#(and how even those like him who aren't good at things like combat are expected to at least TRY)

[itsbeenliketenyearsitsprettywild]

mylo vanderskid arcane, when it was actually him and not a hallucination, didn't call powder a jinx from a place of personal insecurity, as at no point in show does he come off as threatened by the skills she does have. he had a valid point obscured by the fact that he was a stupid teenager untrained in the skill of logical debate, alongside a long-burning personal frustration leading him to get mean in the way he framed the subject. post-timeskip, everything about mylo's deeper point about jinx's behavior is proven true in acts 2 and 3 of season 1 as it comes up again and again as something silco himself struggles with in keeping his political grip on zaun. in this essay i

[redsrooftopprincess]

Monster

Raphael x AFAB!Reader

Warnings: Smut. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Happy Monsterfucker Pride Month you fucking deviants. 😈 Here's a present.

There are a lot of words that come to mind to the average person upon meeting the Hamato clan. "Thing" is pretty popular, and "Freak" is always a classic, but by far Raphael's least favorite is "Monster."

That one tends to stick around, like a "Hello My Name Is" sticker, even after first meeting. The others have an easier time. Leo's the calm, cool one, Mikey doesn't need any help making friends, and Don's got that cute nerd thing going on, but Raphael is big, quiet, and Close Quarter Combat has left him with more scars than clear skin, making an already ugly situation worse.

So when he was sitting at your desk while you were hanging out one night and a notification popped up on your computer, the word caught his attention.

"What is a... 'Monsterfucker?'"

You're not sure sure if anyone has ever died from asphyxiating Dr. Pepper, but you wonder for a moment if you'll be the first.

When you can once again breathe, you look up at him raising a brow at you, "You good?"

"Yup," you croak out with a nod and a thumbs up, clearing your throat, "good."

He gives you a moment to catch your breath, "So... You gonna answer my question, or...?"

Damn. You were hoping he'd suddenly magically forget that he asked.

You've been holding off on coming clean to the guys about this particular personality quirk. You're conflicted because, while it would do wonders for their self esteem, it would more or less be the equivalent of wearing a big sign around your neck that says "HEY RAPH! I'M INTO YOU!" You're still trying to figure out how to approach him about it, and whether or not doing so would ruin an already amazing friendship.

Apparently, you aren't going to get a choice.

You clear your throat, procrastinating, and looking down at the Halloween coloring book you've been working on so you don't have to meet his eyes, "Well..." You clear your throat again, "... a Teratosexual... or... 'Monsterfucker'... is someone with more... exotic... preferences," you cringe internally.

"Exotic as in...?"

"Exotic as in... non-human." You say, making an attempt at sounding casual, suddenly very focused on the cat you're coloring.

That was not the answer he was expecting.

The longer he's quiet, the louder the heartbeat in your ears.

"So you're... not... into humans." He ventures hesitantly.

"Not generally, no..." You say, still not looking at him. Your face is burning.

"Oh..." He says, sitting back and attempting to process, "So what kind of, uh... monsters, I guess... are you, um..." He can't believe he's actually asking this question.

"Depends," you say, thankfully without your voice squeaking.

"On..."

"On... who they are as a person," you say, "just like anyone."

He's quiet again, and you resist the urge to look up at him. He's running through moment after moment with you in his head. The looks, the touches, the gentle words, all those times he kicked himself for reading too much into things...

You tense as you hear him get up and walk over to your side of the bed. the mattress dips as he sits down beside you, and a hand comes up to still the hand coloring. You look up at him, heart thundering in your ears as his thumb brushes over your wrist.

"Now, I could be way off base," he says softly, "and if I am feel free to tell me and I swear I'll never bring it up again... but sometimes I feel like you and me, we..." He takes a breath, "What are we? Friends? I mean, Donnie's your best friend, but you spend all your time with me, and... um..." He trails off.

"Is that what you want...? Friends...?" You ask, hesitantly. You're talking about it. Everything the two of you have both very purposely avoided talking about. The time, the touches. You're talking about it, making whatever the hell this is real. Which means the next words out of his mouth could either build or break you.

"Honestly, at the risk of possibly ruining the best thing that's ever happened to me... No."

"Honestly," you say, breathless, your heart doing backflips, "me either."

"So... If not friends, then... what do you want?" He asks, holding your gaze.

He watches every one of your reactions closely. Any sign of unease or discomfort and he's going to bail. But there aren't any. He's pulled to you, and he closes what little distance there is, a blush blooms across your cheeks and chest.

"Honestly..." You whisper, "you."

He inhales sharply, and looks down at you in awe for a moment, heart pounding behind his armored chest. Exhaling, he cups your face with his other hand, brushing his thumb over your jaw before sliding it back slightly and tilting your head up to him.

"You sure that this... that I'm... what you want...?" He's vibrating. Everything in him is screaming out to take you. Claim you. You're right here. You're giving yourself to him. Anyone else would have just kissed you by now. But he isn't anyone else, and this isn't exactly a normal situation. He has to be sure.

His soft caress is sending sensations rippling down your arm, and you can barely breathe for the ache in your chest. The night they met, Mikey had been injured. Badly. So badly, that they had to drop in at April and Casey's even knowing there was a stranger there.

He stood in the corner and watched you like a hawk. You were new, and new was dangerous. He watched you jump in to help Donnie with whatever he needed, eyes clear and calculating.

In the moment, you were too focused on making sure D had what he needed to save his brother's life, but the memory set your skin on fire.

"Pretty much since the beginning." You whisper, nodding.

He wastes no more time. You've wanted this as long as he has and that thought sends a surge of heat through his bloodstream. He releases your hand and slides his around your waist, pressing his lips to yours, pulling you into his lap, and as flush against him as he can. He's been dreaming of this since the moment you met.

It feels right. Natural. Like you should have been doing this all along, but the moment the hand against your cheek slides into your hair, gripping it gently, and you can feel the rumble in his chest within your own, any whispers of regret are forgotten.

All too soon, he pulls back, both of you needing a moment to catch your breath.

His forehead pressed to yours, you look up at him curiously when he starts laughing softly.

He beams down at you, "You know, on the list of shit I though was gonna happen... ever..." You smile up at him, laughing gently as well. He looks at you with elated, if not confused, eyes, "You got any idea what you're signing up for."

"Pretty sure, yeah," you grin.

They all tried so hard to be human, but it was the hardest for Raphael. Whether it was a result of his mutation, his wildly inconsistent emotional states, or some combination of the two, he was the closest of the four of them to their primal nature.

That night, and the hulking figure in the corner, like some kind of ancient sentinel watching over his charges, was a memory you had come back to so many times you're pretty sure you could recreate it perfectly, not that you would want to.

You pull back slightly to look at him, and bring your hand up to his face, cupping his cheek. You look down at his lips, brushing your thumb over his scar, you've always wondered what it felt like, "... and I think I've been handling it pretty well, so far." Your eyes meets his like the period at the end of a sentence.

Looking at you as if you were the only thing he's ever really wanted, he presses his lips to yours far less tentatively this time, growling into the kiss.

You rest your hand on the back of his head as he kisses down the curve of your throat, nuzzling against it and leaving traces of himself on you. You don't miss the significance of being marked as His and something warm and grateful fills your chest.

He works his way back to your mouth, kissing you deeply before pulling back. He looks down at you, still in almost disbelief.

"I want to see you..." He says, breathless, running a finger just under the hem of your tank top. He looks down before meeting your eyes once again, and you would shudder if you weren't pinned down by his gaze.

You smile, pulling your shirt over your head, letting it fall to the ground. You had no idea what you thought his reaction would be to finding out everything, but this was way better than you could have hoped. Gooseflesh scatters across your skin, though you're not sure if it's from the change in temperature, or the way his eyes laser focus on on every inch of you. They light your skin on fire, but he doesn't move.

"You're allowed to touch me, Raphael..." you whisper. His eyes shoot up to yours, "I want you to." He inhales sharply, fingers already tingling, he hesitates for just a moment before a calloused hand brushes tentatively over an already hardened nub, making you shiver.

His hand covers your breast and he squeezes gently, the sigh that ghosts from your lips emboldening him.

When he dips his head and captures the other in his mouth, circling with his tongue, the whimper that escapes you as your eyes fall closed is nearly his undoing.

One of your hands rests on the back of his neck, while the other guides his hand lower. As he caresses your waist, his mouth moves to your other breast, giving it the same treatment and leaving your pulse racing.

You can feel the dampness between your legs, and from the way his churr has deepened, it's evident he can smell your arousal. His fingers play at the waistband of your shorts, but no further.

"This doesn't have to go any farther than your comfortable with," you reassure him.

"It's not that, it's just..." His cheeks darken, "I'm not... um..."

"Human?" You venture, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah..." He says before laughing softly, still not entirely able to process that this is happening, "But, I guess... that's not really a problem for you, is it?"

"Nope," you say, offering him a wicked smile which leaves him swallowing hard.

You smirk and reach up to tug at his paldron. "Feeling a little one-sided here, Red," you say looking over all the clothing and equipment he still has on.

He exhales, a permanent smile of disbelief resting in the corner of his mouth. Him. You want him. You climb off of him, laying back on the bed, and he stands. He sheds his gear and clothing as you look on hungrily, reclined on the bed like a God damn empress. His tail twitches. You aren't just letting him have you, you want him right back, and that is doing amazing things for his ego.

As he's removing the last of his clothing, he glances down at your shorts before meeting your gaze with a brow raised in expectation.

You narrow your eyes and smirk, pushing yourself up and standing beside the bed, before pushing your shorts from your hips and letting them slide to the floor. Now it's your turn to look at him expectantly as he tosses his red mask on top of his gear and takes the few steps towards you.

He looks down at you as if you're the most beautiful creature he's ever seen, and if you ask him, you are. With fabric no longer impeding, he is glutting himself on your scent and his head is swimming as it takes everything in him not to drop right there.

Your eyes roam over his body greedily, drinking him in, something you previously could only ever do in secret, and he shivers. You can't help it, you reach up a hand and hesitate for only a moment before placing it on his chest, following the labyrinthine whorls and channels in his plastron. He's cool and hard under your fingertips, and rough in many places where the keratin has been damaged.

"You know what kills me?" You ask softly, fingers tracing a particularly deep scar, "You have absolutely no idea how beautiful you are," you step forward, pressing your lips to the deep groove. You're rewarded with a sharp inhale and the rumble in his chest against your bare skin.

His hand slides around your waist and he pulls you into him as you kiss upward along the length of the scar. Your softness caresses him, and warmth pours through his shell, filling all the parts of him starved for sunlight. A deep hum reverberates inside of him when you reach the divot in the top of his pectoral scute, and kiss the scarred skin just above.

You look up at him, whispering, "Will you let me show you?"

He looks down at you, and he looks terrified. But he nods. He trusts you.

You take his hand and walk to the end of the bed. You close the door to your room, the light flashing in the full length mirror on the back of the door.

"Sit," you say with a gentle squeeze of his hand, leading him to the side of the bed facing the mirror. He does as he's told, and you climb into his lap, also facing the mirror.

You take his large hands in yours and guide him, showing him how you like to be touched. He watches your reactions to every movement closely, and it isn't long before he's confident enough to explore on his own. His fingers trail lightly down your side, following the line of your hip slowly inward. He stills, waiting to see if you're going to stop him from moving forward.

You don't.

He holds your gaze, watching your features change as his fingers slip into your folds. You gasp as he teases you slowly, and it isn't long before you're near trembling.

You're eyes fall closed, and your mouth falls open as one finger finally pushes into your soaked center. You lean back against him, whimpering as his finger curls, brushing against the soft part inside of you, before pulling out and pushing back in. He repeats the action, slowly, and again, slowly. He feels you clench around him, writhing impatiently, and looks up at the mirror.

Flush and trembling in his arms, one hand nearly covers your abdomen, the contrast of your smooth skin and his pebbled scales looking almost intentional, color and texture complimenting each other perfectly. The other continues disappearing inside of you and drawing from you the most exquisitely frustrated sounds. And it's him. He's doing all of it. His oversized, inhuman hands are creating this moment.

There is no other word for it than "beautiful..."

Your lust blown eyes open to meet his as you whimper and twist in his lap. "f-fuck..." he shudders as he drops, gripping you tighter.

The corner of your mouth turns up slightly as you meet his reflection's eyes. Trembling, he angles himself to rub against your sex, coating himself in your slick, pulling a small sound from your throat. You're already so wet and ready, and when you tilt your hips and capture his spade-tipped head, you are very grateful for that.

The burn as you stretch around him is glorious. He's bigger than you were expecting (and you were expecting), and a deep moan is pulled from you as you sink down on him slowly, your eyes falling closed.

You still once he's buried to the hilt, both of you needing a moment to adjust. When you open your eyes, his are still closed. His arms hold you tightly around the waist, and measured, trembling breaths ghost over your shoulder.

He needs a minute. This is new for him and the worst thing he can imagine right now is for this to be over before it starts. You are so soft and warm and tight, and he can feel your heartbeat pulsing in the walls around him, and if he doesn't get some kind of control, he's going to bust right here.

After a few moments, he opens his eyes, meeting yours in the mirror. His fingers find your clit again, and he strokes it slowly, groaning, his head falling back, when you clench around him.

In an involuntary search for friction, your hips rock against his and he gasps, his other hand tightening around your waist, and he's never been more grateful for years of training in meditation.

He breathes heavily for a few moments, and once he feels like he has his bearings, he holds your gaze and tightens his grip on your hips, pulling out of you slowly before pushing back in. You can feel his churr inside you and you shudder as he sheathes himself again, feeling the vibrations of his desire scatter outward from your center, leaving your fingers and toes tingling.

You move together in a slow rhythm, his eyes never leaving the mirror. He's going to remember every single second of this for the rest of his life. Whatever happens next, this is his. This moment. This feeling. He's wanted a lot of things in his life - peace, acceptance, love -, and for this one shining moment, he has all of them. For this once shining moment, he has you.

This beautiful, brilliant goddess of light and mercy is with him, wants him. You are watching him in the mirror as if he is something sacred. Divine. This broken deformation of something that isn't even a man, held in reverence, and he is filled with something indescribable.

His head falls to your shoulder with a deep moan, as a fire ignites inside of him. Not the one he's used to, there is no burning rage. No barely contained fury. This is not the fire of battle, but the fire of a forge.

Red hot iron burns in his veins as years of doubt and insecurity are boiled away. They didn't matter anymore. Every weird, unacceptable mutated turtle thing he had to deal with. Every scream of horror at his terrible visage. Your light. Your heat, is burning it away. Allowing him to make something new. He leans back, lifting you and bucking up into your harder as that heat fills him, and with every thrust, something in him is reshaping itself.

You could see it in his eyes. That fire of creation. And if you thought he was beautiful before... He holds your gaze with open purpose, unsure but ready for anything, pouring that fire into you. The catalyst of his recreation. And for the first time in his life, he feels like maybe he deserves something good.

And, Gods, you felt SO good.

He's transfixed, his hand reaching around to find your clit again, moaning as his mouth descends to your neck and shoulders. Needing to pull more of those exquisite sounds from you. Every one of them ringing through him like a struck anvil.

A smirk turns his lip as he stands, growling, and you brace against the door as he shows no signs of slowing. His large hand comes to cover yours on the door, wrapping around it. Eyes no longer fixed to the mirror, gaze downward, watching the way you stretch around him as he disappears into you, he can feel his release building as your body flexes around him.

The fire roars under your skin as his speed and strength increases, capturing every sight, sound, and scent, and tossing them back into the flames.

You're beyond language at this point, grunting and whimpering with every thrust. You can feel him in every part of you, until there is nothing left in the world but him and the burn of him filling you completely.

You can feel the pressure building as he growls low and sparks shoot up your spine, his hot breath crashing over your shoulders in waves as he is lost to you. He wraps his arm around you, leaning back and pulling you flush against him as his eyes fall shut.

You are consumed by the flames, arching against him with a cry as white fire streaks through you, the pressure breaks, and you are undone. Raphael follows with a roar, gripping you tightly as he buries himself in you. A second wave crashes over you when you feel him spill himself inside of you, your body milking him dry.

Trembling and breathing hard, you sit back and hold each other as you come down together. You meet his eyes in the mirror, and he's looking at you in reverence and gratitude, like you're his own personal miracle.

Because you are.

He wraps his arms around your waist and buries his head in your shoulder and breathes deep, pulling your scent into his lungs as he pulls out of you, leaving you feeling empty. Glancing up, he watches himself drip out of you, staining the rug below. You are flush and exhausted, but smiling as your heart rate and breathing slow.

After taking a few moments to clean up. You crawl back into bed together. He slips his arm around your waist, pulling you closer.

You smile up at him, happy, truly, actually happy, for the first time in... ever? That can't be right. It feels right. All you know is you've never been happy like this.

It won't last. It can't. He's too special. And now he knows he has options. "Just think, when you get bored with me, there's a whole community of people that will also find you hot." you chuckle softly. It was only a matter of time, right? You were nothing special.

His smile disappears.

How could you think...

"Y/N, I don't want anybody else." He says softly, sure.

"Raph, you haven't met anybody else." You counter.

"Fuck anybody else. Everybody else. I got it in one, and I ain't about to question that." He presses his forehead to yours.

You smile at him in patient, loving, disbelief. "Okay, Red."

He raises his head to look at you. "Want me to prove it? Fine. Give me a few years, I'll have you convinced."

This gets him a laugh. "Years?" you really like the sound of that.

You grin up at him. You really, really like the sound of that. But moments later, you cringe hard and start giggling, a clear sign that your brain has interrupted with something ridiculous. "Okay okay okay, I'm gonna say it. I have to say it... I've created a monster."

"If I'm lucky," he says. You look into his eyes as he smiles down at you, tucking a few strands of hair behind your ear. "You better be prepared for me not to be able to keep my hands off you," he says with a smirk.

"Y/N..." He groans and covers his face with a pillow while you cackle.

"No wait, see? Now you can't hate that word anymore because it will remind you of sex!" You chirp delightedly.

"You can't possibly be fucking serious right now..." He says, muffled by the pillow.

The next several minutes are spent with you vehemently defending your joke, while, delightfully annoyed, he quietly admits to himself that being a Monster might not be all that bad.

...

Happy Pride Month, my Monster. I love you. ♥️

...

Tag list

@thelaundrybitch @the-cauldron-witch @fyreball66 @ninnosaurus @tmntngl @thegirlwiththeninjaturtletattoos @zagreustomb @ramielll @silverwatergalaxy @gornackeaterofworlds @daedric-sorceress @sophiacloud28 @iridescentflamingo @milykins

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hi there! I hope you're having a great day! I want to ask you a question... or more like a suggestion. I had asked the same thing several weeks ago, so I assume you missed it. But if you don't want to answer is, that's okay! 😄

My question is simple. What do you think SDV / SVE (including the mages and adventurers) bachelor and bachelorette would reach upon knowing that the farmer, whom had a quiet, soft and gentle personality, is actually a seasoned fighter in an underground boxing match (and a really good one, at that!)?

Thank you very much for your attention! 💕

Don't worry, dear anon, I saw your previous ask! I was just busy and couldn't answer earlier (will write it here so I don't have to answer twice). Thanks for your ask! And enjoy! 💕

_________________________________________

SDV/SVE bachelors:

Gus had recently purchased a strength meter for his arcade corner, and Farmer had fallen in love with the machine, constantly spending their coins. And putting Elliott, who caught those moments, in complete shock. When the newcomer first came to town, they appeared to the writer as a kind and quiet-seeking person. Having learnt for their background, he would like to write about their biography.

So, all those rumours about an underground bare-knuckle champion who knocked out big guys with one punch - is Shane's tender spouse crying about a dried rose? Holy shit... He's totally shocked (and pleasantly surprised, for wow, his spouse is awesome. Why didn't they say this before?).

Alex spent the whole time defending Farmer from the overly annoying newcomers, thinking they were too shy and kind to be rude to anyone. And it turns out that not only can they stand up for themself, but they can send huge muscular fighters staring into the realm of dreams with one punch. The athlete will be surprised for sure. How? When?

Is that true? Is it really true? Farmer really is a boxing fighter, and a champion too?! That's so cool! Um... Sam wonders if his friend/spouse should mention this to his mom at a dinner (much less his dad). These fights aren't too legal after all... However, it's up to Farmer to decide if they'll talk about it or not. Either way, Farmer is an incredible and cool person. He certainly didn't expect this from them.

Poor Harvey didn't even have time to react to Farmer being bullied by some assholes from the big city before Farmer sent them all straight to his clinic. While the doctor was bringing them to their senses (and writing a complaint against them for bullying the locals), he wondered how Farmer, the kindest and calmest person, knew such hand-to-hand combat techniques. Underground fighting was the very last option doctor could think of.

One, two, three - and Farmer dealt with three drunken bullies who started harassing the locals and imposing their company. Everyone was in complete shock. Sebastian, meanwhile, freaking delighted with them. The stories of their nightly fights underground for the title of best boxer, in Sebby's opinion, added another coin to the Farmer's piggy bank of awesomeness.

Lance's guesses were correct - Farmer's behaviour in the fight with the monsters made it clear at once that they had to engage and defend themself often. The adventurer had never seen anyone previously beat a magma sprite with their fists alone. Lance is pleasantly surprised and delighted by his mysterious friend. But just in case, it's best to carry a sword.

Victor starts showering his friend/spouse with a whole bunch of questions right after Farmer decides to share their past. How did it happen? Did Farmer become a fighter because they wanted the title, or were there other reasons? Do they still fight to this day? Pardon him, but he's very interesting. Farmer certainly doesn't seem like the type of person who would pursue a top fighter title with blood on their fists.

The truth is, Magnus knew about Farmer's underground fighting. Well, not really, for his crystal ball only showed vague information about their past. Hm? Of course a Wizard can see the past, that fancy hat's not for show, you know. Though he wonders how a fighter like them changed their occupation 180 degrees and became first an office clerk and then a farmer.

SDV/SVE bachelorettes:

Penny learnt all about Farmer's past after they defended her from some cheeky Joja driver by fist-bumping him in the face. The teacher never expected Farmer to do such a thing, though she is grateful for their help. When asked casually where they learnt to fight, she got an even answer, which left her even more astonished.

Funny enough, when Farmer opened up to Emily about their constant nightly fights at the fight club, Emily felt proud of him. Pride because while they are strong, they treat those around them with kindness and patience. A bright aura radiates from them, and the new information about Emily's friend wouldn't make her change her attitude towards them for the worse somehow.

Maru hasn't heard much about these illegal fights in Zuzu City, but the title "Destroyer" speaks for itself. And Farmer has quite an interesting past, and she wouldn't mind hearing about it. The young inventor just hopes that all those titles and honours don't interfere in any way with her friend/spouse's job as a farmer, which they enjoy.

To Abigail, Farmer has become the most brutal and badass person on the planet. She knows about these fights! (Mostly just a gossip, not the actual fights). And the fact that it was Farmer who was the rumoured champion of underground fights made the purple-haired girl ecstatic. Man, it's a shame she can't brag to others about her friend/lover, as she doesn't want to get Farmer in trouble with the law.

"I never would have guessed, honestly. You don't look too athletic." Don't take Haley's words harshly, she didn't mean to offend Farmer. It's just that they really do look very unthreatening, so this information was a bit of a shock to her. Well, the girl now knows for sure that if she gets harassed, she can always ask her friend for help. Though she also doesn't want Farmer to be hurt either (she knows they're strong, but still).

This explains the fact that Farmer so easily knocked out Leah's ex when she and Farmer were on a date (even though Kel has always been weak). After Farmer shared about their past, she's naturally shocked, but the shock quickly changed to a look of adoration. A strong and resilient fighter who is the kindest and most ineterest person.... It is impossible not to fall in love with Farmer.

Claire was a bit taken aback by this information, because when she came to Zuzu City for some business, there were always some big guys standing near the underground, throwing dirty compliments and saying that they were "masters of boxing", so Claire "should definitely go with them". So the impression she had formed of such people was not a very good one. Farmer, on the other hand, is the gentlest and most sympathetic person, so it's a bit of a pattern breaker for her.

"I hope you don't have a list of detractors behind you." Sounds a little harsh from Olivia's lips, undeniably, but on the other hand, these things should be talked about beforehand. The former Joja accountant quizzes them about their fights and whether they "crossed anyone's path with their victories." Olivia isn't stupid, she knows what the consequences could be and doesn't want Farmer, her and her son to get hurt.

Sophia felt like she was behind a stone wall with Farmer earlier, and now that they've shared their stories about the club and their involvement, she's not afraid of anything at all. And most importantly, despite all those rumours of a tough and undefeated ring champion, Farmer remains the same kindhearted and cinnamon bun they've always been, hee hee!

Castle Village's mages and adventurers:

Hmm, Farmer has had some physical training before.... Alright, Isaac will be less suspicious of them. But still, fist fights aren't enough for the battle with monsters. Even pathetic green slimes can be a problem in this situation without any sword or dagger. They need practice with cold weapons as well.

Wow, Alesia didn't expect that the newest Guild member in Stardew Valley had entire titles in fist fighting behind them. Especially from someone she considered a pacifist and non-confrontational person. Strange why it wasn't listed anywhere on their report for them. While it's not "official" training on an adventurer, everyone's file should list all of their merits.

Secret underground fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship title? *Chuckle* Why on earth would Farmer think it was a secret to Camilla? Oh, that's right, she's already learnt a lot about them, and their past... intrigues her. That explained their good physical fitness, despite their rather harmless appearance. Please tell her more about this battles~

Not to say that Jadu was much interested in Farmer's past, as they didn't know each other too well. But the rumour that Farmer had managed to learn how to fight in their rather young life inspires respect. The Castle Village mage thinks they had a reason to get into illegal fights, so he'll leave his questions at that. But wouldn't mind listening if Farmer is willing to tell their story.

[linisiane]

The Self-Aware Player of Harry Du Bois

It's fascinating to me to think about how satire is used as the 'touch grass' or 'be fucking for real' genre. Oftentimes it's making fun of tropes/conventions by humorously contrasting them with reality, which is exactly what Disco Elysium is doing with the RPG!

It goes hand in hand with the idea of RPGs as escapist power fantasy. RPGs are often thought of as the ultimate self-insert fantasy by its detractors or worst players, ahem looking at all those DND horror stories about entitled mangsty murderhobos.

One of the most infamous criticisms of Disco Elysium is its lackluster combat.

ID A screenshot of a random forum discussion post by dungeon master Zed Duke of Banville. It reads: "Disco Elysium has neither combat nor exploration, and therefore is missing two of the three fundamental components (or sets of components) that define the RPG genre." End ID

The game has essentially bordered off your ability to make Harry into a power fantasy murderhobo because you just are physically unable to equip an longsword or cuisse to murder your average citizen on the street of Martinaise.

But even on a less mangsty level, it subverts a lot of the basic expectations of RPGs.

Like the encounter with the racist lorry driver! You never get the ability or quest to change his mind, you only choose how you react to him.

Where other RPGs might let you act as the white savior or the white knight of chivalric romance, no questions asked, you're changing the minds of everybody who's wrong so we can all get along, Disco Elysium really makes you confront your ability to whiteknight, makes you confront if whiteknighting is even helpful, and why you wanted to whiteknight in the first place.

It’s part of the fun/humor experience of Disco Elysium that you at first expect to solve the world’s problems with a couple quests and lines of ‘good’ dialogue and then get socked in the faced with the fact that yeah, you can’t do much, you’re one person, what did you expect, asshole? Cuno doesn't fucking care!

By subverting our RPG expectations, it forces us to become more aware that these expectations even exist and how they fall short of reality. Yet, despite this subversion, the world of Disco Elysium feels so much realer to us.

ID a screenshot of Disco Elysium dialogue YOU - "Don't call it a dump, you've made it nice and cosy here." NOVELTY DICEMAKER - "Yeah." She stares out of the window, not really hearing your words. "Or maybe it's the entire world that's cursed? It's such a precarious place. Nothing ever works out the way you wanted." "That's why people like role-playing games. You can be whoever you want to be. You can try again. Still, there's something inherently violent even about dice rolls." "It's like every time you cast a die, something disappears. Some alternative ending, or an entirely different world...." She picks up a pair of dice from the table and examines them under the light. End ID

Like, Neha is highlighting this little meta element of how you can stack your Harry in any RPG to pursue a certain ending or situation, but the actual outcome is still influenced by a dice roll out of your control.

A lot of the satirical humor in Disco Elysium comes from the absurdity that you can do everything right or everything wrong, and the dice can still fuck it up or save it for you—not just for things like high-fantasy attacks, but mundane things like remembering your name.

The dice are, at their core, about how RPGs aren't just for the control fantasy, of winning high-fantasy battles, but also can represent life as it is, mundane and uncontrollable.

Similarly, Harry is clearly written—complete with all the 'lore' that this would entail—to couch his RPG protagonist nature in the real.

If RPG characters are blank slates? Let's give ours amnesia! Need fast travel?! Kim teases the 41st Precinct for constantly running everywhere by calling it the Jamrock Shuffle. He needs to have deep and intimate conversations with everyone, even when they're strangers? Yeah, that's so weird we gave him the name 'Human Can-Opener,' and everybody remarks on his uncanny manipulation skills.

It's commenting on difference between controlling an RPG avatar and navigating in a human body.

As Kurvits said: “In reality we do not have control, or complete control, of our minds. Just like our body, it is something that we give-not even commands wishes to, and we hope it's gonna do it. We hope it's not gonna break down, we hope it's not gonna rebel against us.”

In one type of RPG fantasy, we don't even question our total control and even assume the joy is from the control.

But in Disco Elysium, we lack control and find joy in it anyway. That is the fun of the game making us, the players, 'self-aware' about its RPG elements, and it especially resonates with anybody not able-bodied, anybody neurodivergent.

[akutasoda]

Hiii can I request platonic hcs with chrollo and a teen femreader admires him and the phantom troupe but isn’t strong enough to learn nen bc she’s like really physically weak

skills aren't strength

synopsis - you admired the troupe but you knew you'd never be strong enough

includes - chrollo - platonic

warnings - fem!teen!reader (no pronouns mentioned), fluff, slight angst??, wc - 418

↪you weren't exactly the strongest person. it would be one thing to not be physically strong but it was another to not be deemed strong enough to learn nen in a world full of nen users - it was like rubbing salt into the wound. you knew there wasn't much that could be done to change this.

↪however there was nothing stopping you from still admiring those that were strong enough to learn nen. sure you could admire those who possessed a hunter license and did some good in the world but you much more preferred a certain band of thieves.

↪the phantom troupe were a group of people you rather wrongly admired. they gave you a new outlook on life and admittedly pushed you into wanting to test your own hand in the art of thievery - despite how weak you actually were.

↪you were determined to not let you're physical weakness get in the way of your new goal and so spent hours toiling over ways to combat this debuff. all those hours would soon pay off when your fisrt successful robbery turned into two then three.

↪gaining the troupe's attention wasn't exactly part of the goal, sure it'd be nice but you couldn't exactly compete on their level. so you were very content with just using them as inspiration, you'd never expect that their leader would take a look at the new up an coming thief.

↪chrollo wasn't really threatened at all by this new thief but apart of being as successful as the troupe was knowing the competition. he wasn't exactly suspecting a young teenager who couldn't even learn nen to be a competitor.

↪a further look and he would find out that you weren't exactly physically strong either. chrollo would find it extremely laughable that you hadn't been caught and it made it seem like the phantom troupe was nothing special if you couldn't even be caught.

↪although a small more honourable part of did find it quite outstanding that someone as weak and young as yourself was able to commit acts of robbery and get away with it consistently.

↪it was a shame really, the phantom troupe could benefit from having someone with your skills but chrollo didn't want to run the risk of your physical weakness and lack of nen getting in the way.

↪however it seemed it was much more easier for you to pull of your robberies, almost as if someone had started helping you from the shadows...

[rayshippouuchiha]

Here to beg my fellow Voidlings to read Dungeon Reset. There's 3 seasons (total 193 chapters) so far and it's something I binge read because it's so good. It's got such an interesting story! Yeah, it isn't really fast paced as you would expect generally from this type of story/genre, but the pacing makes sense and the combat scenes that do exist are amazing.

Basic premise: Our MC Dawoon (using the spelling in the webcomic here) gets teleported into a Dungeon Game. He's not the only one though, there's in fact a massive crowd of people there with him. The 'game assistant' tells them they need to clear the game in order to go home. We immediately get a taste of how dark and deadly this experience will be when the Game assistant kicked off someone's head for being rowdy. (This is genuinely in the first chapter, no spoilers here)

Upon their entrance everyone is granted a Special Ability by the game. What they do is different for each person, and they aren't all combat related. A Special Ability is one that has 3 tiers of leveling and each tier unlocks new functions, each tier also has 10 levels each (normal abilities/skills don't have tiers but do have 10 levels) which can improve the use of that Ability (eg. Skill gives a 2x multiplier as a base, level 2 gives a 2.5x multiplier and decreased cool down). A normal Ability can be earned by getting an Achievement, which isn't easy and typically not something people earn (eg chop 10,000 trees to get the Achievement)

Our MC does not have a combat Special Ability.

Those in the Dungeon divide themselves between Fighters and Crafters. Fighters being those with Special Abilities predisposed towards combat (fire, lighting, archery, spearmanship etc). While Crafters are those whose Special Abilities aren't suited to combat, but are needed/used by the Fighters for continued survival in the Dungeon (herb identification, purification, etc). Crafters are called that regardless of what their actual skill is because the Fighters have them crafting everything. They are responsible for butchering the monsters, handling the meals, making basic tools like torches, things of that nature.

There is a very high death rate for people in the Dungeon. We see in the first chapter how that massive crowd of people who started out, dwindled to less than 10, rather quickly in fact.

As the story progresses we learn more about the Dungeon Game, why it's happening, how it came about, what's going on with the world it's set in, etc. And all of that information is insanely interesting and given in such a way that is gradual and feels almost natural.

The set-up would lead you to believe the MC does some Duex ex machina type of thing, but even though he becomes good with his Ability it's only possible because he is honestly out of his damn mind. Also, there's many instances where the success of a battle is only possible with help from others.

I saw someone else describe the story as having elements of Dungeon Meshi and of Solo Leveling. Can't speak on the Solo Leveling aspect, but our MC is very much eating/cooking the most questionable things and is receiving a lot of side eyes from others about it.

!!!!!!

[bluegekk0]

you mentioned how Lurien kinda has a target on his back. does he ever worry about assasination attempts? also I know he has body guards, but could he fight in self-defence if necessary?

Yes, that is something he worries about. He's aware that if something happens to him at this point in time, the city would be left without someone fitting to lead it. Even his butler, whom he entrusted the role of the Watcher, wouldn't make for a good leader. Lurien is one of the very few bugs who remember what the city used to be like, and he has the skill needed to make that vision into reality. It will take time, but he will get there.

And he's not the only one aware of his importance. The criminals who made the city their home during the infection, seeking to exploit its vulnerabilities, absolutely see him as a threat. Ever since he took over as the leader of the city, the streets have seen an increase in guard patrols, and the mysterious deaths of their companions and work partners have left them on edge.

Whether they have the means to actually try to assassinate him is another story. There are districts they have more control over, but Lurien rarely goes there, and if he does, it's with his most skilled guards. They might still be numerous (ironically, the city returning to life offers even more opportunities for thieves and other criminals, so those seeking riches often find their way to the criminal underground), but they lack the mobilization and training, which means they can't put those numbers to good use.

There is also the aspect of the killer who does Lurien's bidding. They haven't figured out who it is yet - Grimm hunts quietly and effectively, and leaves no witnesses. Any attempt at trying to get rid of Lurien means painting a target on their back, and then it's simply a matter of time until they end up dead in a dark alley. Simply put, they are too scared to do anything drastic, and instead choose to stay hidden.

Of course, Lurien doesn't know that. His excellent vision sadly doesn't do much to help him figure out what those thugs are planning. Besides, the criminals are just one of the problems the city faces, and there are simply matters that require too much attention to investigate anything else. Grimm also refuses to do it for him, he wants to remain inconspicuous since that makes his job easier, and he also has better things to do in his own life.

All that means that he has good reasons to fear assassination attempts, he doesn't know what to expect, and that scares him. Not enough to give up on the city, far from it, that fear motivates him to gather enough strength to finally deal with the issue once the time is right. But it will be a while until he can solely focus on that, so until then, he supplies Grimm with a list of known criminal targets and has him keep them in check.

And to answer the second part of the question, yes, he is decent at fighting back. Those claws aren't just for show, and he's actually quite tall compared to an average bug. Unfortunately he possesses no special abilities, and he's not particularly good at fighting with a nail. He can, however, shoot with a ranged weapon (maybe some kind of crossbow? If that exists in their world), so he would be able to handle a distant threat. He is quite vulnerable against armored opponents though, his claws aren't sharp enough to harm them. So he definitely needs his bodyguards who are skilled in direct combat. Would he be able to defend himself if necessary? If it was a thug with a knife, then yes, I think so. But he would struggle against someone who's properly armed.

(Sorry if this is written poorly, I'm feeling a little distracted. Hope it answers your question though!)

[humanmorph]

pal33. i kind of just wanted to post a drawing but ended up writing a ton somehow...

I didn't take a ton of notes for this. I think it's mostly because it's so cold lately I don't feel like taking my hands out of my pockets, and also I'm not great at typing while walking so I'd have to stop, which, cold again!

Keith talking about how ruminating /calms Eclectic down/ made me grasp my head. Like in disbelief. I went HUH?! out loud. I still haven't quite pinned down the exact emotion that was brought forth by, but I think it was partly a kind of the feeling that I was actively being catered to when I wasn't expecting that OR even wanted it like. I already liked the guy. This was unnecessary. And the other part was that I love it. Absolutely obsessed with this flavour of weirdguy-ism. It's so good in a... Hm. Ok I'm having Eclectic thoughts that I'll hold onto for now, but like. "good to have a character sketch" yeah it sure is!

...and here are a bunch of other Eclectic thoughts that aren't the ones I just mentioned. i did not even expect to type all this when i started

(SANGFIELLE SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH? sorry.) It IS kind of strange to have a new character coming in this late w/ how close the Blue Channel crew is... I've noted before that it's like, different to other FatT seasons were everyone is just so coworkers ever (Sangfielle being the epitome of that. To Me. "[...] and it is you standing over the body of someone you used to work with." BANGER line). Even Phrygian was weird, but in a way that fit because of who they were. What also plays into this is noone except Figure really having space for gravity clocks. Which like... obviously characters can have relationships without those, but there's a reason they exist which is like, this is so important that it has mechanical advantage, or this is something I want to explore, like that means something? And I still wish Phrygian had had more, because the one with Figure didn't even end up coming up like, basically at all. It's a shame Brnine was so popular re: clocks bc those two could've really benefitted from a gravity clock, since they were together on missions a lot with the B-Plot thing. Well and also I liked them. Sigh ok I got sidetracked. Phrygian... But yeah, it may just be that this sortie is exterbating it bc Eclectic is literally by himself fucking around disconnected from everyone going through the horrors together (and that's bonding, baby!). I don't know how much longer the season will be, and maybe the feeling I currently have, which is like "it's the Blue Channel! ...and that other guy" will change. And like if it wasn't clear I do love that other guy I think that other guy is the most immediately compelling character Keith has had (similarly to Phrygian, actually. With Phrydge it was the concept & design that really excited me (Branched!!!) and with Eclectic it's that he's literally so funny and also Keith acts him great)! And he JUST got here, so I don't wanna be unfair. But it's been kicking around in my head & I wanted to write it down at least. It's like, would /I/ like his character to have a deeper connection to the rest of the player characters? Yeah generally I guess I would. Does Keith gaf about that as a player? I don't know that, but it's probably less of an impulse for him than, say, Ali. That would be my guess as a listener, anyways. And I hope Keith is having a better time playing now! It feels like it, but then again I also had no clue that he /didn't/ with Phrygian until he said it. (Still miss Phrygian though. Which is in combat with me being actually really happy with how they end up, like it might be the most a character 'death' on FatT has worked for me (not that there are /that/ many, but still).)

Back to. the episode: Good ep! I don't have all that much to say (OK. LIE). Just a thoroughly good time in a bunch of different ways. Love the singular character focus. Also just really Fun, like, made me laugh a lot. Fun interactions between good friends and whatnot. A bit that made me laugh was at the end when Ali was trying to figure out how to be find a way through the catacombs and suggests something that Austin has this "what?? no. thats scary." reaction to. Wait I'll just get it:

ALI: [talking about navigating the catacombs] And does it involve going through one of these body holes. AUSTIN: (genuinely aghast) Oh my god! ALI: Like, are there other tunnels. AUSTIN: There are other tunnels but you never have to go through a body hole- well, I shouldn't say never. That's SO creepy.

Which then gets the very great visual of Brnine doing that. Like it IS creepy and person having to crawl through tight space IS a thing that just gets me, even though it doesn't really get focus here I can't help but immediately picturing it... I was also for some reason expecting for there to be another body blocking the way... I've said this before and then was immediately like haha jk but I'm over it I will stop pretending I'm NOT kidding. I want Figure to roll worse. I miss Gur. Can you Fail Figure? I miss my friend Gur Sevraq. It's a thin line between that and Figure dying though (I DON'T WANT THIS. Because I want them to go further as a character but also, (thought I had only recently) what happens to my friend. Name of Gur Sevraq?). Anyways Gur... "This is false. But not all false things are impossible. And many have happened before." and "This is a thing that has already happened. She has seen it." <- has me sitting down and stapling my fingers. The. Perennial. Perennial

I don't have anything to say about Brnine aside from that I love them and that Ali is on her A-game. "Brnine is. Brnine and killed the president but is still a goofy loser" like. Ok. That's everything to me

The differences in, say, Thisbe's dream vision vs. Figures is interesting. And Cori falls somewhere in the middle? Like, Figure catching on really quickly, and also being in this situation of... all their friends are dead. People fear them. Being so immediately one that they are uncomfortable in & that feels somewhat alien vs. Thisbe being in a role that she envisions for herself and as such presumably feels comfortable in? Austin seems to be playing at the hooks with the visions (& they are what got immediately affected when they entered those), and for Figure it's probably "The only way to escape the Witch is by endangering others, but they seem eager to accept the risk." that feels the most relevant there? Maybe the Witch part less so, but least Austin mentioning that Cori specifically sacrificed herself to save Figure reminded me of this just now. For Thisbe it's "Fighting is not my purpose, but there is nowhere else for me until the fighting is over.", which I already talked a bit about above, though what's super interesting to me there is that this is obviously not all that's happening. I don't quite know what to do with there being More of Thisbe / units of her type... Or how she feels about that, if any which way. Cori's is interesting too because next to her sword + shield tenets being pulled in (specifically mentioning that they should be on the defense multiple times, which Cori ignores to charge ahead!) it's also the sense of her not wanting to be... underestimated or looked down on. Which is very much the vibe with Elle as a rival btw (it's fun. I'm happy Austin is having a good time with them lol). Oh! Also Austin says something about how it would've gone bad either way (even if Cori HAD stayed back to defend), which is another difference to both of the others visions, but expecially Thisbe's. Vibes just different. Well I'm curious what'll happen there next! Brnine is coming to visit! I didn't even mean to type this much but this really is very cool to me. I'm looping back around to what Gur said, too... Wish they were here...

Oh and Cori being glad to see Figure & hugging them really got to me too. They're sweet :' ).

and finally.

#MILLIEMENTION

I'm a simple woman I hear her name and I clap and cheer. originally this drawing was at the top but then I was like nah this is for people who either read everything OR clicked the readmore to then scroll past it... either way. work for it a little. i liked how it turned out! this is currently my new favourite brush.

[ebonysficcollection]

A review of The Roundabout Way of Fate by @itsmyartfam

Overall, I'd probably rate this an 8/10

Take a shot every time the word "greenette" is used and you've got yourself a one-way ticket to alcoholism lol

I liked the lore about Healers in the MHA world, how healing Quirks were almost like their own category of Quirk classification (Emitters, Transformation-type and Mutation-type), and how Healers are prime kidnapping targets for villains because of course they are. It all made sense and it was an interesting bit of interpretation I wasn't expecting to get.

One of the things I always look forward to whenever I read canon rewrite fics is seeing how exactly the author will rework certain parts of the original story, and this one? Not bad. Like the fact that Izuku and Bakugou are actually friends, and that Izuku is the one that gets kidnapped by the League.

I have some thoughts about the application of Izu's Quirk. In the fic, he has a healing Quirk that allows him to heal both new and old injuries. This includes scars and physical disabilities, and I just... I don't know. I feel like people should just be allowed to have scars and physical disabilities without treating it as a problem to be fixed. Like, in the fic, Izu heals Tensei so that he can walk again, and I really don't know how to feel about it. Because, on the one hand, I feel like it almost cheapens Tenya's whole arc about taking his brother's hero name, but also, like, some physical disabilities do make it harder for people to do certain activities, and can even be an inconvenience at times, but at the same time, it's still a part of them, and for most people, it's likely a part of themselves that they wouldn't want to get rid of even if they could. But I also don't know as much about this as others, especially considering that I don't have a physical disabiliy. I'm technically disabled (I have diagnosed ADHD, autism and PTSD, all of which apparently count as disabilities) but none of those are physical so it affects me differently, therefore, I don't know if I can appropriately weigh in on this topic.

One of the good things about this fic is the fact that it's constantly asserting over and over again that despite not being a villain-fighting hero like the others, Izuku is not a pushover or a delicate teen mom healer-type that needs to be protected and coveted. Izuku has agency and is incredibly capable and is still very much a hero in his own right. Yes, he needs help sometimes, but the author doesn't make him a damsel in distress like a lot of healer!Izuku fics and content I've skimmed over. Because Izuku isn't a dainty, helpless nurse; he's the hero equivalent of a combat medic with actual skill who's well-versed in and knowledgeable about his craft, who learns and adapts and develops over the course of the fic and can hold his own in a fight when he needs to, which is so refreshing to see in a healer character.

This fic also does a great job of prioritizing and expanding on Izuku's relationship with other characters that aren't Bakugou and Todoroki. Like the Big 3, Recovery Girl, Shinsou, Iida, and even Kendou and Monoma from Class B. It's so good, you guys.

Also, long-haired Izuku is to die for.

Dialogue is good and natural and flows pretty well.

The technical medical information is, I assume accurate, and even if it's not, it's delivered so well and convincingly. So, even if it isn't accurate (I have almost no way of knowing), it still sells it with confidence, which is good when getting your audience invested.

Even though Izuku has a near infallible healing quirk, the story and characters (read: Recovery Girl) make it clear that he has to actually know stuff, too, and he can't just go around using his Quirk to fix everything, because there's always the possibility that he could fuck stuff up and make it worse on accident if he doesn't know what he's doing. Love it when characters have to actually know stuff.

There's a particular scene with Izuku and Kendou that had me on the edge of my fucking seat. It was so well-written and nail-bitingly tense that I almost passed out in relief when it was over. I won't spoil it here, but mind the tags if you decide to check it out. Suffice it to say, it's really good.

[randomfanner]

Get To Know Your Tav

I found this from @piipaw blog and I wanted to do it too for Anya (and maybe Orion and Calax).

Anya Drakencoat | High-Half Elf | College of Lore Bard | She/Her | Age: Mid to Late-Twenties

What is your Tav’s…

Favorite Weapon: Sorrow - It is a weapon she can use with long reach and also sorrowful lash is a go to bonus action because Shadowheart heals.

Style of Combat: Anya tends to stay back and use ranged spells like scorching ray and also a good amount of buffing.

Most Prized Possession: Her 'Cloak of Many Pockets' - it is like a safety blanket she always has on when adventuring and it carries all of her poems !

Deepest Desire: Friends who aren't going to leave her.

Guilty Pleasure: Anya has found, after the encounter with Abdirak in the Goblin Camp, she is a masochistic. So pain, apparently.

Best-Kept Secret: Anya doesn't actually have any friends. She has co-workers, she had friends, but she has no friends at the start of the game. She is trying to fix that though!... doesn't stay fixed for long it feels though.

Greatest Strength: Very friendly to basically everyone and is always willing to help those in need!

Fatal Flaw: You can do anything to this girl and she will just accept it and forgive you. She will get extremely angry if you are mean to someone else but transfer that behavior to her and she becomes a doormat.

Favorite Smell: The Sea Breeze, not only is it the scent of Baldur's Gate and Home, it is also what her uncle uses to scent himself.

Favorite Spell or Cantrip: Scorching Ray - Pewpewpewpewpewpew Speak with Animals - Anya has found speaking with animals is a great way to get information and always makes sure to greet the day by casting it Enhance Ability - Who wants like +20 to persuasion with advantage? Anya does. Enhance ability makes it happen. (Guidance can be included in this)

Pet Peeve: Anya will fist fight you if you are rude to wait staff at a restaurant. (also lip smacking well eating gets on her nerves a bit)

Bad Habit: Biggest bad habit? Putting others before herself. Minor bad habits? Biting her nails most certainly is one of them.

Hidden Talent: Anya has a deep knowledge of the arcane, she could even rival some wizards with the knowledge she has horded up there.

Leisure Activity: Poetry, it is also how she gets her spells but she just really enjoys doing it.

Favorite Drink: Hot drinks: Coffee. Cold drinks: Apple Juice

Comfort Food: Strawberry Shortcake - there is a bakery in the upper city and the owner, a nice old halfling lady, is rather fond of Anya so every time Anya gets back from a job, she will get a free slice!

Favorite Person: Gale! From the moment he popped out of the portal Anya got excited because she had heard of the Wizard of Waterdeep and oh gods, he is right here! She has so many questions for him and wants to get to know more about him. And when she does well... he certainly isn't what she expected in the best ways. Shadowheart is someone who accidentally gets saddled with Anya because she was nice to her, keeps her from not dying and now has a golden retriever as a human following her around. Anya wants to get to know her but does stay her hand because she doesn't want to be too annoying or pushy.

Favored Display of Affection (platonic and/or romantic): Platonically be warned, Anya is a hugger. She will open her arms and offer a hug quite often when things are getting distressing and will 100% cuddle with Karlach after she gets her heart fixed. Romantically - hugging, kissing, cuddling, most physical affection like that. However she also writes poem and will just slide them over.

Fondest Childhood Memory: Playing and sharing food with her old friend in Bloomburg Park. Anya would like to see him again.

@bg3-stole-my-soul Now you gotta do it.

[complementary-oxymorons]

giggling and kicking my feet i finally caved and bought what the cool kids are playing (bg3) and i think my tav is handsome and a good boy (no spoilers please)

he's called tyr (friend who watched me told me he shares his name with someone) he's a black dragonborn barbarian who was a folk hero (background) prior to being tapewormed

i know there are in-game limitations to certain specificities so i'll jot down a few things that are important to me even though i'm only just at the ruins at the crash site

one of his necklaces is a thick disc of tough, tanned, acid-resistant hide. he uses it as a chew pendant when he's stressed or thinking or bored. it smells pretty bad but is clearly very taken care of

gets embarrassed and apologises a lot when accidentally walking in on any gal changing (i tried unequipping companion armour and got flashbanged by the fact i could do that)

generally just helps people because as a dragonborn with a big body and tough scales he feels like it's good to protect those in need

bonds with gale over the fact that they both don't have darkvision. likes the magic man's funny words

is not keen on astarion for obvious reasons (their first meeting), but doesn't outright hate him or overly distrust him at this point

thinks lae'zel is very interesting, and admires her focus and fiery spirit. grateful to her for her help at the beginning of the game, and very in-awe of her combat prowess

likes being similar to his companions, or having some form of connection with them. has a scroll of chromatic orb in his inventory for that reason (yay gale)

has to learn to manage his claws/hands/touch. scales aren't the most sensitive to tactile feedback so while he tries to be gentle (especially with squishier individuals) it's either he's too rough on accident or barely touches things at all

the party's designated pack mule. he doesn't mind; he figures it's something a good leader would do. also very particular about sorting party items; moreso than expected of the average barbarian. cares a lot about making sure his companions are carrying useful things + remain as unencumbered as possible

i feel like when someone gets close enough to him to be considered a friend, they can just tug on his horns for his attention. he doesn't mind; he knows he spaces out quite a bit

snores..... badly. astarion/shart/lae'zel probably kick him awake their first night at camp. eventually they learn to just roll him on his side/cover his head

would think that horn jewellery is very pretty but would be too self-conscious to buy any for himself. he splutters that he just thinks they look interesting before scuttling off (or as much as a dragonborn can scuttle)

specifically fond of wind chimes, in any shape size or material. finds their sounds soothing and admires how decorative they can get. can listen and stare at them for hours

not the most graceful fella. loves music and fun auditory experiences, but his body sometimes doesn't catch up to what his heart wants to do. better on the battlefield than in the ballroom

I really don't wanna think about his backstory rn + should go to bed but this is what i got

[drjdorr]

Got inspired to do fan fic of a d and d game I play in(in the d and d setting) from this prompt but it was Looooong so I put a "read more" so it doesn't fill people's entire dash

Jysgo is brought out, not wearing his customarily finery since they didn't want to risk him inevitably having a hidden dagger they failed to find, to a massive arena. He nodded in something that could almost be praise, he had asked for his execution to be a spectacle, Sinabi had delivered.

The stands were crowded with spectators, while most looked at Jysgo with hatred, many even futility trying to throw stuff at him, he did notice more than a few sending a bit of that venom in the king's direction. Probably wasn't a good look doing the very thing that the giants the rebelled against did, even if it was at the condemned's request.

Jysgo gave a smug smirk towards Sinabi who fumed back in return. Jysgo was sure the human could work around this, adapt, the cleverness was something that Jysgo almost respected about the surface dweller.

Looking around the stadium, Jysgo saw the rest of the royal entourage scattered throughout. The elven Queen Maeralya of course sitting next to her husband, she looked more outfitted for court than battle Jysgo noticed, though he knew with her being a wizard looks could be deceiving. Khar along with his cult of gnolls wasn't hard to find with their distinctively colored cloaks. Neither was Zzissu with her contrasting Abeil stripes, buzzing overhead. And hard to miss the brightly colored 15 foot mushroom that was known as the Monkanid. Jysgo had to scan the crowd for the half elf Hugo, they didn't look that threatening with only a bow out, but Jysgo had seen just how deadly that bow could be. And glancing at the armored soldiers across from him, Jysgo felt no surprise seeing the dromite Kato.

"Jysgo Olar-" Sinabi began

"Spymaster Jysgo Olar, Giant Slayer, Troll Slayer, and the elf responsible for doing what was needed to save this kingdom" Jysgo corrected

"Jysgo Olar," Sinabi persisted with a snarl, refusing to use the drow's mostly self appointed titles, "for the massacre of innocent people, you have been sentenced to death by a method of Your Own choosing," He gestures around, "that being by combat against armed combatants while you yourself are armed with a wooden training sword."

"I felt like the challenge." Jysgo said to the guard holding him who seemed less than amused

"Have you any last words?" Sinabi regretted the words almost as soon as they left his mouth

"But of course." Jysgo said with a grin, "people of this fine kingdom, I admit it, I killed those innocent people." He let the expectation angry responses die down before he continued, "but all I did was what I was paid to do. I was paid to fix problems, and the best solution to the problem had those dozens of people die, so thousands of people could live." He emphasizes his statement by gesturing out at the crowd with his shackled hands.

"We don't trade innocent lives"

"Sure you do, what would you call it when innocent people join your army. You traded their innocent lives for them to fight to protect all of their innocent lives. How is what I did any worse?"

"Because they chose to fight to protect others, the people you killed didn't choose!"

"But do they really know what they will face joining your ar-"

Thunder interrupts Jysgo's rebuttal as Sinabi stands, "you had your trial, this is your execution! Bailiff, give him his sword!"

Jysgo could barely hide his smile as the guard pushes a wooden practice sword into his hands, he had annoyed the man and better yet, people had begun to whisper among the crowd. Didn't matter how accurate what he said was, so long as it got people questioning the current regime, though that out burst certainly didn't hurt.

As the bailiff started walking away Jysgo held up his shackled hands, "aren't these going to be unlocked?"

"I had assumed they already had been"

Jysgo shrugged as he flicked them open, "I mean you aren't wrong. Though it is interesting how you are so quick to execute the person with the most dirt o-"

"Enough," thunder rolled before he turned to the warriors across from Jysgo, "just get this over with already"

Jysgo crouched into a fighting stance as the armored fighters charged at him. At a glance he counted 9 besides Kato.

The first one arrived and swung his sword, which Jysgo blocked with a slashing motion, taking careful steps, one at a time, to get the best positions.

Wood slivers flew from his blade with every blocked strike whittling away his sword till he suddenly dodged to the side avoiding the warhammer that crumpled in the breastplate Jysgo had seen the strike coming in.

"You seem to have missed," Jysgo mocked as he began dodging the swings of the warhammer. "Slow, predictable, and," he stabbed his sharpened training sword under the armpit causing a gurgling gasp as his opponent dropped his hammer, "leaves you open." As he withdrew the blade he mused, "seems I hit a lung. I'm not use to using such off balance weapons, I was aiming for the heart." He casually side stepped a flail before closing the distance and shoving the tip in a small gap under the chest before withdrawing it to a collapsed opponent, "that's better."

He rolled away as a man whose armor was more spikes than armor tried to grab him before giving a sigh, "too easy." He ducked under the next swing of his arms, snapping one hand cuff onto him before yanking his arm to block an oncoming glaive, "not wanting to wait your turn?" He then yanked the spiked armored warrior's arm to stab his own head, "very well, I was just finishing with him," before he blocked the next swing and pinned it down with the cross guard of his training sword, running down the haft to be right in front of him and in a movement faster than the eye could follow, Jysgo's blade slid into the eye slit of his opponent.

"This is fun and all but this will be easier like this," with a few quick gestures and words he was seemingly gone. And quickly the vulnerabilities of their armors were shown to all as bleeding holes opened up on them one by one as they desperately looked and flailed around for the invisible drow, an occasional amused chuckle being all any of them had to guess on till the only ones left on the field were Kato, a young goliath with a mace, and that drow.

"On our right" Kato called out in time for the goliath to turn his shield and hear wood on metal as a smiling drow suddenly appeared

"And here I was worried that this would be boring" Jysgo joked before recasting his invisibility before an ax swung just close enough that a few white hairs fluttered to the arena floor.

"You can't sneak up on us traitor, I can smell you approach." Kato said, making sure they were close enough to the goliath to give him fair warning Also how in the hive do you smell so clean, you've been locked in a cell!"

"It's called proper hygiene. Surely with such cramped living conditions, you dromites are familiar." The sound of wood on wood can be heard as Kato blocks a strike, "and being a traitor would require I was on your side. You of all people should understand I was only ever on my side"

A few moments of silence. A small puff of dust is kicked up.

"Ignore it," Kato tells the goliath as he turns his shield in that direction, "it's an obvious mis- LEFT!"

The two quickly turn in the direction of the drow who only gives the slight crunch of moving sand as he twists past the goliath's shield and Kato feels a few warm droplets before swinging their shield and sending the revisible drow tumbling as the goliath collapses, the blade having snuck under the edge of his helmet into the soft lower pallet.

"Not my cleanest work," Jysgo said as he stands, flicking blood off his blade giving his shoulder a little roll, "your nasty trick of being able to smell me made an inconvenient-" he barely had time to jump back as Kato's ax swung were his unprotected intestines were a moment ago, the proximity to the enchanted weapon leaving a line of frost across Jysgo's shirt.

They went back and forth, Kato almost casually blocking every strike from Jysgo and Jysgo dodging the lethal swings of Kato's ax sometimes only by a hair with Kato moving in as quickly as his little legs can carry him

At one point Jysgo has a moment of time and goes invisible again.

"I thought we established this traitor!" Kato yelled, their eyes trained as close onto where they smelt Jysgo as they could, "I! Can! Smell! You!"

Jysgo didn't respond before suddenly charging at the dromite, his blade dragging in the sand, kicking it up in a clear line.

Kato had no time to guess what he was doing before the blade was picked up from the ground, Kato's shield braced when they smelled the drow go up. A great strategy for anyone who couldn't smell him Kato thought to themself as they raised their shield to follow the drow's arc before they felt a pair of soft impacts, not like wood on wood, more like... Kato suddenly realizes what's happening as they notice they're right next to the wall

Jysgo jumped off the dromite's shield and manged to grab the edge of the wall and pulled himself up

"He's making a break for it!" Kato shouted as the rest of the royal entourage moves into action.

Jysgo begins to book it ,he knows how fast they can move as he hears Sinabi order the arena locked down, no one in or out.

He ducks behind a pillar as his invisibility drops, already partway through a spell to disguise himself. He has moments before- he leaps out of the way as a lightning bolt crashes into where he was just standing. Good news, people are panicking and that can provide cover. Bad news, the abeil had found him before he could get a disguise up.

He started moving with the crowd, the worst attacks most of them had hit wide areas, they wouldn't risk firing them into a crowd. Unfortunately people in the crowd where recognizing him and moving away. Also Unfortunately from the slight rumble, the giant mushroom was approaching fast.

Suddenly a nearby section of the stands burst into flames, and then another and another. Suddenly the crowd was less concerned with the condemned criminal and more concerned with getting away from the flames. It also distracted the entourage long enough for Jysgo to slip into one of the interior tunnels along with some of the crowd.

Taking this quick window Jysgo brought up his disguise, an older human man, and especially made sure to disguise his prisoner rags. Right as the glamor finished the hulking form of the myconid entered the hall, its head going side to side, searching the crowd as a faint amount of spores drifted from it.

Obviously nothing dangerous, Sinabi would never allow it... but comunication spores he probably would. Easy enough to work around, Jysgo thought, just don't think into the group. Easy.

And suddenly the minds of everyone in that hall was bombarded by everyone else's thoughts. Jysgo watched on in amusement as everyone suddenly jolted in surprise and confusion, some clutching their heads from their minds suddenly being so filled with others thoughts. It's only as the fungus' face locked onto him and the face of his disguise was broadcasted across the mental link that Jysgo realized his error in staying calm and collected and started shoving through the crowd as in contrast it parted as fast as it could for the usually terrifyingly fast behemoth after him.

Jysgo looked for an escape route that he wouldn't be followed through and never hated living in such an accommodating multi cultural place more. And then he saw a maintenance door and moved towards it.

The slight rumble, far to quite for something of that size, told him how close it was behind him as he reached the door and went to open it. Locked. He slammed his fist against the door, locked. Again, locked. Again, it had unlocked and he slipped inside as he felt the spongy fingers barely miss him before slamming the door shut.

"Hey buddy," A gnome looked at the human(drow) who had just ran into the maintenance area, slightly out of breath, "this is a restricted area. You can't just come in here."

Jysgo took a moment to composed himself before replying, "I am an inspector doing a surprise inspection." He tapped the door he had just come through, "you see this door? I just demonstrated with a proper impact in the right location, the locking mechanism comes undone. That is not a secure door and you should see about getting that replaced."

"...Uh-huh." The gnome slowly responds before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a sending stone and begins talking into it, "Hey central? Can someone let Sinabi kn- ghk" he clutches at his throat which had just had a foot hit full force into it before it stomped onto the stone, breaking it.

"Today has been a bad day," Jysgo says to the slowly passing out gnome, unable to breath past his crushed larynx, "I'm usually great under pressure, but usually I'm aware ahead of time of pressure and usually it's only handling someone as dangerous as one of those guys, I've got seven." Jysgo sighed looking down at the unconscious gnome, "they know what door I went through, I'm sure someone will be here before you suffocate, maybe. Like I said, bad day, usually I'm more professional." Looking at the gnome before heading off he redoes his disguise, it's a bit taller than the gnome should be but should be good enough at a distance.

He heads into the bowels of maintenance, he knew the back areas of the city enough that he could navigate it with his eyes closed. Unfortunately the only places he could navigate in here is other places in this maintenance or the arena above as the arena was a relatively closed system and didn't connect to any other buildings through their tunnels. He would definitely have tried to change that if it wasn't for the wanted for execution thing. Jysgo smiled to himself atleast it's accurate this time and not some sloppy frame job

He finds the door to concessions and goes through. The food prep area was mostly abandoned at this point, and quite a bit of the ingredients had been replaced with flasks of a rather reactive liquid.

"You know," Jysgo turned towards the masked figure sitting behind him, silent as the grave, "you could have set off the fires a little earlier Number Two. Would have made things way easier"

The masked figure slid off his seat to stand before Jysgo and flashing him some quick signs of drow sign language <sorry sir. The abeil found you sooner than expected>

"Whatever. Did you aquire my things?"

<yes, our associate dropped them off after escorting you to the arena> Number Two handed the box of possessions to Jysgo who quickly opened it and began dressing himself in his proper attire.

"You never realize how nice that protective aura of magic is till you lose it." He wiggles his body making sure everything sits correctly as he slides his wooden blade into a loop of his belt. "Is everything in position to move to contingency stage 2?"

<yes sir>

"Then let's do it"

‐---------------------------------------

"Drow matching Jysgo's hight and build heading your way Khar" Zzissu said over the comunication spores

"On it"

The gnoll hid in wait for the drow. Seeing him, he looked like Jysgo, down to the finest detail, but Khar could see he didn't ask like Jysgo. Firstly, moving so openly looking as himself? Standing so casually when he needs to hide? Moving into a sparsely populated area when the entourage is hunting him? Heck he didn't even move like Jysgo.

Khar stepped out startling the imposter who stood tall and held the practice blade in a fencing stance. Khar could see he'd never held a blade like that in his life.

"Alright, you found me. But I will not go down with out a-"

"Where is Jysgo?" Khar interrupted, not having time for this game

"I think clearly I am righ-ugh" a wall of ice slams him into the ceiling, only his head sticking out as Khar repeats the question

"Where is Jysgo?"

"Ow. ow. I don't-ow. I think you broke my- ow everything"

"Hardly. I can demonstrate how wrong you are if I have to repeat myself though"

"I don't- ow know! I- ow don't know! I was to- ow told when I got the call to come in h- ow here, when confr- ow confronted to pretend to be- ow him, you'd go easy on me. And- ow at the end I'd get a hundred gold. I'd be set for li- ow life."

"We got fake Jysgos," Khar reported over the mental link as he left the imposter pinned to the ceiling

"Yeah, I'm starting to notice more than a few suddenly cropping up," Zzissu responded looking over the crowd in the stands

"Just caught 2 in maintenance," Kato reported

"I see one by concessions," the Monkanid passed on

"On just ran by near the main entrance, didn't approach the gate" Maeralya reported in

"Just had one try to attack me in storage" Sinabi continued the trend, "wasn't hard to catch him in his leap and it appears atleast some are in a glamor"

"Just found one mid applying the glamor by Jysgo's cell," Hugo said, "and we may have some unforseen issues. Because this was Jysgo's bailiff"

---------------------------------------

Jysgo looked down at the chaos as his imposters swarmed around the stadium his former allies trying chase them down incase it is him. And yet he easily climbed to the top of the arena once he got his magic focus for longer invisibility and his spider climb cloak.

He took out a sending stone, and checked for any pesky fliers before confirming they were lower down and speaking into it, "I believe it's time for stage 3"

----------------------------------------------

"Sir- Sinabi- your grace- sir?"

Sinabi looked at the frazzled individual, a lesser noble, important enough to have been sent to him but not in charge of anything really, "what do you need? We are a little busy right now"

"I know si-sina-your- yes I know, but I was sent to tell you the city is on fire"

"I'm sorry what, actually one moment" Sinabi switches his attention from the noble to Zzissu to communicate over the spores, "Zzissu, you have the easiest access to the sky, I just got told the city is on fire"

Zzissu zoomed up to check and looked out over the city, unaware of the drow sitting and watching invisibly so close

"Yes. Nothing big yet but there is alot of fires, all over the city. Only major areas untouched are the palace and gnoll hill."

Sinabi looked at the noble, "thank you for your warning, we will handle it" and began to head for the exit, informing everyone what needs done when the noble interrupted him

"He did ask me to pass on another message"

Sinabi stopped and turned towards the man, "who?"

"The young gnoll who told me the city was on fire and to tell you. Weirdly clean gnoll too, only gnoll I've ever seen that clean is high priest Khar." Seeing the face on Sinabi's face he got to the message, "right, he told me to tell you, 'how do you think they'll react to the placements?' And asked me to give you this. Said it would explain stuff." He pulls out a small coin marked with symbols, the same kind of coin Jysgo was fond of using as a training tool for his agents.

-----------------------------------

<so sir,> Number Two signed as they and Jysgo slipped through the city, avoiding the entourage as they fought to control the strategically placed infernos, <what are your plans now?>

"Well I certainly can't stay here, and they know where your loyalties lie. Well as much as I do atleast. Probably going to have to lay low for a decade or two." Number Two didn't voice their doubts that Jysgo Could lay low for a full decade let alone two, "but once things have calmed down enough that learning where I am will send them hunting me down? Well, there are plenty of towns, cities, and kingdoms we could rebuild in. But we're definitely going to want to get out of here before stage 4 starts itself and the people tear this place to the ground." He chuckles at the thought

A noble sentenced to die is allowed to choose their execution method. They ask to die in honourable combat against the king's knights, armed with a wooden sword while the knights have real weapons. It's been 24 hours since the execution started and the king is running out of knights.

[kchasm]

Let’s Watch: Kamen Rider: Episode 3: The Monstrous Scorpion Man

Oh, man, they're up to something again.

The narrator gives a bit more information about Shocker in this episode (not a lot, but a bit). He mentions that the medical knowledge they use to perform their supervillainy has roots in Nazi Germany, which... you know what? Let's leave that be. There's a larger discussion to be had about unethical Nazi science and its influences today, but this is Kamen Rider. It doesn't really deserve it. Much.

Anyway, today's Shocker creation is a Scorpion Man, because sometimes you just need to make a man who is part scorpion. Listen, if "because it's there" is enough for Everest, it's enough for scorpionmen.

Shocker, apparently, kidnaps folks on the reg for them to serve as labor for their experiments, and with the Scorpion Man complete, the folks who aren't good enough to become Shocker cyborgs, combatants, or technicians are now slated for death. But, the Big Shocker Voice tells them, if they can make it across a stretch of desert in ten minutes, they'll be allowed to go free!

... Yeah, as you can expect, it's a cruel, deliberately impossible task. The folks are exhausted and injured, and they're even sporting those balls-and-chains you wear when you're a jailbird from a early nineties cartoon. They don't make it across, and the Big Shocker Voice orders their mass execution... by man-eating scorpions. These scorpions, once summoned, burrow themselves out from under the sand, and...

This is, generally, not how scorpions work; however, Shocker Science. The folks sprayed with the scorpion juice don't just die—they straight out dissolve. Nasty.

The only dude spared this fate is an old man named Ito, who, having fallen behind, miraculously missed getting caught in the whole mess of death entirely! ... Is what you'd assume, at first, but after the Big Shocker Voice orders Scorpion Man to carry out Operation M1 and and destroy Takeshi Hongo, it turns out he's fully aware of Ito's survival. In fact, dude factors into his Takeshicidal plans.

(Incidentally, the subtitles on the version I'm watching seem to refer to the survivor as "Fujisawa" at first, but then later use "Ito," and I hear the dialogue saying "Ito," so I don't know what that's about. Or maybe I misunderstood and Fujisawa was another, less important Shocker victim who didn't make it out of the scorpion juice center? I dunno.)

Meanwhile, Takeshi and Tobee have been testing out Takeshi's new cyborg abilities, which consists mostly of Takeshi jumping around while Tombee makes measurements. Tobee determines what the narrator has already told us—that Takeshi's powers come from the turbine in his belt. When wind spins the dynamo, it builds up energy, which is transferred to Takeshi's enhanced musculature.

(Does this mean that immobilizing Takeshi might bring him down to human levels? No movement means no wind, which means no turbine power. But then again, Takeshi was able to break those chains when he was strapped down in the Shocker base, right? Am I misremembering? I'm bad at remembering things, which might actually make me more similar to the target audience of this show than I'd like.)

Ruriko comes in with news from the radio—a bunch of bodies were found adrift off Boso Peninsula (which makes up basically all of Chiba Prefecture, which is sort of like—you know how the main island of Japan bends outward? About the apex of the bend-out-iness is where Chiba Prefecture is). The bodies disappeared shortly after discovery (no, I don't know what this means—did they dissolve, like the bodies early?), and Takeshi twigs on to it being the work of Shocker! Which is a bit of a reach—weird things with dead bodies happen all the time, but here he's right, of course.

Takeshi heads down to Nagahama in Chiba Prefecture. Ruriko wants to go, too—reasonably, on account of that Shocker killed her father—but Takeshi absolutely refuses because dangerous. And Ruriko kind of just accepts that, I guess.

Takeshi's barely arrived when he sees Ito, who's shouting to anyone with ears that he's in danger and gonna get killed as a bunch of white-coated medical-looking individuals bundle him into a car. A police officer explains: These dudes are from a mental institution, and they've come to recover this escapee, who keeps claiming that he's the victim of some sort of secret evil group called "Shocker." What a laugh, right?

Takeshi gives chase.

(I have questions about this plan. We've established, from the Big Shocker Voice's commentary, that they let Ito escape to use as bait to get to Takeshi, right? So the plan pretty much depended on Takeshi finding out this guy is getting aggrieved by Shocker. What was the plan if Ito hadn't crossed paths with Takeshi? What if he'd gone to the police station but given the cops a non-Shocker story? Where the fake medical folks like, "Okay, let the dude sit at the station for now, but as soon as Takeshi comes down the road—yes, we know he's gonna come this way specifically, don't ask us how—we do the whole haul-the-mental-patient-away routine and lure him out"? This plan has too many moving parts not directly under Shocker orchestration. But it worked, so.)

The result is, of course, a route, and Takeshi recovers Ito, but Scorpion Man is watching...

That night, Scorpion Man creeps into the Hotel where Takeshi and Ito are bunking down...

But when someone slips into Takeshi's hotel room and Takeshi reacts appropriately, the guy he's got in a headlock isn't Scorpion Man, but this dude:

This dude is Goro Hayase, and he's come here accompanied by Ruriko, who says she brought him on Tobee's instructions. Goro, Takeshi explains to Ito (and us, of course), is his best friend and his motorcycle racing rival. Goro seems to have been fully read into the whole Shocker business, declaring his own willingness to help fight Shocker, which is great! Except for the ceiling scorpions.

Takeshi and Goro split up to find the source of the scorpions, which puts Takeshi in another fight with a bunch of Shocker mooks.

(Speaking of Shocker mooks, can I mention that I find their dress code questionable at best? The face paint is bizarre, but at least that's unisex, with both primary genders of mook wearing it. Meanwhile, though, the for-women ensemble...)

(Even looking at this makes my legs shiver. I'm too old for exposed limbs. And I live in California—I can't imagine wearing this getup in a Japanese winter would be very comfortable.)

Of course, having run off to hunt scorpions, Takeshi and Goro have left Ruriko and Ito—both noncombatants, the latter's protection being the main objective for the night—alone in the room, leaving them cornered as a whole bevy of scorpions break in. Ito valiently tries to stomp them out, but unfortunately, these are still the venom-spraying type.

And Ito completely dissolves on the hotel room floor. Goodbye, Ito. We barely knew you. No, really, we barely knew you.

Shocker goons take Ruriko by car, and Takeshi and Goro motorcycle after them, tailing them till they get to a Shocker base. Takeshi and Goro try to sneak in, but a misstep puts Goro plunging through the ceiling and into a room with a bunch of Shocker goons and Ruriko strapped to a chair. The mooks question Goro briefly, but before that can get anywhere, Takeshi joins in, leaving Ruriko to Goro while he works over the mooks. One thing is puzzling Takeshi, though:

See, Shocker combatants never act without a commander! That's a rule, of Shocker, which we've just made up just now. So where is the commander of this little group?

That's right! In a twist nobody could have foreseen, Goro has been the Shocker commander all along! He tells Takeshi that he joined Shocker willingly, so that he could finally beat Takeshi. Because he always lost to Takeshi in motorcycle racing, I mean. Which seems, uh.

Disproportionate. Crazy disproportionate.

Goro peels off his face to reveal that he is, of course, Scorpion Man. And now, he's got a pit of man-eating scorpions he'd like to introduce Takeshi (and, I assume, Ruriko) to. Looks like he’s gonna have to jump—!

Having escaped, Ruriko hides, while Takeshi faces off with Scorpion Man et al. one more time, still pleading for Goro to snap out of it, on account of that he doesn't want to fight his best friend. Which. It's nice that you've got feelings, Takeshi, but your "best friend" hated you enough to join a terrorist organization so that he could kill you. I think you need to fully reassess this relationship.

Probably tough to do that mid-fight, though. Particularly mid-this-fight. Because let me tell you, this fight is.

It's a little weird.

At one point, the Shocker mooks burrow themselves under the sand, presumably to try to ambush Takeshi.

Takeshi sidesteps the issue with. Physics? I guess?

This thoroughly defeats the Shocker goons, who then completely dissolve, as is the style at this time.

Scorpion Man, of course, fares no better.

(And he also dissolves, obviously.)

The episode ends with Takeshi and Ruriko motorcycling dramatically into the distance. To be continued!

All in all, weird episode. Not bad, but kind of hinky at the edges. The twist was kind of all but staring you in the face as soon as Goro fell into the episode and Takeshi had to speedrun the "yes hello this is my close friend who I have never mentioned before" thing*.

(Wait, Ruriko said Tobee sent them. How did that work? Did Goro just show up at Amigo and be like "I hear you guys are fighting Shocker; I want in"? And Tobee just believed him and sent him over? I mean, I don't not believe that. That'd be within bounds for the Tobee "Your Dad's At This Warehouse; I Will Not Explain Further" Tachibana that we already know.)

(But still.)

*I call that a thing because that is a thing—not just in Kamen Rider, but across TV shows, especially those of older eras. Remember when the webcomic Kid Radd made fun of it in its MacGyver parody?

... Okay, well, do you remember Kid Radd, at least?

... You're going to have to take my word for it, I guess.

[foxounderscorecube]

Halo: The Fall of Reach - Eric S. Nylund

3½ ⭐

I had a lot of fun reading this, but it feels a bit rushed. That's the short version!

My friend and I play video games once a week and we played through the Halo series - it was a childhood favourite of theirs, and I'd never played it before. I didn't expect to become SO invested in it!! I adore the series more than I could have anticipated - I'm not exactly a huge sci-fi person, usually.

As a result, having some background on the SPARTAN project and our good friend, John-117 (or as I call him, inventively, John Halo) was great. I found the timeline jumping around a bit confusing to begin with, but when I got used to it - or maybe when the story began to flow better, not sure if it was a me thing or the book - it was no issue.

I think John gets treated as a faceless everyman sooomewhat unfairly, generally speaking. He is deliberately a stand-in for the player, but I do enjoy the bit of personality we see in-game - his humour, his love for Cortana, and his complete dedication to whatever task he's given (which, in the context of, well, essentially his entire life, is really rather tragic). This book builds upon all of those things really brilliantly. The short version is that [slaps John on the back] this bad boy can fit SO much trauma!

The framing of the SPARTAN programme and the character of Dr. Halsey is really interesting. Although we see a lot of her perspective and that of the Spartans themselves, the story doesn't actually seem to excuse the moral awfulness itself. Hell, even Halsey sometimes wonders if what she's doing is right, but she strongly believes in what is ultimately a eugenicist's wet dream, especially when the conflict with the Covenant arises - even if that is serendipitous, honestly, and the Spartans were originally just to "calm down" rebellions on Reach and the human colonies. Her stand-in as a maternal figure for the Spartans is twisted but still sometimes manages to be endearing: she does genuinely love them all so much, but ultimately, they're a science project for her.

I do think one of my favourite aspects of the series is how UNSC and the Covenant are two sides of the same coin: totally different at first glance, but more similar than either faction would ever want to acknowledge.

Of course, all my ramblings aside, most of this book is cool sci-fi action stuff. The training of the Spartans is harsh and, through trauma and close proximity, they become bonded to each other in a way that's adorable and also really rather sad. The rest of the military think they're freaks - especially ODSTs, a hardcore branch of the Marines that all have the vibes of someone who'd wear one of those t shirts with a fiery skull on it and it says something like "Don't mess with a guy who was born in August, eats scrambled eggs for breakfast, and loves Dachshunds". They aren't exactly well-socialised because they're trained for nothing but combat and unwavering obedience to UNSC in the first place. It's no wonder only they can understand each other, and the action sequences show how they work together really well.

The issue with the book, as I mentioned briefly earlier, is that it feels a little rushed. There are stupid, stupid consistency errors that should have been smoothed in early editing, and the pacing can be kind of all over the place. When it's going, it's going, but there are lulls in the plot that didn't keep my attention so well. A little personal thing that I'd have liked, as well, is to have Covenant character perspectives - but I'm just a big fan of the aliens, so, you know.

For a fan of Halo, this is a good bit of backstory with a load of action and fleshing out of the characters we see in-game. Is it ground-breaking literature? No. But what did you expect from a Halo book, honestly.

[samsaraandbeyond]

OC Introduction: Tav

Art by Squiddy62 (NSFW)

"Mouthier than an arse, twice as full of shite!"

Design

(Minor Baldur's Gate 3 spoilers ahead!)

Baldur's Gate 3 is a GOOD GAME THAT YOU SHOULD PLAY.

I LIKED IT SO MUCH YOU'RE BEARING WITNESS TO ME TAKING MY CHARACTER AND MAKING THEM MINE.

the defining outfit for Tav when I realized clothing could override armor outfits

Meet my Tav, the Bard who bullshit his way through most of Act 1.

I chose to take my clothes off before this started

If there was a Bard dialogue option for anything, I took it without a second thought. Tav turned the game into a comedy.

don't ask me how this option turned out

So how did the OCfication go?

Tav Concept, Squiddy can work a character design

As much as Tav was a Bard, I had him acting like a Jester. His horns were adorned with cloth to resemble a stereotypical Jester's hat complete with frills. They were added to the end of his tail as well.

Abilities / Traits

Truth be told I was multi-classing like a motherfucker but Bard was always the main class SO I will be sticking to the Bardy moveset he usually had.

Emotion Manipulation/Projection

Tav has a way of getting into your head.

With words, motions, or the playing of an instrument, Tav has the ability to mess with the emotions of other beings by projecting his will onto them, positively or negatively. In addition to toying with your mind, he can cause your emotional reactions to alter reality, empowering you with never before seen strength or weakening your body to the point of being crippled.

This ability also works on things that aren't alive or can't feel emotions. Expect your robots to suddenly miscalculate!

"You can do this! I don't put my faith into just anyone!" - Tav

Expert Support Mastery

Disgaea 7

Tav is experienced in the magic arts of healing allies and enhancing their abilities. These techniques can also be used on Tav himself and can make him a threat in combat even when confronted alone.

He has also studied the arts of spells that weaken enemies to make them easy prey

"Don't be a baby! A bloody gash like this is simply a paper cut with my expertise." - Tav

Expert Duelist

Marth (Fire Emblem)

Tav knows his way around the arts of sword play. Combined with his knowledge of magic, he is a force to be reckoned with.

"En garde! Or my blade shall find its way to your hiney!" - Tav

Sharpshooter

Mordecai (Lackadaisy)

Tav is efficient with the likes of bows and crossbows, handling them with deadly precision. Despite modern firearms not existing in his age, he would be able to wield those with just as much efficiency.

"Ah, this one's running. Pfff, I'll handle it." - Tav

Dragonborn's Blessing - Fire

Bowser (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

The bread and butter of dragons everywhere.

Tav's innate dragon traits grant him the ability to shower opponents with a breath of fire, setting his foes ablaze or cooking his own dinner. In addition, fire related spells receive a boost in power when cast by him, and he has additional resistance to heat.

"Fun fact; what comes out the front comes out the back as well! Want me to show you my neat little trick?" - Tav

Personality

Tav is based on the choices I made during my BG3 playthrough so that means he can be so fucking stupid.

Tav has a tendency to let the thrill seeking demon on his shoulder get the best of him, throwing him into dangerous situations because "this would probably be pretty funny" was uttered in his head.

He also has a silk tongue, using exact words and intuition of who he's speaking with to get what he desires. He favors non-violent solutions or at least solutions that make him not have to work as hard.

"Nonono, please continue! There's bookshops in Baldur's Gate that'd pay well for this kind of smut!" - Tav

Backstory

Play Baldur's Gate 3.

"You're a slave to a vampire lord, you're a slave to your god, you have a magic bomb inside of you, and YOU are a whole mess of issues! Am I really the only one in this damned group that didn't carry their personal baggage here!?" - Tav

[941injapan]

May 31st--- Ueno and Akiba

You know how I said I always come back with loot on this trip because of all the cool items? Today was supposed to be the day I brought back the treasure chest, Akihabara- home of the losers, but I expected to not only buy my own nerd stuff, but rare nerd stuff at that. I was very disappointed. I understand now that the media I love in the States is media for Westerners. Timeless classics like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and even Dragon Ball merchandise were limited to a single shelf in most stores. They sell Cowboy Bebop action figures at the Walmart by my house! My favorite games hailing from Japan like Sonic The Hedgehog and Metal Gear Solid are household names in the West, yet swept under the rug here. Even something like Initial D, a wildly popular racing anime that takes place in Japan, had 1 unrelated store with barely any merchandise. I was appalled, to say the least. Instead, I was met with some of the most busted, lame, and questionably legal schoolgirl anime merchandise, and pricy at that. Nothing like narrow hallways and oversized nerds to make you want to go hit the countryside instead. Anyway, that's all beneath me. Ueno Park was pretty large. I'm very impressed with the abundance of high-quality parks and nature scattered across the city. It makes me wonder just how cool cherry blossom season really is, but at the same time, I don't want to deal with the crowd that follows. While browsing around on my way back to the hotel, I did find something that surprised me. The airsoft and milsim community here is quite strong, and as a former player, I was very happy to see these people live my middle school dream. If you aren't aware, airsoft describes a type of toy and the sport you use them. They are replica guns, usually very hard to tell between real ones, that fire small plastic orbs, or BBs. One of the most revered airsoft brands in America, Tokyo Marui, is known for 1:1 realism, high quality, and some of the best-simulated recoil devices in the market. In the states, these airsoft guns go for hundreds of dollars, some cost as much as their real firearm counterparts. While the Gucci of airsoft in America, Tokyo Marui is just a local manufacturer with good items. Common and cheap. Makes me want to pick up the sport again, but then again, I'm an American so I would rather go home and hit the range with my real guns instead.

At the Tokyo National Museum I saw something really cool. My picture came out blurry which I'm pretty bummed about, But I was an ornate set of samurai warrior armor, one in all black, and one in all red and gold. I saw these and it brought me around to a broader thought about what warfare and combat used to be. I thought about how cinematic it would be to see those two fight with techniques they have practiced for years and has been passed down for generations. Warfare used to be an art of honor, and combat, a dance of death for your family and lineage. Fast forward to America today, and we can take any 18 yr old on the street who legally can't own a weapon, give him a gun made in a factory and basic training, and he goes and kills for oil and politics. What did we lose along the way I wonder? Are we more united today as our conflicts are not family to family or regional wars? We don't fight our countrymen, we fight abroad, and with swift, surprising, and unrelenting force. I haven't made up my mind on what it all means, but one thing I do know is that there are no rules to war.

The biggest thing I got out of the readings was that otakus are losers and they exist in every culture. What I think is that if you spend all this time researching them, you are the king of the losers.