#(EXTREMELY MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE RECORD BUT)

[giantchasm]

So I dunno if anyone else has seen the mask file name leaks for Return To Dreamland Deluxe, but for some reason one of them is titled “Susie on Holiday” and I can’t stop thinking about that.

I know it’s likely referring to festival wear, which she’s been drawn in several times, in the five days until RTDLDX releases I’m choosing to believe it’s actually going to be this

BONUS:

[thehorrorsoftheblackbunnymask]

Just curious in the prison AU how did the character yk react when being arrested? I’ve seen a few videos and some people like yk resist arrest or like make it difficult for the cops to load them into the car and others just kinda let it happen? I’m just curious on how much of a struggle did the cops have when trying to arrest the proxy’s/pastas

THIS MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR FUTURE PARTD OF THE PRISON AU, IF YOU DONT WANNA SEE, SCROLL PAST.

I like to think the proxies got raided, so I'm going to take some inspo from my Insane Asylum AU

Maybe Toby left a piece of evidence that led the cops right to them. For this mission, the Proxies were staying in a motel. It was the middle of the night, Toby's watching lord knows what, Hoodie's looking at some photographs he took of the victims, and Masky's smoking outside. But, as Masky's smoking, he sees bunch of cop cars in the distance. He'd run inside and tell them that they gotta leave now.

However, they got caught. Hoodie would probably be the most willing. Hoodie's the most logical of the group and he knows damn well that he isn't going to get away unless they all have a plan. He'd have the most annoyed look on his face but he wouldn't do anything.

Toby almost gotta away. Toby's had so many run ins with the cops, starting back when he was a late teenager. He would've gotten away to if his tics didn't start to act up like crazy. He'd be screaming, maybe bite a cop or two, they wouldn't definitely put a muzzle on him because he'd been sent to jail before, as mentioned in Part 1.

Masky is similar to Hoodie where he's more so annoyed then anything. But, I can see him being extremely paranoid about what the Operator and Slenderman are going to react, not even Kate has gotten caught and she works alone. He'd curse out the cops, but during the car ride, he'd be mumbling to himself, and maybe even have a panic attack.

Now to everyone else!

Ben, Jeff, and EJ were also caught together. They were all hanging out in a cabin where Jeff killing the current residents. However, Jeff had left a piece of evidence at one of his old crime scenes that led the cops to them.

EJ was dissecting one of the people Jeff killed with Ben looming over him, smoking a blunt while asking him hundreds of questions. Jeff would come over and now all of them are looming over this dead guy's body, his stomach cut open with his kidneys ripped out.

I just wanna note that these guys were the hardest to find because they're not always together, EJ eats the evidence, Ben's killings rarely leave a mark on the real world, and Jeff is good at what he does.

When the door got kicked in, the cops stared at the three in horror.

Since Ben was high as hell, he'd start laughing while saying they were fucked. Might I add, if Ben wasn't high, the three of them deadass could've escaped no problem because the cabin had a TV.

Ben was caught first and he'd be laughing, yelling "Fuck the police" while spitting on the floor. The most unserious motherfucker.

EJ killed a good chunk of the cops, but then his hunger kicked in. He ended up eating a cop, but he was able to get knocked out because of it.

Jeff got carried away and got knocked out as well.

Liu's arrest was actually recorded on live TV.

After going on a minor killing spree in a city he was in, he was seen in the background of some guy's livestream.

Liu's identity was roughly unknown by the police, and they had a few sketches of what he might look like, and unfortunately for him, they had one that was really close.

When Liu realized he was being followed by a helicopter and a few police cars, he booked it. The entire chase was live, and in broad daylight too.

He ended up cornering himself after he ran into an abandoned building. When he realized he was caught, he just sat down and waited for the cops to catch up.

When the cops walked in, they saw him sitting on top of a crate, his head facing the floor as he spinned a knife in his hand, humming a lullaby to pass the time. Tbh with you, he let himself get caught. When Jeff found out, he was so fucking pissed off. When he saw him enter the inmates ward, he yelled and playfully hit him for 30 minutes straight, Liu couldn't care less tho.

[djljpanda]

(Minor Story Mode (Ep1-8) + Major Tower of Sweet Chaos Spoilers Ahead)

Hydrogen Anon.

I've seen the people over at self aware genshin mention this idea multiple times, so I thought I would talk about it in the context of self aware crk - this has most likely been done.

Imagine if the cookies can hear what you put in the background as you play?

Listen to documentaries? They're gonna think you're some kind of archivist, especially since you seem to randomly watch them during important moments.

Music? They're gonna assume you had a hand in it.

Commentary Videos or those Reddit videos? Back to thinking you're some all knowing archivist, even if these particular events are day to day goings of average people.

Pop on a crime podcast? They're freaked it's not getting a reaction out of you if they don't realise what it is (to that in a second)- would they assume you're being briefed on some crime??

When you get to Earthbread you might not even be able to convince them for a long time that you really didn't have a hand in any of it. Depending on how much admiration they actually hold for you, they might just wave it off as you being extremely modest or even slightly self deprecating.

Now that I think about it, although mobile phones are seen in ovenbreak promo material (I think?), I don't *think* it's mentioned in crk, and considering the use of letters in story mode + envoys in the Creme Republic, they might not even know all the audio is pre-recorded. They might assume whatever you're listening to is in the room with you.

Oh god, what if you listened to audio of crk Cutscenes as you played crk. Imagine listening to Tower of Sweet Chaos and accidentally revealing that not only are White Lily and D.E are the same person, but that the witches ate cookies. Simultaneously traumatised every single cookie you've gotten so far. Also-- if they're not aware enough to realise they're fictional characters, you've basically time travelled from their perspective. Wtf???

I personally listen to a combination of commantary and folk music, so I'd imagine it'd be weird asf to hear about modern topics, then suddenly sing about mythology, and considering Earthbread has magical beings, they'll probably assume the mythology is grounded in some truth, or that you're even involved in//witnessed some of these stories.

Overall, it depends where crk is technologically. If they don't have devices with the ability to record audio, then you might have a lot of explaining to do.

The cookies are either scared or confused maybe even both.

But I can how some may call baker “The One With Many Voices”, then thinking that maybe your telling stories or events that already happened or going to happen, like a prophecy.

Oh just imagine the chaos when they hear their voice and get spoilers for future events. That’s one of the many reasons why the cookies see you as some form of god can see into the future and tell prophecy’s.

If they don’t have stuff like taboo or audio recordings then yes Mc has a lot of explaining to do, you might even make radios and audio recorders and these cookies will treat them as the greatest treasures.

If they do have that stuff some may ask what channel, station, or just where you heard them from. They want to have this thing you guys call “Reddit”.

[tokiko220]

Noone talks about The Drummer and the princess movie enough and ESPECIALLY not about the people behind it. It puzzles me to this day.

Warning, extremely long post but i really wanna archive all this.

For those who don't know, in 2018 Angels Pictures released a teaser trailer( CZ EN) for this movie and it obviously looked shit for a movie made after 2000 ESPECIALLY when people were claiming it cost 80 million CZK to make (3.5 mil USD-ish) which is an insane amount of money for a czech production. Plus in the czech trailer they have an uber popular czech singer Karel Gott appear revealing he's voicing in it, they even have a super low res photo with him from the studio.

(honestly i'm pretty convinced they met him once for the recording of the trailer lines)

So allegedly 80 mil CZK 3D animated movie with a bunch of celebrities voicing in it! Wowza! Why does it look so shit? EDIT: CORRECTION! After going through some more documents this is in fact and estimate of how much they think the movie is going to cost- they seem very upset people get that wrong. But honestly I don't think anyone actually thought they spent that much money on it.

Immediatelly bunch of czech news websites started rolling out articles about it because obviously, it was ridiculous. It looked ass the trailer is pretty cringy and they have all that stupid self congratulatory bs about giving 4% of ticket sales to kids because its made for kids. With love♡ People are ridiculing the hell out of it, obviously, but then a rumour starts that it's a all a publicity stunt. Obviously noone would make something that looks this bad in the year of our lord 2018! Angels Pictures don't hesistate and start nodding their heads aggressivelly. They pat themselves on the back for coming up with this new cool marketing strategy they dubbed "The Spites and Envy Promo."

They post this stupid, self congratulatory post talking about how they actually intentionally made the teaser bad, saying they modified it with "minor technical imperfections" (MINOR??????? IMPERFECTIONS????). According to this interview some guy named Jeremy came up with this genius and "innovative" plot. But if you read the interview (in czech unfortunately) you'll also find out the teaser probably looks so bad because no, there isn't actually really a movie at this point! Which is insane, given they released the teaser in September and promised a winter release! They apparently work by recording the dub first and then animating for it. In the interview he says they have about 20% of that done. But whatever, they keep insisting it's all part of the plan dude! The movie is going to release in like 28 countries and it's gonna be huge. (if you speak czech i totally recommend reading that interview it is enlightening lmao) I don't need to tell you I think the "spite and envy" promo is a bunch of boloney because if you're looking to drum up views and popularity through controversy you don't turn off your youtube comments about it.

Back in 2018 I was having a riot following this and despite being convinced it is not going to come out, I was posed to see it day 1 in the theatre if indeed it did come out (afterall, they're giving 4% of ticket sales to kids ♡) They continued to flaunt their genius marketing strategy and even bragged their teaser became the most watched czech animated movie trailer on youtube! Which while true, it doesn't really mean anything, because they second most watched actually came out and made money, while The Drummer and The Princess entirely missed their initial release date with no explanation why! On their website the release year kept shiftin ever forward and in 2019 they added the "RIP Karel Gott" to the trailer, so I know you're out there GIVE ME MY MOVIE!

Spoiler alert, it's 2024 and we still don't have the damn movie! But ever since then I've been completely fascinated with these guys, so let me bring you towards the about us section of their website, because it's frankly hilarious. Meet Angels Pictures!

Starting with Alex Pieter you'll notice he proudly states he's the author of the "project" The drummer and the princess. The second thing he mentions is that he's a member of MENSA and makes sure to explain it is an association of people with high IQ because you wouldn't know anything about that. Underneath that he lists a bunch of things he did which really just reads like when you put literally ANYTHING you think is relevant and makes you look good on your CV, like that he cooperated with big names like Vin Diesel or Catherine Zeta-Jones or Gerard Depardieu. Generaly a bunch of jargon to try and make him look super cool.

There's also this guy but he's considerably less funny and really jsut looks like your regular marketing guy. He's not even in MENSA.

Back then I was still wondering whether this was all an elaborate joke, and I may even believe it if these two guys didn't sound like the most start up "trust me bro" marketing guys. That really marks the end of The Dummer and The Princess, but I'm not done with Angels Pictures quite yet! You see, I thought they got me all excited for this movie and then dipped but no, they were planning something even cooler.

A video game.

Honestly, you need to see it to believe it.

After seeing this, I genuinely started doubting myself again. Like this has got to be a joke right?? What in the mother of all asset flips...

It was supposed to be a VR experience (but also non VR) about .. uh.. well....... Flying aroung?? And there will be vampires.. and dragons?? Whatever they found on the asset store I assume. But not in the base game! You see, the clever MENSA head over at Angels Pictures came up with this new game monetization model called "Modular System". You buy the base game called "The Radix" and then you can buy additional packs such as "Oh, Look!" which adds interesting sights to this flying simulator (making me wonder what the base game even does have). Then we have "Vampires" which I supposed adds the Italian Vampire Palmira who does not believe in wearing pants. Also a bunch of other "modules" that add things to "duel with for treasures". Yay.

Those with a keen eye might notice this isn't actually entirely their idea, this has basically been The Sims 4 monetization scheme since literally forever, but as much as I hate to admit it, at least the sims actually like.... You know.. Gives you something? And isn't an asset flip. And ... exists. Oh yeah, spoiler alert, the No*1 game with the funniest flying object (whatever that means) never did come out, I know, we're all shocked an crushed about it. The actual website for the game went down (which is why I'm making this actually, everday I fear all of this will dissappear) but there's still stuff about the game on their company website such as;

The release Timeline. Lofty goals, per usual. I don't need to tell you none of that happened because if it did I wouldn't be writing this and I would instead be playing Magic Carpet game swith the Vampire and Space module.

Continuing the scroll we can find that they claim to be a studio of "roughly" (???) 30 artists.

Ah yes, nothing is quite as innovative as a VR asset flip game that gives vague description of what it's actually going to be about. Reminds me Dream World.

I don't know what kind of artists they are but whoever made that purple green logo should be fired promptly. Also as you can see they are still bragging about the huge success their marketing campaign was and using it to seem credible- never mentioning that the damn movie never came out. The kids are still waiting for their 4% (which btw they never quite mentioned what charities they are planning to give that to.)

Now let's check out Alex's updated profile for the game;

He's really come to his own since The Drummer and the princess. He's still a member of MENSA, a global association of people with high IQs, but I think it's adorable he updated his photo to be a picture of him holding a controller like he's a gamer girl on instagram. He's just like you, fellow gamers. He's a 3D artist now and an IT specialist and programmer! Is there something this handsome devil can't do?! though despite his newly acquired 3D art skills, the game somehow manages to look worse than the movie trailer.

I also wanna point to this, purely because I wanna archive it. "A game that simply isn't on the market" yeah but what is it ABOUT Alex???? It's honestly a hilarious read and a look into "the sicks brains on their team."

After all of that, what's the conclusion?? I dunno! I think these guys really missed their calling as MMORPG Fundraiser scammers, I think they really would have popped off with that. My theory currently is they try to set up these projects and websites and try to make themselves look as credible as possible to get investors for their stuff?? But I also cannot imagine it ever actually worked out? And obviously they never delivered on anything they promised so I just don't know! Besides they actually did work with Karel Gott and that's nothign to scoff at! I wish I could find out whether it was because they have an in with him or whether they paid him (if so, with what money? I can't imagine getting someone of his caliber to voice for you is cheap).

That marks the end of this insanely long rambling about this thing I've been obsessed with for years now and really wanted to archive in some limited way. Now I'm just waiting for them to come up with some new project that involves AI.

[dreamerwitches]

It's the----- updated Madoka iceberg yaaay!

I'll only be discussing the additions on this one (in green) so please check out the old one for the original descriptions

Content warning fooooor: fetishes, child abuse, artists being perverted about children, suicide, death and organ trafficking. This is gonna be fun, huh

Let's goooo!

Sky:

Mami forever alone: A bit of a joke/observation in the fandom. The popular pairings are Madoka and Homura, and Sayaka and Kyoko, often leading to Mami being alone which sadly suits her character... This is jokingly noticed in fanart and manga with Mami often being left out. Sadly it's also led to some darker pairings for her such as Kyubey, Nagisa and even the witch kissed woman from episode 2.

Witches speak: Although witches are often silent or cry out like monsters. Two are known to have spoken. Elly speaks in reverse in episode 4 saying 'I really had fun today, I want to do it again. Next time, I'll bring a bentou'. Izabel also speaks in episode 10 to lure Homura into her labyrinth. However it is completely unconfirmed that the witches are actually speaking and it may even be their familiars. Mildly related, Oktavia's scream from episode 9 is actually a distorted scream from Sayaka.

Walpurgisnacht festival: Walpurgisnacht's name comes from the real world European festival of the same name, or Walpurgis night, that lands on the 30th of April or the 1st of May. Some people theorise that Walpurgisnacht actually arrives in Mitakihara on one of these days.

Walpurgisnacht rising: The sequel film to Rebellion announced on April 25th, 2021... very little was first shown and not a sausage has been revealed since... v-v

Madoka Magica Cafe: A temporary cafe set up around the release of the original anime in 2011. It offered special drinks and desserts as well as Madoka merch. It was extremely popular with waits of over 2 hours on opening day. A few more were held in Japan and Taipei.

Tip:

Magia Record Anime ver. Units: Very controversial variant units from the Magia Record game. These units were criticised as lazy copies of existing characters. With either very minor differences to talk sprites or none at all, ugly battle sprites and lazy transformation animations ripped straight from the anime. These units were not received well with one of the only good aspects being the beautiful card art.

Juubey: The Kyubey for the Pleides Saints in Kazumi Magica. Spoilers for the manga. He was an altered Kyubey that served the girls and purified their Soul Gems without need for Grief Seeds. After learning the truth about witches, the girls killed Kyubey and turned them into a Dependent-Version Incubator with the nickname Juubey and blocked out Kyubey's influence on the city. Yeah, it's complicated XD

Covid delivery girls: The dual unit Tsuruno Felicia Delivery Girls features face masks in their transformation and Magia sprite because the Covid pandemic was occuring when the unit was released.

Ebony: Ebony was the third Puella Historia unit released in Magia Record being a girl from ancient Egypt. She is heavily criticised in the western fandom for not only having a terribly revealing and historically inaccurate outfit but for also being white. However, like Cleopatra, she could be Greek therefore her skin tone would be correct. This however does not excuse her poor design overall On a similar note, how Cleopatra appears in Magia Record is incorrect as she is tanned in-game but has been confirmed by historians to have been white.

Cancelled figures: What is says on the tin! Merchandise that was cancelled including a scale figure of Nagisa and figures of Yachiyo and Tsuruno in their casual clothes and uniform respectively (possibly prize figures). Some that are in a terrible limbo include the 1/8 scale Holy Mami figure, Figuarts mini of Mami, Sayaka and Kyoko and a 1/7 scale figure of Madoka in the style of Aoki Ume's art.

Rebellion was just fanservice: My, my, a controversial one! Some people speculate that the sequel movie, Rebellion, was merely made for fanservice and money. This can be argued with the finite feeling to the anime's ending as well as the many tropes seen in the movie. It shows all the girls fighting happily together (a thing wanted by many fans), ties up loose ends with Sayaka and Kyoko and adds a fan favourite witch, Charlotte, into the main cast. I like to think this isn't the case but you can decide this yourself.

Masara Kokoro Bride ver. A recent variant for Masara and Kokoro where Masara is in a wedding dress and Kokoro is in a tuxedo. Their description is that they're modelling for wedding photos but the gay theming is too overpowering for it to be simply platonic. The less than subtle hints at romance between two girls is a change for the series that loves to be ambiguous. The unit was very well received.

Kyubey and Charlotte scooters: A unique piece of merchandise are scooters by Brain Police that feature decals of Kyubey and Charlotte. You can get yourself one for the low low price of 134,400 yen (£750). These are certainly unique, but quite a funny piece of merch

Lesbian Rika: Rika from Magia Record is the only magical girl canonically who has been in love with another girl (don't get the pitchforks, SPECIFICALLY confirmed). Her wish was for her childhood friend to fall in love with her instead of the boy she liked which does work yet Rika realises it doesn't feel right and breaks up with her.

Shallows:

Trans Ria: Ria is a magical girl from Magia Record, her wish was 'Turn me into a naturally beautiful girl'. This has led fans to believe that her wish was for her to transition from male to female. This can also be seen with her doppel Heide Jekyll that transforms from a dumpy blob in a rectangle to a feminine figure with a circle. Her witch's name also comes from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which is not only a male character but they were also known for transforming into an alter ego or a different person.

Devil Homura in Magia Record: A total tease. Fans have been wanting Devil Homura as a unit in Magia Record since its very beginning however she still hasn't come. To add salt to the wound, the Magia Report version of her, Devil Homura-chan was added on April Fools 2022. It's speculated she may be released on Magia Day but she's still not here...

Alina Eve's name: Alina Eve is a witch fusion of Alina, her doppel and Shitori Egumo who debuted in episode 25 of the Magia Record anime. In the anime, her name appeared in Runes as 'Neo Dorothy Motherfucker'. This links to her use of curses and her doppel's name, Old Dorothy. However, when her profile was revealed on the official twitter she was named Alina Eve and in-game she is called Neo Dorothy. The reason for the change and discrepancy is unknown but it may be because they didn't want to use swear words in media outside the anime.

Swimsuit Madoka's transformation: An infamous one. When Madoka got her swimsuit unit her transformation was the first (and only so far) to use the live2D models instead of traditional animation. This was not well received and was a disappointment for one of the main character's units. The reason may have been time constraints but fans were not pleased.

Mami is Walpurgisnacht: Forgive me, it's a little clickbait-y..! The reason is..! Mami's voice actress, Kaori Mizuhashi also voiced Walpurgisnacht in the anime. She also voiced Tatsuya, Madoka's little brother.

Fetishes: Oh dear... we're getting here... Two magical girls have clear fetishes. Yukika gets pleasure from dangerous situations while Miyuri has a foot fetish that is probably played off for laughs... It is NOT okay to give child characters fetishes, okay? Fetishes are a sexual thing. Next.

Dub bloopers: Bloopers for the English dub of the anime were released at Otakon 2012 (can be found on Youtube). It certainly feels like 2010s humour but it's still a little funny. Also great if you wanna hear some of the girls swear.

Iroha x Yachiyo: Ugh. It is very clear from Magia Record media that Iroha and Yachiyo are played off very similarly to Madoka and Homura. While the pairing of Madoka and Homura is perfectly fine as they're both children, Iroha and Yachiyo are not. Yachiyo is an adult and Iroha is a child. The anime, merchandise, and the unit of them together rub salt into this wound as dual units are mostly seen as ship units by fans. It's disgusting and not okay.

Yuma's abuse: Yuma is an abuse victim in Oriko Magica. (cw description of child abuse) Her father is absent (either neglectful or has left) and her mother, Mako, would beat and burn her with cigarettes as well as kick her out of the house for long periods of time. Her parents are killed in the original manga and she is taken in by Kyoko because of her similarity to her late sister Momo. In Extra Story she never contracts and is living happily with her grandparents.

Deep Waters:

Gan: Ugh again. Gan is the artist behind Suzune Magica (probably the least liked spin off lol) who is infamous for their clear lack of restraint in making children sexualised. Arisa has an outfit with circles right where her nipples are, Chisato has an outfit with a strip of fabric for a skirt and she is canonically uncomfortable with it and they love giving older characters enormous (and unrealistic) breasts. The art they draw of their UNDERAGE characters is always sexual and borderline pornographic and. Not. Okay. (even told by Magireco staff to tone down their puella historia character, haha fuck you)

Takashi Tensugi The illustrator for Kazumi Magica. Their disgusting taste is evident in the character design for the protagonists as well as sexual and revealing shots in the manga but I've also heard that they've drawn hentai before. No I'm not going to fucking look for that thank you. But... another bad egg in the spin off manga series... Not okay

Masugitsune ANOTHER BAD EGG! One of the illustrators for Tart Magica and also the illustrator for Yukika (you can tell where this is going). Sexualises minors, just like every madoka spin-off artist seems to... Has drawn Yukika in revealing swimsuits and bunny costumes as well as the rest of the Tart cast. Remember, they're all children----! NOT OKAY!

Riz's former companions names Omg thank god we're past the nonce section... Riz had unnamed magical girl companions in Tart Magica that have been slowly named by their artist. Their names are... pretty shit honestly as they're just named after their weapons. They are Machete, Frusta and Falce with one being still unnamed.

Kuroe was a marketing stunt: Not confirmed of course but... Kuroe was introduced at the very beginning of the Magia Record anime with her being the only new character. She disappeared for the rest of the series until the very end with a very lacklustre and ineffective ending. One could imagine that her inclusion and focus was to grip watchers into continuing with an otherwise pretty underwhelming series. But... take it how you wish...

Livia's backstory: Hey, this isn't new! I hear you say! Well, it's not new, but it's changed! The original iceberg said that her backstory may have been linked to a miscarriage but NOPE its worse! She was actually almost a victim of organ trafficking when she was a child. And later in life, she watched one of her friends die on her wedding day as she was run over by a tractor that she caused to malfunction...

Himena and Hiko: Himena's wish was for her boyfriend to be with her within her. After... her boyfriend committed suicide yaaayyy! (sarcasm) The end of this iceberg isn't very nice, is it? Her boyfriend didn't want to come back and now he's stuck with her forever.

Well... that's it! Sorry it became a bit of a bummer at the end...

Have a plushy Charlotte for making it to the end! Yay!

[terranoctis]

I played Hades II a fair bit yesterday during my breaks and free time for Supergiant Games' technical test of the game. Part of me wants to keep playing today, but I got stuff to do and I do want to keep up the excitement for the early access. I wrote a rough, kind of unedited essay about it before I went to sleep last night though below, mostly for me to have record of my memories in written form. Some spoiler-y screenshots and random thoughts/analyses below if you want to read more. I mean it--there are spoilers and the most random long tangents because I like to analyze. (I do recommend playing first if you have a chance to)

First thing I'll say is that the game is pretty phenomenal and so damn fun. The experience reminds me of when I played Hades for the first time in their initial Early Access of the game years ago. Longtime Supergiant Games fan here (since Transistor release)! I remember running into a bug then and reporting it when I froze in-game, but I have not run into any noticeable bugs at all yet for Hades II. I've done some reports for minor bugs, but extremely minor ones that I actually feel bad for even reporting and adding to their list of messages to go through. Supergiant has their QA down, truly. I have so much respect for them and how they've developed the game. Darren Korb did an amazing job on the music again. It has that iconic Hades sound with the strings (that is not a guitar, I forget what it's called) while also being its own distinct soundtrack.

The 4th wall banter moments between Melinoë and Homer (who is revealed as narrator!) have been one of my favorite things about the story/narration execution. Her being cognizant of Homer does make it so there are rather funny moments, but also brings up the question of how that might shape the narrative later on. I'm so curious!

When I first started the game, I had a funny moment where I died almost instantly in the second room because I was testing out Melinoe's skillset and ran out of MP (?) and then got slapped because I wasn't actually doing damage when trying to use her bigger skills, heh. It did take me some time to get used to it, but Mel's skills and cast abilities are so much fun to use when utilized well. Her cast and its ability to hold your enemies for a time is one of the best upgrades to combat, in my opinion. For all I love the first Hades, I remember having to dash like crazy to escape exploding carts coming after me if I didn't have a good boon to mitigate or avoid that. With the cast for Melinoë, it'll change that to placing strategically some casts that can hold quick enemies or enemies that are very dangerous if they get close to you (wailers in this game are one such enemy). In terms of boons, Demeter's, Hestia's, and Apollo's have been some of my favorites. Aphrodite also has a phenomenal one for casts that will gather your enemies into your cast, making it an ideal combination with some devastating other boons that can easily damage groups of enemies all at once. Hephaestus also has a pretty fun one where I think he can explode in a certain proximity with your special or attack, I forget. I do wonder if they'll have to rebalance some of these boons because there are certain ones I can annihilate enemies with--but then again, maybe that is needed for later sections of the game.

The numerous references to the moon in the game are a nice nod to Melinoë's lore in Greek mythology and poetry too. Though she's more associated with being a goddess of ghosts (I find it a nice touch you can salute shades you meet in the Crossroads because of this) and nightmares (I don't think it's a coincidence Hypnos is the only other survivor of Hades' inner sanctum), Melinoë has at some point been referenced as a moon goddess as well of the underworld. Selene is the moon goddess and Artemis has also become known as a goddess of the moon in mythology in addition to being the goddess of the hunt. So that connection between the three and the friendship they share in the game is pretty cool in that regard (Selene calls you the "Silver Sisters.")

Having Artemis become your friend in Hades II, something akin to a friendly rivalry like Thanatos was to Zagreus, is such a fun story--and then you have Selene added into that mix as well. From the few runs I've done, I've gathered that Artemis and Hermes are the first of the Olympus gods who knew of Melinoë's existence in her youth as Hecate's pupil. She helped Hecate hide the truth of Melinoës survival (at least from the Olympus gods)--and when Melinoë was ready, it was only then that Artemis leaked through Apollo that Hades' daughter was coming to fight Chronos and had survived the fall of Hades. So the boons you get are because the twins, Artemis and Apollo, played a role in connecting you to Olympus for the fight against Chronos. There seems to be more in this background that I'm curious to learn about. Just from their banter, it's clear Artemis has spent much time with Melinoë and Selene in some form. I don't know if they have duo boons in this game (or boon-hex? Selene gives you a hex), but I'm curious to see what these two's duo boon(s) would be if they have them.

The game also does that thing the first game did so well of shifting the world as you progress and have changes in the relationships about you. Nemesis is one of the new characters in Hades II who doesn't seem to like you very much initially, but with your dialogue with Odysseus nearby, you get the sense that it wasn't always this way. When you gift her a nectar, Melinoë subtly starts calling her "Nem," and you can tell the two of them are very slowly mending whatever it is they have (Odysseus chuckles nearby probably seeing the progress). You also meet Doom Incarnate (Moros) and have to unlock having him at the Crossroads by invoking him, which is also pretty fun in terms of letting you slowly do more runs and experience the world more in order to gather enough "resources" to call him. It allows a natural progression of characterization and getting to know the people around Melinoë, in my opinion.

Dora's also one of my favorite character already. There's something so funny about Melinoë encouraging Dora as she tries to scare and haunt her as a proper ghost, but then also rather touching that she just accepts that Dora just likes to hang out in her room and not go out much. I love Arachne too, and how she's just chillin' like, I'm bored and alone and just spinning webs, so here Melinoë, have some clothes I made.

This game makes me love it as much as I loved the first one. In some ways, in terms of how they executed establishing background and connections between Melinoë and her companions (Odysseus' calls her a "little goddess" as a child! Hecate plays hide-and-go-seek with her!), I think they've started out much stronger than they did in the first game. And this one already starts with a sort of high-stakes situation from the get-go. Melinoë's entire family has been taken by Chronos and she grew up apart from them. The game does well of letting you step into the world even if you haven't played the first one--and playing on your affection for Hades, Persephone, and Zagreus if you did. After all, considering how hard you worked as Zagreus to bring back together that family in the first game, the second game logically comes back with a vengeance with Melinoë at the loss of such a family and a need for vengeance against Chronos for ruining it. The world feels familiar, yet the cast of characters are so different.

And the designs of all the new gods! And the new designs for the old gods! They're all extremely well-done. I've been a longtime fan of the artists for the characters and the environments. They've done stellar jobs on it again for this one, and there's more touches to icons and designs of the UI I like too. The dialogue log is one of my favorite things too, as someone who might miss a piece of dialogue here and there when I take off my headphones. The voice acting in this game is also a whole notch up from the previous game. Not to knock anyone from the first Hades, since I think they did a great job, but I do feel like the voices have been more professionally recorded this time around. Or something about it is a little more polished. Kudos to Supergiant for another game that's an A+ in my book thus far. Ahh!

I could keep going, but honestly, I think it's best to have people experience the game in Early Access. I mostly just wanted a record for myself to look back on for being a small part of Hades II's journey and share some of my excitement and the random analyses I had. It'll be fun for me to look back on how I read some things and how I felt when the finished version of the game comes out eventually.

[dystopicjumpsuit]

Martyrs and Kings AND ZOMBIES!!!

A/N: I'm so excited to share this spooky, sexy one-shot sequel to Martyrs and Kings! I've been planning this fic for months, and I hope y'all love it. Quick note: obviously, this fic contains spoilers for M&K; however, it was beta-read by my partner who has not (yet) read the original fic, and they said it worked as a stand-alone story, so if you haven't read M&K yet and don't mind spoilers, read on!

This fic is dedicated to the amazing @clonemedickix in gratitude for all the love and support that you've shown me and so many others in the fandom. Thank you so much for everything you do, and particularly thank you for your feedback on the field medicine. You are a rock star!

One final caveat: I am a horror wimp, but I did my best. Please don't expect Stephen King 💜

Pairing: Post-stasis Kix x OFC Dr. Maree Finnall

Rating: M (minors DNI)

Wordcount: 5k (this just made M&K 10% longer lol)

Warnings and tags: peril; suspense; violence; blood and injury; gore; medical procedures; adult language; SMUT; oral sex; face-sitting; Kix activating my competence kink like no other. IMPORTANT: an additional content warning is listed at the end of the fic due to spoilers. If you have triggers, please check the end of the fic for the BOLD PINK TEXT before reading.

Summary: The crew of the Meson Martinet goes after the score of a lifetime and discover that they may have bitten off more than they can chew.

Suggested listening:

Martyrs and Kings chapter 1 | Masterlist | Sign up for my tag list

“B1.5-series battle droids are a myth,” Kix said firmly. “You’re wasting your time.”

“The good doctor doesn’t share your opinion,” Quiggold argued.

Sidon Ithano, as usual, said nothing, his crimson helmet swiveling slowly toward Maree. Kix turned to her as well, his jaw set, his eyes full of confidence that she would back him up. Kriff it. She absolutely hated being caught in the middle of this argument.

She cleared her throat. “There’s… some debate in the academic community about their existence, actually. If they ever were created, they were never deployed at any recorded battle—and it’s a good thing, too.”

“Why is that, exactly?” Reeg Brosna asked.

He was sprawled on the bench of the dinette, his arm draped around Orys Brenko as the research assistant perked up immediately.

“Is it true that they used nanodroids to retrofit original B1-series droids?” Brenko asked, his face flushing dark green with excitement.

“That is one theory,” Maree said circumspectly, keenly aware of Kix’s scrutiny. “According to contemporary sources—and noting that those sources are unreliable at best—the B1.5s had significantly upgraded blaster resistance. There was another rumor as well, even less credible.”

“What rumor?” Reveth interrupted, leaning forward over the table, drawing Ithano’s attention subtly.

“They said the B1.5s could keep going even if you blasted their processors,” Kix cut in before Maree could reply. “It was a stupid story the commandos made up to scare the shinies.”

“But what if it wasn’t?” Brosna asked. “Indestructible battle droids? They’d be worth a fortune.”

“Even if they don’t exist, the haul from a Techno Union stronghold could set us up for life,” Reveth pointed out. “I say we go after it.”

Squeaky grunted his agreement, predictably. The Gamorrean was always guaranteed to follow the pretty Twi’lek’s lead. Reveth could have suggested a nude spacewalk, and Squeaky would have thought it was a grand idea. Brosna and Brenko voted in favor as well. Kix voted against, and Maree did as well, purely out of solidarity. Privately, she was consumed with curiosity about the B1.5s, and she couldn’t deny that the possibility of such a groundbreaking discovery was alluring in the extreme.

Quiggold voted in favor, and Ithano abstained, and so it was decided: the crew would send a team to scout the Techno Union stronghold, and if they found anything worthwhile, the rest of Ithano’s small fleet would join them.

“We’re gonna need your expertise, Doc,” Reveth said to Maree. 

“Absolutely not,” Kix snapped.

Maree glanced at him in surprise. It was unlike him to try to overrule her choice, and she didn’t care for it. “Reveth is right, Kix. I’ll be able to identify the highest-value items, and I have a good idea of what’s in demand.”

Kix looked away, clearly unhappy, but recognizing that he’d overstepped. “Fine. But if you’re going, I’m going, too.”

“We’ll need you to stay and command the fleet from the Scorpion while the captain is away,” Quiggold interjected.

“Fuck that,” Kix growled. “Brosna is my first mate—he can take command from the Scorpion. When it comes to Maree’s safety, I outrank everyone on this ship.”

“Brosna doesn’t have the experience—” Quiggold began.

“Agreed,” Ithano said, his deep voice cutting through the buzz of conversation and debate in the Martinet’s galley. “Quiggold, command the fleet from the Martinet. Brosna, take the Scorpion. Reveth, Squeaky, you’re with us.”

The captain’s decision was final, and within a few hours, Kix, Maree, Reveth, Squeaky, and Ithano had boarded the Scorpion’s shuttle Stinger and departed for the desolate moon where the Techno Union base had sat untouched for over fifty years.

“Fifty credits says we find nothing,” Kix said.

“I’ll take that bet,” Reveth replied.

Squeaky grunted his agreement. Ithano said nothing.

“Maree, you want in on this action?” Reveth asked.

“Kix and I have a private bet on the side,” Maree said with a mischievous twinkle as Kix shot her an inscrutable look.

Reveth smirked. “Sounds like fun.”

“Oh, it will be,” Maree replied. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of crimson as Ithano moved through the shuttle. On impulse, she leaned in and whispered in Reveth’s ear cone.

Reveth’s eyes widened as her mechanical hand instinctively settled on Maree’s waist. “Damn. You and Kix want a third for that?”

Ithano’s helmet whipped to the side as he suddenly became very interested in the conversation. Maree suppressed a laugh.

“What do you think, Kix?” Maree asked with faux innocence. “Can Reveth play with us?”

Kix eyed her with a perfectly neutral expression that warned Maree he knew exactly what she was up to. “You gotta win that bet if you want to call the shots.”

“You’re on,” Maree replied immediately.

Ithano’s helmet swiveled from Maree, to Reveth, to Kix, and back to Reveth, but he said nothing. Kix merely turned back to the navigation controls and continued to pilot the shuttle toward their destination.

The old Techno Union stronghold was on a remote, swampy moon, and the dense vegetation had grown thickly over the past five decades. Kix was forced to set the shuttle down several klicks from the decrepit base. He didn’t like it. He didn’t kriffing like any of this. It was too far; they’d be too exposed; their progress would be too slow in the mud. He glanced at Maree and felt his anxiety spike.

How the kark am I supposed to protect her out there?

He double-checked her gear as she suited up, adjusting the fit of her holster for a quicker draw. He quickly inspected her blaster before handing it to her.

“What’s going on?” she asked quietly. “You’re on edge.”

He shook his head. “I don’t have a good feeling about this mission.”

“It’s not the first time we’ve gone into one of these old strongholds,” she pointed out. “We’ll be okay.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. You’re right. Just… Keep your eyes open.”

“I will,” she promised. “And I know you’ll watch my back. Just like I’ll watch yours.”

He traced his fingertips along her jaw as he pulled her closer to himself. He couldn’t feel her soft warmth through his armor, but her nearness felt comforting regardless. He kissed her gently, threading his fingers through the hair that she wore in loose braids. 

She looked so different now than she had the first time he’d met her two years earlier; her elegant wardrobe replaced with sturdy, practical clothing meant to withstand rough field work and the occasional blaster fight. But underneath, she still smelled like tea and honey and home. She was still the same—still his Maree.

“If you’re finished sucking the lips off her face, can we get going?” Reveth teased. “Droids aren’t gonna find themselves.”

Despite Kix’s misgivings, the trek to the derelict base was uneventful. Squeaky stayed with the shuttle in case they needed a quick extraction, while Ithano, Reveth, and Maree hacked their way through the underbrush along with Kix. It was slow going, and the swamp was creepy as hell, but eventually they made it to the plastcrete and durasteel structure.

There was no power to the base, so they cut their way through the sealed exterior blast doors. Once inside, the group fell silent as they made their way through the dusty, cobwebbed hallways. The base was pitch black inside, illuminated only by their own torches, and once again, Kix felt the simmering anxiety in his gut begin to roil.

“Something’s been living in here,” Reveth muttered, training the beam of her flashlight on a tangle of debris that was unmistakably a nest for something… large.

Kix didn’t respond, but he reached out and pulled Maree closer to himself, then drew one of his DC-17s. Ithano brought up the rear, his blaster rifle ready.

“Control center should be just ahead,” Maree whispered. “Reveth might be able to restore power from there.”

“We’ll be karked if she can’t,” Kix replied quietly.

“Happy thoughts, Kix,” Maree murmured.

Right. Happy thoughts. Spiced biscuits. Unlimited bacta. Maree’s tits. More credits than I’ve ever seen in my life. The Scorpion. Weapons caches. Maree’s thighs. Maree’s thighs on my shoulders. Maree’s thighs framing my face while she rides—uh, weapons caches.

“Control center,” Reveth called under her breath as she reached a sealed doorway.

They pried it open enough to squeeze through. Kix went first, sweeping his light across the room as he scanned for threats. Reveth followed, then Maree and Ithano. Reveth headed straight for the control console and plugged in her small power unit and began to fiddle with the controls.

“Happy thoughts,” Kix mumbled, returning to the doorway to keep watch over the pitch-dark corridor.

Within a few moments, Reveth let out a quiet, triumphant huff as the control console flickered to life, dimly illuminating the room. She went to work immediately, interfacing her datapad with the ancient console.

“Damn. Main power cells are depleted,” she said. “I’ll try to at least get emergency lighting turned on.”

“Why would the power be depleted if the base has been abandoned for decades?” Maree asked. “The Techno Union had extraordinarily advanced power cells that were capable of storing energy far longer.”

“Unless something used it,” Reveth said.

Kix swiveled his head to stare at the Twi’lek.

“Like what?” he bit out.

She shrugged. “Dunno. But we might find out as soon as I get the data decrypted.”

A distant, deep hum sounded, and red light flickered on throughout the base.

“Nicely done,” Maree told Reveth.

“Let’s get the data and get the kriff out of here,” Kix growled, hating every minute of their time in the farking spooky base.

“Working on it,” Reveth snapped. “Think you can do it faster?”

Ithano glanced between Kix and Reveth, then moved to join Kix at the doorway, blaster rifle raised. “What is it?”

“Not sure,” Kix replied quietly. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

Ever reticent, Ithano merely nodded and took up position across from him. Kix nodded in silent gratitude that the pirate captain didn’t question his instincts. Then again, the Crimson Corsair hadn’t survived this long by ignoring his gut. 

Kix’s eyes darted to Maree again. She leaned over the console, scrolling rapidly through the data files, searching for any hint of the information they sought. He turned back toward the hallway, his eyes scanning it watchfully.

“No kriffin’ way,” Maree gasped.

“What?” Kix and Reveth demanded in unison.

“You just lost a bet, my love,” Maree told Kix.

“Wait, really?” Reveth asked. “It’s real?”

“��Project Ophio,’” Maree read, her voice low and hurried. “Principal investigator Vamb Tebrem. Project number T327H1138X99. Primary focus of study is to develop experimental NM-K reconstitutors with the purpose of enhancing the durability and combat acumen of extant B-1 series assets…” Her voice trailed off as she leaned closer to the console, flicking through the data hurriedly. “Project director reported a 62% success rate in the initial efficacy trial; however the experimental reconstitutors were prohibitively expensive to manufacture, and the unpredictability observed in field tests was not adequately resolved—what field tests?”

“You catch any of that?” Reveth asked Kix.

He shrugged. Maree’s voice had dropped to an inaudible murmur as she scrolled through the data, then opened another data file. A quiet chime sounded from the console, drawing Reveth’s attention.

A glowing hologram appeared over the console: wave after wave of battle droids locked in combat a group of clone commandos who should have been able to easily defeat the B-1s. But the droids just kept going. Nothing could stop their advance as they overwhelmed the commandos’ positions and tore them to pieces. Kix swallowed hard, hearing the screams of the dying commandos, unable to take his eyes off the hologram. Maree slapped a button on the console and the sound paused abruptly as the holo froze.

“Holy kark,” she breathed.

“What?” Reveth asked. “Is that not normal?”

“No,” Kix said grimly. “We need to get out of here.”

“Uh, about that…” Reveth said.

Ithano swiveled his head toward the Twi’lek. “What?”

“Opening that holofile triggered an alert in the system,” Reveth said. “Hopefully it’s nothing?”

“Time to go,” Kix growled.

“Yeah,” Maree said, her voice shaky. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“At least let me download the records,” Reveth argued, jamming a data spike into the console.

They all froze as a distant but unmistakable crash echoed through the base, followed by a rhythmic thumping.

“What is that?” Maree whispered.

“Clankers,” Kix said grimly, drawing his second blaster. “Seal the blast doors.”

“We’ll be trapped in here!” Reveth objected.

Maree stared at Kix. “Can’t we make it out before—”

A light flashed, and her body jerked as a blaster bolt smashed into her. She went down hard, and Kix barely had time to register what was happening before a firestorm of blaster bolts exploded into the room. He whirled back to the entrance and returned fire at the wave of battle droids that was advancing at high speed toward his position. Ithano was firing as fast as he could, but the droids weren’t dropping.

“Get those kriffing doors sealed!” Ithano bellowed.

Reveth had ducked down behind the console for cover as Maree scrambled to join her out of the line of fire. Reveth frantically worked the controls from her position on the floor, but she wasn’t fast enough. A single droid made it through before the doors slammed shut. The clanking and pounding of the army of droids battering against the blast doors was deafening. The lone battle droid charged across the command center.

“Kill it!” Kix shouted. “Fuckin’ kill it!”

Reveth, Ithano, and Kix unleashed a torrent of blaster bolts, but the karking thing wouldn’t go down, even as its components began to fail and fly off its body. It was headed for the console. It was headed toward Maree. Desperately, Kix launched himself at its mangled, skeletal form, tackling it as he locked his arms around and tore its head off with a sickening screech of twisting metal.

But the fucking thing kept moving, shambling toward the console. Kix growled and yanked out his vibroblade, slashing through the droid’s joints until nothing remained but a pile of scrap, and then he sprinted toward Maree, launching himself over the control console. 

“Maree!” Kix yelled hoarsely.

Her face was sweaty and contorted with pain as she clutched her hand around her upper arm, but she gave him a tight smile. “I’m all right.”

The blaster hole in her jacket sleeve was still smoking, and Kix felt sick as he saw blood covering her hand, oozing from a wound that should have been cauterized by the plasma bolt. 

“Let me see,” he ordered. 

She moved her hand, and he cut the sleeve away quickly, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Oh, fuck, it’s bad. It’s bad, and I don’t have my kit.

“We have to get out of here,” Reveth rasped.

Kix dug frantically through his pouches, finding only a few small bacta patches and a vial of spray bandage. He didn’t have a choice. It would have to do, at least until they could make it back to the Stinger. 

He shoved the jacket sleeve and vibroblade toward Reveth. “Cut that into strips. Wide ones.”

He drenched the blaster wound with spray bandage, then grabbed the first strip Reveth cut from the jacket sleeve and quickly tied it around Maree’s arm near her shoulder. “Do you have a stylus on you?”

“Always,” Maree said, her voice tense with pain. She pulled the stylus out of her pocket and handed it to him, carefully avoiding looking at the charred, bloody wound. “Why is it bleeding so much?”

Kix tied the ends of the cloth strip around the stylus and twisted to tighten the makeshift tourniquet, securing it as he replied in an artificially calm tone. “Sometimes it happens. Move just wrong—the cauterized scab opens—blood.”

He ripped open the bacta patches and arranged them carefully over the injury, covering it as well as he could before wrapping the rest of the fabric strips around them to secure them in place. Finally, he looked up into her eyes, inadvertently smearing her own blood on her cheek as he cupped her face.

“I’m not losing you today.” His words were firm, but tremor in his hands was undeniable, and his pulse thundered in his ears.

She smiled at him through dry, ashen lips, and he kissed her forehead, then helped her carefully to her feet. Reveth had pulled up a schematic of the base, and Ithano joined them at the console, pausing to squeeze Kix’s shoulder briefly.

“We don’t die so easily,” the captain said in his deep, rasping voice.

“Not today, anyway,” Reveth cut in. “I found an escape route.”

“Please tell me it’s not the ventilation shaft,” Maree said unsteadily.

“It’s always the ventilation shaft,” Reveth replied.

Maree’s shoulder screamed with agony as she crawled through the ventilation shaft. She gritted her teeth to hold back the whimper of pain that hovered at the base of her throat. The ventilation shaft was filthy and cramped, and their progress was torturously slow as they navigated as silently as possible to their destination. The conduit wouldn’t take them all the way out of the base, so they would have to make a run for the main entrance when they got close. The only way they stood a chance of escaping was to not draw the attention of the battle droids.

She followed Kix through the labyrinthine ductwork, crawling laboriously on her knees and one hand. Her injured arm had burned like fire when Kix first applied the tourniquet, but now her arm was completely numb—and equally useless. At last, they found the access hatch to the main corridor. Kix dropped down first, and then Maree realized exactly how difficult this was going to be with only one functional arm. 

“Just drop,” he whispered. “I’ll catch you.”

She took a deep breath and slid out of the maintenance hatch, feet first. Panic flashed in her mind briefly as she plummeted through the air, but Kix was true to his word, catching her before she could hit the ground. He set her down quickly and checked to make sure her bandage was still in place as first Reveth and then Ithano dropped down into the corridor.

They sprinted for the exit. Maree’s lungs burned and her vision blurred around the edges as she gasped for breath. Kix looked back at her sharply and reached for her hand, dragging her along behind him. By some miracle, the droids hadn’t detected them yet, and she could see the main entrance of the base. She forced herself to keep running, even as she stumbled and nearly went down, kept upright only by Kix’s strong grasp.

He tugged her arm over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist to support her, but he didn’t slow his pace. “We have to keep going, love. We can’t stop now.”

“I know,” she wheezed. “So close…”

She could hear the clanking of droids behind them, and she pushed herself as hard as she ever had in her life to keep running. They cleared the entrance, and Reveth tossed a few magnetized thermal detonators onto the ceiling of the base. 

Keep running, don’t stop, keep going.

The explosion knocked them off their feet, but the rubble of the collapsed ceiling blocked the main entrance. It wouldn’t hold back the droids for long, but it bought them time—so long as they kept moving. Kix was up first, pulling Maree with him as Reveth and Ithano scrambled to their feet.

They ran for the trees as Reveth commed Squeaky. “We need a pickup, now!”

“He can’t get to us in the jungle!” Kix said. “We have to find a clearing where the shuttle can land.”

They dodged through the trees, trying to avoid the worst of the swampy ground, but the dense underbrush slowed their progress and steered them on a circuitous route. Out of the corner of her eye, Maree saw movement in the earth. The ground shifted and began to swell.

“What the kriff is that?” she demanded.

“Keep running, don’t look back,” Kix urged.

“No, what is that?” she repeated.

She saw a flash of pale, bonelike metal alloy, and then a battle droid erupted from the earth.

“Fuck!” she screamed.

All around them, the skeletal forms of B1.5 droids began to emerge from the swampy ground, punching their way to the surface and dragging themselves up from the mud. Kix released Maree and drew both of his blasters, opening fire without hesitation. Maree, Reveth, and Ithano followed suit, for all the good it did them. The droids simply wouldn’t go down; even if they took so many hits that they started to fall apart, they still somehow shambled on in a grotesque parody of their normal precise movement.

They had no choice but to keep running and hope that they could at least slow some of the droids down. She could hear the roar of the shuttle overhead, but the vegetation was too dense for Squeaky to pick them up. The Gamorrean’s indistinct, frantic squealing sounded from Reveth’s comlink.

“He said there’s a clearing about a klick southwest!” Reveth yelled.

It might as well be on the other side of the planet, Maree thought hopelessly. There were simply too many droids; they were advancing relentlessly, and the terrain was too hostile to cross it with any speed. Holy shit, we’re all going to die here.

Her mind darted to the holorecord of the field test—a kriffing gruesome euphemism for such carnage. It had been a complete massacre. The terrified screams of the commandos as the droids tore them to pieces; the spray of blood and viscera: the images were branded irrevocably in her memory. It was a horrific way to die, and they were about to find out firsthand. 

Panic clawed at her, closing her throat and making her shots go wild. Her legs felt sluggish, and her feet became unsteady, but Kix never let her fall, even as he fired ceaselessly at the pursuing droids.

“We’re almost there,” he grunted. “Keep running, sweetheart, you can do it.”

“Kix, go,” Ithano ordered. “Get her to the Stinger.”

“No!” Maree exclaimed. “We’re not leaving you!”

Kix ignored her protests, bending over and tossing her over his shoulder as he ran. His plastoid armor cut into her thighs and belly, and she squirmed to try to get away.

“Put me down! Go back!”

Kix ignored her and raced for the clearing where the shuttle hovered just above the ground, ready to take off as soon as the crew were safely aboard. He dropped Maree in the copilot seat and turned to Squeaky.

“Don’t let her follow me.”

He sprinted to the back of the shuttle and jumped out, making for the treeline.

“Kix!” she screamed, lurching out of her seat.

Squeaky didn’t hesitate. He thrust her back into the chair with a stern grunt, then secured the safety harness to make sure she didn’t try to run again. She could hear blaster fire and shouting outside the ship, and she tugged desperately at the harness. Squeaky grunted again to order her to take control of the ship, and he lumbered toward the rear hatch, blaster ready.

Her heart hammered as she took the controls. Please, please, please. The distraught prayer echoed in her mind, silently beseeching the Force. I can’t lose him. Not like this. She felt utterly helpless as the deafening roar of Squeaky’s blaster fire pounded through the ship. Mercifully, she soon heard the pounding of boots on durasteel, and then Ithano launched into the pilot’s seat and punched the controls, hurtling the shuttle away from the planet.

“Kix?” she asked frantically.

“I’m here,” he said, dropping to his knees next to Maree’s chair and wrapping his arms around her. “I’m here.”

“I’m here, too, thanks for askin’,” Reveth said as she flopped into her seat.

Kix stood and quickly released the safety harness, tugging Maree out of the chair and burying his face against her neck.

“Holy kark, I can’t believe we all made it out,” Reveth said. “I was sure Maree was toast.”

Maree laughed, and Kix glared at the Twi’lek. “Not kriffin’ funny.”

“It’s kinda funny,” Reveth insisted.

Kix shook his head and drew Maree out of the cockpit and back to the tiny med bay at the rear of the shuttle. “Med bay” was putting it generously; it was really just a bunk and a large emergency medkit, but it had everything he needed to treat her shoulder. He administered a stim shot, cleaned and redressed her wound, and removed the tourniquet. He worked efficiently, and she didn’t see any of the distress that had clouded his eyes back at the base—of course, they weren’t fending off a horde of unkillable zombie droids this time, either.

“What’s the verdict, doctor?” she asked with a tiny smile.

He stroked his fingers over her forearm gently. “You’ll live. Gonna have a kickass scar, too.”

“Will you kiss it better?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

He smiled wryly as he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against hers. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I’ll do my best. At least I’m finally going to have an exciting story to tell Baba and Eema.”

His eyes widened. “Oh, kriff, your mothers are going to kill me!”

The Stinger docked with the Meson Martinet first, and Squeaky, Reveth, and Ithano disembarked, then Kix piloted the shuttle to his own ship, the Scorpion. Brenko and Brosna were waiting next to the airlock when Kix and Maree emerged from the shuttle.

“Well, did you find the B1.5s?” Brosna asked.

“Yeah,” Kix replied grimly.

“Ha!” Brosna laughed triumphantly. “Pay up, Captain!”

“You’re still acting captain,” Kix retorted. “Now get your ass back up to the bridge until I relieve you.”

“Wait, you’re not taking command right now?” Brosna asked.

“Nope,” Kix replied, dragging Maree to their quarters.

The door hissed shut behind them, and Kix slapped the control panel to lock it. He was on Maree instantly, devouring her in a searing kiss as he unzipped and pulled off her jacket, carefully avoiding the large bandage on her shoulder. Once he had her top removed, he dropped his mouth to her throat and kissed a trail of hot, open-mouthed kisses down her body as he knelt in front of her. 

His hands roved over her urgently, clutching her body close to him. She tangled her fingers in his hair as he tugged down her trousers, and then he plunged his tongue into her ravenously. Her body jerked, and she cried out, losing her balance. He caught her with ease, then pulled her toward the bed.

“Kix,” she panted. “Don’t you at least want to get naked?”

“I can’t wait,” he groaned. “Sit on my face.”

“Oh, fuck,” she gasped.

“I’m planning to,” he said, lying on his back. “On my face. Now.”

She knelt, hovering over his mouth, staring down into his eyes. He gazed back up at her, sliding his hands up her waist to cup her breasts, before dropping them to her thighs and yanking her body downward.

“Kriff!” she exclaimed as his tongue slid deeply into her cunt, then his lips closed around her clit.

He held her in place as he feasted on her, his groans vibrating against her sensitive flesh. The sensation was overwhelming. She writhed, nearly toppling over, then leaned back to brace her hands on his ribcage. He ate her like he was starving, like she was the last thing he would ever taste, and he fully intended to savor every drop.

“Kix—fuck—gods—” she moaned, her hips finding a subtle rhythm even as his strong hands gripped her, preventing her from moving more than a few centimeters.

He murmured quietly against her in between the kisses and licks and nibbles—soft, nearly inaudible whispers of fear and adoration and lust. “... taste so fucking good… love you so much… thought I was going to lose you… never letting go… so kriffin’ scared… want you so bad…”

He released her thigh and reached his hand around to massage her clit. All the muscles in her core began to tense as pleasure spooled tightly in her body, but her orgasm remained tantalizingly just out of reach. She leaned back, groping blindly for his cock. She fumbled with his belt and eventually just slid her hand beneath the waistband until she wrapped her fingers around his rigid shaft.

He grunted at the contact, his hips thrusting up off the mattress. His hand strayed away from her clit to press his palm flat against her lower belly, and pressure was exactly what she needed. She convulsed with a sob, and he redoubled his efforts, tongue-fucking her through her orgasm. Distantly, she felt the thrusting of his cock against her hand, and then a rush of hot, sticky cum on her fingers.

She crumpled to the bed, and he pulled her tightly against him, kissing the backs of her thighs as she slowly came back to herself. After a few moments, he shifted, curling up behind her, tucking his thighs behind her legs as he drew her body close to his and buried his face in her hair.

“I love you,” she murmured.

He kissed the side of her neck, just behind her ear, dragging his tongue slowly across her skin as he slid his hand up to play with her breast. “Love you. Never scare me like that again.”

She laughed quietly. “Aye, aye, Cap’n. What’s gotten into you, anyway? You were acting protective before we even left the Martinet.”

He lay silently for a moment, breathing in the scent of her hair, before he replied. “You’re late.”

She blinked. “What?”

“You’re… your cycle, it’s like clockwork. And—you’re late,” he said hoarsely.

She swallowed. “Oh.”

The original comic panel that inspired this story! This was from Star Wars Adventures Ashcan. Alas, this comic was never published, so I am once again filling in the gaps in canon.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT WARNING: mention of possible pregnancy.

[nczaversnick]

Bold the Facts Tag:

Thanks to @the-golden-comet for the tag and honestly shoutout to @mysticstarlightduck for this incredibly cool template, I love it.

I least I’m pretty sure that’s who tagged me, cuz honestly I lost the notification. Y’all have been blowing up my shit this weekend (I love it though thank you!!)

Anyway! I’m going to do Adrian and Iris, since they seem to be the fan favorites currently :)8

Some minor spoilers tho, so it’s under the cut

Adrian:

✧˖°. PERSONAL

$ Financial: wealthy/ moderate/ unsure/ poor / in extreme poverty/rebel leaders don’t get paid 

✚ Medical: fit/ moderate / sickly/ disabled / non-applicable 

✪ Class: upper / middle/working / unsure /other 

✔ Education: qualified/ unqualified / studying / other 

✖ Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes/no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

✧˖°. FAMILY

◒ Children: had a child or children / has no children/ wants children (eventually)

◑ Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) /has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

◔ Affiliation: orphaned / abandoned / adopted/ found family / disowned / raised by birth parent(s) / not applicable/kidnapped at birth and later reunited with birth family

✧˖°. TRAITS + TENDENCIES

♦ extroverted / introverted/ ambivert

♦ disorganized / organized/ in-between

♦ close-minded / open-minded / in-between 

♦ calm / anxious / in-between / highly contextual

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in-between

♦ cautious / reckless / in-between / highly contextual

♦ patient / impatient / in-between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in-between / highly contextual 

♦ leader (reluctantly) / leader (gladly) / follower / in-between 

♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in-between / highly contextual 

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in-between

♦ traditional / modern / in-between

♦ hard-working / lazy / in-between 

♦ cultured / uncultured / in-between (depends on the culture) / unknown 

♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown / highly contextual 

♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown / highly contextual (in his case: faithful in a relationship sense but not in a religious sense)

✧˖°. BELIEFS

★ Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic 

☆ Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a matter of speaking ✮ Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking 

✯ Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking 

❃ Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care (honestly I don’t thinkAdrian even knows the word alien)

✧ Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious

❀ Philosophical: yes / no / highly contextual

✧˖°. SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

❤ Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual/ nonbinary

❥ Sex: sex-repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless 

♥ Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naive and clueless / romance suspicious 

❣ Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious 

⚧ Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / both (but has little interest in sex) / agender / other / none / all

⚧ Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / both / agender / other / none / all

✧˖°. ABILITIES

☠ Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 

≡ Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 

✍ Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✂ Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✧˖°. HABITS

☕ Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / tried it / alcoholic / former borderline alcoholic turned sober 

☁ Smoking: tried it (but hated it and never tried it again) / trying to quit / already quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker 

✿ Recreational Drugs: tried some / never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict 

✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess /definitely needs some psych meds but doesn’t have access

☻ Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / binge eater 

$ Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic 

♣ Gambling: never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gamble

Iris:

✧˖°. PERSONAL

$ Financial: wealthy/ moderate/ unsure/ poor / in extreme poverty 

✚ Medical: fit/ moderate / sickly/ disabled / non-applicable 

✪ Class: upper / middle/working / unsure /other 

✔ Education: qualified/ unqualified / studying / other 

✖ Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes/no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

✧˖°. FAMILY

◒ Children: had a child or children / has no children/ wants children (eventually)

◑ Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) /has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

◔ Affiliation: orphaned / abandoned / adopted/ found family / disowned / raised by birth parent(s) / not applicable

✧˖°. TRAITS + TENDENCIES

♦ extroverted / introverted/ ambivert

♦ disorganized / organized/ in-between

♦ close-minded / open-minded / in-between 

♦ calm / anxious / in-between / highly contextual

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in-between

♦ cautious / reckless / in-between / highly contextual

♦ patient / impatient / in-between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in-between / highly contextual 

♦ leader (reluctantly) / leader (gladly) / follower / in-between 

♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in-between / highly contextual 

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in-between

♦ traditional / modern / in-between

♦ hard-working / lazy / in-between 

♦ cultured / uncultured / in-between (depends on the culture) / unknown 

♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown / highly contextual 

♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown / highly contextual (in his case: faithful in a relationship sense but not in a religious sense)

✧˖°. BELIEFS

★ Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic 

☆ Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a matter of speaking ✮ Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking 

✯ Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking 

❃ Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care 

✧ Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious

❀ Philosophical: yes / no / highly contextual

✧˖°. SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

❤ Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual/ nonbinary

❥ Sex: sex-repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless 

♥ Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naive and clueless / romance suspicious 

❣ Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious 

⚧ Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / both (but has little interest in sex) / agender / other / none / all

⚧ Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / both / agender / other / none / all

✧˖°. ABILITIES

☠ Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 

≡ Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none 

✍ Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✂ Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✧˖°. HABITS

☕ Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / tried it / alcoholic / former borderline alcoholic turned sober 

☁ Smoking: tried it (but hated it and never tried it again) / trying to quit / already quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker 

✿ Recreational Drugs: tried some / never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict 

✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess 

☻ Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / binge eater 

$ Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic 

♣ Gambling: never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gamble

Tags: @honeybewrites @wyked-ao3 @kittrrrr @zackprincebooks @theverumproject @fractured-shield @poppycat-writes @illarian-rambling @finickyfelix @kuebiko-writing @yourpenpaldee @willtheweaver @the-letterbox-archives @marlowethelibrarian @moltenwrites

[sunset-a-story]

Bold The Facts Tag

Thank you to @winglesswriter for the tag! I'm going to do this with the trio from when Reeve was a student for a change: Reeve, Darwin, & Misha--though I'll be answering for them as adults. I'll use bold for more than one and denote who.

Keep in mind, that I'm doing this for Sunset Volume 2 so there is the potential for spoilers if you're not caught up.

◇+°. PERSONAL

$ Financial: wealthy/ moderate/unsure/ poor / in extreme poverty

+ Medical: fit / non-applicable / moderate / sickly / disabled /

Class: upper / middle / working / unsure / other (R & M)

✓ Education: qualified (R & D & M)/ unqualified / studying / other

✗ Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes (R & M) / yes, for minor crimes / no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

◇+°. FAMILY

Children: had a child or children / has no children (R & D & M) / wants children (eventually)

Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings (R & D & M) / sibling(s) is deceased

• Affiliation: orphaned / abandoned / adopted/ found family / disowned / raised by birth parent(s) / not applicable (R & D & M)

◇+°. TRAITS + TENDENCIES

extroverted / introverted (R & D) / ambivert

disorganized / organized (R & M) / in-between

close-minded (R & M) / open-minded / in-between

calm / anxious / in-between / highly contextual

disagreeable / agreeable / in-between

cautious / reckless / in-between / highly contextual

patient (R & D) / impatient / in-between

outspoken / reserved / in-between / highly contextual

leader (reluctantly) / leader (gladly) / follower / in-between

empathetic / vicious bastard / in-between / highly contextual

optimistic (R & D) / pessimistic / in-between

traditional (R & D) / modern / in-between

hard-working (R & D & M) / lazy / in-between

cultured / uncultured / in-between (depends on the culture) / unknown (R & D & M)

loyal (R & D & M) / disloyal / unknown / highly contextual

faithful (R & D & M) / unfaithful / unknown / highly contextual

◇+°. BELIEFS

Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic

☆Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don't know / don't care / in a matter of speaking

★ Belief in an Afterlife: yes (D & M) / no / don't know / don't care / in a manner of speaking

★ Belief in Reincarnation: yes (D & M) / no / don't know / don't care / in a manner of speaking

* Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don't know / don't care

Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious (R & D)

Philosophical: yes / no / highly contextual

◇+°. SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual (R & M) / asexual (R is bi & demi) / pansexual / nonbinary

◆ Sex: sex-repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable (R & D & M) / naive and clueless

Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable (R & D & M) / naive and clueless / romance suspicious

Sexually: adventurous / experienced (D & M) / naive / inexperienced / curious

Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / both / agender / other / none / all (D & M)

Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / both / agender / other / none / all (D & M)

◇+°. ABILITIES

Combat Skills: excellent / good (excellent using telepathy) / moderate / poor / none

Literacy Skills: excellent (R & D) / good / moderate / poor / none

Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Technical Skills: excellent / good (R & D) / moderate / poor / none

◇+°. HABITS

Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / tried it / alcoholic / former borderline alcoholic turned sober

Smoking: tried it / trying to quit / already quit / never (R & D) / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker

Recreational Drugs: tried some / never (R & D) / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict

Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently (R & M)/ to excess

$ Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently (in a way) / shopaholic

Gambling: never (R & D & M) / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gamble

~

I'm no pressure tagging @thatndginger @words-after-midnight @pandoras-comment-box @koiwrites

@ceph-the-ghost-writer @touloserlautrec and open tag!

[darkwingphoenix]

Some Ascendance lore for my @loominggaia AU: Extended Lore (And some minor spoilers, especially Great Rulers)

Context: Ascendance is a Kingdom founded by monsters after an event known as Project Starblast, where Serafeen of Damijana turned it into a nuke attempting to leave Gaia. This event gave monsters souls and drew them to the ruins of the city.

(Continued under cut)

After getting off the ground economically, in 6069 (Nice) they challenged Zareen Empire, which was extremely weakened by continued Industrialist terms and wound up attempting to fight the new Kingdom, but wound up getting its ass whupped by healthier and overall better equipped soldiers (In that their gear wasn't prone to breaking after 3 seconds of use/needs electricity to function/Both of those) with higher morale (Many Zareenites were going into the military for the free education).

Skylie planned the invasion for 6040. Until then, the Ascendance army was able to slowly grow and gain alliances with Folkvar (A deal made by Saraia for the kingdom), the Unseelie Court (Something done proactively by Morgause, as she was essentially betting on Ascendance's success to prove monsters had souls for the world via a unique culture), the Aquarian Alliance (Mostly as a desperate way to stop leviathan/koholasaur feeding frenzies on globeholders by having Saraia teach mages in the Kingdom her leviathan repellant spell, and Skylie explained they were gonna target Zareen anyway), and Evangeline Kingdom (Being wracked by a rebellion/civil war by the adherents to the House of Humanity and those loyal to Indiga as well as Kelvingyard's military, Skylie wanted to help the Kingdom for her nieces and nephews). Most of these were mere economic alliances with defense pacts, however.

Anyway, when Ascendance finally invaded, Zareen was fucked. They were still trying to contain the plague, the solar flares ruined their infrastructure, and their people were fleeing to Mogdir or Matuzu as they had no way to feed themselves. The Ascendance Army smacked the shit out of the few Zareen soldiers at their border, and Zareen had to raise an army fast. This... Did not happen fast enough, and by the time the Zareenite military managed to get its pants on most of Zareen was captured and under Ascendii rule (Ascendii is the word for a citizen of Ascendance/The national adjective).

Qara, who was still ruling thanks to the Kuzapa rigging the votes in her favor, was attempting to convince the Kuzapa to let her surrender and cut a peace deal, but the Kuzapa refused... Until a retired member called Bob Nick destroyed the entire upper command of the Kuzapa a week before the Ascendii army pulled up to Zareen Capital's gates to destroy Zareen and eat pancakes, and they ate the last of their pancakes the day before (They ate sausages and oatmeal for breakfast the day of the actual attack, thus why Skylie said to record the final day of Zareen as them doing that)

The army was told to raze the city once Qara surrendered, and Skylie tied up Qara and her husband, poisoned them with the venom of a monster she made that slowly killed its recipient over hours, and played the saxophone to them for their final moments, tied up and dying from a excruciatingly painful venom as they watched the capital burn and listened to Skylie's saxophone playing (Like that Squirtle saxophone meme)

After Skylie and the army returned to Ascendance Capital, Skylie got to work making a million monsters that could breed with themselves and made a buncha monsters to help purify the land and keep it so, as well as getting a million and 12 saraians ported in from Folkvar and Evangeline Kingdom to help rebuild the ecosystem/Economy.

Thanks to the hard work of the Ascendii people (And them porting literally all industrial work to Yerim-Mor), on the eve of 6100, the first wild nymphs since the rise of Zareen were born.

It helped the land was almost hard reset to no life more advanced than grass and bugs and no pollution in 6036 when Project Starblast happened and scoured the land, so the land only underwent 4 years of pollution.

RELATIONS (Nuanced)

Ascendance's first and closest ally is the Unseelie Court, for pretty obvious reasons. Their relations are hella friendly and buddy buddy, and Morgause often refers to Skylie as her bestie.

The Aquarian Alliance is... Fairly friendly with Ascendance, as they took down Zareen and were built on Damijana's ashes. They aren't fighting Ascendance, especially once Sovereign fucking explodes (More on that later).

Beyond this, Ascendance is friendly with Folkvar, Evangeline, Matuzu, and Yerim-Mor. Everyone else is neutral or unfriendly.

Religion

The Order of Love and Light is a pretty big thing here as it's heavily subsidized by the government, which gives the Order a ton of money (But still less than needed to get their Zareenite territories back up to prime productivity after disease and technological/ecological destruction) and allowing them to work their peaceful welfare stuff as the Kingdom focuses on other stuff.

The Cult isn't around anymore after Mankind's Disgrace was destroyed. In fact, their leader dying killed the entire cult in only a few decades, as the masks and armor of the higher ups started failing, resulting in mass deaths. Yerim-Mor, under High King Jaq after Ascendance destroys Zareen in 6041, was also able to get back up after Ascendance started putting their dirty work there, and his reign saw the last Crescent Cultist killed in 6075. It was basically like 12 people and a dog with a golden mask on to serve as Mankind's Disgrace. The dog was put into shelter and eventually adopted by Jaq himself.

The Communion is a somewhat rare but still extant religion in Damijana-controlled regions, although it's slowly dwindling. Its conversion rate is low, and people are leaving the cult about as fast if a bit faster.

Verminism isn't as common, but it's around.

One of the biggest religions in Ascendance is actually Arjukam. It really rings out to the various peoples of the land.

There's also... a lot of divine cult presence in the kingdom, from Allmother and Reaper to smaller/lesser known divines, as well as a very strong cult dedicated to Skylie herself. Saraia's cult is also pretty strong as well.

Cool Shit

Ascendance has not signed the Nymph Pact, but carefully dances around it by shoving their dirty industry to Yerim-Mor for them to do, and have essentially restored nature. Many nymphs from other regions respect Ascendance for this, and allow some dirty industry, although the Ascendii people do this for on reason only: Entertainment.

Their welfare basically run by the Order of Love and Light (And Karenza lives in Ascendance as well now, having anchored the Ethereal City permanently south of Ascendance Capital above the sea), Ascendii people often have plenty of leisure time due to their Kingdom's wealth. Some researchers picked up notes on clean energy, radio, TV, and even early schematics for video gaming consoles from Damijana ruins, Slegelse, and Zareen labs and cities, and succeeded in making a small console similar to the Atari in 6048. Skylie saw huge potential in them and had the High Ruler dump cash on it, resulting in the first game like the original Mario showing up in 6060.

Clean energy, meanwhile, took the form of almost solely solar panels. Many gaming systems wound up getting solar panels tacked on for easy energy, while making them also mostly compliant with the Nymph Pact (Enough to where most nymphs don't care so long as you don't throw it out).

[luxaryllis]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Ａｂｏｕｔ Ｍｅ ✧．＊

ೃ⁀➷ Name: Lux or Ary. Other nicknames are welcome as well.

ೃ⁀➷ Any pronouns

ೃ⁀➷ Minor

ೃ⁀➷ Carrd (credit to Mika aka dr3amscap3 for making this for me)

ೃ⁀➷ Another carrd? (this just has a bit more info on me, the carrd Mika made is mainly for Tumblr)

ೃ⁀➷ Posting Status: Slow but active. Busy with school

ೃ⁀➷ Request Status: Open, but can't guarantee a quick post

ೃ⁀➷ DM Status: Always open

ೃ⁀➷ Current inbox count: 47

ೃ⁀➷ @madasme-luxary is my bestie irl and will be helping me with my posts often

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 ✧.*

ೃ⁀➷ None at the moment

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Ｒｕｌｅ�� ✧．＊

・❥・Fandoms・❥・

ೃ⁀➷ Twisted Wonderland (character limit: max of 5 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ Hetalia (character limit: max of 4 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ Genshin Impact (character limit: max of 4 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ Obey Me! (character limit: max of 3 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ Riordanverse (PJO, HOO, TOA) (character limit: max of 5 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ HADES Game (max of 5 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ Greek Mythology (includes franchises like Blood of Zeus, etc) (max of 5 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ Non-fandom/character specific (no character limit)

ೃ⁀➷ Record of Ragnarok (character limit: max of 3 characters)

ೃ⁀➷ Honkai Star Rail (character limit: max of 3 characters)

・❥・Genres・❥・

ೃ⁀➷ Fluff, Angst, Comfort

ೃ⁀➷ AUs & Tropes

ೃ⁀➷ Platonic & Romantic

ೃ⁀➷ Character x Reader, Character x Character

ೃ⁀➷ Gendered reader (automatically becomes gender neutral unless stated otherwise in request)

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˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 ✧.*

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[shwoo]

The river in the Outer Wilds DLC represents the flow of time.

The river in the Outer Wilds DLC represents the flow of time.

The most obvious evidence for this is that the records you find along the river are in chronological order. You find the record of the owlk discovering the Eye in the earliest, least built up part of the Stranger, and the record of their study of the Eye and how they reacted to that in the second area. The second area is more raised up, and also has their church of the Eye looking building. You find the heavily redacted record of what they did after that near the extra technological lab in the cliff.

And all through those section, the current propels you along while you're on the river, and you only need the raft controls to steer. Then you get to the reservoir, the current stops, and the upbeat river music is replaced by a quieter track with an accompaniment that sounds like a ticking clock. You can find another record that's set even later than the last one, and is even more redacted.

The river doesn't flow at this point because the owlk dammed it, and that ties into their rejection of change. I don't think I can elaborate without being more free with spoilers, so continuing below!

So according to Solanum, the Eye of the Universe represents extreme changeability, and you have to solve a bunch of puzzles to get to her to hear this, so she's probably right, at least on a thematic level. In rejecting the Eye, the owlk rejected the concept of change, something that inevitably comes with the flow of time. They wanted things to go back to how they were before they saw a really cool thing in the sky and destroyed their homeworld over it, and since that wasn't possible, they made an unchanging simulation so that they could pretend. Metaphorically damming up their time.

The programmers don't even bother fixing all the glitches they found during development. It's been hundreds of thousands of years, you could probably get around to making it less easy to fall through a loading zone.

The simulation also becomes progressively more built up the further along the river you go, like its real world equivalent, until you get to the equivalent of the reservoir and there's almost nothing there.

But they can't keep things dammed up forever, and halfway through the game's time loop, the dam breaks, literally and metaphorically. It's because the ship starts to accelerate into deep space, but it was that or be incinerated. And if it broke that easily, it probably would have failed on its own anyway.

All they did was put off change until it exploded through and killed a bunch of people without warning and destroyed their stuff. And I assume they had a mechanical reason put a dam on their spaceship in the first place, maybe for power generation or heat distribution, so it doesn't look great for the surviving group of owlk. Or the Prisoner, but the Prisoner probably isn't as into eternal life as the rest of them seem to be.

The simulation also becomes progressively more built up the further along the river you go, but I didn't want to say that above the readmore.

Also, the music for the reservoir, River's End, doesn't play after the dam breaks. What actually convinced me at first of this river = time thing was the melody that you eventually hear in that song. It's a minor key version of Travellers, which plays nowhere else in the DLC other than the ending sequence. I'm not 100% certain that this is why it's in River's End, but it is the song that plays at the end of the universe.

In conclusion, the river in the Outer Wilds DLC is a metaphor for the flow of time.

[thelaurenshippen]

You mentioned that you got excited to write the shopping montage when you "realized a certain character would be sticking around." Was the initial uncertainty around that because you weren't sure how the story was going to unfold, or because of some of the real life complications around availability and casting? Stories definitely have a life of their own, but do you feel like you've got a fairly firm plan in mind with "Bridgewater?"

bridgewater spoilers below the cut!

a little bit of both! there's always some uncertainty around what's actually going to be possible production-wise and, of course, we did end up getting alan tudyk in as thomas bradshaw because nathan fillion couldn't come back. and we all couldn't be happier about that! nathan and alan are close friends and alan is doing such a wonderful job that it all really worked out well - but there was definitely a little bit of discussion around "well, do we want to recast or do we want to write thomas off" and ultimately decided that thomas was in so little of season 1 that recasting wouldn't be super disruptive.

I tend to only very broadly plan past a first season when I'm building a show, and usually I'm only focused on, like....the themes and vibes and character growth I want. so in bridgewater's case, I didn't have a S2 plan when writing S1 beyond "here's what I want for jeremy and anne to experience", which could manifest in a whole LOT of ways (this is extremely vague I know, but obviously I can't talk about it until the whole season is out). there was a moment where I thought about jeremy and anne hearing thomas' voice at the end being a fakeout and it actually turns out to be some kind of hallucination or weird paranormal trick, but aaron and I, like, BARELY entertained that. we really wanted jeremy to have the chance to get to know his dad and I love "man out of time" stories.

anyway, long story long, I didn't necessarily even have the arc of the plot and lore of S2 mapped out when we figured out how we wanted the season to end, if that makes sense. I had really clear goals in mind for the emotional journeys that each of the characters would go on, and toyed around with a few ways of getting there before I landed on the one I ended up writing. part of why I don't plot out the specific story beats beyond a first season is because a) I'm a very character-forward writer, so whatever is going to enable the characters to have the emotional arcs I want is what I follow and b) when actors are involved you just truly never know how that's going to transform things.

for instance, I've talked about this before, but jeremy didn't swear all that much on the page in S1, but misha threw in so many swears when we were recording that the S2 scripts had way more cursing for Jeremy from the start. I loved it, I loved how misha's perspective on the character and sensibility altered the way jeremy speaks - he's funnier in S2, with a drier wit, because misha is very funny with a dry wit. it's the same thing with anne - melissa plays her hard-nosed nature so well, but she also has this absolutely incredible softness to her, that I actually wrote her calling jeremy "sweetie" or "honey" in S2 a few times (which I have a lot of squishy feelings about, I just have a lot of squishy feelings about them in general bc of the chemistry that misha and melissa have). same thing with misha and karan - they had such a playful chemistry that it was really easy and nice to lean into the real genuine love and care that vipin and jeremy have for each other (this is, like, SUCH a minor spoiler for what's coming up next, but I was just listening to this episode today, and in future episodes people refer to vipin explicitly as jeremy's best friend because like....yeah, he totally is. jeremy is a pretty loner-ish guy and even though vipin is his TA there is a genuine closeness there).

so there's that kind of stuff that can shape the emotional journeys the characters go on which of course can shake up your plot completely (if anyone listened to The Bright Sessions and has heard me talk about this specific thing before, this is exactly what happened with mark/damien - that relationship was not supposed to result in one of them falling in love and the other one, like, kind of falling back a little against his better judgment (I mean, christ, damien was like the one character that when I started writing I was like 'yeah this guy is straight' turns out VERY much no) but it turned into that because the first time andrew and charlie sat down to record together as those characters it was INSTANT sparks. some of the wildest organic chemistry I've ever experienced as a director lol).

but then there's also the fact that sometimes your actors are your direct collaborators on building the story! of course aaron is my partner in crime in building the world of bridgewater, but for S2, because misha was on board before I even started writing it, the two of us had several conversations both as I was outlining and then after all the scripts were written about who jeremy was and what we wanted for him. so I tend to keep all my plans fairly loose because I love the spontaneous collaboration that comes out of working with other people.

YEESH that was such a long winded answer, but thank you for asking!

[cookinguptales]

wwdits tarot: the chariot

A continued thank you for reading my silly tarot thoughts. I’ve really loved seeing what y’all have come up with! I’ve always loved how tarot seems to inspire creativity. :)

I’ll probably talk about this more extensively later, but for those curious, in this deck, I’d assign the Minor Arcana as:

Wands/clubs: candles Pentacles/diamonds: treasure (mainly old gold coins and jewels) Swords/spades: stakes Cups/hearts: those little glasses of blood they seem to favor

I have reasoning for all those choices, but I’ll leave that for after the Major Arcana!

Anyway, time for VII. The Chariot!

The Chariot is a card of strength, determination, and courage. It’s often associated with victory in battle, and versions of this card often depict a scene pertaining to war and warriors.

With all that said, you might think that I’m about to assign this card to Nandor.

NO. My version of The Chariot goes to Laszlo Cravensworth.

I have multiple reasons for this. It is not just because I wanted to put his car on a card.

(Really.)

(But his car will be on the card.)

Anyway, the one defining characteristic of this card is decisive willpower that leads to victory. This is a card that tells you to make a decision and follow it all the way to the bitter end. It tells you to have courage and make bold choices, and to have the willpower to see them through.

When I think of a character in WWDITS who actually makes firm and thoughtful decisions, well — it’s actually Laszlo. Nadja and Nandor are happy enough to chase their ideas around, but how many of them have really had staying power? Most of their ideas collapse around their ears.

But let’s look at Laszlo’s track record. When Jim showed up, Laszlo decided to leave the house and create a new life for himself in order to evade consequences, and he successfully did so. He committed to keeping Colin Robinson’s upcoming death a secret and showed remarkable fortitude when it came to putting up with Colin’s unflagging bullshit. He made a plan to save Colin from the siren, and then he did so. And then he threw himself into tricking his wife into leaving without him so he could (again, successfully) raise Baby Colin.

All of these decisions were made in a split second, but he immediately committed to them and saw them through to their inevitable ends. And more than that, all of these endeavors were pretty successful. Usually when Laszlo puts his mind to something, it gets done. That’s… not always a good thing for everyone else, but within his own mind, he has a remarkable success rate.

And jesus, just ask Gregor if Laszlo is a successful warrior or not.

Laszlo often seems like the loafer of the household, but when you think about it, he’s more like a snake poised to strike. He certainly conserves his energy for when it matters, but when he makes up his mind to do something? He does it.

The Chariot is a card of great confidence, and Laszlo is 100% a confidence man, in every sense of the word. Like — if nothing else, Laszlo Cravensworth always commits to the bit, whether that’s a long con or a short one.

I think that Laszlo would be a good match for The Chariot either way, but I've got an ulterior motive for choosing this one. I’m also interested in the way that The Chariot and its sister card, Strength, both look at different kinds of inner strength. Like The Magician and The High Priestess, they both discuss a similar idea but expressed in different ways. Like The Magician, The Chariot is a card of outward power while Strength and The High Priestess want you to consider a more interior kind of power.

Spoilers, I suppose, but I want to use these two cards to discuss Laszlo and Nadja and how their strengths, weaknesses, and respective traumas really kind of complement each other. Both of them are extremely strong vampires, but they face challenges in drastically different ways.

Of the two, Laszlo is better at tackling outside problems and actually emerging victorious, while Nadja is better at withstanding adversity. If Laszlo is a confidence man good at worming out of tough situations, Nadja is a woman who will stand her ground, take the hits, and keep on coming. She’s a vampire who’s used to being attacked — and being the one to emerge from the ensuing puddle of blood come hell or high water.

I’ll talk more about Nadja as Strength next time, but for now, I did want to talk about that concept of interiority vs. exteriority. At first glance, I think you’d definitely think that Nadja is the exterior and Laszlo the interior. He keeps to himself much more often and Nadja is by far the brasher of the two.

But… being real with you, Laszlo is probably the only one of the entire main cast who could successfully live amongst humans if he had to. (And yes, I am including Guillermo in that.) He has a remarkable talent for analyzing real-world situations and turning them to his best advantage immediately.

Nadja has big dreams — but Laszlo has realistic ones. I think that’s why he’s so good at actually exteriorizing his ideas and getting what he’s aiming for, even when it hurts him. Nadja’s power is more in the theoretics, I think, but Laszlo’s is extremely concrete. He, like The Djinn, specializes in bringing plans to fruition; he creates tangible results.

That said, as differently as both approach the question of strength and results, the two of them complement each other on a deep and fundamental level. Laszlo is always happy to support his lady wife’s dreams and help her turn them into something approaching reality. When she creates an elaborate plan like a vampire night club, he’s the one working to supply the moneymaker. When she wants to go to England to join the international vampiric council, he’s the one who will make sure she’s protected on the way.

On the other hand, Nadja’s stubborn fortitude and at times canny emotional perception have helped her husband just as much. While he looks out for her physical welfare, she looks out for his internal emotional one. Her stubborn brand of compassion has helped him come to understand his own feelings and trauma, and she is often there to help draw him out of his moods when they get to be too bad.

Put plainly, for a woman who has always experienced extreme housing/familial/physical insecurity, a man who is focused on keeping her safe, happy, and physically cared for makes her feel secure. For a man who was constantly emotionally neglected growing up, a woman who helps him come to terms with that abuse and loves him anyway makes him feel secure.

Both are strong and both are weak, but both of them know how to use both that strength and that weakness to create a healthy partnership.

I love them, your honor.

Anyway, that’s definitely what I was trying to get at by making Laszlo and Nadja The Chariot and Strength.

But also, yeah, the car.

Speaking of which…

The RSW version of The Chariot depicts a warrior coming home from a successful battle in his war chariot. It is being carried by twin sphinxes. They are two different colors and facing two different directions, showing The Chariot’s ability to control all of his resources and options, even when they appear to contradict.

(In other words, The Chariot’s pretty good at herding cats.)

There are quite a few celestial and alchemical symbols here, which speak to divine will and the capability for self-transformation, but these ideas are brought down to earth, so to speak, by the square on his chest that symbolizes the earth.

Our Laszlo doesn’t have a chariot, but I am told that he has a pretty nice jalopy.

Instead of armor, I’d have Laszlo wearing his driving outfit (we all know his best armor is emotional walls, anyway) and instead of a chariot pulled by two beasts, he’d be in his car, of course. I’d have his headlights be two different colors, though, to symbolize the two options that he is corralling into one path ahead of him.

And instead of a starry canopy, why not just have him driving out under the stars? He deserves it, as a little treat.

(Even if The Guide is still kind of mad at him.)

wwdits tarot masterpost

[blazehedgehog]

So here's something weird: when Nickelodeon got the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they only got the rights to the name and the 2003 show, apparently. All this time, they haven't actually had the rights to the original 1987 cartoon show. Until now! They put up this video of the five episodes, which are part of one of the show's only real story arcs, and it holds up sort of okay!

A bummer: they apparently still do not have the rights to the original 1987 theme song. Or, at least, not the original recording. So they recorded a cover -- same song, new singers. It's... kind of bad. Parts of it are almost kind of off key? Compare the version in the above video with this. Some of that opening chorus in the new version is missing the correct emphasis and minor key changes in how the words are said.

Also weird: it feels like there's an episode missing, because (spoilers) Episode 1 basically ends with Shredder saying off screen that he can't let the Turtles know about his Technodrome secret base, and then episode 2 opens with April hitting the Turtles up to "go back to that Technodrome-thingy." I was pretty mad, because Nickelodeon in particular is notorious for showing episodes out of order! But after checking three different episode guides, no, that's just how it always was. 80's cartoons, huh?

Anyway. I just think this is neat. I'm having that extremely weird reaction to watching this where I haven't seen these episodes in probably close to 25 years, meaning I've functionally forgotten everything about them -- yet every other line of dialog rings some ancient, long dormant bell in my brain where I know what they're going to say next. Even though I don't feel like I know. It's bizarre and inexplicable. In a dark corner of my mind, seven year old BlazeHedgehog suddenly perks his ears up again because, ohmygosh the Ninja Turtles are on???? It's a different feeling from run-of-the-mill nostalgia. More primal than that.

[yuri-ray]

No-Spoilers Review #9: If That's Love, Break it. (Zenbu Kowashite Jigoku de Aishite)

Content Warnings: SELF-HARM!!! I AM NOT KIDDING!!!, sexual themes, severe parental abuse (thus far psychological), violence and bullying, general dark themes

(And after a series I like that I'd recommend to everybody, here's a series I like that I'd recommend to nearly no one...)

If That's Love, Break it. (or Destroy it All and Love Me in Hell) by Kuwabara Tamotsu is a manga with only one full volume out currently at the time of writing. It's extremely new, and it's yuri so toxic it could poison the groundwater for a hundred years 2ND VOLUME UPDATE: actually not THAT toxic . It's about a "perfect" honor student who is, mentally, at her absolute breaking point due to the sheer pressure. She wants to escape, but she just can't do it--Until a truant with a nasty personality starts to mess with her.

Is it good? W-Well... First of all it's new, so there could be some bad things on the horizon. Second of all it's dark as hell, and let me just point out that big content warning list I wrote up there. I'm weirdly obsessed with it and I like it a lot, but this is absolutely and completely not a work for everybody, or even most people. I also would NOT recommend that minors read this.

Kurumi Yoshizawa (brown hair) is top of the school and the student council president. Unbeknownst to the other students and the teachers, Kurumi is under horrific amounts of pressure mostly from her mother to be literally perfect, and she can't say no to the expectations of teachers either. She resents her circumstances bitterly. After she's asked to check on the truant student Naoi (black hair), she mutters to herself that she "doesn't give a shit" about "some girl who doesn't come to school." Naoi hears this directly passing her on the stairs, and immediately she takes an interest in her.

When Kurumi nearly shoplifts a single eraser thinking it might let her escape ("nearly" because she just pays for it anyway), it turns out Naoi took a recording of it. She starts blackmailing her.

Naoi is a REAL NASTY PIECE OF WORK. She's an evil little shitling, and she punches Kurumi in the solar plexus in Chapter 1. To me, this makes her a fun character to follow and read about, but easily to others she would just be a horrible person, end of story. Because she is. She is a corruptor, who becomes interested in Kurumi just for the sake of tormenting her. However, to Kurumi, Naoi is both her tormentor and her only possible escape, her only rebellion against her life circumstances. She despises her but she also doesn't know what she really wants. To Naoi, she realizes that Kurumi might be the only person who understands her (Naoi's home life isn't good either, and she has a suspicious large scar like a burn mark on one of her arms). This complicated, messy, strange relationship is what really appeals to me. Kurumi has one close friend who genuinely cares deeply about her and is a good, normal person, but Kurumi's just not willing to open up to her even though she wants to help.

Final Thoughts:

As you can imagine from a title that could be translated overly-literally as "DESTROY EVERYTHING, LOVE IN HELL", the writing is pretty over-the-top dark, so some would definitely call this "totally ridiculous" or, possibly, "disrespectful" -- Another reason why I don't think most people would like this series. Again, just because I love freak girls with dogshit personalities in my manga doesn't mean I think everyone is gonna have a good time with it!

And, seriously, check those content warnings.

If you do like it, talk about it with me! I literally can't in good conscience recommend this to any of my usual friends... There's no official English translation, but I'll pick up the first volume if it gets released overseas, assuming nothing crazier than my limits shows up before then.

(For yuris that would kill you on sight like the Elephant's Foot, Murciélago and Cruddy are just WAY too much even for me. I won't be reviewing those.)

UPDATE: We are now 11 chapters in! Instead of like... 3. Suffice to say, basically none of my fears came to fruition, so honestly speaking it's just plain good as long as you mind the content warnings. Good luck Naoi. Good luck Kurumi. And Kokoro.