#if I’m on fire you’ll be made of ashes too | meta | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kannra21 · 4 years ago

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Not Weak

Geten found herself in a tricky situation and she doesn't want Re-Destro to find out. How can a certain fire-user help her by making things even more complicated?

characters: dabi (todoroki touya) x f!geten

word count: 3.2k

warnings: angst, past memories, scars, abuse mention, foul language, comfort, making out

notes: I'd like to thank @seenalready13 for proofreading this work since I can be v clumsy with grammar haha. I'm v grateful for the help! And also, the picture above belongs to 九わん (@91qwn), here's the link to the artwork. Please support their work!

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Geten, as the keystone of the entire army, had the task of leading her group and ensuring that anyone within their ranks followed her instructions. The loyalty of their people was unquestionable as everyone adhered to Destro's teachings, and she was immensely proud of her Cryokinesis.

The ice-user was grateful to their grand commander for granting her this amazing opportunity of making up for all the great things that he's done for her. She wore an honorable title, and her reputation has risen a lot since the hooning of her meta ability for years. However, she did experience all sorts of things their organization had to offer from the moment Re-Destro promoted her to his right-hand woman, believing that she'd be strong enough to take on the responsibility and he was right. It wasn't like she was bothered too much, especially since dealing with a couple of thugs on her own was no big deal for her. Still, this didn't mean that after performing their duties the soldiers couldn't relax and show their true colors.

This was the case with one guy in particular, who was casually hitting on her and calling her pet names which were utterly gross and humiliating. She had the utmost need to wipe the fucker out of the face of the Earth, but she also knew damn well that Re-Destro would disapprove of such actions considering that the army must avoid inner conflicts at all costs. Of course, she wanted to take matters into her own hands, to prove to the commander that she was deserving of her title, but the jerk simply wouldn't take her seriously as she wanted to be through with whatever problem she had without necessarily dragging Re-Destro into it. That's why she decided to take the easier route and use someone to her own advantage.

"What's in there for me?" Dabi asked, uninterested as he fixed the staples on his burnt skin.

It's true that they were partnered up to share their leading spot at the Vanguard Action Guerilla Warfare Regiment: Violet, but this didn't mean that they had to play nice with each other. Especially after Geten's offensive speech of power and people's place in this world.

She clenched her fists in her pockets; of course, she should've known that he'd ask for something in return. "I don't have much to offer,” she said through greeted teeth.

She looked almost pitiful if it weren't for her leading position; she felt stupid to even ask for help when she could've just ended the whole mess with one swift motion of her ice, and bam, the fool's dead. Well, if things could be that easy.

"I... I'M THE TOP LIEUTENANT AND THEREFORE I DEMAND OBEDIENCE! LIKE I NEED TO CONFIDE IN YOU, BURNT CHICKEN NUGGET SCUM!"

"THE FUCK-" Dabi stood up, fire flaring up in his hand and ready to strike as he saw Geten backing off with ice covering her right arm, bracing herself for the upcoming attack.

And then he saw it, at this very moment, the look of hesitation and unease covering her blue eyes. She... didn't want to fight? Was she defending herself? It reminded Dabi of something else from his past, or rather someone, defending themselves from his flames, wearing the exact same expression on their face while protecting his youngest brother. The dripping water from her ice washed over his memories as he obtained one after another in a frantic blur. Nostalgia soon followed the guilt, and it tore him apart, except he didn't want to show it, but Geten already noticed his anger faltering which was her cue to relax.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered under his breath, barely for her to hear.

"What?" as the question rolled out of her mouth, she internally lost herself in delirium "BLUEFLAME CRISPY MCBACON JUST APOLOGIZED WTFWTFWTFWTFWTWTF-"

"Geten?"

"YES?" she snapped, too loud for what she initially intended.

"I'll help you, and there's actually something you can do for me in return."

She crossed her arms and smirked confidently at him from her previous ego boost, much to his frowning expression.

"Whatcha suggestin'?"

"I'll scare the fucker off, and you'll then... cool down my skin from using my flames. Deal?"

Geten looked at him for a moment to determine if he was joking about the offer but from the looks of it and his deep husky voice that she got used to oh so many times during the past week of working with him, she concluded that he was, indeed, not messing around. Dabi expected her to laugh it off or straight up refuse whatever suggestion he had on mind, but from the manner she weighed her choices in her head and the way she looked at him, with those bright, beautiful eyes and long lashes fixated to his own... Wait, when did they get this close?

The two backed off and cleared their throats in embarrassment. They were freaking staring at each other, and for fucking what?

"I... It's a deal then."

"Good."

…

"Just... don't hurt yourself too much while dealing with the idiot."

Dabi turned his head so fast his neck hurt.

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO WEIRD?!"

"SHUT UP AND MOVE YOUR FUCKING ASS!"

As they reached the place where their target was supposed to be, the man soon showed up by Geten's side and started pestering her with all kinds of bull he made her deal with on a daily basis. And just as she felt sick enough, Dabi put his hot hand on the guy's shoulder, making his skin sting in the first-degree burns. The guy then backed off and glared at the fire-user with utmost disdain.

"THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

"Listen up freak", Dabi took Geten for the waist and gently pulled her towards himself, her body leaning on his own and fitting perfectly under his larger frame, "I saw what you did there. You’d better stop messing with my girlfriend, or else you'll burn to ashes."

Geten internally screamed and pinched him on the side for being a fucking idiot. "HIS GIRLFRIEND!? THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO PLAY OUT LIKE THAT!"

"You sound too confident, guess I should give you a nice beating to teach you a lesson."

He soon regretted his decision because Dabi was entirely down to realize his threat, and after a couple of burns, the moron retreated while he still could and left Geten alone.

And while she hated that they needed to make a scene in front of the other soldiers who were whispering to each other and exchanged who knows what kinds of things, she couldn't leave Dabi alone like this so she put his hand over her shoulder and helped him reach a more secluded area. They entered his room because he said that he kept the first aid kit in a drawer. It was also the first time that Geten came by but it didn't look at all exciting either; the room had a very plain interior, darkened space with the shutters down, piles of dirty clothes creased to the side probably waiting to be washed, the bed left unmade since this morning, a bunch of disinfectants sitting on the nightstand and some used medical gaze forgotten to be thrown away. Geten almost felt sorry for him. It's not like she was doing any better but at least she knew how to take care of herself.

She seated him carefully on the bed, and he started digging through drawers until he found what he needed. When he was all set, he began to take his jacket and shirt off but then Geten panicked and lowered his shirt.

Dabi's confusion mixed with annoyance was now directed towards the ice gremlin's pretty face. "Aren't you going to cool me down?"

"I THOUGHT YOU ONLY MEANT HANDS AND THINGS LIKE THAT! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE YOUR SHIRT OFF!?" she shouted with blushing cheeks covering her face with her hands.

Dabi soon understood what she meant and closed his eyes, wearing a disheartened smile.

"It's not like you'll see much. Just a bunch of patched-up skin and bruises. It's not even that hot."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT-,” but then she noticed that his expression never actually faltered, he looked to the front and waited patiently for her next move, sadness surrounding his wounded features. It's not like it was his first time reconciling with the facts, but still, being this burnt and knowing that it wasn't entirely his fault, but his father was also to blame, which made him remember the days when he wasn't in such a fucked up condition as he was now. It made him feel a bit of regret too. But he needed to acknowledge that the path he took was the one with no return, and he needed to accomplish his mission. Endeavor needed to be brought down at all costs; maybe then he'd gain a sense of worth and show him, prove to him, that he was deserving of more incredible things. The ice-user sighed in defeat and gave up on her embarrassment, "just show me what you got.”

Dabi was brought out of his train of thought, and he took off his shirt. It turns out that he was right, some of his scarred skin was sizzling slightly, and his wounds looked terrible because they were situated further on the back where he couldn't reach. She took the disinfectant from the nightstand and tapped it lightly on the freshly made scars. He made a slight grimace, but didn't flinch, didn't wince, like he was afraid of showing his weaknesses by putting on a tough act. It'll all pay off, he assured himself, once he gets rid of his dad.

When she finished, he allowed Geten to scoot closer to make her do her thing. Her icy hands on his skin felt so good that suddenly he forgot about all of his problems. He turned his face to the side so she wouldn't notice, but the goosebumps on his skin told her otherwise.

She made a sly smile and cocked her head to look at him from the corner.

"What's up, tough guy? Can't hide the way I make you feel good?"

He laughed under his breath. He liked when she was this flirty. It made the situation less awkward. But he also felt uncomfortable with how he needed to depend on someone, just like her, when she asked for his help. Were they that similar?

"I need to ask you something,” Dabi asked quietly like he was probing the waters.

"Yea?"

"Do you still think that I'm weak?"

The silence filled the room, and he had the need to explain himself.

"You said that there's no worth living if the user doesn't possess a strong meta ability. Hooning your power was the only thing worth your time as you didn't wish for anything else. You always thought that our Quirks defined us, that they're things we identify with for life. Now that you've taken a closer look at my condition, tell me, what do you think?"

Geten suddenly grew interested in the laminate floor under their feet as she couldn't look anywhere else, her eyes deep in thought.

"That was very mean of me, and I'm sorry, especially since you risked your own health for my reputation."

"... by calling you, my girlfriend?"

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT IT DIDN'T MAKE ANY ACTUAL SENSE!?, her teeth grew sharp, and her eyes furrowed like some rabid cartoon character.

"It did, actually. Because of my threat, the fool is now afraid of looking at your general direction, knowing that I'd kick his ass whenever he says something stupid again."

Unbothered, he drank his painkillers from the glass of water.

"... Wait. You'd really repeat all of this... for me?"

Just as he drank, so did he spit, coughing and wiping his chin with his forearm.

"Of course I would, but don't get the wrong idea."

""WRONG IDEA"? YOU LITERALLY CALLED ME YOUR GIRLFRIEND IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!"

"IT WAS JUST TO CONFUSE THE FUCKER!"

"THEN WHY WOULD YOU REPEAT IT?"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU REALLY!"

"THEN WHY'S IT!?"

"I JUST NEED YOU FOR YOUR STUPID ICE FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"

The room fell in complete silence once again, and the tension became so thick one could almost cut it with a knife.

Her expression grew cold, and her eyes bore nothing but pure disgust. "So that's what this was all about."

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO SURPRISED NOW? IT WAS OUR DEAL, REMEMBER?"

She sat up from her seat and went straight to the door, readying herself to leave.

"Wait."

Just as she was about to step out, she turned around, his tone of voice catching her off guard only to see him sitting miserably on his bed, head hanging and elbows leaning on his knees, grieving.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Geten stood at the doorway for a minute and then slowly entered again, closing the door behind her. Dabi continued.

"I say things that I don't mean and push the people I care about away."

The white-hair watched his back in silence until she decided to speak up again "... So you actually meant it... the other way?"

"I'm such a sick fuck."

She sensed the crack in his voice and came closer, undoing his hands only to see blood trailing down his face.

"Whoa, what's going on with your scars?" she tried to wipe it off only to smear it across his cheeks, and Dabi smiled a little.

"Aren't you disgusted by it? Now all of your fingers are red."

She didn't mind his words but created an ice cube to wash it with the water.

"I should call Sceptic. He’s much better at this medical shit than I am."

"No one can help me with it. My tear ducts are all burnt out, and I can't really tear up much."

"Wait, you're crying?"

Dabi refused to say anything as she tried to wipe the rest of the blood off, pressing gentle circles on his now iced skin.

"Blueflame…"

"Hah, actually, you're right. Maybe I really am as weak as you told me back then. I literally am falling apart. How pitiful."

Without a second thought, she slapped him across the face, and he took his stinging cheek in his hand.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

"Thanks...."

"I'm sorry. Look, you're everything but weak, so don't you dare call yourself that. You endured so much pain, your skin is the proof of the things you've gone through in life, and you freaking survived. No one would be able to do this but you. You're not weak, Blueflame, far from it."

"You think so?"

"Of course I do! If it weren't for your help today, I would have talked to Re-Destro, and he'd think that I was too weak for my leadership role. I never actually thanked you for this, thank you."

"You're not weak either, doll. I'm pretty sure that you've beat my ass the week before."

She just smiled at him, and then they looked at each other the same way they did when they made their offer, except they didn't back off this time. They leaned into the kiss that was slow at first, but then they applied more pressure, and it grew more passionate. It was also their first time, so they couldn't really make fun of each other's clumsiness. Whenever their teeth collided, they laughed a little but continued until it felt right. She melted against him, her lips working in tandem with his and his hand slid up her outer thigh as he leaned forward to deepen it. She grasped his lower lip with her teeth before pulling away for some air, and he groaned.

"God, this felt good..." his chest heaved, his words a gravelly whisper.

She stood up and widened her stance, legs bracketing his own as she reached out to grab the back of his neck. She leaned over, forehead resting against his.

"You're not so bad yourself, gorgeous-eyes."

"I differ, yours are much more gorgeous."

"Really? Kinda sappy coming from your side." she grinned, but this didn't discourage him in the slightest.

"I could get lost in them, I mean it."

He caught her face in his palms, drawing her in deeper as his tongue slipped between their lips and slid against hers. His Quirk activated, his kiss is fierce and sweet all at once, and her head spins as his hands slid up her thighs, warming her up. Her mouth became much cooler now, and it sent shivers down his spine. She planted her icy hands on his shoulders and pushed them both backward, landing on the comfort of his bedsheets.

He drew circles over her back and waist, taking in her beautiful features as her head hovered over his own, hair tickling the skin on his face. She gave him a little peck that made him smile, and she cupped his face, thumbs stroking the side of his cheeks.

"So we're official now?" she didn't know why she asked. It was kind of obvious now, but she wanted to hear it coming from his lips.

His expression became serious again as he looked to the side concerningly. He really didn't want to spoil whatever they had going on with his fucked up story about his family, hero society, his mission that could possibly cost him his life for the sake of achieving greater good. Now the last thing he needed was to fall in love with someone and die when he finally found his reason. Life was such a bitch sometimes.

"I'm currently dealing with a very unfortunate situation. I'm afraid that you'd get affected, and I don't want to endanger you by it."

She tilted her head questionably, "And I thought that we'd overcome everything as long as we're fighting together."

He looked at her worryingly, but his words bore a tad bit of curiosity in them, "You want to fight by my side?"

"Of course, you have my full support." she grinned widely, and he smiled, shaking his head in disbelief. It was amazing how much optimism, or rather confidence, could be stored in one single ice gremlin. But he loved her more than everything.

"Very well then." he turned them over and planted a kiss on her forehead before getting on his feet and pulling her up towards himself. "Boss told me about some business we need to take care of in the neighborhood. Cocktail hours?"

"FUCK WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY EARLIER!?"

"Relax, we'll arrive on time." he took his shirt and jacket and put them on.

As they walked towards their location, Dabi took her hand in his while some of the soldiers watched them in confusion, remembering when the two fought against each other.

He couldn't care less. She was the first person who ever supported him, so if his days were outnumbered, then he'd as well spend them with the only person worth his time.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #dabi #geten #dabiten #dabi x femgeten #f!geten #fanfic #paranormal liberation front #meta liberation army #league of villains #plf #mla #lov

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zer0desuu · 4 years ago

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Dance of Flames Until Death

Note: Flamebringer x Unspecified Dokutah. My first completed work in a long time, so please be nice! I only recently got into Arknights cuz of my crazy friend @veedraws. I have yet to bring Flamebringer home, so I’m not super familiar with him, so all this is based on his files and Vee’s fangirling XD. Also, sucks that he’s terrible in the game meta, but he’s supposed to be super OP in the story :c

-------

Night has now fallen in the outskirts of Lungmen. The battle has gone on forever. The squad barely made a dent in the enemy army. Everyone was at their wits’ end.

I chew on my lip, frantically trying to come up with a strategy. The squad was exhausted and being pushed back by the enemy forces.

“Doctor… It’s time.” Flamebringer’s low voice comes through the comms. “Send me out there. There’s no other choice. I’m the only one who can take down this many enemies.”

I hesitate, looking into Flamebringer’s eyes. Flamebringer is notorious for losing control of himself, at the cost of his health. But he was right - he was the only one capable of dealing with this many enemies and surviving.

“...Alright, prepare for deployment.”

Flamebringer salutes me and exits the control room for the helipad. Moments later, Flamebringer drops down from the deployment copter right in the middle of the frontlines.

“So…” Flamebringer draws his dual blades from his scabbard. He readies himself, pointing his katana at the hoard in front of him. The katana blade glows like a flame, illuminating the shadows with an orange glow. “Who will be my next opponent?”

Flamebringer lunges at the enemy front lines, blades reflecting the soft light from the full moon above. The glow from his katana and the strips of cloth hanging from his broadsword swirl in an entrancing dance of blades. Each and every swing and stab is meticulously accurate, something only a master of their art can do.

All the other operators on the field are frozen in their spot. Once Flamebringer starts, he cannot be stopped. He will cut down anyone who gets in their way, even allies. The air of the night is filled with Flamebringer’s howls, growing more and more wild with every enemy reduced to ashes. No matter how many times I see Flamebringer fight, I am always stunned by the beauty and carnage.

Blinking to clear my head, I yell a command to everyone in the field, “Flamebringer, lead the charge. Snipers and mages continue supporting him from behind. Defenders, brace for any enemy charges that leak through!”

The squad puts their all in the fight, their morale renewed by the arrival of reinforcements. The hoard of enemies gradually dwindles. The enemy frontline begins to retreat. We were winning.

“Doctor! Flamebringer’s vitals are reaching dangerous levels! Heart rate is exceeding normal values, blood originium levels have increased sharply.” Ansel shouts from his post in front of the the medi-screens.

As if on cue, Flamebringer collapses to the ground, one hand clutching his chest. His other grasps his blade, using it as support, struggling to keep himself upright. He gasps for breath, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Perfumer rushes to his side, hands quickly reaching for him, ready to use her healing magic.

“Flamebringer!” I shout into my comm. “Retreat now!”

“N-No…” Flamebringer swats Perfumer’s hands away. He pushes up off the ground using his sword, his body swaying. Flamebringer brings one hand up to his face, swiping the blood away. The black crystals embedded in his skin had spread further up his neck. “Not until you…”

“There’s no way you can continue in this state. Retreat immediately! This is a command!”

“No…” Flamebringer’s voice trails off as his knees give way. He drops to the cement, unmoving.

“Deployment choppers, retrieve Operator Flamebringer immediately!”

“That idiot!” I hiss, slamming my fist into the desk, seething with anger. Flamebringer always pushed himself to the brink, as if he didn’t care whether he dies. But I cared. He is one of the most valuable Operators on the team.

I try to push thoughts of Flamebringer to the back of my mind while my squad finishes off the rest of the enemies. It goes smoothly due to Flamebringer greatly thinning the numbers.

Once the rest of my squad boarded the choppers back to Rhodes Island, I run down to the medical centre. Flamebringer lay in a medical bay, with his eyes closed, not moving. A medic-droid removes the final electrode stuck onto Flamebringer’s bare chest. Another droid stands near his bed, tapping away at his medical log displayed on a holoscreen. My heart sinks, bracing for the worst of the news.

There is some silence as the medic-droid finishes up filling in his information. Finally, it spoke, “We managed to stabilize him. His blood originium-crystal density has increased by 0.03 u/L and his cell-originium assimilation level has increased by 0.06%. Recommended actions include rest from battle to slow further increases. This concludes Operator Flamebringer’s medical report.”

“Thank you.” I say to the medic-droid. It flashes its eyes in acknowledgement before gliding out of the medical bay.

I slowly sit down on the stool next to the bed. Flamebringer’s face looks peaceful as he sleeps, different from the scowl or the smirk he usually has. The crystals have grown, some new growths emerging from his skin.

Flamebringer stirs and slowly opens his eyes. He starts to sit upright, but I place a hand on his chest to stop him. “You need to rest, you idiot.”

He lays back down, frowning at me in protest.

I sighed. “You did it again. You pushed yourself way too far.”

“It’s nothing new to me.” He gives a small shrug.

“But the more you do this, the worse your health will get. What if you lose yourself again but the infection progresses too much for your body?!” I catch myself, realizing that I had raised my voice. I took a shaky breath, my throat unable to say the next words. “You’ll die…”

“I don’t care. I already know what will happen to me. I don’t have anything left in this world anyway, so why not go doing what I love?”

“But what about your plants? Who will take care of them if you’re not here?”

“I guess they’ll just die with me.”

“W-What…What about me…?” My trembling voice was barely a whisper, my heart pounding in my chest. The tears in my eyes threatened to fall. I look down at my hands clenching the hem of my jacket. “I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t around, you idiot.”

Flamebringer’s eyes instantly shot in my direction. His face was frozen in a state of shock as he processes what I just said. He slowly sits upright. “What…?”

"I can't imagine what it would be like without you!” Tears slide down my face as I look up into his eyes. I was always so irritated about how he treated life with such nonchalance. I knew it was dumb of me to feel this way for someone who was dying, but I couldn't help it. "Stop running towards death, you idiot."

Flamebringer's expressions change rapidly as he made sense of what I am saying. Finally, his face softened into a small, sad smile. He reaches for my face, brushing away a tear with his thumb. I lean into his hand, grateful that it's still warm, like a fire is still burning in him.

He leans forward, pulling me closer to him. His lips brush against mine hesitantly, as if I would shove him away. It seemed like he had a bad relationship with me prior to my memory loss. When I don't protest, he kisses me with more strength.

"Doctor…" Flamebringer pulls away and rests his forehead on mine. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I will always be by your side, even when I'm gone."

"Idiot."

#flamebringer #arknights #my writing #fanfic #flamebringer x doctor

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kazeself · 4 years ago

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#FOLKLORE BRILLIANT LYRICS

so sorry but i am literally a reinvigorated taylor swift stan b/c folklore has been everything i’ve wanted for years so y’all are gonna have to deal with my shit. here’s a collection of some of my absolute favorite lyric segments from each song. i just need everyone to know that the 1, the teenage love triangle, my tears ricochet, exile, and this is me trying slay me so hard. mad woman is a close contender. i am deeply, personally invested in the 1 and the love triangle though...and it’s only a coincidence that betty and my ex’s name are interchangeable syllable wise.

the 1

“i’m doing good i’m on some new shit, been saying yes instead of no.”

“you know the greatest films of all time were never made.”

“and if my wishes came true it would’ve been you. in my defense i have none for never leaving well enough alone. but it would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the 1.”

“we never painted by the numbers baby, but we were making it count. you know the greatest loves of all time are over now.”

“i, i, i persist and resist the temptation to ask you if one thing had been different would everything be different today?”

“it would’ve been sweet if it could’ve been me.”

cardigan (teenage love triangle #1, betty)

“when you are young they assume you know nothing.”

“sequin smile, black lipstick, sensual politics.”

just the whole fucking chorus and all variations there of throughout the song.

“and when i felt like i was an old cardigan under someone’s bed you put me on and said i was your favorite.”

“a friend to all is a friend to none. chase two girls, lose the one.”

“you drew stars around my scars, but now i’m bleeding.”

“i knew you tried to change the ending, peter losing wendy.” (this was BRILLIANT)

“i knew you’d haunt all of my what-ifs.”

the last great american dynasty

“who knows if she never showed up what could’ve been. there goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen. she had a marvelous time ruining everything.”

“flew in all the Bitch Pack friends from the city.”

“holiday house sat quietly on that beach. free of women with madness, their men and bad habits, and then it was bought by me.” (queen of meta commentary)

“who knows if i never showed up what could’ve been...I HAD A MARVELOUS TIME RUINING EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!”

exile (ft. Bon Iver)

“i think i’ve seen this film before, and i didn’t like the ending.”

“you’re not my homeland anymore, so what am i defending?”

“second, third, and hundredth chances.”

“there’s no amount of crying i can do for you.”

“you didn’t even hear me out (you didn’t even hear me out.) you never gave a warning sign (i gave so many signs) all this time. i never learned to read your mind (never learned how to read my mind). i couldn’t turn things around (you turned things around). cause you never gave a warning sign (i gave so many signs, so many signs, so many signs, you didn’t even see the signs.)”

my tears ricochet

“if i’m on fire you’ll be made of ashes, too.”

“cause i loved you, i swear i loved you, even till my dying day.”

“if i’m dead to you why are you at the wake, cursing my name, wishing i stayed, look at how my tears ricochet.”

“you had to kill me but it killed you just the same.”

mirrorball

“you’ll find me on my tallest tip toes.” (so fricken adorable)

seven

“please picture me in the trees i hit my peak at seven feet in the swing over the creek.”

“cross your heart, won’t tell no other. and though i can’t recall your face i still got love for you.”

“i’ll love you to the moon and to saturn.”

“and just like a folk song our love will be passed on.”

august (teenage love triangle #2, inez)

“but i can see us lost in memory, august slipped away into a moment of time. cuz it was never mine. and i can see us twisted in bedsheets, august slipped away like a bottle of wine, cuz you were never mine.”

“you weren’t mine to lose.”

“but do you remember? do you remember when i pulled up and said ‘get in the car?’”

“back when i was living for the hope of it all.”

this is me trying

“they told me all my cages were mental, so i got wasted like all my potential.” (slay me six ways to sunday, queen)

“i was so ahead of the curve the curve became a sphere.”

“i just wanted you to know this is me trying...AT LEAST I’M TRYING.”

illicit affairs

“leave the perfume on the shelf that you picked out just for him so you leave no trace behind, like you don’t even exist.”

“a drug that only worked the first few hundred times.”

“don’t call me ‘kid’ don’t call me ‘baby’ look at this godforsaken mess that you made me.”

“you showed me colors you know i can’t see with anyone else.”

“you taught me a secret language that i can’t speak with anyone else. and you know damn well for you i would ruin myself a million little times.”

invisible string

“and isn’t it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?”

“time, mystical time, cutting me open then healing me fine.”

“cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart...now i send their babies presents.”

“hell was the journey but it brought me heaven.”

mad woman

“does she smile or does she mouth “fuck you forever?”” (first f bomb of her catalog and it STILL gibs shivers)

“no one likes a mad woman, you made her like that.”

“and women like hunting witches, too. doing your dirtiest work for you.”

“it’s obvious that wanting me dead really brought you two together.”

“the master of spin has a couple side flings, good wives always know.”

epiphany

“keep your helmet, keep your life son. just a flesh wound, here’s your rifle.”

“crawling up the beaches now, ‘sir i think he’s bleeding out,’ and some things you just can’t speak about.”

“with you i serve with you I fall down, down.”

“only twenty minutes to sleep but you dream of some epiphany. just one single glimpse of relief to make some sense of what you’ve seen.”

betty (teenage love triangle #3, james)

“you heard the rumors from inez, you can’t believe a word she says most times but this time it was true. and the worst thing that i ever did was what i did to you.”

“but if i showed up at your party would you have me, would you want me, would you tell me to go fuck myself or lead me to the garden”

just the whole last verse and lead into the bridge talking about how james ended up doing the fling with inez.

“the only thing i wanna do is make it up to you [...] yeah i showed up at your party will you have me, will you love me, will you kiss me on the porch i front of all your stupid friends?”

“i’m only seventeen, i don’t know anything, but i know i miss you.”

“standing in your CARDIGAN. kissin’ in my car again, stopped at a STREETLIGHT. you know i miss you.”

peace

“a coming-of-age has come and gone.”

“all these people think love’s a show, but i would die for you in secret.”

“would it be enough if i could never give you peace?”

“i talk shit with my friends, it's like I'm wasting your honor and you know that I'd swing with you for the fences.”

“give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other.”

“i’d give you my sunshine, give you my best. but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standin’ with me.”

hoax

“stood on the cliffside screaming ‘give me a reason.’ your faithless love is the only hoax i believe in. don’t want no other shade of blue but you. no other sadness in the world would do.”

“you knew the hero died so what’s the movie for?”

“you knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart.”

“my broken drum, you have beaten my heart.”

the lakes (physical bonus track)

WHO KNOWS BITCH I HAVEN’T GOTTEN THE CD DELIVERED YET IT SAYS 2-3 WEEKS!!!!

#folklore #taylor swift

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sage-nebula · 6 years ago

Note

If Alan had to assemble a new Alolan team (he'd keep Lizardon of course!)who do you think he'd pick?

Hmm, do you mean like if he did what Ash does at the start of each new saga and only brings Pikachu with him to new regions, thus filling the rest of his team with ‘mon exclusive to that region? Okay, I can do that … but to make it interesting, let’s make him a team from every region, and then I’ll assemble a final team of six out of those. =) Putting this beneath a cut, because it’s going to get long:

I’ll put the species name first, and then the nickname he’d use for them second. And of course, the first ‘mon for every single region is always going to be the same. ♥

Kanto:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Lapras — Lace (Water/Ice)

Raichu — Rai (Electric)

Nidoking — King (Poison/Ground)

Gengar — Gar (Ghost/Poison)

Aerodactyl — Ptera (Rock/Flying)

Lizardon is self-explanatory. He goes with Alan to every single region and they’ll never, ever part.

Lace is a callback to my Immortality AU, where I think I ended up giving Alan a lapras (or maybe reunited Ash with his?) because I imagine that lapras are a species that live a very, very long time—that even they’re not technically dragons, the lifespan of the Loch Ness Monster in our own world lends to the idea that lapras would be long lasting. In any case, I could see a lapras on Alan’s team. Lapras are very strong and very durable, and we know that Alan does like pokémon that can be both tanks and very heavy hitters, which lapras are. In addition, though, lapras are known for having very gentle temperaments, and since Alan is so calm and gentle himself (when he isn’t given reason not to be), I feel that would fit well with a lapras. Lapras are very rare (they’re more easily captured in Johto on Fridays), but there could possibly be a situation where someone working in the Safari Zone gives him one to raise and take care of once they learn that he comes from the Kalosian Pokémon Lab, because they need someone to look after this particular lapras and raise her, and they know he’ll do a good job.

Rai, I figure, could have been inspired by Ash, in the sense that knowing Ash and his Pikachu made Alan take interest in the pikachu line and thus decide to raise one himself. Rai would be captured in Viridian Forest as a pikachu, raised up, and then eventually evolved with a Thunder Stone (not against his will, of course), because although Alan would be inspired by Pikachu, again, he does value reaching for one’s max potential in his team, and as we’ve seen in canon he does tend to evolve his pokémon all the way.

King, I feel, would be a little male nidoran who saw Alan in the Viridian area and decided, for some reason, that Alan was an Opponent and a Rival and an Enemy and that he would take him down. Unfortunately, nidoran are not very big or intimidating ‘mon, so this … did not go as planned for King … but Alan recognized and appreciated that fighting spirit and so offered King a place on his team. King originally accepted with the idea that once he gained enough strength he would defeat Alan once and for all, but ultimately he came to really love him as a trainer and became a very faithful member of the team. So, you know. Maybe he’ll eat someone else instead. (Spoiler: He’s not going to eat anyone, Alan won’t let that happen.)

Gar would be a temporary member of Alan’s team; he’d be released back to the Lavender Tower once Alan was ready to leave Kanto. I don’t really have a story behind this one, but gengar seems like the type of pokémon that Alan would find an interesting challenge to train, and the gengar that we meet in Lavender Tower in the anime is friendly enough so that he probably wouldn’t want to drain Alan of his life. (Probably.) So I think it’d probably be more of Alan offering to show Gar interesting things around Kanto, Gar agreeing, and then the two parting ways at the end of the journey.

Ptera is another callback to the Immortality AU, because I’m almost positive I gave Alan an aerodactyl there, because again, they’re basically immortal themselves, very long lasting. (And for Alan and Ash in the Immortality AU, that’s very important.) This wouldn’t necessarily be the same aerodactyl that tried to eat Ash—rather, maybe this one was revived from Old Amber, flipped out because it was fossilized and now it’s suddenly alive again, Alan helped calm it down, and so the scientists were like, “Please take this before it eats us.” Nonetheless, aerodactyl again seems like the type of pokémon Alan would train, so I could see him with one.

Those who know that Alan is my valiant dragon son are probably surprised that dragonite wasn’t included, but while I considered dragonite, in honesty I … have never been very fond of dragonite. Its design has never appealed to me, and while it is strong, I just kind of … eh. There are better dragons out there, in later gens.

(Also, I know you’re probably thinking, “Well, I’m still surprised you didn’t give him an arcanine!” but listen … the temptation was there … I do think Alan would be very good at training an arcanine and that he’d like it, but when thinking about his Future Permanent Team, I couldn’t bear to have him leave the arcanine behind, and I don’t want his team to be too similar to mine, so … a call had to be made. I had to restrain myself, despite how very real that temptation was.)

Johto:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Noctowl — Yoru (Normal/Flying)

Tyranitar — Bangiras (Rock/Dark)

Houndoom — Soot (Dark/Fire)

Donphan — Don (Ground)

Mantine — Tine (Water/Flying)

Lizardon is self-explanatory, as always.

Yoru comes from my Fix-It of the team we see him with in the League, because it kills me that they gave him unfezant, of all pokémon, when you can’t even catch that in Kalos (but you can catch noctowl), and noctowl is far more fitting thematically. I think that Yoru (short for “Yorunozuku”) would bond with Alan very quickly as a hoothoot, and would evolve into a beautiful noctowl in short order.

Bangiras is that very same tyranitar we see him with in the League. I didn’t have any real issues with him having a tyranitar in canon, so there’s no reason not to stick with that choice now. Bangiras would be captured as a larvitar and would start out feeling a rivalry toward Lizardon (that is not reciprocated) because he would want to be Alan’s strongest and favorite, but that attitude would settle down over time. Whenever he’s in Kalos and/or otherwise around Bonnie, Bonnie likes to sing “Getta Ban Ban” because of his name.

Soot is … okay, listen. For those of you who have read Genesis, you’ll know that technically the first pokémon Alan ever had was a houndour puppy that he, at the tender age of five, named “Soot.” Alan didn’t actually catch this houndour, nor was he able to raise it, but he tried and he gave it a name and it remains a very important part of his past, because if he’d never tried to keep that houndour puppy, he never would have met (and been unofficially adopted by) Sycamore. So I’ve always entertained the idea that one day, Alan and Soot would be reunited. How Soot would get all the way to Johto from Kalos is anyone’s guess, but maybe Soot was actually captured by another trainer at some point, who then traded him away to someone in Johto, who then released him. It’s possible! In any case, Soot and Alan meet by “chance” (read: destiny) at one point in Johto, Soot recognizes Alan instantly, Alan realizes that Soot is Soot, and so he’s captured and raised up (probably captured as a houndour, still, just a fully grown one at this point, close to evolving but not quite there yet). The naming convention is off from the rest, but Alan named him Soot so long ago … he’s not going to change that now. Soot is very playful and, even as a full grown adult, likes to act like a baby and get belly rubs with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Sometimes Alan still calls him “Sootie.” It’s hard not to.

Don doesn’t have a story behind her; I think a donphan just seems like the kind of pokémon that Alan would train, particularly since donphan can be tanks, can be fast (ROLLOUT), and are hard hitters (again, ROLLOUT). Also, I have a real soft spot for phanpy, so I like the idea of Alan raising one up to be a mighty donphan (albeit a mighty donphan that still thinks she’s the size of a phanpy).

Tine is partial bias to sea rays that I gained during my Japan vacation, and partial “I do think this would fit.” Again, no real story to this one; I just think it’d be interesting for Alan to raise a mantine and I think he’d enjoy and be good at it. Everyone was mantine surfing~

Again, the big surprise here might be that I left off kingdra, particularly since he has dragon clan heritage in Blackthron City (though if this is a canon compliant timeline, he might not know about that yet). But I didn’t want to give him two water-types, since water’s not really his thing so much, and I personally prefer mantine over kingdra. But don’t worry, there will be dragons to come in the future regions.

Hoenn:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Flygon — Lye (Ground/Dragon)

Milotic — Milo (Water)

Absol — Sol (Dark)

Salamence — Bohmander (Dragon/Flying)

Metagross — Meta (Steel/Psychic)

Lizardon remains self-explanatory.

Lye would be captured as a trapinch, and perhaps got its name both because of its future final evolution, and also because it was very hot to the touch (due to being out in the desert) when Alan first met it, thus it burned him and made him think of how lye burns when it comes in contact with skin. In any case, even as a trapinch Lye always wanted to be off the ground, which makes Alan wonder sometimes if he should have named it Fly instead.

Milo is another call to the immortality AU, though it’s Ash that has a milotic in that one, rather than Alan. Nonetheless, milotic is a big pokémon that looks like a sea dragon, is very strong, and very much a tank as well, so it’s the type that he’d have on his team. Plus, I like the idea of him catching a feebas, and knowing that no matter how weak it is at the time, he can help it become stronger. And with time, he does.

Sol would be a healing, reclamation type pokémon for him. For those of who you have read Genesis (linked above), you’ll remember that the mayor of Isolé Village compared Alan to an absol in a derogatory way:

The mayor looked back at [Augustine], and her furious scowl was instantly replaced by an apologetic smile. “Oh, Professor Sycamore! I’m so sorry about all of this. I should have warned you to watch out for this one, but I didn’t think even he would … well.” She chuckled, but Augustine could hear an undercurrent of anger in it as she placed her hand on the boy’s head and shook him a little, her fingers gripping his hair far more roughly than Augustine had ruffled it back in the houndour den. “I should have known better! Alan here is like our own little absol—brings disaster wherever he goes!” She laughed again, the sound loud and aggressive.

That was years and years ago, but Alan has an eidetic memory and so he remembers everything that happened to him in that village: every punishment, every name he was ever called, and so forth. And as a result, given that he was always compared to absol and that it was meant to be a bad thing, seeing absol has always filled him with a very uncomfortable, anxious feeling. It’s not something he ever takes out on them, obviously, but seeing absol (or hearing the word “absol”) reminds him of those days back in Isolé, and he doesn’t like it. (Buneary sort of do as well, come to that, since they were always allowed to run around the village at will, but it doesn’t have the same tie to him as absol does.)

So in that sense, if he came across an absol in Hoenn, he wouldn’t want to capture it at first, but perhaps the absol would keep following him around because she knew that something bad was going to happen to him and wanted to prevent it. And after she helped save him from whatever disaster, it’d help him come to terms with things. Sycamore himself taught Alan that absol never bring disaster, and Alan knew that … and he also knows that he never really brought disaster, that the things he was blamed for weren’t really his fault … but sometimes it takes a while for the heart to catch up. And so he’d capture the absol, and name her Sol (meaning “sun” as well as being a play on her name), as a sort of healing / reclamation thing.

Bohmander would either be captured as a bagon, inspired by Zinnia and her salamence, particularly in my preferred scenario where a version of the Delta Episode is carried out post-XY(&Z), and Alan and Zinnia become quite acquainted with one another as a result. Boh is a bit smaller than the average salamence and is quite gentle, but he’s no less fierce in battle and everyone would do well to remember it.

Meta is the same metagross that Alan has in the League in canon, inspired by Steven and his metagross. If I remember correctly, the personality that I gave to Meta is that they are very young but also very desperate to prove themselves and be strong to make Alan proud. They struggle with self-esteem, but Alan always reminds them that he’s proud of their progress, and that helps a lot.

See? I told you there’d be more dragons.

Sinnoh:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Mismagius — Mumargi (Ghost)

Lucario — Cario (Fighting/Steel)

Weavile — Manyula (Dark/Ice)

Mamoswine — Mammoo (Ice/Ground)

Gallade — Rei (Fighting/Psychic)

Lizardon is self-explanatory, as always.

I don’t really have a story for Mumargi, except that maybe Mumargi kept “accidentally” crossing paths with him as a misdreavous before he finally caught her. After he caught her she tried to wander off at every given opportunity, because she’s contrary like that.

Way back when the Flare Crisis was airing, and Alan did that amazing back handspring to avoid the spikes in the megalith, I came up with a headcanon that perhaps he studied martial arts under Maylene for a time while traveling through Sinnoh. Perhaps that headcanon could still come to light and that’s how he ends up with Cario, who was his sparring partner while studying with Maylene and who decided to travel with him when he left. (And now whenever he and Maylene encounter each other in public they have to spar immediately, as soon as they make eye contact, without explaining anything to anyone in the nearby vicinity. Those are the rules between martial arts sensei and student.)

Manyula is the same weavile we see him with in the League. Again, he chose a weavile there, I had no real issues with it, so why not keep it up? (Also, the Sinnoh ‘dex is hard enough to choose from without eliminating canon choices orz.) If I remember the characterization I gave her, she’s very mischievous and prideful and somewhat tsun in that she doesn’t like to play well with others … or at least, that’s what she pretends.

There’s no real story behind Mammoo other than I thought it’s the type of pokémon that would fit Alan’s battling style, and same for Rei.

Honestly, this one was really hard because I don’t like the majority of the Sinnoh ‘dex, and those I do like are already taken by members of Alan’s family (Sycamore has garchomp, Clemont has luxray), or just wouldn’t really fit his battling style (glaceon, leafeon, floatzel). So I struggled a lot with this one, I won’t lie.

Unova:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Krookodile — Rook (Ground/Dark)

Zebstrika — Strike (Electric)

Beartic — Bear (Ice)

Chandelure — Lure (Ghost/Fire)

Bisharp — Sharp (Dark/Steel)

Lizardon is self-explanatory.

Rook seems like the type of pokémon Alan would train (fast, strong, tanky), and so there’s no real story behind this choice. That said, I like to imagine that if Rook met some of Alan’s more mischievous ‘mon from the past (such as, oh, Manyula or Mumaragi), he’s the type they’d try to scapegoat for their own wrongdoings even though he’s super honest and sincere and would never do anything wrong ever in his life if he could help it. Don’t worry, Alan never falls for the lies.

Strike might seem like kind of an odd choice, but I think that zebstrika can be pretty strong and fast and Alan would appreciate that, especially in an electric type. Strike is proud and hates losing, and is prone to tantrums and sulking fits when things don’t go his way. This is something he and Alan work on together.

Bear would have been captured as a cubchoo and not intentionally named Bear, but when Alan first encountered the curious little cubchoo trying to raid his bag for snacks, he said, “Hey there, little bear,” and from there on out the cubchoo would not respond to anything else. So now he’s a bear(tic) … named Bear. So it goes.

Lure tried to, well, lure Alan off a cliff at some point, back when she was still a litwick. That didn’t work, and when it didn’t, Lure tried again and again until finally Alan got exasperated and captured her. She still likes to try to lead him off places, this time in earnest, but she has a bad sense of direction and so she can’t be trusted as navigator even when she’s doing her best. She is a solid member of the team, though.

Sharp is the same bisharp that we see in canon. I had no problems with this one, so why change it? I can’t remember the personality I gave him, except maybe he was another that hated to lose? God, I wish I could find that post. Anyway, Sharp is bisharp, you know how it is.

I hated that canon gave Alan a random unfezant, as mentioned above, so that one got axed. I was also really strongly tempted to give him a haxorus, but I feel that’s Iris’ territory since she has that iconic axew, so I left that be.

Kalos:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Pangoro — Pandar (Fighting/Dark)

Aegislash — Exagide (Steel/Ghost)

Tyrantrum — Rexillus (Rock/Dragon)

Noivern — Bruyverne (Flying/Dragon)

Meowstic — Mistigrix (Psychic)

Lizardon is self-explanatory.

For some reason I imagine Pandar as a little pancham at Sycamore’s lab that becomes utterly fixated on Alan because he (Pandar) wants to grow up to become very strong and knows that Alan could train him to do so. Thus, Alan ends up taking him along on a journey. Lo and behold, Pandar ends up achieving his dreams, so it’s a happy ending for everyone.

I don’t have much of a story for Exagide, but I think that Alan would be very interested in training an aegislash because of how much strategy goes into battling with one. I think he’d find the challenge exciting, and that Exagide would be happy to have someone who appreciated their talents.

Rexillus just seems like the type of pokémon Alan would like, as with so many others on this list. I’d like to flip the script a little and imagine Rexillus as a very lazy pokémon that Alan really has to work with to get motivated, and that even though Rexillus will at least battle reliably now, his favorite activities are still eating, sleeping, and watching cartoons. (He knows what’s up.)

Bruyverne is, I will admit, a personal bias of mine because I really like noivern, so even though Ash had one, well … it’s not an iconic pokémon of Ash’s, so it’s fine. Hell, maybe Alan was even inspired by Ash’s, I don’t know. Either way, I do think noivern would suit Alan’s battling style, and thus Bruyverne would be a good fit.

Mistigrix might seem weird, but I decided to give one to Alan as a call to the game character Emma, who I feel at least partially inspired Alan’s inclusion in the anime. Emma has an espurr named Mimi, and so I feel that giving Alan an espurr (and then meowstic) works. This works even better if we go with an idea I had once where Emma was Alan’s childhood friend in Lumiose, and she still has Mimi; she has her girl, Mimi, and Alan has his boy, Mistigrix, inspired by Emma and her Mimi. They make a pretty good team.

Alola:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Mimikyu — Kyu (Ghost/Fairy)

Mudsdale — Dale (Ground)

(Midday) Lycanroc — Lycan (Rock)

Kommo-o — Kommo (Dragon/Fighting)

Toxapex — Tox (Poison/Water)

Lizardon is self-explanatory.

Kyu is a carry over from my fic To Devour the Sun, although I guess saying that is spoilers a little bit. Regardless, one of the ideas I have for near the end of the fic is for Alan to go off to the abandoned Thrifty Megamart to get some space and time alone (with Lizardon, of course), and while he’s there enjoying the quiet, a very lonely but curious mimikyu ends up coming up to him. The mimikyu means no harm, and she seems to be hurting in some way that he can’t quite identify, but that he empathizes with … so he takes her with him. He names her “Kyu” both because it’s a play on her name, and because she’s curious; “Kyu” sounds like “Q,” like question. (Also, I’ll fully admit that I love mimikyu with all my heart, so. This is a bit of personal bias, too, but I still think it’d be interesting to see Alan with a mimikyu that rides around on his shoulder because she, like Ash’s Pikachu, doesn’t like pokéballs.)

Dale doesn’t have a story behind him, but he seems to fit Alan’s battling style. Also, tbh, Alan is a hero, so we might as well give him a gallant steed to ride on in at least one region.

Lycan is a result of my third eye opening and finally allowing me to see sense. For the longest time I planned on giving Midday Lycanroc to Sycamore in To Devour the Sun, as a play on the whole “papa wolf” theme. As a result I was going to give Alan a drampa here, particularly because I feel that a drampa would gravitate to this boy. However, I have that so backwards. Sycamore should get the drama, as the caretaker of children who can get fiercely protective over them (were it not for the laws of Kalosian land Sycamore may well have burned Isolé Village down for how they treated Alan), and a regal wolf suits Alan far more. Plus, this also works in the sense that Ash has dusk lycanroc, while two of his rivals have the other two forms (Gladion with Midnight, and Alan with Midday). It works out.

Anyway, Lycan still has a very protective personally when it comes to his pack, which is Alan and the rest of the team. So he still acts like a papa wolf, at least.

(Also, don’t tell Sycamore’s drampa about Isolé or it very well might still get burned down after all.)

Kommo is another that I imagine would try to challenge Alan to fights, ultimately see that he can’t win, and then want to come along to train and get stronger. So not a very original story, I guess, but Alan attracts these types because he has that type of warrior spirit.

Tox is kind of a random choice to most, I imagine, but of the remaining pokémon in Alola I figure that toxapex is a good fit. It’s a bit outside of Alan’s normal training style, perhaps, but I think he’d like that challenge.

Final Team:

Charizard — Lizardon (Fire/Flying; Fire/Dragon)

Absol — Sol (Dark)

Mimikyu — Kyu (Ghost/Fairy)

Salamence — Bohmander (Dragon/Flying)

Tyranitar — Bangiras (Rock/Dark)

Aerodactyl — Ptera (Rock/Flying)

a.k.a. The team one would be likely to face if battling him when he’s the Champion.

I spent about three hours putting this all together, and this final team was probably the hardest one. I honestly have a notepad open that I’ve been using to do a base rundown of weaknesses and type coverage and, honestly, I feel like I should be going even deeper by selecting natures and movesets and all that, but … it’s 3am. I’m tired. So I’m not going to do that right now, even though Alan deserves it.

Anyway, my reasoning:

As an overview, I was torn between two different themes. Part of me wanted to give Alan’s final team the theme of mega evolution, in that every single pokémon on it would be capable of mega evolution. The other part of me felt that it was more important to give him pokémon that had more emotional value to him and his story, particularly since the only ‘mon on his team that would be mega evolving during battle would be Lizardon. In the end I did a bit of both; five out of six pokémon on the team above are capable of mega evolution, but I also did my best to choose at least most of them due to emotional weight with regards to him and his story.

So with that said:

Lizardon, as I’ve said a billion times by now, is self-explanatory. He’s Alan’s partner, his platonic soulmate—these two are never going to be separated. Their partnership is so iconic, so legendary, that anyone who even knows of Alan in a passing fashion (“oh yeah, he’s the Kalos Champion”) knows that Lizardon will show up if one challenges Alan to a battle. They’re like Ash and Pikachu. There’s no separation here. And of course, Lizardon is the one who mega evolves as well, meaning that it’s not even that easy to plan against him since his type could change to Fire/Dragon mid-battle. (So, you brought a water-type to deal with him? Too bad for you, he’s not weak to water anymore, suckaaa.)

Sol is included because of everything said above about Alan’s reclamation / healing with absol. Absol don’t cause disasters, and neither did Alan himself. He and Sol would grow really close throughout this process and I feel that Sol would be a very strong member of the team, even though she only has that one singular typing. Sol is also capable of mega evolution, though she would not mega evolve since, no matter how close they are, she and Alan don’t have that level of bond. That’s reserved for Lizardon.

Kyu is also a healing pokémon in Alan’s story, in the sense that when Alan first finds her, her actual Jolly nature has been pretty worn down and smothered by her isolation and other past traumas, the nature of which Alan is never able to learn (but figures it’s not his business anyway). But as they travel and train together, she’s able to heal and her true nature is able to come through. I think that, when looking at the rest of Alan’s team, a mimikyu seems rather unexpected—but that actually works in their favor, particularly given how wicked strong mimikyu can be (and how strong Alan’s in particular would be, given that he would absolutely utilize that Swords Dance + Play Rough / Shadow Claw combo). Kyu would be a smart choice to trip people up.

Bohmander, more often called Boh and inspired by Zinnia, is an important emotional choice for Alan because of that association. I don’t want to spoil too many of my ideas for this adaptation of the Delta Episode (though whether I’ll ever get it written and posted is another matter altogether), but Alan and Zinnia have a platonic, spiritual kinship of sorts that that they feel on a level they can’t entirely explain. They go through a lot together, and come out better because of it. Boh would, in a way, be a reminder of all that, on top of Alan caring for him as a pokémon. Plus, he’s a dragon and he can mega evolve (though he wouldn’t), so that also earns him a place on the team.

Bangiras doesn’t really have emotional significance, but despite being weak to practically everything, type-wise, tyranitar is still an extremely strong pokémon, and is capable of mega evolution (though again, he wouldn’t) to boot. I feel like Bangiras wouldn’t exactly be comfortable hanging out at the lab, and if Alan raised him up from a larvitar, releasing him into the wild would also be a pretty painful choice since it takes so long for larvitar to reach the tyranitar stage. So I feel like keeping Bangiras on the Champion team is worthwhile, even if Bonnie starts singing “Getta Ban Ban” every time she sees him.

Lastly, Ptera is a choice I’m still waffling about, but ultimately decided upon because, while Ptera is technically not a dragon, aerodactyl is dragon-like enough to the point where Lance had one back in Gens I and II. Additionally, aerodactyl is capable of mega evolution (though she wouldn’t), so thematically she also fits in that sense as well. I think in the real world competitive scene aerodactyl isn’t valued so much (unlike tyranitar), but the anime operates by different rules and aerodactyl are shown to be pretty fierce there, so I think that Ptera would still be a smart choice. (Plus, aerodactyl can learn Aqua Tail via move tutor … that would come in handy for any pesky ground-types.)

All that said, I’m still waffling about Ptera because part of me feels like Meta would also be a very good choice. Meta tries very hard and wants to be strong to make Alan happy, so it makes me feel bad to leave them off the type, and Steel/Psychic adds a bit more variety to the above type set. However, the reason why I’m waffling is because even though Meta was inspired by Steven’s metagross, metagross just doesn’t feel like a very Alan pokémon in the same way that an aerodactyl does. Aerodactyl are dragon-esque, and metagross are … robot-esque, I guess? I think I read once they were inspired by UFOs? Metagross stands out in a way that doesn’t feel very true to him, and while it could be argued the same for mimikyu, I think the backstory that I created for Kyu (which honest to god did develop naturally as I was outlining To Devour the Sun) feels like it makes up for it, versus “Steven had a metagross and that seemed inspiring so I caught a beldum to raise up myself.” I love Meta, but ultimately this is why they didn’t make the cut. Though that said, this could easily be a situation where Alan’s sixth pokémon is up for debate, and you see either Ptera or Meta and you’re never sure which one it will be before the battle … that could be the case, too. (Although honestly, that could go for any of his pokémon, because in a universe where he honest to god did catch all these, he could call upon any of them at any time. I imagine the same is true for Ash when Ash is Champion, even if Ash has a more “regular” team that he has on him when traveling and such.)

Anyway, a few more notes:

I really debated adding Soot to the team, since Soot has a VERY strong emotional tie to Alan, second only to Lizardon. However, I think that Soot would prefer belly rubs over battles, so while he can battle, he prefers to spend his time at home being a house dog instead. Alan respects that, and thus doesn’t have him on the active roster. (There’s also the fact that Soot is the only pokémon that Lizardon … it’s nothing personal. Soot hasn’t done anything wrong. But on some level that Lizardon doesn’t like to talk about, he’s jealous of the fact that Soot knew Alan before he did and has a kind of special bond with him because of what happened in Isolé. Lizardon knows that what he has with Alan could never be replaced, but … that sort of unreasonable jealousy is still there. So honestly, Lizardon wouldn’t want Soot on the permanent roster, so it’s good that Soot doesn’t like battling much anyway.)

I did briefly consider Rexillus, particularly since that’s another dragon, but then I remembered that Rex is a lazybones that doesn’t like battling either, so it’d make more sense for Alan to use someone like Bangiras who does enjoy battling instead.

I really, really, really wanted Yoru on the team because, thematically, noctowl suits Alan so well—but ultimately there are stronger choices, so as much as I love Yoru, he’s not a regular battler. (Except for in canon when he was totally in the League instead of that ridiculous fanon unfezant, am I right?)

Anyway, it’s about 3:30am now and I really need to get some sleep, so I’m going to leave this here for now. (I’ll also probably schedule it for a daytime reblog since I’m posting this at an ungodly hour.) Sorry I decided to be so extra about this instead of just answering the question more simply, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! Thanks for asking!

#decadeoldtiger #trainer alan #trainer alain #my valiant dragon son #meta #champion alan

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cartoonfangirl1218 · 4 years ago

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Just like Fire ch. 3

"And all the people say! You can't wake up, this is not a dream. You're part of a machine, you are not a human being. With your face all made up, living on a screen. Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline" - Halsey (Gasoline)

"Uh who are you?" Claire asked. She had spent two months of boredom in the Center already and today she had opened the door to her dorm room and standing in front of it was a tall man in a dark black suit with penetrating brown eyes.

"You may call me, Kurt, I want to us to be friends," the man said flanked by two guys that looked like agents and the Director.

"Claire, Kurt is from the government. He is very interested in you, and would like to help you control and use your powers." The Director said, unusually fidgety.

"My powers.."

"To help the government. You would be doing is a big favor. Saving lives, making the world a better place. You'll be our secret weapon against our enemies." Kurt smiled broadly.

"I'm only 13.” Claire said, sitting on her bed. She disliked the way "Kurt" was staring at her. She knew it was probably stupid, but the guy made her uncomfortable. He was too suave, too friendly to be a government agent.

"Never too young to start serving your country." Kurt chirped.

"Um, we already signed you up,” the Director continued.

"You what?" Claire's amber eyes blazed angrily. She already had been sign to this place without her permission, she wasn't going to the government too!

"Well you seemed so bored here. I.. I thought you would like a little work. Be useful." Director stammered looking between her and Kurt, “Kurt is very eager to start, and the program is all going to be focused on you."

"We're calling it, Project Firestorm" Kurt announced proudly. "Please," Director leaned closer to her "Trust me."

Claire bristled. Last time she trusted someone, her parents, they left her.

But she did like the Director somewhat. He never yelled at her when she got frustrated and burn the furniture, or when she got in a fight with a kid that used his telekinesis to hit her with a cup and always let her stop testing when she asked, and use her free time to watch tv.

Besides it's not like she had anything else to do here.

"Okay, I'll do it.”

The Director beamed happily at Kurt and Kurt smiled at her. He lead her to a limo outside.

"Driver, take her to headquarters. I'll meet you later, Claire, I need to settle conditions with the the Director." Kurt said.

Claire looked absentmindedly out the car. She had no idea what she was getting into, she was slightly nervous but she tried to calm down. A whole program dedicated to her. And Project Firestorm sounded like such a cool name.

Once the car stopped, the driver led her to a dirty warehouse, but the inside was a different story. The place was gleaming white, the hallway seemed a mile long with what seemed like thousands of rooms on each side with scientists and other smart people rushing around.

"Go to the first room on the left" the driver nodded and left her alone so she did as she was told and walked to a empty room.

There stood a scientist with a silver suit. He was thin, rigid and reminded Claire of an icicle. Sounded like one too, cracked and screechy.

"So you're our new weapon. Hmm.." He looked her up and down, examining her faded "I love rock n roll" shirt and jeans.

"Uh me? I...I um. Sure. I guess so. Yes, yes I am. Claire Selton." Claire mumbled, holding out her hand.

He ignored her hand, "Forget your old name, know what forgot your entire life. From now on your name is Volcana." the man said.

Claire felt panicky by what the guy was saying: Forget her life? "Um excuse me. What do you mean about forgetting my life?"

"Use your powers" he continued on as if she hadn't spoken "The Director said you could do a lot. Do it. Everything you know.”

"I thought you wanted me to forget"

She felt a sharp slap on her cheek, "Don't test me." The man hissed "Use your powers"

Normally she would have set the guy's clothes on fire for daring to hit her, but he was under Project Firestorm. Everyone here was. She didn't feel she should argue right now. So she just did as she was told. From the first trick of setting the floor on fire to the fire breathing she had been practicing yesterday. "Your files didn't lie. You do I have a tremendous aptitude for this,” He murmured sagely.

"My files?" The man glared at her, as if he would like to take off her mouth.

“The Center has everyone on file. And since we help support it, they let us see the files for any meta humans we can use for our projects" he rattled on as if he told this to people every day. "Now Volcana, have you ever killed someone?" Claire paused a little unsettled by the new name and the question before answering "No.”

"Well I would like you to try to kill this dummy. With your powers. Burn it to the ground. Blast it with a fireball. Your choice.” Two scientist wheeled out a test robot the size of a man. "Go!” Icicle man commanded. Claire hesitated for a second but decided to blast with a fireball. The robot sailed a few feet back before flopping on the ground, sparking uselessly, in ashes.

They pulled out several more robots, some that moved, some that shot at her. But all fell to the same death by fire.

Then the wheeled out a real man. He looked average. Cropped blonde hair, broad shoulders, average height. But he was tied to a chair and gagged. Terrified. He kept shaking his head, moving desperately and sweating.

"Kill him.”

"I..I can't. He's just a guy.. I couldn't" Claire shook her head, feeling faint at the sight. She couldn’t think of anything, no fire, just the poor man’s terrified eyes. "He's a enemy of the state!" The man pulled her hair back and slapped on a shiny black collar. "Every time you disobey orders, you get a severe electrical shock," the man casually informed.

Claire felt a pain go through her system, hard, burning and fast. She fell to the ground, screaming.

"And I will continue to shock you until you do your job." the man said calmly as the shock wore off and she got to her knees panting "Now kill him.”

Before she could answer, she knelt to the ground, screaming in pain as the shock burned more near her throat, she felt like she was losing air.

Once it wore off, she thought about the man. Burning, burning in the chair, engulfed in flames. She slowly opened her clenched eyes and forced herself to see the reality.

The man screaming, knocking the chair and himself to the ground until he stopped moving. The scientists used water to douse him. Claire could see the body, scarred and burned beyond recognition, and threw up.

"Get it together!" The man screamed "You are a weapon, Volcana. You're going to be killing a lot of people from now on. Get use to it and focus!!" "I don't want to!”

"Ugh useless." The man groaned, "Show her the discipline room, she better see what happens before she thinks of misbehaving."

The scientist drag Claire to the discipline room, Claire tried to stand but still wanted to stop and throw up.

The man, the poor poor man. The locked her into a chair in front of a bucket of water. One scientist stood behind her and another stood in front of her with a fire extinguisher pointed at her face. Then sprayed the retardant.

The foam got into her nose and eyes and mouth and she felt the burning sensation in her neck again. The air in her throat disappearing fast and none was coming in. Just foam. She hacked and breathed desperately, when her face was shoved into the water.

The coma came off but he held her there. The burning in her lungs burned more and she felt her heart pump furiously.

"I'm going to die." she thought, "They're trying to kill me.”

The man lifted her head out of the water, letting her gasp for oxygen when she got sprayed again.

This repeated over and over until Claire felt she was going to faint again. She was brought up to air once more and saw Kurt sitting in front of her now. "What the hell?" She screamed, "I don't understand. I thought I was going to help you. Not kill people!"

"You are helping by killing people. You are our weapon now." Kurt said, patronizingly patting her head. "But I don't want to.”

"You will. Claire, your abilities are magnificent and we must use it to our advantage." Kurt insisted, his voice self assured that she would do what he said. And a sucking feeling in Claire’s stomach told her he was right. But she wouldn’t without a fight. "But I don't want to be called Volcana or be disciplined or shot at or....."

"Claire, YOU don't understand. You are better than most meta-humans and thus you are better than humans. You don't need to be lowered to their standards. You shouldn't want to. You are above them. You are a weapon. And you shall be treated as such here. So those things you had before like family, entertainment, and such. You don't actually need them. All you need is your mission and our commands. You don't need humans and humans don't want you.”

His voice changed from its confident tone to a softer one, “The Director mentioned that your parents left you for that, correct?"

Claire stiffened, annoyed by the traitorous lump in her throat. "Cadmus wants you. We want you. We do. So listen to us. Trust us. This will be your new life."

#claire selton #volcana #where’s the smoke #superman: the animated series #my fanfic #my fanfiction #just like fire #ch. 3

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st33d · 4 years ago

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All These Worlds Are Yours (Except Europa)

It’s been a while since my last CRPG report and I have played quite a lot of CRPGs in the meantime. I’m going to keep it brief. It’s by no means all the games I played over the past year or so, but it is all the games that are worth playing in some fashion or another.

Yet again I didn’t really bother to get decent screenshots so you’ll have to endure some tangentially related Shutterstock photos.

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

It’s like Etrian Odyssey but made by horny 14 year olds. Monsters take the form of purple-black eyes that move only when you do. Colliding with them triggers a JRPG battle with your team. You must conquer around a dozen or so dungeons to defeat a mysterious evil whilst learning about your protagonist’s horny hubris.

I like how it automatically fills in the in-game map, only drawing tiles you have stepped in. Stairways also connect perfectly on most dungeons, leading to some detective work to solve them. The combat is passable. The story is PG13 with random suggestions of poop and sex without really showing any. It’s… a good game with a lot of simple mechanics that it layers up over time to make something quite complex. I really enjoyed solving the dungeons but it’s such a multilayered ball of weirdness that I hesitate recommending it.

Dragon’s Dogma

It’s like Skyrim but with less items, less map, and decent fights. Like, really decent fights. You can climb on the back of beasts and hack pieces off of them or shoot magic arrows that do a host of cool things. The story is pretty anime - I can’t get into why without some major spoilers. Safe to say that after the first (and honestly entertaining) chunk of the game you get an overlay of falling ash pinned to your screen and the monsters become hit point sponges. That’s around when I stopped playing because it felt like I’d reached “an” ending and the rest was about beating as many dead horses with whatever sticks I could upgrade enough to hit them with. Last time I fired it up I got in an hour long fight with an off-brand beholder that basically respawned all its limbs eight times because of its egregious hit points.

You’re joined by some enthusiastic AI companions called pawns who have no story and just kinda throw themselves at enemies whilst repeating the same phrases over and over. I’m not really sure if they’re a blessing or curse. The game overall is pretty jank with terrible traversal (don’t explore, the quests will send you to every corner of the map anyway - twice). Despite all my complaints it’s a lot of fun - at least until the 1st ending. It’s cheap and I recommend it.

Sky Rogue

It’s like a lot of aircraft dogfight games but a bit random. I’ve played this a bit on single player and it’s alright. However I have played many, many, missions in the 2 player mode with a coworker. It’s just very satisfying doing the whole Top Gun team thing taking on a bunch of enemy planes whilst working on upgrades.

Disco Elysium

It’s like Planescape Torment but without the tedious combat or problematic writer behind it. There’s a video of one of the devs explaining how the dialogue is laid out like Twitter in tabloid format for easy reading. This is revolutionary. I want every computer text game to use this format from now on.

I cannot stress how important it is to enter Disco Elysium unprepared. To have no grasp on just how far you will be allowed to explore, who you will meet, who you will travel with, or what you are expected to do. It is a game about amnesia and becoming someone new - if that is at all possible.

I have two pieces of advice however:

Don’t start with Psyche or Physique stats below 2, they’re both your health and the game will surprise you with damage to either in the most unexpected places.

Do every quest. Explore every nook and cranny. Not knowing is the very essence of the game. You’ll have lost that feeling after the ending.

I don’t need to tell you how good the game is. Just look at most reviews.

Everspace

It’s like Descent (that 1st person spacecraft game on the PSX) but in space and it’s a roguelike. Everspace has you mine, salvage, fight, trade, and quest - but you do it all from the comfort of a spaceship that has responsive controls and interesting weaponry. I had a lot of fun skulking round wrecks to salvage parts whilst avoiding patrols of hostiles until I had enough kit to take them on.

It has a substandard storyline but great meta-progression, asking you to grind cash from each run to unlock parts for a better ship on the next. I put in a great deal of hours into this game and I’m looking forward to what the studio does with the sequel.

Horizon Zero Dawn

It’s like Shadow of Mordor but good. My only major complaint was how constant use of the bow had the camera staying uncomfortably close to Aloy’s arse and burying itself in grass during frenetic combat. When the camera wasn’t trying to kill me the combat was astoundingly good. You fight lumbering robo-dinosaurs with special weak spots and various attacks. The quests are also good with a surprising amount of cutscenes and dialogue for a lot of completely optional content.

I was also amazed at how they managed to pull off an almost believable backstory for a world full of robot dinosaurs. Despite some frustrating combat encounters I had a good time exploring its large and very pretty world.

Pathfinder Kingmaker

It’s like Baldurs Gate but not as good. Only on my 3rd attempt at playing the game with the newly patched in turn based mechanics did it start to make sense. It uses Pathfinder’s rules which are deep and tactical - as tactical rules go they’re pretty good. However when those rules fly by at real time speed you don’t learn how opportunity attacks work (they’re more complex than modern D&D) or how to utilise charge and positioning.

The story is pretty forgettable and the encounter design is relentlessly dull. A lot of areas are just simply fight after fight after fight. In turn based mode the fights are pretty good but too many of them are identical. The ones that weren’t I found inscrutable and impossible to pass. If you like min-max fighting and little else then have at it - but I warn you that the UI is lagging behind most popular CRPGs. You can’t even check the world map whilst in a town.

Metal Gear Solid V

It’s like an RPG. Despite not having a main character with stats, in this open world game of hide and seek you kidnap soldiers who in turn become your stats. Through them you gain access to new abilities. Through them you are drip-fed the resources you steal, only becoming able to spend all that you’ve stolen by having enough accountants to do your taxes. It is a brilliant work of roleplaying economics and a thoroughly enjoyable open world game. One where I can completely ruin a mission yet chuckle at my attempts to save what’s left of my dignity.

It also fails to stick the landing. At around the 20th mission the game starts committing to its plot and the rot sets in. Bit by bit it becomes worse to play. There was trouble at Konami when the game was made and it feels like the end of the game was hit the hardest. This was the part that was tested the least and had the worst ideas thrown into it. Metal Gear Solid V is still worth it for the 1st half of the game.

Final Fantasy 8

It’s like the other Final Fantasy games but poorly paced and balanced. The junction system is incredibly interesting in that it tries to sidestep the whole issue of items by gluing your characters to guardian angels. It’s built in card game Triple Triad is simple and engaging. The story is kinda interesting with some time travel shenanigans going on...

But it’s pacing is dreadful with endlessly copypasted rooms. The magic draw system is miserable (and yes I know you can get GFs to convert items to magic but then it’s more tedious busy work to upscale all the magic into something work attaching). The world map is shockingly empty. And the characters are just yawn, yawn, yawn.

Pick it up on sale.

Torchlight 2

It’s like Diablo 2 but not quite as good. Still worth playing though. I got it on the Switch and found that playing it with a gamepad was a pleasant experience.

It has a few balance problems with the Engineer class being ridiculously overpowered compared to any of the others (and way more fun). And there’s some annoying bugs that prompted a few reloads. Still pretty entertaining however.

Pokemon Shield

It’s like every other Pokemon game (surprise surprise) but easier. As much as I like how they’ve removed a lot of busywork from this entry, it makes it feel like the only challenge in the previous titles was the busywork. When really it was the busywork that held you back from just kerb-stomping everything in your path.

It’s not until the final DLC that you’re given some pokemon that are needlessly tedious to catch and some group battles using randomly selected pokemon that test your knowledge of the game’s systems. The only real challenge in the game is in the online multiplayer against humans where your pokemon level is normalised and encyclopedic knowledge of the title’s history is required.

My internet is terrible so the online gameplay is dead to me. It’s a very fun game, but also a very disappointing one.

Burnout Paradise

It’s like a sandbox game for cars. Except that you’re not really driving a car, it’s more like you’re driving a bobsleigh with a rocket attached to it. Unlike most driving games you aren’t given terrain that slows you down. Even if you hit a wall you’ll skate off it so long as you collide sideways. The game just wants you to drive like an arsehole and go faster and faster - to the tune of Epic by Faith No More (literally).

I mean yeah, it’s not an RPG by any stretch but it’s one of the best sandbox games I’ve played. Even when you’re not doing a “mission” you can just drive around the city finding back alleys and ramps to fly off of. It’s just a massive playground with very little negative feedback.

Cyberpunk 2077

It’s like a bunch of different games you’ve played before but not quite as good. The story is the best bit. I really liked the characters I got to hang out with. I guess I would have enjoyed the gun fights if I hadn’t been playing Doom 1 before I played it. And I would have enjoyed the stealth if I hadn’t already played Metal Gear Solid V with its superior A.I. It has cool Obra Dinn style brain movies to explore for detective work but I enjoyed the spectacle of them more than the execution (though I did enjoy them more than Obra Dinn which I found tedious to navigate or understand).

I saw one review say it was the most backwards view of the future. Not imagining what could be but endlessly paying homage to cyberpunk stories of the past.

I see other reviews say play it when it’s fixed. When the myriad of bugs (and I experienced enough to impact gameplay) are solved.

I say play the sequel. It’s worth experiencing but there’s too much going on that’s playing catch up to other titles.

Shiren The Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate

It’s like Rogue. I first played Shiren 2 on the Nintendo DS and was amazed by its deep systems and story meta progression - various tales progressing in the game only after each death and subsequent replay.

This entry is technically Shiren 5. Holy shit the content in this thing. There are 15 optional dungeons with different rules. Over a hundred block pushing puzzles using various mechanics of the game that you can just walk up and play in the 2nd village you enter. A minesweeper minigame. Loads of tutorial levels. All of these give you rewards which you can take on your main adventure which is a wholly different set of dungeons. I’ve unlocked several companions to adventure with and the game is hinting there are even more later on. It is obscene the amount of value there is packed into this title. And it’s fun. A little unfair at times, but as with all roguelikes the later depths require knowledge and a lot of caution. Strong recommendation for roguelikers.

Dicey Dungeons

It’s like Dream Quest but with dice. I played the prototype of this at the 7DRL after party. Terry was quite bashful about his creation and didn’t want to submit it. I honestly didn’t see why he shouldn’t as many of us had made far worse in the past.

I put off playing this until it finally landed on the Switch as complete as any roguelike can hope to be. It’s quite different to Dream Quest in that it requires a bit of math to do well in. If you’re not prepared to do basic sums then it’s hard to make progress. Also unlike Dream Quest it’s very balanced. There’s definitely some cheesy tactics you can pull off to get cheap victories but not without some thought and planning.

In a sea of deck building roguelikes, Dicey Dungeons is quite simply refreshing. There’s a lot of good ideas in here you won’t see elsewhere - give it a go.

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lionwithouthonour-blog · 7 years ago

Note

Meta prompt -- what exactly was going through Jaime's mind during the Loot Train Battle?

Okay, I have to admit I almost had to look up which was the Loot Train Battle because I’ve got so used to everyone just calling it the Field of Fire 2.0...

That aside, this is going to get really long (like really long; I can write an essay on this), and there’s almost definitely gonna be some stuff that could potentially be seen as ‘anti-Dany’ so...I’m just warning you so you can’t get mad and say I didn’t.

I think one thing that’s important to remember about this particular battle (and ironically one thing practically everyone tends to forget) is that it’s one that Jaime never saw coming. As far as he was concerned - hell, as far as any of them were concerned - all the fighting was done once they’d taken Highgarden. Just before the battle seems set to begin, he’s told that the gold has safely entered King’s Landing, which if anyone was going to attack them, surely the gold would be the target and not a few wagons of food. All Jaime’s got to worry about now is getting said wagons of food and the last of the Lannister/Tarly forces back into the city and they’re home and dry. And also it’s probably important to note his attitude towards the soldiers as demonstrated early in the scene: Lord Tarly says that flogging them will make them move into the city faster, Jaime tells him not to. Why is this detail important? Because it shows that on some level, Jaime cares about these men. Lord Tarly demonstrates the attitude of caring about them as a commander to an army, Jaime demonstrates the attitude of caring about them as people. People who have probably already spent a long amount of time marching at a forced pace and who probably haven’t had much time for resting or eating or anything else - again, they want to just get everything back to the city. And that’s another important detail to remember.

Now, when the Dothraki appear, they’re forced to fight a battle that nobody was expecting to come, on a terrain that’s the worst possible kind for facing that particular enemy, and against an enemy that probably none of them have ever faced the likes of before. And that’s even before the dragon shows up. Generally speaking, the tail end of a train of soldiers would not be so heavily armed or defensible - all the best soldiers would have been with the gold up ahead and now safely in King’s Landing. Realistically speaking, at least one of the main four (Jaime, Bronn, Lord Tarly and Dickon), probably two at minimum, would have been somewhere up at the front of the train, but dramatic license blahdeblah moving on. Now, they find themselves essentially cornered on an open field (and just FYI, I’m getting tired of people using Robert’s line of “only a fool would face the Dothraki on an open field” to mock Jaime in this moment; like what the fuck else was he supposed to do..?), and about to do battle when they’re clearly outnumbered and probably quite sapped for strength anyway. Still, Jaime refuses to leave them even when Bronn practically orders him to. His “we can hold them off” is, in my opinion at least, a direct response to what Bronn is saying which basically amounts to “everyone here is gonna die in a sec and if you stay then you’ll die too”. They’re both right by the line of Lannister soldiers when Bronn says that and in battle, that kind of attitude is one of the worst that you can have. It’s like in LotR at Helm’s Deep when Legolas starts going off on one about how hopeless the odds are (though granted he does it in Elvish, at least) - it’s just something you shouldn’t say even if you totally believe it and especially not where others can probably hear you. Even if Drogon wasn’t the master of Ironic Dramatic Timing, the argument would probably have ended there. It was less about the words being said than just trying to get Bronn to shut up.

And then the dragon appears...and this is where the potential anti-Dany stuff is gonna start showing so...heads up. First, I would just like to casually remind everyone that no one on the Lannister side has ever seen a dragon before. Oh sure, Jaime’s seen the skulls and maybe even Bronn has too, but this is something totally different. It would be the same as if you suddenly came face-to-face with a living breathing and intent on killing you T-Rex. And while they’re somewhat prepared for it with the Scorpion, again, huge difference between dead skull and living dragon. And that gets shown in all its logic-bomb glory. Second, this isn’t like when Tyrion first saw them, or Jon first saw them. Jaime is facing Drogon knowing full well that he’s going to be used as a weapon against them. This isn’t just a probability like it was for the other two, this is a certainty. And using a dragon in a swords-and-arrows battle like this would pretty much be the equivalent of using modern-day bombing techniques in a swords-and-arrows battle. While they stood little chance of success against the Dothraki, against Drogon alone they stand no chance and against Drogon and the Dothraki, Jaime knows they are going to be obliterated.

Now, from a technical side of things, I would like to point out that the battle is filmed almost utterly entirely from the Lannister army’s point of view, particularly focusing on Jaime and Bronn. This is the first time we’ve seen a full-scale dragon attack from anyone else’s point of view other than Daenerys’. You know how a lot of people felt more uncomfortable watching this battle in particular than they normally did during dragon attacks? This is the reason why. Instead of the destruction being shown as a wonderful thing and utterly 100% deserved, this showed the destruction as the destruction it really is: men screaming and turning to ash, throwing themselves in the water to drown to try and put out the flames (seriously, the original final shot of the episode was meant to be Jaime seeing his men drowning), sheer and utter terror and chaos everywhere. Also, that scene with the Lannister soldiers and Arya in the woods that everyone just dismissed as a cameo for Ed Sheeren? Well, I’m not gonna argue about that, but I would argue that that scene was a direct prelude to this one. Whether you realised it or not at the time, it humanised the Lannister army, it made it clear that these were not necessarily men who agreed with Cersei or even completely wanted to be there. These were men like any other, who had lives and families and for whom being a soldier was just a job. To everyone who argues that the soldiers were fine to be killed simply by virtue of being a soldier, I repeat: these people had no knowledge on how to fight a fucking dragon! They didn’t sign up to fight a fucking dragon! Most of them probably didn’t even sign up, they were likely conscripted. The logic of that would basically be the same as saying “Oh, you took martial arts courses? You must know how to defuse a bomb!” Also, again I repeat, the best soldiers would have been with the gold up at the front of the train. Jaime, Bronn and (to a lesser extent) Tyrion are the POV characters in this battle and none of them feel good about what’s happening. We as an audience are not meant to be feeling good about what’s happening. Of course, purely choosing a POV won’t control how every single person watching feels because obviously if you like Dany more than you like any of the three POV characters, you’re gonna think this is the best thing since sliced bread no matter how it’s presented. But from a meta side of things, from the set-up, to the acting, to the directing, to just how the thing is filmed, there is a very deliberate attempt to make the audience uncomfortable at the very least with this whole situation.

Going specifically back to Jaime, the next key moment I wanna talk about is the moment he sends Bronn off to the Scorpion rather than going himself. Now, I’ve made jokes about this too, that Jaime is just using his hand as an excuse to get Bronn to do something for him (see pretty much the entire journey to find Myrcella in Dorne). Do I actually think this is his intention in this moment? No. He’s being 100% serious. By this point, chaos has taken over the battle. Drogon is burning stuff left right and centre, the Dothraki have broken through the Lannister lines, their men are being absolutely slaughtered. Jaime’s always demonstrated the desire for ending battles and wars quickly and with minimum damage. Drogon needs to be brought down and fast if they’re going to stand even the slightest chance of getting through this. Jaime is stating an absolute fact that he can’t operate the Scorpion with one hand and certainly not with the degree of skill needed to bring Drogon down. Bronn is literally the only realistic option in that moment.

Finally, because I know this is getting ridiculously long (and I want to congratulate you if you’ve read this far), I’m gonna talk about that last little bit. When Jaime’s looking around at all the men dead and dying and on fire and screaming, I am 100% certain that he’s connecting what he’s seeing in that moment to all the times he had to watch people burning with wildfire in the Mad King’s court. There’s a gifset on here that I’ve reblogged that has this scene with his confession to Brienne (’”Burn them all” he kept saying. “Burn them all”’). I personally have a headcanon (that may or may not be confirmed, honestly I haven’t done enough bts research to know) that Jaime suffers from some sort of repressed trauma from everything he saw and experienced in his time as a Kingsguard to Aerys, and if he does then the sight/sound of people being burned alive would almost certainly be a trigger to it (in the true sense of the term). And it really does look like he’s having some kind of traumatic episode in that moment. Then he sees Dany with the now-downed Drogon, and I honestly think he means what he says to Bronn in the next episode - when he sees her and sees that spear, he thinks he’s found a way to stop the war and more importantly, stop more instances of this. He would have been told the stories of the original Field of Fire, and he has his own experience with the Mad King to draw on. In that moment, Daenerys isn’t the “breaker of chains” or anything good, at least not to Jaime; she’s just exactly what Cersei’s always described her to be - a foreign conqueror who is willing to destroy Westeros if it only means she can rule it (which is one of the reasons pretty much everyone advised her against this action in the first place). And more importantly, she is the Mad King’s daughter, with all the implications of that. He killed Aerys to stop thousands of people burning - and for over 20 years his life has been defined by that act whether for good or not; why would he do anything different here if he has the chance? Jaime literally has nothing else to draw on to decide what kind of person she is besides what he’s seen in this battle, and he sees her at her absolute worst. And it’s a well-established part of his character that he tends to act before he thinks and this is a highly stressful situation where thinking isn’t really much of an option anyway. Of course he’s going to take the chance to try and kill her and, by proxy, stop all the damage that he’s seeing in that moment she’s capable of causing.

So I have a lot of feelings on this scene (and the aftermath in the next episode as well). To everyone/anyone that actually read this whole thing, feel free to agree or disagree as you wish and well done for actually reading the whole thing in the first place (told you I could write an essay on this).

#ooc; out of hands #[ meta talk ]#long post #((So I've been putting off answering this but here you go))#Anonymous #[ headcanon alert ]

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timesorceror · 8 years ago

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Day 14 (January 20th) - Anders and Templars

Think of this as a vent day, about how much you understand Anders’ hatred of the Templars, or meta about him and why he hates the Templars, or a fic or art of him rightfully destroying, or ranting about Templar abuses.

For @justhanderspositive‘s challenge: [HERE].

Wrote this during a few sprints with some of my DA Weird Shit™ Discord Chat buddies. They really force you to think on your fingers, so to speak.

Anders swung the bladed end of the staff into the side of the Templar's armor, right between the straps that held the side plates together. He grunted when he felt the chilling slickness of a Smite run over him, but he didn't need magic to bring down this monster of a man.

He didn't know this one’s name. Didn't care to.

The templar had betrayed his trust during this transfer in the tunnels beneath the city, and it was Anders' job to keep the mages safe no matter whether he had his magic or not. He could feel Justice in his head, guiding his motions, the swings of the staff becoming smoother now, faster. More fluid. He spun on his heel and danced around the Templar as he knocked over a lantern with his foot, spilling the blazing oil across the ground and blinding him. Anders could only hear the cries of the Templar very distantly as he stepped around the man’s back side and jabbed between another chink in the armor, the butt of the blade sinking deep, jerking as it scraped bone.

The templar groaned, and blood began to seep through the wound quickly when Anders drug the hooked end of the wolf blade through the flesh. So. He hadn't hit a pulse point (he wouldn't be able to, he told the other part of himself –Justice, yes, I'm talking to you– because the blade wasn't anywhere near a place like that), but he was wearing down the other fighter.

He spins around again as the templar gets up, turns around. It's like a dance. A very deadly dance. A dance that demands your life if you fail to execute the proper steps.

I can be your teacher, Justice tells Anders. Let me help.

Anders let Justice seep through, just enough so that they were hovering on that edge of oneness that happened so very rarely. His heart pounded, his blood rushed through his ears. His vision swam with a distant blue-red haze that blurred into purple.

And then a brilliant flash of blue streaked across the battlefield to join in the fray, and even through the haze of his battle blood lust, Anders could taste the spice on his tongue, his skin prickling with the feel of the Fade and the buzzing of lyrium nearby. Fenris was here, somehow, and was helping him fight. Not that he'd needed to, since the Templar was down already, the fire from the oil lamp catching on his clothing and flesh and causing him to scream...

A little of Anders' mana returned just in time for him to silence the Templar before more came running. He breathed out slowly, Justice retreating as he whacked the back of the templar’s head, planted his staff in the ground, and finally leaned against it. He glanced over at Fenris, panting harshly.

"So... why did... why did you come to help? It's not like you to assist with my trips out here." He gave Fenris an accessing stare. "I mean, this was a job for the Underground, if you remember me telling you as much this morning."

Fenris shrugged, and turned back around to where a young woman, heavily pregnant, was huddled in the arms of an elven man. Both of them were obviously mages, wearing Circle robes and –at least the man was– carrying a staff.

"Does it matter, mage?" Fenris muttered, offering the two mages a hand up.

"It does," Anders replied in kind, "but perhaps that sort of thing can wait until later."

Fenris looked back at the dead, burning Templar. "What about him? Wasn't he your contact?" Anders shook his head. "Contact of a contact. I'll have to let them know that he's not coming back..." Fenris frowned. "Should probably clean up. Do you have any more mana yet?" Anders' brows knit together in concentration.

"I think... I think so," he huffed quietly.

It was like dragging sap from a tree, but he managed it. He commanded the fire to consume faster, so that the organs, flesh, and other flammable bits of the man were turned to ash. Then the fire died off, leaving only the partially melted pieces of armor behind. Fenris helped Anders stash them and the bones of the skeleton in a nearby crate. While the armor was no longer usable, the metal was good for selling, which would help out the clinic, if nothing else.

"Well," Anders said as they secured the crate, "if nothing else then the man will have performed some sort of service this way."

"Oh, you think?" Fenris shot back, herding the skittish mage couple so that they were between the two of them, with Anders leading the way. He had enough mana now to cast a small light, since his lamp was out of oil. Despite being frightened, the mages held it together until they arrived back at the clinic, where Anders helped the woman settle onto one of the cots with the elf –her partner, Fenris assumed– sitting nearby.

Anders also busied himself with collecting some clothes for the couple that weren't robes –too much attention, he insisted– that he hoped would help them on their way out of the city. Anders turned to the couple, two sets of clothing in his arms.

"You'll have to change into of these at some point. I know those robes are comfortable," he winked, offering them a small smile, "but they'll out you as a mage before you can say 'Templar', I promise you." The elven mage nodded, glancing behind him at Fenris, his fingers trembling as he took the clothing.

"How long will we be able to stay here?" he asked worriedly. "She's... Elaine..."

"She's close, I know," Anders told him. Anders knelt down next to the human woman, so slight she might've been mistaken for an elf, and ran his hands over her belly, his fingers full of healing magic. Once he was done, he looked up at the man. "The underground took care of your phylacteries, yes?"

The man nodded. "We were told they would. I couldn't have done it myself."

Anders spoke with the woman for a few moments longer and sighed when he stood up again.

"You're lucky to have gotten out when you did. She's very close indeed. If she hasn't gone into labor by the end of the week, then I'll see what I can do about inducing it, because I can't give you much more than a few days afterwards to recover." The woman nodded in understanding. "Of course, healer. Even a half day would be too much too ask, and yet you continue to offer more and more than we need."

Anders just offered her a sad smile.

"I would do the same for anyone. Mage or not."

"Even a Templar?" Fenris asked from behind. Anders looked back at him where he stood, washing, drying, and folding linens. Anders paused for a moment. "Well, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't say yes, wouldn't I?"

Fenris raised a single eyebrow at him. He wasn't challenging or being obtuse. In fact, it was difficult for Anders to tell what he was really getting at, seeing as how he was so hard to read sometimes.

"That's not what I asked, and you know it."

"I don't hold any great love for Templars, considering the one that was supposed to help with the mission today ended up turning on us, but..." He paused, thinking of Alistair, Rashia's dearest love next to him. While the man hadn't ever worn the armor, he'd been trained as one right up until the day before he was to be sworn in when he'd been conscripted. Alistair was the sort of man that, if Anders had to live in a world where the Order would always exist, all Templars should be like.

Kind. Understanding. Dedicated.

"...I knew a few decent ones, once upon a time. And while most of the ones here must have been scraped from the bottom of the most vile barrels of slime and villainy imaginable... there's at least two good ones that I could name right off if you asked me to."

"Ser Thrask," said the woman quietly, and Anders turned to her, feeling his surprise take over his face. "Yes, he's one of them. He's been helping me and the underground the most."

"And Ser Keran," her partner added. "I believe he was the one who helped take care of our phylacteries. Without them, we'd likely not be here."

Anders nodded thoughtfully.

"I hadn't know that Ser Keran was helping out with the underground. I shall have to find a way to thank him." And he walked back to help Fenris with cleaning the rest of the linens, leaving the couple to revel in their newfound freedom privately. Fenris looked up at Anders as he approached, catching the mage's gaze.

"You meant what you said," Fenris muttered quietly. Anders nodded. "I did. As I said, I hold no great love for the Templars and their Order, but at the end of the day, I'm a healer. If a person requires healing, I am compelled to address that."

"But what about..."

"Justice?"

Anders smiled at Fenris' fleeting expression of surprise before the elf summoned his usual mask of stoicism.

"Once, he wouldn't even tolerate the presence of them. I mean, you saw... no. You weren't there, were you? No, I don't think you were."

"What?" Fenris pressed gently.

"The night Hawke went with me to the Chantry all those years ago, when... when I discovered that Karl had been made Tranquil." Anders fussed with a folded linen, and Fenris reached out to settle him. He'd removed his gauntlets at some point, Anders noted. It felt good to feel someone else's skin against his own; it grounded him.

"No, I wasn't there for that," Fenris confirmed, "but I heard about it, eventually. Justice overwhelmed you when you found out that the Templars had made him Tranquil, and you killed most of them. But your words make me think that... that reaction has changed?"

Anders shrugged. "Sort of. When we were attacked earlier, I was able to fight on my own, even when my magic was drained. Justice helped me a little then, but didn't outright take over. It was better to be subtle."

Fenris chuffed. "I wasn't aware that you knew what subtle was." Anders debated between rolling his eyes and flicking the elf on the nose. He settled for the eyes, snorting with pretend derision.

"But I did notice your foot patterns were different," Fenris added. "Is that how Justice was helping?" Anders nodded. "Yes. When Justice was possessing the body of the Grey Warden Kristoff, he used a sword and shield." Fenris inclined his head. "A warrior, then."

"Yes. And Justice was a warrior in the Fade, too. Being in my body must be an entirely different experience, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of being a warrior. I've even worn armor before, though I had to use a bit of magic to help augment my strength." Fenris raised a single eyebrow, and Anders simply shrugged in response.

"Rashia taught me how to do it. It's the strangest thing. But, anyway... just because I'm a mage doesn't mean I'm useless without my magic. Though, I'm thankful you appeared when you did today. Why did you come by?"

Fenris merely offered him a sly smile. "I had a feeling you might need me. But... you didn't really. You had things quite well in hand by the time I arrived."

Anders chuckled, leaning in close for a quick kiss.

"Oh, Fen... I always need you."

Fenris closed his eyes as their foreheads pressed together and he hummed contentedly. "Good to know, mage." Anders smiled and leaned forward for another kiss.

#anders #fenris #fenders #templars #mage underground #januanderstakeback #timesorcerorwrites #canon typical violence #tw: blood

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flameleads · 2 months ago

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In Yet Another Man’s Battlefield, we see the only time Roy is ever shot. Heathcliffe, someone Roy knew, shot him. Yes, the pocket watch blocked it, but placement is important. Based on what I could see from this shot:

Right side of his chest. Heathcliffe hit center of mass. If Roy wasn’t a State Alchemist, and thus had the watch on his person, that shot would’ve killed him. Instead, we get this:

The bullet didn’t go all the way through what I’m guessing is solid steel. During that time period, that bullet would’ve been made out of lead. It got pretty far, though, and the force of impact was definitely enough to not only knock Roy out, but give him a nasty bruise. Outside of that, though, Roy walked away from that encounter physically unscathed. Mentally is a different beast entirely.

Roy never got shot at again. Hawkeye makes sure of this later on as well, but I also believe those in charge of the State Alchemists tried to ensure their human weapons remained perfectly intact. Thankfully for them, Roy’s alchemy allows for long distance attacks. He kept his distance on the battlefield more often than not. This also led to the common misconception that Roy can’t use heavy fire in close ranges, which he later used to his advantage.

Long story short: Roy’s only ever been shot once, and he walked away from it just fine. His doctors today wouldn’t be able to tell he was ever shot at all.

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slendermanlore · 8 years ago

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Slender Man Mythos + Fatalism

Consider this a polar opposite companion post to the “motivational” one. Confusingly enough, some of these can be just as comforting in their own way.

Original Mythos, “Stirling City Incidents”:

“we didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time…”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #18”:

“Something dangerous is going on, and I’m starting to regret ever getting involved with it now.”

Everyman HYBRID, “First Hidden Box”:

“Consider this a place of refuge, not from the waters, but from damnation.”

Original Mythos, “The Tall Man”:

“Because,” said her mother, “there is no reward for goodness; there is no respite for faith; there is nothing but cold steel teeth and scourging fire for all of us. And it’s coming for you now.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #22”:

“Seth is gone. I don’t remember what happened. We were the only two left. And I left him. Brian is gone. Tim, and Jay, and Sarah. Everyone is gone. I just woke up in this house. With the tape. Seth’s camera is gone, and all I can remember from the night is right here. All I can remember at all is on the tape now. I’m leaving this house. I thought I would be safer here, by running away. But everything’s just gotten worse. I’m going back to my home. And I’m burning these tapes. All of them.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Second Hidden Box”:

“Time and space flee every which way, disregarding your beloved logic.”

Just Another Fool, “Untitled”:

“I run. And that’s all I can do. I will run and run and run and die. Perhaps then I will find sanity.”

Original Mythos, “Original Mythos Meta”:

“It was as if my body was trying to tell me something… Not the frantic 'Don't look, don't look, dear god please walk faster,' but instead the eerily calm 'There's no need to look. You already know he's there.'”

Everyman HYBRID, “I’m okay.”:

“And thus the roadtrip continues. Maybe I'd think of something poetic, but I have to keep moving. I have to do this alone. And now.”

Tribe Twelve, Twitter:

“The key to not having nightmares is to not sleep at all. Insomnia has its benefits, and flaws. My dreams are starting to creep into reality.”

Original Mythos, “Miscellaneous Journal Entries”:

“I don’t hear the words, but they always stick in my head. I’m going to watch over my son. Until the day I die, until the day he dies.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #23”:

“I’m done with this. I don’t want to know the answers anymore.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Reunion.”:

“Who are you, my dear friend, to reach someone like me? I look forward to our reunion in Hell.

Otherwise, I fear my warnings have fallen on deaf ears. The sight of its black eyes, those markings; this blight is not human, and now has claimed another one of us.

I’m sorry I was too late.

– Linnie.”

Original Mythos, “Fear Dubh”:

“I’ve still got the rosary, and even though people laugh, I sleep with it under my pillow. Because if I don’t, I dream. About the sound of wet leaves sliding softly across a window, and the way he is still watching me, even though he has no eyes.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #####”:

“We will wait for you no more. Control is being taken away from you. From the start this has been a game for us. Not anymore. I'm coming for you. And you will lead me to the ark.”

Original Mythos, “Deadly House Fire”:

“He’s going to come for me, and then he’s going to find you. You can’t stop it, you can never stop it. He finds you, and what he does to you is worse than death.”

Original Mythos, “Original Mythos Meta”:

“He isn't coming. He is already here, and he always has been, and always will be.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Third Hidden Box”:

“There is no veiling your perception as anything more than an illusion.”

Original Mythos, “Fog”:

“The car stopped, the engine revved but to no avail. The battery was the last look into the infinite abyss. He knew this was his stop.”

Everyman HYBRID, CANYOUSEETHEWORDS:

“this is no longer their game. consider yourself marked.”

Tribe Twelve, “Device Findings”:

“You, and everyone you've ever known, are prisoners… bound in a cave and facing a blank wall on which you can only perceive shadows. A brain connected to eyes and nothing more. We have seen what casts those shadows, Noah Maxwell. Why won't you let us untie you? You are quite deserving, after all. The Boardwalk. Bring the journal. That is your homework. However, if you come empty handed, we shall be forced to take… disciplinary actions.”

Original Mythos, “Pyotr”:

“About that time, things started to change. It was not the people so much as the air, which seemed to hold less oxygen and felt static at all times, constantly threatening to send out a spark at any point and any time.

[...]

It is a mistake. It must be corrected. It will come. He will come.”

Dark Harvest, “Log Entry #27”:

“You can’t make them stop, Chris. You and I have both seen what they’ll do to you, and anyone else involved. I’m involved… this is what they’ll do. They’ll kill you the second they get a chance.”

Everyman HYBRID, Twitter:

“YOU STILL BELIEVE THIS IS MERELY THEIR STORY. YOU ASSUME A GRANTED REFUGE? NO SUCH SANCTUARY EXISTS.

YOU COULDN'T SAVE HER. DO THEY THINK THEY ARE ANY DIFFERENT? YOU ARE ALL IN THE SAME. SINKING. VESSEL.”

Just Another Fool, “The Reward”:

“The Earth shifts. The earth shifts. Time shifts. Reality shifts. And he just. Doesn’t. Care.”

Original Mythos, “Small Findings”:

“But I am sure that I cannot sleep or will not wake up. I cannot leave. i can hear the waiting noises just outside. All i can do is wait, and return to this damned drawing, and wonder…”

Original Mythos, “Original Mythos Meta”:

“I can hear him. I can always hear him, every day. Far, far away, but getting closer with each scratching step. Only a matter of time until he comes back, and I learn everything.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #49”:

“I didn't want to upload it here, but now I feel like I need to in case anything happens to me or the footage.”

Everyman HYBRID, Twitter:

“IN A WORLD OF SUCH UNCERTAINTY, THERE IS ONE TRUTH WE CAN CLING TO: WE SHALL ALL JOIN THE DOCTOR, INEVITABLY. YOU, TOO, SHALL DROWN. vii”

Original Mythos, “Rodzby Incident”:

“when your time comes

Don’t Run.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #52”:

“It might be nothing. He might actually show us something. But if he does try anything, I’m going to make sure that Jessica gets out. Whatever it is that I have to do to make sure of that, I don’t care. So I guess that’s my confession or whatever, about what happened, if anything does happen to me.”

Everyman HYBRID, CANYOUSEETHEWORDS:

“I’m sorry, Jeff. I’m sorry, Vincent. I’m sorry Evan. Most of all, I’m sorry, Jessalyn. I’m sorry, “HYBRIDs” (still can’t get past the nickname). I’ve brought this upon myself. Maybe we’ll speak again someday. Probably not. Don’t follow my footsteps.

Be not like me. I am alone.”

Everyman HYBRID, “77of76.avi”:

“It’s like you’re just going around in circles; you don’t get anywhere. No progress is made. You go in, balls to the wall, but it doesn’t fucking matter. You just wind up in the same fucking spot.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Fifth Hidden Box”:

“THEIR WORLD SHALL PERISH

THEIR WORLD SHALL BURN

YOU, TOO, ARE ON THIS SAME. SINKING. VESSEL.

THE GREAT FLOOD SHALL WASH AWAY ALL THE ASH, READYING THE WORLD FOR ANOTHER GREATER, CYCLE

[EXIT ALL]”

Everyman HYBRID, “Tribe Twelve Envelope”:

“Milo seemed frightened of this man, but also held a sense of… let's just say, concerned respect. Accepted inevitability. This worried me a great deal. He didn't seem eager to rid himself of this man, more so that he accepted this as how things would be and could not seek an accommodating change from its standing.

He went on to tell me that this man had a particular plan for him, for other children, too. They were all to go on a great journey together. The way Milo described it, it seemed like a vacation, disregarding the melancholy nature in which he told it.”

Original Mythos, “Original Mythos Meta”:

“Knowing the slenderman…he wouldn't even strike for weeks, months, even years…he is just letting you know that your time is running out and that he is holding the hourglass”

Tribe Twelve, “The Order”:

“This is exactly what he fucking wants… he pulls us apart.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Twenty-four Months”:

“Three friends, two parents, two loved ones, two strangers, two coworkers, a brother, his dog, and still no resolution.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #60.5”:

“I’m still not sure what to do from here. I don’t like being on my own again like this, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Dark Harvest, “Log Entry #28”:

“Although the words of the Oracle may protect you from death by our hand, Gorr’Rylaehotep will destroy you one day. Why he hasn’t yet is a mystery but rest assured, your time will come. What we can do, though, if you ever try to uncover the secrets of our Order again, is give you a fate far worse than death. We will kill everyone you love. Your entire family will be destroyed, and your world will crumble. Although we cannot kill you, we will find you. We will take you into our care and make your every waking moment an unending hell! You will be begging for the release of death, but we will not give it to you. We will only bring you more suffering. Think about that before you attempt to contact anyone in our Order again! I hope you heed our words and stay out of our business, or you’ll be regretting it until the day you die!”

Original Mythos, “Nathaniel V”:

“If a magician must face a Transformed man, all logic, honor, and fairness must be tossed aside. The Transformed does not follow any rules that can be known by men.

To decipher them is to risk becoming one of them.”

Tribe Twelve, “Catharsis”:

“Whatever they have planned for me on the 11th, I just hope it doesn't hurt. Comment if you want, I don't care anymore. I'm so sorry for everything guys. I'm so fucking sorry.”

Tribe Twelve, “INTERCEPTION”:

“BUT IF YOU DO NOT/INSANITY WILL RULE YOUR MIND/BECAUSE/DO YOU KNOW WHATS WORSE THAN KNOWING WHEN THE CLOCK STOPS?/NOT KNOWING”

Everyman HYBRID, “Sixth Hidden Box”:

“I know there's nothing I can do to help their memory, but every night, I wake up, preparing for a battle, readying myself to fight for their lives – only to remember that I've already failed them.”

Original Mythos, “Original Mythos Meta”:

“If you get away its only because he lets you, hes the monster in your nightmare who always finds your hiding place.”

Tribe Twelve, Twitter

“It's been approximately 3 years since I opened this account. Things have gotten worse each year. The future is pitch black.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #67.5”:

“If Alex is still out there, he’s going to find us sooner or later.”

Everyman HYBRID, “:D”:

“And in that moment, I’ll be there. To piss in your wounds, and to burn you alive. You think you’re untouchable? Not even God can hide from me.”

Tribe Twelve, Twitter:

“life is but a dream. what happens when u wake up. how do u know if youre dreaming. questions fuel my insomnia. or am i still just dreaming.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Next”:

“They're all gone. Everyone except for you guys. I'm not going to stop. And if I go next, just don't forget us. [V]”

Original Mythos, “Henry Louis Marshall”:

“The closer you get to him, the more real he becomes. The closer you get to him, the more people die.

If you’re reading this, then I got too close.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #75”:

“It is going to be really weird if it comes to that and we come out on top, though. Because… I don’t remember what all I did before all of this happened. No… well… I do remember that I was living in a crappy apartment by myself doing nothing. So at least now I guess I’m… doing… something… I don’t know.”

Everyman HYBRID, “l'esprit de l'escalier”:

“They won't let me... they won't let me go.”

“I don't think they're gonna let any of us go, Evan.”

“Vinny... I tried.”

“Tried what, Evan?”

“I tried to keep you safe.”

“I don't think anything's gonna do it at this point, brother.”

Tribe Twelve, Ask.fm:

“Are you running yet?”

“in my mind i run miles every day. trying to escape this life. but when i wake up i realize i havent moved at all.”

Dark Harvest, “the last three months - part two”:

“At the time I had no idea that thing was ever in the apartment. When I reviewed the footage, I was both frightened and confused. Why didn’t it kill us like it killed Greg? It feels like it’s just toying with us at this point.”

Original Mythos, “Of the Slender Man”:

“No matter what culture he descends on though, the outcome has always been the same. For in the wake of the Slender Man all that is left is a cold, dark road covered in corpses with agony on their distorted faces.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #80”:

“I left Jay at my house so something like this wouldn’t happen. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t know what to do.”

Original Mythos, “Original Mythos Meta”:

“We have created the Slender Man. Brought him out of the shadows and back into the world.

We have created a monster and we cannot put it back in its cage.”

Just Another Fool, “Laughter”:

“I can hear the laughter. Through this endless night and after. I can hear the singing. Chorus, verse, and refrain ringing.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Lexi”:

“You gotta be able to live with yourself after seeing all this shit. After being involved with the deaths of all these you people; you gotta be okay with it. Otherwise you're never going to get past it. There's going to be a lot more blood. A lot more bodies before this is all over. And you have to be okay with that, otherwise you'll just end up being one of them.”

Tribe Twelve, Ask.fm:

“What gives you the strength to get up and continue with this?”

“it is not strength. it is cowardice. that coward creature in the mirror that was once myself. i am but a witness to his destruction. his slow decay.”

Original Mythos, “Remains of Missing Camper”:

“I think I hear him coming, I don’t feel like fighting or running or chasing anymore. I will lie down and await the peace of death, perhaps I will find repose then. Perhaps I will find home.”

Tribe Twelve, Ask.fm:

“Oh Noah… You will be back to normal i just know you will”

“you cannot reassemble burnt paper.”

Original Mythos, “Comment Chain”:

“Then a crackling breathing is heard coming through the car speakers. You flick the switch but it grows louder and encompasses you and comes from everywhere. Then it slowly dies down and begins to pinpoint itself… away from the speakers.

You realize it’s coming from the back seat.”

Tribe Twelve, Twitter:

“hope is but the caged angel. slave to fear. there is no door. no lock. no key. but there are bars to tease. and she reaches out to no avail.”

Tribe Twelve, Twitter:

“5 years. this is all a dream. you are all dreaming with me. i cant sleep but i cant wake up. i wake up asleep. nothing is real. where am i.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #85”:

“Alex has destroyed everything I have. I don’t care what happens to me as long as he is stopped. There’s only one way this can end, and he’ll hunt me forever until it does. I have to find him.”

Everyman HYBRID, “Blue room”:

“Just because you're alive doesn't make you a hero. Makes you a survivor. That's not worth shit. I would give anything to just go back and not fuck with this. Not do what we did. Who knows, maybe it wouldn't have even made a difference. You know?”

Tribe Twelve, “DEATHTRAPEXODUS”:

“IF YOU AREN'T BROKEN NOW/WE WILL BREAK YOU THEN/BECAUSE NIGHT IS LONGEST/WHEN DAY DOES NOT EXIST/OUR MASTER HUNGERS FOR YOU/WE ARE ALL CAUGHT IN HIS WEB/AND THE WEB CONSUMES US ALL”

Original Mythos, “Stanley Ercavich”:

“But then she started going on about how it wasn’t an end, but a beginning…fuck it, right?”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #86”:

“This isn’t over. You see how it spreads. If there’s someone left, you have to kill them, and then yourself.”

Tribe Twelve, Twitter:

“used to think jumanji cant hurt if you dont play. except the game is in session. i have to roll.”

Tribe Twelve, Twitter:

“used to think this was a nightmare i couldnt wake up from. i was wrong. i wake up from nightmares into more nightmares. im living a lifemare.”

Original Mythos, “Abandoned Journal”:

“The story of the Greens interested me fiercely but nobody in the town was willing to talk. That night, I called my children and wife. I told them how very much I loved them.

And I told them to lock the doors.”

Tribe Twelve, Ask.fm:

“Do You Fear The pain anymore? Do you fear the thought of dead?”

“ive become the pain. death and fear are my friends now.”

Dark Harvest, “2014 - boiler room”:

“I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this. I don’t see a point. I’m surviving, but is it worth it? What the fuck is the point if it’s never going to get any better? I can’t fucking deal with this… I just can’t.”

Tribe Twelve, “Pitfall”:

“This is the end! I’m fucking dead! I’m free!”

Just Another Fool, “Journal of Logan Renault”:

“Fate. It surrounds us. Guides us. Draws us together. It is permanent, UNWAVERING AND CONCRETE. ONCE YOUR FATE IS DECIDED, IT is Not about to change.”

Everyman HYBRID, “two thousand three hundred ninety-five”:

“You know what? You are right, though, about one thing. Kinda does look like the only way out. Because what do I have, to make it out of here? To get answers? Cool, got answers. There is no life. Because you took everybody! You know what? If there's a heaven... hell, if there's a hell! It's better than this.”

Original Mythos, “Original Mythos Meta”:

“Nobody knows where it is you are taken to, but nobody ever comes backs, and everybody agrees it's generally a horrible place. And maybe in this place, you can't die. And maybe you also don't need organs or skin or even a body, really, and that's why yours has now been nicely wrapped up and hung in a tree.”

Tribe Twelve, Scriniarii on Reddit:

“Look I've been doing this over and over for so long. I'm tired. Everyone I have ever loved is gone because of me and I'm doomed to relive their deaths over and over every fucking recursion because you can't get your shit together and stop trying to be individuals. Maybe I just fucked this up and we will have to reset again, maybe you just needed this push.”

Marble Hornets, “Entry #87”:

“Everything is fine.”

#Slender Man Arkive #original mythos #marble hornets #Just Another Fool #EverymanHYBRID #TribeTwelve #DarkHarvest00 #slenderverse

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rebeccahpedersen · 7 years ago

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Signed, Sealed, &…………..Then What?

TorontoRealtyBlog

Delivered, right? That’s how the saying (and the song…) goes?

But what if that which is signed, and that which is sealed, is not delivered? Then what?

Believe it or not, this is a question that’s raised from time to time in real estate, and it always presents a challenge…

Have you watched “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” yet?

I had high hopes for it.

Through one episode, however, I’m a little disappointed.

I heard great things about “The People vs. O.J. Simpson,” although I haven’t watched it yet. I know the whole world loves streaming, but there’s something so unsatisfying about hooking up my laptop to the TV with an HDMI. I’m old-school; I like the remote in my hand. I like to be able to pause, stop, rewind, all without having to get up off the couch, lean over the laptop, and constantly close pop-up browsers with ads for Russian brides…

So, yeah. Until the O.J. series hits Netflix, or Rogers on Demand, I’ll just have to listen to other people talk about it.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace was a bit underwhelming.

It was slow, there was too much character development, and it really just didn’t strike a chord with me.

One scene, however, did.

Although it wasn’t because I liked the show, or what was happening in the scene, but rather because it gave me an idea for a blog post.

I never know where my ideas will come from. After ten years, 2,200+ posts, and a thorough examination of just about every topic you can think of, it’s not like I have a laundry list of topics, ready to be written.

So when I get an idea, I go with it.

And that first episode of The Assassination was so boring that I told my wife “….I’m still listening,” and sat down to write a blog.

The scene in question was after Versace was murdered, and his sister, Donatella, was sitting at a table with a group of lawyers and other figure-heads in the family business.

In front of them were folders of signed paperwork, which Versace had signed “a week earlier,” in Donatella’s words, with the intention of taking the company public.

Even though those documents were signed, and even though Gianni Versace had signed them with the intent on submitting them, the deal never moved forward. Signed documents, and intent, are nothing without follow-through.

And it made me think of a recent experience I had selling a condo, as well as a great “urban legend” real estate story that I’ve probably told on this blog several times. Why don’t we start with that…

For those of you who have submitted an unsuccessful offer on a property, in a competitive situation, you property didn’t find out what the property sold for until the next morning.

Maybe, just maybe, your agent sent you a text message before you went to bed, with the price. It happens from time to time.

But more often than not, the listing agent will wait until the next morning.

Why?

This urban legend, of course…

About ten years ago, an agent in my office had a property listed, and there were a dozen offers presented on the “offer night.”

The twelve buyer agents came through and presented, one-by-one, to the listing agent and the sellers, and while I can’t recall the exact details about whether or not there were multiple rounds of bidding, or how many offers were sent back for improvement, let’s just say that eventually, there was a winner.

The listing agent told the buyer agent with the highest offer that his offer would be accepted, and to sit tight, while they signed everything up.

The listing agent then told the other eleven buyer agents something to the effect of, “Thanks for your offer, but we’re going with another.”

One of the buyer agents who lost, approached the listing agent and said, “So it’s done then? Over?” to which the listing agent replied, “Indeed. Thanks for your offer, but we’re going with somebody else.”

The buyer agent nodded, and said, “Okay, alright then. So what did it go for?”

The listing agent, unaware that he was about to be the poster child for “why agents don’t give out the sale price until the next morning,” turned to the buyer agent and said, “$870,000.”

The buyer agent nodded, and then left. But he didn’t go far.

The listing agent, back in the conference room with his clients, put the Agreement of Purchase & Sale in front of them, and they signed. He had them sign two copies, and was just about to neatly paper-clip them together, when suddenly the door to the conference room swung open, and it was the buyer agent.

“Eight-hundred-eighty thousand,” he said, as he proudly slammed a revised copy of his offer down on the table.

It seems that after being told the “accepted” offer was $870,000, the buyer agent wasn’t willing to accept that the offer was signed, sealed, and delivered, as the phrase goes. So he went outside to his car, where his buyer-clients were waiting, told them to put a new price and a set of initials on the offer, and then came back inside the building (this was before we had locks on the front doors), made his way up to the conference room, and threw the whole system out of whack.

Having told this story before on my blog, you might recall where this is going.

The listing agent said, “The papers are signed, and we’ve already told the other agent his offer is being accepted. This is over.”

But the sellers, looking at another $10,000 for their home, spoke up and said, “Not yet, it’s not.”

Yes, the listing agent had already verbally communicated acceptance to the buyer agent who had submitted the “winning” bid of $870,000.

Yes, the sellers had already signed two copies of the Agreement of Purchase & Sale, confirming the acceptance.

But the offer had yet to be delivered to the buyer agent. So while it was signed, and there was intent, there was no legally-binding deal just yet.

I honestly can’t recall how this story ended. Perhaps the listing agent offered the original “winning” buyer-agent an opportunity to match. Perhaps he threw that other agent out the window. I don’t remember. But the point is that a deal is never done until all parties are holding copies of the completed, accepted, and executed agreement.

Last week, I submitted an offer on a condo for my buyer-clients, and even though it was in the $1.6 Million range, of course we ended up in competition!

The property was on the market for one day! Just our luck, right?

I could delve into another lesson per se, this time about how being professional, courteous, and respectful when dealing with fellow agents, can go a long way to getting you a deal. But then I’ll run off on one of my patented tangents, and we’ll be here all night.

Let’s just say that the listing agent and I got along swimmingly, and she was not a fan of the agent competing with me.

But like him or not, she still had to work in the best interests of her seller, and get the most money for the property.

When she reviewed the two offers, mine was lower. But as I said, we got along. And thus she asked me to simply match the other offer, and we’d have a deal.

She was honest with me – she said she gave the other agent every opportunity to better his offer. My offer was unconditional, his was not. He refused to remove the condition, and refused to come up in price. So she said, “Match his offer, and the property is yours.” And we did. And it was.

But not without incident, of course.

My phone rang, and she said, “David, you’ll never believe…” and that was all I needed to hear to think I just got screwed.

Like I said, a verbal acceptance is meaningless without paperwork. A promise, a guarantee, a congratulations – nothing matters except the accepted APS.

But she continued, “David, you’ll never believe what just happened, but don’t worry, of course, we accepted your offer.”

Phew! And as she said that, I saw the offer come through my inbox, and now was able to relax and listen to her story.

“We had already signed your offer,” she said. “It was accepted, and we were ready to send it over, but I called the other agent first for some reason, I dunno, just to get it out of the way. So all of a sudden, he’s had a change of heart, and he wants to remove his condition, and add $10,000 to the price!”

At this point, I was scrolling through the accepted APS to ensure that it was fully signed, and that this story was just some fodder for the night. I didn’t like where the story was going.

“I had to tell my clients,” she told me. “I didn’t like his game; I didn’t like him at all,” she said, with a laugh. “But we hadn’t sent the accepted offer to you yet, so I had to tell them.”

How in the world did this turn out in my favour, I wondered?

“I told my clients, and they chewed on it.” she began to explain to me.

She continued, “They said, ‘Didn’t you tell us that he wouldn’t remove his condition, and his price was firm?’ I told them that was correct. And then they said, ‘So it’s only now, after you told him that we had accepted another offer, that he said he would revise his offer?’ I told them again this was correct. So to my amazement, my client said, ‘I don’t like it. I don’t like the game he’s playing. We made a deal. Let’s honour it.’ ”

Wow. Did I run into the nicest, most honourable agent and seller, or what?

Perhaps another topic, for another day, would be how different cultures negotiate in real estate. There are certain cultures where they refuse to accept “no” as an answer, and you could literally show them the accepted APS, and they’d just smile and say, “Okay, so how much do you want?” It’s not until they’ve already lost the deal, that they want to start playing.

In any event, this is what I was up against with my $1,650,000 condo last week, and I was lucky that the sellers didn’t like the agent’s “game.”

The seller went with our offer, the listing agent sent me the paperwork, and the deal was done.

But they had every right to accept the other offer, with another $10,000, even after they had already accepted my offer, and signed the paperwork.

“Signed, Sealed, & Delivered,” the phrase goes.

The absence of one, may as well be all three…

The post Signed, Sealed, &…………..Then What? appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

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flameleads · 2 months ago

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Strap in, folks. This will be a post on how Roy Mustang uses his flame alchemy: which hands he uses, how much he moves, how much fire he produces, et cetera. This will be image heavy with GIFs. Because of that, I’m putting most of this under a readmore. As a side-note: iIf you want to see how I broke down the science of his alchemy, I’ve got a headcanon post about it here: link.

Let’s get started!

First and foremost, let’s look back to the 2003 anime and Conqueror of Shamballa. We’re going straight to where Roy’s alchemy really shines through for both the audience (us) and those around him: Fullmetal vs Flame.

This is the first transmutation he does when “fighting” with Edward. There’s a bit of a flourish as he flicks his wrist, and he uses three fingers. The result is a large, flashy explosion that sends Edward backwards; after all, Roy doesn’t actually want to use his alchemy on Edward. In fact, Roy generally tries to avoid using his alchemy on other human beings. He almost always uses it adjacent to others, creating explosions to impair the enemy, not kill.

In that episode in particular, Roy is doing one thing that’s worthy of note: he’s using this as a teaching opportunity. It’s a mock battle, so he turns it into a training to teach Edward things he needs to know when fighting. All of his dialogue makes that clear as well when he quotes from The Art of War by Sun Tzu (something he did in the manga as well with this fight and with Lust).

Another note: he makes it dramatic with his taunts and general tone of voice because he also views this as a way to show off what he could do to everyone watching. Flame alchemy is the reason people are afraid of getting on this man’s bad side and why the war in Ishval ended quicker once Fuhrer Bradley issued Order 3066.

The problem with that, as Edward quickly finds out, is that gloves come in pairs. Roy shows that he is capable of using both hands to transmute, and he makes a show of it. He’s just as skilled using his left hand. Three fingers, a bit of a flourish as he flicks his wrist and creates a large and tightly controlled explosion. It’s smaller than the first one due to the distance, and he only wants to destroy the cannon. Nothing else.

And, of course, he’s smirking at this. Someone underestimated him again, and he loves it. He loves showing people that there’s more to him than what they see.

Now, let’s look at another, albeit smaller, transmutation from the 2003 anime:

For those unaware of the context, that piece of paper contained intelligence Roy’s date gathered, and he wanted to ensure no one else got their hands on it. This time, there’s nowhere near as much of a flourish as he raises his right hand, uses three fingers, and creates a small, controlled fire. He’s making a small show out of using his alchemy for this purpose, hence the flourish, but nowhere near as grand as when he fought with Edward.

Again and again, I will emphasize that Roy Mustang is an actor. He’s putting on a show for everyone around him so others don’t see that cunning ambition. He makes his alchemy look dramatic because that’s what he wants other people to see. It’s not just limited to the 2003 anime either.

In the first episode of Brotherhood, Roy goes out to contend with Isaac McDougal, the Freezer Alchemist, head on. With both of these transmutations, Roy puts his entire upper body into it without really needing to, thus putting on a show for the other soldiers watching him. His gestures are dramatic when he only actually needs two or three fingers to make his transmutations happen. He wants others to view him as someone who likes showing off and someone who acts without thinking.

And Hawkeye backs him up. During the first episode, we hear her say, “When will he learn?” She’s reinforcing that belief, and we see her do it again when he faces off with Scar.

Before this moment, Roy does a few things to set the stage:

1. He shoots off his gun to get Scar’s attention. This gives him time to see just how close Scar is to Edward and Alphonse, who are in horrible condition. 2. He confirms that Scar was behind Shou Tucker’s murder. In doing so, he prompts Scar to share some of his motive. 3. He asks Scar why he’s going after State Alchemists in particular. Scar doesn’t give a direct answer to that, instead choosing to tell Roy that if he’s going to interfere, he’ll kill him too.

While he’s doing this, Roy is not wearing his gloves. He knows that getting his gloves wet will make it impossible for him to use his alchemy. As this post mentions, Roy is a war veteran with years of experience as an alchemist. He’s not about to put on his gloves to fight when he can’t use them. That’d be downright foolish.

So, when he puts on one of his gloves after tossing his gun to Hawkeye, it’s yet another show, and it’s a tactical one. This scene has layers to it, and I’ll try and tackle all of them.

Hawkeye instantly knows what he’s about to do when he tosses her his gun, and thus she does one thing: she says his name. Scar didn’t recognize him on sight as a State Alchemist, after all, and they needed to shift his attention off Edward and Alphonse to keep them safe. Roy reinforces that he’s the Flame Alchemist, and he purposefully hams this up to make Scar come at him. He even begins to close the distance between the two of them to encourage Scar to do what he wants.

This transmutation obviously doesn’t happen. He moves forward, stands still, and rubs three fingers together to create a puff of smoke. Scar tries to take him out right then and there, but can’t because of Hawkeye. She backed up Roy without hesitating, and she started shooting with two guns once she had the chance. There was distance between the Elrics and Scar now. Shooting earlier ran the risk of Edward getting hurt more than he already was or killed. No one wanted to risk that.

What we didn’t know when this scene happened is Hawkeye’s deep connection to flame alchemy and Roy Mustang. She may not be an alchemist, but she knows the strengths and weaknesses of Roy’s alchemy, the alchemy her father created. The amount of trust Roy placed in her during this encounter is off the charts.

One last thing: Roy didn’t move his arms much when doing this transmutation. No flourish. No extra dramatics. He kept it simple. There wasn’t a need to make it more complex. When Roy isn’t trying to put on a show, and he’s focused solely on the mission in front of him, he doesn’t move much at all.

Barely flicks his wrist as he transmutes, and he creates a powerful explosion that engulfs part of what appears to be a city. This attack is devastating.

Obviously the circumstances behind him using his alchemy are different in this case. With Lust, he had to rely on using a lighter as ignition. There was also the fact that he was seriously injured and in excruciating pain. Had that last one not been a factor, I doubt he would’ve acted differently. Lust even comments in both the manga and Brotherhood that Roy is calm and focused. Again, he barely moves when unleashing a devastating attack, and he kills a creature that supposedly can’t die.

The only dramatic part of this transmutation was the fact that Roy needed to turn to see his target. That’s it. He started the transmutation as he turned, not giving his enemies enough time to try and strike back. Quick, and he disabled them with ease.

Not a lot of movement on this one either. He only moves his hand to direct his shot while using three fingers. In seconds, he kills the Immortal Soldiers that gave Edward and co. a lot of trouble. These were beings that seemingly couldn’t die, and Roy kills them off while making it look effortless.

He’s not trying to put on a show. There’s no need for it. He’s in the mindset of ending the fight quickly while only using the necessary amount of force. Every single one of these transmutations have that in common: they’re controlled and precise. His face also makes his purpose clear. In all of those shots, he’s frowning or otherwise keeping a serious expression.

In general, we can assume that if Roy’s using his alchemy to stage a performance of sorts, he’s going to be more dramatic with his movements. If he’s using his alchemy with his focus solely on the fight in front of him, he’s going to limit his movement. There are only three exceptions to this. One takes place in Conqueror of Shamballa while the other two are in Brotherhood during the Promised Day.

Let’s tackle CoS first, specifically with this gifset. In that moment, we have to consider all of the circumstances surrounding it. For starters, Roy cannot see out of his left eye, and he hasn’t used his alchemy in years. He’s a bit out of practice. It takes effort to transmute, hence why he puts almost his entire upper body into it. Alchemy transmutations do take energy to perform. Most of the time, Roy only needs to expend mental energy. But, again, due to the surrounding circumstances, he had to expend physical energy too.

Now, onto the Promised Day. Y’all knows what happens right after the Immortal Soldiers. Envy enters the scene, and they reveal the truth that Roy’s spent the last several months searching for: they were the one to kill his best friend, Maes Hughes.

Up until this specific moment, Roy never uses both hands at once. He might wear both gloves, but he’ll only use one hand to transmute. Using both hands is excessive force, lacking in mercy, and it requires him to spend more time on calculations. He killed a Homunculus and the Immortal Soldiers with one hand already. He’s proven that he doesn’t need both gloves to get the results he wants. This is the only time he ever uses both.

Not only that, but, unlike with his fight with Lust or the Immortal Soldiers, he doesn’t stay still. He’s putting his entire body into doing these transmutations. Is it because he’s trying to put on a show? Trying to emphasize to Envy that their actions had consequences? Showing off just how powerful he is?

The answer is none of the above. What makes his fight with Envy unique is that he’s also vocal during it. He usually only has dialogue during his transmutations if it’s a performance. When he’s focused on his mission, he hardly says a word. With Envy, not only does he get vocal, but he gets nasty with his dialogue. He goes into graphic detail about what he’s doing, doesn’t hold back with his threats, and he lets emotion come through his voice.

Those emotions—all of that grief that he’s kept buried and masked with anger—are what triggers his need to expend physical energy on this fight. He can hardly contain those emotions anymore, and thus he lets them out with his movements and alchemy in tandem. He stops holding back, and he loses complete control. He gives all of himself to this fight.

His hand shakes before he can get that transmutation out. His breathing is heavy. He’s yelling. This is physically straining him because he refuses to hold back for Envy. He wanted to give them the worst punishment possible.

Flame alchemy is complex and difficult to perform. In order to be effective, Roy needs to maintain tight control, account for many factors in his calculations, and he must never use more force than needed. In Ishval, he saw the consequences of using too much force, and he made the conscious decision to never allow himself to go that far again. He doesn’t even use his alchemy that much save for when he needs to. When he does, he keeps himself calm and focused.

Even later during the Promised Day against Father, Roy has that logic going. Look at this gifset from when he has Hawkeye directing his transmutations. During that scene, she has to tell him not to hold back, to not throttle his flames against the most powerful enemy he’s ever faced. Yes, he’s hesitating because he can’t see what he’s doing, but it’s also because he doesn’t ever want to use more force than needed. He’s careful, and he just saw what happened when he lost control.

We can also tell by his facial expression as he transmutes that it hurts. Fuhrer Bradley put his swords through Roy’s hands, so of course it’s going to hurt to move them. He moves as little as possible against Father. He fights through that pain because it’s important, and because Roy Mustang never backs down from a fight unless he’s forced to (i.e. Gluttony).

All right, let’s wrap this up. What have we learned from all of this?

Roy makes a show of using his alchemy for tactical purposes (short and long term).

He can use both hands to perform with alchemy and get the same results. We can safely assume that he’s ambidextrous.

When focused solely on completing the mission, he makes his transmutations quick.

He tries to keep his emotions out of combat.

Most of the time he transmutes, he only really moves his wrists, not his arms like other alchemists. He doesn’t need to do more.

With the exception of his fight with Envy, every transmutation he performs is tightly controlled.

Thanks for reading through my post overanalyzing Roy’s alchemy. This was fun to write, and I hope you like it!

#if i’m on fire you’ll be made of ashes too | meta #components of a fire | headcanon #hc; look what you made me do | abilities #hc; if you believe the possibility exists | beliefs #hc; model of a modern major general | combat #hc; he will never be satisfied | personality #hc; then i’ll raise you like a phoenix | vital #long post tw #gif tw #flashy tw #seizure warning tw #epilepsy warning tw #death tw #war tw #murder tw #unfinished paperwork | queue

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flameleads · 2 months ago

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tag dump #3