#“are they optimized for battle” no <3 not even a little bit <3

[erstwhilesparrow]

i love assigning blorbos pokemon teams, coming up with pokemon teams is sooooo fun. i get to browse bulbapedia and look at lots of pokemon and think about Symbolism, what's not to love

[carlyraejepsans]

UTY!Flowey, "lore" and how to criticize a fan prequel without being an insufferable pedantic, a guide by Biscia.

(for my muskless fellows, here's a transcript of my thread on Undertale Yellow that I posted on Twitter. enjoy!)

There's this really frustrating attitude in fan spaces i like to call "lorepilling" where people are substantially more concerned with encyclopedic knowledge of details & minutiae (so called "lore") in place of full-text thematic/narrative analysis as if the two are mutually interchangeable.

It's especially common in large franchises and story heavy videogames, and it's like... Are You Treating This Piece Of Art Like A Trivia Battle Or Are You Treating It Like A Story

This is coming from a person who is also deeply autistic about UTDR trivia btw, I'm just saying that when it comes to transformative *stories*, depending on the impact it has on character, themes, and narrative structure... lore is expendable.

Ultimately this is why most of the UTY criticism i see (on twitter specifically) falls flat. What does it matter if "lore" means Flowey couldn't chronologically be there when the justice human fell, as long as the game narratively justified his presence in the story in a compelling way?

The real criticism, in the end, is that it didn't.

He's a plot central, main cast character from the canon returning in a cast of mostly OCs and what does he have to show for it? An admittedly sick boss battle in 1/3 endings, sure but... not much else. He has no significant "presence" in the story, no tie, interaction, or even just... an opinion on the rest of the cast. Which is a huge miss when Flowey's meta role is to be Thee completionist player mirror. He's the OG lorepilled UT fan! He's an opinionated little shit!

This isn't to say that UTY *didn't* engage w/ his metanarrative. When me and @a-town-called-hometown first started playing the game (we were both skeptical of Flowey's inclusion), he immediately said "It would be really cool if they made it so this has been going on for a while and Clover has no idea". Which is precisely what the game did in the neutral ending, and what I will openly say was the most well written & well executed part of this game's story...

...a part we almost didn't see, because the pacifist ending disappointed us so much we lost all will to replay.

To put it in the words of my friend Mel @clowwwnbytes, there's a deafening hollowness to UTY Flowey's motivations & core principles where his guilt towards Chara—and resulting black and white thinking—should be. You're telling me Mr Kill-or-be-killed, "sacrificing yourself to do the right thing is stupid", would stand there after 1000s of failed attempts to make Clover survive, look on as they make the same mistake Asriel he did, and fondly call them friend? Cue the guitar, roll the credits?

He would lose it. Oh my god he would lose his goddamn mind, he would throw the nastiest temper tantrum in the world. Are you serious? How dare you. How DARE you. All this effort, all my patience, and you just let yourself DIE for a few worthless idiots? I should've let you ROT!

*clears throat* sorry got a bit too into character. as i was saying.

I can understand a UT prequel wanting to distance itself from the canon Chara storyline in order to form its own identity, but then turning around and choosing Insane About Chara The Character™ for a sidekick is... far from optimal. In the end, Flowey comes across as underutilized and inconsistent, with a whole lot of wasted potential.

This is an issue I have with UTY's character writing (original AND returning) and story structure as a whole. Lots of inconsistent character arcs, tonal dissonance, overuse of situational sadness... it's an amateurish work, after all, and you can feel it. There's no shame in that.

(Though, there ARE some issues that i take more seriously with its writing, especially when it comes to its two main female characters—Ceroba's lack of narrative agency and depth borders on misogynistic writing imo. But that's a topic for another day)

Over all, UTY was an incredible piece of collaborative transformative work, with gorgeous art and a genuinely incredible OST, which... would have benefited from more experienced writers. But hey, you can only ever learn by trying!

For all it could've been a better story, it certainly did not fail to entertain: both when my friend was playing it, and after in our many discussions of its writing, its faults and how it could've been improved (royal scientist!ceroba character fix you will always be famous. to ME!)

I'm sure this project served as an incredible source of experience for the developers: as individual creators AND as a team. I look forward to their future projects!

but also if i have to see another person say UTY is better than Undertale i might turn into The Jonker.

end of the essay! really couldn't stand any of the pedantic ""criticism"" I'd seen of this fangame so far, so i had to say my piece as someone more versed in analysis. happy to elaborate on anything in the replies or in my inbox!

[butterfly-writer]

hi!! i have a request if that’s cool :) i don’t want to make you uncomfortable at all so feel free to ignore me! my whole idea is honestly just a bunny girl x iida, like we’re talking fuzzy ankles and sort of calves that look like the cutest leg warmers ever!! ears n a little cottontail!! she’s strong and fast and just <333 and she’d be a bit timid but very friendly!! like she’s not naive, she’s rightfully anxious of the world but perhaps a sweetheart regardless because i think he could use some cautious optimism :) and i just want them to dote on each other and be happy and in love idk </3 maybe her shyly pining after him a bit and him making the first move?? (i’m projecting i fear) ((im not brave enough to even send this out of anon))

i hope you have an absolutely lovely day even if this prompt isn’t your thing and i adore your writing!!

Bunny Girl

Tenya Iida x Rabbit!Female!Reader Summary: Tenya Kids got the hots for a strong bunny girl!

★☽A/N: NO ONE HAS EVER SAID THEY ADORE MY WRITING. AWHHABHDJAVHS THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I haven't seen a good prompt in a while. I love, love, love your prompt! I hope this piece is to your liking <33

Contents: TOTAL FLUFF <33

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During class 1A’s second year, a new student was transferred from Shiketsu. She was so similar to Mirko! She had calves for feet and fluff like leg warmers! She also had expressive long bunny ears which you could just stay forever! And a cute fluff ball for a tail! Despite her cute appearance, she is fierce and strong in battle! She was a much cuter version of Mirko but had the same personality as the hero.

When she first joined, she was immediately bombarded with questions! Like, “Are those leg warmers or are they real?” , “Can I touch your ears?” , “Do your ears move according to your emotions?” And all kinds of questions, even disturbing ones from a certain purple haired boy.. But she was still well-respected by her peers!

Especially a certain boy~ Tenya Iida always respected Y/N, maybe even admired her for her strength. He was amazed by her impressive agility and battle knowledge. She soon became close with the rich boy. She told him how she interned with Mirko during her first year, back in Shiketsu. He was impressed she was able to do an internship with a well-known pro hero.

Despite her strong personality in battle, she was often shy and quite introverted. She didn’t talk much to other students and mainly spoke to her classmates in Class A. She didn’t like to talk with others because of the amount of anxiety, thinking about how they would think of her. Whenever she needed changes in her costume, she would always get flustered and shy whenever Hatsume started talking a lot to her.

She would actually go behind Iida whenever a student went up to her to talk. Iida found this cute but still encouraged her to open up to others. (In other words, he lectured her about confidence). The girl never really paid too much attention towards his lectures and his hand chops. She actually found it funny and endearing.

Despite Y/N’s shy personality, she was still a friendly sweetheart! If her classmates had to pick who to do a project with, she was the first pick. Actually, during her first project with Class A, everyone quickly turned to her. She was crowded with everyone, begging for her to be partners with her. Of course, she ended up being partners with Iida who was the only one who didn’t beg her to be his project partner.

Of course, Y/N liked him a lot! He was the only boy she felt comfortable with. He just felt… safe to be around. She was always scared to make the first move. But she always tried her best to be close with him, to get to know him more. And each day, she managed to fall in love with him more, more, and more.

Turns out, a certain boy felt the same as her. And he had planned to make the first move.

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It was a sunny, yet windy day. Tenya managed to muster up the courage to ask her to meet him at a garden he knew she liked. She, of course, said yes to him and did what he asked. She dressed up in a cute outfit, her rabbit features complementing her outfit.

She wondered why he wanted her to wear something cute. Perhaps she was going to get asked out?! She was a good deductor, after all. She'll admit, she actually likes the boy. She was comfortable with him, more than anyone she knows in her school.  She had these thoughts as she walked to the garden.

She admired the flowers she saw along the way to the exact spot Iida told her to meet him. She eventually made it and saw the flowers in his hands. It was her favorite flowers, they looked lovely in ribbons and paper it was wrapped with. She couldn’t help but blush with excitement.

“Tenya! How lovely!” She chuckled, walking up to him and receiving the flowers. “You didn’t have to.” The boy shook his head, “No, I knew it was the appropriate thing to do for a beautiful girl like you.” Y/N chuckled at his last words, giggling after seeing his blushed face when he realized those words.

With a cough to compose himself, he straightened his posture. “Anyways, I would like to ask for your hand in love. I would like to give us a chance, if you will allow,” he confessed, helding a hand out to her with his opposite hand on his back. Y/N chuckled again at the cheesiness at the sight. But she found it cute, she found him cute as well.

“Of course.” She smiled a soft smile that made Tenya know he was right for trusting his guts.

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Now, have they kissed? Not yet! During the first months of their relationship, their PDA was mostly holding hands, hugging, and kissing (Not on the lips yet!). But they’re just such an adorable couple! “Couple goals!” is what Mina Ashido would always yell out whenever she sees them doing PDA

Y/N still hides behind Iida whenever she can’t handle talking to strangers. But it’s way more affectionate! Despite Tenya telling her that she should work on her confidence by talking to others, he still loves whenever she hides behind him, hugging his waist in a bear hug and covering her face on his back.

Now, if Y/N was a short girl then she can easily be covered by Tenya, easily hidden. But if Y/N is as tall as Tenya, her blushed face would be covered by Tenya’s shoulder. BUT if she’s way taller than Tenya then her face would be covered by his hair! Despite his hair being quite flat, she still gonna try to hide herself.

And when they first kissed, it was so adorable! She was the one who kissed him first. Tenya was so surprised when she first kissed him, before smiling brightly with blush on his face.

Tenya Iida, the Turbo Hero and Y/N L/N, the Bunny Hero are the best couple ever!

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[heliads]

LISA YOU DID NOT GIVE ME TIME TO PREPARE FOR THIS!!! However, I already had a few ideas in mind for the next time you opened requests, so:

May I pretty please request a Thorin Oakenshield + gender-neutral reader where the reader is a fairy who comes along on the journey to Erabor because Gandalf thought they needed another magic-user? Reader is a very sweet sunshine who gets along great with all the other party members, but because Thorin doesn’t trust fairies the same way he doesn’t trust elves (because they didn’t assist the dwarves after Erabor fell the first time) he refuses to let them get close to him. However, he does start to get closer to them and develop feelings for them as time goes on, but after the Battle of the Five Armies (where everyone lives, obviously) they can’t find the reader for a while and Thorin is terrified they might be dead. And when they finally find them relatively unharmed Thorin freaks out and confesses his love because he doesn’t want to lose them, and then there’s a very nice fluffy ending??

Of course, if you don’t want to write this, that’s totally cool!! Thanks and I hope you’re doing well!! <3 <3

YESSSS i am ascending to a higher plane thank you for this SUBLIME request

masterlist

The water is wide, the mountains high; no journey worth taking was ever meant to be easy, so you may assume from the first few treacherous days of your travels towards the Lonely Mountain that this quest of yours will be quite worthy indeed. It is not in your nature to spend much time musing on the unhappiness of a time, only to find its merits, but, well, there are far more sources of unhappiness than happiness on this particular journey. 

It would not be too much of a leap for even your optimism to be brought down a notch or two, to say the least. Already, your smiles are lacking a little at the seams; your jokes, not among your finest work.  Patience is stretched thin amongst the company, and the shadow of Erebor is no closer to the tips of your boots than the Shire far behind you.

The Shire was not your home, though, only the starting point. The last member of the company was Bilbo Baggins, your burglar, and he took quite a bit of convincing before he was willing to set a single foot beyond the familiar confines of his home. You’re not sure he was wrong to question the idea of the quest, though, nor if he regrets it already or not. Danger dogs your heels like a bloodhound, plus the rest of the company is nothing like any of the hobbits Bilbo has ever met.

Bilbo Baggins would not be the only one confused by his company, however. As a faerie, you’ve had the opportunity to travel far past the bounds of your city, to meet characters both kind and cruel. The Fae cluster in settlements like elves, but they disperse themselves to the winds, too. Most of you end up tossed to the whims of Fate soon enough, anyway. This was your chance to get to know the world you inhabit, and it appears you’ll get far more of a tasting of it than you ever expected.

It’s not terrible. That should go without saying. You are not unhappy that you are here, nor bitter that you signed the contract to join the company of Thorin Oakenshield when you could have stayed at home to rot. It is a good cause, this, and it will bring you both glory and treasure, should you want it.

The biggest problem, if you were going to be completely honest with yourself, would be that dwarf tasked with managing all of you, Thorin. You get along splendidly with all of the other dwarves, and Gandalf has been a friend of yours ever since you wowed him with a particularly ingenious magic trick when you were small, but for some reason you have never been able to win over Thorin himself.

That is not for lack of trying, not in the slightest. Gandalf was the one who requested that you join the company, certain that having another magic user on their side would not be the worst thing in the world as you passed through dangerous territory and had to take on a dragon later on. You showed up to meet the company with the best and purest of intentions, but Thorin seemed unable to accept the fact that you really wanted to help.

In truth, you don’t think he wanted to accept it. Thorin is displeased with the faeries the same way he’ll never forgive the elves, for the same reasons he’ll glare icily at humans. When Thorin’s kin fell along with Erebor, the faeries didn’t help. Thorin begged for aid, but the faeries did not respond. You’ll never fully know why, nor were you personally responsible for the betrayal, but that does not stop Thorin from treating as if you were the linchpin keeping support from his people.

It doesn’t matter, though. It doesn’t have to matter. Thorin’s personal feelings are not why you signed onto this quest. You joined because an old friend asked, and because the idea of helping to liberate the dwarves’ homeland from a dragon seemed like a good thing to do and a fascinating way to pass the time. Faeries don’t take things seriously. They never have.

So, you let your caution with Thorin fly away from you on an eagle’s strong wings, and you throw yourself into helping whenever you can. Gandalf is pulled away from the company soon enough for a myriad of causes, and even Thorin can admit that your magical skills come in handy soon enough. You save all of their lives dozens of times over, and you find real friendship in the company while you’re at it. Nothing a little optimism can’t handle.

Some of the nights get long, though, and the warmth of a covert campfire can only keep your tired frame from shivering for so many hours. They say the bones of the Fae are hewn from diamonds, your blood, the eternal nectar of the gods, but at this moment, you want only the mysticism and riches of a good meal and clothes that actually protect you against the chill. The mountains only get colder as you travel through them, and you don’t think you’ll be able to shake the prick of gooseflesh for decades if not centuries.

You’re on watch at the moment, scanning the dark horizon around you for monsters or orcs while the rest of the company rests. You’ll have another hour or two before you have to wake the next guardian– Bilbo, actually, who’s still snoring with the rest– so you should have plenty of time to yourself until then.

You should, at least. You don’t, because someone here is still awake. You had cast a spell on yourself to amplify sound and sight at the start of your watch so you could spot intruders that much more quickly, which is why you’re aware of one heartbeat other than your own that isn’t in the lull of sleep. When you tilt your head to the side just enough, you can make out someone staring in your peripheral vision.

Thorin. Who else? At first, you feel a rush of indignation bubble through your veins. There’s no reason for him to be awake on a night like this. Everyone is exhausted from weeks of hard travel, but he’s forced himself to forgo rest so he can make sure you are actually doing your job. After all this time, he still doesn’t trust you to do watch properly. It’s infuriating.

Sick of pretending like you don’t notice, you turn abruptly to stare him dead in the eyes. You expect Thorin to do something:  address you, maybe, or do something to acknowledge that he’s been caught, but instead he just holds your gaze coolly for a moment longer before turning on his other side. Half an hour later, he’s asleep.

Heroes. You’ll never understand them. The Fae are not the stuff of legends; your people prefer to linger in shadows and sunlight both, existing for themselves and for the glory of magic. Heroes, quest-leaders, warriors, they were never someone you grew up with. They have different motives, ones you don’t understand. They think they need to watch your back just because it’s the right thing to do. It confuses you, makes you believe things that might not be true. You don’t need someone like Thorin messing with your head right now, but he seems perfectly content to do it anyway.

The rest of the night passes without issue. You finish your watch shift without anything impactful, and rouse a deeply annoyed Bilbo to take over after you. Thorin doesn’t trouble you again, and indeed, the next day he seems perfectly content to act as if nothing had ever happened.

No self-respecting faerie would ever let themselves drop a grudge, though, so you manufacture a way of bringing it up before long. The company disperses in a long line, the slower ones trailing behind while Thorin keeps up the charge at the front. You make your way up to him, waiting until everyone else behind you is sufficiently far away so as to not hear a word of the inevitable quarrel, then cast Thorin one sidelong glance.

“Would you like to tell me why you’ve been watching me?”

Thorin actually stumbles while he’s walking, but manages to right himself just in time. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

You weren’t expecting him to outright deny it. This past night hasn’t been the only time you’ve caught his eyes on you. It has happened from the very start of the quest, actually. At first, his gaze was pinned to you like a wanted poster, full of judgment and suspicion. Recently, the hostility has gone down, but that doesn’t make him any less willing to look away. His gaze chases your heels as you clamber over rocks, lingers on your fingers as you fight. All this, and he still wants to act as if nothing has happened.

You scoff. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Let’s discuss last night, then. You keep staying awake during my watch. Why? Do you really trust me that little?”

Thorin shakes his head, keeping his gaze firmly trained on the horizon. “I do trust you.”

This does actually come as a surprise. He hasn’t been able to admit it aloud, likely because that would contradict his whole idea that faeries are selfish creatures who left his people to die in the fall of Erebor, but apparently he’s made an exception for you.

“Then why not let me conduct my watch in peace?” You pry.

Thorin jerks a shoulder up and down once, a taut and tense version of a shrug. “I don’t want any lapse in judgment to injure the people I care about.”

You feel your relatively good mood drop. Thorin lashes out often, most frequently when he’s sure he’s only leading his company towards their imminent destruction, so you shouldn’t take it personally. Kind of hard not to, though.

“So you think I’m blind to attackers and I’ll get everyone killed, is that what you’re saying?”

“No, I’m just worried that there are things out there worse than one of your spells,” Thorin argues, but he doesn’t sound too convincing anymore.

You shove your hands into the pockets on your coat. “You know, I just don’t get it. If you’re this opposed to faeries, why did you ever let Gandalf convince you to let me join your company?”

“I didn’t want to at the start,” Thorin begrudgingly admits, “but that was at the start, like I said. Things are different now.” He pauses, voice heavy with secrets as of yet left unsaid, then adds, “We’re different.”

You think this might be the most honest thing he’s ever shared with you. It makes you feel– a lot, actually. It makes you feel things you have not considered until now. Thorin does trust you and he does have reasons he wants to keep you around. In fact, he might even be counting you among the people he cares about and wants to protect.

You don’t have much time to think about it, not on the road and not even after you reach Erebor and immediately have to contend with an infuriated dragon. Thorin shows you the place after you have a moment of relative peace, pointing out the details his ancestors built into a home that has not been his in quite some time. It is as if he wants you to remember all of it. It is as if he wants it to be yours as well.

Peace does not last forever, it never does. One day, you’re exploring every room and corridor of Thorin’s home beneath the Lonely Mountain, the next, you’re watching army after army pour over the surrounding hills. No one likes power when it isn’t theirs. The thought that Thorin might finally have claim to his ancestral land wasn’t well favored by anyone in the vicinity, apparently.

That only means that you’ll have to fight twice as hard to keep Erebor in the hands of your friends. Even when the elves ride up to your doorstep with the humans, even when the orcs arrive out of nowhere, you stay and fight. Always. That’s what you do for the people you care about.

Thorin had asked once if you were going to leave. He’d posed the question slowly, hesitantly, eyes on any other object in the room except you, but you’d still had the perfect view of the relief on his face when you told him you would stay until it was done. There was still an open question of what you would do when it was over, but surviving a battle of this magnitude was the first crisis to deal with. Anything else could happen later, once everyone made it through alive.

That alone seemed like an impossible task, and by all accounts, it should have been. Never before in your life have you cast so many spells of such strength, saving the lives of your friends and ending those of your enemies all in turn. When it is over, you are covered in blood and ash, utterly exhausted, and injured, but your heart beats, at least, and that is enough.

You were separated from the rest of Thorin’s company during the progress of the battle, drawn out to find the best vantage point from which you could cast your spells. At first, you were going for long distance attacks, lobbing fireballs and extensive charges from a crumbling rooftop, but orcs quickly descended upon you and you were forced to resort to closer quarter magic instead.

Perhaps that is why they thought you were dead. When they could no longer see your spells from across the battlefield, there was no way to tell for sure if you were still alive. You were far away from them, fighting off the last of the enemy, and you didn’t find them for a while.

More specifically, they didn’t find you for a while. Later, you hear that Thorin had been in a sort of frantic haze, going over every rock and stone in his path in an all consuming quest to find you. You weren’t with Fili and Kili, who were immediately folded into the search party, nor were you alongside the other dwarfs. Bard had not seen you. Neither had some of the elves. By all accounts, you were gone. Vanished from sight.

That was the one thing Thorin wanted to hear the least. A body is something you can handle, a final decision. If he could not see you, he assumed you were either dead or about to be, and only his actions could save you. He would run himself ragged trying to find you and stop your death before it happened. He would have forced all the orcs in the land back to the fiery hellhole they came from, fought every monster and defeated every enemy, if it would have stopped a sword from piercing your heart.

And so, when he finally stumbled over a rocky outcropping and saw you calmly casting a spell of healing on one of his cousin’s soldiers. You had turned upon hearing him approach, and the last of Thorin’s terrors left him in one fell swoop. You were alright. He was alright. Everything, although damaged and broken and wholly consumed with ash and blood, would somehow end up okay.

Not much was said. Both of you lacked the words. Too many friends had been lost, not enough saved. Erebor would be protected, though. You swore that oath at the start, back when you joined the company for the first time, and you promise it again now. The Fae will have to wait a little longer to welcome you back. You would like to stick around a for a while.

requested by @starlit-epiphany, i hope you enjoy!

tolkien taglist: @rogueanschel, @retvenkos, @gods-fools-heroes, @crazyhearttragedy

[agbpaints]

Played a game of Classic Battletech yesterday- 7,000 points of the rag tag forces of the CCAF arrayed against a high-tech Escorpion Imperio raiding party from the far reaches of the Periphery. Our mission was a king of the hill scenario- capture and secure a center point (presumably some high tech wreck site) and keep the other guy from moving on it. I brought a sturdy, mobile gun line made up of a Blackjack and Grasshopper, backed by a fast cavalry group of a Man O' War, Wraith, and Spider, while my opponent fielded a Kingfisher supported by Battle Cobra, with a Hellion, Mist Lynx, and Fire Moth as outriders

Ngl what happened next was a bloodbath- clans have a bad tonnage deficit already and my opponent was too timid about pushing his fast movers onto the point. My Wraith and Spider made it there first, followed shortly thereafter by my Man O' War and then finally the Grasshopper, at which point I just had an insurmountable tonnage advantage that he couldn't kill before I scored the win. I managed to hit the Fire Moth and Mist Lynx with disabling shots early and the Gargoyle's SRM racks loading inferno ammo were enough to intimidate the Kingfisher into pulling its punches to avoid a heat lock. Clans really need boots on the ground early contesting the center point and to find a way to criple the opposition before they arrive, because even though we were evenly matched in mechs and BV, I just had more tons that could happily sit in the center ignoring their melting armor long enough to hit GGs.

On my side the Wraith, Blackjack, and Grasshopper were real stars. The Wraith, as always, is an immensely destabilizing piece for people to deal with, that forces them to either chase the buzzy little cav mech that keeps backstabbing stuff or actually deal with your battleline. Even if it 'only' deals 21 damage every other turn as it bops around, striking and cooling off, it has a bad habit of living in people's heads. The Blackjack 3 is a brutally efficient little flashbulb, carrying enough heat sinks to fire its twin PPCs while running for 3 turns before boosting away to cover to cool. It's effectively a small and better optimized version of the K1 Catapult. The Grasshopper is just a rocket powered brick that refuses to die and sinks heat frightening well for a late Succession War era design. It will bravely march into the fight and beat face until either it or every opponent is unsalvageable scrap.

On my opponent's side, the Kingfisher and the Battle Cobra were the real threats. As an omnimech with a standard engine, the Kingfisher is frighteningly durable and carries a truly fantastic ammount of GUN into fights to get nasty and brawl with. It got kinda stuck behind a hill for a bit but once it rounded the corner, PSRs began to be forced and armor counts started spiraling downward rapidly. The Battle Cobra is a similar beast to the Blackjack- the two pulse lasers it carries are spooky accurate and it can about sink them to keep you and your cav mech tomfoolery the fuck away from it. It's a little faster, but more fragile and less capable in rough terrain.

[slanax]

re lrb but in a new post bc it kinda derails from the original point of the post but

FE3H really dealt a blow to the concept of unique characters that Engage didn't manage to fully recover from

like as units, most characters start in the exact same class at the exact same level. Great start. Their class progression gives them all the same options for the same requirements outside of a handful of genderlocked classes which is the stupidest possible point to put your single distinguishing feature. The Tier 0 classes Noble and Commoner are different classes but are identical in gameplay. Why not make that your distinguishing feature that locks class access to characters? Would fit better with the story themes anyways.

Nominally some characters are better at some weapons and worse at others. This does not matter except maybe your Tier 3 promotion on Maddening gets delayed by a chapter or you need to rig the exams a bit more (luck based promotions by the way. Also terrible. Costs resources to even try. I digress.) The high end S+ ranks are functionally unreachable anyways.

Also doesn't help that outside of exactly two exceptions (magic, and gauntlets on mounts) every Tier 1 class can use every weapon type exactly as well as each other. There's no reason for a brawling character to go Brawler. Just go Brigand, they have more Str ("Just go Brigand" applies to every unmounted melee class by the way)

Then there's the mastery skills. Brigands get Death Blow. Everyone wants Death Blow. Archers get Hit +20. Everyone wants Hit +20. So you already have characters that all play the same, in classes that all play the same, but now every one of them cycles through Brigand and Archer to truly be. the same.

And then even if you want to sandbox and go "I'm gonna make a cavalier that uses swords instead of lances" Tier 2 shows up and tells you "what are you, stupid? Paladin is a lance class. See, they get Lancefaire. Put a lance on that guy you fucking moron. Who told you sandboxing was okay."

You'd think Tier 2/3 getting -faires would solve the issue of every class being the same weapons wise. Course it doesn't. Falcon Knight has Lancefaire, Wyvern Lord has like 2 less lance damage through raw Str. It does not matter and only serves to make you feel bad for not using the "correct" weapon type and losing out on the +5 boost.

The thing that actually distinguishes characters is their personal skills. Except most of those fall off and stop mattering after the earlygame bc they're like +2 or +4 boosts to stats that'll be in the 20s soon enough.

No, the thing that actually actually distinguishes characters is what skills and arts they learn. Shockingly, half the cast learns no skills that outclass the generic ones. So those don't matter. And of course, the game doesn't tell you about any of these, doesn't tell you if there will be a payoff for training a character in a certain skill over another or god forbid if that payoff will be worth it.

Engage gets a little better about this, at least the characters have a base class again, but it falls flat around midgame when reclassing is fully available. There's a lot of neat and unique class/emblem combos you can make, so at least the class samey-ness of 3H is fixed, but the characters become little more than warm bodies that carry that class/emblem combo into battle and some of them might have more optimal numbers for one of them.

anyways the way I think this can be fixed (outside of just getting rid of universal reclassing or going back to the Fates system of passing around class sets through supports) is to place more emphasis on personal skills. Class skills are generally just better in SwitchFE, and I don't get why. If personal skills give you a big boost that stays relevant throughout the game, even only in specific classes or circumstances, that encourages players to make use of that, use this specific unit for their personal skill, and create a tailored class build that specifically brings the best in that unit out. Or give them a specific gimmick. This hack I'm playing has a Cav that gets Brave but can't double when he moves his full Mov while mounted. That's a cool payoff. That makes him stand out. Do shit like that, intsys. In 3H this would just be the Cavalier mastery skill, and in Engage it'd be an Emblem skill, so everyone could do it. Just make it unique.

also make growths more distinct I'm tired of everyone having the same 35-45% slop in every stat god I wonder why every character feels the same when their statlines are fucking identical

[kazuchuu]

Shattered Glass Knock Out Headcanons

These are my personal interpretations of how Knock Out would be in the alternative Transformers universe. I’ve seen a lot of interpretations of him and I’ve also thought about it a lot, so here is an extremely self-indulgent list of purely Transformers brainrot. I just had to put this somewhere before he took over my brain.

APPEARANCE

A blue-green paint coat (the color of hospital scrubs) as the primary color. White markings, or maybe silver for a little contrast.

Bright blue optics.

The elf ears stay.

PERSONALITY

A lot of headcanons portray him as callous when it comes to his appearance, which is great! But allow me to offer: SG!Knock Out who still cares about how he looks, but for completely different reasons.

He doesn't mind being covered in scratches, marks, dents, or the like. He only hates it because it's unhygienic and thus unsuitable for a doctor's office/surgical ward.

He also thinks having a clean appearance gives off a more professional and comforting impression to his patients.

Sometimes, on bad days, it can get a bit...obsessive.

"Um, doc, didn't you already clean-" / "I HAVE TO MAKE SURE BREAKDOWN I HAVE TO MAKE SURE!!!!"

Sometimes it's funny.

"My liege, you know how I respect you, but I swear if you set a pede into this ward without disinfecting your servos at least-"

RELATIONSHIPS

Breakdown: His partner and most trusted confidante in every universe<3 Knock Out tends to worry too much about his health, and insists on a check-up after every battle. Breakdown indulges him, but also makes sure to soothe his worries.

Starscream: My idea of SG!Starscream is that he always downplays how bad his injuries actually are, leading to Knock Out running after him (or, better yet, sending Breakdown to drag him to the medical ward). I like to think they exchange the same playful quips, but with a more somber undertone, because anytime Starscream actually allows himself to stay put in the medical ward means he's been severely injured.

Megatron: Knock Out takes his duty as the leader's official physician way too seriously. He has everything organized: Megatron's daily routine, optimal energon intake, regular check-up appointments. Megatron doesn't really need all that, but he humors him because he knows this is Knock Out's way of dealing with the guilt when he can't save a patient.

OTHER DETAILS

Speaking of guilt - Knock Out is really bad at not blaming himself. When vehicons are offlined and he's forced to disassemble them, he will later still remember where each piece came from, even if it's been attached to another bot.

I like to think this version of KO still likes the art of disassembly, but less out of a delighted, morbid curiosity and more out of a desire to learn more about Cybertronian anatomy.

He still street races with humans, but again, for entirely different reasons: he's fascinated by them, and has since picked up an e-book on human anatomy. And when he street races them, he always plays fair, and takes quite a great offense if another participant doesn't follow the rules. Allow me to demonstrate.

Racer: [keys Knock Out's side door]

KO, swerving to face him: Excuse me, are you out of your mind? Why would you ever ruin the joy of a good race with this childish behavior? And I have patients, you know! What would they think of their own doctor if they saw him in such unseemly fashion?

Racer: Wh-

KO, full on ranting: And I barely squeezed this race in between my busy schedule! Now I have to go back to base, disinfect the scratch, get buffed, all in time to prepare my office for the next line of patients! Do you have any idea how demanding it is to be a doctor on a warship? Always on call! I had this one hour to myself-

[It is at this point that Breakdown shows up to calm his favorite doctor. They end up just racing together<3 ]

And that's basically all I can think of, for now. My version of SG!KO because I know I'll never write this. Feel free to add more in the tags or whatever you like :)

[hopeofhouse]

i finally finished dos2.... thoughts ft. drawings + choice playthrough phone notes (spoilers obv)

my godwoken was an elf witch named allegory. he ended up as a necromancer/hydrosophist combo. blood damage + healing was a fun mix! odd contrasts <3

his backstory, 2 me, is that he was lost in a marshland as a little kid, and tir-cendelius saw the chance to keep him isolated (seeing off any potential rescuers, magically expanding the marshes every time he tried to trek out and leading him in circles) + raise the perfect tiny loyal godwoken for when The Time was Right. he let him out when he was an elf teen. t-c should have kept him longer because if anything it just made him weirder when he got reintegrated into society a couple decades later. F

what if your god grew you in a petri dish to [major game spoilers, redacted]. but you were a capricious little know it all with a jester's soul. what then

gorry took sebille, fane and ifan with him because i thought he would assemble a team of hot emos if given chance. this paid off + i love them all dearly

i wasn't expecting the origin characters i didn't take with me after act 1 to UP AND DIE. but it actually added a really good set of stakes. responsibility for ur actions. lohse yelled at me for leaving her to her fate and i felt SO bad. sorry miss thing

LOVED the worldbuilding....i was super familiar with 5e before i played bg3 so i sort of knew what was coming most of the time but for divinity i had to LEARN. super fun. 100% recommend

also i thought bg3 went in on the body horror but divinity was Something Else.

^ and then larian said okay that was fun what if we do it again. and made bg3. anyway

i was hideously bad at combat for ages until i listened to all the people on reddit chanting 'put points in warfare' and then it was much much much more doable lol

ngl i actually very much prefer dos2 to bg3. i loved loved loved bg3 but after like 4 playthroughs during various patch stages it was such a relief to play a game that's actually completed and won't eat my laptop for breakfast!!! first two bg3 files i had i couldn't make it to the lower city because the optimization on mac was so diabolical that it wouldn't actually play until after patch 5. dos2 lets me also have photoshop on my computer. and files that aren't bg related. miraculous

but even ignoring technical issues: from a story and world standpoint dos2 felt way more expansive and inventive. campy but also harrowing in a way that bg3 just didn't hit for me. i also genuinely enjoy being given a zillion pieces of almost overwhelming info and then sorting it out so i am biased. may expand on this at a later point and not under a mile long read more. moving on

romanced fane bc i loved his voice acting and i thought the culturally cannibalistic elf/the one guy with no flesh to eat bit was funny. jokes on me i fell in DEEP. u canonically have disappointing sex because hes simply made of bones without nerves and afterwards he takes notes. he calls u dear heart offhandedly in act 1 like it's nothing then goes right back to being aloof. how many more times does he have to tell you? he has business in the blackpits. he spends the whole game having an increasingly worse time. he's a loser. it's all his fault. he got me. he got me good. god damn

my game glitched (?) and even tho he rejected sebille (sorry baby) her and allegory still made out right before the big final choice. no option not to. then he had the expected epilogue with fane. poly ending canon enough for me!

also the music was bonkers good and the audio direction in that one battle in the final act? mwah. and dallis' va knocked it out of the entire park.

last thing here's a gorry i drew when i was still back in act 1. 180 hours ago. titled on my phone as 'praying at every altar so i always come out on top'

anyway if u made it this far: thank u. go get divinity: original sin 2 when it's next on sale. wise wise wise choice of £6.99 <3

[dragondemoness]

Ultimate Cuteness Series - Ultra Despair Girls Edition (Part Six)

Dragon’s Note: We’re back, baby! FInally found the inspiration :3 I’m still not a fan of how I’ve been writing the series so far, but eh, who cares. This is my comeback

The walk back to the hideout is painfully awkward.

Toko and Komaru don’t say a word to each other, and you seem to be caught in the middle. In an effort to ease the tension, you turn to them with your signature smile, although this time, it appears awkward.

“So, um... Wow, that sure was a tough battle, huh? Good thing we won though, right? You two really are strong, especially when you fight together!” 

Toko turns to you with a sharp glare. “D-Don’t try to distract us with your brainless optimism... It’s not gonna help anything.”

Komaru sighs in response. “Don’t be rude to them, Toko. They didn’t do anything wrong. Say whatever you want to me, but leave them alone.”

This causes Toko to turn back on her, and they argue once again. After that, the rest of the walk is filled with excruciating silence. You soon return to the hideout, and Komaru asks for Shirokuma, but the adult only walks away in silence. 

Soon, the adorable white bear does appear. “Heeey, you three! Yay, you made it back safe! Now, I wanna hear the whole story, but first... Come leap into my arms!”

“Jeez, this guy developed a taste for hugs fast...” Toko remarks. Komaru doesn’t move, and Shirokuma opens his arms. “C’mon, don’t be modest! Do it! Do iiit!” 

Toko turns to you. “Well, Omaru is a bit of a sad sack right now, so why don’t you ask (Name)? I’m sure they’d be more than happy to hug you...”

Shirokuma turns to you expectantly and holds his arms out. 

“Oh... Okay.” You then go to him and hug him, and although he and Toko both wonder why you seem hesitant, Shirokuma accepts the affection happily. “Yeah, there we go! Now it’s your turn!”

He then turns to Toko, who shrugs and begins to approach him. “I-I guess I can... I haven’t taken a bath for a while, so I might be a little sticky.” 

Shirokuma quickly steps back from her nervously. “Oh... How about you comb out your hair, take a bath, and change your clothes and undergarments first?” 

Toko gives him an angry look. “Jeez, pushy! Why don’t I just wrap myself in a bow for you, too?” 

You giggle at her. “Aww, I’ll hug you, Toko-chan!”

Toko shakes her head. “Of course you would. God, you’re so weird...” 

You tilt your head at her curiously. “Is that a no?” 

Toko sighs in resignation. “J-Just do it... Whatever...”

“Yaaay!” You grin brightly and give Toko a tight hug. She stiffens up in discomfort but allows you to do it. 

Shirokuma looks at the two of you happily. “It’s so nice to see you three getting along! Anyway, you must be tired. Why don’t you rest for a while?”

Toko looks around. “With the mood in here, I don’t think I could sleep, even if I wanted to. Aside from you, everyone seems... Unwelcoming.” 

You turn to her. “Miss Hiroko wasn’t so bad.” 

Toko shrugs in response. “I guess...” 

Shirokuma waves his hands in front of him frantically. “D-Don’t worry, they’re just shy! I mean, two girls in school uniforms, AND the cutest, most wholesome person on earth? That’s enough to make a man’s heart burst!”

Toko turns to you with a smirk. “Not just men, I’m sure...”

Komaru looks down at the ground, still appearing depressed. “...Thanks for the offer, but I really don’t feel like resting right now.” 

Shirokuma gives her a curious look. “Komaru, what happened? Did the connection not work?”

“No, it worked fine,” you said, “it’s just our connection that went out.” Komaru silently nods in agreement. “Yeah... And I’m also not sure that Future Foundation is going to come through.”

Shirokuma sighs sadly. “I see... So that’s why you’re so down. I’m sorry... Do you want me to pat your head?” 

“Pat her head? How many heads have you crushed with a hand like that?” Toko asks. 

“Hey, I’d let him pat my head... It feels great,” you tell her, causing her to scoff at you. “Y-Yeah, see? I don’t do anything like that!” Shirokuma insists.

Komaru nods. “Yeah... I trust you, Shirokuma. You’re the only one I can trust anymore... Well, one of them, at least.”

Komaru turns and gives you a small smile, and you smile back. Shirokuma then reveals that Haiji and the others are in a conference, and you go and enter the meeting room and listen in. 

“It doesn’t matter if they’re just kids! We have to kill them before they kill us!” Adult M calls out.

“But the kids have those Monokumas on their side, and those twisted animal monsters. We have to do something about them.”

As you listen in, your body begins to tremble fearfully as you whisper to yourself. “They wanna kill the kids...? No... I can’t let that happen.” Your bunny plush nods in agreement, and Toko watches you closely.

Tell me that thing isn’t alive, she thinks to herself. You hear Haiji declare that acting now isn’t the best play, insisting that he doesn’t want to put the adults in danger. Hearing this brings a change in you as you clench your fist, and your expression turns blank.

You disgust me...

What’s up with their eyes?! What’s their deal? Toko thinks to herself.

Shirokuma then brings the three of you inside, and brings up the idea of persuading the children. Haiji objects to this, as do the adults. You and Komaru give your accounts, having met the kids yourself, further solidifying that the idea was impossible.

“You really think a group of monsters like those kids can be reasoned with? Adult D asks.

The only monsters here are you...

“I bet they’d kill us the second we show up to treat with them.” Adult N adds.

And they should...

“Plus, this group here... There can’t be peace with those kids. You know what they’ve done.” Haiji states.

What about why they did it...?

“Those brats don’t even care about family. Things like persuasion... It will never work.” Toko points out. “That’s right. They’re not human, they’re demons!” Adult O calls out in response.

No... You are.

Haiji ultimately decides not to act immediately, which Toko seems to find cowardly. You can’t help but agree. The two of them argue, and when Komaru calls Toko out for not understanding the feelings of the weak, you find yourself agreeing with her, as well. As the Ultimate Cuteness, and even before you claimed that title, you were always targeted for being weak, particularly by one individual. You snap out of your thoughts when Toko finds a comeback of her own.

“You think I’m ‘chosen’? You must be kidding. What’s so great about me? I’m a w-walking inferiority complex! But hey, look at (Name) here! They might be weak, but at least they don’t use it as an excuse. B-Besides, it’s not like they suffered for it.”

What a bold assumption. You were tired of hearing that. “...Yes, I have.”

Toko turns to you with a look of doubt. “Oh, r-really? What could someone like you have possibly gone through?”

You look down at the ground as you clench your fist. “...Bullying.”

“Huh?” Toko looks at you in surprise, and Komaru look at you sadly. “(Name)...? See that, Toko?! You’re so insensitive!”

Before Toko could fire back with a comeback, an adult rushes into the room, saying that Monokumas and plush monsters are attacking. Surely enough, they come in from outside and begin slaughtering adults. 

“What?! How did the children find out about this place?!” One adult questions. Toko immediately points her finger at you. “I-It’s gotta be them! They must’ve led them here!” 

“What? Me?” Komaru glares at Toko. “No, it couldn’t have been them. They were with us all along, remember?”

“Th-That’s right! It’s not their fault! I just know it!” You turn to him in surprise.

“S-Seriously?” Toko groans. 

“I don’t know why everyone keeps doubting them, but just because they act a little childish and have their own style of dressing doesn't mean that they’re bad!”

You smile at him. “Thanks, Shiro-chan!” Maybe you’re useful after all...

He then begs you to save the others, so you run outside, and Komaru and Genocide Jack work together against the beasts. Unfortunately, you didn’t arrive before many of them were already slain. Haiji enters soon after.

“This is all your fault. You led those monsters here when you went on your stupid mission! I bet it was you! You must have a direct line to those brats, huh?! What did you do?! Answer me!”

He suddenly turns and shouts at you, and your vision becomes blurry with tears. Komaru quickly takes you into her arms to comfort you while Toko, Haiji and Shirokuma continue arguing. 

“You know, I’ll go further and say you guys are spies for the kids!” Haiji shouts, and Toko turns to you. “I-I’m sure one of us is!”

“Everyone, cut it out! You’re making (Name) upset!”

After that, the adults apprehend the three of you and place you in three separate rooms. Toko sighs in frustration. “D-Dammit! They take away my stun gun, then they stuff me in this dusty room... It’s all her fault! And theirs, too!”

She considers this and looks away. “Well... It’s not like I want them dead or anything... B-But that (Name) has to be a spy! They clearly hate Haiji’s guts, and I swear that stupid rabbit of theirs is alive! But it can’t be... Jeez, what is their deal? But... They also mentioned bullying... What does that mean?”

Meanwhile, Komaru blames herself for the incident, and Toko and Haiji’s words are echoing through her brain. Where’s (Name)? They’d know how to help... They’re the only one I can trust... The only one I want...

In your room, you simply sit and reflect on everything, clutching your bunny plush close to your chest. Then, a young girl’s voice is heard from outside the door.

“Hellooo! My name is Kotoko Utsugi. I’m the Fighter for the Warriors of Hope! Eeeee, you’re so adorbs! I’ve just gotta bring you with me!

Everything goes black, and soon after, she pays a visit to Komaru. Meanwhile, Toko switches to Genocide Jack, and uses her scissors to hack through the door with no problem. Soon after, she rushes out and goes to your door.

“Yooooo, pretty one! It’s time to go see Master! If you don’t get your cute butt out here, I’m gonna pin your pretty little hands up to the wall! It’s been sooo hard to resist...”

She soon realizes you aren’t there, and neither is Komaru. Three Monokuma kids appear behind her, and show her a tracking device linked to you and Komaru’s wristbands. Soon after, she proceeds to give chase. Meanwhile, Komaru finds herself strapped to an unknown contraption, with Kotoko right in front of her and your unconscious body on the floor beside her.

“Now then, let’s begin with the ‘Motivation’!”

“Wh-What the...? What is this?! What happened to (Name)?!”

“Oh, they’re not hurt or anything! They’re way too adorbs for that! They’re just taking a little nap, that’s all. Now, let’s begin! No more stalling!”

She activates the switch, and hands begin grasping at Komaru from multiple places. She manages to repel them, but more continue to come. Genocide Jack finally finds the three of you on the monorail, and engages in a short spat with Kotoko before managing to defeat her. She then frees Komaru, and you wake up shortly after.

“Ngh...”

“(Name)!” Komaru rushes over and engulfs you in a hug. “I was so worried!”

You chuckle and pat her head reassuringly. “It’s okay, Maru-chan. She didn’t hurt me or anything. I’m glad you’re safe, too.”

“My, my, I was wondering when you’d wake up. For a second, I was sure you were dead. And I was real pissed, ‘cause that was supposed to be my job, y’know? But anyways, good to see your adorable face again, pretty one...”

She tilts your chin up to face her, and she winks at you before switching back to Toko. Soon after, the two of them leave, and Kotoko turns to you with a smile.

“Wow, you’re a great actor! Maybe even better than me! You sure had me going for a second!”

[jormofyore]

A Review of the Playtest Animist

So, I’ve been toying with the Animist a fair bit recently, and last week got to play it in Foundry for the first time. While I am going to need more time to figure this class out, such as optimal lines of play, proper action economy, and understanding the stance dancing (literally), I am really looking forward to seeing it fully released. What I want to avoid is doing a “this sucks” and “this is super duper powerful” post, and instead say something more along the lines of what I like and don’t like. After all, most of what’s good and what isn’t is often rather subjective and dependant on the campaign and makeup of the party. I also intend to give it a proper review once it officially is released. So here are my top 3 Likes and Dislikes. Also, a curious thing: in the Foundry Playtest, there is a Vessel Spell called Trickster’s Mirrors (which is F-ing bonkers) that doesn’t appear in the “War of Immortals’ playtest. I’m guessing it’s one of the Apparitions that didn’t make it to the playtest, yet still somehow the dude who made the playtest knew about it.

Likes

First, a contentious part of the class: it’s casting. As a combination of both Vancian and spontaneous casting, I love it. If you know anything about me, it’s that I’m unironically a big fan of Vancian casting. I don’t think it has a place everywhere, and that’s part of the fun of the Animist, is that it combines the two with spontaneous options based on your Apparitions. It’s like spontaneous Vancian, making your decisions each day a key part of your approach to the game.

Apparitions (as a whole, not the individual abilities. Talk about that later.) This added level of flexibility to the class that allows you to pretend to fill a variety of roles in the part is fantastic. I especially appreciate Custodian of Groves and Gardens, because it means topping off your party after each combat without needing to rely upon Medicine; it’s a small thing, but it feels nice not having to risk rolling successfully as much.

General flexibility of roles. Need a frontliner for your party? Backliner? Support? Stealth? Damage? You’ve the option to fill it. The key takeaway here is that even when doing so, you aren’t weak at it; you’re actually pretty good and this is something I hope Paizo does more going forward: being flexible should be a bonus, not a flaw that falsely looks like a benefit. You’re still not going to be as good as a Champion if you use Discomforting Whispers, or as a good as a Fighter if you have Embodiment of Battle, but you’re still pretty solid in that role. I really hope this doesn’t get “fixed” in the final version in the form of the pre-remaster Witch.

Dislikes

Apparition Skills being tied to certain Feats. Sure, I guess it’s so you/Paizo can add more Apparitions and builds for Feats, but it’s a little confusing and you need one of those conspiracy charts from Always Sunny to be able to keep track of what is tied to what. It’s strangely constricting.

Speaking of Feats: The Animist desperately needs more, especially ones that aren’t tied to your Apparition Skills. I don’t know what else to say here, but I really hope they reveal more feats, because some levels I’m just left with a blank expression on what to take. Add to that, some of the mid to high level feats are tied to Apparition Skills, and this bothers me a lot, because while it forces you to focus (a good thing), there could be some cool combinations outside of the locked choices. Oh, and Spirit’s Sacrifice is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Not even a reaction, just a free action to get back up from death 4 times a day.

Animistic Practice’s. I love the themes, but Apparition’s Possession is kind of…I know I said I wasn’t going to say this, but here it is: it’s kinda bad and awfully, awfully specific. And that’s in part because Apparition’s Whirl is so good. I hope they just give Apparition’s Whirl as a default feat because it really exemplifies the Shaman. Additionally, it feels a lot like “we gave the good feat to one, so their other Boons aren’t great, and did the reverse to Channeler.” Additionally, the Boon’s seem like they are given to the wrong Practice’s.

My biggest regret with this Playtest is that I did not see it and get the chance to toy with it earlier. I think I might partake in future playtests more, because I love helping balance things out and make them more playable. Sorry, this went to 3 pages in a doc and is longer than my other posts. Please let me know if you like longer dives, or if you prefer smaller bites.

Jorm out.

[enby-ralsei]

alright bet I saw that reblog—

the Star and Zamia hair braiding fic. Lesbians my beloved. Please how did you get their characters so good they’re so good 🥺

listen man I don’t have a lot of coherent thoughts about that fic but I’ve got THOUGHTS alright it was soooooo good

still not over Ami as a nickname

I HAVE WATCHED THAT LITTLE BIT WITH ZAMIA AND STAR SO SO SO MANY TIMES. I started writing this fic before episode 109 was released (as I said in the authors note with chip being undead 😭) and I so so SO called the marriage thing.

I got the characters so good because I latched onto them like a baby duckling imprinting on its mother. Like I have never been so attached to an NPC this quickly before. PCs? Maybe with The Suckening and BITB. but not NPCs. Not even Soda/Theo (sorry buddy </3)

I couldn't stop thinking about Zamia and Star even before we met Star. When Star was only mentioned by Zamia as her partner. And I wrote a fic about them a bit after episode 105 was released (the one where the survivors were introduced).

Anyways, for characterization. Zamia seemed the type to hide her emotions. Star even mentioned it in her vows ("protecting you when you hide away in the darkest corner of our room"). She doesn't want others to see her weak. But Star is different. Star loves her and that won't change. She trusts Star so innately that she can break in front of her. And being able to touch her hair and be with her, doing mundane and domestic acts really hit her hard. She thought she would never see her again. Because no one else ever came back.

She took some time to process that Star was actually there. And with all of the fear leaving, it had to go somewhere. Zamia's love is kept to her chest, just in case something like this happened. Zamia wants to protect, as is her past duty as a knight.

And for Star, she seemed to be a lot more vocal with her love. She was a cleric, built for helping others, and that gives her a big heart. She loves a lot, and loudly.

But after everything happened, with the battle against Captain Widow and everyone nearly dying, it seemed fitting to change the way Zamia acted slightly. Let her be forward with her love. Because she loves Star with everything she has. And she needs Star to know it (even if Star does already know).

The characterization of Zamia being more optimistic in the past was really not based in anything. It just felt right. Both Gillion and Zamia are paladins, and I think they want to look to the positives of their situations. They get to protect, they get to help, and even if it's bad, they are able to do so much for those around them. But when her magic fades, and her Light is taken. That positivity died. She realized just how much that optimism didn't match with the reality of her situation. And it hit her hard. But she hid it. And hid it well. Until Star returned.

This is a situation that changes someone forever, which is why I made her ask "what if [the optimism] never comes back". Because she doesn't know! Her emotions were all over the place at that moment, so had no idea what the future held. She just knew she wanted to be with Star during it.

I could probably go on further but I think I'm rambling now 😭

(Also Zamia and Starling becoming Ami and Star felt so touching. Ami meaning friend or even lover depending on the context and Star being the light in the darkness of night. It just fit.)

[iviarellereads]

The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 18 - Healing

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Heron marked blade icon) In which my summary is deceptively short because otherwise I'd just quote the whole chapter.

PERSPECTIVE: Egwene. Sheriam leads the wondergirls down to effectively the basements, until they come to the room she's seeking. Egg is startled when she stop suddenly, and admits she was thinking of the Black Ajah. Sheriam says she has no need to worry about that, not for years yet.(2) They enter the treatment room. She tells the women to stay against the wall and keep silent, not to distract the working.

Mat is on a long stone table, with the dagger on his belt. The Amyrlin Seat and Leane are at his head and foot, and Egwene recognizes Verin, Serafelle (also Brown), Alanna Mosvani (Green), and Anaiya (Blue) along with four sisters unknown to her. One of the unknown Aes Sedai takes out a wand, made of unknown material, the length of her forearm. Egg realizes it's a sa'angreal, and looking at their faces, they're not sure they can Heal him, even with it.(3) Still, they begin.

Shortly into the process, Mat thrashes, and the wondergirls think the process is failing, though stopping it will surely kill him, and maybe the Aes Sedai as well, as much of the Power as they're channeling.

Mat starts speaking Old Tongue, including one of the battle cries of Manetheren. The dagger rises up from the sheath on Mat's belt, and Anaiya lifts a dark metal box, grabs the dagger with some tongs, places it in the box, and claps it shut. As quick as that, it's done.

He still looks hollow-cheeked, but the Amyrlin says he's as well as can be, and only time will tell what the long-term effects will be. Sheriam says the cooks will be waiting for these helpers, and the Amyrlin dismisses the wondergirls to their punishments.(4)

=====

(1) This is a legitimately weird choice of icon, only because it nearly always means there's a blademaster to focus on in the chapter, or swordplay in general. I wonder if they meant to use the ruby hilted dagger, but messages got mixed up… only it's not been corrected in newer printings or editions that I know of. (2) How curious. Shouldn't she be denying they exist? We know that Nynaeve asked her some questions while Egg was retrieving her cloak/looking for the crossbow bolt. Did one of those lead her to the conclusion that they knew the BA must exist, so denial is pointless? (3) Not everything can be accomplished with magic. We've seen them talk a bit about different strengths and capabilities, but it's interesting that, even under optimal conditions, some things are simply beyond achievement. (4) DO NOT BE FOOLED by how short my summary is. This chapter is an incredible little piece of prose and well worth reading for oneself.

[ccaptain]

@predvestnik:👫( meme source. )

i. When Childe isn't here and his absence becomes too much, Kaeya will raid their shared closet and puts ALL the clothes he left in here over the blankets he has and sleeps on them. This leaves a very Kaeya-shaped form when he groggily gets up, and some unexplainable wrinkles in said clothes, shirts, pants, etc. This can be avoided if Childe gives up his scarf to leave to his captain...... then he sleeps just fine with his face half shoved into it <3

ii. Kaeya has become an expert in washing Childe's mask once he comes home to him: he has learned to know of what material is made, what cleaning products are the gentlest on it while still getting the grime, dirt and blood off the creases, how warm the water needs to be to efficiently remove all of that in a single scrub, the amount of time it takes for it to soak and for the products to have effect, etc. You bet your sweet bippy that after Kaeya takes care of it his dear Ajax's mask is shining and clean and smells divine for a long while... until he battles again. Then he can probably hear his ears buzzing because Kaeya is for sure thinking about him! ABOUT HOW HE DIRTIED THE FUCKING THING AGAIN ARCHONS DAMMIT CHILDE-

iii. There's something particular about how Kaeya slices the Sunsettias for Childe: he peels what little skin those have off, and then begins dicing them. He unconsciously does this because it's the optimal shape for easy consumption and to also dehidrate them as a snack, should Childe want to suck the water out of those with his powers and keep them a while longer. When he's feeding those to his dear Ajax, it's always with a toothpick and not generally with his hands to avoid staining them both with sweet, sugary juice. He also leaves the fruit dices in a bowl to let the nectar gather here, in case Childe wants to sip that or use it for one of his recipes... he thinks ahead, a LOT. I'm not even sure if he does this intentionally or uncosciously, by this point.

iv. With him, Kaeya is a bad liar: a thing he hasn't told Childe is that he saved up a solid amount of Mora to buy Childe the narwhal slippers: The tale he spun to his less-than-naive boyfriend is that he casually found them while shopping and it was such an occasion, right? Right. Do not be fooled; those are absolutely custom made, specifically the shade of blue of his sweetie's eyes, specifically with Childe's foot size, specifically of soft material to grant relax and comfort once you slip your foot in here. A bit too much coincidences joining together, like stars aligning... but he'll never tell Childe, and if accused, he'd deny it until the day he's underground.

[spei-sidus]

Moonlit Musings

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

No Archive Warnings

Written for UsaMamo Week 2023, Day 7

Usagi was on her way back from Tokyo Tower, where she had been unwinding during the night, when Mamoru's out on a jog. Mamoru's protective instincts lead him to ask Usagi out on a date. Centered around Tokyo Tower.

I tried to get this out on time, but it struck midnight on me - irony of ironies. Well here you go. Thanks for reading.

I spent the day researching Azabu Juban, Tokyo Skytree, and Tokyo Tower...there's a lot I don't know yet. I've been an avid fan of Sailor Moon fanfiction for years, but I never really delved into the depths of the settings in which these stories take place, something that I was starkly reminded of when reading stories by FloraOne, for example. I'm really grateful I managed to complete this week's prompts, for my first ever usamamo week. It's been a dream of mine for a while, but I never thought I'd stumble into one shortly after I started writing fanfiction! So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Chapter 1

Sailor Moon perched upon one of the upper ledges of Tokyo Skytree. The youma battle had taken them further east tonight. Sailor Moon was feeling contemplative and in no hurry to head home. The battle had stopped a little after Tokyo Skytree went dark at 11 PM. She was going to linger for a while and then head towards Tokyo Tower, the tower that was the beacon to her little home in Azabujuban, hopefully timing it so that she’d get there at midnight. Sailor Moon could linger under the veil of darkness and think to her heart’s content.

It was strange, she thought, looking at the expanse below. Both had amazing views, but Tokyo Skytree - the tallest tower in the world and double the height of Tokyo Tower - made the world distinctly diminutive. Looking at Earth from such great heights seemed very familiar to her - as if staring at the Earth from space should seem familiar.

She loved the night. It made her energized. It made her tingle with awareness. She attributed it to her connection to the moon, the source of her power. She believed she’d happily be a night person if she didn’t have to go to school early in the mornings. She’d rather be up with the moon drawing or reading manga or trying some delicious food. Who knows what she would do if she had the optimal timeframe in which to exist? No, she had to conform to a Monday through Friday 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM schedule, with homework on top of that. She slept in bits and pieces because she had to – and because it was broken sleep, it was never enough, so of course she looked like she was a sleepyhead all the time. It was frustrating to have the others chide and mock her for her sleeping habits without being able to explain why. Or if she did explain, they’d probably minimize it and tell her to get over it somehow. As if magic worked that way. Maybe it did? The other Senshi were certainly more in tune with their powers and sleeping habits. It was only her that was out of sorts. Did they ever get issues if their planets entered a certain place in the zodiac chart? She didn’t think she could ask Ami about it without letting her in on her struggles.  

Tonight was a Friday night. No school tomorrow – she could sleep in all day. Or would if her mother didn’t whack her awake by noon. Good habits and all of that. Nonetheless, noon was certainly better than seven. She was going to take advantage of it. This was going to be her time, away from Luna and the girls and annoying, gorgeous upperclassmen that made her think things probably no girl her age should. Oh, who was she kidding? She was a teenager, fifteen, for goodness’ sake. Her hormonal body vacillated between her nemesis and her savior without care even in one night of fantasies and self…care. They both made her tingle with a different kind of awareness. She didn’t understand why it had to be with two different guys – and two unattainable guys at that: one taunting, insulting, and generally denigrating towards herself; the other, while chivalrous and inspiring, was also distant and insistent she treat him as an enemy since they had different goals.  

She started heading out towards Tokyo Tower at 11:45 PM, wondering if she’d get there at midnight. She decided to make a game of it, dashing from rooftop to rooftop with an exuberance that had her rolling after some leaps. She half thought to hold back a little, but she was having too much fun – it was so much like her morning dash to school. She needn’t have worried – she got there just after the tower went dark.

Perfect.

She settled in, staring out from her familiar vantage point, smiling softly at the city below. They were her people, and she was proud to protect them. She hoped they were getting decent sleep, without nightmares. She worked hard to give them hope despite the terrors the youma were causing daily. No matter how terrified she was and underqualified she felt, she was proud to be in a place to do something good for the world. It was worth losing sleep over, getting even worse grades than before, getting scolded by nearly everyone. She knew everyone, in their way, wanted her to be her best self. She wasn’t very good at balancing everything like her Senshi, but she wasn’t going to give up, because to give up would mean to let Tokyo – all of what she could see from up here, and more – down.

She didn’t know everyone in Tokyo (or in the world, for that matter, but Tokyo was the only place terrorized for whatever reason), but she loved them, loved them blindly with the abandon that only Tsukino Usagi would do. Like the moon; she loved them, protected them, and shone the light needed to navigate the darkness, all without discrimination or reservation. She wanted to affect change, as the moon made waves, while being unwavering herself. Strong in her devotion. Strong in her ability to protect. Strong to always love no matter what.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, her mind wandering under the moonlit sky, but when she finally shifted to leave, she felt rejuvenated, uplifted, and calm.

She surreptitiously dropped her henshin shortly after descending from the tower, deciding that she would enjoy a good, meditative walk. As she wove through the light traffic of pedestrians and bicyclists, she came across someone she’d never thought she’d see at that time of night. “Mamoru-baka?” she asked incredulously.

He started. “Odango Atama?!” He checked his watch. “It’s 4 AM and you’re not in bed? Are you sick?!”

“I’m perfectly fine, baka,” she said with a scowl.

“Then what are you doing out at night like this?” he said with a scowl of his own.

“Walking,” she said shortly, “and judging from your attire, you’re jogging.”

He blinked. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to do my jog earlier than I usually do.”

“Jogging in the morning sounds like such a you thing to do.”

“But not you,” he countered, getting the conversation back on track.

“I couldn’t sleep either,” she said with a shrug, “so I was hanging around Tokyo Tower.”

“In the dark, alone?”

“Sure. It’s very peaceful there.”

“Why not go when it’s lit?”

“I like it better in the dark.”

A moment passed. “The next time you want to go, do you want me to go with you?”

The weight of that offer fell onto the both of them. Usagi’s mouth went dry. “Um, sure. We can wait until after the lights go out before, you know, going.”

“Right,” he said gruffly. “Unless you’d rather go early to get as much time as possible?”

“So…get there at midnight?”

“...That would be what I’m saying.”

“Wow,” Usagi managed, her heart galloping at a fast rate. “You - you’d do that - with me?”

He nodded, wide eyed, as if he didn’t realize what he’d let slip and was barely catching up to that fact.

She smiled. “Okay,” she said. “It’s a date.”

To Be Continued…

Chapter 2

Date, she had said, finalizing the symbolism of what they were about to do. Only couples went to see Tokyo Tower at midnight.

He stared at her, speechless for once. Had he really, finally, asked her out? Although going to Tokyo Tower at midnight was a bit too intense, too rushed for a couple that was just barely getting together. Or were they? “Do you mean a date date?”

She frowned. “Didn’t you?” she asked in utter confusion.

“I did,” he admitted, releasing the truth he’d masked for so long now. “But perhaps you’d like an actual date first?”

She gaped as everything caught up with her. “You really are asking me out,” she said incredulously.

“I only asked you initially to keep you from getting hurt at night, Odango. You really shouldn’t be out this late at your age-”

“What kind of date?”

The question threw him. He hadn’t expected her to accept. “Well, we could visit the tower beforehand. The second level has good views.”

“It does,” she said with a smile. “But that will only hold our attention for so long. I wouldn’t mind hanging out at Momiji Waterfall for a bit. I’m a lover of nature.”

“So am I,” he said with surprise. He never would’ve thought whirlwind Odango would be interested in the peacefulness of nature.

“Of course we have to go to that curry place nearby, CoCo Ichibanya. I love curry, and it’s not that expensive. I think it’ll be open until midnight, too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mamoru said with a smile.

“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “This is weird, don’t you think?”

He shook his head slowly. “No, I’d say this was a long time coming. I promise it’ll just be fun.”

“Okay,” she said, trying to picture it. “I bet we’ll fight like cats and dogs though.”

He smirked. “I’m okay with that. It’s our thing.”

Our thing. She blushed. “So...when do we do this?”

“It’s already Saturday morning. Have you even slept?” When she shook her head, he frowned. “Then I don’t think we should do this today. What about next Saturday? We’ll make a day of it.”

“Okay,” she said shyly, butterflies erupting in her stomach. She was going to go on her first date! With Chiba Mamoru! “Well, I’ll see you then!” she said as she turned to walk away. He automatically followed her. She stopped and waited. “Sorry, I forgot you’d want to walk me home.”

“I don’t know why you’d think otherwise,” he retorted as he matched her stride. “I’m not leaving my girlfriend out in the middle of the city when it’s not even dawn.”

“Girlfriend?” she echoed faintly, her heart thundering in her chest. How many shocks could her body handle in one day?

“Okay, maybe that’s going too fast,” he relented. “But you get what I mean.”

“Yeah, okay,” she said dumbly, leading the way to her house. They walked in silence. When they got to the corner of her street she turned to him awkwardly. “See you around,” she said lamely.

“Arcade this afternoon? Or will you still be sleeping?”

“Oh, I’ll be up by noon. Mama won’t have it otherwise. I’ll be there.”

He nodded in satisfaction, gave a mock salute, and jogged away, leaving one dumbfounded Senshi of the Moon.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 3

Usagi went to bed feeling like everything that had just happened was nothing more than a daydream concocted from her wandering imagination while she sat a little too long on that ledge of Tokyo Tower. It’s gotta be. She’d only imagined something like this, oh, hundreds of times, so how could it be that reality even remotely matched up to her dreams?

She must have fallen and hit her head somehow. Although that would’ve hurt a lot longer than it would take her Senshi healing to fix it.

She was close to hyperventilating. Only consideration for her slumbering feline guardian kept her from fully freaking out right there and then.

How was she supposed to act now? Everything was moving so fast. She went from worst enemies to dating! The arcade was their usual haunt for their verbal battles. She didn’t know how else to interact with him. She reminded herself that he did say it was their “thing” to fight. So maybe another verbal battle would be in order? Business as usual…mostly…

She was so tired. Sleep beckoned her, causing her to squash her worries under its weight. She’d deal with it later. Much, much later. 

__________________________________________

When she awoke, she was back to panicking.

“Usagi-chan, what’s wrong?” Luna asked.

She shook her head. Luna wouldn’t want to hear about her impending date, not when she was always going on about Senshi duties. A love life was just insignificant compared to their mission. “Nothing,” she mumbled. “Just a nightmare.” She pulled her clothes together and headed to the bathroom while Luna settled back into her earlier position. A quick shower refreshed her. She kept her outfit simple and normal: a pink dress that went to her knees, one she had worn many times. She wanted to look cute without trying too hard. Or so she told herself. She still half thought this was all just a weird dream.

A quick gathering of her things and she was off, walking to the arcade, her nerves getting the better of her. What if he’d just been impulsive? What if he’d changed his mind? What if he’d remembered all the things he’d called her in the time since they’d met and realized she was still very much undateable? She blinked away her tears and carried onward. She wasn’t going to know until she faced him. So with the strength and confidence she showed a youma in battle, she carried herself down the street and through the arcade doors. She found him sitting at the counter in his usual place, nursing his usual cup of coffee. She approached slowly, warily, as if he would suddenly turn around and shout, “Gotcha!” while laughing, rejecting her in the process. No, Mamoru would never do that to her. He was more of a gentleman than that.

“Hello,” she croaked as she stood behind him.

“Hello,” he murmured, turning slightly to face her.

She woodenly sat in the stool next to him, her bag tumbling carelessly onto the ground. “How was your day?” she asked awkwardly.

“I’ve been trying to stay busy the last few hours. I’ve tried to read. I’ve tried to write a paper due soon.”

“Oh,” she said, shuddering. Homework was an anathema to her. 

“I can’t focus,” he confessed after taking a sip. “I’ve been waiting for you to get here since I got here after Motoki opened this morning.”

She shivered. “So this morning did happen?” she whispered.

His gaze darted to hers. “Yes it did.” Then hesitantly, he added, “Do you regret it?”

“No,” she said, a bit too forcefully. He winced. “No,” she said more softly. “Do you?”

“No,” he said vehemently. “As I said, it’s been a long time coming.”

“How long?” she asked. How long have you liked me?

“It’s come on so gradually I don’t even know.”

“It’s the same for me,” she admitted quietly. “The fights, they are…”

“Fun?” he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” she said sheepishly. “I’ve never done anything like that before with anyone else.”

“Exactly. It’s our thing.”

“So…what happens now?”

“What do you want to happen?”

“I need to order food first.” She opened her mouth to wave over Motoki but Mamoru beat her to it.

“Oi, Motoki-kun! Odango needs to fill her bottomless pit!”

Motoki walked swiftly over while Usagi started turning red like a tomato. “A bottomless pit?! You JERK!”

“Get her a double cheeseburger, a large fry, and a strawberry milkshake. Oh, and a strawberry mango smoothie with boba. My treat.”

Just like that, her anger diffused. “You’re buying me food?”

“Yep,” he replied like it was the most normal thing in the world - and, she supposed, it would be for a boyfriend to do for a girlfriend, but they weren’t even quite dating…yet.

“Can’t you call me by my real name?” she settled on, still peeved.

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“It’s unique and it’s our thing.” He tugged on one of her hair streamers.

She just blinked at him. He was acting so differently today, and yet, not - and she had no idea how to act around him.

“Relax, Odango. I’m not going to bite.”

She snorted. She thought of an image of a Mamoru-like youma biting her with amusement.

Her food came, and she was inhaling it in short order, hyper-aware of the male profile next to her, of the barest brush of his knee against hers. 

“Thank you,” she got out after she’d finished off her smoothie - she was really stuffed from everything. She normally didn’t have the allowance to afford as much as he’d ordered for her.

“You’re welcome,” he said sincerely, glancing at her with tenderness. Her heart caught in her throat. He’d never looked at her like that before, and it made her feel funny inside.

The girls walked in then. Reluctantly, she slid off her seat, whispering, “I have to meet up with the girls. I’ll see you around, yeah?”

He regarded her with amusement. “Yes, indeed. Now run off to your friends. I have some studying to do.”

“Jerk,” she said, although the insult lacked any heat. She grabbed her bag in a hurry and started tripping. A hand shot out to steady her, to her mortification. His hand.

“Try not to trip all over yourself,” he breathed before releasing her.

The look in his eyes befuddled her brain. Whatever retort she had was lost. With a firm shake of her head she walked off to the booth where her friends sat impatiently waiting. Usagi tried desperately to keep up with the flow of the conversation, especially as pertaining to Senshi business, but her thoughts and her gaze kept straying to the upperclassman sipping coffee at the counter.

Chapter 4

Usagi avoided the arcade on Sunday. She needed time and space to think things through. It was all so sudden. She could hardly believe it. She could barely be in the same room as Mamoru without wanting to look at him.

She cried off going, using her homework as the excuse. The girls were shocked, but gave her the benefit of the doubt. Usagi put on some nature soundscapes then settled into her desk chair, pulling out her homework.

Luna watched, stunned speechless. Usagi ignored her, wanting desperately to prove herself - not only to her Senshi, but also to Mamoru, Mr. Straight A student. She felt her flaws now more than ever. She also had a theory she wanted to test…

She set a timer for twenty-five minutes, then set to work on her English assignment. She wrote notes. She brought out different colored highlighters. She drew. But she did get some sentences in. When the timer went off, she set a ten minute timer, then pulled out some manga.

“What are you doing?” Luna asked curiously.

“I’m trying something out that might help me study.”

“You’re turning your homework into art and barely getting anything done. Now you’re taking a break?”

“Hush, Luna. It’s part of the plan.” Luna huffed and turned away. Usagi tried to shrug off Luna’s dismissal. Usagi didn’t want to talk about it, but she suspected she had ADHD, and if true, then there were ways she could work around that issue to get things done - like homework. She was terrified to be wrong, though. What if the others thought it was just an excuse? What if she was making up things? 

Well, there was no harm in just trying out some methods, right? It wasn’t the official diagnosis that was important, she reasoned. If the methods worked, maybe then she could confess her suspicions - because then it wouldn’t look like a bunch of excuses, at the very least.

How she was supposed to work around ADHD while being Sailor Moon she had no idea. 

She set another twenty-five minute timer and worked some more on her English homework. She got frustrated halfway through the assignment though, so after her second break she pulled out her math homework. Three problems into that she gave up and started working on her Japanese. It wasn’t a lot that she got done, but she put in effort that she hadn’t before, so she counted that as a win - no matter how much Luna sighed.

“I’m going to Tokyo Tower,” she told Luna tiredly.

“It’s Sunday and almost midnight; shouldn’t you be going to bed?”

“I won’t be gone long. I just need to unwind.”

Luna grumbled under her breath about Usagi ‘unwinding’ already with manga. Usagi studiously ignored her.

“Moon Prism Power, Make Up!”

Then Sailor Moon was off, racing across the rooftops until she reached the top. Then she did a double take. “Tuxedo Kamen!”

“Sailor Moon,” he acknowledged from where he sat, as if it were normal he should be hanging out there, and at that time of night. “Youma?”

“No. I just wanted to relax.”

“By all means.” He indicated the area beside him. She accepted the invitation, leaving a few feet between them.

“I’ve not seen you here before.”

“Do you come here often?”

“I do,” she admitted. “I like to see the view.”

“It is nice,” he admitted. 

They fell into silence. Sailor Moon felt hyper-aware of his presence, his slight movements. Her heart rate picked up its tempo, and she felt so warm, even in the cool air, that she wanted to fan herself. She reminded herself sternly that she had just accepted going on a date with another man. But it was Tuxedo Kamen! He was always swoonworthy. But due to her hyper-awareness, she noticed that he seemed to be scanning for something. “What’re you looking for?” she asked curiously.

He started. “Just making sure the people below us are safe,” he said.

How sweet! Even when there wasn’t a youma, he was still caring about people. “You’re a good person,” she said reverently. Here she would use the tower to take breaks, not scope out dangers!

He looked like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. Silence fell over them again until he spoke.

“So, what did you do today?”

Such a mundane question. “Homework,” she said truthfully, proud to be able to be honest with him. “You?”

“Same.”

“What wonderful lives we lead,” she said sardonically.

“Well, we need normalcy to balance out the ‘Saving the World’ stuff.”

He had a point. “I’m not sure what good school does for me, when I have to be committed to saving the world.”

“We might not be saving the world forever.”

She started. “If that happened, would I ever see you again?”

He tensed. “It depends,” he said carefully.

“Oh.” That hurt. She couldn’t imagine living her life without ever seeing him again. “I hope, when it comes down to it, that we become friends,” she said sincerely.

“Me too,” he said just as sincerely. “You should treat me as an enemy now, but maybe someday we won’t be.”

“I’d like that,” she whispered fervently. “Well, see you at the next battle?”

“Of course.”

She jumped away, feeling flustered. She didn’t get much sleep that night.

Read more:

[honestlyvan]

(Now on DW!)

TBH I think I've fallen into the trap of taking the game systems in Last Recode too literally, because Roots pretty directly implies that Haseo's batshit level before he gets data drained is the result of the PK killing spree he goes on after getting Form 3'd by AI Harald.

To me it looks like having cleared Forest of Pain at such a low level, and having access to high level skills and mechanics most people need to grind up to access gives Haseo an edge over the majority of players, even those he has a significant level gap to, and once he hits level 100 he's truly in an elite that only people like madmen who grind the arena like Sirius and Taihaku, or else people who camp the level cap due to extensive playtime like Phyllo and Shino, or people who simply cheat like Ovan.

And that does a *little* bit bear out as far as game!Haseo goes, because the game outright encourages you to keep aiming for battles to be 2-3 levels above your own for optimal level growth, and I've found that even 6-7 is perfectly doable as long as you never ever ever get hit. Haseo's version of Adept Rogue emphasises speed with two of its weapons, and the upgrade seems to have unlocked a lot of his skils outright, and what with how aggro he is, he's just out-damaging everyone in an instant even at a low level.

This dovetails with the idea that outside of basic attacks and a few skills, most skills and abilities in The World are rewards from beating certain enemies, quests or areas with special conditions. But since that would be tedious for the narrative, the game unrolls some of those systems into just the level-up system, and leaves the rest as implication.

[trainerbymoonlight]

🦕- The muse talks about their very first pokemon

man, apollo. my sweet lil guy. where do i even start with him? i can already tell this is gonna be a long post, i tend to get sappy when i talk about him- and how could i not? he’s been my partner pokémon for nine years of my life.

(i guess, uh.. cw for vague references to past injury to a child?)

[photo of what looks to be a very young Floris in a lab, smiling at the camera as they hold a small Torchic in their arms, which is gripping onto their t-shirt with its tiny claws and glaring in displeasure at whoever’s behind the camera.]

this was taken right after i got him! the story behind him being my pick was.. untraditional, really. accidental. he wasn’t the starter torchic that was supposed to be one of my options, actually, since our local professor thought his nature being too opinionated and high-maintenance wouldn’t be optimal for a beginner Trainer- especially not me, who hadn’t even turned ten yet.

he tried to convince me to choose another, much more suitable torchic for my age back at the lab, but when he tried to pry apollo off of me, he bit the shit out of the professor’s hand and screeched his little head off! totally refused to let me go, and i really didn’t mind, so i decided on keeping him.

you’d probably assume he’s all serious and battle-focused, but he’s still just as much if not more of a cuddlebug as he was when he was a baby, just bigger, stronger, and able to hold me hostage (/j) now lol

[more recent selfie of the Champion, face halfway in frame, wrapped in a tight hold by a big, battle-scarred Blaziken, eyes closed and sharp beak nestled into the crook of their neck comfortably.]

he’s.. done a lot for me, especially during my first journey. he basically taught me how to train pokémon in the first place, since he’s always had very particular ways of doing things. i think i’ve mentioned he’s force evolved a couple of times, but i haven’t really elaborated on that yet

i’m gonna keep it vague, but after one of my Gym battles as a kid, i got super injured. at some point during the whole thing, apollo broke out of his ball. he was a combusken at the time, and he ended up force-evolving himself into blaziken early (thankfully not significantly earlier) in order to keep me alive the best way he knew how and put himself between the threat and i. the threat gave up, which is probably the smart move to make when you’re faced with a six-foot-tall fire-breathing bird pokémon who wants you dead.

all in all- apollo is the best boy, (at least to me) and he deserves the world. i try my best to give it to him every single day, but.. well, seeing that i’m human, i can’t necessarily ask him if i’m doing a good job. i can only pray to Arc that i’m giving him the best life i can give him as his trainer until somebody somewhere invents some kind of pokémon translation device :) he seems happy, though, and that’s what matters most to me. i owe him a hell of a lot.

sorry for the long post! :3