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storiesforallfandoms · 3 months

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junker ~ beck oliver;victorious

word count: 2011

request?: no

description: after her car breaks down in front of the dreamy boy’s house, he helps her to fix it

pairing: beck oliver x female!reader

warnings: swearing, one mention of y/n

masterlist (one, two, three)

“No,” you said to yourself as your car began to slow. “No, no, no!”

You hit your steering wheel in frustration as the car came to a stop in the middle of the road.

This wasn’t the first time you had encountered issues with your shitty excuse for a car. It was definitely because the car was older than your parents. It was a miracle it even started in the first place, which, to be fair, it didn’t most of the time. You had no idea what your parents were thinking in buying you this hunk of junk to be your first car. They didn’t have to buy you a brand new sports car or anything, but they could’ve gotten you something from this decade at least.

You got out o the car to inspect what had happened. You opened the hood of the car and inspected inside. You couldn’t tell if anything was off because it all just looked the same to you. There was probably something, but you weren't exactly knowledgeable on cars.

You exclaimed in frustration and kicked the wheel, followed by a string of expletives as pain exploded from your toes.

“Car troubles?”

You turned to see a boy around your age stood at the end of a driveway.

“It just stopped,” you said. “I have no idea what’s wrong with it.”

You sighed, running a hand over your face as you realized how screwed you were. You were a few blocks away from home, so walking wasn’t necessarily off the table, but it would take you a while to get home. Not to mention you had no idea how you’d get the car back to your place, or off the road at all.

“Here, bring it into my driveway,” the boy said. “I’ll take a look at it.”

“How are we gonna get it into your driveway? It’s like...dead dead.”

He approached the car, taking a quick glance at the still open hood before reaching to close it. “Put it in neutral. I’ll push, you can steer.”

You weren’t sure if that sounded like a good idea - one person pushing a car on their own didn’t seem super doable - but you had no other choices. So, you got back into your car, waiting for him to get in place, then shifted the car into neutral. You started turning the wheel, shifting the car towards the driveway. It took a while, but eventually the two of you had managed to get the car into his driveway. You put it back in park as he came around to pop the hood again.

“I’m Beck, by the way,” he said as you got out of your car.

“(Y/N),” you responded. “Thanks for the help. I thought I was screwed.”

“Why are you driving a junker like this? It must be like, a century old.”

“My parents got it for me when I got my license. Something about wanting to get an older car as my first one until I learn responsibility, I guess?”

“So they gave you a rolling death trap?”

You scoffed. “Yeah, basically. I bet they’ll regret that now.”

Beck leaned in to get a better look at something. “When did they buy it?”

You shrugged. “A few weeks ago, I think.”

“Well, they’ll definitely regret however much money they wasted on this thing. It’s completely dead.”

Your eyes widened. “What?!”

Beck stood back up. “There’s not a single thing that works in this thing now. Engine is toast, battery zapped, starting motor gone. It’s a wonder this thing ever worked in the first place.”

You let out a long groan. As if your luck couldn’t get any worse. What were you supposed to do now without a car? You couldn’t go back to relying on your parents to drive you everywhere, and you certainly were not about to start taking the bus to school again.

“Do you have a phone?” Beck asked.

“It’s dead,” you said. “I was on my way home anyways, I thought I’d be fine.”

“Listen, mine is in my RV. You can use it to call your parents if you want.”

You eyed the silver RV in the yard. “You live in there? When there’s...a house?”

He chuckled. “I prefer to be on my own. The RV was the only compromise my parents would come to. If you’d rather not come in, I understand. I can bring my phone out instead if it would make you more comfortable.”

You shook your head. “No, that’s okay. It’s starting to get dark, so it’s probably best if I wait inside instead of out here while it gets cold.”

Beck nodded for you to follow him into his trailer. It was a decent size, big enough for one person living there. It was also evident that a teenage boy lived there given the mess. Beck must’ve noticed, too, because he quickly started picking up dirty clothes and laundry from the floor, mumbling something about ignoring the mess. You quietly giggled to yourself.

Beck passed you his phone. You sat down on his couch and dialed your mom’s number first. It rang for a long time before an automated message told you she was away from the phone. You hung up and tried your dad’s number, only to have the same outcome. You rolled your eyes and hung up, handing the phone back to Beck.

“They must be busy,” you said. “God, this sucks. What am I going to do?”

Beck sat down next to you. He was close enough to you that you could feel his shoulder brushing against yours. You were suddenly very aware of your situation: alone in a trailer with a boy who was incredibly cute. A broke down car, no way to get home until your parents answered your calls. You shuffled awkwardly in your seat, looking down at your lap when looking into Beck’s eyes became too much.

“I could drive you home,” he offered. “Then, when your parents are home, you can tell them what happened and where the car is. Then they can decide if they want to come get it, or they can leave it here and I can salvage whatever parts I can from it.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “You think there’s anything salvageable from that car?”

“Well...the tires.”

You both laughed. You knew you should be getting home, but part of you also didn’t want to leave yet. Sure, you would still see Beck again whenever your parents decided to come get the car - if they decided to come get the car - but after that you may never see him again. He wasn’t familiar to you, and you were sure you’d remember someone like Beck at your school, so that meant he went to a different school. The likeliness of you two ever crossing paths again were incredibly slim.

But you also couldn’t just invite yourself into his place to stay for a while. You were still a stranger to him, and him to you technically. And you probably should get home so you could charge your phone, just so your parents didn’t start freaking out if they tried to call you and couldn’t get through.

So, you took Beck’s offer and followed him to his car. It was definitely a lot nicer than your old piece of junk. You were almost embarrassed that he had to see what you were driving before. The one silver lining to this whole situation was that your parents might actually buy you a good car after all of this.

You knew it was going to be a short ride to your house, so you had to make the most of it. You looked over at Beck and asked, “So, what school do you go to?”

“Hollywood Arts,” he responded.

“Oh! So that’s why I haven’t seen you around. You’re too busy becoming a big star.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so. Trying to, at least. I’m not a singer like most of the people who attend that school. I’m trying to become an actor after I graduate.”

“Hey, the world needs actors. That doesn’t sound like an impossible dream to achieve.”

He shrugged. You felt like the conversation was drifting away, and you desperately wanted it to keep going.

“I do appreciate what you did for me,” you said. “Most people in LA probably would’ve driven right past me and wished me luck.”

“I couldn’t let you just stay there stranded right in front of my place,” he said. “What kind of a guy would I be if I didn’t offer the pretty girl some help?”

Your face immediately burned at his compliment. You quickly looked away so he wouldn’t see how flustered you were.

“Still, I appreciate it,” you said. “And the ride home. I probably could’ve walked, come to think of it.”

“No way. I wasn’t going to let you walk when I have a perfectly good car that could’ve driven you home.”

“Don’t rub it in.”

He chuckled. You noticed the car slowing to a stop, and when you looked up you saw that you were in front of your house. You almost deflated with disappointment. Your time with Beck was finally, and unfortunately, coming to an end. There was no way you’d be able to see him again, you were sure of that. It was already pretty clear the both of you wouldn’t be running into each other at schooling events, unless you managed to make it out to a performance at Hollywood Arts that Beck just so happened to be starring in.

“This is me,” you said, trying to keep the sadness from your voice.

“So it is,” Beck said with a nod.

You looked down at your lap, trying to stall as much as possible. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know how I can repay you for all of this.”

“You don’t have to.”

“What if I wanted to? I mean, surely there’s something else I could do or give you as a way of saying thanks. Something more than that lump of junk that’s still sat in your driveway.”

He made a face. “No, that’s a terrible thank you gift actually.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m saying I want to give you an actual thank you gift.”

He thought for a moment and you waited patiently for his answer. Finally, he looked back at you and said, “There is something you could give me.”

“What is it?”

“Your number.”

He was holding his phone out to you. You looked from his phone up to his face. You were almost sure this wasn’t real, that you were hallucinating that this was happening. But the longer it took for you to take Beck’s phone and put your number in it, the more his face was starting to show worry. As if you were about to turn him down.

“Yes!” you finally blurted. “I mean...yeah. Yeah, I can...I can do that.”

He seemed amused by your flusteredness. You quickly took his phone and typed in your name and number before handing it back to him.

“You better get your phone charged,” he said. “Otherwise, how am I supposed to try and plan a date with you?”

Oh, he smooth.

You wanted to say something back that was equally as smooth, but you were at a loss for words. Instead, you just nodded your head for a long time, like a crazy person, before finally saying goodbye for real and getting out of his car. You could feel him watching you as you walked up to your front door and let yourself in. He didn’t leave until the door closed behind you, and even then he waited for you to lock it and turn on the light over the door.

Once you were alone, you leaned back against the door and you couldn’t stop the wide smile that broke out across your face.

Okay, at least there were two silver linings to that stupid thing breaking down.

#beck oliver #beck oliver imagine #beck oliver x reader #avan jogia #avan jogia imagine #avan jogia x reader #victorious #victorious imagine #imagine #one shot #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom

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a-little-unsteddie · 6 months

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stuck in your throat || 1.2

1.1 | [here] | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5

if this seems familiar, it is because this contains part of the initial preview, if not all of it. next part will have all new content and be nearly as long as this one! woo! i’m pretty sure there’s 5 parts to chapter one, but i may be wrong, so i’ll correct it if necessary later.

The next few days passed in a blur of submitting applications and answering calls from random numbers, hoping that it was one of the places he applied to and not some scam call trying to get money out of him. It happened more than Steve thought it would, but unfortunately it did not surprise him, given he usually had unknown callers blocked.

“Hello?” Steve answered, having learned to not open the call with who was answering without knowing who was calling from one too many scam calls

“Is this Steve Harrington?” A soft feminine voice asked, taking Steve by surprise.

“May I ask who’s calling?” Steve asked, not willing to concede his identity until he knew it wasn’t someone looking to sell him ‘Alpha Pills’ or something just as ridiculous.

“Of course! My name is Chrissy Cunningham, you sent in an application for being a full time nanny and tutor?” She responded with a cheerful voice. “I can’t really go much more in depth without an NDA being signed.”

Recognition zapped through Steve’s body and he sat up in his seat. “Oh! Yes, I’m Steve. Um. I’d be happy to sign an NDA, just may I ask why?”

“Yes, you may! My client is a big fan of privacy and only agreed to hire someone if they were under an NDA for the protection of their pup.” aaand all of Steve’s anxiety surrounding the NDA pretty much melted away. Sure, maybe it was a bit much to do, and sure, now he was dying with curiosity to know just who he had ended up applying to, but the knowledge that the NDA was for the protection of the pup soothed any anxiety Steve had originally felt about signing an NDA. In fact, it kind of made his omega perk up. He shook off the feeling, focusing on Chrissy.

“That’s actually really relieving to hear,” Steve said with a laugh. “When or where can I sign the NDA?” he questioned, wondering when Robin would be home so he could tell her.

“Well, first, you and I will do a preliminary interview, just like any other job interview. Then, if all goes well, I’ll send you an email containing the NDA for you to review and sign,” Chrissy explained clearly and cheerfully. “After you sign the NDA, my client will perform an in-person interview and then we’ll go from there.”

“That all seems pretty straight forward so far,” Steve replied, standing from where he had been lounging on the couch. He walked to the kitchen, where he and Robin had put up a magnetic whiteboard calendar to fill with each of their schedules and plans. He grabbed the blue marker, his color, and prepared to jot down when they’d have the interview.

“Perfect! Happy to hear it,” Chrissy said with an audible smile.

“When will the interview with you be?” Steve asked, biting his lip as he stared at the calendar, which had sparsely been marked with his blue marker, even since starting this job hunt. Robin’s plans were in red, and was much more abundant due to having three part time jobs.

“Well, as soon as possible, really. If you’re available now, we could take care of it right away.” the woman responded, sounding like she was walking into another room.

“Oh!” Steve exclaimed, recapping the marker and returning it to the pen holder. “Yes, of course. I’m available now.”

“Perfect!” Chrissy’s voice sounded from Steve’s phone as the omega walked back to the living room and sat on the couch. “So, starting off pretty easy here, what made you apply for this position?”

Steve thought back and grimaced at the reminder that it was Robin who had submitted his application to this particular job. He wasn’t about to admit that, though, and quickly found a more appropriate response.

“Well, I love taking care of pups, and I just got my teacher’s license a month ago,” Steve explained, which wasn’t a lie, so he figured it was probably as good of an answer as any. “I also saw that this job traveled, and my best friend thought that it’d be good for me.”

“Yes, that was going to be part of this conversation, too. So, you’re obviously alright with the traveling, then?” Chrissy asked and Steve heard what he thought could be pen scratching as she wrote notes. He swallowed thickly, suddenly anxious about what she was writing. He decided to ignore his anxiety, even as his scent soured around him with it.

“Oh, yes, traveling is more than okay,” Steve agreed immediately, “but it’s more important to me that I’ll be taking care of a pup, if I’m honest.”

This statement seemed to pique Chrissy’s attention, as the writing stopped for a moment. “Why is that?” she eventually asked.

Steve winced, wondering if he should be up front about it or not. If Robin were here, she would insist that he was honest. He decided on a half-truth.

“I’ve always wanted pups, and a lot of them,” Steve admitted, fidgeting with a loose piece of thread on the couch. He switched which arm was holding the phone, as he had started to get a little sore from holding it up for so long. “But I don’t have a partner, so I can’t really have my own right now. I discovered through babysitting for one of my neighbors that I have a knack for taking care of pups.”

The scratching noise was back as Chrissy listened to his responses. Steve was nervous he wasn’t doing well, but figured that it wasn’t going bad if she wasn’t suddenly calling the interview short.

“Your resume says that you’re good in high stress situations,” Chrissy said after a couple seconds of silence as she wrote down whatever notes she was taking. Steve briefly wondered if he should be doing the same thing. “I’m going to give you an example scenario, and you’re going to tell me how you’d respond.”

“Sounds simple enough,” Steve agreed, trying not to let his voice betray how anxious he was.

“For the sake of simplicity, we’ll say the pup’s name is Rosie,” she informed him before she continued to describe the scenario. “You’re taking Rosie to the park, when suddenly there is a crowd of people surrounding you and you lose sight of her. What do you do?”

Steve thought the scenario was odd, but not ‘out there’ enough to alarm him. He thought about his answer for a moment before replying.

“I would try to follow her scent, first, because that will usually lead me to any pup I’ve babysat. If that doesn’t work, I will call out for her. If the situation is bad enough, I would contact the authorities, and either you or Rosie’s father.” he paused for a second before continuing, trying to make sure he covered all of his bases. “But honestly? If Rosie is small enough, I would have rather carried her once I saw the crowd, or hold her hand, for the reason of lowering my chances of separation.”

Silence that’s only broken up by the scratching of pen against paper followed, and Steve was suddenly anxious that he answered incorrectly. He answered what he would do if it were his own pup, but what if that wasn’t right? What if he wasn’t cut out for this job?

“Alright, next scenario,” Chrissy said, moving swiftly onto the next one without commenting on his answer; Steve didn’t know if he preferred her not acknowledging it or if he would prefer to be told his answer was shitty up front. The next few scenarios were just as oddly specific, but Steve answered them exactly as he did the first one. He tried to not overthink his answers too much because between each one there would be a stretch of time that Chrissy used to presumably write his answers down.

“One last question and then we should be good to move forward.” Chrissy said a good twenty minutes of questions later. “When would you be available to start working?”

Steve’s eyebrows raised, surprised that he was seemingly, maybe being offered the job. “Um—immediately. I would need time to pack, but other than that, I’m free.”

“Wonderful,” Chrissy said cheerfully. “Alright, now it’s your turn. Do you have any questions for me?”

Steve hummed, trying to go through his usual list of questions he asked during interviews that hadn't already been answered and came up empty. “Not at the moment, but I’ll make sure to write any I think of down, if I do.”

“Perfect! So, I will consult with my client, and I have a few other applicants that are interested, but so far, you are my top pick, but I don’t make the decisions,” Chrissy laughed, as if Steve was in on the joke. He laughed with her, not knowing what else he should have done. So, maybe not a job offer, but it sounded promising anyway. “I will be in contact in a few days, three at most.”

“Sounds good, thank you so much for considering me, Chrissy,” he responded with a smile, hoping to leave one last good impression.

The line went dead, and Steve was left sitting on his couch, staring blankly at the tv, which was frozen on some dumb reality show that he had put on to fill the silence before he’d gotten the call. He wanted to jump up and dance around, but ultimately decided he would wait until he could do it with Robin.

tag list: @marklee-blackmore @paintsplatteredandimperfect @steddie-as-they-go @disrespectedgoatman @lingeringmirth @hyperfixated-on-stuff @swimmingbirdrunningrock @littlewildflowerkitten @sani-86 @thegingerrapunzel @adventures-in-mangaland @missingmalfoy1 @yellowdevilkitten @extra-transitional @queen-stevie @stevesbipanic @crypticcorvidinacottage

#steve harrington #chrissy cunningham #eddie munson #eventual steddie #steddie #steve x eddie #stuck in your throat #siyt 🎤#unsteddie writing #tw omegaverse #rockstar eddie munson #nanny steve harrington #teacher steve harrington

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vgperson · 1 year

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Vocaloid Highlights: February 2023

"I love building the industrial revolution in RIMEcraft." - M (identity withheld) Highlights Archive

========== Stand-Outs ========== Glowing Bluely Blue SEPIA NOTES Spoilers: The Culprit is Zundamon Song Dedicated to Everyone With Messy Writing To You, the Faker Photopsia Ah, Kuma. (Demon/Bear) Kyrie For Dear Life Flower and Wind Mind Castle Sweet State Drive Solitary Industrial Revolution YOU New Cult cicada Clinging to Role Anonymous M Fallen Angel Become the Wind I Am, We Are Miss Forgetful, Look This Way In Your Eyes Altamira -English ver.- Please Stand By Me

========== Worth Your Time ========== Make up Ahh, Peyudochi Hiiragi Kirai (Song Name) Candy Purple Fantasize Aspartame Magic Charm Glint Heartrate Pairing Pumpy Fake Show Never Had Someone I Like Say They Liked Me SIDE EFFECT Bewitching Love Monsters Pawmi's Floor-Gap-Gunk Music Softly. Huh? With you Flower Rotting Chiuchiu (Mooch-Mooch) February Water Ostriches' Brains Are Smaller Than Their Eyes BAKU☆NEW (Huge Boobs) Yuzuki Yukari Wanna Appear At the Summer Festival BODY IS HEALTHY Natsuki Karin Gets Her License Seafood☆Highway Dreaming Isle Impression Pier Pantomime-Ager Static Electricity Zap. Stray Cat Carrying a Leek Other Summer Recollection Starlight If Only Something Good Happened Chrononaut Winter Parade Myo 2 Wanna Eat Koharu Rikka's Hair Buns Goodnight Elegy Starry Phrase Heat Haze Prattling Valentine SUPERVILLAIN Whitely Love Damage! Damage! Damage! Ultra Rocket FxxKING LOVELY MUSIC Backside Spring Magical☆Cheer Depths Diner Nighthawks Sweet Valentine Immortal Flower Untitled Document (Remake) Nirvana Everything Up to Yesterday Konpeito Extremists Antibiotics Good Night Orangette Excuse Crescent Merry Unbirthday Self-Love Maiden Destiny Coughing Indigo and Higan Living Isn't Simple Regards to Messiah PROJECTION My Heart is Refusing Machine Island Reincarnation Repentance Night Fog Let's Die Together in a Mini-Theater Before Spring Falls Machine Krieg (long ver.) Marshmallow Crea Caffeine Loss Day Lily Miru Uncanny Pokkuri-san Easier to Just End It Already White Journey Girl Brûlée Scenario Beast Eros Ex Machina #psychedelic love Fruit of Wisdom Snowpile Park Saunter Waiting for Spring Say It's Regrettable Whereabouts of the Heart Without Permission Bandage Girl.mp3 Shall We Play Together Good Night Darling Lipstick Do-Do-Do Instinct

#vocaloid #vocaloid highlights

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itsyourstarboy · 1 year

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ZAP

✨Lovely OC✨

The long awaited, lovely Lovely is here!!! I kept a lot of electric vibes with her design, because she may be dead but that part of her is not.

Info about her under the cut!

Finally putting a face to the name

My Lovely is named Charlie and uses she/her pronouns

💗💛💙pansexual💙💛💗

5’8” (tall goddess)

Her eyes were brown before her turning

Cute little blue goth babey

She’s a Twilight fan girl through and through. She’s team Edward all the way, and prefers the books to the movies.

It was basically a dream come true when she met Vincent.

She was a college freshman, pursuing a career in photography. She likes taking pictures of abandoned/creepy places (hence why she was at Wonderworld at 3am)

She didn’t believe Vincent was a vampire at first, but a small part of her hoped he was.

Then he broke into her house and she was in love <3

I think she might actually be insane.

No self preservation instincts whatsoever, y’all already know.

She wanted Vincent to turn her into a vampire from the start, but she didn’t really know how to ask, so when she saw a chance to get nearly killed she took it.

Jumped in front of that shade on purpose, I’m telling you.

She used to be vegan (obviously not anymore lol)

After learning she was empowered, she stopped going to the unempowered college and transferred to DAMN.

Then she died and just dropped out mood

She’s the biggest tease you will ever meet. Yes, even worse than Vincent.

She’s loves leaving him wanting more.

He can’t even get her back anymore, because now she can run super fast, and he’s afraid if he chases her she’ll go flying down a mountain again.

She stans Avril Lavigne so hard

15% beauty; 5% grace; 70% chaos; 10% horny

She throws electric shocks at anything that scares her

Or, at least, she used to.

Now that she’s a vampire, her electricity is weakened, so she feels kinda defenseless. If something scares her, she immediately hunches over and hisses like a frightened feline.

Probably licks batteries to feel energized.

She HAS to have the last word.

If you text her something rude and then block her, she will hunt you down in person just to respond with “k.”

She got into a lot of verbal fights at DAMN because she has a problem with authority

Okay so... she doesn’t have it anymore, but she used to drive an old, beat up, hand-me-down minivan.

She also never got her driver’s license.

“Fake it till you make it,” yeah she’s good at pretending to know what she’s doing.

(Vincent didn’t find this out until after she was behind the wheel of his most expensive car)

I don’t know what issues she’s got goin on up in her noggin, but there’s quite a few.

Tea-time gossip w/ William on Wednesdays at 1pm :)

Okay pet names pet names

Charlie calls Vincent: Vince, Bats, Creeper, Handsome, Babe, and Cutie.

She has an emotional support animal :3

His name is Spike and he’s a duck 🦆

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thecyberrecord · 6 months

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I'm dealing with vaccination aftermath, which is much worse this time than any of the others that I can remember, so I figured I'd use Werewolf for some catharsis and relating, as I'm wont to do, and something to distract myself with. Also I guess I should finally learn how to use Tumblr. The body aches along with what I'd normally describe as the sensation of brain zaps, but in my entire body, the aching joints, the lung aches, the crackles of nerves, the ceaseless headache, gnawing fatigue, the oversensitivity to touch where even light contact feels like foil on teeth. I'm used to most of this because of my chronic health issues, but it's all turned up in intensity beyond my usual threshold right now. It's not as intense as the Bite, but It reminds me of it all the same.

It reminds me of when I was writing up a character I played too-briefly. They were the first Bitten character I'd played, and it was partly to challenge my initial frostiness to the concept of the Bite and the Bitten. I don't exactly remember why I started off with a low approval rating for it, it might have just been "a new thing? a CHANGE to my perfectly ordered schema??? [Weaver intensifies]" or a feeling like things were just being tossed in arbitrarily. There were a number of changes to the status quo in White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theater Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and I had a kneejerk wariness to all of that. (The book is so massive (759 pages cover to cover!) that the physical copy that I lent to my ST use for the LARP tore itself from its spine under its own weight, even while being carried around in a laptop bag thing to better support it, in the first week or two of use.)

But after some adjustment time and getting to play the system, it ended up being my favorite edition of Werewolf. Aside of a few things here and there (like the spirits), it felt like a much improved system, the in-world social changes and new factional arrangement I hadn't entirely agreed with the decisions of, but I found it stimulating to explore anyway (when are things ever neatly, perfectly decided, anyway? World of Darkness isn't exactly about playing in an already-ideal world) and I like how it breathed fresh life and bonds and conflicts into the political tapestry of the Garou Nation.

I especially like how the Bitten gave me a new avenue of Otherness to identify with and explore in the setting. Being Othered even within Othered communities is something I relate to, and I enjoy digging into that within the framework of the game. I did so with Aidan Abbett, Dead Drop.

Glyphname for Dead Drop, Homid (Bitten) Ragabash Glass Walker, in road paint. (It's in yellow because Dead Drop is a loading zone only, they have places to be.) Composed of 'Hidden/Conceal', 'New Moon/Trickery', 'Help', and the 'Creator' emphatics that are often used to denote a personal name. Hidden help and the discreet exchange of it. Dead Drop is the name they earned from their Fostern challenge, and this glyphname also works for their word-play Cliath name, which also serves as their general human-world name, Aidan Abbett.

Image background and manipulated elements are from a photo by Possessed Photography and used in accordance with this license.

The exploration of the trauma of the Bite relating to my own personal experiences with health and breakdown, while still having that sort of "traditional" Homid-born Garou experience of being transformed from a relative fragile creature into something wildly resilient, and that juxtaposition of being taken apart and broken over the course of a month to emerge as something nigh indestructible yet also left viscerally damaged and off-putting to the "real Garou"... all of that gave me an appreciation of the additional story tools that the Bitten afforded to Werewolf. Dead Drop was a lot of fun and had a lot of onion layers that I didn't have the time to really cut into too deeply with them because the game came to an end, with staff desperately needing a break, so this character will definitely have a reprise at some point.

#WerewolfTheApocalypse #WtA #werewolf characters #queer characters

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transandersrights · 1 year

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happy Friday :D for DADWC this week, perhaps some modern AU Anders? 😊

(I take prompts! See info here)

Ty for the prompt!! I took this as an excuse to write ~850 words of Anders in my big DA modern AU for @dadrunkwriting. Content warning for a discussion of an injured child (injured in an accident) and emotional abuse (by a templar).

“Welcome to my pride and joy!” Anders span a full circle, arms outstretched as he indicated the room. “I’d call it cheap and cheerful, but it’s free and we’re based in Darktown, so…”

“Skint and simple,” Lirene surmised. Anders laughed. “Illegal and impoverished?”

"Not illegal,” Anders corrected. “Look.” He pointed in sequence to a poster stuck on each wall of the single-room clinic, which read, in large black and bold letters: ‘ANDERS VALEN DOES NOT HAVE A MEDIAL LICENSE. HE HAS FIVE YEARS OF CIRCLE TRAINING, EIGHT YEARS OF HYBRID CIRCLE/TRADITIONAL MEDICAL TRAINING, AND TWO YEARS OF FULLY QUALIFIED PRACTISE. BY CONSENTING TO TREATMENT BY ANDERS VALEN, YOU FOREGO ANY RIGHTS TO COMPLAIN TO THE FREE MARCHES MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.’

Lirene blinked. “Dubiously legal, then. But you’re just… offering this?”

“Of course.” He said it so simply. Like it was obvious; like people weren’t, two blocks over, being forced to pay hundreds for treatment or wait three months. “There’s a lot I can’t do, of course, with no equipment and no authority to prescribe anything, but if there’s anyone you think I might be able to help…”

“I’ll send them your way,” Lirene confirmed. “What can you do?”

“Emergency healing,” Anders said. “Injuries, mostly. I can give advice or instructions, and there are a few diagnostic tests you can run with magic even if machines are more precise. I can ease symptoms of illnesses, too — but I can’t cure them. Infections still need antibiotics, but if a kid can’t breathe with a chest infection I can ease that, if you want an example.”

“Right.” She wrote as he spoke, but honestly she was most of the way to convinced already. He was a persuasive young man, clearly sure of himself, and clearly should have been qualified, but… “One last thing, so I know what to tell people. Why aren’t you in one of the Lowtown or Hightown clinics or hospitals, charging more than most can afford for a hybrid approach that heals faster than a traditional doctor?”

Anders grimaced. “They’ll leave as soon as they come in if you don’t warn them in advance, right?”

“Depends on how desperate they are,” Lirene said. She saw a lot of desperate people, these days — including people who would go to quacks just if there was a chance of fixing something. All she could do was inform them as to what they were getting into. “But if you can give me something to tell them, I’d hear it now.”

“Alright.” Anders sighed. “I worked emergency care in Central, and I was earmarked for all mage patients that came in. You get cases where kids have been hurt for or because of their magic, so seeing someone like me— meant to be good, right?”

“Of course.” Lirene didn’t need to be told twice when it came to what mage kids had to deal with in Kirkwall, even now. She saw it in the news plenty, and from experience she imagined actually living it was worse. “So, something happened?”

“A lot of somethings.” There was a hard edge to his voice when he spoke, something that just hadn’t been there when he was showing her the clinic earlier. “Sometimes there were kids who’d injured other people as well as themselves. Didn’t matter how injured the other party was — if someone else got hurt, then when the mage kid came into the room, they had to have a Templar escort.

“They were always brutes — nasty when they thought no one was looking. Even when they were meant to be looking after a kid in one of the most difficult experiences of their life so far. These kids are being rushed in to see urgently, and one of them that night? It was past midnight. Poor kid was crying his eyes out, electricity burns all up his arms. He’d zapped his mum hard enough that she was out cold, so he was unaccompanied other than this Templar. Six years old. Could barely get a word out, and the Templar shouted at him to speak up.”

“Bastard.”

Anders chuckled darkly. “I’m glad someone agrees. Anyway, I told the woman to fuck off, get out of my examination room. Legally, the kid had to be accompanied by a Templar, but the woman was so heated I had to— well. I called someone from security I could trust, and he removed her anyway. Boy stopped crying, all the healing was done in five minutes, and I returned him to his lovely handler. I lost my license for breaking the law; endangering the hospital by removing the confessed perpetrator of a magical crime from Templar custody.”

He looked furious, and Lirene was sure her expression mirrored his own. It was patently unfair, and… well, she knew it couldn’t have been the whole story, but it was enough of one that she knew what to tell anyone who came looking for her advice.

A free clinic for anyone willing to seek out a mage healer, manned by a doctor who lost his license in a miscarriage of justice for protecting a child. It certainly wouldn’t earn him any enemies in the kinds of people she saw on a daily basis.

#da drunk writing circle #dragon age fanfiction #dragon age 2 #dragon age anders #anders

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wheels-of-despair · 3 months

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Started a new job, was worried for a few days that it would zap me of all my creativity. Buuuut I just hammered out a new Eddie/Evil Woman blurb, and in honor of still being able to write, please enjoy a charming line from a fic coming soon to a dash near you:

"Did you finally get your log-flogging license?"

#thoughts of despair

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asheepaddict · 1 year

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More on Lightning Strike Cookie

I FORGOT HIS HORNS IN THE ART- I KNEW HIS HEAD FELT EMPTY ...Well- :]] We'll just go with it now ig-

So y'know how I said Scovillia adores Lightning Strike as this therapist friend? Yeah- They're the school's calm button. Like, It's getting chaotic? dw we have Lightning Strike mediating the chaos. A fight broke out? ok Lightning Strike's coming (to watch with popcorn- jkjk) to stop the fight.

He and Capsaicin are pretty chill pals with each other, like they ain't close but- they're friends in a way- (Ahem- Capsaicin going to him for therapy lessons- AHEM-)

He doesn't usually have electric hair, it only happens when he's experiencing strong emotions or when he does it on command. Like, you catch the poor dude by surprise on the back? be ready for a zap of electricity once his hair sparks- (A fellow student did that once, never again-) Or in a fight- He's literally Wizard Cookie's ability but better-

He definitely got banned from multiple movie theatres for getting so emotional that his electric hair shut down the power of the entire theatre-

He has horns- I keep forgetting them so let's say they only appear when he's chill, like a sort of power bank or storage ykyk? Or also when he's on a high with the emotions and it just manifests as pure electricity-

Another one of those portable charger characters-

Angsty past anyone? He used to be a normal spicy cookie in a random tribe, but then he wandered out of Dragon's Valley one day, it was a very rainy night that day, he touched a random pole nearby and- boom, hit by thunder for at least a few times- (real unlucky am I right?), by the time the tribe found him, he had electricity surging through him, no one could touch him without getting zapped. They could only touch him once he woke up and he no longer looked electric.

Later, the tribe felt an increasing fear of his lightning abilities, and after an incident involving his lightning abilities, they threw him into the boiling lava with no hesitation (YEET-), next thing the poor guy knew, he was alive and not burnt to a crisp and was instead on a bed, and a cookie that is literally fire itself was sitting on the bed beside him. Next thing he knew he was being taught to control his abilities and how to keep his emotions on check. If you ask him, it all felt like a fever dream because the fire cookie did things pretty quickly, they had some patience but it didn't last long until they started speaking like an angry Indian mom- the cookie did seem to care about him but they barely speak like they do.

Fire Spirit Cookie is Lightning Strike's legal guardian in a way- Lightning Strike is 95% electricity, 4% Spicy, and 1% Therapist. He does actually have quite a bit of spice- enough spice to be in Scovillia- Mala Sauce treats him like he's her younger brother- She gets him to be chaotic whenever they're together.

He was trained to calm down at the sound of a bell, literally any bell will do as long as it ain't a church bell. He has a jingle bell he named "Clarity Bell", but it's only really important to have it on when he's in a situation where it involves going berserk so, he tends to forget it on casual days.

He plays the electric guitar with the headmaster whenever he gets the time, they play real killer tunes together.

"Your therapy is my therapy" kind of guy-

All in all- He's just your local traumatized and cool therapist friend to come find when you need therapy help! :DD (He recommends actually getting help when you really need it though, he ain't licensed for this yk?)

#triple cone cup #cookie run #crk ocs #scovillia

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cake-apostate · 2 years

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I just saw your ask on Hoofpeet's blog. I've been thinking about Joltiks being used for electrotherapy for a few weeks now and the concept is utterly fascinating to me. Long story short, I would LOVE to hear you talk more about it.

Disclaimer: I am not anything close to a doctor; I just took some classes on electricity. Not everything I ascribe to electroshock therapy works (but the part about zapping your brain into killing depression is real).

I just remembered that if you want to stimulate your brain directly with electricity, you need to shave your hair so that it doesn't interfere with the electric leads. Maybe Ingo isn't naturally bald, and he shaved his head?

So maybe Joltik therapy is first discovered when a trainer lets their Joltik nibble-zap them affectionately, and they find that their throwing arm is no longer sore. Electrified Joltik bites are relatively weak and much more precise than a Thundershock, so even though you could use another Electric-type, they're the easiest to train.

The local doctors or healers or whatever then mapped out exactly where and how a Joltik nipping at your body helps, and through decades of trial and error, created the first neurological map. I'm thinking that it's a bit like acupuncture and pressure points. They don't know what nerves are at this point, only that zapping this spot cures your depression. Entire schools are built to teach Joltik therapists (the trainers) and the Joltiks.

Centuries pass, Joltik therapy clashes with modern science and is seen as just folk healing, until a scientist starts running tests and finds that it really does help. Modern science even invents a new way to get electricity through your nerves: induction.

(IDK what you know about electricity, but induction in a nutshell: if you have electricity flowing through a wire at an unsteady rate, conductors around it will start charging with electricity. You can ask if you want to know more).

There are these little wire 'straws' for Joltiks to drink from, connected to a battery (or maybe a whole generator; I don't know how much power it would take). Drinking from the battery creates a current through the wire, which inducts a current into the patient's nerves. Since coiling the wires strengthen the effect, they're like little crazy straws for the Joltiks. Once you position the wires right, you have the Joltik take a deep chug. Better yet, get a line of Joltiks to take a bunch of chugs.

It's useful for people who don't like bugs on their skin, but traditionalists maintain that the Joltiks are happier doing their jobs directly rather than just chugging.

(I did a project on inducting current into brains, and one research paper said that it was better to induct than to directly drop electricity in through the skin, but I didn't really dig too deeply into counterpoints, so I'll take a step back on what would 'actually' be better. I do think that modern science would be better at mapping the brain, since the skull is in the way).

Since my question was originally about Emmet training his Joltiks for electrotherapy, does this mean that he's a licensed Joltik therapist? I think it would be funny either way; like, Elesa catches Ingo or Emmet asleep with a pile of Joltiks as a blanket. What would be funnier, Emmet showing her that he has a license, or him excitedly explaining that he read that this worked in a book? Or better yet, he had no idea that Joltik therapy already existed and just guessed.

In Hisui, Ingo might try to replicate the effect, either with Pichu, Shinx, or Lord Electrode and his children. It does help, but their thundershocks are much stronger than the Joltiks' bites, so he winds up in pain anyways.

#joltik #pokemon #electrotherapy #submas #ingo #emmet #subway master emmet #subway master ingo #warden ingo

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mlobsters · 7 months

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supernatural s11e6 our little world (w. robert berens)

crowley is stronger than amara? okie doke. so does cas's janky wing situation mean he still can't zap around? (presumably to add tension or whatever not being able to teleport over to save the day etc). anyway.

always interesting when they choose to have someone be traumatized by the traumatic things they've done/had done to them. this surely isn't the first time cas has beaten dean up, or killed a bunch of people/angels.

remember the days when i grumped about them not even acknowledging the mystery spot trauma for sam? well, i still grump about it. but now that's like a drop in the flood of traumatic experiences that get passed over.

anyway. we'll see how they do this ptsd/agorophobia situation.

too many plotlines/characters ugh. rowena in the wind, metatron popping up, cas doing whatever, crowley trying to control amara, amara out there partially eating people. a good chunk of why 11x04 was good for me was there wasn't all this bullshit going on :p

at least sam and dean know about amara and crowley now.

SAM No, no, no. Dean, wait. We can exorcise him. DEAN What? SAM Save his meat suit.

look at that, they remembered! :p also feels like the perennial excuse for not having to exorcise people is demons are all running around in dead bodies they're keeping alive. they're all dead anyway, huzzah, stab away

SAM Wouldn't it be smarter to keep her in Hell? DEAN Yeah, but then he'd have to spend more time there, and he hates that place. SAM Oh, right. I keep forgetting about you and Crowley's summer of love.

lol it needed to be said! bring that bitchy energy, sam. i'd seen gifs of that, definitely requires one to capture the vibe

unfortunate hair styling choices. 90s prom? beauty pageant? weird.

SAM No, that's not what I meant. We're going in to kill Amara. Are you ready for that? DEAN Why wouldn't I be? SAM Because we don't know the first thing about her, Dean. We don't know her powers. We don't know how to take her down. Hell, you know what? We don't even know if she can be killed. DEAN I know. But she's too big of a threat to wait. I say we go in there and we hit her with everything we got.

maybe i'm a doofus but i didn't consider until now that dean is trying to get to amara for other reasons? blugh. cat'll be out of the bag though if sam's around when they find her though surely. i'm tiiiired

haha take that credit, bro (honestly i can't even remember)

he has a fine actor but i am *so tired* of metatron. i hope he gets taken out of the equation sooner rather than later. i guess the opportunity to beat the shit out of him fixed cas's mental health situation. tada.

remind us of demon!dean days so we'll remember the context of the voicemail :p cute nonetheless. oh i bet that's in the recap too. i dunno why netflix doesn't have the beginning of the episode recaps anymore, started in s10. scrimp on music licensing?

OF COURSE they have to split up and just dean is going to amara.

CROWLEY Do you know how disturbing it was to realize that I couldn't bring myself to kill you? I've had tons of chances over the years, some you don't even know about, but, still... I made my peace with it, embraced my softer side, learned to accept that there was just too much going on between you and I–bromance.

not sure why dean looks surprised by that but ok

CROWLEY But you know what? I think I am gonna kill you today. I feel different somehow, ready. What can I say? Fatherhood changes a man.

feel like that was just a setup so amara could show her ~bond~ to dean (oh actually this is dredging up vague memories of a fic i read a long time ago, hmmm ok. chance to pick sam over amara). anyway point i was thinking about was wondering if they'd ever have crowley seriously try to kill dean at any point going forward

right, sammy's gotta save these rando demon guards meatsuits, hope they're not just walking corpses

think you need to be lookin the other direction, sam

for whatever it's worth, jackles did a good job looking vulnerable with amara being creepy

CASTIEL You said you were close. Dean, how'd she get away? DEAN I'm sorry, what part of "God's freaking sister" did you not understand? She overpowered me -- end of story.

i'm just so tired of it because it's happened so many times. we just did this last season. and before that and before that. i'm exhausted. you make the brothers and their relationship the lynchpin of the show, and then you have them do this over and over and over. like, so tired and frustrated it made me cry a little bit. just like. COME FUCKING ON. not like we're lacking for conflict or plot. i can't appreciate if it's better executed this time (compared to i dunno, stabbing jewel staite) because i'm so FUCKING sick of this. maybe if this went down several seasons ago, i could appreciate it more.

i appreciate they made the cage aesthetic here like the little tiny glimpse we got of dean in hell. again wondering if sam didn't remember the cage after he got his hallucifer stuff fixed. i assumed he did. sure makes a different in characterization if he's not toting around x amount of years of torture like dean.

abrupt segue into girl you'll be a woman soon. can't really hear that song without thinking of pulp fiction. this is me just realizing it wasn't the neil diamond version in the movie?? it's urge overkill lol (also the version used in the episode). wild

youtube

and update on what the baby episode did to my brain, i was listening to the guitar man and getting weepy and thinking how that totally could be a j2 edit/fic/something song lolsob ridiculous

#supernatural #spnwatch #spn 11x06 #spnwhinge #music #Youtube

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charlottan · 2 years

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would u perhaps have recommendations for some1 interested in getting into prog :^) (either just personal favorites or what youd consider a good starting point idk)

hiii thanks for asking!!

TLDR

Hope (1977) by Klaatu

Whatevershebringswesing (1972) by Kevin Ayers

Crime of the Century (1974) by Supertramp

We're Only In It For The Money (1968) by Frank Zappa

Foxtrot (1972) by Genesis

the album that really got me into prog is Hope (1977) by Klaatu. palatable pop rock infused with incredible progressive and symphonic elements. Long Live Politzania is a 9 minute song that alternates between rocking rock and epic orchestral stuff. Prelude is entirely orchestral and it's fantastic. So Said the Lighthouse Keeper!!!!!!! is my favorite song on the album i think!! it alternates between this really awesome heavy sound and this really beautiful light sound and it is so perfect. and then the wonderful title track closes off the album and it gives me chills every time. gorgeous. wonderful album that really juggles so much in 8 songs, each of which are important to the album, no filler. in my biased opinion.

then another album i really love is Whatevershebringswesing (1972) by Kevin Ayers!! Kevin was a member of Soft Machine, which you'll get to know if you get more into prog assuming you dont already. he left and made awesome music. this album juggles even more than Hope. there are 8 songs and basically 6 different styles of song. epic orchestral opener, beautiful margaret, dixieland song, weird experimental song, gorgeous mellow 8 minute title track with an awesome guitar solo by Mike Oldfield, the guy who made tubular bells, which was licensed for the Exorcist main theme. wonderful album.

another classic in pop prog is Crime of the Century (1974) by Supertramp. not much to say about this one but basically every song hits, but in particular i love School, Bloody Well Right, Asylum, If Everyone was Listening, and the title track. very notably British album, too. kindof fun in that way.

This might be controversial but im gonna also put We're Only In It For The Money (1968) by Frank Zappa. zap fucking hated the beatles (based) and made a whole album lampooning them, made evident by the cover of the album which is a recreation of the sgt pepper cover. 19 songs over 39 minutes so it has kind of a fast pace to it. i honestly cant pick out any specific songs because it goes so fast like that, except for Lonely Little Girl and Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance. TYCOWYD is only a minute and a half, VERY goofy, gives the vibe for the whole album. I do recommend skipping the last song if it doesnt do anything for you. it is not very good, which is by design, so good job to frank.

Foxtrot (1972) by Genesis is a must. It is a powerhouse of prog, widely revered for Watcher of the Skies and the 23 minute epic Supper's Ready. And personally I really love Get Em Out By Friday, that song has such an unmatched energy, one of my favorite Genesis songs

hope this helps!!! excited about being able to help you on your prog journey, if you do choose to keep going with it :) hope this wasn't too overwhelming lol

#long post

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firestingray9 · 1 year

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I really, really, really, REALLY hate using chargers! I'm trying to force myself to learn to use them in Turf War so that I can get Sheldon licenses and get a little better that way I'm not completely useless during Salmon Run when I'm assigned one but man it's torture!

I generally prefer weapons with a fast firing rate that also lets me be mobile when firing like the N-ZAPs but with chargers I end up being a burden on my team because I can't just jump into the front lines and start firing! I haven't tried using the ones with scopes yet and I'm already dreading having 90% of my view blocked with that!

#splatoon 3 #chargers are the bane of my existence!

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the-elegant-percival · 2 years

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{ CONTINUED_FROM } { HERE } { @rangers-are-cool } Fred… wasn’t one for poking conversations with his magic, as strange as that sounded, in front of people. But in this particular situation, he wanted to make sure that this was actually the Director. And not a certain Dark Wizard pretending to be him. He deliberately kept his thoughts away from the fact that one Tom Marvolo Riddle was nothing but a kid at the moment. It just wasn’t worth making his growing headache worse by thinking about that specific clusterfuck of a mess. That was the Headmast- no Transfiguration teacher’s mess to sort out. A tired huff of laughter escaped at being called ‘time traveller’ by the older American. “Not like I actually planned this wayward trip.” The redhead answered, before giving the quill a glance. “Ah… I can give you my most recent American wand permit but I.. haven’t really used my wand since I was 15. I do pretty much everything wandlessly or I take the mundane route.” It took him a moment to find and put his MACUSA issued wand permit and British Ministry travel permit on the desk. Fred gave Percival a few minutes to take a look at the two documents and focused on stabilising his left knee with a blue first aid spell. Although he carried his vine and unicorn hair wand in a arm holster all the time, it was far easier to do spells without it. There wasn’t much else he could do until he saw a Healer and got his injuries seen to properly. “Getting thrown back in time is not something I would joke about, Director. I’ve seen the consequences of what happens when you mess with time and I have no desire to go through it myself.” There was a sharpness to his words that he had lacked until that moment, alongside a nearly cat like gaze. Then the gender-fluid man sighed and the sharpness faded, although the cat like eyes remained as the Panther paced near the surface. “ Apologies. Both my magic and my animagus form are on edge at the moment.” • “Oh really..?” The director raised a thickened brow, an obvious doubt crossing his features. “So, you want me to be convinced that you were zapped directly into my office..? My, that is quite the joke.” Actually receiving the wand permit itself was something else entirely, the sophisticated wizard going quiet at the ginger’s words while flipping around the permit. Eyes scanned each letter very carefully, hands lifting it near his face. It was an entirely different issued version of the MACUSA wand permit, instead the print was less cursive and more blocky. The paper was a crisp white, the ink a near impossible black. From what Percival could assume, this ink was used to make each word permanent and protected from altercations--unless confirmed and changed by a permit print at the MACUSA license directory. It was genius, only now coming into use--however---very little use as of currently. It was a wonder that this man could even use this sort of ink for his permit. Only difference was besides that, the newly reformed cards did not contain this kind of lettering. He flipped it to the back, eyes pinpointing the date. 1998. Curious.. The British Ministry travel permit was also entirely different. Maybe this really was a man from the future.. “These are..forward in date..” His eyes shot from the inked words to the man standing before him, Percival licked his lips and slid the two documents across the table to Fred. “As of now, I am legally not allowed to accept these. If anyone were to catch a wizard in my workplace with papers like these, I’d be fired.” He said sternly, folding his hands once more. “I understand that you really may be from the future that is printed on these..seemingly official..documents.In that case, I have no directory I can send you to in MACUSA to assist you with time traveling. Even as a director of my department, that might be beyond my paygrade.” Noticing the animagus peer from the eyes of Fred, his hands tightened for just a moment. Always slightly on edge due to the previous attacker who nearly ruined his life. “And so am I, Mr. Weasley.” He said dryly. •

#the-elegant-percival #•{ i refuse to bow down any longer }• (( roleplay ))#{ rangers-are-cool }#percival graves #fbawtft #inbox open

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jcmarchi · 20 days

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Vampire Survivors' Contra DLC Shows One Of Gaming's Best Values Still Has Plenty Of Life

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/vampire-survivors-contra-dlc-shows-one-of-gamings-best-values-still-has-plenty-of-life/

Vampire Survivors' Contra DLC Shows One Of Gaming's Best Values Still Has Plenty Of Life

Ever since it came to Switch at the tail end of last summer, Vampire Survivors has been my plane game. Sure, other run-based indies like Balatro and Dead Cells, all-encompassing triple-A titles like Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and retro compilations like Sonic Origins and TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection, have shared that title, but I always know that when I need to pass time on a flight, no game does so as effectively as Vampire Survivors. Logically, I know that each run will last, at most, 30 minutes, but for some reason, it never feels that way. And because of that, I look down for what feels like 20 minutes, and when I look up, 2 hours have passed.

I travel a lot, so I play Vampire Survivors fairly regularly. Still, each time I turn on the game, developer Poncle has snuck more into it. New characters, new maps, new ways to customize your experience – I’m continually surprised and delighted by additional features and content the developer has added in the time since I fired up the game. Sure, Poncle puts out free updates on a regular basis, sometimes even as surprises, as was the case last week, but these paid pieces of DLC – each of which cost $2.50 or less – are the tentpole content releases. The latest, Operation Guns, crosses over with Konami’s legendary Contra IP in both expected and unexpected ways to deliver the same Vampire Survivors fun we’ve known with a distinct Contra flavor.

Operation Guns adds a significant amount of Contra content to Vampire Survivors. On top of 11 new characters, 11 base weapons, and 11 weapon evolutions, Operation Guns brings an enormous Contra-themed map called Neo Galuga, which progresses almost in lockstep with how the original Contra (and its recent remake, Operation Galuga) advances. You start out blasting, slashing, zapping, whipping, and otherwise annihilating humans and robots, but as you go further into the map, more sinister threats show that this isn’t just some standard Earth-based war. Alien eggs, structures, and enemies slowly join the fray, as do an increased number of robotic adversaries. Just like what happens in the original, the alien and cyborg presence eventually takes over the war, giving Poncle plenty of room to play with the Contra license.

Before I knew it, I went from blasting away foot soldiers to enemies on jetbikes to waves of flying Metal Aliens and snake cyborgs. I loved repeating the same process of leveling up my character and their weapons, but with myriad fun discoverables scattered throughout the Neo Galuga map. Along the way, I uncovered some fun Contra-themed power-ups – like homing missiles – that allowed me to further combat the alien horde.

However, the biggest surprise came near the end of my first successful run on Neo Galuga, as a ticker appeared on the bottom of the screen, telling me that something big was happening in a specific corner of the map. I only had a few minutes to get there, and with denser waves of enemies impeding my path, I was worried I wouldn’t get there in time. However, once I did, I was greeted by one of the coolest things I’ve seen Poncle do with Vampire Survivors. I won’t spoil it beyond saying it’s a unique encounter that pays homage to an iconic fight with one of the Contra series’ recurring enemies.

Though I’ve only done a few runs, I’m steadily unlocking new characters and weapons. Most of the new content is clear about how to unlock the next character, which is helpful in unlocking additional weapons. You unlock Bill within the Neo Galuga map, then unlock Lance by evolving Bill’s Long Gun, and so on. It’s all in service of giving the player a clear route to experiencing all the content that Operation Guns has to offer with as minimal friction as possible. Add on top the Bonus Stage, and the Operation Guns DLC is well worth checking out for all fans of Vampire Survivors, regardless of your Contra fandom.

The wildest part about all of this, as I always tout, is the sheer value of Vampire Survivors. Though the game is often on sale, it never really needs to be; even if you buy the game and all its DLC at full price, you’re spending less than $15. It runs well on Switch, which is where I play it, but it’s also verified for Steam Deck, hammering home that this is the ultimate plane game. Though Poncle continues to release free updates a year and a half after its initial Steam release, these major tentpole releases excite me for the future of Vampire Survivors.

Will the future hold more crossover content? We’ve already received collaborations with Among Us and Contra, but words could not describe how excited I’d be for crossovers with even more prominent properties like Final Fantasy or Resident Evil; imagine slashing your way through hordes of fiends in Zanarkand as Lightning before a boss battle against Sephiroth, or exploring Raccoon City as Chris Redfield, taking down low-level zombies before a Nemesis spawns on the map. The Operation Guns DLC even has my imagination running wild with some less obvious crossovers like Street Fighter; so many of those characters have such iconic moves. Starting off with Ryu throwing a Hadoken before evolving it all the way up to a Shinku Hadoken would be a natural progression that could be applied to several of the series’ characters. And since Vampire Survivors includes music and remixes from the Contra series, that makes these crossover ideas even more enticing.

This article isn’t about speculation or creating a wishlist, though. But that’s what Vampire Survivors’ latest DLC inspires. It shows that Poncle is more than capable of giving these IPs the care they deserve while staying true to the Vampire Survivors formula that made me fall in love with the game in the first place. Vampire Survivors: Operation Guns DLC is out now on all platforms aside from PlayStation (that version arrives later this summer when the main game comes to the platform) and costs just $2.50.

For more on why Vampire Survivors is well worth your time, check out our review of the base game right here.

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