#two more roys and i’ll have a full screen :D

[moonunitjackie]

[sticks w/o stones]

Track 2 | LUNCH by Billie Eilish

                  “Wow you really like skeeball.”

                  Niki flinched. “I dunno about that.”

                  “Look at your score!” Rachel was trailing a full 1000pts behind Niki. “I’m struggling!”

                  Niki could feel her cheeks heat up. “I bowl a lot.”

                  “Does that help with skeeball?”

                  Niki shrugged. “I dunno. I always play this game a lot.”

                  Rachel giggled. “You’re funny.”

                  “If you say so, home unit.”

                  “I do,” Rachel tossed her next and final skeeball. Another miss. “Oh well.”

                  “Do you wanna play something else?”

                  “I’m good either way though I am kinda hungry now that ya mention it.”

                  “Same, fam.”

                  The barcade’s menu was fairly standard as those things go, but they served Cuban sandwiches which was all Niki cared about. Rachel opted for the jumbo slice of extra cheesy pizza instead.

                  “So do you, like, have you bowled in a league?” Rachel asked in between her first and second bites.

                  “Nah,” Niki munched on some of the potato chips that came as a side. “Ty tried to talk me into joining one with him once back in high school but I’m, like, ninety-percent sure he was just joking.”

                  “Really?”

                  “Yeah.” Niki took a bite from her sandwich. Niki had a wiry frame but Rachel was impressed by how quickly Niki could put away food. Half of the sandwich was already gone while Rachel was taking her time with the oversized slice of pizza. “Even if he wasn’t, I’m just not that into bowling to do it competitively.”

                  “That makes sense.”  Rachel said with a slight nod. “Just not the competitive type?”

                  “Hm.” Niki inhaled another quarter of the sandwich before continuing. “I guess so? Except for Mario Kart. That shit’s intense.”

                  Rachel giggled, taking a sip of her light beer. “Yeah. I may have broken a controller or two in college cause of that game.”

                  There was a ghost of a smile on Niki’s lips but it didn’t linger. Rachel was busy sipping her beer and didn’t catch it. “Damn. That much of a sore loser?”

                  “No, no!” Another giggle. “I just always get fucked up in the last lap, usually by that fucker Luigi.”

                  “Oh? Who was playin’ him?”

                  “No one,” Rachel shook her head. A few strands of her brown hair fell loose from the ponytail she put up before eating. “I only ever get Luigi’d when it’s the computer controlling him.”

                  “Heh.” Niki’s tongue slipped between her teeth briefly. “Sounds like my relationship with Roy. That assholes always goes after me, I swear!”

                  “I’ll believe it!” Rachel’s smile was hard to miss.

Niki tried not to stare too much or too obviously.

After lunch Rachel & Niki walked between the sprialling labyrinth of arcade cabinets. It was the middle of a Tuesday so there wasn’t much of a crowd. The relative emptiness of the barcade -save for about four or five other people at any given time- gave the whole experience a far more intimate feel, an entire universe of flashing screens and digital sounds just for the two of them, it felt like a…

“Oh hell yeah!”

Rachel was shaken from her reverie by Niki’s mastery of the Initial D game’s drift mechanic.

“Still got it.” Niki leaned back triumphantly in the plastic facsimile of a driver’s bucket seat.

“Is there any game here you’re not good at here?” Rachel’s smile spread to her eyes.

“Pretty much just this and skeeball,” Niki flexed her shoulders; she was beginning to feel the previous week’s worth of work catch up with her. “I used to kick everyone’s ass at this game back in the day.”

“Looks like you still do,” Rachel nodded, impressed.

Niki turned her neck sharply followed by a sickening crunch. Rachel flinched. Niki repeated the maneuver in the opposite direction. Another flinch. Rachel wasn’t a fan of when anyone -even Niki- cracked parts of their body.

“Fuck I think I’m spent for the day.”

With a slow nod Rachel murmured “Sounds like it.”

Niki looked up at Rachel who suddenly realized she was hovering over the smaller girl. Rachel slouched her tense shoulders and took a step and a half back. “I can watch you play something if you wanna keep playing games.”

Rachel gave a polite shake of her head. “No, I think I’m spent too.”

“…fuck!”

Rachel was breathless though not for lack of effort. Niki lay beside her equally straining to breathe. Both of their bodies were weary with pleasure and caked with sweat.

“How are you feeling?”

Rachel looked over at Niki, into the deep dark waters of her eyes. (Fuck, I could get lost in those eyes…) “I feel…amazing. That…was amazing. You’re…”

“Amazing?” Niki’s tongue darted between her teeth teasingly. That same tongue that only minutes ago sent Rachel’s entire body into ecstatic convulsions. Twice. She still felt the occasional aftershock rattle her legs here and there.

“Fuck. Yeah,” was all Rachel could manage.

“Good!” Niki lipped her lips where she still tasted Rachel’s climax lingering. “You were even better.”

Rachel’s already flushed face burned brighter, blushing. A giggle was stuck in the back of her throat. “I haven’t…” Rachel shook her head. She was still dizzy with pleasure and couldn’t think straight.

“Haven’t what?” Niki’s lips curled into a teasing smile.

A whine escaped from Rachel’s lips. “Nevermind.”

“What?” Niki propped herself up on her elbow. The sheet fell leaving her torso exposed. Rachel couldn’t help but stare at Niki’s small but perky breasts, her inviting darkly tinted nipples.

With a weak but satisfied smile Rachel managed “I need to catch my breath first.”

“Oki.” Niki leaned forward, slowly and tenderly pressing her thin -but oh so sweet- lips against Rachel’s fuller, puffier pair. “I’ll go get us some water.” She pulled herself up and moved towards the edge of the bed. Rachel’s arm snaked out, latching onto Niki’s wrist. Niki looked back at Rachel’s blissful face. “Hm?”

“Sorry.” Rachel blushed, again. (Goddammit, those eyes!) “Just, I really don’t want you to leave just yet.”

Niki nodded slightly, slowly. “I understand.” She reached down and unlatched Rachel’s fingers from her wrist. Rachel was too exhausted to protest. “But I’ll be right back.” She smiled -sweetly & comforting- before planting another, deeper kiss on Rachel’s expectant, still-hungry lips. “Then you have me for the rest of the night.”

“Can I have you in the morning, too?”

Niki nodded. “Uh huh.” Another kiss.

“And after?”

“For as long as you want,” Niki kissed Rachel again but this time on her forehead.

“Heard,” Rachel breathlessly grinned, satisfied.

Niki flashed a shining smile with those crooked little fangs Rachel couldn’t get enough of. “Be right back, princess!”

(Princess)

Rachel loved how the word felt in her blissed-out ears. It soothed her racing mind. It wasn’t the word itself Rachel would realize later when her full faculties returned, but the fact the word came from Niki’s talented tongue, her sweet lips. It was a word Rachel later learned belonged to herself and no one else.

She was Niki’s princess.

And Rachel didn’t want to be anything else.

[bisexualroy]

i know i haven’t been too active here, but i just want you all to know that i’ve been hard at work creating the next roy pile

[hood-ex]

For a batfam prompt: Dick as Nightwing, fear toxin, and Bruce?

Dick was in the middle of trying to stanch the bleeding from his nose when his comm started beeping in his ear. He sighed at the terrible timing and quickly wrangled off one of his blood coated gloves to receive the call. 

“Talk to me,” he said, voice sounding high and distorted as a result of pinching his nostrils closed. 

“Whoa,” Babs said. “What the hell is wrong with your voice?” 

“Got a bloody nose,” Dick explained quickly. It was really uncomfortable trying to breathe and talk only through his mouth. He was definitely going to need a huge glass of water after this. “What’s up?” 

“The Owls are what’s up. I need you to get your tush to the cave ASAP.” 

Ah, fuck. 

“What kind of trouble are our freaky electrum filled friends getting up to?” he asked, already tugging his glove back on and booking it back to where he’d left his bike half a block away. He knew he looked fucking ridiculous running while holding his nose, but it seemed pretty insignificant compared to the idea of Talons running loose and slaughtering people. 

“Just one friend, actually,” Babs said. The lack of urgency in her voice made some of the anxiety in Dick’s chest dissipate. It also made him realize that they were talking about a member of the Court and not the Talons. 

“Oh yeah?”

“She was schmoozing it up at the Aparo Auction House with Brucie Wayne and a hundred other rich people.”

A feeling of disgust settled in his gut, his mind replaying the time he infiltrated one of the Court’s underground auctions. The same auction that had tried to sell off the crowbar Joker had beaten Jason with. 

A shiver traveled all the way down to his toes as he leapt over a puddle that was in the middle of the sidewalk. His bike was now in his sight. He could tell it was his because of the way its blue accents gleamed in the moonlight. 

“Looks like Scarecrow and the Court have been doing business with each other,” Babs said in that slightly distracted way of hers that Dick was used to hearing when she was trying to talk while rubbing at her eyes. It was something she did a lot since her eyes were always strained from looking at computer screens for hours on end. “Fear toxin was released through the vents at the auction. It caused an absolute shitstorm of chaos, as you can imagine.”

“Damn,” Dick said, straddling his bike. He was secretly glad he was wearing his thermal suit so he wouldn’t have to ride to Gotham on a cold seat. The only thing he was annoyed about was that he was getting blood all over his handle bars and helmet. “Is B okay?” 

“Yeah... about that...” 

The anxiety in Dick’s chest cranked back up tenfold. Irrational images of Bruce lying dead in a red-stained tuxedo flashed through his mind. He shook his head, mentally yelling at himself to cool it. If something like that had happened, Bab’s wouldn’t sound as casual as she did now. 

“He keeps thinking you’re dead,” she said, and for a second, Dick thought he misheard her over the sound of his tires peeling off down the street. “Red Robin says he keeps switching between rationalizing that you’re alive and thinking you bit it.”

“Huh,” Dick said, not really sure what to make of that. It wasn’t the first time Bruce had delusions of him or someone else dying while on fear toxin. Dick was just slightly surprised because it had been years since he was the sole subject of Bruce’s fear. He wondered if it was tied to Bruce knowing that a woman from the Court was at the auction. Bruce might have associated her with Dick in his mind since the Court had been after Dick for the last few years. 

“All I’m saying is that you might want to hurry home quick, Hunk Wonder. Robin and Red Robin are out distributing an updated antidote to the people who got dosed at the auction. B’s antidote won’t really kick in for another thirty minutes.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“It should take you longer than that,” Babs said suspiciously. 

Dick grinned under his helmet. “It would if I wasn’t making my way there like Sonic the Hedgehog on a caffeine high.” 

“D-Nightwing!” 

“Gotta go, O! I’ll catch you at Cass’s birthday party next weekend!”

Dick disconnected the call, knowing full well that Bab’s hated when he did that and was sure to give him an earful the next time they talked. But that was a problem for future Dick to deal with. 

The ride to the batcave was filled with a lot of weaving and a few angry honks directed his way. Dick was pretty sure he might have even shaved off his expected arrival time by two minutes. He was very decidedly not going to share that with anyone else except for Roy. Roy was the only one who would appreciate it without giving Dick the third degree about safety precautions. 

The cave was about as lit up as it could get when Dick’s bike came to a screeching halt next to one of the batmobiles. Alfred had probably turned on all the lights since they’d learned over the years that shadows and fear toxin really didn’t mix that well.  

Dick left his helmet on his bike and hurried over to the cot Alfred always had them lie on when they were sick or injured. Sure enough, that was where Bruce was currently sitting, his feet bouncing in agitation against the floor. He was already out of his batsuit and was dressed in a soft looking blue shirt and gray sweatpants. 

Bruce’s eyes were squeezed shut and his arms were wrapped tightly around himself, his knuckles white. Dick wasn’t really sure what the correct way was to approach him, but he figured letting Bruce know he was there was probably a good first step.

“Hey, B, I’m here,” Dick said, walking slowly up to his dad to try and give him enough time to work out what was real and what wasn’t. 

Bruce’s head jerked at the sound of his voice, his bloodshot looking eyes immediately seeking out Dick’s own. He looked... well, not okay but not terrible either. Mostly just pale and a little shaky. 

It was the way Bruce was staring at him that made Dick feel nervous all over. His eyes were wide and haunted looking as they soaked Dick up like a sponge. It was the kind of raw look Dick had only ever seen on parent’s faces when they realized their baby wasn’t coming home. 

It was Bruce after Jason’s death. It was Bruce after Damian’s death. It was Bruce after T—

“You want to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?” Dick asked quietly, becoming more alarmed as he noticed Bruce was breathing so quickly that his chest was practically heaving. 

Bruce’s voice cracked as he murmured, “Dick?”

Bruce’s increasing panic didn’t make sense until Dick reached out his hand to comfort him and saw all the blood coated over his glove. 

Oh wow. He was a fucking asshole, wasn’t he?

He jerked his arm back to his side and whirled around so that Bruce couldn’t see all the dried blood on his face.

“I’m okay, Bruce. I’m okay. I got a bloody nose from patrol and... just wait, okay? Let me clean this off.” 

You’re such an idiot, Dick thought as he jogged towards the shower area, ripping off his gloves as he went. Once he was hidden from Bruce’s sight, he quickly peeled off his suit because, yeah, he found that blood had dripped on it as well. No wonder he was staring at you like you’d actually... like you were really...

He grabbed a clean towel from the pile they kept on a rack, and then he wet it and went about scrubbing all the blood off his skin until his face looked raw and the towel looked rusted. He was shivering by the time he was done. The cave was always cold and the water definitely wasn’t helping with that. 

Dick looked in the mirror and made sure there was no more blood on him before he went to their extra clothes supply rack. Weirdly, the shirts and hoodies from his own pile were missing. He barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes, knowing Tim and Damian had probably been taking his stuff again. Tim always forgot to replace the clothes he borrowed after washing them, and Damian usually hoarded the clothes in his bedroom. 

Bruce and Jason’s stacks were still pretty well stocked. Dick made a considering sound in the back of his throat as he looked between them. Jason would definitely blow a gasket if he realized someone had taken his clothes, and contrary to popular belief, Dick really didn’t like fighting with Jason. On the other hand, wearing Bruce’s clothes was kind of weird. 

Says the guy who wore his batsuit, his traitorous brain reminded him. 

Shrugging, Dick grabbed some red gym shorts from his own pile and a black t-shirt and hoodie from Bruce’s pile. He did end up taking Tim’s Nike slides because his own slip on shoes had been stolen by two kleptomaniacs.

By the time he’d gotten himself dressed, he saw that Alfred had returned from upstairs and was coaxing Bruce into eating an artfully prepared sandwich. Dick wouldn’t mind eating one as long as there was no sign of cucumbers in it. 

“Ah, Master Dick,” Alfred smiled, looking both happy to see him and also relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with Bruce by himself. Bruce whipped around to where Dick was, and their eyes locked briefly before Bruce dropped his gaze like he was embarrassed about needing to reassure himself that Dick was actually there. 

“Hey, Alfie,” Dick said with a small smile of his own. He plopped himself on the cot next to Bruce, and before Bruce could protest, he grabbed Bruce’s fingers and forcefully pressed them against his wrist where his pulse was beating steadily. Bruce’s fingers trembled against his skin from the effects of the toxin, but he didn’t try to move them away. Instead, his shoulders relaxed into a more comfortable position, and he ended up leaning some of his weight against Dick’s shoulder. 

“You gonna eat that sandwich?” Dick asked Bruce who had closed his eyes and seemed to be silently counting the beats of Dick’s pulse. 

Alfred would normally intervene at a time like this and insist that he could go get Dick his own sandwich, but this time, Alfred stayed silent and watched them both with a knowing look. 

“No,” Bruce shook his head lightly. “You go ahead and eat it.” 

“Are you super-duper sure? Or just super sure? Or just duper sure? What level of sure are you?”

Bruce finally cracked the tiniest of grins at the game Dick used to play with him back when their worlds were a little smaller. Back when Casa de Wayne only had a population of three. 

Score, Dick thought with a smile of his own, feeling proud of himself. 

“I’m super-duper sure you can eat the sandwich,” Bruce said. 

That was essentially code for: I’ll throw up all over the floor if I have to eat even a bite of that sandwich. Dick took it as a sign to back off. 

“Well, as long as you’re super-duper sure,” Dick said, making grabby hands at Alfred for the sandwich in question. Alfred only looked mildly exasperated as he handed it over. 

Bruce’s fingers tightened around Dick’s wrist. “Trust me, I’m good.”

When Dick looked over at Bruce, he realized that Bruce’s eyes were open, and this time, they looked much clearer. The antidote seemed to have finally made its way through his system. 

“Good,” Dick said, playfully jostling Bruce’s shoulder. 

There was no stopping his surprised laugh when Bruce jostled him back. 

[curious-minx]

Denis Leary is making an animated vignette series based on Dogs Playing Poker and 10 Other Pieces of Kitsch Art That Should Be Turned Into TV

KITSCH auction house tremors and stampedes.

Dennis Leary basically discovered sex, drugs and rock n’ roll with his 2015 two season FX series Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Leary’s always been one of those guys that can’t be beaten down  in spite of how dopey and cynical his edgy working class personal brand is. He’s got an entire deal set up with Fox, the flailing broadcasting company has placed all of their chips on a Denis with only one lousy  “N” in his name. I can’t even with this fake Irish Bostonian droid. Relish in the delicate thought process of Leary and leftover former Daily Show producer, Jim Margolis,  bringing up a Pinterest screen grab of the Dogs Playing Poker by Grand Master of Kitsch Cassius Marcellus Coolidge and money signs popping out of both of their heads. Here is a dramatic retelling of this thought process:

“Yo, get this Big D,” salivates the recently fired from Netflix Jim Margolis to Leary over a Zoom, “Fox got this Bento Box Animation Studio sitting around doing nothing but churning out animated interstitials for the Masked Singer, Paradise PD, The Prince, The Blues Brothers animated series, animated Harold And Kumar, Housebroken, The Great North, and ugh..um..Hoops..”

“I fuckin love Hoops, Jimmy! Why aren’t we pitching this on Netflix again?”

“Because Dogs Playing Poker is going to work so much better as pregame filler for live Sporting Events...on Fox.”

“Oh yeah. All of those rotten good for nothing grease monkey and lunch pail people will probably be giving each other Budweiser flavored Covid at the local saloon with these damn dog pictures hanging up. It’s like when old drunks would stay out late and watch the Flinstones at the bar, did you know that actual human male adults would sit in a town like Boston and waste away in a bar watching Flintsones. Can you believe that Johny?”

“My name is Jimmy, err Jim, but yeah Denis we’ll send you the scripts over. Any idea who we should cast?”

“Get me the hot blonde from Inspector Gadget 2, God dammit I miss Louie..are we sure we can’t get Louie back on air?”

“Afraid after Patton Oswalt dognapped his role from him in Secret Life of Pets, Louie CK has been banned from ever appearing as a talking dog again.”

“So bogus. Bobby Kelly will have to do.” Denis gets a text. “Dammit, Adam is getting all thirsty for this juicy  delicious bone. Gotta throw a  big bone to my dog Ferrera. Who else?”

“Ok. I’ll get one of those sad Daily Show losers. Um picking one at random, Roy Wood Jr. They’ll pretty much jump into anything, because John Oliver was in Love Guru they start thinking they can fail their way up.”

“I said no politics at the table! Paws off the table! This is going to be so fucking lit!”

////

Kitsch Art deserves so much more. George Lucas, retired American filmmaker, robber baron of childhoods and all around  mensch has been heavily invested in the kitsch art of Norman Rockwell. There are a bounty of stories to tell. Too many of them are far too white and basic, but there are rich narratives to be found in his out of date even for his own time romanticism of The Old Masters. Hopelessly out of date could have been a failing of Rockwell, but his politics grew progressive as his career went on and fought against the system. Cassius Marcellus Coolidge is the man that operated the first bank in Antwerp, New York  had the astronaut-like grace to wonder, “what if dogs played poker like people played poker?” A painting that dates back to 1894 used as means to sell cigars. What strikes me most about this painting is that they aren’t wearing clothes, but I bet when you try to imagine the painting you imagine these dogs fully decked out in some sort of work coat. There is a further anthropromized version of the ad called “His Station and Four Aces” that depicts a glimpse at a look at an entire canine furry society. His ideas of putting an animal in clothes remains to this day one of the most novel and surefire commercially friendly means of artistic expression. The original cynical man laughing all the way to the bank, his own bank that he founded to boot.

Seen above: An example of a Comic Foreground that also demonstrates the failings of having too few people in your party to properly partake in the comic foreground experience. 

“Cash” Cassius wasn’t the first man to imagine a domestic pet in people clothes, but he’s probably one of the few to do so with such commercial finesse. The man also at one point filed the patent on the “Comic Foregrounds,” which is the technical name of one of those carnival boards with holes to stick your head in. In post Covid times how many more heads will be salivating and rushing towards those holes to pop their heads in to create a lasting memory, if only for a second. So when I start learning more about this remarkable weirdo Cassius Coolidge, a man according to his official website dogsplayingpoker.com’s Biography: “Trying to chase mischievous boys from an abandoned house, he fell from a window and hurt his knee, leaving him injured for the rest of his life.”

Flash forward back to 2021 and Denis Leary and his career a man with a wikipedia with fun entries about all the accusations of plagiarism and hate speech against autism I start to worry about the legacy of more Kitsch art falling into the hands of other greedy and desperate TV executives. That being said if you are a greedy TV executive who happens to be a maniac that likes reading rando’s tumblr pages do I have a list for you!

TOP TEN PIECES OF KITSCH ART THAT SHOULD BE TURNED INTO SOME KIND OF SOMETHING

“We Are Having a Heavenly Time” Columbian Bike Monkey and Parakeet by, once again, Cassius Coolidge

Coolidge’s anthropomorphic foresight strikes again! This time he effortlessly establishes a captivating duo that could be easily voiced by an endless combination of celebrity voice actors. PAUL RUDD as “Monkey” and ISSA RAE as “Parakeet” present “We Are Having a Heavenly Time” present a travel show. You could basically use whatever leftover footage you have lying around from the many Conan O’Brien segments and plug Monkey and Parakeet and their trusty bicycle anywhere for an irreverent glimpse into the foreign World around us.

2. “Clown and The Girl” by Haddon Sundblom  

Now I know what you’re thinking, that title is miserable! I agree, but with a little  reverse engineering you get The Girl and Clown, which could be a whole new addition to the Girl on a Train, Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Girl with a Dangly Earpiece, the Girl-Verse! The girl appears to be quite fearless of this clown, which is good because we need someone to be brave for when the clown takes off his mask.

Sundblom is also the original artist for the Coke a cola Santa Claus and how is it that we have gone this many rotations around the sun without a single Coke a cola Santa Claus special is the real reason why Christmas will always be the saddest time of year.

3. “Clean Your Fornasetti” based around the artistic Plate collection of Pierro Fornasetti 

Muk bangs, videos of people eating are a huge cyber traffic boom. People love watching people eat. Why not add the element of surprise by what kind of playful Fornasetti chanteuse is hiding underneath this plate full of gruel? Fornasetti is an artist with over 11,000 items created in his name and over 500 of them are based around a variety of expressions of a single woman. Clean Your Fornasetti is a deep and poetic rumination of the romance between the act of someone cleaning their plate and the reveal that the plate contained a visual feast all its own.

4. “Mickey’s Kinkade Playhouse” by the one and only Thomas Kinkade

The Kinkade Studios features over 63 “narrative panoramas” featuring Disney characters, but largely Mickey and Minnie, simply vibing. It’s time we stop pretending that small children like Mickey Mouse and market him for wistful older audiences that want to radiate in a nice long warm bath of color and sound. I am not sure I am even pitching an actual series but more of a Narrative Panoply. One thing that is missing from Disney Plus, and streaming services in general, is a severe lack of programming frills and flourishing. The iconic Adult Swim bumps are something completely lost to the dustbins of programming history left to remain in youtube compilations. Thomas Kinkade is a lot like Enya. Art critics treated him like a comedic punching bag for so long, but I doubt there’s an artist that grasps the kind of sterile enchantment people want after a long day of opioid benders. We’re all trapped inside doing puzzles why not do the bare minimum of slightly animating a pleasant scene of Mickey and Minnie roasting marshmallows or enjoying a breath of fresh Alpine air?

5. “Dust Lickers” by Odd Nerdrum

Quick! Get me Trash Humpers’ Harmony Korine on the Line Show him Shit Rock! The world of Odd Nerdrum is a harsh and primeval one that would make for an astonishing animated landscape. Odd Nerdrum himself feels like a worthy subject of some kind of documentary based around his imagery and insistence on making his art in the most arcane and old fashioned methods possible. Once again, maybe the visual world of Odd Nerdrum may not make for a full on narrative series, but once again would make for one hell of an animated segment.

6. “Homemade Pasta” by John Currin 

A cozy Queer slice of life cooking drama based around the two charming fellows of John Currin’s Homemade Pasta scene. A series of vignettes based around the completely unfabulous and domestic version of bliss that was denied many people as a result of the AIDS crisis. You can’t tell me you don’t see those two nice guys getting cozy and making pasta together and you aren’t dying to see how they go about rolling out their own focaccia bread.

7. “The Velvet Elvis” by the Collective Conscious 

David Lynch at one point in time was trying to crack into making his own Elvis biopic. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the age of a public wanting a David Lynch directed Elvis biopic has probably passed, but that does not stop Velvet art enthusiasts. TheVelvetStore.com is featuring a remarkable promo that could really bump up what a David Lynch Elvis movie could be like and the horror of having one’s soul trapped inside of a Velvet Elvis rendition painting seems like a pretty fertile place to begin a proper story about Elvis in America. 

8. “Big Eye Bunch” by Margaret Keane 

Yes, it was only a matter of time before Ms. Big Eyes herself, Queen of Kitsch, Margaret Keane would come up on a list like this. Tim Burton tried and sort of kind of captured what it so endearing about Keane’s work, but I think a fully animated dive into an orphanage full of sad Big Eye kids that time travel and meet other Big Eyed children version of historical figures is a Big Idea that could make a whole new generation keen on Keane.

9. “Banality” by Jeff Koons

An animated series based around the artistic sensibilities of Jeff Koons would be a tricky affair, but just the kind of gaudy whimsy that someone like Michel Gondrey could use to proper effect. A series based around someone trying to steal the fifteen million dollar Michael Jackson statue would also be appropriate.

10. “Groovenians reboot” by Kenny Scharf

Scharf is the only artist on this list that actually was a kitsch artist that caught the attention of early aughts adult swim. A tv show that only features the artistic sensibilities of Scharf but also a voice acting cast that consisted of Paul Reubens, Rupaul, Vincent Gallo, and Dennis Hopper. There’s also a theme song performed by the B-52s and musical direction by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. One of the only known published reviews of the pilot describe the show as needing mind altering substances to enjoy and that it is essentially like “watching a cartoon reflected off of a funhouse mirror. This is basically a description of the modern tik tok addled twitchy type content that makes a killing on the Internet for millenial and zoomer types. Basically the whole aesthetic of a warped and broken looking cartoon is the exact sort of thing weirdos deep diving at youtube at four in the morning are looking for and seeing that this gets a failed pilot and Denis Leary’s Dog Poker vignettes get greenlit is exactly what’s wrong with the world.

[icameheretowinry]

FMA Live Action Review

As promised!

Hey there! As I’m sure with everyone else in this crazy fandom, I recently watched the Fullmetal Alchemist live action film that premiered on Netflix last week; albeit after waiting two hours for it to download over shoddy hotel wifi so I could experience it offline in the back of a car on a twisty mountain road. Long story… *ahem* Anyway, since I heard that there would be a live action adaptation last year, I’ve been rightly freaking out to see it, so you best believe I took my time, and watched this film like a hawk (see what I did there??) XD Below the cut you’ll find my reviews of characterizations, plot, costumes, cinematography, CGI, music, and a couple of other things I found interesting, or particularly enjoyed. Please keep in mind that I’m not a film critic, but I just wanted to share my observations. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to comment as well! This is LONG btw heh :D

Characterizations:

Edward Elric (Ryôsuke Yamada)

All in all, I found live action Ed’s character to be one of the best in the entire film. Yamada’s interpretation of our favorite angry red bean captured some of the best nuances of Ed’s character. His passion for their quest, sadness, regret, anger, and occasional goofiness were all there. He didn’t just look like Ed, he more or less acted like him too. Yamada’s Ed was emotionally reactive when the situation demanded it (his horrified reaction to Nina being one of the best instances - don’t worry, I’ll be spending time on that arc a bit later on), yet the viewer didn’t lose out on his tender smiles to Winry, or his immense respect for Hughes. While live action Ed’s open displays of sadness, which often had him on the verge of tears or actually crying, were a huge departure from Brotherhood and manga Ed, they felt appropriate within the shortened time frame of the film, and in response to modifications made to canon plot. However, while I did enjoy live action Ed’s character as a whole, he was not without significant flaws. His frenzy of seemingly uncontrollable anger after Al accuses him of fabricating his memories, his over-the top-horrified yelling when learning the main ingredient for philosophers’ stones, and near helplessness when confronted with a roadblock in their quest all felt very out of place. Well, not so much out of place as immature, which gave me serious fma03 vibes.

Alphonse Elric (Atom Mizuishi)

I’ll be talking strictly about live action Al’s character in this section. Comments on his CGI armor will come later. For starters, the biggest flaw in Al’s character was his very limited screen time. While this was. I’m assuming, most likely due to the difficulty in animating his armor, for a story that centers on the quest of two brothers, Al came across more as a background character than a true protagonist. In the few scenes we see a lot of him, Mizuishi did a brilliant job of letting his personality shine through. We see his passion for alchemy when he gets carried away trying to explain it to the citizens of Liore. We see his kind and gentle nature during his interactions with Nina. We see his frustration when he accuses Ed of fabricating his memories (although the rest of that scene was one of the most poorly done in the film - I’ll be touching on that later.) We even get to see some of that sassy nature we all know and love when he asks if his body is taller than Ed. It’s a huge shame we didn’t get to see more of that.

Winry Rockbell (Tsubasa Honda)

As the character I relate to most to in the entire series, I was incredibly excited to see how Winry’s big and dynamic personality would play out in a live action film. As much as it pains me to say, I was thoroughly disappointed. Honda’s renditions of Winry’s impassioned outbursts felt overdone and awkward. The flexibility of imagery in the animated series and manga (such as the running gag of her hitting Ed over the head with a wrench) don’t translate in a live action environment. Without that additional comedic heft, Honda’s Winry came across as obnoxious. Even her tearful lamentations to Al about how much Ed cared about him seemed childish and forced. A majority of her screen time was spent as Ed’s side kick, or as a hostage at the end of film. Hell, the only indication that she’s Ed’s automail mechanic (other than it being said) is prancing around with a toolbox, and dinging up Al with a comically giant wrench. (Which why on earth was she bringing that to Lab 5 in the first place???) Also, Netflix translated her line at the end of the Marcoh arc as, “I’ll clean up the mess.” GURL THAT MESS IS A HUMAN BEING. To abandon all formality, just uuuugggghhhh. The only moment I truly loved her character was when she was on the train alone with Ed before they found Marcoh. That’s the Winry I know, and I wish I could’ve seen more of her.

Roy Mustang (Dean Fujioka)

Live action Roy, let’s be real, is everything I’ve dreamed of. While at times, he’s a bit of an ass, Fujioka does an unbelievable job of beautifully delivering many aspects of his character. It’s obvious that he respects and cares for Ed, especially during the aftermath of the Nina arc. He also trusts Ed enough to go after Envy, and doesn’t give him shit for swooping in to save his ass from Lust. He pushes himself to the limit for those he cares about, even taking a hit from Lust for Riza, and is hellbent on avenging the death of his best friend. Like Ed, he’s emotionally reactive when the situation presents itself, and his ruthlessness is unwavering, and amazing to watch. While I felt that some of the condensation of plot hurt the development of some characters, this doesn’t seem to apply as much to Roy. He was vulnerable, caring, angry, vengeful, and collected all at once. It was beautiful!

Riza Hawkeye (Misako Renbutsu)

Sadly, Riza’s character was another major disappointment. I don’t recall her saying more than two full sentences until she told Ed of Hughes’ murder over halfway through the film despite appearing with Roy in the first fifteen minutes. While he carries on full conversations with other characters, she may as well have blended into the wallpaper. I didn’t even really see glimpses of the badass sharpshooter until the last half hour. Outside the numerous Royai moments, which I will discuss later, that one scene of her directing the assault on the puppet soldiers did a pretty damn good job of redeeming her character in my eyes more so than Winry’s one solid scene. When Renbutsu’s Riza actually had lines and something to do, she was utterly on point and badass. Bottom line, I wanted MORE.

Maes Hughes (Ryûta Satô)

Next to Lust, live action Hughes was one of my favorites in the entire film. Did I need to see more of this man? YES. Did I need to see him die for the fourth time? GOOD LORD NO. From the first moment he comes bursting into Mustang’s office saying, “Yo!” and saluting, I was d o n e. His care and respect for Ed, Al, Winry, and of course, Gracia is beautiful (he also ships edwin just so ya know.) While Satô truely does an exemplarily job of portraying Hughes’ character, I will thank the plot of this film for giving me more things to cry about. Hughes openly involving himself in Ed’s research, his conversation with Mustang in the garden, and *sighes* t h a t  s c e n e. Just Envy appearing as Roy by the phone booth, turning into Gracia to stop his attack, and them back to Roy to kill him. His BEST FRIEND seeming to kill him. AND THIS IS IN TWO DIFFERENT SCENES. But what really got to me was that unlike the manga/Brotherhood, Roy and Hughes spoke while he was dying. Roy knew what was going on, and could only listen, and then, he was accused of carrying it out himself. My angsty heart thanks the creators.

Gracia Hughes (Natsuki Harada)

While she only had a few lines, Harada’s Gracia was sweet, caring, and perfectly in character. The absence of Elicia was disappointing, but the fact that she was expecting a child made Hughes’ death just as tragic. Also, you could totally tell that when Ed and Winry were over for dinner that she shipped it!

Shou Tucker (Yô Ôizumi)

My basic reaction to live action Tucker was, “Thanks. I hate it.” Ôzumi’s interpretation of the worst human ever was a morbid delight. The sadist monster thinly veiled by an awkwardly brilliant researcher and single father was incredible. Of the diverse cast of villains in the film, he proved to be vastly more interesting and dynamic than General Hakuro could ever be. From taking Barry’s place in canon to put the idea into Al’s head that he was artificial, to figuring out how to activate and use philosophers’ stones, this is the most horrifying rendition of Tucker yet, even giving cimera!Tucker a run for his money. To top it off, his desire to crush the Elric’s dreams of ever getting their bodies back has no grounding in reality, other than for his own entertainment. As in canon, his demise was gruesome, rightly deserved, and satisfying to watch.

Nina Tucker & Alexander

I’m grouping these two together because… well… I’M SORRY OK. Anyway, the little girl who played Nina and the very floofy Alexander gave us all the ingredients to once again fall into the deepest pit of despair at the end of their arc. We got Alexander jumping on Ed. We got Nina happily playing for the first time in ages and admitting so to Al and Winry. We even got her being supportive of her father is the sweetest little conversation ever. And then… I wanted to chuck my phone out the window.

Lust (Yasuko Matuyuki)

You’re not going to believe me, but live action Lust was my favorite character in the entire film. I don’t know if it was the graceful way she carried herself, the sultry nature beautifully entwined in her dialogue, or the look of bliss on her face as she was being consumed by flame, but sweet jesus, it was PERFECT. Of all the characters in this film, she was the only one that felt as though she was plucked straight from the manga. Matuyuki did her research, because I was more than blown away by her rendition of Lust. In role that threatened flatness due to the even nature of the character’s personality, Matuyuki let viewers both fear her as a villain, yet fall in love with her at the same time. Just BRAVO.

Envy (Kanata Hongô)

Can I say enough good things about the live action homunculi? Hongô’s take on Envy was spectacular! They’re snarky attitude, disdain of humans, and cunning personality were all there. Although we missed seeing our favorite full-scale garbage lizard, little was left out. However, the character truly suffered due to plot changes. My biggest complaint was that they die without revealing they killed Hughes, or admitting their jealously of humans. Had Hongô had the time frame to do those scenes, we would’ve really been in for a treat!

Gluttony (Shinji Uchiyama)

Uchiyama’s representation of Gluttony, like the other homunculi in the film, was fantastic. His baby-like appearence, clipped sentences, and lumbering gait were all spot on. While I had a good laugh watching him waddle after Amestrian soldiers with an obviously fake set of teeth strapped to himself, his performance was rightly terrifying, as it should’ve been.

Dr. Marcoh (Jun Kunimura)

Despite largely being a character of convenience in the film, live action Marcoh garnered a lot of sympathy from me in the few minutes he was on screen. We saw a man paranoid and terrified of being used, yet still attempting to do good by running a local hospital under an assumed name (although not a very good one lmao). His warning to Ed about the nature of the philosopher’s stone felt genuine, and his quickly manifested respect for Ed during their conversation never felt forced. His ensuing change of heart in providing information on Lab 5 was also appropriate. Despite being on screen for less than fifteen minutes, his death was sudden, tragic, and heartbreaking.  

Father Cornello (Kenjirô Ishimaru)

Live action Cornello, like Trisha Elric, was a minor role that was successful in how close it stuck to canon. While the manner in which his fraudulent teachings were exposed was different, his open disdain for the Elric brothers, thirst for power, and generally unsavory personality were faithfully represented by Ishimaru. He met the same gruesome end, and his downfall was just as satisfying to watch as in the manga and animated series.

Maria Ross (Natsuna Watanabe)

While her role was relatively minor, Watanabe’s Ross was pretty solid. Her insights into the Hughes’ and Ed’s research of Lab 5 were insightful, and I adored that Hughes referred to her as a good friend. There needs to be more fanfiction of that people! Additionally, her transition from Ross to Envy’s character was subtle and unnerving. While I was slightly disappointed to see “her” role as Hughes’ shooter taken away, the fact that we still had an scene with Envy as her was awesome.

Trisha Elric & Young Elric brothers

For the .2 seconds Trisha was on screen, she seemed to perfectly personify her canon counterpart. Even the Anime Mom Hair™ was on point. That’s really all there is to say. On the other hand, the boys who played little Al and Ed did a spectacular job! Their sadness, determination, and child-like innocence were spot on, as well as their sibling dynamic. Little Ed took the leadership role, and calmed Al when he had doubts. Also, the raw emotion they were able to summon during the human transmutation scene was downright incredible for actors so young, especially when the bulk of that scene relied on CGI.

General Hakuro/Halcrow (Fumiyo Kohinata)

To be honest, I didn’t even remember that Hakuro/Halcrow was a canon character. Upon further research, he played a minor role in Brotherhood/manga, and a slightly less minor role in fma03. He was never a villain, but simply a superior officer jealous of Roy Mustang’s rapid ascent to power in the military following the Ishvalan war. Don’t get me wrong, I am ALL FOR taking minor characters with unverified pasts and giving them a larger role. While this film does really throw canon out the window (which I will also discuss later), shoving a sniveling rival of Mustang’s into the villain seat felt like a copout. In a canon universe known for its dynamic and interesting villains, Hakuro’s appearances were painfully convenient. Surprise! I’m going to ask Mustang to introduce the Elric’s to Tucker. Surprise! I walk in just as Ross and Hughes as researching Lab 5 and the philosopher’s stone. Surprise! I’m actually the puppet master and will TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Please. He’s like a goddamn Disney villain, except to the undead, a nice snack.

Plot:

I’m just going to come right out and say that I honestly had more issues with character representation in the film, than I did with changes to plot. I really struggled with the adjustments during the first hour of the film, but once I gave in and just accepted that canon was more or less going to be thrown out the window, I finally started to enjoy myself. Below, instead of going over the plot as a whole (I’ve already burned enough ink on this review as it is, so to speak), I’m going to touch on a few plot points I particularly loved, and other that that should’ve been left on the metaphorical cutting room floor. *cracks knuckles* Let’s do this!

Plot Points I Enjoyed

The first real dialogue between Ed and Roy in his office after the Liore incident was damn solid. It had all the element fans could wish for: Ed’s nearly unbridled passion for getting Al’s body back (SO in character), Roy’s cold demeanor, yet obvious concern for their safety, and finally, the grand entrance of Maes Hughes yelling “Yo!” with a his ridiculous salute that filled my heart with rainbows and added ten years onto my lifespan.

That little moment where Hughes and Garcia were just as big of EdWin shippers are you are. ;)

Like I’ve mentioned before, the conversation between Ed and Winry on the train to find Marcoh was my singular favorite moment of her. Winry was so sweet, adorable, and genuinely supportive of Ed, and his smiles towards her made me blush on her behalf. Just letting their two personalties and pasts bounces off each other in that scene worked perfectly.

ROY TAKING THE HIT FOR RIZA????

RIZA HOLDING ROY UP IN LAB 5????

RIZA LOOKING ALL CONCERNED DOWN AT HER BLOODY HANDS AND THINKING OF ROY DURING THE ASSULT ON THE PUPPET SOLDIERS???

HER SPRINTING AWAY TO SEE IF HE WAS OK???

*ahem* I will also arguably say that Hughes’ death scene was much more tragic in the live action than the other three (why tho) versions of this scene. Make Roy the shooter?? Broke my damn heart into a million pieces, but effective and perfect for my angsty heart?? YES.

Lust’s death scene was beautifully animated. Actually, every scene with her was excellent. Her ruthless, nonchalant attitude was incredible.

Ed’s conversation with Marcoh was ripped straight from the manga I noticed. I’m sincerely glad that some moments weren’t messed with. The little tidbits of powerful, straight-up canon are what held this film together. SPEAKING OF…

I’m not going to lie and say that the best scene in the movie was the reveal of Nina’s fate. It was perfectly dark, stuck to canon, and the emotion was raw and real. Although chimera!Nina’s CGI was a bit iffy, the voice acting ended me. Plus, the additional emotional turmoil Al was going through with Tucker’s claim that his memories were fabricated, plus Ed just having just witnessed the death of Marcoh made this moment a triple whammy in the feels department. Who knew the series could get darker? I LOVED it.

Plot Points I Didn’t Enjoy

In general, I didn’t like how the characters were aged up. The time gap between the Elric’s as little kids trying human transmutation and their current quest feel like too much of a massive time gap. I wish they would’ve honestly used younger actors.

What was with the entire Elric house being ripped apart in an electrical tornado when they tried human transmutation? I know they don’t show them burning down their house, but that was a bit much in the drama department.

Why is Hughes a captain??? It really doesn’t make much sense that he was demoted for the movie.

The award for second worst moment in the movie goes to the scene where Ed faces Truth for the first time and loses his limbs. Why is it a dream sequence? Why is he an adult? I get that that would be a very emotionally raw scene for the young actors to play, but I think it would’ve been incredibly more effective, such as in Brotherhood, to watch. If they couldn’t participate, it honestly would’ve been better to give an explanation and leave the scene out entirely (even though I adored Truth’s performance in that scene).

The biggest offender in this film that legitimately made me cringe, was the scene with the Golden Trio in what they thought was Lab 5. Why was Winry there? Why did Ed throw a complete temper tantrum that lead to him destroying his left hand on Al’s armor? WHERE DID SHE GET THAT GIGANTIC WRENCH??? XD That scene was an absolute train wreck. Ed and Al were being stupidly selfish and immature, Winry was randomly there and beating Al up with this stupidly large wrench and then crying. I cried too wondering where the wheels fell off the wagon…

Costumes:

Like I am no film critic, my knowledge of fashion and costume design is limited, but I couldn’t resist commenting on this aspect of the film. One word: AMAZING. I can’t say enough good things. The Amestrian uniforms were well done, as well as appeared easy to move in. For example, the scene where Riza took off running to find Roy near the end of the film exhibited this perfectly. Dramatic, but functional. I dig it! Winry’s yellow sundress was also a highlight for me, especially during the lighthearted EdWin scene on the train on their way to find Marcoh. In Brotherhood, her fashion choices were a bit on the somber side, so seeing her in bright, warm colors really reflected the kind nature of her character. Finally, I actually loved Ed’s outfit? By some fashion miracle, he actually looked pretty damn cool. I remember a post where someone likened his fashion sense to someone who robbed Hot Topic in the dark. Not here, my friends. Not here. Who doesn’t want that black jacket of his? Let’s be real. Also, bonus points for putting baby Ed in red at the beginning of the film!

CGI:

While I remember lots of fans being concerned over the quality of the CGI in the live action, I must say that I was quite impressed! The time, effort, and budget really paid off. While some of the sequences felt a bit video game-y (read: the chimeras Cornello summons at the beginning of the film and the rendition of chimera!Nina), the alchemy animations felt on par with the nature of the story. While the massive stone pillars and human transmutation scene in Lab 5 were impressive, one of my favorite moments was when Ed used alchemy to quickly fix his clothes after the chimera attack in Liore. After the dramatic reveal of Ed’s automail limbs, the action was incredibly subtle, but beautifully animated. Now, don’t even get me started on Al’s armor! As I mentioned before, it was a shame that we didn’t see more of him on screen, but when he was there, the CGI was a pleasure to watch. While the fight scenes were solid in execution, I loved as natural (well, as a soul bounded to armor can be lol) he looked in the environment of the film. For example, when Winry embraced him after they first reunited, he seemed just as substantial as any other character. As a final note, I will admit that Truth’s animation was my favorite. That wispy, nearly intangible figure coupled with that oddly omnipresent narration was specular to watch!

Cinematography:

CGI aside, the live action actually had some fairly solid filmmaking behind it. While the shooting of difficult scenes in general was pretty tight (see the fight sequences in Liore as a prime example), the use of lighting changes and slow motion shots were usually well-utilized and a pleasure to watch. Homunculi appear? The lighting gets darker. On the other hand, light-hearted scenes, such those when Ed and Winry are together, were lit warmly. In Lab 5, the ominous nature of the scene was highlighted by the blood-red light emanating from the philosophers’ stones. As for the slow motion shots, I was a little worried when the first was used strictly for comedic effect during the Liore battle sequence, but damn did it bring me to my knees during the showdown between Roy and Lust. That vengeful expression on Roy’s face illuminated by flame, coupled with Lust’s near smile at the acceptance of her death was just BEAUTIFUL. We catch both the hero twisted by revenge, and the villain finally at peace. I had to pause and take a break after that one.

Music:

Did anyone else notice the music?! Kitasato’s themes for this film are just wonderful. The upbeat notes during the Liore sequences gave me some serious Fairy Tail vibes (which is always a good thing!) and the dramatic flairs during the Lab 5 arc perfectly piggybacked off the ominous lighting and unnerving dialogue. While MISIA’s op for the film is a departure from normally high-energy ops of Brotherhood that we all know and love, the vocal work and synthesized strings work together harmoniously.

Misc:

This section is just pretty much for additional details I enjoyed about the film!

I loved that the Liore arc was filmed in Volterra, Italy. As I was watching the beginning of the film, I kept thinking how familiar the scenery looked. When I finally searched filming locations, I was blown away! I was just there this summer, and it’s such a beautiful city. If possible, I love it more now that I know it was a filming location!!

For some reason, the conversation between Ed and Roy after what happened to Nina really stuck with me. I don’t know, just Roy’s line: “How long are you going to let yourself be miserable?” was super poignant (more or less along those lines). While Roy never said anything like that to Ed in Brotherhood/manga to my knowledge, I felt the line was truly in line with his character.

I can’t believe Roy’s dumb black coat made it into this movie XD

Conclusion:

I figure that after rambling for so long, I should probably wrap this up! In short, I thought that the Fullmetal Alchemist live action was a solid film. While it did have significant flaws, it did, bottom line, give me more content and further interpretation of characters I positively love. It did a great job of breaking my heart all over again in the best possible way. Was it a faithful representation of the manga as promised? Not at all. Yet again, neither was fma03, Conqueror of Shamballa, or The Sacred Star of Milos. Look at this film like an awesome piece of fma fanfiction? Now we’re talking. If there’s more of this in the cards, BRING IT ON.

[classhattery]

Personal Space - Interstellar Sarcasm (Prologue)

---------------  This is a little something I’ve been cooking up over the past year or so. I would’ve posted this teaser/prologue earlier but I only recently got comfortable enough with the main story arc  to warrant posting it here. I hope you all enjoy, and if anyone wants to follow it, I’ll be posting occasional updates under the #PersonalSpaceStory and #ClasshatCompositions tags. Extra special shout-out to my editor and reviewer, @risualto for helping this pile of words resemble a plot. <3 Happy Reading! --------------- 

Prologue

    “Thrusters?”     “Online.”     “Vectoring ports?”     “Online.”     “Weapons?”     “Secured and stowed.”      …I always enjoyed pre-flight checklists. Even if it involved meticulously re-reviewing the same list of things I had gone over personally the night before, it felt satisfying to know my ship was working well. The list also gave me a second or two of silent repose in an otherwise hectic morning.     “Navigation and guidance?”     “Online.”     “Cortex Reactor?”     “Optimal to within 3 percent.”      I ran my hand along the sleek edges of the leading wing of my ship, feeling the light vibrations that the dual fusion reactor steadily put out. Even in the dim light of the hangar, the Federation Class 5A Interceptor’s jet black polished angles shimmered like the facets of a gem – brilliant, yet exact. Even after a year in the Tactical Fleet, spaceflight was still amazing to me, no matter how commonplace it had become in my life.

    ”Life support?”

    “Functioning.”

    “Databases and communications?”

    “Online.” 

     …Cosmic awe or not, I had today’s agenda in my hand, and daydreaming was better-suited for times where I wasn’t at the controls of a multi-million-dollar spacecraft.     “Launch Clearance Code is 4578-D.”     “Open hatch 1 for boarding and prepare all systems for immediate departure.”     “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dave,” the ship’s loudspeaker blared.

   When scientists finally perfected computerized artificial intelligence, they realized that each one they created had a unique personality. In the same way that all humans are different, so were all the AI’s that they created. Now, when Cadets graduate from academy, they choose their ship, and along with it, the embedded nav console’s artificial personality. When I chose my ship based off the personality trait “impressionable” listed on the registry for a new 5A, AEPRIS was there, waiting there for me on (in?) deck. AEPRIS’ full textbook name is “Artificial Evolving Personality, Relations, and Intelligence System” however, unlike others, she preferred to go by “PRI”. If she wasn’t integrated into the dashboard of my ship, you wouldn’t be able to tell that she was a computer.    Have you ever watched one of those adventure movies where the protagonist chooses a companion or animal out of many just like it? There’s normally some sappy bonding and cheesy music to accompany it, and it leaves you feeling like your sense of reality was just sugar coated and deep fried by a guy named Roy Disney. That was craft selection day for me, except you replace protagonist with pilot, and companion, bonding, and music with four weeks of teaching a computer how avoid sarcastic retorts in intense situations.    The thing about “impressionable” AI’s, though, is that they learn fast. It took no longer than three days of exposure to…me…before PRI was about as bad as I was when it came to inherent sarcasm. You’d think that two innately sassy individuals with an affinity for space would get along just swimmingly, and you’d be right. Regardless, PRI and I had our moments. -----    While PRI’s reference was a good dose of humor for an otherwise dreary morning, I was on a schedule. “We do have a mission today, you know. You can pretend to kill me later, HAL.” I shouted, rapping loudly on the hatch.

   Over my coms link I came a reply. “What do you mean pretend?” she chuckled. “I’m just looking out for you, for all we know there could be deadly space out there, and you could die from it.”

   “PRI, we’re at war and I still think I’m in greater danger of dying from old age out here if you don’t open the door!” After what sounded like a stifled electronic laugh, the hatch swished downwards, and the interior lights flickered on.

   “Welcome back, Captain Killjoy,” she snickered.

   “Always a pleasure, Lieutenant Lithium.”

   I climbed up and inside. If the outside of my ship looked sleek, the interior made you feel like a true starship captain. Arrays of holographic blue displays and arrays of buttons flickered to life and the HUD on my headset synchronized with the PRI’s onboard computer. The 5A was an Interceptor class Starfighter, meaning it was about the size of a small single-story home, yet weighed over 15,000 tons due to the reinforced hull, shielding, and increased weapon capacity. Regardless (literally) of mass, space didn’t seem to care about weight, so the 5A was still nimble on its feet and absolutely gorgeous throughout. I sank into the command chair and plugged in my data logger.

   “Ready PRI?” I inquired to my co-pilot.

   “As I’ll ever be, Captain.”

   I contacted the orbital platform’s traffic control tower.

   “5A Interceptor NVA-7S, registry M. Davidson, cleared for launch tunnel egress. Fly safe, Captain.”

   As soon as the massive titanium gate started to lumber sideways, the hangar lights cut out and the artificial gravity shut off. As the air escaped the room, all the sounds of the hangar faded. All I heard was myself, my ship, and the silence of space.

   “Vectoring to align with tunnel.”

   The 5A nosed up until the glimmer of the stars in space came into view through the cockpit glass and reflected off the mirrored facets of my ship. I unlocked the throttle and the status lights on the displays surrounding me turned green in reply.  I looked over the familiarity of my hangar one last time and edged the throttle smoothly forward. The warp bubble formed as the 5A slipped quietly into the darkness towards Saturn.

Chapter 1: Ringleader    The flight to Saturn only took about 80 minutes, and that’s going sub-warp at light speed. About 45 minutes into my flight, the radio crackled to life, and I was greeted by today’s impromptu alarm clock.

   “DAVIDSON!” roared a vaguely familiar steel-cut voice.

   “Yes Sir!” I snapped to attention, even though I was millions of kilometers away and half asleep.

   “Glad to see you’re awake, Matt!” the admiral chuckled.

   I recognized the voice as Admiral Baker. He was a close friend of my father back when the Antero-Solaris war began. He was the one who introduced me to the Federation’s Tactical Fleet when I was young, before my father shipped off.

   “It’s been a while, Admiral.”

   “I’ll be dammed, it really has,” he replied, nearly putting emotion into his words. “You finished reading all of your father’s old science journals yet?”

   An image flashed through my mind of the six boxes of Popular Science magazines and NASA Tech Briefs (print materials from the 20th and 21st centuries) that got passed down as an heirloom through my family. “Not even close,” I replied, feigning despondence. “So, what brings you onto my screen today? You don’t normally give assignments to the Tac Fleet.”

“I saw you coming out this way and just had to drop in. I even have a special assignment for you.”

“Special assignment?”

“And a good one at that! I saw you were en-route to Neptune via Saturn, and though I’d spice up your day job for once.” The Admiral then held up a portfolio, which materialized into my hands instantaneously. “Our long-range satellites picked up some anomalies in the rings of Saturn, and we can’t rule out the possibility of ACF activity this close to earth, so we need a scouting party to check it out.”

“ACF? In our solar system?” I suddenly felt less amazed about the folio that had just appeared in my lap.

   The Andromedan Confederation, or ACF, was the first militarized foreign entity that mankind encountered and had long been the bane of our existence. The Antero-Solaris war stemmed from this first encounter, but never really went anywhere, as the Andromedans had technology that rivaled ours. In the decades since then, the conflict devolved into more of a cold war, with neither side really fighting with the other unless somebody got too close for comfort.

   “I know the space commies really aren’t your cup of tea,” he remarked, “but the location takes you through the rings of Saturn, which I know you’ll love. Besides, our analytics team thinks that it’s probably malfunctioning sensor equipment. We just need a physical verification to confirm our guesses.”

   He had me there. With the strict scheduling of my flights I never really got to explore places I wanted to go that often. “Sounds quite fascinating,” I answered, trying to hide my enthusiasm. “I’ll take up your offer.”

   “Good man!” shouted Baker. “Oh, and before I go, how’s PRI?”

   “Oh, the little virus is holding up just fine.”

  “VIRUS?!?” boomed a faux-irritated voice from within the ship. Immediately, I lost control of the stick and the fighter started banking erratically, jarring me in my seat.

   “I-M-M-M    JU-US-US-T    KID-D-D-ING!” I tried to sputter out while being tossed about like a bad salad.

   PRI’s voice returned to normal almost immediately, and with it so did the ship. “I know!” she said gleefully.

   “And what about our dear friend Matt, eh PRI?” Baker inquired.

   "My space prisoner is holding up just fine,” chirped PRI.

   “Glad to see you two are getting along well,” Baker said, stifling a laugh. “Regardless, duty calls. Dismissed, Captain.”

   “That’s Captain Killjoy to you.” PRI interjected, as the comm-link clicked off. -----    Radio silence greeted me for the rest of my flight. Even PRI remained quiet for most of the trip, only speaking up when I asked for status reports.

   “What’re our sensors picking up?”

   “According to sensors, our biggest enemy in the solar system is currently ice and rocks.”

   Ice and rocks. I hoped Saturn was as pretty as it was in the books, because it was still a dreadfully uneventful flight thus far. For the next 10 minutes, I fixated on the pastel orange speck slowly growing bigger in front of me.

   “Approaching Saturn. Dropping out of light factor.”

   As we decelerated, I banked slowly, wrapping around the planet in a wide loop. The scanner worked below 0.15c, so I completed my orbit and drifted to a halt at the extent of one of Saturn’s dust rings.

   “PRI, what do you see?” I asked.

   “Ones and Zeroes, mostly,” she teased.

   “I mean through the sensor array,” I spoke, trying to conceal the fact that I wanted to laugh.

   “The orbital sensor array seems to be working. I’m picking up some dust. Rocks. Moderately bigger rocks. Some ice, maybe? Oh, and there’s also this big planet thing here, if you’re looking for one. Can’t miss it.”

   “PRI…”

   “There are no signs of malfunctioning technology or intelligent life anywhere nearby. On an unrelated note, here’s the ship self-scan you totally asked for.”

   “That scan defines you just as much as it does me, you over-engineered calculator.”

  “And where would you be without your calculator?” she taunted playfully.

   “Probably mauled to death by all the deadly ice and rocks around us,” I laughed.

   PRI’s mic channel opened to respond with a quip, but was suddenly cut short by an incoming emergency hailing frequency request on my screen. I hit accept and a very harried looking Admiral Baker appeared on the console.

   “Admiral! You look terrible, what happened to-”

   “Davidson!” he interrupted, in an abrupt and alarming tone.

   I recognized that tone of voice. In my seven years of training I heard that voice only one other time: When the Andromedans attacked my father’s regiment.

   “Sir, what’s wrong?” I replied nervously.

   “Matthew, you need to get out of there right away,” he warned. His frequency was weak, and barely audible through the static. “You…kzzzt…planet…bzzzz…array…krzsst…ACF…”

   “I’m departing asap, sir. My reactor needs to safely recharge” I replied.

   The static cleared for a moment.

   “Davidson listen to me, drop the protocol and get the fuck out of there now!”

   The admiral opened his mouth to speak again, but the signal was drowned out by an incoming message transmitted across nearly every open frequency. Immediately, alarms rang out from my ship. I clearly recognized the metallic lisp of an ACF translated transmission.

  “UNIDENTIFIED SOLARIS CRAFT” the radio hissed. “YOU ARE TRESSPASSING IN THE LOCAL AIRSPACE OF A CONFEDERATION VESSEL. VACATE THE PREMISIS AT ONCE, WE WILL NOT WARN YOU AGAIN.”

   A distortion appeared in the middle of the dust ring in front of me, rising higher. Slowly, a Confederation Capital ship materialized out hiding beneath the thick dust, blotting out the distant sun.

   “PRI, redirect all power to thrusters and shields, now. Get us out of here.” The Capital ship was over a hundred times my size, and locked on to my Interceptor. I was out of time.

   “IDENTIFY YOURSELF OR BE DESTROYED.” blared my headset.

   “Sir I can’t hail them; the dust cloud is scrambling the message.”

   “Then we’re leaving posthaste. Light Factor, now!”

   “Our vectoring ports are clogged with dust, we cannot aim!” PRI shrieked frantically.

   “TIYE DLRW UA AWLKWS!” seethed the Andromedans in their native tongue.

   I felt the distortion created by their gravity well cannons charging up. I had a matter of seconds before I became a permanent part of history. I was out of options.

   In every cockpit, in every ship, regardless of size, there exists an orange button that no pilot ever hopes he has to press: Manual Warp Override. In a frantic dash I spun around and hit the button. The glowing switch clicked down and locked.

   “OVERRIDE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED” repeated PRI, robotically.

   5A lurched forward as the first gravitational round exploded behind me. As the interceptor accelerated to warp 10 in a fraction of a second, I was stretched between the expanding gravity well behind me and the compression of space-time before me. The sudden change in G forces slammed me into the back of the cabin. As the stars bent backwards around 5A, the warp bubble formed, and I blacked out. The gentle hum of the Cortex Reactor was the last thing I heard as darkness enveloped me.

Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening    I awoke to the sound of nothingness, floating in a black void. My ship, PRI, and all of space was nowhere to be found. “Hello?!” I shouted frantically, but nothing came out. The deafening silence was as black as the void that surrounded me. As I contemplated the meaning of death, a light appeared before me, and grew brighter. As white light blinded my vision I came to my senses, and could hear again.

   “Be safe, dear,” a solemn yet familiar voice cooed.

   As my eyes adjusted, I recognized the blurry outlines my mother and father, standing at the threshold of our front door at the base on Mars. My father was accompanied by two men in uniform, holding papers. It had been ages since I saw my father’s face, and I tried to call out to him.

   “Dad will be back soon, Matthew, don’t worry,” my mother assured me, still choked up.

   I tried to scream, but all I could do was cry. I was not in control here. My actions were on autopilot and I watched onwards like I was living through a replay of the past. Suddenly it hit me. The papers, the teary goodbyes –this was the day he shipped out to fight the ACF, and the last time I saw his face. The cruelty of the situation tore at me and I wanted to break out and run to him. Younger me had feelings to deal with too, and instead ran to the couch, crying and burying us both in it. As I felt the emotional dam crack within me, I felt the reassuring hand of my mother hugging me as the world faded to black again.

-----

   I slowly awoke, and knew this time I was alive, as everything started hurting immediately. As I slowly got up, PRI, who was silent up until now, must’ve noticed my movement and shouted to me.

   “Matt! Oh, thank god you’re alive!” she exclaimed, as if I just rose from the dead.

   Something was oddly comforting about the sincerity coming from my electronic partner, but that warm feeling didn’t last for long.

   “We can share details in a minute, disable the override, we’re still at warp!”

   I immediately looked out the window and realized that my ship was still at warp 10, as space distorted around the cockpit glass. The hum of the reactor was no longer quiet, and was now an alarming roar that shook the back of the cabin. I crawled to the orange button and twisted to unlock it. Instantaneously, the ship slowed to a halt as the stars stretched back into shape. As I caught my breath, PRI spoke again.

   “2 days.”

“…What did you say?”

   “2 days. You were out for two days,” she explained, somberly.

   As the reality of what those two days meant sunk in, my heart dropped. At light speed, I would only be 48 light-hours away from earth. At warp 10, which was about 1.6 billion times that, I could be lightyears away from the edge of our solar system.  I needed more information.

   “What did you do after I blacked out?” I asked, perplexed. I decided against sharing my story from my vision with PRI, she had enough to process without my compromised emotional state messing with things.

   “After you collapsed, I sat and waited. That button is a manual override, meaning I was powerless to do anything to stop it. I just sat there and waited, recording data the whole time.”

   I felt a twinge of guilt, realizing that I left my co-pilot stranded helpless for such a long time.

   “At least I’m alive now, right?” I half-joked, trying to lighten the grim atmosphere.

   “Just don’t die again, okay?” she said, worriedly. “Please, Matt. I don’t want to be stranded out here alone.”

   “I promise I won’t,” I assured her.

   …It took me a second to process the emotions coming from PRI. Engineers really nailed the self-aware aspect of AEPRIS, and it showed. It used to be cliché, for someone to grow attached to a machine, but among pilots it was a real thing. You spent more time with your AI then you did with your own family, so sentiment was something we all dealt with, so the sudden grimness that came over me shook me so.

   “What data were you able to record?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation positively.

  “It took about 8 hours at warp 10 to leave the range of the fleet’s beacons, so I have our exit vector from the local cluster. Past that, I only know the time frame that we were at warp for, which was 53 hours, 27 minutes, and 32 seconds. That’s onboard computer time, not observational time.”

   It took me a minute to do the displacement calculation, but PRI beat me to it.

   “It’s roughly 567 Trillion kilometers from Earth. Or about 5 light years,” she tabulated.

   Normally 5 light years is cosmic pocket change in terms of faster-than-light travel, but I gulped at the thought of what running the core for 48 hours did to the ship. Prolonged usage of the Cortex Reactor can shatter the crystalline structure of the power cores, and two days is way over the operational limit.

   “How does our core look?” I wondered.

   “Output is severely limited. When we pulled out of warp, the immediate cooling stress fractured it. Warp functionality is offline, and we’re limited to impulse and emergency power.”

   “Shit,” I thought. Either we had to find a replacement crystal, or I’d die of starvation long before then.

   “Okay PRI, can we still do a scan of the surrounding area?”

   “Our relay dish is still working, I can try.”

   As PRI ticked away I tried to do an inventory of what we had left in terms of supplies. I had the Federation standard issue survival pack, and water. At least I wouldn’t die thirsty. The cockpit toolbox contained a set of basic implements: a hammer, adjustable wrench, and fusion welder; nothing of special interest.

   As I finished my inventory, a critical alarm lit the ship’s interior.

   “Oxygen Levels Critical,” reported PRI.

   “…Oxygen. I need that,” I bitterly thought. “Where’s the leak, PRI?”

   ”I can’t find it. You’ll be dropping below critical O2 percentage in 30 seconds.”

   Federation code always ensures that there’s an emergency respirator on the bridge of every ship in the fleet. Mine was in an emergency cabinet underneath the console. I reached for it, only to be met with resistance from the door.

   “PRI, the cabinet’s locked.”

   “The manual says to ‘Break Glass to Open’ so I’d do that if I were you.”

   “PRI the door is made of metal.”

   “No, I think you literally have to say ’Break Glass’ to open it.”

   “Wait, what?” I stammered.

   “Just say it before you suffocate!”

   “Break Glass!” I commanded the ship. Instantaneously, the metal cover of the panel disintegrated off the door and fell into a pile of fine dust on the floor. I knew that Command was trying to automate everything, but this was a bit of a stretch, even by my standards. I could picture the Aerospace Engineer who designed the door out there laughing his ass off at his own handiwork. I hastily affixed the respirator to the front of my helmet. Even with that, I had about 30 minutes of emergency oxygen to work with, and that was a generous estimation considering my current heartrate. “What’s our course of action? Did your scan find anything?” I asked.

   PRI struck me with an unusually worried response. “There’s a registered Class M planet with enough oxygen content for your respirator to sort it out. However, it’s about a million kilometers from here.”

   That was good enough for me. However, the distance meant that I had to jump to at least a fraction of light to arrive before I ran out of oxygen. It wasn’t optimal, but I was running out of lucky breaks to use.

   “Set a course for it, speed factor 0.20c.”

   “I hope we hold up, Matt,” PRI wavered as she inched the throttle forward.

   The ship lurched into motion again, and accelerated to speed in an instant.

   Seconds later, I arrived at the outer cusp of the atmosphere.

   “Okay, full stop.”

   Before I had a second to evaluate the situation, a crack appeared and ran across the length of the cockpit glass. My emergency supply of lucky breaks apparently just ran out.

   “Hold on to something, now!” PRI shouted.

   I clamped down on the chair right as the windscreen shattered, sucking shards of glass out of the cockpit – along with all my oxygen. The bag of emergency tools whizzed by me and I caught it by the strap before it was swallowed by the void of space.

   “Impulse engines failing! System reserve power depleted! Core offline!” The ship started to fall, and I felt the “space elevator dropping” feeling in my gut.

   “We’re getting trapped by the planet’s gravity, and we’re falling without impulse,” PRI emphasized.

   The 5A was by no means an atmospheric vehicle. Reentry wasn’t something pilots normally had to do, and I was unsure if the ship would stay together. Without a windshield, I wouldn’t be able to monitor my own progress downward and the cockpit would be exposed to the effects of reentry.

   “Trajectory unstable. We’re entering the upper atmosphere.”

   The tip of the ship began to heat up, and I felt the air begin to push on my suit. I pulled up, aligned the belly of the craft perpendicular to the direction of travel, and dove into the back of the cabin, shutting the door. Hopefully PRI would be able to take us down gently. I could begin to hear sounds of the atmosphere interacting with my ship as we rocketed through the lower layers of the sky.

--------------- Personal Space Copyright 2018 Daniel S. [Classhattery] DBA Commonwealth Technology Solutions ---------------

[frolwriting]

A Whole New World: Wendigo Part 2

Hey guys!  I had to finish writing the other chapter for fanfiction, so that's why this is coming up a little bit late.  This series hasn't been doing so well here on Tumblr.  I guess I need to change up the tags.  I still love you guys.  Here's the next chapter of A Whole New World.

To catch up here's my MASTERLIST

________________________________________________________________

"So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly, but still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found." Sam said as we sat down at a table in the local bar.

"Any before that?" Dean asked. Sam pulled out newspapers to show us. "Yeah, in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack." Sam said pointing at the specific article he was talking about. The headline said Grizzly Bear Attack! It just talked about how these people disappeared and the authorities couldn't ever figure out what happened to them. Sam then pulled out his laptop. "And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936." He pulled up Tom's video that Hailey sent us. "Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork. Okay. Watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out." Sam said going through the specific frames showing us them one at a time. A shadow suddenly crossed the screen.

"Do it again." Dean said. Sam showed those same frames again.

"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

"Woah, that is nuts." I said surprised at looking at the video in person. Dean then hit Sam. Sam looks at him.

"Told you something weird was going on." Dean said.

"Yeah." Sam then closed the laptop. "I got one more thing." Sam handed Dean and I another newspaper article. "In fifty-nine one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive."

"Is there a name?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I already looked the guy up. He still lives in the area. Let's get going." We grabbed our stuff and left the bar. After a while, we pulled up to the house of the man I assumed was the kid. When we knocked on the door, an older man with a cigarette in his mouth answered the door.

"Hello, are you Mr. Shaw?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, who's asking?" Sam and Dean held up their fake ranger badges.

"This is I'm Ranger Flatts and this is my partner Ranger Young. We're here to talk to you about something that happened to you in 1959." The man went rigid when Dean said that last part. The man walked out and we started walking outside.

"Look ranger, I don't know whey you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a-"

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Sam asked. Shaw nodded.

"The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?" Dean asked. Shaw didn't do anything. "What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?" Still nothing. "We knew what were dealing with, we might be able to stop it."

"I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make." Shaw sat down in a chair. "You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did." Sam down across from Mr. Shaw.

"Mr. Shaw, what did you see?" Sam asked. There was silence.

"Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar. Like…no man or animal I ever heard."

"It came at night?" I asked. Mr. Shaw nodded. "Got inside your tent?"

"It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming."

"It killed them?" Sam asked.

"Dragged them off into the night." He shook his head. "Why it left me alive…been asking myself that ever since." His hands go up to his collar. "Did leave me this, though." He opened his shirt to reveal three scars that were clearly made by claws. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon." I knew it wasn't a demon. This was not going to be fun. We drove back to our motel and started planning.

"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls." Dean said.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal." Sam said.

"Corporeal? Excuse me, professor." Sam gave him a shove on the shoulder.

"Shut up. So what do you two think?" Sam asked.

"Werewolf?" I asked even though I know what it is.

"No too fast to be a werewolf. The claws, the speed that it moves…could be a skin walker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it." We walked out to the Impala and drove to the park again. Dean goes over to the trunk and starts putting guns into a duffel bag. Me and Sam walk over to him.

"We cannot let that Haley girl go out there." I said.

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean snapped at me.

"Hey lay off and maybe she has a point. We don't know what we're dealing with." Dean looked at Sam.

"Her brother's missing, Sam, Kate. She's not gonna just sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." Dean picked up the duffel.

"Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam asked. Sam shut the trunk. "Now we gotta babysit too?" Dean just stared at Sam. "What?"

"Nothing." Dean said as he threw the duffel bag at Sam and walked off. Sam and I just stared after him. We then grabbed our stuff and followed after Dean. We headed towards the forest just to see Haley, Ben, and another guy who's name I couldn't remember, but I'm pretty sure he's the one that dies for being a jerk basically. They look like they are about to head out into the forest as well. We got out of the car. I noticed that all three were staring at us. I got out with the duffel bag full of guns, but Sam grabbed it from me.

"You guys got room for three more?" I asked.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Haley asked.

"Who are these guys?" The guy said.

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." Sam walked past everyone into the forest. I followed after him.

"You're rangers?" The guy said.

"That's right." Dean said.

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Haley asked.

"Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts."

"What, you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt." Me and Sam looked back at the guy.

"Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all." Dean walked past me and Sam. We started walking again. We walked for about another hour before anyone said anything again. Roy was leading us with me and Sam in the back.

"So, what do you think?" I asked Sam.

"I have no clue. You got something?" He asked.

"I heard this legend this one time-" Ben walked away from Haley and Dean. Dean gave us a look saying that we should go follow and we did. "We'll talk about this later." I said. Sam nodded. Later in the day, we finally go to Blackwater Ridge. Sam walked up ahead of the guy, who I finally found out his name is Roy.

"This is it. Blackwater Ridge." Roy said.

"What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked. Roy pulled out a GPS and looked at it.

"Thirty-five and minus one-eleven." Roy said. Dean and I walked up to Sam.

"You hear that?" Dean asked.

"What? I don't hear anything." I said.

"That's the point. Nothing's making a sound. Not even a cricket." Sam said.

"I'm gonna go take a look around." Roy said.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself." I said.

"That's sweet, sweetheart. Don't worry about me." Roy said while waving his gun and pushed past us. Dean looked at Ben and Haley

"All right, everybody stays together. Let's go." We headed off and to find a place where we could stay for the night.

"Haley! Over here!" Roy said. Haley ran towards Roy. We soon followed.

"Oh my God." Haley said. The place was trashed. This was nuts. Everything was torn up, blood was everywhere, and the supplies were everywhere in the area.

"Looks like a grizzly." Roy said. I rolled my eyes. This was most definitely not a grizzly.

"Tommy?" Haley said as she took off her backpack and looks through everything in the campsite. "Tommy!" Sam ran over to Haley.

"Shh." Sam said.

"Tommy!" Haley screamed again.

"Shh." Sam said trying to get her to be quiet.

"Why?" Haley said when she finally calmed down a bit.

"Something might still be out there." Sam said.

"Sam!" I yelled as me and Dean noticed something. Sam came over to where we were.

"The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here, the tracks just vanish. That's weird." Dean said. We stood up and turned back to the others. "I'll tell you what, that's no skin walker or black dog." We head back to the others to notice Haley looking at something that had blood on it. She started crying so Dean walked over to where she was. "Hey, he could still be alive." Dean said trying to comfort her. She gave him a look.

"Help! Help!" Someone from the woods yelled. We ran to where we were hearing this voice with Roy in the lead. "Help! Somebody!" The voice yelled again. We couldn't find anyone.

"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Haley said. We just stood there and tried to listen to anything.

"Everybody back to camp." Sam said suddenly. When we got back to camp, everything was gone.

"Our packs!" I exclaimed.

"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." Roy said.

"What the hell is going on?" Haley asked turning to us.

"It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." Sam said.

"You mean someone, some nut job out there just stole all our gear." Roy said. Sam walked over to where me and Dean were standing.

"I need to speak with you two in private." We headed a little ways away from the others. "Good. Let me see Dad's journal." Dean handed the journal to Sam. He opened it and found the page he was looking for. "All right, check that out." He pointed to a drawing of a Wendigo.

"Oh come one, wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." Dean said.

"That's what I was thinking of earlier." I said to Sam.

"Think about it, Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam said.

"Great." Dean took out his gun. "Well then this is useless." Sam gave Dean the journal and headed back but stopped.

"We gotta get these people to safety." He said. We headed back to the campsite. "All right, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten…more complicated."

"What?" Haley asked.

"Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy said.

"It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now." Sam said.

"One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." Roy said

"Relax." Dean said.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you." Roy moved to get up in Sam's business. I started to try to break the two apart, but Dean put an arm in front of me to stop me from doing that.

"You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night." I held back a gasp knowing what happened to Mary.

"Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid ass out of here." He was majorly angry now. Roy just laughed.

"You know you're crazy, right?"

"Yeah? You ever hunt a wen-" Dean finally stepped in and pushed Sam away from Roy.

"Roy!" Haley exclaimed

"Chill out." Dean said.

"Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop. Look. Tommy might still be alive, and I'm not leaving here without him." Haley said. There was a long pause.

"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves." Dean said.

"How?" Haley asked. Me, Dean, and Sam started drawing symbols in the ground to protect us from the wendigo. Dean and Haley were talking. I stopped to eat a few of the MnMs I had in a bag in my pocket. I figured that it might be a good idea to have some just in case. Sam noticed and laughed.

"You brought some too?" He asked.

"Hey, these things are amazing."

"Whatever you say." There was silence for a while.

"Do you think we're going to be able to stop this?" I asked.

"We have to or we'll probably die."

"We need fire you do realize that right?"

"Yeah, well in our packs we did have flares." "So what are we going to do?"

"Try and get back to the Impala maybe."

"That might take too long. Tommy might die by then."

"I have no idea what we're going to do." When we were done, we sat at the edge of the campsite since Sam and Roy were not getting along at the moment. Dean came up to us after a while.

"You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" Dean asked.

"Dean-" Sam started.

"No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember? Then, Kate over here is the one to save our butts." I smiled. There was a pause.

"Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah you're probably right. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek." Dean said.

"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?" Sam asked.

"This is why." I said as Dean held out John's journal.

"This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession-everything he knows about every evil thing is in here, and he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business." Dean said. Sam just shook his head.

"That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just-call us? Why doesn't he-tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?" Sam asked clearly frustrated.

"I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it. Are you with me Kate?" Dean asked.

"I understand that we need to help people. That should always come first, but what if your dad is in trouble?" I asked.

"Dean…she has a point. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about."

"Okay, all right, Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man." Sam looked down, then back up.

"How do you do it? How does Dad do it?" Dean looked over to where Hailey and Ben were.

"Well for one, them." Sam looked at them as well. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable." He paused. "I'll tell you what else helps." Sam looked straight at Dean. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." Me and Sam smiled at that. Suddenly a twig snapped and all three of us were on high alert.

"Help me! Please!" A voice said from the woods. Dean stood up and got his gun out. "Help!" Sam and I were shining our flashlights around trying to see anything.

"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." Dean said.

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy said sarcastically.

"Help! Help me!" The voice said again. Then there was a growling noise. Roy pointed his gun in the direction where the noise came from.

"Okay, that's no grizzly." Roy said. Something rushed past near where Haley and Ben were and Haley shrieked.

"It's here." Sam said. Roy shot the Wendigo twice. I knew that was a really terrible idea.

"I hit it!" Roy exclaimed as he ran off to go find what the creature was.

"Roy, no! Roy!" Dean yelled. He turned to Haley and Ben. "Don't move." We then ran after Roy.

"It's over here! It's in the tree!" Roy yelled. Just then the wending reached down from the tree and killed Roy. I screamed.

"Roy!" Dean exclaimed. I knew that was going to happen, but it didn't scare me any less.

[teentitansblackbird]

Chapter 4

The Watchtower. April 24th, 2028. 2:40 PM EST.

Damian entered the computer room and pulled his cowl off, letting a worn sigh pass his lips as he approached the seated figure currently still unaware of his presence. He didn’t think too much on it, but he and Drake hadn’t talked much since Damian became Batman. After Tim earned his Master’s in Forensics, he and Stephanie were in and out of Gotham rather frequently. Of course they saw each other every November, but they hadn’t actually sat down and had a proper conversation since… well, since Damian had been Robin.

“You certainly seem to enjoy monitor duty,” the Batman said as he leaned over the other cowled figure’s shoulder.

The Red Robin smiled as he looked back to meet his younger brother’s eyes. “Well, Stephanie always says I’m good with computers.”

“How are they, by the way?” Damian asked, taking the open seat beside Tim and running his eyes over the swarm of displays before him.

“Good,” Tim smirked. “Ryan’s about ready to start walking.”

“That’s big,” The younger man remarked, his eyebrows raised.

“Well… not as big as your news,” Tim said with a wink. “Congratulations, man.”

“Thank you,” Damian replied, rolling his eyes. He wasn’t surprised; Tim had a way of finding things out.

“Boy or girl?” The older brother leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, his eyes moving back to the screens.

“We don’t know yet,” Damian leaned back, looking at the photograph Tim had placed on the console. In it he could see Stephanie smiling back at him, holding young Ryan in her arms. The boy had her hair and Tim’s eyes. Ryan was rather soft-spoken, not quick to warm up to new people. Still, the baby took to Damian well enough, much to his relief.

“You got names picked out?”

“Yeah.” Damian smiled. “Thaddeus if it’s a boy. Angela if it’s a girl.”

“Thaddeus…” Tim turned to look back at Damian. “Like Alfred.”

“Mhmm,” Damian replied. “And Angela for Arella, Raven’s mother.”

“Where is she, by the way?” Tim reached for his coffee as he asked.

“She’s gone to see Zatanna, tell her the news…” Damian paused for a moment before looking back to Tim. “Is Superman around?”

“The big one? Yeah, he’s here talking to some of the new guys,” the other replied. “Haven’t seen yours around, though. Sorry.”

“Ah well. Thanks anyways…” Damian sighed as he looked past the displays out at the planet below. He’d seen the Earth from orbit countless times during his time as Batman, being in and out of the Watchtower periodically. But even so, the sight of the world from so far away still seemed to mesmerize him every time.

“You hear anything from Jason lately?” Tim asked, casting his gaze out at the planet as well.

“No, not in awhile…” Damian was a bit slow to reply, thinking to himself. “Pretty sure he’s still on the road with Harper and Starfire.”

“Hmm…” Tim leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “I should probably give him a call. Make sure he’s not in jail or anything.” Damian stifled a laugh at the idea. Wouldn’t surprise him one bit; Todd was as dependable as they come, but that didn’t make him reasonable. He was still a loose cannon, and rarely did he ever do things by the book. That pattern of behavior evidently had rubbed off on Kori and Roy as well, earning their little triad a new moniker: “The Outlaws”. Damian thought it was a bit concerning, but he knew Jason meant well.

“Oracle to Batman. Dame, you there?” Damian jolted back to the present as Barbara’s voice came over his communicator. He quickly slid his cowl back on and engaged the suit’s HUD to see his sister-in-law looking back at him.

“Batman here,” the Dark Knight replied. “Go ahead, Oracle.”

“You need to get back to Gotham, now. Quinn says she’s going after Joker, and she needs you to come with her.”

“For God’s sake, I told her not to…” the Bat let out an irritated groan. “Fine, I’m on my way.” Damian looked back over his shoulder at Tim with a smile. “Drop by the Manor sometime. Dad’d probably like to hear from you.”

“We will,” Tim waved back at him. “See you soon, Little D.”

John Constantine’s apartment. Paddington, London. April 24th, 2028. 7:45 PM BST.

A light splash of water spilled into the doorway as the sorcerer stumbled through the doorway, his coat drenched from a walk in the rain. Cursing himself for not bringing an umbrella, Constantine stared back at his reflection in the mirror as the door slid closed behind him. He ran a hand roughly through his greying hair, studying the subtle lines of age beginning to show beneath his light beard. Time was beginning to catch up to him, it seemed. He smiled weakly, wondering why time had been so much kinder to his partner. Zatanna had hardly changed in the past ten years, he thought. Or maybe he just didn’t notice because they were always around each other. Despite the occasional fighting and butting heads, Zatanna Zatara was the only person John could always come back to at the end of the day. She just got him, better than anybody. Sure it sucked a little not living in the House anymore, but he didn’t mind. He hardly used all the space to begin with.

“Z, I’m back,” he called into the apartment as he stepped away from the mirror. “Knocked of early tonight, everybody was ‘eaded on home an account of all the…”

Constantine trailed off when he discovered that Zatanna had company over, locking eyes with Raven as he walked into the room.

“Hey John,” the younger mage spoke gently, leaned back into the sofa next to her sister. “How’s work?”

The detective chuckled. “Crap as always,” he replied. “Good to see ya, Sunshine.” Constantine shuffled further into the room, planting a quick peck on Zatanna’s forehead as he walked by her before dropping into his recliner.

“You hear the news?” Zatanna looked over at John as she took Raven’s hand. “You’re gonna be an uncle, pal.”

“I hadn’t heard,” John answered, peeking up as he did so, “but I could feel somethin’ comin’ off ya when I walked in. Kid’s got a strong spirit, an’ that energy comes off ya real strong if ya know how to sense it.”

“I know what you mean,” Raven said, looking down at her abdomen. “I could feel it almost as soon as it happened. I didn’t realize then what it was, but…”

“It?” John piped up curiosity. “What ya mean 'it’? Can’t ya… can’t ya tell what…”

Raven’s eyes widened. “Wait… you can??”

Zatanna turned back to Raven, one eyebrow cocked. “You really can’t? I thought you knew, what have you been doing up in that penthouse if you can’t tell?”

Constantine let out a laugh. “Boy, are you outta practice, aren’t ya kiddo?” He smirked as he began to pull off his tie. “You wanna know?”

“No!” Raven threw her hands up as she spat the word out, almost frantically. “I mean, not yet. Damian and I said we want to find out together.”

“Seems fair,” the older magician grunted as he propped his feet up on the coffee table. Before Zatanna could open her mouth with a “get your feet off the table, you moron”, a quick alert tone sounded from Raven’s communicator.

“Crap, I gotta take this, it’s from… huh.” Raven looked down in surprise at the ID displayed on her communicator. “That’s… wow, after all this time… I’ll be just a second.” Without another word, Raven quickly stood up and walked into the kitchen. Just as she left the room, John and Zatanna both looked right at each other, their faces both beaming.

“Ohhhhh ho ho, boy,” Constantine whispered. “Little Batsy’s gonna 'ave his 'ands full!”

“Right?” Zatanna replied, grinning wildly. “Can you even picture that punk with a kid?”

“Swear to god, we HAVE to get over to visit sometime,” the detective began to scheme, “even if i’s just to catch the freakin’ Batman at a little tea party in makeup for his princess!”

“You shut your mouth, John Constantine,” the older mage-girl snipped playfully, “there’s no way that little girl is gonna be the princess type. Have you SEEN her parents?”

“Z, I’ve 'eard the stories about that wank Raven 'ooked up with! They called 'im 'Prince Damian’! The girl’s already a prin–”

Both of them froze upon hearing the thump of Raven’s communicator hitting the floor, turning to see her walk back into the room.

“… cess.”

Raven’s eyes widened. “… you’re messing with me.”

Zatanna quickly stood up, walking quickly to Raven’s side. “Sis, I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean for you to– oof!” The words cut off as Raven’s arms slung around Zatanna’s neck, holding her tight.

“It’s fine,” Raven assured, a smile forming on her face as her cheek pressed into her sister’s. “This is… this is just… oh my god, it’s a girl, isn’t it?”

Constantine rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Heh, sorry kid. But 'ey, at least now namin’ the kid’ll be easier!”

Raven beamed back at John contently. “Actually, we already have a name picked out…” her cheeks began to redden slightly as she looked down. “… her name is Angela.”

CADMUS Headquarters, Washington DC. April 24, 2028. 11:36 PM EST.

“Welcome back to the real Project CADMUS, Mr. Wayne.”

The glass elevator doors swiveled back as Bruce walked alongside Director Waller into the dimly lit corridor. Aside from the hum of electricity, the hall of massive marked doorways was eerily quiet, save for the rhythmic clatter of the two elders’ footsteps, accompanied by the tap of Bruce’s cane. The old billionaire scanned his eyes over each doorway carefully, taking mental note of each door’s designation. He’d have to enter these into the Batcomputer when this whole ordeal was done… Bruce never trusted Cadmus. Not when he was the Batman, not they first came to into the public eye, and certainly not now. They made a habit of meddling in affairs that they had no business meddling in.

The two of them stopped abruptly at the end of the hallway and turned to the door on the left. PROJECT: KR, the door read.

“Mr. Wayne, before I show you what’s behind this door, I need to know you trust me, and that I can trust you. No more secrets here…” Waller peered over at Bruce from the corner of her eye. “… so you can go ahead and ditch that two-bit walking stick. I’m not buying your old cripple act.” Bruce looked back at the woman for a moment, before a faint smirk appeared on his wrinkled face. Chuckling low in his chest, the old Bat stood up straight, collapsing his cane and tucking it away in his coat. Waller shook her head subtly as she pressed her thumb to the print scanner on the wall. A puff of steam emitted from the doorway as the enormous metal door rose out of sight, and the two of them stepped forward into the room.

What stood before Bruce shook him to his core: at the very back of the room was a stasis pod, with the shield of the House of El emblazoned on the glass. Inside the pod was a boy, who looked about the age of sixteen, who bore a striking resemblance to…

“Dear god, Amanda…” Bruce muttered. “… what have you done?”

The old woman stepped forward, making her way to the console beside the boy. “Bruce Wayne, I’d like you to meet the Superboy.” Upon entering a few commands into the console, the pod erupted with a billow of steam as the glass case began to rise. As the fog dissipated, the boy opened his eyes slowly, revealing the same electric blue irises that Bruce had looked back into time and again throughout the years. Waller smiled. “Superboy, come greet our guest.” Immediately, the boy dropped to the floor from his pod, and walked up to the old man.

“Hello, Mr. Wayne,” the creature said quietly. “I am Superboy.”

Bruce’s brow furrowed as he thought hard about the situation he was in. The kid even sounded like the Boyscout. But his tone, the way he looked at him, the slight tremble in the boy’s knees… something was off.

“Waller, you need to start explaining exactly who and what this is, and why he’s here.”

Waller cocked an eyebrow. “Go ahead, child.”

The boy looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back up and meeting Bruce’s eyes. “I am a genetic replication of the hero called Superman. My purpose is to supplant the Superman should he fall in battle, or to destroy him should his behavior become contradictory to the interests and survival of the human race.”

Bruce crossed his arms, still processing this information. “You’re a clone of Superman.”

“Yes sir,” the creature replied, “however, I am not a perfect replication. Due to the limitations of modern human science, CADMUS was unable to produce a full Kryptonian. Instead, I am a human-Kryptonian hybrid, engineered to have as many of Superman’s traits and abilities as possible.”

“And I suspect you’ve never left this facility?” The old vigilante asked.

“No sir,” the boy answered. “The risk of Superman discovering my existence was deemed to great to permit my exposure to the outside world. Instead, I have lived here for the past year since my creation, developing my abilities and replenishing my strength through exposure to microscopic yellow suns kept within this facility.”

“Smart…” Bruce looked back to Waller, his expression grim. “So why are you showing me this?”

“Because I need some things from you. Three things, to be exact.” Amanda walked back from the console to join the two others in the room. “First and foremost, I need a favor…”

“A favor?”

“Yes…” Waller put her hand on Superboy’s shoulder. “I’ve had a change of heart after seeing how well the other Superman has been doing. What was his name? Jonathan?”

Bruce remained silent.

“Well, either way…” Waller looked to Superboy, then back to the old man. “Superboy has expressed a few times that he wants to see the rest of the world. He wants to know what it’s like out there, and… honestly, there’s not much left for him here. Doesn’t seem right to keep the boy locked away anymore.”

“This is rather out of character for you, isn’t it?” Bruce asked.

“Maybe so, but I stand by my decision. And I need your help.” Waller took another step towards Bruce. “I need you to take Superboy with you. Bring him to Superman, let him have a chance at a real life.”

“Why didn’t you just call Superman?” The Batman inquired, his eyes squinting with suspicion.

A twinge of a smirk appeared on Waller’s face. “Because you’re easier to reach, Mr. Wayne.” Bruce shook his head before looking back at the clone.

Superboy reached out, placing a hand gently on Bruce's arm. “Please.”

[365footballorg-blog]

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers | 2018 MLS Match Preview

June 27, 20181:05PM EDT

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers 2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 18 CenturyLink Field — Seattle June 30 — 4:30 pm ET WATCH: FOX, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

A fierce rivalry is renewed Saturday afternoon when Seattle Sounders FC host the Portland Timbers, who come to CenturyLink Field riding a nine-match unbeaten streak.

This is the second of three meetings between the Cascadia rivals, with the Timbers prevailing, 1-0, at Providence Park, on May 13 with Sebastian Blanco scoring the winner four minutes from full time.

Both teams are 1W-1L-2D in their last four meetings in league play, with both sides scoring four goals during that time. The Timbers have never won a regular-season game in Seattle, but have won their lone postseason game there (2-1 win in 2013 playoffs), per Opta. 

Seattle Sounders FC

Seattle (3-8-3) rallied from an early deficit to tie the Chicago Fire, 1-1, at home Saturday night, with Clint Dempsey leveling in the 22nd minute. It was his first goal of 2018 and his 47th regular-season goal, tying him with Fredy Montero atop the Sounders’ all-time list.

It was an entertaining match with both teams attacking early and often. But the Sounders are now 2-3-2 at home, and the draw puts more pressure on them to get a result at C-Link on Saturday.

“Obviously it’s a big game for a lot of different reasons,” Brian Schmetzer said. “Number one, it’s our archrival, number two we need to collect points after dropping a couple on the weekend. But it’s Portland,  so I’ll just stick with that.”

Suspended: None

Suspended after next caution: M – Osvaldo Alonso, D – Nouhou Tolo, M – Cristian Roldan

International duty: D – Roman Torres

Injury Report: OUT: F – Jordan Morris (torn ACL), D – Kelvin Leerdam (right hamstring strain), M – Handwalla Bwana (right midfoot sprain), F – Felix Chenkam (right hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: M – Lamar Neagle (left groin strain), GK – Stefan Frei (concussion)

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left) GK: Bryan Meredith — Cristian Roldan, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou Tolo — Osvaldo Alonso, Nicolas Lodeiro — Harry Shipp, Clint Dempsey, Victor Rodriguez — Will Bruin

Notes: With his next goal, Dempsey will become the club’s all-time leader in MLS regular-season play. He has nine goals in 11 previous regular-season games against Portland. … The Sounders have lost three of their last five league games, scoring a total of four goals (1W-1D).

Portland Timbers

Portland (6-3-5) extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with a 1-1 draw at Atlanta Sunday. It was the Timbers’ third consecutive draw after six straight victories.

Defender Larrys Mabiala pounced on the rebound of Samuel Armenteros’ flick off Diego Valeri’s free kick and headed past Brad Guzan to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute before Julian Gressel equalized for the Supporters’ Shield leaders in the 56th minute.

“These are the easiest games in regards to the mentality, because everybody understands when you play Seattle and you’re a Portland Timbers player, this is going to be a huge game and it’s going to be a difficult game and it’s a derby,” Giovanni Savarese said. “These are the games that actually every player on the team understands clearly what is at stake.”

Suspended: None

Suspended after next caution: D – Larrys Mabiala

International duty: M – David Guzman, M – Andy Polo

Injury Report: QUESTIONABLE: D – Roy Miller (left Achilles tendon injury), D – Liam Ridgewell (right quad injury), GK – Kendall McIntosh (left thigh injury), F – Fanendo Adi (left thigh injury)

Projected Starting XI (4-3-2-1, right to left) GK: Jeff Attinella — Alvas Powell, Lawrence Olum, Larrys Mabiala, Zarek Valentin — Cristhian Paredes, Diego Chara, Andres Flores — Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco — Samuel Armenteros

Notes: Jeff Attinella saved eight shots against Atlanta last weekend, the second most ever by a Timbers goalkeeper in a MLS match (including playoffs). … Portland are now unbeaten in their last nine games in league play (6W-3D), allowing just 0.8 goals per game. They have never drawn four consecutive MLS matches.

All-Time Series

Overall: Seattle Sounders FC 9 wins, 35 goals … Portland Timbers 6 wins, 31 goals … 6 draws

At Seattle: Sounders FC 7 wins, 16 goals … Timbers 0 wins, 5 goals … 3 draws

Last meeting at Seattle: Seattle Sounders FC 1, Portland Timbers 1 (Aug. 27, 2017)

Officials

Referee: Ismail Elfath Assistant Referees: Eduardo Mariscal, Ian Anderson 4th Official: Sorin Stoica VAR: Edvin Jurisevic

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Seattle Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers | 2018 MLS Match Preview was originally published on 365 Football

[todokori-kun]

0///////0 0.0 <33333 (<- my current emotions)

Thank you so, so much for the kind words. I’m not gonna try to express exactly how I’m feeling/how I reacted, but just know I sat there smiling at an idiot at the computer screen for quite a while and would probably have creeped out my parents if they saw me XD

I get insecure pretty easily to the point where it can seriously get ridiculous sometimes, but just, things like this actually help me so much. So again, thank you. *hugs*

(Also I might be overreacting because that was one of the nicest things anyone’s said about my art in a while)

I’ve played some Pacthesis games before and downloaded a few simple free dating games to play, so I don’t think I’ll have a problem with playing it :) who knows, I may join you in Otome hell someday (I think my main problem with these games, though, is that for some weird reason I find it difficult to get into the fandoms for them…maybe because the fandoms are usually small and I like having a lot of people to talk to about characters and plot? When I play games like these I just silently fangirl and never really do anything in the fandom lol.

 Also I have th problem where I start shipping dateable characters with each other rather than the MC)

Ok those two look really cute. I’m definitely going to play this <3 and it’s nice to hear the guys aren’t major jerks (like they often are in otome games)

Yep, I confused that with Hideyoshi at first too and it was like ‘WAT. Hide is coming back now? HERE??? But where is he? And who’s saying his name? And really, why NOW???- wait that’s 'hide’ isn’t it Ishida did you do that just to mess with the English-speaking fans’

I know, I wish there was more Urie/Saiko ;-; I just want it to be canon please Ishida

I might have gone 'aww’ over tiny Pride. And I definitely like Kimblee now.

I’m both super excited and super afraid for the last volume. I know I’m also going to be really sad because it’s the end of the series omg

I am honored to be considered an equal with the utlimate cinnamon roll Alphonse Elric. Thank you.

Ah, but I’ll simply charm you with the 'Al’ side of my personality. NO FLASK CAN HOLD ME NOW MUHAHAHAHA

Roy would try to prank you back, but unfortunately the Water Alchemist + the Fullmetal Alchemist…whoever introduced them is responsible for creating a monster (at least, in Roy’s eyes, that’s how it is).

And I think he’d get jealous a lot. He’d get super pouty and petty whenever he saw you getting intimate with someone else and not paying him enough attention (Roy Mustang MUST be appreciated ok, he’s the Flame Alchemist and he’s gonna be Fuhrer, you can’t just IGNORE him)

Also everybody makes jokes about the whole 'Flame Alchemist/Water Alchemist, opposites attract’ thing. All. The. Time.

(Guess who makes the most jokes and constantly trolls both Luna and Roy? A certain someone specializing in medicinal alchemy…tho tbh Evans is actually the biggest shipper and scolds (or tries to scold) both Luna and Roy like some sort of mother hen whenever they argue)

Omg now I’m imagining smol Mei trying to matchmake for 'Mr. Scar’

Yep, I think it is :)

Fear is the natural, most logical reaction whenever the words 'I’d like to recommend-’ come out of my mouth.

Ooooh tell me how it turns out, please? :D

Yeah, it was one of the most uncomfortable, awkward moments of my life XD I KNOW my face froze into the most painful expression ever during that hug and my body just kinda went all rigid (“please stop omg you’re touching you do know I don’t even like you or do you not know that is my reaction not making it clear help me mom”), hoping she’d just let go or something, but she just kept hugging me lololol

And I won’t be giving up on the piano! I love playing it and like you said, I’ve made quite a bit of progress and I don’t want to let all that go to waste. I’m taking lessons with a new teacher now :D

(tbh I used to kinda dislike classical music because I thought it was boring, but now that I’m actually learning to play it I like it a lot <3 currently learning a Haydn sonata and it’s really good. But I really want to play anime OSTs too…the AoT openings would sound so awesome on the piano)

Also, I’ll be sending you some more pictures :)

I’m glad I could make you smile ^^ You definitely deserve all the compliments in the world, because the art is definitely gorgeous! From the ones you’ve sent me, Hisoka and Maria are probably my favourites ^^ Though the Saiko is also really pretty (don’t think I missed the tiny dab in the corner XD) Also, Roy. Just. Wow. If anyone ever asks me who he is/to describe him, I’ll just show them that pic. 

I also see a few watercolour pieces! You seem to have good control over the brush! When I drew with watercolours, I could only manage blogs, never looking like anything, yet I instantly recognised what you drew!

Seriously, thank you so much for sharing the works with me! It means a lot to me that you trust me enough to show them ^^  *weeb voice* Ganbatte!

Pls join me I swear I’ll play any game you do so we can gush together, I’ll even write fanfics for you if you ask I just wanna see you in otome game hell. Please. Also, CP seems to have a developed fandom AND there’s a fandisk coming out soon, containing the after-ends! Sooo, it’s not over yet!  Then, there’s this game that’s available for the mobile phone, called Wizardess Heart, which has an even bigger fandom, and there are routes coming out quite often!  AND even if there isn’t a developed fandom, I’ll play it if you recommend!  Also, to tempt you even more, there’s plenty of suffering in Cinderella Phenomenon. I’ve played through the bad ends now, and damn, you should’ve seen it, especially for Fritz (White hair, tan)’s bad end. Lemme give you a general picture of how I looked: 1:30am. Not wearing pants. Tears streaming down face. Right hand holding a mug usually used for tea, that was filled with orange juice this time, left hand holding up the middle finger at the screen. I’m emotionally scarred. Also, I am not able to listen to the song ‘Lost Boy’ without almost crying because of Waltz. Help. Me. Pfft, that’s the magic of otome games! Pick the guy you like most/don’t ship with anyone and ship the others with each other! In Wizardess heart, the fandom is FULL of shipping dateable characters with each other, so definitely don’t worry about it XD

I’m glad to hear the news! Tell me when you enter the world of Otome Hell. 

Well, there is one major jerk, Rod (blond one, has a plush rabbit), but he does get better when his route goes on ^^ The other 4 are nowhere near jerks! In fact, one is the sweetest cinnamon roll you’ll ever meet (except for you!). ONE LAST THING (I swear it’s the last one!) Waltz (aka my absolute favourite, also very very high on the list of favourite characters of all time) calls MC ‘little star’. If I don’t almost melt every time he does it...

I’m still not over CP. 

I had to read that panel at least 3 times to understand what it meant. You can probably imagine my disappointment when I realised the actual context of the words. Ishida is evil, let me tell you. But he is also cinnamon roll. Hmmmmm.

Aha, good luck with the feels! Seriously, you’re in for one heckle of an ending. It’s a huge rollercoaster of emotions till the end. THERE’S EVEN AN OMAKE THAT MAKES YOU EMOTIONAL AF AND IT’S NOT EVEN A PART OF THE MAIN SERIES.

You’re not equal to Al in terms of cinnamon roll-ness. You’re superior!

And if I fill the flask to the brim with Urie/Saiko content? And art supplies? 

Muhahahahahahah we’re the ultimate duo *explosions in the background*

I think that he’s actually pretty insecure underneath everything, so, yeah, you’re probably right there. I guess we can have a ceasefire with the pranks for a bit. Just for a bit.

Yes, mom. We apologise *bowing* We won’t argue again (HA)

Mei tries to make subtle comments, but forgets to be subtle. Probably says something that might or might not embarrass you :P

Fun fact: Cap’s a war criminal in the new spidey!

I wonder why I always get the urge to skip a paragraph when i see the word recommend. I wonder, I wonder...

Well, I dyed it and it’s definitely not a ginger red. It’s mostly a red red, but also hints at violet/purple  This is the closest picture I could find:

But oh god the moment I started washing out the dye. It looked like I’d committed manslaughter. It was fascinating. 

I’m glad that you won’t give up the piano ^^ It’s been 4 years since I finished piano school and I still make it a point to practice once a week, because it’s always such a good feeling when you go somewhere, see a piano and are able to play it.  But I’m really sorry about the hug :/ Honestly, I have no idea why people who aren’t close to you try to hug you. It’s so weird >_<

Yep, classical music can also be really nice every once in a while!