#They're actually both good at combat and both VERY powerful if you actually know what you're doing. Which most of you do Not

[hamartia-grander]

Seeing posts like "why is Wyll so mid in combat" "why does shadowheart miss so much" followed by footage of someone being utterly Bad at the game is crazy

[aha-chuu]

I love the absolute disparity in star rail's approach to aventio's canonical power levels

This comes up because I was thinking about Ratio, who despite being a good DPS is not actually intended to be a strong fighter in the lore at all. Like, he has no weapons training to speak of, no inherent powers as far as I can tell. He's physically stronger than an average person in our universe, but he should lose most fights we throw him into in game on account of trying to hit mechs with chalk or, at best, a book.

His ultimate move - the one with the Latin voice line where he drops a tower on the enemy - the translation of that is about perception changing reality. Basically, when he tips his hand from far away, it looks like he could crush the enemy under his finger. He's not actually summoning a tower here.

And then you have Aventurine, who (despite not being as buff) is a good fighter in every sense. He has actually got more legitimate hand to hand combat experience for one, but with the cornerstone he does have actual magical abilities that let him stand against the trailblazer squad before Acheron stepped in.

In the meta, Aventurine is the support and Ratio is the main fighter. But in the lore - both ability wise and in story content - Ratio is absolutely the support. He's moving around in the background to help with Aventurine's plan, he's not directly getting involved in the fighting, and he's the one trying to protect Aventurine with that final Doctor's note about the dormancy.

And like. You're not supposed to take either of their combat abilities too seriously. Like Ratio throws the chalk for a follow up because it's funny, unlike when svarog shoots missiles to protect Clara, or Blade slashes the whole field. Even Topaz throwing Numby is a more realistic reflection of what she'd actually do in a fight. Meanwhile, Aventurine's abilities are not funny, really, but they're all so thematic that it's hard to imagine he has the genuine capacity to summon a giant roulette wheel to stick the opponent inside.

And a lot of the characters have abilities that do make more sense for their in game capabilities. Like, Seele and Jing Yuan and Acheron are canonically fighters, so of course they can beat up the enemies as main DPS. Bailu and Natasha are doctors so they heal.

(Ratio is also literally a medical doctor and does not heal.)

And anyway I find this objectively very funny. My guy was involved in Aventurine's insanely dangerous plan in close quarters with Sunday, the main problem, and realistically his only means of self defense was jumping behind aventurine or trying to concuss Sunday with an encyclopedia. Even though we know Ratio is great at designing weapons, there is not one lick of evidence that he a) uses them himself, or b) would be any good at putting them into practice.

I get Aventurine had other things to worry about that whole time, but Ratio is not a good liar (he breaks character like three times in the quest 😭) and really realistically could have gotten them both murdered. I guess we were relying on the aventurine magic luck for that one.

Also if we're being lore accurate, every aventio bodyguard au is doomed if Ratio is the bodyguard.

[homunculus-argument]

Come to think of it, I really like doing worldbuilding in common misconceptions caused by survivor/sample bias. I got too gleefully into infodumping about worlds I made up, so I'm going to be merciful and throw a cut-off right here:

(damn, you're still reading? Well, that's on you. Here we go.)

In The Book I Am Not Writing, the fisher folk have very strict concepts of ritual purity, being strict about seemingly arbitrary rules of cleanliness, and they simply don't do extramarital relationships. They are, however, polygamous both ways, so consulting the other spouses about introducing another wife or husband into the marriage is always an option. They also seem to have absurdly large flocks of children. Being both an unusual ethnicity who are commonly considered pretty, and also essentially completely off-limits for casual sex, they are often fetishised, and there's a myth that fisher men are so insanely good in bed that their wives simply cannot resist the temptation of their four sexy husbands even if they're otherwise absolutely done getting pregnant all the time.

The truth is a lot more complicated than that. First of all, in the multiple-spouse marriages, all children are raised between all parents and many clans consider it inappropriate to inquire which kids are biologically whose, so if one or two of the partners has fertility issues, nobody from the outside would know. And the seemingly arbitrary purity rules aren't all that random either - many of them actually ensure a higher standard of hygiene than what other cultures around them have. This, and restrictions about marrying within one's own clan to avoid inbreeding, ensure healthier children. They aren't fucking and getting pregnant more than any other peoples, they have more children because of lower infant mortality.

The Travellers are also "outsiders" living in diaspora, who are - as their name implies - itinerant and never stay in one place for long. Not by choice, though many of them will say they'd rather live this way than to ever settle down, but because almost all towns and cities have discriminatory laws explicitly prohibiting Travellers in particular from staying in the city for too long, or limiting how many of them can be allowed within the city walls at the same time. They don't call themselves Travellers, but refuse to tell outsiders what their own language's name is for their own people, out of fear that the name would be appropriated and turned into a slur. Secrecy is the only privacy that they are allowed to have.

An unusually large number of Travellers also have unusual physical traits, dysmorphic structural features, and congenital disabilities. This is used as xenophobic cannon fodder by citizens of the Empire, treated as proof that the Travellers are so morally crooked that it even deforms their bodies. This, of course, is bullshit. In truth, Travellers do not have any more disabled or deformed babies than anyone else - what they do have is a strong culture of NEVER abandoning one of their own. No matter what. So while people of the Empire associate health and beauty with moral goodness, and consider having "imperfect" babies shameful, Travellers simply don't practice the common peoples' common habit of abandoning or discreetly 'disposing' of children who aren't likely to survive into adulthood, or who will need support their entire lives. "What can be done to one of us, they will do to all of us" is how they live, so nobody gets left behind.

On the opposite end of society there are the Baronesses, the Empire's all-female army of trained magic-wielders. A military class, whose inherent magical powers do not even manifest in every child or even every generation, but when it does, it's always on girls. Daughters are trained for combat, they are the ones to carry on the family name. Since a woman does not need to be married in order to be sure that all her children are hers, sons are not particularly valued even as political tokens for arranged marriages. It is considered common knowledge that there's something in "wielder blood" that makes the male carriers of it weak just as it makes the female ones strong, and that is considered the reason why the male members of wielder families tend to be so dysfunctional, emotionally frail, rampant with substance abuse and more likely to die in the womb or in early infancy.

It is politely never questioned how downright convenient it is that it just happens to be the less wanted sex who are far, far more likely to simply perish away for no apparent reason, especially when it comes to the most harsh, highest-ranking, and most competitive wielder families.

Far across the great ocean, on the opposite corner of the map of the world that the Empire knows of, are the Northlands. Almost mythical mystical lands, that are the source of the various types of thick white pelts and some other exotic goods, commonly supposed to be populated by completely wild, savage people. Northmen are all lumped together, as most people of the Empire would find it hard to believe that the Northmen have even one civilised culture, not to speak of consisting of several cultures and creeds with their own languages and customs. The only few Northmen that the Empire has seen have been foreign sailors in port towns, or perhaps someone's unit of rare exotic bodyguards, undoubtedly a weird flex.

Northmen are considered feral, and the "civilised" ones a strange exception to a supposed rule. It is said that they are exclusively carnivores, eating only meat like tigers and drinking only alcohol. That they are nocturnal, with eyes like cats and wolves that gleam in the dark, and that sunlight hurts them. The sun never rises in their lands, so naturally the people are as pale as cave olms, just like the pelts of their animals are all white. And just like cats and wolves, their infants are all born with blind blue eyes, which either stay blue or turn yellow once they grow.

This, too, is a mishmash of myth and half-truth. Northfolk who venture this far south are more likely to eat meat than any fruit or vegetable they are offered, since they are more familiar with what goat or chicken taste like than any fruit of this strange climate. Northland alcohols are generally bitter ales and dry wines, and the sweet liquors and strong wines of Southlands are a treasured luxury for the ones who are familiar with them, and a very fast way to get shitfaced if one isn't. They aren't nocturnal at home, but having no other protection from the relentless sun, they do prefer to move at dusk to avoid getting sunburn. And The Long Night only lasts a few weeks or months, but that's difficult to explain to people whose common language doesn't have words for "snow" or "winter."

There are no Nothfolk with yellow eyes, but blue eyes are very common, and to Southland people to whom both eye colours are unnatural and associated exclusively with beasts and carnivores, they rarely notice that they've never seen a yellow-eyed one. And being born with blue eyes like wolf pups and kittens isn't a myth, that really is a thing that happens to white people.

[mxchaelsdiary]

"Is that the impression you get from me?"

･ ｡ﾟ★: . Headcanons. :☆ﾟ. ･

History

★ Michael was the first angel created by Father, and the eldest of the angels.

★ Michael's decision to cast the brothers out wasn't a punishment, but rather an act of desperation. He realized his heart couldn't bear to fight against the brothers any longer, and that if the war continued they'd surely lose and pay for it with their lives- either at Michael's own blade, or at Father's hand as execution for their crimes against the Celestial Realm. And so, in a split-second decision, he cast them out as a desperate attempt to end the war without any further bloodshed. More about this can be read here.

Hobbies

★ Prior to the Great Celestial War, Michael prided himself in his swordsmanship and often did fencing with his siblings during peacetimes. However, ever since the war he has not been able to bring himself to pick up a blade.

★ Michael collects enchanted artifacts, and keeps detailed notes on their histories.

★ Michael has had a range of different hobbies and interests over the millenia, with many becoming all-consuming phases for short periods of time. For every long-lasting hobby that's defining to his character, there's another ten random subjects he happens to know a lot about because he was obsessed with it back in year 547BC or something.

★ Michael is secretly very fascinated by both the Human World and the Devildom- though he'll never admit a fascination with the demonic, and he's far too busy nowadays to get much opportunity to engage with either.

★ Michael is a huge maximalist fashion-wise, owning and wearing lots of jewelry and other accessories.

Abilities

★ Michael can be easily startled out of a disguise; often, any kind of physical pain or significant surprise will be enough to shift him back to his own form.

★ Michael is clairvoyant, able to see and know things without actually being there. It's limited but powerful, and he likes to keep others on their toes wondering what he knows and what he doesn't.

★ Michael is capable of dream manipulation. On occasion, he'll check up on his brothers' dreams and change bad ones to good ones - or pester them in their dreams if he's feeling lonely. As dreams are a product of a subjective and fluid subconscious, sometimes his meddling has unintended effects.

★ Michael can manipulate space and time, but isn't as proficient in it as Barbatos. He also rarely proactively uses his time abilities anymore, having developed a healthy fear of it following an incident when he was young and dumb where he nearly collapsed the entire timeline using time magic to win a battle. Nowadays, he really only uses it to clean up Nightbringer's Solomon's others' mistakes.

Miscellaneous

★ Michael is prone to sleepwalking, especially when stressed.

★ Due to the trauma of losing the brothers, Michael has developed pretty serious separation anxiety with his remaining family. For the sake of the exchange program, he's working on it.

★ Michael's feathers have strong protective and fortune-granting properties- as such, they're rather sought after, much to his annoyance.

★ Michael's wings are similar to a swan's- he has hard, bony spurs underneath his feathers that make his wings rather efficient blunt weapons in combat. His wings are also absolutely massive, so they're usually folded to his back so he doesn't accidentally whack someone.

★ Michael loves to spoil his brothers, but he tends to take it a little too far.

[utilitycaster]

In honor of that poll, which has apparently been answered by a bunch of loser rogue-fuckers, and was also written by someone who doesn't even have the update that gives you twelve poll options, please have a good ranking of sexiest D&D 5e classes, from me.

This only has the 13 officially published 5e classes so do not ask me about classes that are not that. Also, the existence of a handful of sexy or unsexy characters of that class does not a sexy or unsexy class overall make. I'm sure these two statements will not shut down all annoying people but by god I hope they shut down some.

Paladin. Self-explanatory: if you don't agree, you better explain yourself, unless you think they are outranked by...

Wizard. As Liam O'Brien said, what's sexier than wizards? And I said "paladins, but no one else." I'm also going to fuck up an Octavia Butler quote and say that her journal did not explicitly state that single-minded devotion is sexy but it is, and that's why wizards and paladins are, undisputably, the top two.

Warlock. Would be higher than wizards on the basis of sheer raw charisma but some warlock classes (archfey, hexblade) are extremely sexy and some are...pots in need of very unique lids, shall we say.

Bard. This is for competency and knowledge of mythology and musical instruments. If you're into some kind of memeriffic 20 CHA 7 INT Roll To Seduce bro shit, get the fuck out of here.

Ranger. Their combat abilities are not as great as they could be but this is also without a doubt the class that will invite you over and make a delicious foraged mushroom risotto and have lit candles they made themself. They are good with animals and can identify constellations. Entire package.

Barbarian and Fighter are tied. Do you prefer a flow state and passion or do you prefer dedication and persistence? Axe or sword? Raw power or precision? Equally valid; it's a matter of personal taste.

Cleric. One of the gods thinks they're special; it's hard not to be drawn in by that. Also, healing is the sexiest magical ability. Points off for the possibility of sanctimonious behavior.

Druid. This is just personal taste but I would find it weird if my partner was sometimes a giant scorpion, and I feel rangers are just the far sexier nature-loving option. People for whom druids are #1, I see you, I respect you, I disagree with you, but I do think you're valid.

Monk. Here's the problem. Yes flexible; everything else is kind of a solid "eh" for me. Honestly I think it's because D&D separates out dexterity and strength even though monks technically need both, and so the low-strength monk archetype really doesn't do it for me. It's not unsexy but it never wows me, and honestly in real life martial arts is usually more an aesthetic joy than a sexy one for me.

Sorcerer. Often physically attractive but I do not love a nepo baby, and absolutely the class least able to make you breakfast. Class most likely to attempt to make you breakfast and manage to fuck up scrambled eggs.

Artificer. Love the class but unfortunately I can only think of Belle's father in Beauty and the Beast (1991) when I think of what an artificer looks like. Wizards claimed the hot nerd spot; artificers never had a chance.

Rogue. Anyone can wear black leather. Anyone can twirl a butterfly knife and the ranger is going to be better at using it. You know what rogues are best at? Leaving through the window without waking you up. That's it. Bards have the same skills and then some and they're hotter by design. There are other classes with superior physical skills. Burst damage is already not actually that useful in 5e combat and even less so in the bedroom.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

You know actually what would you argue would be the most efficient miraculous for combatting a supervillain with the butterfly/maybe peacock if you were Fu and basically just knew that supervillains with any combination of power/strategy could show up?

I ask because I do think that's one way to get around the "it doesn't make any sense to have both the Ladybug and the Cat out on the field when that's what Hawkmoth wants" point if they're both just good counters for someone who doesn't know what they're up against, but I'm not sure the cat is?

I mean it ensures there will always be a way to break the akumatized object but outside of the object being a miraculous that's not something that strikes me as versatile enough that it's worth the risk of having on the field at ALL TIMES the way you can argue with the Ladybug

I agree. The ladybug feels like a somewhat solid counter since its magic luck powers make it so that you always have what you need, plus you do need the cleanup ability unless you're going to make the show a lot darker. The black cat? Not so much. They've introduced a lot of miraculous that make way more sense in terms of general versatility. These are the five I'd argue are better choices. The first three powers are ones I actually like and the last two are begrudging acknowledgements because I don't like the powers, but they exist and they're better, so they belong on the list:

The Ox: Chat Noir's main job is to act as a distraction and he often gets hit in the process, so why not give him the power to not be effected by other powers? That would be way more useful to his role. I don't think the Ox's hammer is a better weapon, but let's keep this focused on powers and ignore that. I'll also note that the turtle doesn't work the way the ox does since the turtle isn't a mobile personal shield, making it a bad pick for Chat Noir.

The Bee: Chat Noir's already a close range fighter. Let him do his usual thing with the added ability to freeze the akuma and a lot of fights would go better. It's almost an offensive version of the ox.

The Dragon: the dragon's power is basically just a fancy speed boost which would let Chat Noir escape when an akuma has him pinned, which is very useful for his close combat role.

The Rooster: I hate how nebulous this one is, but it does feel like a solid match for the ladybug. The ladybug grants a random item and the rooster can give whatever power you need. It'd be more Ladybug telling Chat Noir what to do then him using it himself since creativity isn't his strong suit, but she already tells him what to destroy most of the time so not a huge change on the front.

The Monkey: the monkey is another bad power in my book because it's so poorly defined, but we know that it's some sort of disruption power that can cripple an akuma and that's much more broadly useful than destruction. It'd also be pretty broken because it's so easy to use. Summon an object, toss it at the akuma, profit. Boring, but effective.

[deadbydangit]

I love your works so much, i speed read your blog for like, the fifth time the past three days while I've been stuck inside, they've been a big comfort while it just rains non stop.

I also have no ideas how to make requests, but can you do some of the killers seeing their S/O speed by them on sparkly pink roller skates? Like obviously having no idea what they're doing, screaming and trying to stop, before they eventually just crash.

You're too kind. I believe I can do something like that. I'm going to switch it up a little bit to make it easier to write something. Please enjoy.

With a reader who roller skates: Ghostface, Skull Merchant, Knight

Ghostface

At first he doesn't think it's fair.

"How come you get roller skates and I don't?"

So, get him a pair.

And watch him fall in his sorry ass.

Multiple times.

He'll be really embarrassed, so don't give them too hard of a time.

After about an hour of trying he's going to give up completely.

But he doesn't want you to give up on it.

You look like you're having fun, and who is he to ruin it?

Everyone has something they enjoy.

For him, it's killing people and photography.

For you, it's roller skating.

Danny has no issue with that.

If you end up falling and crashing he'll absolutely be laughing at you.

"Ha! Nice work."

He's not being malicious though.

He will pick you up off the ground and patch you up if needed.

Make sure to tease him once in a while, skate circles around him.

He'll act super pissed. But he's actually having a blast trying to catch you.

"Oh, you think you're hot stuff? I'll get you. When you least expect it. I'll get you."

And, he will eventually catch you. Though it will take a long time.

But don't expect to be going anywhere after.

He's got you in his arms. He doesn't want to let go.

Skull Merchant

Adriana doesn't take the roller skating as some sort of threat to her power.

She sees it as a challenge.

"So you can skate. You're pretty good."

She tends to be very competitive.

So this, this whole roller skating thing, she's going to learn how to do it too.

And she is Hellbent I'm getting better than you.

Not really to tease you or anything.

It's really just her way of showing that she loves you.

Even if she can sound mean at times.

Because this girl, she is the queen of trash talk.

"Eat my dust loser."

"Who's the top dog now?"

Lots of trash talk.

But it's never anything malicious or obscenely cruel.

She sees roller skating as an activity that you both can do together.

Something you could both compete at but still have fun with.

It's your hobby, and she wouldn't want to take that from you because she wants to be better.

She knows where to draw the line.

If you end up crashing, don't worry she's got your back.

She might laugh at you first. But she's still going to help you.

"I think that is the hardest I've ever seen someone fall on their face. Nice."

Again, all fun trash talk.

No matter how much she trash talks you, just know that she does so from a place of love.

Knight

Tarhos is impressed.

He doesn't know what roller skates are. But he's impressed.

He just knows they're the things you roll around in.

And he sees you do it all the time.

Modern technology is incredibly fascinating to him.

Of course, he's thinking of how he could use such things in combat.

It's a whole knight thing.

However, he knows he will not be able to.

"It isn't compatible with armor. Perhaps one of the others would make better use of such equipment."

But, he's glad you know how to.

"Should the worst come, I know you could move out of the area quickly."

He's telling you he'd rather you run away than fight any enemy.

But it's also him placing his confidence in you. That you could take care of yourself.

And that's a very high honor to earn from a man like him.

Should you fall and become injured, he will come to your aid.

As someone who has gotten hurt whilst training, he knows how frustrating that can be.

He'll make sure you aren't too hurt, patch you up if needed, then send you to continue roller skating.

He knows sitting down and moping isn't going to make you any stronger or any better at what you want to do.

Every time he sees you try something new with your skates, he feels more and more proud at your bravery.

You never cease to amaze him.

[shuttershocky]

let's say, hypothetically, someone picked up Gigantic after reading several of your posts despite never playing a moba before. what kind of tips or tricks of the trade would you give them?

The Closed beta test is finished for now (it was just a one day deal) but there will surely be more before the game (re)releases in April so here's some starter info for you.

Despite the overall game being structured like a MOBA, the actual combat system is based on action games. That means stamina management, 3D combat with verticality, dodge-rolls, jumps, all that good stuff. Even if you have no MOBA experience at all, you'll be able to get into the moment to moment gameplay

When you're new, I recommend playing the Rush game mode. Rush only had one lifebar per Guardian, you can switch characters anytime (like in a team 3rd person shooter like Overwatch), the only objectives are capture points, everyone starts at max level with a finished build, it's basically training wheels where you get to learn how the systems in Gigantic work against live players without having to learn the strategy elements yet.

Once you feel like getting into the real meat of Gigantic, play Clash mode. This is the classic mode the original game shipped with. In Clash mode, you cannot repick your character (so your team comp is determined at the pick screen), you start at Level 1, and over the course of the match you level up and use the upgrade points to upgrade your skills one by one. If you've played through Rush, you should be familiar enough with your chosen character by now to learn how to build them over a match. Another critical part of Clash mode is that you can sacrifice your Focus points (your Ultimate move) to instead summon a creature from your loadout to guard a command point your team captures. This is where the resource management and strategy of MOBAs come into play, as you have to choose between securing territory with creatures, (and different creatures having different abilities to help your team), or having Focus points to use your ultimate skill in a fight. You'll learn through experience.

The most important skill to learn when you first learn to play Gigantic is awareness about where your team is. The minimap shows you the locations of all your teammates. Unless you become really good at combat, you usually want to have the numbers advantage in a fight, as a 1v1 can be a struggle to win, but a 2v1 is going to end badly for the 1 guy 90% of the time. Don't let that one guy caught alone be you!

Contradicting what I said in the last tip (lol), all players actually take bonus damage when attacked from the back, so in a big fight it often pays to break from the team and flank the enemy while they're distracted. If you've played any team-based shooter at all, you know your target: the enemy support.

For very obvious reasons, melee characters are at a disadvantage when out in the open against ranged characters. Move from cover to cover when crossing open areas, melees have an advantage against ranged when they're up close!

They tell you this many times in the tutorial, but it bears repeating: do not fuck with the enemy Guardian who's a giant monster the size of a house. You can attack them in Clash mode to try to steal some power, but these WILL squish you flat if they catch you. If you do attack them like a crazy bastard, remember the gryphon Guardian has fast eye beams and tornado attacks to send you flying, while the dragon Guardian fires slow moving poison that slows you and makes you easy pickings. Both of them can just squish you if they want so be prepared to dodge.

You have a stamina bar that drains when dodging, jumping, attacking, sprinting, using skills, etc. When in a fight, it's important that you save enough stamina to escape in case you realize you can't win that skirmish, otherwise you'll have to limp away and hope someone saves you! On the other hand, draining an opponent's stamina can make them an easy kill for your team even if you don't have the stamina to finish them off yourself (that's why you play with your team nearby!)

Big glowy circles from various characters are often magic shields that reflect projectiles. Don't shoot them, you CAN hit yourself.

When your Guardian is fully powered and rampages across the map, don't get cocky and charge ahead immediately. The enemy Guardian is still dangerous and is capable of killing you swiftly right until the moment your Guardian punches them in the head and pins them down. Every member of the attacking team that dies during their Guardian's rampage gives energy to the enemy Guardian that lets them resist the attack. If you want to do maximum damage, you want to time it just right.

On the other hand when your Guardian is about to get punched in the face, this is the moment to go aggressive. Any kill you score here can strengthen your Guardian's shield, and if you die you can't empower a fully powered enemy Guardian anyway. Score a full 100 power shield and you can completely nullify the enemy Guardian's attack. Don't fall back scared when you hear the enemy Guardian roar, look for opportunities when the enemy gets cocky!

Since every ally slain empowers the enemy Guardian and every enemy slain empowers yours, it is in your best interest to protect your teammates and come to their rescue when they get in trouble. Losing them will only make the enemy stronger, but evening the odds and taking down the enemy together rewards your whole team.

Creature kills count as player kills! If a Creature defends a point all by itself and you take it down, that's a kill for you and power for your Guardian. That also means you must defend your own Creatures. Some of the upgraded creatures that take 2 or 3 Focus points to summon like a Stone Cerberus are powerful enough to fend off a human player by themselves, but don't leave a puppy Cerberus to die!

If you have a skill that says "pushes enemies" on its description, use it when the enemy climbs the level geometry. An enemy with the high ground advantage is hard to fight into, but the right skills can knock them off their perch and send them back down to the floor with you for an even fight.

[rzdhc]

I'm just thinking of an au of my au where it's canon but Rosinante lives and KataCora raised Law.

And Law being forced to go to Totto Land with the Sanji Rescue team when they find out he was raised as a Charlotte for a few years because he'd be perfect in giving them information on where to go and what to do.

Completely, y'know, ignoring the fact that he left for a reason and thus is branded as a traitor and should never actually return if he wanted to continue living but it's Luffy, he never listens.

And the whole time they're there, Luffy is like pointing at every guy asking, "Hey, is that your dad??" and Law, without fail, every single time is like "Hell no he's not," and when they run across Cracker, Law's like "He wishes he was my dad" because he knows he had a small crush on his papa when they first got to Totto land and he's still pretty pissed about it.

And when Luffy and Nami and Chopper and Carrot are going against Cracker and Brulee, they're like "Law are you just going to stand there or what?" and he's just like "I'm not going to help you beat up my family" and besides he's there against his will, he's very unhappy about being there right now.

And one would think because of the vast amount of Charlotte siblings there are, it'd be unlikely that they'd all know him and vice versa, but no, they all do. Because when you have a dad like Katakuri who's admired by all his younger siblings and uncles and aunties who are competitive af, they'd all try to get Katakuri's favor via his son, so Law is pretty aware of what they all look like, and maybe even some of their powers too.

And when Law FINALLY meets his dad again when they're trying to escape Totto land and Katakuri is just sitting to the side as Luffy fights Perospero. Law stands in front of him and is just like, "Hey fight me, I wanna see how far I've come."

And because both Katakuri and Rosinante trained Law, his combat skills are pretty damn good, his observation haki too - which has gotten better after being on his own for a bit - so he's at least able to dodge all of his dad's attacks even if he's struggling to actually hit him.

But when Law finally manages to cut him once, he's happy since he's never been able to do it, but Katakuri is like "don't get cocky just because you've hit me once" and hits him which just sends him flying.

Law is a bit upset saying "You went easy on me again, didn't you." But Katakuri, as stoic as he is, can't help but show a smile or proudness saying that no, he wasn't actually going easy on him and that "Rosi would be proud."

Unfortunately Law doesn't actually get to run into Rosinante, his Cora-san, but he jokes to his dad saying "I won't tell papa if you won't," because while yes they've trained before which involved them both getting hurt, just not to that extent and Rosinante would not be happy with either of them.

And at the end of it all, Luffy's all smug to Law because "Hey Torao, I beat up your dad," because Law's been saying the whole time they were in Totto land they'd never be able to beat him.

Luffy isn't the type to keep bringing it up but oh god the rest of the strawhat pirates won't shut up about it, and now everyone knows and won't let him live it down.

[shinysmolivgarden]

@tealmaskmybeloved

more info under the cut

A note: I imagine that Dokukieran's battle would work like the fights in most difficulty roms where he always leads Glimmora but what he send out next depends on where he sees a kill with certain moves and always changes.

Second note: I forget why I gave the pokemon the natures I did. I know they're good, but don't ask why.

Glimmora:

So Doku is actually competent and uses Glimmora as a lead unlike a certain someone. I gave it Focus Sash and Toxic Debris as standard to ensure at least one layer of toxic spikes gets set up before Glimmora goes down. It gets Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock to get as many hazards up as possible before going down. I gave it Sludge Bomb for poison S.T.A.B. and explosion to catch opponents off guard. (I imagine Doku would give his team lots of tricky moves to stop people who aren't ready).

Runerigus

When I was doing this teambuild I saw Runerigus' defense stat and immediately knew what I had to do. Luckily, it gets both Iron Defense (which doubles the user's defense stat) and Body Press (which uses your defense instead of your attack). To further this insane damage output, it holds a Ganlon Berry which increases its defense when it falls below 1/4 health, so if you don't one shot it, which you WILL NOT DO, at least one of your team members is probably going down. It gets Hex for Ghost S.T.A.B. as Hex's power doubles when the opponent has a status, which WILL be the case because of Glimmora. Finally, I gave it taunt to stop you from setting up on it.

Chandelure

The biggest problem with having a poison-type team is that it's weak to psychic, so it's a good thing this team has three ghost-type members. With Runerigus using Body Press which is not very effective against psychic types, I chose Chandelure to be the team's Psychic counter. It has two ghost moves: Shadow Ball and Hex. Hex for if you have a status condition, and Shadow Ball for if you somehow got rid of the toxic spikes, though I'm not sure how you'd do that given rapid spin is useless against a half-ghost type team. Flamethrower for fire S.T.A.B. and Hyper Beam for raw damage in a pinch. I gave it Infiltrator over Flame Body because a) this guy isn't very defensive so it won't be taking many hits anyway, and b) I want to make sure the team can't be broken with Light Screen & Reflect. I knew I wanted it to have a choice item, but I chose scarf over specs because its special attack is already very high and its speed is good but could be better for a sweeper.

Gengar:

(Notice: I'm not explaining Gengar or Runerigus' abilities because it's not like I could have given them anything else.) Gengar's very simple when compares to the previous two. Shadow Ball for ghost S.T.A.B. and Venoshock for poison. Similar to hex, its power doubles when you have a status. (I think Toxapex would be great for this team because it also has Venoshock and the ability Merciless, which further increases damage when the target is poisoned :]) I gave it Sucker Punch to ensure a KO if the opponent's health is low enough, and Destiny Bond to catch the opponent off guard and knock out their pokemon when they least expect it.

Sneasler:

Firstly, Dire Claw and Close Combat for S.T.A.B. Dire Claw is insanely good because of its status capabilities (which also allow for the rest of the team with hex and venoshock to deal massive damage). So insanely good in fact, it's banned in a lot of competitive formats :]. I had it learn Fake Out to break any focus sashes which you might be using to try and beat Doku, and to knock out a low health opponent which it might switch into. One thing the rest of this set doesn't account for is Sneasler's 4x weakness to psychic, which is an issue for the rest of the poison-types on the team, too. To counter this, I gave it a weakness policy and the ability Umburden. Weakness policy increases your attack stats when you're hit with a super effective move, and Umburden increases your speed when your item is used up. This also pairs well with the move Acrobatics, whose base power doubles to 110 when you don't have an item. In short, if you hit Sneasler with a super effective move and don't one-shot it, it will get attack and speed boosts and sweep your entire team.

Hydrapple:

Note: The original post by tealmaskmybeloved specifies that this hydrapple would be toxic chained, and I assume it would become Poison-Dragon instead of Poison-Grass, but if it does become Poison-Grass, just replace Draco Meteor with Leaf Storm in the moveset.

This was supposed to be Doku's ace, but given the way I'd imagine this battle to work, I decided to have it fill a different role: B I G S T A L L. I gave it Infestation and the Grip Claw item so that if you can't take it out quickly enough, it can get rid of 7/8 of your pokemon's health and render it basically unusable because of Gengar and Sneasler's Sucker Punch and Fake Out. To make sure it can live long enough for that to happen, it also gets recover! :] It's very easy to keep this version of Hydrapple alive because it no longer has a 4x weakness to ice. I gave it Nasty plot to increase its special defense (which is not as good as its physical defense) and to regain the special attack stat which may have been lost from Draco Meteor (or Leaf Storm), which with Hydrapple's ability Supersweet Syrup lowering the opponent's evasion, is guaranteed to hit. (At least I think it is. Don't quote me on that).

Anyway that's the teambuild I did for funny peach guy. Geez I wrote a lot more than I thought I would.

[toyota-supra]

My Top 10 Favorite Games I Played In 2023

In chronological order. It's a long one.

Titanfall 2

I've been told to play this for years now, though for most of those I did not really know why, as it never seemed like my kind of game. But, ever since I started really getting into mecha sometime in 2022, I decided to finally give it a try. I'm very glad I did. Titanfall 2 is a criminally short First Person Shooter with a very fun mech/pilot dynamic, really good mechanics of movement and combat for both, and some of my favorite level design of any game I've played in a long while. The platforming is crazy good! The mechanics are tight as hell! The mech is awesome! I recommend Titanfall 2 for literally anyone reading this.

Mega Man Zero

The Zero series is the one that most called to me in the Mega Man franchise every time I looked these games over, and I was right in that judgement. While I couldn't say if I was going to appreciate most of the GBA era action platformer difficulty or not, it was clear from Zero's more agile movement and bite-sized missions with very memorization-heavy bosses that I would enjoy it. And I did enjoy it a lot! Most of the bosses kicked my ass but it was an absolute blast to finally learn their patterns enough to defeat them. The problem is, I went out of my way to not get any of the game's health upgrades or energy tanks, making the final boss so hard for me that after days and days of attempts I gave up. Not beating Mega Man Zero is probably my biggest regret of the year lmao

Fate/Stay Night

Honestly, what do I even say? You can see my Saber icon, right? Fate is a franchise I never bothered to get close to, knowing of its name only through vague images and names of more popular characters (not even from FGO, just in general), and from later on getting to know that Fate/Grand Order was the game it is I felt like it wasn't for me at all and who cares. So when I learned what the original VN was actually about I felt stupid. How could something so fitting to my tastes have gone under my radar for so long...? Despite not being much of a reader in general, F/SN is a very long game that feels like it's just as short as you need it to be. The prose flows so well, every single character is lovable in many ways, and there's so much passion written into them and the situations they're in that it's one of the most smooth-flowing VNs I've read (which granted are not many) even though it's around the high 6 digit wordcounts. I love this game dearly.

Stranger of Paradise - Final Fantasy Origin

I wanted to play this game since the first few trailers! How cruel was it that, not only did I not have a powerful enough machine at the time, but the game wasn't even on Steam until the year after release? Final Fantasy Origin is the game it presents itself to be. There's something about it that's so special to a certain kind of person (which I happen to be one of) and that falls flat for everyone else. The combat and its many Weapons, Jobs and Skills to use are just fantastic in how nice they feel, and I really do like the type of story Stranger tells. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm close to it. I like to describe Stranger of Paradise as everything good about PS2 and PS3 games in a modern title.

Pseudoregalia

An old feeling from a new friend. Pseudoregalia is everything I like in 3D Platforming, and a little bit of what I don't. If you've ever looked at a single gif or video of Super Mario 64 and thought, "this looks pretty fun to play," you should be playing Pseudoregalia. If you like goat ladies with big butts, I can't say I understand if that would sell you on a game or not, but it is a feature everyone mentions. I wrote on this game already, so please do check that out and get it. It's one of the three titles of this list that came out this year, and I have not heard enough people talk about it.

Armored Core VI - Fires of Rubicon

My favorite in this list, which is funny because I don't know what to say about it at all. Armored Core is a series I've been studying up on from the outside for a while, and the announcement for this title was my reason to finally dive in. Unfortunately, I did not get past playing the first mission of AC1 a few times and booting up AC3 once. But I will get to it eventually! Fires of Rubicon is one hell of an action game, that I adored for every single one of my (currently) 67 hours of play. Going through the campaign with builds a little too busted for the AI most of the time was my dishonorable focus of the experience, but there's a lot else to do for every kind of person. The amount of freedom you have for messing with your builds for either single or multiplayer is not to be underestimated. Though it could be better. Here's hoping there will be a game that is.

Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition Remix

I played this game as a kid so much that the main menu and its theme are scarred into my mind, yet this whole time I had no idea what the game was actually like due to the fact that most of my playtime was doing a few races and just cruising around. Once you dive into trying to finish the story, MC3 is a much different experience. One that frustrated me so much, I got actually ill from the stress. Please take breaks, gamers! Your health is more important than finishing an 18 year old game! Still, I did eventually do it. Midnight Club 3's handling model and gameplay structure are really impressive in comparison to the much more popular Need for Speed series, and I have to admit I did enjoy the game a lot. It's just a lot harder than it ever needed to be. I'll probably never forget this game, and that's not really a good or bad thing. Just, advice from me, if it gets too hard, maybe switch to sports bikes. Buy that Ducati.

Test Drive Unlimited

Another car game, but this one I have the least to say about of any on this list. I had played TDU on PS2 multiple times before and thought it was awesome. The atmosphere and immersion of this game are unrivaled by any racing game to this day. But playing the PC version with a steering wheel and pedals made everything so much more incredible. I played the Platinum mod, which adds hundreds more cars and fixes a lot of issues with the original game (but not all of them; the game was still really rough and I hate how much the resolution is a pain to change). Overall, one of my favorite experiences with a steering wheel controller so far. Otherwise, a pretty good game if you like driving.

Super Mario Sunshine

An old friend, and a new feeling. I don't play 3D platformers as much as I wish I did, because they're really not part of my main priorities looking for games lately, but every time I play a Mario game, it's like I found love again. It was not the first time I played Super Mario Sunshine, as I had collected a dozen or so Sprites years before, but playing the whole game in I think two weeks during the latter half of the year was such an incredible experience. Unless for some reason you play it on the Switch, Sunshine is a game that loves you as much as you love it. And you do love it, right? I know I do. I'd love to play this game many other times in the future. Granted, that applies to every game here, I just wanted to say it out loud for this one.

Lethal Company

A fairly recent release! Having played it with many groups of people by now, both modded and vanilla, I think Lethal Company is probably one of my favorite multiplayer experiences ever. It is scary and hilarious, but also just really really good, to a level that surprised me for my quality standards of co-op (horror) games. Lethal Company turns friends into improvised horror movie actors and it's incredible. I'm almost at 30 hours played and will likely get to 40 at minimum. It's also pretty cheap and likely runs well on all sorts of machines, so consider checking this one out too.

Honorable Mentions

Witch on the Holy Night and Story of Seasons - Friends of Mineral Town are games I am adoring and could definitely go on this list, hadn't I started them both quite late into December. Maybe next year I'll give them a shoutout!

[bisheepart]

Not So Alone AU Incorrect Quotes

AU Name Suggestion By: @bumblebeesbah

Basically the friendship AU

Evan: You guys believe me?

Gregory: Aside from Cassie, you're the last good person on this planet. I'd believe cartoon birds did your hair this morning.

-------

Cassie: I have an idea on how we can make Michael stop bullying Evan.

Gregory, holding the Fazer Blaster: Me too.

Cassie: Wh- NO! That's not an idea, Gregory!

(I do like Michael but honestly he deserves this)

-------

Gregory: Self-care is actually getting into fights with randoms in dark alleys.

Elizabeth: No, self-care is stuff like taking a bubble bath, or putting on a lot of makeup if you like it, or taking a nice warm nap!

Cassidy, gradually getting angrier: Self-care is the burning heat when rage washes over you. Self-care is when you feel the bones crack under your powerful fists. Self-care is the fear in your enemies' eyes.

Tony: Self-care is stealing someone else's birthday cake just to eat the frosting.

Cassidy: If you touch my birthday cake, I'll make you eat your hands!

-------

Evan: I think I did well on the test.

Elizabeth: I forgot we were taking a test...

Evan: Lizzie...

Elizabeth: I said the vertebrae was the back stick because I thought it was funny.

Evan: Lizzie.

-------

Cassidy: When's the last time you slept?

Evan: Uh... a few days ago, I think.

Gregory: A few- how many?!

Evan: Uh... *starts counting on fingers* I need more fingers...

Cassie: What you need is sleep!

-------

Gregory: If I had a face like yours, I'd put it on a wall and throw a brick at it.

Michael: Listen, you little brat. If I had a face like YOURS, I'd put it on a brick and throw a wall at it.

-------

Elizabeth: I like wearing oversized sweaters. Not just because they're extremely comfy, cuddly and they make me look extremely cute, but because whenever the sleeves are really big, I get to flop them around and smack people.

-------

Cassidy: In my defense, I was left unsupervised.

Evan: Wasn't Elizabeth with you?

Elizabeth: In my defense, I was also left unsupervised.

-------

Gregory: Beat three eggs?

Ellis: It means in hand-to-hand combat.

Gregory: ooooh-

Tony: Both of you need to get out of the kitchen.

-------

Gregory: I need Cassidy there. I need someone to glance at when Michael inevitably annoys me. And then she'll know to pelt him with a water balloon.

-------

Evan: Jail's no fun, I'll tell you that.

Tony: Oh, you've been?

Evan: Once, in monopoly

-------

Cassie: This is a mistake!

Elizabeth, enthusiastic: A mistake we're going to laugh at one day!

Cassie: But not today...

Elizabeth, still enthusiastic: Oh no, today's going to be a mess.

-------

Cassie: She was poetry, but he couldn't read.

Gregory: His name's Jared, age nineteen

Cassidy: When his parents build a very strange machine!

Elizabeth: Watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen!

Ellis: Aayyyy Macarena!

Tony: Horrible job, everyone.

-------

Cassie: I mean, small animals are way more vicious. It’s because their anger has way less space to be bottled up in.

Tony: That's ridiculous, give me one example of this.

Elizabeth: Spiders.

Evan: Wasps.

Ellis: Chichichaus.

Cassidy; Gregory.

Gregory: HEY!

(He's canonically the smallest in his class, and he fits in baby carriages)

-------

Evan: In your opinion, what's the height of stupidity?

Gregory, to Michael: How tall are you?

[zhongrin]

Good evening Rin! I come by with another zhongwrinth thought! It’s always been a personal headcanon of mine that Zhongli knows how to fight with different weapons, maybe because he’s the God of War or smth but anyways! I like to think combat practice does happen from time to time in the teahouse or in the adeptal relams.

At first it’s Wriothesley practicing punches then Zhongli passes by and asks him, “Have you tried (insert boxing tip here)?” And Wriothesley tries it out, he’s surprised at the improvement. Wriothesley knows Zhongli is powerful, he’s in the adeptal realm after all. So sometimes he’ll seek Zhongli out and ask for a combat tip or two.

For Al-Haitham it’s a little harder? Feeble scholar he calls himself, i just like to think he passed by during Wriothesley’s practice once and Zhongli happens to be there. Zhongli comments on the Wrio’s form and Al-Haitham, curious, asks Zhongli for comments on the scholar’s form.

Zhongli gives a detailed comment and Al-Haitham just goes. “I’ll try it next time.”

So now three of them have one joint combat session, I forgot to ask, how much does Al-Haitham and Wriothesley know about Zhongli’s being a former god in the zhongwrinth household? Do they know all the details or do they just go ‘he’s powerful and gives good advice’?

That’s not the best part, the best part is when you come home and see three of your husbands, shirtless and sweating from their workout practicing together.

*runs*

*EXCITED CHEW TOY NOISES* HIIII STORM (if i can call you that??? but lmk if you prefer to be called something else <3) UEUEUE IM SCREECHING THIS WAS SO <3 <3 <3 🫠🫠🫠

(more utc bc this got long helphsdlkfjskd)

yessss i'm pretty sure zhongli can wield a lot of weapons (i mean…. 6k years and counting, god of war, knowledgeable about all things, man wears an archer's ring - and i refuse to believe it's just for 'status' or aesthetic purposes….) and he just so happens to prefer the polearm!! ough… imagine him with a claymore…. *nosebleeds*

...... they're bonding your honor. they're bonding and i like it very much. i love them i love them i love them i love them i love them i lov- wait sorry what were we talking about again? /silly

OH RIGHT YES AHEM joint combat training (or, as al haitham claims, 'just an exercise') session. does wriothesley and al haitham know about zhongli's identity? well, the answer is both yes and no lol

i'd like to think zhongli is kind of a menace in this one - he doesn't really straight up tell them, but he doesn't really try to hide the fact that he's not just an ordinary guy. they have seen him with his horns and tail out. they have seen him in his compact form wrapped around my neck like a scarf. he doesn't hesitate to tell stories of old when he was rex lapis/morax over dinner (but he does this in a storytelling fashion and in third-person pov). they have asked me for clarification, but i'm also a menace so i choose to keep quiet i don't think it's something i should be telling them, so all i tell them is "if he's not telling, then i'm not telling <3" lmao

i'd say wriothesley suspects that he's a dragon sovereign, simply because he knows neuvillette and these two old men give similar vibes and mannerisms. i imagine he keeps sneakily trying to bribe zhongli to visit fontaine with its ✨selections✨of✨tea✨ but he's actually secretly planning to make the two dragons meet so he can test his hypothesis.

as for al haitham, i think he has enough resources and brainpower to do a proper observation and research to conclude that zhongli is the ex-geo archon. he's the type who would deep dive into liyue history books and journals and records, learn ancient liyuean to explore the ruins, and ask questions to zhongli to crosscheck between the books, the facts he's seen, and whether zhongli's story corroborates it. man's hyperfixated now. someone help him.

brb now i'm imagining shirtless wriothesley and zhongli in that transparent bodysuit and al haitham in his own bodysuit, all sweating aー oh god zhongli's hair is upー oh god wrio's pouring water onto his face and it's trickling down hisー oh god haitham's lifting his bodysuit to wipe his swー HWERHFIE)OWWEDLIAJDIKASD *explODES*

[ominous-feychild]

OC Facts Tag

Thank you for the tag, @honeybewrites!

Rules: Make a list of fun facts about your OCs. Like a headcanon list, if you will! Except it's actually canon lol.

Characters from Sun and Shadow: Freya, Crow, Daleira, Faer

Freya:

Knows a lot about sailing, but has mostly worked on ships by herself. Is she self-taught? Well, kinda--it's because of her dad basically being a god of the ocean. It's literally in her blood, and she's blessed to have good luck on the ocean. Not that it helps her if "luck" doesn't come into play...

Has mostly figured out how to translate three different forgotten languages by using only her own intelligence and libraries

Has anger issues but thinks of herself as a very calm person

Has a lot of nightmares, but remembers very few of them. Doesn't have very many good night's rests

For some reason, half of what she thinks and knows of her past contradict each other...

Sleeps curled up in a ball; likes cuddling with stuffed animals but left it at home when going to Lynsmouth because she thought her fiancé would judge her for it. Joke's on her, it's a fiancée, and she has way more than just one!

Would forgive her dad for his neglect if he just gave a sincere apology, a hug, and spent at least a few months with her every year

Hates standing out

Was previously in a toxic relationship with a man who groomed her. It caused a lot of her modern-day issues. Her dad is not aware of this, and she hopes to keep it that way.

Crow:

Both hates and loves the smell of blood

Forgot how to cry years ago

Is a fantastic actor and liar; thinks their lies are terrible and obvious, but is able to fool even some of the people best at reading body-language

Knows how to fight with two different types of weapons. Also knows hand-to-hand combat--that, and using a simple dagger, are what they're best at

Always has a knife/dagger within reach, but it's usually hidden behind one of their wings or their tail feathers

Their humor is, in reality, an act they put on to make people underestimate them. They are hyper-alert and constantly on guard

Is most comfortable sleeping on top of something spherical; likes wrapping their arms--and so their wings with them--around it, resting their cheek over their shoulder/wing, and splaying their legs out

However, is used to sleeping in terrible conditions. Just always needs to sleep on their stomach; it's painful to lay on their wings

Daleira:

Is almost certainly ADHD and is probably on the spectrum; I'd have to write more of her before I say the last part for sure, though

Doesn't have very many friends and is aware of it; most of the people in her life are either humoring her because they're afraid of her or because they want political power

Her obsession with magic originated from her trying to figure out if she could change what she is--aka, stop being a faerie and turn human

She's terrified of her own magic and refuses to use it. Most of the magic she uses in-story is during moments of panic (ie, used on reflex) or through a conduit

If she ever managed to "turn human", would cry for weeks about no longer being able to shapeshift. Her ability to shapeshift is one of the few things she likes about being a faerie

Has never been in a relationship before

Doesn't like to sleep because she's afraid of what her magic will do while she's unconscious. Lucky(?) her, she can literally make it so she doesn't have to sleep

Wishes she had a sibling or other people to relate to

Loves sweet food; lucky her, she won't ever gain weight unless she wants to

Faer:

Figured out engineering over time from reverse-engineering half-destroyed machinery

Likes cooking and sees it as very similar to engineering

He loves his hair and would cry if he had to cut it. Has not cut it once in over 5 years, not even to trim it.

Loves soft textures and wears an oversized cloak to hide his constant fidgeting, to generally keep his actions hidden, and to be able to pet it

The more I write about him, the more certain I am that I accidentally made ANOTHER goddamn autistic character istg--

Although he claims the cyborg bobcat that follows him everywhere is his familiar, it is not. It is an actual bobcat. They bonded over a series of incidents of saving each other's lives and refuse to part from each other

Refuses to set foot in a forest until his life depends on it. Thankfully, now lives in a city.

The giant scar over his face is far from the only one he has.

Has PTSD and is constantly aware of his surroundings

Met Daleira when she saved him, but actually likes her as a friend and person

Is suspicious of Valyarus, but doesn't know how to tell Daleira that her dad gives him major creep vibes

"Faer" (pronounced "fair") is not actually his name

Tagging (with no pressure): @the-letterbox-archives @the-golden-comet @yourpenpaldee @darkandstormydolls @themboty + anyone else who wants to join!

Divider by @cafekitsune

[edelorion]

lag

a ramblomatic short story by edel. maybe graphic violence warning? under the cut

okay, maybe it's not actually lag. technically it's a frame drop or whatever. i just think lag is a better title. i like the word. feels thematic to what i'm about to describe.

standing in front of an adversary with a broken berdiche. don't exactly remember what did it, but it's about as useful as a shortsword now. which means not that useful. furthermore, you're damaged. one firm thwack of that hammer of theirs probably unseated something. some ram? maybe it messed with your cpu? difficult to say, but it messed with something, you know that at least. and it's getting difficult to see.

the lenses behind your screen have to constantly adjust. they're out of focus the one moment, in focus the next. then out of focus. like a slideshow. you seem to be unsteady. must've done something to your gyroscope too. should you've gone for biomimetic? both? maybe the redundancy would've prevented this? can't be helped now, anyway.

one thing you know for sure is that this has turned into a standoff. and as much as they're bleeding, as much as you've torn them open, severed muscles, vessels, nerves... they're standing firmly, resolute.

you are not.

...pff. humans. ever so resilient.

you weren't exactly made for combat anyway, compared to the others. you were ment to interface with them, not be them. you don't have their layers of impact mitigation, armour, their elbow blades and powerful servos. a strike on the right spot can take you out instantly. always bothered you, yes, but to be fair, that's the case with humans too, isn't it?

your microphones catch some sounds. taunting, mainly. and disrespect. the usual. their mouth's moving very choppily. omitting various movements.

about five frames per second. did a good number on you, huh?

think they said something about "ending this once and for all". you've honestly only seen them once or twice before. barely registered 'em... something's wrong with 'em, that's for sure.

they're approaching. you turn to look straight to them, but it takes a while to process. it's disorienting. you're not entirely sure what to do. but your servos move before your conscious mind does.

movement. counteroffensive. that hammer of theirs is a big thing to lug around. they will start their swing before they're anywhere near you. they know how to make their one swing count. it's drilled into them. (driven like a nail, more like.) you've already calculated the best approach. minor adjustments to be made in execution.

but you can't make those. three frames per second.

dread hangs over you like a sword.

they're getting closer. you're getting closer to them. they're smiling?

two frames. you don't know if what you're planning is even going to work. it's the best approach, sure, but

it's so scary, regardless.

you can feel the ground beneath you through your sensors, the air rushing past. the broken berdiche in your hand. its weight. its heft. but all you see is your adversary, muscles flexing.

two more steps. visual changes. about to swing. you duck. how were they going to swing? uncertain. maybe they knew you'd duck maybe they've planned this. you don't know, and furthermore, you can't know. you just have to trust yourself. your life depends on you, this very moment.

you can only see that they were about to swing. you've already taken a step and ducked. you feel the ground under you through your sensors. you swung your own weapon. there's a "whoosh" overhead. you can still only see that they were about to swing.

something finds purchase into something else.

you hear something slump to the ground. you're upright. if unsteady. visual changes.

ten frames.

a quick turn around, and... yup. a pretty grisly sight. don't think they're gonna get up from that one. or get up in general. ever.

you make a report to the mechanic to take a look at you asap, a report to security about the intruder, and you sent a smug message to the group chat.

you did just kill an intruder and adversary while running at 2 fps. you deserve to brag a bit.

...maybe ask the weaponsmith later about a new berdiche.

[attonposting]

So KotOR II, when you train your companions into Jedi, I think most of us immediately give our Force Friend Squad healing and lightning and whatever else is gonna make combat go quickest. But looking at them as people, what powers would they actually have an affinity for? What's natural for them to learn and use?

Atton cannot heal to save his life – and it would, given his tendency to get himself into trouble. However, what he does have a knack for is Revitalize, channeling his ability to hang in there and keep fighting no matter what. He's also got a nasty predisposition towards a couple of dark side powers, especially Force Choke. At first Atton is pretty irreverent about how he uses the Force – a blaster bolt or an exploded guy, dead is dead, so what's the difference? - but the issue is that, as before, he likes it. And he doesn't want to feel that anymore. Atton would also be quite good at mind tricks, being both a duplicitous asshole and an ex-assassin with specialized training on how mental domination works, but it's a moot point because he stubbornly refuses to learn them.

Bao-Dur's first foray into the Force involves learning to manipulate the currents in droids – they're the easiest energies for him to connect to, and disabling or overloading machinery from afar comes naturally. What also comes naturally, unfortunately, is Force Scream, especially when they land on Dxun and all his old war wounds are torn open. Canderous joining the crew was not a good time for him, and honestly, when Bao-Dur talks about how he feels calmer in the Exile's presence? I think it makes a lot of difference whether this chat happens before or after Dxun. Bao-Dur's a whirlpool beneath a calm surface, so psychic blasting people with repressed anger and pain hits pretty right from where I'm standing. He has to work a little harder to learn Force healing, but channeling his energy into reconstruction is something he eventually strikes a deep, quiet connection with.

Mira was the hardest for me to peg, at least with the game's power roster. We already know what she's best at through the Force – a strange combination of hunter's instinct and empathy, where she can find people by understanding how they think and what they need. There's no power equivalent to that, though. What I do think she'd excel at is Stun and Stasis. It's part because she always strives to disable people without killing them, and part because that's kind of her whole aesthetic (or at least that's what the design team would like us to believe, smh) – appearing nonthreatening and then taking you down before you ever realized you were in danger. A non-Dark-Side Mira would have a lot of trouble with blatantly lethal powers like Force Lightning and Force Choke, and if she doesn't, that's allll on the Exile's freaky influence warp.

Brianna is a master of combat buffs – at first mastering her own body, and then channeling that near-preternatural surefootedness to her allies. Master Speed, Force Valor, deflecting blaster bolts with her bare hands, it's all in her wheelhouse. Can totally see her in the middle of a pitched fight tossing people around with Force Wave, literally leaping across a battlefield with lightsabers flashing and landing with a shockwave that throws a dozen men back. Girl could go very anime if she wanted. Let's face it, she's earned it.

Mical is absolutely a healer. Guy already had medical training, and more importantly, he is friend-shaped. It's not something that companions can learn or use in-game, but I think that persuasion would also be in his wheelhouse – not for the sake of domination, but out of a sincere desire to seek better solutions where tempers, greed, and pride otherwise rule. Like, c'mon, he becomes a senator in some of his endings – now imagine that, but not completely disillusioned with the galaxy. He could cut you down, but he'd really rather you go home and rethink your life choices. I think there's strong grounds for him getting Force Enlightenment down the road, which is another exclusive-to-PC power that's beyond the scope of many Masters. Mical has about the most complete view of the Jedi Order anyone could aspire to, understanding without excusing its flaws and the easy pitfalls the Code can lead to while still truly believing in the good it can do for the galaxy.

Visas joins the party pre-equipped with a bunch of Dark Side powers, which makes me weep. Like, Force Horror? She's projecting the overwhelming trauma of Katarr. Choke and Lightning? You know Nihilus used them on her liberally. It's awful. But I'd like to think that on a Light Side run, as she grows into her own, she develops different affinities. I get support vibes again, but for Visas, it's about endurance, and sharing what she's gained with those who helped lift her up – Force Barrier and Energy Resistance, Force Aura, maybe Force Resistance. She can still wield her grief and her anger, but it doesn't rule her – she's not like Atton, where those powers hold a real and present danger for his psyche. She still feels that pain, and she's unafraid to use the darkness when necessity calls, but it's not the only thing that fills her heart anymore.