#i just like these aesthetic crystal weapons

[adragonsfriend]

Having an incredible vision of a world where "igniting a lightsaber" is a bit more literal of a phrase, and lightsabers are like blowtorches, where you turn on the gas and then light it with another flame.

Please just imagine count Dooku with a fancy metal cigarette lighter for this purpose,

Anakin always loses his lighter and has to ask R2-D2 to light his saber with the flamethrower he installed,

Obi-Wan always just pulls a single match out of his pocket and holds it up like it's the last one he has but it never actually is

Qui-Gon and Yoda have both lit their sabers with a blunt at some point (idk if actually possible i am not a cool kid but shhh they are space wizards)

Initiates all have to line up to have an instructor light their training sabers

Going to Ilum to get your kyber crystal is accompanied by (another) lesson on fire safety

Wookies and other furry species have some kind of safety lighter probably

Aquatic species use some other form of weapon i guess? or have like sci-fi greek fire idk

Some Jedi believe that if there is no naturally available source of flame than it's not the will of the Force to light their sabers at all

A common gift from masters to padawans is their first lighter or maybe there would be a pair of beads designed to create sparks (kept on padawan braid/strings as a back up)

Mace always uses the spark beads (shatterpoint imagery you get me)

Depa does the same as Mace, for the aesthetic (she didn't get a purple lightsaber but she can have this ok), and teaches Caleb the same (he keeps his beads into the empire, even though he has to hide them)

Luke also uses R2,

Pre-war Jedi don't even light their sabers that often, and this is why those rumors about Jedi all using death-sticks started, since very few outsiders know why they actually carry lighters

Sidious lights his with lightning (which sounds cool but actually it backfires and blows up in his face at least 50 percent of the time)

Maul just has an actual blowtorch he uses to light his saber, which

If the Jedi try and deny the death stick rumors than new rumors start that they're all pyromaniacs, so they don't really bother.

[sky-scribbles]

Okay, I'm a couple of hours into Veilguard, so I thought I'd share all the things I've really loved so far:

The combat is so much more dynamic and fluid! There were things I liked about the previous games' combat, but I do remember Inquisition often feeling like 'select enemy, then mash buttons until they die.' I love that I can duck and weave around monsters! I love being encouraged to swap between weapons (however much I have to suspend my disbelief about Rook putting away two swords and grabbing a bow in a single second)! It's just really fun!

Maybe I'm imagining it, but I feel like the camera is a bit closer to Rook, and it makes so much difference. Sometimes in Inquisition, and often in Andromeda, I felt really far away from my character, and it creates this sense of distance. It's a tiny thing, but I do genuinely think being that bit closer has made my experience a load better.

I cannot describe how affirming it feels to have an NPC point to my character and casually say 'they.'

Holy shit I love the gang's casual looks. Harding's embroidered florals and Neve's colour scheme?? Also, both of them changing their hairstyles in the field? God I wish I could show this to my 16-year-old self as they stewed in frustration over the women in Mass Effect having to go into battle with their long hair down.

The aesthetics of Arlathan! I made such a delighted noise when I realised they ancient elves had power crystals and magitech-looking devices; sci-fi like elements being introduced into fantasy is my jam, and it works so well to make clear how advanced Elvhenan really was. It reminds me of how cool it was in Critical Role when the characters went to the ruins of Aeor and found a bunch of advanced magitech: that same feeling of 'holy shit, this world we've spent so much time in and treated like a normal fantasy world is post-apocalyptic.'

Being able to give my Rook so many freckles.

[sn0w-games]

Twst as Genshin Elements

Okay, you can point and laugh at me now for this.

I play a lot of Genshin and major fan of twst

I am here to dump my thoughts.

Heartslabyul :

Riddle - Pyro - Listen , he uses fore magic the most part. With being passionate about his studies, I can definitely see him using some type of Pyro magic.... He would be a sword user. If not a Pyro user, then he would be a Hydro user, for being the one to lay down the Queen's Laws and hold the rules and justice.

Trey - Dendro - This one is biased, with his green hair. He would be a bow user, to be honest, I am basing this idea off Tighnari.

Ace - To be honest, this was hard to think of. I kind of wanted to say pyro off my head, but I didn't want to make it seem like I was making the whole Heartslabyul a Pyro based dorm. But thinking more I think he could have an Ameno after his out burst towards Riddle in chapter one, standing up and fighting for "freedoms" or against the Queen's Rules. A sword user 100%

Deuce - Pyro, he works too hard , he seems like a hard worker like a Geo user. I might lean more onto being a Geo than Pyro, but I am throwing these off the top of my head. He seems like to use some sort of polearm!

Cater - Definitely Electro do I need to go into detail? He is a polearm user fully.

Savanaclaw:

Leona - Cryo - His mood swings towards being Cryo. But he could also be Electro. He could he a claymore user.

Ruggie - Geo for his hard working personality. Because if he was a Pyro user, he would be a pyromaniac! Ruggie is a sword user, have you seen those arms, he has tried to lift a claymore, but he fell backwards.

Jack - Geo or Hydro, I am not sure how to explain this. So just, trust me bro. He too will be claymore.

Octavinelle:

So I am biased, and I am going to keep in one paragraph or two. The three are Hydro users! I could say Jade as some sort of Dendro user for being in a Mountain Club ( I forgot what his club was called and too lazy to look up) same with Floyd being Electro , his whole mood swings can be seen as misunderstood by other students as violent. But I am biased and since all three comes from the sea, they are Hydro users.

Azul would be a catalyst user, Jade would have a sword, and so will Floyd too as a sword user.

Scarabia :

Kalim - Pyro user, gives off Bennett personality vibes but instead of using a sword, I want him to use a catalyst. Only because I don't think he has good aim with a bow and also with a sword and polearm I think he would do decent, but it isn't his first weapon choice, claymore is for buff Kalim. And we don't have buff Kalim.

Jamil - Cryo ONLY because I want to make both his and Kalim's opposite elements and have more angst for chapter 4 ! Jamil is polearm user.

Pomefiore:

Vil - I am going to say Electro for the aesthetic purpose, he is a catalyst user.

Rook - From Savanaclaw to Pomefiore his element transfer over and he is a Dendro user. I believe he could use that power to help with his hunts...... He is a bow user, I am biased.

Epel - He seems more into Electro , but after seeing his unique magic, it's going to be Cryo only due to the fact he has little ice crystals. He could be a catalyst user like Vil.

Ignihyde :

Idia - He wouldn't be Pyro because of his fire hair - I am more into Cryo Idia myself . You think he would lift something light, nah, he be lifting a claymore.

Ortho - Eletcro would be his element since he is the only robot person we know in Twst! He is a catalyst user throwing beams of Electro from his hands.

Diasomnia :

Malleus - I'm a die hard Cryo for him.

Sebek - He would have Electro from his one card chapter 7 ( if you know, you know) . Or he could be a Geo????

Silver - Anemo would be his, only because I can see him wanting to be like his father.

Lilia - He would have an Anemo element, this man literally has fought in a war and even probably lost a lot of people in the battles too. He seems like the type of person who would have knowledge too, but not Dendro, like an Anemo type.

As for weapons for them

All of the would have a sword as their weapons, except for Lilia who would have a claymore. He could carry it, his weapon in battle was probably heavy.

Now some bonus here for staff, RSA, and Roll.

Crowley - Anemo - Polearm

Trien - Hydro - Sword

Crewel - Pyro - Catalyst

Sam - Electro - Catalyst

Vargas - Pyro - Claymore

Neige - Hydro - Catalyst + Healer, negative crit rate Kokomi style

Chenya - Electro - Bow

Rollo - Pyro - Polearm

Now this is an Extra EXTRA, Grim + the Yuus

Grim - Pyro for his flames, definitely, catalyst

Yuuken ( Heartslabyul) - Pyro - Sword

Yuuka ( Savanaclaw) - Hydro - Polearm

Yuuta ( Octavinelle) - Pyro - Polearm - I am basing him off Xiangling lol

[nugromancer]

Do you think Qunari* have like. Dentistry for Horns. Like if a kid's horn starts growing in towards the head they make a corrective brace for it so it curves back out.

Do you think there's Qunari that do this but to change the shape of their horns for aesthetic or for more deadly horn usage. Not bc they're going around headbutting their enemies or each other (I think that'd be discouraged bc it's kind of stupid and close-range compared to swords/easy for them to get stuck, etc) but as a back-up weapon/defence sorta deal.

That said it'd probably make more sense for them to just cut it off and replace it kind of like how Taash has that crystal horn going on.

But I like the idea of Qunari manipulating their horns to be slimmer/wider/have a cool shape. I wonder how painful it'd be to carve designs into the horns.

*Qunari as in People With Horns including but no limited to: The Qun, Tal-Vashoth, and Vashoth.

[katyspersonal]

Felicia and Bellclaire knew each other?

WAKE UP GIRL NEW DARK SOULS YURI DROPPED ok ok ok one second let me elaborate hfhhvbhnf

So, basically, their summon locations are connected; one of them they are sharing (Lost Bastille), and their other ones (Amana for Felicia and Drangleic Castle for Bellclaire) are connected throgh their items lore!

Bellclaire is one of the Hollowed Mages from Tseldora, this robe is otherwise exclusively worn by the dudes who kept shooting you near the sand pit lmao. And it is further confirmed by the fact one of her spells is Crystal Soul Spear, a spell that can be created in NG+ from the Soul of Paledrake (Seath) and lorewise originating from Seath.. who kinda possessed the Duke of Tseldora to become cringe so it only makes more sense!

Her other set pieces are Rogue Leggins (clothes of Hollowed thiefs), Lion Warrior Helm (makes sense she put it on, Lion Warriors would be on her way upon leaving Tseldora) and Creighton's Chain Glowes (assume just Mirrah stuff, but this particular one should be ignored I think, feels same as Sceptical Old Man wearing Gehrman's pants aka just aesthetic item)! I think the robe should be THE focus here, all things considered

^^^ Another thing about her is that she has this Chime, but doesn't use a single Miracle, nor even has it just unused in her data! This coincides with how Vendrick kept clerics just for ceremonial purposes and not for actually doing the cleric stuff, and Tseldora was in service of Vendrick as part of Drangleic, so that further points Bellclaire towards just being in his service 🤔

Possibly, she went on her pilgrimage after becoming cursed, rather than staying back and waiting for the curse to take its toll like fellow mages, but wasn't able to run far enough; her summon sign in Lost Bastille is in the cell (with broken bars), seems like she was captured and imprisoned.

Another thing is.. she is not a Hollow! I know the invaders and summons in Dark Souls 2 use like the same 7 preset faces, but there IS a data for Hollow character (annoying three characters fought in Shulva as bosses use it for example)! The thing is, her weapon is Staff of Amana, a weapon that has nothing to do with Drangleic/Vendrick/Tseldora/etc!

But you know what IS interesting about Amana? Right, it has an Altar with a Milfanito at it that allows to restore humanity even without a Human Effigy! It exists for this purpose, and it is possible that THIS is how Bellclaire healed from Hollowing! This staff might have been something she picked on her way! Though this particular staff also scales when you are a human and gives penalty when you are Hollow, so maybe it gives her additional motivation to hold onto her humanity!

At the same time, Felicia's summon signs are in Amana and in Lost Bastille, not far away from Bellclaire but outside of jail cells! Okay, so about her now:

She is wearing a Knight Set (all pieces have the same description), and appears that she is not an Undead since she seeks "official" Knightship in Drangleic!

I need to also clarify about her shield, because it is actually a mistake; the descriptions of Greatshield of Glory and Tower Shield are clearly mixed upon development and it was never corrected:

You can clearly see it is a mistake as the Knights serving Vendrick, who are modeled after his knight Syan, use this shield too:

Her weapon is also Heide Greatlance! (Sorry I don't have a screenshot copied) So, she has a Heide Greatlance, but also a shield she uses is found IN Heide after Old Dragonslayer battle near Targray (the Blue Sentinels guy), and the set she uses is found in the path that connects Heide and No-Man's Wharf!

Note I don't necessarily take it as her dying around, especially with how in Dark Souls 2 every other NPC just conveniently has exact replica of their set and weapon to reward the player with XD (looking at YOU, Elden CRING killing Ansbach and Thiollier to give us their sets!!!). Just more like telling the story through items locations and environment. So, perhaps she tried to become a Blue Sentinel in her pursuit for knightship, but failed.... or maybe, rather, got sidetracked!

No-Man's Wharf got under control of Vendrick, and now they are the ones responsible for capturing Undead and sending them into Lost Bastille! So how about this idea: Felicia found, maybe by accident, path to No-Man's Wharf and by effect the Lost Bastille, and was NOT having what she found out there! If we assume she wanted to join Blue Sentinels, she must have had strong sense of justice or wish to help people.. and, well, Undeads captured and locked away is not nice. Her title is also literally Felicia the Brave, she would not sympathize with peoples fear of the Undead much if at all! Especially since even becoming Hollow doesn't automatically mean being a danger to society, across the trilogy we meet some characters who are Hollow but harmless and even still having their wits and memories, just weird at worst!

So, Felicia was the one to crash Bellclaire's cell open to free her, and accompanied her into Amana to seek restoration of her humanity since Felicia has a summon sign in Amana and Bellclaire has the Staff of Amana and isn't Hollow despite she should be!!! She was not giving up the hope for Undeads and encouraged her to seek help, seeing she yet had wits and deserved a chance instead of rotting in the jailcell! Maybe not even just Bellclaire? Maybe Felicia released every imprisoned Undead that was not yet completely beyond help and put them in the boat away from here, believing they could be helped. There is hope for the Undead (The Pursuer disapproves of THE naivety and optimism sooooOOOO hard lol).

I just think this is so nice tbh hfhruybf. Though Bellclaire is a summon in Drangleic Castle too. I wonder if Hollowing did erode some of her memories still, and she was looking for familiarity like Lucatiel ;-; Or Millicent in ER, actually. Though Felicia might have been looking for Drangleic Castle too because of the Greatshield of Glory, as true knight calling.... until she didn't. Or could have picked a fight with people there? In either case, hers and Bellclaire's paths might cross even beyond their shared adventure (that has no business being as cute as it is)

I also wonder if Targray still wonders where did she go. Maybe worries about her since she isn't an Undead; if she dies then she DIES. He doesn't know she simply has 5 seconds timespan gdhtjhgjh XD

_________________

P.S.: AKTYALY Bellclaire is one of those Fromsoft's trademark GNC characters! The thing is, she is wearing a MALE robe; female variant of this clothing is black!

^^^ White (male)

^^^ Black (female). @val-of-the-north Iirc Dark Souls 2 also has a male character wearing the black variant, right? Based and valid tbh. Common Dark Souls 2 W

P.P.S.: Literally no one asked about this but have this too anyways I g:

[confessioncivilization]

hi im here with some pvpciv headcanons, regarding the sword designs :3 uhh idk how to format this

wooden sword: pretty much just a wooden toy sword, but with sharper edges? when it breaks its usually splintery and would make a good weapon still, but since its broken theres not enough time for it to be useful (before the person dies).

stone sword: relatively basic, the blade is pretty wide. new stone swords are often surprised by how heavy it is compared to wood. breaking is when it cracks or gets super dull. sometimes stone swords customize a little, but since their lives are still pretty short its really not much.

iron sword: they have a ton of customization!!! since iron swords have long lives, they have their swords long enough to decorate them. there are different shapes of blades (my primary "default" shapes are fencing and longswords), like different widths and types of points. i think that a lot of other weapons that disguise as swords would make their iron sword reminiscent of their original weapon, usually by handles and cross guards. (for tridents, the cross guard curves in, parallel to the blade, making up the other 2 prongs of a trident. for bows, the cross guard curves back, making the shape of the bow's limbs, there may be a string connecting them, but it solely for aesthetic reasons and may make holding uncomfortable. for axes, the cross guard flares out into a shape kind of like an axe on either side.) not all other weapons will do this though, depending on how secretive they are trying to be, as well as the fact it may be annoying in a practical sense. i hc that evbo customized his sword a ton when he first ranked up, but during/after his time being "farmed" by the other iron swords, he stopped since it kept getting reset every time he died. when iron swords break, they usually get misshapen/bent, cracked, chipped, etc.

gold sword: gold swords have no customization (not even as an option). this is because they have very low durability, so it would be a waste to customize it (since the gold sword level is a trial/test, everyone has to have the same sword to assess their skill level equally). gold swords can break in a LOT of ways, including but not limited to: bending/warping, snapping, cracking/shattering, the sword kinda just falling apart.

diamond sword: once again, pretty customized. usually has to do with the person's skills (in pvp). most customization is limited to the grip and cross guard, as the blade is made out of crystal (diamond). the base of the grip/cross guard is either gold (coated, interior is a stronger material) or a dark metal (i don't know specifically what it would be). the blade has a pretty rough shape, similar in texture to an arrowhead. when they break they usually completely shatter (kinda representing something in a way idk. hhh)

eternal/netherite sword: the diamond swords were really confused by the fact the eternal sword was still usable, due to it pretty clearly being broken. the blade is, well, broken, and has some fragments floating around despite not being connected. its magical oooooooooooo i dont know enough about the other netherite sword to say anything about it :(

thats pretty much it? idk, might follow this up later if i come up with/remember anything else.

(yes, i did learn sword (and various other weapons) anatomy because of pvp civ. i am very normal about pvp civ. totally.)

-pvp civ lunch person :)

completely forgot to post this sobs

gwuh.. so much detail…. I love it sm

[scoutofmymind]

Hello! I just discovered I’m Your Man, and I’m so full of fondness for this story, I mean this is incredible. I read the lore and saw the visuals as well, this story is so so special to me. I was wondering (and hoping) if you were planning to write for this story again? Sending my love and appreciation your way <3

Hey darling! Thank you so much for reading, and asking me about it! I loved writing for that piece, it was a lot of fun, and I conjured up a lot of lore for it — I can’t promise I’ll finish, or that I’ll do an official second part, but under the cut I’m just giving you what I have that I never published (or finished) of a part 2.

Fair warning, I didn’t take the time to proof read too much or edit. This is essentially a kind-of first draft, so it might be messy, or worse, has plot holes. 💋

Evenings were easiest, though that was rather like saying drowning was preferable to burning.

They brought the blessed relief of shadows, of carefully maintained distances, of words swallowed behind silver spoons and crystal glasses. The gilded dining hall stretched endless between you and your father, though the space never felt quite vast enough. The table itself was a battlefield dressed in finery —every elaborate centerpiece a fortress, every candle flame a warning signal, every piece of silverware a potential weapon or witness.

Almost ironically — or perhaps deliberately, knowing your father's appetite for subtle cruelties — he'd begun stationing Luigi among the dinner guards.

The Grims stood like living statuary, paired in perfect symmetry along the walls, their muzzles gleaming dully in the candlelight.

Your father had always appreciated aesthetic suffering.

Each guard was positioned precisely, their shadows stretching across the imported marble in careful geometry.

Luigi stood sixth from the left, and though his stance matched his fellow Grims perfectly, you could read entire sonnets in the minute differences — the slightly looser grip on his weapon, the barely perceptible shift of weight when your father spoke too sharply, the way his eyes tracked the servants' movements with concern rather than suspicion.

Keeping your gaze from finding him had become an exquisite form of torture.

You'd developed an entire language of not-looking; studying the ornate ceiling frescos until you'd memorized every painted cloud, counting the crystalline drops on the chandeliers, examining your reflection in the soup as though it held state secrets. But your eyes were treacherous things, drawn to him like compass needles to true north.

The worst part was knowing your father watched you not-watching.

He sat at the table's far end, a spider in his web of calculated ceremony, measuring the space between your glances with the same precision he used to measure the kingdom's borders.

Each time your eyes skipped too close to Luigi's position, your father's wine glass would pause halfway to his lips — a gesture that carried more threat than any spoken warning.

Still, there was a bitter comfort in these evening performances.

At least in the dining hall, everyone wore their masks openly — your father's benevolent tyrant, your own dutiful daughter, Luigi's obedient hound.

The honesty of pretense, served alongside each carefully plated course.

"Father, why do we need the hounds here whilst we eat dinner?" You ask, letting sweetness drip from each syllable. The question is crafted with the same delicate precision as the sugar sculptures adorning tonight's dessert course — beautiful, fragile things designed to shatter.

Despite his perpetual softness toward you — or perhaps because of it — you'd seen what lurks beneath your father's facade.

Since your mother's death, you've watched him transform like iron in a forge, folding and refolding into something harder, sharper. The man who once read you bedtime stories now reads execution orders with the same cadence.

Your father's hand stills, fork hovering above his plate, and the silence stretches long enough that the candle flames seem to hold their breath.

"Tell me," he says finally, his voice carrying the same tone he uses when addressing servants who've broken valuable items, "would you question why we keep shields mounted on our walls? Or why the castle keeps its gates?" He sets his fork down with a loud precision that makes you flinch. "These creatures serve their purpose. Nothing more."

You cast your gaze upward to catch his, and the temperature in the room seems to drop as he continues, "They may walk on two legs, but make no mistake — they are tools, not beings for contemplation. The muzzles aren't decorative, they’re necessary. Like chains on a door."

You feel Luigi's presence across the dining room, steady as heartbeat, though you dare not turn, your fathers gaze flicking past your shoulder, and his lip curls slightly — the same expression he wears when discovering rats in the grain stores, a hand reaching for his pistol.

"Perhaps," he says, "you've spent too much time in the gardens. Your mother's softness speaks through you, and while it was charming in her, it has no place in our current Kingdom."

The mention of your mother falls like an executioner's axe, and he knows it.

Later, you find yourself shivering in the east hall, the long stretch of marble flooring illuminated by candelabras lining the ornate wall, their flames cast dancing shadows across centuries-old tapestries, each flicker a potential betrayal of this stolen moment. "Miss you," Luigi whispers earnestly, his voice barely stirring the air between you.

The winter's chill seeps through the very foundation beneath him, but even this bone-deep cold is preferable to his former post — outside the vacant North Tower where a new pup now stands, facing the harshest winds winter could devise, just as Luigi once did.

The east wing's bustling nature should have made it impossible to pluck Luigi from his duties, each passing shadow a potential witness, but like all obstacles your father erected between you, it only stood for a night or so — after all, you'd learned long ago that the busiest places often held the best hiding spots, and that most eyes saw only what they expected to see.

The castle's rhythms were as predictable as tides.

Every third hour, like clockwork, the kitchen staff would parade through the east hall with their thunderous carts of dishes and linens, and the noise would draw the attention of even the most disciplined guards, and the temporary chaos of bodies and movement provided perfect cover.

You'd learned this during your childhood wanderings, watching from hidden corners as the entire wing transformed into organized mayhem, and more importantly, you'd noticed how the guard stationed closest to the kitchens would habitually step aside, pressing against the wall to allow the procession through.

Luigi, being the newest addition to this post, had been stationed precisely there — a placement likely meant as another punishment, subjecting him to the constant disruption.

It was almost too easy to time your requests for his escort to these moments, when his temporary step away from his post would go unquestioned. After all, what guard would refuse a princess seeking protection during such chaos?

And if your chosen paths happened to lead away from the bustle rather than through it, well — that was simply a matter of comfort and propriety, wasn't it?

The library's defunct servant passages would be perfect — specifically, the narrow maintenance corridor behind the east wing's reading room, originally designed to allow servants quick access for tending fires and delivering books, it had fallen into disuse once the castle modernized its heating systems.

Few remembered these passages existed, their entrances cleverly disguised as decorative panels in the library's ornate woodwork.

What made it ideal was its location between the library's outer wall and inner chambers — the thick stone masking any sound, while the regular creaking of the building's ancient architecture provided perfect cover for any subtle movements.

Your fingers tremble with practiced urgency as you undo the cruel leather straps, each movement gentle despite your haste. The muzzle comes away with a wet sound that makes your chest ache, revealing the constellation of puncture wounds across his cheeks — fresh rivulets of blood trace familiar paths down his jaw, marking today as one where he couldn't hold his tongue.

"My stubborn boy," you breathe, already dabbing at the wounds with your handkerchief. The white silk comes away crimson, like all the others hidden away in your chambers. “Can’t keep anything to yourself.”

Luigi catches your wrist, stilling your ministrations.

Even in the dim light of your hidden corner, his eyes hold that same burning intensity that first drew you — not the dutiful blank stare of a Grimguard, but something wild and unbreakably human.

You lean forward, pressing your forehead to his, breathing in the metallic tang of blood and leather and him. This close, you can feel the slight tremor in his frame — exhaustion from standing at attention for so long, “Will you ever forgive me for putting you in this danger?” You whisper, your nose nudging his.

Despite the fresh wounds, a crooked smile tugs at his bloodied lips — the same reckless grin that gets him in trouble during training, as he reaches up with scarred knuckles to touch your face, his calloused fingers impossibly gentle for someone who's been trained to kill.

"Not your fault," he murmurs, wiping away a tear you hadn't noticed falling. His smile turns sharp, almost proud. "They tried to grab my collar and I caught his hand." He chomps his teeth dramatically at you, the bright white enamel bloodstained from the wounds on his cheeks.

You've seen him in the training yard, snarling defiance even as they force the muzzle on him.

Watched him stand proud with blood running down his chin because he refused to stay silent when ordered.

But here, with you, his fierce edges soften, even as he bears his bloody teeth in a playful grin — like a wolf pup showing off its first kill, eager for praise rather than fear. The same smile that terrorizes the guards transforms into something almost innocent when directed at you, even as he growls, "Let them hurt me. I hurt them back worse."

You reach out to trace the fresh thorn marks on his neck, each puncture a reminder of how close they come to going too deep. "Luigi, please," you whisper, voice catching. "They'll kill you if you keep this up. Father already talks about how you're more trouble than you're worth."

His playful grin falters for just a moment, something vulnerable flickering in his eyes before the wildness returns. "Let them." he says, but his voice lacks its usual bravado. His hand catches yours where it rests against his wounds. "I can't-I can't just submit like the others." He struggles with the words, frustration evident in his clenched jaw. "Rather die standing than live on my knees."

"You don't understand," you plead, gripping his forearms. "There are worse things than the thorns. I've seen what they do to the ones they decide to break. The ones that disappear into the lower chambers." Your voice drops to a horrified whisper. "Sometimes we can hear them screaming for days."

Luigi goes very still at that, his breathing shallow.

For a moment, real fear crosses his face — not for himself, you realize, but something else.

Or someone else.

But he only allows himself a heartbeat to sit with that grief before he's pressing his face into the crook of your neck, inhaling deeply. This part of his ritual is as familiar as breathing — marking you with his scent, erasing any trace of the suitor who dared stand too close today.

The gesture should seem animal, primitive, and perhaps it is.

After all, that's how they raised him.

Chained and muzzled, trained with thorns and pain until human and beast blurred together; yet, there's something achingly human in the way his hands tremble against your back, in how he breathes your name like a prayer against your skin.

Flesh and bone and something wilder — something they couldn't beat out of him no matter how hard they tried.

You could feel the heat radiating off of him, wild hearts beating in tandem, hands roaming two bodies that ache for each other but have been kept apart for far too long. "How much longer?" he murmurs against your neck, the words half-growl, half-plea. His fingers trace idle patterns on your back, but there's tension in every line of his body. "Until we can stop hiding?"

You know what he's asking — about the plans you've whispered in the dark, about the ship waiting in the southern harbor and the loyal Grimguards who've agreed to look the other way, about the small fortune in jewels you've slowly been converting to untraceable coin.

Three more weeks until the spring festival, when security will be distracted and the crowds will provide cover. Three more weeks of watching him bleed, of forcing yourself to smile at what your father has called the Destined Suitor.

"Soon," you promise, running your fingers through his hair, careful of the fresh bruise at his temple. "Just a little longer.” You pull back just enough to cup his face in your hands, forcing him to meet your eyes. "Three weeks," you whisper. "Then we'll be free. No more thorns, no more hiding. Just us."

The wild hope that flares in his eyes makes your chest ache. It's the same look he had when you first suggested running away together — like he couldn't quite believe someone would choose him, choose freedom with a broken weapon over a crown and a kingdom.

“Just us.” Luigi echoes, a nod following an earnest hum. He transfers his trust to you, not just in this very moment but in all of them. In every moment he leaves his post to be with you, in every moment he ‘s vulnerable, the whimpering pup who snarls and spits and makes itself as big as possible when threatened.

"Are you scared?" you whisper, Your fingers trace the raw edges where metal has worn his skin thin. His slight head shake carries a practiced indifference, but you notice how his throat tightens, how his fingers curl against your dress. You've seen what happens in that arena — watched pups tear into each other with desperate fury, their humanity unraveling thread by bloody thread as the crowd cheers.

"No," Luigi says, but the scars around his cheeks tell a different story. They're deeper now, darker — a map of defiance etched into flesh. Each time you remove his muzzle, each precious moment he claims his face as his own, the wounds carve themselves deeper.

His attention drifts to your face, and something in his expression softens. There's still a boy beneath the scars, beneath the kingdom's attempts to forge him into steel. "Are you worried for me?" His hand lifts, catching a strand of your hair between callused fingers. Even now, with hands trained to break bone, he touches you like you're made of gossamer.

Like he's afraid his violence might stain you.

"The Teething doesn’t hold a match to the Muzzling.” He recalls the sparring he’d done with his first muzzle, even before it’d been thorned — heavy metal weighing his head, obscuring most of his sight, meant to train him for endurance before his permanent one.

"What's any of it good for?" The wonder slips out before you can catch it, fragile as a dying breath. Your fingers trace the cruel architecture of his muzzle laid off to the side, and you remember a different kingdom.

You'd grown up believing in fairy tales — in a land where the castle's shadow meant protection, where your father's crown symbolized wisdom rather than power. You remember running through meadows that bloomed eternal, your shoes stained green from grass that seemed to stretch into forever, and how the gardeners would weave you crowns of daffodils, the air always smelling of spring's promise.

Now those same fields lie buried under sheets of unforgiving ice.

The flowers have long since withered, their graves marked by frost. Even the earth itself seems to have hardened, frozen to its core like your father's heart. Sometimes you wonder if you dreamed that gentler kingdom, if it ever truly existed beyond your childhood memories — or perhaps this is what kingdoms always become, when kings forget that crowns should weigh heavy with responsibility rather than pride.

You watch his eyes drift back to the crystal chandelier above, searching for wisdom in its scattered light. "I think-“ His tongue clicks softly against his teeth, followed by that drowsy habit of his, lips parting in a yawn he'd normally have to suppress. Without the muzzle, he can indulge in these small freedoms.

"I think it is necessary."

The words hang in the stillness between you, and your fingers weave through his dark waves, each curl a small rebellion against the military precision they demand of him, but you don't interrupt this rare moment of vulnerability. He's still learning to trust his voice, to remember that language can be wielded as skillfully as teeth and claws.

"I think," he continues, each word carefully chosen, "the kingdom needs teeth." His eyes hold a wisdom that makes him seem ancient despite his youth, although he struggles still to find the words. "Without the Teething, they might forget what power looks like. And when they forget-" He pauses, and you see him wrestling with memories he hasn’t shared yet. “That's when real monsters want to play. At least with us, with the hounds, everyone knows where the danger lies."

The terrible logic of it makes your chest ache.

He's learned to see his own subjugation as a form of protection — a controlled violence to prevent unchecked chaos. The clear-eyed understanding of a young man who's seen too much of the world's darkness.

"When they know what we can do — what we're made to do-“ his voice grows softer, almost gentle, "they stay in line. They don't hurt each other in the streets. They watch us fight instead." His fingers tighten in your dress, betraying the conviction in his words. "Before the hounds, before the muzzles. There was so much blood. At least now-“ he swallows hard, "there are rules."

You hear what he won't say, that he'd rather bear the thorns himself than watch the kingdom tear itself apart — that somewhere he's accepted his role as both warning and sacrifice, carrying the weight of controlled brutality to ward off something he fears would be far worse.

It's the logic of someone who's been taught that peace can only exist in the shadow of power — and perhaps has seen enough to believe it.

Still, it would never stop him from pushing the envelope.

His acceptance of necessity didn't breed docility.

He’d always bite the hand that fed him.

But to show him kindness without permanence would have been a cruelty worse than leaving him.

Furthermore, Luigi was devastatingly easy to love.

He was rough around the edges that needed it — calloused hands, scarred knuckles, the way he'd bare his teeth when startled; but he was soft in all the ways that mattered.

How he'd fold your blankets in the morning, the gentle way he'd test bath water with his wrist, how he hummed old lullabies while he clung to you in your sleep, always mindful of your feelings, still, despite years of being trained as a demonic pet rather than human.

Against all odds, against the leather and steel they'd forced between his teeth, against every lash and command, Luigi had clung to his humanity like a drowning man to driftwood. It lived in his laugh — starting rusty, as if remembering how, then building to something wild and free. It showed in his breathing — no longer the measured pants of a trained beast, but deep and steady and sure.

If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them in terms of lore or where I planned on going with the story. Like I said, I loved writing for it! I just can’t promise a continuation beyond this and I apologize! But that’s also not to say I never will.

[mollysunder]

How Viktor and Ekko are Stuck in the Wrong Genre for Zaun

I've been meaning to say this for a while but Viktor as the Machine Herald and Ekko as characters are out of place in Zaun. I don't necessarily mean their motivations don't fit Zaun, I mean the execution of their character concepts don't fit Zaun's genre.

What's that supposed to mean? It means that one of the key differences that sets Zaun and Piltover apart is that Zaun takes on the biopunk genre, while Piltover occupies the steampunk genre. While the two concepts have some room for interchangeability, steampunk relies purely on machinery while biopunk is very clearly defined by a focus on the advancement of biological, biochemical, genetic experimentation. It's the reason why the early roster of Zaun's champions are mutants, plus the guy who made them mutants. We can even see that Arcane's writers decided to integrate more champions better into the genre by officially turning Jinx into a Shimmer mutant, enhanced strength and all.

Champions like the Machine Herald fit awkwardly into Zaun because his character utilizes elements that better fit Piltover. The Machine Herald advocates that for humans to transition their flesh into machine augments as a means to erase human flaws caused by the dysfunction of biology. That's all well and good, Zaun can take in another mad scientist but the way he brings his ideology to Zaun is incompatible with the way Zaun operates.

Viktor asks the people of Zaun to change but they already change themselves (with augmentations) through chemtech! In Zaun, chemtech is their accessible alternative to hextech that anyone can use to not just power their machines, but their bodies as well. The process of change in Zaun is a dual experience for flesh and metal to become more similar in function together rather than abandon one mode for the other. Shimmer in Arcane is a new extension of what chemtech is capable for Zaun's biopunk horizons. Meanwhile Viktor's Glorious Evolution doesn't incorporate any of these key aspects of Zaun society, which more closely embodies the steampunk aesthetic and ideology of Piltover. It's no surprise the only other champions that experiment with transhumanism with pure machinery, Orianna and Camille, are both from Piltover.

With Ekko his motivations are once again very Zaun oriented, but the means by which he uses to help other is very out of place for Zaun. I'm specifically talking about his weapons. None of Ekko's weapons incorporate chemtech into them, in fact his signature power as a champion, time travel, is largely divorced from Zaun. Ekko's Z-Drive is powered by a shattered hex crystal which serves to power his other time based abilities. Even Ekko's melee weapon is a clock hand from Piltover, making his color scheme powered by hextech blue clash with Zaun's chemtech green. At least in Arcane they've given him chemtech in the form of his hoverboard.

It's just do odd that these two characters defined by their explicit desire to help Zaun are also given traits that alienate them from the region.

[txttletale]

bundletober #13: blazing hymn

alright i've fallen behind on bundletober (the series of blog posts where i review and talk about a ttrpg i got in a bundle every day) and am hoping to make up the difference by putting out two entries today. this is the first one, and i'm looking at the mecha-piloting, synthetic-armour wearing, blaspheming-against-God-and-his-angels game blazing hymn by peach garden games.

now sadly this game is not a lyric/blackout poetry game about rewriting church hymns to be about gay sex. someone should make that btw. no it's just about wearing highly advanced battlesuits powered by the song of your heart to kill aliens with weapons of pure energy. which is about as cool.

first off, the layout of this game is unique and stylish. there are hexagons everywhere:

the game puts sparse splashes of dreamy pastel colours amid a constantly shifting set of black and white hexagons. it gives the book a visual identity that is at once both visually distinct and also changing massively from page to page. it's a really cool way to mix things up and keep you wanting to turn the page if just to keep seeing what the next one even looks like.

what's the game about? simple. angels have come to earth to destroy it badly. with the power of song, young people can power specially designed battlesuits, called Hymnals, that when not activated collapse down into crystal necklaces. it's a pretty anime concept--the game is pretty open about being inspired by Evangelion and Symphogear, neither of which i've actually seen--but it's cool as hell. the aesthetics of the layout really help bring the aesthetics of the game itself, of technology and ethereal mysticism merged into one thing, to life.

the game uses a pretty simple three-stat system where you build dice pools with a state relevant to an action and can get a full success, mixed success, or failure, depending on what you roll. your characters have two resources, Health, which is what it sounds like, and Gain, which is essentially magical power. because you can swap Health for Gain and Gain for Health at a 1-1 ratio with no restrictions, i'm not really sure why they're separate things--seems like a missed opportunity to not only simplify the mechanics but also create a strong mechanical narrative element by making Gain the only thing that keeps you going--once your song is silenced, you're out.

to create a character, you pick from one of six unit classes--here's where i'd describe the six classes, but honestly, they don't quite feel distinct enough. a lot of the powers you can pick for each hymnal class feel very similar, or are outright overlapping in a lot of cases. this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the descriptions of the hymnals, while trying to clarify their combat roles, all end up seeming to repeat themselves or say contradictory things. i think some direct ties between those descriptions and their mechanics would have helped--i'd find it a lot easier to remember that, for example, the 05 Xyston type "brutal in combat" if that flavour text was followed by a direct reference to one or more of its abilities. they do all have pretty different stats--which, in a game with a very simple and elegant combat system, means i'm confident they play very differently once you hit the table. but just looking at them, as a prospective player, i struggle to tell the difference.

i don't have that problem with the next character creation mechanic, though, which is choosing the songs you sing to power your hymnal. each song, as well as a thematically appropriate set of stat boosts, also prompts a pair of revealing character questions. they're the kind of mechanic that i want to get my hands on because they make it fun to create characters, giving real mechanical expression to the emotional fundamentals of who they are.

the combat system itself seems really, really good. it's astoundingly simple--you're encouraged to use a map, but there's no fiddly grid or distance tracking, just the ability to move between being Close, Near, or Far from an enemy. it keeps the numbers low to keep it getting silly and doesn't bother with any of the unecessary bookkeeping and fiddliness that plagues TTRPG combat as a whole. no initiative, no separate turns--there's a 'player' turn and a GM turn, and during the GM turn the GM picks from enemy's listed actions until they've done two for each player. players can use their abilities on the GM turn, and the game encourages the GM to take enemy actions that wil lforce them to--so nobody's ever standing around twiddling their thumbs waiting for the whole table to rotate back to them, and having a lot of enemies doesn't mean the players listen to the GM talk for fifteen minutes.

there's two unique mechanics that i think are very interesting-- Civilians and Condemnation. Civilians are--well, exactly what they sound like. on their turn, players can use an action to evacutate up to 5 of them. this extremely small and simple mechanic is fucking genius. so many games tell you they're about saving innocent people, but yet the only mechanical verbs you have to interact with anyone are violent ones. as elaine scarry says in the body in pain:

so in a way i think blazing hymn puts its money where its mouth is in a way very few combat rpgs with emancipatory or heroic aspirations bother. angels are said to attack populated areas--you're sent to preserve life as well as destroy the enemy. it makes the game feel fundamentally different, like despite the questionable ethics of hymnals (after all, they only work on young people, who then have to be sent into deadly combat situations) there is something heroic you can do.

the second cool mechanic is condemnation, a reality-warping toxin that angels use to destroy the places they're sent to. this rocks because it adds a ticking timer to the battlefield, a passive threat that forces the player characters to be proactive. if condemnation gets too high, not only is the fight going to get harder, but civilians are going to die en masse. it's a great piece of game design that gives the GM a great lever to pull for pacing and urgency.

i also really like that one of the steps of the GM turn is to 'change the situation', whether that means something happens in the narrative or something on the map changes (a train arriving is the example the book gives) or more angels attack. in general, one of my biggest complaitns about d&d is that unless a DM takes it upon themselves to design additional mechanics and encounters outside of anything the game actually gives them, combat inevitably turns into two lines of people hitting each other with sticks until one of them dies. i love dynamic, progressing combat, combat where the stakes change moment to moment. and blazing hymn delivers.

anything else? oh yeah, the angel designs are cool as fuck.

god damn. anyway despite a few minor issues with the hymnals themselves, the core of blazing hymnal is fucking good, a nice tight and razor-sharp combat system wrapped up in pulsing pastel crystalline aesthetics. if you like cool anime fights and like having the rules to back it up but hate complexity, crunch, and tedium, this might be the perfect game for you. it's certainly given me a lot of cool design ideas to take foreward into my own projects.

blazing hymn is available for purchase as a digital download through itch.io

[moustacherie]

Ope, here we go again.

The Battlemaster! Poster child of the A Game of Armored Combat box set, this guy has been in my to-do pile for at least a year, but that Davion Guards scheme is just so satisfying to do.

The keen-eyed may notice that it's not quite 1-to-1 with the original plastic. Despite the longstanding aesthetic tradition of giving mechs huge pistol-like armatures for their weapons, I remain a fan of the integrated approach. So... I very carefully carved the gun off of the fist, chopped off most of the pistol structure, and kitbashed it with some Strato Minis bits I had laying around to give it the vibe of the MWO Battlemaster. That was the easy part. The real flex, however, was carving away the remnants of the gun on the fist -- which is one solid plastic piece -- and etching out the panels and finger lines to match the opposite fist. Also I gave it better looking machine guns and and IWM launcher plate.

Also, Army Painter Highlord Blue speedpaint is top-tier for Davion Guards basecoat. Fuck that canopy, though. Canopy jeweling is a skill that as of yet escapes me, but the crystal acrylic technique came through on this one, especially since gravity helped pool it at the lower edges and give it a soft blending effect.

Ope, what's that? A non-canon mech? The Roughneck is a personal favorite of mine. Technically apocryphal due to being an invention by PGI for Mechwarrior Online, much like the Corsair and Sun Spider, I'm a dead sucker for the aesthetic of industrial machines refurbished into military equipment. Ellen Ripley, eat your heart out.

Check that base, too. Zip ties, window screen, toothpicks, and cardstock.

[cherryargus]

Winners!!

It's quite scuffed but it took me awhile so I wanted to share it here!

keep reading for alts and explanations of the choices I made!

OK so first, Martyn's role was never an after thought, I always planned him to be "observing" the main picture because he isn't really in any duos, at least none that have made it to the end, also he's the only one in his lore who is being harassed by the Watchers!

Border: the poppies and lilacs are for grian and scar, they were actually the first characters I had in mind when I was first planning out this piece in my head! The snow is because of pearl freezing herself in double life, the crystal's because that just to seem most of people's thing for last life/winner scott.

Pearl: I was going to make her part dog and scott part cat, but cat didn't really fit him and I really liked the moth pearl designs I had seen so I made her a moth. I had decided I wanted to show the astronomical signs for the winners, and so I chose what is supposed to be a weird axe, mainly because I really liked people's moon scythes for her, however I wanted to incorporate her most infamous weapon.

Scott: The main "big" decision for him was to make his sign, the stars, an arrow mainly because I wanted him and pearl to parallel, and because of what might be his most infamous weapon.

Grian: I wanted him and scar to parallel so I decided that they would have poppies and lilac, just in different places. I made him birb because. I got the idea for his shawl mainly because of @cherrifire's thumbnail for the third life compilation and then I thought it would be a great place to put not only a sun reference, but a watcher reference.

Scar: I'm not sure how obvious but I gave him real tears while scott and pearl have fake ones, this is because pearl and scott are supposed to be more stain glass window esq and their tragedy for when they won was, quite obviously, a past season and scar's is from this very season. The reason he is even crying to begin with is because he finally is reunited with grian in the "winner's club". Grian isn't crying mainly because I'd say his character has "moved on" and is putting those days behind him so he can focus more on helping out the life members. decided to give his shawl my favorite of his signs proposed, the earth. Tbh I don't think there is a particular reason except for the fact that a few animatics convinced me and I like the aesthetic of it.

Martyn: while his role and pose in general wasn't an after thought, his sign was. I had gotten to his flat colors and was like "oh. shit.", as to my horror I realized I had forgotten to add any signs of, his sign so I just decided to throw it onto the back, had I not forgotten, it probably would have been an earing. Also I chose mars because that's the only one I've really heard for him, and because of the roman god war.

If anyone has read all this thank you so much 😭😭 overall I'm oddly conflicted with this piece because it was quite a lot for what I usually do and I think a good bit I did really well, at least for me, however I also think I rushed a few bits to much, especially martyn :/ oh well!

[hydropotato]

So I've been playing Warframe for about 100 days.

I think that should be a pretty decent amount of time for me to get a feel for this game, and well? Yes, but actually no. This game is, for lack of clearer initial description, Amazing.

I first heard of Warframe ages ago from friends playing it. Didn't think much about it. Then I heard We All Lift Together, and added it to my Spotify playlist because it rocks. Didn't think much about the game at that point either. And then one day, I saw a group of my friends playing it and streaming on Discord. "Decree"? "Secrets lie deep within the undercroft; the paradox gives us a means to extract them"? Girl with a skirt on a floating skateboard, firing bubbles at enemies and it kills them?

I was sold. I thought this is bonkers, I gotta check that out. But there was more.

I can't begin to really describe my experience starting off. You get to pick from three frames (sorry, not Loki, the future is now old man), and then you get to pick some starter gear. Every option you forgo in favour of the other becomes available later on, but I didn't know that. I was just stealthily nailing baddies to walls with my Paris and clumping hoards together with Mag's Magnetise, trying to learn how to bullet jump. Days became weeks, and I was unlocking new planets like it was no big deal. Well, it was. I had to learn how to make my gear and abilities work together (like using Pull to group enemies at my feet and then whacking them with my Bo), how to avoid Sentients' spinning beam attacks, how to mod my gear so that I wouldn't die immediately. Now and then I'd stumble upon other random players in public lobbies; you'd get the Titanias, the Wukongs, the Mirages, all speeding to the finish line before I knew what was happening. At some point I thought to myself, I should really go for another Warframe just to explore my options. Citrine stood out to me (her rock fires rainbow beams, and she's a solid support that has good damage potential), and she wasn't too difficult to gain access to.

Then came the farming. Getting Citrine's components required you to do waves of a Mirror Defence mission up to multiples of 4. I still remember clearly the dismay upon reaching round 3 for the first time, only for my teammates to all extract. I tried to protect the crystals on my own, only for the second one to get destroyed at the very last second of wave 4. I was distraught. It took me much begging in different friend groups for friends to accompany me to the later rounds, to finally get all her parts. It was then that I discovered how powerful a frame like Frost or Gara could be, but Frost, despite being easier to get, just didn't stand out to me aesthetically. So my next goals were Gara and Garuda. But for now Citrine. And Citrine continues to be my main.

I don't really want to explain every single thing that happened, but I got Garuda, got Yareli, though omg she's so fun lemme get her signature weapon, spent days skating across Orb Vallis for that bubble gun,

At some point I got a Kuva Lich, accidentally made it rank 5, killed it on my own somehow, then got a Sister of Parvos (Sleeping in the Cold Below is such an awesome song by the way), finished The New War, cleared the Star Chart, and unlocked the Steel Path.

I haven't even mentioned The Duviri Paradox, which is what I was referencing at the start of this post. That gamemode is so fun, even if all the premade builds for gear and frames are frankly dogwater that only works if

a. You're running normal mode, or

b. You're playing Rhino so it doesn't matter how he's modded, you just don't die and buff everyone

So yeah. This game rocks. It's massive, it's free to play (you can get the paid-for currency by selling stuff to other players if you want to spend platinum), and it's really worth getting into. No daily obligations, the game just waits for you. That, and there's plenty of time gates, so I felt motivated to take breaks, naps, and just relax. Even the dailies on the Nightwave (a battlepass but 100% free) have this system where once you complete the existing ones, any quests you missed from previous days/weeks reappear for you to complete (marked with the word 'Recovered). I could max out the Nightwave despite having started Warframe halfway into it.

Now, I do have some issues with it, though. Host Migration is probably the most annoying of issues, and I genuinely think that the game should just leave you at the previous host's instance, regardless of ping. Sure, if you were lagging you still will be lagging when they leave, but it'll be uninterrupted, you won't lose all your active abilities, I dunno. I just think it would work more smoothly.

Also.

Can they please rework Wukong? He appears in every mission. It's tiring. Give him a higher skill floor or something. Maybe make him targetable in cloudwalker, I dunno. This game is too much of a sandbox for players to be funnelling into one meta. We gotta encourage people to be more creative.

Also, make Arbitration drones enter the rift when they float into Cataclysm. They're the only thing that annoys me as Limbo in Arbies. Please and thank you.

[lunartearrose]

may you yap..about your..doublevin.. ⁉️

Yippeeee i get to speaketh!!!!!! Hold onto your but this will be a bit long!!!!

OK SO back when they meet like first first met pre rank king. Vintage got his teammates by beating the ink out of them at rank mode! Double didnt think a shrimp and his sister could beat him and honestly had a sort of rider mindset that he could be the only good at rank guy on the team to make things work and like. Bet his whole position as leader of his own team for the fight against vintage. We can even go yugioh villain mode and say he used to like to be an edgelord and break people's main weapons if he won bets against them

Of course double gets his shit absolutely wrecked in a 1v1 and got absorbed into the xblood team. At the point vintage is a power hungry and scorned by skull sort of jerkass so it's not the most comfortable settling. Despite this, he felt because he was so awesome he should get to have times where he could fight alongside his old teammates for non-serious matters

But BECAUSE he sort of surrounded himself with other rude fucks they only humored him so they could mock how hard he fell from grace and be told how little respect they had for him in the first place. Vintage had stopped by to remind double about practice in person while this went on (he forgot to trade numbers) annnd he overheard the bullying and saw double get smacked and grabbed and stuff.

Because he's still very fresh in his own pain at this point he decides to jump these fucks and fistfight them for fucking with his teammate. He's big mad and the old team stands no chance against the both of them so they dip. He helps Double up who is a little shocked Vintage had a caring (???) Side to him and ofc edgelord king just says fuck you i just wanted to beat those hoes not help you now buy me ramen. And i mean - vin did save him so he does

They go through this stage of like half bitching at each other and half respecting one another for a while, especially before blue team but post blue team they start definitely settling into a sort of friendship which is nice! In my mind goggles grew out of pantsing after the first incident with rider (and even then it was a tripping accident but this aint abt him) so while vintage and double were having that heart to heart on stage it was more embarassing clownery than embarassing pantsy

Annnd the more they spend leisure time together the more they start. To notice. Things about one another.

Double jokes to himself about vintage being so warm because he always eats spicy food. He's nice to be close to and he gets shivers easily despite his warmth and oh the little tipped up ends of his bowlcut. Are those trying to be horns? Its cute! They're almost more cat ears than horns!

Vintage will find himself staring for longer and longer at double,slowly getting comfortable and normal brained about it and then- oh my god. Just under his jacket - is that… a tail??? A little puffy sea bunny tail?

He tries to not be weird about it but also as double paces and rants about some jerk shoving him its like. How did he not notice it? Is it soft??? Are the bigger spikes on his spikey hair nudibranch feelers shaped into horns for the team aesthetic? He also definitely notices double talking in less tense tones with him compared to others now and its. Soothing almost.

He almost touches the tail before like smacks himself and catches double's attention doing that.

“You good?”

“No. But you can keep talking”

and just eventually does he ask after figuring out how to and yeah double is half nudibranch because inkfish dna due to liquid crystal bullshit from 2000 years ago is adaptive shit

They develop in this space of good friends and though they mutually like each other SO SO FUCKING BAD vintage is surpressing it because hes afraid of fucking up and Double is like visibly attempting to be romantic and vintage is unfortunately dense because he is trying so hard to give friendefit of the doubt

Things with vintage in agent business heat up in years after the grand festival. They get a lot of reports of illegal modified weapons being used by distinct people, some of them even using them to cause harm outside of turf war. Shit like 30 round in one shot stringers, snipers that have shots that can round bends to hit their targets. It's dangerous stuff being used in both inkfish territories and Vintage is in the market of protecting his city and friends.

Essentially? He does get in an altercation with a modder. He took down a guy with a roller that is not only heavy but burn damaging, and it bashed him hard in the lower back while he was chasing him down as the other agents dealt with putting out the arson.

He did NOT learn from his younger days of seeing rider over exert himself and almost die when he was still a purple teamer and he let the injury fester. The incident and his putting off of getting checked out left him with lifelong damages and the need for limits on everything he does, and it sort of collapsed both his careers for a long while due to how limited he was now. It was either do the fucking PT or lose full use of legs and more and vin didn't want that. Whatever counts as a spine for inkfish in his body is shot! Bad as fuck!

As it turns out though, Double and his other teammates supported vin well through this low. Even when vintage sort of berated himself about how dumb he was for not getting help and that double should probably take over and get a replacement so they didn't stagnate like him, double refused because Vin is his leader, always, and he's done on serious battles because of that he doesn't care. He. He really means it.

It doesn't make everything magically better when they do finally kiss and get together, but it helps! And vin gets two surprises with years between them

1. Double blindfolds and drives him somewhere and when he does get to open his eyes BOOM ITS THE FUCKING TACTICAL WHEEELCHAIR WITH A SPLATTLING EXTENSION AND ALL THE WORKS ITS FIRE AND VINTAGE FUCKING CRIES (HAPPILY) (EVERY ONE OF HIS FRIENDS AND AGENT COWORKERS SAVED UP FOR THIS FOR HIM)

2. this little 14 y/o octoling covered in burn scars on one side of their approaches him and asked to be trained in combat. Eventually vintage learns this is one of the people he helped to save in the incident that crippled him and this little mimic admires him like crazy and struggles in ways he does and. Oh why tears again???

anyways as life settles down between his husband who still loves carrying him despite tactical wheelchair freedom and his ability to walk a liiitttle bit and this youngin that kinda is like adopted by him a bit begrudgingly. And like. Hes feeling purpose and feeling loved and also he and double absolutely do a shop that's piercings and tattoos. People get scared when he comes at them to do their hoops and stuff but they're paying him to injure them and its great 👍 he's good at it

And for sure because he and double are gay like that they have a tattoo that goes together. Something something metaphorical attached at the hip with a sewn looking x design and he and his teammates collectively have matching xblood team tattoos

Anyways thank you for allowing my ranting!!!! These gay fucks lift each other up!!!!! He's never fucking being an agent again and he fucking loves it. Many nights of warm embraces and disabled gay loverness. Double loves his boyfriend so fucking much and he cuddles vin and you can see his stupid little tail wag its great

EDIT: forgot to specify that vintage worked his way up to being a part-time wheelchair user so he can walk around his house and short distances but the pain ebbs and flows so somedays he will need chair and other days its a preventative measure for his wahoo world trips with double :3

[bluespider008]

Oc asks>>>

Oc: Mayhem (transformers)

1. [are they associated with a certain color? what color do they wear the most?]

Like many other Decepticons she had a mainly purple color palette, though after leaving the 'con army she began to veer into more greys, various purples, 'n some yellow as well in her paint jobs (kinda like a Megatronus color palette)

2. [what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?]

Absolutely LOVES rock 'n rap! 'Keep their heads ringin', 'Rollin', 'X gon give it to ya', 'The choice is yours', 'Till I collapse', 'No sleep till Brooklyn'

3. [weapon of choice? any particular reason they chose their weapon?]

Prefers blasters that she herself makes (being a weapons specialist/engineer) even if they don't always work the best. She's currently workin' on makin' a blaster that can also change into a sword (likely will never work)

4. [how crafty/resourceful are they?]

She is incredibly crafty 'n can make a weapon out of just about anythin', she specifically loves building weapons or items to make missions more fun for her chaotic self.

5. [how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?]

She has spikes naturally formed on her helm but she added ones to her shoulders. She also likes comic stickers, 'n caution tape, as she heard they looked cool in human culture.

6. [how do they wear their hair? do they care a lot how their hair looks?]

No hair, just helm lol

7. [favorite animal? why?]

She likes platypuses.. cause, like- they are mammals but lay eggs? How? HOW???

8. [do they have a nickname? who gave it to them? if it's not derived from their real name, what's the story behind it?]

Bullet (from her brother. Y'can probably guess why she's called Bullet)

9. [favorite food? least favorite? are they a picky eater? do they have any dietary restrictions?]

She'll literally eat anythin'- even if she ain't supposed to 💀

10. [if they wear jewelry, what kind? do they prefer silver or gold? do they have a favorite gem?]

She likes any yellow stones/crystals as they remind her of her brother's optics

11. [what do they have in common with you?]

Fear of attachment/abandonment (same fam, same..)

12. [how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays?]

Birthdays aren't really somthin' she's accustomed to celebratin'.. (also, cybertronian age is pretty confusin' so just think of her as a 17 year old in human standards)

13. [what languages do they speak? how fluently?]

Cybertronian, basic alien dialect, can learn any language by goin' through databases as well as mimickin' accents.

14. [are they any good with numbers?]

Ehh.. so/so

15. [how big or small is their family? who did they live with growing up? do they live with anyone now?]

The actual size of her family is yet to be known as she was raised by her brother. Neither of them truly never knew their sire or carrier 'n had been on the move constantly throughout their childhood.

16. [do they have any pets? what do they call their pets?]

She isn't allowed to have pets yet until she learns to be more careful with her large frame 💀 (she's already accidentally crushed multiple things)

17. [how did they spend their summers/free time as a child?]

As a sparklin' / young teen she spent most of her time on buildin' random projects, her first successful build bein' a hoverboard like invention (before she learned how to transform properly)

18. [their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?]

All can be reasonable dependin' on the situation you're in.

19. [are they quick to anger? what sets them off?]

She's a bit of a hothead 'n can easily be set off when someone mocks her or her inventions.

20. [if applicable, can they drive? if they have their own, what color is their vehicle? is the inside neat and tidy, or a mess?]

She definitely drives like a drag racer 'n not so surprisingly becomes very competitive if she's actually challenged to a race. (Her alt mode is a deep purple custom '69 Ford Mustang Mach 1)

21. [their favorite place to be?]

She likes the mountains, she finds the snow beautiful 'n peaceful durin' winter.

22. [do they sleep well at night?]

Depends on the night/ how hard she'd worked prior. Sometimes she'll fall into recharge rather quickly, other times she won't or she'll be jolted awake from dreams.

23. [how would you describe their voice? can they sing?]

She loves to project the voice of the singer she's listenin' to through her own vocalizer, pretendin' that she's the one actually singin'. She often switches through accents often 'n speaks pretty fast, so it can be a bit hard to understand at times.

24. [do they have any creative hobbies? art, writing, music, etc]

Loves art, engineerin', 'n music.

25. [how good/bad is their hearing? what about their eyesight?]

She has very sharp hearin' 'n pretty good sight, though one time she'd almost lost her optics in a fight.

26. [how do they move? are they clumsy? light on their feet? do they use mobility aids?]

She's far too strong 'n flexible for her own good which only boosts her already huge ego, often gettin' to her head 'n causin' her to do very reckless things durin' battle, sometimes old Decepticon habits come into play 'n she goes overboard.

27. [if applicable, do they have a favorite sport they play any sports or prefer to watch?]

Boxin' 'n racin'. Gets WAY too competitive.

(Might do the last few questions some other time..)

[ralith]

HELLO, MORE ON BAY RATCHET EATING ROCKS?!?! Can just imagine someone like Ironhide holding him back like "you're our only medic for Primus's sake! Just make someone disposable do it- like the TWINS!"

Ratchet, who is used to going out digging up crystals, learns of the wonderous world of crystal shops. "You mean to tell me the crystals are already unearthed and polished, ready for consumption?"

Ironhide has to be the one to inform Ratchet that certain minerals are dangerous just to be around, which backfires spectacularly because Ratchet is now very intrigued as to what makes these rocks so dangerous.

(I forget what crystal it was, but last time I was at the store there was a crystal axe, and I think if Ratchet showed Ironhide you could shape crystals into weapons, the soldier would come around to appreciating their aesthetic.)

[howlingday]

Últimamente me estado aventando todo yugioh gx y hasta ahora me llamo más la atención que el original, lo cual llega a mi pregunta y sería que tipo de deck tendrían rwby?

Ruby es la más fácil teniendo en cuenta el deck de rose y su respectivo dragón así cómo probablemente red eyes dragón por el tema de los ojos o barrel dragon porque bueno ruby

Jaune creo que tendría un deck compuesto por guerreros legendarios como gilford y por caballeros como buster blader, en general una mezcla de los monstruos de yugi y joey

Weiss podría tener a un deck ice barri por el hecho de que desconozco otros deck de ice además probablemente tendría cobertura con el deck de Alexis de cyber girl

Winter me gustaría pensar que tendría el deck de mai de harpy y deck crystal beas junto a rainbow dragon por el tema de las minas de dusk

Pyrrha, aquí también es fácil teniendo en cuenta que ay un deck amazon junto a los magnet warrior siendo que hay como 2 o 3 tríos de ésos

Nora tiene un deck basado en valkirias que no recuerdo a quien pertenecía pero era un antogonista creo y con coberturas de electricidad

Glynda tendría un deck tipo dark magician girl, además del hecho de que son algunas de las mayores waifus de sus fandom's que se me hace divertido que la estricta profesora tenga como carta insignia a la entusiasta aprendiz

Ozpin, ozpin es difícil uno de mis temas sería el deck alchemy perteneciente a un antogonista que se creaba nuevos cuerpos cómo un tipo de inmortalidad (si, pasó) aunque también ay un deck de fairy Tale

Acepto sugerencias

Lately I've been looking at everything yugioh gx and so far it caught my attention more than the original, which brings up my question and that would be what kind of deck would RWBY have? Ruby is the easiest considering Rose's deck and her respective dragon, as well as probably Red Eyes Dragon, because of the eyes, or Barrel Dragon because, well, Ruby. I think Jaune would have a deck made up of legendary warriors, like Gilford the Legend and knights like Buster Blader, in general a mix of Yugi and Joey monsters. Weiss could have an ice barrier deck because I don't know any other ice decks and she would probably have coverage with Alexis' deck from Cyber Girl. Winter I would like to think that she would have the harpy Mai deck and Crystal Beast deck along with Rainbow Dragon for the Dust Mines theme. Pyrrha, here it is also easy considering that there is an Amazon deck next to the magnet warriors since there are like 2 or 3 trios of those. Nora has a deck based on Valkyries that I don't remember who it belonged to, but it was an antagonist, I think, and with electricity coverage. Glynda would have a Dark Magician Girl type deck, in addition to the fact that they are some of the biggest waifus in their fandom's, I find it funny that the strict teacher has the enthusiastic apprentice as her flagship card. Ozpin... Ozpin is difficult. One of my topics would be the alchemy deck belonging to an antagonist who created new bodies as a type of immortality (yes, it happened), although there is also a Fairy Tale deck. I accept suggestions.

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Hoof, I, uh... I gotta be honest, I'm not as big a fan of fan of Yu Gi Oh as I used to be. In fact, GX was kinda where I dropped off, and even then, the card game got way more complicated than I would have liked. But, I'll give this the ol' college try and see what ya got!

Looking at Ruby, I do like the theme of black monsters being her go-to since it's her aesthetic, though I can also see her using machine monsters since she's also a weapon-nut. Honestly, the most edgy you could take Ruby, I think with my limited knowledge, is Darkness Metal, the Dragon of Dark Steel.

For Jaune, I agree that his deck should include a lot of warrior monsters. Along with that, though, I also think his monsters should also come with spells that boost themselves, though Jaune won't really know what to do until the time hits just right. That said, I think the most fitting option for Jaune would be CXYZ Barian Hope, since it has 0/0 BUT the effect means that if you attach certain cards to it, it gains 1000 ATK for every card you attach, utilizing Jaune's reliance on his friends to become as strong as he can be.

Looking at Ice Barrier, I would say the aesthetic does fit with Weiss' early aesthetic as the "Ice Queen". I can see her pulling a win with her Leviathan, Wyvern of the Ice Barrier to unleash a devastating blow with the help of it's special effect in which you can add cards with Ice Barrier in their name to your hand and add their ATK to Leviathan, similar to Weiss' ability to summon defeated Grimm to her aid.

Mm... I don't know about that with Winter, since she left the Schnee Dust Company to forge her own path. However, I can also see her using the Crystal Beast deck at first because it was a gift from her father, who uses this very same deck. But a funny thought just came to me; what if Winter had a Penguin deck, which she uses with the most stoic expression possible, and somehow manages to beat everyone with this deck. I won't limit it to all penguins, but I do find it a hilarious idea that she adores the penguins above all other cards.

For Nora and Pyrrha, I'd like to combine them into having a sort of Yugi/Joey deck that blends well together, mostly so they can use magnet warriors AND fusion summon Imperion Magnum The Superconductive Battlebot, with Nora being gifted Valkyrion the Magnet Warrior by Pyrrha. And, yeah, throw some Magnet and Thunder Warrior monsters for them, too.

There's plenty of Dark Magician cards, Girl or otherwise, and I can definitely see Professor Goodwitch utilizing them and other spellcaster monsters with excruciating effect. She's not the deputy of Beacon Academy for no reason. Along with that, I can see her being especially strict on students who ogle her cards for too long, especially if they try to peek on her Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight.

Ozpin is kind of a tricky one, since he's the oldest character in the series, though I do like your Fairy Tale theme. If I might suggest, maybe he uses the Fairy Tail cards to start before shifting to more powerful cards like Vera the Vernusylph Goddess and similar fairy cards. As an added bonus, you could have Salem have Underworld Goddess of the Closed World and Hex Trude to also add Fairy Tale flavors to this.

If anybody else has any suggestions, feel free to add on to this!