#but had to redo because it wasn't fast enough

[michimonie]

If you ever need a looping gif of Della and Donald's sibling shenanigans.

[lockedbehindtheambereye]

Eizan, the runaway rabbit.

(s.n. i wanna redo eizans sprites because i went back to it not too long ago and flipped the canvas.... yeah his face is rlly wonky so i might do that in the future 😭)

Trivia:

- Ais Route

- All clothes were made by him, he is a master of textiles. This is because he had to find a way to be innovative while saving up for a cure.

- Very light on his feet and a fast runner, hence the name runaway rabbit.

- Very strong/fit and can handle himself in a fight

- Has ADHD and gets caught off guard very easily. This is usually his downfall as he needs time to strategize and process something before he utilizes his strength and dexterity.

- Loves humor and making people laugh and smile. He finds self worth in making others happy and makes it his mission to get a laugh out of someone as much as possible.

- Really good perception and understanding of the human mind bc of this.

- Rabbit symbolism

- Likes riding horses because it makes him even faster

- Generally a likeable person and isn't very hateful. He doesn't get mad very often, but when he does, he gets pissed.

- Has really good street smarts and is able to wield any weapon with decent efficiency. His preferred weapon is a dagger or a double-edged claymore.

- The only grudge he holds is against Roseus.

- Love language is touch

- Voice claim: Matt Shipman

Backstory:

Eizan was very popular in his home village. There was people who side eyed him because of his curse, but it was overshadowed by his bright personality and kindness. He was always a silly kid.

Whenever he was around 9 years old, he was playing tag with the village's children when his hand got caught on a protruding branch and tore his glove, exposing his hands. When he tagged another kid, the curse affected them. The child went mad and ended up stabbing Eizan with a stake. It was nearly fatal but both the child and Eizan survived. The child was subdued and the curse wore off without having to kill them. Eizan was scarred physically and mentally and lost his spark after that. He stayed inside, even if his parents tried to encourage him to go back outside and that the people forgave him. He couldn't do it until his best friend, Roseus (ro-shus), had made a promise to help him find a cure. From that point on, he slowly regained his spark and while recovering, he learned how to make clothing.

It was when they were both 19 that they had made enough money to get themselves to Eridia for a cure. They had packed their things and told their village goodbye. Eizan was a warrior to the village that protected them from fogfall, and he knew this, everyone did. Roseus was his partner in arms and they were leaving the village unguarded. They set up lethal traps and fencing all around the village, but they knew it wouldn't be enough. They knew what would happen to their people.

They wouldn't be able to come back, ever.

Their journey was incredibly long. They survived with very minimal damage to themselves until 2 years into their travels, they split. They were caught off guard by a soulless attack that wasn't prompted by a fogfall. It had injured Eizan's leg and left him immobile without the adrenaline to keep him on his feet. Roseus, driven by fear, prepared to run away.

Eizan yelled for his best friend, "Rose! Help me damnit! Kill the fucking thing!!"

The man in question looked at him, petrified. He shook his head in fear as the soulless turned to him, letting out a screech. Roseus yelped and turned heel, running away.

"ROSEUS!! ROSEUS YOU BASTARD YOU HAVE THE MONEY!! COME BACK!"

The soulless left Eizan as it ran in the direction of Roseus, and all Eizan knew was that he hoped Roseus was killed.

Without the money for the cure and only having pocket change left, he stood on wobbily feet. He winced at the pain in his leg. He took out his medkit and wrapped the injury the same way he would his hands. He swore to whatever god out there, that if he ever saw Roseus again, he'd kill him.

After hobbling for a while, he managed to find a caravan that accepted him onto their journey to Eridia.

More art and stat sheets below!!!

some of the stat sheets might need to be updated... its been a few months LMAO, same with my watermark

[echobx]

author's note: this is something I wrote for my oc!fic but I hit a writer's block and I have to redo it all to combat that, but I didn't wanna lose this entirely to the bin, so I'm posting it bc my brain also won't let me put it into a one shot somewhere. and how's your day going bc this is also the third time of me trying to post this...

warnings: pet names, making out, talk of sex, 1st person pov!!

word count: ≈900

“Tell me what you want,” JJ demanded with a whisper and my breath hitched at his hand harshly squeezing my hip.

“You. I want you, J,” I whispered and he kissed me.

“Want me to make you feel better?” he rasped, running his hands up and taking my shirt with them.

“Pretty please,” I begged and he leaned up and pulled me with him so he could take my shirt off. He was basically gawking at my boobs, which gave me enough time to open his shorts, diverting his focus.

“What are you doing?”

“I thought-” I looked at him with puppy eyes and he smiled.

“I'm not gonna fuck you, not yet.” Then he got up and I decided to do the same. It had been a bad idea anyway. Things were happening too fast and I wasn't-

“What are you doing?” JJ repeated, standing on the opposite side of the bed and looking at me, as I was holding onto my shirt, but his shorts were off. And his boxers really didn't do the best job at concealing his erection.

“I thought you didn't-” the words got stuck in my throat.

“Put the shirt down,” he ordered and I let the fabric fall to the floor. Then he pointed at the bed and I quickly opened my shorts and let them fall to the floor too.

“What was that now?” JJ chuckled.

“I thought, because you did and- Equality, you know?” I mumbled.

“Yeah, but I wanted to take those off,” JJ laughed lightly and I bent down to pull my shorts back up.

“You don't have to put them on again, princess,” he ran his hand through his hair and I furrowed my brows.

“This is very confusing to me.”

JJ stepped around the bed and cupped my face with his large hands. “I'm sorry, I didn't think- Should I explain?” I nodded and he continued speaking. “I'm not gonna have sex with you, today, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun. And if you want me to strip for you, just say the word. Also, taking your clothes off of you is part of my job from now on. All right?”

“I understand,” I whispered and he smiled boyishly.

“Good. ‘Cause I love you.”

“Love you too, J.”

He took a step back, looking me up and down as a guttural groan left him. “How do I even deserve you?”

“I didn't plan this,” I shook my head and looked down at myself. It had been a total coincidence that I had decided to wear one of the new sets that morning; the peach one. “I promise, I didn't plan it.”

“I don't care if you did or not, you look hot as fuck, baby,” he bit his lip and shook his head slowly, admiring every last inch of my body. “Turn around for a sec,” he asked and I did.

“Do you like it?” I asked and in response he pulled my flush to his chest, his hard cock pressing into my ass.

“Fucking love it, baby,” he quietly growled into my ear before biting down on my earlobe. “You make me crazy, darling.”

I sighed as his hands roamed my body, squeezing and grabbing, while his lips were leaving wet kisses on my neck and shoulders. And when his hand slipped between my legs, running over my wet slip and softly pressing into me, I bit my lip to not moan as loudly as I wanted to. My mind was completely blank, nothing but the pure pleasure he was giving me filled it up. JJ wanted to pull his hand away again, but I held onto it. Turning my head to look at him over my shoulder, I looked into his lust drunken eyes and he kissed me. Drawing soft circles on my clothed clit with his thumb.

“I want to try again,” I whispered, his forehead leaning against mine as he nodded.

“C’mon.” With that he let go of me and pulled me into bed with him.

“Do you wanna try like last time?” JJ asked as we sat on the bed and it felt a little awkward.

“I wanna not think about it,” I whispered and he smiled.

“I'm good when it comes to not thinking, maybe even the best,” JJ murmured while leaning over and pressing a kiss to my lips. His kisses had the ability to make me forget the world around us, so it just felt natural when he laid me down underneath him, groping at my tits and pressing his knee in between my legs and-

“J,” I moaned and he looked at me a little concerned.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” I smiled and played with the hair in the nape of his neck. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” he hushed and went back to kissing me, his leg still pressed against my wet cunt.

His kisses traveled down my neck over my shoulder, pushing the bra strap down and letting me free my arm. He kissed my throat and I threw my head back, moaning softly before he went to my left shoulder and pulled the strap down there, too.

Rolling down the lace of my bra he started kissing the swell of my breasts, moaning against my skin as soon as his lips closed around my nipple.

please don't copy and/or post my work onto other platforms! ~e©ho

only tagging moots bc this doesn't really count as a standalone blurb/fic to my brain || @redhead1180 @maybankskiss @princessmaybank

[aladaylessecondblog]

Red Mountain Waffle House pt. 13

Author's Note: Tw for some blood. Jiub is a troll. For those looking for canon Sotha Sil behavior, boy are YOU gonna be disappointed

This one snuck up on me

---------------------------

One week, then two.

Jiub found his Venmo occasionally pinging with small amounts from Sadara, who sent apology notes in each one. Honestly, he didn't blame her, but he wouldn't say no to to the extra money. He turned her room into another grow spot and it was doing okay, but still not to the level that having her there to contribute to rent had.

She hadn't come back, but there hadn't been much for her to come back for. A dresser, a bed. Those handful of receipts from Suran in the trash can he still hadn't emptied.

The Waffle House was doing a little worse for her absence, at least in his opinion.

The new waitress was an ashlander, and icily polite to those with corprus. Maybe they weren't the best people, but their money spent like anyone else's, and he couldn't figure out why all of a sudden NOW Nibani would want to piss them off by instructing new employees to act like this. It had driven off a few of them, or at least he thought so - it was hard to tell some of the ash ghouls apart from one another.

A few of the ash creatures had asked where Sadara was. The new waitress didn't know; neither did Nibani, whose answer was, "She no longer works here."

Jiub kept silent; he sure as hell wasn't talking. Sadara had sent him a Discord message (she'd outright deleted Morrotwitter) asking him to not tell anyone where she was, and he'd kept to it.

She didn't hadn't added any specifics about what exactly had happened on her little trip to Red Mountain. He'd asked a second time and she replied, 'Nothing we're not used to hearing.'

For a few days after that she sent random pictures of gnarly wounds from fighting cliffracers and other wildlife, and then of the scars once she healed up. There were also a few pics of cliffracers being turned on a spit over a fire, and a little 'wish you were here this thing tasted great' message a couple days in row.

Then there started being images of the inside of some cave along the coast near Tel Fyr.

The Fyrs are paying me 200 gold a week for blood and plasma, apparently I'm RH null blood type. it's special or something. and being immune to corprus makes them want it too, so. Not doing too bad.

Sounds great. What's up with the cave?

Oh, it's near Tel Fyr. Easy access. There's some khajiit and argonians here too, cave's big enough to share, so we do.

How do you share a cave?

We just have bedrolls in different areas. I feel like I got the biggest spot because it used to be a slave pen and they don't want to sleep over here ever again. It's not that bad. We've even got pets.

the fuck kind of pets do you have over there? lost scribs?

couple of fat slaughterfish we feed fish and scraps to. One we call Betty White and the other we call Wilson. They try to bite us but honestly they're big enough it's hard for them to move fast enough for it. So they'll mainly just hiss and make noise until they get food.

"Excuse me, cook? Are you paying any attention to the food at all, or are you destroying my eggs on purpose?"

"Your eggs are fine," Jiub replied, tucking his phone away. The customer in question had come in a few times, and was - well, honestly, such a stick in the mud it was fun to tease him. He was very particular about his food, wanted his waffles turn an even number of times...so Jiub always made sure not to do that.

Sotha Sil himself. Not all that impressive, at least not to Jiub. He said he came there because the sound of the blight winds was relaxing, and when he needed relative silence this was a good place to have it.

And his fried eggs were always just slightly runny.

"Here, I'll redo 'em if you want, I was hungry anyway."

He handed a newly finished plate of waffles to the new waitress, who took them to another ashlander in the corner.

"Do you have no pride at all in your work?"

"I'm cooking eggs and waffles for 10 septims an hour, there is no pride in this work," Jiub replied with a shrug.

"You are an insubordinate imp--no. No, I will waste no more time on your shenanigans. This is not what I am here for. Just cook the food." Sotha Sil huffed, and turned back to the laptop in front of him.

It was a far cry from the nigh-emotionless construct Jiub had heard Sotha Sil described as. Something, it seemed, had set the man on edge...he'd asked a couple people if something had happened to set Sotha Sil off what he was usually like. Most people couldn't see such little things, little signs of being potentially angry, or annoyed, or any number of similar things. But due to long experience, Jiub was a master at seeing it.

He'd reached a point in his life where he was looking to get humbled again. His success with Almalexia had made him feel almost bored - if he could off her so easily (however temporarily it lasted), really, how much farther was there to go? Maybe Sotha Sil would be different. Maybe he'd be tougher, somehow...

How little a thing would it take to push him over and make him screech?

He could already hear Sadara's voice chiding him for it. You little troll, you just want your ass kicked, don't you?

Well. Maybe he did.

The waitress went outside to handle the garbage, and so Jiub was the one to deliver the plated food. He glanced down at the laptop, and saw a familiar sight.

A Pokemon battle.

And more importantly...

"Superiorsil? So it's YOU! I should've guessed," Jiub set the food down and went over to clean the stove.

"What do you mean, you should've guessed?" Sotha Sil's voice had turned accusatory.

Jiub turned back, and gave a deep smirk as he extended his hand. "Jiuberjabber. How ya doin'?"

A pause.

A long, uncomfortable pause.

And then, Sotha Sil - master of the monotone, king of the cutting politeness, suzerain of stony looks - leaped over the counter and wrapped both hands around JIub's neck.

Both mer crashed to the ground and despite the pain and increasing lack of oxygen all Jiub could do was laugh.

"You idiot--pathetic--little WORM!" Sotha Sil was snarling, "You broke my perfect record!"

"It's just a game, man," Jiub struggled, trying to get one hand into his back pocket. Still the laughter persisted, even harder because he saw how much it infuriated the mer above him. Or maybe it was due to the choking. "Don't take it so seriously."

He managed to get his trusty box-cutter out, and took a few stabs in the area of his opponent's ribs. Jiub and Sotha Sil wrestled about in this fashion another few minutes, getting the latter's blood all over the floor.

"What happened to the calm magus, huh?" Jiub, still giddy from the lack of air, went on, finally getting to his feet and backing away, box-cutter at the ready. "Oh, wait, you are what the people need you to be, right? I've read the sermons."

"That wasn't IN the sermons you illiterate cretin," Sotha Sil stood, his pristine white robe now utterly ruined. The stab wounds were healed over quickly, and he looked ready to fight--

--and then suddenly bristled, snatched a to-go box, stuffed the food he'd left uneaten into it.

"Come back soon," Jiub, still in the mood to tease, energized by the fight, blew a capricious kiss at the furious mer before him.

Sotha Sil left, muttering under his breath.

Jiub then looked at the ashlander in the corner.

"You gonna tell the Temple about that?"

"Who the fuck would believe me?"

Grumbling, and thinking he was far too sober for this, Jiub moved off to the bathroom to snort some skooma. Nibani would be in within an hour, and he needed the blood cleaned up by then. The waitress, utterly horrified by what she had just witnessed, didn't look like she was going to be staying long enough to do the job.

[loz-furbies]

Second Majora dungeon done. The time limit is starting to really become a problem for dungeoning, for me it just discourages trying to explore on my own if I know that I'll have to redo everything, including collecting the little fairies, if I'm not fast enough. I figure with the next dungeon I'll have to give in and do it in two parts though because this time it was already 9am on third day when I beat the boss.

My initial impressions of the Goron mask were very positive, it's good for combat and rolling around is surprisingly fun since it's fast but also requires some skill. Certainly didn't except Gorons to be the speed upgrade! However the roll move turned out to be a huge roadblock because I simply couldn't figure out how to do that jump in the dungeon where you cross the gap in the main chamber by rolling over the ramps. There just isn't enough room to accelerate to the speed needed for the jump as far as I'm concerned and I wasted like half of an in-game day failing the jump, falling to lower floors and having to trudge back through several puzzle rooms to get another try, which was extremely un-fun. I have no idea what I was doing wrong or what went right when I finally pulled it off. And looking it up wasn't any help either when all the advice I could find was completely useless (yes my magic meter was full).

That aside the boss was pretty fun since you get to use the high speed roll in it, without pits you can fall into, so it's not a huge problem to have to do that for a second time for post-dungeon collectibles now that I've obviously had to reset time. But I dread the possibility that there will me more of these jumps with no room for accelerating. For me this is up there with the ST flute with unbearable controls honestly.

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic - Fragments Josh van Reyk & Shaun Knowler

wada sez: The Mosaic project was a monumental undertaking from Josh van Reyk and Shaun Knowler. Their dedication to creating a platform for amateur fan creators, and to producing high-quality stories, eventually led to them writing an official, canonical Transformers comic in the form of Spotlight: Jazz; this post collects various promotional material for that issue, and a pseudocanonical followup Mosaic script that never materialised. But Spotlight: Jazz wasn't the only story they pitched to IDW...

Art by Matt C. Adams [2009-01-26, 2009-01-26, 2009-03-31, 2009-03-31]

Art by Joana Lafuente [2009-02-08]

Art by Chris Vera [2009-03-22, 2009-03-31, 2009-04-01, 2010-03-02, 2010-03-02]

Art by Casey Coller & John-Paul Bove [2009-03-25, 2009-03-30]

wada sez: This lineart from Coller was originally colored up by Matt C. Adams, as seen at the very top of this post, but John-Paul Bove also did his own version!

Spotlight: Ravage w/ Matt C. Adams [2009-11-27, 2009-11-27, 2009-11-27, 2009-11-30, 2010-01-02, 2010-01-02]

wada sez: Colors on that A cover were provided by Andrew Griffith.

Matt sez: "At Botcon '09 this past summer, my good friend Josh van Reyk and I pitched a story idea to some of the good folks from IDW Publishing as a possible issue of their Transformers Spotlight series. Unfortunately they had to turn us down on "Spotlight Ravage." But it wasn't because the story sucked. It turns out they already had a similar book planned, only this one would focus on the Movie Universe version of Ravage and was being written by the one and only Simon Furman. And in a strange coincidental twist, not only did his book, the soon to be released Transformers: Tales of the Fallen #5, feature (a version of) Ravage too, but it also had the exact same "hook" that our story had. And by "hook" I mean something that makes the book (fairly) unique and interesting for comic book fans. I won't say what that hook is, but if you take into account the fact that this cover is an homage to Larry Hama's classic G.I. Joe #21, a comic famous for being the first to have the very same hook, then you can probably guess what that hook is. ;)"

wada sez: The issue in question was Tales of the Fallen issue #5.

Matt sez: "Well, here's a part of the story I left out…

"After hearing why they were passing on the pitch, I was bold enough (or perhaps delusional enough ;) ) to ask one of editors if he knew if all the cover assignments for the Movie Ravage issue had been given out. He said they had, but there was still the possibility of a retailer incentive cover being produced. I then asked that if I was to take the same "silent issue" GI Joe homage idea and redo my Ravage cover so that it featured Movie Ravage, would he be interested in seeing it. He said yes. Fast forward a month or so and I get a response on the new cover I sent in. Unfortunately that response was also a "No." Bummer, right?

"But here's something that's not a bummer. Even though this cover won't see print, my good friend John-Paul Bove was kind enough to take my humble inks and turn them into something that is pretty damn awesome, in my (biased) opinion. :)"

"Making The Myth" (Jazz) w/ Ed Pirrie [2011-01-09]

Ed sez: "If I remember correctly, "Making the Myth" was co-authored by Josh and Shaun. It was definitely after SL:J was published. I don't know if you remember, but that issue got a bit of backlash by people who couldn't accept that Jazz might be able to solo the Predacons. This came out of me chatting with them about that, because I loved the issue, and how sad it was that people couldn't accept that an Autobot with the function "special ops" would actually be good at combat, especially against enemies that immediately underestimate him. I guess it's possible that those talks led to the idea for a Mosaic where he essentially explains why he was so good in a humble way, but honestly it's been so long I couldn't say for sure."

wada sez: The sole surviving snippet from Ed's art for this strip was, he believes, the fourth panel; I've included it at that point in the script.

Panel 1

We're looking down a corridor, as TRACKS chases after JAZZ. We're looking at the bots from front on. JAZZ looks over his shoulder as TRACKS yells out at him.

TRACKS Excuse me, sir!

JAZZ Mm?

JAZZ (CONT) Oh. It's Tracks, isn't it?

Panel 2

TRACKS has caught up to JAZZ now, and the two stand opposite one another. TRACKS should look a little awkward.

TRACKS Yeah, that's right, Sir.

JAZZ Good. What's on your mind?

TRACKS (CONT) I, uh, I just wanted to say thanks.

JAZZ (CONT) For?

TRACKS (CONT) For saving my Spark, Sir.* I know it was you.

JAZZ (CONT) You do, do you?

CAPTION *see Spotlight: Jazz

Panel 3

Close in on TRACKS, looking away slightly.

TRACKS Yeah, um, Bluestreak told me.

Panel 4

Close in on JAZZ, smiling, but not surprised.

JAZZ Ah, good 'ole Blue. That bot sure does love to gossip.

JAZZ But listen, kid. There's a reason why I made Ironhide promise not to tell you who I am. It's cause you weren't saved by me alone.

Panel 5

JAZZ puts his hand on TRACKS' shoulder, who perks up a bit.

TRACKS I don't understand, Sir.

JAZZ I know you don't, and that's okay. I've been fighting this war for a long time, and I've fought alongside a lot of different bots.

JAZZ (CONT) I've learned something new from every single one of them-- and they all helped me get you outta trouble.

JAZZ (CONT) That's what I want you to remember, okay? That's how I want you to live.

TRACKS Ah, I will, Sir. I'll make you proud, Sir.

JAZZ (CONT) I know you will, kid.

JAZZ Oh, and one more thing…

Panel 6

Close in on JAZZ, cheeky smile.

JAZZ …don't call me sir.

"The W Team" w/ Ed Pirrie

wada sez: I actually don't have any sort of link or source for this one, because I snatched the preview from Pirrie's deviantART shortly before the took the whole thing down! Still, he was kind enough to provide me with the full script for it. The whole thing is an homage to The A-Team, naturally.

Panel 1

KUP, SPRINGER, ROADBUSTER& WHIRL, all in electro-cuffs stand in the center of a large courtroom. Prowl is seated behind the 'judges' chair and is pointing an acussing finger at the group.

TEXT BOX Ten stellar-cycles ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit.

Panel 2

The outside wall of an Autobot prison explodes and KUP, SPRINGER, ROADBUSTER & WHIRL all rush out, guns blazing!

TEXT BOX These bots promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Iacon underground. Panel 3 KUP, SPRINGER, WHIRL and ROADBUSTER are bustin Decepticon heads in MACADAM's bar.

TEXT BOX Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune.

Panel 4

A group of micro-masters are surrounder STARSCREAM, THUNDERCRACKER and SKYWARP, all riding motorcycles.

TEXT BOX If you have a problem…

Panel 5

Elita-1, Arcee and the other fmebots, all beaten, are inside a local police station. Siren, Slapdash and Nightbeat are behind a counter, not interested in the girls problems.

TEXT BOX …if no one else can help you…

Panel 6

Red Alert, on crutches, is in a dark alley. He is handing a small vid-screen to Kup, who is hiding in the shadows.

TEXT BOX …and if you can find them, maybe you can hire…

Panel 7

Hero shot of KUP, SPRINGER, WHIRL and ROADBUSTER, similar to http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images /7/2010/01/the-a-team.jpg NOTE. KUP must have a cigar.

TEXT BOX …the Wreckers!

wada sez: That link above is dead, but the image in question was probably similar to this one:

Ed sez: "The cygar as a panel I don't [think] they asked for. It was an interstitial I added on a whim, to kind of pause the flow before the final panel. Not that any of that matters any more!"

wada sez: That's a wrap on all these lost scripts! Thank you for indulging me this last week. We're still not quite done, though—tomorrow, we'll be going back to actual comics that you can look at with your eyes!

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Evie (Ace!Tav) Playthrough Day 3(?)

Day 1... Day 2 - Day 4

Astarion x Evie (Ace!Tav) Masterlist

For the uninitiated, I wrote a Tav well before I ever had a chance to play the game. Now, I finally can and thought it might be fun for my first play through to be as that Tav. Or, at least as much as the game play will allow me.

These are just some of my notes and scattered highlights that I thought would be fun to share.

Let me know if you think if I should continue this and any suggestions you might have.

This actually is more Day 3/4 since I did go back and redo some stuff I wasn't keen on; yes, I've discovered the power of quick saves!

Guys I'm going to romance Gale so fast and I don't think I can hurt this man

Got the "go to hell" dialogue with him; stood in front of the goblin so he's told me at least some of his deep dark secret; basically in the green on approval

I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to reject him guys

Obviously I'll keep playing and see how it goes, but I told myself this would be an Astarion play through

Of course, it does align with my thoughts about Gale having feelings for Evie at the start, so it might all work out

Giving me a lot more ideas about slow burn Astarion and Evie stuff in act 1

Going forward from that Wyll is now in the squad!

He's so perfect and soft with the kids

Definitely more distant at the start in terms of putting on the Blade of Frontiers mask, which I actually really like for future development

Switched out some stuff and guys "Speak with Animals" for the extra animal dialogue is so worth it; I love being a bard

Volo has also been underplayed in how funny he is: I'm now picturing Evie being unsure whether to be annoyed or amused by him every time they meet

She's definitely met his type before; they have very different approaches to the role of the bard in society

Got a lot of quests and God I never wanted to slap a bitch as hard as with Kagha

The fact I can't punch her in the nose without sparking all the druids to turn on the tieflings really does hurt my soul

Evie's nails are digging into her palms the whole time

On that note, the fact you can kill Netti without consequences is objectively funny to me

I rejected even taking the poison because Evie wants to live, she's not just going to take her life

Was not expecting Netti to fight, but needless to say four against one isn't much of a fight

We walked out of there and nobody has said a thing

Also shocked that choice doesn't get Astarion's approval; I thought for sure it would

Actually that's a question I have to the internet: can you do non-leathal damage? There are some things I'd like Evie to try to steal and don't necessarily want to do lethal damage

Found the back underground passage, but turned around because I knew I would get distracted and I wanted to find Karlach

Went out of the grove, found some of the Absolute followers

Astarion not happy with Evie saying we can't trust the power the tadpoles give us

They're really not starting off on the right foot

Now debating going forward with the guy squad or going back to camp, picking up the ladies and either go back to the underground cavern or continue to search for Karlach

Suggestions at this time are welcome

[deduction-substitute]

I think of those concept arts for the chinese academy of arts crossover and im in LOVE with Lucky's designs

Watch me make this about luckyqi and edlucky

This is a REALLY long post i will warn you. Just know that it includes doomed immortal yuri (luckyqi), reincarnation, and edgar 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 valden

Lucky being an immortal that loved the mortals and was loved back. She never cared much for grand displays or offerings, so little was actually known about her

Many people praised the same god without knowing, having their own interpretations of Lucky. Unfortunately, this also caused misunderstandings, believing that their god was superior when theyre LITERALLY PRAISING THE SAME GUY

Heartbroken by his followers turning against each other, he went down to the mortal realm to try and sort it out, which wasn't allowed and risked the loss of your immortal status

It did not work lawl. Because Qi Shiyi, another immortal, was sent down to correct Lucky's wrongdoings. By that, she was the one to dish out her punishment. I love doomed yuri ❤️

Qi Shiyi and Lucky met on the battlefield. Lucky, knowing what she came here to do, accepted his punishment.

Qi Shiyi was originally going to just bring him back, but Lucky loved his people too much to leave them and asked to be stripped of his immortality instead

Reluctantly, Qi Shiyi did as she asked and accompanied Lucky in the battlefield to help resolve the war, since it was greatly affecting other immortals too

FAST FORWARD TO HOW MANY CENTURIES LATER!!!

Many myths and legends were made about Lucky's story, of course with different variations. But all of them ended the same: with him in the arms of an unknown immortal as he took his last breath

Edgar Valden, a rising painter, got a job at a museum that wanted to use the different texts about Lucky to (hopefully) create a more accurate depiction of him

At first Edgar did NOT want to take this job, past is past or whatever, and the curator has fired multiple painters before. She was said to be a strict woman, who dedicated her whole life to preserving whatever was left about Lucky.

But the more Edgar read about Lucky the more he became enamored with him

It's silly, to have fallen in love with a myth. But the vision of Lucky that Edgar created in his mind had completely consumed him, and he obsessed over every word, every single detail he could get about the unlucky immortal

The curator of the museum would come visit sometimes to check on his progress, as well as choose which of his paintings would be included.

She often ordered Edgar to change certain parts of his piece or redo it entirely. Edgar complained about it at first, until he realized that this gave him a chance to become "closer" to Lucky

He wants his painting of Lucky to become his ultimate masterpiece. His magnum opus.

But for some reason, the curator was never satsfied with Edgar's works. Sending back each piece with harsh criticism, and making Edgar fall further down his obsession

He needed more. More about Lucky. The texts the museum supplied him with wasn't enough. So he did his own research

Edgar came up emptyhanded, and went to the curator to see if she had any more about him. She acted defensive for some reason, but eventually, after seeing how dedicated Edgar was, let him see texts that she collected and kept private from the public

For some reason, these texts were a bit too...personal?? There were letters between Lucky and the immortal (at least Edgar assumed it was them) that was with her in her last moments, scripts of characters that were written over and over again, as if the writer couldn't differentiate one from the other

But hey!! Who was Edgar to complain? He ate it all up and used it as inspiration and motivation to finish his piece

When Edgar presented his final canvas to the curator, she went pale before ordering that it would be presented in the museum as the main piece, the rest of Edgar's paintings included as well even though she rejected them before

Finally, Lucky's gallery was open to the public. Many people far and wide came to visit and admire Edgar's paintings.

One of them happened to be a young man named August, or as his friends liked to call him, Lucky.

[linawritestwst]

(sorry had to redo it ignore the other one pls 😭)

may i request the first years with an strong and heroic but kind and flirty fem! s/o

first years x strong and heroic s/o headcanons (fem!reader)

(don't worry, i included her kind and flirty side as well! i just wrote the name like this so that it won't be too long jdksdksl)

ace trappola.

♡ at first, this guy didn't think much of you. he probably even thought that you were a bit boring. so yeah, he wasn't that nice to you, but he took back everything he said about you when he was about to get punished by crowley again, but you just casually picked him up and ran away with him, carrying him like this. you weren't tired at all and you didn't think he was too heavy for you or anything like that.. o-okay, maybe you did make ace's heart beat a little too fast this time.

♡ he still teases you sometimes, but he's not as mean as he was before. honestly, he even kinda respects you now, you turned out to be much cooler than he thought you would be. but when you think that he still went a bit too far, you never hesitate to remind ace just how strong you really are. and when you are done with him, you smile at him and go "hehe, looks like i'm not as fragile as you thought~" PLEASE Y/N. HE ALREADY STARTED TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU, DON'T MAKE IT WORSE FOR HIM.

♡ ace can't believe this is happening, but he really got a huge crush on you. when he realizes that teasing you won't work anymore and also he doesn't want to be punched by you again he decides to do something a little different. maybe he just needs to impress you somehow? he won't be obvious about it though, he would prefer you to notice him yourself. yes, he got a surprisingly good grade today, but he won't tell YOU about it. he will talk about it with deuce, though he will wait for the right moment and he will mention it only when you appear. and when you say how unusual it is, you will hear some familiar words from him. "hehe, looks like i'm not as dumb as you thought~"

deuce spade.

♡ he always was very awkward around you and he didn't know how to talk to you at all. forgive him for that, he's just!! always so nervous around girls!! but even though he didn't have enough courage to even say hi to you, he still felt like he should protect you and he made sure nothing bad happens to you.. yeah, you did surprise him quite a bit, when deuce found out that you're REALLY good at protecting yourself AND him as well. and if he didn't have a crush on you at first, OH BOY, HE SURE HAS ONE NOW.

♡ he somehow manages to act even more awkward now!! he can't stop blushing and he keeps stuttering, you're just so.. he doesn't know how to explain it.. if you try to flirt with him, you will ruin him, y/n. but if you want to do it, sure, no one is stopping you. and if you try to carry him or you end up protecting him from something (or someone), deuce will feel a bit lost because he wants you to rely on him more, but.. for some reason, it doesn't feel so bad to be protected by you.

♡ deuce admires you a lot and when he starts feeling more comfortable, he's just so polite and sweet and if you praise him, he melts. ace refuses to shut up about his reactions to anything that you say and he keeps pointing at deuce and going "HAHA SIMP". when things like that happen, deuce tries really hard to distract you, he's not ready to tell you about his feelings yet. but he hopes that you will return his feelings when he finally confesses to you.

jack howl.

♡ similar to ace, he didn't think much of you when you two first met, however, he did have a feeling that you're actually much stronger than you look like, so you did catch his interest. he tried to get to know you better and you didn't disappoint, he found your skills and abilities extremely impressive. heh, well, you're already better than leona because you keep practicing and achieving more every single day. maybe you two can be good friends.. no, you didn't hear anything from him.

♡ but you and jack actually end up becoming pretty good friends, even if he refuses to admit it and says that your relationship is nothing like that. "oh, so is our relationship actually something more?" no, y/n, you can't do this to him. he doesn't know how to react to your flirting at all, so yeah, if you want to see him acting like his tsundere self more often, then go ahead, say more things like that to him.

♡ even if you don't notice it yourself, it's obvious to everyone (especially savanaclaw students) that jack has a crush on you, though he most likely didn't even realize it yet. ruggie keeps mentioning it and even leona finds it funny how jack doesn't know how to act when you're around. haha, so he's actually much more shy than most people thought. jack respects you a lot and he wishes to spend as much time with you as possible, you're like his idol basically. though maybe your relationship could be a little deeper than that.

epel felmier.

♡ .. okay, he's gonna be honest, he didn't like you that much when you first met. it's not your fault or anything like that, it was just him feeling too insecure. it's just.. he's out here trying to become more masculine even though it feels like this whole world is against it, and then he meets you and you turn out to be so much stronger than him?? it doesn't help that you're a girl, he feels even worse because of that. he knows that it's a weird reason to dislike you, but.. no, he shouldn't think about it like that. you know what, he's just gonna try harder so that he can surpass you one day!

♡ and why are you so kind to him? ah, you just pity him, don't you? you think he's this weak and fragile boy who can't protect himself, right? well, he's gonna prove you otherwise! just you wait, he will definitely become stronger than you and he will be the one to protect you from anything dangerous! though he wishes your reaction to this rivalry was more.. uh, serious. he's tired of you going "aw, that's so cute, epel! don't worry, i already see you as my hero, hehe~" like what does that mean??

♡ oh no. oh no, he's afraid he accidentally fell in love with you while trying to prove that he's better than you. that wasn't a part of his plan. and now he's even more obsessed with showing you how cool he really is, because.. well, now he's trying to become stronger not because he sees you as a rival, but because he wants to become someone who's worthy of your love. even though you said that you already see him as your hero, he's not gonna stop until he actually feels like one. hey, maybe he will be able to carry you today!.. n-no, he won't.

sebek zigvolt.

♡ he is confused. how can a human like you be so.. no, really, how do you manage to be better than him at everything he does?? how can he lose to someone like you?? that's it, he has to work harder, he can't disappoint his master! even though malleus said that he thinks sebek is doing great and he doesn't have to change anything about himself sebek can't stop thinking about you turning out to be a better knight than he is and he mentions you so often that lilia starts teasing him for having a crush on you. AND HE DOESN'T HAVE ONE.

♡ but somehow, his hatred starts slowly turning into.. admiration? sure, he keeps saying stuff like "wow, i didn't know that a human could do this too!" but now it sounds like he's actually amazed and not just making fun of you. hm, why don't you take advantage of that? "why thank you, sebek! i spent so much time dreaming about impressing you one day." he wants to say something cool like "haha, did you really think that a lowly human like you could ever impress me?", but for some reason it's very hard for him to say those words. congratulations, y/n, you actually did impress him.

♡ sebek doesn't want to admit it, but now he really wants you to pay more attention to him. like hey, y/n, did you just see him do that? what did you think of it? haha, he is definitely stronger than you, isn't he? you just smile and nod, you think him acting like this is too cute and you can't possibly be mad at him. and if you actually do praise him for his skills and his hard work.. for some reason, hearing those words would make him so happy, it's like malleus himself praised him. wait, no, obviously, hearing those words from malleus would make him more happy, haha..

[brandwhorestarscream]

Knockout ❤️

Knockout for the illness thing is a perfect start actually!

Years and years ago, I was definitely projecting lol explored the idea of the good doctor struggling with anorexia. It was unfortunately a pretty common thing on Velocitron, about 1 in 10 mecha struggling with some sort of fueling disorder at some point in their lives. Velocitron's culture values success, speed, and beauty above all else, where the best most upstanding people are the award winning racers and super models, and the crushing pressure drove a lot of people to seek less than savory ways of self improvement.

Desperate to get ahead and to remain the best, Knockout started cutting back on fuel. It wasn't a big deal, he reasoned at first, because he could easily finish a whole race on ¾ of a tank. And with enough pushing and training, he got down to ½. Then ⅓. Then ¼. Then less. Til the point his body was constantly running on fumes, and he was well and truly addicted to the painful starving sensation.

He convinced himself that he was fine: he's a doctor, after all, he knows his body better than anyone. It's nothing he can't handle. If his paint starts to peel and flake he'll just redo it with a fresh coat. If he's constantly shivering, then he'll keep the clinic extra toasty warm. If he finally can't resist the urge to have a meal, he'll purge it back up once he's done to make sure he stays as perfect and lightweight and as fast as possible. He even got to the point of removing parts of his body: nothing vital, just "filler" that he didn't technically need to survive

He did get help and went through recovery before the war started, but the stress of constant fighting and threat to life sometimes caused him to relapse. He'd go days without eating because he had so many patients to fix and the idea of food just sounded miserable and disgusting. It was a shameful secret he'd always try to avoid, telling himself that, I'll fuel in just a bit, just a little longer. Thankfully, Breakdown was there when he first went through a rehabilitation program and was super supportive: he knows the signs and is always watching his conjunx closely. He knows Knockout is still occasionally embarrassed by his aversion to energon when it crops up, so always gently pesters him to eat together. Claiming that fuel just tastes better when they're together, and tells him to, "Let me know if you wanna throw up, ok? I'll distract ya." Knockout couldn't be more grateful for him, he's the best partner anyone could ask for 💖

[thatcheeseycandle]

//tw for mentions of war, death, breakdowns, fighting, hurt, and Buckle up Buttercup ITS TIME FOR THE FIRST FANFICTION I'LL EVER BE POSTING

Now before reading I'd like to point out the possibility of the characters here being somewhat out-of-character since each bit was written in 10 minutes (IT WAS FOR A SPRINTING BOT DISCORD SESSION OKAY- But I did clean it up a bit by redoing some of the bits) and then to add on I used a wheel to pick what I should do

And the wheel chose "do a story where a side character actually shows emotion for once" so uh would explain why Spencer might might be like half out-of-character

To add on this is basically my take on the whole.. "Irl History affects the plot" thing (also being set in my Candle-lit Railways AU which also explains the humanoid descriptions) so yup, PREPARE FOR WAR-

-----------------

As the candle dimmed down it's light, The shed doors would close with silence filling the air, simply another night to rest then waste all that energy again.

Spencer would let out an exhausted sigh. He knew how devastated Mallard would be once he heard the news  about Gadwall, the more innocent one among the Gresleys, always naive yet a charming one in his own unique way.

Unique enough to get Great Northern, of all people, to soften up to him. It still surprised Spencer til' this moment that he got North to become soft. Though that uniqueness left a gap in reality, a horrible reality, that's now began a world war.

Which was the same exact thing that led to Gadwall's demise. The demise of the only light that was left in darkness. They killed an innocent engine just because of humanity's selfishness.

They killed his brother. His youngest brother.

The Shed doors would open, snapping Spencer out of his thoughts as he looked to who was near the doors. He would see it to be Sir Nigel, in his humanoid form.

He would sigh in relief, maybe Sir Nigel could keep him from his night terrors for just this night. Just for an hour at least.

Sir Nigel would look up to Spencer, sitting on a stool next to him. Simply looking out the shed into the moonlight knowing that Spencer needed some company.

"I miss him too."

Sir Nigel suddenly said in a mournful voice.

"I-.. I miss him more than.. More than anything, honestly."

Spencer replied back, depressingly.

As the two sat there, simply tranquil together, they would mourn in silence. For their brother. Because nothing was louder than their younger brother's joyous aura.

That aura was gone for good.

———

He was in the rain, running as fast as he could towards Top sheds. He knew his crew would say something about Gadwall's death. He can't be held back by his engine form, not now. Even if he wasn't steaming he was able to shift into his humanoid form.

Spencer’s fire kept burning and burning inside his chest as he ran through the rain. Running like someone who was rollerblading, technically he was skating with his wheels.

But he kept running and running. He didn't care if his crew would scold him, he wouldn't care if Sir Nigel Gresley himself would come to scold him after. He needed to save what was left of Mallard's innocence, what was left of his hope.

With World War II currently escalating into more madness, Spencer had to hold onto each bit of hope he could keep or at least save. He had to hold onto Mallard's innocence more, even just for a week or a day he had to hold onto it a little bit longer.

As he got to top sheds, he already felt the atmosphere shift as he caught a glimpse of Quicksilver and Mercury's mournful faces. Silverfox was in Polly's arms, sobbing, grieving as the news sunk into her mind. He knew that his crew told them as well, he already knew by the shift, by the faces.

He would bust open the doors to Mallard's shed, his black silver-lined coat falling to the floor, but he wouldn't bother to pick it up as he saw Mallard's fallen face. Spencer saw the tears slip down Mallard's cheeks more quicker than water pouring into an engine's boiler. It was too late.

Mallard had the news sunken into his mind and Spencer knew that well enough to not take one more step near Mallard, afraid that he'd lose his mind more than he looks like he already has.

He simply stood there, letting Mallard grieve as his crew comforted the glossed-black locomotive as he grieved for his younger sibling. Spencer would take off his hat, in respect of Mallard currently breaking down.

Spencer didn't even need to look back to know that the others were watching Mallard slowly breakdown, he already could vision how Merlin would react to Mallard breaking down this much.

The thoughts inside Spencer's mind would inflict more anxiety through his veins as his breathe became shaky and his chest heavy, though wouldn't even flinch a single bit out of respect for Mallard.

It was a known rule that if you show weakness around someone who's in terrible condition physically or/and mentally, it is a sign of selfishness slipping through your mind.

And Spencer held that rule more higher than his pride, it was the only rule that really stuck to him underneath all his pride and “glory” for some reason. He didn't know that reason.

But he does know that, as of now, he needs to show his respect towards Mallard in his time of grief.

———

The rain would be pouring heavily atop of Top Sheds as the engines rested in their assigned sheds, some of them shivering from the cold while the rest would be sleeping tired of the workload for today. Though some engines wouldn't be either of those.

Silver Fox and Pretty Polly were the only ones awake at the time, Donovan was doing his last runs of the night so technically he counted as awake too. The two would sit in their sheds, which were next to each other. Polly would be looking up at the sky, not trying to guess any constellations, simply grieving silently.

Silver Fox on the other hand was trying to hold back tears from what's happened today, it was devastating seeing Silver King having to get hurt, even worse that Quick Silver started to lash out. She just wanted all this to stop.

She wanted everything to go back to normal, she didn't want to be apart of this war, even if it meant her being in her shed for decades. She never wanted to face all this. She thought frustratingly to herself.

She wouldn't realize until now that she started to have warm tears flow down her eyes onto her cheeks, dripping onto the ground, which would be heard due to the silence that hung over Top sheds.

As she blinked away her tears she would look over to Pretty Polly, who wasn't backed in her shed not caring for the cold, she simply rested outside as her gaze was focused at the sky above.

Silver fox would watch her silently, slowly going forward to get a better glimpse as her. Though Polly would sense her warm aura come near her.

“What do you think of the stars, my dear Fox?”

Polly asked Fox, in a soothing tranquil tone, Silver Fox would flinch a bit at Polly calling out to her, though would go forward a bit going next to Polly. As she got closer she would see tears flowing from Polly's eyes as well, shining in the moonlight as she gazed at the sky above them.

Silver Fox would be surprised at this. Though she couldn't really blame Polly, she thought to herself. With the war going on, and all the deaths that's been happening she must've felt the warmth of each soul disappear by the days passing by, Silver Fox thought as she continued her train of thought.

Finally she'd gaze up to the dark-royal blue sky, with the stars shining like the sparks of fire from an engine's firebox, a new star popping up by a few minutes. Each group of stars forming a shape, a symbol, a constellation.

It's.. It's gorgeous. Silver Fox thought through her grief. Though it didn't feel like the right words to describe the sky somehow, the view felt more than gorgeous. It felt serene yet overwhelming with all the stars in the sky.

Though she'd finally come up with a phrase, that almost, perfectly describes the feelings she has about the sky.

“It makes me feel at home, Ms Polly.”

————————————

YKNOW REREADING THAT IT MADE ME REMEMBER TOO MANY HEADCANONS I HAD FOR THE CANDLE-LIT RAILWAYS AU BEHAHDBXBX BUT YUP IT WAS NICE TO REWRITE THIS PIECE TO IT'S (near) POTENTIAL

SO YUP I'LL JUST POST ANOTHER FANFIC RIGHT WHEN MY BRAIN GETS AN IDEA-

[sundaysstrawberrykombucha]

And my rollerblades don't fit anymore either!

This has been sitting in my head for a week now, my wrist just hasn't felt well enough to draw it.

Also, the comic is WILDLY inconsistent because I was lazy and was trying to do it fast. So there's a ton of sketchy lines, it's probably a little confusing, and Sunday IS in the car in the end. The car I used reference for, but again, did it fast because I just wasn't feeling it.

All this to say, I'd redo the third panel if I had the time and wanted to put in the effort. Sunday is WAY to thin in that panel.

Also! Digitigrade legs, baybe!

[lyokowarrior-yumiishiyama]

What if Yumi was able to save William in episode 22 (like she was able to get there and virtualize herself onto the Cortex in time), but instead of the Scyphozoa possessing William, it captured her?

// Based on this drabble request from forever ago, except I redo it after watching this exact episode again :) (read more only because of length :) )

She had looked everywhere for William. It wasn't like him to pass up an opportunity to show up the others (Ulrich especially). He was a capable athlete, perhaps not as fast as Yumi herself, but good enough. So why he didn't show up to Jim's cross country event, she had no idea. Not a word to her or the others. It wasn't uncommon for the Lyoko Warriors to skip out on class, but that was only whenever XANA reared his ugly head.

This was not one of those times.

She searched the campus, nothing. He wasn't even in his room. Not the cafeteria or the rec room. So where the hell was he?

Eventually, her search took her into the forest. The forest was a bit of a respite for most of the Warriors. A place for solitude and seclusion. Usually it was when one of them were upset. Was William upset over something?

Oh right. He had wanted her to read something earlier that day. Some poems perhaps? Yumi had blown him off, but it wasn't because of him personally. She really really needed to study for that math test. Still, did she upset him? Yumi hadn't meant to; the threat of another bad grade had loomed over her head and she was just worried about that.

On a hunch, however, she moved toward the sewer entrance to the Factory, noting that the sewer was open. No, he wouldn't be there, that she was positive. At least not without a reason. But then she saw it in the grass - that exact book he had offered up to her. The one she ran off on to study. Her stomach twisted in knots. Something wasn't right. Why would he have gone to the factory if he were upset?

"William?!"

Her phone was in her hand before she knew it, reaching out to Aelita. "Aelita, maybe William is in the lab?"

"Need backup?" came the other girl's voice over the phone.

"I'll be fine. It might be nothing."

"Ok. Let me know."

She hung up after that and moved toward the sewer entrance. No, she thought to herself. You don't know that he's there. Maybe he passed by here on his way deeper into the woods.

Even as she thought that thought she knew it was asinine. They never passed by the sewer entrance to get deeper into the woods. Even the Hermitage was the opposite direction. And it wasn't like William had any connection to the place. Aelita yes. William. Definitely not. So why would he be out here?

When the elevator opened into the lab, Yumi honestly did not expect to see anyone, let alone Laura.

"Laura?! What are you doing here?!"

"Leave me alone. I've got this."

Yumi's blood ran cold. Laura was in the lab. At the supercomputer's interface. William was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's William?"

When there was no answer from the blonde, her stomach twisted in knots. Something was not right. None of this was right. She could see Laura attempting to virtualize the Megapod but failing miserably. Had the situation not been so dire she might have laughed at the know-it-all's failed attempts. But William was nowhere to be seen. Laura was in Jeremie's chair. And someone was in the Cortex.

FUCK.

"You sent him there?!"

Another non-response.

"Move away."

Laura moved, though not very quickly. It took everything in Yumi not to yank her out of that damn chair by her hair. When Yumi was finally able to get into the chair, her heart was racing. What the hell was going on?!

"William? This is Yumi. What's going on?"

"Yumi? It's XANA! I...I think he's trying to Xanafy me again!!"

"William? WILLIAM! I'm on my way, HANG ON!"

She barely looked at Laura as she started a delayed virtualization.

"What are you doing?" Laura asked her, but Yumi was already out of the chair. Her phone was out of her pocket, Jeremie's number on speed dial.

"Don't you fucking touch anything until Jeremie gets here!!" she hissed at the girl. "I don't know what you're playing at but if we don't do something we'll lose William! Again!"

"What do you mean again?"

But Yumi wasn't listening. Finally the phone picked up on the other line. "Yumi? Did you find William?"

"He's in the Cortex. XANA has him surrounded! He's convinced XANA is trying to Xanafy him again. I'm virtualizing myself into the Cortex but you and the others need to get here. Immediately!"

She didn't wait for the response before she ended the call. The elevator doors opened and Yumi sprinted as fast as she could toward the scanners. Thank god she had done the delayed virtualization quite a few times. She could almost do this in her sleep. And fortunately, the Skid served as a virtualization point. She landed right next to William in seconds. They were surrounded by Krabes, but the monsters were not aiming to devirtualize him. Rather, they were doing everything they could to keep him in one place. But why?

"Fancy meeting you here," Yumi quipped, her fans out already and immediately throwing them toward the nearest Krabe. "Next time, why don't you invite one of us to your little party?"

"If it's any consolation, they weren't invited either!"

Yumi watched as William moved to use his supersmoke to evade the group of XANA's monsters, then get hopelessly backhanded by one of the Krabes before he could.

"William!!"

A sound caught her attention, made her digital blood run cold. She had nightmares about that sound, though she suspected less than what either William or Aelita dealt with.

"No! No not that!!"

The Schyphozoa.

Yumi looked over at William who stood as still as a statue as this particular monster made it's presence known. There was a terror in his voice, in his eyes. In that moment both William and Yumi knew what XANA was after.

William had been right. XANA wanted his puppet back.

She shouted for him as the Schyphozoa reached for him. There was no other thought in her mind other than getting him away from that damn monster. Nothing else mattered. Not even her own safety. She shoved the other Warrior as hard as she could.

So the moment she felt the Schyphozoa's tentacles impale her back, Yumi could barely understand what was going. She heard a scream, though she was unsure if it were her own or someone else's. Pain she didn't know could exist in the virtual world shot through her entire body. Everything seemed to grow fuzzy. She had been captured by the Schyphozoa once before ... when XANA attempted to trick Aelita into giving up her human DNA sequencing code. But this? This was nothing like that. There was an immense pain as XANA flooded her with his virus. She groaned, though unsure if it came out of her lips or just resounded in her head.

XANA hadn't meant to capture Yumi, but she was a capable warrior. XANA knew this. While his original plan failed, he wouldn't pass this opportunity up either. Always with a backup plan, she mused. Perhaps one of her last independent thoughts.

How long she struggled, Yumi was unsure. She found as the seconds ticked away it became harder and harder to retain her own thoughts. XANA's virus flooded her mind, making her unable to discern which thoughts were her's and which ones were XANA's.

It wouldn't take long before she finally succumbed to the onslaught of XANA's control.

"Yumi!"

"Yumi! It's Jeremie, can you hear me?!"

Ṫ̵̮͐̅͐͌̋̈́h̸̝̦̺̠̫̋͠e̶̺͗͗̏̄̂̈̈́̐r̶̞͑̀͑̉̊̎́̕ͅe̸̹̯͈̝̐'̴̢̦̝͙̬̓̈́͜s̴̼͕̐̍̆̾̓̃̆̈ ̵̼̮͚̦͚̜̇͜ͅṇ̴̤̳̝̜̲͎̥́̋̓́̔́͘o̵͈̖͛̌̋͛ͅ ̴̢̘̞̯͚̩̥̃̋̂͜͝͝ȏ̵͎̅̒̈̓n̷̝͙̔̑̑͌̏̉͑͝e̶̡̖͍̬̻͙̪̾̆͗ ̶̡̈́̈́͝h̷̼͔̭̻͈̘͚̉̉̏̓́͊͜͝e̵̢͉̮̫̱̼̊́̌̋͘͝r̸̨̼̀͒͑e̴̪̮̬̍͐̚ ̵͉̤̘͔̟͕͒̑̚b̶͍͉͙͑̅̓͠y̵̨̖̩̥̅ ̵͉͙͛̄͊̑̐t̸̩̫̪̑̿̽̐h̷̢̛̗̜͎̻̪̪̉̄̇͋̈́͋͘ả̵̯̘͔̠͕̤̼͍̉́̐̏͒̽t̴̘̤̻͎͚̰̎͐̋̈́̃̓͒̾ͅ ̶̭̣̪̉n̷͚͋͑̏̆̿̏̇͝ä̷͕͍̙́͊̃̕m̴̱̩̍͑̈́̎ͅĕ̴̥̺͖̱̘̟̗̾.̵̡̲̹̀̈́

She heard the words coming from her mouth, but the voice was foreign. Not her own. This was XANA. It made her sick - or would have had she been on earth. Her senses were no longer her own, her body moved of seemingly its own accord. Jeremie was saying something, but she couldn't understand most of it. As XANA's virus pumped through her body, her strength to fight against it dwindled before it finally gave out.

There were thoughts, some her's but most XANA's. A thought and the Krabes turned their attention to the others. It was then she realized she was controlling them - and making them attack her friends. Ulrich virtuzlied near William, but it made little difference to XANA. What was one more Warrior against their best friend?

The Scyphozoa's tentacles held her aloft for a few moments more, letting her survey the damage she was doing. Her mind screamed, but the words would not come out of her mouth. Slowly she was lowered to the ground, fans in her hands before she even realized what her body was doing.

She easily dodged the attacks the others were reluctant to land. They wouldn't risk devirtulizing her while XANA had control. No one knew what would happen if she were to be removed from the digital world while still under XANA's influence.

Still, the others were going to need to do something. They couldn't keep dodging the blows Yumi felt herself throwing at them. The couldn't dodge the multiple blasts of an ever increasing amount of Krabes. But what could they do?

Come on guys, she was able to think to herself. Please figure this out!

How long she waged war with her friends, Yumi had no idea. She had materialized her Bo Staff and was locked in combat with Ulrich. There was a pain in his eyes, a fear there, that XANA allowed her to see. Her stomach sank. This...this was not going to end well for one of them. Or all of them. She wasn't sure which.

Ulrich was saying something to her, she heard him call her name, but couldn't understand anything else. Despair was starting to creep in, would they be able to do anything for her?

Then, something changed. An excruciating pain wracked her body. She could hear a cry escape her lips, one that melded her's and XANA's voices together. It was a terrifying sound even to Yumi. Though perhaps it was because it echoed in her head, rattling in her brain. The pain burned hot as she felt herself coming back into conrol of herself. Had they done it?

Yes, William had severed the connection.

Unfortunately for her, getting back into control of her limbs proved difficult. They were weak, tired, seemingly not used to her body weight again. She collapsed into Ulrich as the pain suddenly began to subside. She felt another set of hands - William's - attempt to hold her steady as the two boys guided her gently back to the ground. She blacked out for a few moments, though she was not entirely sure just how long.

When she came to, there were familiar faces looming over her. Odd had come in at some point, but she hadn't seen when.

"Yumi!" Jeremie's formless voice came from the sky. "Is she ok?"

"Just fine Jeremie," she heard Ulrich say above her. "She's coming to again."

"Yumi? Are you alright?" William's concerned voice this time.

With a groan Yumi attempted to sit up but found herself unable. Both boys sat on either side of her, supporting her as she got her bearings once more. Right. The Cortex.

"Never better," she croaked out.

"What the hell were you thinking, pushing me out of the way like that?!" William suddenly snapped, although 'snapped' probably wasn't the best word. There was a deep seeded terror there, a concern for her, but something else. An understanding about what XANA had just done to her.

"Couldn't let XANA get you again," Yumi mumbled in exhaustion. She closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to get the spinning in her head to die down. It didn't work. "I would have never forgiven myself."

"That wasn't your chance to take," this time his voice had quieted. It was almost...despondent? Yumi gulped, she didn't think he would have taken it this hard. Yet there he was beside her, looking as though he were ready to break down in tears. "You're too important. You have the codes, need to be able to deactivate the towers. And...and..."

What he had planned on saying, Yumi wasn't sure. Ulrich sat on her other side, strangely quiet. Thinking. She saw an almost microscopic nod from him as if in agreement with William. Whatever it was he was going to say.

"You're too important too," she quipped back. "And we failed you miserably last time William. So no, I am not any more important than you are. Than anyone else in the group is. Okay? Given the chance I would do it all again."

"Let's not do that if we can avoid it ok?" she heard Aelita quip from the lab.

"Alright, I'm bringing you all in. We have a very important discussion in regards to Laura's future with the group."

While it wasn't uncommon for Jeremie to get irritated, Yumi marveled at just how pissed he sounded. She barely remembered a time where she could hear that amount of anger in his voice. She was glad to not be on the recieving end of that this time.

A quick glance over at William made her realize that he was terrified. He needn't be worried, Yumi knew that. He had already proven himself time and time again. He listened, rarely got hotheaded or went against the group. They all knew this wasn't his idea. Laura must have preyed on his weakness, his desire to continually prove himself to the group. Yumi could see why Aelita never trusted her.

But Laura on the other hand?

There were not many more thoughts that came to her before she felt herself being pulled away from the Cortex and back into the scanner. The real world pulled three times harder on her than normal and when the scanner doors opened, she collapsed.

Fortunately William and Ulrich were there to catch her before she hit the floor. They always would be and for that she was eternally grateful.

"Thanks guys."

----------------------------------------------------

[obstinatecondolement]

So. I have been dyeing my work clothes black(er) today, because my manager kept making oblique hints about how, for instance, we sold washing machine dye pods that employees Could use to make sure their black work clothes were black enough and looked "fresh" and not "shabby"

This took fucking hours. I had to do the neckline alteration on the shirt that gives me migraines (by hand, because I don't know where my mum keeps her sewing machine and she's away for the weekend (also, I probably going to have to rip it out and redo it, because I didn't really know what I was doing and the nice side is on the inside and I didn't know how to blind hem, so I back stitched everything and the stitching looks very obvious and Terrible)) before I could start, which took about three hours from 2 p.m.-5 p.m. and then I had to prewash everything (45 minute mixed load wash), wash it on a full cotton cycle at 40°C with no water saving settings with the unwrapped dye pod in the drum (3 and a half hours), wash the clothes again with detergent for a full cycle (another three and a half hours). The machine is now running a full cycle empty, with detergent, to wash it. So I will have single-handedly colonized the washing machine, with only my clothes, for 11 hours and 15 minutes by the time this is done. I live in a household with a person who has daily continence issues, so this does not feel like I have been fair with my use of the fucking washing machine.

Anyway.

I was slightly slow off the mark going downstairs to get stuff out of the machine to iron, and by the time I had got there one of my siblings had already put them (balled up) into the dryer, which had just finished its (too fast and too hot) cycle and the clothes were bone dry and wrinkled to shit.

I got a spray bottle from my hairdressing course days and put some aluminum foil under the ironing board cover and tried not to cry. After the iron had fully heated, it pissed calcium flakes all over my clothes when I used the steam function, because apparently my dad has not been bothering his hole using distilled water and the iron is ful of fucking limescale. I tried to avoid using steam, and just sprayed what I was ironing until it was very wet, but the flakes were still somewhat unavoidable. In order to be close to an outlet, I had to stand somewhere that my shadow was cast onto the pitch fucking black fabric I was trying to iron, which made it hard to see and make sure I wasn't pressing new creases in. I burned my forearm on the iron while trying to manoeuvre it between my dominant and non-dominant hand, because reaching with my dominant hand was rumpling the fabric beneath the tip of the iron.

I was trying and trying to do this for 45 minutes and had to keep stopping to try not to cry, because no matter what I did I couldn't get rid of the deepest creases and it was so hard to keep from creasing it more as I worked. In that time I got the back of a collar and one of the cuffs (partially) ironed. I had to stop because I couldn't stop crying about how likely it was that I will lose my job over this bullshit, and because it was by then midnight and I can't fucking iron all night into the wee small hours and then get up for work in the morning.

I have asked my sister to put my clothes back in the dryer with a wet towel and hang them up and that I will try again in the morning but. Fuck. I don't know what to fucking do.

[loz-furbies]

So now done with Majora's Mask. Having really mixed feelings, on one hand the game has an incredible atmosphere and a clear vision, but on the other I must admit that for a large portion of it I didn't really have all that much fun.

I really hate the idea of having to redo the whole dungeon just because I wasn't fast enough, so for the dungeons I just used a guide for everything, which obviously wasn't particularly enjoyable. I might have been able to at least try to do the dungeon in two chunks since having the dungeon item speeds things up, but then there's also the collectible fairies that have too good rewards to miss, which means that you do need to do the entire dungeon in one go. The dungeons themselves were fine and I wouldn't have minded at least trying to engage with the spatial awareness puzzles if it wasn't for the timer.

Meanwhile in the overworld the side quests were short enough that time wasn't an issue, but with them I kept running into apparent dead ends, and the fact that I couldn't tell if I could proceed by being in the right place at the right time or if I would need an item that I couldn't even have yet at that point of the game made them frustrating as well. I tried a couple of quests, but it was discouraging enough to get stuck with no clear indication on if I should even try investigating more that I just used a guide for the side quests as well. In the end I prefer the botw approach that I can go somewhere in the world and find something to do there, and if it's not doable yet it's usually really clear why (like not enough stamina).

Then again there is obviously value in quests that don't spoon feed everything to the player. I managed to figure out the hotel Goron thing that gave me trouble on my own and it felt pretty good, and certainly more rewarding than if the NPCs had just said "Go to the inn at XXX time on the YYY day wearing the ZZZ mask". So I don't know how much I should criticise the game for not giving enough signposting and how much is just about me not bothering enough. Overall the side quests were fun enough to do even with a guide and also more involved than just fetch quests.

Then there's the overall feel of the game, which was absolutely wonderful. The looming moon, the town music getting more troubled as time goes on, Link's pained scream and expression when using the transformation masks, the masks themselves coming from dead people, the screen shrinking when the day is about to change, the countdown that appears when the moon is really close to falling… My favourite detail was the earthquakes during the final day. But also there was enough warmth and fun in the game, so it didn't feel unnecessarily edgy in a "children arguing whose favourite story is the darkest" kinda way.

I don't know, maybe if I was 11 and this was the one game I had, it probably would be really cool to learn this game inside and out. But I'm not 11 and my list of games, anime and manga to get into is really long, so I just don't have it in me to give this game what it needs. But let's be fair I've put hundreds of hours to botw and totk so time is not really the issue. So I can understand if someone ranks this as their favourite Zelda even outside of nostalgia, but it's simply not my game.

[sekhithefops]

Ready for Dragonflight: Alliance

Welp! Its almost time isn't it? In just over two weeks we'll be heading to the Dragon Isles at last! I was fortunate enough to get into the beta and have already worked out what my main twelve characters (yes, twelve. I can sleep when I'm dead) will be doing spec-wise and profession-wise... and Imma shoot my mouth off about it now because why not?

Nelen Fullmoon, Master of the Arcane

Nelen is a character I've had since Cataclysm, and was infact my first Worgen character when they became playable.

In Shadowlands I alternated between all three specs as the mood took me, but I've rather fallen in love with Arcane magic for this round. I will have a frost and fire mage, but they'll be separate characters so I can use them in my story.

With Dragonflight comes the return of honest-to-gods Talent Trees, which lets you build your character however you see fit... and with Nelen's build I focused mostly on talents that enhance his clearcasting abilities.

Amplification to increase the number of arcane missiles he fires when he gets clearcasting, Improved Clearcasting to gain the ability to stack clearcasting up to three times, Slipstream so he can move while channeling arcane missiles, and Nether Precision so that clearcasting makes his Arcane Blasts have more OOMPH!

Top this all off with the mages new Spell, Arcane Surge, which consumes all your mana at once to deal a frankly absurd amount of damage to an enemy but then gives you 425% mana regeneration and 35% more spell damage for fifteen seconds and Nelen is taking the term "glass cannon" to its most literal sense. He can't take a beating, but if he's fast with the incantations he won't need to because all that'll be infront of him is a pile of glowing purple ashes!

Jaie Swiftpaw, Monk of Many Talents

Its been a loooooooooong time since I did anything but Brewmaster as Jaie, pre-BfA really. In Legion I did all three specs, but that whole Azerite Armor mess and how it cost gold to redo your abilities on armor really killed a lot of the fun for me (seriously Ion, you knew that was a bad idea dammit.)

Welp, come Dragonflight my panda gal is multi-spec once more!

As a brewmaster I focus mostly on attacks that let her do a lot of AoE stuff for keeping aggro. Rushing Jade Wind (constant physical damage to all enemies within 8 yards,) Shadowboxing Treads (Blackout Kick does more damage and hits up to 3 targets,) Sal'salabim's Strength (Keg Smash resets Breath of Fire's cooldown,) and Dragonfire Brew (when you use Breath of Fire you breathe flames three times instead of once) along with some abilities like Light Brewing and Gift of the Ox for self healing and damage mitigation. I'm going to take Weapons of Order most likely for the ability to empower myself and summon Niuzao as well.

As a windwalker she's very combo focused and does a lot of single target damage, but has some decent multi-target abilities as well such as Whirling Dragon Punch (attack all nearby enemies for solid damage, but can only be used when both Fists of Fury and Rising Sun Kick are on cooldown,) Strike of the Windlord (strike with both fists at all enemies infront of you, dealing quite a bit of damage and reducing their movement speed by half,) and good ol' Faeline Stomp (deal nature damage in a line to up to five enemies and restore health to up to five allies, enemies who stand on it take additional damage as well and standing in it while attacking can reset it's cooldown.)

For mistweaving I'm more of a traditionalist. I tried "fistweaving" but it just wasn't for me. Jaie can summon Yu'lon for backup healing, has Upwelling to enhance Essence Font's power, Bonedust Brew for some extra healing AoE for her allies (and the bountiful brew upgrade so she sometimes just randomly tosses it to her target because thats REALLY useful in tight spots,) and of course the almighty Revival spell to heal everyone an dpurge all Magic, Poison, and Disease effects (saved a few raids with that baby!)

I really can't stress how happy I am about the talent trees letting us have this versatility again.

Samantha Montebank, Voidblade

I was rather surprised by this after how meh I was on it by the end of Shadowlands, but I've fallen in love with Subtlety. I was all set to focus on Assassination, especially with the 'four poisons at once' trick we get for it... but dammit I'm having fun with this!

It helps that Subtlety gets some REALLY nasty tricks this time around. Flagellation is back from our time with the Venthyr so yay for that, but also the fact that they went all in on making Subtlety void/shadow themed which character-wise fits her to a T.

... this is very important to me you see.

One of the best parts of this for me is the Secret Technique finishing move. She creates shadow clones of herself and they attack all enemies near her target, dealing quite a bit of damage at max combo points (which can be SEVEN if you take the right talents!)

See, in my story she's a void elf because of a void entity living in her mind... and in the story that void entity can manifest for brief moments as a shadowy copy of Sam herself.

Thats right! In my headcannon Secret Technique is actually her letting her spoopy friend out to play! I love it when stuff in game synchs up so well with my character ideas.

Also quite possibly my new favorite talent. It seems simple, but listen closely: "Dark Brew, your attacks that deal nature or bleed damage deal shadow damage instead, all shadow damage increased by 10%."

Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but when most of your attacks already did Shadow damage this becomes a real killer. Like I said, its about as perfectly fittingly thematic for her as I could have asked, so Imma use it. :D

Dareley Steelhammer, Paladin of the Silver Hand

Imma stick with retribution for soloing most likely... but when it comes to almost any group content I say Holy Holy Holy. I just really love being a healadin!

It helps that my build for Dareley means that he's constantly healing multiple allies throughout fights. With stuff like Resplendent Light (Holy Light heals up to 5 targets within 12 yards for 8% of it's healing,) Light's Hammer (Hurl a light-infused hammer to the ground, damaging enemies and healing allies every 2 seconds for 14 seconds,) Divine Toll (cast holy shock on up to 5 targets within 30 yards and instantly cast holy shock every 5 seconds for 15 seconds,) Second Sunrise (Light of Dawn has a 20% chance to cast twice,) and Breaking Dawn (Light of Dawn now has a range of 40 yards) I can carry half a raid through a boss fight just by spamming Holy Light and using Light of Dawn as needed, saving the hammer and Divine Toll for emergencies.

I'm also going to take Blessing of the Seasons once I have the talent points. Yes I know its not a hugely popular one, but remember how I said theme matters to me? Well in my story he's close friends with my druid, and gee... "Blessing of Seasons" sounds rather... druid-y doesn't it?

Yeah, he may have learned a few tricks from her.

SPEAKING OF...

Shalandrae Deeproots, Druid of Many Roles

If I listed everything I was doing with Shalandrae we'd be here all night, so here's the shortened version:

Guardian Druid: Focusing on mainly stuff like thrash, brambles, blood frenzy, after the wildfire, twin moonfire, and such for constant AoE aggro generation. In her bear form she looks like a mountain and thats how I intend to do things. Keep the enemies wailing on the stone grizzly while my allies wail on them!

Feral Druid: Good gods Feral feels good right now doesn't it? I went with Feral Frenzy just because hot damn and I'm going to take Adaptive Swarm once I get the talent points again. Yes I could take Convoke the Spirits and I may yet, but I never did anything with druids and Maldraxxis and the concept intrigues me.

Balance Druid: FAERIE DRAGONS FAERIE DRAGONS DENEIZEN OF THE DREAAAAAAAAAAM! Ah gods thats such a cool idea, Also taking Wrath of Elune, Syzygy, and Sundered Firmament so I can get Three (COUNT 'EM, THREE) death star lasers whenever I dman well please! ... also Force of Nature because I missed my treants.

Restoration Druid: Adaptive swarm is a very useful spell for healers. I'm still experimenting but Verdant Infusion VERY much has my attention as it makes it so Swiftmend not only doesn't consume heal over time effects but extends them instead, along with Natural Wisdom which makes it so my Innervate spell, when cast on another, gets cast on me too (and automatic +5% mana regen bonus!) but overall... still feeling it out. Druids have a lot of options this time.

Zhan-min Irontummy, the Shamanbrewer

Even after the recent nerfs, Zhan-min is a freakin' MONSTER of an enhancement shaman! Molten Assault allows Lava Lash to spread Flame Shock around to up to four enemies, Improved Maelstrom Weapon empowers the damage or healing of his spells by up to 20% per stack, Overflowing Maelstrom lets him consume TEN stacks at once for +200% effect at the full ten, Hot Hand lets him get reduced cooldown and increased damage for Lava Lash on successful attacks with Flametongue, Ashen Catalyst gives Lava Lash +12% damage and reduces the cooldown by 0.5 seconds each time Flame Shock deals damage (and remember how I said that Molten Assault spreads Flame Shock around?) and the like.

Ontop of that Ice Strike and Hailstorm. Ice Strike makes Frost Shock deal 100% increased Damage, but Hailstorm increases Frost Shock damage and allows it to hit up to one additional target per stack of maelstrom consumed, up to five times. And yes, these stack!

So yeah, fire and ice in one big kablooey for my pudgy panda man. They may have nerfed him a bit, but he's still a freakin' powerhouse!

But yes, thats all my Alliance mains. I'll do my Horde roster tomorrow as its 4:00 AM here and my eyes are starting to do the leak-y thing again which usually means I should sleep.