#I want to make clear these are probably not objective facts and archers probably aren’t all mouth breathing foot scratchers

[orcabouttown]

This week: Archery, and why I do not respect it. As with the handheld weapons post I will reiterate that debate will not only be discouraged but actively punished via combat.

Long long ago we had a simple means of settling our disputes - grab a large item and beat the fuck out of each other with it. This started with the humble rock, then a club, a primitive axe or hammer, then not so primitive axes and hammers, then swords, maces, flails, spears, battlehammers, nunchucks, just about anything really.

Two parties with a score to settle would square up and beat the shit out of each other until one or more could no longer continue due to death, dismemberment or similar impairment. This method of conflict resolution was also a great means of procuring food from larger animals in our territory, specifically by using those weapons to turn them into food. Strength matched strength, skill decided the fate of a warrior, and then some pussy invented archery.

Don’t get me wrong, I know projectiles have always been a part of our repertoire, before we used a stone to bash we probably tried to chuck it as well. If you can chuck something at someone and do some damage then fair play to you, that’s a spur of the moment gamble that could have panned out really badly and you’re lucky it didn’t.

Archery, however, is the conscious decision to remove yourself from the battle as much as possible while taking potshots like a dick and acting like you’re contributing.

Picture this, you spend years training for war, mastering the sword, spear, and axe, riding day and night to practice horseback fighting, training to be strong enough to run in your armour and fight like a demon. You pull up to the battlefield ready to bring pride to your homeland, and then THUNK. Some prick a quarter mile away and his buddies decided to just launch a bunch of pointy sticks up into the sky like Retro Lawn Darts and played a numbers game as to who would hit you.

I ask you, how is that fair? How can you face your ancestors in the next life and tell them, “Well I honestly have no clue how well I was going to do because someone rolled a D20 and sniped me before I could do any damage.” Answer: it’s not fair at all! It’s the equivalent of playing Mortal Kombat 9 with your girlfriends roommate who always picks Noob Saibot and always spams his teleporting move which is basically impossible to block, and she acts like it’s a mistake but really, who makes a mistake the exact same way 30 times in a row? Who I ask you? Her, and archers.

And yeah, fine, it looks coooool or whatever when you see an archer nail a sick shot because it’s a sKiLl tHeY’Ve MasTeRed but all they’ve mastered is being a top tier shitter and ruin everyone else’s fun time on the battlefield.

“But Mr Orc!,” you’ll whinge, “orcs use bows too! I’ve seen it!” And you’re right, some do. The term for them is Cowards. You’d think when Bolg struck Kili with a morgul shaft I was cheering him on wouldn’t you? Nope. Kili, unlike Bolg, actually had some balls and was tearing it up with a sword and dropping bodies like a clumsy mortician. Bolg only solidified his cringe status by wussing out and shooting him rather than run up on him with a blade.

You owe your opponents a fair shot in equal combat, and if you think it’s acceptable to half ass it by shooting at them from out of stabbing range you have all the honour of a Republican. Archers are guys who sleep with socks on, enjoy pineapple pizza, say shit like, “You’ve got a case of the Mondays!”, repost art and crop out the artists name, restart a game when they’re losing, and generally they chew with their mouths open and wear crocs. These are objective facts and not up for debate.

Remember, if you rock a quiver, I’m stealing your liver.

Until next time Brethren.

[merakiui]

Heey saw requests were open so I couldn't help but come check out and ask! Will you be okay if you do a Xiao, Zhongli, Diluc and Childe with a S/O who tries to took a hit for them from getting killed by an enemy?

Xiao, Zhongli, Diluc, and Childe with an S/O who Shields Them From an Attack

☁️ Xiao ☁️

You dragged him along so that he could get some fresh air and help you with your commissions. Xiao would rather stay inside, but you seemed to want to spend time with him so it’s hard to object.

Xiao definitely tried to avoid going with you, but you had kissed his cheek and said it’s more fun if he accompanies you. His weak heart agreed right away.

So not only is he there to provide moral support and company, he’s also there to make sure you’re not going to do anything foolish.

He’s already defeated multiple enemies while you looked through crates for extra materials. If he were mortal, your carelessness probably would’ve shaved a few years off of his life.

He keeps telling you to pay attention and you say you are, but then you turn away and next thing you know an arrow comes whizzing past you.

Xiao’s picking up a damaged mask from the grassy ground, wiping the grime from it, when your shout alerts him. And before he knows it you’re tackling him to the ground.

He’s surprised and a little angry, snapping at you to be more careful. Your grip on his shirt tightens and he wonders what’s gotten into you.

When Xiao places his hand upon your back and finds the arrow sticking out of it, he freezes. You just...shielded him from an attack. And in the process you ended up getting hurt.

Warm blood coats his fingers and you’re doing all that you can to avoid bursting into tears in front of the stern adeptus. He sits up with you, wasting no time in swiftly defeating the archer hilichurl. His anger can be felt in the way he attacks mercilessly, showing no sign of letting up until the hilichurl has fallen to the ground.

Xiao can’t believe you, a mortal, would shield him, an immortal, from an arrow. He knows you love him, but to so readily take a hit for him—it’s surprising.

“You...” He wants to call you stupid, but you were only thinking of his safety. Instead he chooses to pacify you rather than berating you for something that has already happened. “You’re going to be okay. It doesn’t look that bad.”

He tends to your injuries to the best of his ability and then will bring you back to Wangshu for further inspection. Once the arrow is pulled out and your injury is cleaned and bandaged, tears finally spring from your eyes. It really, really hurts and you feel bad for making Xiao worry on your behalf.

He’s just relieved you’ll heal normally. But in the future he doesn’t want you to endanger yourself for his sake. After all, he’ll be perfectly fine if he takes a hit that would be fatal to most.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt,” you admit, placing your hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re an adeptus, but it would’ve hurt me more if I’d just let you get hit.”

Xiao sighs, taking your hand in his. “I guess it’s fine... Just don’t do it again, okay?” Deep inside, he’s truly touched that you would throw yourself in front of danger just to protect him, but he doesn’t want this to become a recurring thing for you. 

🔶 Zhongli 🔶

You had taken Zhongli out to find some Cor Lapis and other ores you were in desperate need of. He suggested buying them from the locals, but he didn’t bring any Mora and you knew of a few abandoned mines where you could get them for free.

With that logic cemented into place, you and Zhongli headed off for the areas you had marked on your map.

It wasn’t a difficult trip; the two of you worked diligently in clearing any enemies that got in your way and eventually you had made it to the first cave.

Zhongli was reciting the history of Liyue caves and their monetary benefits while you climbed over rubble and debris from past accidents. You’d almost tripped once, but he had caught you out of reflex, seemingly unbothered with your clumsiness.

All was going well. You’d mined a lot of ores with Zhongli’s help and the two of you were about to move onto the next cave when the ground above seemed to shake. Briefly, you glanced up, wondering what could be causing such a disturbance.

“We should be careful. There might be a Ruin Hunter around,” you told him as you navigated through the winding tunnel. Zhongli nodded in agreement with that, easily stepping over fallen stones.

Before you knew what was happening, the entire cave was shaking as another loud explosion resonated from above. Debris from above trickled down like snow and you cowered for a moment, expecting a cave-in.

It was silent for a few minutes and you figured the threat must’ve passed. Zhongli waited for a moment as he listened to the silent, musty air.

Just as you breathed your sigh of relief, the ground shook ten times harder than before, and stones larger than the ores you had mined were raining down at once.

The initial shock was more than enough to have you running for the entrance, pulling a very confused Zhongli along. A stone larger than your foot comes falling, and it’s about to hit Zhongli on the head.

To avoid an accident, you shove him to the front and the rock hits you instead of him. Luckily, it wasn’t on the head, but it did hit your ankle hard.

You’re worried you’ve sprained it after you fall to the ground, more stones pelting you. The next thing you know, Zhongli picks you up in his arms and carries you out of the cave before it can collapse entirely on the both of you.

Concerned for your safety, Zhongli observes your injuries. You’re bruised and your ankle does look sprained. He asks if you can stand and when you try he frowns. It looks like you’re going to need to rest up for a few days.

Zhongli will help you the rest of the way back, occasionally stopping so you can give your legs a rest. He expresses his gratitude and is rather surprised that you would go out of your way to take the hits of many stones and rocks.

Despite being thankful, Zhongli hopes you won’t do this again because he doesn’t like to see you in pain. If you’re hurt, he feels hurt and that’s the last thing he wants.  

🔥 Diluc 🔥

A group of slimes were hanging around the winery again and so Diluc went off to deal with the problem. He didn’t expect there to be so many, though.

You had tagged along just in case something like this were to happen. And even though Diluc is strong enough to handle so many enemies, these slimes just kept coming.

It was difficult to deal with all sorts of different slimes: Electro, Anemo, and even Cryo. Despite the fact that he didn’t want you to endanger yourself—he insisted he could handle it—you still did what you could to help.

Once you were certain all the slimes were defeated, Diluc sighed, leaning against his weapon to relax after so much fighting. His back was turned and he didn’t notice the large slime creeping up on him.

You jumped in just in time to prevent the slime from hurting him. It had been a quick reaction, one that you hadn’t thought through entirely.

The Cryo slime is freezing to the touch and as soon as it hits you an icy cold envelops you. You try to look strong in front of Diluc, but it’s just too much and you fall to your knees, shivering while the slime looms over you.

Diluc witnessed the entire thing when he first noticed you jump into action and he’s very surprised to find that last slime. He defeats it at once before dropping down to check your injuries.

You aren’t exactly wounded, but you are very cold. He’s ashamed at himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings.

While Diluc is grateful that you protected him, he’s disappointed that you’d put yourself in harm’s way. You should’ve just let the slime hit him.

He sheds his coat and drapes it over you, using his own Pyro element to start a fire that’ll have you warm in no time.

“You didn’t have to do that. But...thank you. Next time don’t do anything reckless. You’ll hurt yourself,” he says while checking your body temperature.

“But I wanted to keep you safe, Diluc! You already defeated so many slimes. That last one could’ve done some serious damage.”

He’s touched that you’d worry about him, but he doesn’t want you to do something like that again. It’s upsetting that you got harmed as a result of him and he wants to make sure you’re truly okay.

You drag Diluc under his coat so that his body heat can warm you up faster. And even though he tries to get out of it, he doesn’t complain too much.

It’s hard to be upset at the person he loves so much, especially if they were the one who protected him.

💧 Childe 💧

You and Childe were picking through some ruins, searching for chests and other valuable materials. You were careful to avoid any enemies, as the last thing you wanted to do was fight a bunch of slimes and hilichurls.

Childe fought them in your place, eagerly defeating them while you remained on the sidelines.

Everything was going well until the two of you stumbled upon a Ruin Guard that was slumped over, docile and not yet awake. Childe looked over at you and then at the Ruin Guard and then back at you, grinning madly the entire time.

You could only face palm and shake your head, grabbing his arm and gesturing in another direction. You’d encountered enough monsters today; you definitely didn’t want to waste your energy on a rust bucket. But Childe, who had only been fighting small enemies up until this point, was itching for a bigger opponent.

So he rushed ahead despite your quiet protests. And you were stuck having to watch as he sparred with the Ruin Guard.

You would’ve left it up to him if you hadn’t noticed the second Ruin Guard awakening from its slumber, having been disturbed by the commotion.

One Ruin Guard was already an issue, but now you’ve got to deal with two. You can only sigh as you run in to defeat the second one, hoping it won’t take up too much of your time.

Missiles are everywhere; they’ve nearly destroyed the ground and have cracked the already eroded stone pathways. You’ve nearly fallen victim to them a few times now and if it weren’t for Childe’s quick thinking you would’ve been crushed by their mechanical feet.

The first Ruin Guard falls before the two of you in a heap of exhausted, overheated gears and Childe twirls his bow, a glint of madness of his gaze.

You would’ve called it a day if it weren’t for the other Guard aiming for him, missiles completely locked onto his form.

Without thinking, you jump into action, pushing Childe away before he can be hit. In the process, the missiles slam into the rock formation above you and it comes tumbling down in a dusty rumble.

Now it’s Childe’s turn to save you and he’s quick on his feet, pulling you away before you can be buried under heavy stone. The two of you tumble and you scrape your arms and legs in the fall, doing all that you can to shield your boyfriend before he seriously injures himself.

A particular sharp piece of rubble slices the length of your arm and while Childe recovers to finish off the Ruin Guard you clutch your injured arm to stop the blood flow.

Once the Ruin Guard is defeated, Childe goes over to you, bending down to get a look at your arm. “It’s definitely going to need some work,” he jokes, hoping to put a smile on your face. “Don’t worry. I’ll have it patched up in no time. You can count on it.”

And while he wraps it up, he thanks you for your help. Without it, he would’ve been the one with more injuries than you. And even though he doesn’t mind getting hurt in a battle he doesn’t want you to injure yourself as well. So next time you want to protect him, make sure you won’t hurt yourself in the process!

[bigskydreaming]

For @broimbi because their continued interest in By Lost Ways keeps me engaged, and prompted this slight detour into the notes of Roy on the trick behind crafting magical arrows. Not totally one hundred percent sure I’m ‘canonizing’ this as officially part of the story’s backstory, but it is all set before the start of it, and mostly just a humorous exploration of the magic. You don’t really need prior knowledge of DC to follow along, or even the story itself, as the important stuff all gets recovered in his own words anyway.

The notes of one Roy Harper on the magic-science of feathercrafting and fletching:

Herein lies everything I’ve uncovered, experimented and surmised on the subject of using magical feathercraftings in pursuit of archery. For posterity, see. So that future generations can bask in the brilliance of me.

Hey, that rhymed.

Now of course, people have been used feathercrafting to make arrows with special properties for centuries. But I always felt, from a very young age, that there was so much more to the artform than had been discovered so far, and so many more secrets within the Deck, specific to archery, just waiting to be unlocked. And thus began my own lifelong quest to seek out and uncover those mysteries, and leave my own mark upon the art of feathercrafting arrows.

It had nothing to do with me being bored, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar who should be ignored. Especially if their name is West.

To start off, a lot of feathercrafting is self-explanatory, when it comes to making arrows....sure, everyone knows that most feathers have more than a couple different properties, but arrows themselves tend to be a lot more finite in function, and thus there’s only so many ways - and so many reasons - for which people would modify them with feathercraftings. Thus any time you use feathers of all the same kind when crafting an arrow - say, much like you would if you were making a non-magical arrow - you’re pretty much only going to get one magical effect.....though that’s usually all you’re looking for.

So whether you use three or four feathers, it makes no difference if they’re all of the same type. Any arrow made with seagull feathers, for example, is made with distance in mind....to channel the magical properties of the Regent of Distance, and thus magically extend an arrow’s flight. Arrows made with sparrow feathers, its opposing Regent force, are looking to reduce distance, with such arrows often being utilized over the centuries by so-called snipers....the magic of their sparrow feathers ‘eating up’ the distance they cross at a much greater rate than they would non-magically, with gains made here to accuracy, impact, etc. But I’ll get back to that. 

But similarly, tanager feathers are pretty much all you need for an incendiary arrow, something you just want to ignite upon impact, while canary feathers have long been used to make the kind of arrows West calls screamers, which is reason number five hundred and ten why he’s never allowed near my workshop. And also shouldn’t be allowed to speak, ever. Or at least not in civilized company. No, I had it right the first time, ever. Gotta trust my instincts.

So, that’s all pretty much a given. And when you use three different feathercraftings of all different kinds in your arrow, you suddenly get a lot going on all at once, unlocking a lot of interesting combinations, but its still fairly straightforward. All three feathercraftings lend their magic simultaneously, working in concert either in flight or upon impact, or at least not at odds directly. Unless two of those feathercraftings are of opposing Regents, at which point their magic will just cancel each other out, but why would you even do that, that’s stupid and wasteful, what’s the point. Opposing regents act in opposition to each other. They’re opposites. Everyone knows that, duh.

Unless....hang on, just had a thought.

Okay so technically, because its not like opposing Regents cancel each other out completely, or completely negate each other and the forces they embody, and in fact according to legend and acts of ridiculousness as witnessed by me, watching my best friend the Robin Regent be ridiculous, like when you consider that in a lot of ways and times and places the Regents and their respective forces are meant to act as limiting agents upon each other, not negating ones......okay, so theoretically, there could be purpose to combining, say, sparrow and seagull craftings to the same arrow, if you were able to in some way quantify how much their magic acts upon each other, and thus calculate say.....how to combine sparrow and sea gull feathers in such a way as to get a precise distance as an end result, with the sea gull feathers magically increasing the length of the arrow’s flight, but the sparrow feathercrafting being precise enough in....diluting the sea gull feathercraftings, for lack of a better word, that it ensures the arrow doesn’t overshoot its mark but rather while enhanced in distance, still is limited in how enhanced it is and thus can still strike a far off target with precision. Obviously, there wouldn’t have been much point to this line of thought in ages past because the greater issue here is there’s not much point to an arrow that flies significantly further than you can aim anyway, but with advances in telescopics and magnifying lens, that’s no longer the given that it once was, which means.....

Hang on notes, and by notes I mean self, and also future audiences of fans legion in number.....I’m about to go revolutionize the entire art of feathercrafting arrows!

****

Okay, after a looooot of experimentation, and I do mean a lot, I have concluded that yes, my idea here has merit, and no, I’m probably not the first to think of it. But rather, the reason its not a known thing practiced the world over is because getting the mitigating effects of one Regent’s feather upon another in arrow-making, like, requires precise calculations that are dependent on a math and units of measurement that I don’t think have been invented yet? Like, to do what I’m trying to do, or make it happen reliably rather than sporadically, one first has to have some system of measuring the magical forces embodied and contained within each feathercrafting, and so manipulate and cultivate the feathercraftings via their size, shape and combination, in such a way as to result in the precise magical output without getting in the way of the fletchings enabling the arrow’s flight in the first place, rather than hindering it. Its that last part that’s really the sticking point....obviously, people combining feathercraftings and manipulating their magical output via the shaping of the feathers themselves...this is something that’s been done in all sorts of ways in all parts of society throughout civilization....but usually its considered to be more of an art than a science. Something without hard and fast rules, something most feathercrafters say is more a matter of feel and intuition rather than looking to engineer - and replicate - precise results with each and every crafting. But archery doesn’t allow for that kind of thing.....it’s physics, its momentum and force and angle and lift and drag and all kinds of things that require knowing exactly what you’re working with when you notch each arrow to your string, otherwise, might as well shoot yourself in the foot. Its just not something that’ll work, at least not in any worthwhile way, without having that science for reliably combining feathercrafted fletchings in known ways, to act as a known quantity on the magical output.

So, guess I’ll have to admit defeat.

Orrrrrrrr, I’ll just have to invent that myself!

Ding ding ding, the roar of the crowds have it, the decision has been made, option two is the clear winner!

*****

Endless months, feathers, arrows and “you look so dumb right now, haha I love it”s from West later.....the secret to this still eludes me.

Whatever. I’m not bitter about it. I’m not.

I’ve figured a lot else out in the meanwhile, anyway, and I’m getting the hang of tricks no other archer I know of has even imagined. That I mean, I know of, anyway. Maybe they exist. Who cares, I’m still at the cutting edge of my field here is the point.

So, the mixing and matching of feathercraftings from two different Regents who aren’t in opposition, and thus whose magic can only add to each others.....

Turns out, there’s a lot more to even just that, than I ever imagined.

Looking back through the notes that were definitely a good idea to keep even if they’d probably be a more useful idea if I learned to remember to add to them more often, I see at one point I was about to expand upon what happens when you have three feathercraftings of all different types combined in one arrow. Well, as I said then, that’s not really a new idea either, so most everyone already knows how that works. As long as none of the three are from opposing Regents, they each by default seem to exert the same magical influence on the arrow, whether in flight or upon impact depending on the nature of each feather and their magic. 

Say you take a dove feathercrafting, and an owl, and a seagull.....the seagull’s magic is naturally predisposed to arrow flight, being that of the regent of distance - unless there’s some way to tweak or delay the activation of its magic to ensure it doesn’t release until impact, and thus ensures it’s magic will actually be spent in some way upon its target, though not sure what you’d be looking to do to a target with distance magic, still, food for thought maybe, hmmm - 

Where was I? Oh right. So the seagull feathercrafting is by default inclined to exert itself on an object in motion - such as the arrow in flight - and enhance the distance it travels. The dove feathercrafting, by contrast, is inclined to exert itself upon impact, with most dove-crafted arrows being termed things like ‘shockers’ by morons such as West, who are way too responsible for way too many of our colloquialisms in society, something really should be done about that, but delivering electrical shocks upon impact, channeling electricity in some way....or as people in past centuries often termed it, channeling lightning. 

But I mean, you never know.....more than one place has a legend or story of arrows that ‘call the lightning’ and while a lot of people just tend to assume that was their ‘uneducated’ way of describing the electricity-generating properties of a dove-crafted arrow shocking someone it struck....given what we know these days about so-called electromagnetism, and the relationship between electricity - even in the form of lightning - and magnetism, specifically magnetic metals and alloys.....what if those stories weren’t just talking about your basic ‘shocker’ arrows at all? Imagine a battle that was say, taking place during a storm, and a dove-crafted arrow that upon impact didn’t just release an electric jolt of its own into its target....but rather acted as a kind of superconductor that was basically like a magical lightning rod, calling the next lightning bolt to zero in on it specifically? Now that’s what I would call ‘calling the lightning.’

Note to self: experiment with this immediately. Enlist West’s help, but do not tell him why. Need to know information only.

Y’know, Donna’s always saying that us humans of this world - as opposed to wherever the hell it is Themyscirans and Atlanteans come from - have forgotten more than we know. I really should remember to ask her what exactly she means by that one of these days, instead of just staring at her without blinking cuz she’s doing things like talking and gesturing and I mean....have you seen her? The way she just....talks and gestures....look you would get distracted too, notes, is all I’m saying, and don’t say I don’t know that cuz I do know that because you’re me.

Aaaaand I’m officially talking to myself. Great. Awesome. 

Getting back to my point, heroically, and with effort that should be applauded, take heed legions of future fans......so as stated, the sea gull crafting is predisposed to exert itself upon an arrow’s flight, while the dove crafting defaults to exerting itself upon impact. The owl crafting, as most already know, is similarly predisposed to exert itself upon flight. With most owl-crafted arrows being termed ‘silencers’ and used to strike a target without warning, as the sound of the arrow’s flight is nullified by the silencing magic of owl feathers. 

But does that have to be the case? What if - I can’t help but circle back to that idea of shaping a feathercrafting to almost time-release its magic - just saying, imagine if you could design an arrow with owl feathercraftings that don’t just silence the arrow in flight....but also create a silencing bubble upon impact, with their magic ensuring that the target makes no noise when your arrow hits home, even if you weren’t aiming for a kill-shot to the throat, say, but rather an immobilizing shot to a limb or appendage that wouldn’t in and of itself stop them from screaming or shouting?

Ugh, there’s got to be a way to do that, a trick to it somehow. There just has to be because....okay, yes, I know, its magic, I suppose it doesn’t have to do anything but just exist, but....I’m telling you, me, posterity, whatever.....there’s something to this, this is a question of how that just needs an answer, and the answer is me, that’s who, fuckers!

Look, obviously I meant to say this is a question of who’s going to be the one to figure out the secret, don’t be such a self-deprecating pedant, self. Nobody likes those.

Anyway, so the combination of sea gull, owl and dove fletchings is such that you’ll get an arrow that’s silent in flight, covers a magically extended amount of ground, and delivers an electrical shock upon impact.

Unless there’s a way to change whether crafted fletchings of certain types must always expended their magic in flight versus be delayed and only released upon impact.

Great, now I have to figure that one all out for myself too, since no one else seems to want to do the hard work. I better have the kind of genius that’s actually appreciated during my own time rather than post-humously, is all I’m saying.

Oh yeah, and also, so the ummm, thing about what happens when you combined just two different feather-craftings in specific, in an arrow with three fletchings. Ie that thing I never got around to detailing before and was thus what I was going to detail now this time but that I obviously did not do this and oh look, Garth is calling us all for supper and I have to go before Wally poisons mine, you understand. Next time. I’ll get to it for sure next time. Which will be uh....later this week, probably.

*****

So that was a whole fucking year ago, huh? Don’t hate me, future fans, I was busy saving the world with my friends, Dick lost his Robin regency and moped about it even though he was the Owl Regent then almost immediately and just didn’t fucking tell anyone for two months which what even is that about, I would like to know, except then it turned out well no, I wouldn’t like to know as actually that was mostly just him angsting about some deep dark family history of his with this secret society of Owl Regent worshippers or whatever in Gotham and like, can I just say, with emphasis, fuck Gotham and everything to ever come out of that place except for Dinah, who is amazing obviously, and thus too good for Ollie, also obviously, even if he’s not actually being the worst currently and we actually had a decent(ish) conversation the other day, and oh yeah. The Cult of Owl-Worshippers or whatever, so right, those are a thing, and they suck, and we had to team up with Dick’s replacement Robin Regent, who I of course was inclined to hate on principle, except he’s actually an adorable little shit that I gotta say will probably make a damn good Robin. Anyway, so that was a whole thing that took forever and a day, and then cheering Dick up and helping him adjust to his new station or whatever also took time, but was definitely worth it for reasons that are many and complicated and have nothing to do with me being like “in love with him or whatever” so just shut up, you have no idea what you’re talking about and you sound just like West.

Anyway. Moving on.

Right, so back to the whole thing about what if you have an arrow with three feathers and feathercraftings of two different types - hah! So turns out, its a good fucking thing I waited to tackle this topic, as I accidentally unearthed a whole shitload of new insights and approaches here over this past year, so. Y’know. Yeah. I definitely took my time getting back to that with reasons. That were deliberate, and well thought out, and also totally real things that exist.

So.

Imagine you have one arrow. Its got three fletchings. Two of them are feather-craftings of one type, with the third being of a different type. Now conventional wisdom previously would have you believe that the end result of this combination would prioritize one Regent’s magic over the other, but it being completely random which magic would be the one emphasized and either modified or amplified by the other....and with it making no difference whatsoever what feathers were used, which one was used as the stabilizer fletching, etc. The arrow that resulted from the combination of two different magics would be a combination of those two magics, certainly, but beyond that, its just down to the whims of Mother Sky.

Except, I have discovered, through thorough experimentation and keen insights and intuition and also intellect, hi, yes, I have all three, who is so sexy, yes that is me....

That this is not true.

Or at least, I don’t think it is.

I’m pretty sure, anyway.

Look, the takeaway is that far be it from me to pretend to know the mind of a goddess, I mean, I’m not trying to sound egotistical or anything, but I’m starting to be of the suspicion that Mother Sky is a lot less whimsical than the stories would have us believe. And that there is actually a pretty precise method to her madness, and it just lies in having a better understanding of the Deck than we actually do. But the answers are there! They just need. Insights. Delivered by the likes of yours truly.

So. Let’s get insightful.

The one constant with this two-to-one combination type of arrow, is that either the one feather will modify the magic of the other two, or the two feathers will amplify the magic of the one feather. But which results is not actually random at all, I don’t think, but rather, has to do with where the feathers and their corresponding Regents fall within the Deck.

As legends tell it, there is a definite order to the Deck, though different cultures and civilizations have had differing ideas over the millennia as to what that precise order is. But the idea is always the same: in the beginning, there was Mother Sky, who existed in a place that was not a place, as it was before places existed because she’d yet to invent them, basically. But then from nothing, she created her companions, the birds that embodied or contained within them or just inspired the various pieces of creation and fundamental forces, depending on which version of the story you go with. And when she was done, she created people, and then before she left to create elsewhere, she turned her companions into people as well, the first Regents, to watch over her creation in her stead, via the pieces of her own power she entrusted them with.

But the point being, she built the Deck - and creation - piece by piece, rather than all at once. And everything either built upon what came before it - acting as a modifier, you might say, if you were brilliant, and/or me - or else it amplified what came after it. Because creation got more and more complex the further she went with it, and so the ways the previous pieces existed and interacted with each other and later additions, got more and more intricate and complex.

See where I’m going with this?

Its okay. I’ll elaborate. I don’t mind.

So everyone agrees that the Sparrow is the first card in the Deck, that’s a given. No one disputes the order of the first full talon, the set of four complete Regents that make a whole. First there was nothing, and then Mother Sky called into being the first sparrow, and with it came space, so that the first thing that was not her had somewhere to exist. Like, she may not have needed existence in order to exist, but she was a goddess, they can do that I guess. Everything else? Existence required. So in order for her to have her first companion, that necessitated also creating at the same time the first piece of existence, so that something could exist outside of just her. And then from there, she created the seagull and more space, so it could exist too, and then she sent it forth to go as far and wide as it wanted to and thus created more space everywhere it went. And that’s why the sparrow and the seagull are less space and more space, the reduction and propagation side of the same thing, but you’re gonna want to pay attention in a second because I have an insight here that you won’t find most anywhere else, and it is stunning if I do say so myself.

But first, let’s continue. So after space, Mother Sky next created time. Calling first into being the hummingbird, the eventual Regent of joy and vitality, the encapsulation of time in an instant, existing with no need for anything beyond just that....and then to create more of it anyway, she created the crane, the eventual Regent of permanence and longevity. 

And then, most agree, she created the magpie and with it, things, and then the kingfisher and with it, more things. The regents or forces embodying quantity. And then came entropy, or “things change.” First with the robin, and then things change more, with the vulture.

Now, let’s get insightful. As I was saying, conventional wisdom, that conniving old coot, would have you believe that the opposing Regents act as negating influences on each other. That they cancel each other out. Why? Different theories. Most popular ones being that it was to keep each other in check, so that none would get too powerful and thus imbalance all of creation, or try to usurp it and rule it in her stead.

I have come to believe, however, that this is hogwash. Perhaps even complete balderdash. Why would she need to? We also all agree that the reason Regents come and go is because periodically and at her whim, she takes back her power from one and gives it to someone else. So....who needs proxies to act to keep other proxies in check....when she herself can simply just....take back that power at any time, if she’s for any reason displeased at how a Regent is wielding it?

So I suspect the truth is not so complex, or rather, that there’s no complexity here at all. Its exactly as stated in every version of our creation myth.....these opposing Regents, while they may be in opposition, are not actually meant to cancel each other out or negate each other....something none of them actually do. No, they’re just the dual forces of each aspect of creation. The opposite sides of a spectrum that simply represent that each exist along a spectrum.

Granted, most theologians don’t have Dick Grayson for a best friend, so let’s not be too hard on them. But having witnessed him up close and in action since pretty much his first day as the Robin Regent, I can assure everyone: he has always been just as much a force of entropy as any Vulture Regent. And that’s why similarly, the Magpie Regent exists as one of the two regents of quantity, even though its magic makes less of things, it takes things away. 

But the one thing it never does, is make no things. 

Think about it. Unless I’m missing some legend somewhere, nowhere in history has a Magpie Regent or its magic ever resulted in something being just...completely nonexistent. Same with the Sparrow. It reduces distance, space, consumes it magically, eats it up, whatever...but it doesn’t ever result in the complete non-existence of space.

We refer to there being a reduction and a propagation side to each Regent and their corresponding force....but reduction simply means to reduce. Nowhere does it say “all the way to zero.” Instead, I believe, the point of the various reduction regents and forces is that they push creation back along the spectrum more towards their side of things.....where they exist as the only unit of that particular force or aspect....but they still very much do exist. The Magpie might reset things back to one, emblematic of when it and what it represented was the only ‘thing’ that existed other than the goddess and her other Regents, the first unit of quantity rather than a time/space continuum full of possibility but nothing more finite or existant than that. But it’ll never - can never - push things past just that unit of one. It can’t negate something out of existence entirely. That’s a power only Mother Sky has, and that she’s never delegated to anyone else.

And that, I believe, is why whether feathercraftings act upon one another to modify or amplify each other, is not random at all, but just has to do with where they fall in the Deck, in relation to each other. When you view the Deck as being about opposing forces contained within spectrums, rather than negating forces existing outside of spectrums, it makes sense - just like the creation myths all talk of her building upon creation and adding to it, widening it, making more....of course magic isn’t going to be about undoing all of her hard work, but rather just more of the same. 

And thus, lower-Deck cards will always exert themselves upon higher-Deck cards, and not the other way around....because all of creation is geared towards making the most of its upper reaches as it builds and builds upon itself. 

Creation reaches upwards, as if to the sky, is what I’m saying. This just is sometimes more obvious than at other times.

So take a sparrow-crafting and two hummingbird-craftings, as an example.

Its not actually random, or about which you use two feathers of and which only one: the sparrowcrafting or craftings will always act upon the hummingbird, and never the other way around. Additionally, you’ll see what appears to be the same result either way, but this is because of the close connection between time and space. They’re part of the same talon, the same hand of four. They exist upon the same continuum. Either way, you result in an arrow that seems to cross a short amount of distance much more rapidly than it otherwise would.

And what actually results is the sparrow’s magic acts upon the hummingbird’s magic....so that how much space is consumed in relationship to the hummingbird’s rapid-rate of time....that’s what goes up.

So what the extra feather decides, really, is which magic gets two parts magic for the one part magic brought to the equation by the other feather. It just really makes no particular difference in this specific instance, due to them all still being on the same specific continuum. If you have two sparrow feathers for one hummingbird feather.....you’re essentially requisitioning two times a magical rate of distance to be consumed in correlation to the speed-up effect brought on by the hummingbird crafting. Ergo....an arrow that crosses a short amount of distance far more quickly than otherwise possible. Now reverse that, and use one sparrow crafting accompanying two hummingbirdcraftings....what you’ve done here is requisitioned two times a magical rate of time to be consumed in correlation with the space-consuming distance magic of the sparrow crafting....thus resulting in....an arrow that crosses a short amount of distance far more quickly than otherwise possible. Not just different perspectives of the same phenomenon....but the same phenomenon resulting from different manipulations of the same forces....and all those forces being closely linked enough to make the precise nature of what’s happening seem less distinct than it actually is.

Now let’s progress to combining two craftings from different hands, to make the differences more distinct.

Take here, for instance, a combination of swan and crane. Now you might be surprised, legions of future fans, as swan-craftings are rarely used as fletchings. Due to there being little use for arrows that make things float upon impact. But this is only true of people who don’t have housemates who frequently yell at you for experimenting with arrows that do things other than just make something float harmlessly. And there’s not much harm that can result in using pillows for target practice even if the pillows then just float aimlessly for various periods of time afterward.

Who knew annoying housemates could have such a beneficial impact upon science? Yes, even a West may have a purpose. Its true. What a strange and wonderful world we live in. 

Anyway.

So after much experimentation, and even more experimentation to replicate the results reliably....I can safely confirm that regardless of how you combine the craftings, the swan magic will always be prioritized, with the lower-Deck magic, that of the crane, acting as the modifier upon it. Meaning one way or another, what results is the effects of the swan’s levitation magic being extended by the crane’s longevity magic.

The only thing that changes, results from whether its two crane feathers used, or two swan feathers. Here’s where two parts magic for one part....other magic, I guess....comes into play:

If its two cranecraftings per one swancrafting, the cranecrafting will still modify the swan, and what will actually be amplified, the magic you get more of, is that the rate of the cranecrafting’s modification of the swancrafting. Basically, the result you’ll see is the target floating due to the swan magic, but for longer than would normally happen, as the crane crafting extends the duration of the swan magic’s effects.....and with the second crane crafting essentially doubling the time-extending effects.

In comparison, if you go with two parts swan for one part crane, the cranecrafting again modifies the swan, but for a shorter period of time, as what’s actually amplified here is the swan magic. The amount the arrow can levitate upon impact, the weight of the target struck, that’s what’s doubled, with the overall effect simply magically extended by one unit of magical time modification.

Now this opens up a ton of possibilities all on its own, but it did seem to sound the death knell for my time release magic arrow idea.....or so I thought....until insight once again struck like divine inspiration. Which seems to masquerade as sleep deprivation an awful lot. But as I said, who am I to understand the ways of a goddess? Ah well.

So, its no surprise this didn’t occur to me earlier, as the archer in me balks at the very thought....but what about combining hummingbird and cranecraftings with a third? Hummingbirdcraftings have been used for centuries as crossbow bolts, if you’re working with a small enough one, and its been proven possible that while not advisable from a purely physics-prioritizing standpoint to shorn the feathers of much larger birds to small enough sizes that they can be utilized as fletchings on the very same, very small crossbow bolts.....but the combination of magics that unleashes has proven worth it on some occasions. Still, I don’t think anyone has ever tried utilizing both a crane and a hummingbird-crafting on the same crossbow bolt...but that’s largely because nobody sees much point in calling upon the magic of two Regents thought to cancel each other out.

But if its not actually in their nature to cancel each other out entirely, but rather at most to be mitigating factors or influences.....and if my theory about feathers always modifying the magic of higher Deck cards, never lower, is correct, as it clearly is for I am brilliant and also sexy, don’t forget that last part, its critical.....

Then cranecraftings, as low in the Deck as they stem from, still can be modified by three specific craftings themselves: those of sparrows and sea gulls....and also hummingbirds.

Which means, it might be possible to create a crossbow bolt with a combination of one cranecrafting, one hummingbird, and one other.....where the hummingbird acts as a mitigating agent upon the cranecrafting, before the latter acts upon the third. Basically, if I can crack the secret to definitively quantifying or measuring the magic of each crafting, down to a decimal point, and thus deal in fractions of a whole crafting rather than just units of one.....then I could mix and match hummingbird-craftings with cranecraftings that are measured to have more magic than the former. Which if my theory is right, would mean that the hummingbird and cranecraftings would essentially ‘cancel each other out’ but only until the hummingbird’s magic was fully consumed.....but the cranecrafting still having some magic left in it that only then at that point, once no longer held in check, would act upon a third feather. And thus resulting in the time release phenomenon I’m aiming for.

Look, its possible, and I will figure out how to make it happen, or my name isn’t Roy “Look how awesome my butt is” Harper.

Will look into this and report back.

****

Still have not cracked that secret. Still not allowed to use West for target practice. Still not saying these two things are in any way linked, just putting that out there.

I keep telling the rest of them its for science, but do they care? Noooo. Ugh. Barbarians. If this was ten thousand years ago and it were up to them, we would never master the tool that is fire, all because they’d never let me set the tool that is Wally on fire to demonstrate how useful fire can be.

Why do they hate progress? I just wanna know.

****

Still working on that time release magic thing. Still being thwarted. Revolutionizing archery by way of magic is hard. Why did nobody warn me that was a thing?

But you know what else is a thing? Physics! Its a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Obviously I already knew about physics, hello, but I didn’t know so much about physics until Dick wandered home with a new best friend named Victor Stone. He does that an awful lot. He swears its not a Regent thing, but I think its definitely a Regent thing. None of the rest of us seem to manifest magical friend-summoning fields that call weirdly attractive and also nice and also knowledgeable friends to flock to them like they’re some kind of magnetic north. Which is a physics thing, that my new friend Victor Stone taught me. 

I’m just saying, I go out to get dinner for the bunch of us, all I come home with is dinner. Dick goes out to do the same, and he comes home with first an Atlantean, then a Themysciran, and then a Wally, and still no dinner. And even West, for all his.....West-ness, is descended from a hummingbird Regent and thus possessed of innate magic coloring his personal association with time, so he’s not totally useless even if he does a great impersonation of useless ninety percent of the time. And thus doesn’t exactly disprove what I’m getting at here.

One of these days, he’s gonna wander in like “hey everyone, come meet my new best friend, she seems completely normal and boring but that just means she’s probably Mother Sky herself in disguise for some absurd reason. Nothing about this has anything to do with me or how sexy my stupid face is.”

And shut up, that still doesn’t mean I’m in love with him, I just have eyes and I use them, that’s it.

Anyway, this time Dick brought home my new best friend who is Vic and thus I shall magnanimously let it go and not make a big deal out of it, for reasons that as you can see, have nothing to do with anyone’s face, no matter how stupidly sexy it might be.

So! Physics!

Most of it seems to be just unnecessarily complicated ways of saying things everybody already knows, so, basically what I always claimed it was despite baselessly having no real way of knowing this. Hah! Validation to me.

But some of it happens to be ways of saying things that might already be known, but are here put forth in ways they aren’t usually spoken of or pictured as, and thus spark new thoughts and ideas. And thus there does appear to be some merit to some of it, which is not validating in and of itself, but is inspiring, so I’m calling it a lateral move and counting it as still being a point for me.

(Look I may not know how or why or when, but one day, these points will come in handy and mean something, I just know it.)

Anyway, so there I was with my new friend Vic discussing abstracts theories of physics like the learned intellectuals that we are, just us, nobody else, shut up Garth, go eat a fish, nobody asked you.....

When Vic says something about force equaling velocity times mass. And I sat up and said wait, what was that thing you were saying a minute ago about velocity equaling.....and Vic says velocity equals distance over time? And I snap my fingers and go that’s it, that’s the very one. Vic, you beautiful balding genius, you’ve done it again!

Wait, what have I done again, Vic asks, and also how, we’ve literally only known each other twelve hours, and I explain to him all about my uncanny intuition and valid predictions of the future meaning that this is obviously just the first of many fruitful collaborations and thus totally counts, all while I busily make sketches and do math.

Because its occurred to me, see, that for centuries archers have used distance magics to shorten or extend the amount of space an arrow covers in flight, for a variety of purposes that still ultimately just revolve around accuracy or distance simply as an obstacle to be overcome.....but what if distance is treated not as the focal point for which an arrow is feathercrafted, but rather simply a means to an end that otherwise has aims other than just crossing distance?

Basically, as I explained while setting up a target of considerable durability and a small crossbow bolt fletched just with sparrow-craftings....what if distance magic is utilized not for the distance, but solely to magnify the force that results from how much - or how little - a distance it crosses over time?

And then from thirty paces away, I smashed a tiny crossbow bolt through the target with as much force as if I had fired that same bolt from a mere two paces away. The boom was quite satisfying. Also the validation. Again, that’s always just nice.

And then I modified another crossbow bolt with a mix of sparrow and hummingbird to increase that rate of velocity even further, and I did it again, to an even bigger boom. 

Which means, notes and future fans alike, I may not have quite cracked the code of fractional but reliable increments of magical implementation just yet, but I now have more material to work with....because as I already suspected due to my awareness of their link via continuum, but hadn’t quite yet put a specific named connection to myself, distance over time equaling not just velocity but the key to time-lapsed magical effects means its not just hummingbird and crane feathers that could make all the difference there, but also sea gull and sparrow.

Force multipliers, Vic named our breakthrough. Or said was already the name for them. Hard to say, my ears were still ringing, but I err on the side of whichever gives us credit.

Either way, its a great name.

******

Vic and I have been experimenting with triple-compounding the effects of three different feathercrafted fletchings per arrow. Or tri-parting as I’ve been calling it. Try-harding, Dick calls that. I kicked him out of the workshop after that. I will not be disrespected within my own personal space like that, not even by his stupid sexy face. Besides, I can still see it well enough from through the window, so its fine.

Anyway, the triple threat combinations. At the base of it all lies a lot of trial and error with different manipulations of time and space, ie our force multipliers. So first, we started working with just those, to see what else we might be missing or overlooking in regards to these base-layer feathers that have had all kinds of other uses just lurking right under peoples’ noses for millennia.

Its not like they aren’t used for plenty already, of course. Take hummingbird-fletched crossbow bolts for starters. Plenty of archers throughout civilization have utilized them in conjunction with bolts tipped in different sedatives or poisons. Shoot a bolt at someone from close enough away that its magic isn’t consumed entirely in flight, and the temporal acceleration effects of the hummingbird magic then exert themselves upon the next nearest thing....the poison or sedative coating the bolt, which from there spread through the bloodstream of the person it impacts....now at a magically expedited rate of time. Similarly, plenty of assassins have used bolts or arrows coated in poison and fletched with crane.....to extend the effects of poison and whatnot upon the person shot with one.

Same thing with combinations of two types of craftings, both of which are known to default to exerting themselves on the same thing: arrow’s flight or arrow’s impact. Obviously we’re not reinventing the wheel with something like combining crane and canary, with both magics working in conjunction on the same things at the same time.....thus extending both the flight and the magical effect in-flight of a canary crafting’s ear-splitting shriek.

So its not as though we were expecting to uncover a lot more along the way to what we were really looking to explore, just us doing our due diligence until that point. And in no way were we delaying our experimentation out of nervousness that this wasn’t the long-sought next step in my lifelong pursuit of Science-Magic: The Roy Harper Way, and worrying that this theory like so many others would simply fizzle into failure. No. Don’t be dumb. That absolutely wasn’t a thing here.

So was the real hold-up all along just us stalling and killing time until Donna left on mysterious Themysciran missions because the night before she’d looked at us theorizing excitedly and decided to douse that flame by sighing and saying, ‘you’re going to blow up the house’? To which we naturally replied ‘don’t be daft, we’re not going to blow up the house.’ And to which she replied ‘oh yeah, you’re totally going to blow up the house’? Were we basically just tarrying and occupying ourselves with lesser experiments of no real value until she was gone like the ill omen she insists on being and that we simply refuse to see proven right? At least not when she’s around to witness it?

Right, so...yes. It was definitely that last one. That was literally the entire reason.

Look, if you’d ever had Donna sighing and despairingly shaking her head while listing totally understandable reasons why you shouldn’t do the thing that you were still going to do regardless because well, duh, you had to, obviously.......you’d understand.

The point being, the second she was out the door we quit wasting time with that load of crap, and brought out the real toys. Or....test subject....thingies ...prototypes! That’s it, that’s the word.

So first off, we started with the combination hummingbird plus sparrow plus shrike feather craftings. Shrikes, of course, being the magic of bindings and battles, and with the Shrike Regent being Boone, some sort of love-hate friend-nemesis of Dick’s past that he refused to ever elaborate on, no matter how much ranting he did on the subject of the man when he came up even tangentially. This of course, was our first real mistake. This was about the time when I kicked Dick out of the workshop, the timing here being a total coincidence, even if I did happen to mutter in passing that if he love-hates the guy so much he should just marry him already. Or kill him. Whichever. Preferably the killing thing though.

Unfortunately, adding insult to injury, or potentially injury to West if he interrupted us one more time, the shrike combos were getting us nowhere. Like the true friend he is, and sensing my dwindling mood and also its corresponding effects on West’s future, Vic suggested we switch gears and try combining just time-craftings with dove and something else.

Which is what brought us to the hummingbird-dove-kingfisher combo, and our first real success.

You see, as I’ve mentioned before, tanager-fletched arrows aren’t anything new....they’ve been used as incendiaries for thousands of years....but the why of it, with Vic’s additional physics insight, brought up some interesting theories. Same with the way dove-fletched arrows had been used for their electrifying properties for ages.

The reason dove-fletched arrows carry the properties they do, as he explained it, is that by channeling the electromagnetic force embodied by the Dove Regent - specifically, the propagation or amplifying side of that spectrum - its like the arrowhead becomes a magnet drawing electrical impulses to it out of the air it passes through. The whole atmosphere contains what he calls ionized particles, which is not apparently, the same thing as baby lightning. Even if its really just the potential for lightning, and thus totally fits in my opinion. But what our eyes perceive as simply an arrow slicing through empty air, in terms both scientific and magical, in another sense the arrow is swimming through a sea of ionized potential, collecting some of that to itself along the way, and delivering the totality of that through its arrowhead upon point of impact.

What tanager-fletched arrows do is apparently not hugely different in theory, even if it does tap into different physical properties. Essentially, tanager feathers, embodying the amplifying side of the thermodynamics spectrum, act upon the combustibility of oxygen, which is all around us in the air we breathe. Oh, also, the air is just fire waiting for a big enough match, apparently. That was good to know. So again, two different forces, two different kinds of particles which are not the same thing as molecules except when they are, and actually, what happens when dove arrows do what they do is only a little bit like what happens when tanager arrows do what they do, but still mostly not at all the same, even if they do happen to sound totally the same but whatever Victor....anyway, the point is physics is great and useful but also at the same time totally confusing and annoying, but what happens when you combine all this information with my contribution that is the keen scientific observation that the lower in the Deck will always act upon the higher in the Deck? 

Something actually useful, not that I’m trying to rub it in or anything.

But the way I understood it, if the combustibility of a tanager arrow comes from how much and how combustible the oxygen it draws to it is, upon striking a target and delivering the additional magical spark of a tanager-crafting....and if the electrical impact that results from a dove arrow comes from the nature of a dove arrow to draw enough particles to it in abundance, with the combination of tanager and dove meaning its the latter that will exert itself on the former....the end result is you’re going to get a super-combustible arrow, instead of merely a combustible one.

And the drawback of an incendiary arrow, as any archer knows, is that it can only do so much. Firing an arrow that will burst into flame upon impact is all well and good....but if the place of impact is largely wet and incombustible, that first flicker is still going to die out before ever becoming more. But if that first burst is more than just a mere flicker....and if its immediately fanned and fed and magically fueled by say, the existence of a third crafted fletching, that of a kingfisher, whose magic by nature creates more.....

Well, apparently muddy beaches go up quite nicely when lit by an arrow of this variety. Particularly if you then follow it up by a swift volley of kingfisher arrows aimed purely at magnifying the resulting fire itself. 

I might have gotten a bit carried away with the fire-lit cackling with which I celebrated our success, but on the other hand, I made West wet his pants, so. Worth it.

*******

Bit of a rough-weather atmosphere in our house this past week, as apparently the rocks I set on fire with our little tanager-fletching experiments happened to be Garth’s favorite rocks, and he’s a bit perturbed with me as a result. Nobody seems to care, no matter how often I point it out, that its just weird to have favorite rocks, and who even does that, because Garth that’s who and I guess I was supposed to somehow just....know this?

Anyway, it was ‘advised’ emphasis on my skeptical assessment of that last word there, that I avoid fire in my experiments for the time being. Which is fine by me.

On to....magical ice arrows!

Now ice isn’t a force, its not a thing that you can make more of like fire, as I explained to Dick and Wally earlier. Its the reduction side of thermodynamics, the less than....essentially, you don’t so much make ice as you do...remove heat. Thus a tern-fletched arrow isn’t really a frost arrow, its more accurately, a heat sink.

They didn’t need to know that it was basically Vic that explained it all that way to me about an hour or so earlier. Besides, the heat sink bit was all my addition, and that was the really important part, clearly.

What was mostly of interest to me here, was its prospects in magically replicating what happens when you get metal cold enough, fast enough. Which brought me to the hummingbird-tern feather crossbow bolt combo, two parts tern feathers and only one hummingbird feather as a modifier. What I was after was double the heat-sink properties of tern magic, sped up by a hummingbird-crafting.

It mostly worked.

The tern feathers drew in heat well enough, and the hummingbird-crafting sped up the process enough that more cracks would have spread through the metal the bolt was embedded in....if the bolt had.....actually embedded itself into the metal. I’m pretty sure, anyway.

It was the damn force side of the equation that was still getting in my way. Even when I did get a bolt to sink home in something that was already brittle enough to lodge into even if it couldn’t penetrate all the way through on its own, the force still was lacking without magical amplification. But there was no fletching I could add to magically modify the force of the bolt itself that wouldn’t also exert itself elsewhere, even upon just the hummingbird feather. I even tried adding a sea-gull feather and then firing the bolt from merely a foot away, trying to maximize the force without using up the distance modifier during actual flight time, and that was the biggest find of the day and it was a total accident as I realized two seconds after firing it that I was supposed to be trying to amplify the force by reducing the distance, and thus I meant to use a sparrow fletching, not a sea gull! 

But then what actually happened is my crossbow bolt embedded itself and ended up magically making enough more space for me to follow up with two more bolts, and then the combination of multiple bolts all drawing heat from around them at a magically enhanced rate led to the whole thing growing brittle with cracks all the way through it, which.....was not at all what I was going for but was still useful to know, so, I’m calling it a win. It counts.

Look, it just does, okay? You’re my notes, I’m not supposed to feel judged by you. You’re doing this all wrong.

******

Dick brought home a new friend today, named Kory. She seemed like a perfectly, nice ordinary girl at first glance. Then she took off an illusion-casting crow mask and revealed she’s actually a seven foot tall, golden skinned, ‘battle priestess of X’Hal,’ whatever that means, but the rest of all that sounds about normal.

Oh and also, what that means apparently is she’s from a whole other world and she voyaged here in a ship that apparently travels between stars which is a thing that can happen, and also she has green-glowing eyes but that’s just because she can make magic green fire that can burn through anything, no big deal. Also, she can fly. Also, also, did I mention she’s a princess? Because duh, of course she’s a princess, why wouldn’t she be a princess, haha you sound so dumb right now.

Dick’s eyes glazed over and he stopped paying attention at “she can fly.” Not that I noticed. Or cared.

Anyway, apparently ships that can travel between stars being a thing that can happen is not actually the new information that I thought it was, as then Garth tried to insist that he’d totally mentioned that before which umm, lie. I definitely mentioned it before, he said, like a liar, and I think I would have remembered if you had, I said because hello, and then Donna said she and Garth had always been clear about Atlanteans and Themyscirans originally coming from worlds other than this one and okay fine but nobody ever said that involved ships that fly between stars I said. But of course its not like I had anyone to back me up on that because Dick was too busy trying to marry Kory with his eyes which will probably even work because obviously his eyes are very marriage material everyone knows that and West was busy being West so its not like he counts, and in conclusion, all my friends are either aliens and/or assholes. Except for Vic, who did say he’d run away with me and get married, but I’m pretty sure he was just humoring me. He wasn’t even drunk.

Whatever. The big takeaway here is that clearly I am like, this close to unraveling the mysteries of all magic everywhere and that’s why Mother Sky has decided to be mean to me, because she is threatened and also, like. Just mean.

*****

Turns out Kory’s actually a lovely person. So I guess I just can’t have anything, huh?

****

Also none of this still has anything to do with being in love with Dick, which I’m not, because obviously, and Wally’s still wrong about everything, because also obviously. And if he doesn’t shut up, I’m going to make a magical Wally-smiting arrow just for him. I don’t totally know what its going to do yet, but just see if I don’t!

*****

So over dinner last night, Kory was telling us all a bit about Tamaranean magic and how it works and what being a battle-priestess of X’Hal means.

So on her world, its told, their creator goddess X’Hal created everything out of herself, and so is herself in everything. With there being some kind of corresponding connection between the emotional or spiritual side of things, and the physical or material. And Tamaraneans have a periodic table that’s actually all about emotions rather than physical elements, and their magic is called spirit-alchemy and its about manipulating the elements or physical world by being in control of their corresponding emotions?

I don’t think I’m explaining it right. Okay, so basically, the way Kory described it is everything on their world was created by X’Hal, like, feeling a specific thing. From her passion, X’Hal created fire. From her hope, light. From her joy, weightlessness. And all the way up and down the material and elemental plane. So when she refers to the thousand names of X’Hal, its because of the whole “X’Hal” is in everything idea, and thus when speaking of each of those things, one’s also speaking of X’Hal.

But where the magic part of things comes in, is if like Kory, you train from a very young age to be what’s called a priest-adept. Or priestess. You get it. But the idea is all things are part of X’Hal and she’s in all things, and her people, the Tamaraneans, are all like X’Hal....enough so that they can manipulate parts of the world around them, wholly by manipulating the parts of themselves that are...spiritually resonant with those things, I guess.

So with Kory, the reason she can fly, and glow, and create soulfire which is what she calls the green glowing fire she makes that can blast through anything.....all of this derives from her spending most of her lifetime training to have a total mastery of three specific mental and emotional states. The ones that, in reflection of X’Hal, correspond with fire, light and weightlessness. By mastering her passions, broad sense of the word, she manifests soulfire which she creates much like X’Hal created...fire fire. Via her own mastery of and understanding of hope - not totally sure what that all entails, but that’s the connection - she similarly is able to manifest light, and her flight and weightlessness come from her control and knowledge of her own joy, for just...herself, life, everything. The battle-priestess bit is just her own kind of vocational calling rather than a specific group, but her magic only works because her own mastery of self is so extensive that she’s able to find even the joy in battle, the passion in fighting, the hope for victory, that let her still tap into the specific emotions that lend her this magic, even while in the midst of fighting for her life.

Obviously what she’s talking about is easier said than done, and the Tamaranean idea of self-control goes a fair bit deeper than get up and take a lap when someone, not naming names, says something particularly dumb.....but from the sounds of it she’s kind of a big deal back on her homeworld not even for the princess thing so much as for having mastery of three different states, no matter how connected. Like a lot of people spend their whole lives attempting to master just one, and she just happened to be adept level at three already.

I asked if anyone’s ever mastered all thousand, which apparently was a really funny joke, so looks like I’m hilarious in Tamaranean, but seems that’s not really a thing. “We’re like X’Hal,” was how Kory put it. “But only X’Hal can be X’Hal.”

Which does make sense, when you put it like that.

**************

Okay, so I was just picking Kory’s brain about spirit-alchemy a little more, specifically about her super-strength and where that comes from, since I thought joy, passion and hope were her three focuses. Except she didn’t know what I was talking about first, as she said that wasn’t one of her powers. Except I know for a fact that I saw her punch through a solid stone wall once, and said as much, and then she was just oh, that’s just part of my mastery of joy.

Which needed a little more clarification than that, because....what.

Basically though, it sounds like their emotional table is a lot like the spectrums between two opposing Regents throughout our Deck. Like a lot of what they work on mastery of is as much the absence of its opposite side as it is something in and of itself. Apathy is the opposite of passion, the negation of soulfire, but its not something someone seeks to master, so much as its an extension of their mastery of passion. After all, if one summons a form of passion within themselves in order to create soulfire, then by banishing the soulfire, even if just because they no longer have use for it, isn’t that and the emotional equilibrium that results in that....isn’t that effectively apathy? Same thing with hope....just because the goal of mastering that wasn’t to create an absence of light, that doesn’t mean that being able to put out the light she herself creates isn’t still connected to that emotional field and something requiring her awareness of it.

Which brings us to weightlessness. Her flight is a manifestation of joy, even when using it in battle, but utilizing it most effectively, as in changing elevations rapidly and with precision, often requires the inverse just as much as creating weightlessness for herself in the first place. So her control of self has to be so absolute that she can be a thousand feet in the air and then just let herself plummet, carrying with her all the force that entails, and only at a hundred feet in the air summoning her inner joy and using spirit-alchemy to instantly transmute that into the weightlessness that once again keeps her aloft but now at that new, lower elevation.

But the point being.....up until that last split second when she comes out of a dive and re-engages her magical weightlessness.....she and any strike she’s delivering, contain the full force its opposite.

Not at all unlike how you could describe swan and ostrich craftings.

So that’s when Vic and I just looked at each other and yelled: Force multipliers!

Forget time and distance modifiers, its the mass! The key is the mass! The propagation side of gravity even if applied not to go up or down because the gravitational force is only being applied magically, to modify other forces, not the physical mass of the arrow itself! This is it! This is the key!

Our first attempt put a crossbow bolt through an inch of solid steel. Now just waiting on Vic to get back with all the hawk and dove and tern and tanager feathers we have, we’re so close I can taste it!

Ugh, if Dick doesn’t marry this beautiful alien warrior princess, I’ll marry her myself! Or both. I could just marry both of them I guess. I mean, its for science.

Okay, Vic’s here, will report on findings later!

******

So, we accidentally blew up the house. I don’t want to talk about it.

Still think I’m right though. Just needs fine-tuning.

Might wait a bit before I bring that up. No reason. Just seems the sort of thing that can wait until we find a new house.

[kpopchangedme]

Plot Twist [M] | Park Jinyoung

Being locked up until tomorrow morning with your biggest rival in the Archery team might not be all bad after all...

Protagonists: Park Jinyoung & You

Word Count: 5.5k

Genre: NSFW - Enemies to Lovers - Romance - Smut *explicit* - [Drabble 2k]

Prompt: “Dramas did not prepare me for this”

Requested by: @prettywordsyouleft, I hope you like this, even though, I’m sooooo sorry... I’ve made it smutty because I got carried away!!

GOT7 | M.list

There are a lot of things that you love about archery and only one that you vehemently hate. Perhaps that’s why you’ve been excelling at it ever since you first picked up a bow. As soon as you showed promising skills, your parents ensured you’d turned out to be one of the greatest. You’ve trained with the most successful archers, former Olympians... Won all the most important awards and competitions... Entered the most prestigious sports-study program on a full scholarship...

And look where all that got you… Stuck with the only thing you absolutely hate about it.

Fighting your suffocating feeling of helplessness, you kick the closest object on the floor. Whatever it is, it crosses the room in a blink, hitting a shelf full of supplies that then wobbles dangerously.

“I’d appreciate not being buried alive by dirty Football gear,” his voice cuts through the darkness and you turn to glare at him, “thank you very much.”

“Shut up Park,” your harsh reply is instantaneous, “or else...” 

Yes, literally stuck with him; Park Jinyoung, an archer almost as good as you, your nemesis, your relentless competition.

Locked in a dark supply closet, connecting to the Archery team’s interior training ground. You’re dumb enough to have let the door close behind you when you knew it automatically locked from the inside. Jinyoung is even dumber for having followed minutes after; probably curious as to where you disappeared. You didn’t manage to catch the door in time before it shut, condemning you both to each other’s company. Although you two usually train late at night in the gymnasium, you always ignore and avoid the other. It’s a safety technique you’ve developed, keeps you from ending up in jail for his murder, especially since you’re armed most of the time. Unfortunately, since you train alone, there’s no way of knowing when people will notice you’re missing, even less find you in here.

“Or you’ll make me?” Jinyoung snorts in distaste, “You always had a bias for the dramatic. What more can you do? Being here with your is already Hell.”

“Ha. Ha.” You furiously wipe the sweat from your forehead. He’s right, with this bad of a company and ventilation, this supply closet certainly feels like the burning flames of Hell.

“Why are you always such an ass? It’s not like it’s my fault you followed me in here.” 

There’s a long silence before Park groans, and thanks to the security light of the gymnasium, shining through the crack under the door, you see him rub his face with both hands. “I needed to borrow an armguard from here, mine’s busted!” Saying this, Jinyoung shrugs it off, throwing the garment across the room. You hear it fly by more than you see, rolling your eyes when it hits a wall.

“Whatever you say, stalker.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You think everyone is obsessed with you!” He barks, clearly unpleased by the nickname. It’s something you’ve been calling him for years. You aren’t even sure when that even started, over ten years ago probably. All you know is that suddenly, an insufferable little boy started showing up every day to practice with you, and you had to share your trainers with him. He even got in the same exclusive program as you did, on the second scholarship. Much to your despair, he followed you everywhere, like a stalker. “All the guys from the team are wrapped around your little finger. They’d do anything to get in your pants.” Even in the darkness, you see Jinyoung’s eyes narrow, spiteful. “I’m not desperate enough to settle for you.”

“Of course not, Park.” You smile, pushing his buttons despite the fact that you shouldn’t. “You’re too frigid and boring for me. I bet you’ve never even gotten into any woman’s panties.” You’re not sure why the guys crushing on you are a problem to Jinyoung, but he sure likes to rant about this whenever he has a chance. As if you’re making them fall for you on purpose. It’s not your fault you’re the only woman who made the team.

He exhales audibly in frustration; “You’re so full of yourself, y/n. I’ve never met someone as disturbed and with an ego as big as yours.” 

“The feeling is mutual. Ain’t that a blessing, Park? That we found each other...”

“And contrary to popular belief, I’m not a boring virgin...” He says this out of nowhere and pauses to cough and peel his shirt from his body unsuccessfully. As soon as he lets it go, the cotton sticks to his abs all over again. The heat in here in insufferable, you’ll suffocate at this rate, and you don’t have any water. “I just don’t obsess over you or sex like the others. The WAC are all I care about.”

The World Archery Championships, the gateway to the next Olympic Summer Games. One of the reasons you’re looking forward to you two being (obviously) eligible to participate, is the idea of competing against Park. He might be training and living here, but he’ll get to represent his country; South Korea. You’ll destroy his team’s female archers; you’re way better than any competitors of your generation. Even Jinyoung can’t argue with that. It helps you train to have a goal, someone to tear down. You discovered that when you first met him.

“Good to know what you fantasize about...” You announce, giving up on any sense of pride and decency. It’s way too hot in here to remain proper. “At least you won’t ever gawk at me.” Struggling with the wet fabric, you manage to take your t-shirt off. There’s no way you’re staying here all night, marinating in your own sweat. 

There’s a scoff of disbelief, loud and clear. “Are you trying to seduce me?” You freeze on your knees, finally freed from the disgusting piece of clothing. You did not expect him to assume anything like that. “I mean… People do talk a lot about you crushing on me... But I just told you I’m not interested, y/n.”

“You wish, Park.” You spit through your teeth, “I’m just melting over here.”

“Why does this feel like the plot of one of your dumb dramas?”

“Trust me. Dramas did not prepare me for this.”

“Lock two people in a blazing room, wait for them to strip and they end up…” He completes his sentence with less than appropriate hand gestures.

“Ew, I’d sooner fuck Wang than you.”

“I hear you already did.” Jinyoung almost sounds vexed, but you’re too embarrassed to look his way and confirm. Sure, you have enough confidence to sit there in your bra, but it doesn’t mean you want to hold his gaze while you’re half-naked. “I’m probably cleaner than he is.”

“Probably.” You agree with a shrug. Why does he even care? “But the major difference is; I don’t hate Wang.”

A loud silence falls between you, almost deafening in the tiny space of the sealed off storage. It stretches, and it’s after five minutes or an hour of this that Jinyoung loses his mind. You don’t know, none of you has a phone; they’re prohibited during practice.

“That’s it!” Jinyoung barks, jumping to his feet. “I’m not spending all night in here, listening to shit like this!”

You watch, unbothered as he paces back and forth, eyes glued to the vent that is pushing warm air in. What is he planning to do? Crawl in there like a spy? Suddenly, Jinyoung takes off his own training shirt, and you try not to stare. Oh shit, he’s built, you hadn’t noticed before. Nice arms and shoulders, he’s an archer after all. He even has an amazing torso. Amazing? You blink, tearing your eyes away from his honey skin. What is wrong with you, are you having a heat stroke? That is Park Jinyoung! Your worst enemy; the boy who boasted about breaking your Target Archery long standing record after he only had been training for a year!

“10 bucks say you can’t fit in there.” Despite the situation, you want to further annoy him.

You visually compare his sculpted shoulders to the metal frame of the air vent. Huh huh. No way. Jinyoung doesn’t even bother acknowledging your bet. He’s busy rummaging through the stuff on the nearest shelf, emptying the content of plastic milk crates to pile them. He still has a long way to go through, that ceiling is high. 

“Come here, y/n.” He eventually requests, groaning as he pushes the shelf to make space.

You raise a brow in disbelief. “Excuse me?”

Jinyoung stands, raising his arms to the sky. “Come on, you’re right. I obviously don’t fit it there!”

“You want me to crawl into the hot air vent?” Your whole face twists in horror, the man must have truly lost his mind. “Who am I, Kim Possible?”

“Let’s spend some quality time together then… We have all the time in the world to talk things through… See where that gets us, maybe we can even become friends.” He leans against the shelf, tone dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, and I hope someone needs something from this storage tomorrow morning!”

Before he’s done with his sentence, you’re up next to him. “Ok, what’s the plan?” 

He shakes his head, probably impressed with his own convincing skills. “This obviously runs straight over to the gym, I’ll help you get inside. If you manage to find a way out, you can unlock me. If not… We’ll just be back to square one.”

You’re skeptical when you watch him get on the wobbly pile of crates and open up the vent, but you have to admit the risk seems worth it. You’d rather be stuck in there than down here with him anyway. Careful, you accept the hand he’s offering to help you up on the fortune pyramid. Once you’ve joined him, you’re closer than you’ve ever been before. Your mouths are inches apart. It’s the first time you smell the sweat on his skin or see him like this. You feel a shiver run down your spine, something instinctive that you push aside. Before you can wrap your head around this effect he seems to have on you, Jinyoung’s hands are on your hips. He hoists you up, using his bent knee as a step. Your legs stick to his damp chest, and he looks up expectantly. You’re glad it’s too dark for him to read your expression because he’d never let you live if he saw. You just discovered you find him attractive, and the whole situation is… Perhaps that’s because of what he said earlier about dramas, but…

“This is beginning to feel more like a torrid porno than a drama.”

You regret the joke as soon as you say it. His eyes go dark. “Good to know what you fantasize about... But I’m just trying to get us out of here.” You inhale sharply at his reply, brought back to reality. “Help me a bit, y/n,” Jinyoung asks, voice even more tensed, “with your arms...” 

Slightly out of it, you take your hands off his shoulders like he’s ardent. They treacherously found that support by reflex, to keep your balance when he grabbed you. Shit. Obeying, you reach for the metal frame to pull as he lifts. Faster than you expected, and with much ease, you find your way to the ceiling. Boy must have been working out. 

“Can you m-make it?” He grunts distractingly under you. Why are you even finding that sound sexy now? You really need to get out of this damn closet, or else...

“Yes, I think I… Let me just…” Arms first, you twist your way through the entrance of the vent. It’s scorching, hotter than you expected, and dark as night. Once you’ve managed to get your chest inside, you feel his hands slide on your thighs, almost on your-

“Park!” You shout into the echoing metal and he stops.

“Something wrong? You’re halfway in.”

Your mouth opens in awe, understanding he doesn’t care what he’s touching at all. Jinyoung might as well be frigid for real; you’re the only one affected apparently. He resumes pushing, fingers digging the back of your thighs, probably marking them. With his help, you worm your way inside, managing to win a few inches by twisting and wiggling. Trying not to think of his hands on you like that… It is way harder than you expected, even if you’re inside a disgusting enclosed space. What a sight this must be for him, your ass dangling like that.

“Shit.” You hear his muffled curse and freezes. Park Jinyoung never swears.

“W-What?” Sweat is dripping from your face, falling in the burning metal. If you stay here longer, you’ll roast like a chicken on a grill.

“Hum, I don’t think your as… Your h-hips aren’t gonna make it.”

“What? No! Push!” Squirming with a renewed fervour, you feel him directly press on your ass cheeks this time. Unfortunately, he’s right. Although you try your best, the metal frame only digs your hips dolorously. You give up after a minute; you’re completely wet by then. The air in there is barely breathable, and both the physical effort and the idea of his close proximity have drained you. “Get me out.”

There’s nothing, no answer.

“Get me out, please!” 

Your eyes round in horror, panic rising. Surely he wouldn’t abandon you like that… Wiggling, you try to back away, but you lack the support and strength to escape this Hell.

“... Park?” Your voice is nothing but a miserable whimper this time. You lay there, inert, halfway through the burning air vent. That’s the single stupidest thing you’ve ever done; trust him. “Jinyoung!” Your tone is shakier than you’d wish, but his muted answer finally comes.

“I was considering…” He clears his throat, clearly embarrassed by something. “What if you took your shorts off? I think the-”

“Please, get me out! It burns!” You beg, unable to tell if he’s joking. By this point, your naked skin is painfully sticking to the metal. It was the worst idea. You start to cry, tears stinging your eyes. “Jinyoung, please-”

“Ok ok! I got you!” His hands are back on your thighs, pulling you to him.

You back out as fast as you can, skin marking even if you’re careful not to get stuck and burned. It takes double the time as it took to get in. When you finally exit, your panic causes you both to fall off the pile of crates. Your breathing is erratic as you sit, back on the floor of the closet. You’ll be covered in bruises tomorrow, but at least you’ve made it out. You don’t even realize Jinyoung is the one who absorbed most of the drop. Running your hands over the wet hair that has escaped your ponytail, you try to calm down unsuccessfully. You thought you were going to suffocate in there.

“Hey, are you alright?” Jinyoung manages to sit. He winces, hands catching your forearm to better see one of the red marks in the dim lighting. “I didn’t consider how hot it’d be.”

“I- I- I t-thought,” you pant, half-hyperventilating, half-weeping. “You l-left me!”

Jinyoung’s face falls, almond eyes rounding. “I’d never, y/n…” He cups your cheeks, wiping your tears and sweat with his thumbs. “I didn’t think you’d get hurt.” He keeps stroking you, and you let him do it, forgetting for a brief moment that you hate him. Your breathing begins to slow down, matching his. “I’m so sorry it was a bad idea, but I’d never do this on purpose. Ever. Why would you even think that?”

“You h-hate me.” You whine and he scoffs, breath ghosting over your face.

“Whom would I fight with if you weren’t there?” Jinyoung chuckles still holding you like he’s also forgotten he’s not supposed to. You blink, unable to comprehend his words. You’ve known him for years; you’ve been playing this game for a long time. You know the rules. Trying to tear away, but he follows. Really, what’s with you and him tonight? You whine ever so slightly and the corner of his pout jiggles. “If this was a drama… That’s when I’d kiss you.” After this, he coolly sits back, leaning on his open palms and making his forearms flex. You stay there frozen still, in a daze. What was that? 

Annoyed, to be this affected, you turn to hit his arm roughly. “What’s with you and all these drama ref-” Jinyoung’s mouth muffles the rest of your scolding.

He’s kissing you. 

Park Jinyoung is kissing you, and you should fight back… Unfortunately, the only thing you do at the moment is laying on the floor, tugging at his neck for him to remain over you. Wow, that’s not what he expected. Jinyoung follows, apparently not minding your sweaty state and poor presentation. You’re not doing any better, fingers digging the muscles of his shoulders. You had no idea he was this sexy all along; it feels like you should’ve been made aware of this. If you had, perhaps you wouldn’t have been as surprised and overwhelmed tonight. You wouldn’t be giving in to this crazy urge of having him all over. Jinyoung’s mouth opens yours and your tongues meet messily. None of you cares or wants to retake control of the situation, you’re just going at it. Making the best of a shitty night. His left hand is between your head and the floor; the other one is caressing down your belly gently.

“I thought you weren’t interested...” Managing to get the words out, you feel his breath on your cheek when he chuckles. 

“Just this once, just now.” He replies, nose nudging yours. “I thought you hated me.” 

“I still do.” Your nails trace his spine, leaving a scratch behind. He rolls your lower lip between his teeth, straight up challenging. His mouth drops to your jaw, exploring down on your neck. You shut your eyes, feeling his teeth graze your collarbone. “Jesus.” Curving against his chest, you hush, and he hums on your skin, pleased by the reaction. Jinyoung’s hand drops from your stomach to your hip, then to your thigh and ass. It stays there, holding on tightly. That’s your cue to reach for a t-shirt that was abandoned on the floor earlier, using it as a fortune pillow. When he offers you a quizzical look, you smirk. “Who knows how long we’ll be here… Might as well make us comfortable. Oh, and tell me... What do we do to kill time, now that your escape plan has failed?”

His erection is already pressed on your thigh through his shorts, and there are goosebumps all over your body. You hate to admit, but you’re so turned on you want to take this further, and you hope he’s on the same page.

Nothing could have prepared you to his burning look right then. “I have a few ideas...” He says, clicking his tongue. Before you can question anything, his mouth is trailing down your body with an obvious end goal. He kisses your belly button and pauses there, thumbs hooked into the waistband of your stretchy gym shorts. “If that’s fine by you,” Jinyoung adds in a business-like manner. Count on him to be so formal even when he’s unmistakably proposing to eat you out.

Your hands are already in your hair to hold on to something, and you nod, gaze crazy. He smirks, tugging your clothes down. As soon as you’re exposed, his mouth resumes. You should probably be more embarrassed by this weird intimacy. You feel sweaty and disgusting, but Jinyoung doesn’t seem to mind so you quickly forget all about it. He grips your thighs to allow himself access. You arch, waiting for his touch, and he dodges your sex at the last second.

“Shit.” You swear when he keeps going down with his butterfly kisses, a chuckle shaking his shoulders. Jinyoung was never one to ruin an opportunity by shooting too soon, and apparently, he’s going to be the same when it comes to this. His lips are damp and soft, brushing all over the inner sensitive part of your thighs. Fuck, you’re already so ready. “J-Jinyoung…” You purr, wiggling under him for mercy. 

“Shit.” He seems to agree by echo, words muted by your skin. Leisurely, he comes closer to your sex again, like he’s got all the time in the world. He’s one Hell of a tease. Although you're not sure when you’ll get rescued, you’re pretty certain you’ll be dead by morning if he keeps this up. “You’re so pretty.” It’s so unexpected that you don’t know what to reply, so you don’t. Jinyoung presses the most infuriating kiss on your mons, making you tremble under him. Bringing his right hand under your ass, he spreads your labia, observing intently. 

“Jesus fucking Christ Park…” You whine, done with his antics. “Are you doing this just to make me hate you more?”

“But that’s my favourite part, y/n… Making you angry.” He smiles, smearing your arousal with his thumb. It’s clear he’s a little shit, even in bed. “I usually like to take it slow… But not you, no... You’re always doing things too fast. I bet you could already take my cock... Do you think you could?”

Ok, again, not what you expected from someone as buttoned-down as him. Your mouth remains ajar as you moan in reply, hips rising in hopes of pressing closer to his thumb. If you thought he was hot earlier, it was nothing; right now he’s the sexiest man ever. He has all the power, and you gladly let him have it for once. You want him too much to fight. Jinyoung eyes go dark once more, and he licks his lips. He lowers himself, but instead of pleasuring you, he takes his time to lick his own finger clean. 

“No arguing? Since where are you this horny for me?” Are you supposed to play along, is dirty talk his thing? How unexpected. It’s a fun new game. “I would have fucked you sooner if I knew.”

His words make your core clench on nothing. “Since you took off your shirt...” You’re a fast learner. “I’ve been dripping wet.”

“Locked in here with me...” Jinyoung sighs, gaze dropping to your glistening sex. “You said it felt like a torrid porno.” A sweat droplet falls between your breasts. “Those words coming out of your mouth… I’ve been hard since then.”

“Jinyoung.” You sing in awe, suppressing a shiver. You had no idea.

At his name, he decides he’s done enough teasing for now. He obliges after an eternity, licking up your slit. You gasp and he ends by pressing a kiss on your clit before doing it again. Shit. He repeats the gesture, tasting your juices one last time before concentrating on your bud. His tongue flattens, swirling and nudging your clit. It’s not long until he finds the perfect motion that has you jolting against his face. “F-Fuck!” You cry, not bothering to remain quiet when there’s no one to hear. He’s amazing. Shit, ‘not a boring virgin’ he said.

Running his fingers on your sex, Jinyoung smears your wetness until they’re soaked. Then slowly, he inserts one of them inside you to help his task. He doesn’t falter, obviously almost as heavily turned on as you by all this. Adding another finger, he keeps going, sucking more and more harshly until you’re practically dancing under him. The sounds filling the storage are filthy, but can’t find it in you to mind. You’re seeing stars, enjoying every single second as he eats you out. Jinyoung lasts longer than any guy ever, waiting diligently to build you up. He’s determined to show you he’s the best at everything, not just archery. This moment stretches out until you’re spent and clenching uncontrollably. He accelerates; not changing anything. He’s aware you can’t handle it for much longer and that it’s repetition that’s getting you off. Soon, your eyes roll into your head. You cry out his name as you come, thighs clenching around him. Your hips rise against his face one last time, and he sees you through your orgasm. Holding you until you’re done and clean before finally pulling away from your sex. 

Afterwards, you stay on the ground, panting, heartbeat deafening in your ears. You can’t believe you just came that hard on Park Jinyoung’s face. Jesus Christ. Shouldn’t you feel embarrassed? There’s no real reason to though, not when he’s the one who ate you this diligently in the first place. He clearly wanted it, asked. Unaware of your awkward train of thoughts, Jinyoung lies beside you, exhausted but still very smug of accomplishment.

“That was…” You begin shyly, but trail off. “I’ve never… With someone...” He rolls to kiss your shoulder, and h hard-on brushes you.

“Perfect.” Jinyoung simply replies, getting it, he’s even more pleased with himself. You turn to face him on the ground, breathing slowing down. Pecking his chin, you wrap your arm around his waist to pull him closer. You had forgotten where you were; in the gym’s dirty storage.

“Only many hours left ‘til morning...”

“Mmm…” He doesn’t pull away when your hand slip in his training shorts. “Due to an unfortunate incident, my schedule’s cleared tonight.”

“What are you saying, Park?” Tracing the outline of the strain in his briefs, you raise an eyebrow.

“I’m saying… I’m not too busy to make you come a few more times.” Jesus. He blinks, pulling you closer to add in your ear; “I’ve actually dreamt of having you like this for a long time.”

“Really?” You exhale, out of it. That’s impossible, you’d know.

“Sure. Every time the guys are around, you turn the charm on, but when we’re all alone...” The rest of his sentence is up in the air, but you get what he means. Jinyoung plops himself up on an elbow to read your reaction. “You never once wondered about what I think of your slutty training outfits? Then tonight you go and take your top off like I’m not in here. You’re always so mean to me, forgetting I’m a man too. ”

You cross the last barrier of fabric between him and your hand, smirking. Again, you had no idea he thought of you that way. Jinyoung immediately twitches in your palm, cock swelling even more at the skin-to-skin contact. He’s larger than you expected. “How am I doing now?” You coo, snuggling in his neck as you stroke him. 

“Better.” He admits, almost inaudible. Your hand tightens around his length and Jinyoung grunts. “Mean. I think I’ll have to fuck you hard a few times, teach you some respect.” With that, he rises above you and you laugh, helping to get rid of his shorts and underwear. When he’s freed Jinyoung lies between your legs, cock directly on your swollen cunt. 

You gulp, toes curling tightly from expectations. “How do those dreams usually go?”

Jinyoung’s jaw clenches in concentration and he rocks his hips, rubbing himself on your wetness. He breathes out haltingly, “Sometimes, you’re just bent over a chair at a championship, and I fuck you while everyone’s in the room.” 

“O-Oh!” Your eyes automatically shut when his tip brushes your clit.

“But more often, it’s like this; all sweaty after practice, no one else at the training ground…” His voice is strained, and you totally relate. Eager to feel him inside you already, you align him to your core. You can’t bear to hear shit like this anymore.

He doesn’t seem to mind the guidance. Almost instantly, he begins to push in. His head enters you slowly, and you spread your legs wider. You need him deeper, want him to fill you. Your tightened walls stretch around his cock until he’s inside you, throbbing. Jinyoung lets out a weird sound, almost breaking. He’s a lot less talkative now. Using your hands on his hips, you force him back and then forward, the friction nearly making you lose your mind.

“Shit.” Jinyoung breathes out, unstable. 

“Shit,” you confirm, word morphing into a groan when he moves again. He’s tougher this time, fingers digging your right thigh firmly.

He slides into you with ease, your core more than ready for his cock. Jinyoung finds a fast rhythm hitting you hard every time. You can’t believe how good it feels; letting him have his way with you like that. He thrusts powerfully for a moment before pulling out, much to your displeasure. 

“On all fours.” At his order, you hurry to flip while he observes, pumping his dick with your juices.

He’s back between your legs at once, spreading them with his own. Not wasting any second, he positions himself at your entrance. You fall on your forearms when he pushes back in, eyes rounding in ecstasy. He’s closer than before, cock fitting your core so perfectly you cry out. Shit. Jinyoung repeats his thrust, and you swear loudly, making him chuckle.

Again. Again.

He grabs your ass, sinking himself deeper, and with way more urgency. His balls hit you with every grind forward. Unforgiving, he keeps going until you’re on the very edge again, gasping. You arch even more, and when his hips meet your ass this time, you almost break. He hits something up your core that’s so intense it hurts of the greatest pain.

Again. Again.

You’re a mess, knees and ass burning, but you don’t want him to stop. You beg him to keep going and he does. Making sure to fuck you like no one has ever. Covered in perspiration, Jinyoung’s not holding back much better than you. He’s unsure if he’ll be able to keep pace much longer.

“C-Come!” Jinyoung requests with authority, and you whimper under him. “Come for me, baby!” 

As though his command is magical, you break apart; tightening and convulsing around him. He pulls out before being overwhelmed, letting you ride off your second orgasm on your own. It’s just in time because he comes right away too. Spilling on your ass with a shudder, unable to contain himself anymore. You don’t even seem to notice, head still in the clouds. He wipes off his mess with his briefs; not bothering to think about what he’ll wear later. Falling on the ground before him, you’re breathless and obviously completely satisfied.

This escapade will not help with his bravado when you’re back to reality. Jinyoung lies next to you, one of his arms under his head and the other one on your back. It’s as though he can’t stop touching you just yet. You are still too high to be self-aware and remember what you two are outside this storage. The silence that fills the air is nothing like earlier, relaxed and comfortable. It coexists with your breathing slowing down, yours and his almost synchronized.

It takes a long time for you to break it, unable to keep your train of thoughts to yourself. “What a plot twist to the drama.” Staring at the dark ceiling, you miss the smug smile on Jinyoung’s lips. 

“What is?” He asks, absentmindedly rubbing circles on the curve of your back to break the droplets of sweat accumulating there. 

“Us,” you reply after a heartbeat, “this.”

He snorts, “This isn’t a plot twist at all. Everyone saw it coming but you.”

Raising on an elbow to observe him, you frown in confusion; “Really?”

“Sure.” Jinyoung is smiling dumbly, an expression you have never seen him before. “What did you think all that sexual tension was going to amount for?”

You think for a moment. “Murder.”

He straight up laughs, loud and clear. “Jeez y/n. How can you be so dense...”

“Shuddup,” groaning, you nudge him and he catches your hand, “I hate you.” You both stare at your linked hands, not needing words to express your true feelings at the moment. “How many hours do you think we have before morning?” 

When you ask this, he turns to stare at you in disbelief. “Probably enough for us to die of dehydration if we keep this up...”

Smirking, you lower yourself for a kiss. “I dunno,” you murmur against his lips, “it’d sure be a sweet death...” Laughing quietly, Jinyoung pulls you over him.

You have no idea how long you’ll remain locked in this storage… But you’re certain you’ll use the time you have left wisely from now on.

GOT7 | M.list

[miraakhan]

10 reasons why Thugs of Hindostan failed

This is not a film review. This is a critique of all the unwarranted criticism Thugs has garnered, which has been so extreme that part of me wonders if it’s all somewhat premeditated. But conspiracy theories aside, nothing evokes such vitriolic more than challenging the Indian people’s implicit prejudices. Which ones? Well, where do I even start. Here are just the top 10 prejudices reasons why this perfectly acceptable movie is getting unacceptable levels of hate...

1.       Because Indians are racists

How many Pirates of the Caribbean movies did they make again? And how many of them flopped at the Indian box office? I assure you, nobody was complaining about ‘illogical’ stuff in those movies. Why, because those movies were made by white and not brown people? Mind you the same junta will go watch Guy Ritchie’s Robin Hood this weekend and come out all praise for its fantastical, logic-defying action sequences. But since he’s a gora, well.. as Khudabaksh Jahazi says – “Ek Hindustani ka sabse bada dushman ek Hindustani hi hota hai.” 

2.       Because Indians are sexists

There are two female protagonists in the movie. And needless to say that is just two too many for the patriarchal junta of India. How dare they have a female character who is not a damsel in distress, but instead is a terrific archer and kicks total ass?!? To top that, how dare they have the other one be a prostitute with clear agency over her body, a rebellious mind of her own, and wield actual power over her male patrons? Nope, that’s just too much for desi pricks to handle, isn’t it? Also, given Aamir’s very vocal support of the #MeToo movement in India, I won’t be surprised if the social media attack on the movie was an orchestrated effort to hurt him for it.

3.       Because Indians are ageists

This is a country that clearly still idolizes youth and still hasn’t seen life expectancy go up like in the developed world. So how ridiculous to have a septuagenarian play one of the leading heroes, isn’t it?!? How utterly unbelievable to have said man look his exact age too, maybe even older. Mind you this is the country that happily sits through heavy-duty special effects just to have Rajni in a movie look half his age, because who the hell would ever come to theaters to watch Rajni the way he truly looks like now? 

4.       Because Indians are casteists

I hadn’t thought of this myself until an article in the Indian Express pointed it out. Firangi Malhar – Aamir’s character is clearly what one would call a ‘low-born’ hailing from an oppressed social and economic background. But that simply won’t do, will it? Did the movie makers really expect Indians to root for a… a Dalit? How dare they force us to confront our deep-rooted casteist prejudices like that, when all we want to do is enjoy a movie on a long weekend?

5.       Because Indians are religious bigots

And let’s not forget the other sacrilegious decision the movie makers now live to regret… to have three out of the four main protagonists be Muslim?! Oh my God. Literally. Keep in mind who this country voted into power five years ago and probably will again next year – a Hindu fundamentalist wannabe-dictator with a track record of supporting communalist elements in his own party. Here’s what’s funnier but also sad: the villains are more secular than the audiences of this movie. The British are actually celebrating Dussehra, and even if it’s nothing more than cultural appropriation, it’s still more religiously tolerant than Indians these days. 

6.       Because Indians are self-righteous hypocrites

The self-righteousness dripping from some of the reviews I read online is both laughable and infuriating. What about the word “Thugs” did these apparently literate guys not understand? Protagonists can be regular people too you know, and regular people are not perfect. The heroes in this story aren’t trying to be heroes, nor do they claim to want anything more than their very deeply personal objectives – revenge, resolving internalized guilt etc. In fact, the only person who ends up risking everything without any personal agenda, is Suraiyya Jaan. But does the desi audience appreciate the multidimensional complexities of these very human characters? Noooo. In a period movie set during the colonial era, desi heroes better be a sati savitri, or sata savitra, or they might as well be villains.

 7.       Because Indians are stereotypers

So if the Indian audience is to be believed, stereotyping morons that they are, Aamir Khan should only do movies with a social message in them and nothing else. He’s an actor for god’s sake, why can’t he just do a movie for the sheer entertainment value of it? He has repeatedly said so in his interviews, to the very same media people who now completely choose to ignore his pleas to just let him be an artist. The fact that he is socially responsible is a huge bonus that we should all be bloody grateful for, not use it to put him in a box that restricts his creative instincts. (And if some of you are now arguing that I’m doing the same thing, stereotyping all Indians as the same, well I’m sorry. I know I’m doing it, but at least now you know how it feels.)

8.       Because Indians are ungrateful

How quickly everyone seems to have forgotten the immense contributions Aamir and Mr. Bachchan have made to Bollywood. And this isn’t unique to the film industry. Indians are just as ungrateful to their sports idols, refusing to acknowledge that sportspeople, like actors, are only human. Everyone is bound to have bad days. So what if Yuvi doesn’t perform today, why let it erase the memory of the six sixes he hit in Durban ten years ago? How is it okay to insult and deride this man who is trying his best? It’s especially hurtful when it happens to Aamir because he’s been incredibly selfless in his attempts to improve quality of life in India. Sadly, Aamir, this society does not appreciate, let alone be grateful for, your activism, or your artistry.

9.       Because Indians are group-thinking morons

I don’t know if this is particularly true for desis or just a human trait in general. But it’s particularly hilarious to see it play out on social media. The lack of individual thought is sorely evident in all the reviews and trolls I read online. Also, newsflash, if all you do is retweet, reblog, and forward, you might as well be a mindless bot spreading fake news but adding no value to the discourse whatsoever. If you have a contrarian opinion (like maybe you actually liked the movie) but are too afraid to share it, why have a social media page at all? And for God’s sake, if you never saw the movie, shut the fuck up.

10.   Because Indians are trolls

Years of repression is likely responsible for this surge in social media trolling in India, but come on, you can only understand and excuse this behavior for so long. These trolls seem to have taken special interest in bringing down our biggest heroes and mind you, Aamir truly is a hero in real life – the kind we sorely need. And yet, for the very same reasons, he seems to have a target on his back, especially on the internet where cowards attack him while hiding behind anonymity. No matter what their agenda (jealousy, SRK stans, an episode of SMJ hit too close to home), they seem intent on holding Aamir personally responsible for shortcomings of the movie. I’ll admit Thugs isn’t perfect but none of its faults are the actors’ fault. Either way, I don’t think they’re doing it mindlessly. Like I said before, I strongly suspect an orchestrated conspiracy to bring the movie down. Why? Well, take your pick. Aamir has definitely pissed off a lot of people who want to keep the status quo. 

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 1 Chapter 4-Gift (Part 2)

In this chapter: The qualifiers start, Minato and Shuu have their fateful meeting, will Kazemai advance to the finals? (This is the fourth chapter of a six chapter book, which has a sequel, hint hint)

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. Warawara means “swarming, shuffling” but also a way to say “wwww” (lol in Japanese internet slang, as you probably know) and I didn’t know which one to put so I put both

2. Uchiwa fans are round Japanese handheld fans, as seen here

3. Kasumi-mato are targets with concentric circle designs

4. An izume competition is a competition where when there is a tie between finalists, both keep shooting until someone misses the target and get eliminated

Previous | Next

It was the middle of May.

Beneath the almost-transparent blue sky, the preliminaries for the Prefectural High School Kyudo Tournament were being held.

The hakama-clad high school students in front of the venue were carrying long, rod-shaped objects covered in cloth, causing the passersby to wonder aloud if they were naginatas or the like. Since the standard length of a bow was two-hundred-and-twenty-one centimeters, naturally they were moving carefully to avoid hitting things like the top of the entrance and noticeboards.

The competition event was a kinteki (close-range) competition. The first day's individual competition was shooting four arrows in two sets while in zasha, and the ten archers with the most total hits were selected. For the second day's team competition, teams were composed of one coach and five to seven archers, and one boys' team and one girls' team were allowed to participate from each school. The competition method was a tachi of five people, four shots while in zasha, and an eight-minute time limit. The boys' team competition had thirty-eight schools participating, and the top ten teams with the highest total of hits in two rounds will advance to the prefectural tournament.

For Kazemai High School, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, Seo, Kaito and Nanao were doing the individual competitions, and Kaito, Ryouhei, Seiya, Nanao and Minato had entered the team competition. Their white kyudogi with their school's name embroidered on one sleeve emphasized that they were new members of a new club. There was also a suggestion that they should prepare headbands, but they postponed that idea for this time.

After they finished finding good spots to put down their baggage, cloths with numbers on them were attached to the right hips of those who were taking part in the individual competition.

Tomi-sensei cleared his throat theatrically.

"The fact that all eight members of the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club can gather here without anyone missing, makes me truly happy. Now, let's start the mission."

"Yes, thank you very much!"

"Masa-san and I will have to leave to take care of some business, but in the time leading up to the opening ceremony, everyone will move forward with preparations."

After seeing them off, those who were tense and those who were relaxed all made their final adjustments before the competition finally began.

Ryouhei looked around.

"Uwaah, all these people are doing kyudo? There's so many!"

"There's actually more high schoolers doing kyudo than kendo."

"Heh, I'm getting excited."

When speaking the tall Ryouhei, Minato instinctively raised his face up to talk. Maybe because of that, he felt like even his mood was heading upwards. In the practice competition they had before the tournament, he was able to get the high score of getting fifteen hits out of twenty shots, so if one did simple calculations, getting thirty hits out of forty shots in this competition wasn't a long shot.

Suddenly, there was a break in the noise. When he just happened to look in that direction, he saw a group clad in matching jerseys. People's gazes were fixed on the words carved on the back of their jerseys.

It was the Kirisaki High School Kyudo Club.

It wasn't only because they were a powerhouse school that Kirisaki High School attracted attention. Kazemai High School stood out today because they had a team composed of only first-years, but even the starting lineup of Kirisaki High School had more than half of its members as first-years. Looking at the program, it seemed like they had substituted members on that very day. Before the word "Kirisaki," Minato felt himself getting goosebumps.

On the other hand, Ryouhei and Nanao looked at each other with expressions of glee.

"See them? Is that the favorite to win, Kirisaki High? I guess the ones in kyudogi are on the team. They kinda even look strong."

"The number of people in their cheering squad is impressive too. Ooh, that girl is cute. Should I go talk to her?"

"Huh? Are my eyes getting bad? It looks like I'm seeing two people who look exactly alike coming this way!"

"No, I'm seeing that too?"

As they talked, the two people who looked exactly alike did not stop walking, and Nanao and Ryouhei panicked about whether or not they heard their conversation.

The twin brothers, Sugawara Senichi and Manji, stopped at almost the same time. Their bangs were arranged symmetrically to each other’s, and it was the one with his bangs parted to the left who introduced the two of them.

"Hellooo, are you the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club? We are the Sugawaras from the Kirisaki High School Kyudo Club. We're also first-years like you, so please treat us well. So, you there, the girls in our club wouldn't talk to a gaudy, airheaded guy like you. Oh, and that huge, dumb-looking guy over there too. Ah, you don't just look it, you really are dumb, right?"

Oh crap, they did hear us. They have pretty sharp ears, Nanao thought. Then, Kaito stepped forward.

"You guys have some nerve to come here and line up like some loser doppelgangers! Why don't you just piss off and make your faces even more like a horror movie!"

"Wow, what's with this rude boy?"

"Isn't the one who's rude here you guys?"

"Kaito, stop it. You two should go back to your own place as well."

As Seiya was calming Kaito down, the twins' target moved somewhere else. Scanning over the Kazemai High School club members as though evaluating them, their gazes stopped before Minato.

"…Hey, weren't you on the same team as Shuu in middle school. This guy over here, too. When I saw the program, I was wondering where I saw your names before, but now I finally remembered. Aah, Narumiya-kun and Takehaya-kun, right? I guess you guys must be pretty good to get teamed up with Shuu?"

When the older brother Senichi was alternately looking at Minato and Seiya, the younger brother Manji did the same. When they both did the same thing like this, it looked like they were drunk to someone else watching.

"It's really you, the guy who was the oomae for that three-person tachi. I remembered because the girls were screaming about how cool you were. If I remember correctly, didn't you get hayake at the prefectural tournament finals and self-destructed? Have you recovered from your hayake since then, Narumiya-kun? Well, our kai is also short, so should we worry about it?"

"Man, a short kai and hayake are two different things."

"Ah, that's right."

The twins laughed strangely, but the people around them kept their mouths shut. Not because they couldn't refute them, but because they were overwhelmed by the person who appeared from behind.

Gorgeous, un-Japanese, looks and disciplined movements. Someone who could not permit others to mimic him with his overwhelming presence——.

Fujiwara Shuu smiled elegantly.

"Sen, Man, you two are too talkative today. It's better to stop on that matter. ——It's been a while, Seiya. And, Minato."

"…Shuu."

As long as one continued to do kyudo, there was no escape from seeing the figure of Fujiwara Shuu. But even as he was resigned to that fact, his feet froze from seeing the person himself right before his eyes.

Shuu stepped forward, still wearing a smile, and stopped in front of Seiya, who stood in front of Minato.

"Are you still acting as Minato's knight like always, Seiya? I was surprised when I was told that you chose another high school as well, not just Minato."

"Aren't you the one who never changed, Shuu? I heard that you did a twenty shot kaichuu the other day. Even in high school, the name of the 'Young Lord' is still going strong."

"I have no interest in such a common name. Hey, Minato."

Shuu went past Seiya and stood next to Minato.

In that moment, Minato stopped breathing. Nobody could get close to the two, who were face-to-face with their right shoulders next to each other's.

"Minato, do you remember? How Saionji-sensei, who was a former Imperial Guard, had bad hearing in his left ear, so we always brought our faces close to his right ear like this to speak to him... We were still in elementary school, so when we wanted Sensei to listen to us, we would fight for his right side."

"I remember."

"And, Minato," Shuu put his hand on Minato's left flank. "Does this still hurt?"

"…No."

"I see, that's good."

"…I know that you turned your back on me, Shuu. We lost the championship of the prefecturals because I got hayake, even though you got a kaichuu… I, who ran away without being able to overcome my hayake, cannot face you."

"I have never turned my back on you even once. I didn't say anything because I believed that there were no words of sympathy or reprimands that would suit you. ——Four years ago, when you suddenly disappeared before me, I didn't know it was because you had suffered that injury. When we met again in middle school, I realized just how much I've been eagerly waiting for you. I still believe you will definitely return before me this time. Show me your kyudo again."

"Shuu…"

"Although he never said it, Saionji-sensei never taught anyone personally no matter how much he was asked. When he believed that it was the last duty entrusted to an old archer, he took it on. He seemed convinced that that duty was the two boys before him. That meeting was a gift from the god of the bow——. I should go soon, my senpais are looking for us."

When he looked, he saw a boy with a calm and carefree air about him and another boy, both beckoning them over with clear file folders that appeared to be idol merch.

Shuu took a step away from Minato, called the twins and left. The others, not to mention Minato, stood stock still as though wondering if they were having a dream.

But, Kaito was different. Even after the three from Kirisaki High School left, his anger did not settle down.

"Seiya and Narumiya came from Kirisaki Middle School? Seiya, when we first met, I asked you what middle school did you come from. You said something like 'I don't think you'd know the name even if I told you.' Aren't they a prestigious kyudo school… I thought you guys just lost in the first round when you said you guys lost at the finals of the middle school prefectural tournament. Why did you keep quiet? Ryouhei, didn't you know about this too?"

"Huh? I didn't even remember the name of the middle school Minato and Seiya went to. I just knew it was a school where kyudo was popular."

Seiya went between the two of them.

"Don't blame Ryouhei. I just didn't want to be interrogated if it was known that we were from Kirisaki Middle School. If you're that curious about it, you should have looked us up, right?"

"Haa, because of this, you guys… Are you guys happy to get looked up by me? Keeping secrets means you don't trust us. Why did students from other schools know, but we didn't? Don't screw around with us. Even though I was thinking that I could acknowledge you guys a little bit…" Kaito said as if spitting it out, then turned on his heel.

"Kacchan! I'll bring Kacchan back, so just go on ahead, guys!"

Nanao chased after Kaito.

Kaito sat at the edge of a flowerbed in a courtyard away from the kyudojo. His more-than-usual sullen aura was at full throttle, uselessly intimidating passersby. Nanao sat next to him, and tried his best to speak with a light tone.

"Ka—cchan, won't the opening ceremony and the yawatashi be starting soon? Let's get going."

"We don't have to be there, so isn't it okay? I'll stay here for now."

"Geez, Kacchan. You didn't have to get so angry about that, did you? They didn't mean anything bad by hiding stuff, and hiding what middle school they came from isn't that big of a deal."

"That's exactly why! What kind of teammates wouldn't even confide stuff that isn't that big of a deal to us? And on top of that, what's with those twins? Fujiwara and Sugawara, stop swarming me with all that warawara internet slang. (1) I won't forgive anyone who talks bad about our club members. That seriously pisses me off…"

"Even Kacchan is saying bad jokes…"

"Shut up, I wasn't joking!"

Oh, I see, Nanao thought. Kaito was angrier with himself for not being someone to depend on, even though they were all comrades, rather than having secrets hidden from him.

Kaito boasted a high hitting rate even in middle school, but he was never once chosen as a team member for a team competition. The reason given by the advisor was that there was no spirit of cooperation with a loner, but Nanao guessed that he was instead demanding a feeling of comradeship too much, and the people around Kaito disliked his company. No one was as devoted to kyudo as Kaito was, and there were many who believed that it was all fine as long as they were able to have fun. Their stances were different depending on whether one thought of kyudo as a martial art or a sport, and to say nothing of the environment of club activities in middle school, where the probability of those who possessed the same amount of zeal gathering together was low.

The power created by the feeling of "liking something" was great, for better or for worse, and the more earnest that liking was, the more confusion and misunderstandings were created. Minato, Seiya and Kaito were very similar to each other not just because they wanted to get better at kyudo, but also because they harbored a longing to win in a team battle.

They really are such irritating people.

Do they know zeal flows from high places to low?

Everyone's zeal is even able to pour into me. If you don't take responsibility for that, won't it be a pain?

"Alright, stop worrying about all that and let's get going! Don't you want to win the prefecturals?"

"Hah? What's got into you all of a sudden, Nanao?"

"If you don't go to the opening ceremony, I'll keep calling you 'Kacchan' here! Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan!"

"Nanaooo, you bastaaard! Do you have a grudge against me?"

"Everyone—, this person is called 'Kacchan.' If you call his name, he will cry from happiness. When I say 'One, two,' you say 'Kachaaan.' One, two—"

"Na-na-o!"

Kaito pursued the running Nanao, and two of them headed for the venue for the opening ceremony.

At that time, Minato and Seiya looked truly apologetic.

"Sorry, Ryouhei. You didn't do anything wrong at all."

"It's fine, Minato. I think Kaito-kun was just a little surprised, that's all."

Seiya then spoke.

"Kaito might be right. I should have talked to everyone properly. And then, finding out things about your teammates from an outsider on top of that doesn't feel too good, huh. I'm disqualified from being the club president."

"What are you saying? You're the only person I can consider to be the club president, Seiya. You're smart, and nice to everyone—a friend I can really be proud of."

"You're making too much of me. What if I was a bad person who was trying to use everyone?"

"You're not. I guarantee it. You're a good guy."

Seiya widened his eyes at Ryouhei, who spoke without any hesitation. Although he never tricked him, Ryouhei was completely unaware that Seiya's good qualities were all because he was highly calculating and extremely careful, and he always honestly admired him. He did not know how much Seiya was healed by that purity. Ryouhei's eyes, just like his dog Bear's, turned towards him. He didn't want to be the kind of man who disappointed them.

"When I get the chance, I'll be the one talking to Kaito properly about it. First, let's focus on the competition."

"Oh, that's right."

Ever since Kaito had hit the nail on the head about him, Seiya had cosntantly reflected on whether or not he had been acting a little cold towards him. When Kaito returned right before the opening ceremony, Minato and the others felt relieved for the moment.

After the yawatashi, the girls' individual competition started.

Hanazawa, Shiragiku and Seo put on their yugake, took their bows, arrows and tsurumaki containing backup bowstrings (kaezuru) and went to the third waiting area (hikae). Tomi-sensei also accompanied them as their manager. Kaito and Nanao also headed there a little later.

The first tachi of girls did their yuu bows with the signal to "start." While a great crowd watched, the oomae rose after nocking her arrow and went into the ashibumi position. Douzukuri, yugamae, she distinctly carried out the Shahou Hassetsu.

The cheering squad for Kazemai High School took their places in a section of the stands and waited for their turn. The stands were filled with groups putting up cheering banners and girls holding uchiwa fans (2) with kasumi-mato (3) designs on them. After many tachi finished, it was finally the Kazemai High School girls' kyudo team's turn.

Hanazawa hit with her first shot. They all shouted out "Alright!" at the same time. Cheering in kyudo was not permitted except for calling out "Alright" and applauding, but there was an especially good feeling at the moment where one was about to witness a kaichuu. Because the archer wasn't allowed to express emotions to their results, they could not take a triumphant pose when they hit, or feel bitter when they missed, only dispassionately moving on to their next action.

In the first round, Hanazawa hit, Shiragiku missed, and Seo hit. The second round was miss, miss, hit… Thus, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo put out the adequate results of two hits, two hits and three hits respectively.

On the other hand, for the boys, Kaito was out of form. Even though he hit for his first shot, for his second and third shots he kept landing his arrow right in front of the target.

For Minato in the stands, Kaito's bad form felt like it was his own. He wondered if the confrontation with Kirisaki High School from before had a bad effect on him. Next to him, Masa-san also had a "hmm" look on his face.

"Isn't it unusual for Kaito be nervous? His tenouchi turned back to its form from before the training camp."

Even though it could have been fixed with one shout, once nyuujou began no one could give advice to the archers. That applied to even Tomi-sensei, who was standing right next to the shajo as the manager.

After all the individual competitions ended, the results were Motomura and Shuu from Kirisaki High School both getting kaichuu, and then after the subsequent izume competition (4), Shuu was crowned as the victor of the boys' competition. For Kazemai High School, Seo with seven hits would be advancing to the prefectural finals, but Nanao with five hits, Hanazawa with four hits, and Kaito and Shiragiku with three hits would unfortunately not be advancing. Everyone got advice from Tomi-sensei, and there were few words spoken as they set forth on their way home.

For the second day's team competition, the sky was covered with gray clouds—a completely change from the day before.

The first round. When the first tachi finished, the target viewers went to the azuchi to perform verification work. They held out a number plate that displayed the number of hits, and were crouching down on the left side of each target. An announcement came on.

"Please return the arrows. The results will be announced as follows. First shajo, for the first group:  one, three, two, one, four, total eleven hits. Second shajo, for the second group: two, zero, one, one, two, total six hits. That is all."

By chance, Kirisaki High School and Kazemai High School ended up shooting alongside each other, with Kirisaki in the first shajo and Kazemai in the second. The shooting order for Kirisaki was Motomura, Senichi, Manji, Sase, and Shuu.

With the confirmation of names in the third hikae, the officials gathered their tsurumaki. They were worried about what would happen with Kaito's poor condition in the individuals, but instead of returning to his normal mode, he was more motivated than ever.

"It's possible to make up the difference between us and Kirisaki. Everyone, put in more spirit!"

"Roger!" Ryouhei and Nanao responded.

Minato could barely sleep last night, probably because of his meeting with Shuu, but now his head felt strangely clear. He was glad to know that Shuu hadn't given up on him, and a strong desire was born within him, not only for his hayake to not act up at all, but also to not expose an unsightly figure to Shuu.

A desire that was too strong—an obsession that the bow hated.

The nyuujou began. At the signal to start, they did their yuu bows, then stood up and went to the shooting line. Minato hid his fast-beating heart, putting on an expression of ignorance as he chose a hitote from four arrows.

The first shot. The oomae for Kirisaki High School was the third-year Motomura. A person who shot calmly, appropriate for a club president, he won the individual competition at the prefectural tournament last year. He drew his bow as though he was having a leisurely conversation with it, and hit right on the target.

On the other hand, Kaito shot offensively with plenty of vigor, releasing an arrow with a force that made his opponent flinch from the spirit, no matter that it was just an unmoving target. However, he still hadn't come out of his slump from the day before, and his arrow went over the target.

When the oomae entered kai, the second archer of each team began uchiokoshi. Since gyousha was carried out at intervals in individual competitions, one raised their bow at the previous person's "tsurune," but team competitions had a time limit so the intervals were quickened. Ryouhei stood up when the person before him finished his douzukuri, and smoothly switched over to shooting.  

However, tsurune consecutively resounded twice from Kirisaki High School. That was because their second and third archers Senichi and Manji shot their arrows in exact rapid succession. Kirisaki's cheering squad seemed used to it, since they cheered "Alright!" "Alright!" rhythmically. But others were semi-dumbfounded at the unexpectedly quick hanare of the third archer. It could be understood if the time limit was imminent, but there was no need to shoot it that fast from the start.

Bewildered by the twins' time-difference attack, Ryouhei, who was entering hikiwake, missed the timing of his hanare and lost his chance to get a hit. Seiya, going after him in third, kept his own pace and got a hit.

Kirisaki High School's fourth was the vice-president Sase. Sase was an idol lover and called disappointingly handsome by those around him, but he was the type of person who only had to know the key points of hitting the target once, and then he would never miss on that day. He nimbly did hikiwake and clinched a hit.

Kazemai High School's fourth, Nanao, was always sparkling. Him feeling the strong urge to please others might have been because of the idol-like disposition he was born with. When he got a hit, there was a big cheer from the girls.

The ochi of Kirisaki High School was Shuu. His shooting was different from that of a high schooler. Perhaps it was because his grace was revealing itself from within. It was still different from Masa-san's dignified shots, but they both had a picturesque quality in common. He capitalised on the physique he was blessed with, and elegantly and grandly performed hikiwake. A strong kai without the slightest tremor. At the right time, his readied arrow ran ahead. He of course hit the target.

Kirisaki High School's intervals were quick, and Motomura finished his second shot with a hit, but Minato was slowly raising his bow.

Minato's shot was similar to the moment one immersed one's hand in running river water. The beauty of the limpid water and its crisp coldness were pleasant. He stretched out at kai, then got a hit on the three o'clock position on the target.

At his second shot as well, Kaito did not hit.

And then, to make matters worse, Ryouhei had a "shitsu" even though he had hit.

When shooting, there were times when a mistake could be made. This was called a shitsu, and it could be dropping the bow at hanare, or it could be a "hazukobore" where the nocked arrow came loose from the string during the gyousha after torikake (nocking the arrow), but in Ryouhei's case it was a "tsurugire" (bowstring break).

Ryouhei's head turned completely blank. There was an etiquette for dealing with shitsu, and it must be carried through properly, but he was at a complete loss as to what to do with his hands. Ah, he remembered. I move the broken string closer with my foot and get into kiza, pick up the string and hold it with my left hand and roll it into a ring with my right hand, then pick my bow up with the other hand, slide back to the shooting line on my knees and do a yuu bow that signifies shame.

He handed over his bow and broken string to the facilitator, and then the manager re-stringed the backup string outside the shajo, but during that time the other members continued shooting, with Seiya and Nanao hitting, but Minato missing. Ryouhei could not move onto the next movement because he had no bow, so he restlessly waited for it to be returned to him.

When he received his bow with the stringed bowstring, he quickly finished nocking his arrow and stood up. Although there wasn't much time lost even with a broken string, Kirisaki High School had faster intervals than the norm, with Manji already finishing his third shot. For that reason, Ryouhei got the wrong impression that they were late.

As Kazemai High School also went into its third set, Kaito finally got his shooting down. The cheering squad also cheered with all that they had.

Ryouhei hurriedly did hikiwake, and even Seiya did hikiwake as though following him. Nanao, standing behind them, also got flustered. If Seiya shot earlier than Ryouhei, then even if his arrow hit it would be invalid. Caught up in it, Nanao shortened the interval as well and lifted up his bow. Perhaps because he lifted his bow quicker than usual, the arrow missed the target along with an unpleasant-sounding tsurune.

While Kirisaki High School was smoothly making matooto (sound of arrow hitting target) resound, for Kazemai High School only Kaito and Seiya hit for their third shots. Minato was swallowed up by the premature course of events, and he ended up holding out at kai longer than usual. But, on the contrary his hanare became slacker, and his arrow bounced once before hitting the target.

In the stands, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo were fretting.

"I wish they'd also count arrows that bounced once as a hit."

"It is because 'hakiya' are arrows that swept against the ground and did not properly reach the target."

"Kirisaki High School has so far almost never missed. I can't believe this is just the qualifiers for the prefectural tournament."

Ryouhei's rhythm was completely thrown off by his tsurugire. The matooto coming from the first shajo and the cheers from the stands made him feel as though he was being rushed. The more he thought about how bad it was to be slow because there was a time limit, the more he got impatient, until he couldn't even do torikake.  

As though laughing at the Kazemai High School club members, Kirisaki High School went into their fourth set, one by one clinching kaichuu. Shuu got his kaichuu, just as expected, and exited the shajo while bathed in thunderous applause. That gave more and more pressure, and Ryouhei did not understand at all what he was doing right now.

At the fourth set, Kaito and Ryouhei missed their last shots and exited. Infected by their impatience, Seiya also missed his chance to get a hit, but Nanao managed to recover somehow, and Minato also got a hit with his last arrow just as the warning bell sounded.

After Minato exited the shajo, the announcement informing the results came on.

"The results will be announced as follows. First shajo, group seventeen: four, three, four, four, total eighteen hits. Second shajo, group eighteen: one, one, three, three, two, total ten hits. That is all."

Ryouhei knitted his brows together.

"Haa, why did my string break right at that time… Even though I replaced it with a new one yesterday."

Hearing that, Nanao had an "aah" look on his face.

"Normally, it breaks in the middle, but yours snapped from the end.  Occasionally, there are strings that have ends that immediately snap. Also, it's not good to change to a new one just before a match, since the string isn't experienced."

"I see, I didn't know…"

"Well, tsurugire is common, you know? Let's switch our heads now!"

Tomi-sensei patted Kaito on the back.

"It's okay, it's okay. Predicting outcomes can be a hit-or-miss affair. Let's make a comeback for the next round."

"…Okay." Kaito answered with a meek expression.

In the afternoon, the second round began, but the wind that would boost the five from Kazemai High School did not blow.

Even Seiya, who was in good form during the first round, missed his first shot, and then the five ended up in the state where there was only a total of three hits by the time half of the ten shots were drawn. From behind Kirisaki High School, who was smoothly making matooto resound, the shouts of "Alright!" did not stop as the shooting continued.

Ryouhei's chest pounded as his palms became slippery with sweat.

Kaito fell into a state of losing self-confidence.

What's wrong with me. No matter how much I ask and answer myself what's wrong with me, this wave of slumps won't end. Somehow or other, I don't care how, please let one arrow hit, please, he ardently prayed.

Perhaps because Kaito's wish reached someone, all five members hit the target for their third set.

The results after the two rounds were finished were as followed.

(Circle means hit, x means miss; shots in order from left to right)

Kaito: ××〇×　××〇× 2

Ryouhei: ×〇××　××〇× 2

Seiya: 〇〇〇×　×〇〇〇 6

Nanao: 〇〇×〇　〇×〇〇 6

Minato: 〇××〇　×〇〇× 4

A "hawake" with twenty hits out of forty shots.

Ryouhei murmured as he looked at the record table on the wall.

"Could we advance to the finals with this…?"

"There's a fifty-fifty chance. We can only wait for the results for all the teams to come out, I guess."

Nanao rubbed his cheek with his thumb.

Kazemai High School got tenth place in the results from the prefectural tournament qualifiers.

They just barely made the last qualifying place.

Meanwhile for Kirisaki High School, Motomura and Shuu both got eight-shot kaichuu, Sase and Senichi got seven hits, and Manji got six hits—obtaining the high achievement of getting thirty-six hits out of forty shots, and achieved a passage to a first place that overwhelmingly outdistanced the others.

Previous | Next 

[fe8meta]

FE8 Prototype Commentary (Chapters 6-8)

A continuation of my previous post on the FE8 prototype.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is virtually unrecognizable from its final counterpart. It uses the map that later became Chapter 11A’s, and even then, unit starting position is also different from the final version of 11A. Saleh appears in the beginning of this chapter as well, having the same dialogue that was moved to Chapter 5 in the final game. He runs out the stairway below to continue his search, I suppose, and then Novala and his cronies appear in front of the door. Eirika actually unlocks the door upon seeing the hostages, and after bargaining with her, Novala goes up to her to retrieve the bracelet.

He also has the Villagers killed, leading to the same conversation Eirika has with him in the final version. Eirika’s really pissed. I should give her the almost-kill.

The challenging part about that, though, is that this chapter is actually a Defend map and only lasts for six turns. At least there’s no Fog of War!

We start up there. Novala’s all the way down there. At the very best, we’ll only scrape by with getting Colm to the two chests. Not helping is the fact that there is a Thief that starts at the bottom right of the map, and one of the reinforcements that appear also has another Thief that will beeline for the chest above Novala.

Speaking of reinforcements, Novala will give a warning right before the reinforcements come. They come in groups of three, but my team is actually somewhat weak and may be struggling to get by. I’ve kicked Ross off the team because he doesn’t have the Journeyman’s level 10 split and so his stats are really sucky for a level 10 Fighter.

The chest on the right gives an Iron Sword. The chest on the left gives yet another Iron Sword... and nabbing it terraforms the chapter, apparently.

Well, whatever it takes to keep Colm alive, I guess.

If you defeat Novala (which I managed to do with Vanessa), he gets some dialogue that seems to imply he’s trying to run away. Then the following cutscene plays.

I don’t know why Saleh and Eirika are standing next to each other in the beginning, they’re clearly on opposite sides of each other. After Saleh leaves, Eirika and Seth have the same conversation about the bracelet as they do in the final version. Some time after they leave...

Cavalier Kyle (left), Ephraim, and Ranger Forde (right) appear. Oddly enough, Ephraim doesn’t actually say anything in this cutscene, but I’m going to assume that they’re trying to chase after Eirika. It makes more sense that they would know about Eirika’s circumstances in this case, at least.

There’s also a distinct lack of Orson, either having already betrayed them or not existing at all. If I could read Japanese or get the ripped script, I could probably figure out the dialogue, but alas.

Chapter 7

The map is almost identical to its final incarnation, save for the changed tileset, the lack of ballistae, and Fog of War that was removed from the final version.  (As you can also see, the enemies won’t appear until after you begin the chapter.)

They enter in, uh, spectacular fashion. The Fog of War in this map will also alternate on-and-off every couple turns.

For some reason, TCRF stated that there aren’t any ballistae present on this prototype map. The one directly above your starting location indeed is not present, but there is a ballista at the top of the map. Though I’m out of his range for a good long while, since he’s all the way up there (in the final version, he’s in that clearing between the forest tiles, right above that objective window).

The enemy Mage that’s in the middle of the map is replaced by an archer here. I kinda neglected to pay attention to that and nearly got Vanessa killed, since she got hit by the brigand. Luckily, she dodged the arrow. Thanks, RNG! (Colm got hit by a 12% brigand hit in return, though.)

The boss is also a Mercenary with a Steel Sword, so he can be cheesed with mages. However, since I have no Shop or Armory available, and I’ve only been getting swords from the chests, I’m a bit worried about my tome and stave stock...

After seizing, there’s no animation of Eirika and Seth entering Renvall, but this still happens. So Orson is alive!

Chapter 8

Most of the intro plays out the same. Tirado is replaced by another General named Jude Rupert, who introduces himself as the Obsidian of Grado’s seven Imperial Generals. That title eventually goes to Duessel, while Jude gets a demotion and a name change.

There is a startlingly small 6-person deployment for this chapter, which was increased to 9 in the final version. Looks like some people will be hitting the bench. Franz has gotten really bad level ups, so he’s out. Cormag is staying because all these chests only have placeholder Iron Swords and, if there’s anything beyond this chapter, I need to keep units who can actually make use of these swords. At least one of the enemies drops their Iron Lance. There’s also four chumps who have Steel Lances but only E-rank in Lances, so they can’t even use their own weapons. Top-tier strats, General Jude.

Now I have to cut Shadows of Valentia some slack. Looks like they weren’t the first ones to come up with “people can hear each other across a building perfectly fine.” Eirika and Ephraim have a perfectly normal conversation across the castle here.

Forde’s bases suck so bad, his level 1 boss has better bases. He puts final Rennac’s bases to shame. Selecting Ephraim for the first time will trigger a conversation between him, Forde, and Kyle. Selecting Kyle for the first time will trigger a tutorial on how to promote, although the promotion isn’t forced like in Lyn mode of FE7.

The biggest difference on this map from the original version is that the chest in this room doesn’t exist, and instead there are two pillars. Furthermore, the breakable wall to the left of the map has 100 HP like in FE6 instead of the 50 HP of the final game. There was also no thief reinforcement (or reinforcements in general).

After defeating Jude, Myrrh shows up in the ending cutscene, portrait complete and all. After Ephraim says that they should get the hell outta dodge, a notification window pops up, presumably saying that it’s the end of the first part. Anna reappears, asking if you want to move on to the next chapter, and then you’re thrown straight into the prep screen of Eirika route chapter 9.

[creative-cauldron]

Items at Hand in D&D

So this may have taken longer than I hoped to get this out, but here is my first real post in a while. I decided to make it about a rules adaptation to D&D that I’ve been considering for a while that has to deal with the equipment a player is carrying. Now few players really like managing their equipment and I feel like 5e has recognized that. The fact that the carrying capacities is just naturally so high means that you never really have to focus it except in the extremes. After all so long as you aren’t taking any negatives in your strength you’ll be capable of carrying at least 150 pounds. It is such a large amount that in some cases outweighs the character themself that for convenience sake no one pays any attention. While I haven’t played every addition of D&D I know that equipment managing is one of those facets that got heavily abstracted and even the weight you could carry was scaled way down.

I may have gotten off topic because my idea is about how much a Character carries but where they are carrying it. Primarily it deals with the idea of the Use Action as a free action when doing something as part of another action. The examples given are drawing a weapon as part of an attack and opening a door as part of your movement. It is that first part that has lead to me to develop this idea largely from the near constant arguments about these free actions. Owing to the ambiguity of the RAW my player’s often think that any piece of equipment might be at hand but if we are being honest that is likely not true, especially with them carrying over 150 pounds of equipment. Usually I rule that, yes, they can draw or stow one object once as a free action but if they want to do it twice in one turn they will have to use their action. This means that if they want to pull out a potion they might have to do something about that sword and shield in their hand first, usually by dropping it. Then what ends up happening is that my player argues that sliding a sword in a sheath isn’t time consuming and the potion is probably on the top of their pack and easy to grab. Is it? What if it bounced around and fell deeper? Then the fighter who’s playing the archer gets confused because they have to draw their arrows which is technically drawing an item.

Now my idea, which I’ll call Hips and Shoulders, is intended to settle these wishy washy situations. Basically the player has four spots on their body Left Hip, Right Hip, Left Shoulder, and Right Shoulder. Each spot is basically a quick draw spot where drawing and stowing their specified items from these spots is always a free action. Each Hip spot has a max space of 1 and each shoulder has a max space of 2. The handedness of the weapon determines how much space each weapon takes up, unless the weapon is light and then it takes up .5 space (so dagger throwers can shove two daggers at their hips). Optionally, you could have versatile weapons take up 1.5 space if you wish. Then items like the mage’s spellbook, torches, a healer’s kit, a quiver, potions, etc. take up 1 space. Meanwhile a rope with a grappling hook, a shield, or other large items take up a space of 2. 

The players then get to decide which items they keep close at hand and in some cases certain containers (like the aforementioned quiver) let you carry a more of a specified item (in the case of the quiver, arrows or bolts). Ultimately you would have to weigh on what various items will take up what amount of space and something like potions might need a character to have a bandoleer to hold the potions. This allows players to prep what they keep close at hand which will probably be their most useful equipment for emergencies and clears up this weirdness of the backpack full of 150 pounds of gear with the item players need just perfectly on top. Is it needed? No. It was just an idea that came to me to simplify equipment management while keeping it impactful on the gameplay and could even extend to roleplay because different characters like to keep different things close at hand. After all, how many torches does a human need, well if their scared of the dark it may be a lot. Perhaps, your character is a hopeless romantic and a poet so they keep their journal close at hand in case inspiration strikes them in the middle of combat.

[dawnfletcherstuff]

So the canonicity of this story is... ??? but heck- here’s "Out of Water”.

Armaleonis was lost. That part wasn’t surprising. Even with his natural sight, he was much better with tracking than directions. Still, the wastes of The Ghostlands should have been familiar enough to him; he had spent more than enough time there to know it like the back of his hand. Things had gotten a bit out of hand, after Daeleon had asked him for a simple favor- go get some fresh mana wyrm meat from Eversong. And yet, the demon hunter had managed to get distracted once again.

Then again, it wasn’t every day a Legion ship landed in the neighborhood. Having taken the particularly scenic route through Quel’Danas, Armaleonis spotted an odd protrusion poking up from the sea. Curious, he set aside his bounty and leapt into the depths, smelling something out of sorts. The water was…warm, no. Not warm. No. The water was….thinking? No, that’s not how water works. Unless it was an elemental. Was it an elemental? Oh, right, time to breathe. He went to surface, but felt his leg being pulled down towards the wreck. Trying to spin and push towards the surface, it felt like a cannonball hit him square in the face, and everything went black.

-

<Good Morning>

Armaleonis groaned, sprawled out on… a dry floor?

“Muhhhhh, when I find the murlocs that thought this was funny….I’m gonna have some words with them, and they aren’t going to be ‘thank you’…..” He grumbled, opening his eyelids...only to...scream in panic.

He opened his eyes.

HE COULD SEE. HE HAD EYES.

Sniffing around, he tried to pick up what the hell did this and was bombarded by a series of alien smells. These weren’t Legion smells. He knew Legion smells. No, the scents on his nose were...muted? Salty, a little, but muted. One smell he definitely recognized was perhaps the most strange of all:

Turtle.

Forcing himself up, Armaleonis saw his beloved Blackglasses, cracked in the center, but still in one piece. Grasping them close to his chest, he took in a deep breath and started to take tentative steps towards the smell of turtle. This place was dark, lit by what looked like Draenite crystals. Maybe this was a Draenei ship? It made enough sense, Eredar were an advanced sort. It was odd, though, that he didn’t smell magic. His left hand clenched, reminded of the thirst of the Sin’dorei. It was about this time that he realized the room was...crooked. At an angle. Maybe it was a ship of Draenei of the Auchenic order? He scritched the back of his head, contemplating as he made his way forward, into the darkness.

“Hello? Anyone here? Murlocs? Turtles?” He called out as he manuevered down.

Silence.

For what felt like an eternity, Arma followed his nose, his heart racing. Every step forward revealed what looked like a long derelict wreck, with no traces of anything remotely humanoid. No bones, no tools...heck, the only indication that anything sentient was involved was the fact that he could tell this was a ship of some sort. Something wasn’t right, though. The darker it got, the more...algae he could see in the water on the edges  of the walkways? As a ranger, he knew that algae grew where the Sun would rest upon it...not in lost depths. The air was getting...steamy, as well. His gut was ready to turn, but he pressed forward, turning towards what looked like an antechamber- in the center, where lay what he smelled-

A giant, ancient turtle. A tortoise, to be more accurate. The room was bright, far too bright- every plate of its shell shone with a brilliant, otherworldly light, and within each of those lights, Arma could see what looked like portals to other worlds...the sight hurt his brain, and he clutched his forehead with a cry- he couldn’t tell why, but the sight was actively hurting him, so he turned from it, away from the strange creature.

“AaaaAAaaaAaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!” His head felt like it was ready to split, blood dripping from his ears as he collapsed, eyes flickering to look at SOMETHING else- like all the mush...rooms…..in here. Algae and mushrooms? That….that doesn’t make sense. He couldn’t focus on it, though as the pain ratcheted up a tic. Then he saw it- the mushrooms were moving – and from the Algae, something rose, a cloaked figure, whose face looked like it made more sense as a squid- though whose tendrils were unmistakably green, and viny.

Was this a creature from the Everbloom? He looked like he belonged there…and then, all the pain and, really, all thought, stopped. It was like someone grabbed the lungs in his chest and squeezed all the air out of them, holding them hostage.

<My, what a nosy little dog you are. It’s good that you have enough wit to look around rather than just leave. Now that you have eyes, you might just make a useful pawn to me.>

Images rapidly flashed in the demon hunter’s mind- what looked like some sort of magical jellyfish creature latching onto his head, a vision of a world that fit all his wants, destroying that world to get back to his friends, but then…a blurry mess. Stars whirling together to take humanoid shape, this creature, it was so confusing!

“Don’t...suppose you’re a friend of my friend Canthar, huh? He’s kinda got that look down, but, y’know….he did it first.”

<Foolish whelp. Barking your snark at me will not impress a magus of my capabilities. Sleep, you’re useless to me for now.>

Before he could open his mouth to reply, a wooden staff cracked him on the back of the head so hard that the world went black once more.

-

-

“I didn’t hear about any training squads sent to Naverius. Think I should shoot him?”

“What is wrong with you?”

“ Look ,he’s clearly not normal. Think the Falspawn have had a go at him.” “We aren’t killing him. We’ll take him to medbay. Then he’s Fina’s problem.”

“Y’know, if he is tainted and you drop him off in Medbay, it’s your fault.”

“Yeah yeah, get lifting.”

“But you’re the muscle.”

“FINE, I’ll do it. Rassafrassin’ archers...”

Armaleonis felt like his head weighed more than a kodo. He groaned, slowly opening...his eyes? Yep, those were a thing. Okay. So, probably not a hallucination then. Groggily, he looked at the two people bickering about him, or at least, the front of one and the back of the one who had hefted him up onto her shoulders. He was notably close to a blade that was rather frosty and was being carried about as gently as a sack of potatoes. The one he could see had violet skin, horns, and had one green eye and a yellow one with some sort of odd magic symbol. His head was still throbbing and his limbs felt weak, so he let himself be carried for a bit more.

“Uuuuugh, ow. Hi. Ow.” He blinked a few times, opening his eyes...and seeing a bow and arrow pointed at him. He gulped audibly. “Uhhh…..hi. Please don’t shoot?” The woman who was carrying him put him on his feet- albeit roughly, and he fell flat on his ass. She pulled her polearm and pointed it at his face.

“You. Why do you have no equipment on a world full of Sylvant and Falspawn? Are you trying to get eaten or worse?” She had blazing red hair and pointed ears- looked like a blood elf, actually, not that different from Daari. This was just getting...weird.

He cleared his throat. “I uh….is he gonna shoot me if I say something wrong?” He gestured towards the violet man with a bow.

The red-haired elf-like woman laughed. “That depends. Should he? You do have weird growths on your shoulders. And you look like you’re wearing some sort of ...bone collar? Not *my* taste but hey...”

Arma shook his head rapidly. “We don’t need to kill me, thanks. Look, I’m not sure...where we are? But I need to get back to my friends and family. I don’t know how long I’ve been out but I miss them a whole lot.”

“On this world?” The woman asked, raising an eyebrow.

Arma shot a glance around. This place looked entirely alien, and the animals he did see looked like nothing on Azeroth, Draenor, or even Argus. He gulped.

“M….maybe not. W-where are we?”

The woman groaned, rubbing her forehead.

“Why is that all my friends have some sort of amnesia when I meet them?….Look, you’re on the planet Naverius. It’s a world where you REALLY don’t want to stick around unless you’re properly armed. And you….don’t even have any comms on you. We need to get back to the Mothership. C’mon, I’m not having you die on me.” Reaching into her pocket, she took out what looked like a steel disc and threw it out- only for light to appear in a pillar, then swept Arma back up onto her shoulders. Octavian walked through it first and teleported away- and while Armaleonis had his experience as a Sunfury, he never did take kindly to teleportation- but right now, he couldn’t really put up a fight. And thus, as the woman stepped in with him, he shut his eyes tightly, expecting that same travel through the Twisting Nether that comes with teleportation- but oddly enough, it was over before he could feel that familiar tingle.

Behind him was a pool of water, and around him were a series of booths and benches.

“This is the Gateway ship. This is Octavian, he’s our Braver. An archer. Me? I’m Tohmidaria, resident badass. I specialize in swords and Polearms. You?” She finally set him down on a bench so he could look her in the eyes again. Then Octavian.

“My name is Armaleonis Dawnfletcher. I am a…. demon hunter? A….oh, maybe you don’t have those...uh, I’m what you might call a Ranger. An Archer, sometimes, like...” and then he gestured to Octavian.

The violet man, noting that, tapped his chin before walking over to one of the booths, typing on some sort of console, and making a bow appear in a flash of light. He offered it to Arma.

“Here, you can have one of my favorites. We’re gonna need all the help we can get. The Falspawn are growing everyday. If anyone asks about your weird...uh, y’know, stuff...just tell them you got it on the Auction House. That tends to shut most people up. We’re going to be heading back any moment now…but hey, maybe we’ll find your friends and family somewhere?” He gave a gentle smile.

“Of course we will. We’re badasses. We always accomplish our objective.” Tohmi said with a smirk and a thumbs up.

“

[entergamingxp]

Langrisser I & II Review — The Perfect Way to Discover a Tactical RPG Classic Series

March 11, 2020 4:00 PM EST

Langrisser I & II is a sleek, simple, and addicting tactical RPG that sucks you in, just like your own reflection on a set of big, polished shoulder guards.

Back in 1987, three years before the first Fire Emblem game, a Japanese company named Masaya launched Ethlead Senshi, a tactical RPG for Japanese PCs. The game had all the basics found in every tactical RPG nowadays such as stats, skills, and different classes of units including those of the flying and naval variety. A few more tactical RPGs later, Masaya launched Langrisser I on Megadrive in 1991, a simple, short, but addictive and intense tactical RPG, taking place in a world named Ethlead and using lore from Ethlead Senshi. Released as Warsong outside Japan, Langrisser I ended up being remade together with Langrisser II multiple times in Japan. And now, a brand new remake, Langrisser I & II is upon us on PS4, Switch, and Steam. I can tell you right now, it’s definitely the best way to experience or rediscover these classics.

“I can tell you right now, [Langrisser I & II is] definitely the best way to experience or rediscover these classics.”

Langrisser I released in Japan during a golden era where a character’s power level was directly proportional to the size of their shoulder guards. Cool elves, sexy dark elves, along with detailed magic systems and worldbuilding were the norm. Record of Lodoss War was in full bloom, and Slayers had just started. Japanese people wanted fantasy, and Langrisser I delivered. The story stars Ledin, a prince who must suddenly flee his kingdom in the face of an invasion from the empire. Together with the friends he makes along the way, he ends up retrieving the legendary sacred sword, Langrisser, in order to fight an ancient, resurrected evil threatening the world. It’s a pretty straightforward fantasy premise, and nor the characters or the story rarely get any deeper. The remake, however, has plenty of different story routes you can end up on depending on your actions during battles, allowing for a lot of replayability. One run alone won’t take you more than twelve hours to beat.

Langrisser II, seeing it’s a sequel, originally released three years later in 1994 and greatly improves on the first game’s weaknesses and has a much more memorable cast. You’ll probably encounter more story development and characterization in the first five chapters of Langrisser II than in all of your first Langrisser I run. And while the battle system didn’t change an inch, maps, battle situations, and objectives are more varied overall. Beating Langrisser II will take you longer than Langrisser I, and it has even more story route bifurcations, including hidden stages.

In both games, using the story chart, you can go back to any previously cleared story chapter, while keeping your items and levels to try out other routes. For those seeking a challenge, Langrisser I & II both include a New Game+ where you can inherit (or not) your items and levels, and choose to increase the difficulty. However, note that the story chart resets itself in New Game+, which is a choice in this remake that I cannot comprehend and is pretty annoying overall. I vividly recommend keeping a save right before your run’s final battle.

The battle system of Langrisser I & II is similar and yet extremely different than nowadays’ more popular tactical RPG series such as Intelligent System’s Fire Emblem or Bandai Namco’s Super Robot Wars. While there are various types of terrains, each granting attack or defense bonuses, there are no elevation-tied systems, nor are there differences in whether you target a unit from the front, sides, or back. There is no permadeath, either.

“The battle system is simple and yet extremely addicting, intoxicating, and never gets boring.”

In Langrisser I & II, each named character in your army is a Commander, a powerful individual who can recruit Mercenaries. The type and amount of Mercenaries a Commander can recruit will be based on their Class. Each Commander has its own Class Tree, and they can switch Classes after garnering enough Class Points, earned after each level up. While the original Langrisser I & II were pretty strict with this system, this latest remake is generous with Class Points. It also allows you to switch back a Commander to any previously unlocked Class to adapt to the situation.

Mercenary Units also each have their own strengths and weaknesses, with Infantry defeating Spearmen, Spearmen having an advantage over Cavalry, and Cavalry overwhelming Infantry. This is a simple triangle, which is complemented by many other types of units and weaknesses, such as undead monsters, marine units, archers, and magicians. As long as you properly check enemies’ stats and magic before rushing in, most Langrisser I & II maps won’t pose you too much trouble and are pretty well balanced.

During battles, Mercenaries accompany their Commander and get a significant stat boost as long as they stay inside their Commander’s Area of Command. Moreover, the more HP a Mercenary unit has, the more powerful they are. Mercenaries also recover HP when standing adjacent to their Commander. As such, the basic strategy in most of Langrisser I & II’s maps will be to stick together as you march toward enemies, using your Commanders’ offensive, healing or buffing/debuffing magic spells adequately. The last trick to it all is how all Mercenaries will disappear when their Commander is defeated. Defeating the Commander first will result in less experience and money, so you’ll be constantly thinking about whether to farm or try to remove a threat as quickly as possible. The battle system is simple and yet extremely addicting, intoxicating, and never gets boring. The games are also just the right length, to avoid being repetitive.

Mercenaries can each be moved manually, and doing so will be crucial at certain moments. However, their movements can be automated, with four different global strategies to order them, Attack, Rush Defend, and Standby. This, however, brings us to Langrisser‘s biggest flaw. While the Mercenaries’ movement process can be automated, you still have to wait for it to happen. When both your army and the enemy side each have over six Commanders, each with four or more Mercenaries units, Battle Turns in Langrisser can be really long. This is true even if you can skip the battle animations, which are represented with super cute SD versions of the Mercenaries skirmishing and also include pretty cool character artwork cut-ins. While the character movement speed on the map is quite fast, an even faster speed-up turbo function would have definitely benefited this remake. This is the main reason why I’d highly suggest playing Langrisser I & II on the Nintendo Switch for its portability over other platforms.

Langrisser I & II is fully voiced with Japanese voiceovers with a cast including popular seiyuu such as Ayane Sakura and Saori Hayami. The cast all did a great job portraying the characters and their emotions. Even the story summary between each chapter is voiced, narrated by Eri Kitamura, who also voices Langrisser‘s recurring character, Jessica. Music-wise, the rearrangements of this new remake are pretty nice overall. For veteran fans, the original Megadrive OST can be activated, bringing back the works of Hiroshi Fujioka (not to be confused with his homonym, Segata Sanshiro’s actor), Isao Mizoguchi, and Noriyuki Iwadare (nowadays highly popular outside Japan for some of the Ace Attorney games).

Langrisser I & II‘s localization is also pretty good. There are sentences where one or two minor details were left out, but that’s inherent to translating Japanese under time constraints and with few contexts. It’s not something you’ll notice anyway if you can’t understand the voiceovers, and 80% of the time, a few sentences later you get that missing detail conveyed in another form. I’d also point out that surprisingly, the game can be set to other languages; Chinese, Korean, and Japanese are all included, which is nice for those willing to practice other languages through gaming.

Lastly, I cannot speak about Langrisser without mentioning the biggest defining aspect of the franchise: its character design by Satoshi Urushihara, one of the best character designers and artists of all time. The game’s Japanese Limited Editions took full advantage of this fact. This remake also allows players to switch anytime between Satoshi Urushihara’s original designs, and brand new redesigns by Ryou Nagi, the original character designer of the Ar Tonelico series and Heavy Object.

Sadly, the new character designs by Ryou Nagi are very hit and miss and tend to remove a lot of the characters’ individuality, which is extremely weird as Ryou Nagi is usually an excellent artist. The difference in detail is like night and day when you look at the different versions of Betty, a brand new Langrisser I character created for this remake, who appears in one of the new story branches. The first Betty artwork above is the Urushihara’s version, the second one is Nagi’s version, and the third one is from the recent Langrisser Mobile, and its redesigns are much better than in this remake.

“However, you shouldn’t judge Langrisser by its cover, as it has great themes and strong female characters.”

Ryou Nagi also recently redesigned the characters for the remake YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World, and I believe this remake and both Langrisser I & II suffer from the same character design problem. This is a rather disappointing aspect of this remake, though I believe most people discovering the series or who aren’t longtime anime fans won’t even care. It’s important to note, however, that playing with the Ryou Nagi redesigns also add story event CG scenes to the game. They are numerous and pretty well drawn.

As a side note, I’d also point out that except for some of the female cast’s revealing clothes, there is virtually no sexual fan service in Langrisser I & II, whether you were looking forward to it or apprehending it. Though I’m sure the bikini armors by themselves can be off-putting for some, and I understand that. However, you shouldn’t judge Langrisser by its cover, as it has great themes and strong female characters. This is actually unsurprising when it comes to Fantasy Japanese works like these. I’d definitely recommend Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, and Langrisser I & II, to those who think that kind of Japanese stuff is inherently sexist, such as certain people at Sony of America.

Overall, this new Langrisser I & II remake is definitely the best way to get into the series and enrich your tactical RPG culture. Sure, the Sega Saturn remake’s cool anime cutscenes weren’t added in this new remake, but you can always watch them on YouTube.

The Langrisser series was pretty silent this past decade. The latest brand new game in the series, Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2015, is notorious for being particularly bad. This new Langrisser I & II remake is definitely the kind of spur the series needed, and it seems that both this remake and the previously released mobile game are setting up the foundation for a full revival. Hopefully, developers Extreme and Chara-Ani, the companies who now own Masaya, have remakes of the other Langrisser games in the works, so more around the world, myself included, can finally discover the series.

March 11, 2020 4:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/langrisser-i-ii-review-the-perfect-way-to-discover-a-tactical-rpg-classic-series/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=langrisser-i-ii-review-the-perfect-way-to-discover-a-tactical-rpg-classic-series

[melchandler430-blog]

5 Astonishing Truths Concerning team.

The Rank Of group In Consumer's Market.

Maybe argued that there disappears crucial consider the success of an organisation compared to the therapy of employees. In a similar way excellent communications as well as negotiation skills where each member can comprehend each other is additionally vital and all these procedures must be lead by an effective team leader who can motivate team members also in tight spots. Including team members in creating the schedule whenever possible and working with the group to intend the activities to the goal will raise the interaction between leaders and team members. There are examples of several celebrity professional athletes that came to this realization, after not being stars at a young age. Guarantee the Supervisor comprehends that they must now send out these positive messages to their Group Members. Tasks can be used to pit one group versus the other, to focus on developing competition. In addition, Marie-Claire takes part in the circulation tasks of European tasks provided by ERCIM. An outstanding example is the influence an organisation's incentive system has on team effort. A transformational leader plainly articulates the vision and also offers as incentive and also nurturer for the team. I hardly ever involved myself with choices that directly affected the everyday operation of the structure.

5 Tricks About group That Has Never ever Been Revealed For The Past 50 Years.

This dilution of the group principle is just what my (much) more well-known name Douglas McGregor had in mind when he stated A lot of teams aren't teams in all but simply collections of specific relationships with the boss. The Australian Kangaroos Rugby League group are probably equally as dominant as the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Union team. Chamonix, France: Settled high in the Alps as well as watermarked by the looming erection of Mont Blanc is Chamonix, a hotel with an unbelievable range of wintertime sporting activities activities on offer, and is one of the most popular resorts in the French resort classification. The cost averaged as reduced as 2 tricks for this marketing item that was going to be removed, so I bought in prior to it was no longer available by methods aside from trading. By creating a group objective consensus via thinking, the group will have the ability to pursue their vision. Phil Archer's key function is as a Data Specialist on W3C's Strategy Team-- working to earn ever extra efficient use the Internet as a system for data. You require a system that educates individuals NETWORK MARKETING lead generation approaches, how to market Group Beachbody, and also how you can follow up with prospects and also register brand-new representatives into your Team Beachbody company.

7 Things You Need to Carry out in team.

Successful team leaders identify this and also look for to leverage this variety of knowledge to achieve even far better results. Actually, as you possibly already understand much of the players on 1961 team were established under Stengal's administration. Team development is something that is frequently overlooked by companies, particularly in these tough economic times, however they need not take up much company or personal time, and they do not need to be expensive tasks either to be successful. All you need to do is organize your leadership to make sure that your group works together for the good of the goal. Taking a few hours off the work week could function extremely well, and act as a benefit, supplied the team bonding activity is enjoyable! Given that 2010, she had been devoted to establishing the fourth host of W3C in China along with W3C group and Beihang College. They use well-known devices as well as techniques; exhibit good behaviors; shared trust fund, inspiration, and also open communication rise; favorable synergy as well as team focus are apparent. Guidelines such as 'never ever play politics' or 'provide what you say you will certainly' or even 'no Blackberries at the table' clarify for the group just what is and is not acceptable behaviour. Group leaders could not recognize the fact that to lead, influence or to motivate others they must first lead influence and also inspire themselves. By collaborating with a knowledgeable, quality group building team a firm can create strategies to make the changes should enhance the company's society and, as Kotter & Heskett located, considerably increase the ROI. From 1947 to 1963, the Oklahoma Sooners football team won 145 video games, 3 national championships, and an NCAA Department I record 47 successive video games. Maintaining your group together as your company's core foundation stone is essential to each individual's success-- as well as most importantly, and also undoubtedly, to your business's success. People interacting as a team to attain an usual objective are consistently developing. If you are a supervisor then you should urge everyone in your group to connect. Similarly in my team at work we have aided each various other out in accomplishing our sales targets this year, even though it has actually been within an extremely hard ecomonic setting. So, before you use up a great deal of cash on your team structure exercises and also team-building specialists, think of whether or not your company is right for groups. This suggests that each participant has a commitment or promise with the group to always do their finest. in all times and to commit 110% to the success of the team. It is commonly an extremely valuable procedure for them to have the specialist aid specify specifically exactly what the issues really are and also just what information systems major (Suggested Studying) wanted alternatives for synergy may be feasible. Whenever there are too many individuals on a group calamity is hiding undermining the vision to be gotten. Outstanding Team Players are clear on exactly how exactly what they are doing makes the difference in the organization delivering on its pledges. Regardless of the difficulties to the task, the group implemented the CRM deliverable, causing greater consumer loyalty. Phase 2 - Throughout the second phase, private expression of suggestions happens and there is open dispute between participants.

[paperok4-blog]

Rift chapter- 8

Choices made over starvation

-Kimberly-

I walked through the forest my head throbbing from what happened last night

-Where are you going?- the voice echoed through my head -you cannot defy me forever- the forest seemed to extend on infinitely in front of me –you could have killed your brother when you had the chance sparing him from his fate.-

“shut up” my voice was weak “you don’t know anything, your not real!” laughter shook my mind forcing me to cradle my head and scream in pain

-NOT REAL?- the voice taunted -I am just as real as you are girl!- my head felt as if it were splitting apart, I fell to my knees -you’ve always had to learn the hard way I guess that’s just part of who you are- STOP IT! I would not be controlled not any longer I had to overcome the pain. I forced myself onto my feet -now I want to hear you scream!- every cell in my body seemed to catch on fire; yet I did not scream. my bones felt as if they were being grinded against scorching steel; yet I did not scream. I walked forward, every step I took seemed to bring another level of pain; but still I walked  -what the, you’ve managed to adjust to my rage-

“leave me alone” my ragged voice begged

-oh well, ill have you know that this is about less than 5 percent of what I am capable of; ill just amp up the.- the pain suddenly vanished, the voice went completely silent.

“are you okay?” a boys voice asked from behind me I turned slowly to see an older boy, he wore a red shirt and blue jeans  looking like a regular guy from my world.

“w-who are you?” I asked my head feeling sore

“I’m Sol” he said inspecting me carefully I started to back away from him, the last thing I needed was another death. “who are you?” he asked. I tried to think of how I could respond without revealing that I’m from Primum not that my name itself would reveal much, I found myself blankly staring at him he stared back seeming confused “are you okay?” he reached out to touch me but I stepped out of his reach

“I’m leaving” I said “don`t mind me” I continued to back away from him not taking my eyes off him, for some reason I was growing tense. It was as if I were bound by chains unable to move, the feeling vanished as soon as it came.

“I can give you some food” he offered kindly “you seem like you could use it, my house isn’t far from here and my brother can cook really well” I considered my options, going with him getting free food I could leave if they attacked me or something its not like they could stop me or I could keep going wherever I’m going which is probably where the voice wants me to go, my stomach grumbled sealing the deal

“yeah sure” I gave in

It was strange. Sol led me towards his home, he talked about how his father worked as a priest in the nearby village and how his brother Luno learned to cook from their late mother. I didn’t talk much I was going back to how I was, quiet, brooding homicidal. My thoughts were cut short when a small shack came into view, unlike Gordon`s house it was in a clearing there was a clothes line on the side of it which was packed with a variety of garments making me wonder how two boys could produce that much laundry

“uh hello?” apparently Sol was still talking, he stared at me confused “you alright?”

“yeah yeah, I’m great” I said. He continued to stare at me, I felt he would attack me the moment I moved. I wanted to move, I wanted him to attack me, I wanted to kill him. “about that food” I broke the silence, he took a few moments to respond he glanced at the house then back at me

“yeah my brother should be almost done” he continued walking towards the house and I followed. When we reached it he knocked on the door

“isn’t this your home?” I asked “don’t you have a key?”

“oh, I left it when I went out to-” he paused for a moment “to get firewood” he knocked on the door again.

“you don’t have any firewood” I commented carefully

“well, I found you before I found any firewood”

“it gets pretty cold around here, so helping me is more important than staying warm? and there are literally trees all around us” he didn’t respond, I went to speak again but the door swung inwards revealing nothing on the other side except darkness.

“come on in” he said still not moving at this point I was ready to run, how stupid did he think I was? I took a step back prepared to fight my way out of this if I had to “you aren’t going anywhere” he insisted. I let out a stale laugh

“what is this?” I asked

“I told you how good a cook my brother is didn’t I?” he turned to face me a large knife in his hand “both of us have a very unique appetite” it took an instant for his words to click in my mind: cannibals. Multiple options flashed through my mind: let them kill me, run, kill them and see if they have any spare food. I was hungry.

“wait” I started but he didn’t listen, he spun swinging his knife at my throat I stepped back then lunged forward whipping out my bowie knife and with a swift swipe knocking his blade from his hand. A sudden fear flashed across his face as I leveled my knife to his throat.

“Luno!” he shouted “Help me!” almost instantly a whooshing sound to my right caught my attention and I stepped back out of the way of an arrow shot, instantly my attention turned to its area of origin: the tree line. Another arrow was shot toward me allowing me to pinpoint the shooter, I pivoted to the right evading the arrow and charged towards them. “Shoot her legs!” Sol demanded as I advanced on the archer who continued firing arrows not bothering to move.  Fool I thought running in zig-zagged lines, a meter from the treeline I could she the shooter, he had two arrows cocked in his bow I threw my knife lodging it in his shoulder knocking him off balance but he surprisingly recovered quickly aiming his bow directly at me. In that fatal moment I hesitated: what’s the point of fighting to  survive? The only one who wants me alive is the voice, if I let myself die now who would it really hurt? I heard the twang of the arrows being released but I was already reacting. I hurled myself upwards by launching a wave of force towards the ground then, midair as the arrows passed by under me I aimed both of my hands at the shooter and blasted him with as much force as I could produce. The impact blew him away knocking down several trees in his direction as well, I landed hard on my side and took a moment to take in the destruction I was being controlled wasn’t I? “NO!” Sol ran past me and started searching for his brother throughout the rubble, for a moment I watched

-kill him before he realizes the fact that his brother is dead- the voice was back, I’m not going to kill him. -at this point it would be a mercy to take his life- the voice seemed rather sympathetic it gave me chills, I stood up and started walking back towards the house -that’s quite cruel child, I cant say I agree with the choices your making- I froze in my tracks, I could still hear Sol crying out for his brother in the background.

“you haven’t gave me a choice” I kept my voice low “you made me kill all those people! You took control of me!” the voice laughs

-I guess I should tell you something child, my name is Garragan and I am capable of many things but taking control of living things is not one of them, the reason I chose you to bring here was because you were so much like me all that murderous intent was already there I just helped you realize that-

“shut up” I said weakly continuing on my path towards the house hopefully they had food. -look out- a hard object connected with my back throwing me to the ground, then there was a load of weight pressing me down

“you killed him” Sol was sitting on me “you killed my fucking brother!” he got a fistful of my hair and yanked my head forcefully back “I’m going to tear you limb from limb you bitch” he growled

-what did I tell you? You should’ve killed him- Sol let go of my head and bent my arms behind by back -are you letting him do this?- he tied my arms together at the wrist -Fight back!- he yanked my head back again and smashed my head against the ground -he`ll kill you!- I did not respond to him. Sol began to drag me towards the house by my hair forcing a grunt out of me -you plan to…. I see- Sol picked up the knife I had earlier knocked from his hands -you want him to kill you, to spite me!- he kneeled down beside me knife in hand, I tried to hide my fear convinced I could handle anything he could dish out

“maybe I should satisfy some of my, needs first” I hadn’t realized what he meant until he grabbed my sweater and started to cut it open

“NO!” I screamed struggling against the ropes restricting my hands “Please!” he cut the front of my sweater to shreds and yanked it apart then started on my shirt, the voice had gone silent again

“ill make you like it” he insisted “then we can live together and be happy!” he fumbled dropping his knife

“I just killed your brother!” I shrieked “kill me!” he picked the knife back up and quickly swiped at my shirt, I felt the cold blade cut my skin and tensed up, it wasn’t the same as the pain the voice put me through. It was real. He grabbed at my breasts, I tried to roll away from him but he knocked the air out of me with a blow to my gut

“you can have my kid!” he exclaimed “everything will be perfect!”

-this is why you should obey me- Sol froze

“what was that?”

-You will do nothing more to this girl-

“where is that coming from?” he could hear the voice?

-now, CEASE TO EXIST- Sol stumbled away from me clawing at his head screaming, he fell backwards his body arching as if someone were pulling him up by his guts then something broke and he fell limp. Dead. I sat up staring at his corpse

“what did you do?” I asked

-what you made me do, from now on you obey my every word, is that clear- I stood up shakily, he was going to rape me -is that clear?- he would’ve raped me -ANSWER ME!-

“Y-yes”

-now go into the house and feed yourself, also take his knife you’ll need it-

https://www.booksie.com/471581-rift