#deal the deck => DASH GAME

[eisner-therapy-and-counseling]

I've been very bored at work so I've decided to take my two special interests and smash them together to make a set of custom Fe3h universes beyond commander decks.

The designs are definitely still a WIP, especially the number tuning, and the art is... borrowed from the now defunct FE Cipher card game.

These are the face commanders I've created for each deck, explanations for the cards and the concepts for the decks in the Read More.

Edelgard / Crimson Flower

The Black Eagle/Empire deck is the fastest of the four, and focuses on overwhelming opponents through sheer numbers. The deck will generate a lot of creature tokens and has a number of effects that buff your whole team or provide keywords to them. There will be touch of Aristocrats flavor representing the Agarthan influence on the Empire, though cards related to TWSITD will appear in most decks as there were no nations that escaped their meddling hands.

Edelgard herself is a tough creature that encourages you to go wide, and can bring in a some elite knights to instantly enable her second ability if she focuses all her energy on attacking. She can also support her troops from the back line and play defense, but is at her best playing aggressively. She wants to end the game quickly and efficiently to cause as few casualties as possible.

Dimitri / Azure Moon

The Blue Lions/Kingdom deck wants to bide its time until it can attack with one large creature, though it is not intended to be a voltron deck (focused on equipments/auras). There are also some Knight kindred elements meant to represent the Kingdom's culture of Chivalry, and a few cards that involve the monarchy meant to emphasize Dimitri reclaiming the throne once he comes to his senses. The Blue Lions deck is the second slowest of the four.

Dimitri himself is designed to evoke that very concept. When he enters, he must reclaim the throne before he can take his place as king. Once he does, his followers look on with pride (or perhaps exaltation), placing their faith in the nobles of the Kingdom.

Claude / Verdant Wind

The Golden Deer/Alliance deck understands that it must make use of every possible resource to ensure victory. The lands of the Alliance are smaller than those of the other factions, and as such they must rely on diplomacy and clever use of resources to find victory. The deck will produce a lot of different types of artifact tokens, and has a dash of board politics to keep its opponents mollified until it sneaks in a win. The Golden Deer deck is the second fastest of the four.

Claude is a man who understands diplomacy, but also the idea that, “It’s a win-win arrangement. I just happen to win the most.” (To quote the flavor text of Cut a Deal). He plays nice with your opponents by letting them draw cards, but gathers information on their plans to prepare for what's coming.

Rhea / Silver Snow

The Church of Seiros deck is the slowest of the four, and wants to control the flow of the game while it builds up to something big. To aid that, the deck will tax your opponents and encourage them to fight amongst themselves, while a small life gain subtheme will keep you sitting pretty until its time to deal with whoever is left. Like the Alliance deck, there is a dash of board politics meant to allow you to provide boons to those who take your... advice.

Rhea is meant to be relatively unassuming at first glance, but also to threaten your opponents with the knowledge that she could transform at any time. The Immaculate One by contrast is a major beater, and can swiftly end the game if your opponents aren't prepared for it. When Rhea dies as The Immaculate One, she returns in a weakened state, and will perish for good if she transforms again before she recovers.

(Also she doesn't have the flip symbols because the version of MSE I'm using doesn't have borderless flip cards as an option.)

[wandafiction]

Pile On - Just Us Chapter 30

Warnings: Pure fluff

Word Count: 2621

Series List | Chapter 29 | Chapter 31

================================

"Hey don't go out there without me." I point to the doors that out to the decking, making Yelena stop in her tracks and turn to look at me in the kitchen.

"And why not?" She comes and joins me in the kitchen, so I open another bottle of beer and pass it off to her. 

"Because you will be dealing with an angry Russian and an angry Sokovian, emphasis on angry, and there isn't anything Switzerland can do about it." Yelena's eyebrows raise at my point.

"I'm assuming the ole so peaceful Switzerland is Sharon?"

"You assume correctly."

"So how am I meant to go out there without being chucked across the garden by the two of them?" I giggle as I look out the kitchen window to see Wanda look towards the house, not seeing me in the window, a worried expression on her face.

"We just go out there all buddy buddy."

"What does that entail?" 

"Oh I don't know." I inch closer to her as she takes another swig of her drink, looking at me over the rim of the bottle.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing." I drag the word out as I walk right past her towards the doors, but touch my arm to her shoulder as I pass. "TAG YOUR IT!"

I bolt out of the kitchen scurrying to get the doors open, just in time before Yelena could get me back.

"Oh you little shit. It's on!" I run outside onto the decking, Natasha and Wanda immediately stand from their seats as they see me rush past.

 I stand on the opposite side of the table to the house, placing my drink down, so I don't have to run with it. My palms are flat to the table as I see Yelena finally join us outside. As she moves to the left of the table I shuffle the opposite way, as she moves back the other way I move opposite to her once again. Wanda and Natasha seem to relax as they see the large smiles on our faces and us dancing left to right as Yelena tries to get to me while I try to get away.

What I don't expect is for her to vault over the table, but I react just in time turning around and I vault over the decking railing rolling as I hit the ground to break my fall. Wanda's bottom lip is between her teeth, but I can only look for a millisecond before I make another mad dash away from Yelena as she jumps down the stairs of the decking still coming after me. I run towards the boys, who are playing in their own little world and when they see me running towards them their eyes widen.

"RUN YELENA IS TAGGED!" I shout, all three boys immediately scrabble to their feet sitting up but Yelena relents and continues to chase me.

After a few more minutes of Yelena chasing me, she almost gives up until I trip. I trip over nothing but air landing hard on the grass earning an ow from the three women who are spectating this ridiculous game of tag. So Yelena places herself on top of my back to keep me on the ground.

"Boys I got her!" Yelena fist pumps the air in celebration as the boys come and see as Yelena does a little celebratory dance on top of me.

"PILE ON!" Nathaniel is the first to run up and jump on me, and I let out a sharp breath at the impact. 

"Oh careful Nathaniel, you could have hurt her then." Yelena's voice sounds suddenly caring but not for long as she shouts the other two boys over.

"Sorry sissy, did I hurt you?" Nathaniel leans down to my ear as the twins scramble to join the pile on.

"Not too bad, you just made all the air get pushed out of my lungs." I feel Tommy pull Nathaniel off of me so he can lay down on me, with Nathaniel on him so he doesn't squish him. "Thank you Tommy."

"No problem Y/n just wanted to make sure he didn't get hurt." I feel Billy sit on my legs now too. 

"Everyone comfortable?" I ask sarcastically.

"Very." I hear them all speak at the same time.

I move my hands next to my face ready to push myself upwards to get them off me so we can continue our game of tag, but I am stopped by Nathaniel when he requests for me to do something.

"Sissy, can you show everyone that pile on trick?"

"Which one?

"Pile off."

"Okay, so Billy I need you to come up and sit on my back, Nathaniel and Tommy make room for him please. Yelena you can stay where you are."

"I wasn't planning on moving." I roll my eyes, not that she can see the movement but I feel her smack the back of my head. "Ow."

"Well don't roll your eyes at me."

"I didn't." 

"Yes you did. Don't lie."

"Fine whatever, I rolled my eyes." I get another smack on the back of the head and move my hand to rub the sore spot. "Ow. What now?"

"That's for lying to me." 

"Okay, moving on. Everyone on my back?" I hear a chorus of yes'. "Good, tighten up your legs so you don't fall off and try not to move about too much. How many should I try Nathaniel?" 

"Hmmm. MISS WANDA!" Nathaniel grabs Wanda's attention from where the other three are standing on the decking. "Can you please shout a random number out?!" 

"10!" I hear her angelic voice shout back, I can hear the smirk in her voice.

"10!! Jeez what are you trying to do kill me?! I've got 3 elephants and a Russian on my back right now. OW!" I feel another smack to my head, okay I probably deserved that one. "Fine, you owe me a drink after this though." 

"Sure thing ba...Y/n." I hear her stop her words before she says them, I hope the boys didn't pick up on it.

I grumble as I put my hands in position, my toes on the floor ready to do 10 push-ups with people on my back. The first one is the hardest to do as I have to actually push myself off of the floor and get the momentum going. As I dip back down, my nose touches the floor before I bring us all back up.

"1!" Nathaniel shouts as I lock my arms out before starting to descend again. My nose touches the ground and I push back up, locking my arms. "2!"

"3!" I hear Tommy and Billy join in the counting, and Nathaniel cheering in my ear that I can do it.

"4!"

"5!"

"You're halfway there sissy!" I can now feel the strain of lifting my body weight plus that of four others up and down repeatedly but it's not painful at this point. I go back down again, nose touching the grass. I let out a breath as I push upwards.

"6!" I hear Yelena join in the counting.

"This is impressive 4 more Y/n." I feel her shift slightly on my butt as I go down and up again, so I hold my movements so she can lock herself in place again. "Right I'm situated, go again."

"7!"

"8!"

"9!" 

Now the three adults on the decking are counting on too, I can hear Wanda give words of encouragement alongside the boys and Yelena. I pretend to struggle as I lower my body, breathing in and out at a fast pace to try and get as much oxygen as I can around my body as I can feel the acid build up in my muscles. I take in a breath holding it for a second. As I push upwards I release the breath at the same pace as I move up. As soon as my arms lock in place, everyone cheers and Nathaniel leans his body downwards wrapping his arm around my neck as he places his left cheek against my right cheek.

"You did it sissy! That was amazing!" 

I feel Yelena climb off of me first, helping Tommy and Billy off of my body. I know Nathaniel is holding onto me securely so I move my arms along the ground towards my waist so I can push myself up to a crouching position before standing up straight. Nathaniel's legs wrap around my torso and he holds his arm like he is carrying a sword.

"Onward horse!" 

I laugh, but oblige, and start galloping towards the decking making sure to bounce Nathaniel up and down on my back. I can feel his little butt lift off into the air before bouncing back down against my back, his giggles filling the backyard and I can feel his chest heave with laughter against my back. I carefully climb the stairs of the decking, not willing to vault over it with a child on my back, making my way to the table and chairs. I turn around, Nathaniel still on my back, and move to sit down in one of the chairs. I make sure Nathaniel is in the chair as I continue to sit down, not putting any of my weight on him but also knowing he is trapped between the chair and me.

"Someone help! I'm trapped!" I feel Nathaniel's feet and hands push against my butt and back as he tries to move me out of the way, which doesn't work. "Tommy! Billy!"

I see the boys run up the decking, each of them grabbing my arms and pulling on them as Nathaniel pushes against me. I use all my strength to stop them from moving me, but end up sliding a little against the decking. Billy and Tommy use that to their advantage and give one big tug which leaves enough room for Nathaniel to scramble off the chair. I check behind me to make sure he is off of it before I pull the other two boys back, collapsing in the chair with them ending up on my lap, one arm wrapped around each of them. I stop my movements for one second before my hands make it to their stomachs and I start a tickle attack. Their laughter and giggles are carried through the garden and when I look at Wanda she has a fuzzy smile on her face as she watches us; and a look in her eyes I can't quite decipher.

(Wanda PoV)

I watch in awe as the boys laugh travel across the backyard, their smiles so big their eyes are almost closed their cheeks red from laughing. I haven't seen them relax this much, or laugh this much in a really long time. When they beg her to stop, and I see Nathaniel curled up on the floor as he laughs at them, she immediately stops and her head whips around to look at Nathaniel who knows he is in for it now. 

The twins bolt off of Y/n's lap, Tommy grabs Nathaniel off of the floor running ahead of his brother. He is just like Pietro, fast on his feet and so quick. Billy is running closely behind them, as Y/n once again vaults over the railing landing in front of the boys who slide to a halt. Her vaulting over that shows her arm muscles flexing and putting strain on her shirt which is a little tight around her biceps, not that I'm complaining. Oh and when she grabs the railing her veins, oh god the veins in her arms bulge and I have to clench my thighs together when I feel my body warm as I think about her.

I didn't even realise I was staring into space, until inside of laughter I hear Y/n say shit apologise to the boys for her foul language and then a cry. My motherly instincts kick in, standing from my chair dashing to the stairs of the decking looking towards where the crying is coming from. I see Y/n cradling Nathaniel in her arms, bouncing up and down on the ball of her feet, as she tries to calm him down. She is so good with him, and the twins, and it makes my heart happy but also ache because I asked her to be introduced as a friend first.

Out of my peripheral vision I see Natasha come and stand next to me. She wraps her arm around my body bringing me closer to her so I rest my head on top of hers. She gives my side a squeeze so I lift my head to look at her.

"She is good with them." Natasha doesn't need to tell me who she is on about.

"She really is."

"Why did you not want to introduce her as your girlfriend?" Ouch, there it is I feel my heart stops at the question and I feel like a deer caught in headlights.

"When I told her it made sense, she also agreed and made the situation make sense even more like she does with her words and just knowing what to say."

"And now?" I look from Natasha to Y/n who is giving Nathaniel's knee a small kiss, placing him on the floor and he bolts away from her as soon as his feet hit the ground. Tommy and Billy now reassured that Nathaniel is okay join back in, chasing after Nathaniel or the other way around. My eyes watch as Y/n acts casual trying to trick the children into moving closer to her.

"Don't be afraid I don't bite." She says in a creepy voice that let's the boys know she is definitely lying. "Well I mean I did bite a kid once." As soon as she said it she bolted towards them gnashing her teeth playfully to imitate some sort of monster as the children squeal and run away.

As I'm watching her run around with my children a new feeling, a scary feeling creeps up on me. I feel it in my heart causing it to speed up as I watch them all. My palms become sweaty, I feel the butterflies trying to escape, my mouth dry. My heart skips a beat when I hear her laugh from across the yard, and that smile. I want to see that smile everyday, I want to be with her every waking moment. I know I have her but I want her, no one else. It's all her. She is all I have ever needed all wanted, I feel an invisible string tugging at my heart, causing this pull between me and her. I crave every bit of her. From the scar on her rib and back, to the dipoles that show when she smiles so widely at me, her eyes always seem to be a different shade from what they were the last time I saw them. Her charismatic charm, humbling personality and that oh so ever smart brain of hers. 

There is also this look that makes my heart fly out of my chest, it makes me lose my breath every time, the zoo in my stomach going wild when I see it. It's when I have her complete and undivided attention, like she is looking at the most precious thing in the universe, in the multitude of universes. She looks at me like I'm the most important thing there is. I know for a fact I look at her the same way.

I need her.

I want her.

I crave her.

I love her.

================================

[softness-and-shattering]

I really like this game. Im over 100 hours in. But. The dreariness. Is so much.

Like ok this whole act is in shadow cursed lands fine. But. The house of healing? And then even in shars temple theres skeletons ok but theres just corpses and bones and random body parts hanging from the ceiling. Im usually excited to explore every nook and cranny but Ivr had enough of this whole area already.

Hsvent done moonrise towers. Done most? of shars gauntlet, got the spear, dealt with ?yurgir and then I was looking up where to find loot because Im not enjoying the ambience (@harrow) and I saw if you do the gauntlet before moonrise you lose the gnomes and tieflings? Idk if its the whole thing or not so after yurgir orthon?? Is orthon the type of devil? - went back to last light. (And hoo boy. My computer isnt quite technically up to spec for thr game. The cutscenes are choppy and it takes forever to save but I make it work. Last light really slows everything down, there are so many npcs and building layers all right there. Cant seem to get nore tief info about zevlor though, no one wants to talk about him?)

So now Halsin wants me to meet him by the lake for a quick trip into the shadowfell? Is dealing with the absolute urgent or what, we're just going on another interplanar jaunt?? I mean as long as theres less corpses tbh. (The warding bond marriage rings?!?! Ugh)) and how old is Halsin anyway?

Also very funny with the whole defeaying the last dark justiciar thing and theres shadowheart completed the trials decked out in her new dark justiciar half-plate. Also why are there still rats after i defeated him? Enemy rats. That was a fun fight though, popped up spirit guardians and just had shadowheart dash around. I kinda feel bad for Lythander, hes kinda cool.

And i had to look up the solution to the library. It asks what silences the nightsong and the answrr is Shar! So I tried to give it the idol of shar from grymforge. No, it wants the book that gives the hint because the hint is the answer because a book about what silences the nightsong is the answer to what silences the nightsong? Thats not logical, the answer is Shar, not a book. But it is a library so maybe I should have guessed.

The self same trial was also cool. You know whats better than having your own fireball used against you? Counterspell.

And when counterspell fails the combat long says you "cast failed counterspell". Oh yes my favourite spell, Failed Counterspell! 😂

And I kinda wish I could recruit Rolan. Poor guy with his thunderwave.

[tiofrean]

For the ask game: Cardamom

Hello darling! <333 Ah yes! I thought you may be interested [eyes intensify]

Remember that little cinnamony fic? Well... I might have started a sequel. I've been working through my ptsd and I decided to write it out. I have no idea if anything will come out of it, but it's something I wanted to explore anyway so...

Silver is dealing with his own mental state after Howell doctored on him (I'm remembering the I do not want this when his leg was cut off). He's getting worse and so is his leg, because his mental state is not letting him take care of it properly. Howell tries to help but it only makes Silver's state more miserable. Flint comes in to rescue him from himself, offering support and understanding (because if anyone can, it will be my broken boy after he had lost Miranda and Silver is the last piece of humanity keeping him together... especially after Cinnamon <3 )

I wrote some more about that in the answer to this ask.

Snippet:

Shaking his head to clear it, Flint sat down gingerly at the edge of Silver’s nest of blankets, then leaned forward so he could see his face better. John’s eyes were still shut, but they opened as soon as he heard him speak. The wildness of that gaze twisted Flint’s stomach, and the way John became completely motionless made something tickle the back of his mind. He had seen it before. 

“He’s probably right. You should have that leg checked,” James observed, trying to remain clear-minded. The fear in John’s eyes only deepened, even if he tried to cover it up with an impatient shake of his head. “It’s fine,” he muttered back, grinding his teeth together. Flint sighed. “John-” “I said it’s fine,” Silver snarled, then looked around like he was searching for something. 

The moment his gaze fell upon his crutch, propped up against the desk, he sat up straight, ready to run. He grimaced in pain, but Flint suspected it wouldn’t be enough to stop him from dashing madly towards it. On instinct, he threw one arm out, which turned out to be a good thing - as soon as John had hopped down from the sill, his whole frame wobbled, and he pitched forward unsteadily. James caught him easily, bracing him up against the seat again, forcing him to sit back down lest they both lost their footing on the swaying deck. 

“Fuck, wait,” James cursed when he felt John struggling against him. “Let me go!” He demanded, trying to break free, heedless of his missing leg and his lack of balance. Flint grabbed him more tightly. “Wait, wait.” He shifted his hold and moved forward, trapping John between him and the window sill, both hands going to Silver’s wrists as he tried to push him away. “John, wait!” “Fuck off! Let me go!” “John-” “Let me go!” Silver near-on shouted, turning his face up to glare at him. The defiance in his eyes almost hid the dark void of fear, but Flint had seen it anyway. 

[lyranova]

I almost forgot! :wah: 😭 Can I get something with Fue for the Halloween event please? 🥺❤️🔥

Hiya Laura! No worries, I’m sorry this is very very late, I should’ve had this done and posted last month but it got away from me 😔. But I hope you enjoy, this nearly turned into a Wives and Husbands fic, but I brought it back 😆! I hope you enjoy~!

Zera, Josele, and Briar who are all briefly mentioned belong to me @loosesodamarble and @koneko-pi respectively!

Word Count: 1,270

Warnings: None

————

“ Are…you sure about this?”

“ Of course, don’t you trust me?”

“ With my life. But…I don’t know-.”

“ Just trust me, you look fine.” Solara Equinox, wife of Fuegoleon Vermillion, said as she watched her husband inspect his Halloween costume for the upteenth time.

It had been her idea to do a couples costume this year, after she and her fellow Captain’s wives giggled about it during one of their ‘meetings’, and she was a bit surprised when Fuegoleon agreed to it.

But, he had one condition; he got to choose the costume, which she agreed to, since it wasn’t that big of a deal to her. At first she wondered if it would be something like a queen and king, or something like that.

She hadn’t really expected him to choose a vampire couple. But didn’t mind, nor did she complain, because as it turned out, that was what she was going to choose as well.

But she wasn’t going to tell him that.

“ What’s wrong? Don’t like the costume?” She asked curiously, her head tilted slightly. But he quickly shook his head.

“ No, the costumes perfect, it’s just…” He hummed as he suddenly held up a container.

“ Should…I leave the teeth? Or bring them with me?” Fuegoleon asked curiously as he stared down at the plastic mouthpiece in his hands, Solara hummed in thought.

“ Hm, I say put them in your pocket and bring them with you. That way if we take any photos you can put them in and complete the loom.” She suggested, and her husband nodded before he put the container in his pocket.

He walked away from the mirror and stood before her, decked out in his costume, and she smiled fondly as she straightened out his vest and cape.

“ Dashing as always, my dear husband.” Solara said with a warm smile as she rested her palms against his chest, feeling his heart thump steadily in his chest.

“ Thank you, and you look as lovely as always, my darling wife.” He told her warmly, his eyes looking down lovingly at her.

Solara reached up just slightly to place a sweet and loving kiss against his lips, a smile worked its way onto her lips as she felt his heart begin to race under her hand.

“ Shall we go? Otherwise the others might think we stood them up.” She said playfully as she pulled away, he blinked at her for a moment, his face a bit red, but he nodded.

“ Yes, let’s go before we’re late.” He agreed before he gently took his wife’s hand into his and walked with her out of their living quarters and out to the city.

————

The Capital was decorated to perfection.

There were pumpkins, both carved and uncarved, there were fake spider webs, haunted houses, candy, games. Everything you could ever dream of was there.

People were laughing, scaring each other silly, and were eating to their heart's content.

Solara and Fuegoleon walked arm in arm along the cobblestone street, pumpkin shaped containers filled with candy hanging off their arms, smiling and laughing amongst each other. Fuegoleon wasn’t normally one to enjoy or really celebrate Halloween, it was something he did with Leo when he was younger, but after he became Captain of the Crimson Lions he didn’t really have much time to do that with him anymore.

But recently, after meeting Solara, he found that his joy in the “spooky” holiday had been revived.

“ Solara~, Fuegoleon~, over here~!” Zera Cassia, wife of William Vangeance, shouted as she excitedly jumped up and down and waved her hands.

Beside the small woman was the wife of Nacht Faust, Josele Canty, and wife of Nozel Silva, Briar Rose. Their respective husbands standing beside them.

All of them dressed in different costumes that Fuegoleon and Solara completely imagined them all to be wearing.

The husbands greeted each other with small ‘hellos’ and nodded at one another as the wives ran up to each other and began to compliment each other's costumes and talk about their evenings.

“ So, shall we go into the haunted house and then visit the food stands?” Josele suggested, and the others nodded before the four of them linked arms and began to walk down the street together, leaving their husbands behind.

“ They do remember that we’re here right?” Nozel asked as he and the other husbands walked behind their wives.

“ They do. Right now they’re catching up on the latest gossip.” Nacht said with a shake of his head.

“ And look at how happy they are,” Fuegoleon said as he watched Solara smile brightly at a story that Briar was telling. When she noticed her husband staring at her she gave him a sly wink before her smile widened a bit. “ I think they’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

“ I know Zera has,” William agreed with a sigh. “ She’s been gathering as much gossip from her customers as she could just for tonight.” He chuckled softly.

Suddenly, the wives stopped and they each looked at their husbands over their shoulders. Devilish smirks and a mischievous glint suddenly appeared on their faces, and the husbands felt a sense of dread enter their bodies.

“ Oh gods.”

“ We’re in trouble.”

“ They’re plotting something.”

“ Is it too late to run away?”

The wives suddenly rushed towards their husbands, grabbed their hands, and dragged them each into different directions without saying a word.

Which signaled to them that some sort of plan was afoot.

Fuegoleon and Solara half-walked, half-ran down the street. Dodging people and carts. Giggles and chuckles escaping their lips as though they were a couple of teens, before eventually they came across what looked like a photo booth being manned by a…very tiny ghost.

“ Shall we take a few photos?” Solara suggested, a small glint in her eye that told him there was more to this than met the eye.

“ Alright.”

She gently led him in front of the camera and the two began to take a few photos. Some were sweet, some were ‘silly’, some were a little…steamy. But the two were having fun, and that was all that mattered.

Suddenly, as Fuegoleon was fixing his cloak, he felt something latch onto his ankles tightly. He jumped and, without thinking, set the backdrop ablaze. Revealing the tiny ghost, trembling in fear, before it quickly ran away.

“ Oh dear, that backfired, didn't it?” Solara hummed as she quickly began to try and put out the fire, Fuegoleon frowned.

“ You planned this?”

“ We did. That little ghost belongs to Briar, there’s about…5 of them running around here I think? Anyway, I believe the little ghost was hoping you would jump into my arms or something.” She muttered as she rubbed her arms sheepishly, and Fuegoleon felt his face turn red in embarrassment.

“ Ah, I see. So the ghost intended for us to get closer, which is why it scared me.”

“ Yes.”

“ Hmm, how interesting,” Fuegoleon hummed curiously as he moved closer to his wife and wrapped an arm around her waist. “ I wonder if the little ghost came up with that idea on its own, or if someone suggested it to them.”

“ Hm I’m not sure,” Solara said with an ‘innocent’ smirk as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. “ Maybe…a bit of both?”

Fuegoleon nodded before he smirked, bent down a bit, and captured his wife's lips in a warm and loving kiss as his arms wrapped around her waist and her arms wrapped around his neck.

The ‘scare’ didn’t really have its intended effect, but in a way, this was a lot better. At least, in Solara’s mind.

————-

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[waheelawhisperer]

regarding my last ask, you mention RWBY: Amity Arena as being particularly bad. i have never heard of this game before

if you have time, and are willing to humor me yet again, i would love to hear your wisdom

First of all, I'm sorry it took me a week to answer this. Work has been absolutely brutal (I've regularly been leaving the office between 8:00 and 9:00 PM for like 2 weeks now) and I really haven't had time for anything that takes actual effort. Please bear in mind that A) I'm tired as hell, and B) this game shut down in early 2021 so everything I'm telling you is based on memory that would potentially be spotty even if I was at my best.

To start with, I'll give you a brief explanation of what Amity Arena was before getting into the reasons why it sucked ass. RWBY: Amity Arena was a PVP mobile game where the goal was to destroy your opponent's base (which consisted of a central tower and two turrets to defend it) located at the other end of the map using a collection of units derived from the show. Each player had a deck of eight units, which they could deploy into one of two lanes corresponding to the two turrets. The units in question would advance toward the opposing tower, eventually converging on the base structure, and could potentially wander between them via the use of skills or by targeting enemies that stood close enough to the border for them to lock onto and follow.

The player deployed their characters by expending a resource called Aura. The player had a maximum of eight Aura, which regenerated at a set rate over time. Each unit cost a fixed amount of Aura, ranging from 1 to 8. The order of the cards (representing the units) in the player's prebuilt deck was shuffled at the start of the match and then cycled in order as the player deployed units. The player could hold four (I think?) cards in their hand at a time, and as they played a card, the next card in the deck would appear in their hand.

There was a great deal of unit variety: units were broken up into melee and range, grounded and aerial, and some cards could deploy singular strong units and others deployed swarms of weaker units (for example, Scythe Ruby deployed one powerful fighter, while White Fang Gunners deployed three relatively weak ranged fighters), and some cards had special skills they could activate to gain an advantage (Shadow Blake, for example, could dash a short distance and leave behind a targetable clone, making her very good at drawing aggro and switching rapidly between lanes, while Shield Pyrrha could throw her shield, dealing damage to all units in its path).

(If you've noticed something about the naming convention for the units above, you're on the right track: I'm about to talk about the gacha system)

So, there were a few ways to actually acquire units to add to your deck: first, you had to progress far enough up the ranks to actually unlock them. There were specified tiers that you moved up through by winning enough, and each tier gave you access to a broader selection of units. After every game, you'd get a randomly generated crate that you could open to get currency and copies of cards. Once you had a card, you could upgrade it with additional copies, and you could use the currency you got to buy stuff in the shop (new units, cosmetics, crates, premium currency, etc). I'm not going to go into exactly how the different currencies worked, mostly because I don't remember, so suffice it to say that like a lot of other mobile games, you could buy shit with real money and it fucking sucked.

Like every gacha game (or game with gacha elements), the rates were awful. Units were divided into four rarities: Normal, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. The unit distribution in each rarity was reasonably balanced early on, but as the developers added more units, it started to skew toward the Legendary category because adding new basic units didn't make money and adding rarer units did.

To give you an example of how much money, consider this: I remember one of the relatively big-name players (inasmuch as a RWBY mobile game has big-name players) would regularly roll for units on release so he could stream himself using them and give the playerbase an idea of what they did. When Sienna Khan released, this man spent 800 fucking dollars trying to get her. He wasn't even going for duplicates. He just wanted the character.

(IIRC this guy spent low 5 digits total on this game, it was insane)

This was an egregiously bad incident that didn't represent the average player experience, but I'm including it to point out that trying to even acquire new units, much less stay competitive by enhancing your cards with duplicate copies, could get real tough real fast.

(You also had to go for duplicate copies of your core units, because matchups could swing significantly if the opposing units had enough of a level advantage - say, by allowing them to survive burst from a unit that would counter them at equivalent levels)

This is before we get into the way the game balance was consistently and completely fucked. I won't bother listing every single instance, but I will go over some of the more egregious mistakes in terms of unit design. Let's start with...

Neon Katt: Probably the single most hated character throughout all of Amity Arena's run, Neon Katt somehow managed to be more annoying in the game than she was in the show. Upon deployment, Neon skates toward the opposing tower and taunts all units that enter her range. Sounds like an okay unit idea, right? Well, you're not wrong, but they fucked up the concept. First, Neon is cheap as hell (costs 2 Aura). Second, she was initially invincible until she hit a turret, so she could run down a lane and get chip damage for free while also providing utility in the form of her taunt (Neon was a major contributor to the godawful chip meta where you just spammed long-range skills that could hit structures and avoided interacting with your opponent as much as possible until the game was over). Third, her weight value was Heavy at launch, meaning she could actually push other units, which lead to the hilarious and annoying Disco Bear strat (deploying Neon behind an Ursa Major, an extremely strong, slow, and durable tank) and pushing it at top speed into the turret while preventing it from taking damage along the way.

Nobody liked this. The playerbase begged for nerfs. The devs eventually patched out Disco Bear by making her weight Light and decreased the range of her taunt or some shit idr, but it took seven fucking months to get an actual nerf, which they did by changing her from being invincible to having an HP value of 20. Normally, that would mean she dies in one hit, but they set it up so that she only takes one damage per hit, meaning you had to hit her 20 fucking times before she'd finally die. They eventually nerfed it down to 14 or 15 or something, but then they buffed it back to 20, so fuck them and fuck Neon lol

Baby Death Stalkers: Not as obviously obnoxious as the rest of this list, but they warped the meta in insidious ways by invalidating a shitton of single-target melee units. Baby Death Stalkers dropped five relatively fragile melee units with high damage and attack speed for the low, low cost of 1 Aura, allowing players to both hold a cost-effective counter to a large number of units in reserve and cycle their deck at minimal cost when necessary. Baby Death Stalkers hard countered most single-target melee units without an AoE skill or high attack speed because you could drop them around the target and force them to land five attacks to clear them, during which time the Baby Death Stalkers could attack uninterrupted with their high damage and attack speed as the target killed one, turned, reacquired a target, and repeated the process. This was how you got the comical and frustrating sight of in-universe badasses like Ren and Winter getting their asses kicked by five baby scorpions.

Using Baby Death Stalkers to counter a higher-value card often gave the player a 2+ Aura advantage, something that could rapidly snowball, and even if there wasn't a target in the field to hard counter, you could just drop them in front of one of your own higher-value units as a cheap meatshield or toss them out to cycle your deck by drawing a new card for minimal cost.

Jinn: Jinn is what happens when you think Neon isn't obnoxious enough and decide to make a unit that's actively worse for the game. She's also what happens when you look at the issues with both the playable meta and the game experience as a whole and think "that's not a bug, it's a feature!".

To start with, Jinn was a Legendary card, which meant that not only was the game continuing to release a disproportionate amount of higher-rarity cards (that made money), actually getting her was a pain in the ass. Yay, gacha.

Jinn was capable of stopping time around any unit for 7 seconds (i.e. everything caught in the blast was essentially frozen as it was. It couldn't take action, but nor could it be harmed). This meant she could be used to protect vital units by freezing them so that they didn't take damage from active effects or weren't prioritized by enemy units or to counteract enemy threats by freezing them until the player could deploy a counter or bring a skill off cooldown, and she could do it for two Aura. This is already insanely strong, but Jinn was a structure, meaning she'd just sit out on the field without moving into range of the enemy and could be used multiple times if she survived until her skill cooldown refreshed, and her incredibly low cost meant she could both provide enormous amounts of utility insanely cheaply and help cycle the deck as needed.

To make matters worse, Jinn was very obviously not playtested, both because she was broken as shit and because she initially stayed on the field long enough that if you could cycle the deck quickly enough, you could deploy two copies of her and make your towers permanently invincible, forcing a draw at worst. You could literally just say "fuck it" and prevent your opponent from even having a win condition.

(and also some of her early interactions were bugged as shit - if she used her ability on certain units during their skill animations, she could make them invincible and jump structures to the top of their priority list, so if this happened you had an unstoppable juggernaut hell-bent on destroying your towers to the exclusion of all else)

Finally, Jinn enabled a shitton of other cards that would've otherwise been okay without a get-out-of-jail-free card vs. their counters. Some of the cards I talk about later just got... so much fucking worse with Jinn. Holy shit.

White Fang Gunner Barracks: This was honestly the card that gave rise to the worst meta I've ever played. White Fang Gunner Barracks was a structure that would periodically spawn a White Fang Gunner (relatively weak ranged unit), which was pretty forgettable initially because it took a while and only spawned one at a time for a cost of 5 Aura, but then they fucking buffed it so that it spawned two at a time. It also spawned three Gunners upon expiring or being destroyed. Three White Fang Gunners is a 2-Aura value as it is. That means it only has to spawn enough Gunners to grant 3 Aura in value to pay for itself. It spawns 2 Gunners per wave. Each Gunner is worth two thirds of an Aura unit. One wave is worth 1 1/3 of an Aura unit. If the structure survives to spawn 3 waves (which it almost always did unless you had one of its small number of counters on hand to deploy immediately and the opponent couldn't protect it from those counters with Jinn), it's not just paying for itself, it's giving you more value than its cost (6 Aura vs. 5)... and it could just keep spawning Gunners. This thing stayed on the field for 45 seconds. It spawned a wave of Gunners every 7 seconds. That's 6 waves of Gunners if not stopped - 12 total Gunners from the waves, 3 Gunners from the destruction/expiration effect, for a cumulative 15 Gunners and 9 Aura of value. Admittedly, it took time for the Gunners to build up, but once they did, they could mow down a tower in seconds and you had to constantly dedicate a response to them, while the Barracks was a set-and-forget card that let the player using it focus on other parts of the battle while it did its thing.

Gunner Barracks defined the meta for six straight months. Every team had to have one of its small number of counters, all of which could be negated by Jinn and most of which were higher-rarity than Barracks and thus it was easy to level up Barracks to the point where it could survive the burst/DoT output of units that ostensibly dealt with it. This was genuinely the least fun I have ever had playing this game.

Chip Meta: I won't go into the Artillery Arena chip meta a ton, but there was a very obnoxious point in the game's lifespan where the primary method of winning was to use cards with long-range abilities that targeted enemy turrets directly to chip them down with minimal response. It was boring and uninteractive and most people hated it, much like they hated the way the abundance of AoE and presence of Baby Death Stalkers invalidated both large swarms of units and a number of single-target units.

Launcher Nora and Rifle Pyrrha: These two units were late additions to the game that were meant to help provide counterplay to the bullshit that was the White Fang Gunner Barracks, among other things, but they were annoyingly overtuned on launch and the game died before anyone could bother balancing them properly.

Launcher Nora was a unit with massive attack range (one of the three highest in the game, iirc, and one of the very few units that could outrange turrets with their basic attacks) and high AoE damage. Being a Rare card, she was easy to upgrade, which meant that she'd often just barely survive things meant to kill her, and her absurd range meant even getting to her without a skill with the range to either close the gap or just outright hit her could be extremely difficult. If properly protected, Launcher Nora could just sit on the field and tear your base and forces to pieces with very little counterplay.

Rifle Pyrrha wasn't as bad, but she was still an example of the devs kind of rushing stuff out and not giving a shit. Rifle Pyrrha was a cheap (3 Aura) ranged unit that had a long-ranged active skill automatically kited backwards after every basic attack, making it hard for melee units to catch up to her. She absolutely shat on things like the stream of Gunners coming out of the Barracks, but represented just... one more frustrating thing to play against in a game already full of them.

This isn't even getting into the way so many units and interactions were outright bugged and how much shit just didn't work. The Apathy were a unit that periodically duplicated and initially had no cap on the number of copies they could create, meaning that if you left them alone long enough, they'd just fucking spawn enough additional Apathies to crash your goddamn phone. Checkmate was supposed to make allied units in its AoE temporarily invincible and sometimes just didn't. Sienna Khan's skill regularly bugged out. Etc etc.

Compounding every one of the game's problems was the fact that the developers were extremely unresponsive and regularly ignored community feedback. Neon went untouched for ages despite the community crying out for changes at every level of play, units like Jinn and Barracks took far too long to be addressed for the community's satisfaction, even basic QoL changes or new features the community had been begging for for years never got implemented... Like, it was real bad. Units were extremely over- or undertuned and stayed that way for a long time, patches gradually went from addressing large numbers of units to only addressing a few, the devs stopped responding...

And eventually the game just died. The incompetent balancing drove players away (the playerbase decreased to the point where most people who still bothered with the game could identify the bots the devs seeded the lower levels of the ladder with so that newer players had someone to play). The devs went AWOL around December 2020 and just kinda stopped pushing shit and the team running the social media (official Twitter, community Discord, etc) admitted that they had no idea what the fuck was going on. The game went a month or two without any new content while the community wondered what the hell was happening and posted memes to cope, and then there was an official announcement that the game was shutting in January 2021. I don't know if the devs just sucked or if the killing blow was really Rooster Teeth's influence. I know RT had a hand in it because they were pushing the dev team very hard to ship new units in time for Volume 7 of the main show's release and that led to a lot of the problems mentioned above with the game balance, but I don't know how much responsibility each party bears.

Well, that's my half-remembered history of Amity Arena. As with almost everything else Rooster Teeth has ever touched, it remains an object lesson of what not to do.

Sorry it took so long, I've been very busy.

[yeahcurrahhe-e]

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐘

〚 𝐉. 𝐓𝐎𝐘𝐄 〛

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ➛ language, mention of injury

𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 ➛ anonymous: Can you write something with Joe Toye and prompt nineteen from the happy prompts please? — prompt used: "you missed me ?", "maybe - but don't go thinking too much about it”

𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖-𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐏 amidst Bastogne’s icy Hell, Y/N Y/L/N begrudgingly welcomed the recreation of a card game, the deck a poached token from a Kraut’s frigid corpse — per Muck’s retelling after his patrol with Lipton.

“You gonna take a turn or what?” George poked at the side of her threadbare boot with his own, voice subdued by how he had burrowed his face into his thin scarf.

“My fingers are too cold to even move them,” her voice rose with a miffed touch to it, meeting the wintry cloud of her breath.

“All of our fingers are,” Penkala grumbled, corpse-colored fingers cramping as he shuffled around his cards, “Lost the feeling in ‘dem awhile ago, actually.”

Perconte smirked knowingly from beneath the arch of his helmet, “You gotta keep them moving — keeps the blood flowing. That’s what Doc Roe told me.”

George cast an unamused sidelong glimpse to the man, eyes subtly trimmed with water at the rage of winter blast that funneled through the gap in the tarp.

“Congrats.”

Muck and Penkala laugh, unrestrained by the calamity that rippled in tides beyond the thin material of their cover. Y/N begrudged a simper, one corner of her mouth perked more so than the other, Perconte rolling his eyes at their easy amusement at his expense.

“Well, you ain’t gonna be laughing when I can beat your asses to the breakfast line this mornin’,” the dark-haired soldier huffed with certainty, tucking away his respective dealing of cards into his jacket flap and hoisting himself out of their tomb of frigid dirt, “I’ll be first in Dominguez’s line. Food will still be actually hot.”

Then, he’s off towards the propped tent that is the poor substitute for a mess hall, a childlike ferocity in his boot-anchored footfalls through the crumbly snow.

George sniffed out a resemblance of a scoff, slack in his departure from their hellhole in the Earth’s soil, aware that the substance the Airborne was touting as food would at least dim the spasm of hunger in his stomach, and may allow him to sleep with more ease. Muck and Penkala mirror his listless foot hauls up the foxhole’s embankment, minds of similar notion and mouths mumbling of how ‘at least they had snow to eat to force down the damn dog food’ they were to consume for breakfast.

George extended a hand down to Y/N, crystalline snowflakes taking their dance around him, and the pair in collective agreement that the act of chivalry was a violation to her staunch declaration of solitude, but additionally in mediation that the healing bullet wound in her thigh rendered her at the aid of such acts. Her frigid hand stretched through the distance of ice-crystallized air between them, and she’s out of the concave of frozen Earth with a few cumbersome footsteps that resound with a crunch.

“Damn, he runnin’ like there’s a home cooked meal by mama dearest over there,” Muck chuckled, the display of amusement flourishing in a vapor in front of his smirking mouth, a gloved hand gesturing to Perconte’s restrained dash towards the vacant breakfast line.

“Nah, but maybe there’s the next best thing — at least for Y/N,” Puck mused as the four of them fall into a gradual pace towards the tent, chin tilting deliberately in direction of the soldier alongside Dominguez as he jabbed at the concoction he’d be portioning to the 506th with a ladle.

“Joseph Toye!” the grin on George’s face may have just melted the snow beneath their boots, the sight of the bandaged man rushing a wind underneath his languid footsteps as he hastened towards him now, Y/N’s wrist at his mercy as she cumbersomely kept pace with a hobble.

The new man of the hour entertained the greeting with a turn of his head away from his dulling conversation with Dominguez, a vague smile as rare as the sun in Bastogne’s arctic wasteland, tilting on his mouth. But George wasn’t the recipient of the rare sight.

The musings of a crush had been the entertainment for the lighthearted dispositions of Muck, Penkala, and George, the characters of their late-night fabrications being Y/N and Joe.

Crush. It was an infantile word, a bitter concoction in her veins, a vexing itch in her brain because, fuck, how cliche?! This wasn't a schoolyard alight with the early afternoon sun, they weren't young children with the residue of afternoon play on their knees and hands. They stand amidst mental and physical devastation instead, residue of respective wounds from the same deluge of German artillery on their bodies.

“You missed me, Y/L/N?” Joe dealt out his own poke at her in acknowledgment of her presence alongside George.

“Maybe — but don’t go thinking about it too much, Toye,” she doesn’t allow the poke to pierce anything beyond the facade of nonchalance she bears on her skin; there’s the dwellings of a elephant-sized gape of tension between them, a runoff of what had occurred prior to his hastened departure for the town’s hospital.

It was an ambush that evoked a dot-to-dot variation of thinking; an instinct to survive darts along a neuropath towards a prayer for quick strides towards salvation, to knowing you may have to haphazardly toss yourself like a rag-doll into a foxhole to achieve that wish for survival. Despite her mind and body being throttled with an ache of exhaustion from a day of patrols and pissing wars with the Germans, she’s still forcing herself across the lumps of snow towards her foxhole. Enemy artillery graffitied the black heavens above the forest canopy, whistling its deadly tune as it arched down towards the snowy ground, trembling the Earth as it blackens the stark white with its explosive gift. Her lungs are supposed to be warm, yet they’re capsules of ice as she sprinted clumsily across the pearly snow mounds, hands bearing down on her helmet — her ears. Her eyes flutter moments away from a squint, enough vision spared to navigate the murky landscape that heaves in resistance from the foreign destructive forces that tremble it. A hand encircled her forearm, and if Germany’s wrath wasn’t sprinkling down around her now, she would’ve swung around and uppercut the damn person.

“Come on!”

It’s Easy’s hothead Joseph Toye, and he’s screaming at her to throw herself into a foxhole nestled outside the path of artillery. The dot-to-dot thinking deluges into her mind and body’s inner workings, and she’s falling into a cumbersome haste towards the hole in the soil. Their boots are significant inches away from sliding down the concave and away from the fiery blaze, when the telltale whistle of an approaching mortar sings its deadly song behind their backs, imploding impossibly close, and they’re thrown away from each other.

“Damn,” Toye huffed his laughter, response familiar of his tendency to offer anything further than a generic or quick-witted few words.

“That hurt more than the artillery, Joe?” Perconte’s toothy smile staked a rivalry with the alabaster snow bristling against the soles of their boots. His elbow facetiously nudged at the fellow Italian, scooping a gulp of breakfast into his leering mouth.

Joe’s piqued side-eyed gaze had the rare ability to properly shut up the chatterbox that is Frank Perconte. The shorter man tensely ambled off, akin to a dog with its tail between its legs.

“Jesus, Joe, you give Bastogne a run for its money,” George mused of the man’s cold disposition, extending a metal mug of Dominguez’s concoction towards Y/N.

She begrudgingly accepted the semblance of food whilst Penakala and Skip giggle like schoolgirls on either side of her.

“He just wants to put on a machismo front for Y/N here,” Penkala shrugged, whirling his spoon around his mug with no heed for the duel glare poised at him by Y/N and Joe.

“Been there, done that,” Skip chorused in to his friend’s capering words, “Y/N is immune to that bullshit.”

The woman at the center of their back-and-forth merely occupied herself with the warmth of the food, rather than step into the trap sprung by their provoking words. And Joe is slightly amused at her insouciance, yet doesn’t jilt his stony facade with it.

“Skip, my friend, you couldn’t win over a girl even if she was blind as a bat and deaf as a doornail,” George smirked mid-swallow, gesturing his utensil towards the Tonawanda man.

“Shit, no one is safe — go from harassing Perconte to tickling Joe’s ego to flat out insulting me,” Skip scoffed, feigning indignation yet the insult doesn’t extend to his jovial brown eyes.

“And while it’s all amusing, I have to go do my morning check-in with Winters,” Y/N exhaled with unfounded sorrow for her departure beckoned by the First Sergeant emblem on her uniform.

“Ah, tell the good captain that we’re freezing our asses off out here and can’t even be compensated with edible food,” George proclaimed despite their distance not warranting such volume.

Muck and Penkala grunted some susurration of agreement in the midst of forcing down the slosh in their mugs.

Y/N gladly forsakes her food, pouring the lumpy remnants into George’s cup, a sputtering of dismay resounding from him like machine-gun fire.

“Hm, perhaps I’ll tell him you enjoyed it so much you had seconds,” she clicked her tongue, placing the begrimed apparatus onto the table beneath the food tent.

She retreated then, footsteps listless in the snowfall, an endowment from the wound in her thigh. She’s additionally keen to realize that there’s an echo of sloshed footsteps that accompanies her own.

“You will only entertain them further, you know,” Y/N doesn’t question how some corner of her consciousness distinguished the footfalls as Joseph Toye’s.

“Let ‘em,” his indifference is uncanny, and she cast a sidelong glimpse at him to convey as much.

“The hospital’s full of boys who wish they could joke and laugh like ‘em,” Joe dubiously exacted his gaze with hers, and she doesn’t prod to know any further of what those hospital walls possessed beyond them.

“Also just wanted to see how your leg was,” he murmured, the reluctance filtering into his voice now as if peeved that he would be so explicit with his concern.

“Doc Roe removed some shrapnel ‘bout a week ago, bandaged it…just have a lame limp now,” she adorned a thin smile, their pace gradual towards the makeshift CP amidst the tree trunks, “You?”

He shrugged, the subtle lift of his shoulder vexing the wound on his upper body as wrinkles of ache coiled around his eyes, “Nothing that won’t heal.”

She languidly nodded, the slowness of her head a product of the awkwardness that danced brilliantly around them now.

“On that night, why were you out of your foxhole?” her voice resembled his own previous murmur, her gaze engaging the landscape approaching rather than his eyes, “You weren’t assigned to patrol.”

Joseph Toye may have been selective of his words but he wasn’t a man who would admit to the defeat of being hushed by another’s own. His eyes are staunchly set on the horizon, a classic maneuver of someone who’d prefer to abandon this conversation with haste.

“Couldn’t have our sergeant being blown to bits,” he eventually remarked, candid and emotionless. The response would have dismayed anyone else, yet Y/N could pride herself to be something of a keen observer with gratitudes towards her military training.

“A sergeant who is capable of finding cover herself, hm?” she subtly smirked, stare still afloat in front of her, “I call bullshit, Toye.”

“Who’s entertaining themselves now?” she’s washed with a reticent shock at his chuckled retort, certain her aforementioned words were something of a shovel that trenched a hole for her.

“Your words make me think it’s beyond entertainment now,” she frankly hummed, pace collapsing into a casual halt, Toye mirroring her almost immediately.

“Maybe,” he looked at her once more, eyes betraying him on every front that implored indifference.

A vague spread of warmth creased her cheeks, foreign beneath the frigidness of Bastogne, and she bowed her head at him in departing but indicative of something he recognized as an invitation, “I’ll see you later, Toye.”

Then, she’s off towards CP, and he can’t ignore the crack in the chemical buffer that always kept him in equilibrium with indifference and bitterness. It’s her — the spitfire first sergeant — that had disrupted that stability… and he ultimately greeted it as his own.

[lestweforget5]

if you’re still doing the emoji ask… ☄️. you’re such a fantastic writer btw <3

Hello, Nonnie! Yes, I'm still doing the emoji ask game. Thank you for the ask, and thank you for the compliment. I'm really glad you're enjoying Sunward!

The answer to ☄️is below the cut since it's a little long and I don't want to clog up anyone's dash.

☄️ COMET - what do people assume about them? are they right?

I think that some people assume that Millie is standoffish or, perhaps, even somewhat of a snob, and they would be very wrong on both accounts. It's not snobbish to be quite ... picky ... about your choice of partners at an Officers' Club dance in order to avoid intoxicated men whose hands are prone to ... wandering. It's not standoffish to be reticent about going to the pub with your fellow enlisted men when you, as a woman, have to deal with intoxicated soldiers (American or British) whose hands wander and who want to flirt and buy you drinks (even when you don't drink) and just are all around exhausting, exasperating, and bewildering, and I wouldn't be surprised if, at least once, there was someone who was obnoxious enough to make Millie want Curt to deck him for her.

With her Arkansas twang, some people also assume she's a hick, but Millie has a very well-established reputation as a hard-worker and a very talented engineer, courtesy primarily of Curt who was always fond of expounding about her talents, and that would at least disprove the "unintelligent" part of the "hick" connotation.

[jcmarchi]

Everything You Need To Know About Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 3

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-fortnite-chapter-5-season-3/

Everything You Need To Know About Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 3

A new season of Fortnite is now live, and it brings Fallout, Magneto, plenty of nitrous oxide, and some Mad Max-esque flair to the battle royale. Titled “Wrecked,” Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 3 follows last season’s Greek Gods-themed season with a new battle pass, new weapons and skins, and more. 

“A ferocious sandstorm recently moved over the Island, creating a new biome in the south dubbed the wasteland,” an Epic Games blog post reads. “The ‘Wasteland Warriors’ have already called shotgun on owning the place (they did ride in with the sandstorm, after all). This crew moves as fast as their decked-out cars, proven by the places they’ve already established.” 

We’ll break down those new locations and more below. 

Everything You Need To Know About Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 3 – Wrecked

Let’s start with the battle pass. It features some newly made characters by Epic Games, known as original skins within the Fortnite community, and some collaboration skins in the form of Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic Fallout series and infamous X-Men villain, Magneto. 

Check out all the skins in the battle pass below: 

New Points of Interest

One of the first new points of interest, or map locations, is Redline Rig. It’s a Nitro refinery run by The Machinist, the Wasteland Warriors’ master mechanic who is also available in the battle pass.

Also in the south of the island is Nitrodrome. Here, Ringmaster Scarr, who is available in the battle pass, runs the circus-like car spectacle known as the Nitrodrome.

From the Nitrodrome, you can easily reach Brutal Beachhead. Here, Megalo Don is the person in charge. He’s the Wasteland Warriors’ “master muscle,” according to the blog post, and taking him on won’t be easy. 

Epic says there are other changes to locations on the map, though. For example, Snooty Steppes is now Sandy Steppes. 

Going Nitro

Across the Island, you’ll find Nitro Splash and Nitro Barrels, both from Redline Rig. Nitro Splash is a portable version of a Nitro container, which you can throw down to infuse you or your car with Nitro for a fiery boost. Nitro Barrels are Nitro containers that “Nitro-fy” on contact, and when you hit them, they’ll fly away and explode on landing. 

Here’s how Nitro works in Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 3 – Wrecked: 

Vehicles that are Nitro-fied get a driving speed increase, explosive ramming power that deals damage and knockback, fuel consumption decrease, and a buff to attached attack mods. 

Players that are Nitro-fied get a movement speed increase, explosive bashing power that deals damage and knockback (and it can bust through builds), a stamina consumption decrease, a reload speed increase, and fall damage immunity. 

New Weapons And More

One of the new additions to the Battle Royale fight are the Nitro Fists, which allow you to perform a three-punch combo, uppercut, or aerial punch that dashes you through the air. 

Nitro Fists have four charges, and each charge recharges every eight seconds. The uppercut and aerial punch use one charge each, while the three-punch combo uses none. If you aerial punch the ground instead of the air, “the impact will be meteoric to surrounding enemies,” Epic writes in the blog post. 

The Boom Bolt is a new fast-firing, moddable crossbow that fires explosive bolts. A few shots can take down a vehicle, Epic says. 

Returning weapons include: 

Cerberus’ Gatekeeper Shotgun

Combat Shotgun

Gatekeeper Shotgun

Hammer Pump Shotgun

Oscar’s Frenzy Auto Shotgun

Warforged Assault Rifle

Tactical Assault Rifle

Enforcer AR

Thunder Burst SMG

Harbinger SMG

Huntress DMR

Ranger Pistol

Hand Cannon

Shockwave Grenade

There are some new ways to fortify your vehicles in Fortnite now, too, because mods are back. Here’s what to expect: 

Machine Gun Turret (roof slot)

Grenade Launcher Turret (roof slot)

Spiked Bumpber (front bumper slot)

Cow Catcher (front bumper slot)

Bulletproof Tires (tires slot)

Chonkers Off-Road Tires (tires slot)

All you need to do to equip a new mod is hit a Vehicle Mod Box and one will automatically attach to your vehicle. You can tell which mod you’ll get based on the symbol on the box, too. 

You can repair your vehicle and its mods with the new Repair Torch or Repair Boxes, which are scattered around the map. Plus, Service Stations have replaced gas pumps, allowing you to refill your vehicle’s gas and health while parked on a station pad. 

Joining the vehicle roster is the new Behemoth Car Body, which is an SUV vehicle. 

Outside of weapons and vehicle fortifications, there’s the Nuka-Cola, which restores a bit of health (over time) and shield. 

And there’s also the Kind Cacti, which gives players (and vehicles) a splash of healing when pickaxed or driven through. 

New Bosses

The Machinist will drop The Machinist’s Medallion upon her defeat. This medallion generates your shield over time. If you defeat her inside Redline Rig, you can also use this medallion to open the garage holding her car. Regardless of where you defeat her, she drops The Machinist’s Combat Assault Rifle. 

Defeating Ringmaster Scarr nets you the Ringmaster Scarr’s Medallion, giving you infinite ammo and a small damage buff. Defeat her in the Nitrodrome to open the garage holding her car. Regardless of where you defeat her, she’ll drop the Ringmaster’s Boom Bolt. 

And finally, defeating Megalo Don gives you the Megalo Don’s Medallion, which will infuse you with infinite Nitro. Plus, defeating him gives you Megalo Don’s Nitro Fists. 

And that’s everything you need to know about Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 3 – Wrecked. 

Are you excited about this new season? Let us know in the comments below!

[okami-zero]

OC Name Meanings

I appreciate the tag, @kittynomsdeplume! xD

Rules: Google and post the meaning of your OC’s name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too.

I believe I shall tag... @elveny, @vasheden, @greyias, @traveleorzea, @autumnslance, @kunstpause, @sasslett, @clockworkdragonffxiv, @karoiseka, @yzeltia and anyone else who see this and wants to join in!

Okay, so one thing to note about most of my OCs, is their names generally just pop out of the random mess of alphabet soup constantly simmering in some corner of my brain. Not ALL of them (for example, Akagi's family name), but most. Or are inspired/pulled from other places. I will go with my big three main MMO fellas, and my two 100% original OCs. Also, have a cut cause I, uh, got carried away. ^_^; (And I am sorry this took so long. >.<)

Zedd Overkill/Zed'rika Ov'redis- Okay, this guy. My half-echani smuggler in SWTOR, who is based on the original I made ages ago (and who is the descendant of the SWTOR one, after some revisions/additions/etc.) The OG is Zedd Overkill, inspired by my favorite Power Rangers villain (Lord Zedd), the head agent from MiB (Zed, as in the letter) and with inspiration from Hackers (Crash Override), a dash (heh, pun) of Dash Rendar from Shadows of the Empire and a maybe just a hint of Han solo. The name popped into my head after watching Hackers and was trying to think up a cool email during computer class (back when Hotmail was still Hotmail xD). The name was repurposed with a smuggler character I made with a friend when we were just making up neat Star Wars OCs for a maybe story we were writing. Story never got finished, but Zedd stuck around. "Overkill" is more a nickname now, as his preferred method of rapid problem-solving involves liberal applications of thermal detonators. x3 Rav Masahiro & Marshall O'Donnell - These two are my second oldest persistent OCs after good ol' Zedd. There is technically one that is older (in fact, old enough that he used Zedd's moniker for a while, back when folding an OC to fit any AU was my MO), but he's kind of only half-baked, for the most part. Rav and Marshall are next in line, and are, by and large much more polished. The story they were to be set in was very grand in scale and scope, considering it was kind of a series of AUs where things in various realities were being fucked with, and they are two of a team of six who are sent out to deal with such things. If this sounds like a certain popular video game franchise from a prominent Japanese publisher, you'd be right in there being some similarities, I guess, but they predate it by about a year. Well, technically Rav predates it, Marshall didn't crystallize until about a year or so later. Powersets are very shounen-ish, I guess? Little bit of henshin and other stuff thrown in for flavor (and things have been tweaked and appended over time). Anyway, Rav's name comes from a reworking of my own name, as he is kind of my self-insert-ish guy. His last name comes from my at-the-time rampant obsession with Japanese culture (yes, yes, I'll say it, I was a weeb. The interest remains, though tempered by time, experience and education). I thought his last name meant something else, as Googling in those early days was... a crap shoot. And the fact that Masahiro is a given name in Japanese hasn't deterred me, as embarrassing as it might be, it just... is a thing now. xD (The other half-baked OC I mentioned has a similar nomenclature goof). Marshall's name kind of just, popped out of the ether, but it flows well and it fits. She does let people close to her shorten it to "Shall" (sounds like shawl). Do NOT call her "Marsh", "Marshie" or "Marsha" or she'll deck you. Like, lay you out flat with one punch. Moving on!

Xanotos Delkai - My Warrior tank in WoW. Another lad who went through some changes. xD So my first character in WoW was a human hunter back in the...alpha or beta, whenever it was they were originally playable before getting nixed. His name was Thanatos, inspired by the character of the same name from a Sega CD fighting game Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side. He was a typical Grim Reaper-y Death (as Thanatos was the personification of death in Greek mythology, and a psychopomp, I believe). I liked the name. However, the character was nuked after the alpha or beta or whatnot. So, when I remade the character for the full version, I rolled up a Warrior and named him Xanatos/Xanotos (depending on the server), or Xano. Now, I have remade and moved this character many times over the years. Delkai became his surname at some point, and when worgen came out, he was race-changed to worgen, and his backstory was shifted and fleshed out further. Fun fact: the Gargoyles TV series was the farthest thing from my mind when I made this toon, and was for many years. It wasn't until... just before or around Legion, I think? that I realized I had named him the same (if spelled differently) as Evil 90s Will Riker. xD

Akagi Obinata - And now we get to my most recent and most prevalent MMO OC, Akagi. Paladin, Tankfriend, tol dragon/lizard man. So, sadly, this boy is the third I have given a Japanese-style name to, and borked the order of, because Akagi is a freaking surname. >.< Now, I am aware that Hingashi (he was born and raised in/around Kugane) is only kind of Etheirys-Japan, but... I am just...moving on! The inspiration for his given name is one Akagi Shunsuke (or Shunsuke Akagi, in Western fashion) from the anime Dai-Guard. It is an absolutely insane super robot show and I love it, and I see a lot of myself in one of the protagonists (the aforementioned Akagi Shunsuke). So, in honor of a favorite character, I chose that. Forgetting, or blindly ignoring the fact that just because everyone in the show (save for his one relative we see) refers to him as Akagi because it is a cultural thing, and not because it is his given name. >.< What's done is done, however. His surname, thankfully, is one from a list of suggested surnames from the raen au ra lore I could find. It means "blades on waist", and I figured that there were samurai in his family line far enough back that that was the name they took. Akagi, by the way, is if I am not mistaken, "red castle", and well, he IS red. And the Paladin LB3 is a freaking castle WALL, so... it fits in a retroactive kind of way. xD (I was not thinking of his coloring, nor was I aware of what the LB3 looked like when I made him. ^_^; )

And that is it! Do I have more OCs? Yes! But they are all kind of self-contained to different things, and their names are more of a kind of mental slot machine than these goobers (plus the one xD). Hopefully I didn't ramble TOO too much, but I get excited about my homemade blorbos, y'know how it is. Thanks for reading!

[charkyzombicorn]

Wright liked the Thousand Sunny. He didn't spend a great deal of time on the Going Merry, but one thing about Sunny was that she had many more places to hide. Wright tucked himself into one of the many cluttered corners of Usopp's workshop and picked a certain feather neatly from his skirt before raising it as high as he could reach and dropping it.

He let Slow overtake his will, and read the starts and stops the feather took as it drifted down.

-Safe?-

"Yep." Wright said easily. "Everyone's on the deck."

-Keep up study-

Wright chuckled. "I know, but Nami counts her paper now, I can't steal any more."

-Ask-

Wright plucked the feather from where it nearly touched the ground and brought it back up. "Yeah. Real charitable one, that Nami." He snarked.

-Wright.-

The teen crossed his arms. "Am I wrong?"

-don't use tha-- NEW-

Wright's Mantra caught it a second later, which was useless because it was at the same time the door was banged on loudly. "Wright!" The captain chirped from the other side of the door. "We stopped playing 'tightrope' on the railing, will you play with us now?!"

The teen sighed. "Yeah!" He said, plucking the feather from the air and putting it back with all the other feathers on his skirt,opening the door a second later to see his captain with a huge smile.

He walked onto the deck, and no one looked at him.

--

Wright woke up to the light shining in his eyes. He scrunched them and tried to pretend morning wasn't for another few hours, before stretching and squinting his eyes open.

Luffy's devil stared back. Wright blinked at the wide smile, almost said something when he rendered Slow's emotions. Fear, all encompassing, the teen's fingers turned numb with it, and Wright's heart stuttered. His blankets shifted when his wings prickled, and he didn't know why because the devil was just blinking at him.

Long blink, another long blink, a quick blink, long blink-- dot, dot, dash--

-Q u i e t-

Wright's throat closed up, his stomach lurched, his heartbeat drumming in his ears. No one knew how he spoke to Slow, not even Wyper, not even his dad -- Slow had never said 'quiet' the whole time on this ship or the last.

How did the devil know?

Luffy's presence was dim, like he was dying, and his devil's was… elated. It was still blinking at him, and Wright just kept translating the flashes of his glowing yellow eyes like a reflex.

-clever game, clever game-

It kept blinking faster, until it was almost as quick as how Slow could communicate.

-Luffy knows, he can play-

Wright swallowed his bile.

-next time hide where light can't find you-

And then the devil did a full turn and marched back to the captain's hammock, before falling into it as the white tresses melted into black and the light slowly went out.

And Wright stared.

[one-piece-aus]

I posted 356 times in 2022

That's 6 more posts than 2021!

105 posts created (29%)

251 posts reblogged (71%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@one-piece-aus

@exactly-another-one-piece-blog

@tsunderedoctor

@heyitsdoe

@as-i-watch

I tagged 231 of my posts in 2022

Only 35% of my posts had no tags

#one piece - 157 posts

#one piece au - 56 posts

#one piece x reader - 49 posts

#one piece scenario - 44 posts

#one piece x you - 33 posts

#whumptober2022 - 29 posts

#trafalgar law - 28 posts

#one piece x y/n - 24 posts

#whump fanfiction - 22 posts

#whump fic - 20 posts

Longest Tag: 76 characters

#i think that's one of the reasons why dragon is the most wanted in the world

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I am a hoe for Katakuri, so if you write for him, could I have Kata rescuing an s/o who'd been captured by another pirate crew? 😁

Oh boy is this long overdue. Ahoy Doe, I finally finished this request! I hope you don't mind me using the scenario for Whumptober, and please enjoy the story ^-^

Whumptober Day 28

Katakuri x Reader

"What do you mean [Y/n]'s gone?"

The guards paled as a heavy aura from Katakuri engulfed them. They haven't even had the chance to inform him about the situation, yet his fury is emitting and leaving the servants terrified under his gaze. His brows narrowed when he received no response, he reached down and picked up one of the servants.

"Who took [Y/n]?" Katakuri inquired, his voice hinting at his intention of seeking vengeance. However, he never let the servant speak and dropped him when he got his answer. "Gather a fleet, I'm going to save [Y/n], and we're going to erase those pirates."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You kept your glare on the pirates outside your cage, wishing you could burn holes through their skulls. They were snickering amongst themselves over a game of cards, telling themselves what a good idea it was to take you hostage for ransom. They really don't know the forces they were messing with, do they? You weren't able to point out their mistake yet when one of their men open the cabin's door.

"Captain, there's a small ship in the distance," he reported as he held the door wide open.

"Seems like your buyers are here," the captain smirked at you.

"You're fools if you think Big Mom would pay you your demands," you stated. The man laughed in response, only stopping when he looked back at your glaring eyes. 

"That's what you believe," he grinned crouching down in front of your cage. "But we're going to be the ones rolling in gold."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Uh captain," the lookout nervously called down to the deck.

"What is it now?" The man questioned with annoyance growling in his tone.

"It's a fleet of ships- a fleet of ships from Big Mom!" The subordinate warned, pointing toward the rear of the ship.

The captain dropped the heavy sack he carried and dashed to the back of the ship. Sure enough, the massive fleet was tailing them, and the small ship had already left. He growled and gripped the rail as his gaze landed on the sweet general leading the army, Katakuri.

Having the enemy in sight, Katakuri turned his head to address the crew. "Don't fire cannons just yet, I want [Y/n] safe in my possession first. Kill the enemies who resist and hold the others hostage, wait for my order to eliminate them," Katakuri instructed, receiving salutes in response. Looking back at the tiny vessel, he gripped his fist. "Just hang in there, [Y/n]. I'll make them pay!'

Ringing his arm behind his head, Katakuri threw the first attack, extending his mochi arm and taking out the enemy's mast. They slowed down while their sails sunk to the bottom of the ocean, letting the fleet surround them and board. The events turned into a massacre rather than a fight as the Charlottes painted the deck in blood, Katakuri dealing out the brutal fatalities to each pirate he faced.

Heading down to the cabins, Katakuri tore anything that stood in his way of getting to you. Heads, doors, planks, they were all scattered in his search. Reaching the end of the hall and tearing open the last door, Katakuri found himself in a room full of chests and cages, and in the corner stood the enemy captain, frozen in place. Katakuri's eyes glowed red and he sent a punch at the man, immobilizing him in mochi.

"Where's [Y/n]?" Katakuri demanded the whereabouts.

The captain gave him a smirk and a glow from Katakuri's eyes made him step back. The Charlotte glanced at the empty cage with a torn piece of your sleeve left behind. With widened eyes, he ran out of the room and onto the deck. Going to the front of the ship, trying to find any traces of the small ship, Katakuri could only see his family's ships on the horizon as the unspoken words of the pirate taunted his mind.

"I already sold her off."

254 notes - Posted October 30, 2022

#4

Hiya! I saw your warlord’s taking care of smol s/o (prob thanks to Bonney). Could I please request this prompt but for the supernovas? Like Kid/Killer/Law/Zoro? ❤️

Yup, I guess this is a thing on my blog xD Thank you for the request, I will not be including Luffy because he was already done on this post

How They Treat Their Fem!S/O Who Turned Into Smol Child (Headcanons): Supernovas

Zoro is the poor soul who is shocked by this and gets distracted, letting the enemy run away

Shit

He gets mad at himself for letting that happen but now there's a more pressing matter to take care of: You

Zoro acting as he does, asks if you're alright as if you just had gotten a minor scratch

If you start barking at him about how you clearly aren't alright and be mad he's not being showing enough empathy he'll apologize and take you to go see Chopper because he doesn't have the first clue what else to do

Chopper make sure you're good health but he can't help much from there

Zoro would be unsure what to do if you're still frustrated you're smol

He's good with kids not a upset smol you, someone help him

However, if you're not chewing his ear out, well then you're in luck because that keeps Zoro in game

He makes sure you're alright

He'll pick you up and carry you as he tracks down Bonney using his observation haki

Of course, he gets lost but that ends up giving him the advantage and ambush her from the front

"Turn [Y/n] back right now."

See the full post

267 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

#3

Whumptober Day 12

Zoro x Reader

"Let's go this way," Zoro suggested when your captain couldn't make up his mind which way he thought would be more fun.

"Yeah right, like we're going to let you lead the way Zoro," Sanji scoffed and rolled his eyes. He then gestured to another tunnel. "We should go this way."

"Hey, why don't we split into teams?" you said before the duo could start arguing over who should decide what. "That way we can find the treasure faster."

"Good idea, [Y/n]!" Nami agreed with your plan since it'd mean she could find her money sooner.

"Alright guys, we're splitting up," Luffy declared and dashed down the path in front of him.

"Luffy!" Nami snapped out of her money trance and ran after him. "Wait up!"

"Yo Robin, how 'bout we go down this way," Franky offered the ravenette as he shinned his nipple lights on the walls. "This one got some runes."

"I'd be happy to," Robin smiled as she followed the shipwright.

"Hey look, this one has skeletons like me," Brook chuckled as he lifted up the bone body to show the others, scaring Usopp and Chopper.

You laughed at the sight until you noticed the swordsman wandering back the way you guys just came. "Zoro, you're the wrong way."

"Huh?" He turned around with a puzzled expression.

You shook your head and took his hand, beginning to lead him. "This is the cave you wanted to explore."

"I knew that." If it weren't for the darkness surrounding you two, you would've noticed Zoro's cheeks turning into red roses.

Your footsteps echoed down the cave, the only thing keeping silence at bay. At times, Zoro's arm brushes against yours, you sense how he tenses each time. Unsure why he's uneasy, you decide to strike up some small talk.

"What are you hoping we'll find in the treasure chest?"

"Some booze would be nice," Zoro answered bluntly.

"I don't know if we'll find any," you deadpan thinking it might not have been the best question to ask. "I'm sure we could use some of the wealth to buy some though."

Silence squeezes between the two of you when the attempt at conversation fails. You sigh and begin to glance around the cave for something interesting. Briefly, you catch sight of pointy-shaped rocks up ahead and-

"Hey, I have a question, [Y/n]," Zoro abruptly pulled you out of your observation.

"Hm?" you hummed turning your head to him as you kept walking.

"How come you don't drink?" 

"Oh- uh- I guess I just got used to not being able to drink," you shrugged. "My island sorta outlawed alcohol."

"What? How did your people survive? That sounds like a nightmare," Zoro said dreading the idea of living in a place that didn't have booze.

You giggled at him, "Maybe to you, however, thanks to that law, pirates didn't care to visit our little island." A memory flashes in your mind and your smile disappears. "At least until..."

Zoro stops and places a hand on your shoulder making you halt. You glanced at where his eyes would be, unable to see them due to the darkness clouding the view. The outline of Zoro's mouth opens, about speak when-

"GUUUUUUUUYYYYSSSSSS!!!"

The area vibrated as your captain's voice bounced off the walls. Bits of rubble fell from the ceiling, landing on your head and shoulders. Your eyes glanced above your head, and you realized you two were under unstable rock spikes.

"WE FOUND THE TREASURE!!!" Luffy shouted down your cave. Larger rocks rolled down the sides of the wall.

See the full post

285 notes - Posted October 12, 2022

#2

Morning! I was reading through your masterlist and love your content so far, esp Cora ❤️ But I saw your writing on Ace and Sabo finding out their S/O used to be a slave, and was wondering if I could request that prompt for maybe Kid and Killer? If you’re interested, ofc! Either way, I’m glad I found your blog and hope you’re doing well!

Ahoy anon! I'm happy to hear you're enjoying my content. I wasn't sure if you wanted the characters to have separate or not so I did it how I originally did it. Feel free to request more in the future! ^-^

Reaction to Finding Out Their Fem! S/O was a Former Celestial Dragon Slave (Scenario): Kid and Killer (Separate)

Kid found out during a party on board his ship. While you were always vigilant to keep the celestial mark on your back out of view, your drunken state had loosened your state. It was a brief moment when the fabric lifted too high or dipped down too much but Kid spotted it.

He's shocked at first, the enjoyment he experienced moments ago completely shattered glass. It takes him three seconds to process this before he gets up and marches over to where you are. You were having fun and just chatting away with the crew members, swinging your choice of booze around, so you didn't understand why Kid wore such a salty expression approaching you.

"Hey, why you all grumpy, Mr. Grumpy-pants?" You asked poking his chest. "Turn that frown upside down."

Kid didn't amuse you, he picked you up over the shoulder and headed to the captain's quarters. You protest all you but his anger drowns out your complaining. He barks at the others not to disrupt the two of you unless they desire to die.

Once the two of you are in the privacy of his room, he reveals your back to see it really the celestial mark burned into your back. His fingers trace over the mark, rage boiling. How dare someone think they can just use you as property.

He would've thrown or broken something had it not been for you clapping your hands over his. He looked up to see your now sober and reassuring expression.

"Hey, it's alright, I'm here not there," you whispered to Kid. "I'm not under their control."

While that may have calmed him down there and then, that will not prevent him from despising the rulers of the world even more than beforehand. He will kill anyone if they find out you're a celestial slave and try to take you away from him.

See the full post

336 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hi!! first of all I read your mcdonald hc and this is so accurate lol this is my request! could u write s/o turn into smol child 🤏🤏🤏 like hc your write before? or if it's not in the case of Bonnie could you write like when he fighting with luffy? like his s/o use their power and become small🥺 Thank you!!!

Ahoy anon, thank you for your compliments on the McDonald's hc. My sincerest apologies for answering this so late but here it is at last!

How They Treat Their Fem!S/O Who Turned Into Smol Child (Headcanons): Luffy

Luffy thinks this is hilarious!

You're smol now (if you get mad it just makes it even funnier)

Still knows you 100% can still kick ass and will encourage you to still kick ass

You may be smol but that doesn't change his faith in your abilities

Moving on from the battlefield, Luffy has fun playing with smol you

Will carry you around for fun, you're so light and easy to carry

If you let him, he will hug your smol form because he just wants to hug you

Can you stay like this?

Wait no, you can't be stuck like this, he wants you back to normal

Tells Nami to set sail to find Bonnie

But that doesn't work because they have no idea where she is

Calls Traffy to see if he knows anything about her whereabouts

Luffy will find her, don't worry

When y'all do find Bonnie, Luffy holds you up in front of her

"TURN [Y/N] BACK TO NORMAL! Uh- please"

434 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[paganwitchisis]

What Love Can Change Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The End Battle and A New Beginning

Rated: E for Explicit!!

Pairing: AFAB Female Tav/Spawn Astarion

Words: 8,632

TRIGGER WARNING -Breeding kink, violence, descriptions of trauma, sexual assault, torture, suicide attempt and mention/idealization, self harm, starvation, depression, pregnancy, hyper-sexuality, Dead Dove Don’t Eat and rape

Some dialog is from the game to keep it close to the source material!

Thank you @alyssac9 for proofreading and kicking butt at it!

AO3 link is here!

Please let me know what you think as the next chapter is the finale!!

Story:

The trek up to the brain was perilous and chaotic. After taking out a large number of enemies with the assistance of Voss and the strange ox, the group ran into their old allies and the rest of the companions in a dilapidated building. Tav was quick to recruit the rest of their companions to their side as it was all hands-on deck. The end showdown and Tav was certain she would need the help. She had to give a small speech and Astarion was never prouder to have her as his wife.

 As soon as they left, the group had to race up the stairs and through the rubble of the city as fire reigned from above. Nautiloids, that were previously circling around them, began to fire at them in force. It was Tav’s quick thinking that saved the party and got them to the top of High Hall, which led them to the brain stem of the Netherbrain. They simply didn’t have the firepower to take on the nautiloids, which left them with one recourse – to run.

At the brain stem, the party was panting from their trek and exhausted; thankfully, one of the mind flayers’ healing pods were nearby and helped them all heal up for their next encounter. Tav looked up the stem and sighed, this was it. Before she could speak to the group, a waterskin was held out to her by Astarion, and she, for a brief moment, questioned how he knew she needed the water.

“Did you forget our bond?” Astarion smiled slightly as he watched his wife drink a good portion of the water down. He tucked the pouch into his pack and threaded his fingers into her hair. She leaned into the interaction, while he brought his lips to hers. He drank her in deeply and didn’t care that the rest of their friends circled around them. If this was the last time he would share a kiss with his wife, he was making it count. As they kissed, Tav had to suppress a moan, their kiss was becoming too much and not enough at the same time, which led her to pull back. She kissed his forehead and mumbled against his lips, so only, he could hear.

“Let’s save the rest for after we kill this brain. I have a naughty idea I want to explore with you after this is all done.”

“Deal. You better come back to me alive... the both of you.” Astarion replied and pulled back from his wife. She gave another small speech about this being the end of their fighting, and then, as a group, they all climbed the stem.

They weren’t prepared for what they saw once they reached the top.

There was a red dragon, and The Emperor stood in their path to the brain. Orpheus had expressed a need to get to the other side, so Tav quickly came up with a plan. Due to her pregnancy, Astarion would escort her and Orpheus to the other side as they attacked the dragon at a distance. The others would distract and kill the mind flayer, the dragon, and the other summoned enemies in their path. They would call for help from their friends as much as possible, to ensure that their group survived because Tav was not a fool; she knew dragons were difficult opponents, and she refused to lose any of their friends along the way.

Tav began to dash up the side and away from the dragon in the middle of the brain and field they were on. Astarion used his action to call upon Rolan’s arsenal and dropped fire from the sky, as well. They were fighting fire with fire. Tentacles sprung up in their path as they tried to escort Orpheus, which delayed the couple as they swung and took down the tentacles as they progressed. Rolan’s attack had hurt the dragon considerably, and Barcus’s Iron Gnomes sent grenadiers to assist, which easily wiped the floor with some of the fodder enemies on the brain. Until just the dragon and The Emperor remained.

Tav spotted a nautiloid in the distance, gearing up to attack them, and she knew they were running out of time. Her and her allies began calling reinforcements from every group they knew, including the Flaming Fists, which she was still apprehensive about; however, the seriousness of the situation distracted her from her fears. With a well-placed Chromatic Orb, The Emperor was defeated, and Tav felt a sense of justice and elation in regard to smiting him. He wanted to use their weaknesses against them but as a team, their strengths filled in the gaps and protected each other. Finally, they only had a dragon to contend with, and the party began to unleash their unbridled rage at the beast.

Gale used Hold Monster, and this guaranteed a critical hit from their party as long as the dragon was held. Tav shot an arrow at the dragon, as she climbed the platform at the other end of the field. Astarion followed that attack up with a firebolt. As Orpheus began to work magic and open a portal, the dragon finally fell; only a couple of people had singed leather armor as a result. The dragon bowing down and crippling under the pressure and might of their entire party and friends. They lost a few Iron Gnomes and Flaming Fist along the way, but they would make sure their sacrifices weren’t in vain.

Once the portal was open, Tav and the gang jumped inside to face their ultimate test. The Netherbrain.

“The brain is weakened – This is our chance!” Orpheus called out when Tav hopped through the portal.

Tav came out to an area with sections broken off that appeared unstable. She moved out of the mouth of the portal and down a section, using ranged attacks to inflict damage on the brain. As her companions came through one by one, Astarion used his short bow, Wyll used Eldritch Blast, Jaheira transformed into a wolf and bit at the brain, and so on. Each person took a shot at the brain, until it was on its last ounce of strength. Tav moved to another platform as the platforms were falling and stabbed at the brain, and it screamed in pain.

“Get back through the portal!” Tav yelled out, after delivering the final blow to the brain. She didn’t have to do much as Orpheus pulled them back with psychic energy and tossed them back onto the brain as the platforms gave out. Everyone made it through the portal as Orpheus stepped forward. The Netherbrain cried out.

“I-impossible. PAIN. FEAR. TERROR. Reconsider. Assess. Implore. SURRENDER”

Wielding the stones in front of him, Orpheus spoke. “There. At last. It is subdued.”

The Netherbrain called out once more, in a final attempt to manipulate, “Spare me. Join me. Wield me. BECOME ABSOLUTE.”

“And thus, I honor my mother’s legacy.” Orpheus wasn’t phased by the brain’s declaration. “The Grand Design, once again, ended by my line.”

It was at this moment that Tav was struck with the opportunity to betray Orpheus, but she would never do that. Instead, she spoke to Orpheus about the situation.

“Go ahead. Command the brain to destroy all tadpoles and then itself,” Tav demanded of the githyanki prince.

The Netherstones began to shake as screams of unborn illithids cried out all around them. Then, without warning, a pain rips through you, obliterating all thought, all feeling. Your tadpole burns in your brain.

Silence.

For the first time in a long time, your thoughts are entirely your own. And then – gravity.

The stem of the brain began to have mini explosions, the brain shaking and twisting in the air before it plummeted to the ground. Tav held on for dear life as the brain collapsed into the Grey Harbor. The cold water was a shock to her system as she could no longer hold on while the brain was descending. Tav and the gang fell a distance away from the brain, which was a blessing, because when they were under the water, it exploded. The Crown of Karsus sank into the Chionthar. She was struggling to break the surface when an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her up and she gasped for breath. She turned her head to see Astarion was the one holding her up. He began to swim to the docks, pulling her along with him.

“Are you injured?” Astarion asked as he swam.

“N-No. Are you okay?” Tav coughed up some water trapped in her lungs.

“I’m alright,” Astarion grunted as he used his vampiric strength to help his wife get up and on the dock ledge. She pulled herself up and then helped Astarion get on the dock. From looking out onto the Chionthar, she could see her friends swimming towards her as they were gathering together.

“The crown!” Tav whispered to Astarion. “It’s in the harbor!”

“It’s okay. As long as Gale doesn’t dig it up, I can find it later.” Astarion whispered back and kissed Tav briefly. He needed to touch his wife; he craved her after the intense battle. Both of them were cleaned because of the Chionthar, but they were previously covered in blood, which got Astarion wanting as he saw his wife covered in the blood of their enemies. Soon, the party had grouped up on the docks.

“I should be relieved to be alive, but my blood still simmers…” Lae’zel was the first to comment.

“We beat the Absolute! And we didn’t even have to turn into mind flayers to do it!” Astarion cried out, elated to still have his family, and beaten the Absolute at the same time. The tadpoles were gone but Astarion and Tav still had a bond through their link. The link between their rings and the link Mystra had established was still there. “Oh, eh – Sorry. I didn’t mean to... well you know.” Astarion spoke to Orpheus.

“Even when my time in the Prism stretches out like an eternity – when escape seemed impossible – I never lost hope.” Orpheus walked between the group towards the main area on the dock, the group parting to let him through. “I knew that my destiny was to liberate my people. To return to them triumphant.” Orpheus turned around to face the group. “I was wrong. It seems I can only fulfill one part of my destiny – my people will be liberated, but I cannot return to them. Not like this. You helped me destroy that abomination. Now, help me destroy myself. You must kill me.” Orpheus held out his sword towards Tav, whose blood ran cold. She couldn’t kill him. She couldn’t. But how to convince him? She took the sword from his hands and waited as Orpheus continued to talk.

“But first, Lae’zel, I need your promise. Carry my hope.” Orpheus got on his knees. “Carry my burden. Call my dragons, Quulos and Quuthos, and ride to the astral sea. Destroy Vlaakith, release our people. Be our future and our legacy.”

“You should do this Lae’zel,” Tav spoke up. “Your people need you.”

“It will be done. I will never be free while my people are still bound by Vlaakith’s chains.” Lae’zel spoke with determination as her mentor bestowed upon her such a momentous task.

“Enough talk – give me my freedom, freedom from this form.”

“You’re a mind flayer but you’re still you, aren't you?” Tav asked the man before her.

“Yes, but for how long? My mind screams. It will never stop until it has slipped away from me entirely.” The mind flayer looked up towards Tav. “I will not be ghaik! I did what I had to, to save my people. The rest is up to them. Someone else must rise within the ranks to lead the revolution against Vlaakith. Give me my freedom from this form, release my soul to the Astral Seas while I still have one to call my own.

Tav took a breath to steady herself and said, “You may not be able to return to your people, Orpheus. But you deserve to live to see their future.”

“Perhaps you are right.” The mind flayer rationalized. “I may not be the one to lead my people, but I can still bear witness to their glory.” Orpheus got to his feet and stood before Tav. She felt her anxiety release as she successfully persuaded him to give up on his suicide wish. “You were a worthy ally.”

Gale spoke up and said, “Freedom is freedom, no matter the form. I hope he finds peace with his newfound nature – it’s the least he deserves.”

Tav looked to the sky, and she was slightly started to see dozens of red dragons’ portal away.

“The githyanki are leaving,” Shadowheart chimed in. “It would have been hard to imagine parting ways from them peacefully, once…”

With that, Lae’zel had declared that Tav would have her name etched in their slates. That she would be known as a liberator. Tav smiled sadly as she watched her friend and Orpheus fly away, not knowing when she would see her again.

Tav knew this day would come but it still stung. She wished her friend well and genuinely hoped everything went well for her friend. Tav was a little upset, but she wouldn’t let it show. Only Astarion knew it bothered her because of their link. If he noticed, he said nothing except his eyes were on her. She suspected he was aware.

Tav looked towards the dock as Karlach sunk to her knees.

“Oh no…” Tav knew what was happening as her best friend struggled. She was scared and concerned. It was too soon! She couldn’t lose her best friend!

“We did it, soldier. The city’s going to be alright. And so are you.” Tav ran up to her friend but didn’t get too close because of the fire circling her friend. “Engines finally cooked. Held on just long enough.” Karlach writhed a little in pain. “So. H-how did I do?”

“No, Karlach! Stay with me! We can still save you!”  The fire surrounding her exploded and Karlach warned Tav that she was running hot. Astarion was next to Tav, protecting his wife and supporting her as they tried to solve the situation with her best friend.

“How’d I do? Spectacular. It’s the one thing I can’t beat, isn’t it? Same as below as above. Gods!” Karlach collapsed in pain as she held on. “Goodbye sun. Goodbye sea. Goodbye.”

Wyll came running up the side and dropped to his knees. “No. Stop. I won’t allow this! Karlach – you’re coming with me. Back to Avernus. We can’t let her die – not like this. Not now.” Tav agreed with Wyll and hoped her best friend would go back to Avernus and spare her life.

“You can’t. you…”

 “Go, Karlach. You won’t be alone. Wyll will be with you. Please go! I want you to see your nephew when he is born! I want you to live! You’re my best friend.”

“All right. All right, but we have to go. Now!”  Wyll then left with Karlach, Tav’s best friend and her heart felt like it would break. She was happy, though, that Karlach would live. That was a main concern for her, and she was relieved about the situation's resolution. She was scared of Karlach dying after everything she did.

Gale then ominously walked up to Tav.

“The Crown – it’s somewhere in the Chionthar.” Gale seemed conflicted. “If I salvage the stones, I could retrieve it. Perhaps even wield it. But what then? What would I do with it, once I have it?”

“Perhaps it is best to leave it where it is? Lest anyone should be tempted by such power,” Tav attempted to dissuade the wizard and felt relieved when it succeeded.

“You speak the truth as hubris has gotten the better of me before. Besides, I quite like this merry band of ours. I’m sure Mystra will summon me soon enough. But until then, I propose we celebrate our victory the mortal way, with a drink in our hands and reckless abandon in our hearts!”

“A celebration sounds perfect.” Tav attempted to relax, the adrenaline wearing out.

Astarion cheerily replied, “I don’t care where we go.” His skin didn’t burn like expected due to the Sun Walker’s ring that was affixed to his middle finger next to his wedding ring. Astarion walked over to Tav and wrapped his left arm around her waist, bringing her close and offering support while she hurt. She lost her best friend – Karlach, Wyll, and Lae’zel in a matter of minutes. She was grateful for the support as they made their way to the Elfsong Tavern, in the hopes it was still standing. The city was a rubble-filled yard of destruction. The upper city got hit worse than any other area, the High Hall was decimated.

Tav was exhausted now that the adrenaline had worn off. As her and the gang made their way through the streets, people cheered who had seen that group fall off the Netherbrain. It was an awkward experience as she wasn't used to being the center of attention.

“You’re a hero, my love,” Astarion commented slyly. “We all are.”

“I don’t want to be a hero. I’d rather we just fade into the background and live our lives in private... minus our friends, of course”

“I’m very happy to hear you say that,” Astarion said as they passed another group of Baldurians, who were celebrating the fall of the Absolute. The group turned the last corner, their friends were talking animatedly because of the recent victory.

“I hope you know you’re supporting us by buying the best bottle of wine they have,” Shadowheart said to Tav, who chuckled.

“I’m sure Astarion would like some of that wine too,” Tav said as Shadowheart had a look of horror. It was as if the woman expected to have the bottle to herself and it made Tav laugh. “Don’t worry, we have the funds, I can afford to buy you both a bottle.”

“We’re going to have to start thinking of the future now that you’re expecting. Money will be a big problem. I mean, what can I do that is honest for the family?” Astarion asked and Tav immediately replied, a thought on her mind for some time.

“You’re great with your hands, why not open your own shop? Become a tailor!”

Astarion thought for a moment as they walked and finally broke the silence once they crossed the threshold.

“If you think it’s a good idea, I’m willing to try. I want to show my son that his father can be an honest man.” Astarion commented as they went to the bar in the building. The Elfsong was lucky while most of the other businesses were not as fortunate. The Elfsong Tavern had a few singed beams on their roof; however, the rest seemed to be okay. Surrounding buildings, like the Sorcerer's Sundries and the Stormshore Tabernacle, were partly damaged. The second floor of the Sorcerer's Sundries was blown off, while the Stormshore Tabernacle was missing its roof in places, fire raging on other parts of their roof. Astarion wasn't concerned because those businesses were far enough away that they posed no threat.

Tav was surprised when they made it to the bar, and Duke Ravengard was there, surrounded by a cacophony of people; the loud chatter made her ears ring. The people surrounding the Duke and his Flaming Fist guards opened up as Duke Ravengard addressed the people crowding around him. The loud chatter became hushed whispers as the duke’s booming voice rang out.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, let me present to you the Saviors of Baldur’s Gate! These intrepid adventurers risked their lives for months while they investigated and defeated the Absolute and their army. I am proud to call my son one of these adventurers—Wyll Ravengard. It is thanks to these adventurers that we won today, and that Baldur’s Gate is safe!” The duke called out and raised Tav’s hand while everyone cheered. Astarion beamed as he watched his wife receive the accolades she deserved. He knew this day would be hard on them but after she lost a few friends, it was nice to see some positive encouragement. Something good after facing down and surviving so much that had been building up to that point.

Astarion walked up to Tav, who was still the center of attention, and once she was released, they tried to find a quiet and secluded area near the bar. This proved impossible, so they did the next best thing: hung out with their friends. Tav was laughing and having a wonderful time with her remaining friends, when occasionally, someone would walk up and ask for an autograph from the group. This is also when Astarion spotted trouble. A couple of men were drinking close by, both with ashen brown hair, one with green eyes and the other with blue eyes, kept looking at Tav and inching their way closer to her. Astarion was no fool and could see they lusted for his wife. The first man, the man with green eyes spoke lowly to the second man.

“Do you see her rack? She is hot as fuck, Adam!”

“I know, right? I’d love to fuck them.” The second man, Adam, replied

“She is surrounded by men; how do you propose we get her attention?”

“Watch this…” Adam got up from the table, and with a glass of wine in his hand, he stumbled over to Tav, but before he could do anything more, Astarion shoulder-checked the man and made him spill his wine on himself. Astarion knew his trick. He was going to spill the wine on his beloved and in an effort to clean her up, he’d cop a feel on her succulent breasts. That would not do. Astarion instead flipped the script and glared at the man. Adam puffed out his chest and squared himself before the vampire, unaware that the vampire was stronger than he was by a long shot. Astarion chuckled and stood in front of the man.

“Apologies. It appears your wine never made it to my wife.” Astarion called him out. “You’d best turn around.” Astarion flashed a toothy smile, exposing his fangs. The man before him grew stiff and pale; he stuttered and backed up, grabbing the other man, his friend, with him and running out the door, dragging the other man behind him.

“Let’s get out of here!” Adam exclaimed as they ran off from the Elfsong Tavern.

“What was that about?” Tav walked over to Astarion to ask him.

“Just some wretches trying to get in your pants,” Astarion honestly replied.

Tav chuckled and leaned up to kiss her husband. Astarion took her lips and deepened the kiss right away, marking his territory in a way. She was his and he was going to let the world know one way or another. Once her stomach swelled, it would be easier to stake his claim but for the time being, he would find other ways. He glanced around the pub briefly, once he pulled his lips from hers, and he couldn’t tell if those watching him and her show their love were interested in either of them more. She was a vision, a goddess, and he was beyond gorgeous in his respective opinion, so it could be a toss-up. Regardless of who lusted over who, Astarion wanted his wife. They survived near death with the destruction of the Netherbrain and so passion overtook his senses. He couldn’t wait to leave the tavern and find their private room.

“What do you say we celebrate privately?” Astarion suggested in a whisper to her ear; his body pressed against hers so she could feel the effect she was having on him. Tav jerked her head to the side, in the direction of the stairs, before nodding. He at least had the presence of mind to inform their companions they were retiring for the night. Tav dropped a bag of gold on the table and told them to have fun at her expense. Astarion disagreed with this decision because of the child. They would need money to raise their baby, but this just made him resolve himself even more to get an honest profession and be a good role model for his child.

Astarion held Tav’s hand and skipped up the stairs with her in tow. She giggled at his schoolboy antics, and he loved the sound. He loved to hear her giggle and laugh; he loved to hear her moan and groan in pleasure. He loved to see her smile; he loved everything there was to do with his wife. She enamored him, and nothing would ever change that. He planned to make love to his wife, and when she slept, he would go swimming for the crown, which no doubt laid on the bottom of the Chionthar. He could see in the dark and didn’t need to breathe, so it made sense that he would be the one who would look for the crown. He didn’t want to waste any time on making his wife immortal, so they could start the next chapter of their lives together. In reality, he was scared of losing her before the deal was complete with Mystra.

Astarion picked his wife up and kicked the door open. Striding through the door, he couldn’t help the question on his mind.

“What do you say tomorrow we go to our new house and start sprucing it up? We need a proper house before you get into your third trimester. Maybe we can look for baby furniture while we’re at it.”

Astarion put Tav on the bed and returned to lock the door before she replied. “I’d love that. We already have a name for our son, now, we just need the rest. Maybe some clothes?”

“We’re not buying any clothes,” Astarion replied as he kicked off his boots and walked to Tav, who was sitting on the side of the bed. He began to undo the laces of her boots and slowly slid them off her.

“Why not? Our child can't be naked Astarion.”

“Our child isn’t the normal riffraff on the streets. I’ll make all of his clothes. He deserves something better and unique compared to other kids.”

“As long as the clothes can easily be accessible to change his diapers, is all that matter. Remember, our son is going to shit and puke on those clothes, just as much as any other baby.”

Astarion kissed Tav’s instep as he removed each boot. He kissed up her leg and switch to the other before he replied.

“Which is my duty. You’re already doing the hard part, growing a child and delivery. The least I can do is diapers, feedings, and anything else our son needs... or you need. Speaking of delivery and needs, we still have to do our nightly ritual of sorts.”

Tav sighed as she knew what he was referring to. Astarion had been gently stretching and coaxing her vaginal walls like the healer suggested, those many moons ago. They did this every night, with a few exceptions. He began stripping his wife, who tugged his shirt up and over his head. He kissed her dearly and slipped her underwear off along with her trousers. Her armor had been discarded prior to taking off her boots, because he knew it would get in the way later. His Helldusk armor was easy to remove but her medium armor had tricky latches.

Astarion grabbed their bottle of lubrication and began to work her vaginal hole open with his thumbs in a ‘U’ like fashion on the bottom of her entrance. He would do everything he could to avoid her perineum being ripped or cut open and causing further pain and healing problems during labor. She moaned while he worked her, which made him long for her.

“Take off your shirt,” Astarion demanded as his hands finished up his task. Tav listened and shrugged the shirt and bra off, baring herself completely to him.

“Gods, I can’t wait to take you tonight.”

“Um, I have a request,” Tav meekly replied as Astarion used a rag nearby to wipe the lubrication off his fingers.

“Yes, darling?”

“Can I... take you tonight? I want to make love to you; I want to make you feel good.”

Astarion paused a moment and thought it through. He gave her a warm smile and nodded. “I’d love to have you make love to me. I have something for you to make love to me in.”

“I already have a strap…”

“This one is better. Trust me, Tav, just try it on before you dismiss it, please,” Astarion interrupted, and Tav nodded; she could give him the benefit of the doubt.

Astarion went to his pack and pulled out the strap. Tav immediately noticed why it was a marked improvement compared to the last one. Not only did it have a vibrator attached to the bottom of the strap, but it had a smaller vibrator in the back. She would receive dual pleasure while she made love to her husband, who would no doubt feel the vibrating feature.

“When did you find time to get this?”

“I have my ways.” Astarion smirked a salacious smile and began helping Tav get the device on. He used the lube to prep her backside before they could finish putting on the device, but it felt awkward to use it, and it wasn’t even on yet. He took her lips to his own as he prepped her back end for the intrusion. After a little bit of time, she was rocking on his digits once again, so he placed the strap on her, both devices going into her orifices, which made her gasp at the cool devices. They were in her and she moaned, not daring to turn those devices on. Not yet at least.

Astarion added a rather large toy of his own to the device. It wasn’t a vibrator but just a regular toy.

“Why give me the ones that vibrate but not you?” Tav couldn’t help the question spill out.

“That was on purpose, darling. I won’t last with you if mine did the same thing. That and I’ll feel the ones affecting you as you fuck me. Just trust me on this.”

“Then… could I prep you for once?”

THE REST IS ON AO3. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING.

[linuxgamenews]

Windblown Fast Action: Experience Fast Moves and Upgrades in Early Access

Windblown fast action roguelite game releases in Early Access for Steam Deck and Linux via Windows PC. Thanks to the creative minds at Motion Twin. Available now on Steam, along with solid 93% Very Positive reviews. Windblown, the latest fast action roguelite from the folks over at Motion Twin (the team behind Dead Cells), has just released in Early Access. Where it is due to take up to a minimum of one year. If you're a fan of fast-paced combat, slick moves, and upgrading your character to become an unstoppable force, this one's for you. It's also Steam Deck (verified) and Linux via Proton, with controller support. You can jump into Windblown solo or team up with up to two friends for some fast action co-op online. The game throws you into different biomes, each packed with hidden secrets and tough enemies. As you play, you’ll upgrade your character, called the Leaper, by collecting a ton of different weapons, trinkets, gifts, and even something called Magifish (yeah, that’s a thing!). At release, you’ll have five unique biomes to explore, 15 awesome weapons (each with their own move sets and powerful attacks). There is also a bunch of upgrades to mess around with. If you're looking for even more of a challenge after beating the game. There's also a customizable difficulty modifier to test your skills. And here’s something unique: if you delve into the fast action of Windblown between now and November 8, 2024, you’ll unlock a special Intern skin. Dead Cells fans might find it oddly familiar, but it's a neat way to show off your style. If you tried out the single-player demo during Steam Next Fest, you’ll also get a Guinea Pig skin. Since all the progress you made will carry over to the full release.

Windblown fast action Trailer

But it’s not just about the fast action gameplay — Windblown has a killer soundtrack, too. The music, composed by the artist Danger, adds even more energy to the action. If you’re digging the tunes, you can snag the full soundtrack on Steam now. The Early Access period isn’t just a time to play, it’s also your chance to help shape the title. Motion Twin is planning to add more biomes, weapons, and features over time, all based on community feedback. So if you want to be part of the conversation, check out their Steam Event post to see what’s coming. Or hop into the official Discord to chat with the dev's, share your thoughts, and trade strategies with other players. Your ideas might end up shaping the future of the title. And if you're thinking about buying the game, now’s the perfect time. Windblown fast action roguelite is available at a 20% launch discount until November 7, 2024 on Steam. Dropping the price to $19.99 USD / £17.59 / 19,99€. Plus, if you’ve already have Dead Cells in your Steam library, you can save another 10% thanks to a special bundle deal. Ready to leap into the action? It's allwaiting for you in Early Access, so grab your weapons, and dash through those biomes. Show the Sentinels who's boss or die trying. Available on Linux and Steam Deck Verified with Proton, via Windows PC. Get your hands on this controller and take your gaming to the next level

[magiclandgame]

Unlocking the Secrets of Magic Rummy: A Comprehensive Guide to Winning Introduction

Introduction

Magic Rummy is one of the most exciting and rewarding games on the Magic Land app. With its combination of strategy, skill, and a dash of luck, Magic Rummy offers players an exhilarating experience where they can win real money. Whether you’re a seasoned Rummy player or a newcomer eager to learn, this guide will help you master the game and maximize your winnings.

Understanding Rummy

Rummy is a classic card game with a rich history, beloved by millions worldwide. The game's primary objective is to form valid sequences and sets from the cards dealt to you. A sequence is a consecutive grouping of three or more cards of the same suit, while a set is a group of three or four cards of the same rank but different suits.

Variants of Rummy

Magic Land offers several exciting Rummy variants to cater to different playing styles:

Points Rummy: The quickest form of Rummy, where each game is played for points that have a pre-decided rupee value. Pool Rummy: A variant where players aim to avoid accumulating the maximum points (101 or 201) to stay in the game. Deals Rummy: Played for a fixed number of deals, where players start with chips, and the player with the most chips at the end wins.

Winning Strategies for Magic Rummy

Playing 13 card rummy on the Magic Land app can be both exciting and rewarding. Here are some strategies to enhance your gameplay and increase your chances of winning:

Prioritize Pure Sequences

Always aim to create a pure sequence as quickly as possible, as it’s a crucial part of forming a valid hand. A pure sequence is one without any jokers. This is especially important in cash rummy, where forming a pure sequence early can set you up for success.

Use Jokers Wisely

Jokers are versatile and can substitute for any card to form sets or sequences. Use them strategically to complete non-pure sequences or sets. Jokers can be a game-changer, so plan their use carefully, especially in real money rummy games.

Discard High-Value Cards

If they aren’t part of a sequence or set, discard high-value cards like Kings, Queens, and Jacks early to minimize potential points if your opponent declares first. This tactic is particularly useful in online rummy games where the competition can be fierce.

Watch Your Opponent

Pay attention to your opponent’s discards and picks from the open deck. This can give you valuable insights into their hand and strategy. Observing your opponent’s moves is a crucial skill in 13-card rummy.

Practice Makes Perfect

Regular practice on Magic Land will enhance your skills and improve your ability to form winning strategies. Consistent practice is key to mastering Magic Rummy and becoming a formidable player.

Benefits of Playing Rummy on Magic Land Real Money Rewards

Compete in cash rummy games and tournaments to win substantial prizes. The opportunity to win real money adds an exciting dimension to your gaming experience.

User-Friendly Interface

Enjoy a seamless gaming experience with intuitive controls and appealing graphics. Magic Land offers a platform that is easy to navigate, making it simple to play rummy online.

Secure and Fair Play

Magic Land ensures a safe gaming environment with strict anti-fraud measures and random card shuffling. You can trust that your online rummy experience is fair and secure.

Community and Support

Engage with a vibrant community of players and receive excellent customer support 24*7. Magic Land offers a supportive community that enhances the overall gaming experience.

Conclusion

Magic Rummy on the Magic Land app offers a thrilling experience for both beginners and experienced players. By understanding the rules, practicing regularly, and applying strategic thinking, you can enhance your skills and increase your chances of winning real money. Download the Magic Land app today and dive into the exciting world of Magic Rummy! Join the fun, challenge your skills, and experience the thrill of real money rummy like never before!

[dollfat]

no one asked but i played the iron throne at least a dozen times and wanna write down my advice for freeing all the prisoners

BEFORE GOING DOWN IN THE SUB

this should be the first thing you do after long resting.

longstrider on everyone. boots with click heels if you have them. potions of speed or haste right before opening the hatch recommend. any gear that allows free movement as enemies will try to ensnare you. misty step also useful.

im writing this assuming you broke wyll's deal with mizora as i have no experience with the other way. i dont think it changes much besides difficulty freeing ravenguard.

this is not an exact guide due to the random nature of the game. the rounds will become less and less predictable. if something goes wrong in the first couple turns its easier to start over. like if all your attacks miss or the enemies successfully ensnare you. or highest initiative goes to the player in the back of the party, they'll have to travel farther or waste a bonus action jumping over the others. and every movement counts in the first few turns.

COMPANIONS TO BRING:

Wyll for plot reasons, i usually give him the click heel boots

shadowheart/ any cleric who knows sanctuary, guardian of faith, or spirit guardians

any class with multiple attacks like fighter, ranger, barbarian, etc

rogue or monk who can dash as a bonus action

GENERAL TIPS:

every door can be opened by shooting at a nearby lever, there's no need for lockpicking or knock spells. this is why multiple attacks are essential.

prisoners cannot be moved by force, i.e. being thrown or teleported with dimension door. none of them will try and attack enemies or help others, just disengage and dash. i dont recomend using sanctuary on them as that might mess with their pathfinding, maybe i was unlucky tho.

this level is huge and prone to glitches as more enemies spawn. using followers like a ranger's companion or spiritual weapon is risky for this reason. or maybe my steam deck is just weak.

ROUND 1:

go down the ladder, you'll be in a four way intersection. there are people to rescue to the North (same direction facing when level starts) East and West. you do not need to go south to save anyone.

there are two doors you can open in that immediate area, the prisoners may talk to you as you pass. you can free them now or on your way back. as they have the shortest distance to run, they're less of a priority as the prisoners down the halls.

to the West is ravenguard. player 1 should get as close to the door as possible with dash and misty step. ignore enemies for now. shoot the levers by the doors where there's people if you have extra moves.

to the North is a room filled with water, one person is behind a door you can shoot with an arrow and a woman tied down you HAVE to free with Help. get as close to her as possible.

enemies will keep spawning in this North room so dont try and fight them. player 2 that heads this way should be able to dodge attacks or shrug off a lot of damage.

to the East is an enemy who will likely opportunity attack you. ignore for now but plan to kill as it will try and trap the escapees.

player 3 should get as far into the East hallway as possible. from a certain position in the room you can shoot both door levers without moving. plan to kill both enemies as they'll attack escapees. characters with multiple attacks highly recommended.

player 4 is for assistance. i recommend a cleric heading West toward ravenguard to attack the enemy in the hall. you'll want to cast sanctuary on ravenguard as soon as he's free. he's unlike the other prisoners as you can control him.

ROUND TWO:

in the West hallway, free ravenguard and the prisoners to his left. as soon as you can control him head toward the ladder. a cutscene will play before you can leave the room. after the cutscene ravenguard cannot move and will need to be helped or wait till the effect wears off next turn. cast sanctuary on him ASAP. attack nearby enemies but dont worry if you dont defeat them this turn.

in North room, free tied down prisoner and one in the cell. start heading toward the right hallway where omelleum is. enemies will continuously spawn from the center so dont try and fight them. just hope they dont kill the escapees.

East room, shoot levers to free escapees. attack enemies who will try and stop them. if escapees are ensnared you can Help them or wait for condition to end.

in the East hallway there are explosive barrels. if theyre in the way the escapees will attack them. this could cause injury and activate the lever to close the door. the npcs are not smart enough to hit the lever so you'll waste a turn opening it again. move the barrels or make sure the player doesn't block their path.

West. once sanctuary is cast on ravenguard you can finish off the enemies in the East hallway or start heading back to the center room with the ladder.

ROUND 3:

if something goes wrong and you cant complete these actions this round. keep moving/attacking and try again round 4.

West. once ravenguard is free make him dash toward the ladder. do not make him attack or he'll lose sanctuary.

mizora spawned crabs around ravenguard but he should be protected by sanctuary. the player should not attack them as they'll explode and cause splash damage.

once every escapee is out of the room you can ignore the enemies and close the door. they'll attack the door or growl. start heading back to the center room.

North. ignore enemies and continue heading to the right. shoot the lever to open the door. you'll need to Free omelleum like the tied down girl. attack enemies if you have a spare action but do not leave omelleum's side.

East. finish attacking enemies and help anyone ensnared. start heading back to the ladder.

Center. the two escapees in the North hallway are at the biggest risk due to the constantly spawning enemies. if they are lucky and outrun them, you can start closing doors on the enemies by shooting the levers at an angle or with a thunder arrow. the enemies are not smart enough to attack the lever.

if the escapees cannot outrun the enemies, this is a good place to cast spirit guardians or guardian of faith.

be sure not to block the ladder or escapees will lose a turn.

dont forget the two prisoners in the center room if you didnt free them while passing by.

ROUND 4+

each player should be heading toward the ladder in the center room. do not block the ladder. make sure you're close enough to get to the safe pod in one turn with dash.

Omelleum has a move like dimension door that will allow him to teleport himself and one ally to the safe pod. once in the safe pod do Not go back out. you could block the ladder or risk not returning in time.