#he will play keepaway at any given time

[blep-pup]

Did you know?

my favorite game is keep away!

[comicaurora]

What would you say is the most important part of each character's "voice"?

Oh, that's a great question!

Kendal communicates his thoughts simply and honestly. He doesn't lie, but he will avoid stating certain things around certain people if he has reason to believe it'll produce an undesirable outcome. This straightforwardness is vital to his tone. He won't even indulge in metaphor or non-questions like "don't you understand?" because those don't serve the purpose of communicating his thoughts as clearly as possible. He already has enough trouble connecting with people - he won't exacerbate that by adding unnecessary complications to his words.

Alinua is one of my only characters who stutters! I think it's very important to her tone that she'll pause, "uh-" and repeat herself sometimes. She gets caught up in her thoughts and sometimes outruns her mouth.

Erin is suave and cool and finds communication very easy. Even when it's coming from a genuine case, it has the practiced fluidity of a memorized script. He also typically finds ways to frame everything that are either self-aggrandizing or self-deprecating - he'll seek new information because he made a fool of himself with his ignorance, or he'll have experience with something because of his extensive repertoire of skills and allies. Erin will say what needs to be said to shape a situation the way he wants it to go, and is the only one of the main cast readily willing to lie - which is good, considering the kind of secrets he's lugging around.

Falst is defensive and lashes out easily. Anything he perceives as a vulnerability in himself is strictly off-limits and will never be willingly volunteered. He also doesn't generally lie, but he'll respond to probing questions or desperate circumstances with rage rather than silence. He's the only character I have to keep track of the breaking point for - there are some scenes I've played out with him where I have to stop scripting because I realize he's hit the point where he just starts swinging, or if he doesn't consider the person strictly an enemy, starts threatening. It's like he's playing a game of keepaway with his own emotional vulnerabilities.

Tess is very focused on whatever she's doing at any given time, but that focus can jump easily, and she doesn't tend to consider the context of her situation very much. Trespassing on a prison mountain in the dead of night is a great time to be making new friends! She's not dumb by any metric, and she has a very unique plethora of life experiences to draw from that makes her very easy to get along with and gives her a lot of ways to relate to the people she meets, but that social and emotional intelligence doesn't directly translate into really… being on anyone else's wavelength. She's a creature of sensation, and typically couches her actions in terms of how they make her feel - she won't fight city guards because they're "squishier than her" and that makes her feel bad, but she'll gleefully fight Tynan regardless of his dramatics or evil scheming because it looks like a blast. Erin is probably the only person in the group who really understands how she works, and that's fine by her - she touches a lot of lives, but she doesn't tie herself to any of them too strongly.

Dainix is gentle and emotionally open, but he's not superhuman. In trying circumstances he'll lock up, and while he's not quick to lash out, he will shut people down, and he'll sometimes use his insights into their emotional state to do it. Of the group, Dainix has the most experience relating to people on a personal level, which means he's pretty good at reading relationships and navigating emotionally complex people, but isn't a total doormat about it - he's got boundaries he'll enforce for his own well-being, and as we've seen, he has a breaking point where all his compassion and careful navigation burns away. Dainix is prone to anger, and carefully manages himself to keep his temperature as low as possible to avoid problems and breakdowns. Basically, voice-wise, Dainix is generally polite and empathic and will try to get a feel for whoever he's dealing with to avoid unnecessary conflicts with them, but he will stand his ground if something hurts him - and his one blind spot is that sometimes he'll realize something about the person he's dealing with and drop an insightful nugget of wisdom about them that they'll get very angry about. Not everyone likes being casually psychoanalyzed.

[fruitcoops]

Hi! I love your writing! I live for every notification that you've posted something new.

I really like your fics where Coops are being fluffy and adorable, and the team finds them and are all adorable about it, like the Sirius cuddle one. I think that's my favorite.

Would you write Coops skating together before/after practice, and the team finding them and quietly going mushy watching?

I love those moments, too! This was an interesting (and difficult) fic for me to write, since I've never written Cole before, but I'm so looking forward to him in Vaincre. The song playing at the rink is 'American Gods' by ONR. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

Cole frowned. Upon Katie Dumais’ request, he had listened to “Hoedown Throwdown” enough times in the past two weeks to know the rhythm in his sleep, and that third beat just wasn’t lining up. He paused his attempt at working through the mess of his stall and straightened up, removing one earbud—sure enough, different music drifted from outside the locker room.

Someone else was at the rink.

He scanned the locker room, but saw no gear other than his own; two voices burst into faint laughter. Not the janitor, then. “Hello?” he called cautiously. It wasn’t against the rules for him to be at practice early, but maybe it was frowned upon by the others. Oh god, what if he became known as ‘the early guy’? The last ���early guy’ he knew had become a suckup Coach’s pet, and everyone hated him for it.

There was a clatter, then more of the voices. Cole took his earbuds out and crept into the hall, wincing with each squeak of his sneakers.

Dumo’s at home, so it’s not the kids…Cole bit his lip as he tiptoed around the corner to the rink. “Oh, shit!” someone yelped before dissolving into laughter. He spotted two duffel bags on the bench, still full of gear, before a blur of movement flashed past and he had to duck behind the wall again to stay out of sight.

“Did you just trip over yourself?” Remus shouted across the ice from the other end with a wide grin. Cole craned his neck in time to see the captain nod, red-faced. “The great Sirius Black, everyone. Bravo, sir!”

Sirius skated over and checked him lightly—neither of them were wearing their pads, just skates and regular clothes. It was an odd sight. Cole felt a little like his two worlds were colliding. Off the ice, Remus and Sirius were kind (if a bit intimidating), and close with the team in a way he desperately wished for himself. On the ice, Cap and Loops were a wicked one-two punch that he idolized. They were careful with their words, and closed-off whenever media was around.

But out there, in their street clothes with well-loved sticks and a scattered collection of pucks, they looked so very different than the people Cole thought he knew.

A new song came on and Remus started doing the Sprinkler; Sirius had to sit down for a moment to catch his breath from laughing so hard, only to be dragged back to his feet and pulled along as Remus skated backwards. “If I have to get up, you have to sing for me,” he said with a groan, though his fond smile was visible from twenty feet away.

“Tell me all of my secrets, tell me all of my lies,” Remus sang, then paused. “And something, something, something…oh, American gods.”

Sirius shook his head. “Hopeless. Isn’t this your playlist?”

“I only added it for the drumbeat!” Remus protested, spinning him in a slow circle. “What, do you want to change it?”

“No, I want to watch you try to remember the lyrics while I push you over.”

“Wh—” Remus cut off with a squawk when Sirius let go of his hand mind-twirl, nearly sending him to the ice. “Son of a bitch!”

“Yes?” Sirius bit his lip and made a dash for the other end of the rink as Remus raced after him; Cole would never understand how someone so compact could build up that much speed in mere seconds. They chased each other in loops and swirls around the fresh ice, their voices echoing off the empty bleachers that didn’t hold a single fan or camera.

Realization trickled in like summer rain and he rested his shoulder against the wall. If he didn’t know them, Cole would have thought they were just some random couple, instead of two of the most famous modern athletes. He wasn’t watching Cap and Loops warming up for practice—he was watching Sirius and Remus screwing around in their free time, on the equivalent of a date.

Remus tried to dip sideways—a move that had helped him evade countless opponents, though Cole could never figure out—but Sirius caught him around the waist at the last second and lifted him off the ice. “Dirty play!” Remus called, sticking two fingers in his mouth to whistle. “Ten minutes in the box.”

“Ten minutes?” Sirius laughed. “I don’t think there’s an official penalty for picking other players up.”

“You wounded me.”

“Wimp.”

“My emotional state is in tatters,” Remus insisted as he kicked his legs halfheartedly. “I’ll never recover from this.”

“Are you sure?” Sirius set him down and turned him around, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“I feel short when you do that.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you are short.”

“Tremzy is short. I’m above the national average for men’s height by four full inches.”

“Shortie.” Sirius caught his hands and pulled, skating backward across the ice as the next chorus began. “Show my life in a mirror, through the opposite side—”

“Singing won’t get you out of this.”

“—and we kill for that moment, when we long to take flight—”

“How do you even know this song?”

“Because I actually remember lyrics when I listen to music,” he teased, turning them in a wobbly circle.

Remus leaned back, using his momentum to slide closer until they bumped chests. “Poet.”

Cole forgot that they were people, sometimes. Just people, enjoying some well-deserved time out of the spotlight.

“Cute, aren’t they?”

Cole jolted and clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle his yelp of surprise.

James shot him an amused look. “They do this before every afternoon practice.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm.”

“It’s so…normal.” He knew his bafflement shone through every word, but Pots seemed unbothered. Ahead of them, Sirius was lip-syncing to an old Paramore song as Remus tried to skate around him to get to the goal.

Pots raised an eyebrow. “What were you expecting?”

Cole made a vague gesture. “I dunno, actual practice? Running drills? The captain face?”

“The what?” James laughed quietly.

“The captain face.” He felt heat rise to his cheeks. “The one where it looks like you’re about to get reamed out by Cap at any given moment. It’s terrifying.”

“Reyes, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that’s just his resting face.” Pots clapped him on the shoulder. “He’s the definition of RBF.”

Cole blinked at him. “This whole time, I thought he was gonna kill me if I slipped up.”

“Yup.”

“I’ve been afraid of him for two months and that’s just his face?”

“You get used to it.” He turned Cole back toward the ice, where Sirius’ smile was brighter than every fluorescent light in the building. “But he only looks like that around Loops.”

They stumbled a little going through an awkward attempt at a waltz, but they recovered at the last second, and Remus pulled him in for a light kiss. Cole felt his blush creep to his ears. “Should we go?”

Pots shrugged one shoulder. “They won’t notice either way.”

“This isn’t…creepy? They’re basically on a date.”

“They’re at the rink, remember?” A gleam entered his eye behind his glasses. “That means we get to chirp them for PDA in the workplace.”

Cole paused for a second and looked back, where Remus was playing keepaway with Sirius’ beanie. They darted around each other, practically flying over the ice—their footwork looked as natural as if they were born doing it. “It must be hard for them.”

“What?”

“Finding time to do this.” He glanced at James. “Everyone is expecting them to be one way all the time. I expected them to be one way all the time.”

James’ face softened and he draped an arm over Cole’s shoulders, leading him back down the hallway. “That’s what we’re here for. The best thing about this team isn’t our cohesion on the ice, or the Cup we won, or any of that. It’s that we’re friends, on and off the ice. As long as you remember that, you’ll never have to fit yourself in one specific box.”

Cole blinked at him. In two months of mentorship, he had never thought of James Potter as wise. “I swear you’re the same person that put shaving cream in everyone’s skates and blamed Harzy for it.”

James barked a laugh and ruffled his hair. “No boxes, Reyes. No boxes.”

[spookygayferret]

Deltarune Theory: Kris Isn't Who We Think They Are

Out of all the main characters, we know more about Kris than anyone else....or do we??

There seems to be this whole theme going on with characters hiding their faces. In the beginning of Chapter 1, Susie has her eyes hidden. After she goes through her character arc, she stops hiding her eyes (mostly). Ralsei hides under TWO layers of secrecy in Chapter 1. First he's wearing a cloak to hide his entire body, then he reveals his eyes, clothes, and shape, and finally he takes off his hat to reveal his whole self. Side note: if you leave the basement before the Spamton Neo fight, you will encounter Ralsei and Susie. Susie is playing keepaway with Ralsei's glasses. Before she gives them back, we see Ralsei's real eyes for the first time. This is (as far as I know) the only instance in which we see Ralsei's eyes. And considering how the reveal of Susie's eyes was such a turning point for her, the fact that Ralsei is keeping his hidden is...interesting. What is Ralsei hiding?

But anyway, back to Kris. Kris keeps their hair over their face in both the Light and Dark World. Their sprite doesn't change. We get a glimpse of an eye sometimes (a glimmer) but none of their sprites show us their face. Why? If seeing a character's eyes corresponds to us knowing their authentic self, it means Kris is still hiding who they are from us. But are they doing it on purpose? Or is there some kind of entity forcing Kris to hide their face?

That kind of folds into another theory: Kris is being controlled by us and another person. The way Kris walks without the Soul makes it seem like they're struggling. They almost look...like a puppet on strings? Maybe Kris has no free will. Which might explain their panic after the Spamton Neo fight. What is a puppet without a puppetmaster? Useless. Without someone at the controls, Kris is an empty shell. But whoever is controlling them at any given time is also calling the shots. We can make Kris hurt people they care about (Snowgrave). We know Kris studied the occult. Did they summon something or someone that took over their body? And then we came along for some unknown reason and that entity (the original one) is fighting against us? Is Kris opening Fountains (if they are) of their own free will? Why can't we see Kris's eyes?

Kris's Dark World sprite is blue. Why? Sure, maybe it's a reference to the trans flag (pink, blue, white) or Toby Fox using two heavily gendered colors on a non-binary character (blue and pink) to stop people from making gender assumptions based on the outfit. But it's also a very strange choice. Dark World Susie is just...pinker?? Other than Kris, none of the Dark World versions have drastically different color schemes. So why is Kris blue? I've seen theories about Kris being dead/a corpse, which would explain their jerky movements and why they keep putting the Soul back in. But what if it's connected to Lancer, Chaos King, Queen, and even Rouxls Kaard, our other predominantly blue characters? Yes, and Berdley, but Berdley is a Light World resident.

I think Kris's Dark World sprite might be telling us something. I'm just not entirely sure what that is. But we're all working with limited information here. Chapter 3 is probably going to shed some more light. But on who? Kris, Toriel, or Ralsei?

[needtherapy]

soaring, carried aloft on the wind...continued 23

An arranged-marriage story for Xichen and Mingjue, in another time and another place.

The Beifeng, the mighty empire of the north, invaded more than a year ago, moving inexorably south and east.

In order to buy peace, the chief of the Lan clan has given the Beifeng warlord a gift, his second oldest son in marriage. However, when Xichen finds out he makes a plan.

He, too, can give a gift to the Beifeng warlord, and he will not regret it.

Part 1: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 Part 2: 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 … HOME

It’s complete on AO3 here.

Notes: Check the tags if you’re concerned about the pairings ;)

For translations of the entirely fictitious Beifeng language, you’ll have to scroll to notes. I’m only going to translate something that’s not clear in the text. Sadly, there’s just not any other good way to do it on Tumblr!

Chapter 23

Xichen has never kissed anyone but Mingjue; he is at first too shocked to react, and then an intrigued, analytical side of his mind registers the differences, the unaccountable differences. Guangyao tastes like salt and wine. He is less demanding than Mingjue in some ways, but there is a fierce intensity in him, like a darting fox on the prowl. Instead of the inexorable heat of Mingjue’s passion, Guangyao’s mouth and hands are the tantalizing flutter of wings, a brush of eyelashes across Xichen’s skin. What does it mean, Xichen wonders, that he is not repulsed by kissing Guangyao as he suspects he should be?

Guangyao makes a soft sound of surprise in the back of his throat and slides his arms around Xichen’s neck, pressing forward with his hips, pushing him back further, and Xichen realizes his intent. With a clanging gong of clarity, it stops being an entertaining experiment. Even if he is distantly curious about what it would be like to bed someone else, it is less appealing without Mingjue to share it with. And no abstract reward is worth this risk to Mingjue’s trust, to his family’s treaty or—he is now fairly certain—to Huaisang’s heart. It is no hardship to plant his feet and untangle Guangyao’s arms from around his neck.

“Guangyao, stop. You’re drunk.” Xichen murmurs, cupping his hands around Guangyao’s shoulders and pushing him gently away. Tousled and flushed, Guangyao looks hurt and vulnerable, and Xichen has a flutter of regret. But this close, he can see a faintly purpling mark on Guangyao’s neck, on the soft skin just under his jawline. “And I do not think you truly want me, do you?”

“You underestimate your appeal, Xichen,” Guangyao says, with a charming smile, smoothly shifting from brittle and aching into an openly flirtatious man Xichen is even less familiar with. He skims slim and agile hands over Xichen’s chest, hooking one finger in the neck of Xichen’s tunic. “I am not too drunk to know what I want.”

“What purpose does this serve?” Xichen asks, truly mystified. There seems to be no value in seducing the Ikarahu commander’s lover, and he is not so vain as to imagine Guangyao does anything without value.

Guangyao blinks slowly at him, glancing up through downcast eyelashes, and his smile holds an enticing promise. Xichen isn’t as immune to the seduction as he ought to be and he moves back a step, putting space between him and this dangerous version of Guangyao.

“Perhaps I am lonely, Xichen,” Guangyao says, taking a half-step toward Xichen. “Ipira’orhew Ikira has made it clear he will not be alone with me, which is flattering, but unhelpful. You, though, are beautiful and, I think, not so uninterested.”

He tips his chin up, lips parting slightly, the invitation clear. Xichen is tired of being the only one who doesn’t seem to know the rules or stakes of this game he is somehow a part of. Unhelpful, Guangyao had said. What did he mean by unhelpful? It seems an important key to unlocking this puzzle, so Xichen accepts the offer, letting Guangyao’s lips meet his and trying to ignore the hands circling his waist.

“How could I possibly be helpful to you, Yao-ti?” he murmurs against Guangyao’s mouth, and Guangyao draws back with a frown, his spine straightening. Xichen expects him to lie or deflect, but instead, Guangyao’s response is unfortunately straightforward.

“Help me...” He lifts his chin and looks Xichen in the eyes, which does not reassure Xichen in the least. “Help me find a way to send the Beifeng home or extend the armistice while my father builds an army great enough to defeat them.”

Xichen steps back, this time more firmly, this time with fear. He had so hoped that Guangyao’s aim was only personal and not political, but of course he was wrong. Of course the Jin chief would not send his son to the Ikarahu without an ulterior motive. Xichen’s father had not, although at least his father was forthright with his goal.

“What you are asking of me...Guangyao, it would endanger…” he is unwilling to share the extent of his fear, and uncertain he knows how this Guangyao will react. “It would endanger the treaty with my clan.”

“If we are successful, it will not matter,” Guangyao says, a strange light in his eyes, and his right hand clenches unconsciously. “Please, Xichen. You do not understand. There is nothing else I can do. I am running out of time, and I am running out of options. I can not fail here.”

Xichen does understand, actually. Perhaps they had not intended to kill him, but Xichen suspects Guangyao’s father has already sent him an impatient message about the consequences of failure. Xichen feels a well of sympathy for Guangyao, but...

“What have you done already?”

Guangyao stiffens, and Xichen is so afraid of the answer, whether it is a truth or a lie.

“Nothing. I have done nothing, which is the problem, Xichen. I have sent my father one message, and his answer was...not satisfied. But I can not...there is no delay he will accept.”

Xichen can not imagine how Guangyao could have sent his father a message without Huaisang noticing. But then he knows. It is the only answer that fits.

“The bridge?”

Guangyao picks up a book, an account ledger, sitting neatly on a shelf and turns it over in his hands, brushing fingers across the rough leather, a tight expression pinching the corners of his mouth into a flat line. “The Ikarahu magic is unique, Xichen. Fascinating and powerful in such a different way than our people’s. My father does not think it holds danger. He values only foot soldiers and cavalry, but...he needed to see. It is a factor to consider if he is to build an army.”

Xichen wonders how intentional it was that tricking the Ikarahu into putting their magic on display also cost Guangyao’s father a bridge, a supply route, and provisions.

“Even if your father can launch a successful attack, the Ikarahu will not turn tail and go home without what they came for,” Xichen points out. “They will fight.”

Guangyao slams the book down, his voice turning bitter and angry. “Do you even know what they came for, Xichen? What they started a war for? What your family sold you for?”

Xichen shakes his head. “Does it matter? You know, do you not? Do you think it unimportant?”

He is angry now too, and frustrated by the lies and secrets of war. It seems like a child’s game of keepaway, and Xichen feels like an unwitting pawn. This time, he will not be used.

“You do not have to stay here, Guangyao. Mingjue will send you home in a week, and you can play maka from the comfort of Jinlin Tai. I will not endanger my family on your word, and…” He squares his shoulders, making a choice. “I will not sacrifice my own happiness for the Jin.”

“Then you have killed me as surely as if you speared me through the heart here and now. My father will not accept anything but success from his eldest son. I have no choice but to do whatever it takes. Whatever I must to be welcomed back home.” His tone has a vicious bite, but inexplicably, a tear slides down his cheek, and he turns away.

“Does inheriting the Jin clan mean so much to you?” Xichen asks. “You have another choice. You could choose to stay with people who care about you.” He ventures into deeper water. “You could choose to stay for Huaisang.”

Guangyao whirls on Xichen, bursting with unconcealed outrage. “How could you possibly understand? Your life in the Cloud Recesses was a dream, a sheltered fantasy. A family who loved you, a clan that respected you, a mother whose memory you were allowed to cherish? You have always had the privilege of your status and position, and you have never known what it was to fear for tomorrow.”

The words twist with venom in his mouth, and Xichen is stunned, taken aback by the accusations he doesn’t understand. They are both the privileged eldest sons of their fathers, both given away to buy peace. Of course he has known despair. Of course he has known fear. Yet, Guangyao’s fury is so raw, Xichen senses he’s missing something vital.

“I am as much a subordinate here as you are, and unlike you, I can never go home,” Xichen reminds him, and Guangyao’s brow furrows before he laughs, as brittle and bleak as the winds that shear through the camp.

“Are you truly that ignorant, Xichen? You are the edas ahora, the beloved husband of Ipira’orhew Ikira, and I assure you, he takes that definition seriously. Ahora’ipa is not a military title like Zewu-Jun, it is a bestowed honor, the acknowledgement of a relationship so dear it has a name. Did you think they were only words? That they meant nothing more than sound? Why would you want to go home, when clearly, your fortune here is never ending, aitapaho?”

He bites off the sentence with a jagged snap, turning the endearment into a curse. Xichen ignores both the spiteful words and the words that twist in painful hope. They’re only a distraction, he thinks, a veil to hide the truth. Until now, he hadn’t been sure, but Guangyao’s determination to hurt him, to turn his eyes away, has convinced him.

“Your fortune could be the same as mine, I suspect. Why can you not accept Huaisang’s affection as real?” Xichen touches the mark on Guangyao’s neck, the darkening love bite he recognizes. “Why can you not accept that your feelings matter too?”

Guangyao flushes and meets Xichen’s eyes. “Affection is a liability, Zewu-Jun.”

Xichen has to smile because finally, Guangyao has backed himself into a corner. “If that was true, you would be seducing Huaisang instead of me. I have no power here and no military knowledge. Could it be that you do not want to use him as I know you could?”

The only answer Xichen gets is an irate exhale, and in the silence, Xichen hears something that stops his heart.

The scream of fireworks in battle.

To be concluded in part 3!

[takadasaiko]

Always Been You (Endgame fix-it Fic)

FFN II AO3

Summary: When Thanos follows the team through time, he inadvertently splinters off countless alternate timelines.

Part One

It had all happened so fast. From the moment that Thanos had attacked the compound it had been one chaotic moment tripping over another that led them stumbling into the newest fight of their life. Tony had known that they could be opening themselves up for something like this. If he had known exactly what this was going to be when he had taken the leap, he couldn't be sure he would have gone with it. He had faced Thanos and lost. Horribly. While the others had killed him it hadn't been in a place like this. They had told him the story: a quiet place with an injured Titan. Their actions had managed to bring him back. If the kid hadn't come back too, Tony was sure he would have regretted it.

Peter Parker had come bounding through one of Strange's portals to join the fight already in full swing. He swung around with the gauntlet, playing a dangerous game of keepaway. They needed to end this before he got himself killed. Again.

Tony thought he'd been close, though as he lay mostly buried beneath the rubble that he had gone crashing through it was tough to pull those fractured memories together long enough to be sure. The stones… he'd been going for the stones. He was pretty sure that he'd gotten them too, and he'd been ready to unleash on Thanos what he'd done to them all five years before: death. Destruction. The end. It had to be what Strange had meant. He remembered thinking that right before he'd been slammed so hard that the glove had been ripped from his hand. He had rolled and barely scrambled to his feet when Thanos had hauled him up and thrown him clear across and into the debris of the destroyed compound.

Right. That's what had happened. Well it wasn't the first concussion he had gotten fighting someone trying to kill them all.

Tony groaned, instantly regretting it the moment he tried to shift his weight. Pain broke through and he had trouble pulling a breath in. He squeezed his eyes shut, bare fingers scraping at the rubble beneath them. If Friday was still functioning at all she would shoot him up with enough painkillers to at least get him focused on getting out of the immediate danger. He had lost his helmet somewhere along the way, so if she was still connected he couldn't hear her. As he lay there, desperately trying to string together coherent thoughts through the pain, he had a rare flash of nostalgia. He missed JARVIS. If this was going to be the end, he wouldn't have minded that old, familiar voice in his ear. At least then he wouldn't die alone.

Light flooded in and Tony squinted hard. The battle had left the entire stretch of land drenched in haze and dust, but in that moment it was like he was staring into the sun. Finally his dark eyes focused enough to see a woman hovering above him, the light emanating from her, and she tossed aside a massive piece of the rubble. "He's here!"

Danvers. That's right. She'd come crashing into the battle at some point.

"You need to be saved a lot, don't you?" she asked as her feet touched the ground next to him, the glow fading enough for him to spot the signs of damage on her right arm. It looked like burns, but not nearly as extensive as Bruce had suffered. Surely she hadn't….

"Thanos?" Tony managed, his voice weaker than he would have preferred and he heard the sound of someone making their way down towards them. He tensed, but Danvers knelt next to him.

"Dead," she assured him.

A soft sound escaped him. "Better stay that way this time."

"There's no coming back from that." She was exploring something, and Tony tried to crane his head to get a better look at what she was looking at.

"How bad?" came another voice and Wanda Maximoff skidded down the debris in a cloud of red.

"Straight through."

Tony's lips twitched down. "What is?"

"A steel pipe," Wanda answered softly, her gaze sweeping over him. "How's your suit? Can you -?"

"Yeah," Tony managed, teeth clenched. Somehow knowing the source of the pain made it worse. "Just get me off the damn thing."

The two women shared a look before Danvers nodded. Wanda took a step back and Tony shut his eyes and waited, feeling the tentacles of magic wrap around him, easing him upwards and pulling him from the pipe that was lodged just below his ribs. Ironic. It was opposite the wound Thanos had dealt him five years before with his own weapon.

A scream clawed its way out of his throat as Wanda pulled him up and balanced him on his feet. His bare hand went instantly to the wound to put pressure on it and he had to force himself to activate what was left of the glove on his left, temporarily sealing up the wound so that he wouldn't bleed out. As soon as he had, Wanda released him slowly, easing him to the ground. "What happened?" he managed.

"We lost," Wanda answered, her voice soft.

Tony blinked hard, his gaze flickering over to Danvers. "You said Thanos is dead."

"He is. So is everyone else."

"Did he…?"

"He didn't have to." Wanda took a surprising seat so that she was eye-level with where Tony was just barely propping himself up. It took him a moment to realize that joining him probably wasn't her goal. She was exhausted. Five years of… whatever - wherever - they had been and she came back into this. A war that, even though their enemy was dead, she was counting as a loss. "His army overpowered ours. Even with everyone back. As far as I can tell, only a few Avengers made it out."

"Who?"

She cringed. "Us and Thor."

Tony pushed himself to his knees. "Pepper? Rhodey?"

"I'm sorry."

"Peter?"

She shook her head.

"No," he managed, finally to his feet on his own power. He stumbled forward but caught himself. "No. They can't be… No."

"Cap, Banner…. They're all gone. Tony, stop."

He pitched forward, leaning against a pile of rubble. "My daughter."

"You have a daughter?"

"A family friend was watching her while we…. I have to get to her. I have to make sure Morgan is okay."

"Hey." It was Danvers this time, and the blonde caught his gaze. "You're not going to do her any good if you're dead."

"Where is she?" Wanda asked.

"Pepper and I have a place…. Between here and the City." He didn't like the look they both wore. "What?"

"Reports have already come in that the creatures were making their way to New York City."

"I need to go. I need to…"

Wanda was on her feet again and reached forward, but he managed to steady himself before she had to. "Not alone."

Tony looked over at her. He wasn't the only one who had lost. The girl's brother had given his life and Thanos had murdered Vision. Before all of that one of his own weapons had killed her parents. She was alone too.

She reached forward, her fingers just shy of his arm. "Let's go find your daughter.."

Thanos' creatures had made it out beyond their battle. Making their way to New York City… that's what Danvers had said. Where she'd gotten the intel, he had no idea, but it was true, and they'd destroyed everything in their path.

Wanda had come with him. It wasn't like she had anything left at the compound and she didn't have a lot of interest in sticking around for the government officials to show up. Neither did Tony, if he were honest. Someone would try to get him to do something and the only time he could afford was a moment with Pepper, knelt down on the fractured ground, kissing her bloodied hand and whispering broken apologies. He'd wanted to protect her. He'd needed to protect her. He'd failed. And not just her. Rhodey, Cap, Bruce…. Peter. All he had was that dangerous hope that he'd walk through the door and his little girl would rush into his arms. That was the only thing keeping him on his feet as Wanda and he made their way to the cabin in the woods that the Starks had called home for five years now.

Tony stood staring. He couldn't breathe, but it had nothing to do with the barely held together wound and everything to do with the fact that there was nothing left of his home. A crater pitted the ground where the house had once stood, the decimation stretching out to swallow up Morgan's tent and her toys, the trees, and the peace that they'd clung to so hard to since she'd been born. It had stolen everything. Thanos had stolen everything.

"Tony?" Wanda asked softly as he stumbled forward, falling to his knees at the edge of it all. "Maybe they -"

He shook his head. False hope was worse.

The Scarlet Witch knelt down with him, her fingers against his arm. They paused there and carefully, hesitantly, she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You need a doctor."

"No."

"Tony -"

"It doesn't matter," he managed. He would just be another casualty. One of many. He hadn't been able to save them, so why should he bother taking up a bed at an ER that was likely overflowing? He was done. The will to fight driven out of him.

"Dr Strange - the man that brought us all to the battle - he said all of you traveled through time to get the stones. Maybe we could -"

"That's not how it works," Tony breathed, shifting so that he was sitting. "Time travel won't change our present. It would just open up a new…." He stopped, blinking hard. "A new timeline." He could almost hear her question hanging in the air between them, but his mind was spinning too fast to string the words together into anything that someone other than he could understand.

After a long moment he loosed a breath. "What are you thinking?" Wanda finally asked.

"Timelines." He stood, one knee threatening to give, but he forced it into submission. "When you mess with time, it messes back. We were careful. Mostly careful. Kinda careful. We didn't break anything. Thanos didn't care. He took a damn sledgehammer to it."

"Okay…?"

He turned, one hand sweeping out as he spoke. "He could have fractured the timeline when he followed us through which would have opened up… I don't even know how many parallel universes."

"Can we get there?"

There was something careful about her tone and Tony looked at her. She looked as broken as he felt. "Maybe."

Her eyes brightened, and he didn't have it in him to tell her the odds. They had to make it back to the compound and down to the lower levels. If they could salvage any of the technology, if any of the suits had survived, if the Pym Particles he and Steve had brought back from the past hadn't been completely destroyed... Those were a lot of ifs, but in that moment he didn't have anything else to hold onto. He had to try.

They found Thor at what was left of the compound. If he had been helping with the clean up or not, they couldn't seem to get that much out of him. Talk of alternate realities and potential paths to get them there seemed to perk his interest enough to be willing to lend some strength into getting down into the destroyed compound to see what they had available.

"How are you feeling?"

Tony glanced back from where he had taken up residence on a slab of fallen ceiling. "I may be onto something. See this piece here? I should be able to use it to channel the power to a single pad. One at a time, but a little-"

"That's not what I asked," she pressed, her voice quiet.

"Fine. I'm fine," he said dismissively. He fit the piece in place and the machine gave an encouraging buzz.

A loud crashing sound pulled both of their attention over and Thor came stumbling through the debris, several of the suits they'd created to travel draped over one arm. They were filthy, but looked to be mostly intact.

"Did you find three?" Wanda asked.

"I did. How close are you, Stark?"

"Getting there." He squeezed his eyes closed and massaged at the bridge of his nose. They had the suits, Wanda had found the Pym Particles earlier, and for the first time since he'd started tinkering with it hours ago Tony felt hopeful about getting at least a single pad up and running to send them through individually. This could work, which left him forced to look at what couldn't. He cringed at that thought and forced his tired eyes open. "Wanda… listen. Cap and I lost Loki the first time that we went after the Space Stone -"

"You lostmy brother?" Thor demanded. "Why wouldn't you say something sooner?"

"Been a little busy, Point Break," Tony grumbled, waving him off. He turned his full focus back to Wanda. "It opens up a place where I can send him that he might not break the timeline any further by looking for him."

"It does sound like you have already done that," the god of thunder groused.

"Could you not? I'm doing you a favour here."

"It's a point where he can find his brother but won't have to deal with his other self. There's nothing like that for me… not if I want to find Vision."

"Yeah," Tony admitted softly.

"It's okay. As long as I can save him in one reality, that's all I'm really looking for."

She wanted to save him, not be with him. He could get that. Something was better than nothing.

"I mean… that's what you're doing, right? Saving them?"

Tony tried for a smile, but for all of his usual quips and sarcastic retorts, his voice failed him then. Save them? He didn't think he could save anyone right now. He'd be lucky if he could get to his feet without help. Closing the wound had slowed things down, but without medical attention he could feel his body rebelling against him. He wouldn't make it long enough for infection to get him. No, he knew he couldn't save them. He just needed to see them one more time. If he was lucky he might even get a chance to beg for their forgiveness.

Wanda reached out, her touch startling him out of his thoughts. "None of us really made it out," she said softly. "All we can do is try to find something from it now."

"I'm sorry."

"This wasn't your fault. I wouldn't be here if all of you hadn't -"

"Your parents." He watched her eyes widen. "I'm sorry."

"So much has happened since then. Including a chance to find out that you're not the man I thought you were back then."

He nodded, accepting that. He stood slowly, unsteadily, and looked at the makeshift pad. "Okay. That should do it. Last chance if anybody wants to stay."

"There is nothing here for any of us," Thor echoed the earlier sentiment.

"Right."

A few minutes later they were changed and ready. Thor went first, gone in a flash through the Quantum Realm to try his hand at a new timeline that Tony and Steve had accidentally ripped open in their attempt to get ahold of the Space and Mind Stones. Tony leaned against the makeshift control panel and glanced over to Wanda who was adjusting her gloves. "Ready?"

"Yeah." She stepped up onto the platform, her blue gaze sweeping him up and down. "I hope you get to say goodbye to them."

He tried for a smile. "Me too. Good luck."

Then she was gone, leaving Tony alone in the rubble. After a long moment he set the timer and moved into position. A wave of pain hit and he pressed a hand below his ribs and widened his stance, desperate to stay on his feet. He wouldn't get another chance at this. It was now or never, and he didn't think he was ready to go without seeing them one last time.

TBC

Notes: It's been a long while since I wrote for MCU. I threatened to jump back in last year when Infinity War came out and we lost Loki, but it didn't take hold and refuse to leave. I cope with character death by finding a way to turn it around and bring them back, and I spent the first week and a half or so after watching Endgame trying to do that for Tony. He was my first fav out of MCU and had stayed at the top of my list. After going through a Tony rewatch of MCU movies, I found one.

Apologies if Captain Marvel is a bit off... I haven't had a chance to see her movie yet, though I loved what I saw of her in Endgame. I just didn't think it would make a lot of sense for her to have died at Thanos' hand.

[kariachi]

It’s today’s last episode, and it’s the special 90s tribute one people have been so excited for me to see.

Kevin is back, back again, in Introducing Kevin 11!

Oh gods, even the music over the opening credits is 90s

A swap meet dedicated to the 90s. Speaking as someone born in 1990, the nostalgia is already real.

Ben, doubting his grandfather is qualified to be watching children. As I have for 11 years

“Spend your money wisely” three guesses Ben’s response and the first two don’t count

Ben, about to drop everythign he owns on vintage sumo slammer cards. Speaking as a digimon fan, I feel him. You’d be amazed what I’d give for some of those things.

Dear dude at the sumo slammer booth, fuck off.

Fight to the death over a sumo slammers figure.

Okay, not a fight to the death, but still overkill

My gods, Kevin has managed to be the most 90s thing in the room. He’s wearing fucking rollerblades and a garish blue/purple/yellow combo. I went to school with people in that outfit! I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that jacket in person!

Oh my gods, including the headwear. When this boy comes to a swapmeet he comes prepared. Now I wanna see what the fuck he’d have worn to the ren fair.

When your rival is dressed in such vintage sparkles appear over your head.

The slow shift from ‘aw, Ben isn’t rising to my teasing’ to fucking ‘oh I know how to ruin his day’ Grinch smile is lovely

omg Kevin pulling out the “in the 90s it was cool to be bad”. It’s adorable, like watching children try to cite medieval standards.

And Kevin pulls out an alien once Ben refutes his attempts to get him to misbehave. Not even because he’s annoyed, just for fun.

Rush, also cool, very insect vibe.

Apparently this Kev doesn’t like Sumo Slammers. Or at least Ben doesn’t think he does. Also Kevin stealing a toy purely because Ben wanted to buy it.

Poor meteor feet saleman.

Also Kevin is having such fun with this.

Ben, I don’t blame you for being upset, but could you do less destroying stuff?

Ben has awakened the not-Furbies, they’re attacking. We’re not gonna follow it.

Kevin- steals toy and goes playing keepaway Ben- destroys swapmeet in attempt to get toy back

Great at drafting, bad at art, good job, Kev

Gods preserve me, there’s just so much 90s. My nostalgic heart is dying. And that’s even without Kevin. I may not survive this.

Going Skunkmoth to steal food

Also Skunkmoth looks awesome, just like all Kev’s aliens. Actually I should see if I can find any figures of this shit on amazon...

Welp, that shit’s not mint condition now

Welp

...okay 1) Kevin we don’t fart in people’s faces, 2) damn that other sumo nerd was a jerk. Like, to blame that on Ben takes willful ignorance given Kevin was right there, sticking his ass in Ben’s face, and called for his attention just before farting. I hope that other kid lost his cards on the bus or something.

Ben finally getting to properly throwdown, get revenge for Kevin’s bullshit.

Oh Kevin baby. We’ve finally gotten to the one Kevin scene I was properly spoiled for and boy is it a doozy. Ben knocks Kevin around until he times out and Kevin gets upset with him. As far as he was concerned he was just playing, having fun, and Ben, still Four Arms, calls him out, says it wasn’t fun for him. He demands answers for why Kevin’s been following him, demands he basically get his own life. Kevin doesn’t answer his question, just calls him a baby and tells him to run off back to his grandfather, and Ben-

“At least I have someone to run back to-!” Note, I’ve seen people give Ben shit over this, but I’ll allow it if just because the second it comes out his mouth he realizes he crossed a line and tries to backpedal. He’s not a bad kid, he just, well, kids are stupid and he’s worked up. And Kevin, the look on his face, like he’s pissed and upset at the same time. And when he responds there’s baring of teeth, but also he’s very clearly really upset. Ben struck a serious nerve there with him, for one reason or another.

“So, that’s how it is.” This line has stuck with me since I first saw this scene, how it’s said, and now with the context- I said before, when talking about Kevin’s bullying behavior and what might be behind it, that Kevin might not target Ben specifically for any reason at all, and I think now is when I should clarify that. I don’t think Kevin’s targeting Ben was personal. Because this moment right here, that’s a ‘now it’s personal’ moment. Whatever reason Kevin targeted him, it’s not because Kevin had a problem with him specifically. But right here, right now, in Kevin’s mind Ben has escalated things. And so he dials up something “original”, just for him.

And through all that, Ben’s still trying to apologize.

Bashmouth looks awesome

Half of this episode has been Ben calling Kevin and his shit cool.

“Kevin, you’re out of control” Yes, yes he is, this is one pissed and hurt puppy. One who, when he responds with “Who cares” does it loudly enough that Ben’s blown back, the ground beneath his feet craters, and some concrete supports start cracking.

Bashmouth=Kevin’s Rath. Ben=Concerned little bean.

Ben is having an existential crisis because Kevin is cooler and stronger and gets an extra alien.

They are throwing a ‘don’t compare yourself to other people, love you for you’ moral at the end of this. I feel like it could’ve been placed better somewhere else. Comes out of left field a bit.

Plus- Ben apologizes to Kevin for his earlier remark, asks him to help clean up the disaster they caused so people don’t get hurt Cons- Kevin agreeing because Gwen

And Kevin punches through the fucking roof, escaping that way and leaving Ben in the collapsing whatever.

Kevin stopped to wave as he bounded off as Bashmouth

Forever Nerd showing up while Kev recovers from the day, criticizing his lack of control (which is bullshit, his control so far has been fine, Bashmouth was a mess and he’s got emotional issues, but Rath started out a mess too and he got a hang of shit fine in the end) and insisting that it doesn’t matter how much stronger he is if he can’t control himself. Offers to help. And Kevin reluctantly agrees. Honestly it almost feels like this ep would’ve worked better before Franken-Fight. Was scheduled wrong on both sides of the globe. It fills that void between it and KotC well.

10/11

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 17. Random thoughts.

Alright, from Shield Hero to Goblin Slayer to Re:Zero and now back again.

“As of this day, you shall lead our nation as the queen of Melromarc. You shall henceforth be known as Melty Q. Melromarc.”

Wait, that's what the Q stands for? I always just thought Mirelia had a weird middle name. So what was Melty's middle initial before this? The wiki says Malty's is S but what does that stand for? Second-in-line? Spare?

Right off the bat I love Naofumi and Melty's back and forth. He really does feel like the older sibling she never got to have. It's a reason I don't think they should be married (beyond the fact that she's a literal child and he's a grown man). She can act her age around him because Naofumi genuinely makes her feel safe enough to.

“If you don’t desire to marry Hero Iwatani, I have someone else I might like to suggest to you, Queen Melty.” The old man was looking at Fohl as he spoke.

Wait, Fohl? What?

“Huh?!” Fohl froze as though his spine had turned to ice with Trash’s eye upon him, and then he visibly recoiled. So he wasn’t up for it. I could understand that.

Wait...hasn't the implication been that Fohl and Atla might be the children of Trash's sister? I mean, I get that incest wasn't exactly uncommon in old royal families but he jumped on trying to set up his daughter with her cousin pretty quickly. You'd think he'd be a lot more protective over his youngest daughter but I suppose maybe his mentality is that a husband could help ease some of the burden off Melty and give her someone who could definitely protect her like Fohl or Naofumi. ...Doesn't make it that much less creepy. Again, Melty's, like, 12.

“No need to worry about that,” Trash responded. “Melty is quite capable of carrying a child.” So she was quite an early bloomer . . . Trash, hold on!

“Why do you know that?!” I retorted.

“There was much about Melty written in my wife’s diaries,” he explained. He almost made it sound like a good thing, whimsical and sweet. The queen had known about Witch’s virginity, after all, so I guess she would know about Melty too.

Mirellia: "Dear diary, I had a bit of false excitement today. My shadows informed me they witnessed Melty disrobing while she and the Shield Hero's party slept around the campfire. I thought my dear little girl had finally awoken an attraction for the opposite sex and was about to make her move. But alas, it was merely to sleep inside the feathers of his pet Filolial (Note to self: Once I clear Mr. Iwatani's name, find a way to bring up casually that I would like to try sleeping inside the Filolial also). Oh well. I suppose there is still plenty of time for that later. Still, it is the one and only area I feel she could stand to take note from her sister. The shadow I have assigned to the Spear Hero's party is very descriptive. I think I should consider switching in another shadow to replace her for a bit. She may be a little too into her job."

Back to reality, while I get why she would do that and why Trash would check, that was still more than I needed to know about any of that family. NOBODY GO HAVING SEX WITH MELTY!

I was now basically engaged to Melty. That might look like a Lolita complex from the outside. There were lots of women around me with adult bodies but who were actually quite young too—Raphtalia, Filo, Shildina, Keel, even Atla. From that perspective, it did start to make me feel a bit strange.

Wait, when did Filo get an adult body?! I thought part of Motoyasu's obsession was because she was going to be a near eternal loli. Or does adult body to Naofumi just mean Fitoria-sized?

“What? I mean, Naofumi, don’t you play for both—” Ren started.

“That’s enough. Say no more!” I cut him off. I really needed to nip this in the bud. It was true I tried to sleep with Fohl—just once—but there were all sorts of context to that encounter.

Raphtalia: "Was I the only one he didn't try and sleep with?!?"

“Ren,” I said.

“What?” he eventually replied.

“She’s not the sharpest when it comes to matters of the heart. If such a situation actually came about, she might change her mind. If you get lucky, the one you confess to may then start to take notice of you. It’s too soon to give up,” I told him.

“Okay, okay. I get it,” he said.

“But you also need to read the room a little. If you confess to her right now, I don’t think she’ll give you the nod. You need to get closer to her first and then let her know how you feel. Maybe even get the elation right after we save the world to give things a push,” I advised.

Raphtalia: "...F**k you, Mr. Naofumi. I love you but f**k you, you observant yet oblivious walking paradox."

In all seriousness, I like that Naofumi and Ren have been becoming good friends. I don't think Naofumi would have asked Motoyasu or Itsuki in the same way what they planned on doing after the waves.

Is it weird that of all the demi-human characters, Ruft is the one I don't want to grow up too fast? I want him to stay Naofumi's raccoon son.

A weird thought occurs to me. When Naofumi and the other three first arrived in Melromarc, would their clothes have had any stats? In most games even the very basic starting clothes will give you a +1 in something. I'm just curious because, as we see in the trips to and back from Kizuna's world, certain equipment doesn't function outside of its original universe and shows up as just scrambled text in the menu. The four would have just come from a different universe with their clothes/"equipment" still on so did the same effect apply but they never noticed because there's so little protection a shirt and jeans gives?

“Up you go! Up you go!” I said, lifting her up in the air.

“Little Naofumi?” Sadeena looked at me in bemusement. Wasn’t that what you did with a child? I’d done the same thing with Raphtalia when she’d been smaller too.

When?! When the hell did broody, depressed, recently framed for attempted rape Naofumi play "Up you go!" with child Raphtalia?!

I complained in my vol. 16 post about Naofumi and Raphtalia being separated again. Again, I knew even then it was a nitpick but I am still glad how quickly they were reunited after he returned to Kizuna's world. You never want to feel like a story is playing keepaway with you.

“Actually, about that,” I said. “When I was on the verge of death, I met Atla inside something like . . . I guess you’d call it the world inside the shield. She was still very much herself, anyway.” I showed Raphtalia the shield, and the gemstone glowed. Was that Atla taunting Raphtalia from inside the shield? The light did look a bit mocking, if light could be said to do that. Raphtalia seemed to have noticed the same thing, and her brow furrowed.

Atla: "I was his first kiss AND got to be inside Lord Naofumi first. Take that, Raphtalia."

Naofumi: "I don't know what she's saying but I feel very uncomfortable all of a sudden."

“I see. That’s quite incredible. I can see the curse fading even as I watch,” Raphtalia replied.

“Even so, it seems to be rooted pretty deep. It’s going to need multiple treatments to fully heal up,” I said. After we worked out it had curse-healing properties, I had tried it on Motoyasu too, but it had done nothing at all to him. I wondered what was going on there.

Either the curse is rooted too deep because he was under its effects for so much longer than everyone else had been under theirs or Motoyasu might be resisting the curse heals because he doesn't want to change back to how he was. That or he's genuinely had a mental breakdown after all his experiences and even magic can't cure true insanity.

Takt hadn’t been worried about the waves either, I recalled. A common characteristic of these lunatics. Even Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki had only really considered the waves events to make them stronger for the future. I felt like I was getting to the heart of things. Now we knew that the waves weren’t a natural phenomenon. That cast suspicions on the knowledge of the heroes. When I followed that line of thought, the summoning of someone like me—someone with no knowledge of a game that played like this world—had allowed for the sharing of power-up methods to go much more smoothly. And yet they continued to summon people with game knowledge. That knowledge had proven a barrier to becoming stronger.

It was as though game knowledge itself was some kind of impediment.

Well, Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki were the third options for their weapons, so I suppose one theory is that they were the ones most likely to accept the situation because of their exposure to the games but would also be held back by it, so it was something of a double-edged sword. Unless the force behind the waves or at least the vanguards is throwing in some interference or influence.

Itsuki being a bit down on his musical talent or not seeing it as much special makes sense, I suppose, given he comes from a world that basically has superpowers. It's one of the (many) reason Lex Luthor hates Superman and tries to convince others they should too.. Natural talent, intelligence, body-built muscle and so on don't feel like they mean much in comparison to bulletproof skin and the ability to fly. What does it matter how good you are with an instrument when others can play music just as good with no instrument at all? It can be hard to appreciate how good you are when you're surrounded by impossible standards.

“Eight, huh? Can you tell me all of them? Just in case. You’d better tell me about the four holy heroes too,” I said. We had the seven star weapons in the other world, meaning they had one extra here. I couldn’t quite explain it, but something felt off about all this. Like, maybe there was a secret eighth seven star weapon in our world too. When I was in the shield world, I had counted the lights and seen eight, if I recalled correctly, so the possibility seemed pretty high.

Now that's curious. Perhaps the eighth has some kind of ability to hide its existence from the world or erase any traces of itself, physical or in memory. I mean, it's certainly possible Raphtalia's world has genuinely just never discovered the eighth even though it resides somewhere in their world. The vassal weapons are strong and important but there's clearly more weight to the four Holy Weapons, so those would have been the priority, and it's not like they ever had any reason to suspect there were more than seven. Naofumi only suspects there's more because he's been to another world and interacted with the Shield's spirit world; two very unique experiences.

The hunting tool, the jewels, the blunt instrument, and the ofuda (cards?) are the Holy Weapons of Kizuna's world. I'm trying to think if there's any similarity to the Shield, Bow, Spear, and Sword. Maybe it's just a difference in culture, since Kizuna's world is more Japanese themed while Raphtalia is more old England, but KW's weapons feel a lot more random than RW's. RW's are a very basic collection of standard weapons you'd find in any old battlefield. But three out of four of KW's weapons seem very indirect in terms of fighting. The best theme I could guess that they have going for them is that maybe there's a wider variety of things they can turn into, while the Shield, Bow, Spear, and Sword can only be...well, those specific things. Then again the bow can turn into a gun so that theory is shaky at best. Maybe that KW's have a more openly spiritual side to them.

Kizuna's world has more labyrinths and Raphtalia's world has more dungeons. Maybe that's a factor in the weapon spread. Objects that'd help more in puzzle solving and exploration vs. more beat-em-up focus.

This

freakin' d-bag looks like a Batman villain. Like a New 52 "hip and edgy" Music Meister; not as memorable as the original. On topic, I really like Naofumi's words to Miyaji. Diplomatic but still with strength to them. It's good to show that Naofumi isn't just completely lacking in patience when it comes to people he doesn't like (which is a consistently growing list).

“They were trash, so I killed them!” he replied. That didn’t sound good.

“But why were they trash? Were they trying to take over the world or something?” I tried anyway.

“They were getting all full of themselves, thinking they were so strong. So I had to put them right.” He wasn’t making a convincing case.

...I kind of miss when Glass was the antagonist. The Demon Dragon Emperor too.

Oh well, at least there's a chance we'll see Witch finally get killed, since she's here too for some reason.

“Mald, that person standing at your side is the very one who took in that megalomaniac Takt and attempted to use him for her own ends. There’s no justice on your side,” Itsuki said.

“Takt? He was just a sacrifice to form the foundation of our justice. His violence was purely intended to prove that we are just. We had every intention of swinging that justice hammer, but then you stepped in,” Mald replied.

Those are some impressive mental gymnastics right there. "We aided and abetted this monster of a man to murder, torture, and take over a country in order to prove how just we are and it's okay because we were eventually going to betray him and take him down once we no longer had use for him." I mean, a thing that's been made all too clear in recent years is about the two types of people who support bad causes. One type genuinely believes the bullsh*t justifications they give or that have been fed to them, while the other type knows it's bullsh*t, they just don't care so long as they get what they want. Witch is definitely the latter. Mald I could see being either but I'm leaning towards the latter again.

Also, Shield Demon King. You'd think rule #1 of fighting an enemy you despise would be to not give them an awesome title like that, even if you are trying to make yourself look like an even bigger bigshot by taking them down.

“Seriously . . . you could have just let that excitable womanizer kill you. You made things so inconvenient for me. You are so persistent, so annoyingly persistent! Just seeing you makes me want to throw up,” Witch said.

“Right back at you . . . In fact, due to my hatred of your very existence, I can comfortably claim to dislike you more than you dislike me. We have to stop meeting like this—and I intend to make this the last time. So be ready to die,” I told her. Her very existence disgusted me to the extent I could be sure my hatred for her face exceeded any malice she bore toward me. I was going to eradicate her from this world as painfully and horribly as possible . . . No, I was going to shred her very soul.

That was the only way to avenge the queen.

“Do you know these two?” Glass asked.

WHAT THE F**K DO YOU THINK, GLASS? I guess that old saying about couples starting to resemble each other holds some truth because that feels like something Kizuna would say.

“You must have grasped that we have suppressed your holy weapons. But you don’t understand how, do you? To put it plainly, we have captured all of the holy weapons in this world and used a technique to suppress the power of any opposing holy weapons—nullifying the holy weapons and techniques from other worlds,” she patronizingly explained. She had distinctively said “our.” That suggested this wasn’t something Miyaji had come to on his own, but something he had been provided with in order to contain us.

“The medium is the dragon hourglass. It suppresses the holy weapons. This was apparently a defensive mechanism for this world, created by the spirits of the holy weapons. It was to be activated if holy weapons were ever used in an invasion. Of course, it only works on holy weapons, magic, and techniques. It wouldn’t be worth using if it stopped us as well,” she continued.

I've noted it a few times throughout the series but I like how this was kind of set-up prior, so it doesn't feel like a Deus ex Machina that the villains can just shut down the Shield and Bow. We already knew that the Holy Weapons typically couldn't cross over into other worlds and that the worlds had precautions taken against each others' weapons. Witch and crew are merely exploiting a system that was already in place. While it doesn't do it as often as Goblin Slayer, I really like how often RoTSH sets things up and has them come back in major ways, like the Rucolu Fruits or defense rating attacks, making it feel more stratifying.

“Curse you, Shield Demon King! Only a coward would resort to illusions!” Miyaji bellowed.

But voodoo and curses are perfectly fine.

“I’m getting a handle on this now. Things aren’t going to go your way again! Jason Murder IV!” Armor put on a hockey mask that suddenly appeared in the air and started to swing his axe wildly.

What? What? What? What? WHAT? What? ...You know, if that's a reference to Friday the 13th part 4 being "The Final Chapter", then that's actually kind of a clever name for a finishing move (especially for one Armor kept on repeating and didn't actually finish off anyone).

I'm glad Itsuki was granted the Musical Instrument weapon. It how I feel about a lot of series where I don't mind the MC being special, but they shouldn't be the only one allowed to be special. Naofumi is important because he's the Legendary Shield Hero but the other three are still supposed to be his equals. So it's good that the Book weapon passed over him while Naofumi got the Mirror, not because Itsuki was unworthy, but because the Instrument was a much better fit for him. Naofumi shouldn't be the only one who can use the vassal weapons in an emergency situation.

A statue of Kizuna, standing like some temple effigy, with a fishing rod out in front of her. Was this really Kizuna? Not just some carving? The fishing rod looked accurate, but I didn’t really like the design overall.

You think they did that because she wouldn't stop pestering to them about wanting to go fishing? I'm sure it was probably the best way for the villains to keep Kizuna from being teleported to the waves but I like to imagine her just annoying the sh*t out of Witch and Miyaji.

This was all coming from the mirror’s power-up method. I still didn’t really understand why, but eating food now increased a new level that was separate from regular levels—it might be called the “food level.” It felt a bit like the system that Itsuki had described once. Eating food I had prepared caused experience to be earned and a separate level and status to increase. It looked like the type of food that was eaten changed the status that increased, but I still wasn’t sure how that all worked either.

I think Konosuba had a similar level-up method too. I'm not a huge gamer but those I've played tended to only give EXP for cooking food, while eating it only gave health and temporary bonus effects. I can believe it does exist in other games, I've just never personally experienced it.

“To be honest . . . I didn’t have the bravery to say that I was wrong and you were right, Naofumi,” he finally told me. His pride wouldn’t let him accept me, even though inside he knew the truth.

...

“I did something really horrible to Rishia. She was struggling with her low status and wanted to become a hero . . . but I looked down on her, just like so many had looked down on me. I thought it was only natural that I be praised and respected. I saw my past weaknesses in Rishia and so I discarded her,” he muttered, his voice full of regret, eyes downcast. “I have to spend my life to make amends to Rishia and stop Mald and the others. That’s the punishment for my sin.”

...

“In the past, I would have thought anyone opposing me was evil to be defeated. I don’t know how many times I’ve judged people simply based on one-sided opinions,”

Like with Ren, and with Trash last volume, this is definitely what I needed with Itsuki to be more on his side. Not just being able to understand his situation and why he did the things he did (which is still important, don't get me wrong) but have him actually acknowledge his wrongdoings and make efforts to atone for them. It's more meaningful now that he's in his right mind as opposed to the fried, near mindless state his curse had left him in where he'd do whatever anyone told him. I've harped on it before but that's what holds Motoyasu back for me somewhat. Yes, he's funny and yes, he's helping now, but he's also out of his mind. His redemption isn't really redemption because there has been not reflect and deliberate atonement for his actions like Ren, Trash, and now Itsuki have. He's just doing better than he was because of the curses' lingering effects on his mind and because he wants to get in Filo's pants.

But back to Itsuki, I'm glad I was wrong earlier about Naofumi only being able to have the post-waves conversation with Ren. Staying in the world and travelling feels like it fits Itsuki. He's not completely different from how he was before but he is on the track that'll help him grow as a person. Having him face Armor, his former party member, and have this growth be somewhat as a result of that is a really nice touch. Just like Atla sacrificing herself showed Naofumi the pain that'd be cause to those he'd leave behind if he did the same, sometimes a person really needs to see how they look from the outside. It especially works for Itsuki since Armor was someone he'd once considered an ally and a true believer of justice, so he was having to face off against basically what he had been to others.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/kbxwzk/first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_17_random/

[terryblount]

Devil May Cry 5 – Review

The darkest of night falls around your soul, and the hunter within loses control. After more than 10 years, the Devil May Cry series performs the rarest of video game industry feats- the elusive de-boot and returns to it un-rebooted universe with Devil May Cry.

For those not in the know, the Devil May Cry series posits the simple question: what if we added another layer to character action where the objective was more than simply “kill all the monsters”? The result is the thesis of the Devil May Cry series- “Can you kill all the monsters while looking cool as hell?”

The result is a series of some of the best character action games in the business. But the games industry has changed much since Devil May Cry 4’s release in 2008. Could the game’s tongue-in-cheek style and fast-paced action still be relevant in today’s videogame landscape? Short answer- a big ol’ Smokin’ Sexy Yes.

The facial work in the game looks amazing- combined with the amazing direction for the cutscenes, it leads to an actually enjoyable experience watching the cutscenes.

Presentation

Given the series ties to Resident Evil it’s no surprise Devil May Cry 5 is running on the new RE engine developed for the new wave of Resident Evil games. The result is a game that looks much grittier than its previous entries. Due to the engine originally being for a first-person horror game though, it gives DMC a variety of useful quirks, one of them being the faces in the game. They’re just stylised enough that they don’t look entirely anime, but steer off the uncanny valley.

Despite the gorgeous visuals of the game though, the game doesn’t suffer for it. The game runs at a solid 60 fps even on a regular PS4, and even has customizable field of view.

One thing older fans may notice is the sheer volume of long cutscenes in this game. While not Kojima-level, the game does a better job of mixing the plot and gameplay, and as a result it feels like every mission starts with a long cutscene explaining how we got from the end of the last mission to this one.

The one concrete net-flaw of this game would be its loading screens. Selecting a mission will give you at minimum two loading screens, bookending the introductory cutscene for the mission. Any attempts to customize your character (which in Nero’s case you will be doing for every mission) add another two, taking you back and from the customization menu. These screens aren’t short, either, and the amount of delay between wanting to start a mission and actually getting to play the game are a blemish on the game’s good streak.

Feats like Jump Canceling are much easier to do now, allowing more people to do complex moves as part of their big combos

Gameplay

If I could describe the combat in DMC 5, it would be as follows: Low barrier of entry, high skill ceiling. The game plays better than it looks, with a fluid and deep combat system that many action games could stand to learn from.

For newcomers, the Devil May Cry games have a “Style ranking”- a gauge that fills up as you do technically impressive and powerful moves. They give diminishing returns in score if you overuse them, though, so you’ll need to get creative with your combos.

Upping the ante from 4, you now get three playable characters, who each play differently: The veteran demon hunter Dante who changes his playstyle with his 4 “styles”, the young Nero, whose core moveset is more holistic but swaps out different tools to enhance that, and newcomer V- a unique keepaway character who controls demons to fight for him.

Unlike DMC 4 and many games with multiple heroes, you never really play one character for too long at once. The story jumps back and forth along a timeline, as you get to learn what the three characters were up to during key events in the game’s story. On one hand, this may seem disorienting as you forget your combos for V as you play a Nero stage.

On the other, however, it prevents a problem in DMC 4: what if you just didn’t like the other character? If I have to play as V after a Dante section, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of Dante, I can keep playing him a few missions later.

Aside from that, there’s the levels themselves- it feels so refreshing to say the words “level design” because the game actually has these- actual levels, with actual design put into them. Enemies present complex problems you need to solve, while also solving the game’s main problem (keeping up your style meter).

There’s an enemy that gains armor after taking too many hits- meaning you can’t flinch it out of its next attack, which means even the most offensive player is going to need to guard or dodge the next hit or hear the disappointed cry of the Style announcer calling you out for your mediocrity. There’s another that spins in a wheel and needs to be shot at to flinch it out before it hurls itself towards you to rob you of your health and style points. All of these are presented in sealed off kill-rooms, meaning you’re going to have to solve these problems before you’re free to progress.

In contrast to DMC 4, the combat feels a lot more streamlined in the sense that the levels aren’t built to waste your time. Gone are the elaborate platforming puzzles and dice games, which is more a sign of the series growth, knowing that its core gameplay loop- that of fighting enemies, has been trusted to carry you for the entirety of the game. There are still the occasional puzzles, but, save for one Nero stage, never are they so bad that you wish you could cut through it to get to the next fight.

The game has plenty of reasons to go back to older missions, not least of all the pursuit of higher style

Content

An astounding amount of content has been put into Devil May Cry 5, yet in such a way that it doesn’t take you from the main focus of the game. Rather than add countless minigames, puzzles et cetera the game gives you plenty of customization for the three playable characters.

Chief of customization is Nero, who uses a series of mechanical arms with all kinds of support abilities from stopping time to piercing the heavens with his drill. They range from “powerful attack” to “powerful tool”, letting you really play Nero the way you want to. You can swap out these loadouts before the mission starts or at select points in a mission, similar to the Goddess of Time statues from previous games.

Dante has his staple of collecting Devil Arms, too, gaining more weapons as he defeats more bosses. Unlike previous games, however, he now has the ability to simply not use certain weapons to downsize on how many he has to swap between to combo. He even has a secret gun- one unobtainable unless you actually seek it out, which leaves you with a good feeling knowing that not everything is simply being handed to you.

This brings me to the next big point- the levels, again. Despite DMC 5 being a linear game, they’ve packed the levels with plenty of secrets and collectibles, but not too many that it feels like busy work. All the usual staples are there- Blue Orb shards for health, Gold orbs for revives and Secret Missions- though those come with a neat twist that makes them easier to spot.

Speaking of Secret Missions, the game does carry over one thing the reboot did right- the ability to replay Secret Missions from a menu. This seems to go well with the game’s central mission- not to distract you from the action with pointless busywork.

The game also has a weird co-op mechanic- the Cameo System. How this works is that certain missions are linked to each other, as a result of the game’s tendency to hop along a timeline. For example, you could have one Nero mission and one V mission several missions apart, but in the context of the story, they’re happening simultaneously and not too far from each other. As a result, if you are playing the Nero part of that story, you can glance over and see V in the distance playing his own mission, and it would be controlled in real time by another player, which the game will inform you.

This all seems like a nice gimmick until you reach a certain point in the game that turns it up to eleven- during one mission in the game, you can choose which of the three heroes to play as. After selecting it, you now get to share three killrooms with other players, playing as the other characters. There are tools in the settings to pair you up with friends though they seem to work at their own discretion, but even the excitement of working together is just a whole other level of excitement, especially after always being blocked by walls and distance.

Verdict

Devil May Cry 5 is a game that values the player’s experience, having been lovingly crafted to ensure that no matter what you’re doing, you’re having fun. It has an astounding amount of replay value with harder difficulties and simply the pursuit of higher style leading you to keep playing the game.

If you don’t care much for story, I could totally recommend the game simply on the merit of “it’s just that bloody good”. For the more story conscious, though, I’d recommend at the very least picking up DMC 4 first as it is very much a continuation of Dante and Nero’s story rather than its own standalone thing. The game does come with a primer on the backstory of the previous games to bring you up to speed, however, and if you’re fine with looking to Wikipedia or spelunking through the game’s datalogs to get more answers, then, by all means, you’re going to have a great time with this game.

This is a game that knows it’s cool, but wants you to know it’s even cooler than that.

And you know what? Jackpot.

Game reviewed on PS4. Copy purchased by reviewer

Devil May Cry 5 – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[junker-town]

Northwestern is closer than you think to a Big Ten West title run

With just a couple answers, this can be Pat Fitzgerald’s best team yet.

Coaching college football is playing chess with pieces that don’t cooperate. You come up with your plan of attack, and sometimes the knight moves in the wrong direction. You could have the best plan in the world, but its execution still relies on 18- to 22-year-old males.

Building a program is the same thing, only at a macro level. You address one weakness, and two more form. Fix those, and another cracks open. Very few coaches get all the pieces pointed in the right direction at the same time, and when they do, it’s brief.

Pat Fitzgerald’s slow build at Northwestern has been impressive by any measure. The former Wildcat linebacker took over as head coach earlier than anybody intended; he was a 31-year-old linebackers coach when head man Randy Walker passed away of a heart attack. He was given patience (he was 10-14 in his first two seasons), and both he and the school have been rewarded.

Over the last nine seasons, Fitzgerald has taken the Wildcats to seven bowls. They had been to only six in their existence before he took over. They had only won one pre-Fitz; he’s won two. The win total peaked at 10 in 2012, and they reached 10 again in 2015.

Fitzgerald’s performance has been almost more impressive considering he really hasn’t had a “everything pointed in the right direction” season. The Wildcats came close in 2012 — the only time they’ve ranked in the top 50 in both Off. S&P+ and Def. S&P+ — but as one unit has gotten better or worse, another has fallen. 2015 featured Fitzgerald’s best defense (fourth in Def. S&P+) and worst offense (111th).

In 2016, the offense improved by nearly nine adjusted points per game and ranked 63rd; the defense fell by 9.4 adjusted points per game to 32nd; the Wildcats started 1-3 but won six of nine to finish up. They graded out almost equal to 2015.

And now they return nearly everybody.

I’m not going to say this is the “everything pointed in the right direction” year — we rarely realize it ahead of time. But it’s not hard to imagine it. Northwestern returns:

A two-year starting quarterback in Clayton Thorson, who threw for 3,182 yards last year and raised his passer rating from a dreadful 95.9 to a mediocre 125.9.

Jackson, who has three 1,000-yard seasons and rushed for 397 yards in his last two games. (Backup John Moten IV had two 100-yard rushing games in November.)

Three of last year’s top four receiving targets (including Jackson), plus Oregon graduate transfer and former blue-chipper Jalen Brown.

Five offensive linemen with five combined seasons of starting experience, plus Georgia Tech transfer Trey Klock, who has started games.

Six of last year’s top eight defensive linemen, including ends Xavier Washington and Joe Gaziano, who combined for 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks.

Run-stuffing junior linebacker Nate Hall, who was second on the team with six non-sack tackle for loss.

Each of last year’s top seven defensive backs — including safeties Godwin Igwebuike and Kyle Queiro and corners Montre Hartage and Trae Williams (combined from the foursome: 10.5 tackles for loss, 10 interceptions, 29 breakups) — plus key 2015 cornerback Keith Watkins II, injured last season.

Kick returner Solomon Vault, basically the first good special teams piece the Wildcats have had in a couple of years.

The front seven does have some to replace, special teams has been varying degrees of disastrous, and in raw talent, the Wildcats aren’t exactly tops in the Big Ten.

Still, this might be the best cocktail of experience and upside Fitzgerald has had. And while Northwestern has to travel to Wisconsin and Nebraska, the Wildcats get Minnesota and Iowa at home and miss Ohio State and Michigan in intra-division play. If ever there were a year to make a run, this might be it.

That’s really the only thing Fitzgerald has missed to date. He has brought a level of steady success that not even program savior Gary Barnett could boast. He’s gotten new athletic facilities built right on the side of Lake Michigan. He has solidified Northwestern’s gains and assured the program’s downside is far greater than it used to be.

But we don’t know about its upside yet. It’s possible 2017 is the year we find out.

2016 in review

2016 Northwestern statistical profile.

We know what to expect from year to year: the Wildcats are going to play sturdy defense, make stops in the red zone, keep tempo tamped down, and try to out-execute in close-game situations.

When they get a few bounces, this works great. But the formula requires you to get some good bounces, because you’re not blowing anybody out. Case in point: in 2015 and 2016, they went 5-2 in games decided by more than one possession. They had basically the same S&P+ ranking, too. But in 2015, they went 5-0 in one-possession games, and in 2016 they went 2-3.

That was virtually the entire difference in the season. Well, that, and the fact that they did not hit the ground running last fall.

First 4 games (1-3): Average percentile performance: 53% (40% offense, 62% defense) | Avg. yards per play: Opp 5.5, NU 5.0 (minus-0.5) | Avg. performance vs. S&P+ projection: minus-6.4 PPG

Last 9 games (6-3): Average percentile performance: 66% (60% offense, 55% defense) | Avg. yards per play: NU 5.4, Opp 5.3 (plus-0.1) | Avg. performance vs. S&P+ projection: plus-8.8 PPG

The offense was never amazing, but the Wildcats were able to play ball control as the season wore on.

Snaps per game (first 4): Opp 78.5, NU 69.5 (minus-9.0)

Snaps per game (last 9): NU 78.4, Opp 73.3 (plus-5.1)

Northwestern was downright pacey at times, snapping 86 times against Michigan State, 88 times against Indiana, 83 times against Purdue, and 86 times against Pitt.

They won all four of those games, by the way. If they were able to play keepaway and keep the chains moving, the defense was good enough to take it from there. It was too late to salvage early losses to Western Michigan (22-21) and Illinois State (9-7), but Northwestern was legitimately dangerous for the home stretch (29-12 loss to Minnesota aside).

Offense

Full advanced stats glossary.

It was a chicken-and-egg situation — what came first, the run success or the pass success? Everything ascended in lockstep.

First four games: Jackson 4.1 yards per carry, Thorson 53 percent completion rate and 117.1 passer rating

Next five games: Jackson 4.8 yards per carry, Thorson 59 percent completion rate and 127.4 passer rating.

Last four games: Jackson 6.3 yards per carry, Thorson 64 percent completion rate and 132.6 passer rating.

Opponents stacked the box against Jackson, and once Thorson was able to take advantage of the numbers his receivers were (not) facing, the attack began to click.

Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Clayton Thorson

Northwestern finished as a pass-to-set-up-the-run team. The Wildcats ran just 51 percent of the time on standard downs, 110th in the country, and while this is a bit extreme, it worked.

Will it work without Austin Carr? Carr was one of the nation’s more underrated receivers, catching 90 balls and combining a possession receiver’s efficiency (60 percent success rate) with explosiveness (13.9 yards per catch).

Thorson basically threw to eight players last year, and while only two are gone (Carr and Andrew Scanlan), they were the only two with success rates over 50 percent. Checkdowns to Jackson didn’t go anywhere, and while No. 2 receiver Flynn Nagel had reasonable efficiency (49 percent success rate), he averaged just 11.2 yards per catch.

Can someone like senior Macan Wilson or return man Vault crack the top of the defense like Carr did? Even with last year’s 50-50 run-pass rates, opponents will know to gang up on Jackson and Moten until Thorson makes them pay.

William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports

Justin Jackson

Jackson doesn’t need a ton of help. After all, Thorson’s passer rating only topped 150 twice all year (against Michigan State and Purdue). All he has to do is complete 60-something percent of his passes and make defenses pay for putting one too many guys in the box. Jackson will take it from there. The former four-star is only 256 rushing yards behind Damien Anderson for the NU career record, and there’s a chance he gets that by Week 2.

Moten could keep Jackson’s workload down, too. The sophomore from St. Louis carried only four times in the first four games, then 20 times in the next five. But he rushed 16 times for 119 yards against Purdue, then went 14 for 128 against Illinois. That was mostly in mop-up time, but his proficiency was impressive. He could provide an efficiency component that would complement Jackson’s all-or-nothing tendencies.

Defense

I briefly spoke with Northwestern defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz for a piece on fade routes in this year’s national Athlon preview magazine. He gave me basically the quote I was hoping he would: “Field goals aren’t going to beat you very often. ... That’s a big-time win if you hold them to a field goal. Offenses are going to get down into the scoring area [in today’s college football], but we know we need to win the red zone.”

Northwestern lives that philosophy. The Wildcats ranked 52nd in success rate allowed last year and gave up 6.7 yards per play on first down, 105th. But they gave opponents just 3.6 points per scoring opportunity (first downs inside the 40), eighth in the country. The average FBS offense scored about 28 per game in 2016; it took seven or eight scoring chances to get to 28 against the Wildcats.

Red zone execution prevented opponents from taking too much advantage of Northwestern’s defensive regression.

Overall Def. S&P+: fifth in 2015, 32nd in 2016

Rushing S&P+: 22nd in 2015, 37th in 2016

Passing S&P+: ninth in 2015, 49th in 2016

Standard Downs S&P+: 21st in 2015, 70th in 2016

Passing Downs S&P+: 10th in 2015, 16th in 2016

Northwestern remained about the same against the run and continued to dominate on passing downs. But the Wildcats regressed a decent amount against the pass, and opponents figured that out, throwing 43 percent of the time on standard downs, more than the national average.

William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports

Xavier Washington (56) and Joe Gaziano (97)

I’m curious what happens this time; the pass defense will almost definitely improve, but the front loses enough attacking pieces to make you wonder if the run defense falls out of the top 50.

Once in passing downs, Northwestern should be as dangerous as ever. Washington and Gaziano should attack the passer well, even without pass rush specialist Ifeadi Odenigbo (10 sacks in 2016). Plus, senior safeties Igwebuike and Queiro know what they’re doing, and the return of Watkins means Northwestern has three returning starters at cornerback. Hell, sophomore Alonzo Mayo can play starter minutes when healthy, too; throw in Marcus McShepard (one of the few DBs to see the field in all 13 games), and that might make six starter-caliber guys.

But standard downs were the issue last year, and can a shoring up of the secondary offset other losses? Odenigbo and C.J. Robbins are gone, but the biggest loss might be Anthony Walker Jr. In three seasons, Walker racked up 39.5 tackles for loss, and only 6.5 were sacks.

Walker was a dynamo in run defense, and he’s now an Indianapolis Colt. Plus, depth took a hit with the losses of Jaylen Prater and Joseph Jones. Hall’s return (plus that of senior Brett Walsh) gives NU proven entities at linebacker, but a youngster like sophomore Nathan Fox or redshirt freshman Paddy Fisher is going to have to come through.

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Montre Hartage

Special Teams

Oy. Even with Solomon Vault scoring three return touchdowns, Northwestern’s special teams unit has been a net loss. The Wildcats ranked 127th in Special Teams S&P+ in 2015 and improved to 109th last fall; thanks to Vault, they ranked 29th in kick return success rate in 2016, but they were 80th or below in every other category.

No pressure, Charlie Kuhbander. The freshman was one of the few three-star kickers in the country per the 247Sports Composite, and if he’s reliable, Northwestern might yet reach a double-digit ranking. That would still leave punt coverage (94th in punt success rate) and punt returns (105th in PR success rate) as issues, but it would check the biggest problem off.

2017 outlook

2017 Schedule & Projection Factors

Date Opponent Proj. S&P+ Rk Proj. Margin Win Probability 2-Sep Nevada 117 22.0 90% 9-Sep at Duke 65 1.7 54% 16-Sep Bowling Green 95 17.5 84% 30-Sep at Wisconsin 11 -14.5 20% 7-Oct Penn State 8 -12.3 24% 13-Oct at Maryland 72 5.5 63% 21-Oct Iowa 48 4.7 61% 27-Oct Michigan State 44 4.0 59% 4-Nov at Nebraska 42 -1.5 47% 11-Nov Purdue 87 15.7 82% 18-Nov Minnesota 47 4.7 61% 25-Nov at Illinois 85 10.0 72%

Projected S&P+ Rk 37 Proj. Off. / Def. Rk 62 / 29 Projected wins 7.2 Five-Year S&P+ Rk 3.2 (52) 2- and 5-Year Recruiting Rk 48 / 48 2016 TO Margin / Adj. TO Margin* 9 / 2.1 2016 TO Luck/Game +2.7 Returning Production (Off. / Def.) 72% (67%, 77%) 2016 Second-order wins (difference) 6.6 (0.4)

In Randy Walker’s final season, Northwestern ranked 31st in S&P+. Despite the steadiness, and despite the two 10-win seasons, the Wildcats actually have yet to crack the top 40 under Fitzgerald.

That should change this fall. The Wildcats are projected 37th in S&P+ thanks to returning production, and in my mind they are two pieces from a top-30 team: a No. 1 receiver and a middle linebacker. If NU finds replacements for Carr and Walker Jr., this will be Fitzgerald’s best team.

Now, that’s a mighty “if.” Carr was good, and Walker was great.

As it stands, No. 37 would give the Wildcats a role in the Big Ten West race. They are projected to play in six one-possession games, with four likely wins and two likely losses. Go 4-2 in those six, and you’ve had a lovely season. But if NU is more top-30 than top-40, a West title is within reach.

Team preview stats

All power conference preview data to date.