#the fucking catch pole...... yeesh

[altschmerzes]

Drive the Wedge snippet, perchance?

HAPPILY

this is from chapter 1, which i am like. a hair's breadth from posting aaaaaaa. river is coming to some... concerning conclusions :)

Back at Les Arbres, River had only gotten a few brief looks at the person who had come out of nowhere in the burning building and tried to kill him. Still, he remembers that face. It would be hard to forget someone who tried to murder you, no matter how much else had been going on at the time. Frank Harkness. Frank Harkness is standing over River, holding the end of what he thinks is a catch pole, the kind animal control uses to restrain dangerous dogs, the looped cord of which is pulled tight around River’s neck. Patrice stands beside him, looking out into the dark distance beyond the gravel driveway as if there’s nothing particularly interesting happening in his more immediate proximity. He’d been in that photograph. River hadn’t thought about it until he’d been in the boot for quite some time. It was after the first transfer between cars that he had been trying to cobble together as much information as he could recall about his abductor, just for something, anything that was even vaguely useful to do. That was when he had remembered the photograph, the one that Flyte had taken off of him. Patrice had been in that photo, along with Frank, Bertrand, and Yves. Bits of information are starting to come together, click into place like the pieces of a horrid little puzzle. River swallows thickly, feels the plastic-coated cord cut deeper into his throat. This is bad. This is all very, very bad.

[decadeofjoy-au]

PART 21 OF THE DECADE OF JOY STORY

Title: Explosive Aftershocks

(TW: Corpses, major Injury, mentions of death. Swearing)

This link has the links to the other parts: https://www.tumblr.com/decadeofjoy-au/774964066342092800/rules

SETTINGS: Boiler Room(first and second part). Side room(third part). Game station(fourth part). Clinic(fifth part).

MAIN CHARACTERS: Mr Sandman. ???. Catnap. Maria Harper. Icarus Tank. Silas The Scorpion.

OCS in this part and their owners.

Maria Harper-TDOJ

Handyman-TDOJ

Clarance The Clayman-TDOJ(Deceased)

Mr Shortcake-TDOJ(Mentioned)

???-TDOJ

Icarus Tank-TDOJ

Mr Sandman-TDOJ

Percival The Plasticine Beast-TDOJ

Dr Draco Draconic-TDOJ(Mentioned)

Caleb-Icanexplainwhythisnameisbad

Kitchan Sink-Icanexplainwhythisnameisbad(Brief Appearance)

Doodle The Stretchy Mime-Anewbieartist356(Brief Appearance)

Patty The Putty Dragon-Doris-Anewbieartist356(Brief Appearance)

Silas The Scorpion-Anewbieartist356

Candi Bee-Anewbieartist356(Brief Appearance)

Rosalie-Corelex(Brief Appearance)

Dupin Lupin-Corelex(Brief Appearance)

Dex the Dracopead-Sweatycowboyqueen(Brief Appearance)

Calvin Construt-a-bot- JustAFreak40(Brief Appearance)

Huggy Wuggy(Mentioned)

Mommy Long Legs

Bunzo Bunny(Mentioned)

Catnap

Doey The Doughman

Dogday(Brief appearance)

Frosty The Yeti(Brief appearance)

Pianosaurus(Brief appearance)

Yarnaby(Brief appearance)

The Prototype(Mentioned)

Leith Pierre[The Garbage Disposal](Mentioned)

Richard Lovitz[Voloveoraptor](Mentioned)

—————

A burnt, damaged hand suddenly burst out from the rubble, throwing stuff to the side as a large toy suddenly rose up from underneath it, letting out a low, feral growl. He was losing his mind, wasn’t he? It’s only been 2…maybe 3 days since those brats got out and yet…. He’s still struggling to catch them. They’re just kids, how hard could they possibly be to catch?? ONES BLIND FOR GODS SAKE! Mr Sandman growled as he slowly stood up, grabbing onto a metal pole that had impaled his arm before tearing it out, feeling as blood slowly trickled from the wound but..he didn’t care. He’s felt far worse pains before. He didn’t even take note of the fact that a good quarter of his face and body was damaged. Burnt and scarred. Tsk…He can take a bit of pain.

He turned to see Silas picking up various toys and experiments before quickly making his way out the damaged room as Rosalie and Dupin dragged a couple of experiments away. Specifically Doodle and Doris who were actively struggling against them though Doris seemed far more panicked than Doodle did. Probably cause she’s injured.. He’s sure they’d get shoved in their cells regardless of how injured they are though. He then turned his head to where he THOUGHT Huggy was but..he was gone. He didn’t see Silas take him so where was he? Meh…was definitely alive for all he knew..Huggy didn’t represent strength for nothing after all. Mr Sandman looked around for where those two brats had possibly ran off to before his eyes landed on the giant doors that he had walked in from. Hm…probably there.

The giant sun toy immediately began walking in that direction, stepping on Clarance’s burnt and cracked corpse. He blinked before looking down at his foot and lifting it up. Yeesh… Blast was so scalding hot that it burnt him from the outside and the inside. That explosion was kinda his fault anyways…Kinda. Not his fault that his body can heat up to absurd temperatures.. Technically the fault of those stupid scientists who made him. He doesn’t even know why that gave him that ability. What? To be a living heating pad? Tsk. Yeah right.. He remembers killing them during The Hour Of Joy. Hm…really was an Hour Of Joy for him. Well…not the “killing innocents” part.. more so stomping repeatedly on those scientist’s mutilated corpses. Yea…he’ll do that to that damn girl and her…brother? Friend? Whoever the hell the blind one was, and that stupid Fucking mannequin too when he finds them. They’re gonna regret what they did to his leg, to his pride.. Well…he lost his pride years ago. Tsk..when he was a scapegoat for those scientists who didn’t wanna own up to their actions. He was about to take another step forward, stepping over Yarnaby’s burnt body and slowly moving Pianosaurus’ corpse to the side when he suddenly realized…

Mr Sandman suddenly remembered seeing..Bunzo. Yeah..he was there for the explosion too. But he’s not here anymore now, is he? Literally and in other senses too as Mr Shortcake had quickly come back to take his body away …Mommy would need a new Second-In-Command.. hm. She’s definitely not gonna take that death well. But ah…he doesn’t really care. He doesn’t care about anything except those two kids. Maybe after Silas is done working he can ask for his help… Silas loved helping though…sometimes he helped out a little…too much. That’s a conversation for another time.

Mr Sandman harshly kicked a mini Handymen to the side as the hallway got more and more narrow. He’s getting closer and closer to…Leith’s room. The garbage disposal. He could tell from the sickening smell of rot and decay…ugh…they need to throw him out like the trash he is.. He smells awful. Why does he need to be so big anyways? He’s so large that he can’t even move anyhow…least not without dragging his body against the floor that’s probably COVERED in glass shards, metal rods and jagged wooden splines..and he knows damn well that hurts. Or it should at least…Mr Sandman shook his head as he got his mind back onto the original goal. Just find those kids and get rid of them…shouldn’t be this hard. … maybe if he calmed down a bit..

—————

It was quiet. The small creature began to mold and shift off of…whatever it was attached to before slowly beginning to open its eyes to look around. It was…black-? No.. Smokey… and they could see red gas filling the room. The small dough…no.. slime? Putty-? Maybe…Plasticine…creature slowly began to back up before its back suddenly hit something. They turned around to see…a large demon looking toy behind them, lying curled up around something and completely limp with smoke slowly rising from their body. It flinched back. It…FELT like it should be scared…like something was wrong with this thing in front of it, but it couldn’t help but feel an…odd…sense of familiarity around this toy..As if they knew them before..but it…can’t remember from where… …

The little creature looked at its hands, then it’s legs, then it’s tail.. Mostly…dark with the occasional colorful highlights here and there…as if they were made from multiple different malleable materials. Before it could get a better feel of its appearance, it heard…stomping? No..that was too soft to be stomping. And it was…coming from behind it. It flinched before slowly turning around and looking up as it came face to face with…a giant purple cat.. …he looks…scary..and…familiar in an…awful, horrible way.. as if the last time they met was a horrible experience. They went to take a step back when the cat toy suddenly grabbed them before grabbing onto the larger plasticine toy. The little toy didn’t even get to struggle as the red smoke that seeped from the cat’s mouth slowly began to take effect. It felt drowsy..exhausted even. Where…is this thing taking them..? Hopefully not somewhere…bad.. It blinked in an attempt to stay awake before finally falling asleep. Catnap seemed satisfied.

As Catnap was about to start walking, he noticed that Percival…wasn’t letting go of something. As he looked over to see what he was, he noticed it was…oh. Candi. Of course it was her. She’s like…the ONLY experiment who will willing hang out with him. She looked pretty burnt…maybe she should throw her in Percival’s cell before she wakes up..just so she doesn’t have a complete breakdown over her “precious looks” being ruined. Ugh…she has enough of those. As for the little dough creature…he’ll do some…testing…on them before giving them a name. Or maybe he’ll throw it in Percival’s cell and let him name it to see what comes from his crazy, diseased brain. He’d kill it but….The Prototype probably wouldn’t be happy with that. The Guardian wouldn’t either..

Catnap could imagine The Guardian wanting to see the little guy. Mmm….as much as he’d “love” to let him, some experimenting is needed to be done first. He just hopes Percival’s the only one who…made a…thing.. Does that count as budding?

—————

Handyman pulled Caleb and Maria into a small side room, quickly turning off the light before speed walking to the furthest corner and pushing the two kids down. Caleb quickly pushed their hand off of him before yelling.

Caleb: “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!? I HEARD A BOOM! I HEARD YELLING! YOU REMEMBER IM BLIND RIGHT!? WHERE ARE W-“

Handyman suddenly slapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish, making a hissing sound. Maria would’ve liked to see what was in the room but..she wasn’t worried about that right now. She was more concerned about whether Clarance was okay or not…Well- he clearly WASN’T okay but damn! she JUST talked to him! Just talked to him and the next thing she knows he’s a burnt…darkened lump of clay. He…he’d recover from that. Right..? She’s seen Doey take hits that would kill a normal person. Clarance is basically the same thing as Doey so he SHOULD be okay!

Ugh…must be her luck… She’s always the “lucky” one. Anything bad that happens to a large group she’s in always ends up with her having the least amount of issues. She’d know…that’s what happened with her parents. That’s what happened on that bus… Maria turned her head to Caleb to see how he was doing before looking up at Handyman. They both seemed to be doing as…fine as anybody normally would if someone they cared about just blew up in front of them. Ugh…she just hopes that damn sun head toy doesn’t find them…she doesn’t wanna deal with him right now. She couldn’t help but think back to Clarance as her expression grew more sorrowful.

—————

Icarus was walking towards the game station. Usually he stayed far away from any place that had a lotta kids and he wasn’t the most cuddly looking toy but…Mommy had to hear this news. He began to walk faster, wanting to deliver the news as quickly as possible before he got back to working on other stuff. It took a while, but he finally made it. He brushed off his clothes, wanting to seem at LEAST presentable in front of her. Mommy seemed busy..she was on a call and she seemed…rather stressed. Mommy never liked him. She hates every adult regardless of who they are. Of course she’d hate him. She just never outright attacked any of the experiments because well- The Prototype would get mad… and he’s pretty sure that she’s terrified of him. She seemed to narrow her eyes at him as he approached her, gripping the phone before slamming it down and turning to him.

Mommy: “Don’t. I already know.”

Icarus: “Oh…right. Alright then.. Who’s bringing him up?”

Mommy: “..Mr Shortcake.”

Icarus: “Alright. That’s all I needed to know.”

Icarus turned to leave. He could’ve left…he WOULD have left… but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity for the spider toy. She’s probably overworked and stressed.. He could tell from the look in her eyes. He knew that Mommy considered Bunzo family. Everyone knew that! It was common knowledge within the factory. Mommy considered most of every toy her family..even if they found her..rather unappealing to look at. He stood there for…a while before sighing and turning around.

Icarus: “Hey. I’m sorry for your loss.”

No response. Mommy just continued to stare off in the distance. He doesn’t know what he expected…Mommy kinda hates his guts. Icarus sighed before walking out and pulling out his phone. They blew up the boiler… this is urgent…he HAS to call him. Besides…Clarance is dead. Handyman shouldn’t be too hard to catch. Icarus put his phone to his ear as he waited for whoever was on the other side to pick it up. After a few minutes…

Icarus: “Hello? Yes, it’s Icarus. If you somehow weren’t aware, the experiments that you’re supposed to be taking care of have gone loose. A good quarter of the violent ones too.” … “Well don’t get mad at ME!!, they’re YOUR responsibility! How long has it been since Voloveoraptor’s gotten out? Months?” … “It’s- it’s fine. I just thought to call you since you have one of the highest catch rates of anyone here. That…doesn’t consist of killing the victim. And you’re the warden anyways..” … “Well, the boiler blew up..so most of them are being taken to the clinic. As for the others I’m..not too sure.” … “Okay. Bye.”

Icarus hung up the call then put his phone in his pocket before turning and walking back out. He just hoped that Mommy would be okay…as…mean and cruel as she is to him. Draco would handle everything. He’s one of the few toys who’s able to restrain Mr Sandman when he’s on a rampage! That’s pretty impressive. He just wonders why Draco hasn’t shown up to handle anything right now… maybe he wasn’t informed or anything? Seems likely judging from how pissed he got on that phone call when he found out that a good QUARTER of the experiments that he’s SUPPOSED to be taking care of were out of their cells and causing chaos. He looked up, noticing Calvin attempt to make his way..downstairs? The hell is he doing? He’s supposed to be down at Playcare making sure that no more of those kids get out! Sure, Playcare IS downstairs but that doesn’t excuse why hes even up here! Maria and Caleb are already out and running around probably breaking shit! They didn’t need anymore children getting out.

Icarus: “Wh- ugh…”

Icarus looked around before groaning and bawling up his fists. Great…now he’s gotta go up to Playcare and check on those kids because SOMEONES not doing their JOB. He didn’t hate kids…it’s more so the fact that his glass head and whatever that black liquid in it was scared the kids shitless and he didn’t wanna deal with that.. He growled as he turned to head down the elevator to Playcare. And he’s gotta see Zacker there too… ugh..he better be doing his damn job.

—————

Silas quickly walked into the medical room, setting some injured toys down for the medics to see. Daisy’s eyes widened in shock as she immediately shook her head, turning to look at Medic before quickly snapping out of it and making quick work to get everyone to their own bed. Doey looked up from what he was doing as well to see what was going on. He was wearing a large, warm jacket so that he wouldn’t freak out about the cold room as he helped the medic’s with their work.. He was helping because he was sure that Rosalie would’ve captured some experiments by now…with the help of Dupin too. They were very good at their jobs. Unfortunately however…he was instead met with the sight of half of the toys he knew and cared from security about either half-melted, burnt or both.. His eyes widened as he quickly made his way over to Silas, a look of worry and urgency plastered on his face.

Doey: “🟧What happened?!🟧”

Silas seemed to be disoriented and was having some…issues…moving his bad leg. Must’ve taken the hit badly enough to mess it up. Doey couldn’t help but wonder where his cane was too.. Yeesh…he looked like he got hit with a bomb or something.

Silas: “B…boiler…expl..exploded….”

He scratched at his bandages as he leaned against the medical table. If he was being honest he didn’t…see Mr Sandman in the rubble when he was looking before he was told to start grabbing people and getting them to the medical room.

Silas: “D…do you happen to have a…spare c..cane anywhere?”

He couldn’t help but pause as he thought more about Mr Sandman. Maybe Doey could…call someone. Yeah… Toys are allowed to have phones and he was a leader too. Surely he could call someone.

Silas: “I…is Sandman ok? Please…please tell me he’s ok…”

Doey: “🟡Uhh…🟡”

Doey blinked, looking back at the injured toys and noticing…Frosty. His eyes widened as he took a quick step back. He didn’t…he didn’t HATE Frosty or anything it’s just…He’s cold. Far too cold for him to handle. He attempted to ignore the yeti toy as he grabbed his phone and made a phone call. First toy he called? Dogday. After calling Dogday, he then attempted to call Huggy but…he never picked up. He sighed then went to call Catnap instead. He honestly REALLY didn’t like Catnap…a lot…but…he’s meant to represent trust which means he needs to put his trust in even toys who he doesn’t deem…deserving of it.

Doey: “🟧Catnap? Yeah…it’s…it’s Doey. Did you see Mr Sandman anywhere?🟧” … “🟧oh…oh- what!? He’s heading where?!🟧” … “🟧I- you know how he IS! He shouldn’t be-🔻“ … “🟧….fine. But if he wakes him up, make sure there are toys down there to calm him down. BOTH of them..🟧”

Doey then put his phone up and turned to Silas. Dogday should be here in a few minutes..it was known that he didn’t have the best leg either. He wanted to…lie…about where Mr Sandman was knowing that Silas would wanna do something about it but…god he just HATES liars.. truth it is.

Doey: “🟧He’s..heading to Leith’s room.🟧”

Silas: “I….” … “I’m…h…heading after him. P..please dont stop me….

With that, he turned and started to leave, limping quite a bit. Doey’s eyes widened before he immediately moved forward, trying to stop him.

Doey: “🟧What!? No. You shouldn’t go, it’s dangerou-🟧“

Medic: “Let him. He can possibly calm Mr Sandman down enough for him to be more…efficient…with his work.”

Doey paused. He didn’t want to let him go. It was dangerous in his state, practically a death wish! But…Medic made a convincing argument.. If Mr Sandman is going around and destroying everything that girl even lays a hand on then he clearly needs to be calmed down. Or…enough to where he stops breaking everything… Doey looked back up at Silas before looking at Medic again. After a few moments, he sighed in defeat, fixing his hat before frowning.

Doey: “🟧Okay…but at least borrow a spare cane from Dogday before you go..🟧”

Silas let out a sigh before nodding

Silas: “..Yes sir…”

Silas turned to leave just as Dogday had gotten there. Dogday blinked up at him in surprise, taking a quick note of his appearance before handing him a spare cane he had and making his way past him inside to help the other medics. Dex made quick work in getting all the patients comfortable as Kitchan sink grabbed some ointments and bandages from a drawer. He just had to go and see if Mr Sandman was fine. Then he’d get back to his normal work.

—————

[illstaywithstray]

can you do #37 with felix?? thank you 🥺

37. “You did all of this for me?”

Note: Thank you for requesting!

You groaned audibly, eliciting a few stares from the people sitting around you. It was already midnight and you were still stuck on the subway. It’d be at least another hour until you reached the bus stop. 

“Hey, I’m gonna be running late.”

“Ugh, did your tutor hold you back again?”

“Yeah, she said that I’m not understanding how to approach my programs,” you exhaled, trying to forget about the session.

“Well, I would help you, but I’m bad at programming. The guys just came over, so we’ll set up.” 

“Ugh, Lix, you’re literally the best.”

“Only for you.”

You giggled, “I love you.” He said it back and you hung up. The elderly couple smiled at you and whispered about young love. You smiled back, opening your computer to finish some work. At least you could finish a few problems instead of sleeping. 

The doors opened and closed as you slaved over the last couple of questions. Half an hour had passed by and there was only one more stop until yours. After tucking your computer back into its sleeve, you rested your head against the headrest and decided to take a quick nap. 

Your eyes opened out of instinct when you felt eyes on you. A middle-aged man with his daughter, the same elderly couple, and a group of teenagers were the only ones visible, and all of them were minding their own business. It wasn’t until you fully turned your head that you saw a drunk, bald old man craning his head around a pole to look at you. Instantly, you felt panicked but politely smiled in fear of angering him. He must’ve taken the smile as some sort of sign because he got up and sat right next to you. You looked up, and the three other groups were now aware of what was going on. No one said anything as the doors opened and they shuffled out. It was just going to be you and him. Your heart was hurting your chest because of how hard it was beating. He muttered something, and while you faced him questioningly, you heard a breathless scream from the doors. 

“Y/N,- fuck, lemme catch my breath.” Felix stood in the doorway, holding a bundle of random objects. You almost cried out of relief, getting up and pushing him out of the way as the doors closed. 

“Yeesh, why the sudden energy?”

“Just excited to see you, but why are you here?”

“Me and the guys thought it’d be fun to move the movie up to the roof, so I got a couple things.”

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

“Yeah it does, I saw the subway on the way so I ran over here. But I got distracted by this street vendor who was trying to close up, so I bought her roses. And then I got hungry, and I thought you’d be hungry from class, so I got pizza. But I remembered you don’t like greasy food without a drink, so I got lemonade.”

If you were being completely honest, you didn’t really listen to half his rambling, you were just grateful for him. 

“You did all of this for me?”

He seemed taken aback by the intense feelings of love shooting out of your eyes but just nodded in response, smiling.

“I love you for this, but please tell me you drove to the store. My feet are dying.”

“Of course I didn’t”

You frowned, sighing heavily.

“Woojin did.” You elbowed him as he laughed and ran in the direction of the car. You just rolled your eyes and ran after him.

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 24)

Crack!

The spider golem’s last weak point shattered, it frantically, uselessly flailed about before it fell over on its back, legs curling up into itself as it deactivated. Weiss smiled as she ripped her runeblade out from it, held it up into the air as all six of Winter’s summons joined her and posed beside their “kill.”

Winter cheered from her place on the balcony above, Tygan just nodded his head, and switched to the other feeds in front of him.

Thoom!

Sayuri sent the wooden slab rocketing back with a compressed air explosion, before she thrust out the hand her “spitter” was mounted on. The weapon whirred and screamed like a miniature jet engine, a cyclone exploding out and blasting the slab. Her arm wavered slightly, Sayuri braced it against her other wrist, and the slab didn’t move an inch for the rest of the minute.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Goro stood at the pole again with his cannon this time, raining fiery balls of death down on the golems swarming around him, the hapless constructs exploding into smouldering pieces and ash before they could even get close to the barrier.

<Come on! Come on!> he yelled, taking a hand off his cannon to beat his breastplate. <Let ‘em at me, set ‘em all loose, this shit is too fuckin’ easy!>

<We’re not sending any more golems at you until you dial it back!> cried one of the technicians via comm-crystal. <You’re breaking them too badly, we won’t be able to recycle even half of the ones you’ve already busted!>

<Fuck you!> Goro snapped back. <What’s the point of training if you don’t always put your 110% into it?!>

<That’s enough, Aneyama,> Tygan interrupted calmly. <You can get off the pole now, you’ve already got full marks for this test.>

<Tch,> Goro said, shaking his head as he holstered his cannon over his back. <Next time you want me to break out my big guns, bring out the bigger golems, too!>

<I’ll keep it mind,> Tygan said. <For now, get started on your cooldown.>

Goro jumped off the pole and back to the ground, the clean-up crew gave him dirty looks as he passed them by; he just smiled, admiring the smoking ground, smouldering wreckage, and numerous craters left in his wake.

By 9:30PM, all of Tygan’s students were back underneath their tent, in much higher spirits, and with far less injuries or wounds to be treated by Penny, or the others—and even then, they were usually from accidents, overexertion, or bruises and cuts from earlier acting up. Lively conversation abounded, folks bragging about how well they had done on a certain test, complimenting others, and discussing plans for future lessons.

Meanwhile, Tygan was in the corner, sitting on a large root with Penny, reviewing the statistics and the footage, talking with her in hushed tones. Eventually he got up and strolled back into the front of the class, clapping his hands for attention, waiting for the hubbub to die down before he spoke.

<I have to say, everyone: I’m impressed!> he said. <All across the board, you’ve all done spectacularly with this round of evaluative tests, most of you scoring well above the average or better. I can really see why your peers, families, and mentors thought you’d be best off in a special, focused combat class like this!>

Folks cheered this time, beaming and soaking in the praise, giving out high fives and other friendly gestures..

<And on that same note, I now know exactly why you’re all still going to be Initiates for a long time yet!> Tygan said cheerfully, before his eyes opened, his mouth curled into a scowl, and his voice became deathly serious. <Because without your foci, almost all of you suck, and suck hard.>

All the smiles were suddenly wiped off faces, the students looked at Tygan in a mix of confusion or indignation.

<Adept and Master Weavers uses their foci as an extension of their body and power, not as a crutch nor compensation for their failings and lack. Your weapons and tools are supposed to amplify your natural capabilities to greater heights and allow you to take on incredible challenges, not ensure that you can reliably pass the most basic batteries of evaluative tests!

<I get it: you are Watchers, you are Pit fighters, you are Makers. You live and die by the quality of your tools, by the skill with which you wield them, and by the echoes they have gained under you, and whoever else may have used them before. But you are all also Weavers, and there is no putting away, no unloading, no blunting the most dangerous weapons you have:

<Yourselves.>

Tygan closed his eyes again, his frown turning into a neutral line, his voice flat as he said, <In time, you all have the potential to become truly great, ready to fight, defend, and change this realm, for fame or infamy… but before all that, you must learn to control that power, with or without the help of your foci.

<Remember this: the Primals are not in their positions because they can unleash power like the most devastating storms and phenomenon in nature; they are there because they know when to stay their wrath, when and how much of a percentage of their power to use, and when to unleash fury like Avalon herself.

<And with that: you are all dismissed! I will inform you all within two days time when our next session will be, and if you have any other inquiries, please send me a message via my public line, and I will get back to you tomorrow morning by 8AM at the very latest.>

Tygan bowed, the class stood up and did the same, before he turned around and left, gracefully launching himself up into the tree tops, before hopping from branch to branch, leaving a stunned, silent, and scowling class in his wake.

<Well, shit got heavy real fast—who’s up for drinks?!> someone cried. <Last one not under the table gets a free pass on the bill!>

<You’re on!> Goro said, grinning as he stepped up to them.

They blanched immediately. <Hell no, Goro! Not you! You stay away from this, I like my regular!>

<Well maybe you should have thought of that before you sent an open invite to everyone, ah?!> Goro snapped, hunching his shoulders.

Winter shook her head, wrapping a shoulder around Weiss and coaxing her away from the rapidly heating up argument.

Penny floated up to them and asked, “Would either of you like to join your classmates for dinner, or their other recreational activities? It would be an excellent opportunity to strengthen bonds and make potentially helpful connections in the future.”

Weiss yawned, and shook her head. “Maybe some other day…” she mumbled. “I am so ready to be completely, absolutely done with today...”

“Winter?” Penny asked.

“I think Weiss needs me more than I need to start making a new professional network,” Winter replied, patting Weiss on her arm. “On a related note: you think you can make it all the way back home like this, little sister?”

“So long as we can take the teleporter back...” Weiss mumbled, before she yawned again. “I want to walk as little as possible from here on out...”

“I’m afraid the teleportation functionality is severely limited for the moment, due to the repairs in the Water Quadrant diverting majority of the resources and mana of the Terrace,” Penny said.

Weiss groaned. “Great...”

“Guess we’re just going to have to do this the old fashioned way,” Winter said, shrugging before she knelt down to the ground.

Weiss stared at her in disbelief. “Are you seriously going to give me a piggyback ride back home?”

“Are you going to refuse?” Winter replied calmly.

“No.” Weiss said, fixing up the contents of her belt, before wrapping her arms around Winter’s shoulders.

“Huh, this is strange...” Winter said as she grabbed Weiss’ legs and stood up.

“What is…?” Weiss mumbled as she nestled her head on her shoulder.

“It’s been a decade and a half since I last did this, and it’s still just as easy as it was then!” Winter hummed. “It’s like you’ve barely grown at all, little sister.”

Weiss scowled. “Oh, screw you...” she mumbled, before she quickly fell asleep, smiling.

A little over an hour later, Weiss was standing alone on the balcony of her and Winter’s home, dressed in her nightgown with one of her jackets thrown over it, leaning on the railing with a cup of black moss tea in hand.

She wasn’t doing much but sip and maybe gaze around for interesting sights in the Grove, until her comm-crystal beeped, with a message from Ruby: “On nightwatch. Super bored. Want to talk for a while?”

Weiss smiled, and replied, “Text or talk?”

“Talk. I need to keep my hands free for my farsighter.”

Weiss took a sip from her tea, and established a connection; soon enough, the holo in front of her showed Ruby standing on the edge of a rail, her hood up and her cloak tied tight around her. “Hey Weiss!” she said, waving and smiling at her, before she put a telescope-like device to her eye.

“Good evening, Ruby,” Weiss said, nodding. “Sure you’re not going to get in trouble for this?”

“Nope!” Ruby said, still looking through her farsighter. “I’m really only supposed to be a fail-safe, Iaros is the one we expect to catch anything suspicious out here.”

“Who’s Iaros?”

Ruby spared a hand to move her holo around, Weiss saw a rather large, hawk-like creature, jet black eyes, a sharp-hooked beak, prominent talons, and bright, fiery feathers. She shuddered, and said, “Yeesh, security crystals not intimidating enough for you Fae, huh?”

“Nope!” Ruby said, turning the holo back to herself. “It really helps with keeping wild animals from trying to sneak onto our convoys and into the supplies, having an apex predator keep guard. Though, he’s mostly just been eating domesticated meat and treats, since we still have plenty of animal repellents, there’s still a lot of us traveling together, and we’re not in the really wild zones yet.

“Anyway, enough about me: what’s up on your end? Penny hasn’t updated me on today yet, and I won’t really have the time to catch up for a while, anyway.”

Weiss sighed. “Just the usual, with life and the universe screwing with me… I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Is it because it hurts to talk about it, or because you don’t want to bog me down with your baggage?” Ruby asked. “Because if it’s the second, I’m 100% open to hearing you out and lightening your load.”

“Are you sure about that?” Weiss asked. “It’s going to be about an hour, hour and a half worth of griping.”

Ruby chuckled. “I’m sure—that is what girlfriends do, right?”

Weiss blushed and looked away. “Well, if you’re so willing...” she muttered, before she gave her an abbreviated account of the day’s events, up until Winter’s giving her a piggyback ride back home.

“Wow,” Ruby said. “Pretty much just all action, combat, and the Pits since you woke up this morning, huh? You sure you should still be up and talking to me, instead of getting some sleep?”

“I should be, but I can’t right now,” Weiss replied. “We were starving by the time we got back, and myself and Winter proceeded to quite literally stuff our faces with as much food as we could fit in our mouths. By the time my stomach finally sent the signal that it was time to stop, it was already way too late, so here I am now, standing out at our balcony, sipping coffee while I wait till it’s safe for me to lie down again.”

She sighed. “I’m really worried that this might be my new normal, when it comes to food.”

“Why?” Ruby asked. “I mean, I’m pretty sure you and dad are growing enough to feed all even without allowance from the Council, and Qrow, Blake, and Ren are able to hunt enough for everyone on the reg.”

“It’s not how we’re going to get food that worries me, Ruby, it’s where all of it’s inevitably going to go,” Weiss grumbled, looking down at herself. “Penny assures me that most of it is going to end up metabolized and turned into mana, and that I can burn off the rest of the calories pretty quickly with spellcasting, but I’m concerned at just how much of both is going to happen while I still have this collar on,” she said, touching it.

“I might have to buy a new wardrobe for the meanwhile, and I’ve got this sinking feeling that Blake might have to permanently modify all my old clothes by the time this comes off!”

“I won’t mind if you gain some extra weight, Weiss,” Ruby said.

Weiss scowled. “Well I do, and I know your intentions are good, but I’d rather not hear that from you, especially because your genetics lets you eat cookies on a daily basis, and still keep your rock-hard, six-pack abs.”

She sighed heavily. “Anyway… how are things on your end?”

“Eh, pretty boring and tedious, actually,” Ruby said.  “Lack of action aside, I miss you, and everyone else, too. This is actually the first time I’ve ever had an expedition where it’s just me that went, no close friends nor family.

“I mean—I’ve always accepted that there’s going to come a time where they might not be around, especially with how dangerous our jobs are, but when it actually happens… it’s never as easy as how you imagined it to be, you know…?”

“Do you want to talk about it, too...?” Weiss asked.

“Yeah but, I don’t really know where to start!” Ruby replied. “Kinda always relied on Penny for these things, seeing as it’s her job and all.”

“Maybe you could try one of your more memorable expeditions with them?” Weiss asked. “Or maybe your first trips together? Knowing you, there have to be some interesting stories there.”

Ruby paused, then nodded. “Huh… now that you mention it, Blake did start working with us because one of our old Keeper Team watchers quit on us, right on the eve of an important extended trip! How well she did then was how she became a permanent of the team now, actually.”

“Then would you mind telling me all about it?” Weiss said, smiling.

“Sure thing!” Ruby said, smiling and nodding. “It all started about a year ago...”

Note: Since some of you have been politely asking me to show Ruby doing her Keeper duties, y'all are getting a flashback series of chapters.

A farsighter is not just a simple telescope, it also automatically “tags” points of interest and living beings, and with relatively modern developments, have been used to sync up the data to comm-crystals and improve information in the wilderness and the battlefield.

Weavers have VASTLY increased caloric needs than other Fae. Aside from mana water, many watcher-weavers are equipped with energy drinks made with it as a base in case of emergency, extra watcher chocolate bars and similar treats, and receive the lion’s share of food and hunts.

Few mind, as they can perform tasks by themselves that would take scores more of non-weavers to do, and not nearly as efficiently.

In case of emergency or times of scarcity, large amounts of sugar, be it lactose, sucrose, or fructose, can be used to refuel weavers instead of mana water. It’s not nearly as effective nor efficient, but if the situation requires you to desperately shovel table sugar down into your mouth before washing it all down with a fruit milkshake, most weavers don’t really care.

Not all weavers have sweet teeth, and a good chunk of them abhor the taste of mana water, which is generally sweet with additional flavours and undertones that are difficult to describe in Nivian, or translated Actaeon. There are actually some famous Primals, Masters, and notable Adepts who have gone to great lengths to avoid using it, try to make them more palatable to their taste, or both, to the point of inventing entirely new classes and types of beverages and alchemical products over the course of their research.

This is actually how the famous “Fireki’s Fizzy Fun” series of drinks was invented, when the creator Weaver Fireki Venquen tried and failed miserably to make viable variations of pure mana water, and proceeded to sell the prototypes to fund future research. She became ABSURDLY rich from it, but unfortunately never did manage to find those mythical formulas she was looking for, before she died.

[slinksterfeline]

My 2019 Oscars Picks...

It's that time of year again, and once again I attempted to watch every Oscar nominated movie before The Oscars, and once again we learned that just because a movie was released the previous autumn, that's no guarantee that you'll actually be able to view the movie before Oscar Day.

(Which just makes good business sense, why not hold back that tedious period piece and ask people to watch it AFTER The Oscars when it's far less relevant and you have considerably less motivation to slog through it.)

(No, seriously, I heard someone say A Star Is Born is indulgent film making, you sit through the long trailer for The Favourite and tell me that doesn't look like the very definition of the term "indulgent film making." Yeesh.)

Anyhoo...

Here we go:

Best Picture - Bohemian Rhapsody

* Black Panther - It's a Marvel movie so I was nearly guaranteed to love it but it's also a beautiful movie. It's also an almost entirely black ensemble telling the story of a black super hero based on the works of the Black Panthers while wearing costumes based on all the tribes of Africa WHICH SIGNALS that it's time to dial back the narrative of "no diversity in Hollywood" and replace it with honest discussions about films based on their own merits that doesn't feel like obligatory tolerance community service. After all, as Black Panther shows us, there's more than one way to advocate for your people.

* BlacKkKlansman - If Bohemian Rhapsody wasn't a nominee, BlacKkKlansman should win, they did a wonderful job with this movie. It was fun to watch, even though I was terrified someone I liked was going to die. Hell, it should win based on it's soundtrack alone, but, you know, Queen. Still, it's a damn good soundtrack. Meanwhile, John David Washington should have been nominated for Best Actor and Adam Driver should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Go watch, or rewatch, the scene in which John becomes the The Black Klansman as Adam spins slowly around in his chair to confirm what he's hearing and then try to tell me I'm wrong. They play off each other beautifully.

* Bohemian Rhapsody - I loved it. I loved it so much. It's a gorgeous film that's beautifully shot and Rami Malek is absolutely brilliant. I've thought so since the first time I watched Mr. Robot. This only further confirms it. They made a spectacular movie that made a point of reminding you that a medical diagnosis was the least interesting thing about Freddie Mercury. (Something other, lesser, filmmakers would have propped the film up on like a tent pole.) The costumes are perfect, the Angry Lizard scene made me smile and it had just the right amount of kitties. In fact, other than the actress doing Nicole Kidman drag in a forced retrospective of her greatest roles *yawwwn* it's perfect. There's so many great stand alone scenes it's hard to pick the best. Just the montage of the band ducking (typo, and it stays, I'm not playing these games, Amazon Fire Autocorrect) around with their experimental sound for the first album is phenomenally entertaining. OH, and they worked in a ducking (grrr) brillant, beautiful, touching shout out to Boyz n the Hood that's so perfect, it made me happy, and if you know what I'm talking about you know how incredibly brilliant these filmmakers are...

* The Favourite - Couldn't watch it. I'm not overly concerned by this but I'm a completist so... Anyhow, long trailers have informed me that I shan't be making an effort to catch it after awards season ends. Meh.

* Green Book - I wanted to watch this but couldn't, which is a shame because it looks like a good movie.

* Roma - This looks like a very moody student film and I wasn't able to watch it, which I'm fine with because the way they promoted this nearly impossible to view film felt like obligatory community service with an emphasis on diversity and tolerance. And then, they'd trot out that actress for these "Oh my goodness, moving pictures?! In mexico we do not have these... " photo ops that felt like "Take A Picture With A Brown Person Day." Pass.

* A Star Is Born - OH MY GOD, THIS MOVIE ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED ME. That woman used him up. I watched and Bradley Cooper is so dang (typo, and it stays, I'm folksy now) good and Lady Gaga is giving the role everything and then you begin to realize that they've been playing this thing as an epic romance and it's two maximum effort trains blowing past each other as they speed in different direction into the night. They need each other, but briefly, and I said "if they get married... He dies." And you watch and he's bad for her and she's bad for him and their moment came and it went at the speed of light and you, if you're me, are yelling " THIS IS BAD FOR YOU" at the screen and she has hangers-on bullshitting her and he's falling apart and then... He cooks the dog a steak and you die inside because he was so talented and he was recovering and they were never gonna make it and she's flying in the opposite direction having used him as a launch pad and a parasitic member of her team looking out for his bottom line crushes him. It was devastating. Now, we could talk about the fleeting nature of pop star fame and how it's fired should never be stoked at the expense of someone else's career but instead reflect on how many people needed things from him until she got where she needed to go... She used him up. And lo, a star is born.

* Vice - Wanted to see it. Could not. Should be a fucking lock for Makeup & Hairstyling.