#get a matching one for ruby stat

[honeylemonbutte]

Approved Verner heir activities:

Extracurricular math exercises

Research, planning and budgeting

Building things - improving mechanical skills

Bringing an idea from concept to fruition

Socializing with local peers

NOT approved Verner heir activities:

Jumping a creek on a bike

@lacunafiction

[rubys-domain]

it irks me that one of the best weapons for chongyun, wolf's gravestone, doesn't match his color scheme at all

[corvodumpy]

explain blaseball to me like I don’t know what baseball is

In the most simple explanation possible (simple does not mean short), it was a baseball simulator where the fans could bet on the teams with fake currency. The teams were all original teams and the players were randomly generated from their names, stats, position, down to their preference in coffee and pregame rituals. Fans would pick a favorite team and use the money they gained to buy raffle tickets, which were submitted into an online election system.

The election page contain simple things like "improve one of your players batting stats", "trade a player with the season winning team", or massive rule changing things like "The Top 4 Teams of the Regular Season must run an extra base next season" or "Every Season, a random team from each Subleague will become the 5th Playoff team. A best of 3 Wild Card series will happen on Fridays."

Fans would often work together to pool their raffle votes on what they wanted. The winners were pulled at random but the more votes you submitted the better your chances. The game took harsh turns into cosmic horror very quickly. The first season allowed fans to vote to "open a forbiden book" which resulted in the book cursing the game as a whole, causing solar eclipse weather which caused the umpires to occasionally turn into mindless killers who would randomly incinerate players mid-game. These deaths were permanent and the player was immediately replaced with no fanfare.

Fans often got very attached to their teams players, drawing art of what they look like or writing up stories about them, so their deaths often really meant something to a lot of people. Fans would often find ways to manipulate the simulation to do weird things, or try to push their team in interesting directions to reach some goal. The game devs often noticed what the fans were doing and would play into their games to cause many funny "monkeys paw" results.

One of the most famous involved a player named Jaylen Hotdogfingers. She was killed when the forbidden book was opened because she was the best pitcher in the league and it wanted to punish us. There was an option in an election one season to "steal the 14th most popular player onto your team" and fans quickly noticed you were still allowed to claim dead players were your favorite. Jaylen was listed as playing for the "Null" team because she was obviously dead, but it still counted as a real team. Fans succeeded in trading with this "null" team and jaylen was brought back to life. Fans refer to this as Necromancy.

When she started playing, she returned to pitching, but she started causing "Hit-By-Pitch"s, which was not a standard part of the simulation at this point. Players hit were marked as "Unstable". Eventually, an unstable player was incinerated, and that instability spread to another player activly in that game, and text read out "[PLAYER] was incinerated, A Debt was Collected."

So jaylen was spreading some "mark for death" on players on purpose to repay whatever God controlled this game for bringing her back from the dead. This lead to a domino effect of death until this debt was repaid that many fans call "Ruby Tuesday."

Overall the game had a few main plots, one involving us challenging/killing one of the gods of this game, the other fighting against the "boss" turning the game into a profit hungry hellscape. The fanart was insanely good, the unique stories every fan had about their team and players were always fun, and a lot of good was done for many different charities. Many fans would get together and make music, resulting in a band and record lable.

All fan communication was done through an official discord or team specific sidecords, so live games had live fans watching in real time. It really was a "you had to be there" thing, a real cultural event. Fans have done everything they can to preserve it. Nothing will ever match the energy of the live discovery of events in a live chat, but the messages are all still in there, and there's a website to replay the old games exactly as they were. And the blaseball wiki is a blast to scroll through even if you never watched it because all the player and team pages are filled with the stories fans made up.

Anyways Goobie Ballson did nothing wrong

*coughs up blood and dies*

[werothegreat]

Azurite Sea MORE

So many reveals this week!

This is an odd one. So as long as you keep playing a character every turn, you can keep questing with him and never expose him to a challenge. I'm unsure if there's a deck that even wants something like this, but he sure does exist.

Wild! Amethyst doesn't have the best offensive bounce tools, so I think this will go very nicely paired with Emerald, which has all the best offensive bounce tools. However this is also decent in Amethyst mirror matches to punish enemy Mim shenanigans.

Why do I care about this vanilla 1-drop? Because he's a Pirate vanilla 1-drop. He will go very nicely in Ruby-based Pirate decks.

This seems... good? It's easier to get it out and use it on the same turn than Maui's Fish Hook, and while there's no discount for having Maui out, you don't need to exert it either, so late game you could just give your whole board evasive for a turn. This is also nice as anti-Diablo tech.

Some people are saying this is the best card in the whole set, and I don't think they're far off. Ramp is good, and this ramp is inkable and draws you a card. The frustrating thing with Fishbone Quill and Tipo (which are both great, don't get me wrong) is you lose handsize with them. I think this will see a decent amount of play, especially since you can play this turn 2, and then play a 1-drop as well (probably a Pawpsicle, who are we kidding).

It's the shift target! "During your turn when you ink a card he gets Challenger +2." So the effect itself could be good in a Sapphire/Steel deck, but most importantly it lets you get out that 5/5 pinging floodborn on turn 3. I think this will see play just for that.

Last card of the day! So his ability is neat, especially since it's an ink sink, but the issue is in order to play him and use that ability on the same turn that's 7 ink, and for a 5-cost bodyguard he's got pretty bad stats. Compare to HeiHei and Nani. Maybe you drop him turn 5 and hope he survives?

Okay that's all for today. Let's see what we get tomorrow!

[hananoami]

[ Directional Orbit ] Ice - Stage 120 Clear VOD

This post is very late but I've finally cleared Zayne's Directional Orbit: Ice - Stage 120 on June 9th! He is the second love interest to have successfully clear all the Deepspace Trials currently available. If I were to be honest, his last stage really gave me a lot of trouble in spite of him having the most high leveled memories out of the three in my collection. I'll go into more details about that below. For now I want to give attention to what you should expect from this particular stage. At this time Stage 120 is the final stage available for Zayne's Directional Orbit: Ice. Like all x0 stages with red hues around its orbit this stage will require you to use two separate teams. Team 01's Protofield Stellactrum is 6-Ruby memories and Team 02's Protofield Stellactrum is 6-Sapphire memories. Matching the Protofield Stellactrum will grant you additional bonuses to your team. By matching the colors completely you will have a 'perfect match' which allows you to break 2 protofield shields in a single strike. This will ultimately save you some time by quickly bringing those wanderers into a weakened state. You also get an Attribute Bonus (up to 30.0%) for every color you match - increase DMG boost 5.0% and DMG reduction 5.0%. Of course, you could opt to go off color and try to brute force it. That's what I ended up doing for these fights. I don't mean to sound repetitive when I say this, but I still want to reiterate that there is no right or wrong way to play the game. Game play will vary from player to player. You have to take into consideration the memories you have in your collection, protocores used, their stat attributes, levels, etc. So I hope you wont be discouraged as you work on your own trials. If it's any consolation know that I am cheering for you, and am always willing to help~! Fighting!! ଘ(੭˃ᴗ˂)੭♡

Okay, let's rewind to when I first unlocked this orbit. Zayne was actually the first love interest to reach Stage 120, much thanks to the sheer amount of love and dedication I put into his Sapphire build. Low key I was pretty confident that he would also be the first one to clear stage 120... that is until then I saw the all ruby Protofield Stellactrum for Team 01-- I knew i was gonna be in trouble. (｡>﹏<) If you've been following along with my Deepspace Trials journey, ever since I've been playing this game and blogging about it, it's well known that his Ruby sets always give me so much grief. [Neon Night] was the last memory I was missing, but after 79 days it made is first appearance on 04/06 after roughly ~2k pulls since I started playing on day one. This memory eluding me became a meme amongst my friends so of course I had to write about it coming home. Originally, during my first attempt on 05/14, I had his 4-star NT solar pair equipped but historically for some reason I was never able clear any of his orbits that used all ruby. I opted to brute force those stages by going off color, however, that isn't possible to do here. Which is why I mentioned in my prog notes for this stage I was going to take a hiatus from any attempts until I was able to obtain his new ruby solar myth pair on 06/07 -- but that's a whole different story. After I got those SF memories and leveled them up it was time to go back in and see what I could do in order to finally clear this stage. During my early attempts my teams looked like this: Team 01 with 6-Ruby memories (Master of Fate build) and Team 02 with 6-Sapphire memories (Foreseer build). I chose to match the Protofield Stellactrum for now to see how things would play out. Real talk the damage output difference between a 4-star solar pair and a 5-star solar pair is kinda ridiculous. I had previously struggled to clear the first half, but with Master of Fate it was a breeze. I was finally able to see and prog the second half of the fight with Foreseer on 06/08, but wasn't able to clear the fight in the end. I thought maybe it was a protocore difference, as most of the memories I had for that half were max level (minus the 4-star memories, those were at 70). During the hiatus I focused on leveling up his sapphire protocores, yet it still wasn't enough. My mind was thinking of what else I could do in order to close the final gap between my prog and a clear. So I decided to do a different strat taken from a different playbook that I used in my previous 120 clears (open orbit / Xavier's Directional Orbit: Light) which was to swap my solar memories, but keep the respective lunar memories for team. Now here is where things got spicy.

Remember when I said I was confident with Foreseer? That notion quickly faded as I was struggling to clear the first half (2x lv 80-FS, 4x lv 70 ruby lunars). By this point all of the lunar protocores were maxed out at +15, yet I still wasn't doing enough damage to clear the first half of the stage before the timer ran out.

Okay then, since I can't level up protocores anymore and don't want to farm protocores with hopes to find better ones I decided to level up one of the lunar memories to max. The pattern was level up a ruby memory to 80 > run an attempt > fail > repeat until all of the ruby memories I had equipped were level 80.

AND EVEN AFTER ALL THAT EFFORT I STILL HAD TROUBLE... HAHAHA 💀

૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა

Like damn, Foreseer what happened to you?! It wasn't an easy fight to clear and I struggled to do enough damage before the timer ran out since I wasn't able to shatter the protofield shields in a single strike. That's the down side of going off color and trying to brute force it. Yet I was stubborn. I was so determined to clear this fight with Foreseer... and for one of my attempts I was super duper close! I had 1% left on my last wanderer's HP, but due to my mistake of trying to multitask / stream the fight for my friends mid combat, I wasn't able to finish the job and failed that run. Out of all of my defeats this one hurt me the most. Needless to say I WAS SO TILTED I ACTUALLY CRIED OUT OF FRUSTRATION. Hard lesson learned: don't turn on a stream until after you cleared the fight. I thought Foreseer would be able to finish the job, but the timer got the best of him. I was so upsetti.

For the next hour I kept going at it. Miserably might I add. There were countless defeats, but none of them even came close that one run that tilted me off this astral plane. Eventually I got lucky and had the wanderers group up at the end so I completely shatter their shields to AoE them down with my < ARDENT OATH >.

My advice to anyone attempting this fight is to try and stick close / focus on the CARMINE TALON first. Auto target is shit, but at least by sticking close to those the THUNDEROAR will jump to you instead of you trying to chase them down... Of course, if you're going off color you'll need to press your abilities on cooldown in order to bring them into a weakened state as fast as you can. Having Duo Rank 1 for Foreseer meant I didn't need to have a Oath Recovery Boost beta protocore equipped, but if you don't have that then you'll definitely need to use one here.

FINALLY, after all that pain and suffering I was able to get back to my prog point.

Because this was my first day using Master of Fate's kit in an actual timed battle my runs with him were very sloppy... I've mentioned in an earlier post using the demo they provided in the events page that his kit felt very quick and spammy. Even after doing some research on the Love and Deepspace community groups, every one also agreed that his blade play style using [Sacred Rainfall] was very fast...

For this build I had two +9 Ruby Expedited Energy Boost beta protocores on the SF memory pair. Because I didn't have much practice with this blade I just spammed all of my abilities with hopes I didn't accidentally overwrite / cancel any of them. It'll take some time to get the timing down with patience and more practice, but at this point of the night I was so down bad for a clear I just wanted to get this fight done and over with since I was still upset from that 1% defeat in the first half of the stage. It took me a while to bring the final boss into a weakened state because I did not have a perfect match. So it was crucial to use resonance skill on cooldown as soon as it came back up. The three charges you get after using it is an interesting kit, but slightly confusing cause we never had something like this before. Still, I made an effort to press everything on CD anyway so my timer wasn't off. If possibly I would also highly suggest you try to get perfect dodges for the extra support damage. I want to say a lot of time and resources went into obtaining this clear. And when I say a LOT I seriously mean it. The diamonds and irl currency used to obtain R3 Master of Fate. The amount of stamina that was dedicated into farming protocores, bottle of wishes, and ascension materials. This clear was not something I was able to do in one go, but took me almost a month to do. I understand that not many can replicate what I've done and I'm not saying you need to do what I did in order to clear. The purpose of this post/blog is for me to reflect on my journey and to share my experience. The happy moments, the sad moments, and even the ones that were upsetting-- I'm glad I found a way to use this space as a positive outlet. Thank you all for taking the time to read all of this, and for following along my deepspace trials progression. As always if anyone has any questions or wants additional tips/advice with their own battles I would be more than happy to help to the best of my ability.

ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS

Companion: Zayne's Foreseer [ Defend | DMG | AoE ] Weapon: Everlasting Song [ Support | AoE | Heal ] Attribute Bonus For each matched stellactrum, increases DMG Boost 5.0% (currently increased: 20.0%) and DMG Reduction 5.0% (currently increased 20.0%). ♡ Affinity Bonus: 97 (Zayne’s Protective Skill) When you take a fatal blow, Zayne teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3xxx || DEF xx || ATK xxx ] Pair Bonus [ FS ] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces team DMG taken by 8%. When fighting together with Foreseer, your Active Skill DMG is increased by 25%. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. When you and Foreseer are granted with Wards of Curses, team DMG will be increased by 12%.

5☆ FOREVER SEALED (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 2 using +9 and +14 SSR protocores

5☆ PROMISE EVERLASTING (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 1 using +9 and +15 SSR protocores

5☆ COZY AFTERNOON (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 rank 3 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ DRUNKEN INTIMACY (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ MEDICAL RESCUE (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ EXCLUSIVE TUTORIAL (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

Companion: Zayne's Master of Fate [ DPS | Burst | Sustained ] Weapon: Sacred Rainfall [ DPS | Burst | Single-target ] Attribute Bonus For each matched stellactrum, increases DMG Boost 5.0% (currently increased: 20.0%) and DMG Reduction 5.0% (currently increased 20.0%). ♡ Affinity Bonus: 97 (Zayne’s Protective Skill) When you take a fatal blow, Zayne teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 38xx || DEF xx || ATK xxx ] Pair Bonus [ SF ] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces DMG taken by 8%. When the enemy is in [Shattered Jade] state, reduces its DEF by 10%. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. When fighting alongside Master of Fate, the enemy's weakened state is extended by 2 seconds. Each time an enemy in weakened state is hit, the damage it sustains increases by 0.5%, up to a maximum of 10%. - Duo Rank 2: increases Energy Charge cap by 1. When [Jadesunder] is triggered, restores a small amount of Energy Charge. - Duo Rank 3: increase team DMG by 8%. Increases DMG of [Jadesunder] by 100%. When [Orchid Metamorphosis] is replaced by [Piercing Rain], there's one more attempt of using [Piercing Rain] hitting an enemy. The cooldown reduction can be triggered once when unleashing [Piercing Rain].

5☆ SNOWFALL ENCOUNTER (ruby/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 3 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ SNOWFALL EMBRACE (ruby/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 3 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ HEARTS WITHIN REACH (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80 rank 1 using +15 SSR protocores

5☆ BUSINESS TRIP (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 3 using +15 SSR protocores

4☆ FRAGMENTED DREAMS (sapphire/lunar) Lv 70 rank 3 using +12 SSR protocores

4☆ EVERLASTING SNOWDROP (sapphire/lunar) Lv 70 rank 3 using +12 and +15 SSR protocores

[howlingday]

a young ruby rose (when yang was at signal) opens a pack of cards from a card game popular in remnant (basically use any character) and finds a glowing card in a flash of light a monster from the game introduced itself as her new buddy

call it buddycard au

"Okay." Ruby took a deep breath as she ripped open her new packet of BuddyCards. Carefully along the seam, her future as a professional BuddyCard player was about to begin with a simple tug. She was-

"Hey, uh, you good, kid?" Ruby flinched. She turned and saw her uncle looking at her with concern. "You've been standing there, barely opening your pack of cards for about five minutes now."

"S-Sorry..." She flushed. Tugging one more time, her package came open and her cards were revealed. Six more cards to made her deck complete. She then sat down on the bench and opened her backpack and began rifling for the rest of her deck.

"Hey, squirt," she looked to Uncle Qrow, "I'm gonna go take a leak. Don't move from here, got it?"

"Okay!" Ruby nodded. Qrow then stepped into the convenience store bathroom, leaving Ruby outside on the bench.

With the addition of her new pack, Ruby now had and additional two tools to build help her units, two of which were now added to help attack her opponent's towers, and if she was lucky, she could use her two, new artifacts to boost her units stats.

"What an interesting deck you've built." Ruby looked up to see a woman looming over, her whole body covered in a black cloak. "Oh, excuse me. I couldn't help but notice your cards."

"Do you play?" Ruby asked.

"I do." Ruby beamed at what she said.

"I use Vale Greens!" Ruby said, almost bouncing out of her seat. "What do you use?!"

The woman giggled. "I play The Dark Wastes."

"Ugh..." Ruby groaned. "You play the Grimm?"

"They're an effective team, if you know how to use them." She reached into her robe and pulled out a deck. "Would you like to challenge me?"

"Um," Ruby looked to the bathroom, "my uncle said not to move from here."

"You can play from your seat." The woman said, stepping away. "It won't be a long game."

"Well," Ruby looked to her cards, then nodded, "okay! I challenge you!"

"I accept your challenge." The woman said. "The Battle Is On."

Ruby nearly squealed as the words were said in unison. She was playing a real BuddyCard game with a grown-up! As the holographic field altered the terrain to match the opposing Kingdoms, Vale and Wastes, three towers rose around each player, with the largest standing behind them. Their cards scattered around, though some of the cards flew behind Ruby and bounced off the wall to in front of her.

"Ruby," Ruby's Buddy, Dragon Warrior Cress, spoke to her, "I don't like the look of her. She seems too strong, especially for our first real game."

"It's okay, Cress!" Ruby waved off. "It'll be good practice when we get to the big leagues!" Cress simply gave an unsure growl.

Across the field, the woman stood alone without any creatures beside her. Did she not have a Buddy? While it isn't uncommon, only the best players had specific Buddies. She then waved her hand towards Ruby, letting her have the first move.

"Okay, uh, I'll use my Longsword Huntsman Unit!" Ruby called out as a holographic unit with a longsword stepped forward. "And since it's my first turn, I'll have him move towards your left tower."

"Though he can't attack yet." Salem confirmed. "Though sometimes action is better than inaction." Without moving from where she stood, she pulled waved a card forward. "I'll use my Black Wolf Beowolf defend my left tower." A bipedal wolf snarled as it lumbered into existence and hunched by the left tower.

"I'll equip my Longsword Huntsman with a Whetstone tool and increase his strength." She waved her arm out and cried. "Huntsman, attack her Beowolf!" With a quick swipe of his sword, her Huntsman cleaved apart her Grimm, making it howl as it was destroyed. "Yes! Now your left tower is wide open! Oh, but just to play it safe, I'll also use my Shotgun Huntress to move to your right tower." A woman with a shotgun appeared and advanced towards the right tower.

"Aren't we feeling aggressive?" The woman chuckled. "Very well. I'll use my Deathstalker Nest Artifact, which will summon two Skittering Terror Deathstalkers that will move to attack your Huntsman and Huntress."

"But they won't be able to beat them." Ruby quirked her brow.

"Victory isn't always a matter of strength, my dear." The two Grimm moved towards the Huntsman and Huntress, the former of the two making short work of the little bug. "I'll end my turn by using another Black Beast Beowolf unit and move them to my right tower."

"Okay, I'll, uh..." Ruby looked to her cards. There wasn't much she could do at the moment, beyond using another unit. However, her aura points were low from her frequent uses. What little she did have wasn't enough to summon Cress, or any of her other stronger units. "Okay, I'll just have my Longsword Huntsman attack your left tower!" The unit sliced into the tower, making it crumble and fall. The black field around the tower soon faded and began to grow green grass in it's place. "Yes! One down! Now I'll move him to the right tower! And now I'll use my Shotgun Huntress attack your Deathstalker!"

With a powerful blast, the little Grimm was obliterated. Ruby was about to call out for another move, then remembered her AP was still too low for another movement. It was times like these that she always forgot how important building your AP was. She gave a sigh at the setback.

"And I'll end my turn there.

"Good." The woman smiled. "My artifact will bring two more Deathstalkers into the fray. I'll keep my Beowolf where they are, but I'll have my Deathstalkers advance to your Huntress for a joint attack." The Shotgun Huntress was suddenly attacked at once by the twin stingers of the small Grimm, destroying her with their combined strength. Suddenly, the woman's grin became wicked. She leaned down and picked up a card that blew to her feet. "And for my next move, I'll use my Skittering Horror Deathstalker and have them advance on your Huntsman."

The massive scorpion that emerged clacked it's claws as it moved towards Ruby's Huntsman. It didn't attack, but the fear she felt staring at the massive bug's strength was palpable. To think such a terrifying thing existed in the game made Ruby remember why the Grimm units were looked down upon. Those who didn't know how to play them eventually moved on to another faction, but those who did and succeeded were often called out as cheaters and even demons.

"Ruby?" Ruby snapped out of her head at the woman's voice. "It's your turn now."

""O-Oh... Right..." Looking to her aura points, Ruby grimaced. Then she saw something that would help her. "Here! I use my aura meter tool to recover three aura points! I'll then use my Dragon Warrior Cress and move him to your big Deathstalker with my Huntsman! Then I'll use a joint attack to smash it to mush!" The humanoid dragon and the swordsman attacked with blades, slicing apart the massive bug. "Alright! How's that more strength isn't everything?"

"Well done." The woman gave a titter. "And how much AP do you have remaining after that joint attack?"

"Uh..." Ruby noticed she'd used all of her aura points. "None..."

"Too bad." A card lifted to her hand, almost as if it were magic. "Well, since it's my turn, I think I'll follow your example. I use my Black Pool artifact tool to increase my AP by six. And with my artifact still active, two more Deathstalkers come to my aid. That makes for one Beowolf and four Deathstalkers." Waving her arms out, she let out a laugh. "And now I'll grow my army further is my Dark Wings Nevermore!"

Letting out a shrill cry, a massive, black bird cast a large shadow over the ground as it hovered just above it's master. Ruby was in frozen in place with fear from the titanic avian. She wanted to do something, anything against this unit but... Not even Cress could do anything against this creature, even with a Whetstone. She wanted to cry.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" Ruby looked over and saw her uncle standing by, furious with the woman across the way. Suddenly, the fields pulled away and reality returned. "Well?!"

"Just a simple player." The woman replied, before turning away. On her back, a red eye faded into shadow. It then dawned on Ruby of just who that woman's partner was. "Thank you for playing, Ruby."

"You okay, kid?" Uncle Qrow knelt down. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"N-No..." She rubbed her eyes. "Um, but Uncle Qrow?"

"Yeah, squirt?"

"How... How did she know my name?"

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

The woman continued her way down the dark corridor, smiling to herself. She entered a room where her servants bowed to her presence. Taking her seat upon her black throne, she couldn't stop herself from smiling. She even let out a chuckle.

'Ruby Rose,' she thought to herself, 'what an interesting girl you are.'

[crystalelemental]

Arena Sweep again. I decided to give Eltolinde the Ring of the Maiden. Initially I was considering Celeste, but I really, really like the Fatal Dive set, and frankly there's just too much lost using Ring of the Maiden on her. No use for PP, +5 HP instead of +20, it's not great. Anyway, some fun notes:

I am learning to joys of Freeze as a status effect. It's hilariously busted. Galadmir can freeze two enemies at once, and it really sets up some big hits. Just stalling out is tremendous.

Fatal Dive is officially one of my favorite sets. I already liked it because unable to be guarded against, but in this run, the final Arena match? Celeste threw out her Fatal Dive, and immediately one-shot the Featherstaff from full HP. It couldn't do anything, the instant she connected the attack it was over. Magnificent.

Eltolinde and Rosalinde are officially favorites as well, thanks to some shenanigans. Eltolinde especially. See, I finally figured out the combos. Their 3AP moves hit the full field, weakening the whole enemy roster and allowing allies to clean up (which means I'll likely set Celeste elsewhere after all, sad to say). Then Elemental Impetus kicks in. Provided you give them Ruby Pendant, they have 4AP to start, Impetus brings them up to 2. In Eltolinde's case, her follow-up 2AP move is a massive Row heal that prevents damage. Giving her the +5 stats staff and Ring of the Maiden means +10 initiative, so she gets that second turn with some reliability. But, suppose you have to deal with a situation where you need that heal right away. Well that's fine, now you can take her 1AP move, which always gets 1PP back, and throw out like 5 consecutive attacks. Eltolinde is crazy fun.

I did still rely on Nina to get past armors. I feel like Breakers are downright essential, they're just so stupid good.

[mealvaan]

Pawn

Dragging steps part the red carpet as if it were its predecessor sea.

His hand is aloft as if there should be a drink sitting comfortably within it, but he’s forgotten the whole thing at the previous table. The legality of him indulging in drink is questionable — these Keeper men look so boyish until they’re decidedly not — but the staff will be damned if they tell him no. In his other, he lifts a loose leaf of parchment and slaps it onto the table.

“Am I late?”

The Gold Saucer attendant looks at the desk chronometer. Itimmediately strikes quarter to the bell.

“… No, sir.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he says, turning tail quite literally. He swipes the parchment off the desk once she’s had a sliver of time to check his details, a needless formality at this point. Even for lack of a draft, the gumption with which he’d scooped the thing causes it to flutter into his hand, with only a miniscule crease to show for it.

He enters the Battlehall with a slouch and a yawn. Seeing this space in its liminal form, bereft of crowd chatter and its repetitive, lift music-esque anthem, should be uncanny. Instead, he feels at home. His occupation may require him to be a performer too often, and he plays up his irritability more than he’d like to admit as the despised heel of the tourney. However, this is a private tournament played solely for the amusement of rich folk that fancy themselves better Triple Triad players than they are. So the close-quarters audience is quiet to feign a deep connection with the cards — he doubts they can even read the numbers on them.

That knowledge that there isn’t a true audience is oddly calming. He can kick up his feet as much as he’d like here. Literally. All those that might tell him off eye his swirling drink and pistol at the hip and decide they can clean off the table later.

His opponent is already seated at the venue. She usually plays the face, if by virtue of being at the centre of the Far Eastern craze that’s swept Ul’dah in droves. Truthfully, as someone who’d joined the audience for most of her matches, she isn’t very good at it. She keeps a placid expression, hardly reacts to her victories or her losses, and shrouds any expressiveness in plain, white robes the same colour as her horns. 

On second thought, that’s probably what the crowd loves about her.

Himself? He’s a natural heel. He’s dressed in all black, he loves to flip off the crowd when they tell him to make dogshit plays, and he’s a keeper of the moon for crying out loud. You could blame his strategic forethought — i.e. obvious reads into obvious tells — on boons from miqo’te occultism and Dalamud worship. 

But there is no audience for whom the narrative spins. There’s no hero, no villain, no arc to follow. The spectators are purely here to pick up a dozen strategies (and only a single opener will stick); the Ruby Princess and the One-Eyed Royal are just here for fun.

Who are they fucking kidding? They’re here to make money.

Truth be told, he hadn’t expected to get this far in such a high-stakes tournament. The odds had been against him, yet here he is at the finals. 

“Good luck,” says the Ruby Princess, succinct and quiet. This is the first time she has ever spoken to him.

“Don’t need it,” retorts the One-Eyed Royal gruffly, and she’s reminded of why she never speaks to him. 

The determining order is drawn. Two blue, one red. He looks over his deck as he smirks for the advantage.

One card is an obvious opener — if he can capture the middle-right with these stats ahead of time, then he’s assured the entire right hand side. For a moment, his fingers dawdle over its crest. There’s a cold energy to the card; isn’t the most blatant play simply playing into his opponent’s hand? Will she not see that this is his strongest play and capitalise on the weakness to come?

His fingers dart to the leftmost side of his deck and he whips the card from it, playing into the middle-right. 

Its left hand side reads ‘1’.

The Ruby Princess raises a brow. The peanut gallery incessantly scribble their notes. The attendant clicks the chronometer and the timer on his opponent’s end starts.

Perhaps her dull, doll-like stare was a character after all, because he can actually catch glimpses of her expression as he observes her movements. Between the slivers of the foil fan she’s concocted for herself, he can see the beginnings of a smirk. She underestimates him, just like everyone else. His rise to the finals is an utter fluke, as she’s rarely faced him off save for elimination matches, and his backdoor is wide open.

She places her weakest card to his own’s left. Her 4 is enough to trump his 1, and she won’t waste her big guns on this trifle, she decides.

Without hesitation, he captures her centre card with a mid-tier one on the bottom. Her eyebrow twitches. The match proceeds with increasingly defensive plays on her end, as he captures the space she leaves in untouched corners when he can’t beat her walls. It doesn’t matter that she has untouchable real estate in red. His first play has already made its scoring difference and secured the match, resulting in the final score of:

“6-3 to the One-Eyed Royal,” calls the attendant.

The smirk has been completely wiped off the raen’s face. In his one visible eye and between the slivers of his fringe, he gives her a knowing look. She’s let the fool transcend to royalty, past the last bastion of her bloodline, and now he reaps the rewards of sovereignty from the bulk of the sports’ sponsors.

Golf claps all around.

He takes his cards as she leaves hers, dumbfounded, and collects the Gold Saucer chips into the crux of his arm — his wooden infant, clicking and clacking against his chest. 

“Cheers,” Vahri'to says in his wake. It’s a good thing he’s not playing a character, too, as his tail swings with the base joys of a child.

[unfortunatelilbirdie]

"So. Um. I... Well, I know it's been a long time since our conversation about the ceremony... But! If I'm doing it, so are you. I... looked around and several Mistralian girls didn't get to do their own before... everything."

Yang sweeps her tail back and forth before presenting her aunt with a kimono carefully designed and wrapped for her. It matches her aunt's aesthetic shockingly well. Like the one she'd gotten for Yang so long ago, thought had gone into this return gift. Long overdue, but better late than never. Yang beams at Qrow as she unwraps it and beholds the beautiful kimono.

"The ceremony is going to be next week, Tuesday. Come, or don't, I guess."

Qrow was honestly touched. But she took the gift none the less before moving to hug her niece. Hand it be ruby she would have ruffled her hair but yang would not be so found of that. Though qrow did miss when she could get away with it. The tragedy of yang getting older

None the less it is because of that her little firecracker has become more such a good kid. Especially given her circumstances. Pulling away from the hug qrow smiled. "While it might be a little odd for an old lady like me to show up."

Well technically had she been a civilian she wouldn't actually be that old, but given the fact she was a huntress that wasn't actually the case and in fact she was rather old for their profession. A sad thing that majority of hunters and huntress don't make it to thirty and those that do are likely to retire before their age catches up with them.

Not to say that their aren't people over the age of thirty in the business, just majority that do stay also switch over to teaching which means their on the field days are far and in-between qrow being maybe one of the few that didn't go into teaching (though oz sort of has a way with words, and she found herself teaching for a few years. But that is besides the point)

And while she should have maybe pay more attention to numbers and stats while in school but something something something aura control gets worse with age, especially the more its broken. Blah blah blah becareful blah blah blah. Maybe she'll pester oz later to see if all that's been updated (that is if she remembers, since it isn't that important, given she is smart enough to not push herself to getting her aura broken, after all she's got a lot of responsibilities to deal with and dying is not in the cards right now.

"I'll make arrangements to open up the whole day, and once we're don, I'm treating you to dinner." After all this is an important event and, it would be the less she could do for her neice.

[legzblog]

How To Find The Most Suitable Platform For NRL Prediction

The National Ruby League is just around the corner, and most fans are looking for the right platform for NRL prediction. But how will you get such a platform that would help you with predictions and offer the right insights about the matches? There are several prediction platforms available on the Internet, and deciding on the right one may not be a cakewalk. So, we have listed a few things you should keep in mind when looking for the most suitable platform.

Expert prediction

The first thing you should look for on any NRL tipping predictions platform is whether they provide you with expert predictions. They should provide you with predictions backed by the right algorithms so that you can place your bet without any second thoughts. Hence, expert predictions can make your life easier during the next NRL season.

Detailed statistics

If you require information about a certain player or team, detailed statistics should be available on the prediction platform. These statistics should include every important detail, such as performance trends and several other such information. All this should be simple to comprehend so that you can place your bets according to the statistics of the team or the player.

Latest updates

Everything can change in a moment when it comes to National Rugby League. So, the most suitable prediction platform should provide you with all the latest updates about different teams. You would surely want to stay updated about the latest team form or any injuries players face. These details can truly impact the games. So, staying updated about them is crucial for you.

Easy-to-use platform

No matter which prediction platform you choose, make sure to check that it is easy to use for you. There will be a large amount of information available on the platform. So, you should be able to access it on different devices efficiently and rely on it to make the most informed decisions. If the platform is difficult to use, it can make your life more complicated than easy.

Such a prediction platform would provide you with a convenient experience.

About Legz:

Legz is one of the most trusted NRL stats and prediction platforms. On this platform, you can get the right game data along with crucial numbers and an NRL injury list that will help you during the NRL season. The accuracy of this platform is exceptional and will surely be helpful for you.

To get NRL stats, visit https://www.legz.com.au/

Original Source: https://bit.ly/3TevWTh

[biancabelairs]

idk. hangman/punk aside, which i'm psyched about, i'm really not feeling the double or nothing card

[andypantsx3]

statistically significant | 7 | bakugou/reader

length: 23,490 words | 7 chapters

summary: You’re the scientist who developed a neural net to model the value of assists. Now that your work is feeding into the hero rankings, pro hero Ground Zero has a bone to pick with your results.

tags: romance, enemies to lovers, sexual tension, reader-insert

warnings: aged up characters, eventual smut, m/f threats of violence, problematic behavior

One month later

The Hero Awards certainly did not disappoint the second time around.

Though you’d spent the last few months in the company of some of these heroes, you couldn’t help but linger on the sidelines as they stalked their way down the walkway, staring in awe. As before, they were decked out in their absolute best, glimmering in jewel toned dresses with daring cutouts, or carving dashing profiles in well-fitted suits. Reporters and fans swarmed the sides of the red carpet, roiling like a pot reaching an agitated boil.

Their excitement was so palpable it hung heavy in the air, absolutely contagious. Maybe it was the fact that you knew some of the heroes up for awards tonight personally, but the potential of the evening simmered under your skin, a soft but constant hum of frenetic energy.

Or maybe some of that was due to the fact that this year, you’d been able to convince your boss to shell out the extra cash for the full dinner option. No longer would you need to smuggle snacks into your dress--this evening, you were a solid professional.

Which was a good thing, really, as the dress in question was not altogether any more secure or supportive than your dress from last year. You’d tried to angle for a thicker fabric and a little more of a conservative design, but several people had aired opinions on your choices over the course of the last few weeks, and you’d ended up in a thin swathe of delicate fabric that was really quite pretty, if you did say so yourself, but would support a grand total of maybe two popcorn kernels.

“You’re looking awfully forlorn over here,” someone chirped by your ear.

You startled, whirling to find Mina behind you, looking rosy and radiant in a form-fitting dress only a few shades lighter than her skin tone. Tiny pearls and clusters of glittering pink diamonds were stitched carefully into the fabric, winking at you as she moved, as bright as the conspiratorial grin she wore. She looked absolutely fabulous--she was one of the people who’d bullied you into the snackless gown, and you could begrudgingly admit that the girl had taste.

“Is it because a certain hotheaded blonde isn’t here yet?” she asked, a pink eyebrow going up.

You flushed. “Mina--oh my god, no. Not everything is about him, you know.”

She idly inspected a nail, looking supremely unconvinced. “Someone should tell him that, then.”

You huffed a laugh. The last time you’d been at the Awards, you’d said as much to him yourself. But a year later, the message was still not exactly being received.

“I’m actually thinking about dinner. I’m literally starving,” you complained, trying to divert the subject.

Mina nodded sympathetically. “I have a six pack and I still had to suck in to fit into this shit.”

As if on cue, your stomach growled sympathetically. You weren’t proud of what it was going to be like when you were finally unleashed on that multi-course dinner, but god it was gonna be worth it.

Several shrieks went up in the crowd of fans behind you, and you looked over your shoulder in alarm. Your pulse relaxed slightly when you realized it was just another pro sauntering down the walkway, but then the lights flickered off ashy blonde locks, and your pulse jumped violently. You jerked in surprise.

Mina didn’t even try to suppress her snort as you turned around fully, eyes pulled like a magnet to Bakugou as he stalked down the red carpet. Even looking like he would rather be anywhere else, and moving briskly over the carpet like he was going in for a kill, he still looked better than he had any right to. The charcoal of his suit--stitched with deep ruby flowers so dark they were almost black--brought out the piercing scarlet of his eyes, and your heart leapt into your mouth when those eyes cut over to meet yours.

His expression didn’t change, and he kept moving, but you flushed all the way from your head to your toes at the intensity behind his look.

Mina made a disgusted noise. “You’re both like a dog with a bone.”

You glared at her accusingly. “We literally just looked at each other.”

She clicked her tongue. “Please, he all but just pissed on you to mark his territory.”

Before you could reply, she called out, catching sight of Kirishima, and seized you to drag you over to say hello.

You let Mina drag you around for the next half hour, making polite conversation with her high school friends, a couple of friends from other agencies, and one fashion journalist who Mina had converted into a weekly drinking buddy. Mina kept the conversation light and easy, and you enjoyed yourself for the most part, though you almost passed out when a very distinct head of green curls materialized over her shoulder and then Midoriya Izuku--better known as the number one hero Deku--was smiling at you eagerly.

Things got even weirder when he appeared to not only already know who you were, but knew a great deal about your work, enough to ask some very detailed questions about your training model software that was going into production a couple months from now. Mina had the gall to cut into the conversation to call you both huge nerds, though she’d directly benefited from the model herself.

The conversation was unfortunately cut short when a calloused hand flung itself in front of your face and a rough voice sounded from over your shoulder. “Stop sticking your nose in my fucking business, Deku.”

You whipped around to find Bakugou glaring over your head at his former classmate. His hand closed around your shoulder and dragged you closer to him.

“I was just asking about her model, Kacchan,” Midoriya said patiently. “It’ll be great to be able to compare my movements directly with some of the other heroes in almost real time! Ojirou’s been trying out some new fighting forms and I was thinking I should try to adapt them to work into my shoot style--”

“Just because you couch it in nerd shit doesn’t mean you’re not trying to spy on me, fuckstick,” Bakugou said. “Stop poking your nose into my relationship like the town fucking gossip.”

Midoriya flushed a little, looking slightly chastened when you turned back to him in question. He gave you an embarrassed little smile. “I did want to meet you for reasons other than your model. Kacchan’s been my friend since I was little, and I wondered what kind of person could interest him so much he wanted my perspective on your work--”

“Shut the fuck up,” Bakugou demanded, but he wasn’t fast enough.

You perked up in interest. “He asked you what?”

Bakugou bristled like a cat being dangled over a bath, but Midoriya was paying him no mind. “Right after the last Hero Awards, he’d done all this research and he asked me about whether your model results lined up with some of the personal analysis that I was doing--”

“Deku,” Bakugou’s fingers tightened on your arm, growing alarmingly warm. “If you don’t shut the fuck up right now I’m going to punch all of your teeth straight down your throat and into your stomach.”

“Kacchan,” Midoriya protested, but he was interrupted by a call on the overhead for everyone to start taking their places in the theater interior for the awards to begin.

Bakugou used the distraction to pry you away from Midoriya. In the blink of an eye, he’d gotten you across the theater and was corralling you towards the Miruko agency tables, looking like he’d sucked on a lemon. You stifled a laugh. You’d wondered a couple months ago exactly how and when he’d figured out you were quirkless, and he’d once asked if you thought you were the only one who’d done their research.

If things were anything like you were starting to suspect, your demands that he do better at the Hero Awards had apparently aroused his interest in more ways than one.

You and Bakugou hadn’t exactly settled on formal terms for your relationship yet, and he still more often than not answered any of your interest with the assertion that you were the one with the crush on him. But this was more evidence--beyond the mysterious coffees that showed up at your workstation almost every morning--that your interest was more intensely reciprocated than he was willing to own up to.

By the time you’d settled at a table and been flanked by a grinning Mina and Kaminari, the awards were getting underway. They were thrilling to watch, something you’d had to miss out on last year when you needed to sneak out with a giant hole in the front of your dress. The heroes you’d worked with this year raked in an insane number of awards, and their elation was palpable, so thick you could almost taste it in the air. The pair of men with satyr horns were named the Best Rookie Duo, Miruko was awarded Takedown of the Year, and Kaminari clocked the Fastest Fight Win for a battle last month in which he’d rendered a villain with an aluminum quirk insensate only seconds into the fight.

A very unfortunate match up, you thought.

Mina nabbed an award for Fan Favorite, and in almost no time, it was the moment that you’d been nervously awaiting since nominations had gone out. You’d cheated, doing your own calculations behind everyone’s backs just to get a clearer picture of what his chances were, and you rather liked his odds, but there was always a chance it wouldn’t go how you thought. But this was the moment that Bakugou was up for Most Valuable Hero.

You barely heard any of the words the host was saying as he trotted out the names of the nominees, detailing some of their key accomplishments. He covered Bakugou's latest slew of assists and rescues, stats that made you feel kind of weirdly warm and proud, and then your ears strained for the syllables you’d hoped to hear.

And then:

“The winner is...our explosive number six, Ground Zero!”

It took everything in you not to leap out of your seat in joy, though something like a strangled squeal managed to escape you. Bakugou gave you an evaluating look as he got to his feet, stalking up on stage with his usual intensity.

As soon as he was up there, it struck you that allowing him time for an acceptance speech was maybe not a great idea. Graciousness was not exactly a strength of his.

“Obviously I’m the most valuable,” he growled into the mic. The stage lights glinted off his hair and teeth, making him look slightly more predatory than usual. “I didn’t need you fucks to tell me.”

A choking noise could be heard from Kirishima’s seat a couple tables over, and Mina put her head in her hands.

“What’s important is that I’m number six now and it only took me a month,” Bakugou’s head swiveled in the direction of Midoriya and you suppressed a groan. “Don’t get fucking comfortable. I’m gonna wipe the floor with every one of the top five, and next awards you’ll all be kissing my ass.”

He didn’t seem like he had much more he wanted to say, which was an incredible relief as both the host and nearby security looked about ready to wrestle him offstage.

He leapt neatly down from the stage, and when he made it back to the table, he didn’t take his seat again. Instead, he grabbed your arm, hauling you out of your seat, and then he was pulling you down the aisle and through the door to the reception area.

He pulled you past the snack table and you thought he was steering you towards the stairwell again, but at the last second he took a sudden turn, shoving you through a door into the women’s powder room. You didn’t even have enough time to formulate a question before he had you backed up against the wall, your shoulders hitting the cool stone at the same time his mouth hit yours.

His kiss was hot and demanding as always, and you lost yourself in it easily. He trailed a line of burning kisses down your neck and over your shoulder, making you shudder and shake when he lingered too long over any particular spot.

It was hard to think past the press of his body on yours, but you tried your best to formulate words.

“Katsuki--it’s--we’re in the women’s room,” you panted, embarrassed by the fact that even as you spoke, you were clutching him closer. “This is--what are you--? S-someone’s gonna come in.”

Bakugou broke apart from you just long enough to level a searching glance around the room and--spotting what he’d been looking for--hefting the trashcan in front of the door with a forceful kick to stop it shut.

“There, nerd. Now stop fucking complaining,” he rasped, immediately attaching his mouth back under your jaw. You shuddered.

“What the fuck has gotten into you,” you demanded, seizing a fistful of his blonde hair to pull him back from where he was leaving what felt like a very deep bruise over your collarbone.

He leveled you with a burning, red-eyed stare. “Like you don’t fucking know.”

You looked at him in question. “...I actually don’t.”

He tried to lean in again but you gripped his hair harder. “What? You can’t just keep throwing me up against walls, especially here. What is it with you and shoving me into weird places at the Hero Awards?”

Bakugou growled. “If you don’t shut the fuck up and let me do what I want, I’m gonna burn throught this dress too.”

You froze up, then glared at him accusingly. “I literally write the code that processes your rank. If you ever wanna come within sniffing distance of the top three, you won’t touch a single thread of this dress.”

The hands on you grew hot, but not hot enough to burn. Bakugou slid a calloused hand over the curve of your waist, thumb brushing the underside of your breast.

“God, the fuckin’ attitude on you,” he said, almost reverently.

You felt your face warm under his scrutiny as he leaned closer. “You wanna know what's gotten into me? I wanted to melt that entire fucking thing off you last year. You were so fucking mouthy, such a little brat to me. Wanted to rip your dress off and fuck you right in the stairwell until you forgot you’d ever even heard of numbers.”

You shivered. Bakugou smirked, eyes darkening, leaning back in to bite under your jaw. You realized you’d lost your grip on him and willed your fingers to cooperate again.

“I fucking won that stupid award because I let you boss me around. I've waited an entire year. Now you’re gonna let me do whatever I want with you.”

Your legs went out from beneath you but Bakugou was already there, catching you under your thighs and hauling you up onto the countertop between the sinks. Your back brushed the mirror, glass cold under your shoulder blades.

“Y--you know, if you actually want to be number one, you can’t make speeches like you did,” you babbled nervously as he filled the space between your thighs. “Your public approval rating is part of your ranking, right? It’s weighted right below rescues…”

Bakugou paid you no mind, fingers already searching over your back to find the zipper to your dress. He yanked it down with little ceremony, seizing the front of your bodice to pull it off of you.

“I don’t need to be fucking nice if I’m the one saving the day,” he announced imperiously, leaning down to capture a nipple with his mouth.

Your hips jerked, and he pressed a hand to your thigh, holding you back down against the counter. Dimly, you registered that the words were familiar. “N--not--ah!--not this again.”

Bakugou didn’t deign to respond, instead doing something absolutely mind-bending with his tongue. You swore loudly, catching a fistful of his jacket. “Fuck, Katsuki!”

A hot palm slid up your thigh, gathering up the soft material of your skirt until he could slip a hand underneath. Calloused fingers trailed over your core with obvious intention. You inhaled sharply when he pressed them into you, leaning up to cover your mouth with his again.

Bakugou had you squirming wildly against him in barely a minute, snorting when you tried to get a hand on his zipper.

“Want me that bad, nerd?” he asked, pressing forehead to yours in an oddly tender move.

“If you don’t hurry the fuck up I’m gonna finish things myself,” you threatened, though Bakugou did not look at all as if he believed you.

He helped you get his zipper down, taking himself in hand, but he stopped just as he brushed your entrance, leaning forward to bite another kiss into your mouth.

“Now it’s time for you to make good on your end of the bet,” he growled, a smirk growing over his features. “You’ll tell me I’m the best and I was right all along.”

You stilled underneath him, disbelieving. “Are you--are you fucking serious.”

Bakugou pressed forward, just enough for you to feel the pressure of him on your clit. You fought down a noise like a whimper. Damn him.

“I jumped two ranks,” he said. “You’ll tell me I’m the best if you want me, nerd.”

“I am not gonna beg for you like this,” you announced, though it sounded a little more like a question than you had wanted it to.

Bakugou brushed his thumb over your clit again and little sparks danced over the corner of your vision. “Mmm, you’re gonna scream.”

You felt something like a tension snap inside you. Fuck it. He was so annoying but holy shit if he wasn’t the hottest thing you’d ever encountered. If he needed his ego stroked, well it wasn’t nearly as much as you needed your own stroking.

You grit your teeth. “Ugh, fine--just--you’re the best, and you were right all along. Now will you please--”

You didn’t even get to finish before he was sinking into you, narrow hips fitting flush with your thighs. You swore at the feeling of fullness, and then he was moving, picking up into a frantic pace. He leaned forward, sealing his mouth over yours to swallow all the little noises you were making. It was mere minutes before you were shivering underneath him again, moving your hips to meet his, desperate for more, Katsuki, more.

“Ah fuck--so fucking good for me,” he grunted against your mouth, giving a particularly hard thrust, and that was all it took to unravel you.

You stifled a scream in the thick fabric of his jacket, arching up into him. He cursed and followed after you with a few more short thrusts, crushing you against the counter when he let his weight go slack.

You panted underneath him, catching your breath while your fingers slowly unclenched themselves from the hem of his suit jacket. Bakugou rubbed his face in the hollow of your shoulder, radiating smug satisfaction.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it, nerd?” he rasped, biting down lightly where he’d left the hickey earlier.

You pulled back, looking into his face again. He looked far too pleased with himself, but he was so handsome like this, all messy hair and a kiss darkened mouth. Your irritation with him fizzled out a little.

He flashed you a predatory grin. “You said it yourself--I'm the fucking best.”

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t stop your hand from coming up and tangling in his hair. “Shut the fuck up.”

Bakugou, predictably, did not look as if he was going to shut the fuck up at all. So you took matters into your own hands, and leaned in and kissed him again.

[deathtriangles]

first five tbs champions you'd book!

ruby soho: I’d be fine with either ruby or jade taking it (rosa is destined for the top belt asap!) but for the purpose of my booking I’m picking ruby to take it as a great first babyface champ with a decently sized run!

serena deeb: heel serena deeb beats ruby a la brodie lee beating cody after beating hikaru shida in their rubber match (iron woman PLEASE!!!) she basically does what she did with the nwa belt which means her reign is absolutely mint

kris statlander: one story i’d love to see is people failing to beat serena by trying to out wrestle her. what does stat do? absolutely muscles her like a rag doll and overpowers her to win the belt! stat is so underrated in ring and can put on bangers with pretty much anybody!

penelope ford: in a callback to their previous rivalry spanning back to the pandemic era in early 2020, ford finally gets her first win over kris statlander. she goes on a decent run, often using the bunny and the brass knucks to sneak a win here and there!

tay conti/jade or ruby if not won already/a debuting ember moon: this is my sort of “shmoz” category but any one of these four next! I think ember winning the title on her debut would be amazing if she’s aew-bound and would instantly present her as a big threat! Otherwise, if the other three ladies aren’t in the main title scene, strap em up!

[omegatheunknown]

AEW ALL OUT 2021

In which, not to get ahead of myself here, AEW puts on one of the best major wrestling shows in several years*, following the simple yet effective principle of giving the people what they want and sending everyone home happy and hungry for more.

- The incredibly 'Nitro' ending of the go-home Dynamite, which ran a little long on the 'heels beat everyone up and strut around like assholes almost too in desperate need of comeuppance' bit, short of garbage raining into the ring, did actually increase the heat for both promoted matches. Again, not rocket science, but executed perfectly. Catharsis was on the card, and catharsis went over several times Sunday. - Again, it's time to move on from the Casino theme, shuffling the deck and drawing suits really only detracted from the Battle Royale and seemingly always throws the production crew a curve. If they haven't hammered it by now, it's not going to happen. - Bit unhappy about the PAC/Andrade situation, but still over the moon with Andrade's promo style and Chavito being unhelpful at best.

*Pre-Card

Best Friends and Jurassic Express v The Hardy Family Office and The Hybrid 2 (**) - Not usually much to say about a loaded-up multiteam boondoggle, particularly when the show has yet to begin, but there were some moments worth sitting up to take notice -- there's a lot of talent in the ring, even if Jack Evans/Angelico aren't going to be more than mid-level mooks, little matchups with guys like Luchasaurus and Chuck Taylor are opportunities for innovative/weird spots. - Really this match exists to show-off Jungle Boy, play his theme song twice, and work him in to the aforementioned spots. I don't rightly know what Jungle Jack's ceiling is, but it sort of feels like he's plateauing, at least this version of himself. - Dan Lambert thing is interesting in that it doesn't seem to easily lead to something obvious... I mean who are Scorp and Ethan Page feuding with by proxy here, the concept of contemporary professional wrestling? Orange Cassidy and Kenny Omega?

*Main Card

Miro (C) v Eddie Kingston for the TNT Championship (***1/2) - 'Redeem Deez Nuts' T-shirts now available -- and made immediately redundant now that Miro has graciously redeemed Eddie's nuts. - Imagine looking at Miro, listening to Miro talk, and not really being able to figure out this guy is money. Also imagine panicking when he took a little while to find his groove in AEW. 'The Redeemer' is both entertaining and terrifying, and this match delivered heavily on the promise of two big fellas smacking together repeatedly. - Not only does Eddie's arsenal of power moves target Miro's neck, he may also be quite difficult to put in the full reclined camel clutch. Or he'd quite literally snap in half. It didn't come to that. - Weird heel turn by Bryce's attention span and the overall weirdness of the finish is all that kept this from being an excellent match, otherwise this was a tremendous curtain jerker and started off a dangerously fun run of pure adrenaline.

Jon Moxley v Satoshi Kojima (****) - The stakes were nebulous, the build was abrupt, yet this was a fantastic match and tremendous showcase for an underappreciated great who has been more or less just toiling for a bunch of years as a NJPW Dad. Same deal for Nagata, and I assume Tenzan is the same, Taka Michinoku even -- let's see it. - I have to assume the Cozy Lariat might have put Mox down, but Kojima otherwise played the hits (Koji Cutter, Piledriver, Brainbustaaaa) in a big way and Moxley once again proved he's become a very well-rounded wrestler who can match the intensity of just about any former IWGP champion. - More to the point-- KAZE NI NARE -- out of nowhere, too. Or out of nowhere to those not paying attention to the whereabouts of Minoru Suzuki (Right, he's just over here to fight Daniel Garcia and not Mox?), which I guess is to my own peril. Wow, though. Surprise Number 1- a complete surprise, and a welcome one. Let's have it.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD (C) v Kris Statlander for the AEW Women's Championship (****) - I love Kris and her best friends but she didn't have a prayer of dethroning Britt. She got one promo, several weeks ago, and though she did make a meal of Hayter and Rebel, the chase has been abrupt and not given much discussion, other than Mark Henry and whomever else acknowledging what is extremely evident -- Statlander is stronger than she looks, and she looks really strong. They've got her doing Cesaro-level 'modify your grip while holding your opponent's entire weight' nonsense, and it's amazing and scary. - Even with the reign of the good doctor not being credibly threatened, this was an excellent match that demonstrated the continued growth of the competitors in the women's division, even as it underlined that their storylines remain undercooked and perfunctory: Orange Cassidy whipping off his shades to urge Stat to get up was a beautiful moment. Britt's Panama Sunrise, also, too sweet. Statlander eating shit on her 451 and her pendulum moonsault was properly brutal, as were Britt's curb stomps. Really great match between these two. - Again, if they had bothered to write anything into this story, such as Kris' alien physiology making her immune to the lockjaw or something... actually, maybe that's a terrible idea. it's an idea. Undefeated challenger is defeated, on to the next for Dr Britt. Statlander and OC should tag against some of the boys.

The Young Bucks (C) v The Lucha Bros for the AEW World Tag Team Championship(*****+) - Can't not mention the insane entrance lined up for Fenix and Penta. It was bewildering, it was enchanting, it was aggressive, it was hype. It also reminded everybody how very badly we all wanted the Lucha Bros to win. The crowd has been setting new peaks with their volume since Punk showed up, but things were absolutely thunderous and ecstatic at the end of this match. Absolutely valid response. I yelled on the couch. - Nick's facial hair was a bigger tell that it was time for the Bucks to lose than anything else about this build. There's literally nowhere to go from there -- they've done the hair, the bandanas, the kicks, the animal print, the dangly earrings -- peak visual heel for this time and place. - Sincerely thought this was going to be too much of a full sprint spot-fest (the PWG-esque circle of trading blows is not really 'my thing') but even so they kept finding gears, and ramping and ramping and adding blood and brutality along the way. Even a bit of levity, with the tacked up sneaker, followed by the sincerity of Penta throwing himself in harm's way to protect his brother. Immense match, I think you'd have to go back to the Bucks vs the Addiction and MCMGs Ladder War to find a more thrilling tag team gimmick match. - If there's a single flaw to be found it's in the production not really settling on wide angles for simultaneous action at the start of the match. They figured it out. - Rey Fenix is the best luchador in the world.

Women's Casino Battle Royale (**1/2) - If nothing else, this really shows off that they now have a surplus of women's wrestlers who deserve time to hang in the ring. Unsurprisingly, the match picked right up when Thunder Rosa and then Jamie Hayter got to the ring, with additional props to Tay Conti and Jade Cargill, who was dumped rather unceremoniously given her general booking... - Okay, there was something else. Welcome to the rechristened Ruby Soho, who I've not seen a lot of outside of her extremely limited showcase in WWE, but she has so many friends in the back and in the industry and that's never for nothing, not in wrestling, anyway. Intrigued to see where she fits, and if the women ever get more than a match per show. - Touched on this in the preamble but this was the roughest part of the night for the home viewer, just weird decisions on cutting away from various entrances to show... nothing in particular happening. Also while the commitment to not-kayfabing the countdown clock is... admirable? It makes the pacing hinky. - Almost everyone who got new gear for tonight was looking like the white ranger -- Nyla, Swole, Bunny, someone I'm missing. Except Anna Jay, whose stars and glitter gear looked great.

MJF v Chris Jericho for the fate of Jericho's in-ring career (***) - MJF's unauthorized homage to Y2J's entrance: good. Fozzy's guitarist going off tempo with the instrumental Judas: weak, and would've been sad if this were the end for Jericho. Especially as the build has felt... muted, somehow. - Props to the commentary for continuing to feed the red herring of 'in AEW,' as a caveat to stipulation, it did feel like... a remote possibility that MJF would win. - Credit to Aubrey for calling this one down the middle and not putting the fix in for her friend Jericho, and I guess the Dusty finish will give MJF plenty to gripe about. - MJF wrestles with a pure heel style, holds, chops, blocks, and Jericho is fifty years old, so the level of wrestling on exhibition in these matches is well beside the point. It was solid to good, and I was fighting burn out from the first half of the card's level of excitement.

CM Punk v Darby Allin (***1/2) - There are a couple benefits of Darby as a dance partner, and it's certainly better than having to watch Punk return against like, QT Marshall or Shawn Spears. Darby does make everyone look slow, but he can also be tossed around, and this raises his profile even in defeat, obviously. That said, the stakes here are... meta, at best, in that we want to see the man look good and justify the hype. It's a weird thing to root for. He certainly does look good. (Tights? Tights!) - It's fun to theorize about actually booking an angle where Punk is rusty and needs to regain his prowess, and maybe he'll stumble, but maybe the most we get out of that angle is hitting the GTS a little close to the ropes so Darby falls right out of the ring, in what was, for me, the spot that justified this whole match. - Sting's proud step-dad aura is still a hell of a thing, I really liked the end of the match kudos all around. - Match was good, hard to hang my emotions on. I wasn't watching WWE when Punk was in WWE. Definitely feeding off the excitement of others a bit here, and he sure can talk. I'd like to see him cultivate a stable, certainly.

Paul Wight v QT Marshall (n/r) - ...popcorn match? QT Marshall is like the anti-Daniel Garcia in that while his prominence and presence is just as inexplicable, I don't want it to continue, and he doesn't justify it in the process. - Match was two minutes longer than it needed to be.

Kenny Omega (c) v Christian Cage for the AEW World Championship (****1/2) - Crowd was both burnt out and more or less waiting for the post-match angle. Which I get. it's hard to cruise to the main event and having seen all the different things we've already seen on this card, even a singular performer like Kenny Omega and a legend with whom he (surprisingly? fittingly?) has superb chemistry with in Christian Cage were up against it to deliver something memorable. - Context dependent, I can definitely see rating this below their Rampage match, especially since... I mean Christian isn't winning the AEW title off Kenny at this or probably any other event. - But! It was really good! It was very good! They really do match-up well, and Kenny's v-trigger has rarely looked more devastating than when it knocks Christian flat. Christian got cut open in a novel and initially worrying way, and Kenny followed up a botched moonsault with a harder version of the same move off a rail, but it was a really great match and it deserved more energy than was available.

Post-Show - Calling back and inverting the end of Dynamite, The Elite strut about the ring, slightly less stoked than they were on Wednesday, but with the Bucks smiling through the pain, and Jungle Boy once again subjected to violence for his misguided heroism, Kenny 'not much a promo' Omega lays down a killer line about nobody being fit to challenge him who isn't unavailable, already tired or dead. - The Undertaker ADAM COLE, BAY BAY as Surprise #3 was a minor stroke of brilliance, and a fun swerve because while it's exciting to see him, his appearance at this point in the narrative does nothing to solve the problem of The Elite beating up Christian and Jungle Boy. Unless he's still sore about his unsolved murder, which he isn't. Storytime with Adam Cole is back and it's beautiful. Also Jungle Boy died for this. - Okay. But. Just. Okay. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson are All Elite. They will hopefully tag together. Bryan will head to NJPW, almost definitely. Minoru Suzuki just walked in and started slugging on Mox. The Forbidden Door is wide open. Will Kenny Omega one day return to Wrestle Kingdom? There are so many possibilities and they are all very exciting. This was a phenomenal show and it didn't have Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes, FTR, Santana and Ortiz, PAC, Andrade, Sammy Guevara, Team Taz, and the rest.

- Wrestling is good, actually. Imagine watching like five hours of wrestling and loving wrestling at the end of it.

*What competes- WK11, Dominion 2018, 2019, DoN 2019, 2021.. All-In, probably. Wrestlemania 30. A few Takeovers. Kris Wolf's retirement show...

[hananoami]

[ Directional Orbit ] Ice - Stage 110 clear VOD

After being stuck on that frenzy stage for over two weeks we've finally made it to Zayne's Directional Orbit: Ice - Stage 110 using my orbit last key for the day! I cleared this stage on Sunday, 05/05. In this video it features both the first and second fight. After many failed runs, and I mean a lot, I was lucky enough clear it in this attempt without having to retry the second part. This trial it requires two teams. To be able to break 2 protocore shield layers in one strike you'll need a perfect match by using the required protofield stellactrum. Team 01's Protofield's stellactrum requires 6-Ruby memories; Team 02's Protofield Stellactrum requires 6-Sapphire memories. By matching the colors you'll also gain an attribute bonus for each matched stellactrum. More details about my run are below.

Historically I've always struggled when it comes to Zayne's Ruby build... like it's actually cursed if you knew how long it took me to get [Neon Night] and its dupes. Anytime I see an all ruby Protofield Stellactrum for a stage I try to opt out of it in favor of using my highest leveled memories and FS myth pair. However, for this particular stage I could not afford to do that. Still, I had some confidence in my Ruby lunar memories to help carry me through. As for my Sapphire build I had full confidence that I would be able to clear it. The sheer amount of protocores I upgraded to +12 back during stage 108 would surely carry me now, right...? I started off my runs using his Everlasting Song weapon, but then switched to the Hunter Claymore. However that didn't give me the results I wanted so I opted to switch back to his myth staff for the clear (as seen in my video). It took quite a few tries, but we finally cleared it!!

Additional Screenshots

Team A team set-up and stat attributes

Weapon: Everlasting Song Companion: Zayne's Foreseer ♡ Affinity Bonus: 86 When you take a fatal blow, Zayne teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3400 || DEF 85 || ATK 170 ] Pair Bonus [NT] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 5%. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 10%. - Duo Rank 2: reduces squad DMG taken by 5%. - Duo Rank 3: increases squad DMG by 5%.

4☆ Neon Night (ruby/solar) Lv 60 rank 3 using +9 SSR protocores

4☆ Starry Nocturne (ruby/solar) Lv 60 rank 3 using +9 SSR protocores

5☆ Cozy Afternoon (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 rank 3 using +12 protocores

5☆ Medical Rescue (ruby/lunar) Lv 70 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Drunken Intimacy (ruby/lunar) Lv 70 using +9 SSR protocores

5☆ Exclusive Tutorial (ruby/lunar) Lv 60 using +9 SSR protocores

Team B team set-up and stat attributes

Weapon: Everlasting Song Companion: Zayne's Foreseer ♡ Affinity Bonus: 86 When you take a fatal blow, Zayne teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3400 || DEF 85 || ATK 170 ] Pair Bonus [FS] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces team DMG taken by 8%. When fighting together with Foreseer, your Active Skill DMG is increased by 25%. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. When you and Foreseer are granted with Wards of Curses, team DMG will be increased by 12%.

5☆ Forever Sealed (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 1 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Promise Everlasting (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Business Trip (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80 rank 2 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Hearts Within Reach (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80 rank 1 using +12 SSR protocores

4☆ Fragmented Dreams (sapphire/lunar) Lv 60 rank 3 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

4☆ Warm Wishes (sapphire/lunar) Lv 60 rank 3 using +9 SSR protocores

[howlingday]

tragic backstory (tm) au) jaune still has the best raw stats in beacon, however he's still getting his ass kicked by the more skilled fighters. blake thinks that maybe there's a psychological block on him after his tragic past preventing him from truly fighting to kill, or perhaps he's just trying to hold back a dark powerful (sexy) beast and fears letting it loose on his friends.

a blushing team rwby and pyrrha decide that it's their duty to help him "let loose" nora makes a note in her jaune notebook jaune arc: fearless leader, tragic figure, future knight, dark sexy beast.

clearly writing down these aspects of him won't confuse future historians who are trying to find out the truth... surely

Foot of All Fears

Tell me, what are you afraid of? Something reasonable, like venomous spiders or snakes? Something inlikely to occur, but possible, like sinking in quicksand or eaten by sharks? Perhaps your greatest fear is something existential, like being alone or dying knowing nothing you do or have done means any- What? What do you mean I'm projecting?!

Goodwitch: Match! Winner is Yang Xiao Long.

Yang: Aw, yeah! Better luck next time, bro!

Jaune: (On his back, Panting) So... Hot...

Goodwitch: Bear in mind, Mr. Arc, that while aura is an effective defense against physical attacks, it can only do so much against alternative means, such as poison, the elements, and, yes, even temperature. Miss Xiao Long was effective in not only dwindling your aura reserve, but also physical limits against heat. ...Can you move, Mr. Arc?

Jaune: So hot...

Goodwitch: Oh dear.

Cinder: Pathetic!

Ozpin: One would think he'd be immune to heat after your numerous bouts with him?

Cinder: I never used heat against him. Well, not in the way she did. She layed heat on top of heat on top of him, forcing him to take it until he dropped. My attacks are strong enough to incapacitate him on a single strike with force alone. The heat was never a factor. (Smirks) Until now.

Goodwitch: In summary, be aware of all dangers in combat, and not just the physical effects of a few bumps, bruises, and broken bones. (Turns around) Is Mr. Arc feeling better?

Weiss: (Wearing gloves, Hovering ice dust over Jaune) He's cooling down, but I don't know if-

Jaune: (Weakly raises a thumbs up)

Goodwitch: He claims to be well, but we'll have the infirmary determine that. (Dials into her scroll) Are there any questions?

Ruby: (Raises her hand) What happens if we overheat in a real situation?

Goodwitch: I would advise you fall back from the heat source, and try to cool yourself down as safely as possible. It wouldn't do for you to remove your armor, only to be shot because it wasn't there.

Yang: So you're saying if you're shot through the heart, and you're to blame-?

Goodwitch: (Rubs her temples) Miss Xiao Long, I swear...

Weiss: How's Jaune?

Pyrrha: He'll be here shortly. Ren volunteered to escort him.

Yang: Not keeping an eye on your partner yourself, P-Money?

Pyrrha: Ren said he wanted to discuss something in private with him, so I agreed to let him take this one.

Nora: Ooh! Secrets! Who knows what Ren is telling him...

Emerald: I doubt it's anything important. Ren's as bland as they come.

Nora: (Gasps) How dare...

Blake: Speaking of secrets, does anyone know how Jaune lost to Yang?

Yang: You mean besides the obvious?

Ruby: Yeah, Jaune may be smart, tactical, kind, handsome, rugged-

Yang: Easy there, Rubio.

Ruby: Uh, but he's still not on Yang's level in terms of strength.

Pyrrha: I doubt he was on Adam's either. Blake?

Blake: Adam is a lot of things. He's spiteful, agressive, and strong enough to hold his own against an Atlas Spider-Droid on his own. Jaune was able to outsmart him, but I think that may have been more luck that he managed to hold his own against him.

Yang: Or, and hear me out, Adam wasn't so tough? I mean, I bet I could beat him with only one arm!

Mercury: I'd pay to see that.

Blake: Hm, or maybe... Has Jaune ever fought against a female opponent?

Ruby: There was that May girl from Vacuo.

Pyrrha: I sparred with him a few times.

Nora: I fought him once! (Serious look) And never again.

Weiss: What are you thinking, Blake?

Blake: Well, it's debunked now, but I initially thought Jaune had a mental block against female opponents, but that wouldn't make sense if he fought Pyrrha, Nora, and Yang himself. Does anyone know what he's afraid of?

Ruby: During leader indoctrination, he admitted he was afraid of spiders, bees, and angry women.

Yang: I can believe the last two, but what's so scary about spiders?

Blake: You'd be surprised.

Yang: Huh?

Blake: When I was walking around the abandoned wing-

Weiss: The one place we were forbidden from entering because of the potential Grimm activity and the delapidated structure?

Mercury: You guys sure do have a lot of fun places here at Beacon. Cliff-diving at the Emerald Forest, sap collecting at Forever Fall, and even an abandoned wing and sub-ba- Ow!

Emerald: (Whispers) Shut. Up. Merc!

Blake: I walked around and I ran into a spider-like Grimm. It seemed to use some kind of hypnosis to make me see my worst fears and insecurities. I was able to overcome it, thankfully, and I managed to destroy it.

Ruby: I'm glad to hear you managed to beat it.

Blake: Yes, but... What if Jaune didn't?

Ruby: Huh?

Blake: What if Jaune didn't overcome his fears, and that's the mental block? What if he saw something so horrible in his past, he repressed it until something triggered it today?

Pyrrha: Like what?

Yang: Prof Goodwitch said to be careful of overheating in a fight. What if heat made him relive that memory?

Pyrrha: What could it have been?

Blake: What if... it's the Winter Solstice?

Nora: Winter Solstice? In autumn?

Blake: The Winter Solstice. Also known in the Lunar Tribe as the Night of Hot. Slaves are forced to build a pyre as high as they can, and whoever couldn't build theirs high enough were thrown onto the biggest pyre.

Ruby: But Jaune didn't lose, right? I mean, he doesn't have any burns, right?

Ren: No, he doesn't.

Nora: Ren! Where's Jaune?

Ren: He's getting his lunch. During shared shower time in the locker room, I've never seen any scars or burn marks on his body.

Pyrrha: (Blushing, Whispers) Lucky...

Nora: Did you see his-

Ren: Yes, Nora, I saw his-

Weiss: (Blushing, Shrieks) Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

Yang: (Blushing) Y-Yeah! I don't want to hear about my brother's-

Nora: Does he have all ten?

Yang: Huh?

Weiss: Ten?

Ren: Yes, Nora, he has all ten toes.

Jaune: Who doesn't have ten toes?

Nora: I thought you didn't. I heard Velvet say you lost you third toe in a bet with the Sky Pirates!

Jaune: (Rolls his eyes) Whatever, Nora. (Bites into his sandwich)

Mercury: (Snickers)

Blake: Jaune, if you don't mind me asking, what are you most afraid of?

Jaune: Huh? (Swallows) Well, losing my friends and family for one.

Ruby: Aw!

Nora: So sweet!

Emerald: (Rolls her eyes) Typical.

Jaune: After that, I'd say spiders, bees, and anything else that bites or stings me. (Finishes his sandwich)

Yang: What about fire?

Jaune: Hm? Mm! (Swallows) Oh, because of our match? I, uh, wasn't really afraid. I just didn't have a way to counter you. If I got too close, you would have taken me down with your punches and kicks, and it's not like I can bounce your attacks back at you. (Picks up his drink)

Pyrrha: What about your Scarlet Sunset Strike?

Jaune: My what?

Pyrrha: Oh, that's what we call your sword beam.

Jaune: Oh, that. Well, I haven't gotten the hang of it, and it's too direct. If I used it, Yang would have dodged it, and I would have wasted a part of my aura. (Chugs his glass)

Mercury: You've got a massive reserve, right?

Jaune: (Sets empty glass) Mm... With the extra work I have, I need every bit of aura I've got.

Emerald: So you're not afraid of fire or heat?

Jaune: Uh... (Pokes his salad) No more than the average person, I guess. (Bell rings, He sighs) Well, that's the bell. I'll see you all in class. (Walks away)

Emerald: There you have it. He just didn't know how to fight blo- er, Yang, yet.

Yang: Yeah, I am pretty amazing.

Weiss: Still, there was something off about what he was doing.

Emerald: Eating lunch? I don't get what's so weird about it.

Blake: He was rushing to finish his food.

Emerald: He just showed up!

Pyrrha: And yet Ren was calmly eating. He's hiding something from us.

Emerald: You're all ridiculous!

Weiss: Welcome to the club.

Jaune: (Running down the halls) Almost... There! (Skids into class, Bell rings) Made it! (Blinks) Wait, this is the Advanced Tactics classroom. Oh no! I already had this class!