, and grew more and more. Some Sultai, especially those farthest away from the corrupted zone now called Weeping Heart, tried to raise the alarm. But the usual indolence and callousness of the Sultai elite masked the transformation in their thoughts long enough for Silumgar to take hold. By the time anyone thought to take action, the dragonlord already controlled the bulk of Sultai territory and resources, including its combination labor force and army of undead sibsig, and any sparks of true resistance that could not be converted by thought were simply crushed by force. The entire population unlucky enough to be present in Sultai territory at that time ended up dead, subsumed into the collective, or both.

Upon realizing what was happening to him, Tasigur, khan of the Sultai at the time of the takeover, sought out the dragonlord within Weeping Heart and threw himself at Silumgar’s feet. He claimed he would order his people to submit to their new master in exchange for keeping his own mind - which Silumgar granted. Unfortunately, Tasigur forgot to ask for his own body, too. He survives - in a manner of speaking - to this day; he retains full possession of his thoughts and memories, unclouded by the dragonlord’s influence, but his body is quite firmly controlled by Silumgar’s magic and serves as his favorite emissary. For the first hundred years or so it amused the dragonlord to permit Tasigur to keep his own voice as well, and the khan’s screams and insane raving were a common sound in Weeping Heart; but Silumgar eventually grew bored and removed Tasigur’s vocal chords, leaving him mouthing silent nonsense and endless pleas for death even as his body goes about its dragonlord’s errands.

Faction Relations: The Rotted Lands might be the only thing on Tarkir the other factions can all agree on: they’d rather leave it alone. Silumgar’s influence expands as the Rotted Lands grow, and those who cross too close to his territory can’t let themselves linger long for fear that the dragonlord’s whispers will take root in their hearts and lead them to walk into the jungle of their own volition. The Undying Kingdoms chew at its edges with axes and blasts of dry, withering desert heat; the Ojutai slip in to steal threads of knowledge from the collective memory; Atarka’s clans purify what they can and try to save those seized by the tangle; the Glorious Horde swings its blades and calls down the lightning; but all these efforts never matter. The jungle only grows back stronger. The beast endures, and its territory creeps ever outward.

Other Changes: So why venture into the Rotted Lands? Because Silumgar’s territory contains the ruins of immensely wealthy Sultai palaces and pleasure gardens, and his Palace Animate holds the greatest horde of all. Despite only rarely awakening in his own body, the dragonlord seems to enjoy treasure and directs his minions to pile it around his slumbering form in great heaps. Rumors of staggering wealth left to the jungle’s hold entice those with bad judgement and nothing to lose. Most never return, but once in a very great while one of these explorers stumbles back with fistfuls of gold - and unspeakable terror in their eyes.

Faction Mechanic: For the BG Sultai I wanted a mechanic that involved possession and taking control of opponent’s creatures. I’m not sure that would ever work out right since it kinda relies on your opponent playing a certain way, but anyway. The best I came up with was “Possess,” which was an ability on creatures. You paid the Possess cost and sacrificed the creature in order to manifest a card from any graveyard. Manifesting the card instead of putting it into play meant you still had to pay the full CMC to flip the creature up; otherwise it’d be insanely broken.

[musicoccurred]

Pearl Jam -The Home Shows

Who: Pearl Jam Where: The Home Shows, Seattle, WA. When: August 8, 10 2018

I've said this before and it remains true. A Pearl Jam concert is much more than just a show. It's a celebration. A celebration of music, of a long relationship and of course, life. Very few places do I feel absolutely at home but a Pearl Jam show is one of them. Certainly we're all different people but for 3 hours we're one. These Seattle shows reminded me of a pilgrimage, I'm sure there were lots of Seattle folks there but most of the people I chatted with were from other places. For me it was a bucket-list item, to see Pearl Jam in their home city, a city that gave us so much music and so many iconic bands.

These concerts, "The Home Shows," given that name because the tour takes place mainly in MLB stadiums, had a similar feel to PJ20 the 20th anniversary shows in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin in 2011. No, there weren't multiple bands on the bill, but there were multiple activities and certainly a festive vibe. The Seattle Museum of Pop Culture, aka MoPop, had an exhibit dedicated to Pearl Jam opening on the Saturday after the shows but 10c (Ten Club, Pearl Jam's fanclub) members could gain access on Thursday during the day off between shows. London Bridge Studios where Ten was recorded also had Pearl Jam specific tours and legendary concert photographer Danny Clinch had a pop up shop with photos available for autograph and purchase. Did I mention it all took place in Seattle? Not only a great city but a city full of Pearl Jam history, we're talking The Off Ramp, Moore Theater, Benaroya Hall, Showbox, Easy Street Records, the list goes on!

Wednesday, Night 1

It has become popular again for bands to have artists make posters for concerts, particularly individual posters for each show. Pearl Jam is one of the few that's always done this. It is an expensive habit and the posters are treated as currency among 10c members. For these shows there were 5 unique posters all by artists Pearl Jam has used extensively in the past. A point of contention here, at their larger shows, the band has started setting up tents to sell merch throughout the day and even on days before and after the shows. Because they are open to the public, it's safe to say there are people there buying and going straight to eBay. The lines took many hours to navigate, there has to be a better way. How about when a 10c member buys a ticket through the band's website we get a code unique to us that allows us to purchase merch online and have it shipped to our homes? Place whatever quantity limits you want, something needs to change. A highlight of waiting around in the sun all day, I met a cool young man that had traveled from Tokyo to attend his first Pearl Jam show. There were people coming to Seattle from all over the world, this guy was in for a night he won't soon forget.

Several years ago Pearl Jam shows began lasting +- 3 hours. They always played a lot of songs but when this happened they finally shed the opening act. No complaints here. At 8:30 straight up the band took the stage to a loop of "Aye Davanita" from Vitalogy and ease into "Long Road." Now PJ's MO is that they play a quiet track or two then something noisy. Not on this night, Eddie wanted it to be an intimate gathering so "Long Road" led to "Release" followed by "Low Light" and crowd favorite, the singalong "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town." Genius. How do you transition from slow and quiet into something noisy? "Corduroy" that's how. Even though it's a song that PJ play pretty much every show it remains a favorite for me. Its long intro whips the crowd into a frenzy that continued with "Go,"  "Do the Evolution" and the Ramones-esque "Mind Your Manners." Each setlist is crafted by Ed with input from the band to fit the venue, audience and history of the band/city. Probably the most notable moment of the show was when Eddie broke down the meaning of "Evenflow." "Evenflow" is a concert staple, performed pretty much every time they play. In the 90s it was the song people liked when they didn't like PJ. Fast drums and guitars, weird lyrics just a fun rock song. But on this night, after the band had worked hard with politicians and local businesses to raise money and awareness for Seattle's horrible homeless problems Ed opened up a bit. When the band had just formed they spent a lot of time in the Belltown/Pioneer Square areas of Seattle. They befriended another Eddie, this one a homeless African-American Vietnam Veteran with mental health problems. He was known for his wild hair and wearing a tarp like a poncho. When he was mentally present he would tell them about Vietnam and his struggles with returning to civilian life. Other times, he simply wasn't there mentally. His visits greatly affected the band and when they came back from a tour they couldn't find him. Searching all over Seattle they finally found him sleeping on concrete under a viaduct. Returning from a later tour they again couldn't find him and discovered he had passed away. Suddenly "Evenflow" makes perfect sense, Ed held on to that story for 28 years. Other highlights, Ed performed a solo rendition of Jack White's "We're Going to be Friends" in honor of teachers everywhere. During the performance, his daughters danced with their favorite teachers (clad in Mariners jerseys with Vedder on the back) behind him. During the encore Brandi Carlile joined the band for "Again Tonight" a song PJ had covered for a benefit album. I love when other musicians join Pearl Jam on stage and look out at the giant crowd with wide eyes, Brandi ever the badass, threw her head back and screamed into the Seattle sky. They closed the show with "Rockin' in the Free World" and my least favorite live song, "Yellow Ledbetter" the show clocked in at 33 songs over 3 hours.

Thursday, Day Off

I snoozed on the London Bridge Studios tickets so that was out. I was looking forward to roaming around the city and attending the Pearl Jam exhibit at MoPop. Situated near the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project, MoPop is covered in tourists. Lucky for us this was a 10c event only. Jeff Ament is the de facto historian of the band keeping massive amounts of memorabilia in a warehouse. This band kept everything. I mean EVERYTHING. They have the cassettes that Stone/Jeff and Ed mailed back and forth to begin their relationship. Seeing these in person was powerful. Pearl Jam have provided the soundtrack to my life and quite literally if those tapes didn't exist I wouldn't have been standing there all those years later. Favorite moments: seeing the typed and written lyrics and loads of Ed's notebooks, the incredible statue of Andy Wood that Jeff commissioned (more on that here) as well as posters from every show. If you're in Seattle I highly recommend seeing this exhibit.

Friday, Night 2

Again starting at 8:30 PJ opens with three slow burners, "Oceans," "Footsteps" and "Nothingman" before blasting off with "Why Go" and "Brain of J." This was going to be awesome. I love the 2nd PJ shows, all of my needs are met by the first night. Nervousness is gone, just relax and enjoy the show. This show really focused on older material, only two tracks were post 2000. The band were much looser as was the crowd. The singalongs were louder and sharper, I refrained, choosing instead to just absorb the love and energy flying around the stadium. During "I Won't Back Down," a solo tribute to the great Tom Petty, Eddie asked the crowd to turn on their cell phone flashlights so Tom could see. The result was mesmerizing. The band also honored Chris Cornell by performing "Missing," a very rare deep cut. Speaking of Cornell, Kim Thayil joined the band for "Kick Out the Jams" and later joined Steve Turner and Mark Arm of Mudhoney (and Green River!) for "Search and Destroy" and "Sonic Reducer." Favorite moments: the aforementioned songs plus Ed hosing up the intro to "Rearviewmirror" to the point the band had to stop. Ed broke into "Fernando" by Abba saying that's what he was hearing. What can I say, the guy is hilarious. Other notable moments, Mike's solo on "Evenflow" was one of the best I can remember. What a beautiful night. 36 amazing songs over 3.5 hours in the glorious Seattle night.

Setlist Night 1:

Long Road Release Low Light Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town Corduroy Go Do the Evolution Mind Your Manners Throw Your Hatred Down (Neil Young cover) Lightning Bolt Given to Fly All Those Yesterdays Even Flow Help! (The Beatles cover) (snippet) Help Help Black Setting Forth Play Video I Am a Patriot (Little Steven cover) Porch Encore: We're Going to Be Friends (The White Stripes cover) (live debut by PJ) Nothing as It Seems Let Me Sleep Breath Again Today (with Brandi Carlile) State of Love and Trust Rearviewmirror Encore 2: Wasted Reprise Better Man (with “Save It for Later” tag) Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd cover) Alive I've Got a Feeling (The Beatles cover) Rockin' in the Free World (Neil Young cover) Yellow Ledbetter

Setlist Night 2:

Oceans Footsteps Nothingman Why Go Brain of J. Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd cover) Corduroy Rats In Hiding Whipping Even Flow Missing (Chris Cornell cover) (live debut by PJ) Daughter (with "W.M.A" and "It's Ok" tags) Immortality I'm Open Unthought Known Can't Deny Me Do the Evolution Lukin Porch Encore: I Won't Back Down (Tom Petty cover) (EV solo) Thin Air Better Man (with "Save It for Later" by English Beat tag) All or None Crown of Thorns (Mother Love Bone cover) Kick Out the Jams (MC5 cover) (with Kim Thayil) Spin the Black Circle Play Video Rearviewmirror (with "Fernando" (ABBA)… more ) Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams cover) Jeremy Leash Search and Destroy (Iggy and The Stooges cover) (With Kim Thayil, Steve Turner, and Mark Arm) Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover) (With Kim Thayil, Steve Turner, and Mark Arm) Alive Baba O'Riley (The Who cover) Yellow Ledbetter

-JS

[ongly]

Canvas.

The one where Y/N is a painter and shares her kind of art with Shawn.

This one was requested by an anon. It wasn’t a specific request so I took the chance to write it my way. I am sorry if it isn’t what you expected and I am sorry it took me sooooo long to post! I have been a little off lately so I hope you like it and I hope it, somehow, makes up for my lazy ass! I had fun writing this and it’s possibly one of my own favorites by far. I loved this concept. I really hope you enjoy reading and understand everything. I was really inspired so I am a little scared something goes wrong with this one. I didn’t edit it so I apologize for my lazy english. I really, really, really hope you like it. Xxx

 Your eyes were gazing around the crowded room, your shoulders back and your neck so extended you could swear your skin was almost ripping. It shouldn’t be this hard to find your boyfriend in a crowded room for many and various reasons.

“Congratulations, Y/N.” Someone sounded from your side, touching your arm gently.

Your turned your head to the side to see a smiling  couple. You turned yourself to them and thanked them although you had never seen them fatter in your life. They explained they were leaving and you were still clueless why they were excusing themselves. It was the third time, you guessed, that this had happened to you. You watched them leave and took a deep breath before facing the room again. Everyone was smiling at you. The room was filled with strangers. Strangers who appreciated you through splashed canvas, you finally exposed to their argumentative minds.

After several years of hardworking you were finally seeing your art giving life to these white, immaculate walls. You still couldn’t believe you were at your own exhibition. As your turned your body around, your gaze taking in every person’s eye, looking for a tiny critic. They all seemed amazed and you’ve never felt happier. It felt like everyone was inside your mind, wandering around the different corners of your brain, commenting on your imagination and criticizing the evolution of your own self as they took in your world. It was a dream and everyone in that gallery was walking and sitting in it. They were appreciating the elements you stood up for. You instantly wanted to paint what you saw, so that you could share the happiness you couldn’t put into words.

You spot Shawn’s parents from across the room and they give you a small wave. You smile, turning your gaze to the ground when you felt your cheeks heating up. You took your, slightly cooler, fingers and touched the side of your cheek. You looked back up to face them to notice Karen walking towards you. She had the warmest smile. You let out a giggle as she extended her hands, reaching out for yours. She held your hands firmly, playing around with the soft skin of their back as she rubbed her thumbs in circles. She looked at you in adoration.

“I am so proud of you, darling.” She almost whispered, taking a step closer to you. You nodded in disbelief and looked down a little.

“Thank you so much for coming.” You said, looking back up at her. You swore she was tearing up. “It means a lot to have you here, after all you’ve done for me.” You shrugged, trying to explain.

The gallery you were at belonged to one of Karen’s old friend. He happened to be one an art critic, who had bought a few of your paintings. You’ve been trying hard to thank Karen throughout the whole night, but it felt like nothing was enough to thank her that much.

Karen instantly started nodding.

“Yes, yes!” You insisted, trying to explain yourself again. “I owe everything to you.” You leaned in, holding her hands strongly. She kept nodding.

“You made this possible, darling.” She smiled at you. She let go one of your hands, taking hers up to stroke your cheek gently. You tilted your head to the side, leaning against her palm. “Y/N I want you to remember this day, no matter what course your life takes and whenever you feel down. You’ve brought glorious technicolor to our lives and I hope I didn’t take it for granted.” She smiled, taking her hand down to hold your again. You nodded, smiling at her. “I don’t think I did, but we are the ones who owe you everything, for everything you’ve become to Shawn, and to us...” You didn’t let her go further. You got closer to her when she opened her arms to take you in her embrace.

“I will keep this day in my memory as the happiest of them all. Thank you so much.” You quietly said, smiling. You heard her let out a joyful laugh as she rubber her hands around your bareless back. You pulled away and she planted a small peck on your cheek.

“Enjoy the rest of your night, sweetheart.” She smiled and let go of your hands. You thanked her, for what it looked like, the thousandth time and heard her commenting something about losing Manny and you quickly looked around looking for your man as well, momentarily forgetting why you had walked into that room again.

You took a few steps soon to be held by two strong arms, wrapping around your waist, making your body turn. You faced Shawn and smiled, your hands on his shoulders, sliding up to rest on the back of his neck. He leaned in, still swaying both of your bodies from the sudden impact. You giggled as he pouted, leaning down to plant a warm kiss on your lips.

You rushed your fingers through his hair and breathed in his scent, before pulling back to look at him. He was wearing his famous rosy cheeks and the biggest smile.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” You whined, dropping your hands to his arms, holding each of his forearms as he pulled you closer to him. One of his hand was marking a warm spot on your back and the other met the ends of your dress, near your bum.

“I was bragging about my girlfriend and her art to a few friends.” He smiled. You let out a giggle.

You looked up at his smile. You could tell he was purely happy which only filled your heart with more love. There were no words to describe what he meat to you. No possible sentence construction that had, grammatically corrected, enough adjectives to characterize what you saw in him, within the rush of feelings and emotions he sent to you. No other way than to show him.

“I want to show you something.” Your voice came in a breath, loud enough for him to listen though.

He nodded and you wrapped your arm around your own waist, reaching out for his hand, behind your back, holding it and intertwining your fingers with his, walking out of that room as he followed, holding your hand back.

You walked around the gallery, shooting smiles at every person that approached you, congratulating you on your work. Shawn would proudly respond himself and you could swear he was drooling whenever he spoke. You hoped it didn’t come out impolite of you, but you rushed out of those little chats, pulling Shawn with you.

You took him to the stairs, leading the way as you took every step slowly, your high heels already torturing you and your feet pleading for help.

“You know where you’re going, right?” You heard Shawn. You stopped when you reached the first floor and looked down at him.

You smiled at him and he wrapped one arm around your waist when he reached the top of the stairs as well. You walked into room, three people passing by the two of  you, smiling and exiting that room.

The room was empty in that moment. You walked to the middle of the room, feeling Shawn’s arm drop once he faced the painting.

“I wanted this one to be a bit more private.” You stated, your voice echoing in the empty room. You walked towards the painting, taking a good look at one of your latest and hardest works.

Not everyone knew about this one. You had, purposely, talked to the owner of the gallery to have this painting in a specific room. Once he saw it, he totally agreed.

You took a few steps to the side, looking over your shoulders to see Shawn’s lips parted, eyes wide as he observed his own painting. You smiled and looked back at the painting. You had had this image in your mind since you first saw him live in an arena, a few days after you two celebrated your first year together. You took in every inch of the painting. You used many different colors, not wanting it to be just another portrait. You wanted it to be special. To have a little of yourself in it, so you gave everything you had in yourself, using the colors and adding some texture, so that whenever you looked at it, you could feel like you were there again. Your best memory, until that day, which you had the possibility of sharing with Shawn again.

You took a deep breath, standing on the side of the painting, intertwining your fingers as you joined your hands together, nervously. Shawn was speechless.

He measured every inch of that painting, memorizing every color and every line and counter, like he was, for the first time, seeing what he looked like from  your point of view. He was actually breathless. His eyes traveled around the painting, stopping at a small paper, hanging beside it. He read his own name in the cation and he still couldn’t believe it as he read:

‘Forgive me if what has seemed little to you, to me is all. To Shawn, who wasn’t born yet, and who’s presence tarried to take its notice in my life.’

“You know..” You started, your voice cracked. You cleared your throat. You felt Shawn’s gaze on you and then switching to the painting in front of him quickly, over and over again. You took a deep breath and locked your eyes on the painting again. “You know that feeling of hope to find the right person for your life?” You looked at him for a second, his mouth was slight slightly opened. You turned back to the painting and smiled a little. “I’ve always felt it.  I’ve always felt hopeful to find that person and when you came into my life it was simply unbelievable, because you are everything I’ve always wanted, everything I’ve always asked for.” You nodded, looking down, trying to explain what got you to paint him this way. You looked up to the painting again, admiring it, trying your best to put it into words “This charming, humble boy, with an extraordinary smile. You always seem to amaze me, you know?” You looked at Shawn now. He didn’t take his eyes off the painting but you knew he was listening to you attentively as you spoke. Your eyes followed his moves. He extended one of his arms and let his fingertips slide down the painting, feeling it. “That thing you have of becoming even more beautiful, out of nowhere. Whenever you bowed your head stepping away from the microphone, playing the guitar and then looked through the crowd, your eyes always ending up on landing on me, and you just stood there, playing the guitar and looking at me and I couldn’t help but smile because I would stand there, statically looking at you, and you would just mouth me that stupidly cute ‘what’ and I’d just smile, thinking to myself: ‘what an amazing man I have.’” Your voice cracked in the end. You cleared your throat once more.

Shawn let his hand fall on his side again and turned to you. He still didn’t say a word, and you didn’t let him as you continued to explain yourself.

“And when... when just waking up to your phone calls or text messages is simply the best thing. Your simple aptness of doing it always amazed me. It always had me desiring you more and more.” You nodded and he took a few steps closer to you, a smile starting to form on his lips. You shrugged. “And everything I’ve always wanted was to whisper in your ear for you to hold my hand and never let go. Because I’m going to take care of you in every second.”

Shawn reached out for your hand and you could feel the sparkle growing as he wrapped his fingers around yours. You looked up at him as he smiled. He nodded in disbelief.

“I am so proud of you, you have no idea.” His voice was soft.

You smiled, letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. You looked down, feeling the heat on your cheeks grow. You saw Shawn’s hand letting go of yours, taking it to place it against your cheek sweetly. He rubbed his thumb against it, softly forcing you to look back at him. You parted your lips once you took his appearance.

“Hey..” You whispered, taking a step closer to him. “You’re crying.” You whined. throwing your arms around his neck, his hand dropping from your cheek as he placed it on your waist, holding you close to him. “Baby..” You were worried now. “I didn’t mean i...” He quickly cut you off, nodding.

“No.. I know honey, it’s totally not that. I’ve...” He stuttered, trying to explain himself. “I just feel so sad that you are so clueless of how much love I feel for you. I wish I could put it out there, just like you did.” He whispered. You looked at him, taking one hand closer to his face, your thumb running along his cheek, drying a tear that had escaped his eye. You let out a chuckle and looked up at him as he said: “But there’s no kind of art that would overlap the way you look in my arms. You’re the most beautiful work of art of them all and I hope I don’t take you for granted, ever.” You smiled, your eyes sparkling as you took his appearance, the one you talked about earlier. Your famous bright smiled. That right there was his next hit single.

I promise I’ll edit it later to make it better

[hunterbahamut]

Part 1 - Part 2 -  Part 3

Here is Part 4 to ‘Back In Action’!

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, will the team survive their first mission back?

Hope you enjoy!

----

The tension was thick as the team moved down the hall, each one watching and listening for any sign of the three after them, nearly jumping at every creak and bang that echoed through the halls.

Phineas cursed quietly as he pointed his arm cannon down around every corner. "This would be a little better if we had some idea of where we were going or where we could get out."

"It's not that easy to figure out."  Tero said, sounding more annoyed that concerned.  "The information you downloaded isn't exactly complete, and the interference is making it harder to fill in the blanks."  Tero looked over the base schematics as he tried to keep a track of them.  "What I can tell you is that the power readings are steadily increasing the further you go in."

"Which means we could be walking right into the lion's den." Zech said, gulping nervously.

"Yeah, but if we find the evil lab, we might also be able to find something that will help us stop them." Sparks said, still sounding rather optimistic.  

"I hope you're right..." Phineas said, not so optimistically.

The twisted hallway echoed menacingly with creaking metal and the occasional banging, making it difficult to tell if something was stalking the team or not.  Eventually, they could see some light down the hall, though it did little to help ease their worries.  The four approached with caution, stepping to either side of the door way before went in, weapons drawn and looking out for anything.

The room they entered was as they had feared, maybe even a little worse.  It looked like a combination of a laboratory and a factory: there were many tables with both broken and working computers sitting on them, vials and beakers filled with unknown chemicals and liquids of varying colors and storage bags with similar liquids or even blood. There was an operating table that was coated in grime with hanging mechanical arms arms above it, each with various tools pointing right at it. A massive collection of mechanical parts and limbs were strewn all around and specimen jars of varying sizes, most were empty but many were some storing something inside.  At the back of the room were what seemed to be several pods or tanks, though there was only one that was closed.

"And I thought Tero's lab was bad..."  Zech said, unable to hide the trembling in his voice.

A dark, partially synthesized voice suddenly spoke up, echoing in the room.  "Ah, so you've finally made it." 

The team jumped and searched around the room, poised and aiming weapons, until the Gorm himself made an appearance, his intense, glowing eyes peering out from block sockets at them.  "Team Prototype."

"Doctor Viktor, I presume." Sparks said they had an intense stare down.

"I do not see 02 with you." He said, speaking in a very cold and sterile tone. "Though he is still on that ship of yours, yes?"  He seemed to grin, which only seemed the more terrifying with the metal on his face. "I vill get to see him soon enough.  In the meantime, I am pleased to have you here, you are all quite the specimen!"

"You're experiments stop here and now!" Sparks shouted, "You're gonna pay for what you did to them!"

"Vhat I have done was improve them!"  The Gorm actually sounded triumphant in that.  "I am bringing forth glorious evolution!  Ve are already on the brink of it, I am merely ushering it in despite of those who vould stop me."

"If this is your idea, the count me out!" Zech twitched his ears as he looked around nervously, "We're being stalled, guys..."

"It has already begun!"  Viktor laughed and he moved over to one of the pods. Before anyone could act, there was a loud crashing behind them.  They turned to see that the three others arriving and blocking off their exit.  They didn't attack just yet, just stood there, watching.

Viktor opened the pod and a rush of smoke and steam came pouring out before a smaller form emerged. It was the the Aqualine, the last one of the missing team, her body also heavily altered like the others.  Massive pieces of tech were on her arms with massive tubes jutting out of them and to some kind of pack on her back.  Part of her face was covered and one eye and her center eye was replaced with a large scanner multi-lens scanner.

"I offer you a chance to join villingly," Viktor said with a smirk, "but you ultimately don't have a choice in the matter.  You will submit to my designs."

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks." Phineas said, starting to charge up his cannon.

Viktor simply laughed before he spoke them. "Deal with these inferior constructs."

The four augments seemed to jerk as if they were coming back to life, all eyes on the team. The first to move was the Aqualine and she raised her arms up and then sent out a blast of ice out, shards flying out towards the team.  They all had to move out of the way as the heavy shards slammed into the metal flooring and computers around them. This separated the team so the other three moved in to attack them one at a time, the Narth headed for Nix, the Razorwing for Sparks and the Needlix for Phin, each one forcing the others into different areas of the lab.  

Zech was scared, he saw the others get attacked by each of the others; which was bad considering that they couldn't do much t them when it was two against one, but then there was the Aqualine who seemed to be acting as artillery.  He jumped up and tried to get close to her, but she was already starting to attack, sending out shots and waves of ice at the others.  "Guys!  Look out!"  He had to try and help out and he fired off his own blasts to shatter the ice, jumping around to try and cover the others.

Nix was doing well with dodging the attacks from the Narth, moving smoothly and avoiding any of his grabs or slashes, but that was all she was able to do for now.  The Narth was fast and relentless, his claws dinging into metal and pulling hunks out to try and throw at her.   Nix's feathers changed color and she was already bringing out the fire, swinging her arms out to fire off slashes at the incoming metal projectiles and smashing them apart as she moved in. It didn't take her long though to go on the offensive now.

Sparks was having a difficult time with the Razorwing; even though he wasn't launching his mace ball out as much, he was still making him dodge around as he charged for him, slamming his feet and mace are down.  Sparks fired off several blasts at him, but they didn't seem to phase him at all, just smacking against his body with barely a flinch.  "Daaaaammit..." Sparks said, ducking behind the table as he tried to think. "I -really- don't want to hurt you too much, buddy!" 

Phineas was having the worst of it though. The Needlix charged at him, forcing him to dodge around as best as he could, but he was starting to show his tiredness with some of the sloppy movements and bad aim.  When she made another pass, he tried to take several shots at her, but most only ended up hitting the walls or some of the surrounding environment.  "Son...of a... HOLD STILL DAMMIT!"  He wasn't pulling his punches like some of the others, but even when he did manage to connect a shot, it just deflected off of the crude armor.

The fight was not in the teams favor, each one was barley having any effect against their opponents, and the Aqualine was making things all the much harder.  She kept sends out blasts of ice and freezing blasts.  Zech was doing his best running interference; jumping around to try and blast the ice shards out, or bringing up an energy barrier to block against the attacks, but it was starting to wear him down now as well.

Tero suddenly spoke up on his comms. "I need a computer access."

"What?!"  Zech asked, panting a bit as he fired off a blast at the Aqualine, ice spray flying out over everything. "Tero, I really can't-!"

"I have a way to stop them." He finally said, sounding more irritated. "If you want to get out if this mess in one piece, you will need to find a computer and link to it.  Now."

Zech let out a grumble, but they needed something to change and fast.  He ducked down behind a desk and frantically looked around.  So many of the computers here looked wrecked, or were being wrecked in the battle, but he finally did spot one.  He gulped, afraid of leaving the others like this, but he got up and made a dash for it.  He jumped and teleported, pulling out his computer and hooked it in. "Okay!  Here!"

Tero was silent for a moment before he sounded satisfied. "This will do.  Stand-by."

Zech twitched nervously and he looked back, "I hope you make his fast, I don't know if-"

The Aqualine was keeping up her attacks despite all of this and she ended up launching a blast of freezing ice out.  This time, Zech wasn't close enough to provide support, so it basted out and struck Phineas while his back was turned. He let out a painful yell as his back was covered in frost. He lurched forward and jerked, but his legs were now frozen to the floor. "DAMMIT!  MY LEGS!"  He twisted and turned, trying to break free while the Needlix was starting to rev up, turning around towards him.

The cry caught the attention of the others, but that only opened themselves up now as well.   Nix turned to try and find Phin, but the Narth's mechanical arms shot out and grabbed hold of her, yanking her up off the ground as he rose his other arms up, baring his claws. Sparks had done the same, turning around just as the Razorwing launched his mace towards him.  Sparks was able react and ducked behind a table, but the mace crashed into it and him, sending him against the wall and pinned up against it.

Zech froze as he gasped. "GUYS!"  He quickly sprung forward, running over to Phineas, pulling his arm back and firing off a larger blast at the Needlix.  She was ready to deflect the blast, but the shot was aimed low, so it crashed against both the ground and her legs, causing the metal deck underneath to blow and knocking her over.  There was a loud crunching and squealing of metal and gears as she scrambled to get back up, the wheeled getting stuck and jammed in the twisted metal.

It was time to go on the offensive, and Nix was more than ready to take the gloves off, so to speak, exposing her metal talons.  She kicked and slashed, the sharp talons finding purchase in the Narth's mechanical arms and managing to sever one of them, which dropped her back down. She didn't let up, as soon as she was on her feet, she moved forward.  The Narth didn't seem t be affected by the loss of his limbs, but his effectiveness was limited.  She sent several more kicked into his torso, knocking him backwards before she slashed at his legs, digging into them and causing enough damage to knock him down to the ground.

The Razorwing started to stomp closer to the pinned Sparks, his laser eye dropping down and focusing on him.  Sparks gulped as he looked up.  "Okay...I really didn't want to do this...!"  He wiggled around and he managed to get a hand free, throwing it out and firing off a blast of electricity into the Razorwing.  The bast struck him with enough power that he started to shake and convulse.  The energy tether deactivated, letting the ball drop, freeing Sparks from the wall and he stumbled as he got to his feet.  "You guys...take a lot..."

"Good, good!"  Viktor laughed as he stood back and watched the whole fight.  "It is better than I vould have hoped!  Vhile these ones vere not fighters, it shows how much stronger they are against ones such as you!  Imagine how much more powerful you vill be once you relinquish the flesh!  Steel will fix all of your flaws!"

"Someone -please- shut him up!" Phin said through clenched teeth.

Viktor raised his arms up. "Now seize them, my constructs! Let us bring them in to our fold!"

The team thought they had the upper hand but, to their shock, the three they had just taken out seemed to jerk and climb back up to their fight, each one damaged and struggling, but still back up.

"Geez, how much more are they gonna take?" Sparks asked, stepping back.

"I don't think we have a choice anymore." Nix said, poised and ready to strike.  "We're going to need to take them out completely!"

That's when Tero spoke up. "There.  That should do it."

The four augments suddenly seemed to stop, almost like they were deactivated, slumping a bit and just standing there for a moment.

"What the...?"  Zech asked, watching as they seemed to move again. This time though, their movements seemed strained rather than mechanical.  They watched them and, for the first time, there seemed to be some signs of life in their faces.

This caught Viktor's attention. "Vhat?  Vhat is this?" The only reply anyone got was a terrified, blood-curdling scream coming from the Aqualine.  Suddenly there was a massive blast of cold, striking the Gorm from behind and coating him in ice, knocking him down to his knees.

"What the hell?!"  Zech gasped out, watching as the augments all seemed to move, but instead of advancing on them, they were moving towards Viktor.

"I located and disabled the doctor's programming." Tero explained, "Their enhancements and programming are based on my own, so I was able to find what was controlling them and deactivate it.  I suppose the doctor will see just how grand his creations are now."

The team actually feared the worst for the others and they all stepped closer as the four all seemed to surround the fallen Gorm.  “Whoa, hold up!” Spark shouted out to them and he and the others moved closer. Thankfully, they didn't seem to do anything more than just incapacitate him; Viktor laid on the floor, some parts of his own robotic body was torn off, leaving him ragged but he was alive.

"Geez..."  Sparks said as they looked at the scene, but then he and the others realized that they were being watched.  The four augments all looked at the team, their looks sending chills through them: concern, confusion, worry, terror...

Sparks took in a breath before he spoke up next. "Don't worry guys, we're here to get you out and back home."

[thesevenseraphs]

Bungie Weekly Update - 7/20/17

This week at Bungie, we’re putting you to the Test.

The Destiny 2 Beta is live. Two waves of Early Access players have rushed to the aid of a city under attack. The opening moments saw some Termites, but the pest control game of the Destiny Operations Center was on point. Tragically, we can’t say the same for the Guardians who were the first to confront the Red Legion…

It’s been an exciting week! A Beta is a rare opportunity for you to serve as a volunteer on our development team. As a product of the Bungie Community, I can remember the rush of breaking new ground in a work in progress – that sense that my footsteps in a new world were the very first to appear in that soil. During my time at Bungie, I’ve been on hand for several red letter days when a thundering herd of players storm into something brand new. I might be biased as a community guy, but there is no match for that excitement.

We’re learning a lot about what Destiny 2 will be at launch. If you’ve fired a shot in anger at the Red Legion, you’re helping us make a better game. Be sure to tell your friends we said so when they ask you where you got that Emblem.

Don’t take it from me, alone. Producer Jared Berbach has been working with the team that delivered the Beta to your console. Here’s what he had to say about it…

Jared: The Beta has been amazingly helpful for our development team. The analogy I always give is that the Beta is the plow on the front of the train that blasts all the snow off the tracks to clear our path. We had many updates to the original, but Destiny 2 is a brand new game using brand new technology in order to deliver an awesome experience. This new technology needs a lot of testing. This testing ultimately helps us validate that our new server model is working as we thought it would, and at the quality and scale we had hoped. It helps us evaluate our new tech advancements, including enhancements you’ll understand more fully when you play the full game. Ultimately, it paves the way for us to have a much smoother launch.

When Guardians finish a mission in Destiny, the takeaways are (1) sweet loot and (2) feedback about the moments of action that define the game. At Bungie, we have an enthusiastic ear for what you say about your experiences in the wild. The Destiny 2 Beta has been a great opportunity to listen. The test is far from over, but Beta Design Lead Rob Engeln has some acknowledgments to share mid-stream.

Rob: Aside from testing our processes and services, the Beta is also an opportunity for us to collect feedback and data to help us close out the final tuning for the game. We’re watching and playing with you. Thank you for sharing your experiences and helping make the launch version of Destiny 2 that much better. The PVE game tuning has changed pretty significantly since the Beta build was deployed. The nature of a Beta of this scale requires that it’s based off a build of the game that is now months old. So, in many cases, your feedback is helping us validate changes that were previously made based on internal feedback and playtesting. For example, we too felt that ammo (especially power ammo) was too scarce in PvE. In addition to retuning the drop rates, we built a system that guarantees power ammo drops for you and your Fireteam from certain enemies, giving power weapons a more reliable and predictable role in your arsenal. Other areas where we’ve made significant tuning changes include grenade effectiveness in PvE, Boss vitality, and weapon damage against non-player combatants.

There will come a time to share the full suite of statistics and the analysis. What did we learn? How many Guardians shared a bubble with Zavala? Time will tell. This grand experiment is ongoing, and we're tracking every data-point and forum thread. Tomorrow, we open the experience to anyone holding a controller connected to a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox One. On Sunday, we’ll open The Farm for one hour to see how players come together in the new social hub for Destiny 2.

We hope you’ll join us. There is a certain equity in “I was there before the game even shipped.” We thank you for being one of those people.

Game on!

The Rhythm of the Algorithm

BETA SPOILER ALERT: Once Ghaul kicks you off the stern of his attack ship, you’ll be invited to enter the new arena. The Destiny 2 Beta provides a preview for how competitive multiplayer is evolving alongside the rest of the game. Whenever Guardians meet in glorious combat, there are questions about how they were selected as opponents. Crucible Design Lead Lars Bakken has some answers for how you’ll meet each other in the heat of battle.

Lars: Hello everyone!

Lars from the Crucible Team here, aka: Thug Larz on the Internetz. We really hope you’re enjoying the Beta. Even though it’s just a taste of the full game, we believe it delivers a good preview of what you’ll experience this fall. As you play your first matches in the Destiny 2 Crucible, you’re probably wondering about how Matchmaking will work. Before we dive into the details, allow me to share our core design principles for the Crucible in Destiny 2:

Provide a great experience for players who enjoy competitive PvP activities

Ensure that players who enjoy PvP have fair and fun matches

We’re designing the Crucible for people who live for that competitive fire that wells up in their soul every time they are challenged. That’s important to us. So, what’s new for Matchmaking in Destiny 2? The obvious PvP evolutions are the 4v4 format and the two consolidated playlists. We hope these changes have a good impact on game quality. Destiny 2 Crucible Matchmaking places a greater emphasis on connection quality, but make no mistake: Skill is still a big component in finding worthy opponents for you to fight. When all these systems are singing in unison, it should help us reach our ultimate goal: To give all players, regardless of their skill, the best possible experience. While the new Quickplay and Competitive modes are designed to serve different moods, they are using the same MM settings in the Beta. We’ll be able to tune these separately post-Beta, and your playtesting will help us going forward. For those of you who are wondering, we bucket you separately depending on the playlist, so your Quickplay skill is tracked separately from your Competitive skill. TL;DR: We’re always trying to make sure your connection is solid, while also making sure we give you as fair a match as possible. Thanks again for helping us Beta test the game. We’ll see you starside.

We’re tracking all Destiny 2 Beta #Feedback on the forum. What do you think? Destiny has always been an experience that adapts to your best behaviors behind the gun. This is the first conversation we’ll have about Destiny 2 Crucible Matchmaking, but it will not be the last!

Pest Control

Destiny Player Support has orders to keep watch over the virtual ecosystem where you play. When pesky critters ruin your fun, they run them down. You’re always welcome to follow the running dialogue about the hunt. This is their report.

July 21: Destiny 2 Open Beta begins 

Players who have yet to pre-order will be granted access to the Destiny 2 Beta on July 21 at 10 AM Pacific through the PlayStation Store or Xbox Store. Destiny Player Support is currently tracking the following issues. 

Player reports of error code TERMITE when first attempting to sign in to the Destiny 2 Beta

Player reports of error code WEASEL occurring when inspecting weapons, armor, ships, or completing activities

Players reports of error code OLIVE occurring when attempting to complete the campaign mission Homecoming, or attempting to sign-in

Player reports of error code MOOSE occurring when entering new areas within activity spaces

Player reports of PlayStation error code CE-34878-0 appearing during gameplay until changing platform language settings

Infinite Super Abilities in the Strike activity

Infinite Ammo granted through various gear and subclass perk synergy

We have disabled in-game Clan invitations for the remainder of the Destiny 2 Beta, as functionality was leading to an increase in error code WEASEL. The cause of this issue has been forwarded to the appropriate team for investigation. Destiny 2 Beta Clan Issues do not impact Clan features on Bungie.net or within Destiny 1. While we are able to reduce the occurrence of some error codes impacting gameplay, other issues revealed during the Beta may not be addressed prior to the ending of Beta on July 23, 2017. To confirm additional known issues, please see help.bungie.net/beta. As we investigate and troubleshoot these issues, stay tuned to @BungieHelp for service status and updates

Reporting an Issue to the #Help forum

If you encounter any issues during the Destiny 2 Beta, please post a report to the #Help forum with the following information:

PlayStation Network ID or Xbox Live Gamertag

Time in which issue occurred

Activity in which issue occurred

Description of what happened

While players may not receive a response, issues will be forwarded to the appropriate teams for investigation.

[raendown]

Naruto Tag

It took me a couple days to get around to this, sorry! I was tagged by @moonfox22​ and @dimancheetoile​. Thanks guys!

Top 5 characters

1. Kakashi 2. Tobirama 3. Minato 4. Sakura 5. Obito

A character you’ve been disappointed in their development and why

This might be unpopular but Iruka. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my sweet little sensei. But I really don’t like the way he was portrayed in Road to Ninja or the wedding arc at the end of the anime. At the beginning of the show he is built up to be this kind man who learns to understand Naruto and care for him despite the demon fox inside the boy. I took from those things that he was the kind of person who was willing to listen to your problems.

But in Road to Ninja he just flat out yells at Naruto for being sad that his father is dead? He doesn’t even listen to Naruto or try to talk to him about these feelings? Like, yeah at the end of the movie they have that cute scene where Iruka shows up with a cake and that’s nice and all. But I don’t agree with the way they portrayed that conversation at the ramen stand.

Same thing with the very last episode of the anime. Naruto comes over to visit him before his wedding and Iruka screams at him for neglecting her? And he says something like “there are things I failed to teach you about being a human” as if Naruto is doing something wrong just by visiting someone that is supposed to be precious to him? They’re supposed to view each other as brothers, what is supposed to be wrong with Naruto visiting him?

I dunno, it just bothered me that they seem to jump Iruka’s personality around from caring to careless whenever they need a convenient plot disturbance.

A character you wish had more panel/screen time

I wish we could have seen Ino actually doing something. We saw her flitting about Konoha and she appeared in some battles but usually did very little. I would have loved to see some of her actually being the bad ass I know she can be. I wanted to see her working in the Intelligence division like her father before her or destroying minds with her jutsu.

Favourite arc

Kakashi Gaiden. The whole thing. Hands down. Not only was the story line centered entirely around my ultimate fav, but it was a good story line. It showed Kakashi growing and changing, learning new things and letting that new knowledge change him as a person. We got to see the cold cruel beginning but also the moments of mercy and the proof that his humanity was still there. Knowing what he went through when he was younger changed everything about how I watched his older self interact with the people and events around him.

Favourite antagonist and why

I think a toss-up between Pein and Kisame. Neither of them were inherently evil but they were pushed towards evil acts by their disillusionment with the world around them. Pein as Nagato was such a little cinnamon roll who just wanted to make the world a better place and protect his friends. Then when he lost the most important person in his world he thought “fuck you I will force the world to be better”. Kisame was similar; he was just trying to do what he was told and be an obedient shinobi. When he questioned how actually fucked up the things he was asked to do were, he was punished for it. He joined the Akatsuki because they were trying to build a perfect world and, being really disillusioned with reality, he was happy to help with that plan. Not to mention - and yes I am this petty - Kisame is kinda hot!

Thoughts on Akatsuki and its evolution in the plot

The characters were very different from each other and very interesting. I liked the strange thing they had going on where they were fighting for world peace by murdering everyone. xD It was just kind of unique to me that their end goal was the perfect world that would make everyone happy, but of course they’re ruthless and willing to make sacrifices to achieve that goal.

By the end though I was more in to the individual characters than the Akatsuki as a whole because the organization got weird and messy and not written very well plot-wise. I wish we had more arcs on those characters, where they came from and what they had gone through while in this organization.

Choose a fixed point in the manga, alter it and give me your canon divergence

Instead of just leaving Obito’s body behind, Minato and his two surviving students wait for the earthquake to settle then go about retrieving their fallen friend. Oh, hey, surprise! Obito isn’t dead! They bring him back to the Leaf and he receives mass amounts of healing. They are able to save his organs but his arm and leg are fitted for prosthetics. Kakashi keeps the eye. They train together and become the single most terrifying duo you will ever face on any battlefield ever. Maybe fall in love along the way *winkwink*. Madara might find someone else to try and help with his plans but they fail as soon as they try and all of my precious babies live happily ever after. U.U

A canon ship that didn’t disappoint (hard, I know)

Can I use a FRIENDship instead of a relationship? Does that count? Because Kakashi and Gai are BroTP forever. These two idiots have literally never let each other down. They will fight for each other and believe in each other until they have both dragged in their dying breath.

Favourite rare pair/crack ship

Fav crack pairing will always be MadaKaka xD

A piece of fanart you love and wish to promote the artist

Uhhhh everything that anyone has ever drawn for me? 

@syndellwins has done so many pieces for me and they are all wonderful. Hard to choose between them but I think this one of one of my KakaHana sequels might still be my fav.

@mrsvasiliev has gifted me the world’s best Kaka-butt more than once, starting with this glorious piece, also of one of my KakaHana soulmate au’s. 

@thetoxicstrawberry knows exactly what she’s done. Of the ones on tumblr I would have to say my fav from her art is Madara in gotdamn footie pajamas! Drawn for a small MadaKaka piece written by me. 

And most recently but certainly not least @redhothollyberries has created some beautiful art for the MadaTobi sequel I am almost half done. I might still be drooling on this. *shhhh*

You are all incredible and amazing people! I bow to your talents!

Top 5 Naruto fanfictions you even read

Hnnngggg uhm there are way too many. I’m just going to list the first ones that I can think of.

(Force) Trick or Treat by  Hiruma_Musouka Pairing: MadaraTobirama Summary: Uchiha Tajima has developed a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding his sons' social lives since Madara and Izuna met the Senju family. This is because whenever Izuna tells him things, he generally regrets asking. (Or: The only thing more ridiculous than Uchiha and Senju in proximity to one another are Uchiha and Senju in proximity to Halloween parties.) "

As Is The Sea Marvelous by blackkat Pairing: MadaraTobirama Summary: Tobirama is willing to give absolutely anything for Hashirama and his dream.

Your Most Important Person by Yunyu Pairing: KakashiSakura Summary: Some people got their soulmarks on their arms or faces or some other place that was more difficult to hide. He remembered how Minato-sensei’s hair would sometimes be lifted by the wind enough to reveal “Uzumaki Kushina dattebane!” written boldly across the back of his neck in crimson. His teacher had sometimes laughed in his gentle way about it, saying that fate was determined to make things easy for him.

The Nature Of Water Is To Find Another Path by Aesolucian Pairing: TobiramaIzuna Summary: This is a story about how a cat drastically changed the course of history. This is a story about trying not to be human. This is a story about Senju Tobirama and his family.

The Bijozakura Seal by megyal Pairing: KakashiIruka Summary: Kakashi and Iruka are bonded together, entirely against their wishes. While Iruka begins to deal with it, Kakashi still has... doubts.

The More We Get Together by KakashiSauce Pairing: KakashiTenzou Summary: Tenzou has been accepted into ANBU and is looking forward to his new life, with what he hopes will be his new friends. His vision of a harmonious team dynamic is shattered when his captain is introduced to him; and makes it quite clear from the start that he is NOT going to make things easy for Tenzou. The more we get together, the happier we'll be.

Okay I did six, so sue me. There are so many favs and I wanted to put them all in.

What is your opinion on the last arc, Kaguya and the whole “children of the Sage, destined to fight, blablabla”

*sigh*

That’s it. That’s the whole opinion.

Your fondest memory while reading/watching Naruto

Uhhhhh…I don’t know. Every time one of the main characters accomplishes something I’m just bawling like a proud mama.

When you started Naruto, what was the arc? What made you want to read/watch more?

The very first episode just had me, you know? xD This little boy who no one liked and was always mean to found out why and found a person to love him. The anger on his face when he told Mizuki to never lay a hand on his sensei again was just *clutches heart* sign me up for more.

If Kishimoto gave you a chance to write a filler, what would it be about?

The adults! I would see what Minato got up to during his childhood or maybe an episode about Sakumo and Kakashi’s mom. If not them then possibly Genma and Raidou? I just want to know everything about everyone, okay???

I’m not tagging anyone because I am super late with this and I don’t know who all has done it. If you haven’t done it yet feel free to and tag me so I can read your responses!

[jenifarmalik93-blog]

Love spells the same for the LGBTs

“And that day    I realised

she is the one! She seemed extraordinary, then more beautiful like a butterfly    lurking over the purple orchid    of love. I could not    take my eyes off her. Her smile    was contagious, hairs glossy and    light, skin soft as    feather. But then I saw her beaded eyes, asking    me enormous questions of solace.    I could clearly see her distress, her agony, that’s    when she uttered,    “Will the society accept us?”

We are not normal    for the society that has biased relationships    into genders of opposite. A girl loving a girl will    never go    down well with the society.”

This at all for this has may be a    fiction, but  isn’t untrue happened to many couples belonging to the LGBT    group. Many love stories have remained    unspoken; many shattered, while the ones    which came out of    closet were shunned by    the so-called normal people. Love    has no boundaries, no sex,

               no religion, but just feeling of trust and companionship. LGBT isn’t a new thing; history has proofs of such relationships since the evolution of modern man. Even in India there are stories of transgender and eunuchs performing for kings in royal palaces. Even their blessing used to mean a direct dialect from deity. And yet, today, they have to hide themselves in the darkness of social obligations? Nevertheless, there are a few who still manage to come out and fight for love, trying to prove that their lives are not much different than ours. Falling in love has always been tingly; butterflies in the stomach with constant smile on the face. I met a few such love birds belonging to the LGBT community.

Diksha, a student of Mass Communication in Guwahati, with a bisexual orientation, shared her whimsical love stories. Her typical middle class family lives a sober life, managing within the limits of the society. It was during her Higher Secondary that she fell in love for the

first time with a guy. She stayed in the hostel with her roommate, Jaan, who eventually became her best friend. Slowly, Diksha and her boyfriend began to drift apart due to different circumstances. While she drifted from her boyfriend, Diksha came closer to Jaan. She realized they were turning more than ‘just friends’. That was the time Diksha came out of the closet and got to know her real identity. They enjoyed each other’s company. Diksha never felt so much wanted and loved before. The type of understanding and emotional attachment they shared was impeccable and fluttering. Diksha broke up with her boyfriend and started a new journey with her roomie. Unfortunately, they couldn’t walk much further together because of the latent societal threatening and discriminations. Jaan was apprehensive that if her sexual orientation came out in public, her parents would be devastated. With teary eyes, she bid adieu to their tender first love. 

After joining a reputed institute in Guwahati for a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication, Diksha spent most of her time in depression of losing her love, which she’d once thought, would last till eternity. But her new friends helped her to come out of the trauma a bit. And recently, she discovered love again in her college in a junior student, Nisha. She made her feel loved again, wanted again, adored again. They shared intense intimacy, both physical and emotional. The whole college knew about them. Nisha too was bisexual; they had a healthy relationship until they got separated due to some uncertain reasons. Diksha never hesitated to flaunt her girlfriend. Even in her college farewell speech, she flaunted about the glorious seven months of relationship with Nisha, and how the latter was the core reason that pulled her out of depression. While talking to me, she said, “Though we are not together now, she still talks to me sometimes and tells how she loved being with me.” “But I still miss my first love. If I get a chance, I’ll try my best to get Jaan back into my life”, Diksha expressed.

Adnan, a homosexual from the same college, also shared his experiences. His stories pertain to all kinds of emotions related to betrayal, jealousy, fun, sadness, and joy. He always felt being quite different from the others, being more on the feminine side, but couldn’t figure out what made the difference. During his ninth standard, when he saw his classmates getting into heterogeneous relationships and he couldn’t find any interest in a girl, his confusion reached further heights. His classmates teased him and thrashed him because of his different/feminine nature. Adding to the

woes, he got bullied and molested by one of the bullies, confining him further and traumatizing him. Molestation was all a result of his feminine body language which made perverts threaten him more. And he faced all these because he didn’t match society’s notion of a ‘boy’. Much later did he realise his orientation, and became more open about it, without allowing people to suppress him. First love happened to him during his H.S years over social media where he got rejected being tagged as ‘girly’. Many men came and went with some life- saving lessons to offer, but very few could really make it to his heart. 

The first time Adnan actually fell in love made him blush the whole day. They used to talk whole day over phone, and he’d cry and skip meals on days when they had fights. In due course, Adnan’s first love started ignoring him and eventually they had to part ways. Adnan went into depression and consulted a psychologist. Upon being asked by the doctor, he told his story to the doctor. But instead changed the ‘he’ version to ‘she’ and asked the doctor not to reveal his love story to his family. Being a highly religious middle class family, Adnan knew well that his parents won’t accept any sort of romantic love in their son’s life, not even heterosexual. But the doctor told his family about it, and surprisingly, they reacted lightly thinking he had a break up with a girl. Later in life, Adnan faced betrayal and cheating in his love-life, putting him into a state of depression once again. But this time, he wrote everything as it is to the doctor and again asked him not to reveal about it to his parents. And this time, the doctor didn’t reveal anything. Meanwhile, Adnan has made a lot of friends from his community and has come out of the box from being a timid and shy boy to an extrovert and flamboyant young man.

One common thing about Diksha and Adnan is that both of them wish to share their sexual identity with their families. They feel their guardians should know everything, and aspire to do so in future years when time comes. But, their heart still skips a beat at the thought of a rejection, or adverse reaction from their families in particular, and the society at large. Their love life is no different from others

– the same butterflies in the stomach, the same pangs of separation, and the same recuperation. 

Discrimination in the name of orientations should not be accepted in form. People have the right to live and feel the way they want. In fear of repercussions from a rather orthodox Indian society, people from this community have to live duplex lives where they have to hide or compromise their true identity and live up to the norms of social strands. They are bound to be what they are not, bound to marry whom they not are not attracted to, while living a life of misery and disguise. There had been cases of rapes, molestation and killings of LGBT members, leading to a hurricane of fear among the community, and thus keeping them enclosed within the closet. Also, the parental emotional tortures have broken many of these budding love stories to pieces. Diksha and Adnan’s love life is no different from us – the same butterflies in the stomach, the same pangs of separation, and the same recuperation. The only difference is their gender preference of partners. And that shouldn’t make much difference to us, isn’t it?

 P.S: Names have been changed on demand for privacy requested by the persons in the article.

 Words By: Jenifar Asrana Malik