#and building toward certain powers and upgrades helps focus them a little

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Valicer In The Dark -- Fun With Special Abilities II, Time For The Crew

Because the post about their INDIVIDUAL special abilities got long enough that I felt it was a good idea to give their special abilities as a GROUP its own post. XD Because that is the thing about Blades In The Dark -- not only do individual characters get a playbook, the crew as a whole gets one as well! To help codify what kind of scoundrels they are, and what kind of scores they generally favor. The Three Pillars, at least in my head, are Shadows, first and foremost -- this means they favor scores that involve finding and stealing stuff, spying on people, and sabotaging things. Though I'm not opposed to them doing Hawkers scores from time to time, since that playbook is all about selling shit, and that syncs well with Smiler being a seller of Joy Serum to the masses... Anyway, the crew playbook provides special abilities and bonuses for all of the crew members to use, and upgrades to their lair to help them with their various scoundrel activities. Here's the abilities and upgrades for the Three Pillars as a whole that I have locked down so far:

-->Special Abilities: As per my original write-up on this topic, The Three Pillars start with the Pack Rats special ability -- the actual playsheet says that their lair is a "jumble of stolen items," but for my crew, this represents the fact that, while most of the actual house portion of their lair is empty when they first discover it, Elder Gutknecht's beloved library up in his tower is stuffed full of books, occult objects, and other articles of interest he collected when he was alive. (Plus, I'm not opposed to them finding other random crap hidden away while they clean the rest of the place up -- the initial looters couldn't have gotten everything!) Game mechanically, this allows them an extra die whenever one of them rolls to acquire an asset before or after a score, because there's a non-zero chance it might already be in that damn tower. XD Now, admittedly, I picked this partially because I didn't think any of the other special abilities fit for the trio at the very beginning of their career, but I'm pretty happy with it regardless. As I said at the time, it feels appropriate given how messy that tower is in the actual Corpse Bride movie! :p As for what they get as time goes on --

A) Everyone Steals -- they get better at the skills best-suited to their chosen scoundrel "trade!" In game terms, this lets you immediately add a dot to either the Prowl, Finesse, or Tinker action rating (which indicates how many dice they get to roll whenever they attempt something that involves that action) on each character's personal playbook -- and you don't have to choose the same action for each character either, you just have to pick one of those three. (Though you also can't go above three dots in any of the actions either, as the fourth and final dot in all actions is locked behind another upgrade.) This is the first upgrade listed on the sheet, and is considered to be a good "starting" upgrade for new crews, but I felt that, while I wanted it, it made a little more sense to take it a bit later to show how the gang is slowly getting better at some of their chosen tools of the trade. :) Specifically, I think currently Alice would take the extra dot in Prowl, Victor in Finesse, and Smiler in Tinker to represent their own specializations (Alice is the more physical one and could use the boost to moving around quietly that Prowl gives; Victor is the one most suited to delicate work -- and I've decided Finesse is the best action to represent his artistic/musical skills, so it only makes sense to boost that; and Smiler is the tech/chemistry person and thus should have a strong Tinker rating) -- but we'll see if I think differently based on where they are in the series when they get this upgrade!

B) Ghost Echoes -- they all gain the ability to see and interact with the unearthly echo of Duskwall that exists in the ghost field! Which is just more weird, cool, and dangerous magic for them to play with. :D The playbook indicates that this is gotten through "weird experience or occult ritual," and -- well. Victor already has the Ghost Mind ability that allows him to sense the presence of anything supernatural in his vicinity, and I'm planning for him to pick up Ritual and Ghost Veil abilities, so this crew ability just feels like a natural extension of all of that (meaning, obviously, those powers of his are prerequisites). Maybe once he figures out his own ability to shift temporarily into the ghost field, this group ability can cover him figuring out how to turn it into a ritual? Though I don't know if the characters are supposed to fully or just partially shift into the field while this is happening...we'll figure that out when we get there!

C) Slippery -- they're better at avoiding the consequences of their various scores! In game terms, this means that when you roll for "entanglements" (the various things you will have to deal with after committing a heist -- can range from Bluecoats picking up friends to interrogate, to devils taking an interest in the gang, to a friend needing a favor, to a rival trying to throw their weight around), you roll twice on the table and keep whichever result you want. You also get an extra die when you roll to reduce the crew's "heat" (which, the higher that goes, the worse/more complicated the entanglements you pick up, so it's good to keep it low). I think this one fits the crew because my stories for them have them building a reputation as "weirdly unstoppable for just three people" -- they manage to get one over on Six Towers' local nobleman Lord Rowan, they survive Lord Bethesda's assassination attempt and a trip into the Lost District, they survive ANOTHER assassination attempt by the fucking leaders of most of the criminal gangs of Duskwall, etc, etc. They are slippery little fuckers! And we love them for it. :p

D) Synchronized -- they become exceedingly good at working together as a team. Mechanically, this means that when they do a "group action" together (where everybody rolls to do one specific thing, with one character leading), if two people roll separate sixes, you can count that as a critical success. I like this because a) it's cool and makes group actions more interesting and b) it has great story idea potential! You see, I see this as a supernatural thing that they pick up accidentally -- I'm not sure precisely what happens yet, but there is occult nonsense that briefly links their minds and has them relive the others' memories, and after that...it's not precisely a full telepathic link, but there's some sort of lingering effect that they can use to just -- know what they all need to do when they're all working together on something. It doesn't always work perfectly, but when it does, they are a force to be reckoned with. Plus there would also be many feels involved from them getting a first-hand look at what the others went through and -- just understanding each other better afterward. I picture them all standing stunned for a second after the trip through the memories ends, then just moving to embrace each other because damn. They've been through some shit.

E) Ghost Market -- they discover how to make something that affects supernatural entities -- who are very interested in getting their hands on it... This one is from the Hawkers playbook, and it goes "Through arcane ritual or hard-won experience, you have discovered how to prepare your product for sale to ghosts and/or demons. They do not pay in coin. What do they pay with?" This is obviously a special ability that mainly relates to Smiler -- but it's not about them improving Joy Serum with Victor and Alice's help. Instead, I picked this because I had an idea revolving around them finally managing to invent Giggler Gas, and going with Victor and Alice to present it to the Advocates -- only to run into ghost trouble along the way. And when Smiler sprays the ghost with some of the gas just to distract it --

The gas affects the ghost. Leaving it giggling and allowing the trio to escape and go "what the fuck?!" I haven't gotten much past that point, but I do know that Smiler and the Advocates would be all for peddling this shit to sapient ghosts (and maybe ghost-hunting Whispers to use as a "stun" option while they try to catch other spirits), while Victor and Alice would be a bit like "do we really want to get into the business of selling drugs to ghosts?" XD I also don't know how the ghosts who actually buy the stuff would pay for it -- maybe just drip some electroplasm into a vial? Victor at least could always use that for his butterfly experiments... I'll figure something out, just because this whole idea amuses me. XD

-->Upgrades: Again, as per my original write-up, the trio's lair starts with the following upgrades:

A) Hidden -- the lair's location is a secret to most people and is hidden from casual discovery! In-universe, I'm representing this with Elder Gutknecht using special wards that he'd crafted to keep anyone he didn't want finding him from even seeing his house in Six Towers. After he died, he started to let them run down, figuring it didn't matter so much now what happened to his stuff now that he was no longer among the living --

And then some hooligans showed up, smashed all his windows, and started talking about setting fire to the library. Cue Gutknecht scaring them out and then refreshing his wards on the regular. :p The only reason Victor, Alice, and Smiler find the place is because they come in at just the right time between refreshes -- and when they prove to be nice and polite (especially to a ghost), Gutknecht lets them stay and incorporates them into the magic. :) A very lucky break for a trio on the run from the Bluecoats, to be sure!

B) Training: Prowess -- the lair has something in it that allows people to train in the "Prowess" skills -- Finesse, Prowl, Skirmish, and Wreck (when someone chooses to "train" in that skillset in downtime after scores, they mark two XP points on that skillset's XP tracker instead of one). Admittedly, this isn't something that the place has when the trio first arrives -- rather, once they decide they're all living there permanently, the Advocates give them some spare equipment they have at their headquarters so they can train those skills (I'm picturing old-timey workout stuff). As Shadows, they'll definitely need Finesse and Prowl to effectively pull off their scores, so this is important stuff!

C) Workshop -- the lair has the space and tools for tinkering and alchemy, plus a library of various books, documents, and maps, which makes completing long-term projects involving tinkering, alchemy, or looking up stuff easier. Obviously, I've already mentioned Elder Gutknecht's library at the top of the tower, but the level directly below is a workshop, containing a Fox-Lloyd alchemy bench (the best of the best, Smiler is THRILLED) and a Lumiere brand tinkering bench (guess where I got those names XD). I suppose Gutknecht also having a nice Harper upright piano for Victor to play with can count toward this too. :p I just wanted to give them ample opportunity to indulge their hobbies!

D) Cohort: Expert -- the crew has access to a single expert NPC who helps them with their work -- in this case, the Reconciled ghost of the original owner of the place, Elder Gutknecht! As will eventually be revealed in the final chapter of "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of," he became a ghost under unusual circumstances, and thus hasn't gone mad from the craving for life essence most ghosts suffer from. Plus, when the trio arrives, he's starting to feel a little lonely, haunting his house with just the ravens for company, so he's only too happy to let them use the place. :) In game terms, he is a Tier 1 Occultist (before you say anything, the Three Pillars start at Tier 0, soooo), with the edge Independent (they can trust him to make good decisions on his own) and the flaw Principled (he has his own code of ethics he won't betray, which means certain things he won't help with -- like actively helping the gang figure out a way to murder one Dr. Bumby. He'll let them STAY, he just won't help them plan).

Not a bad set of stuff to start out with, right? As for upgrades I would like them to get as time goes on --

E) Quarters -- the crew's lair actually has places for them to sleep and live in, rather than forcing them to go to another location for a bit of shut-eye. This one is a little bit unusual because, well, the trio are living in their lair even before they get this upgrade -- after everything with Barkis, Bumby, and the Van Dorts, Victor and Alice don't really have anywhere else to go, and while Smiler could stay at Advocate headquarters, they really want access to that Fox-Lloyd bench. XD So in their case, Quarters means they've made the place a lot more comfortable to live -- it's clean, there's some proper furniture in there, the sink works, they have a way to cook food, and they all have places to sleep (though, as noted in a particular fic's title, there's only one (proper) bed...). Hopefully they can score this sooner rather than later, the poor guys!

F) Secure -- the lair has proper locks, traps, and other measures to thwart intruders! This is actually an upgrade you can take twice -- ticking the first box protects it against mundane threats, while ticking the second protects it against supernatural ones. As you're allowed to tick two upgrade boxes every time you fill the XP track, I'd probably take both levels of this in one go -- I mean, Gutkecht ALREADY has wards up, it only makes sense that they'd cover buffing the place's defenses against humans and ghosts all in one go. Maybe learning how to make ghost-repellent wards can be part of Victor's Whisper training. :p

G) Thief Rigging -- the crew learns how to load themselves up with their tools of the trade more easily and efficiently! In game terms, this means they get two free slots of "load" for anything that counts as "gear" or "tools" (like a burglar's kit that includes lockpicks and oil for squeaky hinges, or Smiler bringing along a portable alchemy set). As all characters have a limited number of slots for items (with the exact amount depending on if they go for a "light," "normal," or "heavy" load), getting a couple of things for free means being able to carry more useful kit on scores! And we all like that.

H) Insight Training -- the crew gets some stuff to help train their "Insight"-related skills -- Hunt, Study, Survey, Tinker! Because those are skills that are also much-needed by Shadows, especially ones like them. Not a single one of them starts with a dot in Hunt, after all, and they might need that if they have any jobs involving tailing people or the like. Getting new books for the library will probably help with Study, and just practicing on the alchemy and tinkering benches for Tinker -- we'll see what I come up with to represent training in the other stuff. (Hide and seek for Hunt?) We want them to master some skills at some point! Speaking of which --

I) Mastery -- the crew gets access to stuff that allows them to really train up their skills as Shadows! Yeah, remember how I said above that the fourth and final dot for all actions is locked behind an upgrade? This is that upgrade, and it requires you to tick four boxes to unlock it. So even if I did two at a time, they'd have to sink all their XP into taking this twice to unlock it. So getting this one is probably going to take a little bit, but I think it'll be worth it in the end. Because, hey, we want them to be at least masters in what I think of as their "core" skills -- Skirmish for Alice, Attune for Victor, and Tinker for Smiler. And hopefully some others besides. They will be fucking earning it, let me tell you.

Whew -- that was a lot, wasn't it? How about next week we talk about something much more simple but still interesting -- good old-fashioned trauma! :D Because THAT in a system in this game too -- see you then!

[ivesambrose]

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As promised, a late Christmas but early new year gift from my side. 💚

Choose the screen you feel strikes a memory from your childhood or your dreams or something that's been on your mind lately xo

To book a personal reading with me DM or email me at jovescorpioreadings@gmail.com

1.

Life hasn't been as harmonious due to the obvious circumstances have made you feel that this is your new reality now. Finding a new normal in where you've always been. But that's far from the truth.

Maybe you have strayed from something you had faith in, but in 2021 its time to get back in touch with that again. But I'm not seeing blind faith here, there's a sense of clarity. One you didn't have before and caused you foggines. I literally see a thick fog. You're going to have a chance to live what you've missed out on the year before.

There will be a boost in self esteem as well as desire to focus on focus on the sweetness moments in life has to offer. It's almost as though you're bored of the news, bored of the bitterness and being concerned. So to put it in simpler terms, your attitude has become rather Yolo.

I see some of you building immunity, focusing on what you eat, maybe even taking supplements for health. I literally see someone weight lifting this could be as literal as building strength / muscle. Good for you!

The start of the year it seems an idea will take a tangible form. I see some of you committed to learning something new or working on something that you would like to put out the public. I see someone devoted to some form of expression honestly.

It's also advised to protect your energy not everyone is going to be happy with your goals and plans.

You'll also be able to see beyond current circumstances. So long term plans will be the focus as well as a general attitude of, "I don't care anymore, I'm gonna do what it takes eitherway."

I also see you learning more about finances, savings, investments etc

There will be opportunities to travel or what was once halted will pick up.

Aquarius and virgo season are significant.

Some keys themes are,

- knowing when to leave a situation discreetly.

- again, know when to leave.

- recognizing opportunities and seizing them instead of awaiting validation or looking back at the ones that didn't bring you fulfillment.

2.

I feel you've been restless and anxious throughout the year so now that sudden patience and understanding hits you, you're unfamiliar with this feeling. The, "I don't have to worry anymore you mean? I don't have to wake up feeling not messed up? That's suspicious!"

I see some of you finding some comfort in walking while listening to music, picturing different scenarios etc. You could be walking indoors or outdoors, doesn't matter. All I know is that it'll ground you. I see you feeling a little more stable as though you can rely on yourself.

I see you attracting a lot of wealth honestly. Money is just energy, eitherway you'll attract it. I think you'll tap into that power honestly. You might even find yourself having purchased something you consider a luxury item sometime this year. Increase in wealth will also give you a boost in other areas of your life. You may also take a liking towards warmer colors. You may like gold over black combination a lot too.

I'm seeing you heal an old would. Wanting more adrenaline in your life too. Some of you may dance, take up dancing etc something that gets the blood pumping.

There's also a theme of getting in touch with the emotions you have often kicked under the rug or have shamed yourself for and left unexpressed.

Why do I sense a more feral energy in some of you? Like you've been quiet for so long and settled for things but deep inside you are a wild, wild thing.

A cycle of turmoil is complete, the person you were in jan 2020 and the one you are in Jan 2021 are extremely different people.

There's also a connection you have been dreaming of or getting signs of but you're fearing the worst it seems too? Don't worry about it too much,

Significant months are Aries and Leo season.

Key themes for this year,

- relocation

- long distance travel

- flexibility

- multiple jobs

- silently knowing you're the baddest bitch ever

3.

Calming of your nerves. No thought head empty. But in the best way possible since you've flushed out a lot of toxicity from your life. There's probably something you've incorporated maybe an affirmation, hobby, routine etc that you're going to be or are advised to be persistent about. Some of you may also be suffering from sleeplessness, nightmares, restlessness etc maybe even headaches, eye strain. You're truly advised to make your health well being your priority. Calming music, meditation, painting etc will help with this.

Your gift of visualization will be very useful for some reason.

You may have felt unrequited love in the past but this year brings about more synchronicity and balance. Its simply because you've chosen to bring the priority to you. So you won't be settling for less.

The biggest theme for you is breaking an ancestral pattern and shedding old skin. Don't be surprised if the whole year feels like a Pokémon evolution for you. It's high time to follow what you want instead of what others want for you.

I see some of you leaving a hostile/exhausting situation/residence to somewhere much calmer.

There's a key theme of rebirth and heeding the call of something you couldn't do earlier. Being more active in pursuit of your goals. I see you determined to do something for yourself.

I also see clarity of thought more assertiveness in your part and knowing when to command things into fruition.

Significant months are capricorn and taurus season. Even Gemini season.

Key themes for the year:

- don't blind yourself to the love you literally just manifested.

- it's okay to be selfish of your earned resources.

- as your shed your old skin, don't expect yourself to not have an upgrade.

- you indeed won and their gaslighting did not.

4.

You feel you have lost your shine it seems...

As though you don't have the gifts or the right amount of talent or perhaps you feel disconnected with the things that once made you happy.

2021 is all about finding that sparkle and dropping the heaviness one day at a time. It'll be a transformative period from feeling lack lustre to discovering a whole new array of things you feel connected to. A lot of awakened creativity without the fear of having to prove to others that, "Hey look, I did this thing please validate." no. Do this cuz you want to. Do this even if you think its bad. You have to be persistent and allow yourself to improve.

I see a lot of you channeling certain emotions into creative expression or achieving something. Also a lot of connecting with nature by yourself since you feel the need to maybe isolate a bit or disconnect from people who drain you off your energy.

You'll be reaping a lot of rewards for your earlier efforts as well as the efforts you're going to put in. I get a picture of a tree filled with apples, the tree certainly belongs to you and you have your sweet rewards with you. Your patience has paid off.

You may also be drawn to cool tones or cool colors. You'll also learn that you don't need to be right or perfect all the time. It's a growing stage and if you don't learn from your mistakes then what's the point. I just see this year as being you keeping your peace and not dwindling in others business anymore simply because you seek peace from extra drama. I also truly see you dropping the need to be right and being stubborn cuz that's been hindering you for the longest time. There are people although few seeking to guide and help but you may have been subconsciously rejecting it.

I also wouldn't be surprised if some of you break up with current partners or a friend group to go different ways. You've been straying form things and not really growing. This year might be full of a lot of self awareness for you.

There's an opportunity that brings you emotional fulfillment of sorts too but you'll be lowkey about it. I also see you wanting to seek refuge from your own thoughts at one point. If you're an artist of any kind, this year is gonna be a benchmark for you. I can tell that. Perhaps admist this soul searching you'll find someone that aligns with you too. (this could be romantic or platonic)

Significant seasons are taurus and likely Leo season.

Main themes I'm seeing are that of,

- Finding people you feel at home with

- learning what you want to commit to before you decide in who.

- taking the risk to take certain journeys by yourself. You may think you're alone, but you'll meet souls just like you along the way.

- leave your comfort zone. Please.

5.

You're truly about the collect the biggest glow up award and I would like to congratulate you in advanced. That's it. That's the overview.

Okay I'm kidding ofc I'm not gonna leave you at just that.

Something that is long inevitable will happen. You have been waiting for this. It could be a travel plan that did not come through because of the previous year. But whatever it is that you're waiting for is making its way to you and not just that, you're making your way towards something or some place to.

You maybe going the distance for something that has a lot to do with your career as well.

You have finally unlocked a hidden fire within you (for real I see a scarlet red and a flame) that is just so stunning like?? Some of you might just embody this sexy siren energy. Do not be surprised if you attract people left, right and center this year. But then again I see y'all being invested in your passions and one of these passions is being your best like, there's just so much 7 rings by Ariana energy here what even? Please own it!

Expect love offers. Expect love to come in. Although I do hesitancy here since a lot of you just had this sudden glow and are simply maybe not used to tenderness, honesty and affection.

I also see leadership, management and business skills is something you will learn this year. Also expect hearing certain messages in conversations and music I feel a lot of you simply connect deeply with music or it's connected with your life path.

Key themes for the year,

- A long term romance coming in. This person is such a charm, I feel as though when you were busy tending to your goals and looking at how far you've come, they come in for you. You saw them coming but it still feels unexpected.

Significant seasons are, cancer, virgo and scorpio.

- money saved secretly. Patience and constant efforts bringing in monetary rewards.

- connecting with like minded people

- travel, skincare, health, aesthetics. 

- learning to be more graceful and composed

- slow progress is still progress. The most beneficial kind.

[definitelynotobito]

Why I Love Sakura Haruno

This is not responding to any hate, it's just me sharing my opinion.

She Wasn't Born Into A Prestigious Clan

Sakura was born into a weak, unpopular clan and still became very powerful. She started off with no kekkei genkai or special abilities, and there wasn't really anything she could do. She was almost as hopeless as Rock Lee was as a child. This shows how hard she truly worked to get where she is now, even if she can't compare to her peers that were born with greater potential to become powerful. For example, Sasuke was destined to awaken a Sharingan and Naruto was both an Uzumaki and a Jinchuuriki. Sakura had nothing. Still, she became quite powerful. I think this is particularly stunning, and it's genuinely praiseworthy.

She worked for her power, and she worked hard. When Sakura was a child, she was completely weak. She had her smarts, but she lacked battle skill. We were shown her hard work with Tsunade later on. Although Sakura did start out with the upper hand having great chakra control, it doesn't mean that her journey to achieving a Yin Seal wasn't a long one. Even other Medical Ninja with exceptional chakra control weren't able to do this.

Sakura sometimes even passed out because of how hard she worked. It was shown once during her training with Tsunade, and another time after she healed an injured person. She truly pushed herself to the limit, and it's definitely a reason to at least respect her. I really enjoy characters who had to work harder for their power.

Intelligence

Sakura's definitely intelligent, even if she isn't on par with Shikamaru or Kakashi. In classic Naruto, she explained various things to her teammates and was able to answer all 9 questions in the Chunin Exams without cheating. In addition, these questions were said to be too complicated for a mere genin. This didn't stop Sakura.

In original Naruto, Sakura lacked battle skill since she usually focused on being book smart. She knew practically everything in her grade and even things above her grade. Kakashi even calls Sakura Team 7's sharpest mind. In classic Naruto, Sakura even reminds me of Hermione from Harry Potter. Her intelligence definitely shined through more than anything in her early years.

Sakura was also very intelligent throughout the rest of the series, her analytical skills said to be better than Sasuke's Sharingan's by Sasuke himself. It's notable to mention that she usually depended on outsmarting her opponents in order to trick them. It's also notable to mention that this tactic often worked.

Personality

I really love Sakura's personality. She's

intelligent, confident, and caring. She has a very quick temper, but she loves her friends and puts their needs above her own. I'd say that Sakura's weakness would be her feelings, and it's great to give a character a flaw that hinders them. For example, Hinata. Hinata's weakness is her gentle nature. In my opinion, It makes her more likeable. I like that Sakura has this weakness of letting her feelings get the best of her from time to time.

Sakura is very kind. We all know she is hotheaded and short-tempered, but her kindness does shine through. Although he might've been the enemy, Sakura didn't deny to help someone who was dying during the war. Even though her peers told her it could potentially be a bad idea, she took him in while being cautious at the same time. Sakura is shown being very kind to strangers in particular.

Sakura is also very caring. She cares about Naruto and his dreams to become Hokage, claiming she wouldn't let him die in the Great Ninja War and feeling dejected when he is hurt. In addition, She threatens Sai when he deems Naruto weak, as she has immense faith in the blonde. She cares about the man who became both a traitor and a criminal. What Sakura had for Sasuke was true love, even if it was one-sided. She didn't give up on him because she cared deeply about him and had hope he could still be saved even after he did so many unspeakable things. While it deterred more as Sasuke committed more horrible crimes, I still think Sakura always had a sliver of hope.

Sakura cares more about everyone than herself, and this is an upgrade from when she was young and selfish. She puts herself in harms way, even if it's just for the tiniest distraction. This was shown when she served as a distraction in the fight against Madara, running at him head-on so Sasuke and Naruto could attack. While this can be a liability since a Medical Ninja needs to survive, it shows just how much she cares. It's notable that this might not even kill her because of her quick regeneration. What can I say? Sakura's not perfect. But you know what? She has heart and that's something I admire tremendously.

Her confidence is certainly noteworthy. Sakura is very confident in herself. You can easily tell Sakura is confident just by watching her scenes in the Anime or reading them in the Manga. Sakura has trust in her abilities, and that's also something I tend to favor. I love how she is able to assert herself as well as be certain about her actions.

Her short temper is another one. This is a hit or miss, and is a big reason most people don't like her. Sakura is very hotheaded. She usually gets angry when Naruto voices something derogatory or is perverted and punches him. Most people consider this an act of violence or abuse, but I don't. I mean, you can't deny that he deserves it sometimes.. Her anger dies down pretty quickly, and she ends up brushing off Naruto's statements and smiles. I think this adds a little bit of spiciness, character, and imperfection. Short-tempered characters often bring forth comedy and are interesting and exciting to watch. This is another part of Sakura's personality which I love deeply. But, like I said before, this is pretty much a hit or miss and some people do not respect this.

Sakura is also determined. In The Forest Of Death, she takes on enemies much stronger than her so she can protect her teammates until they wake up. She needed a lot of help in this fight, but it's exemplary that she put herself in danger for Sasuke and Naruto. In addition, her determination is also apparent when she asks Tsunade to be her sensei. She works really hard until she finally becomes powerful. She even acquired a hate for losing after her training, making her intent on defeating her opponent.

Abilities

Medical Ninjutsu is a favorite of mine. I've always wanted to be involved in medicine, so I appreciate all of the techniques and helpfulness shown in Naruto. I also enjoy watching Sakura and Tsunade's brute force be put into play. It's always exciting, not to mention Taijutsu is another favorite of mine.

Sakura is one of the best medical ninja out there. She mastered a rare technique at a very young age. This is the Mystical Palm Technique. Sakura was able to master it in roughly three months, while other medics weren't able to master it at all. Amazingly, she is also able to form a Yin Seal, which is even more rare than the Mystical Palm Technique. As I said before, even Shizune (A very skilled Medic) could not form the Yin Seal.

Furthermore, She has various powerful healing jutsu such as the 100 Healings Jutsu. The 100 Healings Jutsu allows Sakura to continue fighting while her body heals itself. This means she does not even have to stop to think about it or weave handsigns. In my opinion, this is a very useful and interesting jutsu. Sakura can withstand deathblows using this technique.

Speaking of the 100 Healings Jutsu, Sakura saved up chakra for three years. At one point in time, Tsunade forbade Sakura to perform surgeries or battle. This is because building up chakra in order to form the Yin seal drains the user's normal reserves of chakra. However, Sakura is actually able to divert some of this chakra back into her normal reserves and she is able to perform surgeries and fight again. It's unknown how she accomplished this, but it had to take some hard work and focus. It also had to take some intelligence to even think of it.

Sakura was very supportive during the Pain Invasion arc and the War arc. She summoned Katsuyu, who traveled around to aid fallen citizens and shinobi in both arcs. She successfully did her duty and mended the wounds of many people. Countless citizens would have died without Sakura's expertise and dedication. Every Medical Ninja had to weigh in greatly for these two arcs, showing just how serious they were.

As for Taijutsu, I think it's amazing how both Sakura and Tsunade fight. The women obtain their monstrous strength from transferring chakra into their fists and sometimes their legs. Another Taijutsu user, Choji, was able to defeat Jirobo by transferring his chakra into his fist and punching him. This proves just how effective this technique is. This also requires a vast amount of skill in Chakra Control, something that Sakura was shown having from the very beginning. In addition, Sakura is pretty good at evading attacks. I guess she was just destined to gain monstrous strength.

Growth

This is commonly brought up. Sakura used to be weak, annoying, and selfish. All bad traits. As Sakura works and betters herself, she eventually becomes a powerful woman who thinks of others above herself.

In the early episodes of classic Naruto, Sakura badmouths Naruto. This is a line even Sasuke knew was going too far. After Sasuke calls her annoying, Sakura is able to sit down and sympathize with Naruto. She knows partly how he feels now, and vows to be nicer to him. In Shippuden when she is older, she always put her faith in Naruto. She would never badmouth Naruto again, and got angry when others such as Sai did. By this point, Sakura truly cares for Naruto and understands him more than she did before.

Another thing substandard about Sakura in classic Naruto would probably be her love towards Sasuke Uchiha. This was a typical 13-year-old crush and you can't deny it got annoying easily. She was obsessed with Sasuke as a young teen, but grew out of it once she got older. She has always loved Sasuke, but she was more calm and less boy crazy. There are scenes where Sasuke causes Sakura to blush, but that's nothing compared to how she acted as a young teen. Her feelings develop into true love, even if she only had a crush on him because of his calm attitude and good looks before. She truly cares about him and wants to save him in Shippuden, even if she doubts it sometimes.

Unlike when she was younger, Sakura often cares more about others than she does herself. This is shown a few times throughout the series. As I said before, she usually uses herself as a distraction so her teammates can attack. Moreover, she is not as selfish as she was regarding her feelings. She now takes other's personal feelings into account instead of her own. While she still does focus on her feelings sometimes, she's not entirely egocentric as she was before. Great Development.

Now on to her power. Most don't deny that Sakura was utterly weak during Classic Naruto, but in Shippuden we were able to see how strong she had gotten thanks to her hard work. She gained brute strength, evasion skills, and advanced Medical Ninjutsu. All of these are useful and supportive when in battle. Sakura doesn't need to be rescued as often as she did before, and it's amazing she finally became a bit more independent as well as more powerful.

Bonds

Sakura is close friends with the two main characters, so of course her relationships come off as likeable. She is very supportive of our protagonist, Naruto, and puts a great deal of credence in him. Even if she couldn't, Sakura has always tried to understand and sympathize with Naruto. She believes in him and is there for him if he might need her. She does lash out at him sometimes, and he can be unknowingly rude to her, but not every relationship can be perfect. Naruto is determined to keep Sakura safe and is in love with her for quite a while. I think her relationship with Naruto is more notable than her relationship with Sasuke. Seeing Naruto and Sakura together is never a bad thing.

Next, her relationship with Sasuke. This is probably the most obvious one, as she is married to him. A big part of Sakura's motivation to get stronger involved bringing Sasuke back to the village. Sadly, she was not strong enough to match up to him and instead trusted Naruto would save him. Even when she tried to kill Sasuke, she couldn't do it because she loved him too much. Sakura had very deep feelings for him, even if that love was only one-sided. She has always wanted to be acknowledged by him since her youth, much like Naruto wanted to be acknowledged by this village. Finally, Sasuke did acknowledge her. He conveys that she is now someone people can depend on. Additionally, Sasuke accepts that no matter what he did to her she was always going to love him.

I feel like this next one is unpopular, but I adore the relationship between Sakura and Sai. Sakura started off angry at Sai for calling her ugly, but later tried to be more open-minded. This failed after Sai insulted Sasuke, of course. Later, Sai wished to learn more about human bonds and Sakura showed compassion towards him and aided him in this quest. Sakura and Sai's relationship is pretty sincere in my opinion. She helps him to understand people and bonds more, and they even rescue one another and share intimate moments. Not to mention Sakura showed interest in Sai.

Next is her rival and best friend, Ino. From the very beginning, Ino and Sakura were shown to be very competitive towards each other. It wasn't really surprising that we later found out they were childhood friends. Sakura was ridiculed for her large forehead, but Ino encouraged her to embrace her forehead rather than cover it with her bangs. Sakura continues to be shy about her forehead, and Ino constantly had to tell her she was just making it a big deal. Sakura and Ino become close friends, Ino helping her to become more confident around others. Eventually, Sakura decides to tell Ino that she has a crush on Sasuke. They become rivals at this point, competing in everything. Despite this, there are times where they really show their care for eachother. One of these moments include Ino fixing Sakura's hair after she cut it in the Forest Of Death. Also, let's mention that Sakura wanted to be like Ino when she was younger. If that isn't cute, I don't know what is.

Finally, her relationship with her senseis. Kakashi and Sakura are very understanding of each other. Kakashi is very protective of his student, reassures her, holds her in high regard, and never judges her for her mistakes. Sakura in return worries for him, shows him respect, defends him, and isn't afraid to tell him about her feelings. This is exactly what a sensei and student relationship should look like. A teacher who never belittles the student and a student who respects the teacher. Furthermore, there are many characters who understand Sakura, but Kakashi really takes the cake with this one. He is the one who understood her feelings and the reasons behind her mistakes.

Now the next teacher: Tsunade. Tsunade is really the one to thank for Sakura's strength and skillful Medical Ninjutsu. Sakura and Tsunade respect one another, and Tsunade compliments her for her achievements. Sakura always listened to Tsunade, and took her battle advice. Moreover, she also inherited some of Tsunade's views and ideals. Although Sakura was weak when she first started training, Tsunade acknowledged her potential and took her under her wing.

Teamwork

Sakura is proficient in teamwork. Whether it be with her squad or one other person. Chiyo and Sakura made a great team, as Sakura made up for Chiyo's weaknesses and Chiyo made up for Sakura's. Chiyo did not have enough strength to destroy Hiruko, but Sakura did. Sakura had trouble evading Sasori's fast attacks, so Chiyo took control of her body. I really admired the way these two worked so well together. Another notable team involving Sakura would be her and Obito. Obito and Sakura worked hard to retrieve Sasuke from an alternate dimension. Obito was the one who could open gateways to the other dimension, but he did not have enough chakra to do so. Sakura helps out by activating her Yin Seal and pouring her chakra into Obito. With this, Sasuke is able to save himself.

She does stand in the shadow of others, but Sakura is a phenomenal character. I personally feel her flaws and mistakes make her relatable, which makes her a character that you can be comfortable watching. I feel bad when I see Sakura being hated on for her tiny flaws but never given the benefit of the doubt. I believe this is because she is the main heroine and is judged and looked at more than the other women. In all honesty, Sakura's strengths shine through more than her flaws. I feel so inspired when I watch Sakura or think about her character. She proves you can change yourself for the better. She proves everyone makes mistakes. She proves you can truly be confident in yourself. And last but not least, She proves it's okay to show emotion. She's amazing. Truly.

Thank you for your time. If you dislike or even hate Sakura, I don't mind if you share why in the comments or in a DM! I respect everyone's opinion, and all I'm asking is for you to respect mine.

[purplecatghostposts]

I'm actually losing my mind thinking about a Promare AU. That would slap so fucking hard

YEAH ME TOO!! BECAUSE LIKE SO-

Bubby taking the place of Lio fits especially well in regards to like, punk aesthetic?? Plus he’s got a more snippy personality and it FITS. Bubby first meets Coomer and he immediately thinks, “Who’s this over enthusiastic idiot?” And by the end of it, he’s willing to die for him.

Coomer and Galo have similar energy to begin with and just the idea of Coomer having a firefighting mech that probably involves punching the fire to put it out is really good. I imagine Coomer would have more sympathy for the Burnish to begin with buttt might be a little more hesitant with Bubby and the other members of the Mad Burnish because he was previously used to having to fight them for causing fires.

Benrey and Forzen are extremely loyal to Bubby- I like to imagine Bubby took them both under his wing because they were struggling with their powers and now they trust him with their life. That being said, the both of them absolutely can and will tease them shit out of him. Bubby will sometimes say things like, “I hate this, I’m leaving the Mad Burnish” but in reality, he cares for them a lot.

Out of the three of them, Benrey’s the fastest, Forzen’s good at taking hits and using his fire to defend the others, while Bubby has raw power. Bubby has a veryyy strong connect with powers, possibly the strongest Burnish there is.

Coomer, Gordon, Tommy, and Darnold are all in a firefighting team together focusing on search and rescuing civilians, as well as putting out fires and occasionally needing to stop whoever’s starting the fires in the first place.

Gordon focuses mostly on rescue and has a mech that’s good for getting into buildings and carrying people out. If everyone is already to safety then he helps Coomer put out the fires. Occasionally he gets targeted by a certain Mad Burnish General who mostly just spins circles around him and tries to get him riled up for the fun of it (*Cough* Benrey *Cough*) and Gordon’s usually fairly good at keeping his focus on the job but this guy’s really good at making him raise his voice.

Tommy’s in charge of the group as he’s been in training the longest and has pretty good leadership skills. Tommy looks out for his team from the sky in his plane based mech and also helps rescue civilians who get stranded on the rooftops. He’s a skilled pilot and is very well known, not just for what he does but also for his father. Goodman “G-Man” Coolatta is head of the very technological group working towards creating a way to open up portals to other planets. Tommy’s incredibly proud of his father and will openly excitedly talk about the reports he gets back from his dad and how their research is going well.

Sunkist is Tommy’s dog and the official mascot for the team! She’s trained to help de-stress rescued civilians and keep them calm. She’s very good at her job.

Darnold helps build the mechs that everyone else uses. Coomer can help draw up the plans and test them but Darnold is the master at physically building and upgrading them. He also works to be their eyes on the ground and update them on what floors still need to be cleared and when needed, warns them of the Mad Burnish. If need be, Darnold does have a smaller mech that’s good for speed and making emergency trips.

Coomer, as stated, as a mech that he mostly uses to punch the fires. He focuses more on putting the fires out and is more combat based than anyone else if it comes to that. He’s one of the few who can hold his own against Bubby and actually manages to capture him for a while.

Finally, G-Man is the right hand man of the Govern and has done some fairly... Questionable things that he’s not proud of in the name of Science. He tells himself it’s all for a better future- for Tommy. Whatever helps him sleep at night, right?

But yeah I’ve been having a LOT of thoughts about this and this isn’t even all of them- Sorry about the long ramble I just had so many THOUGHTS.

[herocentral]

Possible Hero 6

Hi Folks I know times are hard right now and we are all confined to our homes but that has not stopped the creativity of everyone here, and so heres the long awaited seventh chapter of Possible Hero 6. 

Kim Possible and Big Hero 6 (c) Disney,2020

I don't own the characters in this story THIS IS JUST FOR FUN!

Chapter 7 Destructo Nightmare Part 2:

The Lucky Cat Cafe many years ago:

The City of San Fransokyo was buzzing with life on a warm summers day and at the Lucky Cat Cafe it was busy busy. In the home area of the cafe a much younger Hiro was on the bedroom floor working on a small robot. 

He places the head on and switches it on by a switch in its back. It starts walking putting a joyful smile on his face however after a couple of seconds the robot stops. 

Hiro develops a rather upset look on his face. “Oh come on that’s the tenth time and it still doesn’t work!” Hiro exclaimed on the verge of throwing a fit. 

“Hey hey easy bro.” Called a voice and Hiro looked up to see his older brother Tadashi looking down to him wearing a red shirt and brown pants and on his head was his baseball cap bearing the city logo in Japanese writing. 

“No need to start throwing a duck fit.” He said as he kneeled down to his height. 

“I give up I’m done I just can’t crack this issue with the power.” Young Hiro said rather depressed and panicked. However Tadashi’s comforting smile persisted he knew his brother would get upset when he fails but if given the right motivation and encouragement he could get past it. 

“Come on little brother it’s not like you to think like that.” Tadashi said ruffling his head. “Now let’s take a look and see what the problem is.” 

So Tadashi sat down with his brother they disassembled the robots body and took a look at some of the components. 

“I’ve looked at the servos and the connections to the batteries but, the problem of the robot still refusing to work is persisting.” Hiro explained to his brother. 

“Well there’s an easy fix start small and focus on one thing at a time.” Tadashi explained. 

The two brothers looked through the components including the batteries and by looking at the smaller components and the two Possible main causes the battery and the servos Hiro looks closer and soon discovers what’s wrong.

“Ah so that’s it.” Hiro said as he reassembled then robot and inserted the battery and when he switched it on it moved and this time didn’t stop. 

“Ah ha it works!” Hiro said joyfully. “So the problem was in the connections to the battery the wires were crossed wrong.” Hiro said.

“Yep see what happens when we focus on one small thing at a time.” Tadashi said with a smile. “Thanks Tadashi.” Hiro said. “Hey you’ve got the brains but when we work it out together we can overcome any obstacle.” Tadashi said with a smile. 

Just then they heard footsteps coming up stairs and it’s Aunt Cass carrying their lunch on plates which was pizza. 

“Afternoon boys who’s hungry?” She asked her two nephews who jumped up and took the pizza and enjoyed it to celebrate their success. 

Present day:

On Akuma island things have gone from bad to worse for our heroes, though they were successful in rescuing Hiro and destroyed the Destructo Yama robot, Drakken reveals he’s made an army’s worth of them and is already on route to attack the city of San Fransokyo. 

In the former Krei tech facility the teams of Big Hero 6 and Team Possible watch the army of robots fly towards the city. 

“Okay this is beyond not good.” Wasabi said in horror. 

“Yeah we destroyed what we thought was Drakken’s only robot but now it turns out he’s got an army of them.” Ron agreed. 

“Uh Uh not good.” Rufus squeaks. 

“Hey we lose when we quit and I’m not giving up yet.” Kim said against their negativity. 

“Kim’s right besides it’s not the first time we’ve taken on an army of robots and it probably won’t be the last.” Gogo agreed. 

“Great but we still need a way to take down those robots.” Honey Lemon said. 

“Hiro.” Kim turned to the young genius. “Drakken forced you to finish the robot is there anything that might help us?” 

“Yeah like any weaknesses?” Fred then asked.

“Well I did take a good look inside that thing and it’s incorporated an amalgam of the learning AI from Noodle Burger boy and some cybernetic components, which means there maybe a way to take them down.” Hiro explained. 

“Okay then. Head back to the garage and see if you my dad or the Tweebs can figure out something.” Kim suggested but then Hiro caught onto something to what she said. 

“Wait what? What do you mean your dad?” Hiro asked rather panicked. 

“Oh yeah you weren’t there well basically when we found Baymax and after he tried to kill us we found out his sensor was busted and since Wade couldn’t fix it alone Kim asked for her dads help and now both her parents know we’re Big Hero 6.” Fred explained. 

“WHAT!” Hiro said with a panicked look and his hands on his head. 

“Hiro relax they’ve agreed to keep our secret.” Honey Lemon assured him. 

“Yeah their the parents of a teen super hero they can keep a secret.” Fred said in his comic book wisdom. 

“Okay but I can’t let you guys take them on alone.” Hiro protested as he didn’t like the idea of his friends fighting the robots without him or Baymax. 

“Hiro.” Gogo said getting his attention. “Kim’s right we need you at the garage and Baymax is out of juice so he’s no good to us like this.” She gestured to the red robot that Fred was trying to hold up with Wasabi’s help. “we won’t stand a chance without a way to fight these things.” She said to him and Hiro took all this in still a little doubtful. 

“Your our leader, we trust you and you need to trust us.” Gogo then said and Kim couldn’t help but take in Gogo’s  words as did Ron they did trust each other as a team that was something to be admired. 

Hiro looked up to his friend and nodded in agreement. 

“Alright I’ll take Baymax back to the garage and see if I can find a way to stop these things.” He said. “Kim can you and the others go after them?” 

“No big we’ve got this.” Kim said then reached into her pocket and pulled out her Kimmunicator. 

“Here take the Kimmunicator with you Wade maybe able to help.” She explained as he handed it to Hiro which he took he nodded in response then he remembered something. 

“Before you go, if your going up against those Destructo Yama’s and Shego you’ll need an edge.” Hiro pulled out his phone and pressed a certain icon on it. 

A few moments later something was flying towards them Kim couldn’t make out what it was however as it got closer Honey, Fred, Gogo and Wasabi could see it was Skymax. When it landed it had a colour scheme of black and grey and bore Kim’s signature logo decal on its chest hatch. 

Kim was completely surprised as was Ron what did Hiro build. The hatch opened and inside it revealed two pairs of armour for two people. 

“No way?!” Ron exclaimed in excitement. “Oh way!” Kim smirked. 

(Music starts- BH6 The series theme song.) 

Kim and Ron take the armour from the hatch and put it on. Kim’s suit was grey coloured armour similar to Gogo’s which covered her chest and back on her right shoulder it bore her logo decal with gauntlets on her arms wearing grey boots with armoured boots round the top. Round her waist she had a black gear belt with a pouch that was strapped to her leg.On her face she wore a pair of visor goggles coloured in green and black the visor itself was coloured in yellow. 

Ron wore similar coloured armour but his looked similar to Hiro’s with grey dots on the shoulder plates and chest, like Kim’s he had a pair of gauntlets on his arms and grey boots with black and grey knee pads on his pants. His visor was more rounded than Kim’s and was coloured in black and grey and the visor was coloured in blue. A KP decal on his left shoulder pad. 

(Music ends)

Rufus hopped onto Ron’s shoulder as he admired his armour. 

“Oh yeah the Ron man looking good!” Ron said flexing his arms to look tough admiring his suit. 

“Hmm not bad Hiro.” Kim said admiring her suit. “Thanks” Hiro chuckled humbly. “I figured with Shego getting an upgrade you needed one too but the armour does more than make you guys look good.” Hiro said 

Gaining her curiosity Kim looked at her right arm and when she flexed it the collar area lifted up and revealed what looked like a grappling hook. 

“Retractable grappling hook.” Hiro said. “Bit more practical than a hair dryer and thanks to Wade there’s a number of other features too.” 

“Nice.” Kim said impressed. “and that’s not all.” Hiro then smirked. “Wings.” On command a pair of wings emerged from Kim and Ron’s armoured back packs. 

“Whoa these are jet packs!” Ron exclaimed. “Okay the visors are linked to our coms so you can keep in contact.” Hiro explained to the two of them. 

Just then a familiar ring tone beeped in Kim’s visor and just then a com line from Wade opens in the top left of the visor. 

“And has a built in Kimmunicator.” He said patching in. 

“Nice work boys.” Kim smiled at the two young geniuses. “Kim the Destructo Yamas are attacking the city the police are trying but barely holding out.” Wade explained as he showed the latest news cast and of people running away in fear. 

“Okay let’s go!” Kim said to the others and her jet pack roared into life and soured into sky. 

“You guys need a ride?” Ron asked. “No need.” Wasabi said pulling out his car keys and clicking the key fob then soaring onto land was his car which was recently upgraded with rocket jets and other devices for his birthday. 

With that Ron took to the sky with his jet pack as he flew he did hit a little turbulence which threw him off balance a little but soon got the hang of it. 

The rest of the team soon followed suit using the cars jet pack features. 

Meanwhile in San Fransokyo 

The city was in chaos people were running in panic as the Destructo Yamas were on the attack blasting everything in sight with missiles and laser blasts. The police were already on hand to help get the people to safety. Whilst other officers tried to attack the robots using their guns but sadly the bullets don’t make a dent. 

Meanwhile walking through the battle scene was the main Destructo Yama piloted by Drakken and Shego. Drakken could only smirk at the destruction his creations were causing. 

“Ah I do love some chaos in the morning Shego it smells like the victory I’ve longed for.” Drakken smirked. 

Shego had to admit this maybe the one time his plan actually works. However the words of the  mysterious man who gave her the new gift still lingered in her mind. Just then a beep sounds off on the control console and it was coming from the radar. She looked and it showed several dots were heading towards them. 

“I wouldn’t celebrate yet Dr.D.” Shego pointed out. “What why?” He asked as he looked at the radar and then turned round to look behind him he could see something was coming towards them he squinted his eyes and could make out a certain Teen nemesis of his. 

“Kim Possible!” Drakken exclaimed and noticed that she was in armour and... “wait she can’t fly, can she?”

As Kim flew in from the air she could see the destruction the robots were causing and the harm coming to civilians. A little girl was trying to find her mother practically crying her eyes out. One of the Destructo Yamas fired at a building and the blast broke off a piece of rubble that was heading right for her. 

But then zooming in Gogo grabbed the young girl and got her to safety. The rest of the team then join the fray arriving in Wasabis car and meet with Kim and Ron who land next to them. 

“Man this is just like a scene from Megazon four when the robots invaded!” Fredzilla said in slight amazement. 

“Oh yeah I’ve seen that film.” Ron said. “Guys not the time, we need to stop Drakken before this robot army takes over the city.” Kim then reminded

“Right we’ve got to help these people they’re getting caught in the crossfire.” Gogo said, “Until Hiro comes up with a way to stop these things we do what we can.” 

“Right Gogo you and Honey Lemon help civilians on the south of the city, Fred, Wasabi Ron take the west.” Kim instructed. 

“What about you?” Honey Lemon asked. “I’m going after Drakken!” Kim answered. “Now lets move!” 

Kim activated her armour jet pack and rocketed into the sky whilst the team split up to help the citizens being terrorised by the robots. 

In the west of the city a group of Destructo Yama’s are firing missiles at the buildings as people hurry to cover from the attack. One Destructo Yama on the right was ready to fire its arm blaster until.

“Hey robo boy!” Called a voice and it turned to see Ron hovering in place with his own armour jet pack. 

“Eat this!” Ron pointed his left gauntlet at the robot hoping for a cool gadget but instead it fired a grappling hook which the Destructo Yama caught round his left arm. Its eyes glowed with deadly intent.

“Oh no.” Ron said and the robot pulled on the cord and swung him round and round like a merry go round. 

“Guuuuyyyyyys helllllllp!” Ron cried. 

“Fred to the rescue!” Said a voice and Fredzilla jumps in and unleashed a blast of fire on the robot just barely melting the metal. 

Fredzilla lands but unknown to the Destructo Yama a sudden slice cuts Rons cable free from the robot and Fredzilla jumps and catches him. 

“Uhhhhh guys I’m feeling crummy in the tummy.” Ron groaned as all that spinning had a nasty side effect and just managed to stop himself from throwing up. 

“We gotta buy these people time to escape!” Wasabi instructed and so the three heroes hurried into the scene Fredzilla jumps in and picks up a man and woman before they were blasted by the Destructo Yama. A group of children were in the crosshairs of another one of the robots but just before it could fire its blasters….. SLICE!

Wasabi uses his plasma blades to slice off its arm blaster which forces the robot back but before it can respond Ron flies in and picks up the children with his jet pack before the robot fired its right handed arm blaster. 

On the South side of the city civilians were fleeing from the Destructo Yamas. However zooming in to draw their fire was Gogo on her mag lev skates doing her best to avoid the blasts.

“Catch me if you can!” Gogo smirked as the robots continued to follow her down the street away from civilians meanwhile a group of robots were about to fire on some civilians until suddenly a small cluster of chem balls flew into the scene and exploded on the ground creating a dividing wall between them and the attacking robots.

“Get to safety!” Honey Lemon exclaimed as the people fled the scene. 

The police were being overwhelmed by the attacking robots and one was about to fire at the officers but before the shot made its mark something zoomed in and saved him from the blast though the squad car wasn’t so lucky. 

The officer looked up to see Kim carrying him using her jet pack.

“Whew thanks miss Possible.” The officer thanked 

“No big officer.” Kim said “The rest of Big Hero 6 are doing what they can to protect the people of the city, you should do the same.” She then advised. 

The officer nodded as Kims jet pack wings swung out and she took to the sky. From her vantage point she soon sees her target Drakken’s Destructo Yama was flying over the city and is guarded by two Destructo Yama’s. 

“Found you!” She said and zooms towards the main Destructo Yama however before she reaches him a blast of Green energy brushes right past her. Kim turns to see a rather un pleasant surprise. It was Shego hovering using her enhanced powers to create jets in her hands in an Iron man like style.

“Guess what Kimmy your not the only one who can fly!” Shego said as she threw a blast at the teen hero who flew straight up to avoid her blasts and she gave chase using her powers to propel her forwards. 

Back at the Lucky Cat

At the cafe Aunt Cass was pacing round the room frantically worried about her nephew and then saw the news cast about the robot attack didn’t help either. She went and took a doughnut from her cafe stand whilst Mochi just sat on the counter cleaning himself. 

Just then the door opened at the sound of a bell and walking in was Hiro accompanied by Ann. 

“Hiro!” Cass exclaimed and wasted no time in enveloping the young genius in a tight hug. 

“Hi Aunt Cass.” Hiro said “Too tight!” He said nearly unable to breath. 

“Where in the world have you been I’ve been worried sick I even resorted to stress eating!” Cass said 

“Cass it’s okay, calm down.” Ann said calming her old friend down. 

“Yeah I got a little tied up at SFIT and I lost track of time and couldn’t get a ride home, so I had to walk from the campus then Kim found me and then these robot things started attacking so she asked her mom to pick me up whilst she was dealing with all this craziness.” Hiro said with an innocent smile not knowing if his aunt bought the story. 

“Hmm….” Cass thought “Okay just as long as you are okay, by the way where’s Baymax?” She then asked noticing the absence of a certain robot.

“Oh he’s on charge in the garage.” Hiro said. “Okay well I’m going upstairs, thanks for bringing him home Ann.” Cass thanked. 

“Not a problem Cass.” Ann said and Cass made her way to the upstairs living area. “Come on Mochi.” She said and the cat walked after her up the stairs. 

Meanwhile in Hiro’s garage Baymax was on his charging port recharging whilst the Tweebs and James Possible watched over him. Soon Hiro and Ann arrived. 

“Well that’s Aunt Cass taken care of.” Hiro said as he went to his computer and brought up the specs of the Destructo Yama. 

“Now there’s gotta be a way to stop these Destructo Yama’s” Hiro said looking at the specs. Just then Wade buzzed in. 

“Hiro I’m looking over the specs but it looks like they have no weakness its an amalgam of cybernetics and mechatronics including self learning tech.” Wade explained. 

“I don’t believe that Wade” James argued. “Just like rockets there’s a defect somewhere.” James said. 

“Yeah but the trouble is knowing where to look it’s clear Yama designed this thing to be unstoppable but its gotta have a weak spot.” Hiro said. 

He took a look at specs and knew from their encounter it had self learning abilities, heavily armed, and had data from Kim herself that he coded. At first glance it looked indestructible but he had a good look at the robot and there had to be a weakness somewhere. 

“Hey Hiro.” Jim said as he was looking at Baymax. “You said that this overdrive mode puts a massive drain on Baymax’s battery right?”

“Yeah so?” Hiro said. “Well you ever thought about putting a back up power supply in the armour so Baymax could recharge while on mission?” Jim asked. 

“Yeah saves the trouble of returning here to recharge.” Tim agreed. 

“I did, but it would only over cook the super capacitors.” Hiro said still looking at the specs.

“Hm true.” Tim then realised. “Well boys that’s what happens when you look at one small thing instead of working on the details.” Said their dad. 

Just then however something clicked in Hiro. “Work on the details.” Hiro thought. “THATS IT!” he exclaimed surprising everyone. 

Hiro brought up the specs on one specific area.

“Of course Drakken designed this thing to take commands sent directly to its CPU.” Hiro diagnosed “Hence the control bracelet. But if Rufus and Mini Max destroyed it….” Hiro realised something. 

Meanwhile in the city Kim is engaged in a dog fight with Shego who’s firing energy blasts at her while keeping in the air using her right hand. 

Kim is able to avoid the blasts with barrel rolls and thanks to the aerodynamic shape of her armour wings she manages to avoid the hits. 

Just then her visor beeped with her Kimmunicator ring tone. She answers the call and its Hiro. 

“Hiro? what’s the sitch I’m a little busy at the moment!” Kim asked 

“Kim when Drakken showed his robot army and left was he wearing a command bracelet like the one he used to control the one we destroyed.” Hiro asked.

“No now that you mention it he didn’t?” Kim realised. “So what’s controlling the robots?” Hiro wondered. 

“I’ve been wondering that too Kim.” Wade added on another screen . “If what Hiro says is true it’s likely there’s a secondary control for the robots.”

“Wait a minute.” James then realised. “If he’s not wearing the control bracelet maybe the robot is the controller.” 

“Of course that gives us a way to stop this thing!” Hiro said.

“Then you better work fast because….” Just then she got blasted in the back by Shego’s energy blast destroying her right wing causing her to spin out of control. 

“KIM!” Cried Hiro and Wade. “Guys come in!” Hiro called on the coms to his team. 

Gogo was the first to answer. “Hiro what is it?” “Kims been hit she may need help!” Hiro relays  “We’re on it!” Honey Lemon said. 

The Garage:

With the team out defending the city it was now up to Hiro and the Possibles to engineer a solution. 

“What do we do now?” Ann asked. “Now we get to work.” Hiro said.

(Music starts Hiro’s theme BH6 the series)

By working together Hiro and Wade start coding something that will help even the playing field. On his end Wade analyses the specs consults with Hiro and sends over his finding and begin coding. Meanwhile with Baymax recharged the Tweebs and Ann begin to place his armour back on ready for action, however due to Baymax’s rather marshmallow body it is rather difficult to attach the armour pieces to his body especially his rear end which Ann took a lot of strength to attach it causing a slight squeak. 

Meanwhile whilst the coding was still downloading Hiro was working on something else making adjustments to his helmet. James helped him by handing him the tools and under Hiro’s instructions is able to apply the right tools in the right place. 

The Tweebs manage to attach Baymax’s stomach component with some force whilst Ann checks everything over to make sure all the components are secured. 

(Music ends) 

Back in the city.

 Kim is still spiralling out of control in the air but thankfully manages to land on a nearby roof of a tall structure. She recovers and thankfully she hasn’t sustained any injuries thanks to her suit. However her relief was short lived as she turned to see Shego landing on the roof facing her. 

“Ooo sorry Kimmie did I wreck your new toys?” Shego teased with a sadistic smile. 

“You wish Shego!” Kim challenged in a battle stance. So Shego ignighted her energy and charged forwards, Kim does the same and they fight with Kim throwing punches at Shego who avoids them and slashes at her with her energy blasts. Kim is able to avoid them however one comes right at her. However much to her surprise she didn’t feel the impact she looked and saw what appeared to be a circular energy shield in front of her in blue. Shego was taken completely by surprise. Taking advantage of this Kim pushes the green villain away and performs a roundhouse kick pushing Shego to the ground. 

She looks to see the shield shrink back into her suit gauntlet and could only smile knowing who put it there. 

“So looks like that small brat is full of surprises!” Shego said knowing who was behind her enemies new advantage. 

“But that won’t help you, not this time.” She said as she formed a plasma blade from her gauntlets. 

However before she could attack she found she couldn’t move, she looked down to her feet and saw they were encased in blue goop. 

“One thing you forgot Shego!” Called a voice then coming to Kims side was Honey Lemon who jumped down from a raised tower of a blue solid compound and Gogo skating up the wall and slides to her left side. 

“She’s got help.” Gogo said readying her mag lev discs on her arms. 

However Shego could only smirk at this challenge. 

“Okay ladies I’m game, lets play!” She lit up her energy blasts as the three heroines charged forwards into battle. 

Meanwhile Fredzilla, Wasabi and Ron were keeping the remaining Destructo Yamas at bay but quickly loosing ground. 

“These things just don’t let up!” Ron exclaimed.

Wasabi charges forward and slices off the right arm of the first robot that charges towards them. Fredzilla jumps in and breathes fire on the Destructo Yama that’s about to attack Wasabi and Ron forcing it back but it soon raises an energy shield from its left arm. 

“Aw man even fire doesn’t work!” Fredzilla exclaimed. 

“Hiro, if you’ve figured something out NOWS THE TIME TO USE IT!” Wasabi panicked over the coms.

Back at the Garage:

Hiro was changing into his gear whilst his computer was encoding a data chip. 

“Hang on guys I’m on my way we may have a way to stop these things, just keep them busy until we get there!” Hiro replied. 

“Data transfer complete.” called a computer voice and Hiro moves to the computer and pulls out a red data chip from the burner. He places the chip into his belt pouch. 

“Time to go Baymax.” Hiro turned to his robot companion. 

“I am ready Hiro.” Baymax said and so James opened the garage door allowing Baymax to exit as he ducks under the doorway given his armour gives him added height. Hiro climbs onto his back and secures himself in place via the magnets in his boots and gloves. 

He looks to see the Possibles see the two off on their mission. 

“Good luck Hiro.” James said. “Take care and be careful.” Ann added. “Need us to do anything else?” Tim asked.

Hiro smiles and puts his helmet on. 

“Keep an eye on Aunt Cass.” Hiro said. “Baymax.” 

With that Baymax’s wings swung into position and his jet boots fire and together shoot off into the sky towards the danger zone. 

“Oh that is so cool.” Jim breathed in amazement. 

In the city:

Shego fired a huge blast of energy at her opponents, Kim flipped over the blasts whilst Gogo skated round them. Gogo slides in and performs a round house kick against Shego forcing her back only for Kim to jump and land her feet on Shego knocking her back. Shego is quick to stabilise herself and ignights her energy blades from her gauntlets and slices at the two Gogo ducks to avoid the blade then swings her disk at Shego’s face whilst Kim threw a few punches of her own at the green Villian. 

However Shego was getting more and more irritated and lashed out a massive energy wave which did knock the two back. However she was so focused on them she neglected a certain chem major, who jumped in and held her Chem purse like a gun and fired a number of blue balls which quickly encased Shegos hands in a compound. 

“Grr I am really getting tired of you!” Shego growled as she burned off the compound except when it melted it turned to a goop like substance that just encased her hands more and more. 

“What is this?!” Shego demanded. “Pop quiz Chem 101 what happens when you super heat a rubbery  compound?” Honey Lemon asked. 

“Answer, they contract!” 

The compound just contracts and shrinks in Shegos hands and then Honey Lemon runs in and kicks Shego to the ground with a round house kick soon followed by  Gogo and Kim who kicked Shego away and as Honey Lemon joined them they gave each other high fives. 

Shego landed on the far side of the roof and used her plasma blades to cut through and rip off the rubbery compound. She stood up and charged forwards with a sadistic smile.

“Buckle up girls this is going to take a while!” Kim said as she Honey and Gogo stood in a battle stance ready to fight.

Shego ran closer and closer with her energy blades at the ready, and as she leaps in to attack, suddenly an incoming object hits her and sends her flying to the right and into a nearby alleyway. The three girls all looked shocked Honey Lemon had her hand to her mouth whilst Gogo and  Kim looked wide eyed. 

“Hm never mind.” Kim said simply and looked to see the object that hit the green villainess was Baymax’s rocket fist that returned to him as he landed with Hiro on his back. 

“Glad you two could finally join us.” Kim greeted. 

“Hope I’m not too late.” Hiro said. “Nope genius your right on time.” Gogo said. 

Hiro reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out the data chip that he and Wade made. 

“You got a way to bring down the bots.” Kim said.

 “Yeah as far as Wade, your dad and brothers could tell from the specs Yama supplied to Drakken the bots are designed to receive all commands into a highly protected CPU hence the command bracelet.” Hiro explained. “But the robot he’s piloting is practically the main one controlling the robots and sending out the commands. This override chip should cancel the commands sent out to the robots rendering them useless.” 

“Why do I get the feeling there’s a catch?” Gogo guessed. “Yeah, the only way to insert this chip is in the auxiliary data port located on its back assuming it’s built like the others.” Hiro explained.

“Well its the only shot we’ve got.” Kim decided. “Baymax any ideas where Drakken is?” Kim asked. 

Baymax beamed out a holo map of the city showing a red dot showing Drakken’s location. 

“Drakken is converging towards San Fransokyo train station.” Baymax relayed. 

“Theres people on those trains we need to stop him!” Hiro said. 

“Right then lets go!” Kim said. “Ron how close are you and the others to the train station?” Kim asked over the coms. 

Meanwhile Wasabi and Fredzilla had just barely been able to fight off the Destructo Yama’s in their area. 

“We’re not too far away KP.” Ron answered. “Right meet us at the train station we’re going after Drakken.” Kim said. 

“We’re on our way.” Wasabi relayed as the three got into Wasabi’s car and drove away towards the station. 

San Fransokyo Train Station: 

The Destructo Yamas lead by the one piloted by Drakken continued their march through the city with people running in panic. Drakken could only smile evilly as his victory was at hand. Just then he heard thruster noises from behind him and saw it was a certain red robot and on his back was Kim, Gogo, Honey Lemon and Hiro. 

Baymax landed just as Wasabis car screeched to a halt with the other three heroes in the car Rufus and Mini-Max fly out of the car and float in place. 

“So I guess Shego didn’t do her job.” Drakken said scowling at the eight heroes standing before him. “But I guess my new robots are giving you more of a challenge.” 

“Drakken call the robots off, innocent lives are at stake!” Kim demanded. 

“Did you really think I would do that I’m the bad guy here!” Drakken exclaimed. “Now stay out of my way before I destroy you!” 

“Make us.” Gogo challenged with a smirk. 

“Destructo Yamas destroy Kim Possible and Big Hero 6!” Drakken commanded and the Destructo Yama he piloted glowed in its chest and the robots surrounding him marched forwards with their blaster arms primed and aimed at their targets. 

The moment they fired the team scattered into different directions Baymax took to the sky and targeted the front Destructo Yama and fired his rocket fist as he avoided the blasts from the robots knocking it back the robot whacks the fist away only to be punched in the face by Baymax’s free fist. 

The rocket fist returned to Baymax as he takes off into the sky again. Gogo meanwhile is weaving in and out avoiding attacks from the other Destructo Yamas rocket launchers. She jumps into the air then throws her mag lev discs from her hands into the rocket launchers slicing them off their hinges. The disks return to her as she skates away. 

Wasabi meanwhile is with Ron back to back facing a group of Destructo Yamas, Wasabi readies his plasma blades and slashes at the robots cutting off their arm blasters whilst Ron was running to avoid the blasts a robot was about to blast him however as it fired he found the blast didn’t hit him but rather a large energy shield on his gauntlet the shield took the full force of the blast. 

“Whoa energy shield.” Ron said but then the Destructo Yama was about to attack again but before it could Rufus flew in front of it with his armour jet pack. 

“Hi” Rufus squeaked and the robot tries swatting at him, but misses the small molerat flew away from him and landed on his back where he saw a small opening in the armour near its neck and scurries inside it.

Rufus rubs his hands together in a mischievous smile as it was time for him to do what he does best. 

Wasabi meanwhile was still trying to keep up with all the robots attacking him just barely able to hold them back whilst Ron was avoiding all the blasts with his running away skills. 

“Yow, yikes!” Ron yelled trying to avoid the blast. The two heroes were now surrounded. They were about to be overwhelmed when all of a sudden something blasted the two Destructo Yama’s the two looked to the source and surprisingly it was one of their own. 

“Whu?” Wasabi said confused. Even stranger the robot then turned to fire on the others then spinning like crazy blasting every robot in sight. 

“Hold on am I going crazy or is that robot attacking its own guys?” Wasabi said but Ron could only smirk knowing exactly what was causing this or rather who. 

Inside said robot Rufus was pulling out wires and rearranging them even chewing a few of them causing a chain reaction. 

Soon the robot began to buckle as it tried to stand up. Just then Mini max flies in and knocks the robots head off with on punch. Rufus then pops out and flies out just as the robot falls to the ground. The two then fly over to Ron and Wasabi. 

“Nice sabotage Rufus.” Ron congratulated. “Boyah!” Rufus replied. 

“Okay I now have a new found respect for hairless animals.” Wasabi said in amazement. 

Meanwhile Honey Lemon and Fredzilla were fighting back against the other Destructo Yamas. Honey Lemon bombarded them with pink Chem balls from her purse coating their legs with pink goop. Fredzilla then jumps in and kicks it into the incoming reinforcements who get covered in goop getting stuck together. Meanwhile Kim uses her agility to jump onto the backs of one Destructo Yama’s shoulders whilst the other tries to blast her but misses and hits his own bot. 

Kim landed on the ground next to Honey and Fredzilla who stand back to back as Baymax and Hiro land next to them. 

“Hiro we’re getting nowhere fighting these things we have to get to Drakken!” Kim exclaimed. 

“How these robo bozos stand between us and him!” Gogo said skating over. 

“We can’t keep up with them they learn from our fights with them!” Wasabi agreed hurrying over to them. 

Kim took a moment to think then came up with a plan. 

“I can get to him, give me the chip.” Kim said getsuring to Hiro to give her the chip.

“You can’t get through that it’s impossible!” Wasabi said 

“Impossible?, have you forgotten my last name.” Kim smirked. 

“He’s got you there dude.” Ron agreed. Hiro hands Kim the data chip. 

“You guys keep them off me whilst I get through them.” Kim said. 

“Right you got it Kim, alright guys lets show this mad scientist what happens when he messes with Big Hero 6!” Hiro said. 

“AW YEAH TO THE POWER OF SIX!” Fredzilla cheered. “Technically there’s eight of us but what he said!” Ron cheered.

So the eight heroes charged forwards as did the remaining Destructo Yamas Kim slipped under one of them then flips over another and using her skills as a cheer leader performs back flip after back flip over the robots then jumps over the last one landing just behind it and facing Drakken’s Destructo Yama. 

Whilst fighting the bots Baymax and Hiro were completely surprised. 

“That was not possible.” Baymax said simply. “Wha how in.” Hiro stuttered. 

Gogo whilst fighting the robots was also complexly amazed at how she was able to get through un harmed. 

“Whoa, makes me wish I took up cheerleading in High school.” She said amazed. 

Kim soon came face to face with the Destructo Yama piloted  by Drakken. 

“Your not stopping me Possible! Not this time!” Drakken vowed. 

“What part of the good guys win and the bad guys lose do you not get, ‘Drew?’” Kim cracked.  

Drakken thrusted the controls forwards and the Destructo Yama fired a blast from its right hand blaster Kim was quick to dodge to the right to avoid the blast. Soon Drakken fires a barrage of missiles from the robots shoulder missile launchers. Kim quickly avoids the blasts but the next flat knocks her flying into the air, before she hits the ground suddenly two small black discs emerge from the soles of her boots and then a small green light shines from the centre then enlarge and swing onto her ankles. Whilst surprised she knew exactly what they were and acting quickly on landing skates across the ground and slides to stop whilst maintaining her balance. 

“WHAT!” Drakken exclaimed .

“Hiro you never cease to amaze me!” Kim said to herself and takes advantage of her new found gadgets. She skates round the robot avoiding the blasts from its arm cannons. Suddenly she sees an opening whilst his backs turned and quickly jumps up and lands on his back. Using her visor she locates the data port and pulls open the panel and readies the chip. However before she can insert it…

She feels something pulling on her leg and drags her off the robots back. The robot had grabbed her by the leg and was now facing Drakken in the cockpit. 

“Nice try!” Drakken said as he moved the controls making the robot throw her to the side sending her crashing to the ground and sent the chip across the floor. 

“Did you forget this robot learns from its opponents, it knew you would pull a stunt like that, this time I can do anything!” Drakken exclaimed. 

Baymax was hovering above the ground with Hiro on his back and firing his rocket fists at incoming robots. From his vantage point however Hiro could see Kim was on the ground unconscious and Drakken was getting closer to her and the chip was a distance away from her.

“Oh no!” Hiro breathed. “Guys! Kim needs back up!” 

“Easier said than done these robots keep coming!” Wasabi said. 

“Thats the point there keeping us from helping Kim! who’s at Drakkens mercy!” Hiro said on the coms

“Hiros right forget these guys she needs back up!” Gogo agreed avoiding another Destructo Yama. 

“But how do we get to her?” Ron asked.

Hiro took a moment to think but then he thought of a brilliant yet crazy idea.

“I have a way everyone on me and Baymax!”Hiro said and Baymax landed on the ground knocking away a Destructo Yama as the rest of the team, Ron Rufus and Mini Max gathered to him. 

(Music starts: Team by TOVA)

“Alright everyone on Baymax’s back!” Hiro said and so everyone climbed aboard. 

“Now what?” Fredzilla asked. “This.” Hiro touches the forehead of his helmet and some lights emerged from it as small dots.

Then from a distance away came a swarm of some kind which brushed past the Destructo Yamas and gathered around the group. 

“What are those?” Ron asked. “Wait is that?” Honey Lemon noticed what the swarm really was. “Yep, Micro bots!” Hiro said and he commanded them to swarm around Baymax’s right hand and began making it into something and they revealed it to be a giant fist.

“WHOA!” Fred, Ron and Rufus gasped. 

“Baymax fist forward and full thrust!” Hiro said. “On it!” Baymax said.

Baymax took up a stance then his wings swung in and fired his jet boots charging forward and using the giant fist charged forwards crashing into each of the Destructo Yamas in their path like an unstoppable battering ram! Drakken’s Destructo Yama was looming over Kim who was just beginning to stir and was ready to deliver the final blow until…

He turned to hear a crashing noise behind him and saw a certain red robot charging towards him. 

“Boyah!” Baymax said as he delivered a devastating punch to the Destructo Yama sending it crashing into the pavement. 

Ron dismounts from Baymax and hurries to his friend and helps her up. 

“You okay KP.” Ron asked with concern in his voice. 

“Yeah I’m fine.” Kim said groaning as she stood up. 

Suddenly they heard the Destructo Yama getting up and facing the heroes. 

“Now you’ve made me mad!” Drakken exclaimed. 

“Well I hope that tin can of yours has learned something new!” Gogo smirked “Yeah cause now you gotta face all of us” Wasabi said smirking. 

“One or six it doesn’t matter I’ll still win!” Drakken exclaimed. 

“So not.” Kim smirked and so Drakken’s Destructo Yama fired a massive blast at the nine heroes  but scatter to avoid the blast Hiro acts quickly and grabs the data chip. Drakken orders the robot to attack but before it can Baymax charges in throwing several punches pushing him back but the Destructo Yama retaliates by throwing a punch of his own sending Baymax flying backwards, he quickly recovers using his jet boots. 

“SUPER JUMP!” cries a voice and Drakken turns to see Fredzilla with Ron on his back. 

“Saving throw!” Fredzilla cried as he launches Ron from his hand and the blonde sidekick fires a grappling hook from his gauntlet which wraps around the robots legs. 

“Gogo!” Ron cries as he disconnects the cable and tosses it to Gogo who catches it and skates around in a circle soon followed by Kim who both pull the cable with all their might tripping the robot up and Honey Lemon fires some chem balls from her purse creating a small blob on the ground, and as the robot lands it bounces it backwards. Wasabi leaps in and slices off the robots left hand with his plasma blades. 

“EH okay okay hand sliced off but I can still win this!” Drakken said starting to panic a little. 

“I’ll just order all the robots to destroy you!” Drakken said. However before he gave the order he found that the robot couldn’t move. 

“What, I can’t move!?” Drakken exclaimed “WHATS GOING ON!” 

Hiro used the neurotransmitter in his helmet to order his micro bots to hold the Destructo Yama in place so it couldn’t move, the bots crawled all over the robots legs forming clamps and chains on its arms too. 

“Kim it’s all you!” Hiro said and Kim quickly backflipped over the robot and landed on its back inserting the data chip into the exposed port.  

“WADE NOW!” Hiro yelled on the coms and on his end Wade pressed the enter key on his keyboard which activated the data chips programming. Suddenly Drakkens control console in his robot short circuited and when he looked to the other Destructo Yamas each of them shorted out and their heads blew up one by one rendering them powerless and useless they all fell to the ground with a loud thud. 

(Music ends)

The last one fell and Drakken rolled out of the cockpit flat on his face. He slowly got up groaning and when he looked up he saw his teen adversary, her side kick and Big Hero 6 along with Rufus and Mini Max standing above him glaring. 

“YOU THINK YOU AND BIG HERO 6 ARE ALL THAT POSSIBLE! BUT YOUR NOT!” Drakken yelled practically wining as he was being pulled into a patrol car by two police officers. 

“Looks to me like we are dude.” Fredzilla said as they saw the blue skinned villain taken away to prison. 

“Well looks like this situation” “Resolved.” Kim said finishing Rons sentence. 

“Couldn’t put it better myself.” Hiro said smiling. “Yeah and nice work with those micro-bots Hiro.” Kim said. 

“Yeah why’d you decide to use those all of a sudden?” Wasabi asked given what happened to them last time. 

“Well given the Destructo Yama’s could learn from their opponents and were programmed with Kim’s data, what happens if you give it something it wouldn’t ever see coming?” Hiro then explained. 

“It wouldn’t know how to react.” Gogo finished. 

“Yep.” Hiro said. “Tadashi was right, you are intuitive and clever.” Baymax said to which Hiro smiled. 

“So who wants a celebratory Noodle Burger breakfast?” Fred asked. 

“Sounds good to me, my treat.” Kim agreed. 

With that everyone headed home to get some rest before the next morning came. However Kim couldn’t help but wonder something, with all the chaos over and Drakken arrested where was Shego? She didn’t hear anything from the police about her being arrested could she have gotten away?

Elsewhere:

Meanwhile in a green lit room a news television broadcast was being played about last nights events of Drakken’s attack. 

“And so thanks to the combined efforts of Big Hero 6 and teen Hero Kim Possible, the robot attack to our city is in a way over and done with.” Duff Blunder said giving the news. “The mad scientist is carted away to jail and speaking as a grateful city this news man can only say one thing to our protectors thank you.”

The one watching the news cast was Obake who could only smirk at this prospect.

“What did I tell you, Drakken’s plan whilst brilliant was always doomed to fail.” Obake said to a shadow standing behind him. 

“This is what you get from amateurs.” He then said. 

“Yeah I guess you were right.” Said a familiar female voice. 

“And can I just say I am glad you decided to reach out to me.” Obake replied turning to the one standing in the shadows. 

“Well it was either this or get carted off to prison.” Stepping out of the shadows was Shego who managed to escape and decided to take up Obake’s offer. 

“So what exactly is your master plan?” Shego asked. 

“Oh lets just say it’ll change the course of human history and the face of this city forever” Obake smirked evilly as the left side of his face glowed neon purple. 

End of Chapter 7 

Well looks like while one evil plan is over another is about to come into play. I must admit I found the fight sequence for this chapter hard to write given my mind has been all over the place lately with uni assignments and everything else on top. In this battle I thought Hiro could make full use of his micro bots this was inspired by his abilities in the Disney Infinity video game, and by the season 2 Finale. I decided to give Kim and Ron armour for this chapter given how it would help them against Shego’s upgrades and the Destructo Yama’s (providing Ron uses it right.)

Anyway now we move to the Countdown to Catastrophe arc from season 1 I’ll have to re-watch the episode and analyse it to get an idea of what to do, but until then stay safe and stay home we will beat this virus.

To the Power of 6!

[bluesunsdusk]

@select-a-hero (*blows kiss to the east* For Reinhardt.)

The explosions. The cacophony of gunfire. The torturous rumbling of the far too small building, making parts of the ceiling crumble and lights flicker as their fixtures lost integrity. People screamed, ran, and fought with whatever they had outside and inside. Not Siebren, however. The chaos from forces he knew far too well, rendered him paralyzed with fear, hiding his head between hands and knees, while he rocked lightly in the corner of his quarters, agonizing over his likely impending fate. Eventually, his fear had been cut through, however, with something more powerful, something solid. Purpose. 

Once his fear has made way for a new focus, he made his way for his armor. The way the larger and more elaborate torso section hung in the display frame with a screen turned towards it, he could have sworn Overwatch had anticipated this moment just as much as he had. All he needed to do, after dressing himself in the gear that was layered under his harness, was to turn around, back into it, and connect the primary cerebral cord. 

None of the troops had time to question is presence or even look up as he entered the battlefield and assessed the situation. His allies only stopped to register his presence after he’s halted a downpour of gunship fire with his upgraded barrier. The ships Talon had sent were far below the standards Talon was able to hold themselves to. They were lightly armored and vulnerable. The first fell from the Overwatch soldiers having been given a chance at retaliation from the protection of Siebren’s barrier. The second fell from Winston jumping it. The third, Siebren felled himself with an amassing of rubble. With that, he thought there’d only be the ground troops to worry about.

He was mistaken. 

Overwatch had not been not the only one waiting on reinforcements. More ships came over the horizon, announced by a low humming. These were stronger. Siebren soon realized fighting was not the best option with the numbers they currently had, as did Overwatch command. The troops had been commanded to retreat back into the building. A retreat they would not survive without his help, from the looks of it. Knowing these ships, he recognized they were readying a barrage of heavy fire. Someone needed to cover the retreat, somehow. Once again, he raised his shield. It wouldn’t be enough. He could see that. There had to be something he could do... The rubble. 

While the rest of the troops ran back into the base, Siebren remained put, using all of his effort to form a blanket of rock and metal, growing around several singularities, as with his accretion, for as long as he could. The music… It was growing so loud… The laughing, the echoes, the whispers, the pulled strings of the universe ripping at his mind harder the longer he exerted himself… It was too much. His vision grew tunneled, the sounds of war had been replaced with the sound of his blood rushing, his heart beating, his mind screaming, and muffled chords that still shattered his hearing. Yet, he held. He couldn't do it for much longer, and he could no longer even tell when it would be enough, but he held. It may become the end of him, but he held. He would hold for as long as he had to, longer even. He would hold for as long as he could.

Everything swam around him, swarmed around him, time winding in paths it wasn’t meant to take. Where was reality? Where had the world gone? Everything was a haze of noise, vision, touch, even taste and smell. He couldn't… He couldn’t- 

He was snapped out of his daze by a powerful force, rocketing him into the facility, away from under the hellfire that would barrel towards him the moment his focus shattered, and knocking the wind from his lungs in the process. Shatter his focus certainly did. The warm dust that rushed through the halls as the building's front section collapsed was blinding, suffocating. His body crashed against the hard ground beneath him, a nearly crushing weight pressing down on him. In the darkness that swallowed him, Siebren wasn’t quite aware if he had just died or not. Death wasn’t supposed to be like this. There should be nothing but the collapsing of time and space as the brain died, but… this wasn’t that. This wasn’t that, at all.

It took a moment for his senses to return after the cacophony that had assaulted his senses and his body. The sounds of coughs and groans among the settling rubble gave some much needed context, and assurance that people had survived. Had he been saved? Was that what the impact had been? Siebren hadn't even the chance to lay eyes on his savior before the entire group he was with got shut into a facility with what seemed to be cut power to light. 

Not having had his cranium replaced could have proven useful right now… if only for the small bit of light it may have provided in exchange for the receding hairline he actually rather liked having back. He was certain the troops had lights on them, but they needed time to recover from the shock they'd been subjected to. He, too, could use a moment to catch what little breath the dust let him have. He moved his arm, honestly a little uncertain of where it would end up, until he could feel the inside of his elbow over his mouth. It wouldn't do much, but any little bit of protection for his stinging lungs was good. Maybe that helmet would have been a diligent choice, after all.

Finally, he managed to find the ability to speak once more. “Is… Is everyone alright?” he asked with a pained groan, still looking though nothing but a void ahead of him.

Is everyone alright? Of course not everyone was alright... This was a war.

[definitelynotsuzumi]

Make  a Wish [Chapter 3]

Zen x Reader

Mystic Messenger x Puella Magi Madoka Magica

With one impulsive wish, comes many dangers and responsibilities.

[Masterlist]

You kept a close watch on your Soul Gem as you climbed the stairs. This time, a Witch had appeared on the roof of an apartment building near Rika's apartment. 

You transformed into your Magical form. However, before you could take another step into the portal, you felt something coming your way. With a metallic thud, you realized that someone had tried to shoot you with an arrow.

"Who the hell are you? This is my territory, step off!" A young girl with brown hair spat out as she clutched her bow. She was dressed in a similar fashion of vibrant colors and glittering fabric. Her brown hair glinted in the rays of the evening sun. 

'Another Magical Girl?' You blinked in surprise before remembering what Kyubey had said. There were other Magical Girls in this universe. 

"Says who? I don't see your name on any of the road signs, or this Witch, for the matter." You bit back. 

"Why you little..!" The girl was interrupted by another girl. 

"Ae-Ri, calm down. This is not how we treat newcomers." A girl with black hair jumped onto the roof. A crossbow was fixed onto her left arm. 

"I assume you're new to the Magical Girl business too, huh." She looked you up and down. 

"Well yeah...I just came in...I just came since my Soul Gem started glowing like mad." You felt a flush growing on your cheeks as the girl studied you longer. 

"Hm...Well, the Witches here are a lot stronger than other areas of Korea. Let's just stick together for now. And please...Don't get in our way." She shrugged you off. 

Ae-Ri did not take to the idea as she protested loudly against it. 

"But Soo-Jin, there might not be enough Grief Seeds -We have enough stockpiled. Plus...With Ha-Ri gone...I don't know if we can even survive or do what we used to do, with all of us being new." Soo-Jin snapped. 

Her eyes swelled with tears before she huffed and shut her eyes, wiping them hurriedly. 

"Let's get this over with." 

With that, you joined the duo in the hunt. 

"Soo-Jin! On your right!" Soo-Jin was quick to respond to your calls as a purple crossbow bolt sprouted out of a Familiar's head. You quickly took care of the Familiars around you while Ae-Ri batted back a minion wielding a pitchfork. 

"You sure you're just a newbie?" Ae-Ri panted as she sent it flying into the wall. 

"You're one to talk. I just play a lot of games." You grunted as you kept moving and slicing. 

'Please...Wake up!' You blinked in surprise as you heard a familiar voice. Soo-Jin had finished off another Familiar when she saw you frozen. The Familiar holding the Pitchfork was about to impale you when Soo-Jin tackled you out of harm's way. 

"Focus! You could have died!" Soo-Jin scolded you when she saw the confusion and fear in your eyes. 

"Th-There was a voice..." You managed to stutter out. 

"The Labyrinth must be messing with you. Let's kill her before we lose our minds here." Soo-Jin hauled you to your feet, pulling you into the next room. 

You shook your head earnestly. You had to get your bearings. Once again, you found yourself in a large room. A small form sat atop what looked like a pillar. Hospital beds and equipment littered the floor. On the walls, several screens flashed in different colors. 

As soon as you came close to one, you heard it again. A blurry figure took up the center of the screen. 

'Please...I need you in my life...Wake up...' You heard it once again. 

"Focus, girl!" Soo-Jin fired her crossbow to deflect the projectiles flying towards you three. 

With a frustrated roar, you flung your disc forward, breaking the pillar easily. The small doll-like Witch fell off. 

"Ae-Ri!" Ae-Ri fired a shot at the form, tearing a large hole through its middle. 

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The doll exploded and a large snake-like creature seemed to sprout out. You retrieved your disc and flung it under the brown-haired girl, who was frozen in shock. 

Just as the snake seemed to lunge forward to bite, Ae-Ri found herself falling to the floor beside you. 

"Wha-What? How?" Ae-Ri blinked in surprise. 

"I'll explain later, just take her out already!" You summoned another disc and flung it but it was too slow. It bounced off the wall and came flying to you. You caught it in time and kept trying to attack the snake, who flew around in a rage. 

Soo-Jin nodded as she kept shooting at it, running around the room to dodge the snake. 

"You have teleportation powers?!" Ae-Ri got to her feet as you threw her bow to her. 

"Ya! I said I'll explain later! When there isn't a snake trying to bite our heads off!" You yelled in pain as you dodged a little too slow. Its sharp teeth dug into your arm and you rolled away. 

"ARGH!" You winced in pain. 

"Girl!" Soo-Jin's eyes widened to see blood pouring out of your arm. You stumbled as you tried to staunch the blood. 

"Ae-Ri, finish it off!" You barely dodged the beast as your wound didn't seem to stop bleeding. Pain shot through your body as you gripped the affected area to make it stop. 

With a blast of pink and purple light, the beast wailed in pain. Ae-Ri had shot an arrow right through its head while Soo-Jin had shot her bolts into its throat. The Witch crashed into the wall in a heap as the Labrinth disappeared. 

Soo-Jin was at your side as she whipped out her Soul Gem. You felt the pain slowly disappear as she healed your injuries. 

"You...You saved my life..." Ae-Ri had returned to her regular state. You noticed that the two girls wore similar school uniforms. 

"You okay? I think I need to sit down..." You slumped onto the floor, returning to your regular form as well. 

"Ya, I think you need rest more than just sitting down." Soo-Jin chided you, wiping away the blood from your arm the best she could. 

"What's your name?" Ae-Ri asked as she helped you back up after a few minutes of rest. 

"...(Y/N)...(Y/N) (L/N). Sorry if I seemed rude when I called out your names earlier..." You scratched the nape of your neck nervously. 

The girls picked up the Grief Seed and handed it over to you. 

"You...You can join us I guess...I'm sorry for shooting you before too..." Ae-Ri looked away bashfully, holding the black object out to you. 

"But you have the power of teleportation, don't you? What kind of wish did you make?" Soo-Jin's eyes glittered with curiosity. 

"I made a wish to be with the one I love. So...Here I am...Haha..." You felt increasingly awkward as more questions were flung at you. 

"But...You girls are so young. If I were to say, you guys would be of middle school age..." You knitted your eyebrows, "What kind of wishes did you guys make?" 

Their expressions turned sad and nostalgic. 

"I made mine to save my mom from cancer..." Soo-Jin confessed. 

"And I wished to survive...My family was killed in a car accident...I was the only survivor." Ae-Ri looked down to the ground.

 You suddenly regretted asking and speaking out as the air turned quiet and sad. 

The sound of Soo-Jin's phone ringing broke the moment of silence as Soo-jin looked apologetically and went away to take her call. 

"Let's exchange phone numbers. Now that you are one of us, we should stick together. Like we said earlier, Witches here are quite strong." Ae-Ri held out her phone to you. Tapping in your information, Ae-Ri did the same to your phone. 

"I'll pass your number to Soo-Jin once she's done talking to her mom." Ae-Ri rolled her eyes jokingly as Soo-Jin said goodbye to her mother. 

"Yes, mom. Ok, mom. Love you, mom. Bye!" Soo-Jin sighed in relief before turning her attention to you. 

'They are so young...Too young...' You thought to yourself as the girls adjusted their schoolbag handles. 

"I'll need to go home and cook dinner. Ae-Ri, don't forget your homework. And (Y/N)...Stay safe. See you around!" Soo-Jin flashed you a bright smile before taking off, leaving dust in her wake. 

"A mommy's girl, that one. Let us know if you see a Witch, okay? The more we stick together, the higher our chances of survival. And...Thank you...I owe you my life." Ae-Ri shook her head at Soo-Jin before turning to you with a smile. Like that, Ae-Ri went in Soo-Jin's direction. 

You felt a wave of exhaustion overwhelm you. You needed to rest at home and catch up on sleep and chatrooms. 

Lugging yourself back home after procuring your dinner for the night, you set to work on eating up the food. 

However, in a bunker far away, a certain hacker watched your movements. You seemed exhausted and...Was that blood on your skirt?! Seven knew he needed to focus on the hacker but you were a whole mystery he could not figure out. 

Where on earth were you going that made you that tired? And who caused the bloodstains on your clothes? 

He then felt his phone vibrate. V's name flashed on his screen. 

"Yeah, V? Yeah, (Y/N) is clean but...Her movements are weird...I dunno but just give me time." Seven sighed, staring into the security feed.

'At least, she's eating...' Seven sighed once again. It was tough work tracing the hacker and he has another big issue on his plate. 

Are you a threat? Or were you innocent? 

Seven rubbed his eyes as he put down the phone. He had not slept in a day and the issues on his plate seemed to pile higher by the hour. 

Vanderwood, who had been cleaning the room, observed with some interest. Seeing Seven in this state was as rare as seeing a shooting star. 

"Ya, you don't look so good." Vanderwood felt a little worried. 

Seven looked back to him, raising a tired eyebrow," I finished off the work boss asked me to do already. I just need to complete the RFA...thing before I hit the sack." 

"Ya, but it'll ruin my life if I see your corpse in that chair of yours, so you better take care of yourself." Vanderwood protested. 

Seven sighed once again. There were not many traces for him to go on. 

'I'll just fix and upgrade the security of the app...I can do the tracing and the background check later...' Seven poured the remaining half can of Dr. Pepper down his throat as Vanderwood yelled out empty threats of tasering him so that he will take a break. 

"Leave me alone for like...An hour...I'll take a break when this is done." Vanderwood felt like tearing out his hair as Seven pushed the can down to the floor. Drops of Dr. Pepper poured onto the white floor of the bunker. He just finished cleaning up and Seven had once again made a mess. 

"You're gonna be the death of me...You better take a break then or I swear to God..." Muttering under his breath, Vanderwood cleaned up the mess. 

'I'll fix this mess...And find out who you are, (Y/N)...' The red-headed hacker vowed to himself as he went on with his work. 

[muffinrecord]

Tips on making your support more attractive to potential followers

Sup nerds! I’ve been wanting to write a list like this for a bit. I’m not going to say that I’m a super expert at getting supports or anything like that, but these are just common mistakes I often see, and hopefully this can help give you a boost! Feel free to offer your own suggestions (or corrections), and I’ll add them here. This is going to be a long post, so I apologize ahead of time.

Important: you don’t need to be a whale to get followers. For example, my alt account that spends no money whatsoever has around 70. You also don’t need the best four stars in the game either. In fact, the most important factor for followers is: memoria slots, and event memoria. But more on that later. 

Tip: What girls to use

Remember that followers are like you, who want girls to help carry them in content. When choosing what girls to use, try to think of what you yourself would prefer.

It goes without saying, but make sure your support list is fully leveled and fully awakened if possible. You’re better off having an empty spot than putting a low level girl there in your support. If your only fire girl is a level 23 Manaka, don’t stick her there. Just leave the spot empty.

A really important factor here are memoria slots. A Tsuruno with three memoria slots is probably going to be better than a Kyoko than one. Memoria is powerful and can vastly upgrade a girl-- more on what memoria to use later.

Speaking of Tsuruno, she and Yachiyo are the best girls possible if you’re not spending money. It’s easy to give them memoria slots, they have doppel challenges that reward you for working on them, and they’re decent units that people will want to use. Hinano is less so, but she’s still a decent pick if you have a good number of memoria slots on her and no other girls to choose from.

With this in mind, keep track of what girls will be getting uncapped in the future. This includes: Homura (Glasses), Felicia, Kaede, Oriko, Asuka, Nanaka, Hitagi (not in the game yet), Iroha, Sana, Tsukasa, Kako, and Meiyui so far.

If you’re still unsure who’s good to use, take a look at guides like this, in particular the four star tier list and the five star one. Online guides aren’t always reliable or updated on time, but they can tell you about how the community feels towards certain girls and what you should be aiming for. Personally, I find the previous guides very helpful.

Lastly, in this vein, do pay attention to how the community views girls. Momoko, despite her charge gorilla status, is actually pretty good and well worth choosing... but community perception of her as a useless Meme Spook will mean people won’t use her often.

Tip: Further tips to maximize the potential of your girls

These tips more apply to if you have multiple girls you could choose from.

Structure your girls according to the events. Ideally, you should be editing your support list once an event. For an event like Cross Connection, where you want to finish the turns as tightly as possible, a blast gorilla is much more favorable than accele. However, for something like Mitama’s Training where you might need to build accele for the challenge modes, accele might beat out blast. For example, I might use Darc instead of Madoka for my light spot during Cross Connection, but Madoka instead of Darc during Mitama’s Training.

A character who specializes in damage is better than tanks in terms of support. This isn’t to say that tanks are bad-- far from it. But when choosing a support, players are going to want the unit that can carry them best... which, sadly, probably isn’t going to be Mito or Kirika. You’re not going to need a tank if a good offensive unit can just kill everything for you instead. So, when choosing girls, try to skip the tanks.

There is one exception to offense > everything else, and that would be Madoka. This segues into my next point-- keep in mind common strategies, such as Double Madoka or Double Mami. If you’re lucky enough to have one of these girls, go ahead and slap them in the support slot. People are going to want to use them regardless. 

Tip: The “All” Spot

The All spot for your support list is the most important factor here. You want to stick your power powerful girl who has the most memoria slots in it. Of course, other factors in choosing a girl include if you have a replacement for whatever element you’re sticking in there, but generally the All spot is where people look to first for event memoria in events. 

Take a look next you can and compare the “All” spot to other ones. You’ll see this is where most of the Darcs and Fates can be found, as opposed to the Light spot. This is because the All spot is where the powerful girls go, so follow suit.

Tip: Event Memoria

Ideally, within the first day you want to slap event memoria on your “All” support. It should be the first thing you do once you get any event memoria at all-- even before you put the event memo on your own girl. To be honest, you don’t even need to put event memoria on anyone but the girl in the All spot.

This is because folks will be looking for event memoria as soon as it starts, and this is probably the fastest and most reliable way of getting people to use your girls. In fact, the most growth for your follower list will be from events.

With that in mind, rolling for more powerful event memo in that event’s gacha will further entice followers to use your girls. Of course, this isn’t always possible. Out of my first one hundred rolls for Suzune (RIP) I didn’t get a single event memo drop. Additionally, the rolls you do on limited banners don’t carry over, so this tip might not be reliable unless you have the stones to spend.

A better tip is to please remember to adjust event memo to events. Don’t keep old, crappy event memoria on a character. This is literally the best tip I can provide for you. Some of the event memoria is good enough to use all year round, but a lot of it can be crap that just holds back your girls. Memoria is the best way to make a good girl better, and it really matters what ones you choose.

What does especially good memoria look like? Well...

Tip: Picking Memoria

Take a look at this memoria tier list, in particular to the “I Made Friends” tier. These are the best memoria in the game, and if you have them, you’ll want to put them on your girls as soon as possible. In general, attack up > damage up.

Use memoria to help shape what a girl will be better at-- Tsuruno is magia-focused, but with some blast up memo she can be as good as a Kyoko. A Mami will MP-building memoria will be excellent for murdering with magia, and a Mami with a focus on AttackUp memoria will just murder with attacks. Try to coordinate the best possible combination for your support.

However, also pick memoria that makes sense for that girl. Momoko should not have a blast-up active memoria and Yachiyo should not have charge-up memoria. Ideally, tanks should have taunt memoria, and squishy girls should not have taunt memoria. 

A real pet peeve of mine is when people have a one-slot girl and put an active memoria on her instead of a passive one. DON’T DO THIS, FOR THE LOVE OF MADOKAMI. Passive Memoria > Active Memoria (the exception is if a piece of event memo is active memoria). Passive memoria isn’t just useful the whole time the girl is active, but it also increases her attack stat along with her HP. Active memoria will increase HP and Defense, but not her attack stat. Please, for the star’s sake, make sure you prioritize passive over active.

Of course, there is another exception to this. Some girls have very good active personal memoria-- this ranges from Madoka, with accele draw, to Nanaka with blast draw. I still think that passive > active, even in this case, but if you have two slots it’s more acceptable to use their personal memoria here. But in general remember that passive >>>>> active.

Another one that I see (that makes me rage against the heavens) is to LEVEL YOUR DAMN MEMORIA. Yeah, you might have IMF but it’s level 1 and your girl’s stats are crap. More powerful memoria equals more powerful girls. Please, do this for not only your followers but also yourself. 

Tip: Advertise yourself!

This is a more obvious way of getting followers, but it can take some work: advertising! This can include: 

- Use the MagiReco discord and advertise yourself (in the appropriate channel). Don’t spam. (Please do not go into the discord and spam. One post is fine. Fifteen in a row is not.) - Advertise yourself in the monthly reddit support thread. The subreddit can be found here. The next monthly thread should be soon! - Advertise how much +bonus you give with your support during events with event memoria through your name! You ever see someone with a name like “Name+4″? This is them saying how much event memo they have. It can be very helpful! - This is the most difficult one, but reach out and connect with people. It can be through reddit or tumblr even-- I’ve made a lot of good friends so far just by asking. And if you swap info and become mutual followers in game, try to prioritize and make sure you use their supports so they can get the daily bonus. Every little bit helps, and we’re all in this together!

Tips: Last Thoughts

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: ideally you should be looking at your lineup once an event. Pay attention to what people are asking for or needing help on. For example, during Kazumi’s event there was a mission where you had to finish three rounds in three turns. This was very difficult, even with a blast gorilla like Kyoko, and many folks were unsure of how to beat it. However, a Nanaka with blast draw or a Kirika with counter could solve the issue. Pay attention to what people are struggling with and try to be the answer to their problem.

The last tip from me will be to try and log on once a day, even if you’re burnt out. You don’t even need to do anything. This is so folks won’t see you as being gone from the game for a week. Since you have a very limited amount of follows, people will be fast to drop you if you’re not on often.

Closing

I hope this all helps! Again, do keep in mind I am not some follower expert. I only have around two hundred myself. But, hopefully these tips and tricks can help make you more useful to potential followers. Feel free to leave comments on your own advice, or criticism of something I’ve said. 

[omnyamaflowerz]

Help Ch. 1

A/N: Here we go, kiddies. This is the start of a new A/B/O series. Keep in mind, this is a work of fiction. This is an AU. Nothing in this fic is ideal. Please, enjoy the read.

Warnings: none for this chapter, but it’s going to get dark. Angst, Dub-con elements, kidnapping, grooming, A/B/O mechanics, slow burn. The relationship that will come to fruition is not a healthy one and should not be thought as such. If anything bothers you, you don’t have to read.

“Open this fucking door.” he growled. Jana backed herself up, watching the knob shake. She pushed her hair out of her face as she sobbed. “Arjana, open this door, now!”

Jana picked up the vase on the side table and readied herself. She knew the only way out was to fight. The door jolted once, violently making Jana jump. The second time, the door came flying and shards of wood with it as it came off the hinges. Jana used all her strength to throw the vase in his direction. He blocked it and it shattered as it hit the wall. Jana backed up as he came towards her.

“No! No!” she cried. He grabbed her hand as she slipped and hit the side post of the bed. Her vision was blurry as she laid on the ground. Everything began to fade together but, she was able to make out his shape as he hovered over her. He was the last thing she saw before she faded into the black.

“Here is your uniform.” the manager said. “See you bright and early tomorrow. Like we discussed, you’ll be at the front desk to get you started.” 

Jana smiled as she nodded. “Thank you so much.” she said. “I can’t wait.” That wasn’t the entire truth. She could have cared less about being a receptionist at a huge gym. She just needed more money. Arjana was promptly cut off by her parents earlier in the year for defying them for what they said would be the last time. They graciously left her with her car and one last check. If she wasn’t smart and saved as much as she could, she probably would be sleeping on someone’s couch or in a soup kitchen. 

Working in this gym was going to be her second job. Jana would be at the front desk for close to 10 dollars an hour while serving as an online tutor during the day. It would be enough to keep her in her apartment and food on her table until she found something that would serve her better.

Jana was walking out of the gym somewhat triumphantly to the half-empty parking lot. Her car wasn’t far from the entrance, but the light drizzle was having her walk cautiously. However, she didn’t account for the puddle, causing her to slip and fall backward.

“Shit.” she hissed as she tried to collect herself.

“You okay?” someone said. 

Jana looked up to see who was trying to be her savior. He offered his hand which she obliged, letting him pull her up. He picked up her polo and handed it to her. “I’m fine, thanks.” she said.

Jana smiled, but a rush came over her. This deep, musky smell wafted into her nose. She looked up at the man who was very much taller than her. His eyes were captivating. A green that seemed like they were sucking her in and they were. She shook her head and took a step back, nervously laughing. “I’m good. Thank you.” she said.

Jana didn’t hesitate, speed walking to her vehicle. She quickly got in the driver’s seat and frantically opening her glove box. She inserted the scent cartridge on the vent of her air conditioning and turned her car on. With her air on the highest setting, her car became filled with suppressive aroma. Her senses quelled as she sat calming herself.

Jana had never smelled an Alpha like that. Why was his scent so strong to her? She refused to dwell on it and pulled out of the lot, rushing home to take her suppressants.

Jana forgot about the Alpha from that day. Her focus was working, keeping a roof over her head and her health. Work was steady. Between editing essays and keeping this massive gym in working order, Jana was busy, but not too busy as she was still up on her suppressants. Though, she knew she was needing an upgrade. For a few days, her senses had been taken into a slight overdrive being around numerous Alphas at the gym. She needed something stronger. Something to keep her from going insane.

“Did you hear the news?” her friend, Grant said. Jana looked up and turned to look at him.

“What?” Jana asked.

“They’ve started testing for that new suppressant. They are paying Omegas and Alphas to come in a try it for a year or so.” he said.

“As if Alphas really would get on suppressants.” she scoffed.

“I’ve met some who would do it.” Grant said. “I know there are so many stigmas in our society, but not all Alphas are like that. There are more independent Omegas out there like yourself.” 

“And Betas like you guys are all so level headed when it comes to your mating.” Jana said. 

“I like to say we don’t have to worry about it as much as everyone else.” Grant said. Jana chuckled along with him. She checked the time on her desktop. She still had a few hours until the end of her shift.

“Excuse me?” a voice said. Jana didn’t recognize the voice right away. The smell, however, hit her like a truck. 

Jana looked up and saw the Alpha from weeks ago. She pressed her lips together, sitting back in her seat. “Yes, how can I help you?” 

The Alpha glared at Jana, perplexed himself. His green eyes were pulling her in again but, she resorted to scratching her forehead to play it off. “I, uh, left my towel at home. I was hoping to get one so I can shower. The locker room is empty.” 

Jana turned to pass the task to Grant found his chair empty. She clicked her tongue and stood, grabbing the key off the desk. “Sure. Um, come with me, if you don’t mind.” 

Jana walked ahead of the Alpha. His scent seemed more potent this time, no doubt from his workout. Jana led him to a corridor with several doors. She unlocked the linen closet and came out with a large towel. Jana gave him a genuine smile as she passed him the towel. 

“Here you go. And I’ll have someone restock towels as soon as I get a hold of someone.” she said.

“Thanks. Are you new here?” the Alpha asked. Jana was surprised by the sudden notion of striking a conversation.

“Um, I’ve been working here for about 3 weeks now.” she said. “You’ve been coming here long?”

“Somewhat.” he said. “What’s your name?”

There was a sudden stutter in Jana’s heart as he asked her that. Something told her that it would be against her better judgment to tell this stranger her name. “Arjana.” you said, tapping on your nametag. “But my friends call me Jana for short.”

“Jana. I’m Florian. Nice meeting you and thank you.” he said walking away. 

“Enjoy the rest of your day.” she said. Jana waited until he turned the corner to go back to her desk. She opened her drawer and pulled out her spray. Something to calm her down as Florian’s scent was doing something to her. She spritzed in her hand then covered her nose. Jana sharply inhaled, trying to focus but her mind kept wandering.

Jana laughed along with one of her co-workers and then looked up as just as Florian turned the corner. He gave her a kind smile before waving. She waved back, watching him leave. “He’s cute.” her other co-worker, Whitney said. Jana put her head down, shaking her head.

Arjana got out of her car and walked into her building. She turned to get to the corner for her P.O box. Opening it, she noticed a particularly weird looking pamphlet. She gathered all the envelopes and went up to her floor. She sat on her couch, opening the pamphlet. 

She recognized the seal of the organization advocating for Omegas. There was information about suppressants and the stigmas between Alphas and Omegas. Jana looked over the information about the new testing of suppressants and how safe it was, regardless of some of the additives. She picked up her cell phone, calling the number on the back of it.

Two weeks after that, Jana found herself in a waiting room of a doctor’s office. She signed up for the new suppressant testing, looking for something that would help her and a little extra cash. She looked around the room to see others. Some Alphas, others were Omega. They seemed to have picked sides of the room. Jana sat awkwardly in the middle against the wall, others looking up and glaring at her as she did to them. The incense suppressant they had was working wonders for everyone was calm and not jumping at each other. The smell was very strong, yet not overwhelming. 

Jana looked down at her phone, scrolling through Instagram and frowning at the latest mindless antics of the world. She toned out the chatter of nurses at the desk and the calling of names as they brought people in and others slowly filed in for their own testing. That was until a certain voice hit her ears.

“Name please, sir?” the nurse said.

“Um, Florian Munteanu.” the hushed voice said.

Jana’s eyes shot up, looking over at him. His back was to here as he signed in and took the clipboard. They locked eyes when he turned around and saw her. She gave him a kind smile and a small wave. He nodded in her direction as he went to sit down.

They gave each other long glances in the silence of the waiting room. Jana remembered how he smelled. An Alpha with such a deep scent was known to be one of the more higher, powerful ones. The ones that no Omega could really resist. If he was here, maybe Alphas were trying to change.

Jana went back to her phone as Florian filled out his sheet and walked back up to the desk, turning it in. She couldn’t help but, to glare. She noted the other Omegas glaring at him too. Jana began to wonder how he hadn’t mated with someone yet. When he turned back, he caught her glaring. Jana’s heart skipped as they glared at each other. She tried to look away only for Florian to walk in her direction.

“Hi. Jana, right?” he said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jana said, nodding. He offered her his hand and she politely obliged shaking it. She took note that his scent was still a bit strong. However, the incense had been in her nose for so long it didn’t have much effect. “So, uh. You came for the new drug too?”

“Uh, yes.” Florian said. 

Jana nodded. “I mean...couldn’t hurt, right? Have you been on suppressants before?”

“Only for a short time. Not exactly recent either.” he said. “You?”

“Um.” Jana said, nervously. “Like most Omegas, I got on them while I was young. But then I went to an all girl school with mostly Betas so I didn’t need them as much then. After that, I was taking weak grade ones but, my dosage had to be upped recently. And with doing this...it’s supposed to be a little extra help.”

“Oh, I see.” Florian said. 

“So what do you do?” Jana said. “You come to the gym a lot. You clearly need the muscles for something.”

The pair both chuckled. “I own a few properties in various places among other things. I do a lot of fitness stuff.” he said.

“Modeling?” she asked. “You’ve had to have done some. You’ve got the look. You could definitely be on a magazine cover.”

“I’ve done some.” He said, chuckling. “What about you? Do you just have the gym?”

“I’m an online tutor. Mostly English, edit and advise on essays. I want to write but, I need to keep a steady income. Being a starving artist or writer isn’t glamorous like in the movies and TV shows, believe me.” Jana said.

“I’ll take your word for it.” he said. “So where are you from?”

Jana and Florian talked while in the waiting room. He seemed like a genuine guy. His eyes were enticing so she made it a point not to stare too long. He was nice. He wasn’t as intimidating as he looked. After being called into one of the rooms, she told him that she’d hoped to see him at the gym. 

“You and that guy have been making googly eyes at each other for too long now for you guys to not go on a date, at least.” Grant whispered in your ear as Florian walked away from the desk. 

“Oh please.” Jana said.

“Janie Jan, please ask him out.” he said. “You are both on the suppressants and if they are working like you say it’s working, you both can go on a date and be safe.” 

“He is just being friendly.” Jana said. 

Whitney walked over and leaned against the counter between Grant and Jana. “The way he looked at your ass when you walked away from him the other day wasn’t friendly.”

“Ssh. Someone will hear you.” Jana said, looking around.

“Listen, go get his number, ask him what is his favorite spot to go to, and go out with him.” Whitney said. “You are on suppressants, so is he. Shit sounds like a perfect love story to me.”

“Let’s not, okay?” Jana said.

“Just ask. The worst that can happen is he says no or he’s a bad date. Just ask.” Grant said.

Jana looked at them, rolling her eyes. However, against her better judgment, she called his name just as he was about to exit the doors of the gym.

“What’s up?” Florian asked, stepping to the side.

Jana nervously tapped her nails on her sides and clicked her tongue. “I’m sorry. This is a little embarrassing.”

“No, it’s okay.” Florian chuckled.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Shoot.” Florian said, shrugging.

Jana looked down at her feet, taking a deep breath to calm her rapid heartbeat. “Are you free...Saturday night?”

“Why?” he asked.

“I was hoping we could go to dinner or do something, maybe…” She said, swaying a bit.

Florian fought not to smile. “Like a date?”

“I mean...yeah. If you aren’t free, that’s fine. I’m just asking, you know?” Jana said, trying not to seem so childish as she picked at her nails. 

“Yeah. I’m free. Definitely.” he said. 

Jana’s eyes widen as she smiled. “Great! Cool, cool. Can I have your number?” she said.

They exchanged numbers and told each other that they would be texting each other soon to set up the details of the date. Jana walked back over to the desk, a smile plastered over her face.

“Look at you.” Grant said. “Like the Cheshire Cat.”

“This is the start of something beautiful. Mark my words. You’ll be thanking us later.” Whitney said.

Jana stirred awake. Her hand lifted going to the side of her head and touching the bandage. She felt the bed dip and her eyes went to Florian sitting at the edge. She started to move away, Florian caught her ankle. He hushed her as she started to whimper. “Please, don’t. I don’t want you to hurt yourself again.”

“Why?” Jana said, the tears coming back. “What is this? Why are you doing this?”

“Arjana, you may not see it now, but this is a good thing for both of us. We need each other. We’ll help each other.” Florian said. His voice was soft, sincere. He really wanted to calm her. 

“What?” Jana said. Confusion continued to set in and a sense of doom.

“You’ll see. We have time to this work. We’re going to be mates.”

[the-digimon-tamer]

Chapter 42 - Unexpected is out now on FanFiction.Net and ArchiveOfOurOwn! Check them out with the links or find it after the break!

Title: The Tamer v2.0 - In HIs Name

Fandom: Digimon

Rating: T

Synopsis: In the next adventure of the Digimon Tamer, the lives of Juri, Rika, and Henry change forever when digimon begin crossing over into the human world. But it’s all just a story, right? Just a book series by an author no one has seen in a long time. Why are they here and can they save their world before something worse follows the digimon?

“How’s our progress coming on the Juggernaut, team?” Yamaki asked, looking up from the machine parts he was helping to put back into place. 

Zhenyu poked his head up from what he was doing and shouted, “Are you seriously asking that question? We’ve barely started and there’s a lot of work to do before we can even think to test if it’s working! This isn’t going to be done quickly.”

“Well, make it happen. Those things want in here and it’ll be a slaughter if that weapons not ready before they do,” Yamaki barked back at the scientist.

As he said that, there was another loud bang outside that shook the building, rattling loose items off desks and onto the floor. One unfortunate engineer had his tool box fall of the table he’d left it and fall on his helmet.

“How long do you think those blast doors will hold?” Dolphin asked nervously. Shibumi answered with his usual informative and completely uninspiring tone, “It doesn’t matter. Right now, every second counts so let’s focus on our task and leave the fighting to our friends outside.”

“Your friends. We have no idea who those things are!” Curly pointed out.

“Those things are our partners! And right now, they’re putting their lives on the line to buy us time! And it’s not just them, our kids are out there,” Izumi’s wife scolded from across the room.

“Not my kid,” Mister Matsuda grunted angrily.

“Let it go. Anger will do us no good right now,” Guardromon mumbled.

“FUCK YOU!” Mister Matsuda made a point of growling while showing the digimon his middle finger.

“Don’t shout at him! He’s just trying to help!” Kazu yelled back.

“Trying to help? Kazu, Takato was your friend! If anyone else in this room is going to get how we feel, it should be you!” Mrs. Matsuda added.

This was getting out of hand and the last thing the team needed was needless bickeringYamaki put two fingers in his mouth and whistled as loud as he could to get their attention, “FOCUS! EVERY SECOND ARGUING IS A SECOND WASTED. AND WE DON’T KNOW HOW MANY SECONDS WE HAVE! SO LET’S USE THEM WISELY AND GET BACK TO WORK!”

With that everyone either quietly went back to what they were doing or went off in a corner to stay out of the way. Now it was back to what he was doing - helping repair some of the mechanical parts that were broken. He just hoped the blast shields help up long enough. Every moment that passed, another dent appeared in the metal and the building would shake. He just hoped everything worked.

…

Imperialdramon soared through the air of the Digital World, with Davis and Ken atop his back. They pointed their digivice at every digimon they passed and shouted the same message over and over, “Stay alive. We have a plan.”

The mere sight of them seemed to rally the digimon, mega level fighters who went from faltering on the retreat to pushing forward on the attack. And as they soared through the Digital World, trying to scan as many of the digimon as they could, they eventually caught the attention of a familiar sight - Azulongmon, the sovereign who’d helped them fight off BlackWarGreymon so long ago. The dragon soared alongside them asking, “Digidestined. It’s so good to see you after so long.”

“We wish we could say the same,” Ken answered quietly.

“Yeah, but no worries! Kari’s brother has a plan!” Davis added excitedly. 

“Who?” Azulongmon asked.

Ken sighed, “The Digimon Tamer. I should point out right now that it’s a horrible plan and I’m not entirely sure it’ll work.”

Azulongmon blinked at him, “And what is his plan? We’re hitting this thing with everything we have and nothing is working!”

“Sorry, we don’t have the time to tell you,” Ken answered, pointing his digivice at another digimon digimon they flew past to scan it. Then he pointed it at Azulongmon. The sovereign writhed a bit when the light hit him and his many eyes blinked in a daze, “What was that for? Were you just trying to blind me?”

“It’s part of Tamer’s plan,” Davis explained apologetically, “Sorry we can’t tell you more! Just try to stay alive a little longer! Hold on!”

“I…okay. Hurry, digidestined. We’ll fight for as long as we can,” Azulongmon answered, turning away from them to rejoin the fight. As he soared through the sky, pillars of light and blasts of lightning shot from his body and struck the red ocean beneath them. His attacks appeared to hurt the creature more than any of the attacks that had been thrown at it so far. But like all the other attacks, it wasn’t long before any damage was undone. The most powerful digimon either of these men knew could barely hurt this thing. They needed to get back to their work - continuing to scan as many digimon as they could.

…

Rika had to admit it was a different feeling to be fighting along side her parents’ partners. She swiped various cards through her digivice, trying to give Taomon the upgrades she would need to keep her on even footing. But without the power to be a mega like Rosemon or HerculesKabuterimon, she was just barely hanging on. 

“Digimodify! Speed Boost Activate!”

“Talisman of Light!”

“Thorn Whip!”

“Arctic Blizzard!”

The three attacks scattered the bird creatures, reducing their number for a moment until more appeared to reinforce their numbers. It really was like fighting an unending tide. Still, they were the only things keeping her parents safe inside. And she wasn’t going to surrender, no matter how many of them came. She and Taomon would fight back with everything they had.

“LOOK OUT!”

She turned around to see Hououmon and MetalGarurumon soar past over her head, his engines going at the full speed as Cyberdramon ripped off more of those bird creatures from him.

“Metal Wolf Claw!”

“Starlight Explosion!”

Both fired a barrage of missiles and fireballs from their bodies at the birds, punching another hole in the swarm that was quickly filled by more reinforcements. The creatures were wholeheartedly determined to over run this building at any cost it seemed. Thankfully, Hououmon and MetalGarurumon were still able to hold their own. But then another question came to mind? Where were her mom’s fashion designer friend and her husband? Sora and Matt, if she remembered correctly. They were supposed to be with their partners.

A screech overhead caught her attention as the large golden bird Hououmon landed atop the building. The two Ishidas climbed off the giant digimon, before it took off again to fight the oncoming horde of birds, joining Rosemon, Taomon, and HerculesKabuterimon in the desperate defense. Sora rjoined her first and asked, “What the hell is going on? They were going all over the city before and now they’re converging here on the Metropolitan Tower!”

“One of them overheard me telling my parents the plan and now they’re all coming here to stop it,” Rika admitted quietly. Matt raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Huh, never figured Izzy’s kid would be the one to screw things up for us. I always figured it’d be someone else…like that dopey looking kid with the hat.”

“Are you putting me on Kazu’s level?” Rika asked with a hand on her hips.

In return, he just raised an eyebrow at her, “Do you think I’m intimidated by a twelve year old girl?”

“Focus!” Sora said, taking a moment to survey the situation, “Matt, can you talk to your friends in the GSDF and get them here?”

“They’d probably shoot at me first if they saw me ride in on MetalGarurumon,” he countered quietly with crossed arms.

Sora groaned, “Then we’ll just have to keep holding them back as long as we can!”

The large golden bird screeched and went to rejoin the fight. Rika couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of so many megas at once, especially knowing they were the megas of the digidestined. The heroes from the books, tv show, and card game she’d been attracted to. If the world weren’t at stake, she would call this a dream come true, “How long have you guys all had Mega level digimon? I don’t remember the show or the books ending with all you guys getting Mega level digimon. It was just...Matt, Tai, Davis, and Ken, right?”

“You should know by now that my brother omitted lots of stuff from those books and didn’t tell the whole story. At least, not the way it happened,” Yamato stated matter of factly, “Speaking of...where the hell are they? I don’t see Takeru or MagnaAngemon anywhere!”

“Don’t forget that Ryo and Cyberdramon were with them. Same with the doctor and Gomamon! Or Kari, Gatomon, Henry, and Rapidmon. Where the hell are they?” Rika added. 

“Maybe they’re still trying to get to the others,” Sora said, scanning the city for some sign of them.  Her husband groaned, “Or worse.”

“You really are a ball of sunshine, y’know that?” Rika stated, turning to his wife, “What exactly did you see in him?”

“He acts tough but he’s a softie when he thinks no one is looking,” she answered teasingly. Rika felt herself gag and something try to crawl its way out of her stomach, “Gross.”

BOOM!

They turned their attention back towards the city to see large swathes of the bird creatures being destroyed with beams of blue light. They all turned to look but it was impossible to tell what it was from this far away. What they were certain of was that all the bird creatures were being blown apart as quickly as they could amass. And there was something in the middle of that flock - a lone figure that was blasting the birds away. 

“Who is that?” Rika asked. 

“I can’t tell. They’re too far away,” Sora said, squinting her eyes as close as she could, “Hououmon!”

“Little busy at the moment,” the bird roared over the battle going on all around her. She and MetalGarurumon soared overhead, trying their best to hold the oncoming swarm back as quickly as they could. 

“I’ll go,” Taomon announced, drawing another talisman and throwing it full force at her enemies, “It’s not like I’m able to do much good here anyway. I’ll scout ahead and hurry back if things look bad.”

“Be careful, Taomon,” Rika called out to her partner. The fox priest gave her a wave and hurried off towards whatever was now drawing the bird creatures’ attention away from them.

...

Hida slid the doors of his dojo open slightly to see more of those bird things waiting around outside. He took care to slide the door back shut so that it wouldn’t be too loud - annoyed with how things had played out. He’d meant to go out and meet up with the others at the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. Then these things showed up and people were scared. He couldn’t just ignore people in need and his sense of moral obligation kicked in. Instead of hurrying, he got as many people as he could to safety in his dojo. 

Things were quiet now, save for the sound of fighting outside. But this wasn’t the only problem before him. How was he supposed to protect them? Yes, he was a martial arts expert with knowledge of kendo, tai chi, aikido, karate, and tae kwon do. But that wasn’t going to do him any good against whatever those monsters were outside. They didn’t look like any digimon he had seen before and they certainly weren’t acting like any digimon that had accidentally gotten lost in another world. Those digimon tended to act out violently from confusion or alarm. But these creatures seemed content to just sit back and watch the world in complete and utter silence. They were observing…learning…gathering information…possible strategizing.

That made it all the more important for him to get to the others at Hypnos. But how could he get there when there were lives at stake right in front of him? But there was no way to do this on his own. He would need help! But how was he supposed to signal for help with alerting those things to all the people hiding inside?

“RAPID FIRE!”

A blaze of gunfire caught the attention of all the bird creatures and drew them away from the front of the dojo. He slid the door open just a crack  but couldn’t quite see what was going. All he could make out was that the creatures were gone now. Maybe this was their chance. He slid the door open just a little further and one of the people hiding with him gasped, “What are you doing? They’re going to find us!”

“They’ve all left. This could be our only chance to run,” he explained. He scanned the outside more carefully to be sure they were gone until he noticed something moving in the bushes. A boy rushed out and bolted for the dojo door.

Henry, his Tai Chi student. And with him was…

“Armadillomon,” he forced the door open and stepped out. Was it possible? Was this real? He hoped so. He didn’t care how. He’d thought about this moment so many times that he wasn’t sure he could handle if it wasn’t. He waved to get their attention and gestured to them to come his way, “Over here! Quick!”

“Sensei!” Henry said, running over. Armadillomon followed after him, turning his head in surprise, “Who’s that, Henry? I thought we were going to Cody!”

“Armadillomon! It’s me,” he said to his partner, the armadillomon stopping to look at him with a furrowed brow and a firm frown, “Pretty sure my pardner ain’t got a mustache.”

The insult cut deep and Hida had to muse at that. It was true, he didn’t have a mustache the last time he’d seen his partner. It was also ironic, that a small piece of facial hair was enough to throw off the digimon, “You’ve never been the serious type, Armadillomon.”

“That really is your partner, Armadillomon,” Henry insisted to the yellow digimon who turned his head in disbelief. Armadillomon circled him, sniffing at his feet and occasionally stopping to get a good look at him. As he did, Henry went on, “Sensei, I don’t have a lot of time. There’s no way Rapidmon can keep them all away forever. We need to get out of here.”

“I can’t go. There are people hiding in my dojo and I’m not going to leave them,” Hida explained to them. 

Armadillomon’s frown turned and he finally looked up, “Now that sounds like the partner I remember! Good to see ya, Cody.”

“It’s good to see you too, Armadillomon,” Hida kneeled down to take his partner’s raised hand. It was good to see him again, even if it was in these circumstances. They would have to catch up some other time. Now, they had to think of a way to hold this portion of the city and protect it from those birds. Armadillomon added, “Well if you’re not going, I’m not going either.”

“Sensei, are you sure?” Henry said, “We have a plan and we could use your help.”

“The people here could use my help,” he countered matter of factly. Armadillomon cheered, “Hard headed about always wanting to help people. You’re definitely my Cody.”

He wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not but he went on, “We can help by protecting the people in this area. Besides, every one of those things that comes here is one that’s not attacking you there.”

“That is the plan, actually,” Henry said with a raised eyebrow, “Distract these things until every one else is ready with their part of the plan. Which we don’t know how long that could be so really it’s just sitting tight...wait, are you volunteering these people for danger!?”

“What?” Hida blinked, surprised at his student’s accusation. 

Henry waved it off and shook his head apologetically, “Sorry, sorry. I think Terriermon has been rubbing off on me. Still, it’s funny that we’re on the same page.”

“Just do what comes natural and things work out, right?” he mused, realizing that the plan was a little too reminiscent of all the other plans - just sit tight and hang on. Henry shook his head, “Yeah, something like that. I need to get back to the others.”

“Okay, be safe,” he said. Henry nodded, waving before running off to rejoin his partner. Hida sighed, looking back at his dojo. It was a relief to know the others had a plan, even if he wasn’t entirely aware of it. That was one problem dealt with. Now there was another problem: how to convince the people in his dojo that Armadillomon wasn’t a danger to them and their safety?

…

Cyberdramon soared over the city, passing teams of soldiers firing at the bird creatures and crowds of people fleeing in a panic. It took everything in him to ignore his desire to fight the the creatures and instead focus on protecting Ryo and looking for the little white Calumon. He was the key to this whole operation after all. If they didn’t find him, it was all going down hill from here. It was just a question of where the little digimon was.

And Ryo was frustrated with having to look for such a small critter in all this mess. After all, the little guy was probably scared out of his mind with all the chaos going on out there and it wasn’t like finding him on a normal day when people weren’t shooting at them was easy. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack where the hay would hit you. It wasn’t easy. And it would help, it really would, if all those soldiers would stop trying to shoot at him. 

But what were they supposed to think? All they could see was a kid being carried off with a monster. It was hard to interpret that anyway that didn’t include the thought of that kid in danger.

“Ryo! Ryo! Are you there?” Tamer’s voice echoed from his digivice. Ryo looked at his digivice in surprise, examining it in his hands at the feature he didn’t know it had, “It’s a radio now?” 

“What do you mean now? It’s always been a radio,” Tamer responded with the sardonic wit that Ryo was used to hearing him use. It was weird - the current Tamer was usually apologetic and polite. This was like talking to the Tamer when he first met him - sarcastic, a little abrasive but helpful overall. Still, Ryo wasn’t in the mood for a conversation, “What do you want, Tamer? Shouldn’t you be in the Digital World helping out the others?”

“Never mind them. We have a serious problem over here! Here are the coordinates! Hurry! Ruki’s in trouble!” he said urgently. Ruki? She hated that name. The only reason he would use it would be to aggravate her. Or him. And it was working if that was his intention. He checked his digivice for the coordinates and tapped Cyberdramon on the head, “Come on, Cyberdramon. We need to go to-”

“-find Tamer, yeah. What’s up with him anyway? What’s he doing here?”

“I have no idea, but I’m going to deck him in a minute if I he doesn’t have a good explanation for any of this,” Ryo grunted, gesturing to the direction to his partner, “The signal leads that way to…that roof.”

He could see a short figure on a rooftop not too far away, wearing what looked like a white hooded robe and waving at them with one arm reaching so high that he had to stand on his tippy-toes. Tamer. Cyberdramon set down beside him and Ryo leapt off his partner, “Tamer, what’s so important? And where are the others? Ken and Davis? I thought you were with them in the Digital World?”

“Eh, more important stuff to deal with. You guys should’ve really gone mega by now,” Tamer remarked in his usual manner of pacing as he talked, “Bio-merging or whatever it’s called.”

“Bio-merging? You’re talking about the thing when Rika fused with Renamon or when Henry fused with his partner, right? What’s that got to do with anything? Weren’t we sticking to the plan?” Ryo raised an eyebrow, minding his distance from Tamer as he began circling with a familiar flair that fit his last face more than his present one. 

Tamer threw it off, “Ah, they’ll be fine. I figured out your problems! You guys aren’t in a Digital Field!”

“Digital…what?” Ryo groaned exasperated burying his face in his hands, “Look, why did you call me here? What’s going on with Rika? You said she was in danger!”

Tamer paused, looking back at him with that aggravating smile of his, “Oh, everyone’s in danger! Every world everywhere’s in danger somewhere. It’s just a question of figuring out who you’re gonna save and who’s gonna win! This battle is playing out across infinite realities with infinite possible outcomes! Speaking of which!”

He raised up his digivice and a flash of light seemed to tear open a floating window in front of them, through which they could see what looked like their city. Except this version of the city was over run by the D-Reaper and the screams of the dying could be heard echoing from in the distance. And for the briefest of moments, he saw Rika. Rika running for her life from the remaining D-Reaper creatures. And as quickly as she ran past the window, the D-reaper bird things were upon her - ripping her apart as their mechanical voice droned, “Scanning!”

“No!” she screamed. 

“Acquiring Information!”

“Get off me!” She cried out just as blood splashed past the screen. 

“RIKA!” he cried out - half panic and half anger as he watched her body be spread apart across different sections of the roof. Tamer pressed another button on his digivice and the window to the other world vanished, “Relax, lover boy! That’s another reality. Not this one. Your girlfriend’s alive and well! I think. Maybe?” 

“TAMER!” Ryo was on the boy, grabbing him by his stupid white robe and pulling him so close that their noses were practically touching, “THAT WAS STILL RIKA!”

“Well there’s no point crying about it,” Tamer swatted his hands away, “That Ruki’s dead. Your Ruki…our Ruki?”

Something about that phrasing made Ryo particularly angry, but he was snapped from his anger when he heard Cyberdramon start growling angrily. He needed to maintain control, otherwise Cyberdramon would lash out and get loose upon the city. And he wasn’t sure which would be worse: the D-Reaper or a rampaging Cyberdramon. Tamer shook his head, “The Ruki in this world is still alive and well. She’s out…there…somewhere.”

BOOM!

Ryo turned his head to see a beam of light shooting at the heart of the swarm of bird creatures. Something or someone was actually managing to pushing these things back. Tamer flicked a finger across the back of his head and added, “Don’t worry, Ruki’s not over there. Not yet anyway.”

What was he pulling? And why was he saying it that way? She hated that name! Was he trying to piss her off when she wasn’t even here? Or was he trying to piss him off to get a rise out of him? If that was the plan, it was working all too well. His fists tightened and he demanded, “Tamer! Why did you call us here? And what the hell is wrong with you!? I thought you said you were trying to be different! What the hell was different about that?”

Tamer’s smile widened in a way that made him sick, “Quit interrupting and I’ll tell you. Now, the reason your bio merging isn’t working is because you’re not in the Digital World anymore. Different rules apply! But we can fix that! We just need to expand the Digital Field! Good news: it’ll get you guys to mega. Bad news: I’m going to fry any computer you get too close to so I’d suggest staying away from the Hypnos Building!”

He raised up his digivice like he was about to use it to do something, only to then snap his fingers and bathe the world around them in yet another display of light. Once it passed, Tamer’s wicked smile remained, “There we go! Now you should be all good to save Ruki!”

Ryo had enough and decked Tamer as hard as he could across the face. He wasn’t sure what the hell was going on but he was sure of one thing right now. Tamer was acting like an ass - so either this wasn’t Tamer or Tamer was back to his old ways. Either way, he wanted to punch the guy in the face. Tamer fell flat on his face and massaged his cheek, “Ow! What the hell Joe?”

“Who the hell is Joe? My name is Ryo!” he snapped. Tamer raised an eyebrow, his look unimpressed by Ryo’s punch as he pushed himself upwards, “Oopsie. Looks like I slipped. Charade is up I suppose.”

Ryo was so past being in the mood for one of Tamer’s games, and raised his fist to strike him again. However, Tamer caught his fist mid punch and stood himself back up, “Everyone only gets one, Joe.”

“Ryo!” he repeated.

“I don’t care,” Tamer shook his head, scratching at his chin with his fingers so deep that it looked like he was beginning to peel the skin off. It was actually disgusting to watch, his nails going deeper and deeper into his skin as he peeled more of his face off. The sound it made when it did was sickening and Ryo took a step back in disgust. And Tamer looked up and the face he saw was…not what he expected.

He expected some bloody skull to be staring back. To be fair, it would probably be the least insane thing he’d seen Tamer do. But instead, what he saw was a completely different face staring back. Ryo was perplexed, “What? You change your face again? Tell me that’s not how you do it.”

“Oh wow, you really are slow,” he responded, dropping the face he’d just peeled off and going over to flick him across the nose, “What does that idiot see in you lesser life forms? He goes through all that trouble to save you and all you do is be stupid. It’s like you’re all screaming ‘Kill me! Kill me!’. Bringing water to a person who insists on dying of thirst is less trouble than this. What’s the point? I’ll never understand what he’s thinking.”

Ryo was now at least beginning to follow this a little better, “Okay, I think I get it. You’re not Tamer. But then who are you and why are you wearing Guardian robes?”

“Guardian robes? Is that what he’s calling it now? Digital Agents! Agents! Not Ancient! Not Precursor! Not Fore-bearer! Not Guardian! Agent!” the not-Tamer stated angrily, waving his hands in the air as he spoke. Somehow, this kid was more annoying than Tamer had ever been. And Ryo was ready to deck him again if it weren’t for the fact he still had his fist in his hand. He pulled his fist out of his grip and stated, “That doesn’t really answer my question.”

The boy finally seemed to notice he was present and his tone shifted to boredom, “Hm? Oh, right. You’re still here. Hello! Name’s The Trickster. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m an Agent like Tamer. Only I’m not really invested in maintaining any kind of order. I’m just in this for the laughs and the giggles. And if I can screw with people’s lives while I’m at it then all the better!” 

“You’re...like Tamer,” Ryo repeated stupidly. 

“Look! It’s learned to mimic language!” Trickster mocked him, snapping his fingers in his face to get his attention. Ryo swatted his hand away and got his own hand slapped back in response, “Now pay attention because I’m not repeating! You can biomerge now! Congratulations! Go tell your friends Ruki and not-Ruki so you can all have a nice big party! Bad news! You can’t go near computers without breaking them so try to avoid the hypnosis people! Or hypnotize or whatever pretentious name they’re using. Other bad news! You need a strong emotional response to get the blood flowing in that regard so let’s get the blood flowing and trigger some emotions!”

He took a step back and reached into his robes to produce a little scared Calumon pleading and begging to be let go, “What’s happening? Where am I!? WHAT IS THIS PLACE!? HELP ME!”

Ryo tried to jump at him to get the little digimon but The Trickster side stepped him and stood along the edge of the rooftop, “Oh dear. Looks like this thing is very important to you.”

“Give him back!” Ryo snapped, making the Trickster cackle. 

The Trickster waved a finger at him like he were a misbehaving child and remarked, “It’s just a shame what I’m about to do next.”

“Help! Please let me go! I’m sorry for whatever I did! Please just let me go!” Calumon pleaded at the top of his voice. Now it was Cyberdramon’s turn to lunge forward, but Ryo threw his arm out, “Cyberdramon! Don’t! He’s going to hurt Calumon!”

...

“Juri, cease your traumatic state and continue to identify objects!” the mechanical voice droned on. It was her own voice again, used by this thing to control her. Manipulate her. Force her to do what it wanted, “Identify!”

All she could think about…all she could focus on was Beelzemon killing Leomon. How it had been Tamerkato who enticed him to do it. How all this was probably her own fault for being a horrible partner. She could feel this thing trying to block these thoughts out with more images of things it was finding…but every image, every thought kept coming back to one thing: Beelzemon.

Car. 

Beelzemon. 

Soldier. 

Beelzemon! 

Gun. 

BEELZEMON! 

Roof. 

BeElZeMoN! 

Calumon. 

Calumon? The sight of him calmed her for a moment - what was he doing? No, who was holding him? They were supposed to save Calumon. That was why they went to the Digital World. But who had him and why was he dangling Calumon over a roof? He needed to be saved! He needed to be protected! He was the Catalyst, the source of strength that gave digimon the power to digivolve. If anything happened to him, it was game over for everyone else. She had to save him. To protect him!

“Subject identified as Calumon. Digital Lifeform acknowledged. Power source. Acquiring target!”

“Wait...what? Uh oh,” was all Juri could manage to say as she realized she might have just set this thing after Calumon.

...

“Hurt the Catalyst? Well now I know you’re not paying attention,” the Trickster remarked, feigning being insulted while he still had that stupid evil smile on his face, “This thing is the source of digivolution! Why would I hurt it? That’d be stupid. Y’think I’d just sully the memory of the Agents like that? No, don’t be stupid! I’m not going to hurt him!”

“Then what are you doing?” Ryo demanded angrily, Cyberdramon roaring with his growing anger. The Trickster laughed, “Oh me? I’m doing this!”

He tossed Calumon into the air and the digimon promptly fell to the ground. From several stories up. He may not be trying to hurt him but he wasn’t above throwing the digimon to his death apparently. 

“NO!” Ryo cried out, leaping over the edge of the roof and reaching his hand out to the falling digimon. Then he heard his partner calling out from behind him, “RYO!”

He looked back up and could see Cyberdramon coming after him. It was a surprise to him. In all the time he’d been partnered with the digimon - it was strange to see him coming to his rescue. Normally, he had to restrain his partner from mauling someone or something. Not that it was unwelcome. It was just not what he was used to. Still, he had to save Calumon and he reached his arm out to the digimon, “Almost!”

Cyberdramon grabbed his arm, “Ryo! What are you doing!?”

“We need to save Calumon!” Ryo shouted.

“HE CAN FLY!” Cyberdramon countered. As soon as he said that, he saw the little digimon’s eyes widen in surprise and his ears expand out like wings - slowing his descent so that he glided slowly downward. Ryo’s mouth fell open, “You could do that the entire time!?”

“I forgot!” Calumon said innocently enough, his screams of terror turning to embarrassment as they reached the street below safely. For a moment, they stopped to catch their breath until one of the bird things appeared from nowhere and grabbed Calumon - flying away towards the D-Reaper. The little digimon started screaming again, this time for real as he tried to break free of the bird thing’s hold on him. Cybderamon immediately gave chase, spreading his wings so that he could fly as fast as his body could carry him after the bird.

For his part Ryo, tried reaching for his deck to start buffing his partner but the speed they were going made the cards scatter from his hands. He tried to grab them but they were gone with the wind now - he’d just lost their one advantage. He looked ahead again after the bird thing holding Calumon. His partner was on his own now and he was just dead weight. Sure he could use the digivice, but what good was that when he wasn’t a strong fighter? And these things - the birds were beginning to swarm around them to stop the pursuit. They couldn’t afford to be stopped now though - not when Calumon was right there. They had to save the little digimon! They had to!

“GRAGH!”

The bird things were slamming themselves into Cyberdramon now to slow down his pursuit. And Cyberdramon was doing everything he could to protect his partner. Ryo hated that. He didn’t like being useless. More than that, he never thought he’d see the day where he gave a crap about his partner’s well being. He wished he could help. He just…

“Cyberdramon! Biomerge to!”

Ryo felt a strange sensation bathe him in warmth and a soft glow of light over take his vision. Then he felt a strange compulsion to cry out, “JUSTIMON!”

Without really knowing why, he also felt a strong desire to punch and beat as many of these bird things out of his way as possible - hitting as many of them back as he could, “BACK OFF! OUT OF MY WAY! CALUMON!”

“HELP ME!” the little digimon cried out at the top of his lungs. He had to try harder to get as many of these things out of his way as possible to save Calumon! He was so close. He could almost reach the digimon when a blast of light cut off his path to the bird thing holding Calumon.

“OUTTA MY WAY! THIS CITY IS MY TURF!”

He looked off to the side to see Beelzemon making his way through the streets with his shotgun in one hand and was looked like a cannon in the other. He pointed it upwards and fired a beam of light straight at more of the birds, “BEAT IT YOU RATS WITH WINGS!”

What was he doing here? You got me. Whose voice was that? It’s mine! Ryo had never been more confused in his life, unsure why there was a voice echoing in his head that wasn’t his own. You think about that girl with the pineapple hair a lot. Just confess already! You know she probably likes you too. 

“Cyberdramon?” he asked no one in particular only to hear the voice confirm it. Unfortunately, Beelzemon heard him too and was looking up at him, “What are you supposed to be? Another one of those things? Well I got something just for you!”

“Wait! Don’t shoot! It’s me!” he called out to Beelzemon. Beelzemon paused, then pulled the trigger anyway. The beam of light that shout out of the cannon flew straight at him, missing him by a narrow inch. Ryo looked over his shoulder to see a bunch of the bird creatures scattering behind him. How had he missed that?

No time to focus on that. He descended to join Beelzemon, “Thanks for not shooting at me.”

“Don’t celebrate yet,” the digimon raised the cannon so that he found himself looking down the barrel at it, “Who are you and why shouldn’t I just pull the trigger?”

Great plan you had there Ryo, now we’re in serious trouble. Ryo threw up his hands and tried to explain, “It’s me...Ryo.”

“Who?”

“We...fought in the Digital World? My partner is...was...Cyberdramon!” he explained. Beelzemon turned his head, “You’re going to have to run all of that by me because I have no idea what you’re talking about. And keep it quick. These things are gathering around.”

Ryo gulped, realizing time was off the essence with these things gathering around quickly. And then he remembered that Calumon was in danger. But there was no rescuing him now that they were cut off from him.

[breezethegame]

Dev Log #1-ish?

Seeing how I missed like two weeks of mini blog posts, I’m deeming this one an actual “Devlog” (fanfare and such yada yada). I'm just going to call it a Dev Log.

So much has gone on the last few weeks that I’m struggling to piece it all together, so here is an attempt:

Computer Adventures:

So, I don’t haven’t built a dev machine from the ground up for years now, (maybe since college?) and typically just upgrade parts as I see fit (graphics card, ram, processor, etc).

Well, my motherboard has been giving me problems for close to a year now, where it occasionally decides “yeah, don’t really care about your boot device today”, as well as other miscellaneous things that required me to do things like removing the CMOS battery or main drive. I was also running out of upgrade options, so I got a bit fed up and decided it might be time to replace it.

I wasn't going to be cost-effective to get another LGA1150 board and CPU, and I try to build computers with future-proofing in mind. I was also looking to get a smaller case too. I already had a nice GPU (GTX 1070) that I got a couple years ago before cryptocurrency “did the thing” and graphics card's prices got ridiculous, so didn’t have to worry about replacing that.

Ultimately, I decided to do a "completely new" build.

I’ve been building computers for friends and family for many years, so I literally woke up the next day and said, “I’m about to build this thing blind”.

Well, kinda learned the hard way of the hassle of going at it that way (along with committing a couple noobish mistakes)...

Shopping Time!

Lesson 1: Double check store inventory before heading to a store that's 20 miles away

Well, I choose the nearest Fry's Electronics (it was Saturday, and I really wanted to get a machine built the same day). I get there and start looking for all of the cases and motherboards (severally disappointed that they only had one Micro ATX board in stock, something I was looking to get for the more compact build, but not as restrictive as a Mini-ITX, which they had several of). Impatient as ever, I decided I was going to pick it up.

While looking at other things, I hear another customer talking to sales rep, and the rep mentions that they don’t have a certain CPU in stock. After listening even more (I’m noisy, sorry), he mentions that they have NO Intel CPUs in stock. I decided that I had to get in on this convo.

He informs up that as of late, their store may receive like, 10 at a time, and also mentions that their other location doesn’t have any either (both of these locations are 20+ miles away from me in Dallas).

I also find out that they don’t have the specific ram I was looking for either (I ended up getting something a little pricier). He ends up informing me that the Micro Center 10 minutes away from where we were should have some CPUs.

So I end up at the Micro Center and they did have the CPUs, as well as a case that caught my attention. They also had a lot of other nice things too! Kind of wished I would have known to go to Micro Center first, despite it being much farther from home.

Building Time!?

Lesson Two: Get a head-start of figuring out your plan for wire management and how pieces will fit in your new case

I got home and was ready to build. I spent a lot of time trying to get the interior wire management together since it’s a much smaller case than my last one. I ended up spending a couple of hours getting it just right (I don’t intend to go back into this machine once it’s complete since I’m nearly maxing it out spec wise for now), before moving out to everything else.

Getting my old water-cooling radiator in was a bit tough (a very tight squeeze), but after that, adding in the ram, etc was a Breeze.

Hours went by, I installed Windows, software, etc…

I go to shut it down (after having done several restarts for the software installs prior), and it doesn’t want to power off. After 10 minutes of waiting, I manually power it off. Whatever, I’m super tired at this point.

The next day (Last Sunday), I’ve encountered several other smaller issues. Updating the BIOS didn’t help either. Great…

Okay, Building Time For Real

Lesson 3: Kinda make sure things boot up and work before you get too early to clean/tighten things down in your build

After taking the whole thing apart, I ended up swapping out that mobo for another of the same kind (since Frys didn’t have any others), but then ended up ordering different board on Amazon. So waited another day or so and the new board arrived (it’s now Tuesday evening).

I rewired/rebuilt the computer once again, installed the software, etc. I spent most of Wednesday day checking in with the team and catching up with emails and such. Then Thursday as I was beginning to do some work, I noticed that the computer was saying that my Windows wasn’t activated. I go to my Microsoft account to retrieve my key, and the page wouldn’t load to provide me the key and would only show the transaction.

Lesson 4: Make sure to keep your activation key(s) somewhere other than online/digital if you can

It’s super late and the option to speak to someone was obviously closed, but they had a chat option, so I reached someone through there. After back and forth for a while, and him remoting into the machine to check the activation status, he tells me that the key might not be showing up because it was an “upgrade”, so I would need to buy another copy of Windows 10 again.

Lesson 5: Tell "Aaron" from Microsoft no over and over, and don't fall for possibly sketchy things like sales pitches that come out of nowhere

I originally bought Windows Home and upgraded it to Pro on the same day back in 2015, so I told him that and he kept insisting that I buy Windows 10 again. I refused and told him that I wouldn’t and that I’d take care of this in the morning, and he then offered that I could pay a smaller fee to reactivate my Windows 10, but it would be a one time fee of like, $40. (I refused again).

When I go to end the remote session, he then informs me that he “Really wants to help me out” and ends up activating it anyway. (This whole thing seemly suspicious, I ended up recording it). I watched him activate Windows for over 10 minutes through some manual process (it's almost 2am, and I had work in the morning). He eventually finishes and thanks/apologies. Not sure why I even had to go through all that, but whatever...

I ended up spending Friday wrapping up installs and doing a fresh system backup afterward, before moving along with pulling down the Breeze project from source control, and reminding myself of where I left off…

Anyway, long story short, I tried to get a system built in a day, and it ends up taking almost a week!

Okay, but did you get any dev done these last two weeks?

Yeah, somehow!

Health Bar and Health System:

First thing the team and I did was evaluate a few things that are critical, but we’ve been bouncing back and forth on: The Health System

(WIP of a concept we're working on for his health bar)

The reason for this is mostly for game balancing purposes:

Is this a game that focuses on having Breeze (the player) overwhelm his opponents with an array of abilities (think Devil May Cry/Bayonetta, Kingdom Hearts, God of War?)

Or is this a game where Breeze must focus on finding openings to deal damage and avoid an onslaught of danger (think Hollow Knight, Ori, Megaman, pretty much most NES/SNES platformers)

Game design… is hard at times. Sometimes you think something will work well in theory, but when you get down into the specifics, you begin to question how certain things will balance out.

You’d think something like designing a health bar isn’t too trivial, until you realize that the Health bar represents the player’s health, and the player’s health influences the character’s survivability, which is then tied to other factors: what options does the player have to “survive” and what threatens that?

Anyway, not going to get too deep into that because I lack the PhD.

Basically, there was a bit of a rift in the UI design process that led to really evaluating game design items, and I’ve been working towards seeing what Breeze’s options are and how to limit them in areas, or how I can build the world and it’s inhabitants in a way that will make this all work out.

It’s not going to be something that will likely be answered quickly, but nevertheless, that’s Game Design™ sometimes...  

Frame Data:

[Insert Craig of the Creek frame data meme here]

I used to have a really convoluted way of tackling this in which I would have events in the animation that if given an ID, it will look for a set of “Frame Data” and then look for a specific frame and then load that information up.

It would then pass that frame information into the active hitbox and if something is in it, math and physics and stuff would happen.

I didn’t change this up too much, but I did reduce the setup process by allowing you to just drop the FrameData right into the frame of the animation (no more extra array and ID lookup stuff!)

New Particles:

We’ve got new particles! There’s one for jumping/landing/dashing dust, as well as one for wall sliding.

In the last update, I added a feature that generates “points” at the edges of a character’s collider box (as well as other “checks”), so this helped in making sure that the particles are created in the right place. This was especially challenging with the wall sliding particle.

Also, with the wall sliding particle, I needed to implement a way to have a “looping” particle effect, as well as making sure the particle effect follows Breeze as he’s moving down the wall

Developing Sprite Model Sheets

We've got models sheets completed for just about all of the cast members, though, since there's several artists on the project, as well as animators (including I), I wanted to get some sheets together that would work as a base for animators to use, and to eliminate elements that aren't needed in the sprites (minor details that would be seen in promotional art or more detailed art in general), as well as get a proper size for the characters in-game.

Misc. Features

I’ve done various other quality of life code changes to make it easier to do certain things, like creating new attacks, making the screen pause/slow-mo when Breeze changes forms, and updated my Debugging Manager so that I can hide/show certain debug messages.

I’ve also been working on a RoomManager, and writing features to look handle what happens when the player enters a room (like starting a cutscene, showing UI, spawning things, etc)

I’ve also been looking into updating the game’s Music Handler, mostly for how to handle looping a song after it's intro plays, as well as finding ways to add effects to tracks!

Other Breeze things:

I’ve been working on getting shirts done through Teespring, and I would have loved to show off some of the shirts I ordered, but Teespring shipped them using DHL, and somewhere between DHL and USPS, my shirts have been sitting in shipping limbo for 5-6 days, despite being like a city or two away from me… Maybe tomorrow ~

Also, working on a couple of enamel pin designs! Haven’t figured out the maker yet, but designs are coming along nicely!

Quick Test Build Coming

So, a week or two ago, I planned on releasing a quick build for the Drop Tier backers and above. There was a lot of features and such that I wanted to get done... before my computer stuff happened. Our goal was to have one out before the end up March, so....

I’m going to release one anyway. Maybe tomorrow?

I’ll be creating a post for those in the eligible tiers once I’m done compiling/building it! Please keep in mind that this build will be very minimal and exists to test out controls/physics. I wanted to make a strong first impression, but I'll chill on the whole "striving for perfection" thing for now!

Also, I'm on vacation this week, so I'll be cramming on Breeze stuff this whole week to make up for lost time!

[darkhymns-fic]

Heal with a Smooch

Robo wants to get better at healing. If a kiss can heal, could he learn that too?

Fandom: Chrono Trigger Characters/Pairing: Lucca/Robo, Crono, Marle, Ayla, Frog Rating: G Mirror Links: AO3 Notes: Mainly @taco-night-frenzy‘s fic idea, who is also writing several other CT fics that I was inspired from so go read those thank you.

To better one’s own capabilities was a natural human instinct. And Robo, a creation of humans, possessed that same instinct. Upgrading his parameters and various tools came with the program (so to speak). Especially when one needed said skills to improve so they can more efficiently help their friends.

Fighting against a particularly nasty reptite that refused to be taken down in quick succession, Crono had taken the brunt of the creature’s attacks. Robo hadn’t had a chance to heal him during the scuffle, sensing that his usual lasers were not operating correctly. It was something he would have to discuss with Lucca later, if she had enough energy to give him the proper repairs.

The battle was over, and Crono was on one knee, his sword still clenched in his right hand, though in a limp manner. Robo felt guilty that he could not help his friend! Perhaps he truly was defective? Not even a genius like Lucca could fix what was ultimately so broken at the core.

“Crono hurt!” someone shouted – the cavewoman that had joined them not so long ago. Rushing on all fours, she appeared at Crono’s side and then, before the other could react, took the young man’s face in both her hands. “Ayla heal! Crono feel good.”

To what Robo could surmise from the interaction, it appeared that the woman was pressing her lips against Crono’s own. Robo had never seen such an action before, though he could already detect Crono’s body temperature levels had risen quite considerably. Once Ayla stepped back, Crono’s face was as red as his hair, but he was also standing on both legs, any obvious cuts and scrapes he once had now completely healed over. Robo theorized that this could not be magic, such as Marle’s healing capabilities, nor was it a product of science as for his own healing beams. Yet, it proved to be just as effective, if not more so.

Lucca was laughing nearby, while Marle had also gone red in the face. Her breath huffed in a bit of an erratic pace though she said nothing. Ayla still heard her however, instantly turning.

“Marle hurt too?” Ayla wasted no time in going over to her. “Ayla give heal! Ayla give kiss!”

“What? I’m not hurt I’m just mffhfptt!”

So this is called a kiss? It seems such a simple maneuver, yet it clearly has demonstrable healing properties, rooted in neither magic nor technology. Robo assessed this new information into his system, making sure to observe the act a second time as Ayla performed it on Marle. The princess eventually stepped back, a bit flustered while Ayla grinned wide. If I could learn such a thing, I could prove to be more useful to my friends when they need it most.

“Hey, Robo. I saw you having some trouble in the fight earlier.” Lucca was next to him, giving him a friendly smile. There was a small scrape on her cheek, not at all life-threatening or even that painful, yet he wished he could heal that away without the use of circuitry. “Let’s take a break and see what we can fix up.”

He nodded to that politely, deciding to further analyze the effects of healing kisses for another time. “Yes, Lucca. You are too kind.”

Traveling to another time period confirmed to Robo that a healing kiss was not merely restricted to the stone age.

“Lady Lucca!” spoke Frog, quickly sheathing Masamune. “You are injured! Allow me to heal you in whatever way I can.”

Lucca had been slashed at her side by a monster. The claws had not done significant damage, due to the armor she wore, but it had been enough to draw a little bit of blood. Robo was already preparing his healing lasers before Frog had interrupted.

“It’s okay. Let’s just quickly focus on beating this OH GOD!”

Frog very suddenly extended his long tongue straight to Lucca’s face. She paled quite extremely as the appendage made contact, coating her cheek in saliva. Still, with that, the blood had gone away, and Robo noted that Lucca gripped her gun with more ease.

“I apologize for such crude methods,” Frog said somberly. “But I have discovered long ago what the abilities of my form can do. You should be well now.”

Lucca remained still, chin dripping with icky slime. “Thanks… Frog…”

After their battle ended, Ayla ran over to Frog with a light in her eyes. “Frog has same heal as Ayla! Ayla and Frog heal together!”

Frog pondered this new proposal as he rubbed his chin, his eyes just as bright – though most likely due to the fact that Frog’s eyes were quite big and their shade of yellow happened to catch the light more easily. “You bring up an interesting idea, Miss Ayla. By combining our healing techniques, we can better heal others as well.”  

Ayla nodded to that. “Ayla strong! Frog strong! Ayla and Frog heal strong too!”

Robo noted the creation of the healing duo and, strangely, felt a bit envious. Robots were not to feel or understand such emotions, yet the definition in his memory banks told him that this was what he was experiencing at this exact moment. He was envious that the two could heal naturally, and that they could make it even better by working together. If only he needn’t rely on his own limited capabilities…

Another fight followed shortly after. The monsters had been high in number, prompting the magic-users to unleash powerful spells that engulfed the entire field. Even so, Robo saw some of his friends sustain numerous injuries, straining his lasers to their peak. Once it was over, wounds still needed to be treated.

“Ayla and Frog heal good!” Ayla motioned to Frog, who looked to her in complete understanding. “Heal good!”

“Yes. Let us both heal away your troubles with our Slurp Kiss!”

Crono, Marle and Lucca instantly blanched. The women protested while Crono remained still in what seemed to be shock. Ah, Robo thought, the poor man must have been more injured than I realized!

Once everyone was drenched in saliva, including Robo, who was busy wiping away the substance from his optics, both Ayla and Frog stood among their friends with pride. Robo already felt much more invigorated than before! Truly, this was an amazing power!

“…I think I need a bath…” Marle said. Lucca was shaking, and Crono continued to remain standing in place, though he was less pale than before, all injuries gone.

Robo decided then that he would learn this ‘kissing,’ so that he could better help others.

“Um, Robo, what are you doing?”

The group had gone back to the present time for the moment, so that they could be in more familiar terrain for at least a majority of the group. Lucca’s parents were very accommodating, barely blinking an eye at the woman in fur clothing, or the frog with exceedingly polite speech. Lucca’s father was especially amazed at Robo, bombarding the machine with questions regarding his nature and equipment until Lucca had to shoo him away.

Currently, it looked like Lucca was about to shoo Robo away too, eyebrow raised as he carefully plunked his forehead against her helmet. “I am practicing the kissing technique. It is rather difficult, as I do not possess the necessary parts to make it more effective.” He said the last with a bit of disappointment.

“Kissing?” Lucca gawked, a slow flush building up to her cheeks. Robo was still locked in his position, forehead to forehead with Lucca. She took a step back, prompting Robo to raise his head. “Why would you want that? Your healing lasers are already effective!”

Robo tried to put his feelings into words. “But… can it not be better? Should I not upgrade my capabilities to reflect our current situation? I feel that perhaps I am simply not doing my part, not how both Ayla and Frog have been able to.”

Lucca gave her robot a friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I mean, if you really wanted to kiss, I’d have to fashion a pair of lips for you and –” her body shook at that, cheeks puffed in amusement – “I don’t think it’s the right look for you.”

Robo wondered. He had analyzed the possibility of having such parts built, though perhaps Lucca knew best on what operations worked for him. Still, he wished he could do more. Perhaps there was another way…

“I can work on your healing lasers some more, if that’s what you’re worried about. You’re already doing great, I promise you that.”

Robo only half-heard, thinking of certain avenues, but he nodded to Lucca’s suggestions. “If that is no trouble.”

“It never is, Robo.”

What he had surmised from both Ayla and Frog was that their healing kisses contained a wealth of emotion in them. Ayla’s was with incredible passion (as he had been witness to when she kissed several of their friends) and Frog’s with the utmost justice, always making sure to give an apology before he initiated.

Robots were not supposed to have emotions, but he had long ago accepted that was what he possessed. Even Lucca, whom he trusted most, assured him this was so.

His deep care for his friends would be enough to heal away their injuries without any side effects. He was sure of it!

“Crono!” shouted Marle, already putting away her crossbow. “You need to be more careful!”

Crono only gave a weak nod, his body now worse for wear after withstanding numerous magical attacks. He turned to Marle expectantly. This would be about the time that Marle would do a healing spell on him, all while both Frog and Ayla were a bit distracted with defeating another monster.

However, this was when Robo saw his opportunity.

“Worry not, Crono!” he shouted from across the field, his body already in forward motion towards his friend. “I have perfected my kissing techniques and will heal you to the maximum output!”

The earth shook with Robo’s frenzied footsteps. Crono slowly turned his head to find the gigantic machine rush over to him like a fast-coming boulder. His hands raised up with a bit of a flailing motion.

Oh no! Crono was so injured that he was losing control of his motor coordination skills! He had to hurry!

With a quick motion, Robo gripped both of Crono’s shoulders, then leaned down quickly to complete the act as soon as possible. He poured all his care for his friends, his desire to save the world from the bleak future that he was from, to make Lucca proud at just what he could do. Stars filled his vision at the action. Kiss complete!

Thud!

Confused, Robo stepped back. There was a bruise on Crono’s forehead that had not been there before. Reeling backwards, Crono promptly landed on his back, sword flinging from his outstretched hand. Everyone stood around both robot and now unconscious man, mouths agape in shock. Even their enemies could only stare at the sight.

Robo beeped in embarrassment, bringing a hand to the back of his head. “Oh. Um. Pardon.”

As they camped that night, Robo watched as Marle laid an icepack on Crono’s head. He was no longer unconscious, but he had to lay down on his back to avoid any dizzying effects.

“No one’s mad at you, Robo.”

He turned, finding Lucca seated nearby. She was fiddling with an open compartment in his arm, screwdriver poking at unseen sections as she worked her genius.

“But… instead of trying to save my friends, I have only hurt them instead.” He lowered his head, feeling an unseen weight on his form, yet no, that was not logical at all. “A defective robot can only do so much, I suppose.”

“You are not defective. Now stop with that.” She made sure to slap his arm gently, compounding it with her words. “You’ve helped plenty during all this. You know that.”

Robo would not reply. He only kept going over the reasons why his kiss didn’t work. He didn’t have the necessary parts, he did not perform the action correctly, or he truly could not express any love or care into it. Perhaps, he had only fooled himself into thinking he had emotions when he really didn’t at all…

There was a motion to his left side, where Lucca was. She sat up on her knees to plant a kiss on his facial compartments. Something sparked within his circuitry – not literally, but that was the term that came forth to him immediately. He turned to Lucca, finding her nervously smiling.

“See? I can’t do it either.” She shrugged, still gripping the screwdriver in her hand. “We can both be weak kissers together.” A pause. “Wait, that… that didn’t come out right!”

Robo felt… touched. Another term that came up so suddenly. With a gentle motion, he laid his head against Lucca’s, mimicking what he had tried to do the other night. A soft plunk! concluded his action before he softly lifted away from her. He detected a quickening heart-rate coming from Lucca. Perhaps she was a bit sick? He should make sure that she did not overwork herself for at least a few hours.

“I find myself always saying this but, at the risk of sounding repetitive… thank you, Lucca.” He felt lighter, despite knowing how his parts weighed approximately 5 tons. He would have to wonder at that later. “I feel… much better.”

Lucca smiled again, more widely this time. She copied his action, plunking her helmet against his head. “It’s no trouble, Robo. Really.”

[ahappyevent]

Atomic habits, part 1

At the beginning of Jan, as I just finished Atomic habits, by James Clear I promised you girls a summary of the book. For that it meant I needed to re-read it, at least partially (I initially listened to the audiobook, realised I like the book too much so I ordered the paper print copy of it). But wait, what??? that meant I needed to stop reading other books and my list is long :) ...so guess what, it is mid march and only now I’m getting to it, and it still feels I’m doing a sacrilege for not reading my “normal” read for tonight. Hahah, the idiosyncrasies of me.

Here goes, part 1, first 4 chapters.

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Chapter 1. The surprising power of atomic habits

1% better every day > the effects of small habits compound over time. If you can get just 1% better each day, you’ll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after 1 year.

Unfortunately the slow pace of transformation also makes it easy to let a bad habit slide.

Success is the product of daily habits - not once in a lifetime transformations. It doesn’t matter how successful of unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is whether your habits are putting you on the path towards success. You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.

Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits.

The plateau of latent potential - we often expect progress to be linear. At the very least, we hope it will come quickly. In reality, the results of our efforts are often delayed. It is not until months or years later that we realise the true value of the previous work we have done. This can result in a “valley of disappointment” where people feel discouraged after putting in weeks or months of hard work without experiencing any results. However, this work was not wasted. It was simply being stored. It is not until much later that the full value of previous efforts is revealed.

Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient.

FORGET ABOUT GOALS, FOCUS ON THE SYSTEM INSTEAD

Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement.

You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems > inspired by the following quote from Archilochus: “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”

Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which is why understanding the details is essential.

An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results.

Chapter 2. How your habits shape your identity (and vice versa)

Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.

There are three layers of behaviour change: a change in your outcomes, a change in your processes, or a change in your identity.

The first layer is changing your outcomes. This level is concerned with changing your results. The second layer is changing your process. This level is concerned with changing your habits and systems. The third and deepest layer is changing your identity. This level is concerned with changing your beliefs.

Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe. When it comes to building habits, the problem is the direction of change. Many people begin the process by focusing on what they want to change > outcome-based habits. Alternative is to start from the core - our identity.

With outcome-based habits, the focus is on what you want to achieve. With identity-based habits, the focus is on who you wish to become.                

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity.

It is a simple two-step process: Decide the type of person you want to be. Prove it to yourself with small wins.                              

Ask yourself, “Who is the type of person that could get the outcome I want?”

The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.

Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

True behaviour change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.

The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself… fundamentally they are not about having something. They are about becoming someone.      

Chapter 3. How to build better habits in 4 simple steps

A habit is a behaviour that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little energy and effort as possible.

The Habit Loop

Any habit can be broken down into a feedback loop that involves four steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.

The four stages of habit are best described as a feedback loop. They form an endless cycle that is running every moment you are alive. This “habit loop” is continually scanning the environment, predicting what will happen next, trying out different responses, and learning from the results. In summary, the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue.

1. CUE - triggers the brain to initiate a behaviour. The cue predicts a reward and so it naturally leads to a craving.

2. CRAVING - the motivational force behind every habit. What you crave is not the habit itself (i.e. smoking) but the change in state it delivers (i.e release of anxiety).

3. RESPONSE - the actual habit; depends on how motivated you are and how much friction is associated with the behaviour, also depends on your ability.

4. REWARD - it satisfies the craving; it teaches us which actions are worth repeating in the future.

The Four Laws of Behaviour Change are a simple set of rules we can use to:

> build better habits. (1) make it obvious - the cue, (2) make it attractive - the craving, (3) make it easy - the response, and (4) make it satisfying - the reward.  

> break bad habits. (1) make it invisible - the cue, (2) make it unattractive - the craving, (3) make it difficult - the response, and (4) make it unsatisfying - the reward.          

Chapter 4 - The Man who didn’t look right

With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it. Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing. The process of behaviour change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.”

“Pointing-and-Calling” raises your level of awareness from a non conscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalising your actions. One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing. This helps explain why the consequences of bad habits can sneak up on us. We need a “point-and-call” system for our personal lives.

The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behaviour > make a list of daily habits, once you have it rate each one as good habit (+), bad habit (-) or neutral habit (=).

If you’re having trouble determining how to rate a particular habit, ask yourself: ‘Does this behaviour help me become the type of person I wish to be? Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?’      

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Part 2 coming soon, hopefully it doesn’t take me 2 months :)... talk about habits formation haha!

Love, 

Mama

[hansikar-things]

What is SEO and how it functions

Website design enhancement represents the Search Engine Optimization. It is the way toward advancing your site to cause it to show up on the principal page of Search Engines when a client looks for the key terms that are pertinent to your business.

Web optimization is an on-going procedure that improves permeability and positioning of your site or a website page in the natural web index results introduced in Google or different stages.

Search engine optimization means to build the amount and nature of the traffic to your site. The advancement part of SEO manages a progression of steps that must be taken to rank higher on Google to get free natural traffic.

Internet searcher is tied in with giving clients significant and exhaustive substance. It utilizes bots to foresee the sort of substance its clients are searching for utilizing the bots most popular as crawlers. They meander around the net and break down all the substances they can discover. The crawlers come back to their motor and include the gathered data to their hunt file.

Streamlining your site implies:

To guarantee that web crawlers can without much of a stretch access and file your site.

To have an excellent substance that coordinates the aim of the searcher

To assist crawlers with understanding the structure of your sit

To make it simpler for web index bots to comprehend the significance or setting of your substance

To make web indexes calculations accept that your webpage is reliable and has all the basic characteristics to be positioned.

How to accomplish web search tools work?

Web crawlers perform three significant capacities:

Slither: The disclosure procedure wherein web indexes convey a group of robots to discover new and refreshed substance. The substance can differ – it could be a page, a picture, a video or a PDF, and so on, yet paying little mind to the arrangement, joins found content.

List: Once your website creeps, presently, those little insects accumulate data from your site page and tell web crawlers what your webpage is about. It includes your website page into Google search

Rank: After the social event all the required data, the internet searcher utilizes its unpredictable calculation to rank your webpage, thinking about its substance quality, site structure, dependability, and notoriety.

When you see how the web crawler functions, you should figure out how to improve your webpage with the goal that it tends to be positioned in the top position. Here is the rundown of things that you have to do to cause your site to show up on the principal page of web search tools.

Catchphrase Research

The first and most significant activity before considering streamlining your page is catchphrase inquire about. There are a few outsider apparatuses accessible to cause you to comprehend what precisely individuals are searching for. Also, utilize those very words in your substance to streamline it additionally.

Since you know your essential catchphrases, you will need to utilize those careful watchwords on your substance without sounding too malicious.

Google gets equivalent words and the connections between words. So as opposed to utilizing similar words over and over, you can fill your substance with other comparative words and expressions. That way, your composing will stream normally and interest the perusers keeping them connected from the start.

On-Page Optimization

In the wake of finishing your Google SEO watchword look into, you will have a rundown of catchphrases you need to focus with. You should guarantee your catchphrases show up in your substance. Trying too hard can destroy your substance and cause it to show up nasty.

These are where you can incorporate fundamental watchwords:

Body of the content: While composing your substance, you should utilize watchwords yet recall not to utilize similar catchphrases often as it will exhaust perusers. You can include adjusting catchphrases (eg. Best, top) and long-tail catchphrases.

Title: Including the watchword in your title will upgrade your CTR from the SERP. 

Subheads: The important spots to put your Google SEO watchwords are subheads or H2 headings.

That is not it. Continuously make sure to include watchwords in:

Meta Title: Put strong catchphrases in your meta title to cause it to show up in list items

Meta portrayal: You should compose a drawing in meta depiction with applicable watchwords to help your active clicking factor.

Picture document names/ALT properties: First of all, you should alluring and engaging pictures in your Google SEO content, so individuals make the most of your compositions. Utilize the catchphrase in your document names and ALT credit to characterize your image among the clients and web crawlers with the fundamental watchword.

Stay content: In request to make it simpler for Google crawlers to discover and rank your page, you should connect your new page with a few different pages of your site utilizing the catchphrase as the grapple content.

Off-Page SEO

When you fix your on-page SEO, there are likewise off-page SEO factors that you should deal with to make an effect on your positioning. Off-page SEO is tied in with making clients and web crawlers accept that your website is well known, significant, and trust-commendable.

Every one of these elements assumes a noteworthy job in the positioning of your site. Even though you don't have direct power over these things, you can take certain activities like advancing and connecting your webpage in the legitimate spaces on the web (pages, destinations, individuals, and so on.) That way, you can adequately vouch for the nature of your substance, 

Although the inquiry calculations and positioning variables are habitually changing, the page's capacity to rank profoundly relies on the importance, dependability, and authority of your site. Half of your variable positioning weight is dictated by your off-site SEO related elements.

Connections and Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO all about creating backlinks. The site with some top-notch backlinks will normally rank superior to other equivalent destinations with fewer backlinks. Internet searcher utilizes backlinks as signs of the connection to substance's quality, and when you interface your webpage with others great substance, Google expects your substance to be as astounding as your connected ones.

There are fundamentally three sorts of connections that are characterized by how are they are earned:

Common connections: When connections are normally given with no activity from the page proprietor, at that point, it is called characteristic connections. For instance: If somebody shares your substance because of its pertinence in their field, it is known as regular connections.

Physically constructed joins: When you take activities to advance your site like requesting that influencers share your substance, proposing clients connect to your site, it is called physically manufactured connections.

Self-made connections: These are the sorts of connections made when you include backlinks in a blog remarks, online catalog, discussion, public statement, and so on. Be that as it may, don't try too hard, something else, Google will think of it as a dark cap SEO. Your site will, in general, look malicious in that sense.

Google quantifies the nature of your backlinks by looking at factors like the connecting site's notoriety, reliability, and authority. It additionally checks relatedness between connecting site's subject and the site being connected to, the freshness of the connection, nature of the stay content utilized on the connecting site, the number of different connections on the connecting page.

Non-interface related off-site SEO

Other than procuring joins from an outside site, you can likewise rehearse methodologies like Social Media Marketing, Guest blogging, Influencer marketing, Mention connected, and unlinked brands to improve your rankings. Off-page SEO is tied in with affecting web index and client observation in regards to your webpage's quality. On the off chance that you win their trust and assemble a trustworthy position, your site will rank easily.

Specialized SEO

You will require the assistance of specialized SEO to get to, creep, decipher, and file your site no problem at all. Specialized SEO has nothing to do with site advancement or the specific substance of the site. It is tied in with improving the foundation of the site. You should improve site speed, cause your site versatile inviting, to make simple route and site structure, upgrade your URL structure, Robots.txt, XML Sitemap under specialized SEO. Every one of these practices helps your site arrive at its maximum capacity and will, at last, improve the positioning of your site.

Conclusion

Continuously remember that SEO is a moderate procedure and sets aside some effort to do something amazing. You will have to work for a considerable length of time to encounter the advantages of SEO. Notwithstanding, every one of these practices merits your opportunity to fabricate a maintainable online business that carries constant natural traffic for quite a long time to come.

[specindiablog]

AR And IoT Merger: A Promise For Better Connected World

This content is originally published here ​We envision a future where everything will be connected. No matter what business case is, technologies are completely remodeling business structures. Every organization is exploring various technologies and combinations of technologies to become one of the trendsetters out there. Whatever we say, we can’t deny the fact that technology is leading the way. From farms, fields, to the factories and rooms, digitization is everywhere. Technologies and concepts such as IoT, AR/VR, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data have already disrupted the industry with faster and efficient ways of working. If we talk about the current status of IoT and try to predict the future, here is the eye-opening statistics from Statista. "​According to Statista the installed base of the Internet of Things devices is estimated to grow to almost 31 billion in 2020."

IoT is all set to redefine the way industry works and communicates. Top of this, the tech world is experimenting the never-before scenarios by combining the technologies and innovative concepts, for an instance, IoT and AR, IoT and AI, IoT and DevOps, and so on.​

AR And IoT: Merely Hype OR An Era Of Innovation?

What do you feel?

Are you interested to know what our experts are saying? Let’s explore this combination and dig a little more into this topic.

Does IoT Mean Only Automation? No, It’s More Than That

When it comes to Internet of Things, we believe it is all about automation. That’s correct. But in the underlying model, there is a great potential to remodel the existing enterprise processes structure.

IoT Is Continuous Connectivity And Communication

Today, every industry vertical has plans to invest more in technologies to stay ahead of the competition. Furthermore, concepts like IoT, where there will be more focus on machine-driven and data-driven environments; industries are embracing this shift and willing to become part of the digital revolution.

But those are very less. Let us make it clear.

According to one Deloitte report,

"Only 14 percent of CXOs are highly confident their organizations are ready to fully leverage industry 4.0 changes."

"Also, a quarter of CXOs surveyed are certain they have the right workforce and skills sets needed for the future, while 84 percent saying they are putting every possible effort to create a workforce for Industry 4.0."

​If you are not aware of the term Industry 4.0, read on to know that.

​Industry 4.0 is the fourth revolution that talks about the advanced and automated ways to work. This term is broadly recognized as the digital transformation that will impact society, people, and business.

Embrace The Way Future Brings: IoT + Augmented Reality

This is a world where ideas become trends at a fast pace like never before.

"Today is the time where big organizations are betting big on augmented reality."

Augmented reality has already crossed boundaries beyond entertainment. According to this report from Statista, by this year ends, AR devices are estimated to generate 54 billion U.S. dollars in revenue.

Certainly, IoT will change the way industry work, but when combined with AR, the industry will be speaking the language of automation. It is time to explore the possible use cases of AR and IoT.

IoT gives real-time access to data and AR can help blur the line between the physical and digital world.

​Where This Merger Can Be Used? Are You Interested To Become An Early Adopter?

Well, there are endless possibilities.

For example, the physical IoT devices can provide real-time data and that data can be visualized more precisely using augmented reality on mobile devices.

Learning Will Be More Accurate, Engaging, And Interactive

Many potential use cases of this merger are under development and one of them is learning.

Learning is a constant, on-demand, and interactive process. At present, a number of apps and tools are offering immersive experiences to the learners. Physical learning spaces are being transformed into more interactive, live, and appealing environments with an aim to enhance learning.

​AR-IoT combination will make learning more powerful with the use of fully-immersive guidelines, tutorials, objects, and communications.

Production And Manufacturing Industries Can See Huge Benefits With AR Visualization And IoT Connectivity

To understand this, you need to understand the following fact.

"IoT generates a large number of data and AR can help visualize that with the help of immersive surroundings"

Augmented Reality and Internet of Things merger in the manufacturing industry can bring competitive advantages. Put it simply, the data gathered by IoT devices can be visualized through AR to maximize its visibility and usability.

As per this source, DHL’s logistic division DHL supply chain has recently announced that it is going to invest $300 million in emerging technologies like RPA(Robotics Process Automation), IoT, and AR.

“This investment is about a holistic view of emerging technologies that enable our customers to achieve their growth and profitability goals,” said DHL Supply Chain North America CEO Scott Sureddin when asked for this technology upgrade.

One more example from the manufacturing industry, global manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. uses AR for their engineers to complete maintenance tasks more effectively.

​Here’s the video from Caterpillar Inc. representing the use of IoT and AR:

​AR-IoT technologies make experiences more meaningful and effective by providing smart, real-time, and intelligent insights. It would open door to the new possibilities that can offer predictive maintenance, automation, preventive actions, and overall enhanced experience.

Retail Transactions Will Be More Customer-Focused And Engaging

Retail is already thriving with the help of business intelligence, big data, IoT, and AR/VR. In order to offer a seamless shopping experience, retailers are capitalizing on next-level technologies.

In addition to that, such a merger of AR and IoT can be leveraged to offer more personalized and interactive shopping experience. Video from Microsoft can help understand that:

Healthcare Industry Will Be Considerably Benefited By This Combination

Augmented reality has already paved the way in the healthcare industry by giving 360-degree, immersive, and the digital environment in the physical world. It gives detailed understanding, transparency, and accuracy to the doctors, patients and also to the medical students in learning.

With the use of various IoT devices and sensors, organizations are able to gather patients’ data and records for better study and diagnosis in the real-time. Patients become more aware of their health situations with the help of the fitness activity trackers.

Healthcare organizations can use these records and visualize with the help of augmented reality to create better healthcare plans.

Designers, Architectures Will Bring More Accuracy To Their Designs And Plans

Many of us are already aware of how IKEA is leveraging AR to offer the best customer experience. AR is there, but when merged with IoT, it gives meticulous and real-time insights to designers and architectures to create plans for factories, societies, and cities.

Interior designers also can use the profitable mixture of AR and IoT to observe inner and outer surfaces and then come up with suitable designs. Architectures can use data from IoT enabled devices and get access to the newest possibilities of designs considering the overall structure of building/space. This video shows how virtual elements give a superior experience in understanding the process.

​​As we are moving towards the more connected world, the combination of Internet of Things and Augmented Reality is gaining the attention of entrepreneurs, industrialists, industry leaders, and venture capitalists.

What This IoT-AR Blend Will Offer?

The fourth industry revolution is here.

These emerging technologies are here to stay and it will have a major impact on how people work and communicate.

The Benefits Of The IoT AR Merger Are:

Safety and Efficiency: The enterprises will be ensuring a safe, efficient, and correct way to accomplish transactions.

Visualization: Through the use of AR devices, visualization of data or an object can gain the attraction of users.

Standardization: At each level, every transaction will be analyzed, examined, and visualized before proceeding further.

New Revenue Streams: You will able to take more insightful and real-time decisions that will help your business grow with new revenue channels.

Rapidity: All transactions can be completed faster with superior efficiency and quality.

Simplified decision-making: Real-time decisions for all complex procedures.

There are some barriers to beat in this AR-enabled IoT implementation.

At present, the following factors can be hurdles if you are thinking to become the first mover:

The high-speed networks which are pricey

Trained resources and support team

Need for suitable hardware equipment at each enterprise level

Frequently changes and replacements of technologies

No sufficient proof of concepts for better understanding

Digital infrastructure needs to be apt, efficient, and ready for the change

Technologies Made Us Think What Our Future Looks Like.

These types of mergers will recreate business models. But, before you jump into the implementation of those, you need to analyze every factor and then decide whether your organization is compatible with the technology shift or not.

Enterprises need to adopt such advanced technologies in order to drive business growth. IoT and AR can have boundless use cases if used correctly. If you have any idea in your mind or you wish to be an early adopter, you can take the help of IoT experts who not only know these technologies thoroughly but can suggest some potential use cases keeping your requirements at the center.

It’s time to gain a competitive advantage; take your first step with us!

[mshellbrat]

                                              banner by: Arienhod

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait but life is super super busy and stressful right now. This is the second chapter of my second story in the “Anything” verse...my Olicity Arrow/BTVS xover verse. I hope you like it and I would love to know what you think! I’m also feeling completely scatterbrained so please excuse any typos...lol. 

Also, if you would like to be tagged when I post new work please let me know!

Chapter Summary:  The tour of the Slayer Headquarters continues and Felicity faces her first challenge from her slayer sisters.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!...except my original characters... :-)

Here goes!

The situation was somewhat awkward. It was a first meeting and she'd brought along two notorious American celebrities. Besides, she was Felicity and she was awkward on a good day. This was before you added in the bonus of her half-vampire cousin. Then Meredith actually arrived and was forced to endure their questioning and vetting process and then there was 'The Shirt'. Meredith was never going to stop whining.

“WHY must I wear this?” Meredith continued to grumble even though the rest of the group had taken to outright ignoring her now. She yanked at 'The Shirt' she was being forced to wear. It was a bright red t-shirt with the words 'DO NOT SLAY' written on both front and back in bold white print. Meredith was not amused. “I'm a geek, you know? I get the reference. I'm not wearing the red shirt!”

Oliver, damn him, smirked at her. “Actually you are.”

Felicity elbowed him in the side and threw her cousin a pleading look. “They don't know you, Mere. You are in a building stuffed full of slayers. Can you just try to be patient?”

Meredith glared back at her.

“New slayers are called on a regular basis,” Rona explained. “Willow's spell is still active. We're not sure the exact catalyst, but once potentials reach a certain point the spell activates their potential and they become slayers. We've had newbies as young as eleven in the past. Our current youngest is Aline. She's a twelve-year-old from Brazil.”

Felicity took this all in and nodded. She wondered again what made her so deficient that the spell waited until she was twenty-three. She felt Oliver's hand curl around her waist and realized he must have noticed something change in her expression. The man knew her too flipping well.

“The majority of them are quickly located via the Witches' Council and shipped here for basic training and instruction.” Her expression when she faced Meredith was serious. “But these are still very young girls who have supernatural abilities and instincts. Those instincts will tell them that you are the enemy. That shirt is to keep you from getting jumped by the baby slayers. The distinction between Possessed and Traditional, as well as between full-vampire and half-vampire, is still beyond most of these girls.”

Felicity frowned. “But I'm a baby slayer, right? I've only been called a couple of weeks. I wouldn't have attacked Meredith even if she wasn't my cousin.”

“You're also a mature rational grown woman,” Rona stared at her in disbelief. “You're not a pre-teen who just got turned into Supergirl and thinks she can blindly follows her instincts.”

“And your training has been unorthodox,” Riley added. “Your mentors are Pures. A dear friend turned out to be a witch. A half-vampire is your cousin. You've been exposed to things these girls have not.”

“They've been sheltered,” Rona agreed. “We don't even consider placement on one of our field slayer teams until a girl has reached sixteen-years-old. They're only exposed to the supernatural under very controlled settings.”

Meredith huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, I'll wear the damn shirt until they get use to me.” She pointed her finger at Rona. “But I'm not going anywhere. Felicity is my responsibility. And,” her lips curled, “I'm not afraid of a bunch of rabid pre-teen girls. I'm meaner than them.”

Felicity shuddered and made a pained face. “I remember you as a pre-teen girl and you were probably meaner than them back then.” If the slayer remembered correctly, there'd been an incident with Meredith's friend group, some poor boy, and them doing a song and dance of “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC in the school hallway that led to her cousin almost getting expelled.

Meredith grinned. “Exactly.”

Choosing to ignore that, Rona pushed open the door to a massive and impressive training room. Felicity would have been gaping...except honestly the one under The Bronze was pretty impressive too. Her expectations were set somewhat high by this point. Still, it definitely beat their training equipment at the lair so that was something.

“Wow,” Thea muttered. Thea, who had not as yet seen the facilities under The Bronze.

Felicity nodded and smiled and tried to look really impressed. Oliver looked pissy. She could practically feel him thinking about upgrades he could make to the lair. She squeezed his hand where it was still wrapped around her waist to distract him and then noticed something. “OH! Salmon Ladder!” She hopped excitedly and pointed it out to Oliver. That made him crack a smile which was totally worth the embarrassment of everyone else looking at her like she was a little special.

“You do realize you are perfectly capable of doing the salmon ladder yourself now, right?” Oliver leaned close and spoke next to her ear.

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Not nearly as much as fun. I prefer the spectator role on that one.”

She could feel his breath on her skin when he spoke again. “Maybe I want to watch you do it.”

The slayer snorted. “You just want to watch me bust my ass.” She turned to look at him and noticed the heat in his stare. She gulped. “Or...you know...not?” And then he grinned...and Felicity bit her lip nervously because he was not supposed to look at her like that...or at least not in public! Bad Oliver!

“Could you two stop it?” Thea drawled and made a face. “I'd like to keep down my lunch.”

“Preach,” Meredith agreed.

Felicity pursed her lips and turned determinedly back toward the front. “There is nothing to stop.” She lifted her brows and looked to Rona. “Can we continue the wonderful tour?”

Rona was frowning at Oliver. She dragged her gaze back to Felicity. “The Bitchettes are gonna hate you. Hell, I've already got a hot boyfriend and I almost hate you.”

Felicity frowned confused. “Huh?”

“I refuse to hate you,” Macey told her happily. “Because I'm nice and you're CUTE!” She leaned closer to Felicity and lowered her voice. “I'm totally gonna drool over the man candy though.”

Felicity just nodded and went with it. “Sure.”

Rona sighed and rolled her eyes. She waved around the room. “You obviously seem to have some idea of training equipment and layout. Not surprising when you've been training with Pures.”

“I wish I got to train with Pures,” Macey grumbled.

“Hand-to-hand, close combat weapons training,” Rona pointed out the different areas, “strength and endurance.” She paused and looked at Felicity to make sure the new slayer was keeping up.

Felicity forced a big smile and gave her a thumbs up. “It's not a big tire you can beat with a sledgehammer, but I guess it'll do.”

Thea snickered and Oliver poked her in the side.

Macey frowned. “Dare does that?” Then she tilted her head to the side and her eyes lit up with interest. “Does he do it shirtless?”

Felicity and Thea both snickered at Oliver's expense.

Rona glared at her blonde companion. “Macey, could you try looking less like a boy-crazed ditz? Focus!” Once the blonde huffed offended, Rona looked back to Felicity. “I've called some of the slayer captains in to meet you. Maria should be rounding them up now. Once we get the introductions out of the way, they can break it down to their teams so they know who not to slay,” she notched her chin toward Meredith, “and who not to climb like a tree,” she looked pointedly at Oliver.

“Slayer captains?” Felicity wondered.

“We split the girls into teams,” Rona explained. “Senior slayers are chosen to head up the teams and supervise and mentor their team members. We can't all just look to Buffy. We needed a functioning hierarchy and chain of command.”

“Will I be assigned to a team?” Felicity asked. She really didn't know if she wanted to be assigned to a team. Would she be getting ordered around by a teenager?

Rona grinned. “No, Felicity, you're here as a courtesy. You have a life back in Starling and we're not messing with that.”

“You might end up leading a team,” Macey pointed out. Felicity looked at her wide-eyed and Macey smiled like that was good news. “You're protecting an active hellmouth. When things start getting all hinky you're gonna need help. Buffy will probably assign you slayers.”

THAT did not sound good. THAT was not good news! Felicity gulped. “But...”

“There are two slayer teams in Edencrest,” Meredith added with a look at her cousin, “one run by Elise Stephens and the other run by some chick named Kennedy. But it is the biggest current active hellmouth. They need two teams. We don't.”

Rona looked Meredith over surprised. “You know slayers?”

Felicity waved that off because she didn't CARE about catching Rona up on Meredith's backstory. “I don't need slayers!” she insisted. “I have Dare and Cross and Meredith and Oliver and Thea and Roy and Case and Digg!”

Rona shrugged. “We'll see.” And that didn't sound nearly definitive enough for Felicity. The last thing she needed was super-powered teenage girls to start showing up on her doorstep and looking to HER to lead them!

“I've been a slayer less than two weeks!” She stomped her foot in a fit of pique.

Oliver pulled her back against his chest and rested his chin on her shoulder. He hugged her to him. “Felicity, breathe. We'll handle it.”

Felicity ground her teeth. “Fine! But if they start showing up, YOU get to lead the slayers. I'll swap you for Roy.”

Thea laughed out loud. “Can I tell him that? I'm pretty sure he'll be down.” She pulled out her phone and started to text her boyfriend. “He's still terrified you're gonna stick him with Team Lance. He'd rather face certain death every night than take orders from Laurel.”

Felicity's eyes narrowed. “Laurel does not get to give orders.”

Thea snorted. “Someone might want to remind her of that. She texted Roy what time he needed to be at the lair for a team meeting tonight. He threatened to go back to jacking cars to get enough money to buy himself a plane ticket to London. He says he's officially Team Supernatural.”

“He is,” Felicity said. “Roy goes where you go.”

Thea smiled at her affectionately. “There's a reason I like you.”

“Aww...” Macey leaned up against Rona and spoke softly, “they have their own little team. They have a Scooby Gang.”

Rona shook her head. “I don't even want to know.” She cleared her throat to regain everyone's attention. “If you'll follow me, we can wait for the slayer captains in the conference room.” She turned to lead them forward toward another exit.

The slayer captains were...an interesting lot. Some were sugary sweet and eyed them like they were lollipops (males and females), a few were openly hostile and obviously believed everything they'd ever read about Oliver and Thea, a couple were pleasant and interested, and the rest were outright bored and irritated at the waste of their precious time.

Felicity was exhausted just from meeting them all...and these were just the captains! She looked at Oliver feeling overwhelmed. She winced as she caught his expression. Oliver's unaffected and charming playboy mask was wearing thin. His eyes and mouth were tight. If they were back in Starling, Felicity would be worrying about the furniture and the training dummies.

“I think we broke him.”

Felicity looked across the table and into the eyes of one of the most hostile of the group. Lex, if she remembered correctly, was a seventeen-year-old slayer with short cropped sandy brown hair and thick-lashed brown doe eyes. Her features were, in fact, so delicate and feminine that even her boyish haircut couldn't distract from them. Unfortunately she was also as mean as a snake and she'd spent the last ten minutes sharpening her tongue on Oliver.

“Back off, Cujo,” Meredith finally growled at the teen from Felicity's other side. She leaned across the table toward the younger girl. “Ollie's trying to play nice and he's too much of a gentleman to call you out as the bitch that you are. I suffer no such conscience.”

The slayer blinked at her and shrugged. “I was only checking my facts.”

Meredith rolled her eyes. “You were throwing every dumbass stunt he's ever pulled up in his face. You don't know him from Jack. Keep your venom to yourself.” Then she realized what she'd said and made a pained face. “And now you've made me defend OLLIE!” She pointed her finger at the girl. “You are on my shit list!”

Thea glared at the girl from Oliver's side. “You do get that tabloids lie, right? Even if you did have the right to judge my brother, which you don't, half that shit isn't even true.”

Lex leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest unimpressed. “Maybe you're right. Maybe he isn't the waste of space the tabloids make him out to be.” Her eyes hardened. “But that sure as hell doesn't mean he belongs here.” She leaned back forward and seethed at them. “You think this is some game? That we're some tourist attraction you can come gawk at? Let's meet the super-teens and watch them do tricks? This shit is life or fucking death!” She slapped her hand down on the table. “This is the actual battle between good and evil. We are warriors for the forces of light and we are fighting to save the damn world! What the HELL business does some playboy celebrity have here?”

Felicity didn't know where it came from but she was on her feet and leaning across the table toward the younger girl before she could blink. There was a snarl on her lips. She slammed her own hands down and heard the table groan at the hit. “Oliver is here with ME! I don't know who lied and said YOU got a vote on who was and was not allowed in this facility, but I am here by personal invitation of your Slayer General and I could give a FUCK less how you feel about it.” She eyed the girl up and down and something in her roared and snarled to attack. “You think your life is hard? You think you know anything about Oliver and what he's lived through? You think you deserve any more respect than he does? Well, you need to get your facts straight, little girl, and grow the hell up!” She sniffed and looked down at her. “You DON'T impress me.”

The girl shrugged and sat back again but something in her expression looked...satisfied. The blanket of rage receded from before Felicity's eyes and her body tingled with awareness. Her eyes scanned the table and she realized she now had the attention of the entire room. She swallowed nervously...then narrowed her eyes back on Lex. Felicity wondered just how much of that had been genuine and how much was a test. Her face flushed with embarrassment. Great, now she was competing in a pissing contest with teenagers. Her life had reached a new low.

“Right then,” Rona spoke up and Felicity took the excuse to turn her attention to the senior slayer. The other woman was frowning down at the cell phone in her hand. “Our fearless leader says you should all head to training and pass the information on to your teams.” She looked pointedly at several of the captains. “Keep your girls in line. Visitors are to be treated with respect and any complaints can be brought to her.”

The captains all started to stand from their chairs and head for the door. One hung back and smiled toward Oliver. She had long bright blonde hair, cornflower blue eyes, and perfectly applied makeup. She spoke to Rona. “I could give the visitors a tour.”

Rona's expression was wry. “You planning to hit on Finn or the vampire, Laney? Cause everyone else in this group's already taken.” The girl made a face and Rona lifted her brows. “Get to training. No one's interested.”

After watching the blonde huff and leave, Felicity made her way around the table to stand by Rona. She cleared her throat. “I...uh...I should apologize for making a scene.”

Rona snorted and waved her off. “You're a slayer, Felicity. We only come in aggressive. If you don't demand respect around here, you usually won't get it.”

Felicity winced and nodded. “Right. I'm getting that.” She looked back briefly at Oliver. He was still tense, still obviously angry and uncomfortable, and she wanted to do something to alleviate that. She lowered her voice and spoke to Rona. “Is there any way you could show us the shooting range next? Oliver might need to blow off some steam.”

Rona's expression was sympathetic. “I'm sorry about Lex. She can be a hardass but she's a hell of a slayer.”

“I just wish she'd picked on me,” Felicity said. “Oliver already spends enough time beating himself up about his past. He doesn't need help.”

Rona looked like she would have said more, but Oliver stepped up to join them and she painted a smile across her face. “So...how about we check out our shooting range?” She led them to the door. “We've got some cool features that I think you'll enjoy.”

The shooting range was impressive. Of course, Felicity hadn't done much training with ranged weapons as of yet, but she was sure Dare would get around to them eventually if Oliver didn't beat him to it. Felicity could also feel the magic pulsing through the air. She listened vaguely as Rona explained some of the enchantments that their witch allies had placed on the room. No harm enchantments, self-returning arrows and ammunition, smart targets...it was a lot to take in. Still, that wasn't why she'd asked to see it.

She turned to look at Oliver with a grin. “You ready to try it out?” But she fell silent as she found his attention focused elsewhere, a frown on his face. “Oliver?”

He started and threw a small smile her way. Leaning over, he pressed a kiss her temple. “I'll be right back.” He walked forward down the range.

Felicity frowned after him. Even Rona stopped talking to watch him go. The senior slayer moved closer to Felicity and cocked her head to the side. “He okay?”

“Uh...” Felicity was about to shrug when she realized where he was headed. Oliver walked up behind a young girl, a young slayer, who was practicing her archery. The girl couldn't have been more than fourteen with long straight brown hair and awkward lanky limbs. Though she hit the target with every arrow, even Felicity could see that the girl's form was awful. Oliver shook his head as he watched her. Felicity grinned and nodded. “He's gonna be fine.”

“Layla's stubborn,” Rona said as she watched the girl loose another arrow. “She's determined to learn archery, but she missed the sign-up for the latest class. We told her we'd get her worked in as soon as we could, but she's got no patience.”

Felicity watched Oliver fondly as he started to step forward to draw the girl's attention. “She's fixing to get a lesson.” She started walking toward her boyfriend and the preteen.

Rona snorted as she followed her. “This should be interesting.”

Focusing in, Felicity heard Oliver clear his throat. “Move your feet closer together,” he told the girl, “your throwing your balance off.”

Layla lowered her bow for a moment and turned to glare at the stranger. Her face was painted with all the angst that only a preteen girl could carry off. She planted her free hand on her hip. “I hit the target.”

Oliver cocked a brow at her. “Doesn't mean you aren't doing it wrong.”

The girl seemed to consider that for a moment. She narrowed her eyes on the vigilante. “Are you a watcher? I don't recognize you.”

Oliver shook his head. “No, I'm here with my partner. She's a slayer.” He nodded toward Felicity.

The girl looked back briefly at their approaching group. When she settled on Rona her lips drew into a mutinous line. She tossed her hair and turned back to Oliver. “Well then why should I listen to you?” Layla asked.

Oliver huffed a laugh. “Because I may not be a watcher, but I am an archer. And you're never going to hit a moving target unless you correct your form.”

Layla seemed to consider that. Then staring up at Oliver in challenge, she held out her bow. “Prove it.”

Oliver's grin only grew as he took the bow and measured its weight in his hands. He pulled an arrow from the girl's quiver and drew it back to test the bow string. “This is a little small for me, but okay.”

“I swear to god,” Thea whispered to Felicity as she stepped up beside the slayer, “if he says she reminds him of me, I will figure out a way to set his ass on fire.”

Felicity chuckled because she knew the little girl did. Oliver couldn't help comparing little girls to his baby sister. He adored Thea. The younger Queen should just get over it.

Layla put both hands on her hips now and watched Oliver doubtfully. Her mouth fell open in awe as Oliver nailed dead center of the target before turning back to face her and holding back out the bow. “Your turn?”

The girl took the bow and eagerly spun back to face the target. This time when Oliver directed her to move her feet she quickly complied and looked for further instruction. He moved around behind her and helped guide her into the correct stance.

“I need to brush up on my archery skills,” Macey sighed.

Rona snorted and leaned toward Felicity. “You better hope all the other slayers don't hear your boy has actual skills. There'll be a line all the way out the door waiting for his personal instruction.”

Felicity grinned back at the other slayer. “You ain't see nothing yet. That was him being humble.”

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!