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saintseiya-zone · 21 days ago

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We’re happy to announce the next SSZ Zine!

The theme will be Hades' Specter-focused and you can participate with fanarts, fanfics, photos and cosplays. Stay updated by joining our Discord!

Sign-up timeframe: 02-16/Nov/2024 23:59 UTC -6

Sign-up form: here

Character Confirmation list: here

Reference list: here (to check which characters are available)

Submission period: 26/Dec/2024 to 8/Jan/2025 23:59 UTC -6

Description (in text) and FAQ under the cut

[About the Zine]

Description: Dark, evil, and wicked, Specters are the final boss to face in the Saint Seiya franchise. Abandon hope all ye who enter here!

Participation: You will submit one (1) original, new fanwork (older/already published work is not accepted) to be compiled into a zine. Please do not share your final work until the zine has been properly published by SSZ (you may, however, share WIPs, previews, and/or close-ups as you work on it)

Type: The final compilation of all fanworks will be a free, digital PDF file (no physical versions will be made, no money will be earned or paid)

Character: Submission types have the following limitations:

Fanarts: 1 main character per submission (no duplicates ✪)

Fics: focus on 1-2 main characters per submission

Cosplays: 1 main character per submission

Merch Photos: 1 main character per submission

✪ This means most characters will have 1 fanart only. That said, due to their popularity, the following characters will be allowed a max of 2 fanarts overall: Hades, Wyvern Radamanthys, Griffon Minos, Garuda Aiacos, Pandora Heinstein

The Character Confirmation list will be updated daily at 19:00 UTC -6 until the sign-up period is concluded. We appreciate your patience while this occurs. Once you are added to the list and your character is confirmed, you may start working on your submission. This is on a First Come, First Served basis.

Sign-up form: here

Before filling it out, check the Character Confirmation list. For fanarts, you'll input 5 different options, from your top choice to least. ☆ Please note this zine does not review/approve/reject sign-ups, everyone is welcome to take part in the activity as long as they sign-up. If there are any issues, we'll get back to you.

Submission period: 26/Dec/2024 to 8/Jan/2025 23:59 UTC -6. Fanworks submitted after this will not be included (this is non-negotiable). However, if you are facing challenges with your submission, let the staff know ASAP.

Submission: Send via email to [email protected]. The email subject should be "Underworld Zine, [Creator], [character/fic name]", and the file name should be:

Visuals: [Character name] - [Creator]

Fics: [Creator] - [Fic title]. Writers, please also include a 400x400 px image you want us to use in the credits page

Examples:

Email Subject: Underworld Zine, El Cadejos, Lycaon Phlegyas

Fic file: Zeuse - “Encallar”

[About the Submissions]

Art/Photography Canvas size: 72 dpi, JPEG

2480 x 3508 px (portrait orientation) OR

3508 x 4960 px (landscape orientation)

Fics: docx file, prose, English or Spanish only (due to Staff limitations). You must include a title (please keep it short), but it won’t be considered towards final count

4 OR 6 full pages in total as exact as possible, Arial font, 11 pt, single space

Margins: 1 in (each)

Paper size: Letter (8.5 in x 11 in)

There must be spaces between your paragraphs

Allowed:

Age reinterpretation (e.g., an adult character as a child)

Alternative Universes

Other applicable characters (including OC), please check FAQ

Not allowed:

AI-generated content of any kind

Characters that do not belong to the Specter faction

NSFW/Explicit content (contact staff for case-by-case reviews)

Non-official genderbends

Crossovers with non-StS series

[Frequently Asked Questions]

May I draw whichever character I want? The purpose of this zine is to focus on Specters, so only characters that belong to this faction are allowed. There are more applicable characters than you think! Check the Reference List

May I submit more than one work? If, after the sign-up period is over, you would like to collaborate with a second submission, reach out to us. You may send different submission types if you want (e.g., 1 fanart and 1 fic). Please bear in mind the second character must still be available for you to take.

May I include other characters in my submission? Yes, as long as they belong to the Specter faction and there is a clear hierarchy where your chosen character is the main focus. Original Characters (OCs) may also be included as long as they follow this guideline. There is no problem if those secondary characters are already taken, or if the mix of characters would not make sense in the official material (for example, Shouichirou interacting with Vermeer). Please note that for characters who have worn a Surplice, only those with an Evil Star are considered Specters. Therefore, resurrected Saints, ROP Marina Generals and any applicable others are not allowed. For Hades Shun specifically, he should not be depicted wearing the Saint Cloths.

Orpheus, the Bronze Saints, Saori, Yuzuriha, Rugonis, Cattleya, Soujirou, Sasha, and Tenma can be referred to, but not appear in the fanwork. For example:

✅ Shouichirou looking at a picture of Soujirou / Yoruhime remembering a conversation with Cattleya ❌ Shouichirou and Soujirou during class / Yoruhime talking to Cattleya

Which Original Characters (OCs) are applicable? As long as they are not the main focus of your fanwork, OCs that are Specters (or serve under Hades in general), are welcomed in the zine. However, Saints, God Warriors, Marinas, and members of any other factions in Saint Seiya cannot be included.

The sign-up timeframe already passed. Can I still join? After this timeframe is concluded, no new submissions will be accepted.

May I use spinoff characters? Sure! All characters officially included in the Saint Seiya universe for the Specter faction (refer to list previously provided) are applicable. Please note that even though there are characters with different versions across the franchise (e.g., Minos), they are not counted as different options for the Zine, so if said character is already taken, no other version of them will be available.

I changed my mind about the character I chose, and the new one is still available. Can I switch? To prevent confusion and misunderstandings, all character selections are final and cannot be changed/traded.

Am I allowed to change certain aspects of a character’s official design? It depends on the aspect, and should be reviewed case-by-case.

Example 1: as a Latin American, Niobe could differ in skin tone to the one seen on the official materials. However, characters like Pharaoh, who has a darker skin tone, should not be given a lighter one.

Example 2: if due to a personal headcanon, you believe a character has a certain scar or marking that is not seen in official materials, it can be included, but once again, please reach out to Staff for a case-by-case review.

What is the difference between an Alternate Universe [AU] and a Crossover? Some AU use popular tropes as a base, while a Crossover uses an already existing material as base. Examples:

Popular tropes for an AU: magic school, space fantasy/sci-fi

Existing material: Twisted Wonderland, Mass Effect [games], Little Witch Academia, Star Trek [series], Heralds of Valdemar, Dune [books]

Could you please elaborate on what is/isn’t considered Not Safe For Work (NSFW)? If it is not appropriate for a general, non-specialized office work environment, then it is not accepted.

Examples: ✅ Blood depictions/mentions of it ❌ Graphic/detailed gore, mutilation, or body horror ✅ Sensual themes (e.g., pin up) ❌ Sexual themes (including, but not limited to: genitalia, specifically erotic gestures like blowjob, etc.)

May I switch from one contribution type to another (ex: fanart to fic) after I signed up? To prevent confusion and misunderstandings, all contribution type selections are final.

I’m a writer! What is an acceptable image for the credits page? You can send an official StS work, fanarts (as long as it is made by, gifted to, or commissioned by you), or a picrew-generated image (as long as the picrew allows that use)

May I include a watermark on my submission? Yes, we encourage you to submit already watermarked fanworks to the zine, but it is not mandatory.

Do I have to send something for the check-ins? Nope. Our check-ins act as reminders only so you know exactly how much time you have left to send your submission.

I’m unable to complete my submission and would like to withdraw. Is that okay? Yes, you can withdraw at any time, for any reason (you don’t need to explain). Please just let us know in advance.

#saint seiya #SSZ Underworld Zine #SSZ Fanzine

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radaverse · 3 months ago

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Wow those ocs looks amazing did you made them?

Ohh! You mean the ones from the Samurai Jack AU? (Paws of Magic ✨)

The SJ Kids

I didn't do everything, I made Mai but the other two are made by my comic teammates, @tireddovahkiin and @darknadaworld respectively. Their lore is all made by the 3 three of us yapping and brainstorming hehe

These OCs are pretty much here to make this Samurai Jack Gen2

Mai

Mai is Jack's adoptive daughter, she's a 8 year old Chiyuchilla (extinct species that looked like colorful chinchillas with (minimal) healing powers), She's a samurai like her dad bestie

Cheerful, happy-go-lucky, very stubborn and resilient. But also a bit of a scaredycat.

Roni

Roni is Aku's first son (aside from Ashi cuz nobody knew she existed atm). He's a 11 year old tiny Oni (or whatever Aku is lmao). He was created by Aku and he's the world's best and fastest machine builder.

Stubborn, determined, tough and stoic, definitely not talkative, but secretly kind.

Muran

Muran is Aku's second son (and Costar's only son). He's a 4 year old (later 5) mix of an Oni and Star folk. He looks like a dragon wiwi.

Curious, silent, excited, affectionate (with his fam) and a bit mischievous 😈

If you came from the Smile animatic part I posted, what you saw there was their adult versions.

(Muran wasn't in that exact part but you'll see him later ✨)

A little thing to add about Muran:

Like Aku, he can shapeshift easily so his height always varies. What you're seeing here are his small forms.

As a child his default height was 5'1/154cm. As an adult it's about 50 feet/15m. Scarily close to Aku. He might often make himself way smaller to interact better with his fam.

Another important OC of the au comics is Costar. She's not one of the kids and isn't present in the animation but it's still really worth mentioning.

She's a Star being that got thrown to earth, now living there with Aku and becoming his most beloved servant. Then some sort of empress of the earth. (cosku moment)

(Art by Darknadaworld)

Costar's full ref and info here

So yeah, these four are super important for the au!

The AU comic (only 2 pages so far but we're cooking lol)

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thepringlesofblood · 2 months ago

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Ayda Aguefort character sheet!

I went through FHSY transcripts and wrote down every spell she used and figured out what level she was and made a full character sheet for my beautiful wife, Ayda Aguefort.

Actual character sheet and plaintext description below the cut: here's how I figured it out.

Ayda has one (1) 7th level spell slot, and presumably no 8th level spell slots, since she can only cast Teleport once per day. This puts her at either 13th or 14th level, the only difference being that at 14th level, Divination wizards get "Greater Portent", aka an extra Portent roll per long rest. Looking through the transcripts, she never uses more than 2 portent rolls per long rest, so we will assume she is 13th level.

In terms of background, "Sage" makes the most sense. Like, you roll to determine your “specialty” and one of the options is librarian. She’s gotta be a sage. This gives her proficiencies in arcana and history, two languages of choice, and the "Researcher" feat - “When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it." Extremely in character

Wizards pick 2 proficiencies from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, and Religion. I picked Investigation & Medicine, since she already gets Arcana and History from "Sage".

Spells are tricky - I included every spell she uses in the series, but wizard spellbooks are weird in that there's kind of no limit to the amount of spells you can know, the limit is just on how many you can prepare. You automatically learn two new spells per level, so I went through and added other spells (in italics) up to the minimum amount of spells she would know, and then made a list of other spells that seem likely for her to know, or that you could switch in if you like. she does fully live in a library so like. who knows what she could know?

Also, there's a spell she uses during the fight aboard the Goldenrod that sounds a lot like Steel Wind Strike, though it isn't 100% confirmed, so I put a question mark next to it. We also don't know what exact spell she was going to use to "flood hell" - I chose Tidal Wave because it seemed most likely, but it could also be a spell of her own invention.

Final product below the cut!

the reason these don't have image IDs is bc I'm putting the IDs after the images bc there's so much text. also sorry the resolution's shit i don't know why that happened it looks fine on my computer. also i don't know how passive wisdom works im sorry its probably just her normal wisdom (11)??

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Character Name: Ayda Aguefort

Class & level: Wizard (Divination) 13

Background: Sage

Player name: bleem

Race: half-phoenix

Alignment: Lawful neutral

Experience points: [blank]

Ability scores Str 18 (+4) Dex 15 (+2) Char 16 (+3) Int 20 (+5) Wis 11 (+0) Con 14 (+2)

AC 14

Proficiency bonus: +5

Inspiration: [blank]

Initiative: +2

Hit point total: 72

Hit dice: 13 d6 Speed 80

Saving throws:

Strength: +4

Dex: +2

Con: +2

Int: +10 (proficient)

Wis: +5 (proficient)

Cha: +3

Skills

Acrobatics: +2

Animal Handling: +0

Arcana: +10 (proficient)

Athletics: +4

Deception: +3

History: +10 (proficient)

Insight: +0

Intimidation: +3

Investigation: +10 (proficient)

Medicine: +5 (proficient)

Nature: +5

Perception: +0

Performance: +3

Persuasion: +3

Religion: +5

Sleight of Hand: +2

Stealth: +2

Survival: +0

Passive Wisdom: [blank]

Languages: Common, Phoenix, + two others of your choice from Sage background (I chose Infernal & Elvish)

Personality Traits: amazing

Ideals: [blank]

Bonds: Fig (paramour), Adaine (best friend), Kristen, Fabian, Riz, Gorgug (transitive best friends), Garthy (parental figure/guardian/adopted child of a previous incarnation of herself), Arthur Aguefort ("father")

Flaws: [blank]

Features & Traits:

Flight (see: Half-Phoenix)

Fly speed = 80

Fire Immunity (see: Half-Phoenix)

Ayda is immune to all fire damage

Portent (Div. lvl 2) - roll 2 d20 at the end of each long rest. You can replace any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by you or a creature that you can see with one of these rolls (once per turn)

Expert Divination (Div. lvl 6) - When you cast a divination spell of 2nd level or higher using a spell slot, you regain one expended spell slot. The slot you regain must be of a level lower than the spell you cast and can't be higher than 5th level

Third Eye (Div. lvl 10) - choose one of the following benefits, which lasts until you are incapacitated or you take a short or long rest. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

- Darkvision: You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet

- Ethereal Sight: You can see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet of you.

- Greater Comprehension: You can read any language

See Invisibility: You can see invisible creatures and objects within 10 feet of you that are within line of sight.

Attacks & Spellcasting

[formatted like] Name, ATK Bonus, Damage/Type

Fireball, +10, 8d6 fire (+1d6 per lvl)

Steel Wind Strike, +10, 6d10 force

Tidal Wave, dex save DC 18, 4d8 bludgeoning & prone if fail

Equipment: so many books

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Spellcasting Class: Wizard (Div.) 13

Spellcasting Ability: INT

Spell Save DC: 18

Spell Attack Bonus: +10

Prepared Spells Limit: 18

(spells in italics are speculative, based on the min # of wizard spells she would have at this level. the rest are canon. feel free to add or subtract as desired!)

Cantrips (lvl 0)

Prestidigitation

Message

Mage Hand

Mending

Control Flames

other potential cantrips: Lightning Lure, Dancing lights, Minor Illusion

Spell Level 1

slots total: 4

Find Familiar

Synod

Protection from Evil and Good

Detect Magic

Shield

Ayda's Comprehend Subtext

Comprehend languages

Identify

Illusory script

Snare

Spell Level 2

slots total: 3

Invisibility

Enlarge/Reduce

Misty Step

Hold Person

Spell Level 3

slots total: 3

Sending (pirate)

Counterspell

Dispel Magic

Clairvoyance

Remove Curse

Fireball

Tongues

Tidal Wave

Spell Level 4

slots total: 3

Greater Invisibility

Banishment

Scry

Arcane Eye

Spell Level 5

slots total: 2

Steel Wind Strike (?)

Legend Lore

Spell Level 6

slots total: 1

True Seeing

Spell Level 7

slots total: 1

Plane Shift

Teleport

Spell Level 8 [blank]

other good potential spells: Unseen servant, Thunder wave, Tasha's hideous laughter, Knock, Locate object, Scorching ray, Shatter, Web, Animate objects, Symbol, Bigby's hand, Storm sphere, Control Wind, Mordekainen's Private Sanctum, Conjure Elemental, Dimension Door

Spell Level 9 [blank]

Flood Hell [level & specifics unknown]

image/page 3:

Character name: Ayda Aguefort

Age: 17 (present), over 300 (total)

Height: 6-7 ft

Weight: [blank]

Eyes: fire

Skin: dark brown

Hair: fire

Character Appearance

“A Resplendent, Beautiful Woman”

Digitigrade ankles

bird feet

golden talons

orange runic tattoos

books in bandoliers like guns

undercut: fire

wings: fire

ear cuff (from Fig)

resembles Arthur Aguefort, her father

Character Backstory

perfect :)

Allies & Organizations

Compass Points Library

The Bad Kids

The Gold Gardens (Garthy)

Fig & The Sig Figs

[a screenshot of Ayda's official junior year character art (standing), taken from her wiki page]

Additional features & traits

“a resplendent beautiful woman who from the knees down has large talons, she also has digitigrade ankles, she has those ankles that kind of kick back like a lot of animal feet do. So from the knees on down become these almost like metallic golden talons. She bears a striking resemblance to Arthur Aguefort the moment you look at her”

“She looks kind of harpy-esque until you realize that she does have arms in addition to wings. So she has these incredibly, and as they spread, deep red wings that as they approach the tips of the feathers sort of change into orange, and by the time they get to yellow, flicker in a little edge of flame on the outside of the wings. She's dressed in sort of like white linen pants with a pirate's sash on them. No guns or anything you can see. Sort of vest, a lot of sort of orange runes tattooed on her arms, you see that she has a short shock of red hair, it seems to be not on the sides or back as much, almost like a plume of red fiery hair that comes off the top of her head. And her eyes have pupils in them but are otherwise clearly roiling balls of flame.”

“You see that she does have two scrolls at the side on her bandolier, and similarly to the guy downstairs, but sort of like she has it on those leather harnesses you would have for guns, but it's two small books strapped under each arm.”

Treasure: [blank]

#dimension 20 #d20 #dnd #dnd 5e #ayda aguefort #fhsy #fhjy #charsheet #character sheet #original post #ayda my beloved #fanart???#fanart #art #bleem #cronchy #if you use this for any sort of public internet-based thing please credit me #i intended this mostly for funsies and home campaigns

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supersaiyanjedi14 · 1 year ago

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RWBY COMBAT ANALYSIS: JAUNE ARC (VOLUMES 1-8)

“You're right, Ren. I… I did cheat my way into Beacon. And I'm glad that I had people around me to help me see that I was bigger than that mistake. You've got people around you too. You don't have to force yourself to be strong. The more you hide from what you're feeling, the more alone you're going to feel. Trust me.”

As I mentioned in my previous Versus Series match, this analysis of Jaune Arc's combative abilities will be focused on his appearances until RWBY Volume 8, prior to falling into the Ever After and being displaced in time. The strengths and limitations of Jaune before he became the Rusted Knight are simply more interesting to discuss, and, similarly to Maria Calavera, the significant gap in time between his being sent back and Volume 9 makes equating the two inappropriate. While Rusted Knight Jaune did display just enough in Volume 9 for me to have a good gauge of where he stands, this analysis is already stupidly long (over 6000 words and 11 pages) so pulling a joint profile like I did with Maria will likely bore you out. Although, If you want me to do a breakdown for Rusted Knight Jaune, let me know!

With all that out of the way, let's begin.

PHYSICAL

Jaune Arc is a human male, nineteen years of age when he fell into the Ever After two years after the Fall of Beacon. Born into a family with a history of distinguished Huntsmen and military service, Jaune grew up on stories of heroism and glory, seeking to emulate of his forebearers and dreams of becoming a great legendary hero. Despite this ambition, though the exact reasons are currently unconfirmed, Jaune Arc never attended a combat school, living a wholly civilian life alongside his parents and seven sisters. However, Jaune was determined to achieve his dream to the point of cheating, forging transcripts to gain admission to Beacon Huntsman Academy in Vale. Unsurprisingly, his nonexistent training left him severely out of his depth compared to his classmates, while his misguided belief in his need to excel on his own merits led to him rejecting offers for aid from his teammates. Fortunately, a short conflict with class bully Cardin Winchester led to Jaune eating some much-needed humble pie, and he submitted himself to private tutoring from his partner, the Mistrali prodigy Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha’s training greatly picked up the slack and helped Jaune truly develop his skills as a fighter and leader, making genuine contributions to the defense of Vale and Team JNPR’s Vytal Festival battles. Sadly, the Fall of Beacon and Pyrrha’s subsequent death cut his training short, and he found himself thrust headfirst into the war with Salem, his subsequent development coming from direct experience in the field and his being forced to cope with the mounting pressure of his traumatic experiences.

While Jaune Arc’s lack of combat training left him woefully underprepared for academy life and the Huntsman profession, he was ironically well-suited to the physical rigors he was bound to encounter. As the Arc family was known for regular camping trips in Mistral, Jaune was clearly able to develop a high degree of physical fitness and maintained a healthy lifestyle, standing as a surprisingly talented natural athlete. His past as an outdoorsman left him prepared with the harsh conditions of the battlefield, and his formal training ironed out his athleticism to leverage his body for fighting. Easily identified by the blonde hair and blue eyes shared by his family, Jaune stood at a robust 6’1”and sported an athletic, muscular build. In terms of physical performance, his primary attributes were strength and agility, expressed through his joint use of powerful stalwart stances and dynamic full-body maneuvers. Even before his training truly began, Jaune proved himself to be remarkably strong, deflecting aside a Deathstalker’s pincer during his initiation and holding back an Ursa Major’s mauling swipe in the Forever Fall forest. After proper training and combat experience, Jaune grew into a true physical heavyweight, his might, while not matching juggernauts like James Ironwood and Hazel Rainart, being easily comparable to heavy hitters like Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie. He has sent an Ursa flying with a shield bash, launched grown humans several yards into the air, briefly held back the crushing weight of the Nuckelavee’s hooves, and supported the weight of a Sabyr and Tyrian Callows when they held onto his shield, in addition to various displays of strength-based swordsmanship. In the realm of agility, Jaune may not have been a talented gymnast, but he more than made up for it in grounded speed and parkour even in heavy armor, traversing the battlefield with powerful jumps and running charges while avoiding injury with combat rolls and sidestep evasions. He has kept pace with most of his teammates without too much strain, dodged boulders thrown by a Petra Gigas, blindsided the Nuckelavee by rushing in while it was distracted, and even moved fast enough to intercept Neopolitan’s lunge at Atlas Academy. Though tripped up in sparring with Vine Zeki, he was able to effectively freerun with the aid of his shield through the treacherous landscape of the Solitas tundra while perusing the Hound. Jaune’s reflexes and dexterity were easily his least developed attribute due to his lack of training, though he was by no means slow or crude. Though he favored simple hack and stab bladework, his attacks were still executed with great precision when needed, aiming for one-hit kills. Defensively, he had no difficulty responding to projectiles or other incoming attacks, notably raising his shield in time to block most of the obsidian shards Cinder Fall threw through one of the Evacuation Central Location portals despite being right next to the portal at the time.

While Jaune’s high degree of physical performance was extremely impressive even compared to other Huntsmen, easily his most valuable physical characteristic was his incredible resiliency, stamina, and tolerance for pain and injury. Evan accounting for his large Aura reserves and the properties of his Semblance, the hits that Jaune has worked through are extremely impressive feats. In his initiation, Jaune, despite having no active Aura to protect him, endured the impact of being pinned to a tree after being launched into the woods, and showed no sign of injury until he got scratched by a tree branch a few minutes later. In Forever Fall, he suffered a serious beating from Cardin Winchester that left him with a bruised face, yet he was able to engage the Ursa Major almost immediately afterwards, soaking up more hits and ultimately decapitating the creature. During Team RNJR’s journey to Haven, Jaune worked through a flying rock to the face, physical combat strikes from Tyrian Callows, and numerous mule kicks and blows from the Nuckelavee, yet his Aura never broke or even flickered. In fact, the first time Jaune’s Aura was ever seen breaking in serious combat was when he expanded it to help shield Nora from a punch Caroline Cordovin’s Colossus mech suit (which I’d like to remind you was a giant robot designed to fight kaiju-sized Grimm), overtaxing his Aura and slamming him into a boulder. His stamina displayed itself during the Fall of Beacon, the Battle of Haven, and the Battle of Mantle, all of which were long term conflicts that he fought all through yet remained vital and fresh by the end. In Atlas, Jaune was slammed into a wall by Salem after he burned through his Aura amping Ren, yet was completely uninjured and stayed vital during their escape from the Monstra. It wasn’t until he was forced into close proximity to Cinder Fall’s explosion in the Evacuation Central Location that his Aura broke again, and yet he still had enough fight left in him to regain his feet and attempt to escape. Quite simply, Jaune has spent the bulk of his career as a human punching bag, yet he’s still going strong, wars of attrition being his bread and butter. Jaune was unfortunately saddled with his share of mental hang-ups, his early hubris leading to him making reckless calls before wising up while his traumatic experiences, especially Pyrrha’s death, left him with an inferiority complex that led to him overextending in a misguided idea of sacrificing for his friends. Fortunately, the influence of those same friends helped Jaune learn from his experiences and maintain his composure, trading away the macho badass for an incredibly strong-willed vanguard. Even after being forced to kill Penny Polendina following Cinder Fall’s mortal wound, Jaune Arc never faltered, holding his ground against the Fall Maiden’s savage onslaught despite the grief-stricken tears in his eyes.

Reflecting the irony of being physically prepared for Huntsman life despite having no training, Jaune Arc consistently supplemented his well-honed physique with heavy combat armor, providing him from a degree of protection from the dangers of the world of Remnant. He initially wore only a simple breastplate and shoulder pads, though like the rest of his skill set, his kit evolved and expanded over time. During his time as an Atlesian Huntsman, he wore a full-plated gold-trimmed cuirass, pauldrons, and gauntlets over a black high collared shirt, while his lower body was garbed in blue jeans and rugged calf-high boots. His earlier armor upgrade from an unnamed Mistral blacksmith was specifically noted to provide superior protection from Grimm claws, so the updated plating provided by Pietro Polendina was certainly just as durable, and very likely greater. Though he had no protection below the belt (seriously dude, Adrian needs cousins. get a cup! 😊), the lack of heavy plating still allowed full freedom of movement, maintaining Jaune’s agility. Easily the most sentimental wardrobe component was Pyrrha Nikos’s red sash adorning his belt, a final reminder of his lost love.

RANKING: Tier 2, Peak Human Fitness

Despite a severe lack of training at the start of his career, Jaune Arc still started out as a prime human specimen, and his numerous ordeals have propelled him to the Huntsman physical apex. He is a solidly built athlete with powerful performance levels in all areas that can match or even exceed many of his peers, and supplements this with both an extraordinary level of endurance and some of the best armor we’ve seen in the setting so far. While unassuming at first glance, Jaune’s physique serves as the vehicle for a one-man war of attrition, winning by leveraging his capabilities to stay alive and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. But much like his friend Ruby Rose, Jaune’s greatest asset as a physical combatant is his resolve, maintaining his composure even in the face of staunch resistance. He won’t give up, he won’t break, no matter what.

MARTIAL

Jaune Arc’s primary weapon was Crocea Mors, a collapsible heater shield paired with an arming sword which was originally carried by his great-great grandfather during the Great War, eighty years before the Fall of Beacon. Despite being an antique compared to what his classmates carried, the weapon remained in excellent condition when Jaune took it with him to Beacon, and it has been further modified and upgraded as he continues his adventures. The sword was an approximately two and a half foot long double-edged blade outfitted with a golden crossguard and a lengthened handgrip wrapped in blue leather. The shield, when fully extended, had a rough area of 2.5 square feet and featured an opening at the top to house the sword, its primary feature being to convert into the blade’s scabbard when not in use. Following modifications from an unnamed Anima blacksmith, the sheath was upgraded to include retractable sharpened edges that could extend upward, transforming it into a stout zweihänder with a heavier blade, enabling far more powerful strikes in combat. The most recent additions to the shield came from Pietro Polendina in Atlas, who outfitted it with hard-light and gravity Dust generators. The former extended barriers to either edge to improve Jaune’s protective zone, while the latter functioned as a combat repulsor. Appropriate given its original owner was a soldier rather than a Huntsman, Jaune’s weapon remains one of the simplest and most utilitarian in the setting, form reflecting function even with its various upgrades. While perfectly capable of slaying Grimm, Crocea Mors was built for war.

As he had never attended a formal combat school nor had grown up with real-world dangers to address, Jaune Arc was woefully unprepared for his early education at Beacon Academy, enrolling on the back of forged transcripts and having amateurish understanding of the field’s basics. Despite this, Jaune was fortunate enough to survive his initiation, and his ability to coordinate Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie in their takedown of a Deathstalker earned him leadership of Team JNPR. While his early blunders were quite obvious, falling behind in his studies and regularly getting stomped in sparring, Ozpin’s early assessments of the boy’s potential were eventually proven to have merit following his conflict with Cardin Winchester. After a peptalk with Ruby Rose and his successful killing of an Ursa Major in Forever Fall fed him some crow, Jaune accepted Pyrrha’s offer of private tutoring and began to properly develop as a fighter. Under her tutelage, Jaune slowly grew into a capable swordsman and began taking his responsibilities as leader more seriously, eventually qualifying for the Vytal Festival and leading his team to victory against Team BRNZ. While the Fall of Beacon and Pyrrha’s subsequent death cut his formal training short, Jaune continued to train rigorously with her prerecorded lectures during Team RNJR’s journey to Haven Academy and maintained his skill by sparring with his comrades. But more than anything else, Jaune’s greatest growth came through the trial by fire that was the war with Salem, the threats he encountered forcing him to learn quickly and build his skill set through experience. Appropriately for a beginner warrior growing through trial and error in the field, Jaune Arc’s fighting technique was an exceedingly simple and direct sword-and-board method, emphasizing the baseline reliability of the practical benefits of his weapon set. He primarily relied on his shield as the foundation of his technique, using it to intercept or deflect incoming attacks. He alternated between stalwart stonewall stances and active pushback deflections, holding his ground against everything from gunfire to pouncing Grimm while disrupting their own attacks with sweeps and bashes. When he did choose to take the offensive initiative, his bladework consisted of a simple yet powerful array of slashes, cleaves, and thrusts, aiming for one-hit kills. Together, the two weapons enabled a defense-and-counter fighting style, following up his solid blocking sequences with quick sword attacks to quickly disable or kill the target. Though friendly and kind, Jaune never settled for half-measure, always decapitating, dismembering, amputating, impaling, or otherwise seriously injuring his target. When utilizing Crocea Mors in its greatsword form, Jaune’s bladework became less refined yet far more powerful, using hacking chops to deal brutal damage, though at the cost of his defensive stance. Despite lacking variation as a swordsman, Jaune’s simple and loose style was extremely adaptable, allowing him to accommodate to virtually any situation or opponent. This technique was reinforced by his fluid use of his special abilities, most notably his Dust loadout and Semblance to augment his maneuvers. However, Jaune has displayed little in terms of alternative disciplines. Despite possessing a strong physical component in his style, he has never been seen employing hand-to-hand combat in any capacity, and his knowledge of firearms began and ended with blocking bullets. That being said, he has engaged opponents who do use these methods and survived, most notably Tyrian Callows and James Ironwood, so he clearly knows how to combat them even if he lacked proficiency in using them himself. Furthermore, he proved to be a competent mounted fighter, delivering strikes from Pietro Polendina’s hoverbike very effectively in Mantle.

For all the strides he made in his training and advancement in spite of his inexperience, what truly put Jaune Arc in step with his peers was his surprising natural talent as a tactician and strategist. Humbled by his first semester’s failings, Jaune recognized his limitations as one of the least developed fighters of his class, and instead focused on pouring his energies into learning to circumvent them with the aid of his teammates and friends. While his lack of book smarts would make the tactical display out of his element, his ingenuity and ability to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of both his troops and his enemy’s, even under dangerous high-stress situations, more than made up for it. Jaune Arc was not a grand strategizing general; he was a boots-on-the-ground frontline commander, and in his tactics, he heavily emphasized adapting to and subverting the opponent while holding out for the long term. He would open defensively to give him time to assess the threat and give his allies the opportunity to probe for weaknesses. Once an opening was discovered, he would order a swift and decisive response to exploit it, often by disabling the opponents’ defenses and weapons and forcing them to expose the Achilles Heel. Against the Deathstalker, Jaune worked with Pyrrha to defend against its claws while Ren weakened the stinger, and upon seeing this had Pyrrha sever it with her shield before propelling Nora into the air to drive it in. Team RNJR’s battles with the Petra Gigas and Nuckelavee played out similarly, with the beasts ultimately being killed by keeping their limps tied up while leaving its main body vulnerable to Nora’s blows. The Nuckelavee battle demonstrated Jaune’s ability to apply this thinking to wars of attrition as well, as he and Ruby were able to land several critical strikes on the legs while the head was distracted, wearing it down as they cooked up a decisive finishing strategy. As far as more intelligent opponents went, Jaune demonstrated his talents during the Vytal Festival match against Team BRNZ, ordering a retreat following the initial exchange before quickly reengaging, working with Ren and Pyrrha to fend off the bulk of the team and flush out May Zedong’s sniper nest so that Nora could blow her to Kingdom Come. While battlefield situations were Jaune’s specialty, he was still capable of contributing to larger strategic operations, and more importantly, demonstrated an ability to reevaluate and adapt if his plans were derailed. The best example of this was the confrontation with Caroline Cordovin in Argus. The plan was to commandeer an Atlas airship by having Weiss Schnee pretend to return home alone before she and Maria Calavera overpowered the pilots and picked up the others, hiding their return by sending Blake Belladonna to disable the relay tower. However, their hand was tipped when Blake was ambushed by Adam Taurus before she could complete her sabotage, and Cordovin responded by unleashing the gigantic Colossus mech suit. Despite this colossal setback (pun completely intended), Jaune quickly put together a plan of engagement, exploiting the mech’s bulk by having Weiss, Ren, Qrow Branwen and Calavera harass Cordo and chip away at her defenses while nullifying her firepower by evading her attacks. Though the final blow was delivered through Ruby’s initiative rather than Jaune’s his overall game plan and trust in his teammates still enabled them to survive and disable the weapon despite the shock of their original strategy failing.

However, while Jaune was a fantastic field leader and achieved several impressive victories, most of these were done through the strengths and abilities of his allies rather than his own. Jaune’s inexperience and underdeveloped technique left him at a disadvantage whenever he was confronted by a skilled opponent in single combat, his success predicated on his versatility and tactical supremacy rather than his ability to fight. His first true victory against the Ursa Major demonstrated his tenacity and the raw talent he did have, but he nearly lost his entire Aura during the scuffle and survived only due to Pyrrha’s interference. Despite pulling his own weight in the Vytal Festival and against Tyrian Callows, his personal performance mostly amounted to soaking up punishment while everyone else tried to make headway. While Jaune had improved significantly by the time of the Battle of Haven, the psychological strain of his experiences combined with Cinder Fall’s posturing triggered an outburst from the still-grieving Jaune, who recklessly charged the Fall Maiden with his greatsword. The only reason Jaune lasted as long as he did was because Cinder drew out the fight to play with her food, the closest thing he made to headway being when he scored a superficial graze on her face mask after she was stunned by Ruby’s Silver Eyes. Fortunately, Jaune managed to get into a much healthier headspace following his time in Atlas and learned from his experiences. In addition to improving his calm under fire, he managed to apply a solid measure of his tactical sensibilities to personable combat. This was where his heavy defensive focus truly started to express itself, shifting his focus to protecting himself, his allies, and his charges and only attacking when the blow could efficiently end the immediate threat. While his core technique was underdone, his tandem use of his alternative abilities allowed him to adjust to different situations even if he couldn’t win himself.

In Mantle, Jaune slew numerous Grimm in the streets by intercepting their attacks before immediately striking back, notably impaling a Sabyr after it jumped onto his shield and later throwing a hard-light Dust grenade into a pack of Sabyrs for them to faceplant into. While unsuccessful at evading Vine Zeki while sparring in Atlas, he achieved greater success when he fended off Flynt Coal’s Killer Quartet, enduring the assault before closing in and overpowering him. Against Neopolitan in the Atlas Academy dorms, Jaune managed to intercept her running charge and blew her backward with his gravity Dust repulsor, though he and the rest of his team were ultimately outmaneuvered by the assassin and forced to flee with the arrival of the Atlas security forces. When confronting James Ironwood two days later, Jaune immediately followed up Emerald Sustrai’s disarmament and kick with a slashing sequence, and though the general was able to stop him and counter, Jaune immediately turned it around with his repulsor, giving Oscar Pine and opportunity to run in and attack himself. In these various encounters, Jaune demonstrated great skill and fending off direct aggressors and using their energies against them, even when fighting opponents far above his own level like Ironwood. Rather than just enduring an attack, he brought it to a halt by disrupting their forward advance and landing devastating counters. Conversely, Jaune was less successful against more subversive opponents who could outmaneuver and undercut him, which is what he faced against Neo and ran into against Tyrian Callows in Oniyuri. Furthermore, his success was predicated on his ability to strike at the moment of greatest vulnerability, and if unable to get the drop on his target, he could get into trouble very quickly. Putting these strengths and limits on display was his second confrontation with Cinder Fall during the exodus to Vacuo. Despite seeing his old nemesis again and witnessing Yang Xiao Long’s apparent death, Jaune remained composed and focused on ensuring the civilians could escape, only engaging himself when the last were gone. He opened by flying in and blowing Cinder back with his shield and standing with Weiss and Penny Polendina, prepared to coordinate against their more powerful adversary. Unfortunately, Cinder divided her assailants and mortally wounded Penny, forcing Jaune to tend to her while Weiss was on her own. After Penny had Jaune reluctantly kill her to keep the Winter Maiden powers out of Cinder’s hands, an enraged Fall lashed out, but Jaune, despite his extreme emotional stress, stood his ground and repelled her. However, Cinder recovered too quickly for Jaune to properly retaliate, and he was quickly overwhelmed when the Fall Maiden destroyed his weapon.

RANKING: Tier 5, Standard Application

Jaune Arc’s inexperience and limited performance in single combat make it clear that he is not a master, but he still possesses a well-rounded and comprehensive skill set that covers his bases and improves his overall viability. His greatest asset is his intelligent tactical analysis on the battlefield, enabling him to adapt to situations and exploit weaknesses, even if someone else lands the killing blow instead of him. In single combat, he can contend with superior martial artists by leveraging his techniques to nullify their offensives and hit them where they don’t expect, though his battles with Cinder and Neo prove that this has its limits. Appropriately, Jaune Arc wears Pyrrha Nikos’s influence on his sleeve, both being talented albeit thinly spread fighters who compensate for their lack of development by using all of their skills together. The difference is that where Pyrrha built a special weapon to enable all of her attack options in her technique, Jaune supported his basic technique with strong support gadgets and good armor to provide a margin for error. Jaune’s feats make him seem better than he actually is, but unlike Volume 1’s macho dofus, Jaune is now aware of this, and has built his tactics accordingly.

SPECIAL

Jaune Arc was a late bloomer when it came to his Semblance, unaware of his abilities even after a year of formal training and thus making him an anomaly among his peers. It was not until the Battle of Haven that Jaune finally properly manifested his powers. Named Aura Amp, Jaune’s Semblance allowed him to amplify and enhance the Auras of both himself and others, bolstering the affect of the manifested soul power. All Auras bless their users with moderate protection from direct injury, mitigating minor wounds, and the ability to utilize their own Semblances. When amplified by Jaune, these abilities became far more pronounced, strengthening Aura shields far beyond their limits, enhancing the magnitude of a Semblance, and turning the mild regeneration into active healing, this last part easily being the most pronounced of Jaune’s powers. The first time his Semblance unconsciously activated in the Forever Fall forest, Jaune was able to recover from the beating he took from Cardin Winchester fast enough to immediately engage the Ursa Major. This went even further when he properly unlocked his Semblance at Haven. After Cinder Fall impaled Weiss Schnee in order to spitefully torment him, Jaune’s emotional distress over another friend being severely injured on his watch, coupled with his need to save Weiss’s life finally caused his powers to properly manifest. Despite the fact that she had clearly gone into shock and was suffering from serious blood loss, Weiss was able to regain consciousness after mere minutes of treatment, and after a few more had regained enough of her energies to Summon a Queen Lancer and fight through the remainder of the battle. Making this even more impressive was that Jaune was able to accomplish this instinctively and with little to no effect on his stamina. Jaune refined his abilities for active use in the following weeks, to the point where he could casually heal the Huntsman Dudley’s broken arm on the Argus Limited, and later treated the battered Oscar Pine after rescuing him from the Monstra. Beyond healing, Jaune’s ability to amplify Auras allowed him to empower the barriers of others to help them endure incoming attacks. In Argus, he bolstered himself and Nora Valkyrie to brace against the Colossus’s punch, and thought disabled by the hit, Jaune’s power still saved their lives. On a smaller though no less impressive scale, Jaune’s amplification proved instrumental in allowing Penny Polendina to resist the effects of Arthur Watts’ computer virus, allowing her human soul to overpower her circuitry. Most impressive by far was Jaune’s ability to enhance others’ Semblances by adding his strength to their own. Lie Ren was his most common partner in this, empowering Tranquility to the point where Ren could mask the entire Argus Limited train and whole mobs of civilians in Mantle, as well as conceal at least ten trained Huntsmen from detection by whole armies of Grimm. When Penny nearly succumbed to Watts’ virus, Jaune’s enhancement of Weiss’s Glyphs allowed them to restrain her long enough to offer aid. However, Jaune’s Semblance was not without its limits. Prolonged use could drain his own Aura quickly, and even his own substantial Aura reserves were not limitless. Furthermore, his healing powers could not mend all injuries, as Nora’s electric scars and the severity of Penny’s mortal wound from Cinder were beyond his ability to heal.

In addition to his Semblance, Jaune added to his arsenal with Dust gadgets during his time in Atlas, specifically the hard-light panels and gravity repulsor built into Crocea Mors’ shield. Pioneered by Atlas and therefore costly to obtain outside of it, hard-light Dust is most commonly used in the creation of advanced defensive technology, generating tangible panels of energy strong enough to withstand severe kinetic impacts. The projectors installed in the edges of Jaune’s shield could create barriers approximately a foot and a quarter wide and running down the full length, effectively doubling his range of protection, improving his ability to function as a defensive wall for himself and his allies. While the strength limits of these projections has never been tested, I do feel they are at least comparable in strength to the shields created by figures such as Weiss Schnee and Arthur Watts, who were able to hold back the White Fan Lieutenant’s brutish chainsaw blows and block high-caliber gunfire from Due Process respectively. More contemporary but no less potent, gravity Dust affected forces of push and pull in ways meant to facilitate adhesion, propulsion, and levitation, traits that made it an extremely common fuel in vehicles. When applied combatively, gravity Dust used these same properties to function as limited telekinetic attacks, usually through the guided manipulation of thrown weapons, enhancing the tactile striking power of manual weapons, or, in the case of Jaune, powerful offensive shockwaves. Outfitted in the center of the shield, Jaune’s repulsor enabled him to project bursts of power that pushed out in all directions, strong enough to repel charging enemies and deflect attacks though not enough to actively damage his environment. Though unable to injure Neo, Ironwood and Cinder directly, the repulsor was still strong enough to stagger them, potentially setting up for a follow up strike. This weapon in particular became Jaune’s most readily utilized combative tool, his favorite tactic being to activate it just as the opponent came within striking distance, essentially delivering shield bashes with a touch of a button. Despite only recently taking these gadgets up, Jaune quickly became highly profieient in their use, smoothly integrating these abilities into his overall fighting method and together with one another. In addition to combining the functions to turn his shield into a makeshift hang glider, Jaune could project the gravity waves to push back obstacles while activating the hard-light panels to cover his flanks, using this very method to clear away a pack of Centinels while infiltrating the SDC mine. This combination tactic further demonstrated Jaune’s approach of utilizing all his abilities together as part of a greater fighting method, getting around his lack of power and skill through versatility and logistics. At the same time however, Jaune’s Dust abilities had their own individual limits. The hard-light panels were a very specialized tool, and Ironwood’s ability to penetrate Watt’s barriers proves that even special Atlas Dust can’t take a beating forever. While the gravity repulsor gave Jaune an offensive option, the kinetic output wasn’t sufficient to injure or kill, forcing Jaune to rely on other means to decisively defeat his adversary.

Regarding Jaune’s use of his special abilities in live combat, he clearly emphasized versatility over lethality, sacrificing offensive might for tactical supremacy. While his Semblance’s properties have been most impressively demonstrated on external subjects, Jaune can and has used the power on himself to potentially decisive effect. While training in Atlas, Oscar Pine observed that Jaune’s Aura was recovering at a significantly faster rate than usual, which leads me to believe that, similarly to Hazel Rainart’s Numbing Agent, Aura Amp functions as a minor healing factor to help Jaune replenish his energies. Unlike Rainart, however, Jaune’s active use of his Semblance can allow him to do this on command and more quickly, which, combined with Aura Amp’s healing properties, makes him one of the only characters with the ability to mitigate his own injuries in the field. Both of his Dust gadgets follow similar patterns of improving Jaune’s survivability, the hard-light shields artificially bolstering his martial defense while the gravity repulsor adds a layer of counteroffensive. The latter has proven effective and giving Jaune a punch against opponents above his own level, successfully repelling Neopolitan, James Ironwood, and even Cinder Fall TWICE. However, much like his martial skills, Jaune’s effectiveness as an ethereal combatant is predicated on his breadth of tools rather than their magnitude of his native proficiency. His Semblance is almost entirely a tactical support power, and its various powers still have their limitations that make its efficacy in single combat suspect. While a number of factors were at play when Jaune was forced to euthanize Penny, the narrative framing makes it clear that the severity of her injuries would have been beyond his ability to repair even if he had time and shelter. As far as his Dust abilities are concerned, Jaune may make creative integrations of his powers into his fighting style, but neither his shields nor repulsor have the means to decisively end the battle on his terms. The effectiveness of the gravity repulsor is based around its ability to stagger the opponent and set up for a counterattack, meaning its effectiveness is significantly reduced if the opponent recovers quickly enough to exploit Jaune’s lack of skill as a martial artist. Against Neopolitan, the attack was able to disrupt her forward charge and launch her down the hall, prompting her to retreat. Against Ironwood, Jaune had the support of his allies, with Oscar rushing in to attack immediately after the Dust activated, while Weiss and Penny were clearly preparing to do the same against Cinder. Jaune wasn’t so lucky when he was forced to fight Cinder on his own, their final bout taking place when Weiss was already disabled and Penny was dead. With only his native abilities as support, Jaune’s final push against Cinder merely provoked her, and her quick recovery allowed the Fall Maiden to rally and shatter his weapon, Jaune’s survival owing entirely to the timely arrival of Winter Schnee.

RANKING: Tier 5, Limited Combat

Much like his fighting abilities, Jaune Arc’s special powers are comprehensive and versatile, but they lack the development to reliably set the battle on his terms. His Semblance offers various supportive abilities that improve his survivability in the field, while the traits of his Dust loadout add layers to his fighting style, all coming together to cover all of his bases for just about any combat situation. At the same time, he lacks the developed skill with these powers to properly control the engagement, getting by through the breath of his skill set and his intelligent use of all of his skills. Rather than mastery of his abilities, Jaune Arc relies on clever gadgets to artificially elevate his fighting style into something greater than the sum of its parts, and his baseline reliability hinges on circumstantial factors. However, Jaune ‘s limitations do not make him any less of a threat, and his cunning use of the various tricks in his bag means that he can still comfortably engage any situation even if he can’t always win.

OVERALL RANKING: TIER 5, STANDARD HUNTSMAN

Compared to the true masters of his era, Jaune Arc is not a particularly exceptional combatant, but he is still significantly above the rank-and-file. On the back of his martial skills and special abilities, Jaune stands as the archetypical example of a Tier 5 combatant in the RWBY setting. His foundation stands on his rock-solid physical attributes, his exceptional athletic performance levels giving him parity with better trained opponents and his inhuman resiliency giving him the ability to work through the hits he needs to take, further supplemented by top tier combat armor. With his versatile weapon set, solid general purpose fighting technique, potent empowering Semblance, and flexible set of Dust tools, Jaune possesses an extremely comprehensive skill set that leaves him prepared for just about any combat situation, but his lack of developed skill means that none of these attributes are elevated to a degree that can decisively tip the scales of the battle in his favor, leaving him spread thin and vulnerable against more skilled adversaries. However, being a jack of all trades/master of none does not make one an inept combatant, as Jaune’s attributes still give him a degree of adaptability and grit that many more specialized fighters tend to lack. Jaune’s saving grace is his tactical mindset, allowing him to circumvent his limitations by using all of his assets, be they his own or those of his allies, together as a layered combative tool to stay alive and win in the long term. Furthermore, despite his lack of formal training, Jaune has spent almost his entire career either on the battlefield or contending against opponents far above his own level, and he has still survived.

Jaune Arc’s ranking shows that he is not yet a true master combatant and still has a long way to go before truly matching his peers, but his track record also makes it very clear that he is growing very quickly and will undoubtably match or exceed them. He is a rising star, only held back by a series of roadblocks that continue to temper him. Jaune entered Beacon feeling that to be a Huntsman and a hero was to be a mighty warrior standing on his own laurels, though the harsh realities have not only shattered this narrow worldview but also brought out Jaune’s true route to greatness. Similarly, Pyrrha’s death led him to believe that self-sacrifice was all he was good for if it meant giving his friends a chance to survive, but those very friends made it clear that throwing his life away would only hurt them more. Instead of laying waste to armies of enemies as a one man badass, he has grown into a stalwart defender dedicated to surviving to protect those that cannot do so themselves. Rather than the lethal blade of his sword, it is the impenetrable shield in his off hand that has come to define the kind of hero that Jaune Arc is. He will stand firm against evil for the sake of others, holding out as long as he must while searching for ways to end the threat with as little lives lost as possible. The strength of this shield need only be gauged by what it and its wielder has endured. The Breach, the Fall of Beacon, the Battle of Haven, the Atlas Crisis; Jaune Arc survived all this and more, and he has emerged all the stronger and wiser for it. Pyrrha Nikos saw more in Jaune than the rest of them did, and I think it’s safe to say that she could not have been prouder of who he has become; as a Huntsman, as a leader, as a warrior, and more than anything else, as a man.

*originally posted on RoosterTeeth Community page on 06-8-22*

* images taken from RWBY Wiki*

RWBY Combat Analysis

#rwby #rwby combat analysis #jaune arc #rwby jaune #beacon academy #team jnpr #peak human fitness #standard application #limited combat

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riaarivic · 2 years ago

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HATE 9: DANGER (M) I MYG x F!reader

🌙 Pairings YoongixReader

🌙 Genres Mafia!AU, Smut, Angst, Action, Thriller, Enemies to lovers

🌙 Rating 18+ minors DNI

🌙 Summary You were an INTERPOL Agent assigned to infiltrate the depths of the most powerful Gang in South Korea: The Seven Moons. Your objective: to impersonate the daughter of one of their leaders and destroy the operation from within. That is, if they don't discover you first.

And Traitors won’t have the mercy of a quick death

🌙 Warnings For this chapter: mentions of death, drugs and vioence, foul language, mentions of organized crime. Smut (yes, finally) explicit sex scene.

🌙 A/N At no time do I (the author) encourage this activity in life, it is important that you know that the criminal acts in this book are that, a crime, as well as harmful to health and should not be romanticized. This is all a work of fiction for entertainment.

Love, Ria

🌙 Chapter wordcount 5k (the longest one yet)

🌙 Series Index

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

HATE 9: DANGER (M) I MYG x F!reader

You don't have me, but I'm so full of you I'm going crazy So why are you doing this to me? Why are you making a fool out of me?

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

The more you fuck around…

The more you’ll find out.

Your grandmother used to tell you that everytime you got in trouble and in the Seven Moons’s case: They’ve been fucking around for too long.

The Seven Moons’s history went way back to the first kkangpae during the Japanese occupation and the fights against the yakuza. They smuggled guns to the country during the military run in the 80’s. And of course were the Drug Kings during the clan wars 20 years ago. Every time a new leader rose, the clan had a new name and the member deleted every piece of evidence that linked them to their previous organization.

A clean page to start over.

And in the end if there’s no body, there’s no crime.

That is why they were yet to find out.

The Seven Moons under Kim DoHan’s rule, were untouchable. Every crime committed by his orders was untraceable to him and his sons; they always made sure that someone else got their hands dirty and in the case they did finish a job they had enough people in power to make sure no one would ask questions.

All of the seven young leaders' criminal records were so squeaky clean they could run for office. You were surprised you didn't see any pictures of Kim Namjoon or Kim Seokjin kissing babies on their files.

You could do a lot of fucking around if you were sure you’ll never get caught.

That was the reason you were sent to Seoul in the first place.

And for the past 3 days you learned one thing.

Kim Dohan and his seven moons were very fucking good at fucking around and not finding out.

But pride was the cardinal sin of the powerful and more often than not, the reason for their demise. All you needed was to find an opening on The Seven Moon’s arrogance.

And the best one you found.

Was finding your way to Suga's bed.

You weren’t really proud of it. But you have to do what you’ve got to do.

“By any means necessary” were the exact words of the Lieutenant and sitting on the Shadow’s face on your second night in Seoul fell into that category.

Not that you had other motives for it.

The sun was about to rise in the sky when you finally reached your bedroom in the mansion and you knew you could not sleep tonight, not after what you saw at Jhope’s warehouse.

You’ve witnessed violence, you served in the military, you’ve been in a war.

But you’ve never seen something so cruel…

It was pure evil, the way those bodies piled up.

And the message.

“This is how the devil pays for your loyalty”

Written with their own clansmen blood.

Releasing a tired sigh you sat on your bed and took out a small digital recorder in your pocket.

You had placed the device inside the meeting room earlier that day during the office tour. Hoping to catch some valuable information from the clan leaders. Now, as you got your laptop on your lap, you plugged in your earbuds and listened to the recording, your heart pounding with anticipation.

At first, the voices were barely audible, as if the speakers were deliberately trying to keep their conversation from being overheard. But your trained ears picked up snippets of words and phrases.

It was a conversation between Kim Dohan and Mr. Lee “your father”

"...the heir is a liability..." said Kim Dohan in a tone that made your blood run cold.

"...we must eliminate… before they gain too much power..." responded Mr. Lee and you made a mental note to find out who they were. You suspected they were talking about the Jade Dragon.

"...make it look like an accident..." Your hand shook as you rewound the recording and played back the crucial part.

This wasn’t exactly what you had been waiting for, a piece of evidence that would help you bring down the entire clan.

But it was a death sentence for the clan’s heir, who was unaware of the plot against him.

It had to be Kim Namjoon.

You wondered what drove Kim Dohan to decide to get rid of his only biological son. You had to act fast. You couldn't let them carry out their plan. But how could you warn Namjoon without blowing your cover?

If they killed him and then wiped out the clan’s record there was no chance for you to find any evidence.

And without any evidence, you were done.

Mission Failed.

Fuck.

You needed to rest.

You closed your laptop and stared at the ceiling, your time was running out. And this piece of information was a drop of water compared to the sea of lies that existed around the Seven Moons clan.

You needed something more, something bigger.

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

The next morning on the Seven Moon's diningroom.

Awkward was not a good enough word to describe how everyone at that table was feeling.

Namjoon had a black eye.

Suga had a split lip.

No one knew how Jungkook had ended up with a hickey on his neck.

Jimin was still furious with everyone for making such a fuss in his club.

Jhope looked like his cereal was made of rusty nails and he had to swalow them whole.

Taehyung was looking at you as if he wanted to kill you…

Although that was nothing new.

You looked exactly how you felt.. like shit.

Jin was the only one who seemed to be calm.

And as if the tension at that table didn't feel like it could be cut with a chainsaw. The clan’s Leader joined you for the first time at breakfast.

“Miss Nari, you have been in my house for a few days now and we have not had the opportunity to talk” Kim Dohan's deep voice crossed the dining table and his tone of authority made everyone present stop what they were doing “I hope you are adapting well to life here in Seoul, if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to let me know”

“Thank you very much, sir” You answered him looking at him from afar feeling like his gaze could pierce through any lie, even for you, a trained agent looking at Kim Dohan was like looking straight in the devil’s eyes “I have everything I need, you are very kind” finished your phrase with the most convincing smile you could give.

“Everyone can tell you have more than you need” Taehyung muttered quietly, just enough for you to hear him and you felt the blood rush to your cheeks. You weren't quite sure if it was anger or embarrassment you felt.

“If you want to say something at my table, Kim Taehyung, I hope you'll say it loud enough for all of us to hear” The Leader pounded his fist on the table making everyone jump a little out of their seats.

“Oh, Father, I was saying that Miss Nari seems to feel very comfortable at home. That is so great, because by the end of next month this will be your house too. When she marries one of us” The young gangster replied with a shit eating grin.

You little shit.

Oh, how you wanted to wipe the smile off his face!

After the awkward breakfast was over, you felt like you were about to poke Taehyung with a toothpick right in the eye. When one of Kim Dohan’s bodyguards approached you quietly “The Leader wants to speak to you privately”

Your blood froze on your veins, if there was something you did not want to do was to be in the same room as Kim Dohan… alone. You looked at Suga who was on the other side of the room and he gave you an understanding smile.

If the leader wanted to speak to you alone, he will have it his way.

You took a deep breath before opening the doors to The Leader’s office. The devil sat behind his massive desk, his piercing gaze fixed on you as you approached him. "Sit," he commanded, gesturing to the chair opposite him. You sat down, your heart pounding in your chest.

"You know that you are playing with fire, don't you?" Kim Dohan said in a low voice. "You may have fooled my men and my sons, but you can't fool me."

You tried to keep your expression neutral, but your mind was racing. Have you been discovered? Did Kim DoHan know that you were an undercover agent?

"I know about you and my son," Kim DoHan continued, his eyes narrowing. "Don't think that anything happens in my house without me knowing. You're lucky that I respect your father so much."

You felt your heart sink.

Out of all the things you thought he could have discovered. That was the less awfull.

But you could not be at ease. Now that you knew he was onto you.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," you stammered, trying to stay calm.

"Oh, pretty lily. That was your first and last mistake. Do not lie to me," Kim DoHan said, his voice rising and his gaze darkened. "I have eyes and ears everywhere. This is my home and my kingdom to rule. You think you can deceive me, but you can't. You're playing a dangerous game, flower. And if you're not careful, you're going to get burned."

You noticed Kim Dohan kept calling you flower.

Just like Suga did.

And that made you wonder if he was involved in this.

You felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead. Kim Dohan's words were a clear warning, and you knew that you had to be more careful than ever. You nodded, keeping your eyes fixed on the floor.

"I understand," you said softly. "I won't let it happen again."

Kim Dohan leaned back in his chair, his expression inscrutable. "See that you don't. I won’t say I don't understand young love, but I really do not appreciate two of my sons fighting in a dark alley like hormonal teenagers over a girl. " he said, dismissing you with a wave of his hand.

You rose to your feet, your legs feeling weak. You knew that you had narrowly escaped a dangerous situation, and that you had to tread carefully from now on. As you left Kim DoHan's office, you knew that the stakes had just been raised, and that the game had become even more deadly.

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Later that day...

You were lying on your bed trying to process all the information you had gathered over the past days.

The realization dawned on you, it became clear that the Jade Dragon, the Chinese triad with a dark history, had resurfaced and were seeking retribution. The ability to send a message to the clan's secret hideout suggested that they had a mole within the organization.

And not just anyone had access to that place, it had to be someone with power.

You had enough reasons to suspect that Kim Namjoon was into some shady business, and you were determined to uncover the truth. Your gut suggested that it may have something to do with his father's plans to eliminate the heir.

With everything that happened so far, you were aware that time was running out, and you had until the end of the following month to compile all the evidence you could.

This was your only opportunity to bring the clan to justice.

The moment the new heir was appointed, the clan would be rebranded under a fresh name, and all traces of their previous identity would vanish.

To make everything fucking worse, you had a hint that Kim DoHan was aware of your true intentions.

And early today he wasn’t just talking about you fucking his son.

Tap, Tap, Tap

Someone was tapping quickly on the balcony window in your room.

Ah, yes...

You weren't thinking about your main problem.

And said problem just hauled himself over the balcony railing with ease, his lean muscles rippling under his black shirt. He stood before you, an inscrutable expression on his chiseled face. In the moonlight light filtering through the curtains, his features seemed even more striking - the sharp jawline, the piercing obsidian eyes, the faint scar on his left eye that only added to his rugged appeal.

“Good evening Little flower. Can you let me in?” he said in his low, melodic voice. He took a step closer. You could smell the heady, sandalwood scent of his cologne, feel the warmth radiating from his body. Your heart thudded in her chest.

“What are you doing here Suga?” you asked as you opened the window, the cold night breeze made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

"I've been trying to figure something out,besides, I thought it was funny that we both used each other's window as an entrance,” he winked at you “your room smells like Lilies Is that on purpose?”

“Suga, what are you doing here, are you on drugs?” you let out an inpatient sigh and the black-haired man stopped in front of you and took a lock of your hair still smiling at you “I'm clean as a Russian athlete before the Olympics. Didn’t I tell you to call me by my name, when we were alone, did you forget it?”

“No, I didn't”

Of course you hadn't.

You had imagined calling him by his name when you kissed him again.

But that couldn't happen again. A flash of your conversation earlier with Kim DoHan passed through your mind.

It won’t happen again.

“What are you trying to figure out in the middle of the night in my room, Yoongi?” If you thought that man was close to you before, now Suga was almost completely attached to her body.

"I need your help."

You swallowed hard. "I don't know how I can help you."

He smiled, a slow, dangerous smile that made your knees weak. "I think you do. I see the way you look at me. The way your breath catches when I'm near you," He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face, his fingers trailing along her skin and igniting sparks beneath her flesh.

“But this is not about that. Although, we could talk about it later” he said.

Your heart raced. You knew after that conversation with Kim DoHan that you were flying too close to the sun, seeing Suga behind his father's back. But you couldn't deny the attraction you felt for him, the way his eyes seemed to look right through you right now.

"What do you need my help with?" you asked, trying to keep your voice steady.

"It's about what you saw last night at Jhope's warehouse," Suga said, pacing back and forth across the room. "Can you tell me everything?."

You felt a surge of adrenaline. This was exactly the kind of opening you were looking for. If Suga trusted you enough to ask, you’ll make him trust you enough to speak.

"It was awful," you said. “I’ve never seen something like that before.”

"I know, pretty flower, but I really need you to tell me what you saw," Suga said, turning to face you. "I need you to find out what is happening, before it's too late."

You sighed as you began to recall everything you could remember while Suga listened carefully. That man's gaze was the only thing that could terrify her and make her want to run straight towards him at the same time.

"Thank you" he says, taking a step closer to her. "I can’t tell you right now how much you’ve helped me today. But I promise you, it's important."

You feel your heart skip a beat as he reaches out and brushes a strand of hair from your face.

"I don't know if I can trust you," you said, your voice barely above a whisper.

He takes another step closer and looks deep into her eyes. "You can trust me," he says, his voice filled with sincerity.

For a moment, you stand there in silence, the tension between you palpable. Then, he leans in, taking the lollipop out of his mouth and presses his lips to yours, and you felt yourself melting into his arms.

As you break apart, you realize that you’re in too deep.

Suga made you feel as if you were running directly towards a cliff.

Ready to jump to the abyss.

Fuck the consequences.

“I actually came to figure out something else. You see, last night you were high and I’ve been told not to trust drunken truths. Bu you said you like me-”

“I don't like you.” You interrupted him trying to sound as convincing as you could, but Suga could see right through you. He smirked and took the lollipop between his fingers and tapped it to your lips. You understood what he was asking immediately.

You licked the lollipop looking right into his eyes.

Sweet.

He took it again and put it in his mouth, rolling it around his tongue.

“Good girl. But you taste like lies.” The man ran his thumb delicately over her lips and brought his mouth close to your ear. “If you don't want me to kiss you again, tell me and I won't touch you again” his voice sounded almost like a growl “But if you'll give me your permission, I want to check a second thing”

Flying too close to the sun.

That was exactly what it felt like to kiss Suga.

“What thing?”

“If I really like you enough, that I don't give a fuck about all the trouble you're going to get me into” Now you the one who kissed him this time.

Oh, you were going to burn.

Suga bit your lower lip so that you would open your mouth a little and his tongue could roam freely over yours. His hands moved down from your face and over your neck, shoulders, breasts and hips.

Tonight, it felt different than the first night in his bedroom.

Tonight Suga was a man on a mission.

His plan was to leave no corner of your body unknown.

Between the haze of desire that you were feeling, your mind came to its senses.

As an undercover agent, you knew the risks of getting involved with the son of one of Seoul's most powerful mafia leaders.

Kim DoHan had fucking warned you less than four hours ago.

But when he dropped you onto the luxurious bed of your bedroom in the Mansion, you couldn't deny the attraction between you. As his intense gaze swept over your body, you felt a rush of excitement mixed with fear.

As he leaned in to kiss you, you couldn't help but wonder if this was all part of his plan. Was he using you or did he genuinely want you? You pushed those thoughts aside and surrendered to the pleasure, letting yourself get lost in the moment.

“Yoongi.” you sighed between kisses, and to him his name sounded like the best melody he had ever heard in his life.

“Oh, little flower you're going to be the fucking death of me.” he growled lowering his lips to her neck to bite her and she let out a moan.

That was the last remaining thread of control for both of you.

Yoongi drank your body like a man finding water in the middle of the desert, and when he undressed in front of you, you thought you forgot how to breathe.

The first night, he didn’t take his clothes off. He focused on you, and your pleasure.

But tonight it was different.

His muscles flexed under his smooth white skin that glistened every time the moonlight landed right on the beads of sweat that ran down his body. Yoongi was covered in small and large scars that danced among the black ink that adorned his body. He had the clan tattoo right on his chest and you wanted to run your fingertips over all his markings and then, then you would kiss them.

As you took him in, your eyes rested for a second on a path of dark hair trailing down his belly inviting you to look just a little lower. You held your breath when you saw him in all his manhood.

He smiled at you, like someone who is about to commit a crime and has absolutely no regrets

“Everything you see is yours. All you have to do is ask nicely” he said, voice deep and musky.

“I don't beg, ever” you said. He sat on the bed between your legs; both hands caressing the skin behind your knees.

“There's always a first time, flower” he said, not breaking eye contact, and you felt that all the heat of your body traveled to your center. Your skin vibrating with the low purr of Suga’s voice. You realize now the size of him and you wonder if he could fit inside.

Just like the last time he savored every second, and you realize something about Suga:

He’s a tease.

He wants to bring you close to the edge, just enough you can graze the delicious feeling of the fall; to take you away from it.

He’s like a cat you think. He is playing with his prey before he finally eats it.

“Fuck, Yoongi” you whimper when he cups your panties with his hand, applying enough pressure to make you roll your head back and close your eyes.

“You don't like me. You say. But look how wet this pussy is, and I haven’t even touched you” He’s right, you are arguably the most excited you’ve ever been in your life, and you’re embarrassingly soaked.

“I never thought Miss Lee NaRi would be a liar” you wanted to pretend that sentence didn’t stroke a nerve in your heart.

If only he knew.

You can only stare as he lowers himself to lift your shirt inch by agonizing inch. Slowly, he revealed your soft skin. And you had to bite your lip to prevent you from begging him to touch you.

Luckily he wasn’t in the mood to make you wait any longer as he roamed his hands through your body. “Fuck, flower. You are beautiful,” he said more to himself than to you. But you can’t help but feel happy as you realize that you have the same effect on him as he has on you.

“Can I?” you realize he’s looking at your breasts, and when you nod, he dives down to take one in his mouth, sucking a nipple through the lacy fabric of your bra. You moan, threading your fingers in his dark hair, and you hear the little moan that escapes his mouth encouraging you to pull harder. And without thinking you do.

Another husky moan leaves his chest as he languidly rolls his tongue over your skin. Reaching behind your back you unclasp your bra and he pulls it off your body to toss it somewhere around the room.

He looks back at you and the sight that meets his eyes is sinful. Your hair sprawled between the satin pillows and your pupils blown with desire.

This time you don’t have the effects of the drugs to blame.

This is all Suga’s work.

And He knows it.

“How do you want to come, flower? My tongue? My fingers? or…” His gaze trailed down to his member that stood proudly between you two “Or do you want me to fuck you and ruin you for everyone else?”

Your entire body clenches at the last question, and for some reason you agree that fucking Yoongi will, in fact, ruin you.

“Fuck me” you said half a whisper half a moan.

“What did you say, pretty flower?” you rolled your eyes at him and before you could bark any answer he slid his fingers between the lace of your panties. Playing with your opening and finding the exact destination with a long stroke. Head snapping back you mean loudly “Do you want me to fuck you? Hm?” his middle finger caressed your clit in circular motions dragging you closer and closer to the climax of your own pleasure.

“I need your words.” he growled

“Please fuck me, Yoongi” you moaned his name and he smiled wider.

“Good girl. Everything you ask for, I’ll give it to you” He hooks his fingers to the elastic band of your underwear and takes it off your body. You assume it fell somewhere close to where your bra landed. “I’ll fuck you. I’ll ruin you for everybody else. But first, I’ll have to stretch you.” he pants as he enters two of his fingers on your cunt “You’re so fucking tight, flower. So fucking perfect for me.”

You gasp as you feel the delicious stretch of a third finger entering you slowly, his other hand holds you tight by the waist. He leans over your body to kiss you once again and this time you feel like you’ve lost your sense of reality.

You can still taste the sweet taste of the lollipop on his tongue as you suck on it. Kissing him like you want to take all you can until everything is inevitably taken away from you.

“I- I fucking hate you” you shudder feeling flustered under his gaze as he moves back to look at you.

“Don’t start lying to me again” He steps back just enough to lift one of your legs and rest it on his shoulder. You feel your body tremble in anticipation. He slowly rubs his full girth on your swollen clit, that’s when you realize he’s teasing you again.

He starts moving at a maddening pace. Slowly rubbing himself in wet circles, without breaking eye contact “Lie to me again and see what happens”

You swallow hard and you can’t help but think you have done nothing but lie to this man.

From the very first day.

You planted a mic in his bedroom.

You are using him to get information so you can bring his clan…

His family to ruin.

If only he knew, this morning you sent a message to the base with the exact day the clan is planning to announce the heir.

You just gave the Seven Moons away to INTERPOL.

But as he slowly enters you inch by inch and you scream his name you also realize one thing

You are also lying to yourself.

And you don't want to discover how.

“There.” You plead as he pushes his final inch inside you. You whimper and shiver at the delicious feeling of having him fill you to your limits. “Oh my God Yoongi”

“I think I heard a pretty girl say she didn’t beg”

“Shut up, and fuck me”

In one swift motion he pulls out only leaving his tip, just to slam himself back so hard you hear the bed bang against the wall. He starts thrusting hard and you start seeing stars as you forget your own name.

The slow torturing pace which he touched you is long forgotten as he enters you fast and hard. He’s unforgiving. Raising your hips so he can hit the right spots at the right angle. A moan chokes in your throat as he leans down again to kiss you.

This time you can feel the cold feeling of his chains against your bare skin.

“Yoongi” you cry, feeling hot tears run down your cheeks.

“It's okay, flower. I’ve got you. Let go” he grunts as he starts picking an even faster and harder pace. His hands move from your legs to caress your clit moving in rapid circular motion. And the devilish spark that lights on Suga’s eyes tells you he’s onto something. You don’t have to wait too long when he presses his hand down your lower belly to feel himself inside you.

You think you’ve lost your mind, whimpering, moaning and crying of pleasure.

Suga was right, he just ruined you.

Your body shocks as a white hot wave of pleasure runs through it. Your orgasm hits you hard and he continues to fuck you through it as he gets closer to his not long after. You hear him gasp as he comes feeling the hot ropes of his cum land on your skin.

“Let me clean you up. Pretty flower, stay here” he pants still not able to regain his breath. As if you could really move.

He brought a wet towel from the ensuite bathroom to clean you up, and he didn’t leave it until he made sure you were thoroughly cleaned.

That night Yoongi took you again.

Several times.

You knew you were playing with fire.

And if you weren’t careful enough.

You will get burned.

But even if you knew you were both risking your lives.

Suga visited your balcony every night for the rest of that week.

And fuck the consequences.

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

One week later.

You were in one of the clan's armored vans on your way to meet Anya. You had talked earlier that day on the phone and agreed to meet at her apartment. You managed to convince Namjoon to send you with only one bodyguard.

Now, that was a mistake.

As you exited the freeway and slowed down to cross to the narrower streets the car you were in was rammed by a black SUV.

You felt yourself spinning around in the air.

Shards of glass flew everywhere.

You could only hear the screeching sound of metal hitting the ground.

Ten armed men got out of the cars that surrounded you.

You heard a shot.

Blood.

You were not sure if it was yours or the driver's.

Someone forcibly pulled you off the roof of the car that was now on the ground.

Your head hurt too much.

You wished you had listened to Namjoon about taking more bodyguards.

You closed your eyes and could see Suga's smile the night before, when you were talking in his room.

Yoongi.

Come and save me.

The more you fuck around,

the more you’ll find out.

And now, you were about to.

“Make it look like an accident”

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Well, ahem..... Hello?

You guys know there's always a chapter you would never read out loud I think this is mine. This is actually the first time that I write full on smut... and it was something.

Anyway, how are you guys? I hope we're all doing well, satying healthy and surviving this tour because... Min Yongi is a fucking menace. LIKE!? The rapping? The HAIR??? The whiskey drinking? The "You guys listent too well" UMMMM EXCUSE ME SIR BUT THAT IS ILLEGAL!

And HAEGUM, when i watched the video i giggled and kicked my feet because that is Hate! Yoongi. What a beautiful time to be writing a ganster au.

Ps. Thank you SO MUCH for liking and I have to thank each an every one of you for reblogging Hate! I really, really appreciate it.

From the bottom of my chicken heart,

Thank you.

Love,

Ria 🌙

Tag List @drunkzseok @allamericanuniverse

If you want to join the tag list. You can coment this post or send me an ask!

#bts fanfic #bts smut #bts imagines #bts suga #bts mafia au #yoongi #yoongi smut #bts au #bts #run bts #bts jin #bts namjoon

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m0e-ru · 1 year ago

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間宮祥太朗 Shotaro Mamiya’s comment regarding his role as “Izanami” in the 2012 P4 Official Magazine #ONE MORE, Visualive the Evolution Information “Making of Visualive” segment

[image ID: A scanned magazine page. To the left of the frame is Mamiya, dressed in Izanami’s robes for the bromide shoot. To the right of the frame is text that reads, “Izanami,” the character I play this time, is an elusive being. If you try and ask anyone about this character, they would all say, “You can’t explain it in one word.” When it comes to playing Izanami, one should think to be “a being who does not project anyone’s image, but one who can reflect anyone’s image,” you see. For example, if the Izanami that A-kun imagines and the Izanami that B-kun thinks of are completely different, I think the question that would normally arise is, “Which one is correct?” But as far as Izanami is concerned, I don't think there is an answer. Of course I'm studying about this character’s position and role in the work, but I myself, who plays the role, wonder, “In the end, what is Izanami?” “What kind of person is Izanami?” and it’s with this mysterious aspect, I believe, is what makes Izanami unique. On stage, this exact feeling is what I want everyone to see and what I want to convey.

IZANAMI By Shotaro Mamiya

Profile Born 6/11, Kanagawa Prefecture. Stageplay “Roshutsukyou (Exhibitionist)” TV drama “Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (For You in Full Blossom) Ikemen☆Paradise 2011” and others.

※ Behind the scenes photographs were taken before character makeup was completed. End ID]

#persona 4 spoilers #persona 4 #izanami persona #shotaro mamiya #persona 4 visualive #persona 4 visualive the evolution #p4v #p4ve #tee el #⛽️🌫#aspile #ゲッー #// 2023 translation of the only thing that keeps me sane in this godforsaken corner of this fandom #// looking at it and reading it periodically akin to your religious catholic aunt whose favorite prayer mantra is hung on the wall #// the attendant and iznmi has such a special place in people's hearts. im so glad mamiya said this #// it's so special to have people take in things and interpret it all differently from one another because it is the #// possibility of uniqueness and change of humankind that makes the world so interesting <- clenching and gritting their teeth #// i think it's so cool iznmi accomplished their goal of being such an enigma and manifestation of vague thought #// in their source material and in the real world. i think it's so impressive. <-tears welling up in their eyes

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jetspikepub · 5 months ago

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It's been a while since I recorded this visual tour on the Bebop and posted a guide on my VK page. This may be helpful for fic writers and artists to understand ship's construction and mechanics.

The video is a 13 minutes long gameplay with no commentary. I walked as slow as possible to show every corner of the ship.

youtube

The written guide has 2 parts because of images attached.

Part 1

In chapter 6 of the game, the Bebop has been taken by Kult, a former mercenary, and a bunch of ISSP bad guys under his command, who planted the bombs across the ship while cowboys were out chasing the bounties. Spike sees the ISSP guarding the docks and tells Jet about it. Jet finds an airboat and uses it to get on the ship.

Before our journey begins, let's take a look at ship's layout from Cowboy Bebop: Starting Book.

Here we can see main scenes from the anime and their locations: deck, main hangar, bridge, back hangar and living quarters, including common room, galley (kitchen), Jet's room, work room, bath and toilet.

The next page shows how the gravity passage and big cylindrical mechanism works, where lesser ship hangars and living quarters are. The same layout is shown in Sunrise Artworks book.

When the Bebop drifts through space, the gravity generator activates, the cylinder begins to rotate and the gravity passage is used to access the hangars.

When the ship has landed and docked somewhere on a planet, the crew uses various tunnels, tubes and ladders to explore the ship (I think Ed discovered all possible ways using vents too).

There's an inboard map in the game based on the original artworks that indicates player's whereabouts (blue), the areas you've already cleared (green) and areas yet to be cleared (orange).

Our tour starts in Jet's room and his collection of bonsai trees.

His room is located at the end of a small hallway just above the common room.

We go towards the camera and see a work room on the corner where cowboys clean their weapons.

As we move further, we see the stairs going down to the common room, a couch where Spike sleeps, a chair where Jet rests because the couch is occupied, the table where Faye sits because there's no other place to sit down, and Ed's computer on the floor (she uses Ein as a pillow so she doesn't really care where to be).

The girl, however, isn't around. She thinks that adults are playing hide-and-seek and decided to hide too.

Under the stairs there's the laundry room and the bathroom. As you may notice, it used to be a public shower before, but Jet upgraged it and attached the bathtub. Black Dog likes feeling comfy.

We get back and take it to the right, walk upstairs and see a long passage leading to the kitchen, Faye's room and restroom.

This is where the differences between the game and the anime are. In the game, there's a hallway on the right that keeps kitchen, Faye's room and restroom in one place. In the anime, there's just the kitchen (and a freezer beneath) without any signs of other doorways (there's a cooking spot on the right side and the left one is full of crates).

This junction was obviously made for convenience to connect all the rooms on one map. In the anime, I think, the rooms and WC are somewhere behind the big door at the end of the passage past the kitchen.

The exact restroom location in anime is puzzling me. In some episodes it seems like there's a dead end on the left, but in episodes 11 and 17 Ein walks past the door to the left, meaning that the hallway leads somewhere. Faye also approached the restroom from the left in episode 17. Perhaps there's a turn.

However, if we go back to Jet's room hallway, there's an unknown door on the right. I have a theory that there may be more than one restroom on the Bebop - one for the crew and one for the captain. This makes sense because the rooms are right above the bathroom and it would be weird if a captain had to go all the way down to the crew whereabouts to use a toilet and see it occupied.

The freezer in the galley that I mentioned before was in episode 15. Jet and Ed were looking for some food in the ani me and in the game we look for bombs in there.

Going back and left, we see Faye's room and the restroom. We can't access the restroom because Ed is hiding there. She says that her mission is to remain hidden and Jet-person's is to find bombs.

Faye was captured by ISSP before and we're free to enter her domain .

Wow, look at all the stuff. Maybe men should have a yard sale while Faye isn't looking.

That's all for the living quarters. We're back in the common room again and go upstairs behind the couch.

This door leads to the gravity passage. It's inactive because the ship is docked and Jet will have to make his way through the tubes and tunnels, but first we explore the warehouse behind.

The fridge is still there, no monsters though.

Back in the gravity passage there a door on the opposite - the C1 center tube. It connects the lower and upper parts of the gravity passage, B1 front tunnel and freight passage.

In the upper part there's a door to Hammerhead hangar. Unfortunately, we can't take a closer look at lesser ships. Spike's ship was damaged, Faye's ran out of fuel and was caught and Jet probably left his ship in the city. The hangars were recreated as arenas to fight the enemies and look for explosives.

Back to C1 again and then we enter B1 tube.

From B1 Jet gets right to the bridge section. Spike used this route in episode 11.

Yay, we're halfway through! Let's take a break, enjoy the view with Jet and grumble about Spike and Faye being troublemakers.

#cowboy bebop tsuioku no serenade #Youtube

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linesonscreens · 6 months ago

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Let's Read Peanuts (Only 45 more years to go!) – September 1955

There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read the full month at the official GoComics page. Today's month starts HERE.

September 1, 1955

God damnit Lucy, you said we were done with the fussbudget thing and now you’re you’re making MORE fussbudgets!?

September 2, 1955

Another really cool glimpse into history as it was happening.

Not sure who “they” is in this case but if this ancient official NASA website that looks like it was made in 1997 is to be believed they might be talking about “Project Vanguard”, which was the name for the U.S satellite program. The project was announced broadly in July of 1955 and the specific proposal with the aforementioned name was chosen at some point in September of this year. I'm not sure what exact headline this strip might have been referring to considering that it was probably written like a month prior, but it makes sense that there would be a lot of buzz around the topic at this point.

Sadly (or hilariously, depending on your perspective on the world), the Soviets would beat the U.S. to the punch on October 4th, 1957 with Sputnik. Ah well.

September 3, 1955

He kicked it again!

I’m starting to think that the issue might be that Lucy and not CB himself.

September 11, 1955

LMAO, Charlie Brown is only here (watching awkwardly from a nearby ditch for some reason) to explain the joke.

September 15, 1955

Has Linus actually talked to another person before this? I think this might be the first time. He’s talked to himself before and has been talked ~at~ (sometimes with the implication that it’s part of an ongoing conversation) but this is the first time I’ve seen him directly speak to another character on-screen.

September 18, 1955

Snoopy’s starting to look very Loony Toons-y lately.

September 25, 1955

Honestly I’m just happy she’s taking a break from giving that poor kid PTSD.

#peanuts #charlie brown #comics #charles schulz #comic strips #lets read #peanuts comics #snoopy #schroeder #Lucy #Linus #Patty #Sputnik

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fandomsoda · 2 years ago

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Intro/pinned post!!!

last updated (mm/dd/yy): 11/19/24

Did you find me via a Sonic-related post? You should go to @speedysoda for that stuff now!

Want to read my DNI/a shorter version of this post? Go here!

Current blog status: tired and just. Trying right now, bear with me.

First of all, here’s my pronouns page for those who want to know more about my exact pronouns/word boundaries! (Semi outdated take with a grain of salt)

Call me Soda/Wally/Rivet. We’re fictive-heavy plural. Uses I/me and we/us interchangeably. We do not owe you any information about us.

🥤💫💙⭕️☄️❤️‍🩹📀🛠📍⚫️💟

Here’s my sona!

Their full ref can be found here

Below is more information about my art, the blog, and other things. There are also a lot of userboxes (and blinkies, so flashing gif warning be cautious) that represent me! The post is pretty long though, so bear that in mind.

Art usage rights: My art is fine to be reposted, but strictly with credit. Want to use it as an icon? Make it an edit or add something small for pfp purposes? You’re welcome to, but with permission, credit, clarification that you edited it, and as long as you’re not in my dni/use it for such purposes. Do not feed my artwork into ai software. Also do not directly feed my writing or own general text into an ai.

Requests?: Requests for art are a complicated thing and are simply a matter of what I do and do not want to do. Feel free to ask, but just know I may decline! This goes for moodboards and stimboards as well, but I’m much more likely to accept a mood/stimboard rather than art request!

AU/personal projects!: I have a handful of personal AU’s and projects and OC’s I’d like for people to check out and look at. (Also please please please ask about my characters and ask them stuff I wanna answer!) You are welcome to make fanart for any of them. People in my dni are not permitted to depict my characters in any way, shape, or form. Don’t touch my babies. Also- No, you may not use my characters in tournaments or polls. Please keep your popularity games away from my babies. (Fair warning: we are very bad about updating this it’s very outdated)

Personal projects masterpost

Additionally:

Please @ me in fan/inspired content! I want to see it!

I also know that I can often come off as aggressive and do stupid shit or say stupid shit. I have a lot of growing to do and I make a ton of mistakes. Please be patient and if you desire to call me out on by bullshit (which you absolutely should do) please be constructive and respectful. I struggle a lot with tone and accidentally upset people often. If I upset you, PLEASE let me know. I have no way of realizing if you don’t, please do not lie to me, tell me what’s wrong I promise I care and will try not to take it personally. =m=

Important note: While I may make suggestive jokes from time to time or touch vaguely on mature topics/talk about more mature media, this blog does not welcome nsfw blogs. Any and all interaction with me or my art that is nsfw in nature (inappropriate DM’s, comments, and reblogs) will be instantly blocked. We can joke, we can have fun, but I do not want any concerning behavior towards others or towards myself/my art on this blog. I know that many people who follow/are friends with me are minors and thus I will ensure that this space is not dangerous for them.

I also consume my media critically, even as a Homestuck enjoyer, I do not support Andrew Hussie and recognize the comic’s flaws, but I also love Homestuck for what it is at its core and how it changed my life. I also assume most people consume media critically and thus do not have any fandoms in my dni, but do know there are a good handful of them that I’m apprehensive about, but won’t block on sight.

Also note that due to my nebularomanticism (arospec umbrella), I do not know what the fuck romantic love is supposed to feel like or look like, the lines between strong platonic bonds and romance are so blurry they barely exist for me, and such- all of my ships are queerplatonic in some way. I have never seen any ship as solely romantic and I don’t think I’m capable of that. But I also do not limit the types of intimacy I depict these characters having. If you’re not ok with queerplatonic kissing or holding hands or other forms of “romantic gestures” or if you think they can’t exist, get out. I’m honestly getting tired of the term “ship” and all the baggage it holds. I just want these characters to be happy and get along and be close. I’m tired of exclusively romantic connotations. All of that being said, once again, proshits GET OFF MY LAWN.

Keep in mind that while my art and personal works ARE here, this blog IS a personal blog. I DO vent on here and often talk about personal topics. Be aware. And just because I share an opinion of mine doesn’t mean that I think it’s super important or right, it’s just how I feel. Just saying this because if you follow me you should be prepared to deal with what I post, and if you don’t like me that’s ok just leave.

^ this user box specifically was made by @/ghostfish-stims!

^ this blinkie is made by @/pictionary!

#pinned post

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krawkpaladin · 7 months ago

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I've been continuing to work on Winning the Peace for the past few months, though life has gotten in the way a lot. Very busy with a surgery, planning a wedding, running two games, general exhaustion, etc.

It's been mostly working on layout and making player sheets and references. While the game jam was very good for getting the content written, it really did not prepare me to actually put it together into something more readable, which really doesn't make for good update posts. Also, the events oracle is like 20 8.5" x 11" pages, so it's very unwieldy in its current state, so I'm making a truncated reference that basically just has the mechanical effects.

I did get the opportunity to playtest it though with my local group due to some scheduling issues meaning we couldn't do our planned Girl by Moonlight game. A lot of things went well. The core voting system worked really well, and community creation runs smoothly. It looks like each year will take about an hour of play, so a full story/campaign should take roughly 3-4 sessions of 3-4 hours each. Some of the moves needed clarification, and a few need complete reworks of their fictional triggers. There's a few sections that need updates though.

In their current state, Representatives are functioning less as characters and more like stat sticks. I'm playing around with a few ideas to make Representatives more impactful and actual characters, and I'm playing around with a few things with that. One part of that is limiting the number of Debate Moves that can be used per year to make the choices more meaningful. The other part I am workshopping right now is having players define Representative's drives/personal values, and having those interact with the dice rolls for Debate Moves. Basically, if a Representative is taking an action in line with their personal beliefs, the roll is improved, while taking an action in opposition makes the roll worse. And these values aren't necessarily aligned with the Community's interests or needs, and don't affect the placement of votes, only Debate Moves. Still workshopping the exact mechanic though.

The other part I want to look at is the Event resolution. Currently, Events are resolved in whichever order the table chooses, largely because I was concerned about difficulty, but the issue is that a lot of Community Moves will then almost never trigger. So I'm planning on testing events drawn in order, or maybe having events resolve in suit order. Again, it's going back to the drawing board.

Once I have these changes written up, alongside the play materials, I'll post another update and get everything uploaded to Itchio. Life is going to continue to be super busy for the next few months, but I am hoping to have all of this done by June/July. So keep an eye out for all that.

Hope to have some more updates soon! Please enjoy Julius doing his best impression of me over the past several weeks.

(Also, on a completely unrelated note, I got to meet the official artist for the Fabula Ultima ttjrpg at C2E2 and got my book signed! Huzzah!)

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #ttrpgs #indie ttrpgs #winning the peace ttrpg

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abeautylives · 1 year ago

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Trip Around the Sun - The Epilogue

a/n: If you’ve made it this far, THANK YOU! I really loved writing this little miniseries so if it made its way to you and you enjoyed it, thank you thank you thank you.

Series Masterlist

pairing: Joshxfemale!reader

word count: 3k this part

summary: A vacation fling that ended in heartbreak. How far will you go to put the pieces back together?

warnings: Absolutely none other than some language

Six Months Later

I do not need this shit today.

Your boss has been riding your ass particularly hard this week, but today it’s taken the form of email after email, requests for quarterly reports, calendar invites to meetings you won’t even get to speak during. Why did she wait until Friday to lay all this shit on you? The incessant ding from your computer with each incoming notification is giving you a migraine. You let your eyes drop to the bottom right corner of your screen.

11:47am. Fuck it.

You clock out for your lunch break unannounced, grab your bag and your phone and make your way toward the elevator. No one so much as raises their head in notice of you, but you avoid their eyes over the walls of their cubicles anyway.

The midsummer heat envelops you as soon as you step out onto the sidewalk, a welcome change from the frigid conditioned air inside the office building, your headache easing up instantly. Bypassing a Starbucks on the way, you pop into your preferred coffee bar, a cozy local spot with better drinks and far superior food. From behind the counter, the barista greets you by name and asks if you’re having your usual, but you turn down the hot drink in favor of something iced.

The second the heavily caffeinated liquid hits your tongue, you can feel the remnants of your headache melting away. You find a lone seat outside on their shaded patio, sipping your drink as you pull out your phone to scroll mindlessly for the next forty-five minutes.

You’re doing exactly that, flipping your thumb over the screen as your For You page flashes past, pausing occasionally to watch a video in its entirety. Every five or six videos or so, the same song starts to play, something that’s trending but that you don’t recognize, so you flip past it. Over, and over, and over again until you realize you’ve heard it nearly ten times.

Your thumb moving now of its own volition, you swipe another video away as that same song starts. This time, you bring it back to you with a downward pull.

The screen is split, your eyes first drawn to the person on the left who’s definitely wearing a ridiculous wig and mouthing along to the words of the song, an acoustic guitar strumming the tune that’s vaguely familiar to you now that you’ve heard its beginnings so many times. You let your focus slip to the right, the video that the creator is clearly imitating, and your phone slides from your fingers. It hits the edge of the bistro table and bounces, landing face up on the ground at your feet, the song still playing as the video runs on a loop.

There’s no fucking way.

You scramble to scoop your phone from the bricks, the screen undamaged and his face on full display.

His face.

It looks different than the face in your memory, younger maybe, softer at the edges that you remember being sharp, defined. Maybe it’s the lack of facial hair.

The video plays on and you can’t stop watching it, again and again, eyes focusing on a different part of him with every loop. The way his plump lips move over those obscenely perfect teeth, the way his eyes sparkle as he lifts them though you can’t see the exact shade of his irises, the way his curls look almost exactly as you remember them, despite the ways he’d changed. The way he drops his head and his jaw flexes, that is very familiar to you.

Josh.

What the fuck is this?

You’d been so stunned at the sight of him that nothing else had truly registered, but now your eyes are bouncing around the screen. He’s singing. Is he a singer? What the hell is he wearing?

What is this?

Greta Van Fleet. The words tumble over themselves in your mind as if they're in a language unknown to you. The tags on the video capture your attention.

#gretavanfleet #gvf #snl

Saturday Night Live? You’re about to dive into a Google search when you catch the time at the top corner of your screen. Shit.

Coffee in hand, you speed walk back to your office building, eyes still trained on your phone’s screen. It’s a miracle that you haven’t tripped or mowed someone over as you’re stuck scrolling, your first entry into the search bar being what you assume is a band name.

Rock band from Michigan

Kiszka brothers, twins Josh and Jake

Kiszka. Josh Kiszka.

He’s fucking famous.

The rest of your work day passes in a blur of emails and reports, your focus effectively obliterated by what you’ve discovered. You actively have to resist searching for him on your company computer, your fingertips itching to type in his name, so you settle for putting in your AirPods and pulling up their discography on Spotify.

Unfortunately, the sound of his voice, nothing like the voice that spoke so many beautiful words against your skin, sucks the air from your lungs until you feel like you might actually have a panic attack. You wrench the AirPods from your ears and throw them back into your bag.

Five o’clock couldn’t come soon enough.

The door of your apartment slams behind you, your bag and keys tossed to the ancient hardwood and heels kicked aside within seconds. You can’t be bothered to change out of your clothes, tossing your blazer aside as you enter your bedroom and hiking your pencil skirt up over your thighs as you sit cross legged in your bed, laptop already pulled to rest in front of you.

His name is typed into your browser as soon as you flip it open, and within seconds you learn more about him than you did in all the hours spent together. His birthdate, his hometown, his middle fucking name. This almost feels invasive, like you’re suddenly privy to information that should be secret, yet here it is for all the world to see. You open the Images tab and hold back a sob, a hand flying over your mouth to capture it.

Before today, you’ve never seen a picture of him. There’s a barrage of them on your screen, ranging from what must be a few years old to what you assume are current, his appearance so similar to that of your memories. Clicking on one to enlarge it, your fingertips leave your lips and trace over the image of his. You feel a hot tear slip free and roll down your cheek.

You’d love to say you had boarded that plane and simply accepted the fact that your time together was just that, limited and perfect in its brevity, a sweet escape from reality that was never meant to exist beyond the confines of a tropical resort. But that would be a lie.

Instead, you’d returned home a broken woman, bereft in the loss of him. It wasn’t logical, your heartbreak, but that fact hadn’t helped it heal. As you look at him now, through a watery veil of tears that won’t stop coming, you realize that time has done nothing to lessen the hurt.

Unable to stop yourself, you let your eyes move over the screen, taking in every version of his sweet face. Some pictures look like they’re from the same period of time as the footage from the TikTok, his stage outfits much more flamboyant and form-fitting than the plain white t-shirt or tank he’d adorned every day that you knew him. Knew him. That’s a joke. You didn’t know him at all.

But you had wanted to.

You switch back to the Google search results. As you scroll down the page, you avoid clicking links to videos that look like interviews, the thought of hearing him speak is overwhelming in the worst way, but something else grabs your attention.

His Instagram.

Your laptop abandoned, you open the app on your phone and search for his username, your finger hovers over the top result before you suck in a breath and tap it.

More pictures, a carefully curated collection of images made up almost solely of him. You open the most recent and feel heat blossom over your cheeks. It’s just him, you’re growing used to the sight of his face already, but he’s in profile and his curls are pulled back and tucked beneath that cap. The same one he’d been wearing when you met him by the pool. It’s so nearly exactly how he looked the first time you saw him up close that you have to move past it before you crumble completely.

His captions are sometimes poetic, as you had learned he could be, and now it all makes perfect sense. He’s an artist, a lyricist, he is a poet.

Here you are again, scrolling, growing numb to the digital portrayal of his face as you take in each one, watching him age in reverse as you reach the very last post on his account. When you make it there, you click on his username and it opens back at the top. You stare hard at the options before you.

Message

There’s no way it could be that easy… right?

The next days pass slowly, dragged out by the dwindling hope that the message you had managed to type out with shaky fingers somewhere around midnight that first night, will be read.

Days turn into weeks, your work performance suffering as the hole he’d left in your heart only seems to grow. You check Instagram almost obsessively but that little note never appears to indicate that he’s even seen your message. You lose yourself to it a little bit, the fixation, the need, he feels so close and somehow farther away than he’s ever been. It sometimes feels worse than not knowing anything about him at all.

In a dark moment of tequila-fueled weakness, you send another message. And another, convinced that somehow you’ll grab his attention. Prompted by a new set of black and white portraits uploaded to his account, you’d purchased the bottle and brought it home to drown in it, staring at the photos until your vision blurs. In the first image he’s looking directly down the barrel, into the lens, his body facing away and head turned toward the camera, an unbearably devilish smirk curving his lips. You know that smirk and the dimple it pulls into his skin well, it appears frequently in your dreams and now it takes up the entire screen of your phone, made up of pixels that lack all of the warmth and vibrancy that emanate from him.

You double tap your screen, a white heart appearing and disappearing over his grin. In a desperate attempt to be noticed, for him to sense your torment, you tap the heart at the bottom left corner of the picture, changing it from red back to an outline, a shell of itself. You repeat this over and over, red to outline, red to outline, will he see the notifications? Will anyone? Even if he did, would your username set off any alarm bells, does he even remember you?

He promised he would, but he didn’t keep every promise he made. Not when it mattered.

Willing yourself to stop liking and unliking the picture, you go back to your messages. Still unread.

The frustration gnaws at you from the inside until you feel on the verge of a true mental breakdown, a snap decision away from being locked up. Ignoring the potential consequences, you make that decision anyway, and a quick search brings you the name of their management company.

This is crazy… right?

You had definitely called. The first call was answered with cool professionalism that you met with your own cultivated “phone voice”, the conversation pleasant enough until you’d come out and asked for Josh Kiszka’s contact information. You’re sure you heard the woman on the other end of the line gasp, a sharp intake of breath followed by a heated dismissal as she admonished you for even daring to ask for the personal information of one of their clients. When the distinct click of the call disconnecting hits your ear, you’re not surprised.

But it doesn’t stop you from dialing the number again. And then again when the call goes unanswered.

The same woman picks up the phone after allowing it to ring for a considerable amount of time, and she manages to maintain the professional tone she’d answered with the first time. You ask if you can leave a message for Mr. Kiszka, but she declines and advises you to stop calling their office.

Two days later, you call again. As soon as you hear her, you know it’s the same person and that she’ll be prepared to hang up on you the moment you open your mouth. You don’t even try to hide your desperation, practically begging her to just take your name and number and pass it along, no message, no further information, please just tell him I called.

Click.

Six weeks. It’s been a month and a half since you saw that God forsaken video and it’s haunted you every day. You’ve gone to borderline embarrassing lengths to reach him. Messages, comments across the band’s various social media platforms, you’ve gone so far as to slide into his brothers’ DMs, in the hope that maybe one of them actually checks them.

They don’t.

As if it’s routine for you now, you absently scroll through your recent calls while you sit at your desk and tap on the number you’ve memorized as that of their management office, putting your phone on speaker as it rings. Ready to go toe-to-toe with Amber again while you wrap up an email, you’re shocked into momentary silence as a voice you don’t recognize comes over the line and greets you with the name of the company followed by their own and an offer to assist.

“Oh, hi um, Drew, was it? Drew I’m trying to get in contact with a client of yours, a Mr. Josh Kiszka. Could you-“

“What’s your name?”

Fuck. You can’t lie, so you give him your first name and hold your breath, waiting for the inevitable click.

“Please hold, I’ll connect your call.”

Holy shit. Your palms are instantly clammy with a cold sweat. There’s no way. The phone nearly slips from your fingers again as you take the call off speaker and hold it up to your ear with a shaky hand, the generic hold music drowned out by the rush of your own blood, your heart racing.

In a small conference room several floors over Drew’s head, the intercom at the center of the table beeps. Josh is seated there, next to Jake, the other band members across from them. All eyes dart to the intercom before sliding back to Patrick, their manager’s assistant that’s leading this meeting. Patrick sighs and leans in, pressing the button to answer the call.

“We’re in the middle of something, what?”

“S-so sorry sir, Mr. Kiszka has a call waiting on line three.”

Patrick sighs again deeply as he shakes his head, the other men around the table grin at each other, individual eyebrows raised in curiosity before they look back to the head of the table.

“Sorry guys, new fucking intern- Which Mr. Kiszka, Drew? Quickly.”

“Oh- I, sorry, Josh, sir.” Drew is about to lose this job before he even truly has it.

“And you didn’t just take a message because…?” Patrick is understandably irritated but the rest of the guys take the interruption in stride, leaning back into their chairs and letting their gazes drift back to Josh, intrigue written between his brows and on the subtle downturn of his lips.

“I- Don’t know sir, I’m so sorry, I’ll let her know-“

Josh interjects, cutting Drew the smallest amount of slack that he seems to desperately need. “Hey, that’s okay I’ll just take it. Where can I…?” He trails off and Drew stutters through telling him there’s a vacant office next door to the left, he can pick up line three, before Patrick presses the button to end Drew’s suffering.

“You expecting a call, Josh?” Sam, the youngest Kiszka brother speaks up, an inquisitive eyebrow still sitting high on his forehead.

“Ya know, I’m not, and that makes it all the more mysterious doesn’t it?” He waves his hands through the air and flashes a wide grin before standing and leaving the room.

The office next door is indeed empty, and dark. Josh flips the light switch on the wall and strolls in, rounding the tidy desk and taking a seat behind it. A multi-line corded phone sits at the corner, a red light flashing next to a button labeled Line 3. He leans in and lifts the handset from the receiver, putting it up to his ear as he pushes the button and the flashing light goes solid.

You’ve been on hold for what feels like hours, though it’s probably been only a few minutes, and you can’t bring yourself to end the call. The hope radiating through your body has caused a flush to creep over your chest and up your neck, you’d torn your cardigan off and thrown it onto your desk after the first minute. Your cheek is hot against the glass of your phone’s screen and your heart feels like it’s about to burst from your chest. You suck in a gasp and hold it when you hear the line click.

“Hello?”

His voice. You haven’t heard it at all since the day you’d found out who he was, haven’t listened to a song, haven’t watched a video. There would have been absolutely no way you could’ve handled it, and you’ve been holding out hope against every odd that the next time you did hear it… it would be straight from his own mouth. The sound of it leaves you light headed as you exhale the breath you’ve been holding, and you realize you haven’t said anything.

His voice rasps through the speaker again. “Hello?”

“… Josh.”

Taglist:

@lightmylove-gvf @spicedandicedtea @weneedsomehealing123 @milkgemini @why-ami-on-here @gretavanbitches @twistedmelodies @wildflowerxx-x @dannythedog @blissfulbellss @averagemisfit03 @dharmasdivine @thetroublegetssoloud71 @lucimoo @toxbexannouncedx @dig0930 @maddie-van-fleet @friska101-cg @welllauragvf @gretasimp @objectsinspvce @writingcold @gretavangroupie @sweetybre @gretasgoose @gvfjess @josh-iamyour-mama

#greta van fleet #gvf #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet fic #gvf fic #josh gvf #josh kiszka #gvf fanfiction #gvf fan fiction

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saintseiya-zone · 1 year ago

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We’re happy to announce the next SSZ Zine!

The theme will be autumn-oriented and you can collaborate with fanarts, fanfics, photos and cosplays. Stay updated by joining our Discord!

Sign-up timeframe: 1-15/Aug/2023 (extraordinary sign-up 16-23/Aug 23:59 UTC -6, Costa Rica time)

Sign-up form: here

Taken Character list: here

Deadline: 22/Oct/2023 23:59 UTC -6 (Costa Rica time)

Description (in text) and FAQ under the cut

[About the Zine]

Description: Autumn is coming, and with it, spookiness is rising. Imagine your favourite Saint Seiya characters in autumn-themed scenes from around the world!

Type: The final compilation of all fanworks will be a free, digital PDF file (no physical versions will be made, no money will be earned or paid)

Character: restricted to one (1) character to be the main focus of the fanwork submitted (for fics: 1-2 characters)

The Taken Character List will be updated daily at 19:00 UTC -6 (Costa Rica time) until the sign-up period is concluded. We appreciate your patience while this occurs. Once you are added to the list and your character is confirmed, you may start working on your submission.

** Please note this zine does not review/approve/reject sign-ups, everyone is welcome to take part in the activity as long as they sign up and follow guidelines. If there are any issues, we'll get back to you.

Deadline: 22/Oct/2023 23:59 UTC -6 (Costa Rica time). Fanworks submitted after this will not be included (this is non-negotiable). However, if you are facing challenges with your submission, let the staff know ASAP.

Submission: Send via email to [email protected]. The email subject should be "Saint Seiya in Autumn Zine, [Creator], [character/fic name]", and the file name should be:

Visuals: [Character name] - [Creator]

Fics: [Creator] - [Fic title]. Writers, please also include a 400x400 px image you want us to use in the credits page

Examples:

Email Subject: Saint Seiya in Autumn Zine, El Cadejos, Alioth Fenrir

Fic file: Zeuse - “Encallar”

[About the Submissions]

Art/Photography Canvas size: 300 dpi, JPEG

2480 x 3508 px (portrait orientation) OR

3508 x 4960 px (landscape orientation)

Fics: docx file, prose, it doesn't have to be in English. You must include a title (please keep it short), but it won’t be considered towards final count

4 OR 6 full pages in total as exact as possible, Arial font, 11 pt, single space

Margins: 1 in (each)

Paper size: Letter (8.5 in x11 in)

There must be spaces between your paragraphs

Allowed:

Age reinterpretation (e.g., an adult character as a child)

Alternative Universes

Other applicable characters (including OC), please check FAQ

Not allowed:

AI-generated content of any kind

NSFW/Explicit content (contact staff for case-by-case reviews)

Non-official genderbends

Crossovers with non-StS series

[Frequently Asked Questions]

May I draw whichever character I want? As the purpose of this zine is to include as many characters from the Saint Seiya universe as possible to bring variety into the final product, submission types have the following limitations:

Fanarts: 1 main character per submission (restricted ✪)

Fics: focus on 1-2 main characters per submission (not restricted)

Cosplays: 1 main character per submission (not restricted)

Merch Photographs: 1 main character per submission (not restricted)

Before filling out the sign-up form, check the Taken Character list. For fanarts, you'll input 5 different options, from your top choice to least. Your final selection will be made visible later that day. This is on a First Come, First Served basis.

✪ This means there will be only 1 fanart per character, no duplicates

May I include more than one character in my submission? Yes, as long as there is a clear hierarchy where your chosen character is the main focus. Original Characters (OCs) may also be included in the background as long as they follow this guideline. There is no problem if those secondary characters are already taken, or if the mix of characters would not make sense in the official material (for example, Sasha interacting with Hilda).

May I use spinoff characters? Sure! All characters officially included in the Saint Seiya universe are applicable (except those without an official visual design, like Chronos). Please note that even though there are characters with different versions across the franchise [ex: Aiolia], they are not counted as different options for the Zine, so if said character is already taken, no other version of them will be available. The only exceptions to this rule are Milo (Legend of Sanctuary) and Shaun (Knights of the Zodiac).

Can I switch from one contribution type to another (e.g., fanart to fic) after I signed up? To prevent confusion and misunderstandings, all contribution type selections are final.

Am I allowed to change certain aspects of a character’s official design? It depends on the aspect, and should be reviewed case-by-case.

Example 1: as a Latin American, Io could differ in skin tone to the one seen on the official materials. However, characters like Hagen and Aldebaran, who have darker skin tones, should not be given lighter tones.

What qualifies as "autumn-themed"? This season is experienced differently all around the world, which is why the theme is broad on purpose. Any activity, scenery, meal, clothing, and celebration that is typical of this season is applicable. That includes (but is not limited to) All Hallow's Eve, Día de Muertos, Thanksgiving, Diwali, leaf color change viewing, and more.

What is the difference between an Alternate Universe [AU] and a Crossover? Some AU use popular tropes as a base, while a Crossover uses an already existing material as base.

Examples:

Popular tropes for an AU: magic school, space fantasy/sci-fi

Existing material: Twisted Wonderland, Mass Effect [games], Little Witch Academia, Star Trek [series], Heralds of Valdemar, Dune [books]

So making a fanwork of the general "Saint Seiya × Magic School" or “Saint Seiya x space fantasy/sci-fi” concepts is an AU, but "Saint Seiya × Twisted Wonderland" or “Saint Seiya x Star Trek” are considered a crossover. In essence, heavy references to other existing fandoms are not allowed. Could you please elaborate on what is/isn’t considered Not Safe For Work (NSFW)? If it is not appropriate for a general, non-specialized office work environment, then it is not accepted.

Examples: ✅ blood depictions/mentions of it ❌ graphic/detailed gore, mutilation, or body horror ✅ sensual themes (e.g., pin up) ❌ sexual themes (including, but not limited to: genitalia, specifically erotic gestures like blowjob, etc.)

The sign-up timeframe already passed. Can I still join? The extraordinary period is 16-23/Aug. Please check the Taken Character List first to ensure the one you want is available, fill out the form, and contact staff (El Cadejos, Zeuse) so we can add you to the list. After this extraordinary period, sign-up will be officially closed.

May I include a watermark on my submission? Yes, we encourage you to submit already watermarked fanworks to the zine.

I’m a writer! What is an acceptable image for the credits page? You can send an official StS work, fanarts (as long as it is made by you, gifted to you, or commissioned by you), or a picrew-generated image (as long as the picrew allows that use)

What are check-ins? Do I need to send something? Nope. Our check-ins act as reminders only, so you know exactly how much time you have left to send your submission.

I’m unable to complete my submission and would like to withdraw. Is that okay? Yes, you can withdraw at any time, for any reason (you don’t need to explain). Please just let us know in advance.

#saint seiya #SSZ Autumn Zine #ssz

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