#dying light 2 factions

[dicktat]

Choices and Consequences.

…yet what’s yours?

I’m fucking stupid I forgot to share it here anyways happy 2 year anniversary I love this game what if dl2 was a manga

(Black n white under cut)

[kassandras-one-braincell]

I need to ramble into the void about Arcane season 2 act 2 because I'm a fucking wreck, but genuinely overjoyed too. Mostly sobbing, though. There is a smidge of LoL lore under the cut too but that's just me being autistic.

This show is genius. I have so many thoughts. The Glorious Evolution is at the forefront of most of them.

Viktor's commune is so cleverly designed, and brings in different elements from the whole of Runeterra. The architecture is distinctly Ionian, the foliage is Ixtali, and the colour palette is Demacian but with the iridescence of the Arcane. It's such a brilliant design choice. And immortalising Skye as this symbol of curiosity and progress, the epitome of true scientific partnership, is beautiful. It's amazing to see Viktor becoming a fully fleshed-out character with a complex and appealing motive.

Speaking of, Singed???

Singed's experimentation finally makes sense. I was always hoping to see Orianna in Arcane, and this was the best possible outcome. A villain gains a motive, my first ever main has her lore integrated into the events of the show, and his little music box has so much more meaning. Every single character has a moral plight in this show. The gasp I gusped upon seeing that ballerina figurine literally woke my dad up.

Jayce, Piltover's face of progress, being the undoing of the commune is just poetic. I'm living for biblically accurate Jayce.

Vander made me ugly-cry at least three times. Making him into Warwick was the right choice. And the 2D animation of the bloodlust, replicating that in-game mechanic, was so good. That oil-painting-style flashback sequence with Vi and Powder and their mother was a bloody masterpiece. I'm really glad there was an act dedicated to him.

Mel. Fucking Mel. The Black Rose is one of the most interesting factions in LoL, and god, am I glad they kept Mel's arc going by intrinsically tying her into them. The integration of Noxian lore has been impeccable thus far. Ambessa explaining the three core values to Caitlyn was a lovely touch.

I'm glad Ambessa's right hand (forgot his name) Pantheon't bit the bullet, because his resemblance to a certain Targonian Aspect was starting to freak me out. Very curious where her arc is tending towards.

As soul-destroying as it was to see Isha's sacrifice, it was essential to Jinx's character arc. Sweet baby girl. She will live on happily in fix-it fics. I haven't cried this hard at a piece of media since the first season. Her innocent joy at having her hair dyed and braided like her big sister, and the montage in the Powder-like sketchy art style before she pulled the trigger on zap... They couldn't have written a more gut-wrenching sacrifice if they tried.

And finally, while it was contained within the more light-hearted episode of the Act, Sevika. I have no quarrel with the fuckass bob. She cannot catch a break, or keep a prosthetic together. But the payoff was getting to see her organic arm in its full thick, muscular glory. The calm before the storm. Happy thoughts.

1000/10, cannot wait for the final Act, as much as it will wound us all, probably.

[tafferling]

Dying Light: Monsters, We. Character Spotlight!

The Lady Séraphine

Séraphine is the leader of the Church, a faction that ultimately replaces the Renegades in Dying Light 2.

She embodies an in-between of humanity's fading purity, anchored to the darkness threatening All; a darkness she is obsessed with and will do anything to conquer.

Séraphine is on first name terms with Vincent Waltz and if one squints, one might see them as the (more or less reluctant) parents to the youths who survived Waltz's original experiments and the Fall that followed. You can find her in my Dying Light fic, Monsters, We.

Beautiful character sheet by the ever-amazing @lord-nichron. Thank you!

[paipie0]

Today I went on an unhinged rant about a moment in the Chinese Novel Reverend Insanity.

It was in the comment section of a meme about how Dong Fan Chang Fan convinced his clan that killing them and his son to create a new body to revive in was ok… by mentioning how Ren Zu killed his daughter in the Legends of Ren Zu. (Ren Zu didn’t even kill his daughter, he just left her behind in the ordinary abyss and spent a long time regretting it and tried super hard to meet her again)

In reaction to that meme, I started ranting about a scene in volume 2 which I’ve read almost a year ago but somehow didn’t forget it:

Bro remember how some senior in the Tie clan tried to encourage Tie Rou Nan after she saw her clan mates get wiped out by FY? He said she should cheer up because those Gu Masters died gloriously in battle, and since Verdant Great Sun in the Legends of Ren Zu died by bathing in too much glory of the light from the immemorial era, this shows that glory is worth dying for.

The whole moral of that story is to don’t get too far ahead of yourself like Verdant Great Sun did, he ignored all the warnings about the light of glory and paid the price with his life. It’s inspired by the story of Icarus who literally flew too close to the Sun. Verdant Great Sun is an example of what not to do. How the fuck did that senile old fuck completely miss the point and see a circle.

The Righteous faction have negative reading comprehension. Someone with 0 reading comprehension would at least take it literally and think that the story is telling everyone that flying in the light of glory will get you killed if you’re not careful. Righteous cultivators manage to delve into the negatives by thinking that the story is telling you to bathe in the light of glory and die.

No wonder they have to cultivate Heaven Path, these dumbasses can’t even get ordinary attainment in the Human path. (And that’s why Spectral Soul is my goat)

[ts2cambremon]

Questions 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, and 13 for the Simblr Story Process Ask! I'm dying to learn alllllll about your writing process! :D

Hiiii @esotheria-sims! Thank you 🥰

And shout out to @thegingernerdist who also asked for 13! I also answered question 7 in the previous post!

1. Do you hide any secrets in your story that only a few people will find?

Hmm... I mentioned in an earlier post that I like to sneak in some foreshadowing, so I guess that could also fit this question!

2. Sims writing has a visual component. How do you utilize color/objects and setting in your story?

I use it a lot! Every character has a favorite color when it comes to outfits, and their magic is also distinct (Ren has green blasts, Andra's got fire, Inna the lightening, the Baranims have white bolts...) which comes through in battle scenes. Inna has a changing color scheme, although she prefers to dress in pink she sometimes dresses in white to appear more innocent than she is when she's trying to manipulate people. Kadja also usually dresses in orange, but she went for blue to "fit in" the monastery.

The architecture is also a big one. In my original idea, Cambremon was actually an underground city but that's just not practical gameplay wise. I try to create closed spaces with stone walls or dark wood. The hub is supposed to feel very dark, as opposed to the bright white snowy wastelands.

Some objects have become motifs, like Kadja's painting representing Ren's obsession, the creepy slave pillars representing the Cambremon's harsh rule, and the red dress representing Ren's one-sided desire for Kadja. There's also the portrait room which is a recurring setting, and usually alludes to the weight of the first generation and of the Cambremon name on the second generation.

Another little color detail: a lot of scenes with Bone Spirit have a purple light effect because the Sun n Moon candles with mana powder have a purple light!

4. What scenes do you find hardest to write?

Hardest to pose are definitely the group scenes! My computer can't handle more than 10-12 sims on a lot, so I have to get creative with deco sims (but the lighting on them is usually a bit wonky, or they get covered in snow like other objects! Argh it's a struggle)

Hardest to write... well that's actually descriptions, which is why I love the simstory format, I can focus on just dialogues 😁 I also find that I edit dialogues a lot, usually to cut them down to the essential. I feel like I now have a much better grasp of the characters and their voices, so it's getting a little easier to write them!

11. What are some elements you think are becoming cliché in the genre you're writing?

Honestly couldn't say, I'm actually a big fan of tropes when they're done right or subverted. One thing that I personally love as a reader is when there are real consequences for characters' actions, so I guess not a fan of stories with extensive plot armour or deus ex machina twists to get the main characters out of a bad situation.

One thing which does annoy me is when sexual violence is either swept under the rug or exploited for cheap thrills in fantasy stories. On one hand, it's definitely an aspect of any unjust, hierarchical society, but on the other, not something that should (in my opinion) be used just for "shock value". I sometimes struggle on the best way to adress this within the bounds of Cambremon, and I've settled with indirect allusions, as with this Simstober post.

13. What characters do you feel most connected to? Why do you feel connected to that character?

That's a tough one. Depends on the day, but it's a tie between Kadja, Inna, Bruk and Marek. They're all interesting characters to play with, and I'm also invested in Cambremon eventually becoming a better place, so hoping the "good" faction wins out! (But the evil faction makes for juicy drama haha)

[thefencebeetle]

Its time to talk about Stargate SG1, which literally nobody cares about anymore.

The two episodes "Heroes" at the end of season 7 are incredible, a true tour de force. It plays with both expectations set after 7 prior seasons, and examines the SG:C in an new and incredible light.

The first episode starts like an archetypal "questioning the SG program from an outside perspective" as a TV crew is sent to film a documentary inside Cheyenne Mountain. The journalist, Bergman, is presented originally as a fool, bumbling and stumbling all the way. Nobody wants to talk to him, and it’s understandable because again and again episodes over prior seasons have reinforced the necessity of secrecy. Bergman is an outsider who questions too much, too fast, and endangers the program.

However even in this first episode, Bergman’s point are relatable. Yes, filming is important, people will eventually learn the truth and footage is needed. Over the episode he turns from a bumbling fool to an annoyance to the guy you hate but makes a good point. He compares the program to D-day and to the Apollo missions, all positive examples.

And at the beginning of the second episode his turn is complete. He gives a speech that in fact he HAS to film, to show, because the men and women of the SG:C are giving their lives for the whole of humanity. People are dying, a war is being fought, and it needs to be recorded. I think this is the first time the audience is truly asked to consider what would the SG program look like if it went public. Not from a geopolitical perspective, but a human one. And not as a threat, but an eventual necessity.

Now the second episode is in 3 simultaneous parts 1) an almost textbook war documentary of a battle where it is known early on a casualty happened, 2) Bergman trying to learn about this battle and casualty and trying to show these airmen as heroes, and 3) a investigation being led by an ally of bad politician senator Kinsey, shot as a parrallel to the first episode investigations, but with a much darker purpose - this is the archetypal interfering outsider we thought Bergman was in the first episode.

This breaks the two-sided approach of the conflict. Its not "against or with" the SG program, its about what to do about the sacrifice and the danger it faces : keep it in the dark and hope to keep operating, but risk it being killed in the dark by opposing factions of the US government, or show it, admit it, record for posterity and the truth.

Now the second episode is also quite controversial because it plays with the idea of having O’neill die in the fight, its implied several times, but by 3rd act its reveal the beloved Dr Frasier is the casualty. She actually never comes back after this episode, she was a staple of the show, the voice of reason in many episodes. The pain shown by the characters is very much felt by the audience as well, this is a gut wrenching reveal.

I’m personally very conflicted about the bait-and-switch aspect. It somewhat lessens the blow, as we’re relieved its not O’neill… I think I would have preferred the episode to be more straightforwardly about Frasier. But after rewatching it, I think its the point. The characters are all devastated, they suffer, they know, but we don’t and we’re left confused. In many ways, we have become Bergman and his documentary. This episode shows people deserve to know, not because the SG:C is somehow dangerous, but because of the sacrifices being made.

The two episodes Heroes are a true turning point in Stargate SG-1, in the way it approaches its own subject. It questions the fundamental nature of its story, and establishes or rather re-establishes both the humanity of its characters and the stakes involved. Its not just about a vague and fundamentally incomprehensible "all of humanity may die", but a very real "your friend may die".

Its an incredible launching point into the last few remaining episodes of Season 7, which end up launching into both Season 8 of SG:1, and starting Season 1 of Stargate Atlantis. To me, its one of the highest points reached by this show, the hype is at its maximum.

[scales-like-ash]

I've been playing a little bit of Starfield again, been a while. And I must say it's still fun. I won't say its the best game Bethesda ever or anyone ever did, because it's definitely not and many of the complaints are justified like facial animations and bugs.

But there are things that I genuinely love about it like the Story, its in my opinion one of the best stories Bethesda ever wrote. Sure it's a giant fetch quest (Oblivion is too when you think about it) but there are twist in it, especially at the end that left me speechless. Also the gunplay is like in Fallout 4 really good. The Shipbuilding is solid and the faction stories are also intriguing (especially the Vanguard and Crimson Fleet)

And what I love the most, wich is also it's biggest critic, is the pure size of it. I understand that it's a bit tedious running 20 minutes through empty, random generated, wilderness but that is the whole point of exploration.

I live in Germany, the Harz Mountain area to be precise and as a child, me and my parents would hike through this beautiful forest to the top of the mountains and to arrive at locations, discovering small things on the way, see the whole world expand up to the horizon when you get to higher ground is a feeling it captures really, really good.

Like in this example you can see the tree faaar in the distance. It took me about half an hour to get there and I enjoyed it but it must also be said I think the game would benefit a lot from some sort of vehicles, like bikes or trucks... damn I'd even ride a alien horse thingy.

There is a lot of potential in it and I really hope Bethesda (and modders) expand on it. Look at No Man's Sky, Dying Light 2 or Cyberpunk 2077 wich completely disappointed at launch but recovered amazingly (of course this is also a problem of the current game industry but let's not discuss this here, this ramble is too long already).

If you made it down here and didn't lost your mind on my grammatically butchered ramblings or just looked at my screenshots I hope you might give this game another try

Thanks for reading c:

[ditzyredrobin]

Broken Glass (and Other Fragile Things)

I’m back again with a new fic! With the help of @balthazarusrex and the Wip Wednesday Game community, I’ve finally been able to sit down and focus again. Thank you so much for pushing me to write again!

@araydre made a beautiful piece of are here inspired by a snippet I put out recently so please show them some love! 💜

Chapter 2 of 2 should be along shortly.

-

Chapter 1 of 2

The shluck of blades ripping through flesh and viscera, once, twice, the hoarse gasp of air leaving Z’s chest cavity. Pru and Owens choking, drowning in their own blood, hot and sticky and wet.

Blood. So. Much. Blood. And he was couldn’t stop it. He just laid there in agony while his friends died, just bleeding, while the Widower grinned over him, “The Council of Spiders thanks you for your participation.”

All that blood and for what? His friends were dead and dying and he couldn’t move as agony ripped through him like the assassins blade to his gut. His fingers fumbled like frankfurters, numb, and stiff.

He couldn’t die here—if he did, everything he had been working towards, everything he sacrificed would be lost, everything they sacrificed. If he died, Bruce died with him.

He had to get up, he had to move, he had to—to do something, he—

Tim gasps, chest heaving, coming back to himself. The Widower—the Widower, the Council, is gone. He made sure of that, and the League had seen to the clean up, any outlying factions were long gone. Ra’s didn’t take to having a mockery made out of the League, which, in turn, was just an extension of himself. No one made a fool of Ra’s Al Ghul. Tim had experienced that first hand, tumbling out of a high rise without a grapple.

The Council was dead and buried and had been for the better part of three years, Bruce was back from the time stream, Pru was still griping his ear off on a semi-infrequent basis, but part of Tim was still back in Iraq, bleeding out in the sand dunes under the stars.

He saved the day—he was a hero but at what cost? Was there something more he could’ve done? A better way that didn’t involve dragging his friends to their death? Not just Z and Owens.

Tim Drake is a plague.

Everyone around him died eventually, Kon, Bart, Steph, his mom, his dad, Bruce—some were just fortunate enough to make it back.

Some much blood, the stench was heavy in his nose, hot and sticky, oozing between his fingers, he feels like he’s going to be sick. Gasping, choking, and—and he doesn’t know when he got out of bed, or how the Nest became some dingy Gotham back alleyway.

He’s on the ground in a dark alley, his heart pounding in his chest, blood roaring in his ears, the only light coming from his cracked phone screen. He’s barefoot, hands and feet stinging and there’s blood actually oozing out of a cut on his palm. Glass reflects off the faint light and the blood makes his stomach churn and—

“Hey babe you there?”

Tim freezes. There’s a selfie of Roy with Lian, grinning, both covered head to toe in ice cream after an ice cream fight Jason was less than thrilled about. He slowly lifts the phone to his ear, smearing blood on the screen.

“Hi,” his voice is with hoarse with misuse, like he’s been crying or screaming—maybe he had been.

“Everything okay?” Roy asks excruciatingly gently and oh so patient, unfairly so for this time of night.

Tim has a hard time fishing for the right words, eventually landing on, “I’m bleeding.”

There’s movement on the other end of the line, blankets rustling, and Tim can make out the sleep-heavy tone of Jason’s voice in the background.

They were in bed. Of course they were they were in bed, he realizes, it was just after 4:30am, there was little doubt in his mind that they had just gotten in from patrol and settled.

“It’s okay—Jay and I don’t mind.” Roy reassures with a muffled yawn, sitting up and stretching. “Do you need help?” Oh, he must have said that out loud. Oops.

��Yes,” is all he manages.

Roy hums, “Alright, I’ll send Jay.” He says like a promise. “Can you tell me where you are?”

Tim shakes his head only to realize Roy can’t see that over the phone. “An alley.” He’s trying to be more precise but it’s dark and his brain feels like sludge between his ears, giving the world a hazy sort of quality.

“Can you see any landmarks?” Roy asks. “We can trace your call but it’ll take Jay a little longer to find you.”

Tim blinked dumbly, looking up from the blood pooling in the palm of his hand. After a long pause, Tim is able to gather enough brain juice to make sense of his surroundings in the dim glow of sodium lights. There is the faint glow retro neon sign from the pizza parlor across the way, and the dulled bass of a club a couple of blocks up. “I think I’m near the video rental,” the pain is a distant thing, blood oozing between his fingers. “The one we went to last week near Rao’s Pizza.”

Jay is coming.

Jay is coming for him.

There’s soft voices over the line again as Roy seemingly relays the info before he’s back, giving Tim his undivided attention. “Jay is on his way. Can you tell me how much you’re bleeding?”

“A little,” Tim supplies numbly. “I cut my hand.”

“A little by vigilante standards or civilian standards?”

Tim pauses to think, “Civilian.”

“That’s good, I’m glad.” Roy sounds pleased and it sends a little thrill down his spine. “Lucky for you, you’re not very far from the apartment. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Tim’s face prickles and his eyes burn, and he nods. “My feet hurt, I stepped on glass.”

“We can fix that.” Roy promises, muffling another yawn.

“I’m sorry.” It was late (early?) for a vigilante.

“Don’t be. You know we’re happy to help you anytime you need, even if it’s late.” Tim nods again even though Roy can’t see it, hugging his knees to his chest. The damp pavement was soaking in through his night pants sending goosebumps down his arms and legs.

He tries to will himself to say something along the lines of, I’m okay, no seriously I’m fine, or like seriously okay, but headlights illuminate the alleyway before he can say anything.

A beat up Honda pulls up in front of the alleyway, headlights illuminating it with more light than should be allowed. Tim squints against the light as Jay steps out of the beater. He rounds the hood, outlined by the headlights.

“Jay,” Tim breathes.

Roy says something but he can’t make it out, his voice a distant din, because Jay is here.

His hair is mussed with sleep with dark shadows under his eyes and a furrowed brow. One look at Tim and he’s shrugging off his leather jacket, wrapping it around his shoulders. It smells like Marlboro Reds and aftershave and it’s the first time Tim feels like he can breathe.

“Roy said cut your hand?” Jason asks and Tim finds himself nodding. “Can I see?”

Tim, without thought, holds out his bleeding palm. Jason carefully takes it in his own large and calloused, tilting to the light. “S’not so bad—nothing a set a tweezers and some antibiotics can’t take care of. You hiding anything else?”

“My feet,” is all Tim can say.

Jason grunts and sets his palm back, moving on to his bare feet. He cradles one delicately, repeating the same careful ministrations. “Roy’s gonna have a field day with you.” He muses, moving on to the other foot.

“I’m sorry,” Tim whispers, hot tears finally slipping down his cheeks. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Oh baby doll, come ‘ere,” Jason sighs, gathering their Baby Bird in his arms like the delicate thing he is. “You don’t gotta be sorry about anything, me ‘n Roy are always gonna come when you call. You hear me?”

“But-“

“But nothing. Don’t gotta to worry ‘bout nothing but bein’ here with me now, yeah?” Jason says, in that silky, loving drawl of his. “‘sides, if anything, I should say sorry to you. I wouldn’t expect Roy to let you go ‘til at least the bottoms of your feet have healed up.”

A week or so of cuddles on the couch might be nice, he thinks absently, burrowing into Jason’s neck. He’s warm and solid and protects him from the lazy Gotham drizzle.

“That Roy still on the phone?” Jason rumbles, cradling him to his chest with one arm, using his free hand to open the passenger side door.

“Oh,” Tim blinks, pulling the phone away. Roy is still illuminated on the screen. “Yes.”

Jason settles him in the car, the seat warmer is already on high and toasty under his ass, “Can I talk to him?”

“Okay,” Tim agrees distantly, holding it out. He doesn’t think there’s anything else he can say.

Jason, ignoring the blood smears on the screen, takes it, holding it between his shoulder and ear as he buckles him in. He pushes Tim back against the headrest, his hand gentle yet firm.

Tim just rolls with it.

He becomes aware of the seatbelt clicking into place and Jason talking above him but the words don’t register. He doesn’t mind, though, letting his eyes shut.

The heater is on full blast which feels nice but it doesn’t fully chase away the chill or the sand.

“The Council of Spiders thanks you for your participation.”

-

When he opens his eyes again, Roy is opening his door, eyes wide and so so green, looking a little frantic.

“Pretty,” Tim mumbles, letting himself be manhandled out of the car.

Jason snorts behind him which Roy pointedly ignores, but a little tension eases from his shoulders. “Let’s get you upstairs, ‘kay? I have dry clothes and a hot bath waiting for you once we get you patched up. Sound good?”

Dry clothes sounded nice, a bath with his vigilante boyfriends sounded even better.

Roy just smiled and bundled him in close to his chest. When Tim blinked again, he was sat on Roy’s lap while Jason tsked over his over his feet. The tackle box of a first-aid kit was spilled out over the bathroom counter.

“I don’t like this one bit, Sweets, somethin’ just ain’t addin’ up. Why was he out there barefoot in the first place?”

Roy hums considering and smoothes the hair off of Tim’s forehead, his touch more gentle than his mother’s. “We’ll just have to wait and ask him,” he says gently. “What do you think, Redbird?”

Tim burrows his face into the crook of Roy’s neck, just breathing. His heart is a steady best under his ear—unlike Owens, or Z, which would never beat again. They died choking on their own blood and he did nothing to stop it, lying in his own agony.

He stopped the Council, stopped more people from needlessly dying, assassins or not. He should be happy—he should be proud—he—he is aware of Roy’s arms tightening around him, holding him close, while he and Jay talk in low, soothing tones over him, too quiet to make out.

His hand and feet are cleaned and he’s being maneuvered again as they stripe him out of his damp sleep clothes, starting with Jason’s jacket, still tucked around his shoulders, which Tim isn’t a fan of. In fact it leaves him feel naked and without shield, but Tim doesn’t have the strength to protest.

It’s odd, not being full in control of his motor functions, but he’s too heavy and spent to put up a fight.

Together, he’s carefully stripped down until he’s bare, hanging limply between his boyfriends. There’s nothing even remotely sexy about it.

They keep murmuring gentle reassurances even when his eyes fill up and spill over at uneven intervals.

He’s passed from one strong set of arms to the next as he’s lowered into the warm water. His back is pressed against the front of either Roy or Jason, he can’t tell, his vision blurred from tears that just keep falling.

He remembers gentle hands methodically cleaning away blood and back alley grime and fingers massaging shampoo and conditioner through his too long hair. They spend extra time, massaging his scalp until he’s a limp mess between them. His hands and feet are carefully kept out of the water.

When he was done, there were fluffy towels patting him down before being dressed in something soft and familiar, and laid in bed, the blankets tugged up to his chin.

Then, and only then, a kiss was pressed to his hair and he drifts away.

[demenior]

On the heels of the latest Mighty Nein Solstice show, I felt like my setup for a BeauYasha + Astrid situation was (barely) relevant again.

This is set, in theory, post-campaign 2, and prior to Ruidus shenanigans.

--

Beau tucks her napkin into the collar of her shirt and patiently waits for Yasha to bring dinner to the table. Beau set all the cups and bowls and everything out, but her wife likes to bring the meal.

“Are you ready?” Yasha calls.

“I’m so ready!” Beau calls back.

Yasha rounds the corner, a steaming dish in her hands. She’s wearing a black apron that says ‘kiss the cook’, and nothing else.

The apron is suitably sized for someone a little more average than Yasha’s big, muscular frame, and so it’s really working to keep her decent.

Beau’s thoughts are far away from decent. She can’t pick her jaw up off the floor.

Yasha’s face flushes— she still blushes when Beau hits on her even though they’ve been together for like 8 years now, and married for 3 of those. It makes Beau fall even more in love with her. And then her wife tries to do a sexy walk over to the table. Yasha is anything but graceful— she’s a force of nature— and Beau’s too far gone to think this awkward strut is anything but hot.

Yasha sets the serving dish onto the table, and lifts the spoon out of it. There’s definitely something doing it pretty good for Beau with how the strew is thick and dripping. And that’s also something she’ll take to her grave because it is so embarrassing that stew can make her horny, but in her defense it’s being served by the hottest woman in the whole world.

“Hungry?” Yasha purrs.

“Starving,” Beau says, and opens her mouth.

And that’s when Caleb appears in the room. He’s holding someone.

“Send me back!” Astrid screams, “I had him!”

Blood hits the floor in a loud splat.

“Help me!” Caleb shouts.

Astrid bares her teeth, and raises her arm to strike and— Caleb’s holding her left arm over his shoulders to keep her up. Her right arm doesn’t raise because it’s gone.

“Fuck!”

Beau flies out of her seat, and is across the room.

As Astrid registers her missing limb, as blood continues to fly from the wound, Beau skids to a stop at her side. She catches Astrid as her knees go out, and together she and Caleb get Astrid to the floor.

Beau registers the smell of smoke, of arcane magic. Astrid’s tattoos are still bright and pulsing on her remaining arm. Both her and Caleb are covered in soot, in blood. Their hair is singed. Caleb’s got that jittery, caffeinated look he has when he’s been working heavy magic. Beau rips off her loose top and tries to staunch the blood.

“You had no right,” Astrid snarls.

“He was going to kill you,” Caleb snaps.

“Blood for blood,” Astrid hisses, “I’ll take his fucking head!”

Astrid fights at Beau and Caleb, and she’s too weak to push either of them off.

“What the fuck?” Beau shouts.

And it’s now that Yasha reaches them, a fucking angel who’s entire body lights up as she reaches for Astrid. She’s still wearing the apron and nothing else.

Astrid’s back arches as the healing magic surges through her. When she drops, her whole body goes limp. Yasha checks her pulse to make sure the shock of healing didn’t kill her.

“That will keep her from dying, but she needs to see a real healer,” Yasha says.

“Dude what the fuck?” Beau demands.

Caleb groans out a sigh, and wobbles like he might collapse as well. He braces both hands on the floor to keep himself stable, “she— she went after him. I tried to stop her, but she—”

“Who? Trent?”

“Ludinus.”

Beau’s stomach drops. She looks down at the unconscious idiot between them. Despite Yasha’s healing, Astrid is white as snow. Her eyes are closed. Beau checks the wound— the bleeding has stopped, the amputation appears as if it’s had a few weeks of healing, but it’s still raw and red.

Caleb nods, as the severity of the situation sets in, “I— I had nowhere to go. They’re still fighting— the Assembly, and the Volstrucker. Other factions. She might have started a civil war.”

“Or a massacre,” Beau realizes, “Ludinus— fuck! He’s the fucking guy! We don’t have enough to pin him yet, and now? Fuck! I thought she was helping us, what happened?”

She has to shake Astrid to wake her up.

One of her eyes is red with blood. Thanks to Yasha’s healing, the wound is handled, but it will take time for that to clear out. It gives the woman a decidedly unsettling look.

Astrid glares up as they lean over her, and then turns to Caleb, “did you take me to a fucking titty bar?”

[markantonys]

Gonna be a hater for 2 seconds, but if they can push the Harfoots storyline into the 2nd Age, surely they can push for a corrupted Elf storyline as well, someone who survived both Morgoth and Sauron, we don't even know his name yet, they can't already take him away :(

adar truly is one of the most fascinating and complicated characters in the show, i'd hate to lose him so soon! i want to keep peeling back the layers of that onion man! but if he loses the orcs in 2x08, i am somewhat hard-pressed to think of what story could still be left to tell with him in the present day, unless he were to embark on a redemption arc & allying with the heroes. which is not out of the question - i've heard talk from Source Material Knowers that it's plausible or even canon that some orcs fought on the side of the light in the big final battle of this age? so it'd be neat if a redeemed adar led a light-side faction of orcs in the final battle in season 5! however, i keep seeing people say the showrunners said the final scene of s2 mirrors the first scene of s2, and i've never seen the source for that info so idk if it's true that they said that, but if is............well, then it does NOT bode well for our boy (on the other hand, if you say "mirror to the opening scene" then every single person who has seen the opening scene will immediately think "adar dying at the hands of the orcs", so if that truly is what happens, why on earth would they have made such a spoilery comment that would so easily lead people to guessing that?)

anyway, these are the paths i can think of atm:

sauron takes full control of the orcs in 2x08 and adar dies

sauron takes full control of the orcs in 2x08 but adar survives and will embark on a redemption arc

sauron does not take control of the orcs in 2x08, but they abandon adar (who could either die, or survive and embark on a redemption arc) and are leaderless going into s3

some kind of orc schism where some remain with a surviving adar (who will embark on a redemption arc with them) but another faction led by glug go off to join sauron (whether right now or in s3 after being leaderless for a while)

adar doesn't lose any orcs quite yet, but their trust in him is majorly damaged and s3 will see a bigger storyline of sauron manipulating them over to his side

wildcard path: adar is celeborn ayyyy you never know okay?

the big deciding factors are a) will sauron have any time in his 2x08 schedule to get the orcs on his side, or is he too booked and that will be held as a bigger slow-manipulation storyline for a future season? b) will we see orcs ultimately end up on both sides of the brewing war or will they all join sauron? c) once sauron gets the orcs, can there be any story left for adar or does he have to exit when that happens?

the reason i added "redemption arc" onto every scenario of adar surviving and having lost some orcs is that i'm just not sure how much longer they could keep up this "third party antagonist of both the main protagonists and the main antagonist" vibe once he's lost some/all orcs to sauron. if he were to suffer a big loss but survive into s3, i'd imagine there would have to be a status quo shakeup big enough to generate more story for him, and the most obvious one i can think of is him finding himself needing to ally with the heroes for real.

as for the harfoots, i'll admit they're the storyline i'm least interested in, but i feel very protective of them because of how much hate they get! they DO serve an important and unique story function - being the breath of light and hope and naivety and innocence amidst all the heaviness and darkness in the other storylines. being the Normal People rising to the occasion and becoming heroes by choice, as opposed to all the legendary figures who were born with great power/influence. they are so thematically important! and i'm sure they'll get intertwined with the main storylines in future seasons and start gelling better with the rest of the story.

[simpforchuchu]

Regrets | Yosuke Todoroki x reader | Part 2

Summary: The Todoroki faction was having a normal and sweet day. But Todoroki's past was determined to chase him.

a/n: Hello! The second part is here 😌 Thanks to @tiddly-winx for this amazin idea 🥰 It will be a heartbreaking story and maybe more angst but fluff at the end 🥰 Hope you like it ❤️🌸

Sorry for the grammer or spelling mistakes.English is not my main language so...

Thank you and love you 🥰

Warnings: mention of blood and stabbing, a lot of heartbreaking moments and usual hnl warnings

Part 1

There are some moments in life. You can never take it back and prevent it from happening.

Todoroki was having one of those moments today.

He was staring blankly at his hands on the chairs in the hospital corridor. His hands and shirt were painted red. He felt like he was going to go crazy seeing Y/n's blood on his hands.

He was thinking over and over. How had he let all this happen? How could he not protect her?

He had been battling strong feelings inside for a long time. He never showed it, never said anything to her or the others.

But Todoroki loved y/n. And he didn't know if he would ever get a chance to tell her that.

Tsuji and Shiba rushed into the hospital. When they saw Todoroki looking blankly at his hands in front of the operating room, they rushed towards him in fear.

Tsuji called out several times. But there was no reaction. Shiba knelt in front of him in fear and waved his hand in front of his face.

“Y/n… is she okay?”

Todoroki didn't react at all. Tsuji noticed that the light above the operating room door was on. The surgery should still be going on. But it wasn't hard to understand how bad the young boy was feeling.

Tsuji sat right next to Todoroki. Shiba gripped his dry bloody hands tightly.Todoroki looked at him in surprise. Shiba knew he was in shock. That's why he wanted Todoroki back to normal, no matter how bad he was.

"The surgery is still going on, isn't it? We must be calm now. She will be fine-"

Todoroki whispered quietly

"It was my fault."

But they could both hear so clearly

“Look, it's not your fault. Y/n doesn't want you to think like that-"

"It was my fault. They came for me and y/n… They stabbed her because of me!”

Todoroki was afraid. He was angry, but more so, he was afraid. He had nothing but these three in his life. And the girl he loved was dying on the operating table.

No matter how hard Shiba tried to persuade him, he was unsuccessful. They both stood up and shouted at each other. Todoroki wasn't doing this consciously, but someone had to stop him.

Tsuji couldn't stand it. He stood up and punched him hard

"Enough! Stop the bullshit! Y/n would never blame you!”

Shiba looked at the two of them in surprise.When Todoroki looked up at Tsuji, he had only just realized how bad he looked too.Y/n was so precious to all of them.

"Please. Calm down now. Dont make us worry about you, too.”

The young boy made a small apology and sat back on the seats. He began to watch the door calmly. Again. The other two sat next to him and began to watch the door like him…

***

Hours had passed. While all their friends were waiting nervously in the hospital corridors, Todoroki was watching the door without blinking.

At the 4th hour of their waiting, the operating room door light went out. When everyone stood up in fear, Todoroki didn't get up.

The doctors came out of the operating room, they said it was a very difficult operation and her heart stopped twice. But she was okay, y/n had fought to be by their side again.

As everyone shouted with joy, Todoroki got up from his seat and quietly made his way to the restrooms. Some didn't even realize he was gone, but Tsuji and Shiba never took their eyes off him.

They knew he wanted some space, so they remained silent and joined in their shouts of joy.

***

A few hours later, y/n was taken to the normal room. They didn't know when she would wake up, but she was fine.

They were watching nervously from the window of the room. As the hours passed, most of them had fallen asleep or had gone home. Only Fujio, Tsukasa, Tsuji, Shiba and Todoroki were waiting. Tsukasa was leaning against the wall and Fujio was sleeping leaning against him. Shiba put his head on Tsuji's shoulder. Tsuji, on the other hand, wanted to resist insomnia because he was worried about Todoroki too.

Early morning, when everyone was asleep, there was only one person awake. Todoroki was standing in front of that window, watching in horror.

Her pale complexion was killing him. Y/n was always smiling. Her cheeks would turn red when she laughed a lot or was embarrassed. But right now, the countless wires in her body and her lifeless face scared him so much.

Todoroki did not know how long he waited in front of that window, but when the sunlight came in from the window of the room and he saw that y/n was moving a little, he excitedly called the doctor.

Many doctors and nurses rushed to y/n's room. Everyone was awake, watching nervously through the window. Todoroki, on the other hand, was afraid and stepped aside.

When was the last time he felt this lonely? When did his heart hurt like this? Or when was the last time he was this scared?

He didn't know, but when the doctor said y/n was fine and they could see her, he knew why he was going in the opposite direction.

He was a coward.

***

At the end of the hospital corridor, he buried his face in his hands, trying to breathe. He didn't look up when the two people sat next to him because he knew who they were.

“Y/n… she is fine. Really fine. She just said she had little pain.”

Shiba knew that Todoroki had heard him. They just wanted him to relax.

They both looked at their friends in horror as they heard a sob. It was the first time they had seen him cry. But they didn't say anything. He needed this.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but when he wiped his eyes, the rubbing of his two friends on the back made him feel that he wasn't alone.

“She…is she really okay?”

Shiba quickly nodded, and Tsuji smiled too.

"She asked about you. Won't you see her?"

Tsuji sighed as Todoroki quickly shook his head.

“Look, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. She’s worried about you, you should see her."

Shiba also nodded in approval.

"I can't. You do not understand. She was injured because of me. I'm sure she doesnt even want to see my face-"

"What are you talking about ?" When Shiba shouted, Todoroki looked at him. “Don't you know how important you are to Y/n? How can you think of that?"

Tsuji squeezed his shoulder when Todoroki wanted to protest.

“We understand why you feel that way, but you're wrong. Y/n has the same feelings as you, she's worried about you."

Tsuji laughed as Todoroki looked surprised.

"We may be stupid, but neither of you could have kept that from us"

Shiba wrapped an arm around Todoroki's shoulder and smiled.

“Tsuji is the one who is stupid but I agree. Please go see her, now."

As Tsuji rolled his eyes, Todoroki shook his head and stood up.

***

His feet wanted to go back as he walked down the hall to the room. Stepping up has never been this hard.

His friends had left the room, as if they all knew and wanted to leave them alone. However, y/n never understood…

He stared at the door of the room for a while. When he saw that the young girl was wiping her eyes, he entered in fear.

“Y/n? Are you allright ? Are you in pain? I'll call the doctor."

Todoroki had reflexively entered the room he hadn't known how to enter for minutes. Y/n looked at him in surprise at first, then firmly grabbed the hand of the boy who was about to leave.

Todoroki looked at her in horror. He was afraid of hurting her, hurting her again.

Seeing how bad the young boy was, Y/n shook her head and spoke in a low voice. Her throat was still sore from the anesthesia.

"Don't leave."

Todoroki couldn't remember ever having his heart hurt so much. Her weak voice hurt him.He wanted to vomit.

But he owed y/n at least that.

He grabbed her hand and shook his head.

“I'm not going anywhere, I'm here. I will never let anyone approach you again.”

Y/n tried to smile. It was the first time she had seen Todoroki worry so much for someone, she felt valued.

She was, y/n was Todoroki's most precious treasure.

Unintentionally , her eyes filled with tears again. She was in pain, but seeing Todoroki like this more upset her.

"I am sorry"

Todoroki looked at her in horror at the words she said in a low voice.

"I didn't want to worry you so much, but-"

"What are you talking about ?" Todoroki's voice was harsh. He spoke without thinking. “If anyone should apologize, it's me. That bastard stabbed you because of me. If in the past-"

“Todoroki…” y/n was trying to stop him.

“If I hadn't been such a fool, if I hadn't been such a smug bastard, a fight like this would never have happened. You, Tsuji, and Shiba would be safe.”

When the young boy's eyes filled with tears, y/n wanted to get up on the bed, but she was too weak. Slowly, she stretched her other hand to the young boy's face.

Todoroki pulled back his hand and himself and shook his head.

“I… I'm sorry y/n.”

When the young girl looked at the boy who started to cry in front of her, her heart hurt.He shouldn't have done this to himself.

“Todoroki…”

When Todoroki didn't respond, the young girl called out again

“Yosuke!”

Y/n had raised her voice and called him by his first name.

Todoroki looked at her in surprise. He studied her face with wide eyes. There was not the slightest bit of anger, regret, or hatred on Y/n's face. She was smiling at him.

“Yosuke… I think I like saying your name,” the young girl chuckled, “I wouldn't be happy if he had stabbed you or Tsuj or Shiba instead of me. Neither do I regret the other two. We love you so much. I…I love you so much.”

Todoroki didn't want to admit it, but he knew she was right. But he still couldn't stop blaming himself.

“It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. Please stop blaming yourself.”

Y/n tried with all her might to sit on the bed. With her sudden movement, she groaned in pain. Todoroki panicked and approached her immediately. He straightened the pillow on the young girl's bed and carefully laid her back. Y/n chuckled tiredly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I didn't know you cared about me that much"

Although the young girl wanted to joke, Todoroki was serious. He slowly moved closer to the bed and took her hand and looked into her eyes.

“I care about you y/n.”

Y/n tensed with the seriousness of the young boy and smiled

“I was just kidding, I know.”

Todoroki shook his head

“I really care about you.”

Y/n couldn't react with a sudden confession, looking at him in surprise.

“I always wanted to tell you that. Every day, every moment. You don't know how precious and important you are to me. I always wanted to protect you. I…I don't show my feelings easily, but-"

“Yosuke… it's okay. I know what you mean.”

Todoroki looked at her in surprise.

"Do you know ?"

Y/n smiled and put her hand in the face of the boy who was staring at her. Todoroki was startled at first with cold fingers touching his cheek, but he pressed his cheek to the young girl's palm. And he closed his eyes.

"Me too."

Todoroki opened his eyes with the whisper of the young girl

“I know what you mean. Me too."

Todoroki was suprised at first but then smiled and placed a small kiss on the young girl's palm and brought his face closer to hers.

Y/n closed her eyes and smiled. Todoroki, on the other hand, unintentionally smiled at her sweet reaction.

He thought it was too early for everything. He wanted to kiss her when everything was said more neatly and clearly. So he placed a small kiss on her hair and pulled back.

Y/n opened her eyes with a smile and looked at the boy who was lovingly looking at her.

"Don't scare me like that again"

Y/n nodded slowly as there was a sound from the door and they both turned to the door. Shiba grinned as Tsuji nervously scratched his neck.

“Don't forget about us. We were also very scared.”

Y/n chuckled as Todoroki rolled his eyes. She was very lucky for everything, she knew that.

HnL taglist : @straysugzhpe @tiddly-winx @ninamarie1994 @thatpoindexterpixy

[tgrailwar-zero]

Despite the panic from his Masters, RIDER remained quiet as CASTER began setting up her own teleportation spell.

In a flash of light, both RIDER and CASTER found themselves in another section of the War.

A man stood by the port, his armor dyed in blood and a look of peerless intensity in his eyes. No malice nor evil, but simply the aura of someone built under the ideal of raw pragmatism.

This man, LANCER, and RIDER stared at each other for a moment, before giving each other a mutual nod of acknowledgement, before LANCER spoke.

"Look. The faction of Blue has summoned an beast that they must contend with on their own. They are growing weary."

He pointed further down the shoreline, to a rising hill that overlooked a seaside cliff.

A young woman, abnormally massive and absurdly towering, lumbered closer to the shoreline like a monster out of myth and legend. Each step kicking up dangerous waves, keeping two Servants off in the distance constantly on edge.

AVENGER and FOREIGNER looked exhausted, struggling to stand back against the ALTER-EGO's assault.

"We must simply wait, and then strike when ready."

LANCER proclaimed, as CASTER nodded, assessing the situation as well.

"What a terrifying Servant. Such a being would almost certainly be a trump card for them if they managed to get her under control. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for us, it seems as if neither of them are making good headway with conversing with her."

RIDER remained quiet.

Despite your allegiances, RIDER had a dedication to the Red Faction, and he had no reason to doubt LANCER's words. There was no reason to go in and help- if AVENGER and FOREIGNER were forced to subdue the ALTER-EGO, then that would be three incredibly weakened enemies. Almost every outcome at the moment seemed to be a net positive for his team. He could sympathize with the complexity of the situation for you all, but sympathy alone wasn't enough to compromise his own allegiances.

After all, he was cooperating with you as a Servant of the Red Faction, with the caveat that you would be Masters of the Red Faction.

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 1: Snowland Legend

Narrated by Perlin.

Narrator: "Yunikina fulfilled Eagle's dying wish and founded the Snow Eagle Revolutionary Force."

Narrator: "The Snow Eagles overthrew the merciless tyrant of White Rock City to usher in a new era."

Narrator: Though it can be summed up in a few sentences, the true story is much more than that.

Choose "Who is it?"

You: Who's speaking?

Narrator: Oh, hello. I'm a military history student at the North Kingdom Military Academy. You can call me Perlin.

Narrator: And it's just another day where I'm trapped in the library writing my final thesis.

Narrator: As you can see, it's about Yunikina and the Snow Eagles.

Narrator: Well, everyone's left and curfew is approaching, so it's another all-nighter for me. Since there's no way I can finish it today, we might as well chat.

Narrator: I planned to finish the part on Yunikina's background, but didn't expect to get stuck.

You: What do you mean?

Narrator: Many of the stories before Yunikina came to White Rock City cannot be factually verified.

You: ...What do you mean by that?

Narrator: It means they're just hearsay. No records, documents, or texts for proof.

Narrator: Whether Yunikina's supposed hometown even exists, for example, is dubious.

Narrator: Allegedly, she was born in a normal, peaceful village, which accidentally got caught between two major rival factions and was wiped out in the conflict.

Narrator: But at that time, any city-state with power declared war on one another constantly. There was no peace to speak of.

Narrator: Therefore, it's hard to believe a place straight out of a fairy tale like that could even exist.

Narrator: And without a name, no expedition could pinpoint or discover any remains.

Narrator: By the way, her armor and the sword she carried are called "Ode of Frosty Sword" and "Sword of Legend" respectively.

Narrator: They are thought to be the reason for her invincibility and had been with her ever since her first battle.

Narrator: The former kept her safe from all harm, and the latter granted her unmatched power.

Narrator: To have been at war for so long and remain undefeated, however, just sounds impossible. Even the famous Zoey of North Kingdom suffered defeats, though those were only minor blemishes on her magnificent record.

Narrator: The majority of the student body at my school worships her, myself included.

Narrator: In comparison, Yunikina's flawless victories just seem unbelievable.

Narrator: Of course, those legendary artifacts of hers are nowhere to be found.

Narrator: People have tried to replicate the armor from the information and few images we do have, but never managed to recreate the feel of eternal frost.

Narrator: Others have searched for the sword, only to be lost in the blizzard, never to return.

You: So, do you plan to include the unsolved mysteries in your thesis?

Narrator: No. Despite the arduous task, there have been breakthroughs in the past few years. Check out this report.

You: "Yunikina's Hometown Revealed? Will The Snow-Buried Settlement See The Light Again?"

Narrator: I'll keep a close eye on it for more relevant scholarly information.

Narrator: It says here that archaeologists discovered a snowy plain in the northwest and surmised it to be habitable in Yunikina's time.

You: Does that mean they found her hometown?

Narrator: We can't say for sure.

Narrator: In addition, as more research is done on her military tactics and leadership, the mystique surrounding the armor and the sword fades with time.

Narrator: Even so, more people still choose to see her as a warring goddess of wind, born from ice and snow.

Narrator: "To the snowy plain, she is a gift from the heavens, donning armor made of ice and wielding a legendary sword that cuts through anything. She is destined to bring freedom and peace to the land."

Narrator: The quote doesn't belong in the thesis, but who wouldn't be moved by such a description?

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

[tafferling]

Why did you butcher Lawan's personality so bad in your fic?

Wow.

I was debating if I should answer this one at all, but you know what, I have coffee and a few minutes to spare. So. Let's go.

Is this question rude? Why- why, yes it is. But I admit it isn't totally unwarranted. A lot of canon characters in my Dying Light fics aren't exactly who they were in the games.

Kyle Crane is probably the best example, because this man is not the exact same dude in my fics as the one you play as. I've dialed up his humour (to the better or the worse is up to personal taste), I've made breaking the fourth wall (addressing the reader) a hobby for him, and I've- yeah, I've given him hobbies. And a taste in music. And turned him into a Star Wars fan. Among many other things. None of that exists in a vacuum; all ends up having an effect on how I write him and leads to him saying things and doing things which the OG Crane of the game would not.

But most of those changes are somewhat superficial; I haven't changed who he is as a person because I haven't changed a lot to what leads up to his deployment in Harran.

My Dying Light 2 fic is different.

Monsters, We. does two things that have a much bigger impact on the characters than adding a hobby here and a bit of fleshed out background there might. One, it introduces a new faction, The Church, which influenced how Villedor as a whole behaves. Two, I purposefully changed key events in the lives of a bunch of characters.

Specifically Lawan, Hakon, and Frank.

Lawan: In MW, Lawan was raised by the Nightrunners, full stop. Frank, Hakon, and everyone else, they were her family. Her dads, if you will. She loses that family in the VNC tower tragedy; some to death, others to the Nightrunners splitting up, tearing what might've been left of it apart.

She blames Hakon for this, because he was the one who backed out first. And, no... they were at no point in a relationship in MW. She just hates him for getting her family killed. And, yeah, she might even want him dead.

But he's not on a hit list. She has no list. More on that in a bit.

Hakon: Hakon didn't want to die. He took one look at Frank's plan, decided it'd be suicide, and chose not to die. But rather than calling the mission off after Hakon convinced others not to go, Frank went ahead with it anyway and got nearly everyone else killed in the process.

Now. Who's fault is this?

Everyone blames Hakon, of course, which ends up getting the man shunned by not only the Fish Eye, but every other hold that is now convinced Hakon is the reason the Nightrunners are gone.

That's why he ends up joining the Church (the faction Waltz is a part of in MW). Not because anyone blackmailed him with I'll hurt Lawan (the literal child, by the way), but because no one else would have him. He couldn't have survived on his own.

Frank: Can someone please tell me how a dysfunctional drunk is able to run a place like the Fish Eye for another ten years and maintain the respect of everyone around him, keeping the place save(ish) and in his own name rather than having it taken over? Especially when he isn't an asshole who'll walk over people to be able to keep it, but supposedly A Good Guy?

That's a rhetorical question.

Yes, Frank started drinking heavily after what happened. But then he took one long look at Lawan, the child he was raising, and decided he was a better man than that. That is why he not only still owns the Fish Eye in MW, but how he managed to turn it into a reliable neutral ground. A sanctuary, if you will, which is protected by a truce all of Villedor's factions respect. Including the Church.

And that's also why Lawan doesn't have a Kill List (which she otherwise conveniently starts working on when Protagonist arrives), because Frank didn't drink her entire childhood away. She's still brash. She's impulsive. And she's maybe a bit more childish and emotionally unsteady than she was in the game, which isn't meant to be a bad thing. She's what 20, 21, in a world that is unsteady and counter productive to maturing gracefully.

No, rather than having a Kill List, she's the one person Frank trusts to get shit done around the Fish Eye. Specifically when it involves being out on the roofs or the streets, or chucking idiots down the stairs and out of the hold when they can't behave.

Does all of that mean I butchered her character? Eh. If you want to think about it that way, sure.

[jsaunderswrites]

Jesse reads the Energon Universe Part I: Void Rivals #1-4

Void Rivals #1

I have neither read nor watched Enemy Mine, but I’m familiar with the trope that’s been repeated in a million other stories.

I caught the parallel of the characters being like 80s toy line factions from just the preview. However I don’t think they sold that idea well in the story, because who’s gonna buy these guys? They’re not the LIGHT GUARDIANS and VOILET INCURSION, they’re Agorrians and Zertonians. They don’t have striking character designs, they look like random Star Wars background filler.

They don’t have unique looks or gimmicks like a toy-based character would. We learn that Agorrians have handroids (AIs in small computers in their right hand with limited physical autonomy) but it just looks like a red glove. Youd think having a toyline of guys with fancy hands could be fun; one with a big crusher claw, one that grapples, one with a blaster. But so far it's only a JARVIS voice. That's all.

The part where they seem to be based on different sci-fi aesthetics to further contrast them is cool, but it leads to them looking like two different generic space soldiers.

The art is well rendered and coloured. The space environment and crashed ships are a great mood. But it also just doesn't grab attention and the whole place looks the same.

The characters don't exactly have memorable personalities. Darak is more personable and optimistic, while Solila is more harsh and cynical, but willing to bend the rules rather than dying for nothing.

The problem is there's just no strong hook. Why should I care about these generic characters? The mystery comes too late and seems too self explanatory (they're dehumanising each other in order to keep conflict going) to be the reason to keep reading.

The SURPRISE Transformers crossover lasts four pages and could easily be removed without changing the story at all. It doesn't matter to the actual characters except to repeat the losing all hope beat they already hit!

Void Rivals #2

The flashback establishes that Darak has a shitty dad who hates him, but otherwise it doesn't really build anything into narrative.

I don't know if they'll explain the vision more than Solila attributing it to her god, Zerta.

On the one hand I respect they seem to have avoided the assumption that there should be a romance between the two opposite gendered characters stuck together. But that would at least be something interesting happening.

The reveal of the skuxxoid is framed as a shocking reveal, but who out there has any idea what that is unless you spend all your time on TFWiki?

Void Rivals #3

The cover is a lie.

They introduce a quintesson prosecutor and have him ally with Darak and Solila only for them to turn on him almost immediately. It's so abrupt and lacking in drama I'm wondering if it's supposed to be a joke?

The ending where Solila betrays Darak is the first twist that actually got me.

Void Rivals #4

Every issue requires a Transformers reference so we just cut away to the skuxxoid meeting Shockwave on Cybertron despite having nothing to do with this story.

The decompression really drags this story out. So many pages for so little actual story, and there's no real atmosphere that would justify the trade off.

We learn the leaders of the factions are actually working together but that doesn't shock me at all. This conspiracy is just so underwhelming.

Final thoughts

Apparently Kirkman has a reputation for keeping secrets from comic sellers to preserve spoilers which hurts those businesses. The idea to keep the Transformers reveal a secret, leading to comic shops not preordering this random book, is dumb.

The setting hasn't been established in any way to make me care about the continued survival of these civilisation.

I'm predicting they break out, and broadcast their faces to both worlds.

The Transformers elements feel so artificial and I don't know why they feel like they could be pulled out separately. Do they want to be able to include them in the upcoming Transformers trades?

I haven't been buying the books despite being an obsessive completionist, and I will be grabbing the Transformers books, but in this case I'll probably get the trade collection.

[insanityisthecure]

Factions in Dying Light 2: The Peacekeepers

“Dignity. Peace. Brotherhood.”