#Ultima you a**hole...

[ruubesz-draws]

Godzillas in the rain. Look at them, trying to be good big brothers to Minus :') Then there's Ultima.

(I headcanon that Earth is the oldest (because I said so), MV is the second oldest, Shin is the third oldest, Ultima is the second youngest and Minus is just baby)

Minus one being the chihuahua in the family lol

[automatayaoi]

playing ff16 again bc i desperately need to finish it and my currents thoughts are like. This game has some massive gaping plot holes (why were bearers enslaved and vilified in the first place? are the people so intensely reliant on crystals and magic that they don’t know basic survival skills like banging rocks together to make fire and digging holes for wells?) but the rest of the game particularly the character writing and absolutely insane cutscene animations are so fucking baller i can mostly look past it

[ultraflavour]

7 Fantasy RPGs to fill the D&D-shaped Hole in your Life

So. It finally happened. Either Hasbro, or Wizards of the Coast, or someone else associated with Dungeons & Dragons finally did something so fucked-up that you've decided to swear it off entirely.

The problem is that for decades, there has been one obvious answer to the question of "What game with Dwarves, Longswords and Wizards in it should we play" and that was D&D, every time. Even their strongest rival in the past couple of decades was just an older version of D&D with a spit shine.

Now you find yourself adrift in a sea of possibility, with no signposts. There are names you've heard, but you have no idea which ones you'd actually be interested in, because you had always just assumed you'd be playing D&D until the heat death of the universe.

So let's take a look at a few games that want to fill that D&D-shaped hole in your gaming life, and examine what they're offering.

Disclaimer: I'm not covering the entire breadth and depth of the TTRPG industry here. I'm specifically going to be covering Fantasy RPGs that should appeal to D&D fans here. So if I didn't cover your favourite indie RPG, sorry. But there has to be a "First step" outside of the D&D bubble, and each of these games should fulfill that need.

The Other "Kitchen Sink" Game: Pathfinder

If you can't bring yourself to keep playing the corporate game, but you still want something that offers as close to that gameplay experience as you can possibly get, your best bet at the time of this writing is probably Pathfinder 2nd Edition.

I say this as someone who very much did not vibe with the original Pathfinder, or its "D&D in space" sister product Starfinder. But at this point, I'd absolutely tell a newcomer to jump into Pathfinder 2E before I recommended they buy any WotC product.

To their credit, the 2nd Edition of Pathfinder does much more to, uh, find its own path by diverging from 3.5 edition and implementing new systems that take it into uncharted territory. The "Two Actions Per Turn" paradigm is often cited by its proponents as being a meaningful improvement over the 5E way of doing things.

The "TTJRPG": Fabula Ultima

One of the biggest success stories of the early 20's was Fabula Ultima from NEED Games in Italy. It came seemingly out of nowhere to win the ENnie Gold Award for Best Game of 2023. Since then it's become notoriously difficult to find in print, though it's still freely available as a PDF.

Fabula Ultima is a "TTJRPG," modelled after Japanese fantasy video games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, Breath of Fire, etc. While it's firmly planted in the Fantasy genre, its gameplay will also very recognizable to fans of those types of games.

The major benefit of this conceit is that you can probably already picture how combat in FabUlt works in your mind: Two rows of characters take turns jumping and slashing at each other, or casting magical spells to harm, heal, or apply status conditions. There's no concept of "Spacing," but the game still manages to be mechanically intricate with lots of varied class abilities and status effects to apply.

D&D refugees looking for a game where you simply pick a class and fight some monsters, but aren't too particular about how they do that, will find a lot to love here. FabUlt leans much more heavily on storytelling mechanics than D&D does, so players who've been looking for something a bit more "Theater of the Mind" should be well taken care of here.

Final Fantasy Lancer: ICON

Like Fabula Ultima, ICON is a TTRPG that takes heavy inspiration from JRPGs, specifically tactical games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. It's from Massif Press, who also authored the surprise indie Mech combat hit Lancer.

And like Lancer, ICON is a game with two very distinct rulesets: Outside of combat, a "Fiction-first" narrative system inspired heavily by Blades in the Dark; In combat, a grid-based tactical skirmish game reminiscent of D&D 4th Edition. All backed by the gorgeous art of its author Tom Parkinson-Morgan, who also writes and illustrates the comic Kill Six Billion Demons.

ICON separates its "narrative" class system from its combat class system, giving each character two distinct character sheets that come into play at different times. Because those two systems don't have to cross over very much, each can be as intricate or as rules-light as it needs to be to promote the type of gameplay most appropriate for the situation.

The Old-School Gateway Drug: Shadowdark

If you ever took a few steps outside of the walled garden that is D&D in the past few years, you will likely have read or heard of the OSR, or "Old-School Revival/Renaissance." Proponents of the OSR are players who yearn for an older style of Dungeon Crawling Survival Horror game that hearkens back to the early days of D&D, before the players became akin to superheroes.

Shadowdark aims to be a game that bridges the gap to that style of gameplay, without being totally unfamiliar to players who only ever learned 5th Edition mechanics. It's "Old-School gaming, modernized."

Aside from simply being a modern take on a D20 fantasy game, it freshens up gameplay using a mechanic called the "Torch Timer." It turns light into a resource that dwindles in real time. This serves to elevate the tension of the game as every minute that passes is one less minute of light on your torch. And when the torches run out, well... You can probably guess what happens next.

5th Edition with the Serial Numbers Filed Off: Tales of the Valiant

Tell me if you've heard this one before: Wizards of the Coast introduces sweeping changes to its "Open" license model, leading existing 3rd-party content creators to create their own version of an older ruleset to protect the viability of their backlog. It happened in the past, but what are the chances that happens a second time? Ha!

Well... It did happen again. This time, playing the role of the "Paizo" in this scenario is Kobold Press, who loudly declared that they were "Raising the Black Flag" in response. In order to ensure that there would always be a "Core Fantasy" ruleset that would remain compatible with their content, they announced Tales of the Valiant, which would essentially duplicate the 5th Edition ruleset with a bit of a spit shine, in much the same way that Pathfinder did for 3.5 Edition.

Tales of the Valiant will be the game for the D&D player who just wanted a rules refresh of 5th Edition, but also doesn't want to keep throwing money at the corporate hegemony. It should end up being "The 5E you can feel good about supporting," and that matters right now.

Matt Colville's Big Bet: The MCDM RPG

Kobold Press was not the only publisher of third-party D&D content to have a strong reaction to the OGL fiasco. Unlike Tales of the Valiant however, Matt Colville's response was to announce a fully new Fantasy RPG system, with no expectation of backwards compatibility with any edition of D&D.

MCDM's sights are firmly set on the "Post-Kitchen-Sink" future, and to that end their game is explicitly not trying to be the one game for every possible playstyle. It's Tactical, meaning you'll need a grid to play it on, and it's Heroic, meaning characters should feel powerful, and not like they're constantly one critical hit or failed trap-sensing check away from being decapitated.

This approach might seem like a massive risk considering how insanely powerful 5th Edition became at its peak. But a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign backed by over 30,000 people shows that there is at least an appetite for something new, and that there is a like-minded community of players ready and waiting to join you.

The Critical Role Game: Daggerheart

If the Kobold Press announcement was a shot across the bow, and the MCDM crowdfunder was a bomb dropped, then Daggerheart is a full-blown asteroid, streaking straight towards Wizards of the Coast HQ.

Daggerheart is an original Fantasy RPG from Darrington Press, the publishing arm of the Critical Role media company. That by itself should mean something considering how important CR is to the D&D brand, but there's more to talk about here. Though it superficially resembles D&D in a lot of ways, it has some extremely important differences. Namely, its use of "Powered by the Apocalypse" mechanics such as "Fail Forward" dice rolling and "No Initiative" combat.

While "PbtA" has become somewhat of a loaded term in the D&D community, Critical Role has an opportunity to overcome that stigma with the sheer force of their platform. I've made this case already in the past, but if they were to use their power to do for themselves what they did for 5th Edition, it would be the most significant threat to the Hasbro Hegemony to emerge since Pathfinder. Let alone taking just a slice, Daggerheart has the long-term potential to take the whole damn pie.

And more!

The games I've listed here are all theoretically capable of replacing the Corpo game as your "go-to" long-term game. Not all of them are fully playable as of this writing, but they all represent one possible future for the "Sword and Sorcery" RPG genre.

There are of course a whole plethora of other games out there beyond the limited scope of "Medieval Fantasy" that are just as valid and just as viable, if you're feeling a bit more adventurous.

If you're looking for something explicitly tactical like a miniature skirmish game, but still in the RPG genre, and you're willing to expand your choice of genre beyond Euro-centric Medieval Fantasy even further beyond ICON, you might be interested in Gubat Banwa or the aforementioned Lancer.

If you want a game that promotes a slightly more streamlined, less mechanically-intricate approach to combat while still giving you tons of monsters to kick the shit out of, you might want to check out the "Illuminated by LUMEN" family of games inspired by the games LIGHT and NOVA from Gila RPGs. It might even inspire you to write your own RPG!

If you're more interested in the Old-School Renaissance, you might want to check out Forbidden Lands, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Old-School Essentials, or MÖRK BORG.

If you like the idea of "Old-School Roleplaying" but are also willing to step outside of the fantasy genre into Sci-fi territory, you might be interested in Stars Without Number, its Cyberpunk sister product Cities Without Number, or Mothership.

Finally, if you just want a game that focuses on telling the best story rather than mindlessly killing monsters and acquiring loot, you might want to check out Blades in the Dark, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Girl by Moonlight, Coyote and Crow, and many more Fiction-First games in the Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark genres.

But most importantly: Just play more games! Don't just buy them, play them! The point of this whole exercise is to replace the monopoly with a plurality, for the sake of the health of the tabletop gaming industry.

Because the next time Hasbro lays off a bunch of WotC employees, there should be a much stronger, more diverse industry for them to land in feet-first. We should all want for the people who build the games we love to feel safe in their career choice. Not just for the sake of the ones who are already there, but for future prospective designers and artists who want to make their mark.

It should be viable to be a tabletop game designer outside of just making more D&D stuff forever, because as we've seen, it's not safe to assume that we can all just keep doing the same thing we've been doing and not get bit on the ass by it.

If we want that future, we have to take it into our own hands and build it ourselves. But if there's one group of people that knows about building something very big from very little, it's TTRPG players.

[sleepyfan-blog]

Fealty

Author's note: this is the second fic in the Fem!Guillilman in 40k series. Link here for the masterlist.

tagged: @egrets-not-regrets @the-pure-angel @i-am-a-dragon34 @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan @bleedingichorhearts

warnings: unreliable narrator, past manipulation, please ask me to tag something if I missed it/something specific bothers you

Summary: Titus talks to his fellow Deathwatch officers about some odd happenings within Ultramar. He then finds out the source of the strangeness.

“So… Anyone else noticed how all of us of Deathwatch members have been gathered from all corners and hell-holes of the Imperium and brought aboard this ship are all Sons of Guilliman?” Titus called out, his arms folded over his chest as he called out to several other officer-level Astartes in the room. 

“I mean… We sons of Guilliman outnumber everyone else. From last I heard, roughly fifty to sixty percent of all active loyal astartes can trace their geneseed to Guilliman herself.” Andromicus pointed out, a small frown appearing on his face. 

“It’s still strange that every single marine aboard this ship is a Son of Guilliman, though. I was pulled from my kill-team… And from what I’ve been able to get from the others, the only ones who are with any of their kill-team members is if those other Brothers are also sons of Guilliman. Anyone have any ideas or theories as to why?” Pholecin added, a mirroring frown on his own face. “Some of them were pulled from active battlefields, with other marines replacing them on the field. Injury status be damned.”

“I heard a rumor that an invasion fleet managed to pierce deeply into Ultramar’s defenses. Chaos scum and possibly Tyranids at the same time?” Andromicus offered “I’ve even heard a mutter or two that Maccrage itself was under threat directly. Maybe we’re being sent to aid the efforts there?”

Titus shifted uncomfortably at the thought. He was not looking forward to interacting with the Brothers who had cast him aside after the Incident on Graia. He had done what he could to stem the tides of Orcz and Chaos… Even managed to seal the gate, but in so doing, had been suspected of Chaos Taint. Stripped of his honor and exiled to serve the Inquisition. “I heard something about that as well, something similar. But I’m surprised at how intensely the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines has shut down all means of information gathering and travel. Whatever happened, it’s…” He swallowed, keenly aware of the attention on him, not just from Andromicus and Pholecin, but the rest of the Death Watch Officers who were lounging round in this officer’s lounge “It’s no small thing. I have no idea what…” But he could guess.

“... You wanna explain your thought process about that?” Andromicus asked, looking at him more carefully, briefly focusing on the Ultramarine Ultima on his left pauldron. 

There was a brief, profound silence that permeated the room. Titus was pretty sure that no one was breathing, to avoid possibly missing out on his response. “It’s just… There were several sets of protocols put in place, in case certain things happened. Some of these protocols were kept a secret, to be carried out by the officers who knew them, and from the known movements of the Ultramarine fleet - and the fact that all chapters who have the geneseed of Guilliman within them have been recalled to Ultramar - though some like the Nova Marines and the Mortifactors are from quite far flung reaches of the Imperium. Considering how tightly patrolled the borders of Ultramar are, and how little information even the Inquisition has been able to glean - that they’ve told-”

Titus’ eyes widened a little and he abruptly stopped speaking, as he mentally went over all of the protocols that he knew of that were being followed. A soft exhalation of “Oh. I suspect I know what’s happened.” 

There was a very loud, very intense silence before Pholecin broke it “Care to tell the rest of us? Also, how would you know about these secret Ultramarine protocols?”

“I was Second Captain of the Ultramarines, before being taken into the service of the Inquisition.” Titus revealed, shifting uncomfortably. His eyes glanced briefly to one of the security cameras, before covering his mouth, his voice dropping to a low whisper that nonetheless carried “I suspect that something may have happened to the greatest treasure within the Fortress of Hera.”

Every astartes in the room knew exactly what, or more precisely, who he was referring to. The silence that followed his statement was long and grim. More than one Brother bowed his head, murmuring a quiet prayer to Him on Terra.

“Allegedly, the prime conduit of the Omnisiah was visiting Maccrage at the time, with armor specifically crafted for a Particular Individual, with alterations to ensure that… Certain Injuries this person has would be treated and not be so life-threatening, so long as this person stayed within the armor as they healed.” Titus continued, and the mood shifted in the room to slightly more hopeful.

“There… There are rumors that a new Regent may be crowned on Terra, though whether or not that’s true is… Has yet to be seen. I’ve also heard about the Ruler of Ultramar once again taking up the Golden Laurels.” Andromcus murmured, his voice low, but filled with a painful, tentative hope that Titus could not allow to consume his hearts. “If… If this is so, we may all be recalled home to swear fealty to this Ruler.. As. As with the rest of the Sons of Guilliman are being recalled to do the same.”

“Do you have verified information about that? Or is that yet another rumor?” Titus asked, his hearts in his throat at the idea, hiding his hands beneath the table, so that no one would see the way that they were shaking. His only consolation was the drawn but hopeful looks on everyone else’s faces. No matter what the truth was, they at least had some clue as to what may await them when they were brought to Maccrage.

“I… It’s a rumor, but…” Andromicus shrugged a little “Rumors and supposition are all we have to go on at the moment.”

“That’s true enough.” Titus answered with a shrug and a sigh. There was a restless, shivery energy inside of him that he needed to get out, or it would eat him alive “I’m going to go into one of the training rooms. Anyone else up for a spar?”

“I am.” Pholecin answered immediately, standing up “I… I want to spar as well.”

Titus nodded and the Deathwatch marine of Liberator heritage followed after Titus, the two of them silent as they made their way over to one of the open training rooms.

~

Titus could taste the tension within himself and his fellow Astartes as the Inquisitorial ship landed on the far side of the Fortress of Corrections. There were hundreds of Ultramarines in parade-form waiting for them, armed and armored. A large, ornately decorated and bitterly familiar figure standing at their head, with a slightly shorter but no less well-decorated person standing next to him.

The Inquisitors and the crew had been instructed to stay within the ship. If need be, they would be allowed to fly the vessel to one of the large space port towns within Maccrage. Only Marines were to leave the ship at the Fortress of Corrections - and there had been no shortage of grumbling about it from the non-Astartes, though they were careful not to complain on vox to a very stiff and nearly hostile Chapter Master Calgar, if rumors were to be believed. 

And why wouldn’t Calgar be annoyed to have to recall marines that he and other chapter masters had discarded? To have Marines sent away to the Inquisition for their perceived sins and misdeeds. Not enough to be killed or exiled outright to the Eye of Terror, but banished from the Ultramarines, or the other successor chapters that claimed to be of Guilliman’s lineage brought back to the most holy place of Ultramar. 

Ttus was at the front of the two-hundred and sixty-nine Deathwatch marines who were sons of Guilliman. News that he had once been the captain of the second company of Ultramarines had spread quickly, and while he wasn’t the only former Ultramarine within the ranks of the Deathwatch, he had been the most highly ranked before being taken into their service. The other former-officers of the Ultramarines were at the front, followed by rank and file former Ultramarines, followed by officers of successor chapters and their rank and files by order of Founding. 

Titus did not want to be at the very front. To look the bastard Calgar in the eye for the first time in nearly a hundred years. But he could not deny his Brothers’ request, and the Master of Ultramar was an imposing figure, especially for the first time meeting him. As would be the case for every other Deathwatch marine. It was intensified by several times due to the Chief Librarian’s presence at his side (not that Librarian Tigurius was often far from Master Calgar’s side if either could at all help it) and hundreds of Ultramarines there to watch and silently judge them as they walked in perfect formation towards the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines. 

Titus was the one who had to speak (he’d argued that they at least should draw lots and was soundly out-voted, the bastards). He saluted Calgar and Tigurius in the manner of Ultramar, speaking in formal tones “Greetings, Chapter Master Calgar, Lord of Ultramar. I am Captain Titus of Deathwatch. As you have called, all members of Deathwatch who have the geneseed of Guilliman have arrived upon Maccrage, to my knowledge. What duty do you ask of us, lord?”

“It was not I who called you to Ultramar, but a higher authority. Surrender your weapons, each of you, to the nearest Ultrarmarine, and you will meet with this higher authority individually. If you refuse you will be executed on the spot.” Calgar rumbled, staring down at Titus.

… The only person with more authority than Calgar on Maccrage itself was a very small number indeed. This, along with the insidious hope that had bloomed within Titus’ hearts had him immediately handing over his bolter and blades, carefully checking that he had removed all of his weapons - including the emergency knives that he stored in his boots, carefully handing over each weapon to the waiting Ultramarine who had walked up to him. He gestured to the other Deathwatch marines, many of whom were unhappy at the choice before them “As you say, Lord Calgar. That should be the last of my weapons, sir.”

 “... Follow me, then.” Calgar ordered after staring at him for a long moment, his red bionic eye glaring harshly in the morning light. 

“As you command, sir.” TItus answered back, suppressing the bitterness at the sight of the fucker who’d taken his place - the white and red plume on his helmet marking him as a noble of Talassar. Of course he’d been replaced by a noble. There had been so much bitching about the fact that he, of low-born blood, had managed to attain such a prestigious rank in the first place. 

The fact that he’d been shuffled off to the Inquisition at the first major opportunity to do so had been a surprise at the time, but one that Titus should have realized in hindsight was coming. He followed silently after Calgar, able to keep up with the larger Marine, and keeping a respectful three step distance between himself and the other. He could tell that certain parts of the Fortress of Corrections had recently been repaired or rebuilt, though it was unlikely any of the other Deathwatch Astartes would notice, as none of them had spent enough time to know what was a new patch and what had been standing tall for millena. 

They reached an ornate door, where four first company veteran Ultramarines were standing guard in front of. Calgar briefly spoke with the guards before turning to face Titus directly. “You will enter that room alone. If I may offer a bit of advice, it is this; speak with all of the honesty you possess, for the being inside will know if you are attempting deception. I say this not because I think you are dishonest, but as a… Suggestion, based on personal experience.”

With that, two of the Ultramarines opened the doors and Titus stepped inside the room.

~

The first thing he noticed was the scale of the room. It was built large, even by Astartes standards. It had recently been cleaned, as he could smell the faint pall of dust in the air and the sharp scent of cleanser in the air. At the far end of the room stood a large, beautifully charged wooden desk, and sat behind it was an armored figure.

Larger than even Calgar and the other Brothers who wore Terminator plate, sat a figure in the most ornate armor he had ever seen, in Ultramarine colors and heraldry. This person’s helmet had been set down on the desk, and Titus’ eyes caught on the name carved into the other’s right pauldron, the breath catching in his throat.

Guilliman

His knees hit the sturdy stone floor with a brief clang, and TItus respectfully focused his gaze onto the floor near Her desk, unable to bring himself to look upon her visage without being given the privilege directly, his mouth and throat going dry as he registered an immense psychic presence that effortlessly dominated the room. He was no psyker, but his repeated exposure to Chaos and the Immaterium had left him with a slight ability to sense those with psychic potential. 

He did not speak. He barely dared to breathe in her presence, mentally reeling at the fact that his most desperate hope when he’d heard the bits and pieces of what was going on within Ultramar, and the movement of the sons of Guilliman had been since the conclusion of the Ultramar campaign of the Thirteenth Black Crusade were true.

She is alive.

She is awake.

She rules them, once more. 

But what did She want with a disgraced and exiled Astartes like himself? Titus awaited orders, or judgment. Or both. He desperately hoped that she would not find him short of Her standards. 

“Rise, my son. You are Demetrian Titus, yes? Formerly of my second company?” She instructs and asks, her voice clear and heart-stirring.

He immediately obeys her orders, still not daring to look her in the eye “That I am, ma’am.” 

“Did you choose the path of Deathwatch?” She asks.

Titus shakes his head “No ma’am. I was arrested by an Inquisitor at the end of the Graia campaign, after defeating a greater daemon and sealing the breach. I was suspected of Chaos taint. After… After that Inquisitor was arrested and killed for other, unrelated crimes, I and the other Astartes he had in cryo freeze were unthawed and put into the service of the Ordo Xenos. We were told that our chapters considered us dead to them, and did not wish us to return.” That had stung terribly. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d been thought of… Then again, the accusation of Chaos corruption was a devastating blow to anyone’s reputation. Especially an officer’s.

She briefly hummed in response “I see. That is not what your records with the Ultramarines say. They state that you died after heroically sealing the rift on Graia, succumbing to your injuries. I suspect that the Inquisition wanted to keep you and your daemon-slaying skills for themselves, and lied to you, so that you would not try to contact your Brothers.” 

She had no reason to lie to him. This information sent Titus reeling emotionally, though he hoped that none of that played across his face or body. He… Hadn’t been cast away by his Brothers? Part of him wanted to reject that but again… His Primarch had no reason to lie to him about this. “... Oh.”

“Titus… Demetrian. Look at me, please.” Lady Guilliman ordered him, though the order was a gentle one. 

Titus flinched back, having not expected her to use his first name, his eyes snapping up and he briefly looked her directly in her bright blue eyes. Eyes that he’d seen in hundreds of Brothers, before he averted his gaze to one of her shoulders, the enormity of her presence too much for him to handle. “As you command, my Lady.” He murmurs quietly. 

“I am asking if you wish to rejoin the Ultramarines, or if you’d rather stay a member of Deathwatch. You would be a lieutenant, as the position of second Captain has been filled during your presumed death, but you would be able to assume the duties of a lieutenant of the second company, should you wish it.”

Titus had no idea how to react to her incredibly generous offer. He was well aware of the fact that Ultramarines weren’t demoted, just because a superior officer happened to show up after being presumed dead. “I… Do you expect my answer immediately, Lady Primarch?”

The Lady of Ultramar shook her head, a small but gentle smile appearing on her face “If you do not have the answer immediately come to mind, you do have time to consider your options, son.I wanted to give you and the other sons of mine currently in the service to the Inquisition the opportunity to re-join their brothers, and to serve me more directly. If you feel your duties lay with the Deathwatch and the Ordo Xenos, I will respect that decision.”

Son. The word echoed in Titus’ head, to the beating of his hearts. The opportunity to directly serve a Primarch… The last living loyal Primarch stole the breath from his lungs, and made his head swim at the potential prospect. He knew his answer then “I… I would be honored to serve you, in whatever capacity you see fit, my Lady.”

The smile on Her face brightened as she stood up from the chair she’d been sitting in, walking over to where Titus had been kneeling respectfully, offering him a hand. “Your answer gladdens my heart, my son.”

Titus nodded, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with her, as he murmured the Vows of Service and Fealty that he had once sworn to Chapter Master Calgar, upon becoming a fully-fledged Ultramarine, centuries ago, his voice calm and steady as he finished with “-until my final breath, I swear to serve you, Ultramar and the Imperium, my Lady. My Primarch.” Queen Mother. He pressed a penitent kiss to her knuckles, bowing his head forward respectfully.

“Rise, my son. Rise, Demetrian Titus, Lieutenant of the Second Company of my Ultramarines. I will introduce you to your captain tomorrow. For now, take the day to re-acquaint yourself with the Fortress of Hera and move into your quarters here.” She commanded of him.

Titus nodded, wordlessly grateful for her magnanimous gift. “Yes, my lady.” He stood and bowed before leaving, his hearts singing in his chest.

[gravesiteprincess]

my intro 🕯️ 🪞

hi everybody !! my online name is calypso or auani, the purépecha word for rabbit. for privacy i dont like sharing my real one (even though its pretty common =^..^=). im 15 years!!! feel free to ask abt my birth chart if ur into that!! i live in the us, i speak english, spanish, & some portuguese!! i love learning abt different languages & cultures, i think theyre really cool. i can also read runes ! btww im a reconnecting spiritualist, a part of my culture that i would like to live on ♡ im also latina & i love my identity very much. anyways heres some of my interests!!

music: i like listening to artists like she wants revenge, lana del rey, sublime, hole, ms krazie, seu jorge, & jah cure ^_^ btw i know not all of these artists are good people, i do not support the things theyve done. some of my fav genres are pop, punk, riot grrrl, edm, mpb, recession pop, oldies, samba, cumbia, & reggae!! music is one of my favorite pastimes :3

movie/tv: i honestly dont watch many shows but my fav movies are edward scissorhands, thirteen, & girl, interrupted. im also watching nana but i have a bad attention span :(

books: again i have a bad attention span but i ♡ reading !! my fav book is bendíceme, ultima . its a kids book but it means a lot to me. i also like reading from the brontë sisters & i like poetry. ive tried being a writer but im not very good. one of my fav poets is antônio sousa .

i have a basic dni, the one u will typically see. if you go against this i will block you. i am also neurodivergent, any ableist hate will have you blocked. i am also queer !! literally any bigotry means u get blocked. if ur a creepy old man (or any creep i will block you & report you. i dont tolerate stuff like that so dont try !! anyways thats everything ig. bye guys !!

[jekalo]

Had to change earlier then i wanted, front had the smallest hole that didn't notice until it was wet from there. These are still my favorite diaper when you want to wear something that isn't that thick, add booster and they last fairly well.

Tena slip Active fit ultima with booster.

[snakegorl212006]

What makes them worry about there S/o

========Clive + jill============== -when you’re out for long periods by yourself This was briefly mentioned earlier but clive and(Mostly) Jill would feel uncomfortable leaving you to your own devices for longer periods far away from any safe spots like Martha’s rest. Both suggest to have someone to accompany you.

-when in battle It's not news that you'll have to draw weapons at someone but it's a event they wish you'd avoid. Battling is like playing a game with chance and skill so not even they would know if you'll make it out alive in a fight. Because of this, they wish you avoid conflict at all costs or let them help you solve the problem.

=======Joshua + jote============= -when you and joshua by yourselves -jote is protective over both of you -yall’s safety is very important to her so having you guys out by yourselves makes her anxious -on the otherside joshua would be in the same situation if you and jote are out alone together -not only he fears of you both not returning when he’s bedridden he also fears of ultima who might get in contact with either one of you -unlike clive and jill, this worry would only stem if you are out with joshua or with jote for a extended period of time -for example; jote is shopping for medicine while both you and joshua are out and about shopping for useful items. When she returns to the inn/hotel/home and realized y'all haven't return, she begins to worry

====Cid=============== -he’s not the biggest worry wart but he has his moments when he’s concern -you can be out for extended periods in time(like explorations long) -you could be traveling too close to odin's territory or hang around in the blight -what makes him worry the most is when you’re injured -getting hurt any sort of way makes his heart sink. -like who hurt you? What harmed you? -being hurt or you having a near death experience would traumatize him

====Benedikta============ -based on canon she has some sort of abandonment issues(from my pov when i was playing) -so she worries i can even say fears that one day you’ll leave her -especially if you became almost a perfect replacement for that empty hole cid left within her -she does her best to become a good lover to you and would hide things from you if it means she’ll stay with you -if she cares enough for you,she’ll even put away some of her selfishness and try to accommodate to your needs -but this fear also explains her possessiveness and can be somewhat controlling of you -the last thing she wants is you to leave her alone

======Dion + terence============== -most fears and worries come from Dion -boi has a lot going on and since he has a image to keep and responsibilities he does worry he’ll have little time to spend with you -Terence also has the same worries for he has to be by Dion’s side as his second in command -this worry of making you feel left out also stems from them being gone for long periods of time dealing with orders from Dion’s father,Sylvestre, casualty wanting a conquest -they also both worry if you’re caught in the crossfire of anything -be it monsters, akashic, or even if Dion has to use Bahamut on home turf -Dion dose worry about you getting hurt by him -Terence just worries if you get into any trouble without protection

=====Barnabas + Sleipnir============ -barnabas dose fear about your death -although ultima’s ideals rain supreme, he does fear that he’ll lose the only think he cares about which is you -sleipnir holds similar worries and acts on these worries on barnabas’s behalf by granting you round the clock protection and advice so you wouldn't be turned akashic or end up parishing under any means -helicoptering you is just the side effect on having some power over odin -behind close doors barnabas truly worships you similarly to hugo -so you dying or having to be turned into basically a ether infused zombie is not something he looks forward to

====Hugo============ -like barnabas, he worries of your untimely demise -hugo wouldn't go so far as to helicopter you but would often suggest guards to accompany you or him -he always worries if something were to happen to you like a major injury -if you do end up fighting someone and you end up hurt, if the person who assaulted you is alive he would kill them and there entire bloodline and anyone involved -you’re his prize possession and he refuses to have anything happen to you

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

on our fates alight-- unexpected ally

A black and white takeout cup was placed next to Erick, followed by a plain white wristband. Erick turned his head. He looked at the cup and wristband first, then looked at Riven, who had sat down on the steps alongside the items and him.

“The breakfast drinks here aren’t too bad.” Riven began by way of introduction. “They even have the fancy type you like. Latte, low foam, right?” Erick narrowed his eyes, reaching out for the cup.

“And that?” He asked, gesturing to the wristband.

“Elemental exposure timer. An invention of Zoissette’s.” Riven answered. She watched as the former Eikon-hunter picked up the bracelet, curious. 

“...Your time on the First.” He said. “I remember hearing about that. This is what you used to keep the corrupted Light at bay?”

“For a while. Though it should work better with the levin.” Riven picked up her own takeout cup. “Iyna told us you don't have too many problems when you’re around stabilized electrope. And as far as she remembered, you didn’t have problems outside in the dome itself.”

“It was annoying, but something I felt like I could ignore.” Erick answered. “And the old man said it wasn’t a problem either.”

“Susano and Rhalgr said the same thing right up until it became a problem.” Riven countered. She took a sip of her tea as Erick put on the wristband. The Ivalicean Dominant side-eyed her, noticing the white strip around her wrist.

“You’ve got one too.” He noted.

“All of us do.  And if you noticed, Klynt’s gone now. She’s got to space out her time here, otherwise Susano starts acting like a violent asshole.” Riven took another sip of tea. 

“Might have to do the same for you.” She added.

WE ARE FINE, VALEFOR. Thunder God Cid's voice had an edge of annoyance. T'WAS JUST DEALING WITH MY CHOSEN'S...HORMONES.

“She was hot!” Erick protested. “How can you expect me to not say something? You never know!”

THE MIDST OF BATTLE IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE PLACE TO SEXUALLY PROPOSITION THINE ENEMY, NOR SHOULD YOU ALLOW THEM THE PRIVILEGE OF HAVING ACCESS TO YOUR UNGUARDED–

"Oh like you're any better. I should have let Ultima consume the world instead of this." Erick grumbled.

“So when you get overwhelmed by your element you’re not only high, drunk, and feral, you’re also horny. Great.” Riven took another sip of her tea, ignoring the dual side-eye she was getting from both Erick and Cid. 

LET US END THIS PARTICULAR CONVERSATION.

“Please.” Riven muttered. “I have already unwillingly learned too much about the both of you.”

“Is Origenics still active?” The question took Riven by surprise, and she almost choked on another swallow of tea. Turning her head, she met Erick’s gaze–which was deadly serious. The brunette Dominant sighed, looking down at her tea.

“You’re not going to like the answer.” She warned.

“There’s already plenty we don’t like here.” Erick countered. 

THERE IS NO DRIVE OR AMBITION IN THESE PEOPLE. Cid rumbled. NO FIRE. NO PASSION. ALL RINGS HOLLOW HERE, AND THEY TURN TO EXCESS TO FILL THE YAWNING HOLES IN THEIR SOUL.

“Brutal, but he has a point.” Erick took a sip from his cup. “They’re like sheep. No wonder why Zoraal Ja was able to get away with as much as he did. And they’re falling apart without their Queen  around.” He watched as Riven’s shoulders drooped, a low exhalation escaping her.

“...Origenics is still running for now.” She said. “But it’s on life support. They had no backup for keeping Living Memory running, so the… ‘memories’ are being stored.” There was no mistaking the menace in her tone, and Erick frowned. Riven continued.

“But it’s not going to last for long. Zoraal Ja not only burned through the souls of everyone he killed, but also their reserves. Priority is being given to their hunters and those who are bravely volunteering to serve in the military, but even then that’s not going to settle the general populace.”

“They’ve turned completely on their machina then?” Erick answered. 

GOOD. Cid declared. IT IS NOT NATURAL. SOULESS HUSKS SHOULD NOT BE USED IN WAR. IT DEMEANS THE COST, AND PUTS IT ON THE LEVEL OF A CHILD’S PLAYTHING. SUCH A TACTIC SHOULD NOT BE USED BY GREAT NATIONS.

“It’s a clever tactic to use against the likes of us, however.” His Dominant mused. “A tireless army, immune to damn near everything save for levin. Just continue to keep churning them out and sending them at us until we’re exhausted. And the same would apply to mortals too.”

HONORLESS.

“Either way, the Alexandrians are running low on spare souls. They’re also dealing with the emotional costs of death and grief for the first time in their lives.” Riven glanced at Erick, who had started in surprise.

“What? I said, ‘life support’. That means their fake Lifestream. Not zapping people’s brains.” She replied. 

“I’m surprised the lot of you have this much self control regarding that.” 

“Please do not mistake politeness for sincerity!” Riven snapped. “All of us want to burn that facility to the ground, salt the ashes, and scatter them out to sea!” Huffing, she glared out at the sea of neon lights and bright advertisements.

“But we can’t. None of us want to start an international incident and become terrorists.”

“Never stopped you before.” Erick muttered into his coffee. Then he winced as Cid rumbled loudly and the brunette shot him a glare. “Alright, point there.”

“Fighting in the Arcadeion’s the best option we have at the moment. And in spite of everything, there’s at least 56 souls that have a chance now, in our Lifestream.” Riven said. She sighed, cradling her cup between her hands.

“Maybe a few of them might incarnate here, as desperately-wanted children.”

I WOULD PRAY THEY WOULD NOT. Cid replied. YOUR COMPASSION SERVES YOU WELL, VALEFOR—BUT I WOULD HOLD IT IN RESERVE WHILE YOU ARE IN THIS PLACE. Riven pressed her lips together at that, then glanced at Erick.

“So what are you going to do?” She asked. The blond man was quiet for several moments.

“You need the extra help.” He said. "Turns out, you're not the supreme assholes I thought you were. And the powers here need to be reigned in. You can at least trust me to not stab you in the back.”

“Having tried but failed.” Riven snarked. She sighed, considering both Erick and Cid.

“This is going to get ugly.” She warned.

“Since when has it not?” Erick countered. Riven offered him a faint smile.

"Alright then." She said, lifting her cup to Erick's. The blond Dominant smirked, and bumped his coffee against her tea.

----- starring @erickgage 's Erick!

[storms-path]

FFXIV Write 2024 Masterpost

Well, there it is once again. Another month of prompts completed, this time with so, so much lizard. The prompts were very kind to her this month, as was Dawntrail in general, and it was really nice to give her some positive development and flesh out more of her relationship with her mother. But of course I couldn't resist a few bad ends, a few dips into another timeline entirely, and a race across the stars for fun and profit.

Day 1 - Steer

Arashi engages in some tourism, much to Sanda's annoyance.

Day 2 - Horizon

Arashi gains a new title following her first Arcadion victory.

Day 3 - Tempest

The gang tangles with Byakko.

Day 4 - Reticent

Y'shtola bares her soul to a... confused audience.

Day 5 - Stamp

Fareena finds her mother in the ruins of Dalmasca.

Day 6 - Halcyon

Arashi's always been a sulky person, especially as a kid.

Day 7 - Morsel

Before the clash with Titan, Stalwart notices a strange dish.

Day 8 - Clean (Extra Credit)

Recovering from Ultima Thule, Arashi takes a bath.

Day 9 - Lend an Ear

Stalwart and Y'shtola have a long overdue conversation.

Day 10 - Stable

Arashi finds her chocobo. Violently.

Day 11 - Surrogate

While Arashi recovers, Sanda takes up her sister's mantle for a while.

Day 12 - Quarry

Arashi chases down Valigarmanda as it attempts to flee.

Day 13 - Butte

Arashi suffers from nightmares and sleepwalking. Ryne comes to find her.

Day 14 - Telling

Continuing from the previous prompt, Arashi and Thancred talk.

Day 15 - Presence (Extra Credit)

Sanda tries and fails to make sense of her feelings towards Zero. The feeling is mutual.

Day 16 - Third-Rate

A dramatised re-telling of the liberation of Ala Mhigo.

Day 17 - Sally

Lyse struggles with a difficult problem. Arashi "helps." Continues from prompts 13 and 14.

Day 18 - Hackneyed

As the Eigthth Umbral Calamity looms, Arashi, Sanda and Lyse make a desperate escape.

Day 19 - Taken

Fareena chases after Nael van Darnus, leading her into the heart of Garlemald.

Day 20 - Duel

Alisaie and Arashi come to blows.

Day 21 - Shade

Arashi goes down into the Aitiascope to confront a ghost.

Day 22 - Linger (Extra Credit)

Following Sphene's defeat, Sanda finds herself unable to celebrate properly.

Day 23 - On Cloud Nine

Fareena is a menace to society.

Day 24 - Bar

In a very different timeline, Sheriff Storm sizes up a newcomer to her little watering hole.

Day 25 - Perpetuity

The last will and testament of Arashi Washi, Warrior of Light.

Day 26 - Zip

Arashi engages in a Wacky Race.

Day 27 - Memory

As the Rising kicks off, Fareena drinks alone.

Day 28 - Deleterious

Arashi insists she's alright following her defeat of Valigarmanda. Nobody is willing to take her word for it. Continues from day 12.

Day 29 - Sunrise (Extra Credit)

Arashi and Stalwart talk for a while, but are interrupted by news of an ambassador's imminent arrival.

Day 30 - Two Heads Are Better Than One

Arashi and the ambassador talk about very serious things. Continues from the previous day.

And if you want to go through the whole thing at once, I also posted it on Archive Of Our Own.

And that's all there is to it! Definitely an easier set than last year, but I chalk that down to my job situation improving in leaps and bounds and, most importantly, giving me some damn room to breath. I still have a few ideas I'd like to work on, though (I didn't touch Pictomancer at all). Maybe I'll work on them in my own time. Maybe I'll wait until next year. Who can say?

Either way, this was a fantastic month and I'm glad I participated once again. And well done to everyone who participated as well, no matter how many prompts you managed or how proud of your prompts you are.

You did good. I'm proud of ya.

[artistic-lj]

Okay so I “made” a new gender apathetic/apagender flag because the one I found/we have was just kinda lacking for me?? Like it’s okay and I don’t dislike it, but I thought it needed something

So the current one, according to gender fandom wiki or whatever (https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Gender_Apathetic), is by @pridearchive (idk why I can’t tag them but I also just don’t understand tumblr so oh well)

But anyway, I’m not a huge fan of the fact that a lot of the definition relies upon the usage of the word “lazy” a lot, because like, while it’s true that laziness and apathy are similar, they are not the same. I was confused for MONTHS as to why everyone around me cared so much about their gender, both cis and trans people, and I just didn’t. Like, I thought my dad might understand cause we talk about queer stuff all the time and he was like “???… but I am a man, that’s just a fact… are you saying there’s people who don’t care??” And that confused me more cause I was like “wait even cis people care that much about their gender expression??” Because for me, I thought that trans people really cared about their gender identity and expression because of the dysphoria they dealt with from being born as the opposite sex. So, to hear that cis people also have a strong sense of gender and really care about the way they present and are perceived threw me for a loop.

So I went down this rabbit hole for, as stated previously, MONTHS, just trying to figure out if anyone felt the way I did because I felt fucking crazy. No one else spoke about not caring about their gender identity, not caring if someone called them a guy or a girl or something in between. I found labels like Aporagender (“a gender identity that is neither masculine, feminine or inbetween the two but nonetheless involves a strong sense of gender; a term similar to maverique.” - https://en.pronouns.page/dictionary/terminology#aporagender) and genderfluid (“a gender that varies, or changes over time.” - https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Genderfluid) and bigender (“a gender identity which can be literally translated as 'two genders' or 'double gender'.” - https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Bigender) but none of them felt right, even if I liked their flags.

But then, out of frustration, I decided to google “what is it called when you don’t care about your gender” and gender apathetic popped up. And I read the description and I felt so… understood. I felt like, no matter how small the group was, I had finally found people who understood me and felt the way I did. And then, because I’m annoying and visual, I saw the flag… and I was just… feeling very… ehhh…

Like, the brown, purple/lavender/light blue, white, and gray on their own aren’t inherently bad, but something about it just felt bland and… nothing like the sense of relief I felt when discovering I wasn’t alone.

And then I clicked through onto the post about the meanings of each color and began to like it even less

But, I pushed forward, ignoring my dislike of the color arrangement and meanings behind them and sharing my newfound label/identity and flag with my friends. I finally felt like I had something I understood.

That is, until one night when I got bored. And I started searching for flag makers to see what was out there. I came across a Reddit post about a custom flag builder (https://www.reddit.com/r/lgbt/comments/ooz3tb/custom_pride_flag_builder/) which lead me to Team Ultima’s custom pride flag maker: https://www.teamultima.org/flag/

Needless to say, as an artist and someone who’s nitpicky about colors and designs, I was stoked to find something that allowed so much creative control! After messing around with it for a bit, I made this:

Now, I know it’s not really that different from the current flag. But, to me, this feels a lot more balanced and cohesive. With the one by pridearchive, the “light blue,” which we all know is just lavender tbh, was the only color that had a bright saturation besides the white. Our eyes are naturally drawn to it and this does not allow our eyes to flow along the flag and take it all in. We kinda see the purple and get stuck there. Not only that, because we expect white to be in the middle of pride flags (as well as Im sure a lot of other color theory reasons that I’m not knowledgeable enough to know of or explain), the flag felt top heavy and uneven, with no equivalent saturated color along the bottom. The flag was lacking horizontal symmetry and I think/hope I did a good job of bringing it to this flag without it feeling like it’s too much or too little.

With all that being said here are my/the new and improved color meanings:

Brown - The natural human desire to find a sense of belonging and community, even if said community is formed around having a label for not caring about labels. It can also represent the warmth and security felt by having a label that represents how you truly feel.

Light Blue - A feeling of tranquility and peace towards one’s gender identity and expression

White - The limitless void of possibilities in which one can express themselves

Lavender - The mixture of all genders, feminine, masculine, neither, and everything in between

Gray - Lack of gender stagnation, not caring if one’s gender presentation is not as simple as black or white

Anyway, I’ve never posted anything like this before so… lemme know if I’m totally doing it wrong and all my color meanings are terrible and way off base or whatever. I’m gonna make a separate post of just the flag and the color meanings and whatever so that people don’t have to read all my dumb backstory to get to the actual “redesign” 💅💅

[omegaremix]

Autumn 2019 Mixtape.

Remote Viewing “Whitney Houston, We Have A Problem”

Ayya “Second Mistake”

Adrenochrome The Buzz Or Howl Sessions

Les Rallizes Denudes “The Last One” (soundboard)

Blonde Tongues “Hey Good Lookin’”

Daniel Avery “Stereo L”

Sleazy “Cauchemar Administratif”

Chastity Belt “Ann’s Jam”

False Figure “Exhale”

Zotz “Vacio”

Gong Gong Gong “Siren”

Weeping Icon “Teeth (& A Handbag)”

Copper Sounds & Franco Franco “Accelerazione Generale”

Free Time “Esoteric Tizz”

CRVEL Sombras.

Preoccupations “Pontiac 87”

Cruz De Navajas “Imperialismo”

Palm “Forced Hand”

False Figure “Cardinal Cross”

Strobobean “When You Won’t Look”

Phil Upchurch “Black Gold”

My Brightest Diamond “Quiet Loud”

Lungbutter “Vile”

Silversun Pickups “It Doesn’t Matter Why”

Kedr Livanskiy “Kiska”

Bad Tracking “Generic Music”

Strobobean “Keep It Together”

Thanks For Coming “That Way”

Diat Positive Energy

Zotz “Fatal”

Dry Cleaning “Magic Of Meghan”

Tropical Fuck Storm “Can’t Stop”

Temples “You’re Either On Something”

Dude York “Falling”

Halshug Drom

Ing “Closet”

Gong Gong Gong “Down Quantity Road”

Taiwan Housing Project “Buy Buy Buy”

Pure Bathing Culture “All Night”

Dry Cleaning “Phone Scam”

Spirits Having Fun “Auto-Portrait”

Zotz Ultima Noche

Stonefield “Dog Eat Dog”

Kurraka Otra Dimension

Gong Gong Gong “Notes Underground”

N0V3L “To Whom It May Concern”

Necking “Big Mouth”

Pllush “Soft In The Dark” (1st VER)

Lunch Lady “Sweet One”

Sub Dio “Peachy Keen”

Dumb “Club Nites”

Second Still “You Two So Alike”

Mystique 2019 demo

Mock Identity “Where You Live”

Patio “Legacy Continued”

Necking “Spare Me”

Otzi 2014 demo

Kitten Forever “Hell Hole”

Sneaks “Tough Luck”

Duckis “Ohio”

Thanks For Coming “We Can’t Both Be Crazy”

M.A.Z.E. “Human Brain” (re-recording)

Gnarcissists “Models”

Duckis “Issue”

Jeanines “Is It Real”

C.H.E.W. “Bread And Circus”

Knife Wife “Every Living Thing”

Pure Pressure Relampago De Furia

Les Rallizes Denudes Heavier Than A Death In The Family

Pasteur Lappe “Na Real Sekele Fo Ya” 

[shalpilot]

canvas for the ask game?

canvas: Does your OC have any scars, piercings, tattoos, or other markings? Do they display or cover them up at all?

I'll do it for Kiril!

For piercings, since he's an au ra earrings are... difficult. But my personal headcanon is similarly to the silver embellishments on his horns he has a little tab permanently affixed near the base of his horns with a loop/hole in it for earrings to go through.

First up on his big scars is his bullet wound from Livia back at Castrum Meridianum. It was really fun and cool to be walking on that for the rest of the Everything Else that happened that night. He pretty much just slapped a little Cure I on it and kept going.

Next up is his back scar!

You can actually (kinda) see it fresh here.

He got it from a knight while he was trying to run away from Yesui's execution site. Alsant couldn't reach him in time.

He's fine with people seeing the bullet scar. He thinks it's a good embellishment to the story of taking down Gauis and the Ultima Weapon so he doesn't mind questions about it. However, he hates people seeing his back scar and does everything in his power to prevent people from seeing it. He doesn't want to talk about his past for safety reasons (Lots Of Heresy) and reliving what happened to Yesui is... a lot. A few people have managed to catch glimpses but he's waved off any questions and just given vague "Oh, you know, got it when I was a kid you know how it is" answers and quickly changed the subject. He's definitely got other scars from fights but I haven't canonized them because I like to have a reason for any scars I give him visually so I remember to draw them, lol.

character design ask game!

[the-cato-sicarius]

Dear Cato Sicarius,

"I have yet again found another barge within proximity of the agreed, undisclosed territory between the borders of the Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Tempestus, locations of which have distracted my moronic sons from their mission to spy on a current stream of Ork Fleet sightings. As per the territorial agreement with Imperium and the Minotaurs chapter...I now have the rights to send you this package. Enjoy what here on Sparta we call, "a decent night's rest"."

*a brown cardboard box with holes and making a lot of scuttling noises*

~Signed, Asterion Moloc 🐂

P.S; Tell your Primarch the next time this happens, I'm firing the Crotalid Canon....at EVERYTHING.

Chapter Master Marneus Calgar and I look at each other with a disconcerting look.

“Three Battle Barges? Could this possibly be true? Are we missing any ships?” Calgar asks somberly.

“Not any I could find, unless they are long lost ships, or,” I answer reluctantly.

“Or?”

“Or, it could belong to one of the unnumbered companies?” I suggest.

“You know about those, and yet you come to me with this and not our father?” Calgar keeps his tone neutral, making me unable to gauge his feelings on the matter.

“I’ve heard bits and pieces, something like six thousand Ultramarines, outside of the company structure. From what I've gathered they are not like the Unnumbered sons, but they are actual Ultramarines, with no intent to split them into other chapters,” I say, trying to read Calgar’s visage. The only emotion he betrays is a small uncharacteristic smirk. I've only seen him do that a handful of times, and I know all too well what it means.

“Double that number and you will be closer to the truth,” he says, and I can feel a cold sensation down my spine.

“Twelve thousand…” I say incredulously.

“Thirteen, actually,” he admits.

“That would make us larger than both the Black Templars and the Space Wolves…” I say, considering the implications.

“Not quite, we have reinforced both those Chapters as well, with marines loyal to us,” Calgar tells me.

"The codex strictly forbids this! The reason no chapter is supposed to have this many marines is to prevent another heresy!” I blurt out.

Calgar answers me with a mirthful laugh and walks around the command table and reaches for a cabinet behind his desk. He brings out two glasses and a bottle of wine. I know he keeps those as trophies from planets he has liberated, one single bottle is probably worth more than a small gunship.

He pours each glass before handing me one, as he raises me a toast.

“What for?” I ask.

“You, quoting the codex. To me of all people. I have lived a long life, Cato, I thought I had seen everything, but there truly are miracles left out there.”

“I'm being serious,” I counter. Calgar seems even more amused by my refusal to return his toast, taking a sip out of his goblet.

He has such a disarming body language about him, and I can't help but to also take a sip, it's the best wine I've ever tasted.

“Where do your loyalties lie, Cato? The Primarch, or the Chapter? Calgar asks me.

“They are the same thing,” I say, confused.

“They are not,” Calgar says, and I think about it for a moment.

“The Primarch,” I answer him, and for the briefest of microseconds it looks as if he is disappointed in that answer, before his mask slips back on.

“Good, it's settled then,” He says and looks back at the command table.

“So, what do we do with this Battle Barge situation,” I ask again.

“Most likely this is just the Minotaurs trying to boast. They did not want any ransom, so they probably just wanted to look tough by bloodying us, kudos to them for trying to pick a worthy opponent,” Calgar says.

“And what if it is not an empty boast, if they indeed have taken our Battle Barges?” I ask.

“Then they were incompetent enough to get caught by these buffoons and deserved what was coming for them. Besides, it is too late for them now anyway,” Calgar explains.

“So the usual then? Denial of existence?” I ask as he nods.

As I head for the exit Calgar stops me.

“Sicarius, if this Moloc continues to act up, contact the Mortifactors. Make sure they “Lament” him and his chapter, but keep our name out of it.”

I nod in acknowledgement as I head out.

[rydiathesummoner]

Why The Lochs is the best final expansion zone in FFXIV

Whoa whoa whoa put the pitchforks down! Hear me out first! First of all let me explain myself: I'm old. And with age comes shitty eyesight when it comes to the dark. And for some reason FFXIV loooooves its dark areas. Let's go over the final zone for each expansion:

Heavensward: Azys La

I don't really have to explain this one. Azys La looks like the time my cat chewed up the Christmas tree and puked it up.

Shadowbringers: The Tempest

This one would be fine and the winner of Best Endzone if it wasn't green like... everywhere. Yeah I get it, it's sea themed. But not only is it kind of dark, it's all the same color.

Amaurot does make this a tough choice but it's still perpetual nighttime there. It's beautiful, but it's also claustrophobic. That's probably the point, what with it being under the sea and all that. I wish it had a fake sun or something like Labyrinthos did.

Endwalker: Ultima Thule

I both love and hate this zone at the same time. I love the skybox. I loved the story here. But holy hell I can't see where I'm going. I do a lot of hunt trains. I know all the mechanics. I still have no fucking clue what Arch Eta and Fan Ail look like. Are they dragons? People keep howling, are they wolves? No clue! All I can detect is an amorphous black blob that's slightly darker than the dark ground and dark sky. And the thing is, it's totally possible to make things visible in a non sunny environment. I can see fine on Mare Lamentorum because the ground is white. Why couldn't Thancred have imagined an environment where we could you know... see?

Stormblood: The Lochs

Look I know it's boring. It's brown. And just... sand everywhere. But I can fucking SEE. I can see the enemies. I can see where I'm going. I don't get stuck on the rocks because I can see them. Game says hey check out this cave over there? Great, because I can see the fucking cave entrance, rather than spend 20 minutes looking for a dark hole in a dark mountain. It actually has a day/night cycle! Hey look, the sun! It works here! Wow, griffin statues in the distance! I know they are griffins because I can see them!

I really really hope Dawntrail's final zone is in an open air area with a sky and a sun that works. Make the ground literally any other color than grey or black. If they must do a cave, put some LED lights in it for us old folks.

[godtier]

hi guys, i been busy but i needed to rant about the trashfire that is FFXVI. so an obvious warning: this is spoilers for FFXVI, proceed with caution, read at your own risk, etc

so i am at the point in the game where dion is in bed and joshua is awake from his injuries. he has a conversation with clive and jill, discussing ultima and his plans.

clive, being the dumb slut he is, is like “BUT WHY ME” wrt to being ultima’s target vessel (as if ultima didn’t talk to him about it directly back when cid got murked but idk i guess i can forgive him for not remembering since his bf had just gotten filled with holes) and joshua has to explain the fucking obvious to him by saying that dominants are beholden to their eikon’s elemental affinity. meaning, joshua can only cast fire magicks, jill can only do ice, etc. clive is different for this reason, since he currently shares a headspace with now five eikons and can use their powers at will (concurrently with his blessing of the phoenix, which i still get confused about that. maybe i forgot or missed an explanation but it’s just weird to me idk)

that’s all well and good, because it’s what i had assumed from the start. eikons represent a specific element. if you’re basically the vessel for that eikon, it makes completes sense that you only have access to their elemental prowess. 

HOWEVER

this creates a hole. a minor hole (unlike the ones that were put in cid lol), but a hole nonetheless. an oversight that, while minor at a glance, kinda throws off the lore and logic the game has established up to this point.

what, exactly, does this information contradict? well, i’m talking about this scene in particular (clipped to the correct timestamp): 

if the video doesn’t load for whatever reason, the scene i’m talking about is when benedikta is talking to that group of magistrates or whatever and then decides to light her pipe with her finger, using magicks.

the issue? benedikta’s eikon was garuda. garuda is the eikon of wind. 

HOW THE FUCK

DO YOU LIGHT A PIPE

WITH WIND

well you don’t, silly

because it’s very clear in the scene that she wasn’t using wind, she was using fire.

which begs the question: HOW.

HOW did she use fire if she supposedly is beholden to garuda’s element of wind? if what joshua was saying was true (which admittedly, it makes sense given the rest of the framing of how magick seems to work in the world) then why wasn’t this seen as a bizarre quirk she was able to do? 

i’ll tell you why

it was a lazy oversight. and though it was a minor scene, it was one that was framed in a way that drew direct attention to the action itself and used to clearly define the differences between people in this world. 

right before she lights the pipe, a man was using a crystal in the foreground to fill a cup with water. the scene was meant to illustrate the disparity between those who are not magick users (thereby forced to use crystals for simple magick tasks, or bearers if they can afford them) and those who are magick users. it was framed to show that benedikta wasn’t beholden to the limitations of using crystals for magicks. she could do it herself. 

but she shouldn’t have been able to.

the problem therein is that you used a character who, by the self-proclaimed logic of the game, would have no way to use fire like that naturally. though the scene itself was very effective and framed well, imo, it ultimately breaks apart the rules of the world building they’ve established (or at least come to fully establish by the point i’m in; it was pretty much implied if you ask me).

from the start, i had figured that eikons were only able to use their assigned element. when i saw benedikta do that, i had thought “oh... maybe there are some exceptions? it was a pretty small flame, maybe they can only do minor magicks that aren’t associated with their eikon?”

but then i thought about it more. if their power comes directly from eikons and not the crystals (which to my understanding is how bearers are able to cast magicks) how would garuda bestow even a slight ability to produce a flame? garuda is entirely wind. there are no powers she has that hint at being fire-adjacent (such as in some games classifying water and ice magic as the same “family,” is what i’m getting at). there was nothing to indicate any cross-contamination, of sorts. their powers are from the eikons and the eikons alone, not the crystals directly.

so while this is a scene that many may forget about or brush off, i think it honestly creates a larger hole in the logic than most might first think. it totally contradicts everything joshua had said, it also makes clive not that special if benedikta was able to use fire as well.

ultimately, i think that it was a very lazy oversight. they wanted to show the disparity between regular people and bearers/dominants. but they thought about it for a min, and went “well the only other dominants that can use fire wouldn’t be in this scene. we can’t use them to illustrate this. and we can’t exactly have benedikta use her wind powers to make a mundane action more convenient... so let’s just have her light it with her finger and move on.”

OR 

the game was so disjointed in its logic/world building that they just straight-up forgot that they had benedikta do that at the start of the game by the time they got to writing out the rest of the story. i think this one is the more likely option; they just were so bad at keeping a lore bible or referencing it at all that they stupidly forgot that they had benedikta do something she should not have been able to do by their own established rules. or the rules weren’t even established at all until the point joshua talks about it! who knows!

to get an idea of my immediate reaction to joshua’s lines, please witness this conversation between myself and @sapphire-weapon​

anyway, i’m not ready for how bad the game apparently gets as it goes on. it’s such a shame because overall? i do like this game. it’s fun to play. i like the characters a lot. but my god the story... the backbone of any game, imo, is the story. it could play like shit but have a banger story, i’d suffer through it. but it’s so much worse to me to have a game that has really fun gameplay and characters, but an abysmal story. 

don’t get me wrong, i like the overall idea of the story. i like the overall framing. it’s the details that pile up, the weird choices in narrative movement (like clive’s coming to terms with “killing” joshua??? makes no sense at the point i’m at anymore!) that are really wrecking it for me.

anyway thanks for comin to my rant. enjoy ur day pls.

[gardenofshadcws]

Things I have learned/noticed on a second playthrough of Stranger of Paradise (Part 10)

under the read more for lots of screaming. It’s time for The Jackstos.

I am in no way emotionally stable enough for the end of this sequence.

As the game ramps up the Fools Missives call Jack “my dear friend” more and more often and man I’m tearing up on a LOADING SCREEN.

nononononono traversing the burned out hell world didn’t take nearly long enough i don’t want to do this nooooo

“I don’t give a damn about you” “give me a reason to live” “I’ve lived too long” HELP.

ASTOS’S FACE. THE SAD KITTY FACE. NOOO.

I may have run a little far with the “my heart’s filled with enough sadness to fill an ocean” in my fics. No regrets

WHO AM I NONONONONO BABBYYYYYYY

THE VOICE BREAK ON “THAT’S ALL”. THE VOICE BREAK. THE SAD KITTY EYES AND THE VOICE BREAK. TODD HABERKORN YOU OWE ME FOR EMOTIONAL DAMAGES. I DONT WNAT TO DO THIS BOSS FIGHT.

i might have let him win the first time he deserves it. It’s not me I don’t suck.

Oh. Oh my god. His boss description. “the darkness in him can be purged through pain. Hurt him to weaken it” I THINK WE FUCKIN DID THAT ALREADY.

The fist bumppppppp. And then when you lose to UWO it shows it againnnnn

“I don’t know where my heart should lie” with Jack of course ;-;

DOES HE SAY I’LL WAIT FOR YOU WHEN YOU SOUL BURTS ULTIMA WEAPON ORIGIN

The way Nil calls Astos “it” 😠 fuck you and your spiral staircase hat Nil

NOT EVEN GONNA LIVEBLOG THIS SCENE JUST KNOW I’M HYPERVENTILATING AND CRYING A LOT JACK’S GLAD HE’S OKAY THE WAY THEY HOLD HANDS FOR A LITTLE LONGER THAN IS NECESSARY WHEN ASTOS PULLS HIM UP THE WAY THEY SMILE AT EACH OTHER AFHHAHAJFJDHSHGDHAHGAHFHSHUAHZF.

AHDHAJAJHFJDHHAJAIUDHEHXH.

I’ve seen Astos calling himself a bio-organism referred to as a plot hole because it literally just means he’s a living being but to me that just adds another layer of tragedy to the absolute misery that is Astos’s entire everything. It’s intentionally dehumanizing (de-elf-izing?) on the Lufenians’ part, meant to make Astos into the perfect pawn with no sense of self of his own. Which blows up in their faces big time when the Strangers treat him with basic dignity. I am utterly distraught.

Astos agreeing to Jack’s plan with no hesitation before Jack even says what it is

ASTOS’S FACE WHEN JACK INVITES HIM BACK TO LUFENIA AND PROMISES TO FIGHT. HOW DARE YOU MAKE HIM MAKE THAT FACE. AND THEN HE REACHES FOR HIM AND MAKES THE EVEN SADDER FACE AND EVERYTHING HURTS AND I AM SUFFERING THESE TWO ARE PAIN.

It was at this point the first time where my friend and I realized this is not just a meme game. I’d been leaning towards that for a while but man we were both full on sobbing. Much like I am now.

THE WAY HE SOBS AS HE DIES. “FORGETTING ME” TODD HABERKORN. EMOTIONAL DAMAGES. I MEAN IT SIR.

Kudos to the animators for his facial expressions too. And Jack’s as well. GUH.

HIS SMILE AS HE CALLS THE SQUAD WARRIORS OF LIGHT AND DIES. HE’S FINALLY AT PEACE AFTER LIFETIMES OF SADNESS