#increase your sword savvy

[archerinventive]

Are you interested in sword fighting or the medieval art of combat but don't know where to start? Well, let the amazing folks of the Hawkwood's Troupe help you out.

Here, we have a collection of some of the best pieces of literature when it comes to the study of the sword and much more.

A huge thank you to the troupe for letting me share these images, and to Sven Lugar for a meaningful lesson on feeling the blade.

If you know of other good recommendations please feel free to leave a comment below. :)

You can find out more about the Hawkwood's Troupe at http://www.nwarmizare.com/Newsite/

Includes:

The Rapier Part One: Beginners -Workbook- by Guy Windsor

Medieval Wrestling by Jessica Finley

16th Century Single Sword Combat: Bolognese Fencing by William E. Wilson

The Art of Combat by Joachim Meyer

English Martial Arts by Terry Brown

Venetian Rapier, The School or Salle by Nicoletto Giganti's

The Complete Renaissance Swordsman by Antonio Manciolino's Opera Nova

Medieval Combat by Hans Talhoffer

Fior Di Battaglia ("The Flower of Battle), MS Ludwig XV 13 by Fiore de'i Liberi

[desertfragments]

🎵for a battle theme song

🏰 for a location or dungeon theme and setting

👊 for a description on a special move

👌 for an key item left from them after losing

☠ for a game over if they win the fight

💯 to know if they would be a easy or a hard boss

For Jay!

@celestriakle

🎵for a battle theme song

Honestly, Jay's would be something like this or this. Basic upbeat boss music. I don't think it's anything particularly notable.

🏰 for a location or dungeon theme and setting

The chain link fence rattles as you squeeze through a hole, praying that your clothes don't rip on the jagged wires. Luckily, you make it through unscathed, and as you stand up, your eyes catch on a red sign.

NO TRESPASSING.

Well, it's too late for that. You turn and begin to walk towards the water tower, sunk deep into the depths of the trainyard.

The yard itself is old, mostly abandoned at this point. Old gutted corpses of cars loom above you, graffiti sprawling across their empty sides. You pick your way towards the warehouse.

It's mostly rusted. The glass has been broken in multiple places, and its... Well. Dirty. Abandoned. Your eyes travel around the place, tracking the rickety stairs upward until you see a bright shock of blonde hair on top of the beams.

👊 for a description on a special move

Shifting Gears

Ever a skilled fighter, Jay loves to switch it up in the middle of the fight. After all, she doesn't want you getting too comfortable. You can handle it, right?

When in combat, Jay will switch weapons and techniques. If he were previously using heavy attacks and weapons, he will switch to light attacks and weapons.

💬 for a opening dialogue before fight

"Hey!" they greet you brightly. "Are you looking for a fight?" They look around and lean in as if they're sharing a secret. "Cuz between you and me, I'm the best there is around here and I'm lookin' for a good sparring partner." They smile slyly. "Think you're up for it?"

👌 for an key item left from them after losing

Worn Hoodie

A much-loved blue hoodie. It's stained on the sleeves and it's a bit dirty. It's obviously been worn many times. Where it's been ripped, a careful hand has stitched it back together, and patched it where the rip was too big.

Equippable. When worn, it grants the user +2 to their lowest stat.

☠ for a game over if they win the fight

He tsks. "Shit dude, I thought you were better than that." A hand brushes through his hair and he looks at you, a touch of concern crossing his features. "Why don't you come back tomorrow when you're feeling better? I bet you'll do way better when you've gotten some rest and taken a break."

He pats you on the shoulder as your eyes slip shut.

💯 to know if they would be a easy or a hard boss

She'd be a middling difficulty boss! I don't think she's particularly challenging, but you would need to be savvy to the different counters and strategies for different weapons. Ex. if Jay were using an ax and a ranged attack, then they'd switch to a sword and a close range attack.

Her build is also very middling, with even stats across the board. This means that she is fairly adaptable to all builds, but weak to minmaxers.

Also, her difficulty lowers the more times you fight her without winning. If you go long enough, then you'd just need to hit her once while she flops over and pretends to play dead.

However, the more times you fight her after you've won, then her difficulty increases with each battle.

👏 for a subordinate or mini-boss they might have

Cyrus

Jay's best friend. According to rumor, Cyrus is very powerful and scary. You have no chance of beating him in a fair fight. Best to avoid his wicked glare, or be struck down by his wrath.

He seems bored standing around and waiting for something to happen. In fact, he's more preoccupied with his camera or book to pay you any attention.

[klarity-jane]

Happy Tuesday,  my fellow Traveler 🤗

As someone who has dealt with anxiety as soon as I wake up, whether it's after a night's sleep or a nap (though less so with the siestas), I know how funky it can be to get going when feeling this uneasy and overwhelmed way. No doubt, we've got our coping approaches by now,  but maybe it's time for another update.  The anxiety hits differently at this point,  so perhaps it's about getting more and more savvy in implementing some dynamic practices that can make a big difference in how we feel and approach the next thing. You might know by now I'm about using those switchwords because I feel like I'm sweetly hacking my mental, so allow me to offer my 9 "power" switchwords that I generally choose from to move into feeling more relieved and balanced after I wake up ready to be all Knight of Swords reversed. I'm like 'Whoa there, Nelly, let's stop right here', before I feed into that urge to take off with no real plan or simply shut down by the weight of the pressure.  So here we go:

Take deep breaths: Right away. The simple act of taking a few deep breaths can help to calm the mind and body. Focus on inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply. Repeat the switchword CALM within, breathing in and out.

Stretch the body: While still in bed, take a few minutes to stretch the body. This will help to release any retained tension. Repeat the switchword RELEASE to encourage liberation.

Drink water: Staying hydrated is important for overall health, so clearly it also helps to slide beyond anxiety. Drink a glass of water by the side of the bed and sip on some while lovingly repeating the switchword HEALING.

Fill up with "thanks": Take a beat further; look, listen, feel… Start with the essentials like 'how good it is to breathe', 'I like wiggling my toes', 'It looks wonderful outside';  you know, stuff like that, and appreciate each with increasing attention. Repeat the switchword THANKFUL while focusing on these pleasing conditions. Endeavor to take some time to cycle through this, if time permits. If not, any bit is glorious.

Journal: Jot down any thoughts or feelings that are causing anxiety. Are these thoughts happening now, in live action? Or is it the possibility of the unwanted coming true to the 3D that's scary? Get to the truth by asking if these disturbing thoughts and feelings are actively relative right this very moment, or if at all. Exploring questions that lead to truth can help to untangle the mind and allow freedom to move on with a clearer view. Repeat the switchword CLEAR while writing.

Meditate: Spend a few minutes meditating or practicing mindfulness, being only in the now moment. Recite the switchword PEACE while focusing on the breath and going beyond any racing thoughts.

Visualize a positive outcome: Leisurely imagine overcoming any personal challenges or obstacles going on. Repeat the switchword SUCCESS while visualizing the desired experience. 

Get moving: Engage in some light exercise, such as a short walk or yoga. Beat the drum on the switchword ENERGY to help add that extra pep.

Set intentions: Decide on one thing to accomplish or focus on for the day. Take the switchword FOCUS with gentle confidence  while setting the intention.

By implementing these practices and focusing on the accompanying switchwords, the power to upgrade the vibe is real. With the refreshed sense of grace and clarity, I'm willing to keep it going on the daily, not only using them when I wake up feeling out of sorts. Let me know of any takeaways or your experiences in using any of these 9 power switchwords or about your go-to switchwords that gives you that smooth shift from morning anxiety to that 'It's all gonna work out' feeling, ok?

P.S. It's smart to consult with a qualified health professional or therapist before starting any new self-help practice or additional assistance is called for, especially if you have a pre-existing medical condition or mental health concern. As usual,  I share my DIY ideas;  practices that have proven to be effective for me, along with others who share with me the benefits they experience using some version of these methods. Know that my primary intention is to inspire, not at all to prescribe. Please use whatever works and leave the rest to the rest.

[danielsiegelalonso]

Music in the Digital Age By Daniel Siegel Alonso

Do you remember when mixtapes were painstakingly made, and CDs were prized possessions of music fans? Fast-forward to the present day and music in the digital age is a whole new ballgame. The rise of technology has radically altered how we create, distribute, and consume music. Daniel Siegel Alonso explores this brave new world where algorithms curate playlists, concerts are live-streamed, and anyone with a smartphone can be a DJ.

The Death of the Physical Medium

Siegel Alonso states that the first considerable change in the digital age was the transition from physical to digital media. Vinyl records, cassette tapes, and CDs gave way to MP3s and now streaming services. This change wasn’t just a format change but a seismic shift in the music industry.

No more scratched discs or tangled tapes. Now, all the music you could ever want is just a click away. Services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube have enabled millions of songs to be accessed instantly. Gone are the days of driving to the record store; now, your favorite artist's latest album can be downloaded in seconds.

Democratization of Music Creation

One of the most thrilling aspects of the digital age is how it has democratized music creation. With powerful software and affordable hardware, anyone can produce studio-quality music from their bedroom. You don’t need a major label to make a hit; you just need a laptop and a spark of inspiration.

Take Billie Eilish, for example. Along with her brother Finneas, she recorded her debut album in a small bedroom studio, garnering multiple Grammy Awards. Billie's tale isn’t unique. The digital age has empowered countless indie artists who have circumvented traditional gatekeepers to unlock their own success.

Streaming: The Double-Edged Sword

While streaming has made music more accessible than ever, Siegel Alonso points out that it’s also been a double-edged sword for artists. On one hand, platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have permitted artists to connect with a global audience without needing the support of a record label. On the other hand, the revenue from streaming is often a pittance of what artists used to make from physical sales.

Musicians are now navigating an ever-changing landscape where touring and merch sales are critical to their livelihood. While distributing music is easier than ever, earning a long-term, sustainable income is difficult. The digital age has reshaped the economics of the music industry, often forcing artists to be as savvy with their business as they are with their craft.

The Algorithm Era

In the digital age, algorithms are the new DJs. Platforms use complex algorithms to curate playlists and recommend new music to listeners. These algorithms analyze your listening habits, likes, and dislikes to serve up a personalized soundtrack for your life.

While this means you’re more likely to discover new artists you’ll love, it also raises questions about diversity in music consumption. Are we all being funneled into narrower musical echo chambers? The human touch of a knowledgeable DJ or a trusted friend’s recommendation sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.

Social Media: The New A&R

Remember when artists had to rely on talent scouts or record labels to get discovered? Now, social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have become the new A&R departments. Viral moments can catapult unknown musicians into the limelight overnight.

Siegel Alonso takes singer-songwriter Charlie Puth’s meteoric rise as an example. His cover songs went viral on YouTube before topping charts worldwide. Social media has leveled the playing field, allowing artists to connect directly with fans and build their own followings without being beholden to industry gatekeepers.

The Live Experience Reinvented

The digital age hasn’t just changed how we listen to recorded music; it’s also reinvented the live music experience. The COVID-19 lockdown increased the popularity of virtual concerts and live streams. Platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and even Fortnite have hosted live music events, attracting millions of viewers from around the globe.

While nothing can truly replace the energy of a live concert, these virtual events offer a new way to experience live music. They’re accessible to people who might be unable to attend in person due to geographical or financial constraints. Additionally, they present a level of interactivity and engagement unique to the digital format.

The Future Sounds Bright

As we look to the future, Daniel Siegel Alonso mentions that it's clear that the digital age will continue to mold the music industry in new, innovative ways. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, and blockchain technology promise to create new opportunities for artists and listeners alike. Imagine AI-generated music that adapts to your mood in real-time or virtual concerts where you can choose your viewpoint and interact with fellow fans.

The digital age has made music more accessible, diverse, and dynamic than ever before. It’s obliterated barriers and formed new opportunities for both artists and fans. While there are obstacles to overcome, the potential for innovation and connection is boundless.

Whether you prefer the crackle of vinyl or you're a streaming fan, there’s no denying that we’re experiencing a golden age of music. So, embrace the changes, enjoy the tunes, and let the music play on.

[digital-b3]

Beyond the Buzzwords: Real-World Case Studies of Successful Digital Marketing Campaigns ✨

#DigitalMarketing isn't just about trendy hashtags and fleeting fads. It's about crafting strategies that deliver real results, building genuine connections with audiences, and propelling businesses forward. But how do these buzzwords translate into tangible success? Let's dive into the exciting world of real-world case studies, showcasing how brands across industries are mastering the art of digital marketing:

1. From Cat Videos to Kitty Conversions: How Buzzfeed Cracked the #SocialMediaMarketing Code

Remember "Grumpy Cat"? This viral sensation wasn't just a lucky break for Buzzfeed. It was the result of a data-driven, #contentmarketing strategy that capitalized on user engagement and humor. Buzzfeed's success lies in understanding their audience, creating highly shareable content, and leveraging #socialmedia platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach millions.

2. #SEO Savvy: How a Local Bakery Rose to the Top of Search Results

Forget expensive billboards – a small bakery in Seattle used #SEO to become a local darling. By optimizing their website, building backlinks, and creating informative blog posts, they climbed search engine rankings for relevant keywords. This organic traffic boost led to increased foot traffic and online orders, proving the power of smart #SEO strategies for even small businesses.

3. The Power of #InfluencerMarketing: How a Clothing Brand Partnered with Eco-Warriors

Sustainability is a hot topic, and a clothing brand capitalized on this by collaborating with eco-conscious influencers. These authentic voices resonated with the target audience, promoting the brand's ethical practices and driving #sales conversions. This #influencermarketing campaign highlighted the importance of finding the right partners who align with your brand values and message.

4. #EmailMarketing Magic: How a Travel Agency Re-engaged Inactive Customers

Email marketing isn't dead! A travel agency brought back dormant customers with personalized email campaigns. They segmented their audience, offered targeted promotions, and used compelling storytelling to rekindle interest. This #emailmarketing revival demonstrates the power of personalized outreach in re-engaging past customers.

5. #PaidAds Powerhouse: How a Tech Startup Optimized Their Click-Through Rates

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a double-edged sword. A tech startup aced the game by focusing on #keyword research, ad copy optimization, and landing page conversion. They targeted the right audience with relevant ads, leading to higher click-through rates and improved ROI. This case study underscores the importance of data-driven decision making in #paidads campaigns.

Remember, these are just a glimpse into the vast world of successful digital marketing. By learning from these real-world examples and focusing on strategic planning, creative content, and data-driven insights, you can turn your own digital marketing efforts into a success story too!

[eggsinvest]

How to Make Money in Real Estate: Unlocking the Secrets of Property Development

Real estate investment is more than just a buzzword—it’s a proven avenue for growing your wealth. While late-night infomercials may promise quick riches, understanding the fundamentals of making money in real estate is key to building lasting financial success.

Unlocking Wealth through Real Estate

But, It’s Not All About Quick Fixes

Contrary to the hype surrounding obscure investment strategies, the core of real estate wealth lies in appreciation, the increase in a property’s value over time. Selling is the ultimate realization of this appreciation, but savvy investors can enhance returns by refinancing loans at lower interest rates, effectively elevating the profit margins.

Real Estate Profits from Increasing Property Value

The cornerstone of real estate wealth is appreciation—whether it’s from developing undeveloped land or discovering valuable minerals. As cities expand, raw land gains value, especially when purchased by developers. Residential properties benefit from evolving neighborhoods, while commercial properties thrive on location, development, and improvements.

The Role of Inflation in Property Values

Inflation plays a role too. Over time, a property’s value increases due to economic inflation. A piece of land bought for $100,000 in 1970 could be worth more than $700,000 today, considering the impact of inflation. However, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, as the cost of goods also rises.

Real Estate Profits from Income

Beyond appreciation, real estate offers steady income in various forms.

Raw Land Income

Companies may pay royalties for discoveries on your land, such as minerals or oil. Raw land can also be leased for agricultural production or valuable resources like timber.

Residential Property Income

Residential properties generate income through rent. Desirable locations are key to securing tenants and ensuring a steady stream of rental income.

Commercial Property Income

Commercial properties yield income through rent and option fees. Tenants may pay premiums for contractual options like the right of first refusal on adjacent spaces.

Residential Real Estate: Paths to Profits

Residential real estate provides diverse income opportunities:

Buy and Hold: Rent out a single-family or multifamily home.

Flipping: Add value through renovations for a quick resale.

Airbnb and Vacation Rentals: Tap into the demand for short-term rentals.

Alternative Real Estate Income Sources

Explore investment alternatives within the real estate sector, such as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBSs), Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs), and Real Estate Investment Groups (REIGs). Each comes with unique processes and entry points.

Other Ways to Invest in Real Estate

Beyond traditional methods, consider options like short sales, lease options, and contract flipping. While not without risks, these strategies offer alternative paths to real estate wealth.

Can Real Estate Make You Rich?

While real estate can indeed make you rich, it’s not a guaranteed path. The market experiences boom and bust cycles, and success depends on careful planning and understanding the risks involved.

How Can Beginners Make Money in Real Estate?

For beginners, appreciation remains a common and straightforward way to make money. However, exploring diverse income sources like rent and indirect investments through REITs and other instruments can also pave the way to success.

How Can I Make Money in Real Estate?

Making money in real estate involves various avenues, from renting properties to receiving royalties on raw land. Indirect investment through REITs, MBSs, MICs, and REIGs offers additional options for wealth creation.

The Bottom Line: Your Path to Real Estate Wealth

In the vast landscape of real estate investment, understanding the methods, risks, and potential rewards is crucial. Whether you’re eyeing residential properties or exploring alternative investment vehicles, strategic decisions and a comprehensive understanding of the market will guide you on your journey to financial prosperity. Are you ready to unlock the doors to real estate wealth? Start your journey with us.

Begin your real estate investment journey with our expert guidance. Explore opportunities, mitigate risks, and start building your wealth today. Join us on the path to financial prosperity!

[ryo-maybe]

WoL questions 1, 3, 5, 6, 9!

Why did they pick their first class/job? What about the job they main now?

Oh, I like this one. Rinne's starting class was Arcanist, which eventually led to her choosing the path of the Scholar. What is important to note is that the beginning of Rinne's journey as the WoL came at the tail end of another tale's conclusion. One which starred a naive Raen who, in the pursuit of a dream, ended up losing everything - even her self (do note that this is not a typo, for reasons that you are well aware of!). The protagonist of that tale followed the path of blade and gunpowder, paved it with blood and tears, and ultimately led her to cross the finish line alone. So, what is there left to do once everything is lost and destroyed? You rebuild. You create. You pen a new tale, with quill as your sword to spill ink across pristine pages. All she knew was that there was so, so much she did not. Thus, her first step into the unknown began with the turn of a page, followed by another, until tens turned to hundreds and tomes both dusty and glossy alike began to prepare her for everything she had yet to do, everybody she had never been. Like the bespectacled bookworm of a healer with a savvy glint behind her eye, and the eager smirk to match, one of many passengers on a certain boat headed towards Limsa Lominsa's famed docks...

3. Who do they worry about the most?

Her son the Vath Deftarm gave her some of the greatest migraines in her entire life, and she still checks in regularly to make sure that no hivemindy nonsense is trying to steal his personhood away yet again.

5. What is the first impression most people have of them? Is it different when they get to know them?

Now that's a fun one to think about! Getting to meet Rinne is not unlike rolling on a very extensive table of random encounters. The distilled essence of her character, her Core, is "Role of the Week". Role in this case must be read in its theatrical sense, although its practical application to a combat context is just as valid, more often than not. If her life were a series, Rinne would be an exciting hodge-podge of Kaiketsu Zubat, Golden Boy and Disco Elysium with all the naughty and depressing bits trimmed off. She speedruns lifestyles for a living, although her sincere enjoyment of the novelty that each new one entails tends to spill over.

You are the protagonist of your tale. She is the person you assume to be a side-character who will do her bit and quickly fade out of relevance at the end of the current intrigue, a mere observer, perhaps even victim of the circumstances. Until, upon nearing the climax, when everything's on the line and there's nothing to lose, the spotlights shine... but not on you. The katana gleaming as it deftly draws an arc to disarm the big bad is not yours. The extremely catchy tune playing in the background? Yeah, sorry, turns out you were the decoy protagonist all along. But not to worry! No sooner will trouble be dealt with than she will have already disappeared towards the sunset, ready to begin a new venture and leave yet another wondering... where did the ruse end, where did the truth begin? Ponder upon it, whenever you recall her wink-and-grin combo.

6. Is that their natural hair color?

100% natural. Whether her past experiences increased the rate of white-to-blue, however, is anyone's guess.

9. What does the way they’ve decorated their apartment and/or house (if they have one) say about them as a person?

That an interior designer will definitely not be the career path she will ultimately settle on. Her "home" is little more than a fancy storage for whatever furniture and paraphernalia she somehow happened to accumulate during her travels, haphazardly thrown in with only the barest minimum hint of planning and not even that when it comes to a unified sense of aesthetics. In other words, her home is a perfect mirror of its very absent owner.

[thetravelerwrites]

Heat (Part 1)

Rating: Explicit Relationships: Female Tabaxi/Male Human/Fem-Intersex Tiefling Additional Tags: Exophilia, Babies, Mention of Pregnancy, Children, Kids, Tabaxi, Tiefling, Intersex, Pregnancy, Fatherhood, In Heat, Mating Cycles, Contraceptive Words: 4311

Rings goes into an intense heat and decides to isolate herself to prevent conceiving a child, whereas Ebert goes on a quest to find rare components to create a stronger contraceptive for her. Commissioned by @ocsmutpocalypse!

Rings had been acting weird. More weird than normal. And her normal weirdness was… pretty weird, by anyone’s standards. She spent a lot of time camping in the woods and snapped at anyone who came near her, including Ebert, Reverence, and her sister. Buttons couldn’t be in the same room as Rings, hissing and spitting at her before scrabbling for the door in a frothing rage.

Ebert hadn’t realized the change in her behavior at first, since Ethrik was a year and a half old, and Ebert’s second child had just been born a few months before, which took up all his attention. The child was like Reverence in that they were between genders and were not old enough to decide which gender they most identified with. Ebert and Reverence decided to name them Evo, short for “evolving,” and figured that they could change their name when they were old enough to choose.

So it was a few days before Ebert noticed her odd behavior and pointed it out to Reverence.

“Ah,” Reverence said, breastfeeding Evo. “Maybe she’s in heat.”

“Heat?” Ebert said, confused. “She’s never gone into heat before.”

“Well, not since you’ve been here, but that’s only been two years. It’s happened twice before, and they were random. Her sister says that Rings normally takes some sort of suppressant which works well enough typically, but every once in a while, the urge gets too strong and her body rebels against her.”

“Huh,” Ebert said. “Well, she takes the birth control medicine that I make, so she should be alright, right?”

Reverence shook her head, patting Evo’s bottom as they suckled. “Biological imperative in her species can be pretty strong, and no birth control is 100% effective. Rings hates the idea of having children more than anything, so the possibility that she might conceive is something she simply cannot tolerate. It’s why she normally secluded herself during her heats. Which is unfortunate for her. The last one was two months long. She came back in very poor shape; it took weeks for her to recover.”

Ebert frowned. “That’s disconcerting. Can nothing be done to help her?”

“According to Spring, if she copulates, the heat passes in a matter of days, but Rings won’t risk it. The idea of motherhood repulses her.”

“I know that all too well,” Ebert said. “I’m going to go to the cottage and see if I can work on something for her. I don’t like the idea of her being isolated for two months, especially since winter is coming soon.”

Reverence nodded and kissed him goodbye, and Ebert trekked into the woods and to the cottage where he did is magical work. As he was walking up, he heard glass break inside the cottage.

Taking out a short sword he’d been given and preparing a fireball, he called out, “Declare yourself!”

“Fuck off!” He heard in response, Rings’ annoyed voice loud enough to rattle the windows in the frame.

“Rings?” He said, dropping his sword and letting the fireball spell fizzle out in disbelief. “What the hell are you doing in there? What did you break?”

“Who cares? Go away!”

“I need my workspace!” Ebert said, putting the key in the door, but it refused to open. He had a feeling Rings was sitting in front of the door. “Reverence told me you’re in heat! I’m going to try and make a new contraceptive for you!”

“What do you know?” Rings yelled, banging against the door as he pushed on it. “Go ask Cassandra! She knows more about herbs and medicine than you do, you quack!”

Ebert grimaced, but he knew she wasn’t wrong. Cassandra was an aasimar and alumnus from his old academy, one who actually graduated and hadn’t committed a crime against nature, like he had. She and her lover had settled in the village less than a month previous.

Her specialty was prophecy and soothsaying, but she was also well versed in magical medicine and herbalism. Ebert was a good physician, but he wasn’t much of an apothecary He’d deferred to her expertise on several occasions, including the production of the original contraceptive. He was lucky she was more interested in working as a fortune teller and not as a medicine maker, or she could have taken half his business, if she’d had a mind to it.

“Yeah, I love you, too!” Ebert retorted, stalking off.

Cassandra lived with her lover, a minotaur named Bigby, near the temple and she did a lot of her business with the visitors. Getting your fortune told right outside of the temple was lucrative for both parties, so Reverence had allowed it as long as Cassandra agreed to support the temple and donate a small percentage of her earnings to the temple every month. Despite being a holy woman who lived a modest life in a small, two room house, Reverence was remarkably business savvy at times.

On the other hand, Bigby loved kids, and he often babysat for the villagers when they made their trips to the temple for a small fee. It was a good way to earn himself income and keep the littler tots out of trouble while their parents did their worshiping, so everyone got something out of the deal.

Cassandra was sitting at a booth that she had set up at the feet of Fysy’s statue outside of the temple. She was in the process of giving a reading to a parishioner, so Ebert waited awkwardly a small distance away for her to finish before approaching.

“Hello, necromancer,” Cassandra said pleasantly, her dark skin shining like bronze in the sunlight. “I’ve been waiting for you to come and see me. You certainly take your sweet time. I was wondering if I’d have to come and seek you out instead.”

“Yes, well,” Ebert said. “Rings is in heat.”

“I know,” She said, smugly magnanimous. “You’ve come to get medicinal advice, yes?”

“I suppose so,” Ebert admitted. “Rings and Reverence implied that the current contraceptive recipe will not be enough to override her body’s biological imperative. I need something stronger.”

“The recipe you have is pretty strong,” Cassandra said. “It would work for most mortal beings. Though, I will admit that Tabaxi bodies are very hardy and can expel most poisons with no effect to themselves. It’s no wonder that a normal recipe wouldn’t work for them.” She rubbed her chin. “There are a few herbs I know of that are effective. Bloodwort is one, and the bark of the red cedar is another. Bloodwort isn’t too hard to find, but red cedar isn’t native to this region. To find it, you’ll have to travel northwest for at least a week.” She stood up and came around the table, motioning to him to follow her. “Come.”

She led him to her home, where Bigby was chasing a passel of children around in the yard, pausing momentarily to raise a hand in greeting only to be set upon by many tiny hands, pushing him on his stomach and piling on.

“Here,” Cassandra said, pulling down a book. “This is a picture of the herbs I mentioned. When you find them, combine it with fennel seed, chasteberry, raspberry leaf, thistle, and red clover flowers. Boil on a low setting in clear water for at least three days, and add the decotion to a berry wine. Three tablespoons per day until the next cycle starts.”

Ebert pulled out his notebook and began to draw copies of each of the plants, writing down the recipe underneath the sketches.

“There’s an unusual symptom of this decotion, however,” Cassandra continued. “It doesn’t happen in humans, but in beastfolk, like tabaxis, it can cause an increase in sex drive. It’s still effective as a contraceptive in beastfolk, but it forces them to experience the worst of the heat in order to surpass it. I’d advise you to discuss it with Rings before making the trip. She may not appreciate the side effects.”

“I’ll do that,” Ebert said. “Although… Rings is usually my partner on these types of trips… I can’t imagine--”

“Going alone?” Cassandra said, finishing his sentence. “Then don’t. Certainly, Rings is a capable woman, but she’s not the only one. Her sister is also quite capable, and she would understand the urgency, especially considering she’s gone through a heat herself.”

“That’s true,” Ebert said. “I’ll ask Rings. Thanks, Cass.”

“It’s no trouble,” Cassandra replied pleasantly. “Give the children a kiss for me.”

Ebert waved and set off back to the cabin.

“Rings,” He said once he returned. Rings was still sitting against the door and refused to let him inside. “I spoke to Cassandra. I have to take a trip to get the ingredients she told me about. I’ll be gone for a few weeks.”

“Okay,” She said. She sounded much more subdued than normal.

“Listen,” Ebert started, sitting awkwardly on the steps. “Cassandra said that the herbs have a strange side effect on beast people. It forces them to the peak of their heat and makes them more… needy. The heat passes faster, but… the urge to… procreate… gets stronger. Uncontrollable. I just wanted to be sure it’s something you’re willing to deal with.”

“I don’t know,” She said after a moment. “If that’s the case… Will you and Reverence shelter with me until it’s over? If I’m going to end up in the family way… I’d prefer it if the kid belonged to you or her. I trust the two of you more than anyone else. I know me; it’s just not in me to be a parent. I won’t care for the kid. But you two will. And that’s good enough for me.”

“We can do that,” Ebert said. “I’m sure Reverence would agree. I’ll discuss it with her before I leave, to be sure. I’m going to see if Spring will accompany me on this trip. She understands this better than me, after all.”

“That’ll be good,” Rings agreed. “She hasn’t been out of the village since we came here.” Ebert heard her laugh. “Make sure Flicker doesn’t get the wrong idea. Unless you’re planning on seducing Springs on the trip.”

“Gross. I’m not into sisters, thanks. And Flicker could rip me in half, so I’m not risking it.”

Flickering Flame was a Bengal tiger tabaxi soldier from a far off desert country and was in a relationship with Spring. He worked as a guard, protecting the village from hostile outsiders. Though Spring was monogamous and had chosen not to follow Fysy, Flicker was a disciple of Fysy and worshiped at the temple, an arrangement they had agreed on when they decided to become engaged.

“Yeah, that’s true. He would rip you in half. It would be funny,” Rings said, laughing in a subdued way.

“Are you okay?” Ebert asked in concern.

She sighed. “I’m anxious. I’m never anxious, and I hate it. And I’ve never had to worry about who I had sex with or when. I don’t feel like myself and I don’t like it.”

“We’re going to fix it,” Ebert said softly. “Even if I have to go alone. As fun as it is to see you squirm… I miss you. The real you.”

“I miss me, too,” She said. “When are you leaving?”

“As soon as I talk to Spring,” He replied. “Probably tomorrow morning. I don’t want to delay too long.”

“Reverence is okay with it?” She asked.

“I haven’t talked to her yet, but I don’t imagine she’d be opposed to it. She’s not exactly restrictive or controlling.”

“True. And she can’t leave the village. She hasn’t set foot outside of the town’s boundary since she became the priestess decades ago.”

“I keep meaning to ask her the story behind that, but I’ve never had the opportunity. I heard she came from some place far away. I wonder how she ended up here.”

“I’ve never heard the full story, either,” Rings said. “Let’s ask her when you get back. It seems the three of us will be spending several days together, after all.”

Ebert struggled to his feet and brushed off his trouser. “I’m going to get going. I want to make arrangements before sundown.”

“Hey.”

“What?”

A heartbeat of time passed before she said, in a very quiet voice. “Be safe, okay? Don’t get killed, or I’ll be very angry with you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” He said, chuckling.

“I’m serious,” She said, banging the door. “You’re useless without me.”

Ebert began to set off down the trail. “Don’t forget to eat.”

It didn’t take much to convince Spring to go with Ebert on his sojourn. She asked Bigby to look after Candle until she returned, and Bigby was happy to comply. Ebert also discussed having Bigby watch his tots when he returned and sheltered with Rings during her heat, and he was amiable.

Reverence was sympathetic to Ring’s plight and immediately agreed to help, offering to go to Rings at the cabin while Ebert was gone and satisfy her in ways that didn’t lead to children in the meantime. It wouldn’t be enough to end her heat, but it would keep her from losing her senses in the midst of an uncontrollable influx of hormones.

Spring met Ebert outside of her house the next morning wearing a practical traveling outfit with a sword strapped to her back.

“I wasn’t aware you owned a sword,” Ebert said, impressed.

“It’s Flicker’s,” She said. “I’m just borrowing it. I’m only glad he had one that suited a person my size. Of course, he calls it a letter opener.”

Ebert snorted. “You’re ready, then?”

“Yeah,” She replied, hitching up her pack. “We should follow the river until we hit open terrain. I’m familiar with the smell of red cedar, so finding it shouldn’t be as difficult as it would be without a tracker.”

“That’s definitely useful. Have you said farewell to Rings?”

“No, but I don’t think she’d welcome my company at the moment. I’ll greet her when we return.”

Fair enough. “Let’s head out.”

Traveling with Spring wasn’t as awkward or unpleasant as Ebert worried it could have been, especially considering the two of them weren’t necessarily close, despite his having lived in the village for several years by this point. The only time they really spoke was when he accompanied Rings or Reverence to dinner at Spring’s house.

He discovered that Spring was a good conversationalist and knew a lot about wilderness survival techniques, perhaps even more than Rings, which was reassuring, because Ebert knew fuck all about that.

Though she reminded Ebert of Rings in a number of ways, she was more even-keel and mellow-tempered than her sister. Whatever affection he might have developed for her during their trek, it definitely wasn’t attraction. More like a close friend or sibling, which actually relieved him. He hadn’t been close to any of his siblings, so having a familial relationship with someone was both unfamiliar and refreshing.

“The air is getting colder,” Spring said, pulling her scarf around her more tightly as they walked. “Another day, and we should be in the right area.”

“Great,” Ebert said in relief. “I hate camping.”

Spring snorted. “Yeah, I kinda figured. You do most of your grumbling right before bed.”

“I don’t mean to grumble,” He said, slightly embarrassed.

Spring laughed again. “You do it mostly under your breath, but I have good hearing.” Her feline ears flicked back and forth. “I honestly find it rather amusing. You remind me of Candle sometimes.”

“...thanks?”

“I just mean you like things a certain way. Candle is like that, too.” She hacked a branch out of her way. “Most children are.”

“Insinuating that I behave like a child?”

“I don’t mean it in a negative way. Rings is very similar. I think it’s just a side effect of not having a very good childhood. Rings hasn’t told me much about your childhood, but it’s easy enough to assume that it wasn’t a happy one, and you already know hers was terrible.”

“That’s true,” He admitted.

“We all need certain things when we’re children, chief among them is attention,” She said pensively. “Children grumble and gripe and make a fuss, and it seems irritating, but what they’re really asking for is attention. If you don’t get enough when you’re young, you grow up desperate for it. Rings acts out because she likes attention. I don’t think you necessarily want people to pay attention to you, but I think you do want people to listen. If you didn’t, I think you wouldn’t grumble out loud. People only make noise when they want someone to hear it, after all.”

“What are you, a philosopher?” Ebert laughed.

“Aren’t all mothers?” Spring replied, laughing herself.

The next day, as they were trekking near a treeline, Spring stopped and sniffed the air.

“I smell bloodroot,” She said. “It’s not far away. A few hundred meters, maybe.”

“Any whiff of red cedar yet?”

“No, but it likely won’t be long now. Bloodroot and red cedar are native to the same region.”

“Well, let’s collect as much as we can carry while we’re here. I don’t want to have to make another trip any time soon.”

They spent most of the afternoon plucking bloodroot plants, hoping there were seeds they could sow when they returned to the village. Another few hours travel before nightfall brought them to a grove with red cedar.

“Fucking finally,” Ebert sighed. “I was worried we’d have to travel another day to find this.”

“It is getting late, as it is,” Spring said, looking toward the setting sun. “It’d be best to set up camp now and harvest what we need in the morning.”

“Uuuugh,” Ebert groaned, throwing his head back dramatically, and Spring smiled at him in a fond, maternal sort of way.

Spring set about building a fire pit while Ebert looked for firewood from the nearby brush. He found valuable mushrooms and some lichen that would be useful as components and harvested those while he was at it, then returned to the clearing where they’d made camp.

“It doesn’t smell like rain tonight, which is good. I don’t feel like putting up the tent.”

Ebert groaned. “I don’t like sleeping in the open air.”

“Then you set up the tent,” She retorted.

Ebert’s groan deepened. “It’s not so bad, I guess.”

“That’s what I thought.” She sat down at the newly built fire and put the cooking grate over it, setting a small pot on top of the grate and pouring water into it from her canteen. “Wanna cut up the onions and potatoes for the stew? I still have some jerky left, but I should hunt tomorrow for the trip back.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ebert said with a heavy sigh, settling himself with difficulty on the ground, setting his cane down next to him, and opening the drawstring pouch that contained their food supply. “One each, eh?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” She said.

“So, has Rings ever gone through heat like this before?” Ebert asked as he peeled the vegetables. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but I keep forgetting. This one seems severe.”

“She’s had a couple of heats since reaching adulthood, but not this bad,” Spring replied, tearing the jerky into small strips and throwing it into the pot. “It’s only as bad as this because Rings isn’t used to suppressing her urges. She’s always been impulsive and opportunistic. If she wants something, whether it’s food, money, sex, or whatever, she either takes it from wherever it’s most readily available or finds someone willing to give it to her, and she never hesitates. It’s why Fysy’s village suits her so well. Ordinarily.”

“True,” Ebert mused. “So stubborn. You’re older than her, right?”

Springs snorted. “By, like, three minutes. We’re from the same litter.”

“You two have such different personalities,” Ebert remarked.

“She’d hate to admit it, but she takes after our parents in temperament. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons she has no interest in having children; she hates the idea of turning out like them. That and she hates kids.”

“Yes,” Ebert replied. “Honestly, so did I, before I met Reverence. I mean, I still hate kids, but I like my kids. I guess I expected to turn out like my family. They were not in any way affectionate or sentimental, and up until Ethrik was born, I was the same way. I’d never have believed being a father was a possibility for me, let alone being a good father or enjoying my time with my children. Life has taken quite the unexpected turn.”

“Do you think Rings should have children, then?”

“Oh, Gods, no,” Ebert laughed. “Granted, I love my children, but I will admit it’s not an experience everyone needs. You know as well as I that suddenly being responsible for a living, breathing life you created is terrifying and not something every person wants to or is capable of handling. Rings is right to think that she wouldn’t raise the kid. She can’t deal with that level of responsibility. Her freedom and autonomy is too important to her, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I agree,” Spring said. “It’s one of the reasons I accepted you invitation to come on this journey. I thought of anyone, you would understand her best and not attempt to sway her opinions or plans for the future. You get her. I appreciate that, as her sister. Not many people do. I’d say even Reverence doesn’t understand Rings as well as you, for all they’ve known each other longer. It’s simply a fundamental difference in their personality.”

“You mean Rings hating kids and Reverence having so many?”

“Not just that,” She mused. “Reverence is the priestess of the goddess of love and fertility. Rings is fine with the first part, not so much the second. Though Rings loves Reverence, their difference in philosophies will always be at odds with each other. That’s why I think you’re good for them. You get them in different ways, and you can mediate if they ever argue.”

“Have they ever argued?” Ebert asked, surprised. “I’ve never witnessed it. Which is strange, because Rings loves to argue.

Spring snickered. “Typically, Rings respects Reverence enough to keep her criticisms to herself, but they had a brief falling out a few years back. Reverence was pregnant, again, and Rings got tired of it.”

“But Reverence never keeps the children, except for mine, and those were special circumstances.”

“Rings didn’t care; she felt like Reverence saw herself as nothing more than a brood mare and had no self-respect. Reverence, on the other hand, feels like making children is her sacred duty, and thus felt as though Rings was insulting her calling in life, and Fysy by extension. The parted ways for almost two months.”

“Oh, gods, it must have been serious,” Ebert said, surprised. “What happened?”

“Rings and I had a discussion about why I decided to keep Candle, even though he was conceived in the throes of an unplanned, unprepared-for heat with a deadbeat, what being a mother means to me specifically, if I wanted more children, that sort of thing. I think it helped her understand Reverence a little better. It’s the one and only time I ever heard of Rings apologizing.”

“I’m glad they made up,” Ebert replied. “I don’t know what my life would be like without both of them, and it’s not a thought I want to entertain.”

Spring smiled fondly. “Me, neither. Reverence is like a sister to me, as well. She gave me and my family a home and helped us start a new life. I owe her a lot.”

“As do I,”  Ebert said softly with a sigh, reaching for a spoon to eat the stew right from the pot. “Let’s eat and go to bed, I’m exhausted. I want to get out of here as early as possible.”

Now that they had what they needed, the trip home took much less time, and they arrived back within the town proper in five days. He stopped by Reverence’s house, only to find that Bigby was keeping the children, with all of them on the floor passing a leather ball to each other in turn. Tiny little Evo was sandwiched between Bigby’s legs to keep them upright, squealing delightedly when the ball came close only to kick it out of their reach. Buttons sat in the very center, swatting lazily at the ball as it rolled past her.

Ebert realized from Reverence’s absence that she must be keeping Rings company. Spring collected Candle and excused herself, inviting Ebert and the women over for dinner once Rings was back to her old self.

Ebert went out to the cabin that was well away from most of the town, one of the reasons he liked it so much, and heard moaning issuing from inside. Ah. He’d guessed correctly. He reached up and knocked.

“Fuck off!” Rings cried out.

“It’s me! I’m back!”

“I don’t care! Fuck off!”

“I have a key, you know!”Ebert shouted. “I can let myself in at any time, I was just being considerate!”

“Then let yourself in, the fuck if I care!”

Ebert rolled his eyes and sighed. “I can’t work with the two of you going at it. I’ll start the medicine at home. I’ll be at the house when you’re done.”

“Whatever, go away!”

Snorting derisively, Ebert set back off for home.

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience! To help me continue creating, please consider buying me a Kofi, becoming a Patron, or donating directly to my PayPal!

Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

[vg-sanctuary]

The World Ends with You

Jupiter - DS - 2008

[screenshots from Nintendo Life, jack-reviews.com, and LPArchive; please excuse the low res, I couldn’t find better ones]

TWEWY is an RPG with modern (circa 2008) style and character designs by Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Kingdom Hearts. I meant to write about it the day its sequel NEO: TWEWY came out but missed that by a few days. anyway, I think it's reasonable to call this game the epitome of the Nintendo DS. it has every feature to be expected of any game on the wildly unique handheld: a touch-based minigame with wireless multiplayer and little bearing on the main game, a sleep mode puzzle, touch controls, forced use of both screens, and gameplay and plot designed to be enjoyed in short bursts. it's loaded with cool ideas, some of which are more than questionable, even barring the crazy DS features, hence the remakes. (savvy readers will notice I left out the iOS and Switch platforms and, while there are remakes of the game for both platforms that have extra content and a more elegant combat system, they don't hit quite like the DS original.)

I don't fancy myself an RPG fan for the most part. the usual high fantasy themes and turn based combat are boring to me. usually, if an RPG has either one I'm not interested, and this has neither of those. I decided to try TWEWY while collecting DS games, and the plot and combat had grabbed me within two hours. I haven't mentioned the awesome music and visuals, both wonderfully stylish and unique in the same way Persona's UI is stylish and unique, only this game uses the style on its game world and characters instead of menus.

the premise is the antisocial protagonist, Neku, wakes up in a killing game wherein each day has a mission that he and his partner either complete or face erasure. after a week of these missions he'll be free. I can’t tell you the massive general plot spoiler that makes the whole thing so compelling as it goes on, so this section of the post is sadly pretty short. there is an anime that goes over the main events, but it's only four hours long compared to the game's 20, character development is sometimes lacking in detail or totally inaccurate, and it generally doesn't include the hardships you would go through as a player e.g. having to try a boss five times.

almost everything about TWEWY's gameplay is intriguing, so I'll try to be concise. combat is a strange beast that comes from developer Jupiter's need to use both screens to the fullest. by the way, don't let this wall of text scare you away from the game; it introduces these mechanics much slower and it's easier to understand and use. the bottom screen is gesture-based ARPG combat where, for example, short swipes over an enemy makes Neku use a sword attack or touching somewhere on the screen makes him fire a bullet. the exact gestures and attacks are determined by what pins he's wearing. the top screen asks you to use the d-pad to attack with Neku’s partner and navigate along a tree of cards where getting the right card grants a star; enough of those allows you to use a powerful and health-restoring fusion attack. there's this green light puck that passes between characters when the one holding it does a finisher and multiplies the finisher's damage with each successful pass up to five times, but disappears if held by one character for too long. fortunately the game has an auto mode for the top screen that's roughly equivalent to mashing left or right on the d-pad so you don't have to try to split your brain between both, but you get a little more experience if that's turned off. I love the bottom screen and the idea of the top screen but could never really get my head around doing both at once. maybe the intent was to focus on the character that has the puck and leave the other standing still or spamming defense? (in NEO: TWEWY, the light puck mechanic was changed to beat drop combos, where using a different character to attack shortly after a finisher gives you some charge for a super. no attention splitting, just fun ARPG combat with an interesting combo system that can inform what pins you use.)

turning up the game's difficulty makes enemies stronger and mostly drops different pins. there aren't random encounters: you have to scan for enemies and mostly get to choose which encounters to take. you can choose to fight multiple in a row without getting health back between them and multiply your drop rate multiplier, with enemies getting stronger the more encounters you take. you get your health back when you return to the overworld, which cuts out a lot of the obligatory spending for healing items and the trouble of running out for the player. there are still some pins that can heal you during a battle, though.

leveling up, instead of arbitrarily increasing every stat, only increases your HP, but you can turn your level down to lower your HP and multiply the drop rate of pins by one for each level. other stats can be increased with clothes or food, with different foods permanently increasing different stats and have different calories. each character can only eat so much in a single real time day, which is wack but still interesting. the food system in NEO is similar except without the per-day limit, and I think it's a great idea that gives the player agency in terms of what stats they want to increase and whether they want larger or smaller boosts.

pins can evolve when leveled up enough, but may only evolve if you give them the right kind of pin points, which is like experience for pins. there's PP from battles, from the game's proto-StreetPass mingle mode (that you could only get randomly roughly every hour, from other folks in TWEWY's mingle mode, or from other DSes running any wireless software; thankfully this is removed from the remakes but it's a neat idea), and from turning off the game for up to seven real time days. if a pin reaches max level with the wrong kind of PP, you have to go get another one to evolve it, but I don't think there are any super rare pins that evolve. the game doesn't show what kind of PP you need to evolve a pin, so while it's a cool idea, there's a fair chance that you'll miss lots of evolutions and not even notice.

there are lots of rare pins that can be worn as a set to do something ridiculously powerful, but you have to go out of your way to get them, like the Darklit Planets. it's a set of seven pins that are useful alone, but if worn all together they become three times more powerful. they all drop rarely from bosses on the highest difficulty. I love wacky, mystical, obscenely powerful postgame stuff like this but can't be bothered to actually go and get it. some games give you their best weapons last, which is always a shame because there's nothing to use it on, but in TWEWY, there's a boss rush that saves your best time and lots of bosses to re-fight for their rare pins, so you'll have a reason to fight bosses until you've got every one of those rare pins.

speaking of postgame, TWEWY's is rather extensive, with a bonus day focused on the Tin Pin Slammer minigame and goofy non-canon alternate personalities plus four sort of tedious missions for every ingame day that unlock secret reports for much more lore about the Reapers' Game. (one of the missions for every day is "find and destroy the pig Noise," which mostly have puzzle-ish fights; one is killed by closing the DS and opening it again, which is the sleep mode puzzle I mentioned.) if you get them all, it unlocks a special scene in the ending, but again, I can't be bothered to do that kind of postgame. not all of it, anyway, the bonus day's missions are too tedious for me.

in Tin Pin Slammer, the minigame with almost no bearing on the main game, you use your pins to play kinda-sorta Beyblade. every pin has different stats, many of which are hidden, and different amounts of the different weapons to stun your opponents' pins with. it's a rather extensive side mode and a totally unnecessary inclusion, but really fun anyway, and can be played wirelessly with others. there are some other mechanics that are also interesting but not quite worth adding any more words to this ridiculously long post, including a brand trends system and an interesting way to limit running from fights.

even with all of these words and some pictures, I seriously can't offer a glimpse of the vibes, the combat, the music, the story, the characters, the entire energy of The World Ends with You in a blog post, and in my opinion, it's not the same without the crispy DS sprites or peculiar dual screen combat. if you like the DS, 2000s energy, or action RPGs, this is an essential addition to your library if you don't want to track down a DS copy or you prefer more elegant combat, try one of the remakes instead. you're this far into the blog post, so I'm sure you won't be disappointed. (NEO: TWEWY is very good too and has a free demo on PS4 and Switch; while not the same, it's still worth trying. it carries a modernized audiovisual energy of its predecessor, more elegant combat improvements to other TWEWY systems.)

[sirvivalism]

Non-Lethal Self Defense

A famous swordsman of old Japan, said to have fought in over 300 duels and never lost, Mushashi Miyamoto's victories could sometimes entail philosophical lessons on the level of Sun Tzu's Art of War. He would show up hours late to infuriate his adversaries, pick locations that gave him the upper hand, and generally thought outside the box of typical melee combat. Once, when well past his hayday of relishing the fight, Miyamoto agreed to have it out with some young rascal who challenged him on a nearby island. They both loaded up on a small canoe, paddled over to the small land mass, and the young man hopped out. When he turned to find Musashi rowing back to the mainland, he called him a coward and demanded the fight he was promised. With a wise grin, the old master simply replied "don't you see, I've already won!"

Is it a threat? Is it not a threat? Is it a threat that merits lethal force?

This line of questioning should be quick but clear in the face of an impending confrontation. If the answer to the last question is no, then you should consider your scenario before resorting to something that could kill. It can be easy to lose sight of the scale of responses available for a threat when we spend our time obsessing over our pewpews. But, just as so many cry for non- and less-lethal options in police arsenals, it is important for us all to have a variety of options for self defense.

And your first weapons aren't tools at all - they're posturing. You can avoid a physical fight and indeed an array of verbal abuses by simply being aware and savvy enough to prevent things devolving to that point. Via placation, intimidation, and submission, many of the situations we find ourselves in every day are steered clear of violence without even realizing what we're doing. Take that a step further now. You can actively read body language, listen for vocal cues, and respond in kind to increase the odds of illiciting the reaction you want in a given situation. I love my knives and long for more guns, but never forget the power of the human mind.

Sometimes however, when such passive tactics aren't enough, the threat still doesn't need to end with the taking of a life. In these instances, a plethora of (I'll admit it) fun options exist to be utilized:

Batons seem like a natural starting point.

These bad boys can be a pain to get ahold of, as I think the collapsable ones are illegal for civilians to purchase (?), but these are a tried and true alternative to lethal carries - to the point that in the land of car massacres and sword stabbings that's pretty much all the police keep on them. Even our cops' flashlights are a direct mimmick of the form to allow beatdowns with them to be as natural as possible. I'd even go so far as to say it's one of the most comfortable options for the untrained but concerned beginner given that it's the direct descendant of what Burton deemed the first weapon of mankind - the good lord's stick. There are also cable versions that add a whipping action to each strike and supposedly get very painful with little effort.

Another staple of police the world over that is found in every knockoff gear magazine I've ever thumbed through is the taser.

Whether stuck on the end of a tube or shot in a pair of prongs, the taser has long kept the world of tv criminals safely at bay. Nobody on tv ever dies of a heart attack though, so there is that... It's like the shotgun of purse carries, immediately identifiable by both its look and that crackling sound that can put even people who've never had the pleasure of being zapped on the defensive.

Not unlike a chemical taser, the other item often found in many purses is pepper spray.

It can be found in containers as tiny as one-spritz rings and be powerful enough to stop a bear in its tracks. You know, bears, the most dangerous and unstoppable predator on the entire North American continent? Aside from linking arms and walking through warehouses crying and snotting like newborns, nobody voluntarily gets near this stuff. When they fumigate prison blocks the inmates are left breathing air that burns their throats for weeks after. This stuff is nasty, granted it doesnt seem to share the same scare factor as its electric cousin above.

Before we get to the least less-lethal option on my short list, let's give a courtesy mention for the common items that make one better in a fist fight - knuckle dusters, kubatons, tactical pens (see kubatons), monkey fists, and similar self defense knick knacks can be bought in all shapes and sized and mimmick everything from the bones of a fist to the point of a knife. These can get deadly if you're not careful.

Speaking of deadly if you're not careful, my last mention might not make it on most non-lethal lists but is another ancient staple of modern hominids I find important to include - the knife.

They can be deadly, especially if you know how to be deadly with them (or don't know how to be NOT deadly with them), but they can also be used to induce pain and shock without much danger to life. Thing about this level of lethality, however, seems to be that if you end up having to use it it's likely because the other party is either just as lethal or out of their mind. You may not have a choice but to escalate to deadly, and as a litany of military and paramilitary affirisms will remind you, that force must be applied decisively, overwhelmingly, and indiscriminantly. Be careful not to lwt this option spiral out of control and into a deadly tit for tat without realizing it.

There's no reason to kill if you don't have to - for me it goes hand-in-hand with open carry of a firearm. In much the same way that I'm willing to be the first target and spare less capable citizens that misfortune, I'm willing to take the risk of not escalating to lethal force to potentially save a life. Even if that life is to ignorant to know I'm trying to save it; even if that life is trying to make my own more miserable. Unless I find my mortality hanging in the balance, I like to think I'd be willing to seek another way and would encourage us all to hope and prepare for the same.

[lo-55]

Shattered Chains of Fate Ch. 14

Moon on the Water

The first thing Sōsuke Aizen has memory of is hunger. A dull ache in his stomach that grows to pain the longer it goes unsated.

(He will learn, decades later, that only those with high reiryoku are able to feel hunger)

He doesn’t remember, he’s never known, if he was born in Soul Society or if he’d merely died young. He doesn’t recall if he had parents at some point, or if he’d been a hollow once. It doesn’t matter, for he doubts very much that he will ever know the answer to these things. There are some things that are simply impossible to find the answers to.

All he knows for certain is the hunger that he had become aware of.

Then the dust on his skin. Grit in his eyes. Dead grass beneath his hands.

The trees that stand as witness to his beginning are bare of greenery. They are nothing more than skeletons and dead wood, pressed in close and strangling each others roots.

There are no other humans around, only empty clothes laying on the earth around him.

He doesn’t know his name. He doesn’t know where he is or what’s happening.

Hunger gets his legs up under him.

Hunger drives him, stumbling and new, into the dull light.

*

It’s barely a town where he spends the next two decades. It’s all adult men and women covered in bruises or scars that grip knives with white knuckles. He is the only child among them, and he keeps that title with bloodied fists and teeth.

His ribs hurt and his stomach aches fiercely. Food is in scarce supply, whether people feel the same hunger as he does or not. What little there is is jealously guarded, and nothing is taken without a price paid for it. Gold and silver are worth nothing here. Only steel and bone make a difference.

There is something inside of him that tells him he could be stronger.

It’s a whisper in the night, a breeze on a pond in his dreams.

Grow,  says the moon in the water.  Grow stronger. Grow smarter. Grow.  

It’s something in the way he walks. To tall, too confident.

The men find him when the moon is gone from the sky and can’t float on the water any longer.

“You think you’re better than us, just because you’ve got a little bit of reitsu?” he reeks of sake and years gone unwashed. He’s flanked by three others, all of them red faced and unstable.

That doesn’t stop the hits from hurting.

“You’re no better than we are!”

“You’re just a brat no one wanted, that’s why you’re here.”

“Where’d your whore mother leave you anyway huh? In the woods? Fucking bush runt.”

When he lifts his head to spit on one of them he’s slammed down again so hard he sees stars. Blood roars in his ears and pours down his face with the tears and snot. His lips split. He screams.

It’s over.

When he looks up there’s only clothes on the ground, and he learns how to keep his head bowed and mild. Even still, people start avoiding him. Fear leads to isolation.

* *

He is only just an adolescent when people begin to vanish. They leave blood stains on the ground and screams in the night. There have been other children in the years. None of them last long. Even the ones that he tries to protect can’t take as many hits as he can, or go as long without. The latest dies not a month after he meets them. Adults have stopped speaking to him entirely. He is too smart, to vicious, to strong.

It takes four months for the shinigami to arrive.

One woman faints at the sight of them, the pressure of their souls so intense she can’t take it. He scoffs quietly. He is just as strong, and they don’t drop to their knees for him.

He watches them with solemn eyes. They wander like sparrows, with no direction and hardly any drive. Merely being in their village is a chore for these people, never mind the dead.

They are only people in the outer districts, he hears them whisper. Unmanageable and unwashed. They don’t even have shoes.

Sosuke bites his lip so hard it bleeds. That is not enough for him. He will no be contented to this life and fade away or be torn apart by monsters, those with and those without masks.

He walks up to one shinigami and points him to the hunting ground. The place by the river, where everyone must go eventually. That’s where they will find the monster that they barely bothered to look for.

Someone calls him clever. Someone else notes his energy levels.

None of them look back when they leave again.

He looks at the stick and stone huts that make up his village for a long time before he follows their foot prints. He is worth more than dirt and dead grass and bloody teeth. Regardless of what they tell him. He will find people who recognize that he is a person, that he deserves to be seen, that he deserves to eat and wash and live.

* * *  

The first time he sets sight on the seireitei the only thing that over rides his anger is his hunger.

He wants it. He wants that place. He wants his place in its wall and all that it entails. Shoes, soap, food.

He wants all of it. And he hates these people for hoarding it. He’d worked his way through the rukongai, and he’d made his way to the first districts with calloused hands and a mild smile. He’d seen people throw food away. He’d seen them discard perfectly good clothes and tools simply because they were old.

All of this waste, and yet he’d gone hungry for so long. For what reason?

He’d learned to read in return for months of hard labor, and he’d gotten himself accepted into the academy on work alone.

By then he was still young for the academy, but not the youngest. He had learned to be mild and polite. He’d learned to hide the blood in his teeth and wear his sleeves long enough to hide calloused palms and scarred knuckles.

He’d even started to wear glasses, to give the impression that he was smarter than people thought. And he was. Smarter. Smart enough and savvy enough that he lost his accent and polished his edges so swiftly that anyone who didn’t know before hand where he’d come from never would. Kido came to him as easy as breathing. All of his classes did. It just made sense, like fitting together pieces of puzzles. History and law, mathematics and management.

Poetry especially became a passion of his. It was elegant and beautiful, it opened a window to the soul of the writer.

The stroke of the brush and the stroke of the sword was the same. Once made it could never be undone. There the true intentions were laid bare to the world.

He chose a poetic name for himself. One that was just as unassuming at his smile and his eyes.

Sosuke Aizen. ‘Clever’ and ‘mediator’, and ‘love’ and ‘peace’. Something that he was and something that he wasn’t. Truth and lies.

He had barely graduated when the moon finally spoke to him a name on the water.

  Kyoka Suigetsu.  

“ You have grown, my Sosuke.”  

She is lovely and insubstantial. She ripples at the edges and her long white hair flows like water around them. Her blue eyes are so dark they’re nearly black, and her kimono swims with black and white koi.

She is like him, everything seemingly dripped in finery and hiding the callouses beneath. She is as beautiful as the truth is ugly. Sosuke loves her, suddenly and fiercely. He always has. She is the changing moon that has always watched over him.

She is alone in that.

Even in the academy, surrounded by others, he realizes quickly that he is cut from a different cloth.

He is smarter, stronger, he adapts faster. It leaves him standing above students, a pedestal they cannot reach, but below shinigami who are even weaker than he by the simple merrit of he has not yet graduated.

He asks one of those shinigami one day, when they are visiting to scout new recruits for their squads, why no one has ever tried to make things better for the outer districts.

(why no one ever tried to make it better for him)

They laughed at him, and the notion that anyone would care for mere rukongai trash. Someone all the way from Akaiha was worth less than the dirt on the shoes of someone like a Kuchiki. One person from Junrinan was worth more than eighty people from the eightieth districts.  Why bother with people like that?

If they really hated it there so much they should have worked harder to get out.

If their lives were so terrible they should just hurry up and die and move on.

Another answer comes, years later. It’s given to him by Shinji Hirako, his new captain, but the words aren’t really aimed at him. They stand on a balcony above the graduation class after him. He’s a fourth seat, fresh himself, and prepared to claw his way higher with grace and smiles.

The difference between the people below them is stark. The rukon seeds, the nobility, and the mercantile. It’s in the slope of shoulders, the set of jaws, and the dark eyes. Even their uniforms bear the marks of their origins. Some are new, even in the last days of class. Others are threadbare, grown out of and patched messily in places.

“It’s the same every year,” Hirako says to Rose. The two blonds are shoulder to shoulder, flanked by their underlings. Hirako has no lieutenant, so his entourage is larger.

“A shame,” Rose’s usual smile is faded into a pensive frown.

“Don’t look like that. There’s nothing you can do and you know it. They keep the rukon full so when the Soul King needs to lighten the weight no one with any power does anything about it. That’s how it’s always been.”

“I know that.” Rose’s frown deepens. “That doesn’t mean I like it.”

“No. None of us do.”

Sosuke thinks of cruel smiles and sabotages. Finery hides the sickest hearts. He’s not sure that Hirako is right. Plenty of people like the system just fine. All the ones with power do. The nobility does nothing because it keeps them safe and it keeps them living in luxury. They like living above the common riff raff.

Sosuke starts looking more into history. There have been attempts at change in the past. Rebellions and insurgencies, all crushed. Each time things got worse for the citizens of the Rukongai. More resources were taken, trade was restricted, business taxes increased until the squalor of the outer districts encroached until it reached all the way to the fifty first. The nobles owned the Central 46, who all Shinigami would obey without question. They cut down citizens they should have protected.

After that it stopped. Fear held them in place. They were no more than sheep.

Sosuke would not be a sheep. He refused.  

* * * *

Isolation was a deadly thing.

To be alone, even when surrounded by other people, was the worst sort of torture. He may not have shown it, but he struggled to resign himself to the world as it was. Why should he? He had been born strong. He hadn’t realized it at the time, but the empty clothes around where he woke up were people crushed by his mere presence. He had learned, quickly, to hide himself inside his own skin.

No one saw him. No one saw what he saw. A king that never knew his subjects, a ruling class that revelled in the suffering of those beneath them. There was a king with no face, no name, no influence. No king at all.

The throne in the sky was empty and Sousuke still knew the hunger. It still clawed at his chest and stomach.

Hirako was suspicious of him. He’d never done anything to warrant it, but the captain watched him like he was waiting for an explosion.

He was the last of his graduating class to be sent to the human world. The senkaimon was acting strangely, and they were going to put it off a few more months, but the head captain insisted, over Hirako’s protests. He said Sosuke needed to get his feet wet.

So he went.

He stepped out of the gate and onto a beach, where western troops marched in the dying red light.

This was not right. It wasn’t right at all.

Where were the thick wooden walls and tiled roofs of Kyoto? Surely it couldn't have changed so much since the last paintings were brought back from the human world! There really must have been something wrong with the Senkaimon. It dropped him somewhere he was certainly not meant to be.

There was something weird here too. The air was dense, like the atmosphere had suddenly compressed without room to expand. And the soldiers. Most of them weren’t just in identical uniforms. Some of them had the same face!

They were all alive, that much he could tell, and none of them paid any mind to him.

He touched the hilt of his zanpakutou, a curl of worry and a thrill of excitement coursing through him before he brushed them underneath reasoning and logic.

  Is it an illusion?  

He knows she is the best when it comes to such things. No one else could compare, and once he has someone snared there’s nothing else. The game is over and he has won.

She thrums under his fingers a small denial.

No. It’s real. Everything is real, but everything is also...

Wrong.  He can feel it. There’s something very, very wrong in the air. A thickness, a blanket over the land. The edges of the horizon somehow seem more like a cage than an invitation to find where they lead. As if they lead nowhere.

What is this?!

Sosuke forces himself to calm down. He’s never understood people who let their anger cloud their judgement, or fear decide their actions. Nothing good ever comes of that.

He needs information.

He tries, first, to open the senkaimon again, but to no avail. He stabs the air at least five times before he gives up on that option. Panic thrums under his skin. He sets it aside yet.

An investigation begins.

He follows troops and listens to orders. People are fighting, a war between americans and the clan Connacht.

Soldiers for it march to a prison, where a high profile captive it being held under a general. Seeking information he follows after.

Inside, he finds a tragedy and a miracle all in one.

* * * *

A human who can see him. A man who travels through time in a desperate attempt to save the world he lives in. A boy who has no power on his own but can empower into other people.

He’s an interest ( amazing ) human.

At first glance he’s just a moody teenager. All scowls and harsh edges. Sosuke gets to watch them soften around his people. Mash, a girl of tremendous resilience and knowledge. Cu Cullain, a magician who is two people at once, gentle and fierce in equal turns. Medusa is a vicious contender, with sharp teeth and serpents in her hair. The only smiles she has are reserved for pretty girls, and Ichigo himself.

It’s not his intention, but Sosuke starts to get attached.

It’s not his intention, but Sosuke starts to trust them.

Ichigo feels like his first and final chance. He sees the same injustices, he encourages Sosuke’s anger.

He tells him to change the world.

For the first time in his life Sosuke blossoms. He doesn’t need to hold himself back, or pretend to be anything other than what he is. Ichigo sees through his facade anyways. Ichigo keeps up with the twisting paths and whip quick leaps Sosuke’s mind makes. He’s a match for him. Never has Sosuke felt anything like what he felt when Ichigo placed his hand on his shoulder and shoved his very soul inside his skin.

Fire and moonlight, an ocean of power rushing into Sosuke’s swollen lake of reiryoku.

For the first time in his life Sosuke begs. When Ichigo tells him that he’ll forget him, forget them, he tells him secrets. He lets him touch Kyoka Suigetsu and offers him only truth. He will never be able to hide from Ichigo again, and he will give up every mask and tempered smile he has if it means Ichigo will restore him to how he is in America.

Free.

The empty throne in the sky doesn’t exist anymore. There are only stars and the sun.

It’s a war. Bloody and desperate. Every hollow in hueco mundo has brought themselves to the feast, or to run from the end of their home.

It’s still precious to him. Ichigo’s roughness manages to sand away his edges and hard corners, in the best ways.

It can’t stay. He clings to Ichigo when the battles are over and the light starts to shimmer around him. If he could he would follow him all the way to Chaldeas, no matter the consequences. If he could.

He can’t.

He loses everything, and he can’t even mourn it.

* * * * *

He stepped out of the gate and onto a beach, where western troops marched in the dying red light.

He stepped out of the gate and onto a beach, where western troops marched in the dying red light.

He stepped out of the gate and onto a beach, where western troops marched in the dying red light.

  Onto a beach-  

  Onto a beach-

  Onto a-  

Into carefully planned out streets lined with high wooden walls and roofs tiled in blue. Souls wander, forlorn and clinking with the chains of fate. Somewhere off to the east there’s a hollow hunting for dinner. The living are just as down trod as the dead, trudging through their daily toil.

Sosuke stumbles forwards. He blinks several times. He had just been reaching for something, hadn’t he? He’d been trying to hold something in his hands…

Something in his hands.

He looks down at his clenched fist. There is something cool and powerful held in his hand.

The one constant in Sosuke Aizen's life is hunger.

* * * * * *

[saltoftheplanet]

Character Design, Revising for Emotional Impact, and Aeris’  new choker

There's a post going around pointing out that Aeris' new choker design features a forget-me-not, which when coupled with a Brave Exvius item description, appears to be in memory of Zack. This seems like an innocuous change - if it were just to add a flower, I'd say that it mostly was. But if we proceed under the assumption that it is intended as a memento of Zack (probable), it's a change with some far-reaching consequences.

In the original game, here's what Aeris tells us about Zack's disappearance:

"It's all in the past now. I was just worried because I heard he's been missing. I think it was 5 years ago. [...] He loved women, a real lady's man. He probably found someone else..."

Now, Aeris is not the most forthcoming of characters, but even if you read these lines allowing that she might be covering up her own feelings on the subject, she tells us point-blank that:

She doesn't know what happened to Zack

Her own explanation of events is that he just ghosted her, maybe leaving for another woman

Her explanation is interesting for two reasons. The first is that we know it's incredibly wrong, so it lends a note of tragic irony to the situation. The second is that it's not a sentimental explanation, but a pretty brutally realistic one - it would suck for her to admit it, but she does so readily enough to suggest she's had the time and distance to come to a crappy but mundane conclusion about what happened. It’s sad, but she’s practical about it, and that communicates something about her perspective and the type of person she is.

Giving Aeris a memento of Zack negates both of the two points we can extract from her dialogue above. After all, a forget-me-not necklace is not an appropriate keepsake for your teen boyfriend who walked out on you and didn't have the decency to tell you face-to-face. This means Aeris' knowledge of the situation and her whole perspective on her relationship with Zack has to be rewritten to accommodate the presence of such a memento. We'll see what it winds up actually being when the game is releaesd, but the conclusions we can draw already are:

She may know Zack is dead, and at least assumes he's blameless for his disappearance (despite this being a less likely scenario)

After 5 years of no contact whatsoever, she carried enough of a flame for him and for their relationship that she felt he was worth a memento

These two facts paint a different portrait of who Aeris is by radically altering the conclusions she draws from the same initial situation. That's reason enough to have a bone to pick with this particular change... but there's more.

Character design is a tool to communicate tone, identity and role about a character. Like prose, it's deliberately crafted to impart certain impressions and convey intangible or emotional information. From a design perspective, the change in Aeris' necklace also subtly alters her place in the story. It connects her more closely to Zack and makes both him and their past relationship more prominent.

That comes with a subtle cost; a previously unmarked aspect of Aeris' character design has now been converted into a signifier for Zack. Its purpose is no longer to communicate something or represent Aeris' specifically, but rather to represent the story between her and Zack (and the story between Zack and the audience by reminding players of Zack's death, an emotionally resonant moment for many).

This isn't the only instance of a change meant to increase Zack's presence in the narrative. Crisis Core was full of them; with Zack as it's main character and his fate a foregone conclusion, CC set out to make a variety of revisions to the meaning of certain story elements in order to maximize his emotional impact. The Buster Sword is the most glaringly revised, the changes surrounding it altering Cloud's decision to emulate Zack from mostly internal and self-motivated to mostly external and circumstantial (another essay), but Aeris has also been changed significantly through incidental alterations to her design and circumstances.

According to Crisis Core, Aeris wears her iconic ribbon because Zack bought it for her, her iconic colour because Zack suggested it, and took up her profession (how she is introduced, how she literally introduces herself to others, an integral part of her character concept) after he proposed it. Again, these changes were made to bring Zack's role in the story to greater prominence by increasing the degree to which he was important in the lives of other characters. However, the net result is that Aeris' identity and role in the story has shifted. Symbols and elements that were strongly associated with Aeris are instead being used to communicate her past relationship, and her character and perspective on that relationship has changed in turn.

If it weren't for all of this, maybe I could write off the necklace change. With the context we have, it's another undeniable shift in her writing. An Aeris who wears a memento of her ex boyfriend and who dresses in a colour signifying her reunion with him cannot be reconciled with an Aeris who assumed her ex abandoned and replaced her. They're two completely different emotional and behavioural profiles.

There's a host of of other creeping changes in her character that have been caused by prioritizing Zack as well. Making it so that she never thought of selling flowers on her own feels contradictory with the slightly dishonest but entrepreneurial savvy Aeris demonstrates when she sells flowers at wildly different price points to men who are interested in her in Wall Market; making it so that we have several indicators that Aeris actively memorializes Zack makes the loss of her mother (previously a huge component in her backstory) feel like Ifalna is comparatively less important to her.

To conclude, I want to say it is entirely possible to be fine with all of these changes, but one shouldn’t deny that they are happening, and they are the product of actively-made directorial and design decisions. My hope at this point is that they have fewer implications on who Aeris is than I fear they might.

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen Rambles about Code of Brawl

Man... remind me to never talk about having a future Rambling in the works, it’ll instantly fall into draft-hell. But anyway, I’ve been meaning to talk about Arknights in depth for a while now, but I’ve never had much drive to actually finish the damn draft of my initial thoughts a few months ago. I couldn’t tell you why, I just lost the drive to finish the thing. However, with Code of Brawl coming to a close and my thoughts on the event still lingering I think I can use it as jumping off point to actually talk about the game. 

That said, here’s the synopsis.

Arknights is a Tower Defense game for the PC mobile devices placed in the world of Terra, where an infectious disease known as Oripathy ravages the land, slowly turning people to minerals in a slow and painful process. You play as the Doctor, an amnesiac military commander of the Rhodes Island pharmaceutical company who fights against the Infected radicals known as the Reunion. 

That’s about as far as I can go in a single paragraph for main story, but Code of Brawl instead focuses on the eccentric adventures of Pengiun Logistics, side faction of the game that’s a seemingly innocent delivery company with quite the ragtag group in it, consisting of the happy-go-lucky gunner Exusiai, the cold and dismissive swordswoman Texas, the excitable and energetic Sora, and the business-savvy Croissant. All led by the charismatic and multi-talented Emperor. However, as their new intern Bison comes into the fold the group is caught in a series of gang wars and organized crime trying to snuff out the company.

And unlike Fire Emblem Three Houses, that really is the basic plot without me sarcastically building anything up. With that all said, I think I can move on and talk about... 

The Story

The story of Code of Brawl honestly has the best and worst of Arknights writing. I think having a story that focused on a group outside of Rhodes Island was for the better. For all the lore blurbs and archive notes we get, I think Code of Brawl proves just how little Rhodes Island is involved with the world of Terra at large despite it’s apparent reputation as a weird and quirky company with some terrifyingly powerful Operators and lofty ambitions. And while I’m still only on Chapter 4 since I’m grinding out some E2 before moving on, Rhodes Island really does more reacting to random Reunion plans than anything proactive with their goals of curing Oripathy. They feel more like a counter military force to Reunion, and a barely effective on at that given the point of the story I’m at. Code of Brawl, being focused on another group with a more direct conflict and villains, feels a lot more cohesive and interesting, as Penguin Logistics’s goal is to just get Bison through his first day and take out whatever force is harassing them this week. 

Penguin Logistics as a whole is a rather interesting bunch of ruffians and seeing them is gallivant around Lungmen trading blows and bullets with gangsters is a joy to read and see. Seeing some of the inner workings of Lungmen society, seeing a bit of the underbelly, as well as getting to see the cast just have more casual interactions with each other is great. We learn that Sora really is just gay for Texas, and the all of Penguin Logistics has only 3 function braincells with Texas having one and Mostima having the other two.  We get to see that Sora has probably beaten someone to death with her microphone at some point given how willing she is to bar fight. A lot of fun stuff.

And then... there’s Mostima. 

Look, I like this story, I really do, but Mostima really didn’t need to be here as far as the story is concerned. All she does plot-wise is rile up Exusiai, drop some cryptic advice for Bison, shows she knows more powerful than she leads on, and is a bit of a deus ex machina for the end of the plot, and not even by that much. You could had replaced her with Chen, Swire, Hoshigumi, ShiraYuki, or anyone else that would logically be in Lungmen at the time. Hell, ShiraYuki knowing everything a being cryptic about it would at least be in character for her. 

And that’s not to knock Mostima. I actually pulled her in my last ten-pull (didn’t get Waii Fu though, and I’m still salty about that), she’s a pretty good and damn near god-tier once you get her to E2 if some of the guides on her are to be believed, though her kit is a little niche for an AoE caster of her cost. However, as far as the story is concerned she shows a serious issue with Arknights as a whole. That’s its constant need to have half of their characters be mysterious.

Mysterious Characters

So, just to give an example, here is a list of characters in Arknights with a Mysterious Past™. These are characters that either have their archive notes explicitly state their past is unknown, or characters who’s past is implied but but deliberately kept unconfirmed.

With that said...

Mostima

Myrtle

Cuora

Skadi

Specter

Shining

Siege

Projekt Red

Specter

Blue Poison

Lappland

Texas (?)

ShiraYuki

AMIYA

Okay, I’m cheating a little with Texas since she has enough of her past implied, but it’s still technically a mystery as far as the specifics go. But you see my point, right? A lot of characters have a Mysterious Past™, which is a nice shorthand to not go into depth about writing their background. Now, you don’t need to give twenty paragraphs on their backstory, but something would be nice. Keeping things a mystery might be nice for the theory-crafters, but for me it’s annoy as hell to see so many character, so many high-rated that really just have their skills and design to go off of, especially with most the cast overall having a pretty simple background to them that are interesting when you read through the lore blurbs and think about it. Breeze is a former noble that wanted to do more good in the world than throwing money at a problem. Liskarm is a protective friend that joined Rhodes Island to make sure the problematic Franka integrated without problems. Frostleaf is a child soldier that wants to do some good in the world after becoming Infected. Kroos, Beagle, and Fang joined Rhodes Island after getting kicked out of their old jobs. You don’t need to be flashy, but giving answers isn’t an admission of lacking creativity. The hints might be nice for the analysts, but the fans would likely want some answers.

Again, Mostima isn’t a problem, and a lot characters in that list do have some concrete hints about their past. Texas and Lappland are likely a former mafia heiresses and old rivals. Shining was likely a highly skilled mercenary before realizing she could do more good in the world with a healing staff instead of a sword. Siege is likely apart of Londinium royalty, but was either exiled or ran due to political turmoil. But that’s the issue, likely isn’t confirmed. Mostima being a powerful character with a mysterious past just feels like a cop out to me. It’s not bad, but she’s a symptom of what some of the issues of Arknights story is. I’m not asking for AFK Arena-levels of lore, just... an explanation here or there would be nice. 

But anyway that’s my main issue, moving on.

General Gushing

Despite that large critique I have, there’s a lot I love about this story. For simplicity sake, because I’m tired of all the editing, I’ll put it into list form:

Penguin Logistics in general was just a joy to see. Watching them in action and just how laissez-faire they are is hilarious, especially when paired with the straightforward and reserved Bison freaking out over the wackiness. 

Speaking of, Bison made for a very good straight man to balance out all the wild antics of PL. He really kept things from getting too crazy by at least questioning the zaniness, and the point when he finally stops caring and just charges in with a crazy plan of his own just gave me the giddiest of smiles.

Given how they discuss it, PL apparently trade blows with criminals and thugs on a daily basis, and since they’re just a delivery company this implies they likely deliver drugs or other hot cargo the mafia and gangs want... and given Emperor’s personality, that wouldn’t shock me.

Emperor in general is a delight of a character. He’s about as charismatic and wild as his aesthetic makes him look. I would legit whale for him if he ever become an operator.

Learning a little bit about Lungmen culture was fun as well, as little of it as we see. It’s my personal headcanon now that the mafia and general thugs of Lungmen don’t mess with civilians because they’re either a sleeper agent under the Rat King’s protection or they might be a kung fu master in plain clothes like Waai Fu.

Waai Fu and Texas fist fighting in the streets of Lungmen is just hilarious and awesome. I honestly don’t know what that says about either of them. Texas is holding her own against a martial artist with over 10 years of experience barehanded, meanwhile Waai Fu is holding her own against what lore blurbs have implied is the former heiress/hitman of a mafia. All the while drunkards and Texas’s coworkers are egging them on. This is the dumb content I live for.

Save for some of the absolute bullshit of the challenge maps, I found the actual game content to be pretty fair and interesting. The Bullies required good defender placement, a lot of the ranged units focused on targeting the helpful buildings that buffed your characters and increased the operator deployment count, and maps themselves had a few clever chokepoints to work with... At least until they started spamming Fanatics.

Bison actually has a pretty solid kit for a free Operator. He buffs a lot of adjacent units, has a no real weakness, his tools don’t feel niche like Grani or Celycon, overall a great unit. Once I finish E2-ing all my main Operators I might build him next. 

While I have issues with her as a story element, Mostima is a 6-star that has instant utility once you promote her to E2, much like Chen and Siege. This is something I’m relieved to say as a lot of my 6-stars aren’t worth much until you E2 them and I’m still trying to E2 some of my easier units like Cuora and Gavial for Chapter 5 and CC.

That’s really all I have to say on that front. So to close things off...

For the Future

Like I always say in these Ramblings, I don’t like the idea of people prattling on about being able to “fix” or “rewrite” something has already been made. It always comes across as both arrogant and ignorant to me. However, I think it’s completely fair to make requests and suggestions for the future. ‘

That said, I'd like to continue seeing side stories without Rhodes Island’s involvement. Both to see other factions in their natural element and because, frankly, Rhodes Island always feels a little out of place when involved in other stories, or at least more of a distraction than a good element if chapter 2 and 3 are anything to go by. I think a Black Steel side story would be nice. Jessica, Franka, Liskarm, and Vanille getting into shenanigans in Columbia or something sounds like a fun time. Maybe have the leader/high commander of the organization as a new operator and they’re a really powerful Supporter than can buff the party, like a 6-star version of Sora or something that gives operators insane ASPD buffs... I don’t know, something like that anyway. Ideally something a little less wordy than Code of Brawl at least.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. Next time... I’ll talk about something else. Maybe discuss a manga or something. 

See you all later.

[ichor-hunter]

Prometheus

Prometheus Blood Code Study- Louis Amamiya

"A blood code received from Louis. It holds his will, built up and hardened by overcoming countless hardships in the name of the salvation of revenants. This code is well-balanced for combat but is somewhat fragile. Its Gifts bolster dodging and parrying."

Introduction to Blood Codes and Louis

Blood Codes is a class system in Code Vein that defines the abilities of a  Revenant based on their blood. Each Blood Code is unique to each Revenant that resides within the Gaol of the Mist. Once a Revenant has awakened from their slumber after the BOR parasite has been placed in them, the blood takes on a Code which I believe derives from the characteristics of that Revenant.

As a Third Generation Revenant, Louis was awakened with the Blood Code of Prometheus. After his revival, he was determined to make lives better for all Revenants.

Greek Mythology

Louis’ Blood Code is based on the Greek God Prometheus.

Prometheus is a Trickster Titan who is famously known for gifting humans the element of fire. Zeus was enraged at Prometheus’ trickery and punished him. He forced him to be chained to a rock at the Caucasus and had his liver devoured by a giant eagle. Alas, Prometheus is immortal, so the liver would regenerate every night and then the eagle would continuously rip it out every time.

The liver was thought to be the source of human emotions. I would expand more on this, but if you search this article on google: prometheus bound liver by aeschylus at litcharts. It does a pretty great job breaking down this tidbit of symbolism.

Similarities Between Louis and Prometheus

Prometheus stole fire to save humankind. Louis is researching Blood Beads to help all Revenants. This is the main core of both of their philosophies: They're philanthropic, greatly known for their intelligence and are willing to do anything to help out their species and/or others, even if it means sacrificing themselves.

Prometheus' brother is Atlas in Greek lore and Yakumo Shinonome holds the Blood Code of Atlas. The Great War Titanomachy separated them when Prometheus joined Zeus' side. Their relationship in-game is different from their lore counterparts. With the amount of time Louis and Yakumo have been together, they're best friends and brothers. Everyone in the crew at home is found family, so these two are meant to be the best bro's you'll meet.

Hephaestus is Rin Murasame's Blood code. The relationship in-game is different from the Greek Lore as well. Prometheus stole fire from Hephaestus' workshop on Mount Olympus. Rin does have her workshop at home base, but she and Louis cooperate.

"This code is well-balanced for combat but is somewhat fragile. Its Gifts bolster dodging and parrying." Dodging and Parrying are the main highlights of this Blood Code due to the Prometheus nature, Prometheus was agile and evasive when it came to his laying out his tricks and cleverly carrying out his missions of deception during and after the war. The fragility must be linked with the liver portion of the lore, when he's at his most vulnerable.

Both the liver and Louis can regenerate. Concerning the symbolism of the liver, he does repress himself emotionally but he is passionate about making the lives of Revenants better in exchange. Louis' personality is subdued and he doesn't evoke much emotion since he is completely focused on his mission. However, we do see moments when he gets agitated and frustrated, especially confronting Karen's current state. He has so much empathy for Revenants and he doesn't like to see them suffer, especially in his Vestige memories with Kevin. He was willing to help him and probably many other Revenants since he cares about their survival.

In Louis' eyes, he believes it's his fault for not killing Cruz and feels he has to bear the burden of that mistake. We could interpret the punishment as Louis taking away Cruz's flame (the option of killing her), (In Louis memories, everywhere was in flames after Cruz frenzied) and then helping to save the Successors and Revenants in turn. Of course, he still feels guilty about it all and it’s completely different from Prometheus stealing fire for humans. Louis didn't steal anything tangibly, and he was given a choice that he shouldn't have to make. He was always carrying a punishment throughout his backstory and story in-game.

After Prometheus was saved by Heracles, Zeus ordered him to wear a steel ring from the chains he was bounded to, as a reminder of his punishment. In the game, Louis wears his ring on a chain around his neck.

Prometheus Gifts

Flame Weapon- Temporarily adds fire damage to you and your partner's current weapons Fire Storm- Shoots a series of flaming projectiles that stagger the enemy.

These two Gifts coincide with the story of Prometheus and stealing fire. With the Fire Storm gift, Louis can launch projectiles of flames towards the enemy. Prometheus sent fire to the humans from the workshop on Mount Olympus. With Flame Weapon, he grants you the ability to use flames on your weapon and Prometheus grants Humans flame so that they can use to see, create etc. Prometheus also taught humans how to use fire in metalwork, thus embedding  fire on your weapon.

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Phantom Assault -Vanish like mist, then do a jump slash. An offensive skill performed with One-handed swords / Halberd / Bayonet Deft Parry- Fully restores stamina when you parry an attack. Hasten- Uses the power of ichor to temporarily boost reflexes, enhancing your dodges. Savvy Evasion-Increases the amount of focus gained from dodging attacks. Eternal Blade Dance-An enhanced version of Blade Dance. Increases attack power when you dodge enemy attacks.

These Gifts are all related to evasion. Just as Prometheus snuck the fire away from the workshop, each of these skills is related to his intelligence and his implementing his methods through trickery.

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Blade Dance-Temporarily increases attack power each time you damage an enemy with your weapon One-Handed Sword Mastery-Increases attack power when equipped with a one-handed sword.

Prometheus is linked with science and culture. Enhancing proficiency, creating things relating to science, developing methods on making things better for humans is what these gifts are based on. Also, this goes along with his abilities demonstrated in the Great War when Prometheus allied with Zeus.

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Warding Mark-Temporarily applies the inhibit effect to your current weapon.

The inhibit status prevents the player from using Gifts that are linked with your Ichor. Prometheus brings gifts and resources to humans and prevents the Olympians from taking away resources from humans. This Gift is well placed in the lineup of Gifts for this Blood Code.

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Strength/Dexterity up- Increases strength and dexterity

Prometheus gave humans the strength to survive with fire and taught them to perform tasks with their hands like metalwork.

Concluding Thoughts

Louis is the first character that gives you his Blood Code directly. His Blood Code is his gift to you to use in your battles against the Lost. In turn, you use the Code and the Gifts to expand your horizons within the game. Just like how Prometheus granted humans fire and humans learn to use fire in multiple ways. Louis’ presence is vital for proceeding in the game in the beginning and I commend the devs on creating such a complex character with an amazing correlation to the Greek God Prometheus.

This is the first Blood Code/lore post I've done so please let me know if this is okay and it makes sense! I could’ve expanded more on a few parts but I’m just testing the waters for now.

[the-kiwi-is-not-a-pewee]

The RWBY+ crew fucking sucks at espionage and infiltration.

And yeah, I get it, some of it is supposed to be intentional for story purposes, but looking at them walk their obvious asses around Mantle without even trying to be discreet is killing me.

1. Anticipation

In the first episode of Volume 7, The Greatest Kingdom, the crew is where we left off in V6, flying to Atlas. As they enter Atlas airspace and Weiss realizes that the forces deployed for patrol en masse is unusual, she says this:

“If we land in a stolen ship, there’s no way the security team will let us anywhere near Ironwood.”

As if them landing a stolen ship on a non-maximum security Atlas would put them less at risk of being detained. They didn’t just steal any old aircraft either, they stole a military ship which is at higher risk of being noticed if it doesn’t land in the designated areas and would probably be landed in some sort of military airport.

That would be crawling with soldiers even in the best of times, and frankly the crew would get noticed immediately. Atlas’s military has a uniform policy, as we’ve seen with Winter, Ironwood, and the soldiers stationed at Argus. None of them are dressed nor own the dress that would allow them to sneak discreetly away after landing the airship.

Yes, yes, I know this “steal an airship” shenanigans was a desperate, last-minute thing. But it was not so last minute that there was no room to consider what happens when they landed. Jaune proposed this plan in the evening, and they enacted it in the day, presumably the morning.

That entire time, no one apparently thought to ask, “How do we not get arrested when we land the ship?” The way Blake goes “So...” after Weiss expresses that they would clearly be arrested when they touched down and Weiss’s tone expresses realization and not premeditated planning when she gets the idea to attempt calling Winter implies such.

They bought themselves some time by stealing a military airship, namely that it was recognized upon entering the airspace and not shot down on sight, but that’s all they did. Delay the inevitable.

If you are infiltrating an area, especially a technological and military-savvy kingdom like Mantle, you have to try and account for what will happen. Sure, predictions aren’t always right, the crew isn’t clairvoyant. But anticipation is key here, it culminates in less of the flying-by-the-seat-of-the-pants the crew has been doing lately.

~~~

Ditching the ship was fine, it means they’re no longer being tracked because of the airship. I do hope they landed it a fair distance away from Pietro’s home, if only to attempt to throw off anyone coming after them of their destination.

2. Disguise

I will be honest, there was not a ton the crew could’ve done to amend this in the state they were in when they initially landed.

But, ah...

Can y’all tell that they don’t belong?

Sure, from a visual perspective it’s good because we can easily pick out our group of brightly colored marshmallows, but for their particular purposes of being discreet, this is horrible. Everyone is too bright and vivid for the color scheme of Mantle, they’re as obvious as the neon signs above the doors.

That they’re such a big group sticking together is made all the worse because of the nearly-empty streets. I know the group is apparently allergic to splitting up, but they should’ve broken up their group here into a couple of smaller groups following at varying distances. At the very least to not follow so close behind each other. Most of the people in Mantle are walking individually, which makes their large group easier to remember along with the clothing.

Speaking of clothing.

As I said initially, not a lot they could do about their clothes initially. But there were some measures they should’ve taken as soon as they touched down, one of the most important being hiding their faces.

Ruby, Jaune, sweeties, pull up those hoods of yours.

Yang and Blake, put that long hair to use and pull it closer so it hides your side profile. You too, Ren.

Weiss, hide the literal family crest you have on the back of your V4-6 outfit somehow. Have someone lend you a jacket or something.

Everyone else, at the very least duck your heads down. There are cameras everywhere, which they realized at the latest when Yang kicked the bot. Don’t make it any easier to identify yourselves than it already is.

3. Attention

This actually might’ve been the one that killed (not literally) them.

The key to most infiltration is blending in with the background. Being faceless, not giving whatever you’re worried about any reason to give you a second look.

The crew fails at least three times.

The first is a couplet. A mobile camera bot takes a picture of Yang and then she kicks it. Big, unintentionally loud and flashy, overall very noticeable. The worst part of this entire thing is that the bot got a picture of Yang, which isn’t her fault. Kicking the bot also isn’t the worst thing, especially due to some dumb luck it got run over, but I’d also be highly worried that the feed that camera had or was transmitting would be missed. And now it has at least once face to pin the damage to.

The second is Weiss chucking a drunk racist in the trash for his comments on Blake being a Faunus.

This is... this is much worse than the bot.

Weiss’s Glyphs are distinct not only because they have her family crest on them. They are also distinct because Winter is a part of the Atlas army and occupies presumably an esteemed position given her quick promotion to Ironwood’s personal inner circle. It’s not exactly a secret or something conveniently unknown by most of the general populace.

Granted, Weiss used a black glyph which was harder to see on the dark ground, but the point still stands that someone recognized her because of her distinct semblance. Drunk Racist’s more sober friend made the connection and he’s still conscious.

So not only on top of a violent racket that would draw attention, Weiss also thoughtlessly gave more of a motive for the group to be tracked down. And she also increased her risks of being sent back to her father which was a concern she expressed on the airship.

Look, watching racists get yeeted by my favorite girl is cathartic, but it was unnecessary short-term gratification in exchange for detriment to their long-term goals. They can be against the racist without drawing more attention to themselves or Weiss outing herself.

And the third and final point that probably was what put the cuffs on their wrists, the fight.

Not that I’m saying they should’ve just plunked their asses down and watched the Grimm terrorize the streets while Penny made her way over, but it still stands that its hella bad with regards to being discreet.

Very few things are discreet about a big fight scene, and in this case the crew might as well have set off flares revealing their location. Gunshots make a distinct noise that can’t be excused as the Grimm breaking in.

What’s made even worse is that the cameras are picking up all of this. We saw it when Ironwood pulled up that frame of Blake’s broken sword blade. This is a city of eyes, the more attention and interest they draw to themselves the greater chance of them getting arrested.

Here it worked out, sure, but they couldn’t know if it would or not.

4. Discretion

Conversation:

Ren: “So... what do we do?”

Ruby: “I don’t know yet. But we should be careful with what we say.”

Yeah, uh, Ruby, you guys get a hardcore F- in that. If you want anywhere near a passing grade, maybe, I don’t know, NOT TELEGRAPH THAT YOU HAVE A SECRET IN AN ENCLOSED ELEVATOR WHEN TWO GUARDS ARE STANDING DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU???

Fucking look at that, the episode goes out of its way to show us that one of them noticed! (hi, Brad) 

Blake also whispers, “We’ll follow your lead, Ruby.” Which is touching and all, but guys. Not the place for verbal communication. A shoulder squeeze would’ve sufficed, now you’ve also told the guards who report to Ironwood that the whole group is ready to lie at Ruby’s command.

Good lord next you’re going to tell me they don’t understand need-to-know basis as a security measure at all.

...I’m not opening that can of worms in this post.

[nerdierholler]

Meet the Muse

I was tagged by @slothssassin​. Thank you so much! Sorry it took a bit for me to get to this. I’m also tagging @bronzeagelove​, @trash-effect​, and @katajanokka​, but only if you want.

Guess who it is..... It’s Wash!

|| The Basics ||

Name: Charles Washington

Nickname(s): Wash

Age: 28-29

Species: Human

Alignment: Chaotic good, perhaps tending towards Chaotic Neutral at times

|| Personal ||

Religious Belief: None

(I can’t remember how the bold/italics thing works so italics is kinda, bold is for sure. I don’t know if that’s right or now but it’s what I’m doing.)

Sins: Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Sloth / Pride / Envy / Wrath

Virtues: Chastity / Charity / Diligence / Humility / Kindness / Patience / Justice

Primary Goals In Life: Not die. He wasn’t really strong on goals before the vault opened and now it’s just trying to make the most of this mess.

Languages Known: English, some Spanish and French because he thought it would make him seem extra sexy and suave

Secrets: He’s more insecure than he lets on and worries more about other people, especially his dad, than most people realize. He tries not to come across as too “soft,” he has a cool guy image to maintain.

Quirks: Doesn’t really like Nuka products, they’re fine but he doesn’t see what the big deal is. Absently sings along with the radio, even when he’s out wandering in Appalachia. If he’s just hanging out around his camp, he wears jumpsuits like PJs and is going commando underneath, it’s less laundry to worry about later. Dislikes power armor because it wrinkles his clothes and messes up his hair.

Savvies: High charisma (not as a stat in game but in general), he’s good at talking to people and smoothing things over. Has more of a knack for making things than he realized prior to leaving the vault. Sucks at growing crops but does pretty good with houseplants. Guns are ok but hitting things with sharp objects is generally more effective and efficient.

|| Physical ||

Build: Slender / Scrawny / Bony / Fit / Athletic / Herculean / Babyfat / Pudgy / Obese / Other (please imagine a Tom Hiddleston physique, trim but there’s muscle)

Height: 6 feet even (not including his hair, at least 6′4″ with the hair)

Weight: 185 lbs?

Scars/Birthmarks: The long one on the far left side of his face came from rough housing in the vault, he ended up falling into a sharp piece of metal. The one over his left eye is from a mongrel dog shortly after leaving the vault. He underestimated the pack and ended up getting knocked to the ground with a claw to the face. Lots of small scars everywhere from working on things around his camp.

Abilities/Powers: Handy with electronic things, good at talking through tense situations, swings a mean ski sword, looks dashing in a suit, adapts surprisingly well to being alone all the time

Restrictions: Tries to ignore insecurities instead of dealing with them, increased frustration and anger since finding out how terrible everything is in in Appalachia, could potentially become too comfortable with being alone and not want to interact with others at all, tendency towards depression, especially right after leaving the vault. Not super great at fighting things given how long he’s been out in Appalachia, but he’s getting better.

|| Favorites ||

Favorite Food: brahmin ribeye, corn soup on cold days, blackberry anything, dandy boy apples

Favorite Drink: Beer (any), melon juice, sweetwater tea (cold if possible)

Favorite Color: green and blue

Favorite Music Genre: Rockabilly, Swing, Pop. Basically anything you can dance to.

Favorite Book Genre: Unstoppables comics, has a recent fondness for instruction manuals, textbooks and science-y stuff, but honestly he’ll read just about anything to pass to the time.

Favorite Movie Genre: Action, Science fiction

Favorite Season: late summer/early fall when things are still green but it isn’t a million degrees outside, the humidity is lower and he can spend time on the porch without having to fight off stingwings.

Favorite Butt Type: A nice round one with a little bit of muscle tone but still squishy for grabbing.

Favorite Swear Word: I think some variant of Jesus Christ comes out a lot

Favorite Scent: fresh laundry, fruit jam, apples

Favorite Quote: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”  Oscar Wilde (I kinda picked a quote at random, seems applicable enough)

|| Fun Stuff ||

“Boss” Theme Music: In his mind, the Avengers theme, explosions in the background, Wash walking away looking like a badass. This is basically never the case in reality, not even close.

Loud Burper Or Soft Burper: Loud / Soft / Neither

Sings In The Shower: Yes / No

Likes Bad Puns: Yes / No / Only if they are relevant to the situation (Wash’s dad was all about the dad jokes, he grudgingly accepted them then, he misses them a lot now)