#Monster distribution system

[2-dsimp]

Since URIEL isn't ready Seraphi is off limits and Azrael isn't a good father figure.... *👹 UMPS ON JERICHO👹* "👹👹GIVE ME UR BABUIESSS 👹"

𝚌𝚠: 𝙽𝚜𝚏𝚠 𝙼𝙳𝙽𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵

𝙿𝚘𝚟: 𝙹𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝙶𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚎

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵

[randomsum]

The Incubus Twins

They are both made by @2-dsimp

[2-dsimp]

He looks so cuteeee but also deadly 👀

I love it o(≧v≦)o❤️

[orenjineechan]

Yami Bakura being a chaotic cat person.

[lil-oreo-crumbles]

You know back when the AU was a comic, I was able to gloss over so much of the politics of Mewni Creek I was not well equipped to handle and focus instead on the relationships and bonds that were important to the story going forward and explain the new governmental system of this combined world after it had been established and the masses calmed long down.

But now? Now that it’s a fic? Now that I have to essentially re-start the Ovelia establishment and better flesh out her blossoming friendships and connections to the main cast?

I’ve really gotta buckle down and write the politics and post-Cleaved chaos don’t I.

Man…

[lususnatura]

🎤 🎤 🎤

a song that i associate with my muse meme!

AHH, hey, ramone!! thank you for sending in this prompt :D since you sent in three of the mic's, i shall now be treating you to three songs that make me think of blamore when i hear them / that i associate with it. an explanation of why i chose them will be in the tags <3

hozier - who we are.

icehouse - crazy.

depeche mode - personal jesus.

[grizzersmamma]

Nikto Distribution System?

So, as @ghouljams has mentioned in their Ghost Distribution System, we can all agree that Simon is basically a stray cat in disguise. He sees his human and goes "ah yes, that one's mine," and will let you lure him into your house with a few treats and praises. Good luck getting rid of him after that.

König is that big, excitable dog who comes crashing into your life, most likely bowling you over in the process. He's knocking things over and jumping all over you, blasting straight through all of your boundaries. Don't bother shouting at him, it'll just made him more excited.

But Nikto? He's more like that dog at the pound slated for euthanasia. He's aggressive and untrusting and has learned that it's better to bite first than to wait for someone to show their true colours. Not many people are willing to take a chance on an animal like that, and those that do are treated with suspicion.

You need to sit patiently with him, let him approach you in his own good time and never push his boundaries. It takes a long time for him to start trusting you, but once he realises you're not like everyone else? You're not just going to dump him back at the shelter the moment he shows any problematic behaviour? You have the most loyal dog known to man.

He will guard you with his life. He would kill for you, tear into the hands of anyone that gets too close, and then show his bloodied teeth to you for praise. He wants to be a good boy, but keeping you safe is more important than that and he doesn't care how many times he has to get hurt to do so.

For you, he's just a cuddly pup, more than willing to curl up on the couch next to you for a nap. With everyone else? They can't even get past the front gate without being snarled at. For outsiders he's nothing but a danger, and you're really the only person who can keep him on a tight leash.

He resource guards you like no tomorrow, very possessive of you and scared someone will take you from him. He might seem like a big, scary monster, but even rabid dogs only bite because they're in pain.

[shepherds-of-haven]

Hello! You’ve talked before about having experience with professional writing/publishing, so you seem like a good person to ask. I’ve seen authors say that they avoid reading/interacting with fanfiction of their work due to “possible legal issues,” but I’m not actually sure what law they’re referring to. Is this something that you’re familiar with, or advice you’ve come across before? Why would fanfiction be an issue if something like fanart isn’t? Thank you in advance if you have the time to answer!

Hi there, thanks for your question! This is actually something I've had a lot of interest in over the years, partly because I (at one point) was planning on going to law school to potentially become a copyright/intellectual property lawyer, and partially because I have some personal connections to things that happened in this arena (my agent was the agent of an affected author at some point in the past, my publisher or senior editors knew so-and-so), and also, I grew up reading fanfiction, so I've heard concerns on both sides of this issue.

To boil it down succinctly, there is no outright law that prevents authors from reading fanfiction of their own work. However, doing so can become messy in ways that many authors would rather avoid, and there is one famous example of where this went awry and scared authors off of reading fanworks of their own work.

In the US, all authors automatically gain copyright and intellectual ownership over their writing/original content, from the moment they put it into physical form (writing it or typing it). They don't have to do anything to register this right: it just automatically exists, and with it comes a few special rights.

Authors have the right to:

Reproduce or make copies of their work

Distribute copies of their work to the public, in whichever manner they choose (sell, rent, etc.)

Publicly display or perform the work (post, print, act, etc.)

Create derivative works from that work (sequels, adaptations, spin-offs)

License or sell any of these rights to others.

(It should be noted that copyright applies to specific expressions, not ideas. The specific details of your work, including the plot, characters, worldbuilding, text, and other unique aspects are protected. General ideas, tropes, themes, or concepts are not. A story about a magical school, a "chosen one" protagonist who discovers hidden powers as he gets older, or a bearded mentor who's killed at some point in the story are tropes that can't be copyrighted. However, a magical school with a specific personality-based house system, or a bespectacled dark-haired boy with a lightning-shaped scar, can. This isn't just a name thing, either, but covers features like personalities, unique characteristics, and character arcs. Hence "expression" versus "idea." Universal Studios even has a trademark on their specific expression of Frankenstein's monster (flat-top head, bolts in his neck, lumbering walk) - but that's only because the original copyright on Frankenstein itself has lapsed.)

Anyway, so authors have rights over their intellectual property. Pretty simple, right? Except, under this field of law, that means other people--including people who make fanworks--don't have the technical rights to this intellectual property. (They definitely don't have the right to make money off of it, unless they receive permission.) Because fanworks like fanfiction use protected elements like characters, worlds, and terms, they're derivative works, which technically only the author of the work has the right to create.

(Since I'm trying to keep my answer brief, you can read more about derivative works below the cut.) [1]

Many authors explicitly allow fan-made derivative works (aka fanfiction and fanart) of their fiction to be made anyway, with some obvious disclaimers (don't make money off of it, don't claim the original author wrote it, etc.). However, others are under the impression (or have been advised legally) that granting this permission could hurt them in the long run. They've been led to believe that if they don't "vigorously defend their own copyright," they will lose that copyright and all the rights that go with it (including say over how their work is used, where the profit goes, etc.). They believe they could lose in court if someone else plagiarizes them or steals their work and profits from it or uses their work in a way that they don't agree with (like depicting their popular character as homophobic); they will have no legal recourse, because they gave others permission to make derivative works of their story. I don't know how well-founded this fear is in a historical precedent sense, but I know it's rampant especially among older authors in the industry (for reasons I'll get into below), and I also know that legal battles do get really messy if it's not just "I said no, unequivocally, but you did it anyway." Granting permission in some cases (fanfiction) but not others (fanfiction that upsets you, or conflicts with your moral convictions, or hurts your product or its sales, or unfairly makes money off of your property) creates a really gray area in court, so some authors prefer just not to take chances and will blanket-ban derivative works of their stuff unequivocally.

(For a useful page on which authors explicitly encourage fanworks and which ones outright ban it, click here.)

Now, even for the authors who allow fan-made derivative works of their writing (which includes me!), there are many who are leery of actually reading it. Why? Long story short, this is referred to in the industry as the MZB incident.

I've heard different accounts of this story, but I'll boil it down to the bullet points that I know of:

In the 1980s, an author named Marion Zimmer Bradley (who is coincidentally (?) a horrid, awful criminal for other reasons) was a popular fantasy author who was extremely involved in her own fanfiction community. She actively encouraged fanfiction of her world and stories, and even edited a fanzine based off of this world, and was an overall enthusiastic and friendly collaborator and mentor to burgeoning fic writers, whom she invited to play in her setting as a sandbox. She was considered to be one of the biggest public champions of fanfiction at the time.

In one version of the story, a fan, Jean Lamb, sent one of her fanfics (published in a fanzine) to MZB. Some time later, the fan noticed that MZB was writing a new novel that had thematic and plot similarities to her own fanfic. The fan alleged that MZB had plagiarized her ideas, and fearing a potential legal battle, MZB stopped writing that book, developed writer's block, and never did work on that series ever again. This was a horrifying cautionary tale to all authors who witnessed it and essentially spelled the end of that fictional world (Darkover) for good.

In another version of the story, MZB received a copy of the fanzine from Jean Lamb, saw that Jean's story coincidentally focused on a character and time period that MZB herself was focusing on for her upcoming sequel, and she was stopped from continuing on the book by her publisher, who feared legal troubles. (This one is the one that makes the least sense to me, and I've personally heard it from others that this was not how things went down.)

In the last version of the story, MZB received a copy of the fanzine from Jean Lamb, really liked the ideas or interpretations she saw in it, and wanted to incorporate elements into the series' official canon, writing back to ask for permission to do this, like, "Hey, I really liked your take on so-and-so, can I put that in the new book with credit to you in the dedication and 500$?" She had apparently done this with other willing fans before. However, rather than the honored response she was expecting, Jean Lamb wrote back asking for more money and co-authorship on the cover, and MZB apparently got leery that if any similarities to the idea cropped up in her writing in the future, the whole thing would tailspin legally and she'd be accused of plagiarism. In short, the well had been tainted, and you can't just "forget" you saw a cool idea, and the fan knows you saw it, so if they get a whiff that the cool idea influenced you even in subconscious ways, they could be entitled to compensation. Or maybe just being "banned" from writing something in her own world because someone else claimed ownership to it soured MZB on the whole thing. Either way, she quit writing the series and banned all fanfiction of her work soon after.

The MZB was a big hullabaloo in both the professional author world and the fanfiction community at the time, and it's principally cited as the main reason why authors shouldn't read fanfiction of their own work. (You can read George R.R. Martin's summation of the story and why he doesn't allow fanfiction because of it below the cut.) There's a fear that if you accidentally get exposed to something--an interpretation, an idea, a take on your character or world--it becomes really unclear whose idea is whose, and the copyrights could overlap, and then you'll lose ownership over your own world, story, and characters. Even if you don't officially "incorporate" a fan's idea into the work like MZB allegedly wanted to, but instead come up with something on your own or were planning it all along, but it's known you also read fanfiction of your own work, there is no way of proving that you were already planning on doing the thing or were inspired by something totally different; a bad actor could claim you read their fanfic at some point and plagiarized it, so many authors choose to avoid the whole headache and protect themselves by just not reading fanfiction of their work at all, so as to not muddy the waters. [3]

I hope that all makes sense! This is already getting long, but I'll just wrap up by adding that I wrote all of this to answer your question--why some authors prefer not to read fanfiction of their own work--but I will add that I'm personally on the side of authors who support fanfiction and fanart (so long as no one's out to harm the original creator), and that I hope never to be proven wrong! :D

[1] Derivative works can in turn be protected under something called "fair use law." "Fair use" is generally broken down into four considerations:

Purpose and character of the derivative work. Things like parody, scholarship, commentary, and critique are protected are under fair use law. Also, things like whether the derivative work is non-commercial or transformative are also taken into consideration. A transformative work that significantly alters the characters and world of the original work (so how 50 Shades of Grey was ultimately totally different from Twilight, even though it started off as Twilight fanfiction) could be considered fair use. Likewise, if someone posts a free fanfic on, like, their Livejournal somewhere, it clearly isn't intending to hurt anyone or make a profit off of someone else's work, so it might be protected. This first consideration is generally the largest "protection" fanfiction has in the area of fair use, though it's hugely subjective and a matter of great debate: fanworks are by no means something that's unilaterally protected. But in short, if the purpose of a derivative work is not to profit from something, but to add new insight or transform it in some way instead of just ripping it off word-for-word for profit, it may be allowed under fair use.

Nature of the original work. A highly creative original work (like a novel or a film) is due more copyright protection than something like a newspaper article.

Amount and substantiality. If fanfiction uses substantial portions of the original work, especially the "heart" of it (such as key characters or plotlines), it is less likely to be considered fair use. If 30% of your work is just original text from the copyrighted work, your derivative fanwork may not be considered fair use.

Effect upon market's value. If a fanwork or fanfiction becomes competitive or harmful with the original work in any way, especially in a commercial sense (for example, fans are less likely to buy official sequels or licensed works because the niche is being filled by a fanfic), it probably won't be protected under fair use.

Even with all of this, there has been no case law that squarely addresses fanfiction in relation to fair use: it's all been judged by a case-by-case basis only. From this article: "works of fanfiction are more likely to constitute fair use if they are "transformative" with respect to the original work, if they are non-commercial, if they appropriate relatively little of the original work, and/or if they do not tend to detract from the potential market for or value of the original work."

Want some more interesting ways about the whacky ways fiction and fanfiction have intersected with the gray areas of fair use? Check out:

The My Immortal Memoir

The Larry Niven incident (and other legal issues with fanfiction)

Ship It, a fictional novel based on a real-life incident in the Supernatural fandom where a fanfic writer/shipper got shut down by one of the Supernatural actors when she asked him about homoerotic subtext in Supernatural... it's Ficception!

[2] GRRM's summary of the MZB incident in 2010:

Myself, I think the writers who allow fan fiction are making a mistake. I am not saying here that the people who write fan fiction are evil or immoral or untrustworthy. The vast majority of them are honest and sincere and passionate about whatever work they chose to base their fictions on, and have only the best of intentions for the original author. But (1) there are always a few, in any group, who are perhaps less wonderful, and (2) this door, once opened, can be very difficult to close again.

Most of us laboring in the genres of science fiction and fantasy (but perhaps not Diana Gabaldon, who comes from outside SF and thus may not be familiar with the case I am about to cite) had a lesson in the dangers of permitting fan fiction a couple of decades back, courtesy of Marion Zimmer Bradley. MZB had been an author who not only allowed fan fiction based on her Darkover series, but actively encouraged it... even read and critiqued the stories of her fans. All was happiness and joy, until one day she encountered in one such fan story an idea similar to one she was using in her current Darkover novel-in-progress. MZB wrote to the fan, explained the situation, even offered a token payment and an acknowledgement in the book. The fan replied that she wanted full co-authorship of said book, and half the money, or she would sue. MZB scrapped the novel instead, rather than risk a lawsuit. She also stopped encouraging and reading fan fiction, and wrote an account of this incident for the SFWA FORUM to warn other writers of the potential pitfalls of same.

That was twenty years ago or thereabouts, but that episode had a profound effect on me and, I suspect, on many other SF and fantasy writers of my generation.

[3] It would be like if a fan sent the Hunger Games author a fanfic that involved Katniss and Peeta's kids, Suzanne Collins was already in the midst of writing or was planning to write a sequel with Katniss and Peeta's kids, the two stories had significant overlap, and now Suzanne Collins feels like she can't publish the sequel as-is without either significantly redoing things just for the sake of being different from the fanfiction, or being accused of plagiarism by the fan. Better, in Suzanne Collins' mind, to never come into contact with fanfiction at all, and have both plausible deniability and an untainted well.

[2-dsimp]

POV: You made Jericho get too excited 👀

@cabieb

[randomsum]

Of course gotta say the creator of these characters is ✨ @2-dsimp ✨

TW slight nudity not rly tho I was going for Mortal Kombat outfits so it's kinda... Exposing?

Urielle the succubus

Azraella the succubus

So at first, they weren't going to fight in the woods....

Seraphina the succubus

[tiredmetalenthusiast]

Monsters walk at night (Monster!Price x f!reader)

Another one for @glitterypirateduck Price writing challenge!

Scenarios used, 16. ‘A Pursuit takes place’ and 44. 'A world where mates exist':

Warnings: monster fucking, NSFW, unprotected p in v, partial smut, literally getting chased down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It started off as an innocent walk through the woods by the large cabin Price had rented, (seemed more like a house when you saw it), stating you all needed a break. He had distributed the rooms when you all had arrived, securing the perimeter and making sure the security cameras and alarm system worked. You remember the day clearly.

The fridge was fully stocked as were the bathrooms, all the amenities needed for a few days stay away from civilization. You walked into the kitchen getting ready to make some food, the drive there was long and you were absolutely starving. “What are ye plannin ta make and can I have some because I am famished.” You turned to find Johnny strolling into the kitchen. “Well I wasn’t offering to make dinner just looking for a snack, but it’d be a shame to have the cabin burn down.” Johnny groans from the table, “It was one time bonnie! Was nae like I was plannin on burnin the place up!” “Johnny you set the place ablaze tryin to make CUP OF SOUP!” “I was tired!”

Price walked in shaking his head as Ghost and Gaz came in behind him chuckling. Simon piped up, “So you makin food or not?” You roll your eyes, “I’ll make a steaming pile of dog shit just for you Ghost.” “Make sure it has garlic and potatoes, yeah?” After dinner was decided on, (not dog shit), everyone settled in for the night with the exception of you and John. “Fancy a walk luv? There are lights on the trails.” You think about it for a minute and nod, “Sure. Seems like a nice night, gotta walk off that meal too.” You both chuckle and walk outside, the night warm so there was no need for jackets.

You both had been walking for about 20 minutes, the scenery beautiful and calming, making small talk as the scent of Price’s cigar smoke wafts around in the night air. The light from the cigars burning tip gave Price’s already attractive features a boost, almost making him look scary in the dark of the woods. “You know, I could use a bit more exercise. Up for a chase?” You look at him confused as he takes a hit from his cigar and blows the smoke upwards, the red embers showing in his eyes.

He leans closer as you take a step back, his eyes gleaming, his teeth seeming sharper. “Run.” That was all you needed as you took off into the trees. You don’t know how long you ran before you finally heard his boots hitting the ground behind you. He was far but not by much, the sound of his boots thudding loudly, almost like he was heavier now. You had briefly stopped behind a large rock but continued when you heard his voice ring through the forest, loud and strange. “Run all you want sweetheart. I can smell you from a mile away.”

You had barely made it to a clearing when you were tackled from behind. You managed to turn over, finding Price but he looked different. Horns protruded from his head, a spiked tail swaying behind him, teeth razor sharp and eyes glowing like the flames of hell. “Caught you darling. Smelled you the second you started running. Getting chased down turn you on?” You blushed, turning your head away. Sure you had always found Price attractive, you knew he wasn’t totally human, and maybe you had some disrespectfully spicy dreams about him, so who could blame you for being turned on.

He nudged your cheek before moving to your neck, inhaling your scent. “My mate.” “What?” “You’re my mate luv. Smelled it the second you walked onto base.” “ O-oh, um I-“ “Do you accept? I may be a monster but I’m not an asshole. I’ve seen your dreams, heard your whispers.” “This isn’t a joke right? Because…I love you, have for a while and if this is some weird or cruel joke just so you can get laid it’s not funny.”

His eyes widened, stunned. “You think so low of me? That I would make a joke of something so serious?” You shake your head no and he sighs in relief. Nuzzling into your neck, he licks and groans as he tastes your flesh mixed with sweat. “Do you accept?” You nod, “Words, dearest.” “I accept.” A rumble forms in his chest as you kiss him and you both begin to undress. You had felt the bulge of him rubbing against your thigh through the talk and it had you needy.

To say he was large was an understatement as you openly stared at the size of him. “It’ll fit fine luv, no worries.” You nodded hesitantly, “Please be gentle.” He kisses you to smooth your nerves as he slowly pushes in, catching all your pretty noises in his mouth. “That’s it darling. You were made to take me.” He was only half way in but you already felt so full of him but he continued to slip inside unhindered. When his hips finally connected with your’s he left out a drawn out moan into the night air and pulled back slowly. “I hope you’re ready sweetheart, because it’s about to be a long night.” Running a hand over the obvious bulge in your skin, you clench and that’s enough to get him started.

The night is spent surrounded by the sound of his hips meeting your’s, breathy moans, the name of your captain loud on your lips and hands firmly gripping his horns for the ride. He didn’t let up until the sun had almost broken the horizon, both of you spent and newly mated.

[bogleech]

What’s stopping the Mortasheen monsters with psychic weaponry from soundly overturning the balance of predation? Aside from the relatively few species that naturally resist it via distributed or inorganic brains, it seems like even the most heavily armed creatures would be pretty defenseless against rudimentary psychic attacks.

I guess people are used to "psychic powers" being really OP in a lot of media, but Mortasheen is a Pokemon-style world where psychic powers aren't automatically godlike. Using them requires concentration and your target's mind can still fight back even if it's just a little creature. Lorewise, psychic abilities only exist in Mortasheen because of a biological "wireless internet" system, which is enabled through biotech microorganisms that for centuries have saturated the global environment. So by now even rats have a little web connectivity, but not just anyone can hack a rat and steer it around. Even the rat's brain might damage your own in retaliation. It also follows Freddy Kreuger rules, where the psychic attack plays out in your subconscious like a dream world and your own imagination can "battle" the invading being.

[ominoose]

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐇𝐂'𝐬

Character(s): Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Jake Lockley Summary: Not x reader, just random silly thoughts about the lads. Kinda summer themed. They're still in London. This came out more British than intended. Warnings: None

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭

Now that he's not constantly tired and getting two hours of sleep every fifth night if he's lucky, the Brit goes between quiet moments with a book on the couch to hyperactive spiels with no warning.

The newfound energy also takes his sass and mischief to the next level. If Marc or Jake (usually Marc, Jake's too scared) piss him off he will not drop it. For days Steven will slyly bring it up, make offhand remarks or fully kick up the argument again. It's never serious, he's still the one to step in if the other two are at arms, but Steven is no pacifist. "Y'know I just bought all these ingredients to make a lovely homecooked dinner with enough leftovers for Jake's taxi shifts and Marc's workouts... But-" "Steven please, we're starving, come on." "Since my cooking apparently tastes like a grannies garden!" "Por favor, I didn't even say it, Marc did-" "But you didn't disagree bruv!"

Takes Eurovision seriously. He made a point of not watching the BBC broadcast this year, although he's kept tabs on it through other websites. He's still not over last year. Jake tried to look into it and made a small comment about listening to the winner, commenting on Sweden's contestant being good. Steven went on a rant for a good twenty minutes about how it was rigged before Jake learned this was a lot more than a friendly song contest.

Whines when its hot out and forces Marc or Jake to front outside. Then forces them to buy a Mr Whippy for him to front and eat.

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫

Gets really into British football. It started with hearing chants and noises outside on match days, the comradery and stupid sing-songs from fans in matching team colours bringing him a sense of nostalgia. He's still a diehard cubs fan, but going to the local pub to watch the match, getting a healthy outlet to yell and bang a table amidst others oddly suited him. Steven's just glad he's socializing.

Secretly folds up Stevens more "colourful" shirts and hides them.

Loves British chocolate, hates British crisps. He see's a packet of pickled onion Monster Munch and physically cringes away.

While Steven fronted and browsed through a charity shop, Marc spotted an old ds, just like one he had as a kid. The Brit could physically feel him eye it up from the inside and bought it. Now Marcs post-workout routine includes playing Pokemon.

Marc gets visibly sad and sighs whenever they phone in pizza because its never like the ones back home in Chicago.

Loves a greggs sausage roll.

𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲

Half the reason the other two found out about him was when the old lady that Steven scared off in the elevator to the point she avoided them like the plague suddenly smiled and offered them tea. Turns out Jake had been helping her carry the shopping back to the flat when they bumped into each other. Their odd tea and biscuit afternoons helped Jake keep tabs on the boys.

Naps in front of the telly, usually to some reality tv like Eastenders, snoring away. The moment Steven or Marc slowly try to control the arm holding the remote he jerks away, pulling it to his chest and telling them off because he's still "watching" it.

Knows Marc folds and hides Stevens shirts that he hates. He puts them at the top of the pile just before Steven fronts. Marc has no clue and it drives him nuts.

His favourite passengers to pick up are drunk women. They're always either very funny or tell the most downright devious gossip, never afraid to openly include him in it too.

Made a solemn vow to himself that if he ever drove past Rishi Sunak he'd egg him.

Since he prefers night-shifts, the cat distribution system seemed to give him an 90% chance of meeting kittens on the street. If he has a passenger when he spots the little critter he'll make a mental note to return after drop off, Jake Lockley will not pass a chance at checking up on and cradling a gatita. Marcs learnt to be somewhat present during these shifts to stop Jake sneaking home with several kittens in his coat.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Another random mechanics thought: I think d&d combat feels the best around levels 3-8 because it threads the needle between characters having juuuuust enough health that they don't go down in one or two hits in the early game, and being completely untouchable by mundane enemies when they reach higher level. In the 3-8 zone health is still a finite resource but the party can mitigate the loss of it by playing well.

Imagine a system where hitpoints/Hitdie were based off proficiency bonus rather than level (so 2xMax class HD+con for levels 1-4, 3xMax class HD+con for levels 5-8). It would mean that low level threats (wolves, bandits, minor dungeon traps) stay mechanically relevant as the party goes on, meaning that you're not forced to jump ahead to monsters with CR twice the party's level just to make combat consequential. It also might save boss battles against big solo monsters (giants, casters and the like) as the ability for an enemy to do large amounts of single target damage risks putting one of the party temporarily out of the fight and saving the boss from its usual fate of dogpiling.

Obviously you'd have to tinker with how damage numbers worked (only rolling damage once for an AOE and distributing it evenly across targets) , but I think it's workable.

This system would put a spotlight on temporary hitpoints, which would be far easier to get by staying in taverns, using limited supplies, playing into a survival element that's sadly lacking in the exploration side of gameplay. To draw from a bit of dungeon meshi/monster hunter influence, I could even imagine saying that the flesh of certain magical beasts when properly prepared and consumed could permanently boost a character's max HP, creating a natural questhook as the heroes go out of their way to track dangerous targets for the hope of tasting the literal breakfast of champions.

I might try this in a minicampaign in the future and see how it goes, but I'd be interested to hear what y'all think in the comments before that.

[sing-you-fools]

I've updated on the kittens plenty of times by now but I wanted to also add that we brought Mama Kitty (pictured a couple times above) and Daddy Kitty (not shown) to the shelter after we took the kittens in and they have since both been adopted! my friend at the library volunteers at the shelter and kept me posted for a while. it sounds like they were very loved in their time there, they both have forever homes now, and they've been fixed. I will miss the updates but I'm happy that all the sweet kitties have loving homes now.

and of course I would not leave you without another triplet update

I miss their little baby faces!

how am i supposed to do ANYTHING when these babies moved onto our deck last night 😭

[esamastation]

Shizuroth, part twenty-three

Previous parts: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two

-

Sephiroth has the loveliest flow going. The balance he is maintaining is extremely delicate for all the energy he's working with, but his Qi it's beginning to slowly circulate, he can feel it starting to pool in his lower dantian, there's even the beginnings of a proper spin going on. He's progressing at an incredible speed, really, it's unheard of! This body is really something else - he almost feels like he's getting close to a breakthrough already!

And then something interrupts him.

First comes the sense of danger, of the world around him around changing. The scenery stutters as the hologram breaks, reforming itself around him. Sephiroth, briefly, loses his footing, and the flow is distributed.

Then the hologram forms into the shape of a monster. An enormous cat with horns and blue and red fur, a Behemoth, roars into life and turns to him.

Sephiroth's heart skips a beat and the energy flow stutters, jitters - stalls.

"Now, Sephiroth," comes a voice through the speakers, an unnervingly thrilled sounding, almost giggling. "You have done well - now let's see you maintain that state against an opponent!"

Sephiroth's breath catches and he tastes blood.

The Qi-deviation crashes down on him like a twenty ton boulder, and his still unprepared system has no defence against it.

He burns.

Everything burns.

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect burned in the original text. Luo Binghe wrecked total devastation on the once greatest sect in the world, he killed everyone who fought, he hunted down everyone who fled, and those who knelt before him he spared - to become his servants, his slaves. A deserved retribution for all they'd done and all they failed to do.

Shen Yuan once saw a house fire down the street. An old couple had been cooking, something had gone wrong, the kitchen caught on fire. Before anyone could do anything the whole building was up in flames, and best the firefighters could hope for was to contain the flames. It was an old building, traditional and beautiful. Gone in an instant.

Half of Sephiroth's promotional art is him against a backdrop of flames, as he burns down the protagonist's home town.

He knows, on the inside, what's happening. He knows it intellectually. Though he'd not gone through many Qi deviations as Shen Qingqiu, he studied them, he'd witnessed them. It seemed like not a month went by without one disciple or another crashing down in a fit of Qi-deviation. Plus there was Liu Qingge and his deviation.

You can never really control how a Qi-deviation would go. It could be mental with uncontrollable emotions, it could be physical with sudden incredible changes, or it could be spiritual with any number of side effects. Or it could just be a week-long coma and a fever. Shen Qingqiu once saw a Qi-deviation that made one of his disciples as light as a feather - the mountain winds almost blew her off the peak! And another time, a disciple of his turned into a dog for a month. PIDW really just didn't do logic and reason when it comes to these things.

In Final Fantasy VII you just go mad, it turns out.

"Well done Sephiroth!" The Voice cries out triumphantly as the behemoth shatters into pixels. "Now, let's see you deal with -"

Sephiroth feels like a backseat driver in his own body, as it swings his sword, and in an instant all the speakers in the training room are reduced to scrap. He then follows with a sequence of swipes and swings that leaves the gun-metal grey walls all around him covered in slashes, sparks raining down on him as the hologram projectors join the speakers in their sorry fate.

Then he turned to the window, and the face plastered against it.

"Sephiroth, what are you doing - stop this instant -"

The glass shatters with an intensely gratifying crash, and The Voice squeaks in fright. Sephiroth smiles, and stalks forward.

"SOLDIERs, get in here - stop him! Stop him!"

The Voice is scampering away now, running - while others rush into his place, to stand in front of Sephiroth. 

All dressed identically, all smaller than him, all of them shaking. They hold their swords up to him, but they're shaking. They don't even dare to make a move against him. They're waiting for him to begin.

Sephiroth sees double for a moment, as sparks of green electricity become leaves and the pipes and cables hanging from the ceiling turn into bamboo stalks.

Ah, what cute and obedient disciples they are! 

"Very well, this master shall start. Get ready," he murmurs, smiling, and makes the first move.

The disciple stumbles, barely in time with his guard and Sephiroth has to pull his attack back to keep the disciple's own sword from hurting them.

"Again - don't focus on the blade, read the body!" Sephiroth says. "Start with this master's hands, see how they move - follow them. Then follow the arms, read the movement of the shoulders. Don't worry! By the time the master is done, you will know where your opponent will strike from the placement of their feet alone."

He makes a few attacks against the disciple until he's satisfied with their defence, and then turns to another. They duck to avoid his blade.

"Good! But don't waste this momentum. When you parry, use the momentum of your body to lead you to another attack. Don't waste energy - in a fight, every move should count. Mind your form!"

Then another startled disciple, who takes his sword head on and is knocked off their feet. "Plant your feet, bend your knees. Stand firm," Sephiroth says, pulling them back to their feet. "Everything begins with your footing. Not like that - you're left-handed, so bring your other foot forward, that's it, now, again -"

He corrects their form until he's absolutely certain none of them have any idea what they're doing! His poor disciples, they can't even remember the basic stances.

"There's no use - everyone, form up into lines," Sephiroth orders, tutting slightly. "Quickly now - not like that, leave plenty of space in between, you don't want to accidentally swing at your neighbour once we start…"

The shocked and confused SOLDIERs form into lines in the destroyed training room as Sephiroth stands in front of them like an amused school teacher. 

"Good. Now, follow this master's lead," Sephiroth says, smiling at them fondly. "He will show you how it's done."

Behind him a destroyed camera crashes into the ground.

-

Get Shizun'd.