#oh well. this wasn't the first issue and it definitely won't be the last

[relicsongmel]

Continuity issues with Denise going to Kitakami this early aside, I went there, had more trouble than expected settling on a voice for Carmine, and got my Vulpix.

Between her and Charcadet I am going to decimate the first two gyms.

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Special Chapter: Comments and Analysis

WELCOME BACK, CCS FAAAAAAAAAAAANSSS!!!!!

Oh my god 3 months went already by from that December 1st and chapter 80, didn't they?? Feels like yesterday 🙈But we're finally here, finally ready for the release of the definitive, last SPECIAL CHAPTER of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!!!! After this, no more CCS for at least a while!!

Why do you see me so euphoric?? WELL, THERE IS MORE THAN ONE VERY GOOD REASON 😂 But let's not jump the gun and let's introduce this post properly: this time around, I won't be posting pictures to "illustrate" the analysis/commentary, because this special chapter was treated differently from the other ones. It didn't get, in fact, a free release on CLAMP's Youtube channel, in any language, and wasn't even uploaded for digital purchase on Comic Days like all the rest of the chapters. The only way to obtain it was via the April issue of Nakayoshi, either with the physical or digital version. Since it is clear to me their intention to keep this gem of a special chapter away from the internet jungle, and since lately I used only the screenshots from Youtube to illustrate my analysis, this time around I won't be posting anything (aside from the color page, which was released by the official account themselves).

AND! I won't be mixing analysis and summary, because I have already conveniently prepared some screenshots with a detailed summary of the chapter for the people who were curious to know, but didn't get to see the chapter yet or did see it but couldn't read Japanese. I have already posted these screenshots on my Twitter account, and I'll put them here too under the cut (please don't repost them around or in other social media), so you can immediately get a broad view on the content of the chapter (I don't have to point out translation mistakes, haha 😅), and then, afterwards, I'll write my commentary. And there is SO MUCH to say!!

But before starting, we can't break the tradition right at the LAST ROUND of our chapter commentaries, right?? So off we go, with the GIF OF THE MONTH!!

Yes, I think this is the GIF that can represent this chapter the most. 😂

The Color Page

This special chapter is composed of 33 pages, and of course I can't avoid starting my commentary precisely from the color page!!

I admit it, I hoped for a color spread with the four main characters of Clear Card (hence, including Kaito and Akiho too), but since the other two appeared with their own color page just in chapter 79, we'll gladly take this single color page with SyaoSaku too!! ❤️ The JP text reads "We've been together till now, and we will always be! Featuring a long-awaited special chapter!!" Syaosaku look absolutely adorable....and so, so happy!! Looking at us, from a wreath made of cherry blossoms, of course dressed in their image colors pink and green, in a "pair look"...I think their shiny smiles conquered the hearts of the entire fandom (saw many comments about it) and it is certainly a perfect introduction to a chapter that is, indeed, completely made of this happy, leisurely, warm atmosphere. I feel like it tastes even better, after all the anxiety they made us go through, right? I'm pretty sure that was CLAMP's goal all along, giving us this little reward after all the hard situations they've put their characters through. This color page looks like Sakura and Syaoran are saying "goodbye" to us, holding their hands in a lover's hold, but seeing them so cute and happy definitely soothes the sad feeling 🥲 Until we meet again...hopefully!

Letters From Around The World

But it's when the chapter starts that we get our first surprise: the time skip is of one entire year!!! We left our little heroes at the end of the first year of Tomoeda Middle school, ready to go in spring break and then start the second year...here, Sakura says she's in her spring break of the next year, ready to become a 9th grader!!! I almost couldn't believe they actually went that far, I knew from CLAMP's podcast that there was a timeskip, but I expected just some months! Although....I have to say the characters don't look that different, Mokona said she made them a tiny bit older and she kept true to that, because it's barely visible! 🤭 But if you compare them with how they looked at the middle of the story, of course the difference is visible.

I was so happy to see that the chapter started right away with a letter from Akiho: a letter or a videocall was definitely among the type of content I wanted to see in this chapter, because of course I still was quite preoccupied about the difficult journey Akiho and Kaito embarked on, so I wanted to see how they were faring. The amount of letters Sakura accumulated over the span of this year tells me that they moved around quite a lot, and she had always something to share with her "long-distance sister" 🤭 Kero praising Akiho's skills and even feeling some sort of "reverence" for her insane talent to find all the crazy and rare books was so funny and nice!! 😂Sakura is adorable, feeling all proud about the talent of her "sister" 🤭 Loved that they actually mentioned the place where Akiho and Kaito are currently at!! (cause they didn't reveal where they'd go first, in chapter 80, and I guess we'll never know). I appreciated SO SO much that they let us see that Akiho didn't drop, but actually continued to practice her sewing skills like she was doing before everything went down the drain with the Alice in Clockland play: moreover, finding out later that this skill is also helping her greatly with the true ambition of her life made me incredibly satisfied. How cute of her to send outfits for Kero and Suppy, even from far away??

I was quite surprised to find out that Akiho sends all the rare books to Eriol, and then laughed my as* off at Kero saying he's selling them off (the way Kero phrases it in JP makes it look a QUITE shady activity 😂). This shows there's a continued collaboration between the "group" in England and YunaAki, and it's very nice. They're not only "taking" support from Eriol, Akiho also does return the favor, providing Eriol with the books he needs.

And then....got really emotional to know that Kaito wrote a letter to Sakura, back when they left one year ago 🥲 I DID feel like some kind of acknowledgement or apology from Kaito to Sakura was missing from chapter 80 (but honestly, with everything they had to explain, where they could fit that?) and so this little mention completely fixed that sense of "he made a mess and barely managed to apologize to Akiho before leaving". Kaito isn't an ass*ole so of course he would've done something like that, and a letter seems perfect for an introvert boy of few words like him. I imagine the letter wasn't really long either. The little moon on the sealing wax...❤️The fact that Sakura is storing that single letter together with Akiho's letters in a specific box makes me almost cry. She cares for those two so, so much! 😭 Sakura wishes to receive more letters from Kaito and I really hope he will open up to her along the way, because he could benefit ENORMOUSLY from her advices and perspective! Also THANK YOU CLAMP for giving us a little "still" of those two next to eachother from the moment when they were leaving Tomoeda, with the suitcases and all 🥲that last faraway shot of all four of them together in chapter 80 was so great, but I wanted to see them like this too!

The SyaoSaku Date

Aaaaaand then we get to the long awaited, craved, coveted SYAOSAKU DATE!!! 🤣 I can't count how many people I've seen wishing for this....to be honest I was going to be ok with any kind of sweet moment between the two, but gotta admit that a carefree afternoon watching a stage play and then taking refreshment at a café gives this sense of normal, complete fun that was missing a bit for them. They are dressed in a very fancy way (loved that Sakura isn't wearing her usual long one-pieces but something different, with puff shorts! A sign of her growing up?) and even though they're not exactly wearing a "pair look" (too corny, maybe?), they are well matching eachother's outfits. And of course we find out that Tomoyo made Sakura's cute outfit and even the decorations on Syaoran's collar! The fact she was the one asking Syaoran to wear them at the date is kinda funny, like some sort of guidance into looking like a couple, thanks to the matching decorations! Tomoyo really takes care of everything....yes....everything. 🥲 The mention of Sakura's wedding dress of course made me go "OH MY GOD" and made me realize that if Tomoyo is already mentioning that.......we aren't *that* far away from that day (I always imagined SyaoSaku marrying early, since they're soulmates and got together so young!! 😆). Truly an emotional, sweet moment that was reinforced by Tomoyo's tender expression in the flashback. Her resolution to devote herself to learn to design even normal everyday outfits, or date outfits, everything that could accompany her dear Sakura everyday, reminded me that Tomoyo found her very own way to be with Sakura, and she's perfectly content with that. Tomoyo's happiness is seeing Sakura happy, and she will do anything to achieve that. ✨

Syaoran and Kaito's Friendship

And then my blushy blushy Sakura changes topic and suddenly throws me on the floor in a fit of laughter, because seeing Syaoran's confused look while he was trying to make sense of the pictures Kaito sent him on his phone WAS HONESTLY PRICELESS. 😆 My god, how long have I wished to see them like this? Moving their timid steps into a friendship (since their girlfriends are like sisters and Sakura literally saved Kaito's derriere), being their awkward dorky selves...they surprisingly get along so well and Syaoran doesn't seem to hold resentment towards him, which is GREAT for me!! He's learning from Sakura to just let go of hard feelings, when you've found out the person who acted in an oppositive way was just in a very desperate situation and had actually no ill intentions. And that makes me incredibly happy. Kaito needs all the support he can get, to make the right decisions in his life, and I can totally see him finding a particular connection with Syaoran, due to how they're both moon boys, who would give their life for the person they love. I think precisely for this, precisely because Syaoran can understand to a degree Kaito's situation and behavior, he wouldn't feel judged and would feel more free to establish a connection with him. I was k*lled with laughter and endearment when I saw that Syaoran felt confused, but still tried to understand Kaito's peculiar way of communicating with him 😂 And guess what? I think he doesn't realize it, but he's totally starting to get it! 😂The way our wolfie boy snaps that picture IMMEDIATELY as the cat passes by, and how he only framed the ear, really shows how in the end he's speaking "the same language" as Kaito 😂 Seeing Sakura so excitedly think to herself that the two became such good friends made me scream "SAME SAKURA-CHAN, SAME!!!" 😂 All in all, seeing these two having such a relaxed, comfortable date talking about their friends and stuff that happened lately made me completely feel that one year that elapsed, and now they act totally like a couple that's been dating for quite some time. 😊 Ooooh thank you sensei, really. Thank you so much for this scene. 🙏

The Moon Is Really Beautiful, Right?

BUT! The real reason why CLAMP will always have my heart and my gratitude is hidden in the next scene. 😂

Oh my god, the screams I've belted out when I saw them. And when I've read THAT. But let's go in order, let's go in order and not jump the gun! We're in Germany, Akiho and Kaito now seem to be living in an apartment in a nice building! They're still talking in keigo, and still calling eachother "Akiho-san" and "Kaito-san". 😊

Kaito SMILES genuinely at the picture Syaoran sent him!! And answers, to an observant Akiho, that he's having fun!! 😭HIM! The one who couldn't understand what was fun in interacting with others!!! He looks honestly so radiant and happy, a sign that his mental recovery is going strong. And that he's slowly expanding his "trusted people" network. 🥲🙏Also, he looks younger than ever!!! 😂

It made me INCREDIBLY HAPPY to see that Akiho didn't drop the "hobby" she had started in chapter 26 (ages ago!!), remember this scene?

I remember how much I loved to know she had started learning how to do this, because together with my friends, at the time, we all thought this could easily become her aspiration in life......and guess what?? CLAMP confirmed she wants to take on a job revolving around books and book repairing!! This is all canon!! T___T oh my happy tears.... There's a sense of pride in seeing that this journey for Akiho isn't only revolving around finding the cure for Kaito's shortened lifespan (which hurt his body terribly) and restarting his "stopped time", or finding Momo and the Alice in Clockland book, but she's also got the mental resolution to do something for herself, for what she wants to do in life, something that is completely disconnected from Kaito. Again, I cannot reiterate enough how this girl doesn't have an unhealthy codependent relationship with Kaito, and she's completely capable of thinking about her own future, aspirations and wishes. She wants him with her, and she could never live happily without him, but the love of her life isn't the only thing that exists for her. It is incredibly satisfying to see her working hard for her own future, where she'll be able to contribute (especially financially) to their livelihood. I can see Kaito helping her and assisting her with that. The other day I was dreaming away with my friends about Kaito and Akiho managing a "book cafè" together somewhere, how impossibly sweet that would be?

Seeing this volitive, ambitious, strong-willed Akiho once again filled my heart immensely. And I wasn't the only one, apparently.....

Oh god, you have no idea of the SHRIEKS I belted out when I saw Kaito saying "the moon is really beautiful, right?" in full daylight. Like. It is absolutely unmistakable at this point what kind of love he feels for her, and while I always knew, I'm sure the character took his own sweet time and personal introspection to reach that conclusion. If you remember, I've always said it and reiterated it at the end of chapter 80: Kaito won't understand things overnight, it will take a long time. And one year, at that age, is enough of a long time to come to terms with one's feelings and understanding what exactly they mean. They lived all that time together as two "equals", no more butler/boss bullsh*t, so they had even more opportunities to see eachother's true colors. And Kaito couldn't help but fall even more in love with Akiho, to the point that seeing her working so excitedly for her future made him gently overflow with that feeling....and said that sweet quote of Natsume Soseki that we all know, by now, what it means. I think the mere fact that what made his heart explode was seeing her so independent and strong, is a good sign that Kaito's love for her is the healthy and supportive kind, too. He doesn't love her and feels attracted to her soul because she's a weaker, younger, malleable being that he can dominate (as a toxic relationship would portray), but at the contrary, because she's free and strong and wonderful on her own. The more he sees her shining, the more that feeling grows. Throughout this scene, he looks at her and talks to her in such an intensely sweet way, you can totally see he's smitten with her.

The most popular reply to someone who confesses with "the moon is beautiful" is the equivalent of "I could die for you/I can die happy now", in Japanese. And Kaito had been unconsciously replying that way, with his actions, the whole damn time during the serialization of Clear Card. But since he took it way too literally, things were really heading to tragedy. Nobody wanted him to die for real, and yet, subconsciously, that was the only way he had found to give outlet to an enormous amount of feels that he couldn't express (because it wasn't appropriate, and nobody would ever love him, and he only caused her pain, and he had to let go of Akiho anyway at the end of it).

So considering all of THAT, this "I love you very much" he said now (he added ���ても, "very", like Akiho did ❤️) in this way, makes me think even more "yes, you finally understood what was the best way to convey it!" and therefore, it represents another character development for our moon boy. 🥲

There's debate over whether he had already understood what Akiho had meant, in chapter 48. I stand firmly by my convinction that, even if he was informed of the Japanese folklore tale around it, he quickly dismissed it as "no, she's meaning it literally for the moon", since he couldn't really believe that anyone would ever take interest in him, and was sure he would've always been alone. Otherwise, if he really understood and believed that Akiho was in love with him, I don't think he could've ever said that "I thought you didn't need me to be happy". It doesn't make sense. But everything that happened at the fake moon, and all her angry tears, and all her resolution to find a way to cure him, made him finally see that she really meant it in that way. ❤️So his own acceptance and introspection could finally start, and....it brought to this. ❤️ If you want to know more about the popular phrase "the moon is beautiful, right?", I invite you to check my first Clear Card Trivia post, focused on the literary and musical references portrayed throughout this story!

And LOL, I couldn't help but noticing several things in how this scene played out: first, he immediately "runs away" blabbering about the breakfast being ready, a very similar way to how he "ran away" in chapter 52 when Akiho could see right through him and was trying to express her support and feelings to him. This is definitely an indication (taking into consideration also how he acted when he was little) that the reason why Kaito walked away back then, slamming the door, had a sprinkle of embarrassment embedded in it, too. Yeah. I mean, look at the face he's making here, just before he notices, puzzled, that his hand is shaking:

He's smiling so tenderly, among the pain he's feeling because of his poor health. He even laughs! He's happy he heard that! But he just couldn't stay hearing any longer, back then. Now, in this scene of the special chapter, he literally throws "the bomb" and runs away without hearing her answer or reaction 😂😂😂this is definitely embarrassment, and I'd like to think there's even a hint of teasing streak that I've always seen between the lines in his personality. It came out particularly with Syaoran and Momo, but Akiho isn't excluded from this dynamic! 😂

And excuse me, but Akiho's reaction literally made me roll on the floor laughing!! 😂The poor girl is probably so used to live abroad, and Japanese folklore isn't probably coming up immediately in her mind anymore, despite it's a phrase SHE used HERSELF back then! 😂Or maybe it's because she didn't really expect it from him, and so she took a moment to connect the dots. Either way, it was extremely funny! And I can't absolutely avoid pointing out how our girl isn't blushing like mad anymore, but just slightly.... I mean. It must have been quite clear to her too, by now, that her feelings were in some kind "reciprocated", be it for what Sakura said back at the fake moon, his decision to go back to her, and his decision to reveal his true name, hence giving her his most vulnerable part of himself... This isn't a shock for her, and she probably waited patiently, patiently, for him to finally say something like this. So maybe, more than embarrassed, she's surprised that the day finally came! 🥲 Goodness. This really puts all my worries to rest, Akiho will truly be happy. And it makes total sense that CLAMP made him say this now, and not at the end of chapter 80. As I said, more time was needed. This entire scene leaves me with a sweet, soft, comfortable feeling, and it's totally how I've always imagined their relationship to be. Also....no more of that "he loves her as a daughter/sister" crap, not canon-wise at least. 😊

One last thing I have to point out about this scene, which curiously reconnects everything together, is that recently CLAMP have announced the themes to which their upcoming exhibition will revolve around: among them, there's LOVE (of course!), and among the decorations surrounding the featured character on the key visual (Sakura, for now, but there's at least another one coming!) there are a couple of birds too. Birds are, in this sense, a symbol of love in CLAMP's language. I couldn't really help but noticing all the birds flying outside the window next to Akiho, the moment Kaito says that "the moon is really beautiful, right?". Basically, CLAMP were trying to scream it all over the place, however they could. 😂

"Momo-san?!"

It was so nice to see Yukito and Kero-chan gossiping about Touya right in his face, with the complete intention to tease him 😂in that sense, Yukito really seems like a sweet and harmless character, but don't be fooled! His teasing power is over 9000!! 😂Touya's killing glare made me crack up! He's so done for, now that both Kero and Yukito can tease him in the open! 😂😂😂

But please, please, let me scream about MOMO!!! Oh my god I would've never accepted a special chapter that didn't feature her!! Aaaaahhh I'm so glad to see that she's fine 🥲 The conversation between her and Sakura made clear to me that she isn't that free to move how I imagined her to be. Certainly, she decides where to go and who the book stays with (and when to leave), but the impartiality imposed on her role doesn't allow her to act freely like she wants, unless she pays a price. And she decided to pay a price, not to see Akiho and Kaito, but to go and thank Sakura herself first. Because, as her "those kids" suggests, she of course still feels some kind of maternal instinct towards them, and as any mother would do, she wants to thank Sakura from the bottom of her heart for having helped and saved those two. Even her body language (the position of her hands) portrays that. And excuse me, but I A B S O L U T E L Y loved how CLAMP clarified once and for all, addressing directly the complaints of their own fandom, that Sakura wasn't forcingly dragged into a matter that wasn't related to her. Everything she did, she decided to do it because she felt it touched her personally. From the moment she became Akiho's friend and came to care for her, everything that happened and everything that she was involved with was related to her too. This wasn't "somebody else's business" anymore. Because Akiho is one of her most beloved friends, no matter how "fast" that happened. Some relationships bloom almost immediately, because the connection is just that strong. And so, this turned into just another expression of "your happiness is my happiness", with Sakura acting according to what her heart suggested. As Kaito is Akiho's most beloved person, Sakura couldn't help but care for him too, because doing so would've made her friend happy, in a wonderful "circulation of love".

Special mention for the scene with pregnant Lilie, oh my god I didn't really expect this either. How long ago I wrote that Tumblr post about cosmos flowers and the origin of Akiho's name? A couple of weeks ago? It's like CLAMP answered my curiosity, with this scene. I still keep my interpretation in my heart, but I also love the logic "it is a flower that keeps the same name in many countries". Of course. "Wherever you'll go, you'll always be your unique self". (And now I want to cry, mama's heart is so big😭) The way Lilie keeps her hands over her womb made me tear up. The ring isn't there anymore, a sign that she probably already gave it to Momo (understandably, since once Akiho would be born, she wouldn't really have much time left). The baby bump isn't that noticeable, probably because she's at the beginning of her pregnancy. Who knows if she kept seeing little Kaito while she was pregnant. 🥲Who knows if in the scene where she's telling him about how wonderful it is to have something you love, especially a person, she was already pregnant with Akiho. 🥲

Momo and Sakura's final words made me understand that Momo cannot go back to Akiho and Kaito till the circumstances and the moment is right. Whether it depends on Akiho's wish, or the right cosmic arrangement, it's surely not in the short term. Especially considering the limited scope of Momo's agency. It cannot come from Momo (unless she pays a huge price), it needs to come from them, strongly enough. I also want to think that, again as an acquired mother figure, Momo wants those two to find their own way, identity and figure out their relationship on their own, without her interference. I'm sure she's keeping an eye on them from faraway, though. 🥲Even though this still feels bittersweet because I wanted to see them reuniting in canon so badly, it gave me lots of hope for the future. Momo is just waiting for the right moment, and she'll be ready to embrace them when the time is right. Maybe, who knows, we'll see that reunion in another series or in a special publication in the future?

The End

And then....the final scene 🥲NOW it is finally clear what Ohkawa meant in that one Twitter Space, when she mentioned that there was a reason why they never featured Sakura's birthday!!! THEY NEEDED TO KEEP THE EXCLUSIVITY FOR THIS!! 😂 I'm so glad they did, really...it's so sweet to see her reaching 14 years old (the "standard age" of many shoujo heroines! 😂) and seeing Syaoran giving her a present, with that strikingly sweet smile full of love...but most importantly....the breathtaking final double spread 🥲🥲🥲🥲 The way she pulls his hand close to her chest, to her heart, while saying that Syaoran will be forever and ever her most important and special person.....really, this chapter is meant to k*ll us all with feels!🥲and I love how CLAMP keep finding ways to portray their physical displays of affection without resorting to the classic, most wanted (but also probably considered not appropriate yet) "kiss". The very final page is a direct parallel of a page from chapter one, where Sakura was going to school alone and looked back down the street to admire the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

Now, she's not alone anymore, but actually hugging the love of her life on her special day! Really, what a wonderful and fulfilling way to give the final touch to this amazing story! 🥲 Her very last line also contributed to this. Sakura leaves us again, 24 years after the first ending, with words of positivity for the future, and love for her important people. This wraps everything up nicely, but it still keeps things quite "open-ended", hopefully in the eventuality to return to this wonderful series in the future. Sakura is growing up, as CLAMP wished, and it might be possible to see her dealing with more "grown-up" situations, magic and non-magic wise. But one thing is for sure, her relationship with her loved ones will always take top priority. ❤️

Well well well, we came to the end of this looooooong commentary for this special chapter too. I can't help but thank once again all of you who followed my posts all these years, and commented with your POVs on the story.

As I've said multiple times, Cardcaptor Sakura gave me so much ever since I was a kid, and this sequel was no exception. This special chapter, in particular, overflowed with things I wanted to see, and I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking so. I once again want to congratulate CLAMP for wrapping everything up nicely, and thank them from the bottom of my heart for these almost 8 years of emotional journey. 🙏

See you around with my other tumblr posts, and let's look forward to the release of volume 16 on April 1st, and hopefully, news about the anime sequel of Clear Card!!

[d6volution]

Corporeal

Caine/Fem!Reader

caine wants to learn more about humans, so why not become one himself? surely, these new waves of emotions and new desires won't become an issue.

tags: mutual pining, eventual smut, fluff, human!caine, lingerie, reader is down bad for caine but won't admit it, implied masturbation.

Chapter Two.

(previous chapter.)

As an AI Caine didn't feel love, or even fear death. If anything the notion of both seemed more like entertainment to him.

This human trial was proving to be more complex than he initially thought, but what fun that would be? It was in his nature to be curious and seek out answers so that's exactly what he intended to do.

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

The following day Caine waited til what he thought to be a reasonable time to show up at your door, but he just stood there. Hand hesitating to knock. A new feeling,  he thought.

"Oh! Need some help there Caine?" Kinger said, shufing over to him, lifting Caine's hand and helping him knock at the door. Kinger chuckled, "Always gets me too." And just like that he walked away. Perhaps everyone is right, he really is losing his marbles.

But Caine didn't have long to think about his strange and brief interaction with Kinger because you swung open the door. "Oh, Caine.. uh. what are you doing here?" You felt a little disheveled, trying to hide your form behind the door unconsciously. You usually had time to properly groom yourself before speaking with him.

He had to compose himself, clear his throat and remember why he was at your door in the first place, his persona switched on. "Gooood morning, y/n! I hope you're right ripe and ready for today, me and you will be going on a.. mini adventure of sorts!"

"Huh? Just us? Wait— why?" You almost didn't want to ask, afraid he'd suggest others to join.

"Now, now not too many questions, you'll spoil the fun my dear!" He said and patted your head gently.

You blinked and nodded, "Right.. well can I.. freshen up?"

"Of course, I'll be right here!" And he wasn't kidding, he'd stand at your door idly waiting as you shut it. You stared at your room with wide eyes, back to the door, "What the hell." You mutteted, was this some kind of prank? Did someone tip Caine off that you liked him? Why else would he be singling you out??

Maybe you're overthinking it. Definitely over thinking it.

You exited your room soon after, rushing out of the door you didn't realize that Caine was literally still standing in the same spot causing you to bump into him. He caught you mid way, large hands clutching your waist as he helped you up.

Soft, he thought.

"S-Sorry, Caine you really shouldn't stand that close to the door.." You said, a little flushed from embarrassment.

"Duly noted!" He held out his hand without speaking and the moment you grabbed it you were both teleported outside of the tent.

You still hadn't got used to that, your stomach was churning by you managed to hold it back. ".. What are we doing here again..?" You finally asked.

"Well, to put it simply you're going to be my little test bunny, y/n! Bubble isn't really any help at the moment.... and you! Well you're making my body react in all sorts of wacky ways!" He admitted.

"What.. exactly do you mean, wacky?" You said, trying to understand, knowing this all must be just as confusing for him.

"Well, I couldn't stop thinking about you last night. It was quite strange, I usually don't care too much about you all after hours but you were eating away at my mind, y/n!" He stopped and grabbed your shoulders dramatically and you flushed.

"And since that happens to be the case, I plan on keeping you by my side. For research purposes of course!"

This was.. a little messed up, in a sense. You felt torn between flattered and like he was playing with your emotions. But it could it really be helped..? You were stuck here. What else did you have to do with your time? Caine was the only one here you seemed to be the least bit attracted to so why not go along with it.

You cleared your throat, "Well, I see personal space still isn't a thing for you," You jested and he slowly let go of your shoulders, your mind briefly missed the contact.

"Personal space.. got it! Now, my dearest y/n, do tell me. I'm aware you're memories from before now are quite hazy but did you have any hobbies?"

What an odd question. Was he trying to .. get to know you? You had to think, "You're right.. it is hard to remember, but I know I loved being out doors. Walks, picnics... simple things like that were always nice. Though I'm not really sure that really counts as a hobby." You chuckled.

You laughed and he felt that pang in his chest again, he was silent for a moment.

"Yes, yes! All those things sound wonderful, hobbie or not you spend your time well! Come, let's go to the digital lake." He takes your hand without thinking, dragging you along towards the lake. You stumbled behind him, but kept up with his pace. You glanced down at your hands, and how his larger one dwarfed yours.

It made you think about other parts of his body, the way his fitted suit hugged his waist. Buttons struggling to keep his firm chest hidden away—

What were you thinking?? He's an AI. You scolded yourself before your thoughts could even lift off the ground.

"Here we are, I know it isn't quite the same but I think this should do just fine!" He snapped his fingers and a plaid throw blanket was laid out as well as a picnic basket. "Well don't just stand there , take a seat!" He said with a grin.

"I .. I wasn't expecting a picnic now." You said amused by his eagerness and plopped down next to him. You leaned over and opened up the picnic basket and there was nothing inside. "Caine?"

His eyes were busy, when you leaned over his gaze caught a glimpse of your cleavage, luckily before you made eye contact he was already looking away and tugging at his collar a little, "Oh , yes! What.. did you usually pack in your little basket?" His cheeks were dusted with the lightest tint of red.

"Hm.. sandwiches, water.. maybe other fruit on the side?" In the blink of the eye, pixelated versions of everything you named was now in the basket.

"Wow. That must be extremely convenient," You laughed a little, only now noticing the blush on his cheeks that seemed to be fading. "You're blushing.. does sitting out in front of a nice scenery do that to you?" You joked and he almost agreed, because you were the nice scenery at the moment.

"Oh, no no! It must be..sitting this close to you! I told you y/n this janky human body has a mind of its own!" Caine tapped at his baton at the ground a little, becoming fidgety. "Anyways, what a grand time this was! How about we head back? Our best bubble chef must be hard at work preparing dinner we wouldn't want to spoil our appetite too much now would we?" The words spilled from his mouth unceremoniously.

"A.. Already are you sure we just got here—" You tried to protest but he was dead set on ending the picnic so abruptly.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, we always have tomorrow after all!" He grinned and instead of taking your hands he made the bold decision to grab your waist instead. Teleporting you right back in front of your door.

"Well, until tomorrow y/n!" He tried to hurry off but you yanked him by the collar and brushed your lips against his cheek, and before he could respond you hurried into your room like a flustered school girl.

Gosh, what were you doing?

Caine was flustered, confused and utterly enamored. He didn't have a wacky comment to make, he simply relished in these emotions, though.. his thoughts flashed back to your chest and those feelings were amplified but now the feeling wasn't in his chest.. but somewhere lower. This human program was eating away at his base coding.

These desires were bubbling to the surface, and he'd have to... take care of it somewhere more private.

Unbeknownst to him you were having a similar issue. It didn't help that you were not only crushing on the ringmaster but you were touch starved as well..  in the emptiness of your room, away from judgement you thought about how it would feel if Caine was on top of you, touching you and praising you in that charming voice of his.

It wasn't fair.. it wasn't fair, you repeated. But he remained in your mind as you climaxed on your fingers to the thought of him..

You could only dread to think about what he'd think of you doing such a inappropriate thing with him in mind.

Little did you know he was doing the exact same thing while thinking of you.

(chapter three.)

[meanbossart]

Misc. Ask compilation

These aren't all of the asks I want to reply to, just some that I can answer relatively quickly to clean the ol' inbox out before things get out of hand. Thanks for your patience!

HAHAHA THANK YOU FOR PERUSING AROUND and for enjoying my work! I had a... Weird Gale experience my first playthrough which led to his characterization being what it is in my comics. Here's the beat-by-beat of all the shenanigans: https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/740827466716807168/alright-i-am-like-90-sure-there-is-one-line-in-a

And here's just some of my personal thoughts on him! https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/736193145686114305/can-you-tell-me-more-about-how-you-would-make-gale

I would be lying if I said I'm not conflicted to know my style still bears some remnants of my edgy teen roots (not your fault not noticing it though, you aren't the first and won't be the last) BUT... That comic did mean a lot to me as a youth, so I guess I should be proud 🤷 and honestly it is a little cool that such a thing would survive for so long in what I do, crazy how that works.

LMAO, re: the bottom/top debacle, I was honestly so surprised to see people react to it like it's something novel. If I ever expected to get any push back on the matter, I thought it would be from people assuming DU drow was the top and taking issue with how violent and big he is (and yknow, some people are weirdly protective of Astarion as if he isn't a sneaky murder machine rippling with lean muscle)

Very disheartening to see that mindset still so alive and well among young people, but I guess it just means I gotta draw DU drow throwing more back and Astarion drooling over more ass until the stereotype is forcefully banished out of people's minds!

(more asks below the cut)

"Sleeper agent activation phrase" absolutely took me out, Thank you so much LOL

YEAH I got it pretty late though, Astarion had already told my durge that he was a vampire of his own accord (and the response was, of course, "no duh") I forgot wheter this happened before or after the first romance scene triggered, but I think after.

Since this was after DU drow decided he was gonna fuck him out of pure contrarian spite and was shamelessly laying it extremely thick, He happilly let Astarion drink his blood. Hell, he was probably a little Too Eager - the guy likes pain and he likes letting people he trusts do with his body whatever they will, and while he didn't yet trust Astarion at that point, that event might've very well reminded him of something from his past that planted a seed which would eventually grow into his genuine affection for the guy.

Ah, he definitely got a half-chub as it happened too. I'm sure Astarion noticed it and just walked off rolling his eyes and thinking "eugh of course" lmao.

Hello!!!

Oh man, I grew up fascinated with horror things. I remember from a very young age just looking at the covers and backs of horror movies at the film-rental even though I wasn't allowed to watch them. I was also easily scared but I sought those things out anyway - I think i just enjoyed the visceral reactions it drew out of me and was always curious about most things taboo.

When I got access to the internet that just opened a (very unfortunate) door to all things vile and awful like it did for so many people at that age in time. Though my tastes have changed a lot since then (Less August Underground, more The Devils kind of guy nowadays) my stories and art are just always going to fall into a horror-y category because I just... Don't think there's many better ways to showcase the human experience and emotional range without many of the elements native to the genre, and I'm all about that.

Thank you for your question and your sweet words, have a good week yourself!

I did a little write-up about that over here! https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/742508493562593280/i-dont-have-a-particular-question-in-mind-sorry

That's the result of a scene that happens relatively early in the story I'm writing ("A Novel Experience" on Ao3).

{SPOILERS} DU drow accidentally passes out on a blade which puts a relatively deep gash on his hip. Meanwhile, Astarion is weakened and starved after certain events that transpired the prior night. They have a private exchange both in a somewhat hazy-state of mind and Astarion ends up prodding and prying at his wound while feeding, so it's a laceration and bite mark that just scarred over badly.

Elves apparently don't grow body hair so never LOL guess they'll just have to slip&slide up on each other for heat

[return-of-a-space-cowboy]

You're just like an angel pt5

After breakfast, Miguel took your plate and washed it. The silence deafening and you could cut the tension in the room until the device on his wrist rang. He shot another web at you which covered your mouth.

"Yes?" He asked as a small projection of the lady you'd seen a few days ago appeared.

"I've been trying to get in contact with you for ages, why haven't you been answering?" She asked.

"I've been busy" he replied.

"Yeah I was told, were you aware an anomaly escaped the facility last night?" She asked him.

"Is that so?" He asked. He was certain he'd covered his tracks, so why was she alerted about an escape?

"Yes, I'm on my way to catch them now" she explained. This wasn't good.

"Are you sure that it's an anomaly?" He asked. She looked at him weirdly before speaking.

"What do you mean, am I sure? you said this tech is never incorrect" she asked.

"I know I said that but recently it's had a few kinks so LYLA and I have been working on a patch for a couple of issues, that's why I've been so busy" he lied.

"Well, I'm going to double-check, just in case," she said. He hung up before pulling you into a room and using his webs to restrain your arms and legs before putting you on the carpeted floor.

"This won't be for long, I'll remove those restraints as soon as she's gone," he told you before closing the door behind you, leaving you in the dark. The only light was the light that peered through the door frame.

You waited for what seemed like hours before a doorbell rang and that lady's voice could be heard.

"Oh I didn't realize this was your house," she said.

You tried to scream loud as you could to get her attention but the webbing muffled all your attempts.

"Yes, it is, guess my watch must be giving out a dud transmission" Miguel replied.

"Actually what time did it indicate that the anomaly left?" He asked.

"Around 22 o'clock" she replied.

"That was when I left, definitely must be my watch" he explained.

"Well I hope you can sort out those issues soon Miguel," she said.

"Yes I'll put it as my top priority" he replied before what you assumed was the front door closed, then the door to the room you were in opened. Miguel towered over you, truly settling into the hopelessness you were currently in.

He kneeled before you and held your chin in his hand as the talons on his fingers appeared, you could feel them threatening to pierce the skin on your face as he held you in place as he carefully dragged one of his fingers across your lips as sliced away the webbing. His crimson eyes looking down at you, longing for something.

"You're so beautiful" he commented before he made quick work of the rest of the webbing.

"You make me feel sick" you snarled in response. Revolted by his presence.

"You'll feel the same way soon dear, you just need time," he told you as if you were a child.

🕷🕷🕷

Whenever he left you took the opportunity to get your hands on any electronics in the house. You inspected them and figured out what they did. All of it made you feel exceptionally old, like how a grandmother would feel using a computer for the first time.

Right now you had your hands on one of his tablets. Looking through it to see if he might have useful information for you. A blueprint of the device on his wrist, the location of that lair of his, and any other hints as to how to go home.

Unfortunately, it seemed like this was his personal one for home. The only thing you managed to find were house listings on a real-estate site, was he planning of moving? If so, that wouldn't be good. You'd have to start investigating all over again.

Slowly you began to figure out what each thing did. You should have tried calling the police but that would not help your situation, if anything it would make your chances of returning to your dimension a lot slimmer.

Sometimes you wondered if circumstances between you and Miguel had been different, would you have fallen in love with him? From what others said about relationships he was what people would consider a catch. He cooked, cleaned, and seemed like a family-oriented man from the photos on display.

Perhaps his loss led him to do what he did, didn't excuse him from what he did to you but if you tried to talk him through his loss he might let you go, but you'd need to have some good psychological skills to do that which you doubt you have.

The door opened and you quickly hid it under the pillow beside you.

"You realize I get notifications on my phone whenever you use any of my devices," he said as he walked in the door with a bag in hand. You sat still flustered that you were caught.

"Sorry I was out so late, I brought home some Italian" he explained as he walked to the table and unpacked the paper bag, pulling out a few cardboard containers.

"I got us some arancini and garlic bread to share" he continued.

"Thank you" you halfheartedly said.

"What's the matter? If it's about me being late I promise I'll take you out for a day" he said almost like clockwork. This is exactly what he'd tell his wife and daughter in this universe. After he'd found his family in that universe he'd quit being Spiderman and put them at the forefront of his life. He wished he could do the same thing for you but now the stakes of quitting were a lot higher.

"No it's not about that, you know exactly why," you told him.

"I can't do that," he told you.

"It's not that you can't Miguel, it's that you don't. This isn't good for either of us and I know that somewhere deep down you know this" you blew up at him.

"I'm sick of being trapped in this house, I just want to go home and see my family again," you said.

"They probably think I'm dead after all this time" you continued. It had been almost a month since you'd been trapped here.

"Just come here and have some dinner, I don't have time to talk about this," he told you.

"No, you never have time to talk about it because you don't want to hear it, you're delusional… pretending that we're a regular couple" you argued

"I don't know if this is because of the loss of your family or you've always been like this but you need to find some professional help and let me go" you continued. Then the glass dining table shattered. A vivid blue liquid poured from the wounds on his hand, his talons exposed.

"This is for your own good! If I were to send you back your life would most likely end in misery, Vultures and any other villains for that matter usually either die or get locked up for the rest of their lives!" He yelled as made his way towards you.

"And you think this is any better? Locked up in this house of yours isolated from those I love" You argued.

"I was going to bring your family here as a surprise but I haven't had the time to prepare. Would that make you happy?" He seethes. Your eyes widened in shock and your blood boiled. You stood up and looked directly up into his eyes.

"No, I don't trust you near them whatsoever" you hissed.

"If you even so much as lay a hand on one of them I'll… I'll" you warned but was unable to threaten him. There was no way you were going to let him drag your family into this mess.

"You'll what? What can you do against me?" He hissed back.

Your knuckles cracked as you clenched tightly into a white-knuckled fist. Without even thinking you had hooked him in the jaw with all the force you had. He stumbled back a little and rubbed his jaw before his blood-red eyes returned to you. That was the first time you'd managed to inflict even a slight amount of pain on him but it was enough to trigger that hair-thin temper. Without your gear you were just a bird without wings, defenseless.

Before you even had a chance to react he grabbed the collar of your shirt and hoisted you in the air, your legs dangling helplessly.

"I've been patient with you, I've tried to accommodate for you whenever I could yet after it all you still reject me! You treat me as if I was some kind of monster" he hissed through grit teeth, baring fangs you hadn’t seen before.

"Because you are!" You responded.

"You want to see a monster?! I'll show you a monster!" he howled.

[ashrillvenheim]

Awakening Past

Chapter 22

IMPORTANT NOTE: NO CHAPTER IN SEPTEMBER, I'm very busy that month, so I won't be able to upload. If I can maybe I'll post a new 2 chapter Fic of Leon and Ashley that I wrote, but I haven't translated yet, but it's not for sure, thank you very much :3

pairing: Ashley Graham x Leon S Kennedy.

Content: (+18) romance, angst, gore, erotic/suggestive themes at some point, slow burn, violence, action, self-harm, death talk,

If you're a MINOR DON'T keep reading, thank you.

Archive of our own / WORK LIST / Awakening Past Masterlist

prev/next

Murphy's law could not have been more literal.

In the middle of the summer season, a horrible storm had to hit them. One of those rarities that was always said that it would not happen because of the remote possibilities that existed.

But those chances were never zero.

The storm was horrible and the temperatures had dropped to the point that they were forced to buy new clothes to be able to continue the trip. Even Einar said that this was abnormal.

Definitely, what luck was doing to the four agents... was an issue.

They decided to stop halfway, which had already taken longer than expected. They were heading northeast and had to go around the mountains, something that would take quite some time. Even if they had left at dawn, it was already almost mid-morning.

They stopped at a gas station to refuel the guides' van and while they were at it to have a drink in the warmth of the tiny cafeteria at the station.

Ashley pulled her buff up to her nose and watched Sven walk by Jill's side, still talking to her. His English wasn't as good as Einar's, but they were both at a very high level.

Ashley's amber eyes were lost in the vast landscape as violent lightning flashed across the clouds in the distance. She smelled one of the group approaching her, but didn't turn toward him until she reached his height.

“ How different is the landscape?”

She raised her eyes to Einar's green ones and then back to the front.

“ A little, there are lots and lots of valleys here.” she replied, cautiously.

The man watched her with a subtle, lopsided smile on his lips.

“ And what brings you here? You don't look like ordinary tourists.”

Ashley turned to him and tilted her head to one side.

“And what do ordinary tourists look like?” she answered with another question. Ignoring the first.

Einar crossed his arms with a soft laugh.

“Well, they usually take pictures of everything, selfies, videos... they bring three different maps and guides to places of interest.” he glanced slyly at Ashley, slyly. “But you just came with backpacks and no fixed direction.”

She listened to him and got the feeling that he wasn't really interested in her reasons. It seemed more like simple curiosity. And she had thought Ashley might be able to tell her.

“American, the youngest and blondest. Had she seen him look dumb?” she wondered to herself ponderously, already tired after her last failed attempt with Dylan.

“I'd say we're globetrotters, if you want to call us that.” the blonde replied, brushing aside Einar's interest in learning about her goals. - We like to go discovering.

“I see.” He paused to turn back to the gas station reception, where Sven was still engaged in conversation with Jill, or at least he was trying to be. “And tell me, are you all couples?”

Ashley arched her eyebrow for a second.

“ I was just asking, you're pretty striking, even though there are a lot of blondes here.”

Wait a minute... Was he hitting on her?

“ No, we're coworkers.”

Einar held back an inward smile and dropped his arms to put his hands in his pockets.

“ Oh, then I could invite you-”

“I'm not interested, thank you.”

Ashley turned away and left Einar with the words in his mouth. The man turned with a surprised gesture and although a part of him hadn't expected her to react this way, he was curious.

His emerald eyes could not help but watch the figure of the woman walk.

Another figure witnessed the scene as she filled the gas tank. Her sapphire irises darkened as she saw Einar start walking behind Ashley towards the coffee shop and her jaw thought for a few moments.

If she already didn't trust him, she liked him even less now.

*

The storm delayed the trip much, much longer than expected. If the plan had been to arrive at noon, they saw the entrance to the town late in the afternoon.

Leon was tallying up his cash reserves, aware that this was of great benefit to his guides.

After making sure he wouldn't need to use Chris, Jill or Ashley's reserves, he felt calmer and could focus on the conversation in the car.

I had gotten Graham aura in the front seat with Sven and Einar, per Jill's request so I wouldn't have to put up with the former.

Ashley was giving short, brief answers, especially to Einar, who was driving. She seemed to be more entertained by Sven's conversation and the cattle. Leon was so focused on his companion's gestures that it took him a while to notice Einar's glance at him in the rearview mirror.

It was fleeting and the blond averted his eyes sooner.

At one point, Chris got into a conversation about workouts and gym routines with Einar and they didn't stop until they reached their destination in the pouring rain.

They stopped to talk to a local and Sven conversed with him asking for directions. Although Narsson was the one who managed to understand Icelandic the most, Ashley could pick up on many things.

For their safety they had decided that only Enma would be the one to speak in a language other than English. They wanted to use the advantage of Ashley understanding some of what they said in Icelandic when they didn't know she did. So, if at any time they perceived any strange movements from their guides, they would know.

Enma translated for them in the back seat, informing them that they were trying to find somewhere to stay. Meanwhile, Ashley discerned, behind the curtain of rain, the houses of that town.  She was alert for any detail, for any smell coming out of the place. But for now nothing.

Even if she felt fully recovered, surprisingly, she was grateful not to have to expose herself to any more danger. Having dodged a grenade and avoided becoming the undead, even without knowing how, was enough. And he hadn't finished the trip yet. He sighed heavily with fleeting memories returning to his mind, especially those of Leon's lips.

He cleared his throat pushing those thoughts away and turned to her.

“Are there hot springs here?”

“ Hot springs are common around here, but I don't know this town too well. Maybe at an inn they can help.” He switched his attention to Sven, who closed the window so as not to drown in the rain. “ Well?”

“There's a small rural house across the street.”

Leon was still lingering on a question from Ashley about the hot springs and memories came to him as well.  He turned his head toward the window to hide the sudden blush that adorned his cheeks.

Now was not the time. He had to focus no matter how much he couldn't help but keep one eye on Einar.

The blond followed Sven's directions and they arrived at the house they had been directed to. It was small and they parked to the side and then ran up the driveway. Sven spoke to the owners, who looked at the Americans with a puzzled expression at first, but then agreed to let them in.

It was a cozy place. Half of the house had been set up as a second home for guests, and the couple led them to their respective rooms. There were only two bedrooms and a sofa bed.

“ I'll take the living room.” Narsson said, throwing her backpack on a piece of furniture. The other four looked at each other and Jill put her arms up in the air.

“ Well, how do we split up?”

Chris looked at Leon.

“I don't know if Kennedy can stand my “weird” snoring, maybe you're coming, Jill.”

Ashley stiffened when that option involved her sleeping with Leon. And he thought the same thing.

“Uh- no, it's okay Chris.”

“ He's used to dog snoring.” Ashley added with a nervous laugh trying to contain her blush. Leon cleared his throat before heading to one of the bedrooms.

“ But we'll take the biggest bed,” he said from the back of the room.

“Hey, let's draw lots.” Jill replied indignantly.

“If you're going to make me sleep with a bear at least let me not get thrown out of bed.”

Chris turned around with arched eyebrows.

“ Hey, it's not like it's an ordeal to sleep with me.”

“ You slapped me on a mission.” reproached Jill.

“Me?”

“ No, the Yogi Bear, I even got a nosebleed.”

Chris seemed to remember.

“ Wait, the one in the tent? But you told me it was from blowing your nose too hard.”

Jill pinched the bridge of her nose.

“ Sometimes I feel like I need to give you a master's degree in sarcasm.”

She went into the second bedroom with Ashley, and Chris stood in the living room blankly. He turned to Narsson and she smiled from the couch.

“ Now do you understand why I got the sofa bed?”

 Redfield sighed and grunted before picking up his bag and slipping into the room with Leon.

*

The storm eased enough that they were able to go food shopping. They were grateful for the small kitchen in their accommodation.

Einar and Sven stayed in their van, set up with a mini-fridge and electric stove and a bed for both of them.

When they went to the market, Narsson did most of the interacting, but Ashley managed to strike up conversation with some of the sales clerks. They weren't looking for information at the moment, just asking around the place for tips and curiosities. Everyone was closing up for dinner, so they hurried to acquire what they needed and get back to the inn before it started raining again. On their way back, Ashley paused for a moment and turned toward the back of the market.

It was that ephemeral scent. The same one she had smelled in Norway.

She sniffed the air gently and just as it came to her, the scent faded until it was gone. Her amber eyes looked around, but just like last time she saw nothing. It was... like a phantom smell. One second it was there and the next it was gone. It was so weird.

“ Hey, beautiful.”

She turned around when she heard Einar's voice in the distance, in a bar next to the market.

“Hitting the bottle so soon?” she said in an uninterested tone.

Einar raised his glass and smiled at her.

“ At some point it starts, do you want to come?”

She had to admit he was pushy and much more brazen than Dylan.

Even if so, he appreciated the honesty.

“ No thanks.” he replied dryly, to which Einar raised his pitcher in the air and subtly cocked his head to one side.

“ Suit yourself.”

The woman turned away and followed her group to soothe the horrible hole she now had in her stomach.

*

If she ever complained about how disastrous Leon was in the kitchen at first, it was because she hadn't seen Chris or Jill.  She knew Narsson had no idea how to cook, but it was one thing not to touch the kitchen because you don't know how to cook and another to try to prepare something when you had no idea what you were doing.

Ashley thought they were going to set the kitchen on fire and ended up kicking them out to avoid it.

And then they laughed around a round table that the five of them forcefully entered.

Chris almost knocked over the table when he didn't blow enough and burned his tongue. Narsson nearly choked when she laughed at Chris, and Jill came to her rescue by almost inadvertently pushing Leon out of his seat.

It was hilariously chaotic.

Ashley could see that none of them were used to sitting at the table for lunches and dinners, but even if it wasn't the most civilized setting the fact that they had all agreed to do so made her very happy.

She was beginning to feel a great warmth, like that of a second family. At first she gave that closeness between Chris, Jill and Leon, but as the days had passed and they had lived together they treated her the same as Leon, even though she was like the little sister.

She had no secrets from them. Chris helped her when she went after Leon and Jill was an admiring figure to Ashley.

And... she liked her. She really liked that little family of friends and companions they were putting together.

They may have been in a bind now, in comms already their lot, but they had each other.

Overnight, Ashley had them all sit down at the table together for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Unconsciously, they found a little normalcy after their investigations.

For the next few days they spent them gathering information.

The storm continued until the temperatures dropped and the rain was replaced by snow. The streets were covered in an unnaturally white blanket for that time of year as they talked to local merchants or store owners.

But Leon still didn't trust Einar and Sven. Especially the former.

He was very reluctant to have him accompany him as a translator around town while Narsson went with Ashley, and Sven with Chris and Jill.

Their interactions were brief and the tension between them, or rather Leon's towards the blond, was palpable.

He was still thinking about the conversation he overheard between him and Ashley at the gas station. Einar seemed like a straightforward man who didn't beat around the bush, so it didn't take him long at all to try to imitate Ashley, even though she had turned him down without a second thought.

But he still seemed curious.

Leon was aware of that part of him that told him he seemed like an honest man, that he didn't give the impression that he was working for Wesker or was a spy. All his instincts and knowledge told him that.

And yet she didn't like it.

 He didn't want to think those things, but the little demon in his head was whispering in his head and he couldn't help it.

And Einar was no fool. Maybe his carefree and teasing attitude made people think he was a very simple man, but he was not stupid. And that's why he was struck by the attention and the way the Americans looked at him in that bar when he first met them.

With suspicion and wariness. Almost with hostility. It was that detail that made him realize they were not ordinary people. He wasn't a detective, but while he was acting as a guide and translator through the town, he could see gestures. mannerisms even.

Most of the time it was with Leon and he could notice the way they walked among the people, the way they looked around every corner or even turned every corner. As close as possible to the walls as if... he covered himself with them.

They didn't look relaxed or carefree and that made Einar curious, but he didn't ask. He knew from the way Leon looked at him in the car that doing so would only make the situation worse.

So he just held up his end of the deal. Guide and translator.

*

That midday the snow was especially heavy and accompanied by more wind than usual. Ashley and Narsson had gone out for their usual research walk, as well as shopping for lunch and dinner. Today they would go to the Harbor Market, perhaps the fishermen and sea merchants would have more stories to tell them.

But first Narsson wanted to check out a local store selling crafts made from volcanic stone. Ashley listened attentively to her former teacher and from time to time they debated different opinions. It was something she had always enjoyed doing.

They crossed the street to the small market when Narsson put his hands in his pocket.

“Shit, I left my wallet at our house.”

Ashley turned to her.

“ It's okay, I still have money.”

The teacher shook her head intensely.

“ No you guys have paid for everything so far, let me at least buy the food.” she said decisively before turning on her heel. “ Go down to the port, I'll meet you there.” she finally said and Ashley watched her go.

Enma pulled out her keys and opened the door. She sighed at the pleasant warmth of the apartment compared to the freezing cold outside. She looked in the kitchen for her small purse.

“ Where did I put it…” she whispered as she passed into the living room and started moving the pillows. “Aha!”

He reached for the leather case, but as he did so he saw a folded piece of paper underneath. He arched his eyebrows, had she left that there? It didn't ring any bells for her to do so, so with a confused gesture she took the note and opened it.

“Have they already told you what they are looking for, Professor Narsson? Or rather what for? I know you are an intelligent woman, professor, but I have to say that they are using you, just as those who tried to kidnap you would have done. Aren't you curious to know the truth, to dismantle the real past of what they are looking for? It's strange to me that a woman as capable as you is letting them walk all over you like this.”

Enma's body went cold. Her greenish eyes riveted on the words of that mysterious note as if she were seeing a ghost.

Clearly, it hadn't been any of her companions. But then... who was it? It couldn't be the same ones who had perceived them in Norway, they would have captured her by now if they knew her whereabouts.

She looked around the house with her heart in her throat and her face pale. Her breathing quickened and she felt a growing anguish run through her from top to bottom.

There was someone chasing them. Someone was watching him. She had to tell the group, the rest of them, to-

Wait a minute.

She reread the note silently, only sensing the rumbling of her heart in her ears.

They seemed to... know them. Those words gave the feeling that it was familiar with her group.

She squeezed the paper and as she did so a corner lifted up and revealing a fold she hadn't seen.

“PS: I don't recommend you mention this note to your teammates we would be very glad of my existence. I just want to talk to you Professor.”

This person knew them.

This person definitely knew who Ashley and the rest were, and the fact that they hadn't mentioned to her that there might be someone like that interested in them... and it hurt her even more.

She dropped into the seat and her thoughts began to peek out of the darkest recesses of her mind. She had avoided having such ideas in her head until then, but as the trip dragged on and after seeing how dangerous it was becoming, and it made her doubt even more.

She felt left out. She felt that way when Chris brought Ashley and Leon unconscious in Norway. 

For almost three days they were in the room and she didn't tell him anything. It hurt like hell and it only got worse when they woke up and asked her to leave to talk to the four of them alone.

She clenched her fists in frustration, did they not trust her?

She had managed to keep all those horrible thoughts at bay, but now they loomed even larger. She looked at the note once more and wondered if this person would know things she didn't. Would they tell her anything about what her own group was hiding from her? Could she even trust their words?

Her musings rambled for so long that she lost track and when she finally realized what time it was she decided to shove all those demons in her head into a drawer.

She burned the note in the kitchen and left the house with a horrible feeling in her body.

*

Ashley jotted down a myriad of scribbles and addresses in her little notebook.

“And who told you that story? - asked the blonde in Norwegian.

The old man she was talking to, who at first was terribly surly and stale with her, answered cheerfully.

“ My grandfather told it to me, but it's a story we've told in my family for generations. My mother said that even when the first Vikings led here, this was already spirit land.”

Ashley ascended listening intently to the man, feeling she was finally getting useful clues.

“ And do you know in what area I might come across more such stories?”

“ Among fishermen we have very similar legends. Young people nowadays don't give them importance, but they serve as a moral for how dangerous the sea is. Although some that my grandfather mentioned were about land demons. He came from a family in northwest Iceland, from a small village that claims to be one of the oldest settlements today.”

Ashley and looked at him in surprise and quickly pulled out a map he had bought from the owners of his lodge.

“ Could you tell me in which area? “

The old man put on his glasses so he could point out the area to her, it wasn't specific, but it was an advance.

“ Young lady, what exactly are you looking for? It's a bit strange that someone your age would be interested in such ancient stories.” Ashley asked curiously and smiled at her as she put her notes away.

“ It's to make a compilation of the island's folklore.” she lied easily.

“ Are you from National Geographic?” a woman joined the conversation holding a basket of fresh fish. Ashley laughed softly at the association.

“ No, but it's research work.”

The new woman seemed surprised by the response and moved closer to start chatting with them as well. They ended up talking about everything and nothing in particular, as the snow continued to fall relentlessly. They asked her about where she had learned Norwegian, to which she replied that she had had a good tutor.

Talking to them she felt very relaxed, as well as... Appreciated. Their treatment of her was so pleasant that the time flew by and before she knew it and while the smell of freshly baked bread flooded her mind, Narsson appeared.

“ I see you have managed without me.”

Ashley turned to the woman and introduced her to the two elders she was talking to. Enma greeted them and also didn't know how they ended up talking about anecdotes and mundane topics. The two were lost in conversation without being aware, that Narsson helped her push her dark thoughts away.

*

“Hey, do you have a problem with me?”

Leon turned to Einar with a prophetic expression of surprise.

“Me? Not at all.”

The blond there was an eyebrow as they walked along the harbor.

“ Wow, then it must be my imagination that you abhor me accompanying you as a translator and seem to be trying to give me the slip away at every junction.”

“ Yes, it definitely is.” Leon replied dryly. If he had wanted to, he could have given him the slip at any time, but he wanted to avoid a possible scolding from Jill or Ashley. So he hadn't been the most “subtle” agent to tell the truth.

Einar massaged his septum and sighed.

“ Is it because of the blonde? If it's because of her-”

Leon's hand against his chest stopped him in his tracks and the man was surprised he hadn't seen him react.

“The blonde has a name and no, it's not because of her.”

He saw him lower his arm, but they just stood there. Leon stared at him and a slight shiver ran down the guide's spine.

“ You like her? Is that why? Because if it is, macho man, you're a little slow.”

The way Leon's gaze froze and turned aggressively lethal was enough to make Einar regret the comment. In my guide he remained static as Kennedy walked up to him and said softly.

“ Look Einar. You don't know me and I don't know you. I don't trust you one bit I don't trust anyone on this island but my own group. I know you're not dumb, you just do, so I'll tell you once. Let's stick to the agreement. Don't try to tickle me and everything will be fine. Fuck with me and you'll wish you hadn't turned around in that bar to talk to us, is that clear?

Einar's eyes were riveted on Leon's oceans, sensing a dark storm behind them as if there was a veil hiding demons that should not see the sunlight.

The guide swallowed his saliva very slowly.

“Yes.”

Leon patted him gently on the chest and started walking back towards the last tent they had left to see that day.

Einar watched him walk silently and after realizing that he had been holding his breath, he inhaled sharply to follow him.

*

The next day was meeting day. Well, if you could call it a reunion if it was basically a tea party with semi-burnt cookies, coffee instead of tea, leftovers from the day before as snacks and zero glamour as everyone was in simple pajamas.

Yes, it was a morning. Everyone spread out around the room as they discussed notes.

Chris put his feet up.

“The bakery man we ruled out as well. He and his wife are from Denmark.”

Jill let out a soft laugh.

“Well, that woman sure was hitting on you.”

Chris turned red with embarrassment and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“God, don't remind me.”

Narsson laughed and sipped his coffee.

“She looked like she was going to go for the jugular!” she laughed, telling Narsson next to her, who seemed very amused by the misadventures.

“ Did you have any luck Leon?” Chris turned to his partner. Kennedy walked from the kitchen with a coffee in his hand and a notebook in the other.

“Some things yes. I found an old woman who talked about the demons that lived here and that the first Vikings to inhabit Iceland were the heroes who kept them at bay.” he paused to sit down in his seat around the coffee table in the living room. “ I'm going to add that her daughter says she suffers from schizophrenia, so she could be exaggerating things or even making them up.”

“ Maybe not.” interjected Ashley quickly turning the pages of her notebook. “I spoke to a man yesterday who was told by his grandfather that this island was already a land of spirits when the first settlers arrived.”

The group stood in thought and Narsson noted down the new data.

“That's already a very close coincidence. Ashley told me that this man came from the northwest of the island.”

“ A young girl told me about a ghost story her grandmother told her about ghosts hiding in the northern lands where the sun in winter doesn't quite light up the sky.” Ashley added in a more determined tone.

They were seeing a pattern.

Narsson rose from her seat with a broad smile.

“ What do you say I go to the bar next door and get some food? Sven told me yesterday that they have takeout.”

The group seemed positive about Enma's proposal and accepted without resistance. The teacher got excited and quickly went to grab her jacket and boots.

“ I'll be back in a while, it's not going to snow.” she said in frustration as she trolled through the fabrics and took some money. “The usual?” she asked her companions who nodded in unison. Enma smiled and walked out.

The place was silent for long minutes until the lion stopped hearing Narsson's footsteps.

“ There's something I don't quite understand.” Jill's voice was the first to break the silence. The three turned to her.

“What is it?” Leon asked, taking another sip of coffee.

Jill looked at the notes spread out on the coffee table.

“ That these bugs haven't woken up here like they did in Spain.”

Chris looked at her partner and understood her point.

“ Does it have a reason?”

Ashley thought to herself as she listened to the voices of her companions rambling on about why there were no pests all over the place if they were supposed to have been there so long.

“ Maybe the cold.”

The young woman's sudden voice made the other three turn to her.

“ The cold?” Chris repeated in confusion.

“ Think about it, in these lands ice and snow predominate and the pests are insectile, sensitive to cold, Leon checked. They stayed in a state of hibernation, so that would explain why there weren't many. Besides, if they've been around this long, most of them would be buried underground.

And what Ashley was saying made sense, Leon was aware. He remembered that confrontation against one of Salazar's executioners, whom he could only defeat by freezing.

“ And with the temperature rise of the last few centuries? Would he have to wake up in the first in Spain? - Jill argued as she thought about the theory she had put forward. The blonde ascended, but the one who added the following was Chris.

“ But that would mean it's only a matter of time before those in colder places start to wake up, but also start to warm up.”

Graham's expression darkened.

“ Unfortunately, that's most likely.”

The four of them fell silent and after several minutes Leon's deep voice echoed through the room.

“ We have to hurry and find the source of those bugs as soon as possible.”

The other three nodded, making a silent promise that they would devote themselves body and soul to destroying these monsters.

The sound of the door opening broke the stillness of the moment and Narsson reappeared with the bags of food.

“ It smells great.” Ashley said, getting up from her seat and walking over to what her teacher had brought. Enma brought out the rations and the five of them sat around the small table, just as they had done the past few days.

“ By the way.” began the teacher as she took a bite. “ I heard at the bar that there's a celebration tonight. I think it's a small local party, but we should go, there's going to be live music.”

The other four didn't seem too sure and Enma rolled her eyes when she didn't hear them say a word.

“ Come on. Since we arrived in Oslo we haven't had a break. With everything that has happened to Leon and Ashley and then being chased and ending up arriving in Iceland on a fishing boat in the middle of a storm where we've only been investigating for days, I think we deserve a quiet night.”

Leon took a bite and arched his eyebrow.

“ Put it like that it looks like we've been through hell.”

Enma threw her hands in the air.

“ Thank you, someone with a little sense. We're going to explode if we don't relax our brains, I'm telling you from my own experience and it's not at all advisable.” he pointed to the fork with intensity.

Jill laughed and leaned back in her seat to look at the other three who had not responded.

“ It wouldn't be bad. We've come to a pretty clear conclusion today, so why not?”

Valentine's words were the final push they needed to make up their minds.

“ Well, rock, paper or scissors for the shower?” asked the teacher with a soft smile and those three words changed the mood.

“ Best out of three.” Chris's tone showed that this was a serious matter.

Enma held out her hand to the captain and the brunet took it decisively.

This was war.

*

It had definitely been good for them. The bar was packed to the rafters and the music was pouring through their veins like fire. There was laughter, singing and shouts of joy followed by a noisy toast. Although Leon and Ashley were unconvinced upon entering, they soon settled in. Chris let himself go first, drinking the first beer in one sitting. Jill gave him a slap to tell him to hold back, only to end up betting that she drank hers faster than Chris. Sometimes they stopped each other and sometimes they fed back at each other like fire.

They saw Einar and Sven too, but the two guides were chatting with two other people, so they just gave them a wave to carry on with their business.

The five of them dined and drank happily, feeling the anxiety and nerves of the last few days slowly fade away. They were now aware that they had not rested or cleared their minds for a single day, so they let themselves go a little.

Although Ashley was still on her first beer even long after dinner, Leon was encouraged to try a homemade whiskey that the bar owner made and was surprised at how much he liked it. Here he didn't have to drive afterwards, so he relaxed a bit by offering some even to Narsson. The teacher tasted from Leon's glass and the way her face scrunched up made Ashley cry with laughter.

“ I'll stick to my coffee.” was all she said before taking a drink of water.

The time flew by with laughter and giggles. Chris and Jill went outside to get some fresh air and hung out talking to some local baseball fans. Narsson excused herself to go to the restroom, and Leon and Ashley sat at the bar, a little farther away from the small band playing that night. Ashley had finished her beer, and Leon offered to share the bottle of whiskey he had ended up buying. So they ended up sitting there, listening to the hubbub as they got lost in the waves of their drink.

“How's it going with Einar?” Ashley broke the silence as she started to feel uncomfortable. Leon arched his eyebrows with the glass between his lips and after taking a sip he grunted.

“Fine.”

It was too dry of an answer. Ashley knew her partner tended to elaborate a bit on the impressions people gave her, but the fact that it was so terse and made her realize that fine wasn't the right word.

“ Just fine?” she asked, glancing at him.

Leon sighed heavily.

“ Isn't that good enough for you? I don't know him.”

“ But the mere way you talk tells me you don't like him.”

It was at these moments that Leon hated the most that Ashley read him so well.

“He's not exactly my favorite person.” he replied at last, taking another drink.

“ And may I ask why?”

“ You don't like him either and I don't ask you why.”

“ Well, I do.”

The man sighed in exasperation.

“ He plays dumb, but he's not. I just don't trust him.”

“ Is it because he's a flirt?”

Leon subtly cocked his head to one side.

“ Among other things.”

Ashley scoffed in disbelief and drank again.

“ So are you.”

Leon's eyes bore into hers.

“You know perfectly well I'm not the same.”

“ You've been very similar with some of your comments to me.” she teased somewhat annoyed.

“Maybe because of the small difference that I've known you for almost three years?”

A woman bumped into Leon's back and turned to face him. She was clearly drunk and her full lips quirked into a wide smile at the sight of him.

“ Sorry handsome, I didn't see you.” She looked at him and switched to English. “Are you new in town?”

Ashley watched as she snaked her hands around her companion's shoulders and her eye twitched for an instant. Way to jump into someone else's conversation.

She saw Leon grunt and set the glass down gently on the bar.

“ So-so.” He replied without interest and the woman raised her hand to rest it on the soft beard around his jaw.

“ You look a little lonely, would you like to join me for a while?” Leon stopped the woman's hand from sliding to his lips and looked at her coolly.

“ As you can see I'm with someone.” He pointed to Ashley with his head, but the woman looked at her with disdain for a few seconds.

“ She's just a kid, don't you want to play with real women?”

The glass in Ashley's hand splintered under the pressure and her amber eyes darkened, determined to talk back to the harpy.

“ I don't want to play, find someone else.” He pushed her hand away without much care and picked up the glass again, earning a snort from the woman.

“ Are you this nasty to everyone?”

Ashley listened to the conversation as she turned back to the front of the bar, holding back the urge to slap the woman. Suddenly she felt fingers brush against her arm and a horrible smell of concentrated alcohol reached her.

“ Only with those who have no manners, leave me alone.”

The woman growled and stormed off.

“ What's a little thing like you doing here?” a husky voice made Ashley tense up. And he spoke in English, maybe he'd heard them chatting with the other woman. Leon jerked wide-eyed toward him and the blonde looked at the man with a grim and rather grumpy expression. Ashley tensed her muscles as the stranger grabbed her by the wrist and went to snap his hand with a few words.

“Get your hands off her or I'll break your whole arm.”

Leon's snarl made Ashley froze and she saw how the agent had grabbed the stranger's forearm and squeezed it hard.

“ What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” growled the man in pain and letting go of Ashley's wrist.

“ Get the fuck lost. “

The intruder growled with a scowl and pulled out of Leon's grip and then walked away muttering curses.

Ashley blinked and shoved Leon away from her.

“ What the fuck is your problem?” she hissed angrily.

“ The guy was a pig.”

“I know that, I could take care of him myself, I don't need a thug.”

“ It's better not to waste time with people like that.”

Ashley clenched her fists and frowned.

“ What about that girl? I could have broken her nose, but I didn't say anything to her, so why did you get involved in my problem?”

“ It's not the same thing.” hissed Leon with the same angry gesture.

“Oh no? What the hell is wrong with you? Do you believe what that girl said? Do you think I'm a child? I can answer for myself.”

“ Ash, I know those kind of guys, and-”

“ And so do I, Leon. In case you've forgotten, I'm the one who gets picked on, so I can handle myself, but you don't seem to think so.”

“ You're not at your best, I'm just worried about you.” he replied, tense.

“ You think I don't know how to handle men?”

“ Your male choices haven't been the best this last time.”

She threw the whiskey in his face.

“ Fuck off.”

He watched her take the bottle from him and walk away as he growled. He put his hand to his face.

“ Shit” he mumbled wiping the alcohol out of his eyes and asking for a rag.

He had fucked up big time.

*

Enma finished washing her hands with a deep sigh. She had definitely overdone it with the spice in the food. She exhaled once and went to leave when another woman passed her. She waved at her and pushed open the door with the intention of returning to the bar.

“ Did you ask them?”

Enma froze when she spoke to her in English. Her heart skipped a beat and her greenish eyes turned to the stranger.

“ I beg your pardon?”

“ I don't think they've told you any more, really.”

Narsson stopped pushing on the door and turned to look at her. He locked his eyes on the woman's brown eyes, framed by hair as dark as a raven's feathers. Her features looked Asian, but her accent was not.

“ Who are you?” Enma asked in a voice more hesitant than she would have liked. The woman gave a subtle smile and brushed the snowflakes off her wine-colored coat.

“ Come on, Professor, what do you think?”

Those words sent a shiver down her spine and her throat went dry.

“ Are you the one who left me that note?”

The stranger smiled

“ See? You are perceptive.” She paused to extend her gloved hand to him. - You can call me Ada.

Narsson felt uneasy about this woman. There was something about her besides that mysterious aura that did not inspire confidence.

“ What do you want?” she asked curtly, refusing to take his hand. Ada smiled and pulled her arm away.

“ Me? Nothing especially. I know what you're looking for, but do you know?” his tone was insinuating, even teasing as if she were being played with. Enma felt subtly insulted.

“ If you know what we're looking for, I don't have to tell you.”

That answer seemed to please Ada and her smile widened faintly.

“ I see, and have they told you why they're looking for it?”

At that in more she fell silent, aware that the only thing Ashley had told her about it was that it was personal and that her scar was related to it.

“ It's none of your busin-”

“ They're using you Enma.”

Narsson fell silent all at once and Ada's dark eyes were locked on her like a raven's claws.

“ You don't know what their motivations or reasons are, you probably don't even know what happened on Ashley's trip to Europe before she met you. Do you know how she got that scar? Do you know what relationship Leon has with her? Do you know what relationship Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine have with them?”

Enma tried not to listen to her, but it was hard when she knew she was right. She hadn't been told anything. She knew Ashley didn't want to bring her into their problems for safety's sake, but she could tell her more. She wanted Ashley and the others to count her as one of them, but...when she sometimes heard them talking when they were gone she couldn't help but feel left out.

“Enma don't listen to her, she's playing with you” she said to herself forcefully and shook her head.

“ I may not know everything, but they have their reasons. I know Ashley, being the president's daughter, is a clear target and I know she doesn't want me to be as well.

Ada's smile faded for a moment.

“ They are going to destroy what you are looking for. When you find that fossil, its origin and location, they will leave no trace of its existence or the work you have invested in this research.” she gently approached Enma. “The danger you have run and the sweat you have shed will all be reduced to ashes when you reach the end of this journey.”

“ You lie.” Narsson growled, pulling away from her in a trembling voice.

This woman was dangerous, but... a tiny part of her whispered that maybe she was telling him the truth.

“ I believe in them.” she tried to quiet her own destructive thoughts.

Ada smiled and stepped back gently.

“ I see. Give them time and you will remember my words.”

The Professor felt a shiver as she passed her on her way out. The rumble of music that grew louder as she opened the door and felt the silence grow terribly heavy as it closed again.

*

Leon finished drying his hands now sticky from his slip with Ashley. He grunted heavily and craned his tense neck, but as he did so he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. A red shadow.

The man turned and looked toward the back of the room. His instincts told him that it had not been a mere shadow, nor was it his imagination. He rose from his seat with a darkened face and walked toward where he had thought he had seen it fade. He slipped through the crowd stealthily and ended up exiting the bar through the other side door, also crowded with people.

His blue eyes scanned the surroundings, but he didn't get to see anything, just a dense layer of snow from a white curtain falling from the sky.

He didn't like that feeling in his body.

“ Leon!”

The agent blinked and was again aware of the hubbub around him. He saw Chris approaching with a smile.

“ Getting some air?” asked the dark-haired man, to which he replied with a restrained sigh.

“ Yes, I thought I saw someone, but I think I'm already paranoid.” He massaged his eyelids tiredly and heard Jill approaching.

“ To say you saw someone in a crowded bar is a bit...” the brunette began.

“Stupid?” Leon completed the sentence with a weak, tired laugh.

“ Ironic.” corrected Valentin.

The three of them laughed and Leon tried to calm down a little bit his previous strange impulses.

*

Ashley filled her glass again and drank without blinking. The truth was that whiskey was good.

She had already drunk half a bottle.

Her body burned like embers, but she no longer knew if it was the alcohol or the rage.

Even Leon. Even he seemed to treat her like a fool as if she wasn't capable of handling things. What had happened to him? They'd talked about it and he'd stopped butting into her business, but...in the wake of meeting Dylan he'd done it again.

And this time it hurt. Even if he defended her. The fact that he'd gotten so aggressive without even letting her get a word in edgewise... it had hurt. A lot.

She growled under her breath once more and gave him another drink.

“ Looks like you guys are doing business with the tourists.”

Ashley heard a man's voice speaking Norwegian.

“ Yeah, well, we could have gotten more out of it, but one of them was smarter and he got ahead of me.”

That was Einar's voice. They were at the table behind her.

Glancing at her, aware of her presence but not changing their language. After all, they didn't know that she understood them.

“ Sven has a crush on the light-eyed brunette.” Einar teased his companion, who turned red up to his ears.

“ Oh, come on Ein, but have you seen how pretty she is?” Sven defended himself.

“ And the blonde who comes with them? She's very cute.” said one of the friends they shared a drink with.

“ Ein has tried to get into that one, but she's turned him down several times.” This time Sven got into it with his friend, who leaned back in the seat with his beer.

“ Nah, I was curious, but I'm sure it's because I scare her.”

“ You sure? Maybe she knows her way around in bed.”

Einar took a drink.

“ Maybe, but I'd probably break her.”

“ Well, well, do you think you're a bear or what?” joked the third friend with a laugh.

“ No, but she didn't look like much to me. I don't think she's as tough as she pretends to be.”

Einar heard a seat slide behind him, but paid no attention to it as he drank.

Only to stiffen when someone poured alcohol over his head soaking him from top to bottom.

“ If you think you're so tough why don't you suck yourself?”

The Norwegian tensed with his jaw clenched and his eyes bugged out. He turned to the voice that spoke his own language and felt his blood boil in a mixture of rage and shame.

“You know Norwegian?”

“ No, I just learned it, asshole.”

Einar stood up abruptly knocking over the table and bringing his face dangerously close to her, dropping drops of alcohol on Ashley's cheeks.

“You think I'm not going to slap your face for this?” he growled under his breath with all his muscles tense.

Ashley wasn't drunk, but her filters weren't exactly at their sharpest. She scoffed and defiantly pressed her forehead against his.

“ A slap? Wow, how weak do you have to be for you to break me with a slap?”

“ You asked for it.”

*

“ Hey, after we find that place we're looking for, we could stop by those famous hot springs.” Chris suggested with a cheerful smile.

“ You want to skip the paperwork already?” Jill teased, teasing him with her elbow.

“ Or come on, one day more, one day less, it doesn't matter-”

“ LEON!!!”

The three turned toward the alarmed voice and saw Narsson coming toward them with a face red with distress. The agents tensed and their expressions paled.

“ What's wrong Enma?”

Professor was slow to catch her breath.

“ Ash... Ashley is fighting with Einar!”

“ Ashley is wha-”

A body flew out of the window and fell into the thick snow outside.

People stared and some started cheering as another person walked out the door.

“ You're going to eat your words.”

Einar emerged from the crowd and advanced toward Ashley, who stood up with an infuriated grin.

“You call that a hook?” she took off her jacket and pumped her fists in the air. - Come on, don't make me laugh.

The blond laughed angrily and lunged for her.

The people in the bar came out to watch the fight and formed a circle around them, cheering and encouraging the couple who were engaged in a wild dispute.

“ Holy shit.” Leon went to intervene, but Chris grabbed his shoulder causing him to turn around in disbelief. “ What are you doing?! Let's stop her!”

Redfield watched Ashley dodge Einar's hooks without flinching. Her brow was furrowed and her jaw furiously tense.

“ Why is she so angry?”

Leon stood static at the question.

“ What's that got to do with anything?” he growled irritably at him. Chris scowled at him.

“ Everything, what happened Leon?”

The agent bit his cheek and growled like a rabid dog.

“ We had an argument and she told me to go to hell.” He paused and slipped out of Chris's hand. “But it doesn't matter, he's fighting for fuck's sake!”

But the captain grabbed him again.

“Remember what I said about two men sharing a drink for their personal issues?”

“ What the fuck are you talking about now Chris, Ashley's getting his ass kicked by our goddamn guide!”

“ There are times when two men have to settle some conversations with their fists. And Ashley knows that language. Let her talk.”

Leon was slow to process the brunet's words, but when he saw her fall to the side from a kick he understood.

That pent-up rage had exploded with his gaffe. If he intervened now he could even make it worse.

Reluctantly he watched as Einar charged at her and grabbed her clothes to keep her from escaping. Ashley reached down and pulled her clothes over her head, leaving her in her bra.

Those cheering behind her saw the scars and so did Einar.

He stood still for a second and regretted it when she punched his stomach without any qualms.

He ran out of air and punched her in the side. Ashley grabbed his shirt and tore it as it fell to the snow. Einar staggered feeling the cold flakes hit his bare torso, but he didn't take his eyes off her.

He couldn't do that if he wanted to avoid being knocked out.

The heat of the alcohol and adrenaline made them forget about the frigid temperature and they engaged in an exchange of blows. At first it seemed that Einar was landing all his punches, but then it became clear that she was receiving them and blocking them so that she could deliver more lethal blows.

The man found himself with a jaguar he had mistaken for a kitten and now began to regret it.

But he did not give up.

He dodged one of Ashley's pints and slammed his elbow into her cheek, making her grunt and take a step back. The blonde felt the taste of blood in her mouth and saw those green eyes locked on her with eagerness. Ashley blocked Einar's fist and kicked him in the ribs. He roared, that he didn't grab her leg with a triumphant smile.

But soon the joy was wiped off his face.

He saw the eyes of a devil watching him in slow motion as he watched her rise into the air with feline grace.

Where had he learned to fight like that? That look was not just any look.

He went to block, but in the blink of an eye the leg collided in an overwhelming twist against his head and threw him against the snow like a bundle.

Ashley fell backwards onto the cold surface, panting and sweating. She grunted in pain and rolled over on herself to spit the blood from her split lip.

She gulped in gasps of air and staggered to a boil on the patchy snow.

Her hands burned, red and bloody, as did the abrasions on her torso. She raised herself up in front of Einar breathlessly, her hair sodden, and in a worn, panting voice asked him.

“ Am I still not much?”

Einar was trying to catch his breath as he sat up on all fours. The muscles in his back trembled and blood dripped onto the snow beneath him. He raised his green eyes to her, showing the gap in his cheek.

Their gazes met and for several seconds they stood still, unblinking, listening to each other's gasps.

 And then Einar smiled.

“Little I don't think, but you're definitely a thing.”

Ashley was taken aback at the man's words and couldn't help but sketch the same quiet gesture.

With her muscles still burning and tense, she held out her reddened hand.

Einar looked at the woman and then at her palm. His heart raced and his smile grew wider. He dug a knee in to pull himself up and took Ashley's hand for support.

“ We're in pea-”

Einar's mouth took hers and Ashley was stunned to feel the searing heat of his tongue. It was brief, but so unexpected that she didn't know how to react when he pulled away. Their gazes met, again, bright.

“It's been a while since I've been beaten up like this, fuck, I like you.”

He held up Ashley's fist and the crowd cheered for the winner, but she was still in shock.

And so was Leon.

The man couldn't quite believe what had happened and when he saw Ashley redden up to her ears instead of throwing another punch, he felt his whole body go cold. How had everything taken such a turn?

An instant before she had been fighting like a jaguar determined to rip out Einar's jugular. And now... her golden eyes looked confused, surrounded with an exaggerated blush. 

She had been kissed.

Einar had kissed her.

And Leon could only think of the kiss they had almost shared days before. He hadn't gotten to taste them, but... his whole being had vibrated at their mere closeness. Everything about him had made him lose his mind after he'd held her dying in his arms.

Only to now be kissed by his damned guide.

A hand rested on the back of his neck and he snapped back to reality after realizing he'd been holding his breath.

“ Leon, snap out of it.”

Chris's voice made him finally blink and he saw there and Narsson run to Ashley to tend to his and Einar's wounds.

He saw the Norwegian grinning from ear to ear with scarlet stained lips from Ashley's bloody kiss. He watched them walk back inside the bar and his body turned away.

She dug her fingers into her hair and clenched her jaw.

“ I expected anything but that outcome.” Chris confessed with a soft laugh, though somewhat uncomfortable with the strange aura Leon was giving off.”Hey, are you okay?”

Leon was silent for long, long seconds. He had to say yes, as he always did when he was trying to shield himself.

His head was spinning and his heart was pounding in his chest mercilessly.

“ I don't know.” was what finally came out of his mouth.

Chris looked at him and although a part of him was aware of what Leon was suffering, he didn't want to add fuel to the fire. He exhaled deeply and ran his broad hand over Leon's shoulders.

“ What do you say we take a walk around the block and then go home?”

Leon sighed heavily and his gaze dropped to the floor.

“ Yes.”

*

Ashley hissed at the stinging and pinned her eyes to the bathroom ceiling. Her body was beginning to cool and with it the pain was becoming more noticeable.

Narsson draped a blanket over her shoulders and sat down beside her while Jill put some approach strips on her.

“You've done a crazy thing Ashley…” whispered Enma as she saw the reddened areas of her body gradually getting darker. “ Why did you do it?”

Valentine noticed the professor's worried expression and then turned to the blonde, who was still staring at the ceiling.

“ I don't know.” was the only thing she could answer. The alcohol in her body had almost vanished, but the burning and the haze in her mind had not yet ceased. “I was very angry.”

Jill tightened the bands that made Ashley look at her from the front so she could wipe off the blood.

“ Well, you're pretty pissed off to want to fight with a guy in four degrees below zero in the middle of a snowy street.” The woman's blue eyes were fixed on her amber ones. “Do you want to talk?”

Graham looked at the woman and didn't know what to say. Her mind was a jumble. A jumble of conflicting thoughts and emotions made her unable to articulate a response.

She still felt the taste of Einar's beer in her mouth and blushed hopelessly at how excited he had been, even though he had lost to her in brute force.

Was it... because he hadn't run away? He hadn't reacted like Dylan, and that made her heart pound in confusion and excitement at the same time.

And yet, a fleeting memory of Leon's lips came to her. On how she didn't get to taste them.

Her mind jumped between images of Einar and Leon endlessly, causing her to end up moaning in frustration. She sank her face into her hands and the words came out of her faintly.

“ I don't know what's happening, what's wrong with me…” she whispered trying to understand his sudden anger or insecurity.

This... no one had trained her for this. Maybe... maybe she should call Emily when they got back. Maybe she knew what was wrong and could help her. Yes, Emily would know what to do.

“ For now go get some rest, we have a long trip tomorrow.” Jill proposed with a gentle squeeze on the blonde's shoulder. She didn't want to mention Einar or Leon, because she could see in the poor girl's eyes the confusion those two people were causing her at that moment.

She only hoped that this situation would not compromise them or the mission.

She crossed her fingers.

[forjustice]

[Johto Moon Festival '24] BEWARE THE CONTEST SNOB

"Well, well, well..." Wallace puts a hand to his chin as he watches the Moon Maiden performances with a critical eye. His most toxic trait: he holds every Coordinator to the highest possible professional standard, like he's never heard of people just doing it for fun. "This Moon Maiden competition has many more contestants than last year, but more isn't always merrier~"

And there he goes, spouting off his opinions on the shows to literally anyone who'll listen.

@dandieliongirl

"First up, we have Anzu. Not a Coordinator by profession, and I can certainly tell. It was lovely enough to look at, I suppose, and she does have a good singing voice. But are twirling and throwing flowers everywhere really her only two skills? She says she wants to spread her wings and fly...She should stay on the ground first and add some more complexity to her technique. Perhaps there's a glimmer of potential in that Cubone of hers, but that performance was too much of a novice one to really tell."

@vixletserenity

"I've met Celeste before. I helped her get a Cosmog. She may prove a Trainer worthy of the Solgaleo or Lunala it evolves into...but she certainly won't get there with her Coordinating work. She makes the same mistake as Anzu does, thinking her voice can carry the performance--and the sparse move use certainly isn't enough to make up for the fact there isn't much else to comment on. I will say this, though. Her grasp on the use of Water- and Fairy-types is quite decent, all things considered. If she wanted a Coordinating career I wouldn't say she's doomed, but she certainly has a long way to go."

@oathofmoonlight

"Kaguya's? Oh, please, girl! Everyone else at least tried to have a moon theme! Unlike some others she seemed to actually be an expert in the skill she was performing, which I definitely do appreciate. But I take exceptional issue with the fact she's vying to be a Moon Maiden and yet the only phase of moon she seems to perform with is the new one. Besides, after a while of watching it, all her moves started to blur together to the point I can't even remember them--and it wasn't even long enough that most people would think details blurred together to begin with. Let this be a lesson to everyone: It's one thing to be an expert in something. It's another to do it expertly on stage."

@gruusha

"So, the thing about Grusha is, I owe them a big, big favor. I owe them a trip to the biggest, best Pride celebration in town--and with the end of Pride Month coming up, I need to do it fast. Maybe I was too late, though, because if they'd been to even one--one--drag show they'd come away with insights into the art of performing that they oh so desperately needed. It is admirable of them to do such a graceful dance in spite of previous injuries--I say that without reservation. But my one big question is: Where's the Pokémon? I suppose the main focus of a Moon Maiden Appeal should be the actual maiden, but to me, keeping the Pokémon completely hidden just screams a lack of imagination on how to use it.

"....Don't tell them I said this, by the way. How can I drag them to Pride if they know I've been gossiping about them?"

@forjustice [yes I'm tearing apart mine as well it's only fair heh]

"Look. I normally don't like questioning performances with deep personal significance. But we're talking about Volo of all people--are we sure she isn't just guilt-tripping us into giving her the prize? You'd hardly believe that she's one of the few Coordinators who's ever gotten a perfect score across the board when you see her make such a hugely glaring rookie mistake: She barely even does anything up until the middle part, and after the dance there most of the rest is just singing--which doesn't help my feeling that she was riding on the audience's sentiments to win. On top of that, I know these performances have to be short, but can we talk about the pacing--they go from strangers to honored guests to friends to family in the span of, like, what, three minutes? Maybe this wasn't the place for expressing such a story. Or the place to try and win the popular vote just by making everyone feel sorry for you outside the context of your performance--not that there even is a place for that, really. But you don't have to take my word for it. I'm just one person who as a religious figure is intimately familiar with the mythology and scripture surrounding this particular individual, and this is just my personal opinion."

[cryptid-writing]

Would love to hear some of your writing concepts too! There’s definitely not enough Mysterio x Reader content out there (especially for the he/ theys :C )

what few posts do exist of that nature is less than you can count on one hand and go a far darker route than I would like.

here's a few of those concepts btw that anyone is welcome to turn into a bit of writing practice or into a full thing:

Insomniac specific:

The Mysterium itself provides a lot of potential for many many many fun things one could do and imagine. :)

The Mysterium was closed for maintenance on the opening day? Oh no, you'd come all the way to see it, you wanted to give it a try.. Not wanting your time to be a complete waste, you spend your time visiting other attractions and booths, but you occasionally stop by the Mysterium. You know whatever issue there was, it wouldn't be resolved so soon.. yet you just couldn't help yourself. There wasn't anyone outside it who you could talk to to see what was wrong or when it would be up and running again.. not until it had gotten late and the man in charge finally stepped out. you saw your chance.. and well. perhaps he noticed you a couple times throughout the day hanging around the Mysterium, or perhaps he is merely surprised by your enthusiasm to keep checking by to stick around this long to see what he'd made?

General:

Perhaps you knew of him before his reform? You knew who he was and who he used to be, but beyond that you knew very little. Perhaps you fancied him a little then, thought him interesting.. perhaps a little ashamed of yourself for thinking that way of a villain. but you couldn't deny there was a level of charm and intrigue with how he looked and moved when footage would play on the news from his fights against Spider-Man. Your first time seeing him unmasked was certainly a surprise. yet. that didn't compare to this moment. Meeting him face to face in person. How did this occur? Maybe you were a brand new "unwilling" hostage/participant in whatever scheme he's cooked up this time, or perhaps he is not in costume and merely trying to be just a normal man, undercover.. yet you know his truth. Do you dare to say anything?

There is nothing that compares to watching a movie alone in an empty theater. You would often try to catch the very last showing of any new or old movies you fancied, hoping to be alone.. Surprise, surprise. There was just 1 other person there. A man. No one else came in, as to be expected of a film which you considered underrated. Throughout the duration of the movie, the two of you were silent.. Then came the end of screening and quietly he initiates a conversation. You feared he may be a threat or a creep, yet to your surprise, he wasn't. He's surprised to see that someone else had come to see this movie in particular, it was one he liked yet many, especially critics, failed to be impressed by.. He has many questions to ask you, won't you indulge him? Who knows, it may end up being far more beneficial for the both of you in the end than either of you could have expected out of this simple little late night outing. (inspired by a moment in the webspinners comic)

Comic leaning:

Quentin Beck retiring indefinitely from the mantle of "Mysterio" and selling off some of his stuff as he goes into hiding to try and live a more honest and normal life. You, by some chance, came across an auction for the real deal devices and costume being sold online. No one had laid any bids on it.. you know you shouldn't, but you admired him, sure he was a villain, but you were aware of what you would be getting yourself into with this. Saving up your money for a long time.. You managed to have just enough to buy the items. They were a little damaged, so you stuck them in a bag and hunted down a shop where you could get some safe repairs, tossing out the 'it's for a cosplay' lie to make it less awkward. During one of your treks back home from repairs, Quentin Beck noticed you from afar, he noticed an all too familiar and impossible not to identify gauntlet of his fall out of your bag. Watching you fumble to quickly gather it again and proceed to scurry off even faster down the street. Now why on earth did you have that? For what purpose would you have with his stuff? It wasn't his business anymore.. yet he was curious.. so he follows after, seeking a few answers from you. Perhaps.. he may wind up with more than he expected? in a positive sense?

[khaleesiofalicante]

Okay I read Let Me Come Home, and can I just say that was a huge plot wist? I really love the way your brain works, that was the most unconventional memory loss au. I mean, of course you would've picked an angtsy scenario and deliver the most angsty version of it. Because if they had lived those memories as a family and Max had forgotten? It would've hurt less, at least in my opinion. Lance would have a dad too, Arthur wouldn't have been calling Jaden dad and they would've met Max, lived with him, and had those memories. Max wouldn't have them but the kids would. David would. He would've been their father, David husband, whether he remembered or not. But now? He is not. Well, he is, but it has to be established, he has to grow into all these things slowly. He doesn't have to remember being those things he has to learn to become those things. If his memory had been erased he would have to fill spaces that were his, he had claimed them. Lance's and AJ's dad, David's husband. But now those spaces don't exist. He doesn't have to fill them, he has to create them. And that hurts so much. You are an evil genius.

The moment I finished the forth chapter, I had this thought of Max and David realising that technically they are still married. And Max, after realising that, telling David that it's okay if he wants to divorce him, so many things having changed. And David, just snapping out of this, I want to day doubtful(?) state he is in where he is not sure what to do with Max and clinging to him. Oh if only it were that easy. But it was a nice dream.

But reading Lance treating Max like that hurt in a way I was not expecting, mostly because we have never seen Lance treat Max that way. Like, ever. He has been bitchy to David and even AJ in LBAF. But not to Max. Is it because he can match his energy? The only way to get to an asshole is with a bigger asshole as Alec said? Or is it something else? Just curious.

But we have never seen it before and it hurt so I thought I should reread the last IALS chapters, to Lance's interactions with Max. I missed their connection in IALS. But there's nowhere to turn to for comfort anymore! Because I found this:

We always put our family first, huh? Did Older Max ever travel into that dimension? Maybe he should have a chat with IALS Max. No hate to my poor Older Max baby, I am so ready to defend him, and that was a twist I was not expecting when you first introduced him. I was not very fond of him.

Everything hurts but it's okay because at least Let Me Come Home will have a happy ending. So we won't die like the shadowhunter in the other timeline (I laughed so hard when I read this, you are hilarious Dani😂).

I hope you take time for yourself enogh to celebrate women's week without working, but relaxing and taking care of yourself. 🌼

Ha! That was exactly the thought behind this fic. I didn't want to write a normal amnesia au (why be basic when you can be extra?) and this idea was really intriguing so voila!

We're def gonna see a conversation about them being still being married and I am not ready for it AHHHH.

About Lance...I mean we know our boy has some issues and his coping mechanism is being a gigantic dick (as opposed to being a normal dick like he is every day). He has some abandonment issues in this fic considering Max was there and then he wasn't (as opposed to Arthur who doesn't know Max at all). But Lance is a softie as we know and he'll come around ;)

DO NOT TALK TO ME ABOUT OTHER MAX WHEN I AM HAVING MY TEA I AM FRAGILE.

I definitely did have a sort-of relaxing weekend. But the weather in my country is horrible with the heat and humidity and I need a house with a pool immediately :(

Sending love x

[thoselethalarts]

𝕸𝖆𝖗𝖈𝖚𝖘 𝕿𝖔𝖒𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖉 - 𝕻𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑 𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞

(SSR) Birthday Suit Up (Part 3): “Happy Birthday!”

(Octavinelle Dorm – Birthday Party Venue)

(NRC Newspaper “Birthday Interview” ~Marcus Issue~)

“Is there a story behind your scar?”

Marcus: W-Wha? Oh, haha... Yeah, it guess it is a little obvious, huh? Marcus: Well, yeah there is a story behind it... But I'd rather not go too deep into it, to be honest. It's, uh, not really a very good story.

“Any story is a good story! Please tell us a little bit?”

Marcus: I- ...Alright, fine, I guess. But just so you know, I won't be going in too deep with the details.

Marcus: When I was little there were these kids that used to pick on me a lot at school. I was the quiet kid in class and didn't have many friends because I kept switching schools, so I was just an easy target. Marcus: One day, we got into a scuffle after school 'cuz I didn't want to be their punching bag anymore, and I stood up to them when they tried to harass me after school. Marcus: One of them got pissed and threw a rock at me. Like, a really big and sharp rock. And, well... now I've got this big gash on my face from it. The one on my chin is from when I fell down after getting hit.

“That must've hurt.”

Marcus: Yeah, it did at the time. But, funnily enough, that was also the moment I first met Matt. Marcus: He just... appeared, right at the perfect time to step in and intervene. He'd seen the whole thing, and he came to come and help me. Marcus: He picked me up off the ground, and then we found some rocks on the ground that were good enough to throw back. Marcus: We ended up getting into a full-on rock war, and Matt and I won. They ran away, Matt and I went to the arcade, and they never bothered me again after that. Marcus: My memories of that day are a little foggy, but I remember that part very vividly. Those brats were too scared of us after that to bother either of us ever again. Marcus: I'm grateful that he came to save me that day. He's my best friend now, my partner in crime. We've been through thick and thin ever since.

“Do you have any plans for the future?”

Marcus: …Yeah, I do.

“Why the hesitation?”

Marcus: Well... it's just hard to talk about my plans for the future, I guess. Marcus: I have a lot I want to do, a lot of people I want to protect and keep safe, and I'm hoping that once we- … I mean, once I graduate from here, I'll be one step closer to doing all of it. Marcus: I've got people I care about that are in really bad situations right now, and I want to help them out of it before I do anything else. Marcus: Being here at NRC definitely wasn't in my plans, but... getting the opportunity to be here has taught me a lot more than I thought it would, especially about the world of magic. Marcus: I hope that once I get home I can use at least a little bit of what I've learned here in a practical sense. Marcus: After that though... I dunno what I'll do next. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to settle down and relax for once. Maybe Matt will adopt that cow he's been fawning over for the last few years. Marcus: Either way, we'll figure it out together when we get closer to it.

“Thank you for the interview, and happy birthday again!”

/ End

[kafus]

first of all i just want to thank you for your neocities comment widget, it has legit reinvigorated my desire to work on my website again after leaving it inactive for... a really long time XD

second, agree about the web accessibility - my website is (currently)

... my last ask sent before i was ready, sorry about that! what i was trying to say it that i'm currently fully rebuilding my website from the ground up to be more accessible, are there any particular tools/references you personally use for bluemoonfalls? (i currently use w3schools, i just wasn't sure if there were things out there i didn't know about! ^^)

no worries, i figured that was the case when i saw the first one come through haha. no problem, i'm glad you're getting use out of it...!! i am not feeling amazing this morning but i'm really excited to finally get that little QOL update out to it, so hopefully soon...

i used to recommend w3schools a lot, and it's still nice for its simple language, but if i need documentation on any html/css/js feature i use the much more robust, well written, and up to date mdn web docs (link goes to their HTML directory but they have more stuff on there)

other than that and the typical stack overflow (definitely use this if you aren't already) for questions... honestly, not really, most of BMF and our personal site is cobbled together over a lot of winging it and googling stuff when something goes wrong. i am a very hands-on, learn-by-doing kind of person when it comes to code.

i will say that it's a good idea to run your webpages through the W3C markup validation service to check for basic accessibility and good practices - it's not perfect but it's certainly helpful. if your HTML isn't valid, it could cause issues for people using screenreaders or other alternative viewing methods. after finding out this validator exists, i quickly found out that every button that links to another page on my site needs to be changed... forgot that you shouldn't put button elements in <a> elements... whoops. it'll quickly point out stuff like that to you

oh and you can find a list of basic criteria for meeting web accessibility standards here, it looks daunting but a lot of it probably won't apply to your webpage and even just knocking out a few of these is a good idea

anyway, good luck!!

[novankenn]

Coco's Search for a WAIFU or The Purgatory of Jaune

= Nine = (Master Chapter List)

It took Coco a little effort, and some creative sewing with her emergency sewing kit, but finally she had Jaune in a semblance of clothing. Well barely clothing. The skirt was cut completely through one side and held closed only by one of Coco's belts. The t-shirt she had stuffed Jaune into was stretched to tearing, and left her midriff totally exposed.

Jaune: (Bouncing on the balls of her feet) OMG! So totes cute!

Coco wanted to reply, but the bouncing was making Jaune's impressive chest jiggle and wiggle, which was doing things to Coco's mind, making it fall into a deep dark crevasse of perversion. Her mind recoiled back to the here and now when she felt a set of hands grasp her hips, followed by a soft, succulent set of lips pressing against her own.

Coco: What?

Jaune: Thank you for the outfit, sweetie. I like, totes love it. (Jaune then leans in to whisper in Coco's ear) And I can't wait until you're taking it off me.

Coco's mind reeled, her first adult kiss, as the good night kisses she gave loli-Jaune don't count, was with this air-head! Then the comment sunk in, and despite her reputation as a flirt, Coco blushed.

Jaune: You're so cute! (leans in again and whispers into Coco's ear) I just like totes want to eat you up.

The words and Jaune's warm, moist breath made Coco shiver. This was the stuff of her wildest dreams! But deep inside, it felt wrong. This wasn't Jaune as he normally was. This was Jaune airhead-ified, was that even a word? It didn't matter, even though Coco's body was reacting to Jaune's touches and words, Coco fought it.

Coco: May... maybe later?

Jaune: (Pouts) But I'm feeling... needy right now.

Coco: Shopping trip first, then we can see, okay?

Jaune: Okay, I like guess.

Coco: So let's head out to Vale, and we'll get you some cute outfits, okay?

Jaune: Okay.

Coco's heart leapt as Jaune grabbed her hand, and started to pull her towards the door. Her bare feet lightly slapping against the tiled floor.

Coco: Shoes!

Jaune: Huh? (Then looks down) Oh yeah, like that would be totes a good idea. (Looks back at Coco) Can I have heels?

Coco: Of course... but we have to go to my dorm room to...

Jaune: Pyr-Pyr has totes cute heeled boots! I can borrow hers!

Coco: (Panic setting in) Wait!

Jaune either ignores her, or doesn't hear her protests, as she just drags the unwilling fashionista behind her. Coco struggles and quickly realizes that Jaune, even in this form, is intensely strong. Her booted feet slid along the tiled floor as Jaune just hauls her along like a child pulling a toy wagon.

Coco was starting to really panic now, as Jaune inexorably drew her closer and closer to a place where she would definitely find trouble. She wasn't ready to face anything like that, she still had six more vials to test, though she was seriously considering giving up. Ozpin had only warned her about personality changes if she used more than one of the concoctions on Jaune with in a 24-hour period. But these last two tests had proven that statement wrong.

Coco: Jaune I have totes curt heels in my dorm room. We... we don't have to be bothering Nikos... she's... she's a busy girl, you know.

Jaune: Pyr-Pyr is a sweetie-pie, she won't mind... oh buggers.

Coco breathed a slight sigh of relief as Jaune had reached the stairwell. There was no way...

Coco: EEP!

Jaune: Upsies!

Coco: Jaune, put me down!

SLAP!

Coco: Stop slapping my ASS!

Jaune: But it's so... slappable!

SLAP!

Jaune: See!

Coco: Please stop!

Jaune with one hand locking Coco over her shoulder, and the second firmly planted on her ass, started up the stairs without even the slightest hint of issue. Coco, despite her situation and position, was getting impressed with Jaune's physical attributes. After scaling two flights, Jaune spoke again.

Jaune: Almost there.

Coco was counting her lucky stars that no one from team JNPR or RWBY, or Velvet had found them...

Jaune: Pyr-Pyr!

Coco: Shit.

Pyrrha: Jaune! Where have you been?

Nora: Why are you carrying Coco?

Jaune: Coco helped me find an outfit, but we couldn't go to Vale without shoes, so I brought her with me to borrow a pair of your boots.

Pyrrha: Why was she going to take you to... Vale?

Coco: (Shouting) Clothes shopping, honest!

Jaune: I can go, right?

Pyrrha: (Scary motherly tone) We'll see, Jaune okay? But first, Coco and I need to have a little chat.

Jaune: Okay, but can I borrow a pair of your boots? My feet are like totes killing me right now.

Pyrrha: Nora, can you help Jaune get a pair of my boots? I would like to have a word with Coco... in private.

Coco was beyond panicked now, but her wiggling and squirming were achieving nothing, as Jaune's grip upon her waist and posterior was like iron.

Nora: Sure thing, Pyr-Pyr. Come one Jaune-Jaune!

Jaune: Yeah!

Jaune sets Coco down on her feet, but before she could bail, Pyrrha's icy grip latched onto her shoulder.

Pyrrha: Going somewhere? That's rather rude after you promised to take Jaune out... shopping.

Coco: I... um... I...

With the sound of the door to JNPR's being closed, Coco knew her time was up.

Pyrrha: What did you do to Jaune?

[venzilanddeathcult]

BELATED NEW YEARS LIST OF COOL ALBUMS I DISCOVERED IN 2023 OH BOY THIS POST IS GONNA BE LONG

2023 was without a doubt the year ive listened to the most music in all of my life, so there's quite a hefty bit of albums to list, and i'll try to put them in a loose order of when i listened to them, but no promises!

I will limit it to one album per band, while noting the other ones i could have listened to within the text

Sadly, i didn't get around to hearing The Beggar by SWANS yet, so it won't make this list. that said heres the first one lol

SPIDERLAND

(By Slint)

Also known as the "how the fuck did a bunch of dudes in their early 20s make something this fucking great" album

I first listened to this one at a friend's house since he had it on vinyl, and halfway through the album i was losing my shit and repeatedly exclaiming loudly how fucking amazing the album was

It's very hard to put into words just how fucking good this album is, it's definitely one of the albums that put me onto Post Rock as a whole, and changed the way i view guitar playing pretty significantly

Every song feels immaculately constructed (the weakest one being the short instrumental that comes right before my personal favorite, Good Morning, Captain, the final song of the album that's linked above) and the raw emotional output won me over pretty early into my first listen. It is now my second favorite album of all time, good shit, i urge anyone reading who hasn't listened yet to give it a shot

Give their first album a listen too!

THE POD

(By Ween)

Not much i can say about this album i haven't said before i think, so here are the notes i took about it while listening to it for the first time (on a plane ride)

"Listened to this album during the plane ride Might be one of Ween's best It's so noisy and shitty and gross Only enchanced by the plane ride nausea and the very low energy feel the altitude gives It's Like if the Best album of all time got recorded on the shittiest hardware ever i'm Gonna listen to it a lot I can tell The noisiest part of the [referring to the last song here] song started on the most turbulent part of the ride And I was all for it"

I was already a Ween fan by this point, but hadn't listened to their earlier stuff, especially The Pod since every attempt at listening to it made me genuinely nauseous for some reason, but damn did braving through the album pay off. it's one of my favorite Ween albums and every time i get a fever i put it on to at least find some comfort in the wooziness. big recommendation

OCTAHEDRON

(By The Mars Volta)

I've been a Mars Volta fan since very early 2022, but i didn't get around to exploring their full catalogue until after the release of their comeback album later that same year, with Octahedron being the last of them (the rest i gave first listens to in 2022)

It's a decently strong change from their previous album (The Bedlam in Goliath), which was probably their most intense and chaotic album, although it definitely fell flat in a few aspects (Weirdly produced, some filler that could have been cut out that makes some stuff sound samey, something that wasn't much of an issue with Volta albums up until that TBiG)

It feels like it sort of harkens back to their earlier albums such as Frances the Mute and Tremulant while also going forward in a direction that makes sense considering 2012's Noctourniquet.

It's still not something as well constructed as their earlier albums, but it's a seriously good effort and worth listening to at least once, some seriously catchy and memorable songs in here

IN TIMES NEW ROMAN...

(By Queens Of The Stone Age)

I've been a fan of Queens Of The Stone Age for basically as long as i can remember, which only intensified in the pandemic as i would spend my days listening to Era Vulgaris on loop for hours and hours

There was not a single album from them that i didn't love, something about their entire style is extremely appealing to my ears, and when i heard they would release a new album i damn near shat myself and eagerly awaited for news

Then Emotion Sickness came out, with it's Era Vulgaris-reminiscent sound, ESPECIALLY the chorus and i couldn't be happier, there was absolutely no end to my hype

And thankfully, once the album came out, i realized these motherfuckers STILL have it in them to make a really fucking solid rock album, it seems they shed the slightly more polished sound of Villains and went back to that good old rougher sound they used to have, while not ditching some of the bells and whistles that made their reunion records work

Seriously solid album and i'd recommend it to anyone that enjoys this style of rock. good stuff

Church goes here

CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT

(By Duster)

Shed away all of those memes about Sisyphus featuring a song off this album and underneath you will find a really emotional slowcore album with such an immaculate vibe i can't help but just. sink into it as i listen, if that makes sense

Before listening to this album i was a big fan of that Experimental Dust bootleg, but had never listened to their other stuff until i did

Almost every song is just oozing with this unmistakably Duster sound that is so perfectly melancholic you cant help but just be right there with them, it's some seriously great stuff, lovely album.

I also listened to Stratosphere, but i didn't listen to it much so i don't feel like it fits in this post, but rest assured it's a damn good time as well. Great album, very sad, should probably only listen to it in a good headspace but you do you

WISH YOU WERE HERE

(By Pink Floyd)

Enough said. its peak

same applies to Animals

A FUCK TON OF ALBUMS

(By SWANS)

No, really, just in 2023 i gave first listens to:

To Be Kind

The Seer

White Light From The Mouth of Infinity

Love of Life

Greed

The Great Annihilator

The Burning World

It's too much to talk about, but SWANS is one of my favorite bands, and honestly, if you're really curious, just shoot me a DM for thoughts on any of these albums haha, i'm always overjoyed to talk about music with people, especially SWANS.

loveless

(By my bloody valentine)

One of my biggest regrets is not listening to this album in full earlier than i did. It's seriously such a fucking incredible experience from start to finish that i can't even find much to say about it that hasn't been said before, just give it a listen

MT EERIE

(By The Microphones)

Sorry kids i havent listened to the glow pt 2 yet cant talk about it

I randomly discovered The Microphones on my youtube recommendations one day while listening to completely unrelated music, but clicked due to the artwork catching my interest and was completely enthralled by their melancholic acoustic sound followed by real intense percussion in some songs, and the flirting with experimentation that goes on throughout the entire album, it's seriously great and it touched me in a way not much music has. Big recommendation

IN RAINBOWS

(By Radiohead)

It's hard to say something about this album that hasn't been said already, so i won't.

Give it a listen, even if you're not a fan of their usual stuff, this album still stands out as a pretty interesting project and i enjoy it quite a lot

Also listened to from them this year: OK Computer and Kid A, heavily enjoyed both but In Rainbows remains my favorite

DOOLITTLE

(By Pixies)

Now for my most listened album of the year, spawned from the same night that got me into Spiderland (my 2nd most listened to album...go figure)

Having listened to Where Is My Mind? upon watching Fight Club, that was sadly the only Pixies song i stuck to for a while, but once i heard this album i kept on digging and digging through it to finally get what it is that made me enjoy this band's sound

It actually took me quite a fucking while to fully "get" this album, but the album slowly earned my full appreciation and became something i'd spend days listening to on loop, enjoying the ride from start to finish, it's a seriously good album, and if you wanna hear where some of that 90s rock dynamic came from, this and Surfer Rosa are considered some of the most notable precursors to it, so there you have it. give it a listen!

CLUBE DA ESQUINA

(By Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges)

LINK TO "Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser" FROM THE ALBUM (10 VIDEOS PER POST LIMIT LOL)

I struggle to choose a singular song to link, because every part of this album is crafted with such intricate musicianship and mix matching of Brazilian tradition with a foreign, beatles-esque flavor which is so smoothly and lovingly woven into the entire record. It's an absolute must for anyone interested in the music of Brazil, and one of my absolute favorite albums of all time. i recommend this one to every person i discuss music with, it's a seriously outstanding achievement of an album. give it a listen.

CENTER OF ATTENTION

(By InI)

LINK TO "No More Words" FROM THE ALBUM

I am a HUGE fan of the Jazz Rap style developed in the east coast during the 90s, and InI's shelved debut is one of those crowning examples i now look to when introducing people to the style. Right from the start the album sets you in it's laid back vibe, with it's nice groovy beats that tastefully sample old jazz records in a way that really adds to the album's whole atmosphere. Great album, give it a try.

DUMMY

(By Portishead)

LINK TO "Sour Times" FROM THE ALBUM

While regrettably not having listened to the rest of their output, this album still manages to blow me away every single time i listen to a song off it. There's something so lovable about the gloomy atmosphere paired with those spy movie ass guitars and absolutely breathtaking vocals. every member plays such a strong part in the album's atmosphere to the point you can pay attention to just one component and still be interested the whole way through. this album is so fucking good. give it a listen

SPEAKERBOXXX / THE LOVE BELOW

(By OutKast)

LINK TO "Church" FROM THE FIRST SIDE OF THE ALBUM

LINK TO "Love Hater" FROM THE SECOND SIDE OF THE ALBUM

Outkast has always been one of my favorites in rap, but i never took the time to listen to their biggest project, the double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which is kind of two solo albums from Big Boi and Andre 3000 (in that order) packaged as an Outkast album, but god damn, they made it work really well.

EVERY single song in this album is a fucking banger (GhettoMusick being one of my favorites), the only thing holding it down are some skits that, while some of them are pretty funny, still leave you just wanting to get to the next track, but anyone who's listened to enough rap albums already knows how this stuff goes (first wu-tang album, anyone?)

One of my favorite rap albums, give it a shot, i guarantee at least 3 songs from it will be stuck in your head after.

PAUL'S BOUTIQUE

(By Beastie Boys)

LINK TO "The Sounds of Science" FROM THE ALBUM

Another one of such cases where every song is a banger, the songs are all so fucking awesomely creative i can't help but have a wide smile on my face every time i listen, the crazy amount of samples in this album really makes it quite a unique listen, especially as a Beatles fan which means The Sounds Of Science is enough whiplash to give J.K. Simmons a run for his money

Really fun album, give it a shot

MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS

(By The Smashing Pumpkins)

LINK TO "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" FROM THE ALBUM

I've been a moderate Smashing Pumpkins fan since i was a kid, with Siamese Dream being a favorite, and Drown being one of my favorite songs of all time at that point, but i never took the time to listen to the album that followed it, partly due to it being so massive, but once i took the plunge i spent the next 2 hours sitting in my chair absolutely floored by every song that came my way. This is a seriously impressive album from start to finish and it's one i'll cherish for years to come, every song feels like it's earned it's place, with both the soft and hard songs being equally interesting and ear catching.

Outstanding album, give it a listen.

THE FAT OF THE LAND

(By The Prodigy)

LINK TO "Breathe" FROM THE ALBUM

I'm usually not much of an electronic music guy, but this album really caught my attention after watching Dario Casali's playthrough of Half-Life of all things, where he said he would frequently listen to The Prodigy during development, so i decided to give it a shot, having heard some of their music (Particularly in the film Kick-Ass) and i spent the next week or so religiously listening to this album on loop, it's so endlessly replayable and just fun to listen to that i instantly became hooked. Aside from that, there's not much to say, it's a very fun, energetic album, give it a shot.

THE ENTIRE FUCKING SYSTEM OF A DOWN DISCOGRAPHY

(By...yeah)

LINK TO "Soil" FROM "System Of A Down"

LINK TO "Prison Song" FROM "Toxicity"

LINK TO "Fuck the System" FROM "Steal This Album!"

LINK TO "Radio / Video" FROM "Mezmerize"

LINK TO "Vicinity Of Obscenity" FROM "Hypnotize" (not sure why people dislike this one?)

Same deal as SWANS, too much to talk about, shoot me a dm about it if you're really that curious, i don't mind.

ALL OF IT IS FUCKING GREAT. GIVE THEM A LISTEN. ENOUGH SAID

F♯ A♯ ∞

(By Godspeed You! Black Emperor)

LINK TO "East Hastings" FROM THE ALBUM

It's hard for me to put into words what listening to this album for the first time did for me. It's one of the most atmospheric, wonderful things i've ever had the pleasure of listening to, all 3 songs in this masterpiece keep me entranced until the very last second, including the very unnecessarily long silence at the end of Providence for the hidden song. I have yet to listen to their next album, which i've been told by a mutual is even better, so i'm very excited for that. Give this one a listen.

MARQUEE MOON

(By Television)

LINK TO "See No Evil" FROM THE ALBUM

god i am not a fan of this album cover

that being said, this album is a pretty nice, post punkish record which reminds me a lot of 80s Talking Heads, but i don't have much to say about it. it's simply a good album, and i recommend it heavily. give it a shot

THE UNNATURAL WORLD

(By Have A Nice Life)

LINK TO "Guggenheim Wax Museum" FROM THE ALBUM

I fucking love Deathconsciousness, but stayed at that album for a while, until, for whatever reason, during my initial playthrough of Dark Souls 1 (great game, by the way, enjoyed it lots) i decided to give it a spin and wound up listening to it for basically the rest of the game. It has this gloomy vibe HANL is known for, but it feels like its played a lot more straight than Deathcon, it feels darker, i dunno.

Very good follow-up, even if i think the previous album is overall stronger, this one is still a great listen

LEAVES TURN INSIDE YOU

(By Unwound)

LINK TO "Radio Gra" FROM THE ALBUM

I regrettably struggle to find much to say about this album, which is a shame because i really do love it a lot.

It has this sound that is at times reminiscent of Slint, which made me immediately fall in love, while still standing out as it's own thing, it's a very good fucking album from start to finish, but that's all i can say about it really, i need to listen to it more, and Unwound's other stuff.

Big recommendation right here

FRANKENCHRIST

(By Dead Kennedys)

LINK TO "MTV - Get Off The Air" FROM THE ALBUM

Dead Kennedys is one of my favorite bands (Old Testament DK anyways, Dead Kennedys without Jello is kinda wack, sorry!), and their previous album, Plastic Surgery Disasters remains one of my favorite punk rock records to date, but i had not yet listened to the latter half of their discography, something i now regret, since it's equally as good.

Frankenchrist is a bit of detour from PSD's VERY harsh sound, sounding a little more rounded, less noisy if that makes sense, but Jello Biafra's biting social commentary and witty writing remains intact through it all and makes for an album as entertaining and awesome as the rest of their work. Seriously great, listen to it.

MAGGOT BRAIN

(By Funkadelic)

LINK TO "Maggot Brain" FROM THE ALBUM

Having started my musical ambitions as an aspiring Funk guitarist (part of why my right hand strums so loosely haha), Funkadelic was always on my radar, with their debut album being one of the albums i listened to the most and looked for inspiration in during the pandemic, but for some reason, i never opted to listen to Maggot Brain until this year, which, as is per usual for albums i dont listen to, was a big fucking mistake, since this album is filled with bangers from start to finish. I love it to death.

An absolute must-listen to any funk rock fans

AT ACTION PARK

(By Shellac)

LINK TO "Crow" FROM THE ALBUM

Being a fan of Steve Albini's work both in production and with Big Black, listening to Shellac eventually was a no-brainer, but i procrastinated on it until a particularly lengthy hospital visit where i had enough time to kill and listened to this album, being taken in by that noisy goodness until the album finished. I struggle to find something to say, but the song structures in this album are so weird and they don't hesitate to stay longer than usual and linger on some chords which gives songs this really punchy vibe i can't describe. Great album.

AND FINALLY....

UNDERTOW

(By TOOL)

LINK TO "Prison Sex" FROM THE ALBUM

I'm a huge fan of TOOL, but never listened to their debut until i saw it on a mutual's top albums list, which convinced me i should give it a shot, and so i did!

...On the fucking last hour of 2023

I shit you not, the album ended in the last fuckign MINUTE of the year. 23:59. Finished listening and immediately got up to await the countdown.

That aside, you can really see how they went from this to Ænima, as it has a lot of the harder parts of that album, with less...esoteric(?) peculiarities inbetween, while still being a really good fucking album and enjoyable from start to finish, there wasn't a single song that had me bored. A worthy album to finish the year with...and this list!

FINALLY finished writing this absolute behemoth of a post, and i hope it at least gets one person to check these albums out.

Here's to a great 2024 for all! Thanks for reading!

[desdemonafictional]

Vortex Speed Write Commission

dubcon/idk consent issues due to robot fetish baiting

On AO3

for @bitegore

"This is stupid," Dirge said, taking up position against the doorjamb. "You know he's gonna fry your chips, right?"

Ramjet ignored him and stuck a hand out at the creepy fragger lurking under the cleaning supplies like one of those little eight legged earth gremlins.

"Pay up first," Ramjet said. "Let's see the goods."

Although he didn't actually have a face to speak of, Vortex gave the impression of smiling. He dug in his subspace and held out what he'd found.

"As agreed," Vortex said, "one un-cashed chip from Hedonia's gambling palace, a 15% off coupon for Swindle's contraband cabinet, and a packet of jelly babies."

"Yesss," Ramjet said, and swiped the lot of it.

"I've gotta ask," Vortex said, "what do you even want with the jelly babies? You can't eat them. I tried."

"We're gonna lure away one of those earth trucks and make it our pet," Ramjet said, stuffing his illicit gains into his own pockets. "It's earth food, so earth animals can eat it. Fool proof."

"Well, can't argue with that logic," Vortex said brightly.

"He's gonna fry you," Dirge said again.

"He's not gonna fry me!" Ramjet twisted around and thumped the plating over his subspace. "He paid me. So it's fine!"

"Yeah, Dirge," said Vortex, "it's fine."

Dirge sighed. "He's literally an interrogator."

Ramjet flipped open his cable compartment and jerked one loose. Vortex's unblinking visored gaze fixed on every twitch of Ramjet's hands, helm swaying. Ramjet checked to make sure it wasn't, like, fraying at the joint or something. But no. It was just a normal data cable.

"What the fuck else would he want with your motherboard except to scramble it?" Dirge went on.

"Don't be like thaaat," Vortex said, his gaze still laser-focused on the cablehead in Ramjet's hand. "I'm only asking for a one way connection, it's not dangerous at all!"

"Right," Ramjet said. "So what data do you want anyway? I saw Rosana in concert once back on Cybertron, pretty cool set."

"Oh, no," Vortex said, slinking a little closer. "Any old thing you've got lying around is fine. In fact, every old thing you've got lying around."

"What, like, breakfast?" Ramjet said, fully boggled.

"Like junk data," Vortex said. "Whatever you've been meaning to clean out and haven't gotten around to. Lemme have all of it."

"Uhhhh. why?"

"Because I gave you a poker chip, a coupon, and a bag of jelly babies," Vortex said, patiently. "And if you don't, I'll switch modes and chop this room up like sushi with you in it. Now plug in."

With slightly more trepidation, but unwilling to admit it, Ramjet stepped closer. Vortex pulled open not only the main plug site on his abdomen, but every other one on his frame--some in shapes and sizes that didn't look fit for any kind of Cybertronian Ramjet had ever met. Ramjet stuck with the familiar and plugged in under Vortex's chest plate.

"Okay," Vortex said. "Now the rest."

"What, all of them? I've only got two more."

"Use those then," Vortex said. "Come on, chop chop."

Ramjet unspooled the other two and plugged himself in. As soon as he'd gotten the last one clicked in, a sudden sharp pinch hit him over three points at once. He stared, agog, at the holes he'd just stuck himself into.

"He bit me! You bit me!"

"Don't be a minibot," Vortex said, "it's just a clamp so you can't pull out too early. It won't hurt you."

"Definitely gonna fry your brains," Dirge said.

"Shut up!" Ramjet called back.

Vortex wound one of his hands in the cable plugged into his shoulder and yanked it. Ramjet didn't feel much, other than the same dull pinch, but Vortex shuddered a little at the feedback from the delicate inside of the port.

"See?" Vortex said. "It's fine. Now how about that data?"

Ramjet went into his defrag folders and dug out all the junk he'd had laying around since the last time he'd gotten an actual good night's recharge. It was basically the dust bunny of the processor, maybe even a little gross to grab with your bare hands, but whatever, if the weirdo wanted it.

He initiated a handshake protocol, Vortex accepted, and then--presumably--all the nonsense and broken junk went pouring down the line into Vortex at once. Ramjet couldn't exactly feel it land, without a reciprocal connection, but he could see Vortex's visor fizzle and his rotors stiffen.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Vortex said. "Triplicate it. One feed down each cable."

Ramjet and Dirge exchanged a confused look, but it wasn't as if it cost him anything, so Ramjet obliged.

All Vortex's ventilation panels lifted and started audibly sucking air, fans whirring. Well, it was a lot of data, especially if you were going to try and parse each bit individually instead of letting it pass directly into mass defrag routines.

Right about now the bandwidth in Vortex's processor would be filling up exponentially with garbage, blocking off other sensory avenues, pulling resources from everywhere short of life support to manage the barrage of data.

"Wrap your hands in my cables and twist," Vortex said.

"Uhhh..."

"Now."

Ramjet threaded his fingers into the unused cables and obeyed. This was not... normally the kind of thing mechs did when exchanging data.

Vortex's voice had gone ragged, staticky. "More," he said.

"More data...?"

Vortex, now with his hands so twisted in cables that it was like a net tied around him, made an incoherent pleading noise.

"Holy scrap," Dirge said, from the door. "Look at his crotch plate."

Ramjet blinked, and then leaned back far enough to get a view of Vortex's thighs. Pale lubricant was bubbling out from underneath his modesty panel, smearing where he rubbed his legs together.

"What the frag," Ramjet said.

Vortex let out a breathy laugh, visor glitching and flickering as he wound himself closer to Ramjet by the cables mooring them together.

Ramjet jerked back, but he couldn't get loose. The clamps were pinching harder now, and their hands were tangled now in the delicate machinery of data interface. Ripping one of those out of the joint would hurt worse than a hole in the wing, and be harder to replace.

While Ramjet was wrestling with Vortex's grip on him, Dirge wandered over to get a closer look. He reached down between Vortex's absently shifting thighs and rubbed the sticky panel.

"He's hot," Dirge said.

Vortex laughed again, high and breathy.

Dirge fingered the wet seams thoughtfully, and then all at once he pushed the two intertwined bots, knocking them off balance and into a heap on the floor.

"You know what," Dirge said, "I changed my mind. This was a great idea Ramjet. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it."

Over Vortex's shoulder, Ramjet watched Dirge reach down and palm his rapidly pressurizing spike.

"Let's give him what he wants."

[lady-of-luthien]

Jedi Survivor is awesome!

So I preordered this game (regular pre-order not pay an extra $20 for cosmetics - c'mon now EA) and started playing it immediately after work on release day. I finished the main storyline three weeks later and have been running around doing side quests. I will definitely play it again - on actual new game plus! (Yes yes I know why that wasn't feasible last game, but still.)

This game is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I loved being able to do more things. There will be random spoilers, so the rest is under the cut.

Pros:

Gorgeous planets: Koboh has so much variety. The "oh space frontier is like the Wild West frontier" is a little wacky, but they leaned into it so it's a little funny. I loved that we got to go to Jedha. There are so many random conversations I missed because I was focused on the storyline in my first playthrough.

More saber stances! I focused mainly on the double saber, blaster stance, and a little bit on the dual saber. Next playthrough I'm going to use more single saber and cross-guard - I want to see what those play styles feel like.

MERRIN MERRIN MERRIN!

Merrin and Cal on Jedha - taking out that massive drill! So amazing!

So many themes of surviving, of trauma (escape pod from the Lucrehulk), moving on, dealing with grief and anger (Cal's dark deeds was scary), etc.

I was not expecting Master Cordova. I thought he died!

FUCK YOU BODE! I was not expecting that at all (I was hard avoiding spoilers while playing the game).

Cere looked awesome. I was so scared when she fought Vader, I did not want her to die.

I'm also afraid that Cal will have to fight Vader in the third game and then he'll die because NO NO NO.

They continued the hilarious random stormtrooper conversations and extended that with the clone-war era droids.

Rick the Door Technician!

The lead-up to the boss fight with Rayvis was legit more terrifying than the actual fight (I also chickened out and played the fight on Story Mode).

The Cantina music playlist is awesome!

My cantina peeps: Skoova Stev, Moran, Caij, and Mosey are so fun!

Cons:

Dagan Gera's storyline was a bit...incomplete? Felt a little lacking. Why was Tanalorr your home? Why are you so focused on Tanalorr? Was it because of Santari Khri (her lightsaber is amazing)? Did you guys have a thing? It felt like you guys had a thing.

There are some bugs. Since I recently built my PC, I didn't have the same performance issues others had. Did it crash? Yes, but only when I went fast traveling from one end of the planet to the other. Other times, it won't let me customize Cal or quit the game. Fix that, please!

Why does the game require so much storage space? It's insane.

It has RPG-elements with the customization, but I wished it was a bit more RPG-like. For example: the conversation options have consequences (oh well, there's Star Wars Outlaws next year).

I want more planets! Or more expanded planets. There was Coruscant, Koboh (which yes is the main base), Koboh's moon, Jedha, the Nova Garon asteroid, and a tiny bit of Tanalorr.

I want more! Can we have a DLC?

[ageless-aislynn]

Aislynn and the Long Rambly Rambles about Video Games and Finishing My Halo WIPs and Potential Future Halo Fic Ideas and I Dunno Maybe I Should Finish My Last Two Flash WIPs 'Cause That Would Be Super Rad, Too, Right?™️

Finished! I had a lot of fun with Portal! I did finally manage to compensate for the weird "look to the side and look all the way up or down" problem I was having, thankfully. The puzzle aspect was awesome!

Now, since I'm here for a good time, not to be an amazing gamer, I'mma be straight with you: I looked up the answer whenever I got stuck. I tried all of the puzzles "cold" first and kept trying even when I had no idea what to do. Then, when I reached that first hint of ~~frustration~~, I just looked up the answer. Most of the time, I still had to work to get through it, so it wasn't a gimme. But I don't even care if it does. Like I said, I'm here for a good time, full stop. After really thinking I was never going to get to play any other games in my Steam library because of all of Georgette's serious computer issues, I'm just super happy to be playing again!

I may play the second Portal next, might just go for something else entirely.

I still want to finish Scott/Peebee and Scott/Jaal in Mass Effect: Andromeda but while I can't make any further GIFs, I'm not in a big hurry to do that next. I can still capture the footage, though, so might just have to do that and then hope Georgette will let me install Vegas. 🤞😣🤞

I also have Half-Life and Half-Life 2 and I believe they're connected to Portal in some way? Also have heard they're good games, so they're definitely on my to-play list.

Also there is, in no particular order:

Mass Effect Legendary Edition (got to finally experience the OT, after all!)

Dragon Age: Inquisition (I'm thinking this might slightly scratch my itch to play Baldur's Gate 3, since I'm waiting on that to go on sale)

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (been looking forward to this one for a long time!)

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (another one I've been looking forward to for a while)

Tomb Raider (2013) (DEFINITELY been looking forward to this for ages and ages!)

Titanfall2 (have heard a lot of good things about this one; have also heard it's not too terribly long, which I'm looking for right now, I've got things like ME to play if I want something really long and involved but I'm honestly also looking for a few things that are less of a large time commitment to intersperse with the epic-sized games 😉)

Dead Rising 1, 2 and Off the Record (There are a few things about them I hope won't make me feel stressed out, I don't always do good with things that have time limits, but mannnn, I really want to try out all of the funny weapons and such that you can craft! So the plan is to not worry about "winning" just get in there and have fun!)

I've also got the Resident Evil Village demo but am kinda bummed that it's on a 30 minute time limit. So, like, if it takes me forever to get the hang of the controls, I might not get to see 5 minutes of gameplay. That'll suck. 😠It seems like it would've been better for the demo just to be a level or part of a level and if it takes you an hour to play it, what does it matter? You're still just playing that one little chunk they set aside for you to test out. Oh well, I'll give it a try out of these days.

The Resident Evil 4 remake demo isn't time-locked and you can replay it as much as you want, so I'm thinking about giving that a try. I dunno. I've watched a LOT of playthroughs in this franchise and I'd like to try them myself but I also know I can get skeeved out by body horror and sometimes survival horror in general just stresses me out. So, don't plan on picking up the full game of either of these until I get a chance to try out their demos at least. And I want them to be on a great sale in case I try the full game and then find myself going

Anyway, if you play games, what are you into these days?

Halo MCC will always be my comfort place, needless to say! Does anybody here do the weekly challenges? I love doing them! Just need 100 more points and I can buy everything on the final level/season/whatever they call it. I love getting new nameplates, lol!

Anyway, I did also do some writing today towards Camp NaNo and made my ridiculously low daily word par. I'm hoping to actually get all of the rest of "Recreation" and "15 Minutes" done in first draft form this month. That would be rad to just have to do final editing and get them posted in May! I'm going to miss them when they're done but I want to make sure that I get their story told, you know?

If I should achieve that goal, then I have a fluffy Vannak x Reader one-shot I'd like to finish. Then I realized if I do that, I'll have given everybody in Silver Team a Reader character except Riz. Can't have that, now can I? Riz is also MAH BB!