#☆Mod Beast Approves

[growandrecover]

Heyyy, me again! First of all I'd like to thank you for all your replies so far.

Second of all, I'd like to ask if you know of any communities centered around ED recovery. I know of two subreddits, but of them are... really bad. One is not recovery focused and is mostly overrun by pro-ana teenagers who are looking for advice for continuing their self harming behaviour. The other is recovery focused but every post is manually approved by mods and the mods approve like...5 % of posts and you aren't allowed to talk about anything slightly upsetting, even though there's a whole trigger warning flair so idk what's up with that. I feel like there's strength in community and while most of the members of my DBT group have some sort of eating disorder as well, it isn't really the focus of the sessions and we are discouraged from talking about it because not everyone is stable in their recovery.

Third of all, is it normal for extreme hunger to come in waves? I've always heard about it as like...this thing you get for a week or two straight and then you're alright, but after a while of starting recovery, I got extreme hunger for like two days and then nothing. And after a few weeks it was like a day again. Last week I didn't feel hungry nearly at all and didn't eat much, and this week I've feeling super ravenous. Like since Monday I've been feeling like a starving beast of some sort dhdhhdhsb. It isn't even necessarily physical hunger, like, yeah, sure, that too, but sometimes I feel dizzy and hungry and like I'm starving even though there's no physical pain in the stomach area.

Hey!! My deepest apologies for taking so long to respond. Life has been kind of hectic around here 🥲

I did some googling and here's what I found as far as groups go:

(As far as I know, they're all free. I went through all the registries and looked for payment options, and there were none. I haven't used any of them myself, though. I believe most of these take place in the US, so if you're not American, just let me know *if you're comfortable doing so, of course* and I'll look for more!! I did find a few that were taking people from all over the world, and one just for those residing in the UK and one for Australians.)

Eating Recovery Center: This one has a lot of different groups, though you can only be registered for one at a time. They're virtual meetings. I'm not certain if it's limited to those who live in the states or not, but if you live there, you should be able to access it.

Center For Discovery: This one also has a lot of different groups. They're virtual as well.

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders: This one only has 2 groups, one for those with the disorder, and another for family members.

Project Heal: This one is a list of 30 different groups, separated by category (high-weight and larger bodies, body liberation, lgbtq+, neurodivergent, bipoc, clinicians in recovery, age specific, general support, Spanish speaking, male identifying, meal support, and support for family and friends)

National Alliance for Eating Disorders: Virtual meetings, but not as many categories. If you live in the states, there are a few in person meetings as well. Led by therapists.

The Eating Disorder Foundation: Virtual as well. Lots of different options as far as groups go. (Family and friends, people experiencing binge behaviors, trans and nonbinary, individuals 18+, individuals 50+, neurodivergent, both virtual and in person for lgbtq+ people 18 and older, individuals 30+, individuals 13-17, art journaling, health professionals in recovery, and several other in person groups.)

Beat Eating Disorders: Solely for people in the UK. These are chat rooms. (General support, bulimia support, BED support, anorexia support, ARFID support)

The Lotus Collaborative: Meets on Zoom every Friday 3:00 pm to 3:50 pm PST. Anyone who is working on their recovery journey is welcome to join.

Butterfly Foundation: I believe this is solely open to Australians. However, if you just so happen to live there, they have both virtual and web chat options.

Eating Disorders Anonymous: This one has both in person and Zoom meetings for people who live all over the world. They are location specific, but there are many options.

Eating Disorder (Ana, BED, Mia, & EDNOS) Recovery Support Group *through Facebook*: I'm not a member of this group, but it looks like it shouldn't be harmful. However, since it's private, I sent a request to join to make sure it won't be triggering. I'll delete it off this list if it is. The rules that lead me to believe that it won't be harmful are as follows: "1. No numbers: All numbers related to weight, food, exercise, measurements, etc must be replaced by x/xx/xxxx. 2. No bullying whatsoever. Bullies will be immediately banned without a warning. 3. All pictures must go in the comment section of your post! Selfies and body shots are not allowed! 5. This group is NOT a pro ed group or a pro self harm group. If you support those, this group is not for you." There are 33k members.

Project Heal: This one was already mentioned, but I just wanted to single it out because it's specifically for meal support.

Balance Eating Disorder Treatment Center: This group is titled "Virtual Contemplating Recovery Free Eating Disorder Support Group". They state that if you're asking yourself things like, "Am I sick enough? Do I even have an eating disorder? Can I fix this on my own? Will I ever know a life without the obsession?" you'd be a great fit for this meeting. They meet twice a month at no cost. There is an international option if you're not in America. I wasn't sure if you'd need this one or not, but I wanted you to have the option.

Ana, Mia, and EDNOS Recovery Support Group *through Facebook*: Again, I requested to join this group to be sure it wouldn't be triggering. I'll delete it off the list if it is. There are 27k members. This one has very similar rules to the first one.

(If these weren't what you were looking for, I got a lot of area specific ones in my search *not included in this list*. So if you were to search, you may find some for those who live near you. I searched "eating disorder recovery forum", "eating disorder support forum", "eating disorder support group online", and "anorexia recovery support groups")

Update: I just got into the first group (they seem to work very quickly) and scrolled through the posts a little bit. Everyone looks to be pretty mindful and helpful as well! If you have Facebook, I'd recommend this one!!

To answer the third part of your ask:

My extreme hunger was terrible. Oh my gosh, it was just absolutely wild. I know exactly what you mean when you say you feel like a starving beast. Mine went on for a few months, if I'm remembering correctly. I remember getting it around October, and it stayed until January -ish? It got so much worse around the holidays 😫. However, I think it's different for everyone.

I remember looking it up and found this (I found it again when I looked it up just now lol) : RecoveryWarriors.com

In case you don't feel like reading it, the author says, "It was the oddest feeling. My stomach might feel full, but I feel an innate calling to keep eating. And eating. And eating. I'd consume huge amounts of food at once and still scrounge for more." She goes on to say, "Extreme hunger is not something everyone recovering from a restrictive eating disorder will experience. However, most will. When you'll experience it and for how long differs, but it is usually a (scary) part of the recovery process."

She continues a little bit later,

"However, it may take quite a while for your hunger levels to go back to 'normal'. There's no way of knowing how long extreme hunger will last. For some people, they may only experience it for a few weeks. Other people may find themselves in a state of extreme hunger for months on end. Or, you may never experience extreme hunger." (Why Can't I stop Eating!: The Truth About Extreme Hunger, Savala)

This article by Registered Dietician, Shena Jaramillo, called Extreme Hunger in Eating Disorder Recovery explains what causes it, the signs, how to manage it, provides coping tools, and might help to answer your question a little bit further.

I hope this was at least somewhat helpful!! Let me know how the groups go (only if you want to, of course) and I'll be sure to check back in when I get into the 2 on Facebook :) 💗

[wayward-travelers]

Inge Sjasaris

B A S I C S

Name: Inge Sjasaris (pre-EW), Inge Grymkoelwyn (post-EW)

Nicknames: none

Age: In her sixties

Nameday: 5th Sun of the 2nd Umbral Moon

Race: Viera

Gender: Loaded question given that I've never bothered posting about her tribe, but long story short: she's fine with being called a woman. In our modern western ways, she'd be more akin to genderqueer. In her people's way, it's hard to translate so she never bothers. Honestly any pronoun is technically fine by her, it'll never be completely right anyway.

Orientation: Whatever, but more female leaning overall.

Profession: Mercenary, alchemist

P H Y S I C A L     A S P E C  T S

Hair: I've yet to find a satisfying mod for what I have in mind but curly and mid-long, black, badly cut 'cause she tends to do it herself whenever the length annoys her too much. Rarely tied though, she doesn't like the feeling (hence the terrible haircuts)

Eyes: Grey

Skin: Dark brown, with some freckles

Tattoos/scars: A tattoo left by Louisoix's spell between her shoulder blades. Many scars scattered on her body, most faded though and none too remarkable.

F A M I L Y

Parents: Both alive, never named them x)

Siblings: Two unnamed sisters and one brother, which she doesn't know is a brother because she left before he hit puberty. He's called Solrunn and is played by @inah-ffxiv (who also plays her wife)

Grandparents: I didn't flesh out the family tree so far so.... no idea

In-laws and Other: She's married to Yersinia Bordetella (which isn't her real name if you wonder after reading Inge's family name above) Also in a relationship with Y'shtola.

Pets: None

S K I L L S

Abilities: The notable ones would be magic enhancing/debuffing (and healing but if you don't get hit, it's even better), war surgery, alchemy (mostly potions), botany and bow hunting. She can hear the Elementals too

Hobbies: Reading smut and romance. That's about it, she loves her job as an adventurer and doesn't take much time off.

T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Steadfast and kind

Most Negative Trait: emotionally constipated and prone to reproach people their recklessness before doing the exact same fucking thing five minutes later (But it's different because she knows what she's doing™)

L I K E S

Colors: she loves bright colors in general but mostly wears neutral/earthly colors herself (as to not make a target of herself). Doesn't have a clear favorite

Smells: damp soil, forests, quite a lot alchemical agents, tea, campfires

Textures: Leather, smooth polished wood, soft wool

Drinks: Tea, tea and more tea

O T H E R    D E T A I L S

Smokes: Recreationally. Did you know the Twelve will approve of your union even if you're too high to remember the entire day? Should you get lucky enough to meet them, they'll even mention it /shudders

Drinks: Tea and water. Occasionally maybe some fruit juice. Never any alcohol, it makes her sick

Drugs: Nothing other than what I mentioned above

Mount Issuance: Inge's actually in the Twin Adder and got her chocobo through them. The bird doesn't have an actual name, she whistles to call it/give it orders and mostly uses it as a beast of burden rather than a mount. Her yol is in the care of the Mols. She didn't want to take it away from its natural environment, but she visits sometimes.

Been Arrested: Never. To say that she's always a law-abiding citizen might be pushing it though...

Tagged by: @lilbittymonster (ty!) Tagging @inah-ffxiv @adrayellinaeth @archaiclumina @hakai-zonapher @feathersage @wpip-raham @the-crimson-rose @sharlayanscion @ooc-miqojak (so you can pick which character you want to do it with) @punchelf @chadhunkler @clockworkdimensions @gatheredfates @corsair-kovacs @heavensw4rd

I went through my followers list and I have more characters so feel free to ignore if you're not interested and I'll tag more people when I do it with the rest of the cast!

[limited-time-imaginary-friend]

among us + boneless pizza + Lebron James + One chip challenge + chuck e cheese + creepypasta + horror monologue + reddit post + r/copypasta + cringe + Thomas sanders vines + 2020 + sr pelo + griddy + low taper fade + big back + Trevor Henderson creatures + sweet home alabama + dad went to get the milk + gummy bears + disney’s downfall + nostalgic + nostalgia + joe mama jokes + fortnite + andrew tate + name 10 books + gedagadegadagadieo man face chicken nugget + 3AM challenge + Trollface edit + gyat + mogging + edging + looksmaxxing + mewing + shrek + kinder egg videos + play-dough egg videos + I like my cheese drippy bruh + KSI’s new song + lunchly’s + I have 2 sides + grind + sweat + geek + goon + gooner + nerd + youtube shorts + tiktok slideshows + one cock edits + peanut butter on my sandwich + blippi harlem shake video + drop the soap + slang + homer simpson + online dating + toxicity + presidential debate + facebook mom(s) + soccer mom(s) + minions who will gru be tonight + india’s average water supply=💩 + africa’s average water supply=❔+ I ate 5 homeless people because I thought they were watermelons + snapchat filters + Hawk Tuah + Talk Tuah podcast + Prime + Still Prime + FDA approved + sigma + Alpha male + Beta + Ice Spice + Kai Cenat + Ishowspeed + stop the cap bruh 🧢 + you ate that + you sold + you’re selling + lock in + locked in + I forgor + dat boi + Nyan Cat + shaggy 0.1% power + Goku drip + Kendrick Lamar + Not Like Us + Drake + BBL Drizzy + P. Diddy + Quandale Dingle + Sophie Rain Spiderman Video + Drake Leak + Super Senior Gojo + Thukuna + Grimace Shake + Gacha Life Edits + Packgod + BellaTheWolf + Meowbahh + Internet beef + gang gang + Eminem + Donald Trump + Joe Biden + Kamala Harris + Ratio + Cope + Kys + throwing it back + Rizz + rizzler + rizzing them up + schizophrenia + Erm what the sigma + handsome squidward + spongebob + idksterling + mr beast + Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul + Shopify + Tiktok Trend + whats your power in rise of kingdoms? + doxxing + doxxer + doxxed + asf + asl + idk + wth + wtf + emoji reactions + discord mod + EDP445 + dr disrespect * Kris Tyson + Aura + Bro + Based + Basic + Banger + Fire + Cooked + BDE + Bestie + Taylor Swift + Bet + BFFR + Big Yikes + Blud + Boujee + Adolf Hitler + osama bin laden + 9/11 + the holocaust + 1800’s slavery + Bouncing on it + step bro i’m stuck + Bop + the sauce + glaze + Glazing + Family guy clips + fortnite montage + Brainrot + Fanum Tax + Bruh + Bussin + Bussy + fnaf song sus remixes + sus + sussy + sussy baka + baka + Caught in 4k + Clapback + Dab + Dap me up + you’re dead + dogs + grippers + sonic put those grippers away! + Drip + Era + Villan Arc + Winter Arc + glow-up + glow-down + Extra + random + you’re doing too much + Fit-check + Flex + dogwater + toiletwater + Finna + Gagged + stop ghosting me + Glizzy + G.O.A.T. + Gucci + Hits different + ICK + and I oop + VSCO GIRLS skskssksksksk + IPad Kid + It’s giving ____ + Iykyk + Jit + lil bro + Karen Behavior + yap + yapping + Lit + Rent-Free + bro thinks hes the Main Character + mid + Netflix and Chill + NPC + Nyaa~ + Ohio + ok boomer + oof + opp(s) + outta pocket + owned + humbled + stay mad + L + W + nobody asked + nobody cares + Period + Pick me + Pluh + Pookie + Queen + King + daddy + mommy + Red flag + Roman Empire + salty + secure the bag + just put the fries in the bag bro + sheesh + shook + sigma male + simp + slaps + slay + sleep on + get off my meat bro + meat-riding + meat-rider + snatched + stan + Dream face reveal + FNAF theories + mattpat + skill issue + Markiplier + OnlyFans + spill the tea girlie + tweaking + Touch grass + Understood the assignment + Valid + Vibe check + wig + yeet + zesty + band4band + ai covers + Baby Gronk + Livvy Dunne + Still water + adrenaline + noradrenaline + anger issues + balkan parents + english or Spanish + german stare + Balkan rage + jonkler laugh + phonk + mangos + 1000 yard stare + those who know=💀

"... what?"

[ps1demodisk]

I’m sorry, but I’m still genuinely wondering what your motives were. You literally gaslit and manipulated and entire server just trying to have a good time, abused your mod privileges, got multiple people wrongfully kicked and/or banned, and basically turned everyone against each other until the server crumbled and shut down.

What was the reason /gen? Did someone write a fic you didn’t like? Make art you didn’t approve of? Your docs barely explain shit and we’re all still confused.

I'll answer this one as a formality i guess because it seems genuine but I'm still ignoring every other one that comes through because yall are getting weird about your threats in the ask box

The reason you cant understand my motives is because I didn't have one, you're looking at it as if I was intentionally trying to mess things around and hurt people which is why it's not making sense to you

Also kinda not understanding how now it's gaslighting instead of whatever it was before, gaslighting is intentional and for something to be intentional you have to do it on purpose. Manipulation I guess yeah can be unintentional so I'll take that one.

The other thing, with the doc and stuff, how that doesn't give you answers? That's because I still don't know what I did, and even less so at the time I wrote it. No one spoke to me (except the server owner but that was just for themself and not about what everyone else seems to be on about) no one posted anything that was comprehensive enough for me to grasp what all was actually going on, they just made me out to be cartoonishly evil and went on about how everyone needs to heal and be protected from me and how god regrets me gaining consciousness ig but when someone asked what I did because they were scared, they weren't told anything, people acted weird about it, and from what I was told then even initially tried to play it off as nothing happening.

Honestly the only things I take responsibility for here is 1) the fact I wasn't careful with how I spoke to [the server owner] and that it made them feel pressured to agree with me on stuff when they actually didn't agree. and 2) that I let my issues with other people's behaviour escalate into shit talking instead of just keeping it as normal complaining between friends, because yeah I can say "well they did it too" or "they did it worse" but at the end of the day that doesn't negate the fact I also did it? I played my part, and regardless of whether or not Peachy and Sky want to own up to their parts in it, I need to own up to mine. Even if my issues were valid with people it wasn't a pass to be outright rude about them and name call.

I stand by what nut said being racist and I stand by the fact hob sending porn doujins of aged up 17 year olds without telling people that's what they were and shotacon noncon that they feigned ignorance to being shotacon noncon and trying to manipulate our other friend with pretty shitty messages and is weird!

Sorry not sorry this answers probably none of your questions but it's literally the best you're gonna get outta me, I still use the same discord account by the way I just changed the name to @ ps1demodisk in case you still think the name change was to "hide from consequences" or something and not just because I felt like it.

These are the conditions I was forced to write under too so! I'm literally watching these beasts run head first into my glass cabinet like total idiots while I try to get them fed and watered, so if nothing else at least enjoy the bastard children I guess?

[askbeastdemonslayerkazato]

I am Kazato Aldun Kazaki, the Beast Demon slayer. my title is a bit more accurate than many believe. the Lord who runs the Corps gave me his direct approval when showing my power yet knew of my condition. it turns out humans can breed with demon kind and as a result very rarely does the offspring live. However the living ones are pure humans whom have a demon's magic mine was a wolf-like demon. Whom had very odd style of magic. It mostly involved his own powers being trapped into a fang he lost during his initial rampage which was turned into the very blade which slew him after he killed my mother years later. I have learned three techniques of my donor's killer, the Blades of Blood, Iron Reaver Soul Stealer, and Windscar attacks. Mother told me these attacks were called Beast Demon Arts. I became like the swordsmith/slayer's champion as he was growing older and protected our village. He taught me that with this unique style and the enchantments of the blade adaptation is key. My blade was dubbed Tessaiga (alternatively tetusaiga) in honor of the swordsman's house. It wields a power even I'm not sure of yet but I heard rumors that if a slayer were to truly train with this blade long enough they could slay 100 lesser demons all at once in a single stroke of the blade or equivalently around upper 5 for just one demon. I have met many a slayer during my trials and even final selection and hope to become a Tsuguko to any who'll take me in even multiple hashira to learn some new power. The other enchantments are that demons can't take up his blade without suffering a special blue flaming burn inflicted and the blades true strength is sealed. The sheathe can retrieve the sword from a distance of 25m (upwards of actually probably 250m but initial weakness grows to better control situation).

Secrets

The first time kazato used the windscar his emotions of a blind fury towards demon kind unleashed it's true power and destroyed his home village killing all there by creating a short canyon albeit still definitely counted as a canyon and the demon was completely ashed by the energy produced.

Ch1 pt1:

Ch1 pt2:

Ch1 pt3:

Ch1 pt4

Ch2 pt1 (takes place Jan-mar off screen)

Ch2 pt2 (apr-jun off screen)

Ch2 pt3a (the shinobu introduction/interaction) (still wip I think) (jul-sept off screen)

Ch2 pt3b (tengen interaction/introduction...not available yet) (oct a)

Ch2 pt3c (minor mission) (oct b)

Ch2 pt3d (wind down from mission/mitsuri and Kazato relationship announcement) (oct c)

Ch2 pt4(rest of the hashira at once. Not available yet) (rest of nov off screen)

Ch2 pt5 (fight with Mazoku the puppeteer demon followed by wedding of kaz and mitsuri. Dec. Wip)

Mod: here's the rp info

Straight

Directly XXX moments are permitted in DMs whereas non detailed teasing/fanservice bits for posts.

Polyamorous (definitely dating Mitsuri now in his cannon, possible second girlfriend character on the way.)

Male

19-24+ (character agr I'm 24)

Only info of the sword is needed but have some Inuyasha knowledge please.

If oc X cc is a thing mitsuri is the goal for that but would prefer oc X oc

All alt demon slayer blogs

@the-puppeteer-demon

@ask-the-spirit-siblings

@shina-kumatsi-dskyn

My awesome friends

@askmitsuri-kanroji

@paintoreos

@mamaandherfamily

@katanafoxdrawsthings

@ask-the-insect-hashira

@the-godof-festivals

@ask-spider-mother-kny

And more I'm not currently remembering the tags for or met and will add as I remember them

[casspurrjoybell-27]

Claimed by the Beast - Chapter 16a

*Warning Adult Content*

Ambush - Part 1

- Knox -

When Knox finally makes it out front, his brothers are already sitting on their bikes with their ski masks on, ready to go.

"Do I even need to ask why you're late?" Gavin calls out, starting his motorcycle.

Knox says nothing while mounting his bike and slipping his mask on.

"Yeah, I figured it was the kid."

Knox scowls.

"Don't."

Gavin chuckles.

"Let's ride."

They zoom through the property gates like bats out of hell, adrenaline pumping through their veins.

Knox tries to keep his mind focused on the task at hand but with it being an hour long drive to the dock, his mind occasionally drifts back to Everett.

Asking little questions like is he okay?

Is he tucked away somewhere crying and cursing Knox's guts?

Have his feelings changed after their big argument?

And that kiss in the kitchen...

What the fuck possessed him to kiss Everett like that?

The look on Josie's face was telling.

Everyone knows it by now, don't they?

How much of a goner Knox is over Everett, a boy he's known for less than ninety days.

A foul-mouthed, stubborn piece of work who repeatedly pushes his buttons without consequence.

Yeah, Knox is a fucking goner all right.

"Fifteen out," Levi, the road captain, gathers everyone's attention when he speaks through the headset in his Bluetooth helmet, a helpful new gadget that Mason had recently suggested they purchase, alerting everyone that they're getting closer to Hickory Springs.

He holds his right fist in the air moments later before turning right onto an unmarked dirt road.

No one questions him.

It's his job to know all the shortcuts and hidden entrances and exits inside and outside of town and especially when they're venturing into someone else's territory.

It makes their rides a hell of a lot smoother most of the time.

As they slow to a stop near an abandoned cabin in the middle of a deeply wooded area, the van where Oz's weapons will be temporarily stored for safekeeping, parks behind them.

Gavin orders the driver to stick around and watch over the bikes, then Levi leads everyone up a new path a few feet away.

It takes them up a steep hill that looks out over the entire area where the shipment is set to arrive, making it the perfect vantage point. 

They're hidden by trees while also being provided with a full view of the lake and dock, granting them access to see The Jackals every move once they arrive. 

"This is a damn good spot, Levi. Remind me to buy you a bottle on the way back," Gavin says, keeping his voice low.

Levi grunts his approval in response.

"We can't all sit up here. We need to spread out and corner the bastards at all sides. Only one of them will leave here alive tonight," he then says to Knox... "You need to give some kind of a signal after you figure out who the leader of the group is so we can avoid shooting him when the shit hits the fan."

"I'll mark him with my laser," Knox says, flashing one of his modded guns. "You all should be able to see it from up here."

"If they can't, then I will," Harry, the sniper of the group, adds.

"Perfect. Problem solved." Gavin looks around and asks... "Who's volunteering to go down?"

Knox doesn't wait to see who follows him but he knows Finn isn't too far behind.

Wherever Knox goes, Finn usually follows.

The two of them decide to take cover behind a fallen tree located a few feet away from the dock, their black outfits allowing them to blend in with the darkness of the night.

"What are you carrying?" Knox asks quietly, his eyes forward and surveying the area still.

"I carry what I always carry, the best of the best shit." Finn smirks, showing off the various guns and knives attached to his body.

"Everything has a silencer on it, in case you were wondering. I didn't forget this time."

"Good," Knox mutters.

He spots a handful of his brothers spreading out nearby, some lying low in the tall weeds and others hiding behind thick trees and bushes.

They're all wearing bulletproof vests but Knox remains on edge because that won't stop a bullet to the head.

"So..." Finn starts. "How'd the kid take you having to leave?"

"Change the subject," Knox warns.

"You know you can always come talk to me about these things, right?" Finn continues, ignoring Knox's obvious discomfort with the topic. "Relationships in our line of work can be a bitch to navigate. And it doesn't help when you and your person come from different backgrounds..."

"Enough," Knox snaps. "Change the fucking subject."

Finn rolls his eyes, laughing to himself.

"Okay, asshole. How much time we got?" Knox checks his watch.

"Twenty minutes. They should be arriving soon. Don't act until I do."

"Copy that," Finn says. 

The Jackals arrive fashionably late at approximately 10:45 PM.

They come in two small boats, each carrying a total of three people.

They're clearly outnumbered but Knox refuses to call it a win for The Fallen Angels until after he picks out the leader and the rest are killed.

His brothers up above and below sit tight as The Jackals secure the boats to the rickety dock and then they begin to unload several duffle bags that are presumably filled with illegal weapons.

Only one man is yelling out orders the entire time.

He's tall with a wide build and a buzzcut.

His weapon of choice is an AK-47 and at the moment, it's slung over his back.

Unlike The Fallen Angels, The Jackals are all wearing their cuts tonight.

Bikers usually don't leave their clubhouse without it on but it was a dumbass idea for Russell to send his men out like that because it very easily reveals their identity to the public, aka the police.

Common knowledge states that when one goes out to commit a crime with friends, it isn't smart to advertise the gang that you belong to, hence why Gavin ordered everyone to leave their cuts at home.

Russell's stupidity, however, works out in Knox's favor.

He can see the SGT at Arms patch on the back of the man's cut, telling his rank and level of importance.

His fate is sealed. 

When the man isn't looking in Knox's direction, Knox briefly points his laser at his back while his men are preoccupied.

The man later instructs his team to pack the guns through the woods and up the same path that Knox used to come down to the dock.

For obvious reasons, Knox can't allow that to happen.

Gavin is riding on the same wavelength, so he whistles for his men to release hell.

Bullets stream in from all sides, leaving The Jackals with little time to react to the ambush.

They drop dead like flies but the leader remains untouched.

Well, everything apart from his mangled hands, which Knox had specifically been aiming at during the shootout to prevent the man from using his gun.

Knox rushes over to the screaming Jackal currently cursing up a storm while down on his knees, tears and sweat streaming down his pale face as he stares at pieces of his fingers on the ground.

"Who the fuck are you...?"

"We'll talk later."

Knox knocks him out with one punch.

His brothers flank in and grab the duffle bags while Knox and Finn carry No Name back up the path.

They barely make it ten feet when extra shots ring out from behind them.

There was another boat.

"Fuck, I'm hit," someone yells from nearby.

Knox and Finn exchange a quick look before dropping No Name and taking immediate cover behind a tree.

"I counted five of them," Finn talks fast while replacing the magazine on his gun.

It takes seconds for two bodies to fall from somewhere off in the distance, the heavy thump against the ground letting him know they won't be getting back up again.

"Three now. I hope they weren't any of our men... otherwise, shout-out to Harry."

"Less talking, more shooting."

Knox peeks from around the tree when the opposing gunfire quiets down.

He spots one Jackal crawling his way toward No Name's unconscious body but the two others remain out of sight.

"Fuck it."

He makes the executive decision to shoot the Jackal that he can see.

He raises his gun to fire but Finn beats him to it.

"That was my kill, you little shit."

"Mine now, old man. You move too slow," Finn laughs.

It dies quickly when he turns to his right at the sound of movement approaching him and Knox.

His response time is slow because he wrongfully assumes it's one of his brothers coming up to check on them.

"Shit," the same reflexes he used to taunt Knox suddenly fail him after identifying the stranger as their enemy.

"One on my right..." Knox doesn't think.

He reacts.

He roughly grabs Finn by his vest and tosses him to the ground out of harm's way.

Knox raises his weapon on beat with the Jackal glaring at him.

Time seems to slow itself as they shoot each other simultaneously, Knox's bullet going between the man's eyes.

He ignores the burning sensation coming from his left bicep as he bends down to check on Finn.

Gavin finally calls the all-clear after the last Jackal is killed seconds later.

[highflygingcon]

Trojan hit the hard, rocky terrain...but strangely, there was no dust. No bounce from the impact either. Still, they forced their body to their knees, scuttling back in fear as Overlord approached.

"You're attacking a medic--" they managed to squeak out through the pain. But...they knew in their spark that would not be enough. As long as D.R.O.N.E got as far away as possible from this beast.

...But then, an idea hit them. Processor moving fast, they dug around a side pocket, pulling out a sealed cube. "One who has connections to people who make these."

Though non-descript, bots in the know knew exactly what they held. Mods. Highly illegal mods. Trojan did have a reputation for 'getting the job done.' Being one of the first medics to start installing illegal mods on the down-low. Mostly medical ones, at first. Mods not approved yet by the Institute, usually for safety reasons. Now? Now they knew how to obtain, and install, some of the most lethal mods on the market.

Oh that was a mistake. Overlord whirled around, transforming back in to base mode and snatching the smaller bot, optics alight with warped glee as his servo wrapped around the flyer's throat, squeezing tight and hurling him with incredible force towards the ground.

Overlord braced himself for his own impact, air rushing by before he performed a similar stunt to earlier and crashed down with earth shattering force, leaving a small crater from the impact.

Pedes shuffled, Overlord stalking towards his prey with eager, long strides.

"Did you survive, little bot? I cetainly hope so...."

[monomisclassroom]

Greetings!

I'm Mod Beast (a.k.a Kedamono). Please continue if you'd like to know more about what I can do.

Sources:

Anything bolded are my most familiar sources

Salad Fingers

Popee The Performer

The Walten Files

Friday Night Funkin'

Five Nights At Freddys

Dorohedoro

Tankmen

Neo Yokio

Smile For Me

Kipo And The Age Of The Wonderbeasts

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Parts 1 - 6)

Danganronpa (THH and SDR2)

Epithet Erased

Ace Attorney (First Game)

Fanganronpas (If I'm familiar with them)

Original characters

I can do:

Mood boards

Icons

Wallpapers

Stim boards

Reaction icons/sprites

Wallpapers

Positive reinforcement

Heck yeah!:

These are just things I'd DEFINETLY do.

Kazuichi Souda

Gundham Tanaka

Makoto Naegi

Chihiro Fujisaki

Salad Fingers

Kedamono

Popee

Kakyoin Noriaki

Joseph Joestar

Josuke Higashikata

Tankman

Kazuichi x Gundham

No thanks!:

Things I won't do. They either make me uncomfy or are just HUGE no-nos.

Anything marked "Selective" means I might consider doing a request related to said character or ship, but it's unlikely.

Mikan x Junko

Nsfw/18+ content

Traumacore

Yanderecore

Despaircest

Any pedophilic or toxic ships

Papi (Selective)

Makoto x Kyoko or Junko

Byakuya x Toko

Sonia x Gundham or Kazuichi (Selective)

Annnd that's it! Thanks for reading. Uhhh sorry if I'm not too creative with my intro, this is pretty new to me! :]

[gay4bots]

Transformers Continuity List:

IDW Transformers (mainly MTMTE and LL)

Transformers Earthspark

Transformers Prime

Transformers Cybertron Trilogy

Transformers Prime Wars Trilogy

Transformers G1

Request Rules:

Male reader or gender neutral reader, you can specify either afab or amab for GN readers, and afab for male readers(I am a trans/NB friendly page!) If GN reader isn't specified I will use GN language and not specify any gendered parts.

Must be all adult characters for romantic/nsfw requests, that includes the Bot characters. So no canonically sparklings. Then aged up is okay, however they will not behave as minors.

Any kink is allowed besides underaged, ageplay and zoophilia, asking for a bot who's alt is an animal/dino is a-okay so long as they are fully aware and able to communicate. Requests involving them in beast mod are also okay, again so long as they can speak and retain their consciousness.

You can ask for bot x bot, bot!reader, human!reader, or alien!reader(wherein they are neither bot nor human)

If asking for a full one shot only 1 canon character for reader inserts. A ship one shot, only 2 bots(i.e. it would be a one shot for their ship. Ex. Rung x Skids one shot)

Headcanon limit is 3 characters per request, just to keep it from going over any txt limit Tumblr introduced

Imagines are only a few paragraphs, one shots are multiple (maybe even having parts 1-3 if I particularly like them/you request a part two to an existing one shot), headcanons will have 3-6 bullet points per character requested Abt the size of a mini paragraph (3-5 sentences).

This is a blog dedicated to male readers, masc aligned readers and NB people, so I will readily accept requests for them. Female readers or female aligned is a 'per approval' basis. Meaning I will read your request and decide whether to write it or not. This is only bc the amount of NB/male reader fics- specifically for transformers- is miniscule compared to female/female aligned readers and I, a NB trans man, want to help even out the fic amounts. This is not a slight towards women/women leaning individuals, however there is a plethora of fics geared towards y'all and many other writers who will readily write for y'all.

[slightly-nerdy-rambles]

Robstar Week Day 3: Fun and Games (Prompt: July 4th)

As soon as I saw this prompt, I knew that I’d be using it as an excuse to answer a question I’ve had for a while now: How is it that the ever-curious Starfire didn’t even know what the Fourth of July was about until the evening of one in the middle of season 3? The actual story kind of grew out from there into just a fun piece about our heroes celebrating a holiday together. It... really isn’t particularly romantic, especially with BB and Cyborg jumping into the conversation, but I think that suits the story just fine. Honestly, one of my favorite parts of Robin and Starfire’s relationship is that, even as they were exploring the idea of making a deeper relationship official, they’ve always considered each other their best friend. Romantic relationships aren’t always about the mushy stuff, after all; they’re also about just having good teamwork and enjoying time together (including with other friends).

Fun and Games

The city park was absolutely packed with life and energy that day. Children and adults of all ages played sports and games across its expansive green, the rich smell of wood smoke and grilled meats filled the air, and even those who were not busy running around or cooking and eating had animated conversations on park benches and picnic blankets as they watched the sun begin its gradual descent through the sky and awaited the evening’s fireworks show. No matter where one looked, the evidence was undeniable: July Fourth was upon Jump City, and it was time for summer fun and celebration.

For all the infectious joy in the place, though, nobody was as excited as the city’s local hero team. Simply put, the Titans had had a run of bad luck over the past few summers. First had been the summer shortly after the team had formed, when they’d been so busy dealing with previously-unencountered supervillains, working on their new headquarters and generally having no idea what they were doing that they missed the holiday completely. The next year, early July had passed by at the height of Terra’s Slade-controlled “power,” and none of the people still in town had really had a chance to celebrate. And the third year, it had seemed the team would finally catch a break after only a brief Plasmus-related delay…

…Until Mad Mod happened.

But this year was shaping up to be perfect. It had been decently quiet all week, with no alerts at all on the Fourth itself and no hints of that changing, and the young heroes were more than ready to take advantage of the break and throw themselves into the festivities of the Fourth with all appropriate gusto.

Perhaps ironically, the Titan most enthusiastic to finally be properly celebrating American Independence Day was the member of foreign royalty. Starfire had loved celebrations of all kinds since she was a child, and she always found something special in those holidays which she herself hadn’t grown up with.

“Please, tell me,” she said, flitting down to her team’s picnic blanket from where she’d been watching an impromptu football game between Cyborg and Beast Boy, “why is this holiday named for the date if it has nothing to do with either the month or the number?”

Robin looked over from his burger and smiled at her. “Well, it does have something to do with the specific date. July 4th was the day the Declaration of Independence was approved and signed, so it’s more or less the day the US officially declared its independence.”

Starfire cocked her head and frowned quizzically. “But New Years Day and Halloween also have meanings to their specific dates, do they not? Why then are they not named ‘The First of January’ or ‘The Thirty-First of October?’”

Robin opened his mouth to answer, thought about it a moment, and then let his gaze drift to stare into the distance. “That… that’s a really good question, actually.”

He blinked. “Wait, Cinco de Mayo — that’s Mexican Independence Day and it does the exact same thing. Why is that?”

“Hey nerds!” Beast Boy’s voice cut through their conversation. He was holding up the football he’d been playing with. “If you’re done with your little history lesson, let’s make this game two-on-two!”

Robin gave Starfire a look of, ‘Can you believe this guy?’ to which she simply giggled in return. He shook his head, turning back to Beast Boy as he got up from the blanket.

“At least my history lessons are accurate!” he shot back.

Starfire smiled and lifted into the air after him. She had to admit, joining the game did sound like a great way to while away the time until the fireworks started.

“Hey Star, you should be on my team!” Beast Boy called out, waving his arms in her direction. “With your mad throwing skills and my speed, we’ll totally crush the other team!”

Starfire raised an eyebrow at that. Fun activity or no, he had just rudely interrupted a fascinating discussion on holiday naming conventions. She hovered up beside Robin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Actually,” she said, “I believe it would be best if the ‘nerds’ formed a team together.”

Cyborg snorted and shook his head. “Yeah, you brought that on yourself, B,” he snarked, clapping his friend on the shoulder. “I hope you won’t mind too much if you’re stuck with me instead.”

Beast Boy blinked up at him and shrugged. “Hey, I just figured we were already playing against each other. We’re still an epic tag-team, now we can totally crush them!”

Cyborg cackled and gave him a fist bump. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Robin interrupted with a smirk. “In the spirit of the holiday, I think Star and I will be more than able to teach you guys a thing or two about the meaning of teamwork.”

Cyborg scoffed and waved the comment away. “Come on, man. I know you didn’t get to do much in the mission last year, but I thought you’d at least paid attention. We all have the teamwork thing down.”

“Oh, I know that,” Robin said, grinning now. “I also know that it was all thanks to my partner.”

Starfire blushed a little and giggled at the unexpected praise in the middle of the boys’ banter. Robin held out a fist to her, and she gladly returned the fistbump, careful to mind her strength so she wouldn’t bruise his knuckles like last time.

“In the spirit of friendly competition,” she piped in, “I believe it is time for the two of you to ‘get wrecked.’”

Beast Boy gasped and spluttered indignantly at her sudden contribution to the pregame trash talk. (The boys were right, that was fun.)

“Oh that is it, you guys are going down!” he shrieked. “Hey Raven, come help us take them down!”

“No.”

Beast Boy pouted and stuck out his tongue in the direction Raven was sitting. When he turned back, though, he was startled to find that the football he’d just been tossing back and forth in his hands was no longer there.

“Hey, where’d it –”

Starfire grinned at him and pointed over his shoulder. Robin was now standing behind him with an identical grin on his face, holding the ball he’d swiped when Beast Boy wasn’t paying attention.

“So, Star,” he said, shifting his attention from his opponent back to his partner, “are you ready for these two to get wrecked?”

Starfire flew up to him and caught the ball when he gently tossed it to her. “Why yes, Robin. I believe I am.”

[aziraphales-library]

Do you have any fics where Crowley is Medusa or any fics with that same magical/mythological sense?

I know some !

I See You [E] by doorwaytoparadise

Aziraphale didn’t know what he was, a mess of snakes and scales and claws and fangs, hidden beneath heavy fabric, deadly gaze tucked away when he spent time in the city. Aziraphale didn’t know, had never seen his face, and had befriended him anyway, always delighted when they met up. Crowley nearly chokes, despair rising like floodwaters in his lungs. Aziraphale is here to kill him. He can’t hurt Aziraphale.

An Encounter Most Unexpected [G] by phantomhivemast3r

In the year 500 B.C., Aziraphale is sent on a mission to find a monster that’s been terrorizing the local townsfolk. Her quest leads her to a cave where the beast is said to dwell, but the cavern’s resident turns out to be a very familiar demon.

felix culpa (written in stone) [G] by suzzan

The reason Crowley wears sunglasses is not because he doesn’t like his eyes.

A Medusa AU.

Outside your door [G] by inverseR

“Turns men into stone?” a man jeers, clearly deep in his cups. “In the temple of Athena! It’s some god’s whore, I bet! Imagine a woman pretty enough to turn men hard as stone with a glance!” His audience, equally inebriated, roars their approval. Aziraphale sips his wine and thinks.

Recently, the braziers of the temple of Athena are always lit regardless of night or day. The fires burn brighter yet in colder times. Aziraphale wonders about that. Coupled with the fine dust in the temple of Athena, it seems like such a dangerous combination.

The Making of a Modern Medusa [T] by cassieoh, kerkusa

Ligur had tried to tell him he should put it on as soon as possible, something about the corporations getting a bit weird the longer you waited, but Crawly didn’t trust Ligur as far as he could throw him and so he decided that his snake shape was perfectly fine, thank you very much.

Predictably, Crawly's choices come back to haunt him almost immediately.

~Mod N

[greenjudy]

all mod cons

5.

Then it’s just us.

Gladio sends shots of Tree doing one-armed pushups outside of Meldacio HQ. Prompto joins us for hunts and shyly asks you for your scone recipe—some effort to impress the roommate, who is, after many weeks now, still withholding complete approval, which makes Cris nervous. I concentrate on kills  and scavenging things to sell for ingredients we haven’t been able to forage locally. Nights, I’ve taken to oiling my weapons and pondering Cid’s slick upgrades to my favorite sword. Dealing death to daemons and beasts helps a little, but not much.

At night, in our separate beds, I listen to you breathing.

One morning I catch you scowling at the gas ring, and it drives me out on a long, solo, meandering walk where I study the buildings that have rooms for rent. We’ve been here for two months, I reason; we need a better base. I say that to myself a couple times as I run my hand over the sun-warmed wood of a window ledge, looking out over the marketplace. 

“I’m sick of eating out of the toaster oven,” I explain, taking you around. It’s a lot smaller than my old flat in Crown City. “I know it’s only got one bedroom but shit, man, we’re on top of each other in the tent and we haven’t killed each other yet.” You haven’t said a word, yet, but at this, you stop, steadying yourself against the door jamb. Silent still, you take off your glasses and polish them on the hem of your shirt. I want badly to look at your face, so instead I slide open the accordion-folding room separator and show you the real reason I brought you here.

“Gas stove,” I explain. “Full-sized oven.” I climb into the window seat and crank open the window. Birdsong and music from someone’s radio downstairs come in with a rush of air that smells like cardamom. 

You’re testing the water pressure of the kitchen sink. 

“Hot and cold,” I say over my shoulder, as casually as I can. “Shower’s good too.”

“All mod cons,” you say faintly.  

“It doesn’t have AC like the hotel, though. We’ll have to leave the windows open.”

You come to stand beside me, looking at the little cast-iron balcony. “It won’t take our weight,” you muse, “but a few pots of herbs…”

“Now you’re talking,” I say.

[genesisrose74]

whats this stuff abt dream cheating on his speedrun im so confused

Aight so here’s a basic rundown:

So Dream has had some issues with the speedrun board of mods and stuff who validate runs before, even to the point where he decided to stop streaming speedruns on his Twitch because people throwing shade onto his runs was becoming frustrating.

Apparently today one of the main mods for that board uploaded an analysis of one of his submitted runs done before he stopped speedrunning live. It would have been a 16th place run at the time on the official board of it got approved, so not an overly huge placement.

Apparently the dude was working on this analysis for like two months. It provided some stats that he believed were indicative of some sort of mod that allowed Dream to cheat with certain mob drops, like blaze rods and ender pearl trades. He stated that it was incredibly unlikely these statistics aligned with even the 99th percentile possibility of things and compared some other runners’ probabilities to his own.

Dream made a tweet about it, clearly upset with the way that his 16th place run was being invalidated after two months of it going under suspicion. There’s been an ongoing trend where Dream’s name gets used in a lot of videos for clicks, so he felt as if that was a similar situation here. Mr. Beast, Karl, I believe TapL, and some others commented saying that the situation was definitely fishy and not fair to the work Dream puts in to complete his runs. Enter conflicting arguments in the below comments. You know how it is

Personally I don’t want to make any sort of accusation on either side, although I do agree with Dream here that the timing and everything of the analysis publication is a little...odd. Right before MCC and the Streamys, where Dream’s name would be circling already?? Holding onto the analysis and then posting - I believe without the input of the rest of the speedrunning board people - right now is a bit convenient, but idk. And for a 16th place run? Why would he go through the trouble of trying to find ways around the system if it’s not even a top 10 placement lol? He’s a member of the analysis team tho, so I mean it’s his job to look over stuff which I understand. It was just weird timing.

Should Dream have brought up the specific channel name of the guy who did the vid analysis in his tweet?? Mm, probably not. But then again, he’s had similar situations where people have outright accused him even when he’s been trying different seeds for hours on stream, so I can understand the frustration and I don’t think he meant to send like a hoarde of people over there to just ridicule the analysis.

Don’t worry too much about it tho cause to me it seems pretty minimal of a situation!! Dream still has an official 5th place run spot as well, and it looks as if there’s gonna be a discussion about it (apparently some of the other board mods are kinda thinking about leaving or smth) and a formal response from the blobby man himself, so honestly I think it’ll turn out fine. With all the times I’ve watched Dream’s speedrun streams and stuff, I really do trust that he’s being truthful here, yet then again the analysis creator has a right to counter as it’s kinda his job.

Ta-daa, that was a lot to type lmao — hope this helps with context!!

[shikatemaweek]

ShikaTema Week 2020

Host/Mod - @karinrumi

When it is - June 24th-30th.

Where - @shikatemaweek, ShikaTema Week - Twitter

Poster was made by the awesome - @loknnica​

RULES:

1. All kind of content is allowed.

2. No reposting, editing or tracing from another people’s work.

3. Tag your triggering and mature content in consideration for younger audience.

4. I’ll track content for ShikaTema week under the #shikatemaweek2020, #shikatemaweek hashtag!

5. Characters/Ships Bashing&Hate isn’t allowed.

6. In a case I miss out on your posted content message me on the official ShikaTema Week Tumblr/Twitter account.

7. Late submissions are accepted. 

8. Follow the Tumblr and the Twitter Guidelines. 

9. Have fun!

Prompt Talk:

If you feel confused about what to do with prompts… Here are some suggestions to help ya all! They’re not obligatory to follow, of course. I am giving free reign as long  the content involves ShikaTema! (So any type of ShikaTema content is approved!) :D

Day 1:

Letters - Secret letters, love letters, envelopes, even different forms of communication like songs etc. are fair game! Maybe one of those letters can hide something special? 

Trust Exercises - Trust between partners is important, hence the trust exercises! Trust falls, blindfolds, leg races, bungee jump, twenty questions, any activity that deepens, or tests their trust is welcome!

Camaraderie - Here is the beautiful display of mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together. Joint training? Parenting? Walking around to the gate? Secret missions? Daily life habits picked up from one another. Any common activity, or bonding session between our beloved couple.

Day 2: 

Masquerade - Go wild with different masquerade themes! Masks, pretty dresses, tuxedos, scary costumes, fluffy costumes, that romantic tensions during the dance, or romantic tension in general. Masquerade music etc. Go Wild ShikaTema fans!

Marriage - Arranged marriage, invitations, normal marriage, marriage preparations, wedding dresses, before marriage, heck meeting during someone else marriage! You have free reign as long the setting is the ‘Marriage’, yay!

Identity Switch - What if Shikamaru and Temari switched their identities with each other, or one of their friends? Would they survive? Would they recognise each other, despite their disguises as someone else? Would their friends recognise the differences between them? Maybe just one party switched the identity and bumped into the original? Basic clone jutsu can be used too! Playing around with that one can be fun. 

Day 3:

Blind Dates - Blind Dates set up by friends, co-workers, siblings, blind dates reality TV shows, speed blind dates. Any type of blind date you fancy is alright. 

Anniversary - Special anniversaries for ShikaTema! After marriage, before marriage, other types of anniversaries etc. 

Outfit Swap - Shikamaru and Temari swapping their outfits from any time period, or the outfit swaps shenanigans!

Day 4:

House Exchange -  Instead of swapping clothes, or their identities… It’s a House and place of living SWAP! It can be student exchange programme, social experiment, reality show etc. Different lifestyles, people, job place and the circle of friends… How would they cope with it? It’s a chance for Temari to interact with Shikamaru’s parents and for Shikamaru with Temari’s siblings, or using the products they never did before! Not to mention… Cope with different cost of bills, or money allowance. Like I said - go wild! 

Roomates - Living with each other can lead to many interesting situations! Annoying roomates, interesting roomates, good and bad things that happen when you live together! 

Spoon Feeding - It can be any method to feed someone! Feeding an ill person, mouth-to-mouth feeding, spoon feeding, emergency feeding, food + feeding and the spoon can be shown in any way/form you like. 

Day 5: 

Swimming Pool / Aquarium /Beach - Different types of date/scenarios/activities that involve water, swimsuits, tans, fishes, swimming lesson and much more! Let’s not forget about drowning in the sea of love too. ;)

Day 6: 

Shapeshifting - Shapeshifting powers, dealing with someone that can change forms, trying to keep it a secret, pair of shapeshifters etc.

Circus - Clowns, leotards, acrobats, beast tamer, magicians, circus dates, fooling around, anything that you associate with circus!

Coffee Shop - Coffee, Coffee Shop AUs, serving coffee, baristas, well let’s say it’s the COFFEE SHOP time to shine. 

Day 7: 

FREE DAY - Post any ShikaTema content you have, rest, or mention your  favourite ShikaTema content creators! 

Well, we should all have fun in June! 

@narutoevents​

[monomisclassroom]

Could I get some Sarvente pink-white-brown icons please?

Greetings anon! Your icons are here. Sorry if they don't look too great. Hope you enjoy.

[boog-shitposting-edition]

So I been playing a ton of Kenshi and watched all of the Mandalorian in a single day shortly before and it’s got me thinking about what makes what I consider a good action hero, because there was definitely a time where I thought the phrase “good action hero” was an oxymoron.

I grew up around some angry, unstable dudes who had that bad habit of watching horror movies and opining that in the same situation they would simply shoot the monster with the gun the character was holding. I got some views on the model of masculinity that sees the male ideal as functionally a tool for performing violence, condescension and occasional reddit-approved banter with all other emotional responses pared away or suppressed. This seems like a good way to manufacture a product for performing labor rather than developing a whole functional human being. So I generally veer away from that sort of thing pretty hard.

So I’m resistant to the Mandalorian at first, right? All the ads are basically star wars apocryphica and a power armored fighty gun boy. The last star wars thing I’d seen was The Rise Of Skywalker and my faith in the franchise is low. But it’s been a hot minute, the hype dies down, and my girlfriend is a better and more patient fan than I’ll ever be so we give it a go. And the first thing that really nails it for me is what a DORK the mando is. I’m delighted, his life is violence interdispersed with being an absolute buttfumble disaster. He slips and falls over things he could never have predicted, he burns his life down for a baby he finds in the desert. Pedro Pascal references Boba Fetts stiff menace and plays it off as someone who has no social skills other than stiff menace and it’s FASCINATING. Him explaining to the village woman who is obviously into him that he hasn’t taken the armor off since he was thirteen isn’t a badass declaration of martial devotion, it is the single saddest and most awkward interaction I have ever seen filmed and it hits all the harder for the fact that this is a character I’ve mostly ever seen as an action figure with a spring loaded missile backpack. Instead of being a faceless emotionless action-cudgel, Pedro amps up the body language in his acting to really sell you this heavily psychologically damaged, desperate, viking-space-catholic mess with no life skills other than violence and a devotion to his people’s creed that borders on obsession. Rather than paring himself down making him a psychological fortress, the Mando is an incredibly obvious walking raw nerve (”I’m not sad-” “Yes you are.”) So, Kenshi.

I’ve heard about this game on and off a few years and finally got it a few days ago. It’s been in early access since 2012, appears to be mostly getting finished by its modding community, and glitches like absolute woah. There’s no core storyline, just a post-apocalyptic setting with some surprisingly detailed autogenerated NPC interactions with some options for starting conditions and the sole goal of surviving. It’s essentially a rapid sequence of story prompts hidden underneath a closely interlocked system of XP grinding, survival mechanics and dismemberment algorithms, and is appallingly my shit.

My first run at the game got pretty far, went from a lone confused desert wanderer to a 13 man village running a tidy copper-mining operation to trade with the ant people. In the early game, fight mechanics are basically a death sentence; my first character immediately got her leg torn off by a goat and I had to restart. All skills grow only by excersizing them; you have to fight to get better at fighting, you have to LOSE fights to gain toughness, and when you lose a fight the consequences can range from “these bandits are stealing all your food” to “this monster is eating your leg/heart/head” to “these slavers are taking your character away and your game experience is Different now.” And while I was proud of myself for finding a way to survive, grow and thrive with a low-combat squad, once I tried the basebuilding mechanics that basically just meant my town was a source of free food and money for local bandits while my squad starved to death, unable to abandon our locale. So I got fed up and restarted.

As mentioned the game gives you different start positions; wanderer gives you 1 character, some money and pants. Guy and his dog gives you a dog, which is fun. Exiled officer starts you with good skills and the hatred of your former commander, which complicates things. Cannibal Hunters starts you already in a fistfight with 30 cannibals. It’s exciting times. But I figure this time I’d like to start my squad a LITTLE more capable of defending themselves, so I look at the Holy Sword start; you’re a bandit who starts with a stolen holy weapon, minuses in most skills, no money and a 20,000 bounty on your head from both major factions.

So I proceed to character creation and notice I can pick whatever I want for player species/subspecies with this start. There’s robot people and warriors made of stone and baseline humans and all sorts of fun options, but you remember those ant people I mentioned before? In game they’re called the Hivers, you find ‘em in 3 recruitable varieties (prince, worker drone and soldier) and they have an interesting in-universe quirk; ones that grow up in the hive are pheramone-addicted, chemically wired into the needs and wants of all of their fellows, but if you’re away from your kin for over a fortnight this addiction dries out incredibly fast and cannot be reinstated. Hivers who ever spend any time away from the hive are declared “lost ones,” and are often taken advantage of in the outside world as they long for a new community.

In survival sims I dont often play dedicated fighters, I always feel like being a brutal fight-beast isn’t really in the spirit of finding a niche to exploit and growing from a fumbling plebian to a major power. But I was already starting this game with my ONLY advantage being a nice sword. And the soldier hivers gain a buff to experience gained for melee attack and toughness, and a debuff to literally all else.

Manual labor. Science. Engineering. Farming. Cooking. First aide. In a setting that heavily prioritized your ability to survive using multiple vital skill sets, my character would start with negatives in his skills for putting on band-aids and FEEDING himself. So I gave it a go.

Getting more wild here, it turns out the Holy Sword opening also takes place in a time in the setting with more recent warfare, so a bunch of the starting villages are destroyed and it appears that more of the nearby cities are controlled by the factions that have a bounty on me. So my character CAN’T rely on other people or meet anyone to recruit at first. He can run, he can scrounge and scavenge, and as mentioned above starting characters can take lethal damage from GOATS so he can’t even hunt for food; the only way I was getting a meal was if I robbed someone or ran into merchants on the road I could hawk my salvage to for a scrap of bread.

He eventually finds someone willing to join him on his travels in spite of being flat broke, a shek named Ruka running from a dishonerable loss on the battlefield, and comparing their skills he’s so useless for everything besides combat that I assign him to bodyguard her. And again, this game’s appeal is that the survival mechanics make good story prompts, so imagine that in character.

“Fine, I need a change. I’ll join you.” “Thank god. Lead the way boss.” “What?”

Things regarding my characters bounty are starting to heat up in town, so we head north into hiver territory. We get attacked by bandits and heavily injured, my soldier gets knocked out, so Ruka picks him up and carries him until we find a hive town. I saw these guys all the time in my last playthrough, I survived by selling to them, they’re super friendly, should be fine. Ruka walks into the local shop and before I can have her ask for directions and a medikit the shopkeeper is already shouting- “SKREEE! LOST ONE! GET OUT! LOST ONES BRING MADNESS”

Apparently, my protagonist being a hiveless hiver means there’s a THIRD faction that’s hostile to him; his own goddamn people. Ruka has to leave him under a tree not just outside but like 50 feet from the edge of town, and just has  to hope none of the local wild megafauna eats him while she rushes back in to buy things from the now abruptly friendlier shopkeep.

I’m finally sitting there, having Ruka watch my soldier hiver sleep while she cooks scavanged meat and waits for him to finish healing, that I realize what the story being generated here is and it’s a good one; a Hive soldier whose only skills are violence, frantically scavenging and stealing to survive until he can find the one circumstance where he’s comfortable, sacrificing himself to protect others. He steals a sword that’s obviously important to two major governments, just because he knows it’s powerful and thinks that power will justify his continued existence as a hiveless soldier drone, essentially buying his way back into his people’s good graces by performing his function. Literally wandering the world until he found a single person who was willing to boss him around again and devoting himself to their defense to a state of pathological damage just to feel like he has a hive again. It’s sad. It’s badass. It’s deeply, unsettlingly pathetic.

But I also think it’s what makes a really really good gruff action hero!

Hypercompetence in violence is really interesting when you acknowledge the damage it can do to your humanity in the storytelling! The Mandalorian is unsuccessful in repressing his empathy response so he just tries to tough through the pain it causes him as best he can, until he meets The Child and it snaps. The Hiver is essentially playing pretend at being still valued as a product for committing violence, even in the face of being openly rejected for his previously esteemed role. This stuff is INTERESTING.

TL;DR version, a lot of these “supersoldier raised by the military/fight wizards/karate” characters are super boring and obnoxious when they’re put forward as power fantasies, and really interesting when you realize that being raised by Fight Wizards is why they’ve never had a girlfriend and called their handgun “mom” once.