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mythgirlimagines · 3 years

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It’s near impossible to miss this infamous taiko drummer! Nicknamed “The Summoner of the Rising Sun” by regular festival goers, introducing Myth Anon, the Former Ultimate Drummer!

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BACKSTORY AND TALENT

Myth was born and raised in a heavily traditional family that prides itself on its traditional values, alongside her two older sisters (who quickly rebelled and started illustrious sports careers). If there’s one thing that Myth looks forward to every summer, it’s the annual festivals that come every year, with the boisterous taiko drummers being a particular favorite of hers. One faithful summer, one of the taiko drummers that she idolizes so much decided to take her under their wing, in order to become a fully-fledged taiko drummer. Before you knew it, Myth became a massive staple of festivals everywhere, thanks to her loud voice and bombastic stage presence. When not performing at festivals, Myth likes to cheer on her sisters in their respective sports competitions, or upload drum set covers on the internet (with the help of her more technologically-adept friends). Myth’s skills in both taiko drumming and set drumming gave her the title of “Ultimate Drummer”, once she hit high school age. As an adult, her drumming skills are still going strong, and she’s currently working on chaperoning a bunch of Ultimates at the Kibo-Con.

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RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Samurai

Myth’s family and Wyre‘s family have been formidable allies, ever since the dawn of time, and Myth and Wyre themselves are no exception, being two birds of a feather, when it comes to sheer energy and wildness, as well as their strict upholding of their ancestor’s traditional values. Historical enthusiasts like to call them “possible time travelers from the past” or “living relics”, whenever they’re seen side-by-side. Wyre is one of the most formidable warriors that her family has ever seen, and is a beast in both brute strength and swordplay, and has an unshakeable code of bushido to those that treat her with respect, underneath that wild, feral and almost dog-like personality.

Outfit: Cleanier and smoother hair with a Nippon Icchi headband around her head, a red oni mask on the side of her head, a green and light brown haori and an off-white obi that houses a brown scabbard over a black gakuran uniform, bandaged arms and legs, black socks and white zori sandals.

Anon Scar, Ultimate Delivery Girl

Scar’s parents are the owners of the “Witch’s Brew Kitchen”, which is a restaurant that is famous for its dark and fantasy-esque wares and the employees acting a lot like what the modern generation refers to as ”chuunibyous”, when on the job. When Witch’s Brew Kitchen eventually offered online -induced delivery, they sent their ambitious daughter to deliver food (along with a couple of other employees) to all of the homes of the hungry (if lazy) customers. Time after time, Myth just winds up befuddled by Scar’s various odd actions. But Myth regularly helps Scar with deliveries, for her muscular build owes very well to lifting particularly heavy orders, much to the overworked Scar’s elation.

Outfit: A black delivery uniform with added spiked belts, and her hair in a ponytail, the scarf from her original design..

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Racer

Able to back up his extensive and nerdy knowledge of race cars and the race track with the ability to race down the track at high speeds, Fusion became famous for his superb skills, despite his age, and made a massive name for himself in the car racing circuit and as Hope’s Peak’s ”Ultimate Racer”. Fusion and Myth regularly protect and fuss over the other Ultimates, along with Scar. In turn, Fusion and Scar regularly watch over Myth, to make sure that her fiery attitude doesn’t get her into any trouble. Myth may consider bringing her oendan team to cheer Fusion on, during his races.

Outfit: A blue jumpsuit with yellow thunderbolt designs over the red t-shirt from his original design, yellow gloves, black and white sneakers, goggles on top of his hair.

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Pinball Wizard

With a heavy appreciation for the hobbies and pastimes of the olden days, Fusion II made a name for herself as the top pinball champion in any arcade that she happens to find eye-catching and cool enough. In an attempt to be seen as cool by her peers, Fusion II attempted to adopt the image and fashion sense of a greasy rebel without a cause that were so popular in the mid-1900s. But upon seeing a fellow history geek (albeit, a fan of the the entirely wrong time period), Fusion II’s spiked greaser shell quickly broke and her geeky side just sprang out. The two girls love to talk about their respective time periods together, and Myth learned that Fusion II wasn’t as much of a troublemaker as she thought.

Outfit: Bangs greased back, a black leather jacket and matching leather pants and fingerless gloves over the undershirt from her original design, boots from her original design.

Just Anon, Ultimate Gunslinger

Being born and raised in a kill-or-be-killed world that could take advantage of his small and weak build (and his general laziness), Janon had to master the use of a certain weapon to make it out alive and into his comfortable bed. Janon specializes in quickly drawing a gun out of his holster, shooting it with mighty precision, and putting it back into his holsters, without anybody knowing what hit them. Janon’s sheer disrespect for everybody (apart from Curious and Iris, but he’d be shot dead in an alley before said soft spot is made public) really puts him at odds with Myth, and Janon just finds Myth (and her drumming) really loud and intrusive on his (extremely-long) beauty sleep.

Outfit: A black cowboy hat, a blue and pink poncho over the formal wear and mask from his original design, brown holsters that house his pistols.

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Statistical Analyst

Blessed with a high intelligence quotient and a love for calculating statistics, Sparkle works for several global companies and helps prevent them from making foolish decisions that could cause their businesses to crash and burn. Assisting all of these high-profile companies gave her quite the large ego, and combined with her love of all things theatrical, you’d get a heavily melodramatic, self-proclaimed “SUPERBLY SPECTACULAR STATISTICAL SOMMELIER”, who regularly boasts about all of the random statistics that she can name off the top of her head. Myth seems to be one of the few people that can tolerate her volume, and thinks Sparkle would make an excellent addition to her group.

Outfit: A grey pantsuit over a pink dress shirt and matching heels, the cape and glasses from her original design.

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Thanatologist, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Revolutionary

While similar in aesthetics and their love for inserting out-of-left-field and cursed comments into otherwise normal conversation, Egg and Wet Sock are very different in terms of personality and talent. Despite being superbly chaotic and almost too obsessed with the concept of death, Egg is surprisingly a great grief counselor to people in mourning, while Wet Sock leads a rebellion group with an iron fist and doesn’t mince their words when it comes to the terrible state of the world. While Myth was initially unnerved by the twins, Myth eventually found out just how kind and dependable Egg and Wet Sock was in spite of their cursed comments and less-than-conventional worldviews.

Outfits: Skull masks (symbols of Wet Sock’s movement), black sweaters with white stripes on the sleeves and a red heart in the center, blue ripped jeans and spiked black boots.

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Fashion Designer

Curious was born into a family that was at the top of both the social and the fashion ladder, and Curious has been put to work designing clothes, ever since he started showing considerable skill in sketching out and designing clothes. In spite of their age, Curious is known as a fashion genius and a pioneer in the new age of gender-non-conforming formal wear, with the hybrid suit-dress being a particular speciality of their’s. Curious has a very gullible personality, and Myth regularly takes advantage of their gullibility to plan some mischief together and just toying with the fashion designer in general, much to the ire of Janon and the Freak Twins. Myth also loves modeling for them.

Outfit: Hair tied into a ponytail, a green tuxedo with white wedding dress material on the ends and white heels.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Priest

Born into an extremely religious family, Nerd’s family repeatedly drilled all of the God-loving philosophies into his head and trained him to become a professional priest (just like every other man in his family) for as long as he lived under their roof. While Nerd is patient and calm, when it comes to conducting religious ceremonies, he’s the complete antithesis of that, the second he steps outside of a religious building, or the second anybody disrespects his faith, being loud, violent, and vulgar. While Nerd initially had a disrespectful and terrible attitude in the eyes of Myth, Nerd and Myth eventually became closer, thanks to their protective attitudes and shared strong and unshakeable moral codes.

Outfit: Same outfit as the original, but with the addition of a golden cross necklace.

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Mangaka

Too scared of the outside world to even leave the squalid apartment that he resides in, Eldritch, desperate to wake the world up to the fact that they live in a dystopia, decided to write manga under the pet name “Sheeple Savior”, which are usually about seemingly-normal towns suffering from horrible atrocities, that everybody (but the “chosen one”) remains completely blind to. Years of living in an isolated apartment, combined with his already paranoid and pessimistic mindset, means that he shows a hostile distrust to everybody, with Myth’s loud and overbearing attitude just scaring the miniature mangaka away. Myth also can’t handle all of the subject matter that Eldritch writes.

Outfit: Long and unkempt hair, a white and baggy t-shirt with a spiral in the center, the shorts, socks, and slippers from his original design.

Dream Anon, Ultimate Barista

Originally getting a job at the local coffee shop to earn some extra pocket money, as Dream spent more and more time as a barista, she eventually became one of the most popular employees at the coffee shop, thanks to her cheery and peppy attitude and the sheer passion that she puts into making and serving coffee. Before meeting Dream, Myth has never had coffee before (due to her upbringing, she prefers tea), and Dream regularly likes offering a plain latte to anybody who never had coffee before. This has led to disastrous and chaotic results, as the taiko drummer went on an utter rampage, and it took several cups of green tea and Wyre to calm the drummer down.

Outfit: A grey ski cap, a green apron over a black t-shirt with a white illustration of a steaming cup of coffee, a pink flannel shirt wrapped around her waist, grey shorts, black socks and pink sneakers.

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Bed Tester

As a young and optimistic girl with very big dreams, she takes all of the tasks thrown at her seriously and with great gusto, no matter how ridiculous the side hustles are. But her most successful side hustle yet has to be a bed tester for a heavily influential bed-manufacturing company, called “Sweet Dream Industries”. Getting the Starry Iris Badge of Approval is how one knows that a bed is comfortable and satisfactory to sell. Needless to say, when Myth first met Iris and heard about her talent, she was outright cackling for minutes on end. Once she got over the thought of Iris’s talent, she began viewing Iris as a younger version of her, and is extra protective of Iris for that reason.

Outfit: Hair in two messy braids, glasses on top of her head, galaxy-printed pajamas, yellow ankle socks.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Card Shark

Though originally the scion of a very influential family, Purple’s parent ended up going bankrupt after accidentally getting tangled up in the criminal underworld. Now at the bottom of the social and monetary ladder, Purple decided to take to the gambling tables, in order to replace the riches that her family ended up losing. From there, the shy scion learned about her talent for deceit, and became known by many as the Ultimate Card Shark. Ever since Myth heard about Purple’s talent, the strong-moral-compassed drummer didn’t want to tangle with anyone who lied for a living. This makes Purple one of the few Kibo-Con attendees who Myth openly dislikes, much to the dismay of the timid gambler.

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PERSONALITY

Drummer!Myth has a very loud voice and an equally boisterous presence, which really helps her be heard in the festivals that she regularly attends, as well as leading her oendan group/band. Despite seeming overbearing, rough, and hard-headed, once you get on her good side, you have only the most loyal and supportive friend by your side. Despite being the youngest sister in her family, she often acts like a supportive and protective older sibling to the Ultimates and Jr. Ultimates. She loves using her strength to help anybody in need, and it gave her infamy amongst her hometown, for her helpful attitude and the physical abilities to back it up. Apart from drumming, Drummer!Myth also has a love for sports (thanks to her two older siblings) and ancient history and traditions (thanks to her upbringing), and wouldn’t tolerate anybody who disses either of those things.

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APPEARANCE

Drummer!Myth has wild and tousled brown hair in a ponytail held by a white ribbon with a pink headband around her head. Drummer!Myth simply wears her oendan/festival wear, which consists of a sleeveless robe that’s white on the left side and blue on the right side with a special purple pattern on the bottom, and tying it all together is a pink obi. Underneath the robe are white bandages that bind her chest and black shorts. The bracelets on each of her bandage wrapped arms match her shorts and she wears white socks and geta sandals that boost up her height.

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I honestly have no idea why, but I decided to go for a different drummer, as opposed to the kind that Max is. I decided to take cues from the two best fictional taiko drummers I know: Saeko from Haikyuu, and Tomoe from Bandori! I hope you like this design! Let me hear your opinions on this AU!

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welcometoels · 3 years

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Session Thirteen - Zanthia

After a decidedly mixed few hours in the unfriendly city of Monthend, the party has found themselves in the much more agreeable company of Zanthia, a perky Halfling who works as a waitress-cum-entertainer at The Wayward Alchemist.

It is under her guidance that the team now finds themselves upstairs at the Alchemist, as she leads them past the rooms where the staff entertain their more discerning clientele in private. She also tells them of the tradition wherein particularly satisfied customers purchase lanterns to be hung on the walls next to the rooms of their favourite workers.

Zanthia’s room is the last, the largest, and the most abundantly illuminated. Inside, the floors and walls are bedecked with expensive and peculiar gifts from all over Toltirgis.

Also present in the room are three Elves, whom Zanthia introduces; admiring himself in the mirror is the High Elf, Jof Suffers; trying their best to be unnoticed is the Wood Elf, Anemia Rixme; and perched on the edge of the four-poster bed is the Drow, Cailynn Coldcloud, with her clockwork wyvern Moo.

While the first two show little interest in the party, Cailynn takes a moment to introduce herself - perhaps because she sees in them a common yearning to solve the mysteries that have plagued them in life, but more likely because she is played by an actual human person (welcome to the game, Alex!)

Cailynn is an artificer, specialising in alchemy. Purple of eye and skin, she cuts a dashing figure in black studded leather armour and candyfloss pink hair - though, due to certain magical causes, this changes on a day-by-day basis.

As the team settles in on a plushly cushioned corner of Zanthia’s room, she fills them in on why she has brought them all upstairs. It transpires that a close friend of hers has been taken hostage by a dangerous group of people - of whom dragon hunter Herrington is a member. She needs a group of seasoned adventurers to assist in setting them free.

To help pique their interest, Zanthia suggests to Talion that he may well find useful information pertaining to the people who may be tracking him down. Talion is surprised by how much she knows, but, with a coy smile, she points out that she makes it her business to know as much as she can about new arrivals in the city, and he and his party are the most interesting people to have arrived in a long time.

At this juncture, Jof drops off a hastily scrawled map of the building where Zanthia’s friend is being held, and leaves cautiously. Zanthia explains that he used to be a member of this dastardly group of kidnappers and dragon killers, and has provided a layout of the building at great personal risk.

There is more to the plan too. Downstairs, in the back room of the Wayward Alchemist, the guards who form tomorrow night’s shift are playing a friendly game of cards. Zanthia feel confident that she can get one more player into the game, potentially allowing them to incapacitate the guards somehow, thereby allowing the party to take their places.

Cailynn has just the thing. Rummaging through her alchemist’s kit, she quickly concocts a mild poison - not enough to kill a person, but certainly sufficient to cause them great intestinal discomfort the next day.

And so, a plan is formed: Kadis will pose as the player, whilst Oddsock sneaks around dog-style, checking out the other players’ cards and mentally transmitting them using his eldritch powers. Talion will offer musical distraction, Cailynn will stand ready with the poison, and Julius will be an adorable otter.

In order to help them prepare for this ruse, Zanthia opens up her various closets, with an instruction to take anything they need, but to stay out of the bottom drawer.

Talion is in first, tarting himself up with various ruffs and powders, and perhaps taking it too far. Oddsock keeps it simpler, with just a top hat, bow tie and monocle. Julius dons a jaunty poncho, and Cailynn takes feather boas for herself and Moo. Kadis changes into so smart but comfortable red gear, better matching his new eyewear.

Before they head down, Zanthia bestows a quick blessing upon them, making them all harder to spot when sneaking. You never know when it might come in handy.

Downstairs, Zanthia has a quick word with the Tiefling bar manager Tabitha - firstly about the game, and secondly about the sleeping man she left at one of her tables. Tabitha nods, and mutters the words “clean-up on table twelve” into her necklace.

At this, the hulking Golem doorman Stopdick folds himself in through the door. A path is quickly cleared before him, and he picks up the slumbering lecher and carries him out of the door. There is a soft clattering of a rubbish bin, and nothing further is seen of heard of either of them.

Inside the back room, the team finds six High Elves around a table, with a jug of booze and a deck of cards. Kadis strides up to them with unusual brazenness, inviting them all to find out how it feels to be beaten by a blind man.

Amused by his chutzpah, they allow him to join the game. Kadis sits himself down - successfully feigning blindness, despite his beholder companion being secreted in his eyescarf - and is dealt in.

The game is Raktika Hold’em - a simple poker variant involving two cards per player, five in the river, four rounds of betting and a buy-in of a single copper coin.

The dealer hands out the cards to the players. Around the table sit Melch, Punsie, Rimothy, Elbothan, Gunnannonnimon and Talion’s nemesis Herrington - a fact that does not go unnoticed by the bard.

Kadis’ hand is promising:

Jammy git.

He throws in his copper, and matches a raise from Herrington - as do the other players. The river is dealt, revealing an all-important King. Off to a strong start.

Oddsock does a good sneak and ogles the cards of Melch and Punsie - nothing much going on, though the presence of some diamonds in their hands could be an issue.

A round of betting follows, while Talion begins performing a rousing (and hopefully distracting) song for the players. As he does so, he can’t help put spread a little magic, conjuring up an unpleasant smell from Herrington’s direction. Gunnannonnimon wrinkles his nose and shifts a little further away.

The fourth card is dealt into the river - a Two of Clubs. Oddsock can see that this offers nothing to help either Rimothy or Elbothan, both of whom are holding absolute rubbish - not that one would be able to tell based on their bets.

The players go in bold for the next round, and even Kadis allows himself to put in a raise now that four of his six competitors’ cards are in his mind.

The final flop seals the deal - it’s only the bloody King of Spades. Though he is now sitting on a Three Of A Kind, Kadis does not let this break his poker face, even after Oddsock confirmed that Herrington and Gunnannonnimon have nothing to threaten him. Delivering a new magical smell into Herrington’s lap, Oddsock returns to Kadis’ side for well-earned scritches.

Emboldened by his sneaky knowledge, Kadis puts in a large raise. Several players bow out, but Herrington holds fast in the mistaken belief that his pair of fives will bring him anything but embarrassment. Already troubled by the looks he is receiving for his odour, he puts in a raise of his own, which Kadis matches and raises further with a handful of gold.

A disturbance ensues, with much grumbling about “limits” and “poor manners”. Between this, the stench and the increasingly raucous music, the stage is set for a sneaky poisoner. Cailynn sets Moo into flight with a tiny vial, the contents of which he successfully deposits into the jug unseen.

After Moo has returned to his partner, the fracas begins to die down, and somebody proposes a toast to help clear the air. Drinks are poured from the jug for each of the players - including Kadis.

Ruh-roh.

Seeing this happen, Julius beckons Oddsock over and asks him to connect with him mentally. Minds linked, the otter tells the dog that he has a certain spell that can remove the effects of poison. Oddsock passes this intel across to Kadis, who raises his glass and sups with confidence.

Now that the mood is once again convivial, the group excuses themselves to return to Zanthia’s room, wherein Julius lays on his paws and removes the poison from Kadis, thereby avoiding a day of severe intestinal distress.

Settling back into the room, the gang tries to relax - which is easier for some than others. Julius is uncomfortable with all the skullduggery, and takes a quiet moment in a corner to contemplate the blue pebble that used to be a glowing gem, but which now hangs from his necklace.

He runs his paws over its surface, and tries to recall the intense feeling he got when first he held it, but the emotion of that moment evades him. Drawing the pebble close to his mouth, he whispers to it:

“Pa...?”

At that moment, each of the former gems and lanterns - even the one in Kadis’ pocket - emits the same sound:

“Pa...?”

Everyone looks at Julius, who looks back with confusion. A further mystery - albeit a useful one - has now come to light.

With his mind on the gems, Kadis dips his hand into his pocket and withdraws the golden gear. Taking a bit of a punt while riding high on his modest poker win, he hands it over to Cailynn. As her fingers meet it, she

Hears the voices of her family for the first time in many years

Hears them pleading with their pursuers

Hears them no longer

She sinks to the ground as the golden gear affixes itself to her silver skull necklace, and becomes very quiet.

After some tentative support from the team, she tells them about the murder of her parents and her 50-year-old sister - still just a child by Elven lifespans - at the hands of a violent group who had been blackmailing them. Still being young herself, her magic was not enough to save any lives but her own, and she has lived with the guilt ever since.

Talion sympathises and shares his own story of familial woe, as do the others, all of whom have lost family in one way or another. The mood becomes bleak, so Zanthia opens up a Dragonborn statue, withdraws a very expensive brandy with several crystal glasses, and proposes a toast to them all, to their friendship, and to the success of their future endeavours.

And with that, to bed. Most of the group settles right down onto the cushions, though Oddsock has a quick, very educational snuffle around the forbidden drawer, while Julius fidgets nervously, unable to catch sleep.

Zanthia takes to her four poster bed, leaving space for company, and tipping a wink to Talion. Never one to turn down an opportunity, he joins her as she draws the bed's curtains. There follows an experimentation with bardic inspiration that shall never be explicitly discussed.

The dreams that follow reflect the day that they’ve all had: Themes of familial loss and gambling abound, but at least there aren’t any tentacles.

In the morning, breakfast is brought up - sausages and regular, non-mimic eggs. Zanthia asks the group all to be here in her room in the afternoon, but otherwise they have the morning to themselves.

Talion immediately tries to pursue a monetary reward to help refill their dwindling stocks, and speak to Tabitha about a slot performing in the Alchemist. She requests a sample of his music, and his performance is sufficiently good to earn him a spot onstage during happy hour. Satisfied, he settles in to hone his art.

Oddsock heads out a-sniffing, to see if he can find any trace of his homeland. A familiar scent is on the breeze, so he follows it, passing by some priests desperately scrubbing their steps, and finds a barrel storehouse. Further in, two men are operating brewing equipment, and the scent of hops and malt fills he air.

Oddsock approaches them, and the nearest - a simple fellow named Brando - approaches. After a deployment of the canine charms, he becomes besotted with Oddsock, and asks his companion Kevinge if he can keep him.

Kevinge is less impressed, so Oddsock delves into his mind and tells him that belly rubs are his only road to salvation - or, at least, that’s what he means to say. Oddsock is not so good with the long words.

Mistaking the voice in his head for god, Kevinge begins rubbing his own belly and muttering the word ‘salamander’ to himself. Pleased with his morning’s work, Oddsock trots away.

Also out on the town is Julius. In an attempt to reconnect with nature, he goes out looking for foliage. Though the city is very built up, there are a couple of trees here and there, and it is towards one of these that he strays.

Resting a paw upon it, he channels his druidic magic and begins to speak to it. The spell works, though the tree does not have much wisdom to offer. It has stood for long and seen much, but its only concerns are the soil, the water and the sun.

It turns out that this is just what Julius needed - a few calm, relaxing words from nature to soothe his anxious soul. He meanders in the sunshine, a much happier otter.

Cailynn is on a natural quest of her own, but for nothing quite as pure as Julius. The poison she made last night depleted her mushroom stocks, so she is hunting around for something unpleasant for future efforts.

Though mushrooms and toadstools are nowhere to be found, she does finds a promisingly thick collection of mould behind some bins. Scraping it into a little container, she adds it to her alchemy kit for later perusal.

In a nearby library, Kadis is sat with a stack of books on the topic of local history. He is trying to read up on his old home town of Amberstall, and anything that may have happened to it after the event that robbed him of his sight and his family.

Unfortunately, the only books he can find are too old, and the entries only refer to Amberstall as the modest farming town he remembers from his youth. He does also find an entry about Thornhelm, the town he helped defend against bandits, though again, there is no mention of that event.

Mostly, he is just happy to be reading again, and takes his time leafing through a few tomes in peace.

As the team members begin to return to the Wayward Alchemist, Talion starts playing. Though his audition was just adequate, his afternoon performance is exquisite. Even the taciturn Tabitha pauses her work to watch him, and once he is finished, she hands him a purse of gold and a little bottle of good brandy as a tip.

All together again, the group heads upstairs, where a strange woman awaits. Long of ear and sharp of uniform - just like the guards of last night - she stand just shy of five feet tall in her stacked but professional boots.

The adventurers are cautious, but Oddsock catches a familiar whiff of perfume.

This is Zanthia. And she’s ready to get to work.

#dnd #dnd homebrew #5e

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capricornus-rex · 4 years

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Two Sides of the Coin (18)

Chapter 18: Altering It Further | Jidné Sheedra x Cal Kestis

Summary: Hell-bent on exacting revenge and retrieving the Holocron, the dreaded Darth Vader is now on the hunt for the young Jedi Knight, Cal Kestis. Under the assumption that he still possessed the artifact, while fueled by the intrigue of the boy’s strength and skill with the Force, the dark lord hires the bounty hunter, Jidné Sheedra, to track him down and have him delivered alive. However, the task becomes a trial for young Jidné, as she faces a conflict that tests her beliefs of a scarred past she had hidden for so long.

A/N: Look it @berenilion another Vader chapter ;w;

Also tagging @silver-is-in-too-many-fandoms @stellar-trinity @justtinfoley @peterwandaparker @calgasm @queen-destenie @ayamenimthiriel @calsponchoemporium @fallenjedii @cal-jestis @sweeetteaa

Also in AO3

Tags: Fem OC, Jidné Sheedra, Force-Sensitive! Fem OC, Bounty Hunter! Fem OC, Jedi! Fem OC

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 | Previous: Part 17 | Next: Part 19 | Masterlist

18 of ?

A black, high pyramid tapering upwards marked the desolate, volcanic landfill that is Mustafar.

Jidné piloted the Scarab close to the transport shuttle’s tail, led by the Sixth Sister in her specialized TIE Fighter.

Jidné didn’t even realize that she’s held her breath even after getting through the atmosphere, the turbulence on her end was light, but the eeriness of the landscape captivated and frightened her at the same time—concentrating all her attention to the castle sitting by the edge of the black plateau. A single stream of glowing, red-hot lava resembling a waterfall accentuated the structure’s ominousness.

All three ships occupied the open hangar, albeit being a wide space. Jidné alights the Scarab and joins Cal’s side while he’s held by one Stormtrooper in the other.

Subtly using the Force, Jidné curled her fingers and willed the hool of Cal’s poncho to rise and cover his head. She was careful enough to make it go unnoticed by the Stormtrooper, but of course, it took Cal by surprise to feel his hood suddenly moving on its own. He turned his head to the only possible culprit—though she still didn’t look back to him, she couldn’t.

“The hot air here’s gonna make your head feel like it’s scorching,” Jidné mumbled through her cowl with the coil covering the bottom half of her face. She bobbed her head closer so her voice is still within the redhead’s earshot, making her more audible over the sound of the geysers spewing the said hot air.

Not once did she turn her head to face him as she spoke.

There was no response from him. She isn’t expecting one anyway. Understandably so, she immediately put herself in the mindset that Cal was furious with her. Though, he himself seems to contradict. His gentle surprise caused his eyes to remain on her, studying her feature and expression—the languidness on her face gave off the illusion that her laughter was a thing of the past, her dejected eyes slowly blinking and her head panning by the inch as she surveyed the castle and the landscape around it.

Cal, Jidné, and the rest of the Stormtroopers followed the Sixth Sister to the main door unprompted.

“Inform Lord Vader that we have the boy and that the bounty hunter is with us,” the Sixth Sister commanded the scout trooper manning the terminal.

“Copy!”

The scout trooper presses the button and spoke through the microphone head, relaying the exact words of the Sixth Sister. The door rumbled open seconds after the scout trooper concludes his announcement and they continued to follow.

The outside of the castle was one thing, but the inside was another story. Something about the interior made Cal and Jidné’s skins crawl—an alien feeling that they can’t describe, but somehow know of.

The Dark side of the Force.

The Sixth Sister has led them to the receiving chamber where Darth Vader meets those who wish to see him; on one side, there was a large rectangular slit on the wall facing the volcanic view outside, and in the other, was the door connecting the foyer and Darth Vader’s chamber.

All of them waited there. Even Jidné and Cal can feel the red Twi’lek tensing up.

The heavy creaking of the door caused everyone in the foyer to turn away from the window, smoke was spilling through once it went ajar, from a thin slit to a gradually gaping space until it revealed the tall figure, darker than the obsidian on which his fortress stands.

There mere sight of him shook the two young Jedi to their very cores. The monotonous breathing that filed the room has pierced its way to the hearts of everyone present and made their stomachs sink as if anchors had been tethered to them. The cool, poised façade of the Sixth Sister seemed to ebb, both Cal and Jidné sensed it, but the feeling’s mutual.

Darth Vader acknowledges the Inquisitor, Jidné—who he still believes to be a bounty hunter—and the prize in question, the Jedi boy Cal. He marched along the narrow bridge connecting the door and the foyer. As per custom, the Sixth Sister lowered herself to her knees as the dark lord approaches them. The closer he got, the more profuse the trembling became for the two young Jedi; only then did both of them truly have processed just how lumbering Vader was in size and the authority he imposed in his every step, in the slightest tilts of his helmet, and the blood-red glint of his mask’s eye sockets.

“My lord,” greets the Inquisitor.

“Rise,” he lowed rather disinterestedly. A slow sideways wave of his hand and the Twi’lek was quick to obey.

The Sixth Sister stepped aside to present the Jedi boy and the bounty hunter by his side. The Sith Lord stepped closer, Jidné’s elbows buckled closer to her sides while Cal’s already-clenched fists closed even tighter. As much as they wanted to avert their eyes to spare themselves from the terrifying sight of his mask, they couldn’t. In the end, they had to roll their eyes up in order to look at him in the eye, or at least through the pair of convex bumps that gleaned red when the light hits.

“Well done, Jidné,” Vader hummed.

Vader gestures at one of his personal bodyguards in that foyer—a Shadowtrooper: their armor was a glossy, jet black, perfectly blending in with the background whilst having a cloaking device that will mask their entire person. The Shadowtrooper approached one side of the room and what sounded like the latch of a trunk opening, he produced a storage canister—same as the one Jidné received for her upfront payment—he then activated a podium that erected from the floor at the touch of a button of his gauntlet for him to settle the container down. Performing a series of button patterns, he set off the lock to reveal that only a half filled the inside.

“That could only cover my fee, not the bounty price,” Jidné pointed out, maintaining character.

“Were you expecting a thicker stack? Or a second canister?”

“You don’t hear me complaining, m’lord,” Jidné blurted. “I was just stating the obvious.”

“Do not concern yourself over something that’s been considered done and covered. After all, you have accomplished what my two Inquisitors failed to do,”

She didn’t respond to the commendation, though Vader perceived her head hung low as she drew a heave of breath as a reaction. He then turns to the boy. The tension at Nur ran fresh in both of their minds—however, Vader was fueled by his recollection of the entire inconvenience that transpired in that stronghold.

Cal gets himself hauled forward to Vader, the Stormtrooper struggles to push the boy towards the large, lumbering figure that is the dark lord of the Sith.

For once, the dark lord has the opportunity to examine Cal without any lightsabers clashing angrily against one another. His blank, empty eyes stared right into the boy’s eyes—more alive than his could ever be—and Cal attempted to keep a brave face, despite repressing the shuddering that’s trying to break free from his body.

“Now, you will surrender the Holocron,”

In Cal’s mind, everything made better sense now. He turned to Jidné, and then to Vader. He managed a small smirk right in front of the dark lord.

“I don’t have it,” he muttered.

“Liar.”

Cal shakes his head whilst the smirk on his face grew.

“I really don’t,”

Vader’s head jerked to the girl, searching confirmation from her indifferent expression—he sensed that Jidné knew something as she continued to keep her head low and her eyes away.

“Then you’re hiding it somewhere,” insinuated the Sith lord. He looks at Jidné. “Tell me what he has done with the Holocron.”

Silence spoke on Jidné’s behalf. She rolled her eyes to Cal’s direction, avoiding Vader’s.

His short-lived patience is now spent. He hoisted his hand in level with Jidné’s neck, the air rumbled within the two Jedi’s radius, a heavy glom wrapped around them—Cal could feel its weight on him, but it was Jidné who had more of the receiving end.

She started to struggle in breathing, the gulps that she swallowed all lodged in the middle of her throat, the veins on her neck were pulsing as the muscles around it tightened. Jidné clutched her neck, hoping that rubbing it would make it go away—instead, she continued to gag, short breaths did not sate her lungs. Her eyes finally trailed up and found the root cause—Vader’s gloved hand is positioned into an open grapple directed in front of her. It didn’t take long for her to submit on her knees—in a moment, on one knee, and then the second in the next—her hand was still on her neck, clawing off a non-existent grasp asphyxiating her.

Darth Vader doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon… not until either of them talks.

“LET HER GO, SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!” Cal raised his voice against Vader, though that didn’t convince him and continued to strangle the girl.

Again, Cal took his voice to its peak, so much so that the words strained his chords, “THE HOLOCRON IS DESTROYED!!! I DESTROYED IT—NOW LET HER GO!!!”

The suffocating ripple of the Force coiled around her neck finally vanished into thin air. Jidné inhaled the deepest that her lungs could take—the biggest one she’s ever done in her entire life! She exhaled in coughs and fully collapses to the ground as she felt like her spine had turned into liquid. She breathed a few more time to reset her pattern before pulling herself back, little by little.

“Jidné…? Are you okay?”

It was a subtle nod that she did to reply to Cal. Her panicked heart still raced until she mentally willed it that she’s still alive and breathing.

“You…” Vader trailed off. “Destroyed it?”

“I’ve seen and remembered enough names when I opened that Holocron. If you kill me now, you will never get a single one of them!” Cal snarled.

Perhaps in a way to rub it in his face, Vader leaned closer to Cal until a mere inch of space divides the two of them.

Vader purred, proud of himself that he had outwitted the boy, “But I can get it out of you.”

“What are you going to do with him?” Jidné inquired, still trying to keep in character.

“That is not of your concern. You should concern yourself more with the second half of the bargain,”

Darth Vader promised the second payment to Jidné if she stays until Cal is brought to the torture chamber. The simple mention of that word made Cal’s heart beat twice at a time. He has only seen the machine when inactive in real life, he’s seen it at work but only in his Force vision of Trilla’s memory—he could think of a hundred ways how it would feel if it was he himself strapped to the machine.

The Shadowtrooper adjusting the canister an inch forward was supposedly a prompt for Jidné to take the money, but she didn’t want to take it. Blood money, she thought. Seconds later, Vader notices her hesitation.

“Is there something else, child?” Vader inquired.

“N-No… my lord,”

“Then take it,”

She clenched her fist to eradicate the trembling. His invitation for the girl to take the money was a trick challenge he’s imposed—should the Sith lord notice the fumble in her hands, his suspicions would immediately be proven true.

Eventually, Jidné’s fingers wrapped around the handle and pulled it away from the podium. She still could not will herself to look at Cal in the eye, presuming that she had truly betrayed him—if only she could freeze time, she would’ve shouted it until her voice reaches the very foundation of the building that she has fallen for him and that she doesn’t want to do this anymore.

Jidné slowly turns around, her back against everyone else, as she was dismissed by Vader himself so she can return to the hangar to hide away her bounty.

“I shall expect you in the torture chamber soon, Sheedra,”

That stopped Jidné in her tracks. Her grip around the handle tightened until her palms swelled. Ever so slightly, she bobbed her head to the side, one inch shy of showing her face over her shoulder.

“Understood.” She huskily replied, a dreary tone rasped as she spoke.

Eager to leave, she continued to walk away and succeeded in hiding the tears streaming down her cheeks as she takes every step.

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rdxzone · 3 years

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A Horse Of A Model

Horses can perform many things, but would they pose? Pasadena, California, is the house of the sole lady on the planet, an equestrian photographer, who will get them to pose, and her portraits are featured in celebrity homes. Who'd have guessed a girl who borrowed her first camera from Pasadena City College (PCC) would later earn fame for trackside photos, like the Montreal Olympics and British Princess Anne.

It was only practical that she should practice photography on horses on her behalf PCC photography classes, which she took after graduating from Pasadena High School. The Eaton Canyon Riding Stables were like a second home to her since she was 10 years old. She did her homework every weekend at the stables with her borrowed camera. Custom Royal Pet Portrait Once she sold her first horse photo, she gave up music, art, and journalism.

First, she became a secretary under two famous photographers at a horse show in Santa Barbara, after which it she traveled the country together, helping them pose horses in tracks, shows, and state fairs. Second, she installed with another photographer pair, who stayed the California circuit. Now with business assistance from her mother, she is clicking on her very own with a Swedish camera equipped with German lens.

Six-foot jumps and winning a race by the nose are her trademark shots. But her formal photos, of horses bent down on all fours, may also be a source of pride. Additionally, there are horses who love being facing the camera. With one look at the camera, some horses perk their ears or raise their heads. You will find other horses that won't move a muscle to greatly help you.

Even good photographers put a little effort to their photos. Mid-air with legs bent at the right angle is the best bet for hunters and jumpers. The most effective pose for Tennessee walkers, on the other hand, is by using their front hoofs doing his thing and an over reaching hoof with their hind legs. The most effective pose for an investment horse is stopping in a fall, and the very best pose for a saddle horse is by using his legs and head held high. An image of the Peruvian Paso, an endangered South American species that aficionados are struggling to save, is one of her best known works. With their forelegs rolling toward the surface, it is the best time to capture a picture. With their riders in traditional white ponchos and their elaborate bridles and saddles, the Paso is really a photographer's pet.

Photography is the important thing to meeting celebrity horse enthusiasts. She has even caused it to be to royal circles. Her coverage of Princess Anne at the Montreal Olympics brought her side-by-side with the Queen, herself. She started a discussion, and the Queen revealed that she felt nervous everytime her daughter would take a high jump. Though she also swims, back packs, bicycles, pans for gold and sometimes even rides a horse, she felt a need to intersperse her horse photography with photos of fork lifts.

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kangaroo-writes-trash · 4 years

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“Mönkhgal”

The rolling hills and awe-inspiring mountains of her homeland, the beautiful sea of orange and red, the flowers she always adored covering the ground for miles in all directions. The warmth of the sun bouncing of his skin, stood in the same spot he stood last year. His soft black hair weaved beautifully into a braid falling down to his waist, colourfully adorned with flowers of all shades, as is the wooden staff held in his grip, vines encasing his hand. The out of place suit that always gleans a glance from her people is worn comfortably, his tie hanging loose around his neck. He can't lie and say that the looks aren't fun.

His hand gently drags across the landscape in front of him, the flowers adorning his staff's grow more vibrant, impossibly so. A hint of acknowledgement awakens in his mind, as the roots curl and twist and react to accommodate another hand, despite the fact that no visible hand accepts the offer. Glimpses of white peek through the near solid colour of the fields, a second presence pokes inward; soft purring, and the joy of wind passing through their fur. He take a step forward, too finding comfort in the air against his skin. Another step, and in his wake lay flowers, already grown, blooming more lively than the last.

"They want me to join them on their hunting trip." He says openly into the air, the words carried away by a gentle wind as his braid sways. No voice offers response, yet this doesn't dissuade him. "Your culture fascinates me so." He remembers the wind against his face the very first time he hunted with her tribe. The only comfort that that offered him was the fact that it meant he was hopefully making distance from the herd of buffalo behind him. He always makes time for it.

A third and final presence, a gentle, loving reminder as his heart beats. His steps are careful as they intrude upon the flowers, yet any accidental trampling by his boots seem to cause no harm. They walk slowly, aimlessly moving through and across the land, their eyes taking in the pale sky and vagrant clouds. A glimpse of black prowling through the growth around him, with another hint of movement on the opposite side, but smaller. They'd blend in, if their splotches of black and white fur blended in as well as their orange. He pays the other visitors no mind as he continues, a small whistle leaving his lips as he goes. And, he sings.

Singing, to the open air and sprawling fields of her homeland. Maybe it's because there's nobody around to see him, or, maybe, it's because he's not alone. The language is nothing anyone does, nor will know, yet it's carried elsewhere by the wind, reaching further thanks to it's influence. And without much warning, he begins a gentle dance, more so poised for graceful movements through the flowers, opposed to practised dance. He feels the wind against his body, almost as if it cradled him in his movements.

Memories flood through his blood, of greetings and goodbyes, of protective nights and productive days. Of her elders, and the lessons that they taught him. Confused and worried glances, of feasts he didn't partake, and performances he admired. The customs of her people, to live off the land, but for it as well, all in the same beat. To be accepted among them, to be given a name by her brother. and to watch them all pass through into the next. To learn of their final rites, and to honour them, as best as one man could.

His legs buckle, falling to his knees as tears fall to the flowers and grass and dirt. He weeps, overcome. A lifetime passes before his eyes. Slowly, eventually, the tears quell, and his vision finds a new flower; an edelweiss, growing from the ground. His hands gently cup and remove the flower from the dirt, offering it a new home along his staff, in which it takes root. He stands slowly, grip tightening on his staff to aid him. With a final look over the land, he extends his arm and taps the staff once, softly against the ground.

The wind picks up immediately, threatening to tear the man away, before slowing, and easing. And in the place of his staff, stands a tall oak tree, the autumn leaves already beginning their exodus along the breeze. A breath, before planting his hand firmly against the bark, each and every presence in his mind pressing themselves into the tree in kind. The trunk creaks, and tears, and splits open, revealing a land, a village. Her land. Her village. He's quick to step through, travelling miles in a single step. A glance back, before the tree mends itself back together. Around him, her people. A look or two finds them his way, his presence still gathering attention at times. Comfort finds him once more.

His hand reaches for the staff that isn't there. In that same dead tongue, words are muttered underneath his breath, and within his grip, begins to form a staff. His staff, made of vines and moss, with flowers living among it. A pulse behind his eyes causes him to flinch, his free hand moving to wipe away from a thin stream of blood trailing from his nose. Home, for a time. His attempt to lament once more is interrupted by a man, familiar in so many wonderful ways.

Shorter than him, and still a tad leaner, but standing tall as their position has awarded them. Still uncut as is custom, their ever-impressively long white hair, finely braided and curled around his shoulders twice before hanging down in front of his torso, a blue decoration at it's end. Their own unique staff of wood and crystal is held in their hand, with a strand of red cloth wrapped around it, nearing the top. The colour fitting the rest of his clothes, as mix of white and red colours his shoes, pants, tunic and loose poncho. Their eyes flaunt an individual red and blue, with bright-red tattoos across his cheeks, nose, and forehead.

He can't help but smile at seeing him. For their own merits and relation, of course, but the resemblance is always noticeable. "Enebii!" He calls out to him with open arms. Her brother. His, as well. "It's good to see you didn't leave without me!"

Enebii offers him a look. "You know we wouldn't have gone without you. Come, Mönkhgal! You're running in front this time."

#Concord #The Yeren Tribe #draft #Writing

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bearpillowmonster · 5 years

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Jedi Fallen Order Review

I was going to wait and write this tomorrow but I feel like I have all my notes written down and a solid opinion already formed so I want to just jump into it.

(Non-Spoiler btw) I’m not going to compare this to any other game because every other review I saw said the same thing over and over, The only one I’ll mention is Kingdom Hearts because KH2 is my favorite game of all time so how can I not draw comparisons to it with everything I play. I also want to mention I’ve been playing on the base PS4 model not a Pro, I feel like I have to say that now with performance and graphical based opinions with big games such as this because you might not have the same problems.

I think they changed the way he got caught in the beginning from the trailer because it’s the same scene but different shots, it honestly made more sense because I was playing the game and didn’t even notice the droid watching them while it was much more noticeable in the trailer, maybe it’s meant to be that way so it isn’t obvious to Cal that he was caught.

Main villain is the “Second sister”, it’s based on lore from Rebels. You would think you’d fight all the other “sisters” considering this is the first place I’ve heard of them (I didn’t watch too much of Rebels but researched it for this reason) but you only fight a couple during the game.

The coats are glitchy in cutscenes, so you should probably wear the basic layer for most of the game, if you want to try and avoid that. You are vulnerable while opening chests so you can’t defend or attack during animations but enemies can attack you. It will introduce the abilities through flashbacks so this guy knew these powers but just cut himself off to hide from the Empire and has to relearn them. At one point it will say “you are now reconnected with the force” and all the abilities will be shown on the skill tree in order to unlock, around this part is the turning point of the game (Kashyyyk/second time at Zeffo) because the opening is fine but the next section gets kind of boring because you have scarce abilities but once you start actually getting into it, it’s fun! I know they showed Kashyyyk in the E3 demo presentation they did a while ago so that was to be expected but it was just a matter of if it was a fluke...it’s not.

I’m pretty sure you lose skill tree points every time you die to an enemy (not falling off an edge or something) which is odd and it’s not like “since the last checkpoint” or “since last death” it’s a bit more than you gain in that time period, I’m pretty sure this revolves around what difficulty you’re on which is also pretty odd but correct me if I’m wrong about that theory.

I knew I liked BD-1 already but I was a bit skeptical of Cal’s character when this was announced because he could’ve easily been generic but no, I kind of like his character, you can tell the actor went the extra mile partially through how he interacts with BD and everybody else. He’s better than Kanan in my opinion, who if you remember has a very similar backstory as “the Jedi padawan who survived order 66” but he blames himself for his master’s death which is a dead trope that I didn’t care too much to see.

I hate parrying, I absolutely hate it, not just this game, every game, even in Kingdom Hearts, I’ll barely use it because I don’t (usually) play on the super high difficulties where it’s necessary but this game has it as essential so you have to learn a little bit of timing...and wait until you can upgrade your dodge so you don’t have to parry as much. And they will punish you for missing a parry and just trying to slam them (only the more hefty enemies like the ones with shock sticks) because they have a shield meter and if you get hit by them then their shield will start to go back up.

Some complaints, it takes a long time to respawn and the sliding is a bit off as well because you can control him while falling but he turns at such a slow rate that you might as well not even bother, it doesn’t matter most of the time any way but when it does then it’s annoying.There’s a lot of things that they just kind of brush past explaining, for example, there are these punching pistons that you have to run past and once you reach the end, there’s an opening above but you don’t know how to get there. I tried using force slow and jumping on top of the thing (logical way of doing it) but he doesn’t jump high enough (you don’t unlock double jump until later and it’s a life saver!). There’s a walkthrough for that simple one minute section on YouTube so I couldn’t have been the only one but you have to wall run and then jump off of it, I didn’t know you could wall run to get to higher ledges. Also with story, I wasn’t sure how they were figuring out where to go for some places, they just kind of said “go here!” but they end up explaining that kind of stuff later on which seems kind of pointless in saving it until that point, it would have been just as effective (if not, more) at the beginning. For those who’ve played it, I’ll give you a hint at what scene I’m talking about “Ilum”, if I was writing it, I would’ve made that scene towards the beginning.

Some little compliments are that BD-1 has a back panel that lights up, if your health is decent then it will be green, if it’s not then it turns red, that’s a nice detail “But what about Blue?” Well yeah there’s that too...that’s just for fun. There are also customization skins for BD-1 as well as your lightsaber and ponchos and guess what?! Your ship too! It’s no 13-13 or Project RagTag (there’s no gunplay though) but it’s still a pretty darn good game with some good music tracks (I mean it’s Star Wars though so...)

This game doesn’t have a dark or light ending so you don’t really have to worry about doing anything the wrong way, it’s fun to throw storm troopers off of ledges, not gonna lie, however I will say I feel bad at times. They added a bit of a grey area there because they’ll cower and say “Looks like I’m the last one” “No, stop!” “They’re all dead” “You killed them!” “Just...just leave me alone.” or something along those lines. BD even called me out for lashing out on them once and Cal just says “They just would’ve hurt somebody else.” I was like “Dang” there are some themes going on here that I think they would’ve made a light and dark ending if EA let them, however I’m fine with there not being one (even if it would make the game seem longer).

Even Second Sister has a bit of a thing going on where it’s questionable about her point of view, it’s almost a grey area.

Quick-fire round:

-Be careful, if you heal at a save point then it will also respawn enemies (you have to pick “rest” first before it does that).

-The creatures are harder than the troopers tbh.

-There’s a character called Mari Kosen on Kashyyyk which sounds a lot like “Ikari Gozen” which basically means ‘rageful female warrior’.

-I was worried about even buying this game because of EA’s track record (I almost bought Battlefront 2 before the whole debacle (Thank goodness I didn’t!)) and I didn’t want to chance they mess it up somehow after launch it getting good reviews, but I can confidently say that I don’t see any way they can do that now, should be no need to worry.

I’m not going to spoil it but the ending (though in line chronologically and could have messed with the timeline) seems kind of one sided, there are a bunch of things they could have done and while the decision they made makes sense, is it the best? I personally would have liked to see a bit more, it seemed a little short to me. I want to see what happens to these characters (which is a good thing) maybe there will be a sequel or extended universe book/comic (there’s already a prequel one with Cere) There are some really great moments in this game, I’m tempted to give it a solid 8 because of the high it ended on but I’m going to lower it a little due to the slow start being annoying. 7.5 / 10 Now EA better make more quality single player Star Wars products without stupid monetization schemes, this one was a success.

#star wars #jedi fallen order #fallen order #jedi #sw #review

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edogawatranslations · 5 years

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Danganronpa Kirigiri (3) - Chapter 2, Part 3

Table of Contents | Previous: Chapter 2, Part 2

As we walked, Lico once again brought up a serious topic out of nowhere.

“The two organizations pursuing Rei Mikagami today are a Chinese intelligence agency and a scientific investigative unit of the Russian army.”

These absurd statements no longer caught me off guard; I had fully accepted that the abnormal had become our new normal.

“You’re awfully informed about all this,” I commented.

“It’s my duty to relay you detailed information.” Lico turned around and flashed an innocent smile. “Both organizations have dispatched two unarmed individuals to Japan. Neither group is much of a threat, since they don’t use weapons when active outside of their home countries. The Russians especially; they belong to a team developing supersoldiers, which means they’re more so occult researchers than fighters.”

I quickly scanned the area. From what I could tell, there wasn’t a Russian in sight. The only people around were cheerful women roaming the mall with multiple shopping bags dangling from their arms.

“The three assassins pose the bigger problem,” Lico continued. Despite the grim topic, his expression didn’t change one bit.

Assassins...

We were intruding on their work. To reach Rei Mikagami, we couldn’t simply ignore them and walk on by.

“The first assassin is a woman of unknown nationality who goes by the name of ‘Copycat.’ As you may guess, she specializes in copycat crimes. She disposes of her targets by mimicking the M.O. of a serial killer active in the corresponding country or state, allowing her and her clients to fully escape suspicion, since the victim ends up tossed into the unrelated string of cases. Because of this, her work has mostly been attributed to other killers. Fortunately, this method prevents her from haphazardly killing someone. She acts deliberately and typically refrains from taking offensive measures.”

With the steady stream of information flowing from his mouth, Lico was giving Google a run for its money. His appearance already seemed rather other-worldly, but his information processing capabilities were all the more superhuman.

We rode the escalator one floor up to another women’s clothing department.

The ludicrous conversation continued in the perfectly average location.

“The second assassin is known as ‘Night Flyer.’ He’s rumored to be a Romanian of small build, but nobody has confirmed his identity. His killing style of choice is fairly standard: he approaches and shoots his target with a pistol equipped with a silencer. He’s inclined to be hot-headed, so consider him fairly hostile. Multiple people have witnessed him in the past heading to the nearest airport after completing a hit and flying off in a private jet, hence his nickname.”

“Is he friends with the first assassin you mentioned?”

“No, all of these assassins work alone. They see each other as rivals chasing the same target, so it would be fortunate for us if they took each other out.”

“What do you know about the third?”

“He’s Japanese. He doesn’t go by a particular nickname, but he’s an alumnus of Hope’s Peak Academy: the former Ultimate Rock Climber, Tsurugi Hitomoshi. After graduating, he spent some time abroad and made a name for himself conquering treacherous cliffs. At some point, he turned his climbing into a performance art, scaling historical monuments and buildings such as the Eiffel Tower and Angkor Wat, which caused backlash and eventually led to him being exiled from the climbing community. Only the criminal underworld is aware of his current activities as an assassin; he’s known as someone who can appear anywhere and eliminate anyone with one finger. He can easily bend the barrel of a rifle with one hand. I’ve also heard that he once crushed the heart of a police officer through a bulletproof vest with his bare hands.”

An assassin trained at an elite school. This was one gathering I didn’t want to have any involvement in.

I pitied Rei Mikagami, who had to deal with all these killers chasing after him. I guess prominent detectives were always roped into political schemes or conflicts, almost like how scientists around the world were killed or abducted during World War II for their work on weapons programs.

Someday, even Kyoko might be forced to serve someone for their personal gain. Or perhaps, she already has been...

While walking down the halls, Lico continued the conversation as if casually chatting about the weather.

“By the way, before the two of you arrived, I spotted a woman who fit the description of Copycat entering this department store.”

“Wh-What?” Suddenly sensing bloodlust in the air, I braced myself for action.

Nobody around looked particularly suspicious. Ladies clad in clothes from nearby stores were bustling about, as usual.

“You gotta tell us these things sooner! What did she look like?”

“She had on a coat with a red hood, kind of like Little Red Riding Hood. Blonde hair. She was rolling a small travel suitcase behind her.”

“Sounds like an easy to spot get-up, even from a distance. If we see her, let’s stay on our guard and avoid getting too close.”

“Avoiding her won’t get us any closer to Rei Mikagami,” Kyoko said. “We should follow her. We won’t make any headway without taking risks, right?”

“Yeah, but...”

Forget the possibility that we might have to fly into the face of danger—was this risk worth taking in the first place? We weren’t even sure Rei Mikagami was waiting at the end of this rainbow. None of this was rooted in certainty; it was almost like we were actually making plans to catch a ghost in a mirror.

“Yui,” Lico said, stopping in his tracks.

“Wh-What is it? Do you see one of the assassins?”

Lico pointed at a store in front of us. “There are swimsuits for sale up ahead.”

“Way to go, kid!”

I rushed forward, dragging Kyoko behind me. But my legs suddenly froze up.

Right as I was about to enter the shop, a red hood crossed the path in front of me.

I shot a glance back at Lico to confirm. He responded with a quick nod.

There was no mistaking it; that was Copycat.

We casually started tailing her. Thankfully, we were able to do so discreetly by blending in with the flocks of customers roaming the floor.

The red-hooded figure didn’t seem to have noticed us. Her left hand, which was noticeably white, was dragging a small bag. She wasn’t particularly tall, and her body was fairly slender. Her coat resembled a poncho. Two cat ear-like protrusions stuck out of her hood. Although the hood covered her head, I could see her blonde hair swaying to and fro as she walked.

“For an assassin, she sure sticks out like a sore thumb,” I whispered to Lico. “I didn’t think she’d look so frail and slender.”

“You don’t need strength to kill someone,” Lico replied with an angelic expression on his face.

After we followed after her for a while, she turned into a narrow passageway and went through a door labeled “Employees Only.”

The three of us huddled together beside the door.

“A staircase for employees... Where is she going?” I placed one hand on the door.

“Don’t,” Kyoko said, grabbing my arm. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Do you hear the grim reaper’s footsteps again? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna chase her too far. I wanna at least figure out if she went up or down.”

I slowly pushed the door open.

All of a sudden, a slender arm shot through the doorway and grabbed onto my wrist.

“Eek!”

The arm pulled me through to the dim stair landing on the other side. Standing adjacent to the door was Copycat, who was restraining me from behind. From far beyond the door, I could hear the cold, lifeless muffle of a storewide announcement playing over the PA system.

Why didn’t I listen to Kyoko?

I felt a sharp object pressed against my throat.

While slowly raising both my hands to signal my surrender, I snuck a glance at Copycat. Her face was white, reminiscent of a stunning European lady, and she had on a pair of thick high-index prescription glasses. A thin layer of makeup covered her face, enough to possibly be covering up any freckles. Her furrowed eyebrows and troubled expression seemed to suggest that she was more of the shy, introverted type. Did she have on cat ears because of her nickname, Copycat? Or was it because she was a fan of cosplay?

She started uttering some words in a foreign language and loosened her grip on me.

It was then that Lico burst through the door.

“Yui, are you alright?”

“N-Never better...” I stammered out, giving my best effort to sound composed even as I could no longer freely move my body. “Do you have any idea what she’s saying?”

“She’s asking, ‘Who are you?’”

Lico began conversing with Copycat. I had no clue what language they were speaking, but Copycat’s voice gradually grew calmer. Lico’s disarming smile was super effective.

It was then that I noticed—Kyoko wasn’t here.

“Hey, where’s Kyoko?” I asked, trying to interrupt Lico and Copycat’s chat. However, neither of them paid my words any mind. They were engrossed in their conversation.

Even though I was the hostage here, I felt like chopped liver.

“What are you two even talking about?” I asked.

“She’s asking who my favorite manga artist is,” Lico replied. “Let’s see, I would have to say—”

“You’re really having a friendly chat at a time like this?”

Was Lico successfully persuading her to lower her guard?

No... She was an assassin. And the way things were, she could easily kill me at any moment if she desired. I’d had a run of bad luck recently, but this was my first time being taken hostage by an assassin.

What should I do?

I had no knowledge of self-defense and no weapon by my side.

I thought about praying to God, but at the last second, I changed my mind and decided to pray to Kyoko instead.

Kyoko, please save me!

—Click.

A metallic clinking sound echoed out, causing Lico and the assassin to cut short their discussion. Noticing an abnormality, Copycat turned around, but by then, it was already too late.

Clamped around Copycat’s hand—the free wrist she hadn’t used to restrain me—was one end of a pair of handcuffs. The other end was secured to the handle of her bag.

As if having appeared out of nowhere, standing one step below the landing we were on was Kyoko. She was focused intently on pulling the bag down the stairs.

Copycat let out a yelp and rushed forward in an attempt to grab her bag, and as she reached out towards it, she released her grip on me.

The next moment, the bag began tumbling down the stairs. Copycat, linked to it by the handcuffs, plunged down along with it. The bag must’ve been much heavier than it looked, as the slender and light Little Red Riding Hood with cat ears was swiftly pulled down to the lower landing.

Piercing shrieks filled the air as she fell, but before long, her body slammed against the wall of the landing one floor down. She squirmed on the ground and feebly groaned.

“Yui, are you okay?” Kyoko ran up to where I was standing.

“Y-Yeah, I think so. How did you get over there?”

“I took a different staircase down and made my way up from below.” Kyoko puffed out her chest and placed her hands on her hips to make a sort of superhero pose.

Her quick thinking saved me again. Without her by my side, I would’ve met my demise many times over.

A fountain pen rolled up to my feet. That must’ve been the object Copycat held against my throat.

The three of us regrouped, made our way down the flight of stairs, and surrounded Copycat. She hadn’t lost consciousness, but since her whole body took a beating, she was lying down, unable to move.

I unzipped her bag. Inside were a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about serial killers, a few publications detailing cold cases, and a mountain of Japanese manga and doujinshi. No wonder her bag was so heavy. There were also a couple of passports stuffed inside. I couldn’t tell which one was real, but then again, all of them may have been forged.

There was nothing that resembled a weapon among her possessions. The fountain pen was probably the most dangerous item she had with her.

“She’s the kind of assassin to kill her target only after having conceived of a detailed plan,” Lico explained. “Her goal today was likely only to scout out her mark, so she wasn’t at the final phase of carrying out the hit yet.”

“Thank god she’s type A,” I sighed in relief.

“Would you like me to finish her off?”

“N-No, that’s okay.” I laughed nervously. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Are you sure? As long as she lives, innocent people will continue to die. Don’t forget, she’s an assassin.”

“That has nothing to do with why we came here today. We’re here to track down Rei Mikagami, and nothing more.”

Lico stared at me for a few seconds, but didn’t press the issue any further.

“I can’t find anything about Rei Mikagami in her things,” Kyoko reported, standing next to Copycat’s bag.

“Lico, did you get any information out of her?” I asked.

“She apparently doesn’t know anything about Rei Mikagami’s identity. The reason she came here was because she was informed her mark would appear on the rooftop plaza of this department store at four in the afternoon.”

“Why didn’t you say that sooner?! That’s exactly what we needed to know!”

Rei Mikagami will appear at four!

I checked the clock on my phone.

3:55 PM.

“Shoot, it’s almost time.”

“Shall we head up?” Lico suggested, still magically calm.

The rooftop plaza was located above the ninth floor. I imagined the struggle running up all those stairs, but we’d arrive with time to spare.

“Yeah, let’s go,” I replied. “Kyoko, come on.”

“Give me one second.”

Kyoko crouched down next to Copycat’s body and unfastened the handcuffs.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Retrieving these handcuffs. They’re kind of a memento.”

“Oh, from back then...”

Kyoko stuffed the handcuffs into the pocket of her uniform. So that was where she’d been hiding them all this time.

We abandoned Copycat on the landing and started rushing up the stairs.

Next: Chapter 2, Part 4

#dr kirigiri #danganronpa #kirigiri #danganronpa kirigiri #light novel #novel #translation

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satchaccuss · 5 years

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SWJFO sure FEELS short at least.

This, like much of everything else I spew, is a rant. Sry.

Oh and there will be spoilers ahead for the game, so: sry.

Finished Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order yesterday (2019-12-01) and am now in the regular post-playthrough depression that always hits when finishing a game with no replay-value. Ooooh! Yeah I know some are gonna be mad at that, but it’s MY truth! The fact that the game doesn’t even have a new game or new game plus mode really drags. I bought it 2019-11-18, but because I was busy it wasn’t fully downloaded until 2019-11-22 and then I didn’t start playing until the next day and let’s say I then played maybe 3 hrs per day, let’s say everyday...then the game is around the 25 hrs mark, however: did I feel like it was time well spent? No. Did I feel satisfied with the ending? No.

Did I want to keep playing? For no reason? F*ck No! I mean I already got every secret and collectible before the final mission, so there is literally no reason to keep playing! This is the reason why dark souls has new game and new game plus modes, there is nothing to explore and do if you have already done it all! But if you get to play the game again, while keeping all outfits and weapons: you get some damn fine looking shots of your character looking awesome during boring-ass scenes you’ve already seen before! Honestly, the story was kind of meh in the end and the outfits were too few and the ponchos didn’t make any sense and the fact you don’t get to customize the colour of “you know what” until basically the end of the game just sucked all in all! Why wouldn’t you implement a “new game” mode in a game like this?! (I’m pretty sure the first one is just called “new game” and then the one after that is called “new game plus”, I think that was how dark souls did it at least, I can’t speak for the other games in the series tho it could have changed).

Seeing Cal wearing the outfit I chose and using the lightsaber I customized throughout the entire games cutscenes would be a much needed alleviation of a moderately boring story honestly... (But why can’t I change Cere’s saber piece on the other side?! I had to pick her piece for the other side too to make it look cohesive, and I didn’t like that, I didn’t want that, but it looks dumb otherwise!)

Yeah yeah, it isn’t as short as a usual indie-title, but it isn’t a Fallout game for sure, I mean I am still playing Fallout 4 every now and then because of all the shit you can do and all the different perks that can change your playstyle too... and because you can customize your character to look how you want and say kind of what you want and have it kind of matter and... *sigh*.

Why is this Star Wars game so good but so bad at the same time?

I liked that you could change the buttons... I didn’t like that you couldn’t re-bind all things to new buttons. I mean having the shoulder button be block/parry only works in dark souls where the shield actually felt like it was there and oh it’s hard to explain, but it didn’t work for me in this game, so I re-bound it to the B-button and made dodge the Y-button. However, I didn’t know that the game f*cked itself and took away the “drop ledge”-button as well when I changed B. Luckily I, through my massive brain’s incredible problem-solving skills, managed to figure out I could manually re-bind the drop-button to my dodge-button (Y). I did google it first tho and got no useful information: instead I got a f*ck-ton of same-y sounding whining about pc-keybindings, which, for a console-user like myself: is f*cking useless! Apparently not a single other soul had had my issue! In the end, like I said, I figured it out, but still: The fact that the game didn’t warn me that I had consequently un-bound another command as well when changing the dodge-button was really shitty. Oh well. ...the game making X and B (because of my changed buttons no doubt, but still), the way to do double saber attacks was f*cking hilariously dumb tho and the fact that I couldn’t change that attack to other buttons really irked me let me tell you! I had to release the camera and steer sticks both during the fight that the game wants you to do it to push both X and B at the same time to perform the stupid attack! I literally could never do it again after because it was a hassle to let go of the left stick to awkwardly hold the controller somehow and push X and B down at the same time, my word! A useless attack since I could never do it smoothly. Not really the games fault, but still. Anyway...

...why was Cal a ginger?! You can’t have a ginger wear a red or pink outfit! It clashes! Couldn’t they at least have made his hair more of a brow-ish shade to ensure it would go with most colour-schemes. Ginger doesn’t go with red or orange because it is red-ish or orange! Then again: colour-wise most of the ponchos didn’t work with the under-outfits either so, gah! Who designed the cosmetics in this game!? It never quite looked right to me.

...why was Anakin in it? I fail to imagine Anakin letting the empire murder children for no reason, yeah yeah: he murdered the kids in the temple that one time, but... he came back to his senses to rescue his son in the end tho right, so... Yeah ok, maybe not, but... I just don’t understand how torturing the kids make them inquisitors either, wouldn’t they just kill themselves right when they had the chance instead of actually doing the empires bidding after all they’d been through because of it? If Trilla was so angry at Cere for letting her get captured at all by giving up her potential location, why did she join and why did she stay? She could’ve killed her at practically any point, but didn’t and then she ended up dying in the end while kind of maybe kind of “forgiving” Cere anyway... I am confused as to how murdering force-users and kidnapping them and torturing them is even a viable plan at all, but then again I ain’t evil so... Sure sure, less potential jedi and all, but if one can turn to “the dark side” at any point then you can get off of it too at any point can’t ya? and if the kid was tortured to join you and stay, wouldn’t they be more likely to just f*ck off your “dark side”-shenanigans the moment you are out of earshot? Yeah, they make it sound hard, but I have no idea how this shit is supposed to work in the first place so what the heck do I know! Why is the “dark side” a thing in the first place? I thought the force was an all powerful omnipresent-kind-of-thing that moves through everyone and everything, why/how does it have a “dark side” if it is everywhere at all times? Technically, wouldn’t the ppl NOT force-sensitive and the ppl NOT using the force be the ones on the “dark side” of the force? They are the ones that don’t affiliate with it and can’t “feel” it after all... Technically the ppl on the “dark side” aren’t actually on a “side” of anything, they are just happening to use the force for evil. I can perhaps understand why the idiots in charge want something to blame, like our religious ppl inventing the devil, but the ppl that actually feel the force would know that there’s no such thing as a “dark side” of the force, right? And yet everyone, even Luke in that second new movie was all like “Oh my gawd Ray, you went immediately to the dark side, whine whine whine!” But the whole thing with you Luke was that you embraced balance, right? I mean you were all: green lightsaber but all black outfit and was so badass when ya rescued Han! It wasn’t Anakin that brought balance to the force like the prophecy Obi had had said: it was his son that managed it, right? Or was that retconned? ...anyway.

I feel like swjfo was so short and for the amount I paid for it, it sure as shit doesn’t feel worth it in the end. I mean, I was so shocked when I started up the game and was gonna load my save and saw that we were 54% or something through the game and the main story had barely picked up any pace!

This definitely felt more like a prequel to another, better, more story-rich and exploratory game.

I hope that they are making the next installment where we as Cal explore balancing the force and get to use force-lightning! (I was so disappointed you never got to learn that in this game, it would have been cool... if the game was longer and there was more to do and more things to fight and such!) The fact that Merrin joined so late in the story was dumb, but a hope that they will make the next installment where we together with her and the other crew get a bigger cooler ship and get to explore the world to get rid of the empire together and learn about the force and such too together and maybe romance her or something too I guess, but a male option for the rest of us that don’t want to see that straight shit would be nice too of course. But if their story progresses nicely and their chemistry grows naturally, I wouldn’t necessarily mind in the end if they go steady with each other.

Seriously tho, a warning from the game that there would be no more perks to be unlocked when I’d unlocked all of them would’ve been nice! At least an option to sink the extra points you could still get into health or force-meter or lightsaber attack strength, (kind of like in Asscreed Ori where ya could add points into increased arrow-damage or melee-damage of a small percentage indefinitely almost. I was literally expecting that to be the case with this game but nope!). Anyway, the second game should focus on us and the crew expanding our operation of defeating the empire by: gathering allies and tools and experience too I suppose and it should also focus on Cal beginning to research mastering all aspects of the force, maybe together with Merrin. Merrin herself should learn about the world and also learn it really wasn’t the jedi that were the cause of her loss and pain and grow as a person and grow closer to the og crew too. Not sure how to end that game tho.

The third and last installment should be one where we actually get to eradicate the empire and actually rebuild the world and potentially the order too. One where we get to actually find balance and get to use a red lightsaber and use force-lightning too without being evil! (That might be more of an end-game goal for the second game tho: Cal masters some of the many aspects of the force and gets to use force-lightning, but not enough to satisfy us maybe, so there’ll be a reason to play the third one or something lol). So: use a red lighsaber and more cool force powers including force-lightning and “master the force”, all the while also working to finish eradicate the empire. Maybe some world-building choices where we decide if or how the new jedi order should be and we become a council member and do council business and such. It could end with the entire world open too us, with little quests of minor significance but it’s something to do scattered around the planets and places on the planets, we get to “build bridges” with the ppl were are to protect as part of the new jedi order and heck, let me decide what should happen and then you just make the game for me yeah Respawn?

...anyway, final thoughts:

I am done with the game and have no reason to keep playing it. This makes me kind of sad, but in the end: the story was unsatisfyingly short and uninteresting and the ending left much to be desired. But! There is very minimal hope (knowing EA) that there will be more to come. Let us hope.

End of rant.

#swjfo #swjfo spoilers #starwarsjedifallenorder

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iamcrimelord · 5 years

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Bloodborne: Ardenti Sanguine Chapter 2

It was two days till the night of the hunt and Daigo decided to go down the streets and survey the city. The first thing he noticed was that they simply LOVED statues. Most of them of shrouded figures that seemed to be weeping and wailing. He shook his head as he laughed. The city was certainly full of life. Brewers with barrels upon barrels of blood wine, medicinal wine, and so forth lined the streets. People were drinking it and at one point, he could have sworn that a mother was feeding her child with milk mixed with blood in the bottle. On another street corner a group of mates were drinking blood booze out of tankards, talking, cheering, and carrying on as though there was not a care in the world. Across the street on the opposite, a group of richly dressed men were seated around a table at a fancy tavern smoking cigarettes and sipping what he could only assume was blood wine from more elegant looking glasses. Everywhere in this city he could see the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the men and the women all drinking blood like it was water. There was one nagging question though in the back of his mind he could not shake however since he had read about blood ministration the night before. Where was all this blood coming from? His thoughts were disrupted however when he came close to a tavern called, “The Black Rose.” The wooden sign that held the name was clearly old though well maintained, and the windows were also tinted by time. His tongue felt a little dry so he decided to go in and see what was available.

When Daigo entered the tavern he could see a very diverse group of drinkers indeed. There were your yoeman workers and farmers, volunteer hunters, and official hunters of the workshop. There were even a pair of choir members on the upper balcony that was on the inside of the tavern. All in all it looked like a good place to kick up ones heels and relax. He saw the bar and walked over to it, took a seat and looked at the drinks available. There was Blood Whisky, Blood Bourbon, Blood Wine, Blood Mead, Blood Absinthe?! That last one was truly surprising, what sort of sights and sounds did one see with blood laced absinthe? The Bar Maid came up to him and winked. “So Brother, what shall it be?”

She was a very pretty woman. Buxom, long auburn hair, freckles, and mocha skin. Daigo grinned and leaned back a bit. “How about the blood wine? I’m feeling like treating myself tonight.” She nodded and left with her smile still on.

Daigo leaned back and inspected his fingernails when suddenly two people sat side by side of him. “So...you a brother of the church mm?” one of them said. Daigo looked and saw a broad shouldered man with no hair or eyebrows but a thick goat beard on his chin. He was dressed in scruffy leather and had a folding saw on his hip and a blunderbust on his back.

“Come to rub elbows with us common folk eh?” Said the other man. He was tall, pretty much wearing a poncho made of some rough tarp that covered most of his body, save for his ragged pants and mud stained shoes.

Daigo rapped his finger nails on the counter top and grinned. “Mm.....in a manner of speaking. I’m new in town.”

The goat bearded hunter chuckled, his laugh showing he was missing more than a few teeth. “Well, well, welllllll......fresh meat from the church? how exciting....”

Daigo kept up his friendly smile. “Indeed.” His right arm was hidden beneath the shoulder cape of his outfit...but he flexed it into a fist. He knew what was about to happen.

The Tall hunter shifted his arm and rested his own hand on his weapon. “Yeah...we love it when you knobs from Cathedral Ward come down here and strut around like a peacock. Gracing us with a vision of your holier than thou arses.”

Daigo saw his drink appear...the bar maid looking far more nervous than before. She quickly put space between herself and the situation that was developing. Daigo took the glass and downed it in one go....it was quite smooth and the blood gave it a surprisingly nice aftertaste. “Well if you want to see my ass, I suggest asking your sister first for permission, she might get jealous otherwise.”

The Tall hunter shrieked in anger and pulled out his weapon, a surprisingly elegant butterfly sword. He kept the blade folded in but tried to use the shaft as a blunt club. Daigo quickly leaned back and fell out of his chair as the tall hunter smacked the goat faced hunter right in the jaw, sending a few more of his teeth flying out of his mouth. Daigo fell on his back but then rolled back to get into a better stance. The other patrons got up quickly, and a circle formed around the three men as the other patrons began to cheer on the fight. The Bar Maid looking furious left to get help. The Goat faced hunter rubbed his jaw and then cracked his neck. “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE SWINGING!” he shouted.

The Tall Hunter looked at Daigo and spat. “I was swinging for the nancy here!!!” he and the goat faced hunter got off their stools and took fighting stances. Daigo simply chuckled and with his right arm he brushed back the shoulder capes and had them folded behind him. His Wooden Right arm revealed for the masses. The two hunters looked at it in shock and a small degree of fear. “The Hell is that?” the goat faced hunter asked.

Daigo cracked his knuckles. “This...was a gift from a very old friend. But as far as you two are concerned, this is the instrument of your incoming ass beating.” The two hunters looked at each other, the goat faced man drew his saw and the two rushed Daigo. He flexed the hand on his right arm and the thorns that made up his fingernails on that arm extended into claws, which he then swiped across the face of the goat faced hunter on the right. With his left hand he then grabbed the tall hunters wrist that had been swinging for his head and twisted it hard, causing the tall hunter to drop his weapon. He then let go and with expert speed did a sweeping leg kick that knocked both men on their backs. Daigo quickly grabbed the butterfuly sword and in an elegant display of form and skill whipped the blade around himself quickly before pointing the now exposed blade right into the goat faced hunters face while Daigo had drawn his pistol and pointed it at the tall hunters face. The two men held up their hands in surrender and Daigo was just about to pull the trigger when he heard a whistle being blown.

Daigo turned his head to the sudden noise and saw a team of constables in the door way. Led by a man with long blonde hair and holding a simply MASSIVE buzz saw blade on his back, and what appeared to be a mace in his hands. “Now whats all this then?!” he shouted. The Bar Maid approached his side.

“These two men harrased my customer and intended to do him harm!! ....But it seems he was able to dispatch them himself...” She said with a good bit of surprise.

Daigo nodded. “I just wanted a drink Constable. Nothing more.”

The man nodded and then looked at the crowed of people who were watching. “Right then! Now listen very closely to me...We are all hunters of the city of Yharnum. From the farmer to Vicar Laurence Himself! All of us, are in this together. Now I’ve heard repeated reports of this in the past of church brothers being accosted by ruffians in this part of the city. And I tell you now, IT WILL...NOT...DO! If I hear any more reports of drunken brawls, street muggings, or so forth, I will lock down this entire section of the city and establish STRICT rules and a curfew for the area. AM I UNDERSTOOD?” the other patrons nodded quickly. Many averting their eyes. The choir members however watched from above...with heavy invested interest in their fellow church member. The constable nodded and then looked to Daigo. “Brother, is there anyway we can make this up to you?”

Daigo looked at the constable for a moment, then down at the tall hunter. “This is a nice sword. I’m keeping it.” He then turned and walked past the constables and out into the street. He left the tavern thinking it should be a day or two before he returned. But in the meanwhile, he had a nice new weapon to add to his armory. He twirled the sword around in expert fashion as he walked down the street, but was stopped by a call from behind. “Excuse us brother, might we have a word?”

Daigo turned to see who was calling him and saw two choir members approaching him. Walking Canes in hand. He performed one final flourish and then stuck the weapon into the back of his belt. “How can I help you...fellow brothers?” he asked with a friendly smile.

The Choir Members smiled, but that was all he could see of their faces, those smiling mouths. Both looked exactly the same to each other. The one on the left spoke. “I must say it was very impressive seeing you handle those two brutes. They are hunters of no small reputation. Tell me...where did you train?”

“Oh I simply learned on my travels. There is no greater mentor than experience.” Daigo said.

“I see.” The Choir member said. “Well I say, if we had a few more brothers like you in the church we’d not need to rely on such....crude instruments.” He said with a smile.

“Well that’s the thing about crude instruments.” Daigo replied. “They’re low maintenance and don’t require constant cleaning...unlike other more...delicate tools.” He said with biting friendliness.

The choir members eyes may have been hidden, but the contempt in his voice could be heard. “Yes well.....we each have a roll to play dont we?”

The other choir member spoke up. “Forgive my friend here, he tends to be much more direct in his opinions than other choir members.”

“Well I’ll take that over pretenses any day.” Daigo said.

“Of course” the second choir member said. “Why lie when honesty is far too much fun?”

“Quite.” Daigo said.

“Well...I hope todays events have not soured your view of either the city or its citizens.” The second choir member said.

Daigo focused a bit more on the second choir member, and noticed that their lips were rose bud shaped and had a bit of gloss on them. “Well milady, it takes more than a tavern fight to spoil my view of things.”

The Lady Choir member chuckled. “well good. I would hate to see someone with so much potential leave us so suddenly.”

Daigo grinned and stroked his beard. “Well.....perhaps a guided tour of the city would help me find a new found appreciation for its ........wonders.” he said with a playful grin.

The Lady Choir member laughed softly and held out a hand. “Well..anything to aid a brother of the church.” Daigo smoothly took her arm and the two walked side by side down the street. The firm scowl of the other choir member they left behind unnoticed by the pair.

Later that night the two were having dinner in Cathedral Ward enjoying a balcony seat with a view of the whole city, the gently rising moon, and the beautiful lake that rested next to the city. They had walked the length and breadth of the city taking in the sights and sounds of all that Yharnum had to offer. And now they were ending the day with each others surprisingly delightful company. “So Tell me Sister,” Daigo said. “What are nights of the hunt like?”

She sipped some blood wine and sighed gently. “I dont know. Choir Members are not allowed to participate.”

“Why is that?” He asked.

“Because choir members are researchers looking into how to elevate the mortal coil of man. A brute is easy enough to replace, there is not a lot of training involved. But a researcher who dies takes all of their knowledge and discoveries with them.” Her voice seemed to betray the bitter sweet sentiments she had about that.

“Sounds like your a bit disappointed by that.” He said.

“Well, only as much as a child might be disappointed that they cannot actually slay a dragon. My strengths are in academia not martial prowess as you or the hunters have.”

Daigo sipped some wine and thought about that. :But you know....the thing about a body of flesh is...things that are weak can be made stronger....and minds that are ignorant can be filled with knowledge.”

An amused smile kissed her lips gently now. “Are you proposing we exchange lessons?”

Daigo nodded. “Indeed....I lack knowledge of the city, and you wish to fight in the hunt do you not?”

The mask may have hid her face but he could see she was clearly thinking about it. “All right...then let us make an accord. I will instruct you and you will train me.”

Daigo smiled and nodded to that, toasting her with his wine. The two clinked glasses together. “Though we simply cannot call each other brother and sister.”

“Agreed” she said. “I am Morganna Du Loch.” She said, taking off her head piece to reveal a strikingly beautiful woman with blond hair, saphire blue eyes, and ivory skin.

“And I am Daigo Gwyn Belfir.” He said.

“Pleased to meet you Daigo.” She said.

“The Pleasure, Morganna...is mine.” He said with a grin once more.

Meanwhile in church headquarters, Laurence was pouring over his texts and manuscripts from Byergenwerth. Sketches of eyes, tentacles, and other mis matched limbs of various sorts were detailed in his books. Behind him as he researched, was a mural showing the moon, and in front of it...a tall whispy figure of bone and tentacles could be seen, descending on a field of white flowers. “There must be a way to contact him.” He said.

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

Hey guys, just wanted to thank you so much for reading todays chapter. I just want to give a quick shout out to my friend @i-am-wyrmdrake who has been an absolute champion for me this year. Things were pretty rough at the start of 2019 but now that I’m back on my feet I just want them to know that I really appreciate all that they have done for me. Keep rocking on amigo mio!

#Bloodborne #FromSoftware #Pyromancer #Daigo Belfir #Short Story #Writing #Fan Fiction #The Healing Church #Dark Souls #Good Hunter #Dark Fantasy #fantasy #Daigo #Vampire #Cainhurst #The Choir

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duhragonball · 5 years

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[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (107/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

Previous Chapters conveniently available here.

[21 Feruary 233 Before Age. Planet Lubegev.]

Lubegev was a peaceful world, mostly known for its tranquil oceans and a storied tradition of erotic poetry. Though not a Federation planet, it had friendly relations with Luffa's interstellar alliance, and some of its leaders had hinted at applying for membership. Posing as tourists, Luffa and Dotz made their way through one of the larger cities. Dotz was still recovering from her encounter with the Saiyan Jolok, so she rode on an antigrav chair which Luffa steered through the pedestrian walkways.

"Seriously, I'm feeling much better, Luffa," Dotz said, although the weakness in her voice suggested otherwise. "My visions aren't clearing up much, but I'm sure I could walk if--"

"Sorry," Luffa said. The poncho she wore rustled on her shoulders as she maneuvered Dotz around a street corner. "Even if I believed that, I don't want to risk letting you push yourself too hard. If Doc found out, he'd never let me hear the end of it."

"I'm fine, really," Dotz insisted. "I've just been having some intense dreams, but considering how many Saiyans I've run into lately, that isn't too surprising."

"You were in a coma," Luffa replied in a tone that reminded Dotz of her own mother. "You only think it was a quick thing because you don't remember any of it, but you were stuck in bed for a couple of months. Your muscles have atrophied, and you need time to recover. I'm just glad the doctors okayed your release so you could come with me. If your prediction comes true, and there really is going to be a Saiyan attack on this planet, well, you can maybe you can find more Saiyans for me..."

"I had to go with you," Dotz said. She adjusted the dark purple shawl that she wore around her head and shoulders and took a deep breath. "I saw it in the lines on your palm. I don't understand it yet, but the dreams I've been having... There's something important about you, Luffa. I couldn't just stay behind, even if you hadn't saved me. You're much too important to the future."

"You're beginning to sound like my wife," Luffa said. "Well, think whatever you want, but I'm just a plain old Saiyan who happens to change colors when I use my full power."

"From where I'm sitting, you couldn't be more wrong," Dotz said. "That other Saiyan, Jolok, nearly killed me, and you told me that was just to test his abilities. But you-- you came all the way to my bedside to save a total stranger."

"I've been on the receiving end of that Mindworm trick myself," Luffa said. "I wouldn't wish that on anybody, and I thought I could help." She shrugged. "Anybody else would've done the same."

"I don't know about that," Dotz said, "but most people probably wouldn't have been so thoughtful as to forward my hormone replacement regimen to your doctor friend."

Luffa harrumphed. "Just thinking ahead, that's all," she said. "It works in fighting, and it works in cooking, and I find it helps in other situations too. You'll want to get back on track with that as soon as you can, and this way Doc can get everything together now instead of figuring it out tomorrow. Besides, I know what it's like to have trouble controlling your own body."

"Of course," Dotz said. She decided to let the matter drop, as Luffa seemed to be embarrassed by her own compassion. Another piece of the puzzle, she thought to herself.

"So how much do you know about the future?" Luffa asked. "I thought you could only read minds, like I do, but if you're right about this Saiyan attack, then...?"

"One of my ancestors had Kanassan blood," Dotz explained. "The family stories said that his people could see what would happen, but they were powerless to change it. I didn't inherit much of their ability. If you want the truth, most of my readings are based on whatever I can pick up from the customer's mind, and any flashes of insight I might happen to get."

"So why didn't you get a 'flash of insight' warning you about Jolok?" Luffa asked.

"I did," Dotz said. "But it wasn't a warning, it was a promise. A Saiyan would hurt me in some way, but I would recover with a newfound clarity. Ever since you woke me up, I feel like my psychic abilities are... Well, not increasing. It's more like they're maturing somehow. I'm starting to think I got more from my ancestor than I knew."

"Well, if this Saiyan attack on Lubegev ever gets rolling, you'll have me convinced," Luffa said. "You said he'd be here today. Now that we're here, any idea what time he'll show up?"

"To be honest, I thought he should have been here by now," Dotz said. "Could your presence have somehow scared him off?"

Luffa laughed. "Not likely," she said. "Chances are, he's been here a while already, and he's just keeping his energy suppressed so ki sensitive warriors like me can't detect him until he's ready to make his move. I'm doing the same thing, so he won't be able to sense me until I've got him where I want him."

"Why are you so determined to catch him, Luffa?" Dotz asked. "I know Saiyans love a good fight, but you keep saying he'll be no match for you, so it can't be for sport."

"I have unfinished business with the Saiyan king, Rehval the Third," Luffa explained. As she spoke, Dotz could tell Luffa was gripping more tightly on the handles of her chair. "But that royal bastard went into hiding before I could settle things with him. Until I get a solid lead on him, my best bet is to make life miserable for as many Saiyans as I can. I'll interrogate any I find, and if they start any trouble on planets like this one, I'll make them regret it. I've also been shutting down as many wars as I can, just to make sure they can't have any fun behind my back. Sooner or later, they'll get sick of this standoff, and they'll have to help me find him."

"Couldn't that work against you?" Dotz asked. "If you aren't careful, the Saiyans might unite against you instead."

Luffa chuckled. "I guess so. Yeah, that sounds pretty fun, now that you mention it," she said. "Is that an official prediction?"

Before Dotz could answer, there was a loud booming sound coming from the downtown area of the city. Luffa positioned herself between Dotz and the source of the noise. A moment later, she grinned with anticipation.

"And there's our boy," she said.

"The Saiyan?" Dotz asked. Without thinking, she pulled her shawl tighter, as if it would offer some measure of protection.

"A little late to the party, but I don't mind," Luffa replied.

Dotz broke out in a nervous sweat. Her psychic abilities didn't allow her to sense ki the same way Luffa could, but she could still sense waves of panic and fear from that general direction. "It sounds like he's setting off explosives!" she said. "I had no idea Saiyans could be so powerful..."

"This one's stronger than usual, that's for sure," Luffa said. "But don't worry about that. He's still no match for me."

She parked Dotz's hoverchair near an archway where she would be reasonably safe, then handed her a small device from the pocket of her yellow pants.

"That's a communicator," Luffa told her. "Call me if anything goes wrong. Or you might be able to raise my wife. Her ship should be in communications range before too long. But I don't think you'll need it."

She tore the poncho off her shoulders and tossed it to the ground as she walked in the direction of the explosions. When she was gone, Dotz took out a deck of cards and attempted to perform a divination. There were more reliable ways to refine her inborn abilities, but this one was faster and more portable, and she hoped the cards would at least tell her the outcome of the battle. Minutes later, she had as much of an answer as she could get. The Saiyan invader would die. The planet would survive the day.

Luffa's fate was unclear.

*******

Seconds later, Luffa intercepted the Saiyan in the middle of a shopping district. The Saiyan was firing off large bursts of ki energy, but not actually hitting anything. Everything about his tactics indicated that he was trying to do one of two things. Either he was attempting to frighten the populace into surrendering without a fight, or that he was trying to lure any strong opponents into the open. Concerning the second, Luffa was happy to oblige.

"What--?" This was all the Saiyan managed to say before Luffa punched him in the face. He was a short, chubby man with a long beard that nearly ran down to his navel, and despite his immense power, he never saw her coming until it was too late. Before the force of Luffa's blow could knock him into a nearby building, she flew past him and caught him in midair.

"Where's King Rehval?" Luffa asked as she held him upside down by the ankle of his boot.

"Ask him yourself...in hell!" he shouted as he fired a ki blast from both hands into her face. It didn't harm her at all.

"Wait, are you saying he's dead?" Luffa asked. "Or were you trying to be witty and got confused?"

He reared back and tried to punch her, but she simply tossed him away before his fist could connect. Adding insult to injury, she peppered him with small ki blasts as he tumbled through the air.

"Come on," Luffa said. "You're wearing a uniform from the Saiyan Royal Military. It's a little scuffed up, but I could smell the royalist stink on you from across the city. You had to be on Planet Saiya when your master ran away like a scalded dog. You must know something you'd like to share with me."

"M-my master is no coward, woman!" he replied, trying to muster as much defiance as he could. "The Rehval Dynasty is the past. I serve the future! Hail Trismegistus!"

"Then you've betrayed Rehval to become someone else's lapdog, is that it?" Luffa asked. "Typical royalist trash. Well that's just fine. Then you won't mind telling me everything you know about where Rehval is."

"Never!" the man cried. "I'll never talk!"

"Good, good. I like a man with spirit," Luffa said. She approached him with such a blinding speed that she seemed to vanish and then reappear behind him. Then she gripped his shoulder and began to squeeze. As he cried out in pain, she added with a laugh: "You've got a lot of courage defying me, but 'never' can be a very long time, Saiyan."

Then, just as she felt she had the situation under control, she sensed another Saiyan, closing in on her from above. At the same time, the one she was tormenting suddenly increased his power level dramatically, and she realized that he would now be strong enough to break free of her grasp. In the split second before the incoming Saiyan could connect, she released the first one, and arched her back to avoid a heavy kick. She was about to fire a ki blast to counterattack, but then she sensed a third power, and before she could react, she was hit with a ki blast to the small of her back.

"Nicely done, Aramanth!" called the one who had tried to kick Luffa. "Your aim more than makes up for your lousy looks!"

"Shut up, Kakabajo!" Aramanth shouted from the street below. "At least I held up my end! What were you even aiming at?"

"Why didn't she try to read my mind?" whined the fat, bearded one as he nursed the shoulder Luffa had squeezed. "If I had known she was gonna play so rough, I wouldn't have held back for so long."

"The real question," Aramanth replied as she flew up to meet the other two, "is what she's doing here at all. Lubegev isn't a Federation planet. Luffa's never even been here before. It should have taken days for her to find out about our invasion and to arrive here by starship. Instead, she's on us before Kres even had a chance to get started!

"No, the real question," Luffa said as she suddenly appeared from the residual energy of Aramanth's attack, "is how you three could give me so much trouble."

"She's still alive!" Kres wailed.

"Of course she is, Kres," Aramanth growled. "This fight's only just begun. She hasn't even transformed yet!"

Luffa snapped her fingers and ran her hand through her short, black hair. "That's right, I knew I forgot something. Hang on."

"Stop her!" Kakabajo warned the others. "If we allow her to change, then--!"

Before he could even finish the sentence, Luffa threw back her head and made a loud grunt. Her hair had shifted from black to glowing gold, and her dark eyes had ignited into a brilliant green.

"You were saying, Kakabajo?" Aramanth grumbled.

"Didn't know I could do it that fast, did you?" Luffa asked, her voice rising over the pulsating noise of her furious aura. "Everyone thinks it takes me a while. Sometimes I drag it out for effect, or just because I'm in the mood. But sometimes it's more dramatic to make it quick."

"That... that power!" Kres gasped.

"You're using the same kind of energy as Jolok," Luffa observed. "So I guess that means you three are part of the same organization that he was in. He said something about defying orders when he tried to fight me, but you three were counting on me to show up, so I suppose that means your boss authorized this. What'd you call him? 'Triss Mejistus?'"

Without warning, she rushed towards Kakabako and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. His partners tried to attack, but Luffa was too fast for them to get a lock on her.

"So if that's true," Luffa continued, then your boss is a fool. You three are strong, sure. Amazingly strong compared to normal Saiyans, but you're still no match for me.

"On the contrary, Luffa!" another voice called out. "Our master did not expect three of us to defeat you."

As she turned to find a fourth Saiyan standing on a rooftop, she noticed two more Saiyan powers appearing on the street. She kept her focus on the man on the roof, since he appeared to be the strongest, though not by a wide margin.

"Logas is my name," he said as he waved his arm with dramatic flourish. "You've already met Kakabajo, Kres, and the, er, lovely Aramanth. Below me are Voraj and Purzlein."

"Six of you..." Luffa said. "Well then..."

"I'll give you a moment to consider your situation, 'Super Saiyan'," Logas said. "And then you might reconsider our master's thrice-blessed wisdom."

Luffa paused for a moment, glancing at each of them. At last she turned her head and spit. Below her, Kres scrambled to move out of the way of her phlegm.

"Not bad at all," Luffa said. "Your leader must be pretty strong if he can keep six people like you in line. And if he can afford to sacrifice you all just to test me, then he might be even stronger still. Yeah... Did you bring him with you? No offense, but I'd rather fight him first, if it's all the same to you."

"Why, you arrogant--!" Aramanth said with a scowl.

"Your time is over, Luffa!" Logas boasted. "Trismegistus commands your death!"

Aramanth and Kres flew after Luffa and tried to flank her, while a Purzlein leaped into the air and charged a ki blast, waiting to see which way she would dodge before firing it. Instead, Luffa stood her ground, punching the Aramanth on her left while contorting her body to avoid the attack from Kres on the right. Then she launched herself directly at Purzlein, practically begging him to fire at her pointblank. He did so, and his energy burst splashed across Luffa like rushing water, but it had no effect. She flew through his attack and reared back her left arm to strike him in the jaw.

Except that she never actually got close enough to hit her target. To her surprise, she saw Aramanth had followed her into the air, and was now grasping her boots, halting her movement. Just as she turned her attention to her, Kres joined in, firing a ki blast of his own at Luffa's back. And so it went. Each time she tried to shift her focus on any one of them, the other two took advantage. Just as Luffa began to appreciate how formidable her opponents were, the others joined in, and she found herself facing something resembling a true challenge.

Realizing that she couldn't whittle down their numbers by attacking a particular member of their team, Luffa shifted tactics and began using techniques to attack multiple opponents from all sides. When they gathered too close, she used an explosive wave of ki to drive them back. When two or more of them tried to attack her at the same time, she would maneuver herself near one of their partners, so that their coordinated attacks would risk hurting their own.

Mostly though, she took a lot of hits. The six Saiyans fought like a well-oiled machine, and though none of them were individually strong enough to beat her, any one of them could hurt her once the other five managed to create an opening. Working together this way, each of them took turns landing body blows, headshots, and various ki attacks. At all times, at least one of them maintained a barrage of small ki shots at her throughout the battle, which seemed to be intended to harass her more than to soften her up. It was when a kick to the face caused her to taste her own blood that Luffa began to realize she was actually being pressured. For the first time since she fought the Shockmaster, she had a real fight on her hands, and if she didn't do something quickly, she was in danger of getting killed.

Her lips curled into a smile as she realized the danger she was in.

Joint locks weren't an option in this situation. The same was true for ki techniques. In the time it took to utilize such moves, she would be wide open to a counterattack. It would be child's play to pick them off one by one, but she could tell from their attacks that these Saiyans were too well-trained in team attacks to risk splitting up. So far, she had managed to survive by fighting defensively, but she couldn't assume that they would run out of stamina before she did. They had clearly been preparing for this fight. So what weren't they prepared for?

Without warning, she rocketed straight up, nearly colliding with one of her foes. She fired a volley of ki blasts down at the rest, but this was just to make them think she was trying to fight back. Instead, she made a sharp turn and sped away from them, heading due north.

"Where the hell is she going?" Aramanth asked.

"Coward!" shouted Kakabajo.

"We've won!" cried Kres. "All we have to do now is follow her and finish her off!"

"Don't get careless!" Logas snapped. "She's up to something. After her, but keep your distance! Keep a tight formation!"

Hundreds of miles away, Luffa could sense them giving chase. There was a chance that they would refuse to take the bait, and resume pillaging the planet until she returned to face them, but that would have worked to her advantage as well. As it was, their reaction proved that their main goal was to defeat her, and they were very confident that they could pull it off. A weaker squad would have been more cautious. A stronger or more reckless group would have pursued her at their maximum speed. These six were somewhere in between. They were confident enough to pursue her, but at the same time they were willing to give up the initiative to see what she had up her sleeve. Now she had their measure.

Playing into their expectations, she came to a stop and began charging a Gallick Gun in midair. There was a strong wind blowing from the ocean to the east. She caught the scent of one of them from upwind. Before the Saiyans came into view, they had already spread out to surround her. There was no chance of hitting any of them with her attack now. The moment she aimed at one of them the other five would strike, throwing off her aim enough for the sixth to dodge. Luffa smiled as she quickly shifted the ki into an explosive wave. This had no chance of working either, since the six were too far out of her effective range, but that wasn't the point. The point was to cover her trail.

"Where did she go?" one of them asked when the light from her explosive wave subsided. They had expected her to use it as cover, to maneuver around one of them for an attack, but the attack never came. Luffa was simply... gone.

"I can't sense her!" Logas replied. "Can anyone else lock on to her ki?"

"Negative!" reported Voraj.

"Me either," said Purzlein. He began to look around anxiously. "What if she... did something to us just now? Messed up our senses, somehow."

"I can sense the rest of you," Logas said. "She must be suppressing her power. There's a forest down there. She must be hiding."

"That's crazy!" Kres exclaimed. "What good would that do her? We could just blow up the whole area and she wouldn't even be able to protect herself!" He pointed his open palm down at the trees and it began to glow red as he readied just such an attack.

"Sure we could," Aramanth said as she grabbed his hand and pulled it away from the forest. "But then we'd never know for sure if we got her or not. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to report back to our Lord and say we think we killed the Super Saiyan. If she turns up alive later on, we'll be banished for sure."

"M-maybe it's not a trick at all," Voraj said. "We don't know how that glowy yellow power of hers works. Maybe she can't sustain it for very long, and we finally wore her out. She ran away because she knew she was almost out of stamina."

"All right, we've got to assume she's still alive down there," Logas said. "We'll have to start clearing the foliage carefully and check for Saiyan remains as we go."

"This could backfire on us, boss," Purzlein said. "If she's only feigning weakness, she could ambush us really easily down there."

"Two can play at that game," Logas replied. "Some of us will suppress our ki and we'll cover each other's backs."

*******

In the city, Dotz had stayed put, until a kind local noticed her sitting alone and escorted her to the relative safety of a cafe. Emergency vehicles had deployed throughout the area to deal with the destruction, but Dotz already knew the immediate danger had passed. She had spent the last several minutes reading tea leaves, and between that and her cards, she had determined that the Saiyans had left the city to do battle in a forest.

The number of Luffa's enemies had increased. Instead of one invader, Dotz now believed there were at least three. This troubled her. It was one thing when her predictions turned out to be mistaken, but when they contradicted themselves, it meant that she couldn't trust her own ability. Which forecast was true, if either? And why couldn't she determine anything about Luffa? It should have been easier than this to forsee whether she would survive this battle.

But the answers would not be found, no matter how long she started into her tea. When the waiter came over, she sighed and ordered another cup to try again.

*******

Luffa waited in the forest for twenty minutes before making her move. She found the first pair of Saiyans standing in a clearing. Voraj was keeping watch while Kakabajo began blasting trees.

"Wait, I think I found something!" Voraj cried. He raised his power level almost immediately as Kakabajo turned to follow him. In the distance, Luffa could sense the others approaching.

Voraj tore through the bushes and grabbed something yellow that he had spotted among some branches. It was Luffa's pants.

Luffa herself was not with them.

"What the hell--?" Voraj gasped as he realized too late that this was a trap. Suddenly he sensed a powerful ki blast, and he instinctively rolled away to avoid it, the pants still flapping in his hand as he moved. When the crimson light faded, he checked on his comrade, only to find him on the ground, with a hole through his chest the size of a small coin. Kakabajo was dead.

Then Voraj heard laughter.

"How did she--?!" he asked. He never sensed her presence. He still couldn't. He could sense his four partners, but not Luffa. And then, as he looked around, he suddenly saw her running towards him, far faster than any Saiyan could while suppressing their ki energy. As he struggled to make sense of it, he briefly imagined that this was some sort of illusion. Then Luffa drove both of her fists into his chest, and scurried away before he could even finish falling to the forest floor. His broken ribs, he knew, were no illusion.

"What happened?!" Logas called out as they arrived only seconds later. They had thought that there would be plenty of time for them to gather together when one of them found something. In their practice drills, it had seemed almost instantaneous. But now, as he still struggled to grasp Luffa's true speed, those moments seemed like an eternity.

"Luffa," Voraj groaned as he struggled to sit up. "She took out... ugh..."

"How?!" Aramanth asked. "We never sensed her energy! It was like that ki blast came out of nowhere--"

"We need to get out of here!" Kres insisted. "We can't risk engaging her with only five--"

"And do you think Luffa will just let us leave the planet peacefully?" Logas snapped. "Even if we could escape, we'd still have to face Trismegistus' wrath. Oh, he'll know to send seven or eight Saiyan after Luffa next time, but that team won't include any of us! Not after we've failed. We have to stand and fight! There's no other way!"

Once more the forest echoed with a woman's cruel laughter. "I'll make this easier for you," Luffa said in a mocking tone. "The first one who tells me about Trismegistus gets to leave the planet unharmed. The rest of you won't have to worry about his wrath, because you'll be too busy suffering mine."

Logas remained defiant. "You think we're afraid of you, you craven freak?" he shouted as the others looked around for any sign of Luffa's person. "Hiding like this only proves that you lack the power to defeat us!"

"Is that so?" Luffa asked. "Ask your buddy Voraj what he thinks of my power. Well, unless his ribs hurt too much for him to talk."

"She... she's right, boss," Voraj said as he clutched his chest. "It's like she can use some of her ki and hide it at the same time. She wasn't glowing bright yellow when she tagged me. I don't think she hit me with her full strength, but..."

"Enough," Logas hissed. "That sort of talk will only make things worse."

"How much worse can it get!?" Kres cried. "We're stuck on this planet, one dead, one wounded, and she's going to kill us all! We won't even see her coming until it's too late!"

"Pull yourself together!" the leader growled. "We're Saiyans, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we're all Saiyans," Luffa called out. "You guys should be enjoying this fight. I know I am..."

"I'll tell you!" Kres shouted. "I'll tell you everything! Trismegistus gave us our powers! It's called Jindan! It enhances our ki! He's building an army of Saiyans, all so he can--"

Logas fired a ki blast at Kres's head before he could say anymore. His team looked on in horror as Kres's corpse collapsed to the forest floor. There was nothing left of his head but a skull covered with a thin film of blackened flesh.

"Logas you... you...!" Purzlein gasped.

"You know what happens to traitors," Logas said.

"Well, that brings you down to four," Luffa said with a cackle. "Three and a half, really. Voraj doesn't look like he's in much shape to fight."

"You monster!" Aramanth shouted. "If you're so sure you have us beaten, then why don't you come out and finish us?!"

"Good question," Luffa said. "I guess the best answer is that I don't just want to beat you chumps. I've been putting up with Saiyan cowardice and treachery for a while now. You people are the first Saiyans in a while that I've managed to corner, so I guess I'm taking out my frustrations on you."

Without warning, she suddenly rushed out of the forest, and struck Logas in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. As he sank to his knees, the others moved to help him, and Luffa stopped and stood before them, bearing a sick smile on her face.

"You idiots tried to hurt a lot of people today," she said. "You didn't need to hurt them, but you tried anyway. For fun, or maybe to get a rise out of me, or maybe your boss Trismegistus told you to do it. I don't really care why. All I know is you were pretty high on yourselves earlier, back when you thought you were the strongest guys on the planet. Back when you thought I'd be easy pickings."

She transformed, and the other Saiyans took a step back as her golden aura kicked up a powerful wind. Her hair glowed bright yellow, and her eyes shone a furious green.

"I can tell from fighting you all, none of you were ever particularly weak, even before you got this Jindan treatment, whatever it is. That was probably the idea. Your master wanted to send some of his best warriors to face me. You're all used to having things your own way. Anyone tries to stop you, you just shove them aside, because you know they can't fight back." She pointed at her eyes. "I can see it in your fighting styles."

The Saiyans tried to attack her, but their coordination was completely ruined now. Two of their number were dead, one barely able to stand, and Logas still unsteady after taking a body blow. They were still trying to overwhelm Luffa with their superior numbers and teamwork, only it wasn't quite as superior as it had once been. Luffa grabbed Voraj, the one with the broken ribs, and slammed him into his partners like a club.

"Me, I was actually a weakling once, believe it or not. I know what it's like to get pushed around, and how to fight when my back's against the wall." Luffa tossed Voraj into the air and watched him fall to the ground. "Guys like you aren't used to being the underdogs. You've never had to fight with broken ribs, have you? Not when a quick ki blast would finish things instead. Maybe that's why I'm where I am now. Doesn't really matter."

Logas grew desperate, and charged at Luffa, putting all the power he could muster into a single blow. Luffa dodged this easily, though doing so left her vulnerable to flanking attacks from Purzlein and Aramanth. She leapfrogged one of them, which caused their attacks to very nearly hit each other. Then Logas caught up to her and managed to drive his fist into her face.

"Now! While she's down!" Logas screamed. "Finish her off!"

As one, the four Saiyans fired on Luffa with all the energy they could. Even Voraj had managed to pull himself upright so he could join the assault. Dazed, Luffa was barely able to bring up her arms to shield herself before she was engulfed in a stream of multi-colored light. Behind her, the foliage and rocky soil were annihilated by the blast, carving out a trail of ash for several hundred yards.

"I... I can't keep it up..." Voraj groaned.

"Don't stop!" Logas shouted. "She's weakening! I can feel it!"

"It's another one of her tricks!" Aramanth protested. "We have to surrender!"

"Don't be a fool!" Logas shouted. "If we stop now, we're all dead!"

Suddenly, Voraj collapsed, unable to stand the strain any longer. Logas turned to him and gasped in shock.

"It's not enough! We need more power!"

And then suddenly, Aramanth ceased fire. While Logas was distracted by this, Aramanth turned and shot Purzlein instead.

"What are you doing?" Logas cried in terror. Now he was the only one left fighting against Luffa, and in a one-on-one contest of power, he didn't have a prayer. Luffa forced his attack back, pushing against it, step by step, until at last the energy had nowhere else to go but back upon the man who had unleashed it. In a matter of seconds, he was torn to shreds, and the shreds were pulverized into dust.

Luffa was the victor. Her bare arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises, and her left eye had swollen shut. Her black shirt and compression shorts were soaked with blood, and she moved gingerly, painfully across the ruined patch of forest, but she still moved. The first thing she did was to grab her pants from Voraj. In all the confusion, he had never thought to let go of them. He was still breathing, though barely.

As she checked on Purzlein's body, Aramanth aimed at Voraj, and killed him with an energy beam through the skull.

"Why?" Luffa asked between ragged breaths.

Aramanth held out her hands in a gesture of capitulation. "You were winning," she said. "And you said you'd spare the first one to tell you about Trismegistus. I couldn't do that until I was sure the others wouldn't be able to kill me for my betrayal."

"What do you mean?" Luffa asked.

She knelt down and bowed her head to Luffa. "I've failed Trismegistus," Aramanth said. "I can't go back to him, so my only chance is to pledge my allegiance to you, Super Saiyan. I'll tell you anything you want to know, and do anything you ask."

"Get up," Luffa commanded.

She obeyed, and as soon as she did, Luffa grabbed her by the collar of her uniform.

"You idiot!" Luffa yelled. "You could have won!"

"Wh-what?" Aramanth asked.

Luffa shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. "I've never fought such a small number of Saiyans and had that much trouble before," she said. "If the four of you had kept it up just a little longer, I'm not sure I would have been able to keep going! And then suddenly your offensive went slack and--"

"You mean we really could have killed you?!" Aramanth asked. She looked over at her fallen comrades, suddenly realizing the gravity of what she had done. The glorious opportunity that she had allowed to slip through her fingers. The reward that Trismegistus might have given her for slaying the almighty Super Saiyan.

Luffa shoved her to the ground and turned away from her. "Maybe!" she said. "I don't really know my own limits, so maybe I would have managed to keep fighting, or maybe I would have had to retreat into the forest and hide for a while. But maybe your combined power might have killed me. Now, we'll never know."

Neither of them moved for a moment. A cold breeze blew through the trees. Aramanth rose to her feet, unsure what to do next.

"As far as letting you leave this planet," Luffa said bitterly, "well, it depends on how good your information is. I can't exactly trust someone who'd turn against her own--"

She suddenly turned and fired a ki blast at Aramanth, who had been about to attack Luffa from behind. Whether Aramanth seriously expected to prevail, or whether she had simply been driven mad with regret, no one could say.

Luffa looked down at the Saiyan woman's corpse, then spit on it in disgust.

*******

When Luffa returned to her ship with Dotz, Zatte noticed her wounds immediately.

"What happened?" she asked as she scooped up Luffa and began to carry her to the sickbay.

"Ran into more of those jacked up Saiyans," Luffa said. "Like the one on Quadzityz, only this crew never got around to self-destructing."

"Ordinary Saiyans did this to you?" Zatte asked.

"Yeah, well you should see what I did to them," Luffa replied. She tried to laugh, but it hurt too much.

"I'll get Dr. Topsas," Zatte said as she set her down on on of the beds in sickbay.

"Don't trouble him," Luffa said, "it's not that bad--"

Zatte raised her hands, showing Luffa the red blood that had smeared onto her blue-skinned palms from carrying her. "This. Is not. A debate," she said.

"Okay, okay, but he promised to check out Dotz first, so--"

"To hell with that," Zatte growled, then she spun around on her heel to fetch the doctor. She made it one step before she found Dotz scooting towards her in her anti-grav chair.

"Oh, hello," Zatte said. "Uh, excuse me." She sidestepped Dotz and continued towards the door.

"Luffa, was that your wife?" Dotz asked after Zatte had gone.

"Hell yeah," Luffa said with a proud grimace. "She's really something, huh?"

"I'm so sorry," Dotz said, maneuvering her chair to Luffa's bedside. "I only saw one Saiyan in my vision. I never imagined there would be six of them!"

"You did great, Dotz," Luffa said. "There's nothing to apologize for. If I had known there would be six, I still would have played it the same way."

"But... but I was wrong..."

"Accuracy's a relative thing," Luffa said with a shrug. "A Saiyan's a Saiyan, whether he's got backup or not. You got the timing down, and the location. That was all I needed. Now if there had been zero Saiyans, then I'd be a little annoyed, but this worked out better than I hoped."

"But... but..."

Luffa's expression shifted to one of concern. "Hey, you should climb into one of the beds, all right? You still need to recover your strength. I'll try to get Doc to look you over first, but he's pretty stubborn once he makes up his mind."

Dotz decided there was no point in arguing, and so she removed herself from her chair and lay down in the nearest bed. As she pulled the covers over herself, she kept glancing over to Luffa, who seemed as cheerful as could be, despite her injuries.

NEXT: The Initiation

#dragon ball #fanfiction #lssjluffafic #super saiyan #luffa #dotz #logas #kres #aramanth #purzlein #voraj #kakabajo #lubegev #zatte

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dailyexo · 7 years

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[NEWS] EXO - 170728 Vogue magazine: “Is EXO the Most Stylish K-Pop Band of All Time?”

It is a 90-degree July day in Seoul, and the air is thick with unfallen rain. Still, the concrete steps leading up to the World Cup Stadium are swarming with boys and girls in black baseball jerseys armed with clear plastic ponchos and posters, paper boxes packed with sweet fried chicken and sour pickles. It is the sixth edition of SM Town Live, a summer concert series put on by SM Entertainment to showcase the company’s impressive roster of K-pop stars—icons such as BoA and Yunho of TVXQ, Girls’ Generation and Shinee. Yet the main event is without a doubt EXO, the reigning kings of K-pop, who are there to close one chapter of their career and kick off the next with a new album and look to match.

Calling them kings is controversial. It stirs up rival factions (the band’s new album is titled The War), and internationally, that designation is up for debate. But in Korea, the beating heart of K-pop fandom, the nine-member boy band remains at the top. Last year they won five daesangs (Korea’s biggest music award, roughly equivalent to album or artist of the year), one of which they had won for the fourth consecutive time. The band celebrated its five-year anniversary in April with a live video broadcast that drew 80,000 viewers in less than two minutes. The next month, they played two nights at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium; seating some 70,000, it is the country’s largest venue and only four K-pop groups, including EXO, have ever played there. Both shows sold out in under 30.

For years, their status has remained relatively unchallenged, but it is difficult for anyone at the top to stay there. EXO also struggles with the perception that they are too perfect, a manufactured pop act without much personality. Korean boy groups also have to deal with the country’s mandatory military enlistment policy, which effectively puts a two-year pause on their careers that is hard to bounce back from. It is one reason why this particular comeback is so crucial for EXO, and why they chose to dramatically change course. “Ko Ko Bop,” the lead single and sole video to be released from The War, is the aesthetic opposite of the band’s previous summer single, “Monster.” Musically, it combines EDM and reggae. It is a sun-soaked song with a distinct “tropical” vibe, and that sharp tonal shift is most clearly communicated through the clothes.

The starting point for the video’s style was The Talented Mr. Ripley, specifically the rich, disaffected Dickie Greenleaf, played by a young Jude Law, as he lazes about the Italian coast. “Ko Ko Bop” reimagines the eight singers (Lay, the group’s only remaining Chinese member, was unable to participate in this album due to his “schedule”) as younger, more fashion-forward versions of Dickie. Sehun wears a Saint Laurent Hawaiian shirt from Spring 2017, covered in retro pop surfboards and station wagons; his hair has been dyed and spiked to resemble a Bird of Paradise. Chanyeol has hair the color of tropical punch and has thrown a white Céline blouse with watercolor blooms over a Saint Laurent logo tee; Baekhyun appears in Valentino, a mustard ikat Etro blazer, and a red mullet. A matching pair of palm tree–dotted All Saints shirts make the rounds on almost all members, loosely swapped around to convey the shoot’s trippy, drug-fueled vacation vibe (a bit odd, considering Korea’s anti-drug culture). All said, it continues EXO’s tradition of slowly pushing the boundaries of K-pop men’s fashion.

The band began honing their singular take on style two years ago with the song, “Call Me Baby.” Before that, they were generally clothed in matching suits or tees plucked off the racks of Boon the Shop and other local boutiques, a one-size-fits-all solution that emphasized their uniformity. In 2015, however, they found a way to bring out each member’s personality by tailoring what they wore in each shoot. More importantly, they began to source designers that K-pop stars were not wearing at the time. Back then, when singers wore high-end fashion, they generally went with big name, easily shoppable brands—Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton. EXO reached instead for labels fashion people love: Pieces by Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten, archival Helmut Lang. These were mixed with Korean designers, including custom suits from Heich Es Heich, and eventually, a few items from their personal collections—a surprising move. K-pop bands, EXO included, are known for casting off and slipping on new identities with each album. To let a bit of their personal taste shine through, no matter how small, felt like a change.

It is a sartorial mix that has influenced the rest of the industry and reflects the country’s growing emphasis on individual style, which took centerstage on their Exo’rdium world tour, where the above photos were shot. Below, they reflect on the band’s evolution and their own. Kai prefers simple pieces from A.P.C.; D.O., all-black workwear from American heritage brands. Chanyeol is passionate about streetwear—Vetements, Balenciaga, Supreme, Gosha—and he recently confessed to keeping the tags on his clothes for a month, unable to tear them off. Moments like this are thrilling; they feel intimate and authentic, a real flash of expression through fashion. There’s no better way to begin again.

Sehun

Whose style has changed the most? Kyungsoo [D.O.]. Just look on the Internet—you'll see. Which MV had your favorite look? “Monster.” The music, concept, everything really, really fit me well. Who is your style icon at the moment? I'm really interested in Chris Brown’s fashion.

Kai

Whose style has changed the most? I think we’ve all changed a lot. In my case, since I personally love clothes, I think my personal style has changed to match my age, as time goes on. Which MV had your favorite look? I loved what we wore back in “Call Me Baby.”

Chanyeol

Whose style has changed the most? Sehun. Compared to his style from before we debuted and our early days, it's gotten a lot better, and every day, he puts a lot of thought in it. So much as doing fashion research, and his sense is good, too. Which MV had your favorite look? I think what we wore in “Lotto” was really nice. Who is your style icon at the moment? Kanye West.

D.O.

Whose style has changed the most? Overall, I think everyone’s personal taste has changed. Our members have gotten cooler, bit by bit. Who is your style icon at the moment? The heroes from the Avengers? I guess I want to try that once (laughs).

Xiumin

Whose style has changed the most? D.O. Every day, he goes around in head-to-toe black, but now, he’s moved away from wearing only black—slightly. Which MV had your favorite look? I liked “Lotto” the most. Who is your style icon at the moment? Captain America (laughs).

Baekhyun

Whose style has changed the most? I think it’s me. Because I want to challenge myself by trying different styles. It’s not that I plan to, but I think I do change things up a bit each year. Which MV or performance had your favorite look? I liked what we wore to perform at Mama 2016 [awards show] and to shoot “Lotto.” Who is your style icon at the moment? Because I really like Chris Brown, I want to try his look—he mixes different cuts and fits, and they all look good. I want to be like that.

Suho

Whose style has changed the most? Kyungsoo’s [D.O.] style has changed me a bit. Usually, I don't wear all black clothes like he does. I pay a lot of attention to fashion, and I like to play around with a lot of different brands, shoes, and clothes. But our schedules have gotten so hectic, and I realized that when I don’t have time to sleep, I just reach for simple, comfy, black things (laughs). Which MV had your favorite look? In our “Monster” video, the military-inspired style. It looked a bit more manly, it was comfortable, and the clothes were a bit oversize, which made them easy to dance in. It looked cool. Who is your style icon at the moment? I loved Colin Firth’s look in Kingsman. Once I get a little older, I want to walk around with that kind of clean, gentlemanly style.

Chen

Whose style has changed the most? I think we’re all pretty consistent now. Since we have each found our own personal style and know what we like, I think it’s natural. Which MV had your favorite look? The clothes from “Call Me Baby.” There were so many fun ones. Who is your style icon at the moment? Let’s see . . . I think I don’t know yet. I’ll have to widen my circle!

Photo links: 1, 2

Credit: Vogue.

#EXO #EXO K #EXO M #170728 #exo im #exo k im #exo m im #t:news #p:news #magazine #magazine:vogue #fs:vogue #comeback:War

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search-consultants-club-blog · 5 years

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How to Develop A Reliable Income Drawing Organisation Account

What is an account as well as also do I really ask for one? An account is simply a group of monetary investments held by an investor. It's a really totally picked option of solutions in addition to typically, certainly; it's an excellent recommendation to have one.Let check out it in this way. Picture that you had an umbrella store. If it truly did not rains for many weeks, you would absolutely make no sales whatsoever along with an end result, you would definitely make no cash money. If your store marketed umbrellas in addition to wellington boots, raincoats, ponchos, sun hats, sunlight lotion, sunshine glasses, ski shoes, hats, layers along with headscarfs, possibilities are, you would definitely make a sale whatever the environment was.When it concerns beginning solution as a Web Advertising expert, you as a matter of fact have a lot of choice.If you excel at identifying a certain specific niches as well as if you stand out sufficient to produce a thing then you have this as an alternative easily supplied to you. On the other hand, make it possible for other individuals to create the product along with all you require to do is market the product as an associate. If the nature of the business enables it, you can develop networks of on-line marketing experts and/or clients and additionally expand your company in this way.Whatever route you chose to go, you will certainly eventually remain in solution to market a services or product. The not so exceptional details is this: No matter the top quality of your goods or the quantity of ability, wit along with beauty with which you market your things, not everybody will definitely have an interest rate in what you require to use each of the moment. Actually advertising and marketing criteria recommend that a lot less than 5 in every 100 individuals that you come close to will define yes!Yet you can conserve the day, keep your choices open in addition to in addition make your earnings no matter. If you occur to have an option of services after that you immediately boost the possibilities of costing the incredibly least one thing to your possibility.It makes superb company feeling to have a solution profile. Although great deals of well prominent firm owner make a lot of their money from one vital resource, many do have their finger in greater than one pie at the similar time. If sales or signups drop in one area, you may be succeeding somewhere else as well as likewise still stay in revenues on the whole.If your item is seasonal, you would absolutely still wish to be making sales whatever season it was.That asserted, precisely what becomes part of producing miraculous profile of organisations in internet marketing? I will certainly use one portfolio that I have actually established as an example.The Internet is presently a pressure to be considered issues to purchasing primarily as a result of the growth along with similarly considerable advertising and marketing project of organisation such as Amazon.com in addition to Ebay.com. If you possess a net website, end up being an Amazon.com associate and also placement purchasing web links for your website visitors on your web site. Site site visitors might not desire the e-book that you spent numerous late evenings creating yet if they stay in the state of mind to shop online as well as they spy your 'store below' amazon web link, hi presto, you'll make some cash money!Following referral: Select programs that are easy to market. Programs that have a great basic item that everyone requires. Pick a program that provides a wonderful easy pay structure. What concerning a fun program? Every person has actually played the lotto at least when. Would absolutely it be simple to promote a program based upon the Globe's Largest Lotto video game?If you are marketing more than one associate program, you will certainly nearly most absolutely require a group home building contractor. This is a program that houses all your online organisations in a fashion of speaking. You market your team house contractor as well as furthermore when individuals signup, they see all your different various other programs and also in addition can think about whether or not to register with. down line contractors are performance as well as economic setting displayed. Buildreferrals along with Referralware are two such circumstances. Crucial service structure gizmos.After you have actually invested a couple of weeks building your organisation on the internet, you will absolutely begin to observe this: There is a massive team of people of any kind of type of ages and also likewise backgrounds that will absolutely ask this query consistently: "I want to start a net firm yet I do not determine where to begin. Can you aid me?" Individuals asking this inquiry turn up almost everywhere-- Know the internet conversation online discussion forums, in your inbox, you call it. Below's your possibility to help a comfy possibility to end up succeeding as well as additionally as a result come to be a lot a lot more trusted by yourself while doing so. Have a look at exactly how:Present them to a program that will inform, overview and also notify them for you, making them right into an expert, well-learned online marketing expert. Picture having a selection of people like these as friends in your solution. Consider Michael Russell's MPAM in addition to Steve Leung of CashCulture's Generate income University.Allow these professional programs suggest your Novice whatever about search engines, site web traffic exchange programs, potter's wheels, e-mail list framework, safelists as well as every numerous other you can possibly imagine advertising and marketing strategy used internet today. If they join to any type of popular programs, you efficiently build your up organisation at once.Every person needs a firm framework device however not everyone may need your specific service or product. So objective to market or be connected with scholastic tools, internet site building contractors, group structure provider and so on.In wrap-up, lots of programs provide you what appears like the opportunity to make a million in a very brief time along with a host of numerous other incredible benefits. Yet constantly quit to ask:What does this program demand to offer my customers or my down line?Will it be simple to advertise? Will the conversion cost be exceptional?

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songgypsy · 5 years

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Scarlett Begonia

Scarlett Begonia is not only Nashville’s connection to the past, present, and future of fair-trade, it’s the story of a family business that keeps on keeping on.

by Trisha Leone

I moved to Nashville in 2009. A singer-songwriter from Colorado making the pilgrimage to Music City, because that’s what songwriters do. I wanted to be around the best, and I was not disappointed. In my first year, I watched Sheryl Crow perform for a music video in Centennial Park, I had a great conversation with Ray Stevens at Grimey’s Record Store, and I saw Chrissy Hynde perform at the Exit/In to a crowd of less than fifty. Since then there have been many other memorable moments, but what I treasure most are the people, many of whom I met at a store called Scarlett Begonia on West End Avenue. It’s across the street from the Commodore at the Holiday Inn, where singer-songwriters line up for a chance to perform at Debi Champion’s Writer’s Night, a longstanding Nashville tradition.

As with most songwriters who come to town, I needed a day job. My husband, a guitar player, as well as a guitar amplifier builder and repairman, quickly found work at Rock Block Guitars on Elliston Place—which is how I first found Scarlett Begonia. The colorful window displays drew me in like a magical spell, and for several minutes all I could do was stare in awe at all the beautiful details—hand-carved gourds, seed jewelry in every color of the rainbow, stylish clothes and intricate weavings. Lucky for me, someone broke the spell and spoke to me in a friendly voice that I loved the moment I heard it. It was Kyle Elias, one of the owners. We became fast friends and when I told her I was looking for work her eyes twinkled. She flashed a big grin and said she would talk to her daughter Gabriela. Not only did I gain some lifelong friends working at the store, but I also gained an education in customer service, merchandising and music. As we worked, we listened to music, curated mostly by Jack Elias, Kyle’s husband and co-owner of the store. While I helped customers and straightened displays, I honed my craft of songwriting by listening to Gram Parsons, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Marshall Chapman, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, and yes, the Grateful Dead, whose song “Scarlet Begonias” is the namesake of the store. The stories that Jack and Kyle told while the music played were priceless, but before I delve into those, let’s go back a few years to the beginning.

The roots of Scarlett Begonia go back to 1971 when Jack graduated from Vanderbilt with a degree in Latin American studies. He met Kyle in the summer of 1974 while working at the Jolly Ox restaurant in Goodlettsville, TN. Jack soon left to travel with a friend throughout South America and his descriptive letters of the beauty he encountered enticed Kyle to follow within a few months. After returning to Nashville, the couple spent the next two years waiting tables and tending bar at the Gold Rush on Elliston Place, saving money for their next trip to South America. (Both the Gold Rush and Rock Block Guitars on Elliston Place are no longer here, partly a result of changing times, and the escalating rents that come with progress.) They even celebrated their wedding reception at the Gold Rush in 1976. Jack and Kyle’s stories of the ‘70s and ‘80s Nashville music scene are priceless--stories of serving drinks to Townes Van Zandt, Shel Silverstein, and Guy Clark, who used to tell them to play his latest album while he sat at the bar. Just across the street, the Exit/In was in the height of its glory days, and many legendary artists played at the iconic venue before they made it big. Jack and Kyle are music lovers to the core and one can learn a lot about music from the soundtrack of their lives.

However, aside from music, there is another great love they share which is the culture and people of South America. After marrying in ’76, they ventured out to explore the treasures of South America, traveling and living in places throughout Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia--embracing the native cultures, shopping at the markets, making friends, and developing a keen eye for the finest in indigenous arts and crafts. After spending their limited resources on irresistible finds at the markets they came up with the idea to bring their treasures back to the United States and open a shop. Thus, Scarlett Begonia was born and opened its doors on October 1, 1981.

Jack and Kyle’s wedding reception at the Gold Rush in 1976.

Scarlett Begonia was fair-trade before fair-trading was cool. For almost 40 years, Jack, Kyle, and now their daughter Gabriela have mindfully chosen every item in the store and displayed them with careful attention to detail. Through the years, they’ve dressed some of their favorite musicians in Nashville. Emmylou Harris bought an Ecuadorian Poncho from Scarlett Begonia in the late ‘80s which she is wearing on the “Brand New Dance” album cover. The cotton men’s Matrimonial shirts from Ecuador are also a favorite among many musicians and are easily recognizable on stages throughout town. Every item in the store has a story—about where it came from, who made it, and how it got here, nothing is ordinary. Master gourd carver Pedro Osores is a close family friend and travels from Cochas, Peru every other year for in-store demonstrations. Jack, Kyle, and Gabriela still purchase many of the items on an annual trip to the Otovalo market in Ecuador, including handwoven rugs and wall hangings, paintings by their godson Patricio, Chales (lightweight scarves), handcrafted jewelry made by Betty and much more. They know the artists’ families and their children and have stayed true to their original objective to provide an outlet for struggling artisans from around the world and to gain positive exposure of native cultures through their folk art and clothing. On any given day, Jack can be heard conversing in Spanish with his Latin American friends on his flip phone while out on the sidewalk. Fair-trade is still a basis for all their business dealings. Scarlett Begonia also offers items from several Nashville-based companies that share their business practices and sentiments including Thistle Farms, Bee Attitudes, Center Earth Pottery, fine jewelry by Sealy, and several others.

Gabriela shopping at the Otovalo market in Ecuador.

Scarlett Begonia is the heart and soul of Nashville. A small family business that continues to open its doors day after day. For almost forty years, the colorful windows of Scarlett Begonia have brightened the busy street that leads to downtown Nashville. The antique bells that hang on the side of the wooden open sign ring every time the door opens as they have for decades. Sure, shopping online is easy and convenient, and we’re all busy. However, what we need most in these troubled times is connection. Do yourself a favor, take the time to stop by Scarlett Begonia and visit with Jack, Kyle, and Gabriela. Learn about the artists, see and touch the Tagua seed that sustainably provides raw material to make jewelry, ask Jack about the Panama hats, feel the softness of bamboo fabric, look at the picture behind the checkout counter of Jack and Kyle at one of their first markets, and listen to a few stories about the Gold Rush days. It will do the heart good. And although Scarlett Begonia has withstood the test of time, there are no guarantees what tomorrow will bring, because as we all know, “the times they are a-changing.”

Scarlett Begonia is located at 2805 West End Avenue Nashville, TN scarlettbegonia.com

#scarlettbegonianashville #nashvilleboutique #southamericanimports #localbusinessnashville

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