#and this looks cool! He’s got cool swords that can connect!!!

[jessilynallendilla]

DPXDC LOA & COURT OF OWLS FIC REC

TITLE/LINK RATING COMPLETED-WORD-COUNT SERIES

DP FIC REC HOME POST

let me know if the links aren't working and feel free to suggest any

& THE LEAGUE OF ASSASINS 

Ghoulish  M 14,758 SERIES 

Danny meets and grows closer to a stranger named Ra's. He has time to regret it. 

The Grandfather Paradox  M 11,097 SERIES 

Falling through time and space is not what Danny had planned for his day. Being saved by an unknown stranger was definitely up there too, and he definitely hadn't meant to grow attached to a time period he could never stay in. At first it had just been a curiosity. Who would not be curious about a mysterious child from a foreign land wound up suddenly in the desert sand? But interest had turned into fondness, fondness into affection. The boy is his son. In everything but blood. Ra's is not entirely wrong about that. He just missed a generation in between. 

The Lazarus Child  T 3,712 SERIES 

“You told me a child did it.”  “But no ordinary child. A child born in hell.”  What if the child who managed to climb out of the Pit wasn’t who we thought? Instead, it was a black-haired with icy blue eyes child whose face resembles one man we know. Enter Danyal al Ghul. 

Outta Your League  G 1,202 

Maddie wanted to know why a boy that looked just like Talia al Ghul was in Gotham. Damian wanted to know why a random woman felt the need to run from him in terror. Danny just wanted to know what was going on. All-in-all, Danny's campus visit to Gotham U went pretty poorly. 

Two Of A Time  T 

Ra's Al Ghul and Danny Phantom just can't help but keep meeting each other throughout all of time! 

An Heir For You And Me  M SERIES 

Ra's talks Talia into summoning the holder of the Ring of Rage to get a new heir. Talia will do it but she has her own plans. 

Growing Ghosts And Silent Swords  M 

What if Danny managed to sneak up on Talia? She would totally adopt and train him as an assassin right? 

Walking Side By Side  M 

Danny thought he escaped the League and his father's expectations for good when he was 8. To his surprise they came back for him. Recently escaping from the government and his adopted parents alike and trying to avoid both the GIW and the League he gets sucked back in anyways. He has a nephew now though, so thats cool. He's getting out again but at what cost? Is the gain worth it? Danyal Al Ghul-Fenton, the son of Ra's Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul's younger brother, and the Demon Heir- fell into the Fenton's life at the age of 8 only to get ripped back into his old life ten years later. He manages to get out again with Jason Todd under the assumption he'll assist him in his mission. He assists him a lot more positively instead. The league is still on his back though, after all Ra's still needs an heir. Can Danny escape his family again? 

& THE COURT OF OWLS 

Infiltrate And Annihilate  T 1,998 SERIES 

Danny as Ghost King, unfortunately, has to sneak into the Court of Owls' ranks to tear them down and bring them to justice in one move. He didn't really expect the Bats to be there. 

The Adventures Of Big Talon And Little Talon.  T SERIES 

Jason would like a one Talon please. No, not the Other Talon. He wants the Little Talon. The one with yellow green eyes. The short one. You know the one that chirps. No, he's not turning into his Father, he swears. Little Talon doesn't know what he wants but he knows this new Big Talon is good. 

Remember, Remember(To Think Before You Jump)  NR SERIES 

Danny is a failed clone from the Court of Owls, and was sent away and miraculously(lol) got adopted by the Fentons. But when something with the portal accident knocks the old memories loose, what will Danny do once he discovers Dick Grayson’s secret? And, through connection and memories, the rest of the Bat’s secret identities? 

Dead Man Walking  M 8,384 

None of this was Danny's problem— and he's determined to keep it that way, no matter what the cops, the weird dude in full-on themed body armor, or the secret society of rich people hiding in the sewers of Gotham had to say. If he wasn't getting paid for over time and he wasn't on the clock, then what was he supposed to do about it?? Or: Talons, Talons, everywhere, and nary a living Mortician around to clean them up. 

The Undead People Won't Stop Coming For Me.  T 

Danny didn't predicted this happening at all when he became a mortician in gotham. He was just drinking his daily ectoplasm juice after fixing up two dead bodies between preteens and adults only to see them Stand up, staring at him with glowing amber and green eyes staring at his ectoplasm shot drink like hungry vultures. Sighing as he doesn't get paid enough for this as he offer them some... Only for the next 2 weeks, his mortician is filled with other undead, bring more bodies. Meanwhile, the leader of court of owls and league of assassins are starting to noticed a increasing amount of members disappearing.. 

[age-of-moonknight]

“Ekleipsis,” Phases of the Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2024), #2.

Writer: Declan Shalvey; Penciler and Inker: Eder Messias; Colorist: Yen Nitro; Letterer: Cory Petit

[dipperscavern]

cheeky anon here to slay the day - basically I was chatting to my friend abt Jon Snow and I was like 'yeah he's got a cool sword.... a cool.... sword....'

and then I started thinking abt Jon whipping Longclaw out whenever his girl is being bratty (obvs not in a stabby way) and just like... using the handle on her? 😭

'there's a good girl, not so rowdy now, are y'?'

idk bro im just a longwhore for longclaw

cheeky anon… you are such a genius for this. i am genuinely drooling. THE DIALOGUE? ITS SO ACCURATE? HELLO BECOME A WRITER

you’re pent up. frustrated that nothing has gone your way all day. you’re fidgeting, like you always do when you don’t know how to fix what’s bothering you. your usual solution is to busy yourself until you feel better, but it’s late at night. you can’t unwind, and even worse, you can’t distract yourself. jon eventually has enough of seeing you squirm.

he pulls you to his lap, and he knows what you need. it’s not long before you’re relaxing, sighing into his lips because gods, he’s fixing it. he’s still dressed, longclaw sheathed to his waistband — and that’s when he gets an idea. his hands move to your hips, pulling you closer, and your clothed cunt bumps against longclaws handle. you sharply inhale, small sparks of pleasure coursing through you. you go to move off of the handle, embarrassed, but jon’s firm grip keeps you in place. you look up at him with parted lips, and you watch his pupils dilate.

“You trust me?”

you nod, and he moves to rearrange you both. he takes off his shirt, leaving him bare-chested as he leaves his bottom half covered, with longclaw still attached waist. you undress yourself, eager for relief, and whatever jon has in mind. you swallow, unsure, but he reaches out for you and pulls you to him. his hands find purchase on your hips as your lips connect, and slowly, he guides you against the handle — adjusting the angle to make it hit you just right. you whimper his name at the unfamiliar feeling, and jon feels blood instantly rush to his cock. you put your hands on his shoulders to steady yourself, burying your moans in the crook of his neck. warmth pools in your abdomen as longclaws handle catches on your pearl, and you hear jon’s voice close to your ear.

“There’s a good girl… not so rowdy now, are y’?”

you sigh, pleasure raking up your spine. jon bites back a groan at seeing your slick cover longclaws handle, and he watches your frustration melt away with every rock of your hips — his hands smoothing over any part of your skin he can reach. he hums at the way you melt into him.

“‘Js needed some help, huh?”

[starryknight-tarot]

𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓬𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓬𝓻𝓾𝓼𝓱 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾

pile 1 -- > pile 2 pile 3 -- > pile 4

my masterlist<3 . paid readings Hello beautiful souls✨Today we will be looking what your celebrity crush would think of you if you met. This might be a little shorter cause it's just for the kicks and giggles but if you meet your celeb crush you will know how they think about you lol. Remember to meditate, take a deep breath and pick whatever pile calls to you the most. My readings are meant for everyone, no matter what sexuality or identity you are. Since this is a general reading, make sure to take what resonates and leave what doesn't.

Pile 1 Cards: The Magician rx, Page of Wands, The Hierophant, Nine of Cups, Four of Swords, Four of Pentacles, The Star, Page of Cups Back of the Deck: Knight of Cups

Pile 1, I feel like your celebrity would really appreciate you. You may have liked this person for a really long time, like before they really blew up or even since the very beginning of their career. I feel like your celebrity crush acknowledges that they won't have anything of what they have now without people like you so if you were to meet, they would be really kind to you, I even just saw the imagery of someone kissing someone's hand so they may be very polite and like prince like(?). It's really cute it got me blushing lol. I feel like this meeting would be like a dream come true for you (obviously) but I feel like they may also be pretty excited to meet you and they would just find you pretty cute. I am getting that your celebrity crush would actually really like you, I feel like you would have a really nice conversation. I am being brought to a conversation I saw between the NCT member Ten and a fan that he was talking to over video call and I remember thinking to myself while watching their conversation, "Wow they are talking to each other like they are good friends or they already knew each other well.". I feel like you could have this kind of connection with your celebrity crush. Although, I do feel like your celebrity crush won't be able to look past the fan/celebrity aspect of your relationship. They know that there is a sort of power imbalance in your relationship or it may be that you will always just see them as this celebrity that is so cool and talented, and you may struggle to see the more human parts of them. You may also be a lot younger than them and they may see you in a more youthful way. For some of you, they want you to spend a little less time focusing on them and taking some time for yourself. But overall, they seemed to think you are pretty fun.

Advice Cards:

Make your presence felt You can if you think and believe you can Remember that in universal law, all is well and fair You are wiser than you think It's time to realize the blueprint of your soul Considerable and consistent effort may now be required You are greater than your story

Channeled Songs:

Pile 2 Cards: Knight of Cups, Nine of Swords, Six of Cups rx, Ten of Cups, The Sun, The Magician rx, Eight of Swords, Three of Pentacles rx Back of the Deck: Four of Pentacles

Ngl Pile 2, I'm picking up that your celebrity crush would be a little scared of you at first. For some of yall, you may come off pretty strongly and it might throw them off but I don't think thats for everyone (if yall are into the group TXT, there was this one girl that went up to Huening Kai at a fan sign and basically started throwing compliments at him and I'm sure he was flattered but it was A LOT, to the point that Beomgyu asked if she was a rapper cause she was speaking so fast, spirit keeps showing me this so I thought I would mention it lol) I am getting that they may be a kind of shy and timid person, even if they don't really seem like it and I feel like you have a really intense personality. I don't think this is in a bad way, it may be that you are loud, talkative, or just really energetic and I feel like this is a kind of energy your celebrity crush isn't used to. Their first impression of you just might be that they are nervous around someone with so much energy. I am also picking up for some of yall they are gonna feel shy cause they find you really attractive and they are afraid of making a fool out of themselves (aye go get em Pile 2). You may also have a pretty bold appearance (unique hair, colorful makeup, tattoos and piercings) and they may make certain assumptions about you from your looks but I feel like overall they are kinda blushing from your looks Pile 2. Yeah I feel like you would make them feel self conscious. Spirit keeps telling me that they would be learning a lesson from you(?). You would teach them an important lesson to nurture your inner child and to be authentically yourself. Your celebrity crush would see you as a really successful person, someone that is living life to the fullest. They see you as very independent and capable, like you could do anything you put your mind to.

Advice Cards:

A connection needs deeper attention You can manifest your heart's desire Give up resistance in your current situation Control is an illusion. Surrender and allow the Universe to guide you You are moving beyond your old form. Congratulations! Complete the project or task. Something is calling for closure

Channeled Songs:

Pile 3 Cards: King of Wands, Three of Swords, The High Priestess, Seven of Swords, The Lovers rx, Nine of Pentacles rx, The Magician rx, Two of Pentacles, Back of the Deck: Eight of Swords

Pile 3, you would straight up remind them of their ex. That message came out the strongest as I was shuffling. Spirit is telling me it's mostly because of how you look, you have a similar face structure or hair style to someone that they used to know (wonder what the channeled song is lol). You could also resemble another celebrity or person in their life and they can't help but see you as that person, I feel like they would accidentally say that person's name to you. I feel like after getting to know you, they would be REALLY interested in you, like probably more interested in you then you are in them. Like Pile 2, I feel like they would also be pretty self conscious around you, although I feel like this would be stronger than Pile 2 because they would really want you to like them. I heard "Senpai wants you to notice him."LMAO. I'm getting that your celebrity crush would actually think about you a lot, they may even have dreams about you right now (although I am hearing some of yall have been using some spells to make them think of you so if you have, this is confirmation that it is working). Honestly Pile 3, I picking up that your celebrity crush may have a lot of internal problems that they need to work on and if you knew them personally, I would advise you to distance yourself from them to give them time to work on themselves. I don't think your celebrity crush is a bad person at all, but they do got some stuff they need to work through. I am also picking up a small energy that some of yalls celebrity crush would see you really cool and chill, specially someone they would wanna play games with.

Advice Cards:

Be sure to keep your promises, especially to yourself Reflect on the state and use of your personal energy Give up resistance in your current situation Create a plan and take the first step A connection needs a deeper attention You may need to take a break from the situation or simply take a rest Spend some time in stillness to reflect

Channeled Songs:

Pile 4 Cards: The Chariot, The Fool rx, The Empress, Two of Wands rx, The Hierophant, Ace of Pentacles, Ace of Wands, Ten of Swords rx Back of the Deck: Page of Pentacles

Congratulations Pile 4, this is the only pile I pick up on romantic feelings lmao. It's pretty cute honestly. I feel like they would be pretty awe struck by you but OH MY GOODNESS Pile 4. All piles have kinda showed signs that they would find all physically attractive but this pile is on another level. The mixer of The Hierophant and Empress, I just see straight worship for you like yall. They are on their hands and knee for yall. Spirit is telling me if they could, they would make a whole statue or painting or some shit to show off your beauty. They be simping for you Pile 4. If you were talking, their attention is ON YOU, they are listening to every words. They see you as SO talent and smart Pile 4, they would feel like you have a lot of potential to do really amazing things, they would probably do everything in their power to help you out. Although, they would feel like they won't need to do anything cause you are just so powerful. Your celebrity crush would be at a loss of words around Pile 4. I am picking up some of yall are on the shy and quiet side but they would find it really cute. A very strong message from this reading is that they wouldn't want a conversation with you to end. Spending time with you, they wouldn't wanna go home. I am feeling that if you met, they would probably make a fool out of themselves and look stupid but it would come off as kinda cute. This is actually one of those rare moments when I actually don't see any negative energy from this Pile at all, this pile has a very comforting feeling, and they would probably feel that way around you. Comfy and cozy.

Advice Cards:

You need to make the first move Change is being introduced into your life Act on what you know A powerful dream will guide you The issue at hand is about reflection. What is the mirror showing you? A change in attitude toward the greater good could be beneficial

Channeled Songs:

(really felt like I needed to add literally any song called Attention but this one felt the best with the energy of the reading)

Thanks for tuning in₊‧.°.⋆🫧•˚₊‧⋆.

[sanflawoah]

Black Myth: Wukong

More brainrot commentary because I'M NOWHERE NEAR DONE WITH GOING INSANE OVER THIS MONKE GAME.

Cursed texts and massive spoilers bellow. Lots of random bits and wee woo wee woo.

First of all, YEEESSS to everything well written big budget media with heavy cultural elements that isn't western centric. Love it 👏, a thousand more like this please.

HONESTLY can't get enough of the character designs. Watching the old tv show in my childhood got me imagining the JTTW characters as these cute human with animal ears. But since the game took a more serious and darker tone they took the character design to 1000. So many memorable characters with distinct style, drip, and combat.

Ok so whose idea was it to make some of the plants sentient and will beat your ass for daring to pick them up. I now have trust issues with ginseng and mushrooms

The toad bosses reminds me of Gamabunta. For a moment they also gave me a war flashback of Jedi Survivor's Oggdo-Bogdo, I want those things vaporised from earth 🔫🔫

Kang-Jin darkening the environment during her second stage, I legit thought it was a problem with my screen, until I found out other players had it too lmao. Also looove her design, silver loong with holographic glow, prettiest loong in the game

Boss musics are so LIT, I've been looping them for weeks

The Scorpionlord. First I saw him I was like HANZO HASASHI :DD??? But instead of hellfire, this time he uses venom. And the fact that the environments have autumn palette, connects me to MK 11 Shirai Ryu fire garden arena lol

an NPC called Starved Abomination. The name really sends me because ngl it's a relatable concept, I too became an abomination whenever I'm starving.

To punish Wukong for his lifetime worth of trash-talking, the game now choose The Destined One as shy and doesn't talk much except for when he screams during fights. All my grievances of expecting him to be chatty and noisy actually works out the more I understand the story. And turns out it was all part of his journey, you are meant to complete him by collecting Wukong's scattered senses. Lil introverted fur-ball of scream I love you so much. Since the NG+++ Wukong stance actually gave him voicelines, I'm guessing the Destined One is going to complete his development in actually becoming Wukong in the DLC.

Everyone and I mean EVERYONE had a beef with Wukong and now we gotta pick up after his mess. My poor Destined One walked into an area completely clueless and suddenly everyone is jumping on him because "REMEMBER THE THING YOU DID TO ME A FEW HUNDRED YEARS AGO??? WELL FUK YOU, NOW DIE."

~

🐱Yin Tiger🐱. First time I met him I was like ohhh who are you, you look so cool and kinda cute tho, look at those big boba eyes, pspspsps.

He's all busy with his hammer and zabuza sword, thinks you're so annoying for bothering his work. Then there's this "challenge" option and suddenly he rose and casually tossed his hammer to the ground, I was like wait I was just joking aYO I WAS JUST JOKING-, then proceeds to delete my HP in 30 seconds. Anyway I love how he appears big and heavy and yet moves so swiftly. Of ALL the tiger bosses in this game, imo he's the coolest and THE SANEST. I still can''t get over the Tiger Vanguard and Mad Tiger trauma, those orange cats are on a whole new level of insanity.

🕷️Fourth Spider Sister🕷️. I'm actually so INVESTED in her mystery, like why are you helping me? Why do you look so sad? Are those tear stains on your cheeks?? Why did the Immortal Crane said that I'm giving you "false hopes"? What were we in the previous life?

"Think about her, won't you? Should you feel like stirring trouble in your next life." WHAT DOES THIS MEAN, TELL ME. SHE SEEMS SO NICE THO, she's just a sad goth girl what did she do?? What did WE do?? And her journal entry is so interesting.

🐉Yellow Loong🐉. LISTEN.... I literally had to pause for a moment when I saw him. Cutscene plays and I was like Oohh it's going to be that type of charismatic character reciting monologue, and then I saw his name and it's THE YELLOW LOONG??? This suave horned man is The Yellow Loong??

Well damn I have to say that's one handsome loong. He's one of those elegant style fighters, my favourite genre, up there with Whiteclad Noble and Erlang Shen.

👁️Erlang Shen⚡. The way I turned up the volume when I heard Andrew Koji's Erlang voice.....It's just so.......pleasant to hear. Something about the way he did his voice, the smug taunts, the gentle almost-whispers, and the gROWLS???

I can't even with the entirety of Erlang's character design in this game, because dAMN BOI what a BEAUTY. I thought the game was going to make his appearance more mature looking, or even scarier, because that's just how it is with game character design formula, especially in games like this. But NOOOOO..... they made him ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. His face, his voice, HIS MOVESS, the way they designed his martial arts so elegantly. When you perfect dodge everything with him, it really feels like a dance. I have to note that when sometimes you tried heavy attack on him aND HE SIMPLY JUST-.... took one step to the side.... THE ABSOLUTE SLAYYY DISRESPECT💅💅. Welcome back Isshin from Sekiro.

Also I just found out that depending on what transformation you're using, he's going to react differently on each. Particularly interesting one was when you use Azure Dust. Most of the time, when you transform, he's going to transform too and chances are he's going to one-shot you out of the transformation. He doesn't do that with Azure Dust for some reason, instead he got amused because Lmao returning back to your origin?. And this line, "Walking his path is no easy feat, it will test you relentlessly". SOMETHING SOMETHING ABOUT ERLANG HAVING THIS HIDDEN BURDEN THROUGHOUT THE PLOT IS DRIVING ME INSANE, I NEED THE DLC TO EXPLORE HIS CHARACTER MORE I'M BEGGING YOU GAME SCIENCE. You can't leave me hanging with his journal entry please I want him to have some peace and closure.

Powerful quiet character with hidden struggle, the bane of my existence, my beloved.

☂️🐉The Four Heavenly Kings🎸🗡️. MAN I love these guys, their fight feels so rewarding somehow, because after all those struggles with Erlang, they feel more like a reward battle for visual entertainment.

Aside from being relatively easy, they're just so fun to watch. I keep wanting to stall the fight just to see what move sets they could perform because their coordinated attacks are just SO COOL.

South king throwing the sword at us, joined by the West king throwing punches, and then the West king passing the sword back to South king. That brief moment of them passing weapons, they need to do more of that, so sick.

The North king combo with every other kings. The West jumping up using the North's umbrella, summoned the dragon, the South yeeting the sword, and the East buffing up the umbrella thrust attack with his Pipa magic. I'd hate to be a normal human citizen under them during that scene GODDAMN. I'd say the West is the game's favourite king because he's the one with the most screentime. He's the one with distinct glowing eyes and he was the most visible behind Erlang during the opening. The North being the coolest because WTF WAS THAT TYPHOON UMBRELLA WITH THE WEST'S DRAGON ROLLING WITH IT, AND THE MUSIC QUE, ABSOLUT CINEMA. The East probably being the chillest of them all because my man was just serenading the fight yo, I like how his fingers actually moves accurately playing the BGM. I know they're on the heaven's side, but for some reason I want them to be on our side if it's possible in the DLC. If we could get Erlang, then surely we can get them? They're too epic not to have.

🐒THE GREAT SAGE'S BROKEN SHELL🐒

THE MONKEY, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND. SUN. WU. KONG. THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT WHEN THIS MF SHOWED UP ON SCREEN. TEARFUL CHEER AND AND UNIMAGINABLE TERROR. AND WITH THAT BITS OF THE OG TV SHOW THEME MOTIF PLAYING WHEN HE SUMMONED JINGU BANG.

Who would've thought that we're going to fight our former self as a literal your greatest enemy is yourself concept. Like yO IT'S THE G HIMSELF WUKONG but now FUK I HAVE TO FIGHT HIM?? Look, sir, Mr. Great Sage, I know I've been playing around as you and I don't even know what I'm doing, I'M SORRY.

So now we're fighting zombie Wukong. He's literally soulless inside and his voice sounds demonic. YET STILL he radiates that lively asshole energy. You try pillar stance to get away from him, he does the same but his pillar is TALLER than yours. You try to walk off calmly, he does the same but then taunts you for it, eats a peach and then flicks the seed to your head. Kicks you to the sky and transforms his jingu bang into a pillar and plants it to the ground with you under it. He cheats by summoning kintoun and body slammed you. He summoned his clones to kick you in all directions only for the original Wukong to wait on the side yawning, then he kicks your jingu bang back at you like "pick it up bitch", and taunts you with his hand gesture to come at him. Ok now you're raging and you tried to pillar stance heavy attack at him, he's like "shut yo bitch-" and GRABBED YOUR JINGU BANG WITH YOU STILL HOLDING ON TO IT AND STARTS USING YOU AS A FLY SWATTER. Just as you think that these suffering couldn't get any worse, you tried to heal and he IMMOBILISED YOU, SNATCHED YOUR GOURD AND TOOK A SIP, decided that it tastes like shit and threw it back at you. Now THIS is the little shit that I know and love.

The whole time you tried to do a move against him, he returned the favour but better. You think your staff extension is long? Ok he'll extend his staff to a kilometer, and that's STILL him holding back. You can do ring of fire? His is bigger in diameter and burns brighter. The game had to nerf out his lore accurate skills because it's just so atrociously OP.

Ok so you finally defeated him? Just as he got dusted away he still managed to croak a last laugh.

Que good ending animated cutscene with the JTTW plot in reverse serenaded with Celestial Symphony. Happy onions, happy onions tearing up the eyes. Crank the volume up, it's all coming together. That's Ba Jie, that's Sanzang, that's Wujing, that's horse.

MMMMMMM MONKE.

[demonslayedher]

More thoughts:

--Tanjiro, once again, nearly perishes of dehydration. I'm glad they later talk about Shinobu making a displeased face hearing about Genya's condition, because I would love to see what face she'd make hearing about Tanjiro nearly doing this to himself again. But on that note, it's so so so so so so so nice how Tanjiro and Genya bring out the most normal normalcy in each other. They can just. Be calm. And talk calmly. They can just chill like high school boys. AND INOSUKE CANNOT.

--I really loved how good that conversation felt for both Tanjiro and Himejima. Like, it wasn't just an interaction to have happen and cross off a list. They both needed that. Himejima needed some reminder of good kids out there in the world whom he doesn't need to be so jaded about, and that meant his words of validation for Tanjiro were extremely well through-though, which is why they had such a penetrating effect for Tanjiro. He gets told a lot how cool and special he is and he can only take it in stride with humility to deflect a lot of it, but Himejima's affirmations were about Tanjiro's moral character, and there was nothing for Tanjiro to do but let those words sink in. It's clear that Himejima wouldn't say these things to just anyone.

--Which is why the things Himejima says to the other Hashira always have such weight too, and the light novels are so good

--You know what really gets me about Himejima in this flashback? He's very self-aware of his own ugliness and motivations and why it's unreasonable to be upset with Sayo, even though he wronged so deeply. The fact that he wanted her to thank him, and if that was all he ever got, it would have been enough to save him.

--He's been tormented all this time by the disgusting feelings of violence that pulsed through his fists, but even now, ten years later, he knows what a different person he'd be if only Sayo had saved him in his darkest moment. Now that's an AU that's too tender and sweet to ruin with humor, however humorous it would be to have a Happy-jima.

--BUT Awwww MAAANN the way he USED to SMIIIILLLLLEEEE, Ufotable you're killing me

--Even now the memory upsets him enough to crack his prayer beads--the touch of the broken prayer beads on the floor was so good

--Showing Kaigaku's face was A CHOICE and Ufotable sure made it and they sure did justice to the pacing and revelation of Zenitsu's change in demeanor. Tanjiro, that was Zenitsu saying good-bye.

--Crying Nezuko in Tanjiro's mind is soooooo cuuuuute

--I've always loved how, despite Gotouge's usually avoidance of foreshadowing, what there is of it can be very clever. Sanemi and Giyuu breaking each other's wooden swords in the same moment is a preview of their equal strength in crashing blades to make them Red.

--Sanemi had aaaaaall the best faces, but the worst of all was the smile he has in Giyuu's delusions. And Sanemi's recollection of Tanjiro's mention of ohagi is so different than how Tanjiro actually said it; it's so insulting that way he heard it.

--Something happens to Tanjiro's face when he's around Giyuu. It gets squishier than usual. It was already squishy in the first place. He should probably bother Shinobu and get that looked at.

--I looooove how they made Sanemi connect the dots when he sees Nakime's eye.

--You know? Let Muzan have his dramatic walk. He's waiting so many centuries for this. But you know the only thing I would have changed to make it more thematic? I'D HAVE HAD HIM SPEND SOME OF THAT STRUT AROUND THE GRAVES WHICH KAGAYA HAD STRUGGLED TO WALK AMONG EVERY DAY.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think any of the other items the party has rn (ie Ashton’s hammer, Imogen’s robe) could become more relics of the red solstice? If yes, which god do you think would bless them? Vox Machina probably not, they’ve got all their vestiges already, but do you think the Mighty Nein could earn any?

I don't think this will be much of a focus, to be honest; Matt just poked fun at his Campaign 1 fetch quests. I especially don't think it will be a significant focus of the Mighty Nein as I think they and Vox Machina will only be viewpoint characters for their specific missions; a couple episodes at most. And, to be honest, one of my favorite things about the Mighty Nein is that they were never terribly focused on magic items to the ridiculous (affectionate) extent Vox Machina were. No shade to Vax but I think a lot of people did not realize that without two vestiges and an overpowered homebrew item and a bending of the rules re: smiting on thrown items, he's just a guy with 30 feet of movement who can attack twice with a dagger in melee and pump in a second level smite once he gets to the high levels.

I think it is possible with Bells Hells, but I suspect it will only really be those who sought out any kind of relationship with a god, even if it's relatively last minute. I'd love to see an exploration of Braius since I really don't think Asmodeus is fueling those paladin levels, but otherwise, Imogen and Ashton are currently the only ones with plans, so the gods in question are the Stormlord and the Arch Heart. It would be a nice touch, personally, if the Changebringer showed up and perhaps imbued the fragments of FCG with something minor, but I'd also be happy if the only relic we have is Seedling simply because again, Orym's the only one who's really been pursuing this consistently.

Just for a quick elaboration, I think one thing with the Vestiges that Matt realized is firstly, if he gives the party a list of everything, they will try to catch 'em all, which led to some episodes in C1 that, frankly, didn't have much connection to the characters and their goals (specifically the Fire Plane stuff; also while its retrieval was great, Scanlan used Mythcarver like, twice, and once was to do a two gnomes in a trenchcoat situation); and that you can end up with some really fucked party balance. I remember in Campaign 2 when people felt like everyone should get a Vestige again once it became apparent the Star Razor was one, but Fjord was a sword-focused character who put immense work into a relationship with a god; some classes and characters are just not item-based in the same way. To make D&D balanced, sometimes some characters get more toys; and also, following specific narrative paths is rewarded by the GM because it involves player dedication or risk or is just really fun and cool.*

I will also note that while time is short, not all the Vestiges of Divergence were tied to a deity. One could get a relic created by mortals; I don't, for example, know what Dancer and Imahara Joe are up to.

*at the risk of taking a pretty straightforward post and turning into an avenue of discourse, this is yet another reason why the "Raven Queen/Wildmother relationships with Vax and Orym are abusive" arguments feel in such profoundly bad faith and, quite frankly, taste, that they're hard to even engage with. It's such a deeply bleak and cynical worldview out of game to say "yeah, I think the GM is looking at an interesting player choice and is punishing them for it," even more so with a player like Liam, a person who is not precious with his characters and does not see tragedy or death in the service of a cause at the close of the story as narrative failure.

[ideasarestuckinmyhead]

No bc imagine being Auron

And you meet this cute person. Then after a while you research everything about them. And then you realize you got a crush, your fucked bc you never really had one so you don't know if your doing the right signals.

Reading into every look that went your way. It's their like first week/month (idk timeline shit who cares) and you give them a task to get them comfortable working for the company.

You go to check up on them, the cute person might like someone else. Fuck. Still need to check up on their story of being sent the wrong file.

YOU SENT THEM THE WRONG FUCKING FILE??? Jesus fuck they think your probably a clutz now-.....Did they just call you nice?!,!? Holy fuck you might have a chance??

Their staying behind, this is your chance so u say you'll stay behind too. While waiting for the end of the day your wondering how the actual FUCK was ur shit not update??

They said it was fine and you began small talking, somehow your so open to them?? The word anal makes them laugh, their laugh is really cute. You ask them about the looks after work to stay with them bc maybe you can bond? Score it went really well and you two began talking.

Slowly, you put down your guard. Why is it so easy to be with them? Why is it kinda scary for it to be easy? Fuck what if they're only getting close bc of some enemy he has?

Barring your heart and soul to them, you ask if they want to stay or leave. Your giving them an out if they want it, their smart and connected dots people didn't know were there.

.....they chose to stay? Suddenly you feel really happy. That someone finally saw the real you, the you your stepfather had broken down and formed the way HE wanted. Your crying, they tell you it's okay.

You know it's okay, but hearing it from them one more time made it nice. Bringing them back to your oenthouse they look amazed at it. Making a Cribs joke and you entertain the idea, your having fun buy they don't need to know that.

You have a fun shower together and talk some more. You want to tell them things, but, knowledge is a double edged sword. You don't want the cute person you got attached to getting hurt. You promised to protect them and your going to do just that.

Showing your room your curious about their thoughts, they call you goth and you just sigh. Of course they'd say that, going into the bed you lay next to them and feel joy. This is something that you'd love to get use too.

Waking up there not there, your too sore for me to be a dream. Going to the living room you see decorations and in awe at how quickly they got it together. There's presents from Trish and you ask them if there was someone else.

Telling the cute person about her and smiling, showing your favorite cereal that has a cute deer on it. Then you ask if they were scared of his reaction to this. You say how your happy they did this, even telling them how they're basically a safe space for you.

They got you a present? Oh, how nice I wonder what....Cool so you gets a traumatic flashback. Shaking it off you thank them, then decided to eat the cereal and eatchteashy tv.

[mielwriting]

My thoughts on the 5.0 livestream

Disappointed Mavuika appears to be another pyro claymore. Was really hoping for a 5 star pyro sword. Would also help make connections to Bennett, since he's the only other pyro sword.

Props to those who predicted Il Capitano would be a cryo user!

Also props to whoever predicted the Archon Quests would follow the pattern shown in the Mond prologue: that is, first we learn about the Abyss Order as enemies, then we focus on the Fatui for a while, then the Abyss Order comes back into focus closer to the final showdown. It seems they’re getting a much bigger focus in the Natlan archon quest!

Also, wow, so we already know Natlan and Mondstadt have weird connections - Now we know they have another one: Natlan and Mondstadt are the only 2 nations the Abyss Order is interested in. 

Hey look a pale npc with dreadlocks

Love the greater focus on the Mandarin language! Very nice for a learner

Furina wasn’t biologically an archon, so her hair didn’t glow - she had that glowy fabric in the back of her outfit to kinda hide that. Mavuika is a really nice contrast - her entire head of hair glows very bright! Not just the tips like previous archons

Was noticeable how they reframed the player feedback: “everyone’s very interested in our inspirations for Natlan” as a corporate translation of everyone’s anger over the whitewashing and Spirit Halloween-ifying

Still disappointed in the pyro archon’s leather biker suit

Someone more familiar with Genshin’s music look into this - but around 34:10 when they started answering the question “will someone be resurrected” does the music resemble more the music from La Signora’s funeral video?

Wonder about the original Mandarin titles for the Archon Quest acts - Because “Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn” sounds so cool - and then Act 2 is “Black Stone under a White Stone”. It’s just comically simple compared to the big words that are usually in genshin titles

Also really interested in the Ancient Names thing. I’m almost certain it’s something taken from a real-life culture, and should really research more into that. 

Did I understand that right? They’re gonna give us Kachina for free, just like we got Amber and Kaeya and Lisa back in Mondstadt? 

All 3 of the new 5.0 characters mark regional specialties, and also have additional exploration benefits!

Wow you can really see the effect that Wuthering Waves had on Genshin

And Test Run finally lets you test out the effects of the characters in an open-world environment!

Traveler will not get the pyro element this update - but it sounds like that’s a possibility for once the Archon Quest has finished?

So I noticed that the 2 new Geo characters we’ll get - Kachina  and the tall lady - both come from the same tribe - the one associated with rocks and such. Makes me wonder if it’s possible to even get a vision that doesn’t correspond to your tribe’s element. 

Really seems like the cultural elements here are more simplified “everyone in this tribe loves music” “everyone in this tribe loves extreme sports” “everyone in this tribe loves mining” where’s the complexity. 

I shall add capybaras to my teapot!

Yay another Dodoco event! I really enjoyed the one last year

They’re also giving out extra rewards for completing archon and story quests within the 6 week release - including giving us a lot of the ascension materials to get to level 60!

Did find it funny when one guy was explaining all the new benefits and the other is like, “wait, this is Genshin Impact? All this cool stuff is in Genshin Impact?” Like yeah Wuthering Waves bred innovation!

FREE STANDARD FIVE STAR EVERY YEAR

I already have Tighnari, Dehya, and Keqing. I don’t really want any of their constellations, so my choice is between Qiqi, Mona, Jean, and Diluc. I don’t want Qiqi, and I don’t need Mona since I already have Furina. It’s down to Jean or Diluc. Jean’s ability to push people away looks really fun, and I can certainly think of places where I would’ve loved to have that skill. However, I have wanted Diluc since the very first time we played him in that trial run during the Mond archon quest. I also already have Kaeya, Rosaria, and Venti, so completing the Angel’s Share team would be cool. My only hesitation is that his gameplay will probably be outdone by Mavuika. But leaks have said she might not release til January, when I was expecting her in November (however leaks also said Emilie was part of Hexenzirkel they aren’t always right).

Love that Oratrice Mechanique d’Analyse Cardinale made it into the stream

BEFORE Khoi Dao repeated that phrase, I did not know he spoke French. But I could hear his actual good French-speaking accent when he said it, and turns out he does indeed speak it! Cool!

Yippee!

Zach Aguilar and Khoi Dao are a great comedic duo

LOVE to hear Brittany Lauda talk about relating to her character, Chiori, for both being seen as intimidating - I specifically relate to Chiori for her basic facial expressions, her bluntness, her acceptance of her quirks, and difficulty making friends because of those traits. Just really glad to hear I’m not the only one. 

The English voice actor for Lumine actually has a twin brother?! 

Amber Lee Conners appeared at the end of the stream, so this is a good place to say how AMAZING her voice acting as Furina is. Just listening to her voice lines and hearing the difference between her acting confident and her actual, recovering-from-depression self is a clear display of talent. Always a treat to listen to. 

Jenny Yokobori (Yoimiya VA) having worked as a pyrotechnician! Cool! 

And her sharing the bond with her character for their dads. So sweet.

Let Erika Harlacher-Stone sing as Venti more!

The Clorinda VA Crystal Lee also loves Tabletop Games!

[m1d-45]

divine favor

summary: so, they’re your favorite vessel. how do they react? includes yae miko, itto, kazuha, kaeya, chongyun, and noelle, in that order

word count: ~800

-> warnings: like one swear word?

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me

< masterlist >

yae miko — out and proud

uses her connection to the divine as leverage almost every chance she gets, showing off the extra gleam to her vision eagerly. occasionally teases ei over the fact that she’s the favorite, not the literal archon. she’s maybe a bit surprised herself at that fact at first, but she’s not about to let that show when using it for her wants is so much more interesting.

“Please, of course I know what I’m doing. I wasn’t chosen by the divine for nothing.”

itto — show off

literally the moment you log off after wishing him for the first time he meets up with the gang to celebrate. it doesn’t matter if you only brought him to level 20 or instantly fully leveled him, he goes on about it for hours. any changes to his weapon would be shown off, and if you get his signature then he’s incredibly proud of it. sometimes he pokes fun at kujou sara because of his glider, but shinobu usually keeps it quiet enough nothing bad really happens. it’s not like sara can do much since he’s a favored vessel, but the gang doesn’t have to know that.

“Guys, come here! No, it’s not an onikabuto this time, look! I got a new sword today, isn’t it cool?”

kazuha — doesn’t exactly hide it

kazuha never gloats or tells stories when they aren’t wanted, but… instead of climbing down the mast when returning from the crow’s nest, he’s more commonly seen jumping from the side, letting his glider catch him. despite being an inazuman native, his time with you has made him an expert at gliding, a fact typically seen in the delicate fold of his glider every time his feet touch the deck. he makes sure to take care of it, running his fingers through the soft, feather-like mechanisms on its surface partly to remove any salt built up, but also because he likes the feeling.

“It was the chance of fate that allowed me to become so close to my god. Nothing more, nothing less.”

kaeya — flashy in the front, “what the fuck” in the back

he hadn’t expected to become a vessel so soon in your journey, but adapted quickly. you were early in your journey throughout teyvat, so he honestly expected you to drop him once you got someone more powerful, someone you surely liked more. and then you didn’t. and then he’s suddenly fighting with impossible speed and strength, his vision a sharp, glittering blue, and with every day that passes where he’s still the subject of your favor, the shock sets in a bit more. he doesn’t even go to the angels share the night he’s triple crowned, too dazed to try and interact with people, instead laying in his bed and staring at the ceiling.

“Why would i be their favorite? …Don’t tell me you’ve gone and started questioning the divine now, have you?”

chongyun — disbelieving

literally in shock the entire day after he’s been wished. also doesn’t matter how much you prepared for him, he’s stunned. he can feel his power grow, his claymore something new and so much sharper, a glider he doesn’t quite know how to use yet now at his disposal. once the shock wears off he has to take a few hours to calm himself down and keep from overheating, most likely with the help of xingqiu, xiangling, and the cool breeze by the ocean.

“I-I don’t know what I did… I’ve never even properly exorcised a demon—am I really worthy of this?”

noelle — oh jeez oh god oh wait oh jeez-

similar to kaeya, she was surprised that she was chosen so quickly, but rationalized it just as fast. she was to be a stepping stone, someone to protect you early on, a transient phase while you got your standing in teyvat. yes you leveled her, yes you took her with you to liyue, but that’s just because you hadn’t gotten anybody better, right? you didn’t… she wasn’t really your favorite, right..? poor noelle, it takes you fully ascending her for her to finally acknowledge your favoritism. though she doesn’t know what she’s done to earn this spot, she’s more than proud of it, taking the badge of her vision more seriously than her duties to the knights.

“It doesn’t matter what I’ve done to earn this place, what matters is that I do my very best to keep it.”

[problemstarchild]

I don't go here (college AUs) but please, for your consideration for Laios/Kabru AUs.

Laios is a returning education veteran and Kabru's in a bunch of the same Gen Ed classes as him. He's trying to figure out this guy's deal and going wild coming up with what kind of guy he is, but he overhears (eavesdrops on) Laios after class telling a friend he's probably going to have to drop out again because he can't keep up with his work and is having a hard time juggling his job and school. Kabru gets WEIRDLY invested in trying to help connect Laios with his benefits (because if he fails his classes he won't have an excuse to observe him up close anymore), also helping him go through the school to set up a learning plan to help him finish his work. Kabru is VERY cagey about why he knows how to do all of this stuff. (Autism to autism radar, PTSD to PTSD radar.) BONUS: Study buddies and Laios stays over, Laios is really neat from his time in the army and cleans up Kabru's fucked up and evil apartment which is so nasty because he's never washed a dish or a clothes in his life.

Kabru has to take another lab science credit as part of his Gen Ed courses and decides to pick Environmental Science, with Senshi as his professor. Laios is working with him as a fresh TA and he's just SO fucked up and weird about science. He's supposed to be studying pond water bacteria under a microscope but instead he's just studying this giant slab of beef who keeps bringing venomous snakes to class and talking about their importance to the ecosystem.

[SILLY] Laios is taking some art courses for fun along with the things he needs for his degree, he's pretty good, but he really only draws animals and sometimes landscapes. One class is figure drawings and Kabru is the model. Kabru's being very professional about it even though he definitely Looked once or twice. They have to show their work at the end of class and Kabru lingers behind a little in a robe to look at the art (and also because he definitely wanted Laios' number) but unfortunately for him. Laios' drawings. Are sooooooo bad. And Kabru tries to be so polite about it after class but also what the fuckkkkkk.

[SILLY] Laios isn't even in college in this one. Marcille is a TA for one of Kabru's afternoon classes. They're not close, but they watch some of the same soap operas and take the same bus to the same stop after class where Falin picks Marcille up and Kabru walks the rest of the way to his apartment, so they've taken to sitting together when possible to avoid Bus Strangers and chatting politely about whatever's new on the Daltian Clan this week. Except the one day Laios pulls up instead of Falin because she's busy taking care of a cat she found on the street or something and Kabru is basically like AWOOOOOOGA and is Not As Subtle As He Thinks He Is about asking Marcille casually about him going forward until she sets them up on an unwitting double date.

Kabru got accepted to this school on a fencing scholarship and fantastic grades. Laios is trying out for the fencing team because it's the closest thing he can legally do to being a guy with a cool sword. Rivalry? Shenanigans?

[psiroller]

My Boy (We Don't See Each Other Much)

a third fic request from unkat has reached me for some gamer au shenanigans. cool, i thought, nice low stakes goofin off fun time au. lets put some military industrial complex in there

cw: institutionalized homophobia, vague references to USAmerican military operations in the 2000's, gamer lingo

The raid was a resounding success by their guild's lax standards. Chilchuck managed to pull a rare light armor piece he'd been looking for, finally catching him up to the modern game; he was surprised by how much damage the standard grinding mobs were doing to him now, even if his defense was always going to be lower than the tanks and fighters he partied with. Laios landed the biggest critical hit he'd ever seen; the broadsword Chilchuck nabbed for him off the Auction House was working well for him. He was clearly still riding the high, humming the victory fanfare under his breath as he took inventory and milled about with Senshi, comparing the ingredients they’d collected, trading amongst themselves. It was late, though, close to Senshi’s prep hours. Marcille was fighting against the cozy lethargy that followed a glass of wine and swiftly losing. Falin had already logged out to take a shower and head to bed, stopping by Laios’ door for a hug goodnight.

Laios went right back to the desktop after he shut the door. He pulled his headset back on and heard the familiar sound of Chilchuck’s raspy inhale and then a long, satisfied exhale.

“Chilchuck!” Laios said, too eagerly. “You’re still up?”

“No, I’m fast asleep,” Chilchuck drawled. Laios snorted and threw a rock at Chilchuck’s head. It passed through harmlessly; neither of them wanted the hassle of dedicated PVP. Maybe Laios wasn’t as keen on roleplaying as Marcille and Falin were, but the roleplaying server had been a lot kinder to him than the standard ones he usually played on.

“You were right about the sword,” Laios tittered. “I really have to start doing the math instead of just looking at bigger numbers—uh, focusing on how sharp the blade is, I mean.”

Chilchuck coughed through a laugh, leaning away from the mic so that it didn’t blow Laios’ eardrums out. “I think some of the guides are a little out of date,” Chilchuck said, relaxed enough to drop character. Marcille was still nearby, though the AFK symbol appeared under her name; the elf she played nodded off, ears drooping.  “Critical chance used to be calculated with this really convoluted system that also included timers, so there were only so many crits you could get in the span of a few minutes,” he went on. “They updated it recently so that you roll for a critical every hit.”

“Oh, thank God,” Laios said. “On a timer? How long did raids use to take?”

“Oh, upwards of four hours.” Chilchuck said casually. Laios sputtered. “I know, I know. I guess people had more free time back then… though with how people run multiple raids a night now, I guess it’s down to how committed you are.”

“So critical hit percentage is the thing I should focus on, then.”

“For your build, yeah.”

“Why does everyone recommend focusing on damage per second?”

“It’s a recent change, I think it got pushed out just before you signed up. They’ve tweaked it a lot, so people tend to get confused on how it works now, as it gets buffed and nerfed. Attack and attack speed used to be connected to the same value, so there are other ways you can focus on dealing damage instead of just right clicking the dragon and watching one of twelve timers tick down.” Chilchuck smiled and took another drag. “I think they’re trying to freshen things up a little. I like the changes.”

“Really? Everyone in the forums talks about how much they hate it.”

“If they’re old enough to be using the forums, they’re old enough to hate their favorite thing changing,” Chilchuck laughed.

“But not you,” said Laios. There was a warmth there that Chilchuck didn’t see a reason for.

“Eh.” Chilchuck’s ears burned under his headset. “Maybe a little bit. They don’t make shooters like they used to.” There was a pause. “Oh, right, you don’t like those.”

“Just the super hoo-rah military ones,” Laios breathed. “I can do Team Fortress 2. That one’s pretty fun.”

“Oh! I play that with—a friend, sometimes,” Chilchuck stammered. “Do you… I’m still kind of wired. I got a day off tomorrow. Do you—”

“Yeah!” His mic clipped. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

“Wait, you don’t have a test tomorrow or anything, do you?”

“… No.”

“I don’t like that hesitation.”

Laios huffed and puffed and logged out of Dungeon Divers with little warning, but usernames were exchanged and soon Laios’ avatar (a dragon, what else) popped up in Chilchuck’s scant friend list, nestled between Dan and May.

“I didn’t think you’d be cool enough to play TF2,” Laios teased.

“Cool people play TF2? I thought it was all screaming toddlers.”

“There are a few of those, yeah,” Laios admitted.

“I played the original game. It was a lot different. I don’t really keep up with it these days, but…”

“No worries,” Laios chirped. “I’ll take care of you.”

Chilchuck felt something zip down his spine. “I’m not that bad.”

They played three matches with the usual late night crowd, and it was a miracle if Chilchuck could stay alive for longer than a minute or two, let alone get a kill. Laios, on the other hand, clawed up every scoreboard and sat at the top. He started with Sniper; Chilchuck followed him while waiting for his respawn timer to run out, flicking between first and third person views. He watched as opponents’ heads would pop like grapes the moment they touched Laios’ reticle, faster than Chilchuck’s eyes could tell his brain to move his fingers.

“Okay, maybe I’m pretty bad,” Chilchuck admitted. “Compared to you.”

Laios missed a shot and sputtered. “I’m concentrating…!” A Spy knifed him, and Chilchuck could hear Laios whack his mouse against the table in frustration. Chilchuck laughed.

“Relax, that’s your first one this round,” he teased. “Your reflexes are crazy. Maybe I’m getting too old for twitchy games like this.”

“The mechanics have changed a lot and all the tryhards are on,” Laios conceded, breathing out the annoyance. “I’ll switch to Heavy. Wanna be my Medic? I can keep more of an eye on you.”

Chilchuck sniffed at his demotion to pocket healer, but then at least he’d be getting assist kills. “Alright, fine.”

Many assist kills were had, and all was well. It was fun to watch Laios’ brain work, bobbing and weaving and jumping around. He played like May did, hyperfocused on the movement mechanics; Chuck’s wrists weren’t any good for that anymore, so he usually hung back to support anyway.

“So why TF2 and not Call of Duty?” Chilchuck asked between matches, lighting another cigarette in search of the now-elusive nicotine buzz. “Seems like you’re really good. You could probably go pro if you wanted.”

Chuck heard a rustling against the mic. Sounded like Laios fiddling with the thing, maybe rubbing his face. He heard a scratch of stubble.

“Eh. I just—don’t like the military aesthetic very much, or something,” Laios mumbled. “I, uh. I served, and it’s a little…”

Chilchuck coughed. “You served? As in, served in the army?”

“Yeah.” There was a chuckle from the other line. “What? Is it that surprising?”

“Well, you just never…” Chuck scratched at the nape of his neck. “You never said anything that made me think… I don’t know what I thought. You didn’t seem like the type.”

“That’s because I’m not,” Laios snorted. “I was a good shot, but not a good soldier, if that makes any sense?”

Chuck wet his dry lips and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t lock into the next game, and the queue dumped them out. Laios didn’t reset it.

“So you objected? Conscientious objection? Is that what it’s called?”

“That’s what it’s called, but uh… it takes a while to get that done if you enlisted voluntarily. You have to plead your case for it. I thought about it, but I didn’t get the chance.”

Chilchuck swallowed dryly, then tapped some ash out into the ceramic tray Patty made for him many Father’s Days ago. “So you were kicked out?”

“Discharged, yeah,” Laios sighed. His chair creaked as he leaned back, too. “Other than honorable.”

Chuck winced. “What did you do?”

There was that rustling again. “I, um. If you don’t ask, I don’t have to tell you.”

“Oh, uh. Sorry, I”—Chilchuck’s eyes went wide—"ohhh.”

“Yeah.”

“Seriously? They booted you over a thing like that?”

Laios laughed weakly. “It’s in the regulations.”

“Still? When there’s, like, five wars going on?”

“Yep. I got a little pamphlet about it and everything. It’s rarer these days, and most people now get let off with an honorable, but…” Laios sighed. “My case was a whole thing. I didn’t fit in great with the rest of my platoon to begin with, and I maybe… I maybe misread some signals. You get bored out there, you know. Lonely. Got a little too close to my bunky…” Laios cleared his throat. “He let me down easy, but I guess he said something to somebody. I don’t think he’d go straight to the brass, he told me he wouldn’t, but someone must have overheard and that counts as credible evidence, so…”

Laios popped his lips with a click of his tongue. Chilchuck was frozen, ashes falling from the end of his cigarette into the crevices of his already dirty keyboard. The cigarette had almost burned down to the filter; money burning up in unsmoked nicotine. “I was probably going to leave anyway,” Laios said, to fill the silence. “I didn’t like being out there. If anything it kept me from being stupid and going AWOL. But if you talk to the VA—or my dad, heh—I  might as well have.”

Laios wheezed. Chilchuck blinked some smoke out of his eyes and stubbed out his cigarette.

“Hang on, you were on active duty and they’re hassling you at the VA over healthcare?”

“Oh yeah. Anything less than a general discharge is going to get you some hassle. I’m still on general health insurance, lowest tier. I’m not on TRICARE.”

Chilchuck pinched the pressure point between his eyebrows. “There’s gotta be a way to appeal that.”

“There might be. But I’ve spent about 40 hours of my life on the phone with them since I got back, and I’m not keen on spending anymore.” Laios made a blech sort of noise, disgusted, a little childish. “I hate phone calls. Besides, they gave me some money for college, so it wasn’t a complete wash.”

“Small miracles,” Chilchuck mumbled.

“Yup,” Laios breathed. He drummed his fingers on his desk, loud enough to reach the mic. Then there were a couple rhythmic bongo slaps against the table, nervous. “Ready for another game?”

Chuck looked at his watch. It was 4:32 AM.

“Sure. Night’s still young,” he said, for lack of anything comforting to say. “Play Heavy again.”

“Okay,” Laios said, and there was a smile in his voice. So that was something.

[novankenn]

i got to say i love yur version of "Jaune Gets a Gun Au" Inspired by @howlingday's RU-JA-GUN-CON, and was wondering if ya can do one that involves a dagger and shield,sword,mask, and a dragon belt that can do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX7aDQ7mJ1k

@dragon1v2 ... I am VERY sorry for taking like forever to address your ask. I truly am. It is well past the time when I should have done so. I hope you enjoy this offering.

"Jaune Gets An Upgrade AU" Day One - (White Knight Chronicles)

While the rest of JNPR and all of RWBY browsed the wares of the "Firearms & Projectiles" section of the Vytal Festival's Armament Con, Jaune accompanied by Ren was walking through the "Blunt & Blade" section. It was a much smaller set of displays and merchant booths focused entirely on Huntsman/Huntress melee weapons and tools.

Ren: I'm still not understanding why you're here, Jaune.

Jaune: I need to upgrade. It's that simple.

Ren: But why? Crocea Mors is a perfectly viable weapon. Why look to replace it?

Jaune: It's an heirloom, and as much as I love having that tactile connection with my ancestors, I need to send it home. It should be resting with honor.

Ren: Okay, if you're set on doing this.

Jaune: You don't need to be here if you'd rather be with the others.

Ren: No... no. I'm not getting with in forty feet with Ruby and Nora while looking at guns. Pyrrha and Yang will keep them in check, and besides I find this rather relaxing.

Jaune: If you say so.

Ren: Besides someone has to be around you to make sure you don't get scammed.

Jaune: It was ONE time! Can we just forget about it?

Ren: No. No we can't. Atlas Generals do NOT have sneak away from Atlas. They just retire.

Jaune: ...

Ren: So any idea what you would like to consider?

Jaune: I feel I should stick with a sword.

Ren: Makes sense.

Jaune: That looks like an interesting booth.

(Imaged sourced from google - Elden Ring Merchant)

Ren: Uh... I'm... I'm... not sure...

Jaune: What's not to be sure of? He's offering melee weapons and has a good assortment...

Ren: Um... he's inside sitting in front of lean-to and has an actual campfire burning...

Jaune: Just makes him authentic.

Before Ren could offer up any further concerns Jaune approached the "stall"

Jaune: Hi.

Merchant: Greetings. How may I be of assistance?

Jaune: I'm looking for something to replace my current weapon with. Preferably a sword, and maybe a shield?

Merchant: I see. I see. I believe I have an item that would be perfect for you... young master.

Ren raised an eyebrow at that comment, and then he took a step back as with a lazy wave of the merchant's hand a shimmering image appeared...

(Imaged source from Google. White Knight Chronicles)

Jaune: Woah. Cool! It's interesting but the sword seems...

Merchant: Don't let the size of the blade fool you. This is a relic of power... that opens potential in you. Would you like to... try it?

With another wave of his hand, the image faded away leaving just the gauntlet and blade floating in the air before Jaune.

Ren: Jaune I...

Jaune plucked the item from the air and slid it on to his left arm. A phrase instantly jumped to Jaune's mind... one that he was compelled to speak...

Jaune: O Wizel, white warrior, wielder of the ancient sword, grant me your power. Verto!

In a glow of pure white light that blinded Ren, Jaune vanished, and a moment later was standing before him... completely changed.

(Image sourced from Google. White Knight from White Knight Chronicles.)

Jaune: Woah! Cool! I think I'll...

Ren: You'll think about it!

Jaune: Ren?

Ren: Jaune... you're um... you're kind of... overly tall?

Jaune looked down, understanding in some unfathomable way that he stood like 23 feet tall.

Jaune: Now that you mention it you do seem a lot smaller than normal.

Ren: So let's shelve this one... check out a few more booths...

Jaune: But this one is so awesome! I mean I'm totally intimidating like this! I bet I could solo a Goliath like this!

Ren: ...

Jaune takes a step forward and trips over his own feet, unused to his now massive size. Before he could arrest his fall, be hit the floor, leaving a crater and squashing several near by booths... luckily no one was injured... aside from Jaune's pride.

Ren: Jaune?

Jaune: I'm okay! I'm okay!

Merchant: So young... master. DO you wish to purchase this exquisite relic?

Jaune looks at Ren who was standing to the side, arms crossed.

Jaune: Can I come back?

Merchant: Certainly young... master. I will await your return.

Deactivating the item Jaune returned it to the Merchant, before having Ren haul him away.

[arthenaa]

Hey bro I like your writing and I was wondering if you could give us some Mizu x Filipino!Reader hcs🥺👉👈 ̶(̶t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶n̶n̶a̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶j̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶)̶

I have to make this poetic I'm so sorry but also making it modern!au and canon setting teehee (ALSO DOUBLE UPDATE?) slight nsfw ig!! mdni.

canon divergent, just think of this is as that scene from Goyo where Remedios and Gregorio Pilar do a wholeass pining scene idk

Absolutely met you at some fancy ass noble party

You're a child of a wealthy Senor who's in great partnership with the Lords from the Commonwealth

Mizu's camping in and disguising herself in the party to find more intel on her next target and then she bumps into you

at first you're like very inquisitive of where she came from (considering that you view her as a man at this point), how she enjoys the party and what not

then you're suddenly like ik what you're doing. you're not from here.

Mizu's thrown off bc haha this is an international gathering of sorts and like ppl here are mostly foreign

you're like well its bc you're so obvious when it comes to occasions like this that I've already spotted you from a while back

and so youre like dancing and all and Mizu has no choice but to extract info from you

she reveals that shes looking for a white man, and that he may have connections here in the ph

and coincidence cuz you, who's also a part of the resistance, have been tracing the weapons provider of the spanish army.

so you guys work together. you give her intel, she helps you hunt down the provider and their little goons

it kind of starts like an enemies to lovers .... kind of a forced situation where Mizu has to deal with the resistance in order to get to what she wants but rlly theres no other way around

falls in love w your love for your country

despite your privileged upbringing, you're deeply interconnected with your roots, and have been fighting for the filipino people

you guys fight over the simplest of things, like how she doesnt wear things right or holds weapons correctly

you definitely bond over weaponry though and its history. the first time you've seen her katana, you were so amazed. in return, you showed her a kampilan—a sword carved and forged by your grandfather. she had so many questions.

yeahh overall i think what pulled you together was your shared anger and desperation for justice. No matter the situation, whether it be a resistance against oppression or looking for the man that caused a hellscape within your life, y'all resonated with the emotions and trauma that came with that.

BEST BELIEVE THE SEX WAS GOOD and rough and yes hbejawhejehe mhm

anys thats all. you're like PARA SA PILIPINAS and shes on her knees.

modern au hehe

met through int sch program. mizu is a transferee from japan who joined their uni's international program and got linked w ur sch

she was in one of ur classes and like yeah, she was nearest to u so she had no choice but to ask u for sch stuff

YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS PRETTY CUTE but like u wanted a good impression so u tried to help her as much as u could

even gave her a tour of the campus

showed her a few iconic eating places that she could go to jic her budget was on a limit or wanted good filo food

you wanted to expose her to the culture as slowly as u could just so that she could adapt and pace herself

definitely stuck by your side since then

you learned that she's going to study here for 3 years before going back to japan for her masters, and you're like wow thats so cool and shes like thanks

definitely a gamer

you guys hang out at one of the comp shops nearby (IF NAGAARAL KAYO SA TAFT .... guys suki ako don HAHAHA)

loves learning abt history, esp filipino craftsmanship

you definitely treat her to various street foods

mizu : what's this

you : we call it kwek kwek, but u can call it neon balls

mizu: neon balls????

showed and taught her how public transpo works once, and she gets a hang of it a week later

knows her way around manila than you do (author is projecting mb)

knows basic filo words when navigating. you teach her the slang.

basically friends to lovers guys omg, ayon sana all eme

you do that lips thing where you point w ur lips and at first, she was so confused (this is during your relationship)

she thought you were asking for a kiss and she kissed u and you were like ?!@!?@??$?

mizu: ha

you: I WAS ASKING FOR THE,ASd MUGWTF

mizu: ahhh my bad haha

walks u to class teehee

hangs around in empty class rooms esp comp labs and you guys watch movies there

momol sa dorm, momol sa clasroom na madilim, momol sa may agno charot

MOMOL = MAKE OUT MAKE OUT LANG

revels in simple pda like linking ur pinkies together, thigh against thigh when seating, and just yk so landi. landi niyo.

you have her id pic on the back of ur id and she yours on her clear phonecase

EWWWW GAY PPL (affectionate)

unintentionally matching

loves gifting u jewelry esp necklaces (likes to see it when u guys are in the bedroom, splayed on your chest and just yk decorating your collarbones so nicely)

holds your hand and helps you cross the street omf

pays for ur commute fee when riding the jeepney

memorizes ur kwek kwek and fishball sauce combination

loves exchanging one shoe w u for funsies

loves taking pics w u w the cats on campus

OVERALL A CUTIE TEEHEE!

A/N: DEDICATED KAY DELULU RECEIVER!! eto para sayo sorry ginutom keta ng sobra huhu @ianiralvs may isa pa kong utang sayo na req mo hihi gagawen ko pa yon to muna HHAHHAHA

[hylianane]

I know it doesn’t have the same drama or canon-backing as the idea of Zoro being trained and even raised by Mihawk since young, but I’m still a little surprised that there’s practically no fan works playfully referencing the fact that Zoro was originally going to be a Buggy pirate. Walk with me here. Here’s how we could make this AU fall in line with Zoro’s final, canon characterization.

Yes, Zoro was hesitant to become a pirate with Luffy at first because being a criminal would limit his freedom of movement in his search for Mihawk. However, let’s look at the reason he ended up joining anyway: blackmail and the fact that Luffy was offering a real, tangible way to achieve his dream

Crazy thing is, Buggy is kind of the only other pirate in the East Blue who could offer him a similar thing. Though he would rather die than freely discuss his connection to Shanks, he is a pirate with connections (and a connection to Mihawk even this early in the story isn’t too much of a leap if we take in his interactions with Buggy and Shanks, as if they go way back). Buggy could very much use this fact to get what he wants. And what does the cowardly Buggy want? Protection, of course. Security in his place as the top dog pirate of the East Blue. A spot that the arrival of an upstart demon bounty hunter could threaten if he doesn’t play his cards right. And of course, his troupe could use a sword swallower.

Now, would Buggy be genuine in offering Zoro an easy way to reach Mihawk? Probably not. I mean, I’m sure he’d fail his way upwards into making it look that way so Zoro stays around, but what I’m getting at is that he wouldn’t have to be. Because Zoro, specially bounty hunter Zoro who only has himself to lose, can be just a liiittle bit naive. Because he has so much pride in his own word, he takes other, less deserving men at theirs. We see this when he expects Helmeppo, despite all his faults, to honor their deal. He’s genuinely shocked when the deal doesnt go through and he’s stuck tied up in ropes. We even see it a little with his blind faith in Luffy from day one. Yes, Luffy is a more than worthy Captain, but also for someone who had to be swindled into swearing himself to Luffy’s side, Zoro’s sense of honor and honesty led to him going to immense lengths to protect him before he really started to prove that, specially considering he’s someone who was already causing him way too much trouble within days of knowing him.

And mind you, it’s not like Buggy would give him no reason to stay loyal, either. His influence over the East Blue wasn’t anything to scoff at, and even though as a man he’s pretty corrupted, as a Captain he’s kind of brilliant. It’s a running gag how much the Buggy pirates are in love with him. He’s got wits and charisma and ways of gaining loyalty. He and Zoro wouldn’t be too bad a match.

And when Luffy does make his way to this Buggy Pirate Sword Swallower Zoro, and is taken in by his skill, determination and overall cool factor? Baby that’s the most exciting part about this. We’d get rivals to lovers Zolu but Zoro is dressed like a clown

[dreamchaserguild]

We recently backed a project on Kickstarter and I wanted to ramble about that.

(This is not paid promotion and I have no association with the team making this project. This is just me gushing about something I think is cool.)

I grew up playing Heroscape. This game was my childhood. If you don't know what Heroscape is, here you go:

It was a simple tactical minis tabletop battle game where you make a team of different heroes with their own unique abilities. But what really sold this game was the landscape you could build yourself.

I used to have a table that sat out on our front porch that was filled with Herocape stuff as I constructed and deconstructed and reconstructed my maps.

And I didn't just have the starter set you see above. (Above is actually several starter sets. You don't get quite that many pieces from one box. I'm guessing it's three starter sets since there are six ruins, and Heroscape only came with two.) No. I had the ice set, the volcano set, the castle set, a Marvel set. The second starter set with swampy environment.

Heroscape was an amazing part of my childhood. Then Hasbro let it die.

They tried to revive it in the form of Arena of the Planeswalkers, a knock-off with a flat cardboard battlefield. But it got cancelled after two expansions. They're going to try again, but I have no faith that they'll stick with the Heroscape revival.

Which brings us to SOURCE.

SOURCE is a hex system made by indie-developers who themselves were Heroscape fans and inspired by Heroscape. Rather than connecting at the sides like Heroscape, the SOURCE tiles are held together by edges as you can see here. (I sure hope they don't mind me lifting the images from their kickstarter.)

A disadvantage to this is that you lose some of the modularity in being able to build in any shape you want. The advantage though is that it allows for terrain to easily be added and removed throughout gameplay.

(They're also working on special grip mats for those who just really want to build in any shape they want without being confined to shapes of the edges.)

And in my opinion, the detail looks way better than Heroscape ever did. Just compare the lava tiles above to Heroscape's:

There's no contest.

The SOURCE hexes aren't just the same thing in different colors. They're actual works of art.

And I'm not saying this to put Heroscape down. Like I said, it was my childhood and was fantastic for its time.

The game on the Kickstarter, Timestrike, is very similar to Heroscape. But with so much more stacked onto Heroscape's foundation.

Characters have move, range, attack and defense like Heroscape. You have the six-sided dice where three sides are swords and two are shields. Only now there is a special lucky sword and a lucky shield. These aren't relevant for most characters, but some characters will have abilities where they'll gain some bonus on lucky rolls.

If that's not enough, there's also a Contest mechanic where you can push another player's figure. This is great if someone is on a ledge and you want to cause them fall damage, or if you just want to steal the high ground from them to increase your attack.

You can also mine materials, build roads with the materials you mined, and go fishing for buffs. (Literally. You can stand near water and try to fish. If you succeed, you take a card from the fishing deck.)

There are wild monsters you can try to tame. There are even large figures you can mount and ride. See this guy:

That's a base on his back for you to place a smaller miniature on and ride him around!

The game is centered around not just beating each other, but also fighting a boss called a Sentience with space for three figures on its back.

(Note: the Gorilla Brute is not part of this first set, and will likely come with a future expansion.)

The sentience takes full advantage of the destructible terrain, leveling any space he lands on.

And they're tossing in solo and co-op rules for people who don't want to fight each other and just want to fight the boss alone, or to team up to fight the boss.

Oh! And it comes with STACKABLE WALLS!

That's a small thing, but it's a cool thing. (Okay, this is technically a stretch goal for $200,000 that they haven't put on the official Kickstarter, but $200K feels likely to me.)

The creators also seem genuinely committed to making this a reality and keeping it going for a long time, with talk of several expansions in the pipeline, introducing more playable characters, more rideable Brutes, and more bosses which will each have their own abilities and their own solo/co-op modes.

And possibly boats.

That's a picture of a prototype boat that can fit three figures and will NOT be included in this Kickstarter. But it is planned for a future expansion.

I don't know if the boats will come to fruition. I don't know if they'll look like that when they are released or if they'll look completely different by then since that would be a long way off.

But I appreciate knowing that there are plans to make this a long-term investment. I'm not worried that the creators will give up on SOURCE and Timestrike like Hasbro did Heroscape and Arena of the Planeswalkers.

And it's not just Timestrike. The SOURCE terrain can be purchased on its own and the SOURCE system is intended to be used for a variety of games by different creators. And it's already naturally compatible with Heroscape, Arena of the Planeswalkers, Battletech and other hex-based games.

I am incredibly excited and hopeful for the future of this project!

Here's the Kickstarter for anyone who wants to see more of this.

And here's a video review going over the Timestrike rules and how it plays: