#but apparently I was in a zone when I hammered this out

[thebibliosphere]

I have no memory of writing this line, but damned if I’m not in love with it.

Martha, lounging sideways on the couch like a NewJerseyan Cleopatra, raised an exasperated eyebrow at him.

New Jerseyan Cleopatra.

Iconic.

[violetsiren90]

Pairing: dom!Hoseok/sub/brat!f!Reader

Genre: Oneshot; hard smut (eventual fluff 😂); BDSM lifestyle; friends to fwb to?; canon-compliant (idolAU)

Summary: You've been friends with Hobi for years, and he's your comfort zone - but when he gets wind of a dark secret you drunkenly let slip, things between you take a sudden extreme change.

Warnings: 18+ (minors, dni); hardcore BDSM themes/relationships; full consent and safe-words ❤; Hobi is a hard dom; MC is a brat (mostly); dominance and submission; elements of primal play; sexual degradation (deg-play use of the word "b*tch"); mentions of MC's hair and hair pulling; rough physical contact in a sexual context (manhandling); mentions of drinking; kink-outing; Jimin is a menace lol; Hobi in the studio 👀 (The full oneshot will come with more specific warnings - a looooong list lol)

Mood board here! ⛓🖤

Release date: Christmas? 🎄

Author's note: Hey, y'all! I am catapulting out of my comfort zone with this one and, honestly, having the time of my life. I've been in my Hobi era lately and when the concept of dom!Hobi possessed my mind I knew I'd have to write it out or else. 😅���� I hope to pop this under your trees around Christmas! Hope you enjoy the teaser, and as always, if no one has told you yet today, you are loved and worthy of love! 🧜‍♀️💜

Also, a big thank you to @orchidyoonkook for beta reading this - you are the real MVP! 💕

If you want to be alerted via the tag list for this when it drops, let me know!

_______________________________________________

  "What?" Hoseok's wide grin stretches further as he regards your flustered face with giddy anticipation.

    You groan into your hands, willing the cushions of your friend's leather couch to swallow you like quicksand.

    "Fucking Jimin - I'll kill him!" you whine, pressing your fingers to your temples, and keeping your eyes glued to the hardwood of the studio floor.

    The rapper laughs as he swivels his baseball cap to sit backwards on his fluffy brown mop of hair. 

    "Come on! Tell me!" he insists, sprawling back in his rolling chair, the tips of his fingers touching deviously together as he regards you with twinkling eyes. 

    You sneak a glance at him before sighing defeatedly, which only earns another chortle of laughter from across the room.

    Park fucking Jimin. You really were going to kill him. Too many bottles of soju the week prior saw you blacking out at the BTS member's pad, the one he shared with your mutual friend, Jung Hoseok. You woke up the next day, memories of the night before obscure concepts of debauchery merely alluded to by the taste of bile and the dull cranial throb of dehydration. When Jimin rather gleefully handed you, along with an iced americano, one of the booze-fueled revelations you had let slip, you begged and pleaded with him to erase the memory from his brain...or at the very least to take it to his grave. He made no such promises. And now, you are facing the man of the hour - the subject of your divulgement - who had apparently been informed that you harbored certain strong opinions in his regard. Humiliating.

    You flick mildly irritated eyes back up to your friend who waggles his brows in a way that makes you want to crack a smile and sock him at the same time.

    "Before I say anything, I want to know exactly what he told you," you demand, crossing your arms defensively, no cracked smile to be found.

    He rolls his eyes up to the corner of the ceiling in recollection.

    "He just said that you had gotten wasted and admitted something kinky...about me." 

    At the last two words he drops his voice dramatically low and pins you with a grin that is sickeningly predatory. Your pulse begins to hammer and you have to remind yourself that you are, in fact, capable of speech. Fuck, you think to yourself, it's happening. You can feel sweat starting to bead at your hairline. Maybe if you get it out there, just say it aloud, it will lose its power. Maybe the spell will be broken. Maybe he will laugh and you will laugh and you'll order lunch and keep irritating him while he's supposed to be working on a track. You're both adults, right? You whoosh out a breath. 

    Hobi is still looking at you, his bottom lip pushing up and the corners of his mouth tugging down in one of his little inverted smirks while his right leg bounces a little up and down. It is just Hobi, after all, you tell yourself. Just Hobi. You are roundly aware that it may be a lie, but it seems to allow you just enough courage to jump.

    "Okay, okay!" you practically shout, and he giggles and stomps his feet, which admittedly makes revealing this particular chestnut a bit easier.

    "I told him...I said..."

    "What?"

    "Oh, Christ! Fine!" And the rest comes out like water from a fire hose. "One time I came to drop off Jimin's charger and you were in dance practice and you were watching the guys and you had this look on your face - like you were pissed or something - and it was so unlike you and I got turned on and ended up having a fucking wet dream that you were stepping on my mother-fucking pussy, okay?! Are you satisfied now?!"

    You heave a sigh and throw yourself back against the cushions, hands over your face. How you just mustered the courage to form those actual words you haven't even the faintest notion - but it was going to be you or Jimin, and it might as well be you. After your heart has begun to return to its resting rate and you've heaved a few deep breaths you steel yourself against the certain impending onslaught of Hobi's laughter and general mockery...which doesn't come. You peek through your fingers to see that your friend has shifted in his chair, facing a bit away from you toward the inside of the room, leaning forward, his hands gripping the ends of the chair's armrests. His face looks a little troubled, or pensive, you can't tell which. You sit up and really look at him, suddenly worried. Did you just fuck things irrevocably up? That was an incredibly bizarre and intimate thing to admit. Shit.

    "Hobi?" you squeak, barely over a whisper, as you regard him.

    He tilts his head suddenly to look at you, quick like a bird, and when those dark eagle-eyes regard you in return, you feel like a small, helpless creature scurrying across the tundra. Nowhere to hide. A bead of sweat escapes its perch and slips down from your temple. As he utters his question of response, the air suddenly becomes as thick as the tropics.

    "Is that something that you'd want, Y/n? To be treated like that? To be...put in your place? Put down?"

    You don't answer him. You can't. Your words, your breath, your coherent thoughts are stuck, inert, useless as your chest begins to rapidly rise and fall in heavy swells. Your eyes are locked on his face as if by magnetic force. He stands, his baggy Louis Vuitton tee falling over his grey sweats. He shoves his hands in the pockets and takes a step toward where you sit. His posture is relaxed. His gaze is anything but.

    "Is it?"

    You want to say you don't know. That you'd never considered it again. Never once recalled the image of it - of him -  standing over you as the sole of his shoe punished your throbbing sex.

    "Fuck..." you breathe, and when he doesn't take his eyes from your squirming form, you relent. "...y-yeah."

    He takes another step toward you, slowly. He's crowding you now, as he looks down, and the proximity is almost more than you can bare.

    "You see," he remarks musingly, "I thought you were gonna say something funny - something ridiculous," he tilts his head to one side, the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips, "But that's not funny, Y/n. No, that's not funny at all. Because, as it turns out..."

    He leans down, his breath fanning over your face as he speaks. Mint and espresso. You shiver and close your eyes.

    "...that's something I can do."

...what? He can...h-he can....

    "Hoseok..." you whisper shakily, because it's all you can manage.

    You hear him laugh darkly and you don't look at him.

    "Hoseok?" he mimics, "Not, Hobi, huh? Hoseok when you're like this, is it?" 

    "When I'm like...what?" You practically whimper in complaint, eyes still pressed shut as your last line of defense.

    But any manner of defense is in vain as he answers your query, the words dripping from his lips slowly like honey, sickly like venom - 

    "When you're a filthy pathetic little slut."

    A whine escapes you at the complete and utter shock of his words. Suddenly you clamp your thighs together (to provide friction or obscurity to your quickly dampening cunt you are unsure), and that's when he takes your jaw between his fingers and roughly jerks your chin upwards, your eyes fluttering frantically open. 

    "Is this what you want?" he hisses, "For me to have my way with you like a needy whore?" Fuck, is this happening? This is really happening. Your mind reels, but that's alright - it stopped doing the thinking when he got up out of that chair. Something primal in you had taken over, something that's been starving for so long, something that longs to feed.

    You do your best to nod with your chin in his grip. He swallows thickly, his eyes darting to your lips, and then back up to yours. His pupils are blown, his eyes almost wholly black as they trace over your face. Suddenly his hand slips from your chin to the nape of your neck where his hand tangles in your hair and his head drops to the side, his gaze softening.

    "I need you to say it, Y/n, are you sure you want to do this?" he asks, his voice so, so low but without the edge that sends ice through your veins. His voice. He's asking you as someone who cares about you, cares what you want - your friend. Do you want this? No...you don't want it. You need it.

    "Yes - yes, Hobi - I want this," you find yourself stumbling over the words to get them out.

    So quickly and so assured. Have you ever been this certain of anything in your life? His fingers dance against the nape of your neck and you sigh as his eyes travel all over your body. You want to hide. You want to strip down. You want to run and you want him to chase you. You want him to punish you when he catches you. You are sick with want.  

    "A safe word, baby, we need a safe word," he nudges your racing mind back into the current moment with his words.

    You blink, your mind running up against the sudden saccharine pet name (which he has admittedly called you before) as it scrambles for something obvious and yet not ridiculous.     Something simple maybe...a flower...?

    "Foxglove," you say, and he raises his brows with a grin.

    "Foxglove it is," he acquiesces. "So if you ever want me to stop, ever - okay? You say that. Foxglove." 

    You nod.

    "Say it for me," he whispers, you shiver again. Fuck.

    "Foxglove." It's slow and thick leaving your mouth.

    "Good girl," he purrs. Butterflies erupt in your rib-cage and your eyelids flutter. "How hard do you want it?" He asks, "How rough?"

    You scramble to find your voice.

    "Pretty rough, I think," you posit, a bit unsure of what that means.

    He hums in response, his brows knitting in thought. You were going to have to give him something to go on, you could see that.

    "I..." you stammer, "I want you to...to punish me. I want you to...to hurt me a little."

    He raises a brow - looks at you, just stares as if considering. Then suddenly you know what to say.

    "See...I'm not a good girl," you insist tilting your head back a bit haughtily, a bit defiantly. Being a good girl had gotten you butterflies, but that's not what you wanted right now. That's not what every cell of your body was screaming for.

     He's grinning wickedly again - his other hand is slipping out of his pocket and the one in your hair is gripping at the roots.

    "Hm. You're not are you?" he asks, his voice as dark and cold as the Pacific once again.

    "No, Hobi," you whisper. And suddenly your world is tilted on its axis as he tightens his fingers against your scalp and yanks your head back, sending a searing pain shooting through your skin as he stoops to hiss in your ear.

    "That's Hoseok, you pretty little bitch."

    You let out a whimper so needy it's nearly a sob. Your heartbeat is pounding between your legs. He lets go of your hair as roughly as he grabbed it and goes to lock the door and your stomach flips - you are totally and completely at his mercy. It's a little bit terrifying and completely exhilarating. When he comes to loom over you again, you decide just exactly where you stand in all this. You know exactly what you want. You glare up at him. He narrows his eyes.

    "You gonna listen, hm?"

It's not a question, you know it's not - it's a command. But you have one, just one, of your own...

    "Make me."

[ineylesian]

hey!!!

I was wondering, how would Ghost react to the reader scolding him?? like, something happens that disrupts the mission and it's his fault and the reader scolds him, not aggressively, but still I would like to know Ghost's reaction

Also, the idea that he and the reader have a romantic relationship but he's still a bit strict :)

(I used the translator to write all this!! sorry if there are any translation errors, English is not my native language :D)

WALK AWAY FROM THE SUN

— SIMON “GHOST” RILEY X READER

— AO3 | MASTERLIST | EVENT

— WORD COUNT | 3k

— WARNINGS | canon typical violence, hurt/comfort, mentions of weapons, arguments, mentions of trauma.

— SUMMARY | you often meet ghost at his shortcomings, but nothing serious as this has yet to happen.

— AUTHOR’S NOTE | tysm for the request 🫶🫶 i wanted to expand on this just a lil but made sure to keep the original prompt, i hope you enjoy!! hope the scolding isn’t too strict :)

Ghost thinks he’s having trouble breathing.

He doesn’t know if it’s because of the worry sanctioning in his chest, or the bullet lodged in his ribs. It takes a few seconds, he breathes, and a slightly ragged puff of air crawls its way back up his esophagus. Shallow wounds never hurt him, but ones that fester in the mind nearly paint his vision black. 

It was a bad mission, destined to go wrong the moment Price laid out the plan. Too many HVTs to secure in such a dangerous zone, touched down in a land similar to post scorched earth. Calls of concern were dismissed by Shepherd, this mission was too important to let go, and they were to complete it, no matter the cost.

Nevertheless, things went south, fast. Nearly an entire squad of foot soldiers dead in under one hour, and only 2 out of 4 targets eliminated. It wasn’t long before Price called in evac, the mission’s end along with it. There was always time again to try again. Until the screaming started, and Ghost was nowhere to be found.

It was capture or kill, and it was certain no one was getting captured at this rate. You’d seen it all, the look he gave Price as he was getting into contact with Shepherd, and the miniscule shake of his head as he tightened his gear. The screams were yours, are you out of your fucking mind?-- hair whipping against the wind as you watched him disappear into the flames, yelling for the pilot to touch down. 

Any sane soldier would have shaken their head and waved to confirm exfil, but this was nothing near normal. The 141’s purpose isn’t sanity, it’s loyalty. Price wasn’t going to allow himself to lose more than one soldier, and it was apparent that you were leaving with or without his permission. He strapped a tracker to your vest before you jumped.

Ghost wasn’t expecting to get shot. Maybe the adrenaline kicked in too early, or maybe the opportunity was just too good. The last two HVTs right in his line of sight, running through the open, unarmed. 

Or so he thought.

He sits slouched against a wall, the hand clamped over the bullet’s entryway growing progressively more damp as the minutes pass. He should’ve expected someone with a target on their back to run around with a gun, anything lethal, even, especially after watching his friend’s jugular fly from his neck. Pointed a gun and blindly shot. A rookie mistake that put him and his whole squad at risk because of some halfhearted words Shepherd hammered into his head. 

He believes in no matter completely. Maybe that’s where he comes short.

Frankly, Ghost isn’t even worried about the lingering pain in his abdomen, or the fact that the last target escaped. He’s worried about the person coming to find him. Something in the back of his head grows into a throbbing pain in the frontal lobe and he closes his eyes, hoping it’s not you that’s coming.

Who could he be kidding? Of course you were going to come for him. You always did, and always will. It’s a danger that follows when you happen to love someone you run into the frontlines with. Something that was going to get one of you killed one day, purely because he knows he’d do the exact same thing.

Ghost curses under his breath. You’re just like him sometimes, blindsided and hard headed as they come. 

Falling debris and the thud of boots join the rasp that serves as his breathing. You’re here, and it looks bad, worse than he expected. Your eyebrows are knit tightly together, and he can see the dribble of blood that rolls down your chin due to how hard you bite your gums. Your skin is laced with sweat, and you’re panting, hard. 

He’s only been bleeding out for three minutes. With you here, it feels like an eternity, and the grasps of something much worse than death are holding time still. When he finally shifts his lips to speak, you shove a cloth against his ribcage, hard. All that comes out is a strangled grunt, and he falls silent. No one renders him as speechless as you do.

He hasn’t felt so small since his father. It’s deserving, every last bit of it. He let go of himself and you still came to save him. He should be feeling nothing short of gratitude, yet he only feels as though someone dragged him into the undertow and left him to drown there. The way you refuse to meet his eyes strikes harder than any other bullet, and for the first time, he doesn’t know what to do. 

All he can feel is the fear that you have instilled in him, and his consciousness slips before he can think of anything else.

—

Forgiveness is a hard thing to earn. In the 141, it seems more rational to die than seek it.

Ghost doesn’t consider death. He’s considered nothing, not since a bullet put him into a coma for a week. In that time, he dreamt of choppy waters and black riptides. The slosh of imaginary waves greeted him more times than your voice did.

He only remembers it once. You asked one of the nurses how he was doing. When she said he’d wake up, you left.

You don’t wait up on people, Ghost knows that. No part of him holds the expectation that you would’ve cared just a little more and stuck around. You knew he’d live, and that was the end of it. You walk away from the sun when it burns you.

When it comes to the battlefield, you’re cold as ice and follow rational orders to a tee. You keep your head on straight until you don’t, because taking care of others feels better than sprinkling soil over an empty grave. The way you think is profound yet humanity never fails to escape you, it’s what dragged you to him, stone-eyed and indifferent on the surface. 

People around him always say it’s impossible to get attached in the military. He almost believes them, but he thinks of you and all else fades. Like a moth to a flame, he knows you’d follow his trail into hysteria. He knows it frustrates you, habits such as those are hard to shake. You’ve spent too much time by his side to quit. Couldn’t shake you even if he wanted to.

It reminds him of three years ago, with you curled up beside him in the depths of Syrian mountains. You’d offered him some bourbon for the pain– he’d been stabbed in the leg, covering up with the excuse that it’d help with the cold. You knew how to tempt him, just one drink turning into the whole bottle empty at your feet. Only you could make him succumb to something like that, listening to you ramble on about how careless he was to get stabbed, hours of it, the coziness of you and the blankets drilling static into his head.

Ghost could hold his alcohol better than you. Barely felt a buzz from the drinks in his system. But this.. your head lightly bobbing against his shoulder, haphazardly checking on his bandage before kissing the exposed skin beside it. You were right, his whole body was on fire, so enamored with you, the feeling of home creeping along his skin in short, fatigued breaths.

He vaguely remembers when you turned to your side, hands hot on his pulse and sinking underneath. Everywhere, you were everywhere. You had taken him by storm and the buzz of the bourbon heightened his senses to a point where it was nearly unbearable. It took every fiber of his willpower to listen, straining against the irrevocable hold you had placed on him, fighting to restrain himself.

Amidst the haze, you asked him if he would do something for you. In that state, Ghost thinks he would’ve tried to overthrow the entire planet if you wanted him to. Instead, you uttered something short of ten words, and he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life when he answered.

“Promise me you’ll look out for yourself, Simon.”

Your inquiry seemed small, fragile, and simple to be compliant with in the moment. He shuns himself for failing to remind you of who you were, what you were fighting for, and that looking out for yourself is a restraint only some can hope to afford. It’s a luxury that separates people who want to save the world from those who do.

“Alright, then.”

Drunk or not, he made a promise. Broke it just as easily. He resists the urge to bash his head against the wall as consciousness returns to him, opting to thank the nurse with a few words scribbled on a napkin before disappearing. 

As much as he wants to scrub the sickening scent of antiseptic and illness from his skin, Ghost can’t bring himself to visit your room right now. He knows you’ll check the infirmary soon– despite what you say he knows you stop by, even if it’s for a second, yet he opts to leave base regardless if you come to find him or not. He’d rather speak to you when you’re on those terms. Guessing by the freshly washed sweatshirt that sits zipped up to his neck, you probably don’t want him dead. 

He’ll cut his losses there.

—

The early hours of the morning creep along the skyline, spilling over the roads below. You walk, dismissing the dull ache in your feet from miles of dug up sidewalk and the scorching ground you had run across some days ago. It’s not long before the breeze picks up the scent of saltwater, light ripples rock calmly against marsh and you sigh.

You knew he’d be here. Always came when tragedy struck and life wasn’t fair. It reminds you of a homage after nights of terror in Urzikstan, peaceful, and nothing else. Somewhere you go when you can’t quite reach the ocean.

Ghost sits with his back to the sun, perched against a dock overlooking the water. Your legs come to a stop, and you stand still, wondering if this was all a mistake. Maybe you should just turn around while you can, run to the safety of a home that only carries a lingering scent of him. Here, the breeze makes you nauseous. 

Everything here is riddled with sorrow and buried in tears. The cycle repeats, you think you deserve to cry.

You take a look to the sky and the clouds point you offshore. Saline winds pull you farther and it’s too late to reconsider leaving when your foot creaks against the dock. Ghost catches you in his peripheral, approaching slowly, the distance polarizing. It feels like glass is lodged in your feet. The gap waged feels something like No Man’s Land. 

Ghost sits on the edge, one leg hanging over the water while the other sits folded at the knee. You lean against a support beam across from him, one glance and you think you might choke. Flashing rays dawn over the baclava settled over his face, drawing light to the skin bridged above his nose. Eyebags crawl and tear at paint ridden skin, blond eyelashes fluttering against smudged black, over the one part of him that feels normal. Nothing else does.

He stares ahead, umber hues washing over ripples cast by fish in waiting. You feel like you do everytime you come here, except sadness is held back by frustration, boiling underneath your skin and rising to the surface. Moments pass, the breeze dies down and beckons for you to speak. 

“You broke your promise.” Pressure settles within your chest. Hurt floods the atmosphere and Ghost’s eyes leave the water. He thinks, you lie in wait, arms crossed defensively over your chest. 

“You can’t rely on intoxicated words.”

It’s fair, yet completely unfair at the same time. You know it was an unreasonable thing to ask, came straight from the alcoholic worry that seethed in your mind. Normal people don’t make promises they know they won’t be able to keep. People that care too much ask of them.

“Drunk words are sober thoughts.”

Ghost says nothing. You know he wanted to keep that promise. Held it over his heart for three years, let it slip under his sleeve as all other things do. Something that happens when war is all you know. He knew you, too, but warfare is different from anything else. You understand that.

The smell of antiseptic reeks off of him, the sun licks at black paint and chips crumble. He’s nonchalant on the surface like always, but you know him. Underneath blood stains the hole in his abdomen that put him here. He leans toward it as if pain has become him.

He’s always been like this, body hungry for violence, mind begging for reconciliation. It’s how his mind is wired, shutting doors on people makes them want to close it in another’s face. You learned to coincide with it, but there’s still a line. The fact he crossed it so easily sparks the worry within and you fight the tears that push against your sockets.

Anger resides and reels back in, lapping at the shore and bringing you to your knees. You fear you’ll lose him that way.

It’s all you think about.

“What made you think that was a good idea?” You bark, grasping his chin to face you head on. “You think putting yourself in danger is no big deal, don’t you? Worried everyone sick because of a stupid HVT.”

He sees right through you. Worried me sick, he hears it as he would an echo. It’s a profession of worry, he knows you worry because you love him. 

“We all have to make sacrifices.” His response is a dull front, you hear the guilt laced within. “You know that.”

You do. Things stay strict on the battlefield and remain that way. Until it’s him. When there’s Ghost, there’s always Simon. You learned to make that exception because you understood that. Ghost is not afraid to die. Simon is.

“What good are you to anyone if you throw yourself in the line of fire?” You spit, pointer finger snapping to hover above his wound.. “There’s no guarantee that someone will always be able to save you when things go wrong. You know that.”

He knows that, and he knows you. 

You know there’s a darkness that lingers within him. It’s inevitable. Something that festers, building up until it’s strong enough to lash out. It’s selfish, cares and waits for no one. A walking death sentence that hangs over his head no matter the value he places in his life.  It chases him in his dreams, trails a dark shadow over his head that turns him into the person he fears he’d become. Adapted him so the only thing he feels when he pulls the trigger is recoil.

“We win together, and we fail together, Simon. It’s not your responsibility to change that.”

He hates that side of his head that made him think otherwise. Hates himself more when he makes you worry. 

Old habits die hard. It’s not easy to take, the way he knows those parts of him linger. You know when it comes, the front he manages with surgical precision shatters and he breaks down into hysteria because it’s too much for one person to handle. 

Regardless, he tries. You love him for that. He loves you because you walked into his life and it gained purpose.

All that’s good in his life comes from you. The first nights in his life he felt welcomed to sleep because you were in bed beside him. Days fly by and he changes. You change with him. The small room he occupies at base doesn’t seem so lifeless anymore because you’re always in it. 

He damns the way you smile at him, infectious, a snapshot memory he keeps in his thoughts. Thoughts that draw a compass in his mind that routes home to you.

Every part of him feels selfish for making you feel this way. It tears through him as a knife does and his nerves flay from the heat.

“I’m sorry, lovie.” It feels like he’s suffocating, drawing on the tears that slide down your face and drip onto your hands. He takes dampened skin and holds onto it as if he’ll lose you forever if he lets go. “‘M so sorry that I made you worry. Bastardish thing to do.”

His accent is heavy, dripping with resent and pleading for composure. It’s everything and nothing all at once. Your tears stain his hands and he feels like he always does when things go wrong. Except, it’s always you who quells him in the midst of nightmares. His mind races at the stutter of your breath, hands fumbling to push stray hairs out of your eyes.

“I love you, so much. Wouldn’t ever wanna make you worry, yeah?”

Silence passes for a minute. Seagulls chirp and water sloshes against eroded rocks.

Your eyes peek out from his hands, slotting your arm between his, reaching up. You tug and his mask bunches up at the nose, fingers smoothing over the surface of his skin, warm, grasping for affection. You yearn for his touch and he gives it to you without question.

Ghost tastes of gunpowder and the bask of the sun. It reminds you of home, slightly chapped, never wanting more than what he can give. He’s gentle, canines gently poking against your lips, perfectly still. You sigh inwardly at the feeling, reveling in all that he is until you can breathe no longer.

“You’re such an idiot.”

Your chest heaves, breath leveling with a rough scoff. His eyes crinkle like they do when he notices you packed extra eye black for him. Mouth parted, a ghost of a smile curving at his lips.

“I know, can’t seem to get myself sorted.”

There’s an underlying meaning to it. Passes through like the wind that cards through your hair. Guilt rides the waves, but you don’t want to cry anymore.

You just want to heal. Ghost understands that more than anyone else.

[outivv]

https://x.com/dailycaelus/status/1812890084045389960?t=pnMzWIplb4Qsjeu200JClw&s=19

Very important information!

Long story short an anon insider from Hoyoverse is stating that while raising awarness on social media apps is great. We should take a step further and start dropping reviewing on any Playstore Site that has Genshin.

Express why you are dissatisfied and use hastages to bring more awarness. As for right now the Playstore reviews are dropping that it went from a 4 star review to 3.0 review. Hoyoverse is desperately trying to get reviews back by adding bots.

We shouldn't be just doing this with Genshin. Do this with ALL HOYOVERSE GAMES. Honkai Star Rail, Tears of Themis, ZZZ, etc.

HSR is facing the same problem as Genshin with Boothill being Native American coded, Penacony reloving around Jazz but have no Black character, Aventurine being Romani etc.

YEA YES!! I tried talking about this in my Hoyoverse boycott post, but I only touched on it briefly- but Hoyoverse games IN GENERAL are the overall problem. Tears of Themis has issues with being orientalist- and just shitty. Zenless Zone Zero apparently has actual blackface! Not good! Uhhh- outside of the record store on one of the little record poster thingies I believe. Honkai impact third has… straight up racism, and a subpar character plot about learning to love your skin color no matter what and she just goes “ummm actually no :)”, and oh my god I haven’t talked much on Honkai Star rail on this account but ykw I’ll go further into it.

Boothill- Boothill is based off of Native American culture, and is supposed to also be Latino. In the CN ORIGINAL translation of the game- his planet is named after two very real Native American tribes, his backstory recreates the same colonization that happened to native Americans specifically- calling Boothill’s people savages, and putting them in reservations after completely carpet bombing his planet, killing most of the population, and destroying the ecosystem. However, despite this Boothill has nothing to show for his heritage, or the fact that he is based around native, and Hispanic people except for the fact that he’s a cowboy- and even then sometimes I feel like he’s played up in game as like actually stupid for comedic relief when he’s not stupid AT ALL. (Sorry, Boothill’s one of my favs and a bad hyperfixation so I’m super passionate about how he needs proper representation)

Aventurine- aventurine is called a slur by sparkle, both sparkle and dr ratio point out specific racist stereotypes against aventurine that are usually targeted at Romani people which is who aventurine, and his entire home planet are based off of (that’s why I’m not a huge fan of Dr ratio x aventurine personally. Dr ratio isn’t racist imo, he’s just lowkey fucking mean and said the wrong thing to the wrong person). Aventurine’s backstory is also fucked in my opinion, and the way people in the fandom take his backstory and treat him as a character only really started getting bad bad after we found out he was Romani, but that’s a fandom issue- it’s still something to comment on.

Arlan- while Arlan is the darkest character Hoyoverse has made to date, he also has his talent names beeee references to slavery. Straight up. “Shackle breaker”, “frenzied punishment”, “swift harvest”, and then his eidolons- “breaking free”, and “hammer and tongs”. Not cool, kinda fucked up.

And that’s just the characters I can think of off the top of my head- not including Jade and her shit cause I know she has some stuff that’s like fucked up about her and ik she’s racist I just haven’t done my research on how she is racist and like gathered all the evidence basically lol, but that’s also just the characters, not to mention what you said anon- how penacony is based off of the jazz age but has no playable black characters? Girl whatttt? Gimmie a slay ass like black singer who’s besties with Robin, cmon now- don’t a coward Hoyoverse, you know DAMN WELL that she would sell too.

Hoyoverse games overall are like this, so please pay attention to all Hoyoverse games, and Hoyoverse mostly only listens to the App Store reviews so PLEASEEEEE go and review bomb ONLY Hoyoverse games. Start with Genshin and Honkai Star rail, go to Zenless Zone Zero and Honkai Impact 3rd then finish with Tears of Themis, don’t do it all at once if you can’t!! Just go review all of them one stars!!

[winxanity-ii]

⌜Know No Evil | Chapter 17 Chapter 17 | primal protection⌟

╰ ⌞🇨‌🇭‌🇦‌🇵‌🇹‌🇪‌🇷‌ 🇮‌🇳‌🇩‌🇪‌🇽‌⌝

❘ prev. chapter ❘༻✦༺❘ next chapter ❘

When you finally regained consciousness, a wave of disorientation washed over you. You blinked, trying to focus in the dim light.

You were alone, sprawled on what felt like rough concrete.

The air hung thick and heavy, a metallic tang stinging your nostrils. The distant rumble of something far below made your balance a bit unsteady.

Your gaze swept the environment, taking in the barren landscape. Molten rock glowed faintly in the distance, casting an eerie red light across the desolate terrain.

The heat, almost suffocating, pressed down on you.

Suddenly, the faint memory of Thirteen's voice, muffled and distorted, flickered back—about the "training zones."

Ah, that's where you were.

For a fleeting moment, a strange comfort settled over you. The heat, the barrenness—it stirred something deep within, a forgotten memory from your past life.

Images flashed across your mind—ruling over realms of fire and brimstone, wielding terrifying power alongside your sisters, the other three Horsemen: Yoru—the War Devil, Fami—the Famine Devil, and Death with her chilling touch.

The nostalgic memory was shattered by a whoop that echoed through the desolate landscape. You snapped your head to the left, spotting a hulking figure emerge from the shadows.

His head was a grotesque parody of a hammer, molten metal replacing flesh and bone. A cruel grin split his face, revealing rows of jagged, brown teeth.

"Well, well, well," he boomed, his voice a gravelly rasp, "look what we stumbled upon. Seems the League scattered more than just heroes." His eyes, two glowing embers recessed deep within his metallic skull, narrowed as they scanned you up and down.

Another figure emerged beside him, a wiry woman with forearms that looked like they were carved from obsidian. Black spikes, razor-sharp and glistening in the dim red light, ran along her arms from wrist to elbow. "Looks like a new toy for us to play with. How generous," she sneered, her voice a sibilant hiss.

The two villains cautiously circled you, sizing you up like a predator stalking its prey.

"Ya' don't look so hot," the hammer-headed villain chuckled, a sound like rocks grinding together. "Make sense. Unless you're some kind of fiery chick, you're toast in this zone."

The spiked-arm villain snorted. "She don't look like much, probably just a useless tag-along," she scoffed. "Maybe we can use her as bait to draw out the real fighters and have some fun."

You met their approach with a measured tilt of your head, a single eyebrow raised in silent challenge.

The heat seemed to intensify around you, the air crackling with unspoken power. These weren't worthy adversaries, but a small spark of amusement flickered within you.

Perhaps this little game would be a good way to pass the time until a more interesting challenge presented itself?

The hammer-headed villain, emboldened by your apparent lack of resistance, lumbered closer. He reached out, a massive metal hand engulfing your chin in a vice-like grip. He cackled, the sound echoing through the desolate landscape. "Hahaha! Well aren't we lucky? Got us a sassy one! Maybe Shigaraki wouldn't mind if I took her back to base as a little... pet project instead of killing her off now?"

Your eyes narrowed at his audacity, his words like a slap in the face. Your irises narrowed to pinpoints, a predator glinting within their depths. Your nostrils flared, releasing a hiss of raw power.

"Pet?" The word dripped from your lips, laced with venom. A sneer twisted your features, chilling the already scorching air. "You dare put your filthy hands on me and dream of a future where I am your inferior? Don't make me laugh. If anything, your place is beneath me. Where you belong." The amusement you'd felt earlier vanished, replaced by a cold, simmering fury.

The villain seemed momentarily taken aback by your sudden shift. But that hesitation was fleeting, replaced by a cruel amusement that twisted his already grotesque features.

A backhand swung across your face before you could react. The impact sent a jolt of pain through you, splitting your bottom lip and filling your mouth with the metallic tang of blood.

You hung your head, hiding the inferno building in your eyes as a primal rage began to boil within you, threatening to erupt and incinerate everything in sight. The villain, mistaking your posture for submission, seized your chin once more, forcing you to meet his gaze.

"Oh yeah," he cackled, a sound that scratched against your already frayed nerves. "We'll have some fun back at base. Just look at those eyes." He leaned in closer, savoring the fear he thought he saw flickering on your face.

Just as you were about to unleash your wrath, a foreign sound cut through the air—a powerful explosion followed by a furious shout.

"Get your hands fucking off of her!" The shout was a primal roar, laced with a fury so potent that it sent shivers down your spine.

You looked up in time to see a blur of blond hair and crimson eyes. Bakugo had arrived, his entire form radiating a barely contained rage. His eyes, usually sharp and calculating, were now wild and feral, fixated on the villain who dared to touch you.

Without a moment's hesitation, Bakugo launched himself forward. A massive explosion erupted from his gauntlets, propelling him like a rocket towards the hammer-headed villain.

The villain, caught off guard by the sudden attack, was sent flying backwards with a surprised yelp, the force of the blast sending him sprawling across the rocky ground.

You stared at Bakugo, he looked like a man possessed, his rage a tangible presence in the scorching air.  

With the hammer-headed villain on the ground, unconscious, the spiked woman rushed to his side, her eyes blazing with fury. "You'll pay for this!" she snarled, her voice laced with venom.

"Quit your yapping and fight me, you overgrown pincushion!" Bakugo barked as he ignited his gauntlets, explosions crackling around his fingertips.

The villain's face contorted in a snarl and with a scream, she lunged at him—her forearms extended, the razor-sharp spikes glinting menacingly in the dim red light. "I'll kill you!"

For a tense few moments, they became a blur of motion. Bakugo, fueled by rage and his explosive quirk, managed to hold his own against her relentless attacks. He dodged and weaved, countering her strikes with well-placed blasts. The air grew thick with the smell of burnt caramel and sweat.

But the spiked woman, despite her smaller stature, was surprisingly agile. She pressed her attack, eventually finding an opening. With a swift maneuver, she managed to trip Bakugo, sending him crashing onto his back. He grunted in pain, momentarily stunned.

Just as the spiked woman raised her arm, prepared to deliver a finishing blow, a crimson blur slammed into her side. Kirishima, with his entire body hardened into his unbreakable form, had arrived in the nick of time.

The force of the impact sent the spiked woman flying several feet away.

She tumbled through the air, narrowly missing a molten rock wall, only to be caught by the hammer-headed villain who had regained consciousness. He groaned, rubbing his head with a metallic clang.

Bakugo, still on the ground but slowly regaining his bearings, let out a scoff. "You haven't had enough, huh, Hammer-Head?" he sneered at the hammer-headed villain.

The villain, his eyes burning with renewed anger, let out a guttural growl. "Games over, brats," he roared. With the spiked woman back on her feet, the two villains charged forward, a formidable duo fueled by vengeance.

Bakugo propelled himself forward once again, explosions erupting from his gauntlets. Kirishima followed close behind, a determined glint in his eyes.

The scorching air crackled with anticipation as the fight was about to reach its climax.

You, on the other hand, found yourself strangely unfazed by the impending brawl. Instead, you settled onto the edge of a nearby rock, a safe distance from the unfolding battle. Crossing your legs, you rested your chin on your hand, humming a soft tune under your breath, a stark contrast to the chaos before you.

The clash was a brutal ballet of explosions and hardened steel. Kirishima managed to deliver a powerful blow to the spiked woman, sending her sprawling unconscious onto the rocky ground.

Bakugo continued to hold his own with the hammer-headed villain, who, emboldened by the earlier fight, seemed to have shed his daze-inducing fury and replaced it with a condescending smirk instead.

"Heh, what a waste," he rumbled, his voice a metallic rasp. "You, with all that power, wasting it in this pathetic excuse for heroism." He circled Bakugo, his massive hammer glinting in the dim light. "Join us, kid. With us, you could be something truly great."

Bakugo scoffed. "You think I need your lectures, you oversized scrap heap?" He ignited his gauntlets once more, explosions crackling around his fingertips. "The only greatness I need is your ass destroyed!" he roared, lunging forward with renewed ferocity.

Seeing his words fail to sway Bakugo, the villain shifted his focus. "Once I flatten you and your little red buddy, I'm taking little Miss sweet thing over there back to the base," he boomed, gesturing toward you, "I'm sure the League will have a lot of fun breaking a fiery filly like her."

Bakugo froze mid-stride, his crimson eyes snapping towards you. In that split second, he saw the fresh bruise blooming on your cheek, the split lip that stained your face. The raw fury that had simmered down moments ago reignited with an explosive intensity.

A primal growl ripped from Bakugo's throat, his entire form trembling with rage. Before anyone could react, he was a blur of blond hair and fury. Explosions erupted with a deafening roar as he launched a relentless assault on the villain.

Bakugo's attacks were brutal, fueled by a white-hot rage that seemed to consume him entirely.

Kirishima, ever the voice of reason, watched in growing concern. "Whoa, Bakugo! Chill, dude, he's already down!" he shouted, rushing forward to intervene.

But Bakugo was a force of nature at that moment. He rained blow after blow on the already defeated villain, the ground trembling with each detonation. Specks of blood misted the air around them, some landing hot against Bakugo's cheek. Just as Bakugo, his eyes blazing with a feral intensity, raised his hand for another explosion, Kirishima managed to grab his arm.

"That's enough, man!" Kirishima yelled, his voice strained. He forced Bakugo's arm down, the explosions subsiding with a final hiss. The hammer-headed villain lay sprawled unconscious in a crater of his own making.

Bakugo, his chest heaving and his eyes blazing with a feral intensity, slowly turned towards Kirishima. For a tense moment, their gazes locked, a silent battle of wills transpiring between them.

Finally, with a ragged breath, Bakugo seemed to regain some semblance of control. He ripped his arm free from Kirishima's grasp and stalked towards you, his expression unreadable.

When Bakugo reached you, he said nothing but held out his arms. Gently lowering yourself into his strong arms, you were deposited back onto the rocky ground.

Standing beside him, you allowed your eyes to take in the scene of destruction.

The once desolate landscape was now marred by craters and scorch marks, a testament to the ferocious battle that had just transpired. Humming a low tune, a habit that surfaced whenever you were deep in thought, you turned towards the edge of the volcanic zone, the exit beckoning.

Without a word, you began to walk, Bakugo following close behind.

"Hey, wait up!" Kirishima called out before jogging over, catching up to you and Bakugo. "What a fight! Especially you, BakugBro. Even if you did went a little wild there for a second, it was super manly." He grinned, nudging Bakugo playfully.

Bakugo, still fuming but clearly regaining his composure, mumbled a grumbled response under his breath. "Yeah, yeah.. Whatever ya' say Shitty-Hair"

As the three of you navigated back towards the central plaza of USJ, you allowed your thoughts to drift over Bakugo's actions.

A slow smile played on your lips.

It seemed the instinct to protect you, once solely present when you held direct control over someone, had evolved.

Back on the playground in your youth, his fury had ignited when you were challenged by his ex-playmates. But here, the mere suggestion of you being taken had triggered a similar, albeit more controlled, outburst.  

A fascinating development. Perhaps frequent exposure, like a well-trained pet, had instilled within Bakugo a possessiveness you hadn't anticipated. The thought sent a soft chuckle bubbling up from your chest.

"What's so funny?" Kirishima asked, his voice laced with curiosity as he glanced over at you.

You shook your head, the playful glint in your eyes a secret held solely between you and the volcanic landscape. "Nothing," you replied, your voice light and carefree. "Just enjoying the scenery."

The walk back was filled with a comfortable silence, punctuated only by the occasional rumble from the depths of the earth and the rhythmic crunch of boots on rock. As you emerged from the scorching zone, the sight of the familiar plaza filled your eyes. There, in the distance, you spotted the rest of Class 1-A, a jumble of concerned faces huddled together, seemingly relatively unharmed.

But just beyond them, you saw it.

Aizawa, Class-1A's ever stoic and capable teacher, lay crumpled on the ground, his face contorted in pain. His head was propped at an unnatural angle, a sickening scene made all the more horrifying by the figure looming over him.

It was the monstruous creature from earlier with the exposed brain.

There, the creature held Aizawa's head in a vice-like grip, and with a sickening crack, slammed Aizawa's head against the unforgiving ground once more.

Even from where you were, you cold hear the horrified screams from the students below, their faces etched with terror.

Kirishima didn't hesitate, immediately rushing  down the plaza towards the horrifying scene, determined to protect his friends and teacher. Bakugo followed after him with a quick "Stay safe" to you over his shoulder.

A slow smile played on your lips, a stark contrast to the chaos unfolding below. This turn of events was unexpected, yet undeniably thrilling.

With a glint of amusement in your eyes returning, you took a single step forward, ready to play your part in this unfolding drama.

The heroes, the villains, the fear, the chaos—it all fueled a dark anticipation within you.

A/N: AHHHH! Someone trade places with me i dont wanna live my life 😩 y'all so much shit just happened to me frfr. not only did I just unexpectedly become an aunt, but i have to move out my dorm, as well as complete 3 assignment papers and also take an Anatomy and Physiology exam 💀💀💀💀 AJSBHWKDS i'm tweaking y'all. anyways, i'm not gonna lie, i lowkey don't wanna write out the next scene 😭😭😭 we'll see, either i do it, or imma do a sort of time skip and do a small summary of what went down 💀 aslo, sorry for not updating these last few days, as you can see a bit ealier in this note i'm in fact not okay ❤️❤️❤️ but fr see y'all soon and thanks for the love 🥹

[pragerswoman]

Hey! Can you do lopez x brown Where Lopez talks back and gets punished? (Ballbusting whipping and slapping)

Learn your lesson

Pairing: Lopez x brown

Warnings: too many, smut, MDNI, NSfW

A/n: hope you enjoy reading this thank you for your request ☺️

In the stark, metallic confines of Bridgehead , a young private named Lopez was known for his quick wit and even quicker mouth. He had a knack for bringing a bit of levity to the otherwise tense and monotonous environment. His comrades appreciated his humor, though it often landed him in hot water. Today was no exception.

"Lopez, I've told you a hundred times, check the inventory before you report back!" barked Brown, his voice echoing through the supply bay.

"My bad, brown," Lopez quipped, not even bothering to look up. "I thought I had it all covered, but apparently, I missed a decimal point."

Brown's expression grew stormier than the clouds outside the bay's windows. "That's not good enough, Lopez," he growled. "We're in the middle of a war zone, not a game of hide and seek."

Without warning, Brown's hand shot out and grabbed Lopez by the collar, yanking him to his feet. "You think this is a joke?" he bellowed, his grip tightening. Lopez's smile faltered, his eyes widening as he realized he'd pushed the wrong button today.

"I'm sorry, Brown," Lopez stuttered, his heart racing. "I'll get it right."

"You're damn right you will," Brown said through gritted teeth. "But first, you're going to learn a lesson about respect." He released Lopez's collar and stepped back, allowing the younger man to stand unsteadily on his own. Then, with a swiftness, Brown's hand shot out and delivered a resounding slap to Lopez's cheek. The sound of skin meeting skin rang through the bay, leaving Lopez's face stinging and his ears ringing.

Lopez's smile was wiped clean off his face, replaced by a look of shock and fear. He hadn't seen this side of Brown before, and he knew he'd crossed a line. Brown's eyes bore into him, cold and unyielding. "Drop your pants," he ordered. Lopez swallowed hard, his mind racing. He knew what was coming.

With trembling hands, Lopez did as he was told, his face reddening as the fabric of his uniform pooled around his ankles. Brown pulled a coil of wire from the desk, the kind used for securing cargo, and unwound it slowly. The tension in the room was palpable, the anticipation of pain making Lopez's heart hammer in his chest.

"Bend over," Brown instructed, his voice devoid of emotion. Lopez hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting around the bay as if searching for a way out. But there was none. With a deep breath, he leaned over a nearby crate, exposing his vulnerable position to the sergeant.

The first strike of the wire was swift and brutal, catching Lopez across the back of his thighs. He yelped in pain, his legs buckling. "Spread 'em," Brown said, his voice low and menacing. Lopez complied, gritting his teeth as the wire coiled around his ankles, forcing his legs apart. The second strike lashed against his bare buttocks, leaving a red welt in its wake. The pain was intense, and Lopez couldn't help but let out a strangled cry.

The whipping continued, each blow more punishing than the last. Brown's arm swung with the precision of a metronome, the wire slicing through the air and biting into Lopez's flesh. The young private's eyes watered, and his breath came in ragged gasps. He knew better than to protest or move; the punishment would only worsen if he did. The slaps to his face were intermittent, stunning him with their ferocity and leaving his cheeks smarting.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" Brown spat out between strikes. "This is what happens when you don't take your responsibilities seriously."

Lopez could only whimper in response, his body jerking with each impact of the wire. He felt the blood rushing to his face, a mix of humiliation and pain coursing through him. The whipping had moved to his back now, and he could feel the welts rising on his skin.

Suddenly, Brown's hand stopped, and Lopez tensed, waiting for the next strike. But instead, he heard the sound of the sergeant's boots approaching. He knew what was coming next, and the fear grew tenfold. The cold steel toe of Brown's boot connected with Lopez's crotch, sending a shockwave of agony through his body. He doubled over, gasping for breath, but Brown was relentless. Another kick, this time to the side of his testicles, brought tears to Lopez's eyes.

"You're going to learn to keep that mouth of yours shut," Brown said, his voice eerily calm. "And when you're done learning, maybe you'll remember to do your job right."

Lopez could barely breathe, the pain in his groin making stars dance before his eyes. He tried to brace himself for the next blow, but it was like trying to hold back the tide. Brown's boot connected with his testicles again, and Lopez's vision swam. He couldn't help the pathetic noise that escaped his lips, a high-pitched whine that seemed to echo in the cavernous bay.

To his horror, he felt a warm wetness spreading between his legs. His body had betrayed him, releasing his seed onto the cold, unforgiving floor. The realization hit him like a sledgehammer, and he felt a fresh wave of humiliation wash over him. He hadn't just been beaten; he'd been broken.

Brown's laughter echoed through the bay, cruel and mocking. "Looks like you're enjoying this more than you're letting on, Lopez," he jeered. "Or maybe you just can't handle the heat." The other soldiers in the bay had stopped what they were doing, watching the spectacle with a mix of shock and morbid curiosity. Lopez's cheeks burned with shame as he tried to pull his pants back up, his trembling hands fumbling with the fastenings.

[divineerdrick]

Warhammer 40,000 Balance Changes for December 11, 2024: Imperium

Adeptus Mechanicus

Not even Richard Siegler seems to be able to help AdMech right now. Their stats aren't horrible, with more than a few factions sitting below them in most metrics. But they can't seem to win anything these days.

One interesting thing is that most players are using Hunter Cohort, and Hunter Cohort does have the highest win rate. But in most other metrics Rad-Zone is still beating it. Still, with player counts this low, data can skew easily. Those are the only two detachments people are playing. They're not playing a lot of Datasheet eithers, and seem dependent on Skorpius variants and Skystalkers.

Unfortunately, AdMech isn't getting any love in the Dataslate. So any help will have to come from the MFM.

And what help are they getting? Kastelan Robots are going down 5 pts a model. That's it.

That being said, some of their predators have been hit pretty hard, and they have a new detachment to play with. Even so, I can't see their fortunes changing much.

Astra Militarum

I won't lie. I knew Guard were going do well in the new meta, but I didn't think they'd do this well. They're arguably in a better position than GSC, when you consider how niche their rival is and how many less experienced players enjoy Guard. In my defense, I didn't know what Aquilons were going to do. Though in harsher criticism, I thought the changes to Tank Commanders would even out.

Yeah, Aquilons were definitely a thing and Tank Commanders are basically auto-include. But with their Codex coming out next month, what is GW going to do for now?

Apparently, nerf Leontus. Now, instead of being able to issue orders to any Astra Militarum unit, Leontus can only issue orders to Regiment units or Squadron units. Next, they've nerfed Aquilons as well. They too must come in outside of 6” now, and they can only do it if you set them up in your Movement phase.

Errata wise, they get an update that clarifies that Mindlock requires a Tech-Priest Enginseer. So that's all there is with the new Index.

However the MFM is a different story. There's a lot of red here. Some of their units are getting the split unit treatment now. Cadians and Catachans are now both 65 pts for their 10 man and 120 pts for their 20 man. Meanwhile 6 Ogryn have gone up 10 pts while 3 Ogry haven't changed. Scions and Aquillons have gone up 2 pts per model, so you'll be paying for them in Guard's shiny new detachment. Chimeras have gone up 15 pts while Gaunt's Ghosts and Hellhounds have gone up 10 pts. Finally Leontus gets hit with a double nerf, and has gone up a massive 25 pts.

All of these are relevant models, and Guard is almost certainly going to be hurting after this. Still, with Tank Commanders untouched I don't think this is a massive nerf to them. They're in a really good spot, and I think they'll still be good after this. But I don't think they'll be dominating tournaments like they currently are.

Black Templars

Templars was one of the factions that made me think that GW was trying to even out all the Space Marines and try again. They got hammered last update. Currently many Templar lists aren't actually taking many Templars. And when they do, they're usually going with the Gladius. Righteous Crusaders is currently struggling.

The Dataslate brings too small buffs to the faction. The fist is that Black Templars Repulsor Executioners finally can take 7 models. This just brings things in line with their other transports. The second, is that apparently Firstborn have put their centuries of experience into sharpening their combat knives, and Firstborn Crusaders are now AP-1. I don't think this balances out the nerf to Armour of Contempt though.

Black Templars has a new Index download for the Balance Dataslate, but I think it's just the fix to Repulsors and the new combat knives. They also have a new question answered in their FAQ. This is just a clarification to Fervent Acclamation that I'm pretty sure is how most people played it.

Other than this, you just have two points changes in the Dataslate. Repulsors have gone down 10 pts, and the Executioner has gone down 5 pts. This probably won't have too much of an impact on list building. But Templars aren't in a bad spot, and other powerful armies have gotten significant nerfs. So they're going to stay in a good spot. But it's still a shame so many of their Datasheets aren't that competitive now.

Blood Angels

I'll admit it. I completely blew it on my read of the new SanGuard datasheet. They slap.

On the whole, new Blood Angels are struggling a bit, but I think a lot of that may be new players that have come into the faction. Players are overwhelmingly sticking to Liberator for their detachment of choice for now, and we don't have a lot of data on the other detachments. Though one mad lad did really well with an Ironstorm.

I would say the Blood Angels don't get anything out of the Balance Dataslate, but that's no true. They get nerfs. The first is to Armour of Contempt, like all Space Marines. The second is to Descent of Angels, which is the Angelic Host 3” deployment stratagem. Still, they're in one of the better positions to take these hits.

The changes in the MFM are a bit odd. On the one hand, Mephiston has gone up 10 pts while the auto-include enhancement Rage-fuelled Warrior has gone up a whopping 15. You're probably still taking Mephiston, but Rage-fueld Warrior definitely isn't auto-include anymore. So what's strange? SanGuard has gone down 5 pts per three models. They've already been proven to be worth their cost, and Blood Angels didn't really need a lot of help.

The Sons of Sanguinius will be fine.

Dark Angels

Dark Angels was another faction I knew was going to have issues, though I didn't think it from looking at their datasheets. It wasn't until I saw Codex Marine nerfs that I knew they were in trouble. Dark Angels is very close to a classic Space Marine list, just with some cool flourishes. So if Codex Marines are hurting, it can hurt them too. Deathwing Knights are still good though, as is Azrael. But no one is having success with any of their detachments. Gladius, Stormlance, and Vanguard seem to be the best way to play the faction.

As Space Marines, The Unforgiven also have to bear the nerf to Armour of Contempt. Inner Circle also has Relic Teleportarium which gets nerfed too. But GW does realize that Dark Angels detachments just aren't working. We start with Company of Hunters, which now gives Mounted units Advance and Fallback and Shoot and Charge. That should help their mobility greatly. However Master of Manoeuvre has been replaced with a re-roll Advance and Charge rolls.

There are weapon buffs too. Apparently GW is tired of hearing The Lion isn't worth taking. He now has Dmg 2 on his sweep. Meanwhile, Ravenwing Black Knights get DevWounds for their combat weapons. Finally Sammael gets boost to his mobility if you put him in the Company of Hunters Detachment, or otherwise his unit gets Advance and Shoot and Charge.

Finally, before we get to the MFM, there's a new FAQ in the Unforgiven's tiny Codex errata. This one is a bit of a head scratcher. I'm guessing someone tried to claim that you have to use All Secrets Revealed on the first Stratagem that gets used. Well GW has confirmed that you do in fact get to decide when and if you use it.

The Lion doesn't get his buff without going up in cost it seems. He's gone up a whopping 30 pts. Not sure that's an equivalent cost. All and all, I don't think things are going to change much for Dark Angels. Maybe some of their specialists will give Company of Hunters another go, or maybe their new Lion's Blade detachment, but I think we've mostly got six more months of Dark Angels themed Codex marines.

Deathwatch

They're a faction again! Applause!

The new index is very similar to the old one, but has been buffed in significant ways. Additionally, the new Talonstrike looks mean! Expensive, but mean! We probably won't see much for them here. But their entry returns to the Balance Dataslate and MFM.

If I have to guess, I think a few players will come back and have success with their new Index. But they're definitely not a top faction.

Grey Knights

Despite having interesting rules, Grey Knights have struggled for most of the edition. Unfortunately they seem to be one of the factions were GW just didn't have the time to make sure their datasheets functioned properly before release. With only a small number of weak datasheets, even the incredible mobility they've been give wasn't enough to let them be successful. While they've received aid from GW to try to fix these issues, when your options are so limited any set backs can cause trouble. Currently, Grey Knights are one of the worst factions in the game, with many of their stats being below Imperial Agents.

Unfortunately, Grey Knight aren't getting any further love in the Dataslate today. In fact Truesilver Armour and Prognisticated Arrival are both strats that have gotten nerfed. So we're not off to a good start. And while there's a new Grey Knights Index for download, I can't find anything that's changed.

Things only get worse in the MFM. Not only are they not getting any much needed buffs, but Nemesis Dreadknights are taking a 5 pts nerf. Things are not looking very good for the Knights of Titan.

Imperial Agents

There have been some mad lads that have had fun and success with the Imperialis Fleet detachment. Between datasheet and detachment rules, this faction has some fun and crazy things it can do. But there's still not enough players to really place it. And if they're going to be a real army, they desperately need a real army rule.

The Dataslate isn't helping them. Deathwatch have Armour of Contempt and Grey Knights have Truesilver Armour, so there's a nerf there. And the Culexis Assassin has two nerfs to Etheric Emergence, limiting it to your Movement phase and bringing it in line with the 6” Deepstrike change.

Finally, they're getting a single buff in the MFM. Well that's not true. Other Imperium armies are getting a buff in that the Vindicare Assassin is no longer ridiculously costed and has dropped 25 pts. So that's good news for every other Imperium Army.

Imperial Knights

As opposed to their Traitor cousins, Imperial Knights appear to have some solid stats but are still struggling to reach top tables. Players also struggle to get their big knights on the battlefield, though they do so more reliably than the fallen Houses. When they do, Canis Rex is still the go to, even after the nerfs.

Knights would dearly love to get Bondsman abilities back, but that's not happening today. And, like many armies so far, their Index has been updated but doesn't appear to have changed. So they're going to have to get their help from the MFM.

And they're getting some help here. Helverins and Warglaives have both gone down 10 pts. These are both relevant datasheets, so gaining a little buff there is a nice thing. That's going to free up 40 to 60 pts in many lists, either to upgrade the Knights being taken or to take advantage of allies.

Still I don't think this is enough to change their fortunes.

Space Wolves

While it's cool to be right about something, sometimes I hate it. See my worries about GSC. In this case, it's the fact that Thunderwolves are still good. The nerfs definitely hurt, as the Sons of Russ have a hard time getting near the podium. But the players that can get there often still take home the gold.

For the Dataslate, in exchange for a nerfed Armour of Contempt, Wolf Scouts also get sharper combat knives. This seems to be all that's changed in the Index too. Otherwise any changes will have to be in the MFM.

In the MFM, both Wolf Scouts and Wulfen go up 1 pts/model. These are both relevant, but it shouldn't hurt all that much. And since the Rout make heavy use of their own units, they don't get hurt as much by nerfs to the core Codex. Also, like many solid factions, they only benefit from top factions getting weaker. So I think the Wolves are fine.

[gremoria411]

Alright, so given that I accidentally deleted the original prior to posting (call it queued posts or call it scheduled posts, not both), I might as well do this again

Given that I’ve been talking about it a lot lately, what do I think of the Gundam Gusion’s designs?

First up, the “original” Gundam Gusion, as it appears when being used by the space pirate organisation Brewers. Honestly, I love this thing. It’s one of two High Grades (the other being the Kimaris) that I bought when season 1 was coming out (a practice that I regrettably didn’t have the opportunity to repeat with G-Witch). But yeah, a big chunky, round, frog-looking Gundam, it really stands out in a lineup, but without being too flashy. Another part of it will be my preference for specialised suits over generalists - the original Gusion’s armed with a hammer, submachine gun and grenades (and an axe if you read the manga) in addition to the built-in anchor cannons. I really like how tight it’s loadout is - it can carry it all, and still retain its mobility for fighting in the debris zones. It’s a superheavy raid suit designed for very-short range anti-ms and anti-ship combat - tailor made for a space pirate outfit. All that said though, I think it’s good that it’s essentially just a brief foe to Tekkadan and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome - it’s a unit based on Kudal’s style of excess, so once he’s dead, it shouldn’t hang around long enough for it’s flaws to become apparent and it’s a memorable foe nonetheless.

Next up, the Gundam Gusion Rebake. Honestly, I didn’t like this one so much when it first appeared. Partially because there’s so little fanfare, but I thought it looked too similar to the Barbatos (especially compared to its predecessor and the Kimaris). Not helping matters is my understanding that both Gusion Rebakes were shafted from a High Grade perspective (The Axe is in an option set, and they both contain a lot of white wraparound colour correcting stickers in addition to requiring further colour correction - I try to paint instead of using wraparound stickers, but white can be a struggle). With the reveal of the Gusion Rebake Full City, I went back and reevaluated it. I came to appreciate the smoother form, the rounded lines. I like how it clearly retains some elements of the original Gusion (the shield and the backpack being made from Gusion’s back and legs, respectively), while taking some from the Barbatos (along with some spare armour). It makes a nice halfway house between the two designs, while still having its own unique elements. I do like its head very much, it’s sleek and rounded and the long-range emphasis helps it considerably. I’m quite fond of the rounded legs too, they remind me of the Gundam Ground type, another unit that was equally comfortable at range or close-quarters.

Finally, the Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City. Given that I said that this caused me to reevaluate the Gusion Rebake, I mustn’t like this one so much? Not so! The Gusion Rebake Full City has a wonderfully blocky design that lends it much more weight than the original, even though it’s overall mass doesn’t increase that much. The aforementioned unique elements of the Gusion Rebake have blossomed wonderfully, fully divorcing it from the Gusion and Barbatos. It’s new, more inhuman design plays into Tekkadan’s reputation as “the devils of Mars” and this is very apparent during its fight with Galan Mossa (the bearded gentleman). Armament-wise, it’s not too much over the Gusion Rebake. I do like it’s arm rockets, but the Variable Scissor rear armour….. okay, yes it is silly, because I alway think Akihiro should get shot in the middle of using it. However a) if any suit can multitask it’s probably the Gusion Rebake Full City b) it’s typically only used against single/armoured enemies. And c) it is essentially the last word in anti-armour weaponry, so it being unwieldy is perhaps an acceptable trade-off. I have a habit of considering a lot of IBO’s weaponry as silly until I actually consider the setting (Mobile suits have a *slightly* different origin in IBO when compared to other settings), so I’m perhaps lenient on it. The Gusion Rebake Full City also has the distinction of being in one of my favourite scenes in Iron-Blooded Orphans, which gives it brownie points (though to be fair it’s hardly unique in that regard, with Flauros and Bael also having similar honours).

[afairytalestray]

Day 21 of Cats-pril by @storyweaverofgondor - songs! This one was inspired by one of my favourite pieces of art by @soh-da-meatball - thank you for letting me use it as inspiration!)

Also on Ao3 here.

..

Tugger barely contained a snarl as there was a chap at the door for the third time that day. What part of ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ did these Cats not understand? His handwriting, granted, was not spectacularly neat, but surely with the big red letters, the message was clear? Apparently not. 

He had been trying to work on this new song all day. Although he was a professional musician, he really didn’t enjoy working in the studio. Too many nosey Cats loitering about, and there was always the very real chance of getting dragged into a conversation with some dull executive type. Tugger shuddered at the thought. No, it was much better to finalise as much as he could at home, and then just come here to record. Tragically however, a building site had set itself up next door, and any peace to be had at home was now shattered by constant drilling and hammering. So here he was in the studio, at the mercy of constant interruptions.

This song he was working on was already causing him no end of problems – no matter what he tweaked, how he edited, it just wasn’t coming out the way he wanted it to. Being interrupted once, perhaps, he could’ve let go – after all, it wasn’t the piano tuner’s fault he had been sent to the wrong room. He had taken a while to get back into the zone, but had managed, and had been trying out a new chord progression when there was another rap on the door. That time he had been pissed. The Cat at the door had been hissing about some meeting he was late for, and utterly adamant that Tugger was in the wrong place and he was in the right one. Shockingly, he had been wrong, and had stomped off in a temper tantrum. Tugger was also left in a foul mood, except now his throat hurt from their snarled argument, and he had forgotten his water bottle.

He decided to give the song one more crack before giving up the day as a bad job. Once again, he had just managed to get his head back into it when the door rattled YET AGAIN. He had officially had it. Whoever was on the other side of that door would be getting thoroughly chewed out!

He yanked the door open full force, so roughly that the hinges squeaked in protest, but then his anger evaporated on the spot. He let out a little yelp of happiness and engulfed his boyfriend in a bear hug.

“Rough day?” Misto asked, amusement in his voice. He stepped back from Tugger slightly. It didn’t look like he had dance today, he was dressed casually in jeans, with Tugger’s old letterman jacket thrown across his shoulders. It was a very pleasing sight.

“Babe, you have no idea,” Tugger groaned, kicking the door closed behind them. He slumped back onto his chair and pulled Misto into his lap. “Working here sucks so bad! I’ve been interrupted twice, and the second guy was a right prick, going on about how important he was, how urgent his meeting was… mate, if it was that important you’d have checked your email better!”

Misto hummed in sympathy, reaching up to fix Tugger’s hair. The gentle scratch of his claws was unexpectedly soothing.

“My apologies for the intrusion.” He flicked Tugger’s forehead with his tail. “I’ve never seen a door be opened so aggressively, I presume that’s why?”

“Sorry, baby, I wouldn’t shout at you,” Tugger mumbled, dropping his head onto Misto’s shoulder. He already was feeling a bit better – Misto always had that effect on him.

“I know,” Misto said, his paws continuing their relaxing ministrations. Tugger felt some of the tension begin to fade. “I know you don’t like working here, hopefully the builders will finish soon.”

“Yeah, hopefully.”

“Is this song still giving you grief as well?”

“Yeah. I dunno what’s wrong, I just can’t get it!”

“You will, darling. Oh, this might help, you forgot it.” He reached for his backpack which had been dumped unceremoniously on the floor, and whipped out Tugger’s water bottle.

“Aw babe, you’re a hero,” Tugger gasped, reaching over to take it.

“I added some honey and lemon, I know you like that when you’ve been singing.”

Tugger let out a happy moan.

“Make that a superhero, I love you.” He took a large chug from the water bottle, letting the mixture soothe his throat.

“The Rumpus Cat has nothing on honey lemon water,” Misto laughed. Tugger pulled him into another tight hug. Everlasting, he adored this beautiful, thoughtful Cat. “I know you don’t like sharing your stuff before it’s finished, but if you want a fresh pair of ears, I can provide.”

“If you’ve got time?” Tugger mumbled. He usually didn’t like anyone to hear his music before he was happy with it, but he trusted Misto completely. He himself was much the same, and didn’t let anyone see his dancing before he had perfected it. Unless he was really stuck, like Tugger was now.

“Of course, practice was cancelled today. And since you hate working here, I was hoping to convince you to skive off early and hang out with me anyway.”

“Like I need convincing!” Tugger whooped, grabbing his headphones off the desk. “One or two listens, then I get to spoil you in some way!”

“Deal,” Misto laughed, slipping the headphones over his ears and indicating Tugger to hit play. A little smile formed on his face and he leaned into Tugger as the music started. Tugger watched him contentedly. Suddenly, the song didn’t seem so bad.

[crystalelemental]

I have defeated the main game of Rune Factory 5, and entered postgame, where things have gone straight to hell.

By and large, the main campaign is sane. There's a short stretch between Cloudheim and Calamity's End that's a major pain in the ass, but for stupid reasons. Basically, I had the best dual swords and armor I could craft, and had to wait for the same item for both improvements: Crimson Fur. This item can be obtained much earlier, but only through stupid means of beating up a mark. If you catch it successfully, it is gone forever, but prior to that you can farm the fight for the drop. Otherwise, you need to find the items in the Calamity's End zone, by beating up these dogs and hoping they drop the fur. It is miserable. But once I got those upgrades...the final bosses couldn't deal any damage to me. It's an extreme pingponging that is reminiscent of Atelier games, where either you're kinda getting completely stomped, or you're stomping the enemy with no resistance.

So it makes sense the postgame would be similar. Rigbarth Maze is 20 floors, and the first two were surprisingly easy. Tons of orichalcum, monsters weren't too hard to manage, we had a good time. But. Eventually, we hit floor 3, and went from beating the prior boss with minimal damage, to being unable to hurt the common dragon enemies at the first room. That is. New. It then also threw a rock at me for 4k damage. Needless to say, it was not a good time.

I managed to break past this barrier solely due to Heinz' rotating stock randomly generating Dangerous Scissors for me. This allowed me to get the next upgrade on armor and dual swords, which eventually built up to getting past these dragons, albeit barely. I then got to find out that the rest of the floors down through floor 8 were fucking cake. Apparently these Yellow Dragons exclusively present a challenge, and there's some archaic bullshit method I'm supposed to have to bypass the check. Apparently punch gloves can ignore defensive stats sometimes? Figure that one out. Darroch also apparently randomly gives you a super hammer with 5555 Atk when you give him five handmade presents? That's a cheese strat I saw. Anyway, I got through one of them with the special combo moves with my allies, but it was a brutal spike in difficulty that I'm legitimately unsure how to work around without some kinda cheating bullshit.

The real treat was that, upon reaching floor 5, I can warp in, backpedal to floor 4 to fight the boss, for a Dragonic Stone drop. Now, fun fact. I had been checking the fandom wiki, because it was the first thing to pop up, and I figured sure, it would have some info. It lists percentages that are not even close to real. Radea's Scarlet Scale is listed as 15%, for example, but I rarely see the damned thing. Eventually, I wised up to the problem and asked Reddit, receiving immediate factual answers. The percentage listed is "drop percentage," a number the game checks. Basically, it rolls a number 1 to 1000, and if it's at the values specified, you get the drop. But you'll note: 1000. Meaning it wasn't 15%. It's 1.5%. So fuck that. Every major boss is like this, having some really critical drop that may as well just not even exist. This stone? 0.3%. That's not viable.

Fortunately, Reddit provided other answers. Apparently, Rare Cans have a use despite their worthless description. As an upgrade material for weapons, they add 3 percentage points to rare drop rates. Not 3% of the drop rate. 3 percentage points. So that 0.3%? Now it's 3.3%. And it stacks for each ally in the team, which means you can push it up to 12.3%. BUT WAIT, because there's also Happy Ring and 4-Leaf Clover as an upgrade material for armors, both of which reduce the 1 to 1000 number by 70 (ring) or 100 (clover), and also stack, for a huge reduction in possible values. Basically, I went from spending like an hour trying to get Radea's scale, to getting it consistently in like five fights. I have almost every material I need for my party's ultimate weapons and the Four Dragons' Vest for each of them. Yes, including the Ancient Fish Fins. Heinz was kind to me.

The problem is getting Rare Cans. Apparently, they're fishing rewards, and the best place to look (allegedly, but it worked for me) is the Whispering Woods. Warp to the depths, go back a screen, and check the pond near the little leaf enemies. Ribbittee? Those guys. The small fish (allegedly, I think I got one from a bigger shadow) can be rare cans. Sadly, you do need to get a new can for each item you forge as an upgrade, which has been. So wonderful as I continue my climb.

Because now we're on the horrid path of evil. See, my forging and crafting levels are low. Mid-60s, but still. We're dealing with the best equipment in the game. They're all level 99. It costs me like 20k RP to forge one, which would not only fail, but would kill me instantly. For context, I have around 1.5k RP normally, and with the best Relax Tea I can make, can get up to around 2.8k. If you can't meet the amount needed, it fails. So now that items were secured, the next step is grinding out the levels needed for forging and crafting.

Step 1: Heart Pendant. Apparently, I have missed this the entire goddamned game, but there's a level 40 or so accessory that, while equipped, ups your skill EXP gain. So...yeah. That would've made a lot of my life easier. Still, we caught it before it became too severe a problem. Now we get a ton of extra forging and crafting EXP per item made.

For forging, step 2 was getting the Priest dual-swords for myself and Hina, and the Gigant Hammer+ thing Darroch can hand you for Beatrice. All three were forged, and required a Relax Tea to make. However, with a high enough level Relax Tea, and the levels gained from these, I was able to craft the Platinum farming equipment, which is level 80. I expected excellent returns on EXP, but the curve steepens around now, and I write this with a forging level around 85. It takes a lot of platinum to keep leveling up. I did get a bit more with the Dragonic Stones that Tiamat drops, which allows me to forge extremely strong dual-swords at level 87, but it's very slow going and the ultimate dual swords are still some 13k RP. I have decided the Platinum farm is likely the best course for the moment, but I will be looking at a guide for weapons for something cheap and easy.

For crafting, step 2 has been much, much easier. Diamond Ring and any of the Platinum + Gemstones have kept my level going. We're starting to plateau a bit, but crafting doesn't seem as subject to EXP curve as weapons. The good news is, the next step up for a lot of materials is Orichalcum + gemstones, which makes level 93 accessories. If I can make one of those, we're breaking into that tier and are able to take off like crazy, because the main armor I want next is the ultimate boots: Fairy Boots. I have every piece of material four times over, so we're more than capable of getting them made once we're in RP range. It's just a matter of getting into RP range. The Four Dragons' Vest will follow shortly after, although I admit, I tried putting in the materials listed on the guide (Ancient Fish Fin, Scarlet Scale, Basilisk Scale, General Orb, Rune Crystal) and it didn't even register high RP cost like I expected, so I assume something is wrong with the recipe but couldn't tell you what. Maybe I put in the wrong item somewhere. Maybe it's fine. (Edit: just checked a different guide, and it lists Dragon Golem Scale as the ingredient over Scarlet Scale, which...hurts. I farmed so many Radea fights for this...)

In story, I finally hit Valentine's Day, and Beatrice...did not take me asking her out seriously. It's fine. This is fine. We'll try again. I even gave her a cookie I made, but no deal. It's fine. It's FINE.

I've been avoiding the Martin quest because apparently it takes another day, and I despise those events. Stop eating my time, Martin. I'll stab you.

My next goal is pushing, hopefully, into Floor 15 of the Maze. This is allegedly the first point where you can mine Dragonic Stone, and if we can get there, we're in. I do want to take a bit of time to maybe just farm out diamond and platinum for forging and crafting EXP, maybe try to rizz up Beatrice again and finally unlock dating and marriage. But we'll see if she just thinks I'm joking again. Rude...

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #309: To Find OLYMPIA!

November, 1989

Namor looks like he's got some negative things to say, in the zone.

And it is canon sometimes that the Negative Zone makes a person feel negative. Its the Bad Vibes Place.

I have no idea why dead Gilgamesh was drawn with the What's Going On He-Man face. Or why She-Hulk is in her Fantastic Four duds.

So, lets get into it.

Last times, in Avengers: Captain America held a meeting to declare that all the Avengers teams were one team and he was in charge of the Avengers. Also, the Avengers got kidnapped by Lava Men. And so did Namor. They were taken to the Last Lava Man, a priest called Jinku, who accused the Avengers of genociding the Lava Men, which they kinda sorta did do by killing a random demon named Cha'sa'dra during Inferno. The Avengers don't beat Jinku and the giant monster he summoned so much as run out the clock. Some of the dead Lava Men turned out to not be dead so much as incubating. They hatched into golden men and told Jinku to knock it off. Alas?, Gilgamesh got fatally slapped while fighting the lava monster and is now exceptionally dead. The Avengers take Gilgamesh to Sersi who can't help and suggests they take him to the Eternal city Olympia. Except Eternal Sprite managed to blow it up like ten minutes before they get there. The whole city.

Just a big, steaming crater now.

Thanks Sprite, you screw-up.

Sersi: "It is... gone! All of fabled Olympia! Snuffed out as a flickering candle flame! How can this be??"

Captain America tries to offer any help the Avengers can do. But Sersi just dramatically faints after psychically scanning for any trace of Olympia.

She murmurs about emptiness and enormity and the loneliness of endless space.

Such a dramatic person.

There's also a weird bit of choreography where Captain America caught Sersi when she fainted. So he's clearly not holding his shield. He tells She-Hulk to hold it for him but she's already holding it and must have grabbed it when he dropped it to pick up Sersi, since she's right behind him in that panel.

And she gives it right back to him as soon as he's put Sersi down.

So why was it necessary for Cap to tell She-Hulk to do something she was already doing? Did Byrne worry that the choreography wouldn't stand on its own?

Ah well.

The Avengers wonder if there's something wrong with the Eternals lately. Because, well, Gilgamesh is mostly dead despite being Eternal and the Lava Monster didn't hit him THAT hard.

Gilgamesh should have been able to heal himself, since all Eternals have the power of molecular manipulation over their own bodies.

Sersi drifts back to consciousness and explains that "all Eternals an sense the minds of all other Eternals no matter the range" so she tried reaching out.

She sensed them near but not on Earth.

Which Cap finds baffling. But Thor has an idea what she means.

Remember how his hammer used to be able to create dimensional portals and then it couldn't? Well, it can again.

He figures that near but far probably means another dimension. And he doesn't have to be precise. When all you have is a hammer, it helps if its a really, really cool hammer.

Thor just wills "let the powers that split the raging heavens now be focused here, into a single place, a single purpose... and let any barrier betwixt us and Olympia... be SUNDERED!"

And bippity boppity boo, a portal is opened through.

To the Negative Zone, apparently. Well, the cover spoiled that. You're not special for realizing it on sight, She-Hulk.

Sersi confirms that Thor hit the nail on the head. In the Negative Zone she can indeed sense Olympia.

She-Hulk: "In the Negative Zone? But... how the heck did it get there? I thought the only access was through the portal in the Fantastic Four's headquarters." Thor: "Nay, green one. That is but one way to reach this parallel dimension. Mjolnir hath opened this small gateway by drawing on the residual energies of whatever force dispatched Oympia hence."

Namor says that the time for discussion is over. If Olympia is in the Negative Zone, the only hope for Gilgamesh will be to find it.

Sersi agrees.

Sersi: "We must go now where Olympia has gone... into the Negative Zone!"

"Meanwhile, elsewhere" we check back in on old guy who blew up his own house subplot.

Professor Harker takes the blueprints for his fantabulous new invention to the Polydyne company and blows them away!

A guy in a tie: "It's absolutely amazing! Something like this is going to make cold fusion seem as antiquated as rubbing two sticks together! Why... the kind of power that could be harnessed from a single such device would be enough to supply the needs of the whole world for centuries!"

Professor Harker himself prefers to think of it as more the power to re-shape the whole universe maybe. But the Polydyne peeps warn him the money men won't understand that so maybe stick with the 'makes cold fusion look like a joke' sales pitch.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, the Great Lakes Avengers!

Huh, I guess Byrne really is writing three teams in two books since the GLA is showing up in East Coast Avengers now.

I do worry that it's going to be hard to balance between the needs of the book's actual team and whatever Great Lakes Avengers content is showing up this month.

Hawkeye tells the Great Lakes Avengers that they did okay against the Absolom University chumps but they could have done a lot better.

I mean. They were only in action for a few pages so I don't know how you can tell.

But anyway, Hawkeye and Mockingbird have come up with carefully tailored training for the team!

Carefully tailored until they ran out of steam halfway and decided Mr Immortal and Doorman's powers were too weird to train and just have them training in athletics.

Didn't even try with Flatman. Hawkeye just tells him to do whatever he wants.

Pretty amazing how quickly Hawkeye goes from Tough Coach to half-assed.

So they have Dinah Soar flying while dodging hay bales, Big Bertha doing track and field, Mr Immortal and Doorman doing an obstacle course, and Flatman also doing an obstacle course but with more wiggling.

Hawkeye decides to throw a wrinkle in the training by shooting a grease arrow right in front of Big Bertha.

She slips, bumps into a fatphobic Mr Immortal, and he falls into Doorman.

Literally into.

This is weird because Doorman's powers are only supposed to work if he's against a door or a wall. Y'know, so his body can function as a door?

He's never had someone go through him when there wasn't a through.

Dinah Soar doesn't wait around for them to talk through the situation.

She flies right into Doorman. Literally into. And soon after flies out carrying Mr Immortal.

She cradles him against her chest as he shivers that it was so cold inside wherever he was.

Y'know... Next time the Great Lakes Avengers gets a miniseries or whatever, they should resurrect Dinah Soar. She missed out on a lot of the modern fleshing out the team got because her death basically kicked off the plot of the Dan Slott miniseries.

A new Great Lakes Avengers thing could have a lot of fun bringing her back and making it a whole thing about comic book resurrections.

C'mon, do it.

Anyway, Hawkeye decides they're gonna do a bunch of tests on Doorman, until they figure out how he works.

I was going to joke about Hawkeye trying to do science but I did then remember that Mockingbird does have a Ph.D.

In biology which may or may not wholly cover whatever is going on here. But in comics, a Ph.D. can do all the science.

Look at Hank Pym, revolutionizing robotics (derogatory) when his degree was in biochemistry. Almost as far from robotics as you can get.

Meanwhile, the A-plot.

I've missed it so.

... Actually, its the Save Gilgamesh plot so I didn't miss it so much.

Byrne is blatantly pushing to make the Great Lakes Avengers a thing but the main plots in both the Avengers plots are so blah that I don't actually mind the Great Lakes Avengers panel-time takeover so much.

Anyway, instead of just walking through the portal, the Avengers stopped to go get their Quinjet and are flying it through the Negative Zone.

I guess this is one of the space capable ones.

They're relying on Sersi's psychic connection with all other Eternals to guide them and she says they're on the right track.

Although the Avengers are doubtful about that since they just passed themselves.

I didn't know the Negative Zone did that.

Sersi insists that they're going the right way but she doesn't sound sure.

Cap agrees to keep going the way she's indicating but only for another hour or so! After that, they'll presumably have a very serious conversation about trying something else!

But Sersi was leading them right. Because right after that interaction, they find Olympia.

Just floating in the Negative Zone.

(Dammit, Sprite!)

The place is deserted - although most of the population was already gone before Sprite blew the place up so grain of salt on it looking deserted when it practically already was.

But it also looks decrepit, like its crumbling into ruin.

Sersi still senses her fellow Eternals... somewhere. So they land to look.

Namor flies off on his little ankle wings to scout around the city. And soon returns reporting he found nothing but a vague sense of unease.

He didn't see anyone in the city but he felt a presence all around.

Cap echoes his unease. The place feels haunted. Which Sersi dismisses since Eternals can't die.

Namor: "Yet that is precisely what is happening to Gilgamesh."

Acksually, he's only mostly dead.

Sersi wonders whether Olympia being lost in the Negative Zone and the Eternals being missing might somehow be related to Gilgamesh's advanced case of being sorta but not really dead.

Cap suggests they Split Up, They'll Cover More Ground That Way.

Thor is sent off on his own because he's a big, tough guy. She-Hulk and Sersi are sent off as a team. And Namor and Captain America make up the last team.

=_= Like. Did he put all the girls (all two girls) on the same team on purpose? Did he just want to hang out with his Nazi-punching World War II buddy, Namor?

Because. They discuss World War II as they're hopping and flying around the city. So it could very well be the second reason.

Captain America and Namor discuss how Olympia feels similar to Berlin in the last days of World War II. How it feels like there's an emptiness of spirit or the bitterness of "the death of dreams."

Cap worries that all they've accomplished on this journey is bringing Sersi to witness the end of the Eternals.

BUT NAMOR DOESN'T HAVE TIME TO CARE ABOUT THAT.

He re-steers the conversation back to how cool it is to hang out with an old-Nazi punching buddy. He misses the old gang.

Cap mentions that hey, recent revelations are that Vision wasn't made out of the Human Torch which means the Human Torch is maybe, probably, still around!

Namor: "Aye, and aye again! If he could be found... reactivated! The Invaders might well live again..."

Ugh.

I assume that was a huge part of Byrne's reasoning to do the VisionQuest plot.

He was big mad that robot Human Torch got tied up in Vision's origin and he wanted to peel him away so he could bring the Invaders back as a team again.

Either as a third book he'd be writing or as a fourth team he'd be writing in the two books he already had.

Every so many years, Marvel tries to bring the Invaders back.

I assume due to trademark reasons.

And it never lasts. Because the team doesn't make much sense outside a war. And any modern wars they've been shoved into are... just fraught with issues.

A new Invaders book was spun off from the Avengers way down the line to deal with the War on Terror and it was not great.

Anyway, a mystery off-screen person also agrees with me that reforming the Invaders is stupid as fuck and blows up Captain America and Namor.

Alas.

Meanwhile, She-Hulk and Sersi (designated lady team not cool enough to hang out with the Nazi punching boys) walk through the High Tower of Olympia, toward the Great Hall.

She-Hulk tries to mention she heard a far-off distant sound like thunder and also muses on how weird it is that the Negative Zone has breathable atmosphere but Sersi tells her to shut up.

THIS IS THE HIGH TOWER OF OLYMPIA, HUMANS DON'T USUALLY GET TO WALK THIS PASSAGE. BE IMPRESSED BY THE GRANDEUR, SHE-HULK.

Sersi: "This is the High Tower of Olympia -- the seat of our government, the holy of holies. No human has ever walked this passageway... Ahead lies the Great Hall, the central meeting place of all Eternals. Tread softly now in this hallowed place. Choose every word with care. Beyond these doors lies the very heart of Olympia. Draw your breath in awe at what will now unfold..."

Then she walks into a door.

Honestly, that's a funny gag.

Presumably the doors are supposed to swing open when an Eternal approaches them.

But, obviously, that's not happening.

So She-Hulk just shoves the doors open and strides on through.

She-Hulk: "Excuse me if I don't pay this place quite the respect you seem to think it's due, Sers... but let's try a more direct approach to opening these doors."

I hope She-Hulk sticks with the team whenever Sersi ends up joining. These two seem like they would have a hilarious dynamic.

The Great Hall seems to have been through a war, of some kind.

There's holes in the walls, pillars are shattered, the stonework is cracked.

In shock, Sersi declares no force on Earth could do this kind of damage. Especially not the Deviants. Not that there are any on Earth, since they were all launched into space as a cube. Probably.

Also, they're not on Earth. There's a lot of things in the Negative Zone that are heavy hitters. It's why people don't go there for fun. That and it makes people depressed to be there.

Weirder than the damaged state of the hall, Sersi can sense her fellow Eternals here, somehow! Here in this room! Everywhere around She-Hulk and Sersi! Despite the two seeming to be alone here!

Still angered by the idea of the Invaders reforming, someone blows up the Great Hall.

She-Hulk and Sersi are sent flying by the explosion.

And despite being gamma strong, there's something weird with gravity, so the fall knocks She-Hulk out despite cannonballing through seventeen stories of building in Avengers West Coast. Gravity is to blame.

Thor is aggroed by all these explosions. Like She-Hulk, he assumes that its the sound of thunder and this is a man who loves thunder.

He flies to the central tower and finds the place in ruins and Sersi in a weird intangible state.

Then Thor must have been thinking about the Invaders or something because he also blows up.

Nahhh just kidding.

It's Blastaar. He's been blowing people up.

He's incorrigible.

Unsurprisingly for a guy designed by Jack Kirby, he looks incredibly like a Kirby character. I think he goes to the same tailor as Darkseid. And the same beard barber as Highfather.

Anyway, Blastaar being the answer of 'what happened to the missing Eternals' sure is something. Not very satisfying as an answer but maybe him getting his ass kicked will be cathartic.

Follow @essential-avengers because one day that sub-tumblr will be up to date. One day, yes. Also, like, reblog, comment, and other such ways of interacting with this post.

[scruffyplayssonic]

Are the ArchieSonic comics actually an 80's/90's syndicated cartoon? Episode 44: Hero suddenly becomes six-to-eleven years old

Welcome back to my look at the ArchieSonic comic series, and how it shared a lot of the same story tropes as a typical ‘80s or ‘90s syndicated cartoon! Last time we had a look at the horrors of age, so this time we’re going to talk about the horrors of youth:

Episode 44: Hero suddenly becomes six-to-eleven years old 

I don’t think this actually happened in the comics, however we did see the rapid de-aging of characters in both Sonic X and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog!

That AoStH episode is one of my least favourites, in large part because baby Tails’ new catch phrase was, “Goo-goo poo-poo.” Ick. 😛

But since I can’t think of any cases of de-aging in ArchieSonic, now seems as good a time as any to talk about the two Sonic Kids super specials. After all, it wouldn’t be an 80’s/90’s franchise if there wasn’t a kiddified version of the characters, would it? Muppet Babies, Flintstones Kids, Tom & Jerry Kids, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, James Bond Jr, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Sabrina: The Animated Series, the list goes on and on. Heck, Archie Comics even did this with the Archie cast!

So, the Sonic Kids specials featured previously untold stories that took place when the cast were a lot younger. Super Special #5’s first story, “When You and I Were Young, Sally,” featured Sonic, Sally, Antoine, “Boomer” (Rotor’s childhood nickname), and Tails discovering the caverns beneath Knothole where they initially set up base in the early issues of the series, as well as Tails learning to fly for the first time. 

The second story, “Stop… Sonic Time!” (which I am only now realising is an MC Hammer reference, dammit Tom Rolston and Karl Bollers why?!) featured present day Sonic telling a story to a bunch of kids about how the younger Tails got his sneakers.

They turned out to be a gift from his uncle Merlin Prower, who was still in hiding at the time. This story also involved Sonic foiling Robotnik's latest plan, which involved using a ray that froze time.

The third story was not about the Freedom Fighters as kids at all, but instead was about Sonic, Sally and Antoine each telling Uncle Chuck contradicting stories of how they destroyed a Combot that attacked them.

I’ll get back to this story in a later episode.

Apparently the first Sonic Kids special was a hit, because Archie cranked out another one a year later, and this time Knuckles got to be included in the action. The first story, “Zoneward Bound,” featured Sonic and the other kids finding a ring in a well (the same well that Sonic got that same ring from in issue #0) before being flung into separate zones.

Sonic had his first confrontation with Dr Robotnik, Sally was confronted with a terrifying vision of what had happened to her father, and Tails, Antoine and Rotor fell through a void wearing each other’s heads and limbs.

Trippy.

The second story, “My Secret Guardian,” showed young Sally and her father, pre-Robotnik’s coup, taking a trip to the Floating Island where Sally encountered Knuckles for the first time.

This was mostly a rehash of stuff we’d already learned through the main series, but more fleshed out and with some new information revealed. The biggest thing we learned is that the real reason King Max took them to the island was to search for the ship his wife and son had been on which had been shot down during the Great War.

The third story, “Eve of Destruction," is my personal favourite of the Sonic Kids stories. This story showed us that Tails' father became one of the earliest victims of the roboticiser when he discovered Robotnik was planning to overthrow the King.

But while all that was going on, his pregnant wife was busy going into labour. Fortunately Sonic and Sally were able to get her to the hospital in time, carrying her in a wagon that Sonic towed.

I really like this one. There's a lot of cute stuff with Sonic and his friends, but there's also a lot of darkness there and a grim sense of foreboding. We know what's coming.

That’s all from me today. Were there actually any stories about the characters being de-aged that I didn’t think of? What do you think of the Sonic Kids specials? Let me know in the comments! Next time I’ll be tackling episode 45: Boys vs. girls! …did that ever even happen in ArchieSonic?

[danganronpa96]

Hold on I'll ask a few but not a lot since I don't wanna be annoying lol.

Idk I have a fangan with these characters but the show is sadly underrated but have you watched 101 Dalmatian Street? Really good show, really good characters, really cute art. Really scary finale.

There was a question asked in the Penguinronpa QnA, two actually, and I wanted to ask these questions. Since 96 isn't complete you can just do like the characters slash chapters you've done up til then or just do 69 only.

For each character, what would they have contributed if they lasted longer in the story. Like the role. Antag, development, support, that one character who does nothing but survives anyway, etc

What's one thing for each chapter you'd go back and redo, if there was one thing for each chapter?

Sorry for question count I'm a very questiony guy. Also yes, this is York the guy who gave Bojack-o-lattern a ton of nicknames. Also I've watched some of Breaking Bad and watched Saiki K almost all of Season 1 (dubbed). Both are really fucking good. There's an Ao Oni movie apparently but the demon design is apparently bad, wait shit I'm rambling. Let me stop now.

1. I haven’t watched it myself, but as long as you enjoy the show yourself and the characters you’re writing, then that’s great! As long as you’re passionate, you could even convince others to check it out

As these other answers are kinda long, I’m gonna put them under the cut ↓ ↓ ↓

2. I’ll answer this for DR69 as it’s easier as that story is already finished.

Mr. Krabs - probably would’ve taken on an arc of greed or teamwork that would’ve reflected into Luigi in some way

Mario - would’ve taken on a very tight-knit support role for Luigi, perhaps helping him come out of his shell and befriend anyone Luigi would

Dedede - as a comical character in the story, it would’ve been funny if he did get access to a hammer or something and tried to break down a wall, only for it to actually lead them to somewhere useful (or makes a hole that a killer could utilise for a murder case)

Ashley - like a mentioned in a very previous post, she would’ve had an arc of coming out of her comfort zone and making more friends, gaining some confidence on the side to confide in others. She would probably become a close friend to Luigi, who takes on a similar type of parental role he does with Parappa (as one single man can never have too many kids)

2D - I’d like to think we’d get to see him perform at some point. Either as a performance with Miku and Teto, or maybe on his own without the cosmetics and show lights, singing to someone who needs the motivation

Peter - I won’t lie, I don’t particularly want Peter to be an endgame character, even in an alternative timeline. I think he’d continue to just be a comic relief character tho, just not so loudly during the darker parts as we get later into the story

Sans - If Sans was alive longer, sansmaeda would be able to be explored more than just during the trial and some parts before. Perhaps the relationship would cause some problems with trust, or it would change the dynamic of the group in someway (as the first sort of relationship they’ve been accustomed to). On his own, I think he’d begin to actually care about investigating himself and find some pretty useful things

Fluttershy - for Fluttershy, she’d be able to spread her kindness a lot further from when she died. Since she had her own doubts herself, however (seen in her diary), it would’ve been a good opportunity for her to receive help from others rather than just being so selfless. Also, she would’ve been able to share her drawings herself, allowing her to explain her creative process and see the others' reactions to her art

Brian - if Brian was persuaded to keep going, he’d have no regrets, more easily able to accept certain strange things and focus on what’s most important: saving everyone else. I think he’d often try to be self-sacrificial, but others would convince him they all need to stay alive together

3. I’ll continue to answer this with just DR69.

Chap 1 - add more events to the daily life. It felt kinda short, even if it was my first ever dangan chapter, and it would’ve been nice to see more events with the whole cast before one bit the dust. I’d like to see them all do something together -- maybe find a way to escape even if it backfires.

Chap 2 - this is more of a technical thing, but I accidentally forgot to have one of the three practicing the play (either The Conductor, Miku or Teto) mention they were rehearing in Classroom 1-A and not the performance hall during the night of the 2nd murder. This led to some theories believing the latter, which made me feel a bit guilty as it led some theories the wrong way.

Chap 3 - I mentioned before I wanted to also add more events to the daily life of ch3. However, I’d probably remove that um. Luigi having to be a real plumber for Peter scene because it was just gross and I only did it because I thought some people would find it funny I guess?? Like it’s not the worst thing ever but I don’t like stooping to toilet level humour often.

Chap 4 - for this chapter, I think I’d want to justify why Sans killed Peter himself. While taking on a selfless act as he didn’t want Nagito to die is alright, just Peter making fun of Papyrus doesn’t really reflect why Sans would get so mad. However, this was actually because in a very old plan I had, Peter had actually killed Papyrus himself (idk how or why but he did) and that confession would be what had led Sans into killing him. I mean I guess it could’ve been possible in a prequel type thing but it would make things more messy (also impossible considering Papyrus is alive for the albeit dead sequel)

Chap 5 - I think I would add more moments of Luigi seeing Parappa hanging out with Brian and trying to make him happy again. We only really see him trying to talk to Nagito, and not with the other two often. It would be nice to have Luigi at least know one thing they did together, making the moment it all falls apart in the trial much more harder to bear.

Chap 6 - I can’t think of much I would change here. However, I would’ve liked to add a part during the trial where Luigi reminisces on the others who have passed away, and I would add a CG of a collage of all the final moments of each character like how they did in SDR2 and NDRV3. I just think it’d look cool but painful as a reminder of all the deaths in one big image. I’d also add a CG right at the end of all 5 survivors standing together after escaping the school. I was planning to, but I got quite burned out after basically working on that final chapter so intently after such a long hiatus.

4. Hello again! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed those shows so far since I really like ‘em too. It’s nice when people check out the medias I write in my fangans!

[wellfell]

don't you think that maybe you're here for a reason?

 ❛ if it's about some shitty love confession , i must say your taste sucks . ❜  something to lighten up her own mood , something to block out the throbbing of his head . a vein hammering against her temple and the left side of her throat , she closes her eyes . her hands are tied and she can't promise bertolt a kind akina . no , that girl was slowly dying ; peeling her skin off , revealing something much uglier with a sharper tongue . after all , apparently , men liked glaring women better and akina couldn't help to prove them wrong . hoover was into blondes , this was nothing about emotions and akina doubts she can pull that card on a quiet guy like him . but she can only tell the truth — eren is a gem , their little ticket of gold to whatever weird plan they had in mind , something akina didn't quite listen to when she was being taken away . but one thing she knows , is that her father sold ships and gold to reiss family and her mother was too friendly with lord reiss ( did it lead to others thinking she was another offspring of that asshole – ? ) . long ago , when she wasn't allowed to ask questions , when the world was too big to wander in it all alone . and akina did . ❛ i need water . when your friend comes back , tell him to stop fucking zoning out and give me his flask . ❜ she was under bertolt's care ; a quiet boy back then , now a terrifying monster . the angry boy was unconscious beside her foot , ymir was sitting quietly on the other side . there's no other choice but to let go of someone as useless as akina mori — or get rid of her . and two titans could do that without breaking a sweat . she licks her chapped lips , half tempted to kick eren from the wooden spot down into the mouth of a titan waiting beneath them , just to get a reaction from hoover . but she stays still , and finally lets her gaze rest on the boy . ❛ . . . you're not as skinny as i always imagined . ❜ a quiet comment , again , a tactic to distract herself from the pain because she was pretty sure the shifters were going to heal faster than her . too fast . her hooded gaze remains on bertolt , as she mumbles again ; ❛ and scared . ❜

  📼 starter.

[2lim3rz]

Hey, I have a small confession to make. So, before I jump into it, I’ve begun shifting to different realities just so I can check out the world, like wildlife, nature, architecture, and food, so keep that in mind. Ahh, recently I decided to look at the lore for Warhammer just because I like to make shit posts about it, as one does, and somehow I fell asleep, and I happen to wake up on a backwater planet that was not Earth. Anywhose, I awoke in a Back Alley during a parade/speech that the Emperor of Mankind was having to rally the people. Of course, I had no idea he was doing this and decided to search to see where I was and how I came about on this planet. I stumbled into the crowd of people, disoriented and disgruntled because the architecture was magnificent but odd, too large and Imposing, and I was scrambling for straws because this was not Earth, and these buildings were something that I was used to. It was as if a cathedral had sex with technology and had a child. My only goal was to get home but to do so, I had to know where I was, so I followed the people to what appeared to be the city square, and there he was. Huge, clad in gold and ever-shifting shape, was the fucking Emperor. Mind you, no one really paid attention to me because he held the rapt focus of the people, but apparently, I was not very discreet about my disorientation, and probably because I was decked out in jeans, hoodie, and hair tied up with a claw clip (she/they). You know, weird clothes that the human population no longer wears!!!! And a person leaned by and began asking questions in what appeared to be English, but was not our English, like it was old English speaking that was very rudimentary. I tried answering and tried asking my questions, but it was difficult. Mind you, I have not yet caught the attention of the custodes that were surrounding the Emps, or the Emps' attention, but I could see that they were searching for something in the crowd. I began to tune out the gentlemen because I never really thought that I would see the Emperor up close and personal, but here I was, and it was fucking terrifying. I was practically gawking at him because HOLY FUCK was he massive, and fucking bright to look at. I had no clue what I was staring at, but he appeared to be 14ft to 15ft, because based on my height (5ft,5in), I came about knee to mid-thigh on him, and he appeared to be as bright as the sun when I tried to at least look at his face. All I know was that he was a fucking beast, and I wanted to get the fuck out of there. The gentleman who was asking me questions was spewing off some gibberish, and all I had to go for me was this internal Dialogue. "If 2+2=4, and 4+4=8, what type of monstrosity was before me, claiming to be human? No human should be that fucking tall, covered in a shit load amount of gold, with a face I can't see because the force of a thousand suns was STARING AT ME. Wait....no... Staring at me." When I was in my little world, the fucking Emperor was able to spot me and had zoned in on my location; I was in the back of the fucking line, so a mortal man could not spot me as well as he did. I have begun to sweat bullets and shake because holy hell, I do not want to be here, and in front of this thing that parades around in Human Flesh. I try to turn around and fuck off, but I can't; it feels like I'm anchored to the spot, and then, I felt an intense headache coming on like someone is bludgeoning a hammer into my skull, and then I feel it, him, or whatever the fuck he was trying to play at. It felt like he was trying to force himself into my mind because it felt surrounded by a miasma of him. Me being me, I'm like "I think the fuck not, you disgraceful shit", and suddenly, I woke up. As of now, my head still hurts, and I am scared to go back to sleep. He probably heard all of my internal dialogue, and that was probably why he was able to locate me. You can believe me or not, but I am fucking terrified, and I honestly do not want to imagine him as a fucking mummy because I will die. I apologize if my grammar is way off.

Not to be That Guy but just like, go back to sleep man. You had a whacked out dream. I've had them before where I swore I saw the warp

Dreams are whack. Consciousness is whack. Neato

Hope you calm down and have better dreams

[blazehedgehog]

Are you fan of anything that isn't a big media franchise? Sometimes I feel anxiety over my own taste being just whatever thing gets layed infront of me by corporations and not anything organic that isnt just made to sell

I mean the things that get laid in front of you by corporations are custom built to be mainstream popular. You're not a worse person for liking what's popular. It's popular for a reason.

This is my line of thinking when I play fighting games because more often than not I gravitate towards the boring main characters. I was a Mario guy in Melee, I do best with Ryu and Chun-li, etc. These are made to be popular and easy to digest. You don't have to willingly throw yourself in to the deepest end of the pool if you don't want to.

If you're having fun, embrace it.

And maybe along the way you'll find a niche you like to fit in to. Like if you want to know things that aren't big media franchises that I love, let's talk video games:

Amid Evil is great. It's part of NewBlood's stable of new-retro FPS games, and the twist is that all your guns are swords, and you're a God slaying other Gods. This helps break the mold of having a pistol, shotgun, chain gun, and RPG. Similar concepts still make an appearance, but they always feel appreciably different than the cliches. It's also a beautiful and psychedelic looking game, with extremely tight level design. Just a complete joy top to bottom, though it starts to overstay its welcome at the very, very, very end (those last couple of levels and the final boss are way too long).

Or, like, movies, right. I have friends who revel in old trash and they set up group streams pretty often. So a few weeks ago they streamed Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, one of the last Hammer films they made before the company shut down. Hammer was known for cranking out cheap, fast horror movies in the 60's and 70's, and they were falling out of style. Kronos was something they apparently actually put real effort and a budget in to, sort of like a cross between James Bond, a horror movie, and super hero. It was interesting, but maybe not spectacular. Definitely not enough to save the company. But I don't regret having seen it.

(You'll often find I watch a lot of other weird, old, fringe movies like that because of these friends.)

Just don't be afraid to break out of your comfort zones, I guess. But also remember that comfort zones are called that because they are comfortable to exist in, and there's usually nothing wrong with being comfortable. With the state of the world as it can be, there's no shame in retreating somewhere safe and cozy.