#anD WHY I LIKE SHARD

[forgetme-eternally-blissfully]

Choi Han, for a test from a god, is sent to an unknown land with "Cale."

Choi Han, upon arrival, realizes something is strange about this Cale. He's got a similar appearance to his own Cale but the eyes are sharper, with a witty bite to his tongue and a quick sneer always at the ready.

He's clearly confused and distressed about being in a strange place with a strange person but he does his best to not let it show. His hand reaches for a bottle of alcohol that isn't there.

Choi Han thinks that this Cale isn't like his Cale at all.

Choi Han has a hunch that this Cale is the one from before Kim Rok Soo's possession. It makes sense. So he isn't his Cale.

However, though Choi Han wants to become cold to this stranger version of Cale, when he looks into those red-brown eyes and sees fear, he draws back. It's an instinctual feeling that he gets, right as Cale is spitting more vile words to cover up the trembling in his hands, that he doesn't want to see even a terrible Cale be afraid of him.

This doesn't stop them from arguing. Through towns, forests, deserts, they both learn on an intimate level that they would never, ever get along. Cale is too loud, too threatening, and Choi Han can't resist from debating with this strange Cale about morals, of all things. They argue constantly.

Though they argue, Choi Han can't help himself from sometimes mistaking this Cale for his own. He tells himself it's because they look alike.

They're both in the midst of an argument when a noble-like individual approaches them with cloying words, which seek to lure them inside of the noble's home. Choi Han is suspicious, but before he has the chance to decline, Cale steps in front of Choi Han and demands to speak to the noble who wants to see them.

The noble-like individual turns out to be the servant of a more powerful man, something that Cale saw through immediately.

Choi Han is stunned.

How did this, this trashy Cale with no moral upstanding, clock the intentions of a person so quickly and accurately?

He asks him directly. Cale shrugs. Choi Han believes he's mistaken when Cale's eyes flicker with calculating intent. They don't discuss it further.

Little moments like these keep occurring. Cale does something impressive, Choi Han inquires, and Cale downplays it with a sneer or an insult and refuses to speak about it again. It's weird and strange but it's familiar. Extremely so. Not the insulting, and the sneer is too odd to be his own Cale's face, but it's familiar in the sense that they both underestimate themselves. They both refuse to acknowledge what lies under the surface of their visage.

This Cale is a strange individual. He swears and laughs and grins, he's too calm about their situation, and it's difficult to get through to him when he makes up his mind about something. But the strangest thing is that all of these things remind Choi Han of his Cale.

Finally, it all comes down to a final battle. One more fight and both himself and this Cale can go back to where they belong. Choi Han is ready.

Cale receives a power from a book before the battle and it's unlike anything Choi Han has ever seen. But the coughing up of blood makes him have Cale swear to never use it. Cale swears.

Choi Han makes Cale promise to stay on the sideline and not approach. Cale easily agrees.

They get to the last stage, the last time they'll see each other again, and the villain of this world is too powerful. It's as if he weren't meant for them to fight. It's as if he were made so that they struggle.

Choi Han swings his blade to block a blow that he knows he can't block, knows might end him, and he thinks about how he can't possibly die right now and leave this Cale behind... but he's too weak.

He wonders what his Cale would do in this moment, when everything seems hopeless and nothing is working.

Cale steps in front of him and uses his power to its fullest extent.

White light is shining everywhere, blinding Choi Han who keeps his burning eyes open, desperately keeps his eyes on the Cale that's bleeding from his mouth and his nose and his eyes and his skin is starting to crack, crack like he is about to turn into dust and disappear.

Cale turns to look at Choi Han.

"Ah. I was worried it wouldn't be enough to take out the villain." His eyes stained with blood curl up in a smile. A ball of dread sits in Choi Han's stomach. "I'm glad. I'm really, really..." eyes drifting closed, his body begins to shatter further and further. "Happy for you, Choi Han."

This is why they felt familiar.

It's with a cry of grief and anger, anger at himself, that Choi Han reaches out to hold Cale, hold onto even a piece of him.

Cale's eye, the only one left as he is disintegrating, widens.

Choi Han grasps a fragment that's about to vanish from Cale's chest, somewhere next to his heart, and this piece doesn't break, doesn't disappear from Choi Han's hand. It stays solid and firm and real-

And it's all that Choi Han is left with when the gods test ends.

Choi Han wakes up, surrounded by his family, with a red, glass marble in his hand. He holds it to his chest. It hurts.

It hurts.

[bedrock-to-buildheight]

i would like to inquire about the lore of your death the farmer

I had some backstory in mind while I was staring at the character creation screen but absolutely none that matters because "Death becomes a farmer in a small town" is a concept that can stand on its own, I think.

He's Death. A very stereotypical Grim Reaper. He talks to people and helps them because that's what Death is supposed to do. He likes bone themed items and halloween decor. He's a little too enthusiastic about requests asking him to fish or kill creatures. He put fruit bats in his cave because the concept of mushroom creeps him out.

The farm was Grandpa's. Maybe Death was given it, maybe he just moved in. Not like it matters anymore, and no one can stop him anyways. He's Here and they just gotta Deal With It.

The scale of the story is limited to what's mentioned in-game, though. So don't even worry about the global or cosmic ramifications of Death becoming a farmer. It's not gonna come up C:

[lynxalon]

i've seen a fair bit of... pessimism about dorym lately, esp with the ep107, for example wondering if dorian's opposing views on the gods making orym fall out of love, and i have to say. i very highly doubt it, ur fr talking about the man who has held on to will for so long, holding onto will's family and affectionately calling this *his* family too because that didn't stop when will died. i dont think falling out of love is an option or even a thought to orym.

that said, we know that orym has contingencies for if anyone in bells hells crosses the line into being a version of themselves they would despise, for anyone who jeopardizes their mission. his mission. i think, for the first time since knowing dorian, orym finally has a contingency for him. the longer dorian is back, the more orym sees how scarred he is by what's happened (understandable so) and knows that dorian is with bells hells all the way. but if he isn't...

[yashley]

Say something true!

[morrigan-sims]

And I forget sometimes I'm just flesh and bone.

As he stands in the ruined bathroom, all Rook can think is, At least now I can breathe.

[frameconfessions]

Valkyr Prime No Forma Queen Steel Path Circuit Armor Strip Deluxe Build AKA Can We Get Much Higher

There's room for improvement (like adding forma and maxxing out the other arcane), but I don't feel like it right now.

Here's the Valkyr Prime mods & arcanes setup. Use Terrify (Nekros helminth) over ability 3 for armor strip ability. Use these archon shards to get the 100% armor strip too and good energy economy. Feel free to ask about any of these mod or build choices, this build is from like 2 years ago that one of my partners helped me set up and still going strong. Delusion helmet and Gersemi skin for appearance.

Prime Talons mod setup. Blast damage is the current meta as of December 2024 so you can see the original before Damage whatever number update point 0 we're at now compared to the original build.

Equip Naramon, it's extremely important for power scaling and end-game level damage.

Fully ranked up Power Spike is the only focus school stuff you need, but having the waybounds unbound is always good for operator/drifter survival, combat, and movement.

Manage your energy economy by getting parazon finisher kills on eximus units if you start running low, just edge the health bars until you see the prompt and your energy will shoot up to almost max if not max. More than half the time arcane energize should kick in and give you a boost on top of the archon shard energy boost (not sure if the effects of the shards and energize multiply/stack or not as I'm not a build math gal but it feels like it does).

Here you go @issilya and anyone else wanting a no forma Valkyr Prime that scales well into higher levels.

[bread-wizards]

I find it interesting that out of all the party, Laudna and Orym are following in Ashton's footsteps a bit in hiding things from the party (Orym with the Nana Morri deal, Laudna with her interacting with/talking to Delilah more and more), and I wonder how much of it is the residual impact that Bor'dor's betrayal had on them.

[serarish]

Bitty Shuichi and Maki

Also um are bitties just a random utmv fandom specific thing or-

[druidonity2]

2022 WoW x FFxiv: Mysterious old men who are very magical and also have really tall towers and have sorta weird relationship with aging.

[moash]

this is such a good post and highlights something i find really interesting about brandon’s writing! this is a really good example of a writing technique brandon likes to employ called “bad writing.” writers typically use bad writing when they are incapable or unwilling to write something better. though the relationship was underdeveloped in wor, several characters in oathbringer comment on it being deeper and more intimate than any of the others that kaladin had. this is a brilliant subversion of the traditional writing advice “show, don’t tell,” where instead of showing us the relationship, brandon simply tells us it was there and mattered. he employs this subversion in a similar fashion when he states that moash was the only member of bridge four to treat kaladin as a man not a god, but he takes it a step further in this instance by having moash’s feelings later devolve into idolatry. since the previous treatment this change is meant to contrast is “told” instead of “shown,” we end up with another incredible example of “bad writing.” i find brandon’s use of bad writing to be really thoughtful and unique since he employs just enough “good writing” to keep your expectations up, so the full force of the “bad writing” moments hit to full effect! :)

[luna-the-cretar]

Jericho’s segment in episode 17 just. Fucking. SHATTERED my heart. Especially at the end, when Lethica gave him a (very much needed) hug, and Jericho just. Didn’t know what to do. Poor baby just awkwardly held his arms up before awkwardly patting her back.

MIKEY. WHY THE FUCK YOU GOTTA DO THIS TO ME MIKEY. YOU FUCK. YOU CANT JUST MAKE SUCH A PRECIOUS BEAN LIKE JERICHO TAKE MY HEART THE MOMENT I FIRST HEARD HIM SPEAK, JUST TO SHRED IT TO PIECES WHEN WE LEARN HIS BACKSTORY. YOU CANT DO THIS FOR ME. I DONT HAVE THE EMOTIONAL STRENGTH FOR THIS RIGHT NOW YOU FUCKER

[picaroroboto]

the thing about Solution Nine is that you get used to it - my brother who also plays disliked it from the start because of the aesthetic clash, but I had no such problem. okay it's a little less comfy than other endgame cities because it's main hub is literally a shopping mall, but I like the music and the vibes and the purple, and the NPCs are all pretty happy and chill.

and then you remember or realize that. oh yeah the Alexandrians are happy and chill because they've all got chips in their brains that delete memories of the dead within minutes of their passing. they're refugees from an electric apocalypse but they can't really come to terms with that because they're not equipped to deal with grief.

the people are no longer under threat from Zoraal Ja and his army, and outsiders can come and go as they please, but it is still a dystopia.

[flowering-darkness]

Lorenza has SIX DIFFERENT SELFSHIPS how have I managed this

[cosmereclysmic]

Roshar should have 10 genders. As a treat.

[aqspec]

ive never read archie but can someone tell me if there would be an interesting interaction between these two

[nights-at-crystarium]

Just another crazy AU idea: Ardbert Lives.

The Warrior dies or chooses to pass their essence to Ardbert, which either gives him back his corporeal form, or puts him in the Warrior’s body but he’s the sole owner of it now. This’s it, the whole concept that I randomly thought of.