#lappland is lappland. she said that

[cor-lapis]

the il siracusano experience (in a rough order of having a good time -> penance)

[texassbian]

texas's experiences living with the saluzzo family

[cerastes]

Are there any notable supporters you reccomend? I kinda ignore the class except for gnosis (and I do use scene and deep color in IS a bit) and I wonder if I'm actually sleeping on some fun units.

YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT NEIGHBORHOOD, MOTHER FUCKER, I LOVE SUPPORTERS.

Suzuran - 6* Decel Binder. The moral of Arknights is that children make excellent soldiers, and Suzuran proves this. Her two Talents are really good, as she serves as an incredibly potent SP accelerator for Supporters (+0.4 extra SP per second, so Supporters will charge 40% faster, herself included), and all enemies suffering from Slow (the actual status effect Slow, not the movement speed reduction effects one can find on Manticore or Chung the Hung, for example) in her range are also inflicted with 20% Fragile (so, they take 20% extra Phys, Arts and True damage from all sources). It doesn't have to be Slow inflicted by her, any Slow will do, so Angelina's S2 machinegun Slow will render an enemy vulnerable to an ass kicking quite effectively, as will Podenco's S2, and any source of Slow additional to Suzuran herself. S2 gives her an extra target on every attack, 2 extra targets with Masteries, alongside a minor Attack buff and, more importantly, infinite duration, meaning she can control more enemies at once and better prevent Slow Dilution (what I call when you Slow an enemy, then the next enemy passes them, making them the next target, and so on, diluting damage and clustering them; this isn't necessarily bad but it can be undesired depending on you strategy). Her spotlight stealer, however, is her S3, which expands her range, provides strong passive healing (so unhealables can be healed), doubles her Fragile Talent (40%), and Slows everything in range. Gnosis Fragile is bigger (50%) but he only maintains it in comparatively shorter bursts, Suzuran's S3 last 35 whopping seconds, and enemies that are Slow-immune are far fewer than Freeze-immune. This section is particularly big because, yeah, Suzuran just really does that much, she combos VERY well with other Supporters, can be slotted in any team, and just generally works, I'm not even a Suzuran fan, she's just that jacked.

Podenco - 4* Decel Binder, real name GODenco, also slots easily into any team, can switch to healing on her S1, or provide bursts of Silence, AoE Arts damage and Slow on good upkeep with her S2. She also provides a minor passive buff to other Supporters. If you need to Silence things, you think of the best Silencer, Lappland, but sometimes you need to Silence a LOT of things, enough that Lapp might get overwhelmed, well, that's when you use GODenco S2 and suddenly that entire cluster of 8 exploding spiders won't go boom no more. She's really good for Slow Dilution because of her single target into AoE skill, so she combos really good with AoE hitters like Artillerymen, Fortresses, Chain Casters, Qiu Bai S2, etc.

Shamare - 5* Hexer, a good execution support, as she applies 30% Fragile to enemies in range under 40% HP. Her main hat trick, however, is her S2, her signature Cursed Doll. At S2M3, the Cursed Doll, which you deploy on the field and it affects its tile and the 8 surrounding tiles, will provide an absolutely ungodly debuff of -50% ATK and DEF to all enemies in said range. One of the rare ATK% debuffs in the game, and in my opinion the best, it'll make even Gopnik hit like a wet noodle. What's more, since it's not an active skill, the moment you drop your Cursed Doll, Shamare will immediately begin charging the next one! With a charge of 30 and a doll timer of 15 seconds, her true charge time is 15 seconds. Basically, you can cycle 15 seconds of regular enemy stats and 15 seconds of halved enemy stats. This is legitimately insane. Since Shamare's stats are also unimportant, you can just leave her at E2Lv1 (unless you want her Module, which imo is not worth the lv2+ and I'd only get the lv1 if you really like her) so she can be a cheap and powerful investment.

U-Official - NUMERO UNO CAMPEAO DA PENTA

Quercus - 5* Abjurer. I'll keep it simple here: Her healing with Module is bonkers, and she provides Shelter (damage reduction%) to units in range above 70% HP, 60% with Module Lv3. S1 is her permanent Healer mode, toggable on a long cooldown, while S2 is her burst healing window skill, notable in that it provides SP to healed units throughout its duration. Quercus is sleeped upon, she's a REALLY strong Supporter that provides SP, healing and bulk.

Orchid - 3* Decel Binder. I include her here if you want to play Integrated Strategies, because she's always a good free pick there. She's the Slower that Slows.

Roberta - 4* Artificer. I include her here because my stream audience will disembowel me and chain my flayed corpse outside the Museum of Modern Arts if I don't, she's my meme unit. THOUGH, her Shield-providing, DEF enhancing tools can come in handy.

Valarqvin - 5* Ritualist. The IS4 free unit. Significantly stronger in IS4 due to built-in Necrosis Damage on autoattacks, but even outside of IS4, she can be useful for bursting or key enemy elimination with S2, as Necrosis is a strong effect with a built in, decaying ATK% debuff (again, rare) and unmitigated DoT (total of 12000 damage over 15 seconds, 800 dmg per second). Nothing so far in the game resists this, so go ham.

Angelina - 6* Decel Binder. Angelina's whole thing is that she's not a standout unit in any regard, but she can support practically every team, can so strong sustained damage and Slow against single targets with S2, strong multitarget Slow and reduced Weight for Shifting with S3, and passively increases party ASPD and gives them passive healing (works on unhealables). Angelina is kind of like a crowbar or a length of rope in that she's as useful as you can be creative with her, never as a stand out, but as a good brick in the overall house.

Ling - Limited 6* Summoner. Kind of an obligatory mention, but basically, God Mode. One of the gamebreakers, as she can produce 4-Block replenishable immensely powerful summons with multitarget equal to block, Arts damage, and damaging auras. Yeah. Even without that monster of an S3, she can sub Burst Damage and crowd control really well with S2. Her applications are insane, she's so strong that we can be here all day, so we won't do that, she's a very well documented unit.

Skadi the Corrupting Heart - Limited 6* Bard. Again, another well documented unit, but she can basically E3 your units with the sheer stat heft she provides through her S2 buff, can deploy an extension to this range with her Seaborn Summon, and if you really want to go ham, she can enter Microwave Mode with S3 so True Damage cook the shit out of anything, in addition to providing a really big Attack bonus to units in range while at it. Well documented unit so I'll keep it brief but yeah, godlike unit.

There's a few more, like Proviso and Scene, but that's enough for now. "Your forgot to mention--" I didn't forget, you do it.

I hope this helps, anon!

[her-reidiance]

A Kindred Spirit's Revelations, or: How This Arknights Player only came to love Lappland infinitely more — a Treatise by Her-Reidiance

I have had so many thoughts about Lappland in Il Siracusano it's insane. She afflicts my brain like Oripathy. Please bear with me, below is a long post and contains spoilers for the event.

EDIT: This part is misremembered, I apologize. The Saluzzos took in Cellinia Texas 7 years ago, after the Texas famiglia was "liquidated" for rebelling against Signora Sicilia. Yet Salvadore also sent Cellinia to live with them before the purge.

Lappland and Texas have been through how much together... was Lappland infected after Cellinia was taken in? How did those changes start to show... slowly or rapidly? Did Lappland's obsession begin with Cellinia first leaving Siracusa, or was it prior to that? Despite what we do gain knowledge of in the event, there's still some open doors.

We do know that they know each other quite well, and there's still some vestige of trust before the event's conclusion, this being my favorite representation:

The fact that Cellinia doesn't even bat an eye at the fact that Lappland broke into a supposedly well secured prison, but also the fact that she accepts the treat that Lappland brought, only to then realize it's her least favorite flavor — a fact Lappland had to have known going into this — sets my heart on fire. They know each other so well! They're complementary, contrasting, they have intimate knowledge of each other (take this phrase as you will, I already know how I do) and they regularly stay in some sort of off-balance with each other.

But the fact is, Lappland's obsession with Cellinia isn't just some textbook stalker with a crush, like what most would initially think given what had been presented prior to Il Siracusano. As Lappland says herself:

Lappland grew up the perfect Siracusan, the perfect Donna in training, the perfect killer. She was everything that could be expected of a woman in her station. She didn't see any way out of that life. It's what she was born in, it's what she will die in. But then along comes Cellinia Texas, doing nothing to save her family's life when the time comes to exterminate them, simply walking away from it all, and then walking away from her years later to go to Lungmen. Whatever condition Lappland was in by then, a switch was flicked on nonetheless, and she realized: "Oh... if it sucks... I can hit the bricks!"

But could she, really? What if Texas came back to Siracusa, and found that she could not truly escape her destined life after all, that she was just as bound to this place as Lappland was and would die here? That was the real test, and thus the events of Il Siracusano take place. But, when all is said and done, and it's just the two of them alone in the park...

I love this so much because it illustrates that our favorite insanity wolf has evolved! There is progress in her character arc! It's in an absolutely unhinged direction but it is no less in character for it. Her obsession has left from focusing solely on Texas as the Ideal, and now focused on destroyed Siracusa as a sort of Anti Ideal. Lappland now knows she is not bound by fate or blood or destiny to the place she was born. She too can simply watch the flames consume her family, her life, and walk away. And unlike Cellinia, she intends to be the one to light the match. The narrative gestures to this as well:

Lappland is now able to face the world, the wide world around her, not just as backdrops to her pursuit of Cellinia, but as hers to explore, to enjoy, to destroy as she wishes!

This moment is so much to me. It's the sudden clarity in her vision that demonstrates that she finally sees Cellinia as her own person, as just Texas the woman. Texas the Penguin Logistics courier. Texas, the woman who left. And she's no longer Lappland Saluzzo, shackled to her family name or a predestined future as its leader. She's... just Lappland.

Part time soulmates, Full time problem. No other dynamic can sum them up. Texas still cares for Lappland, just as she does Giovanna, as a part of her past that she did not altogether dislike. But she also sees more clearly than either of them. Giovanna, stuck in the past when she was Cellinia's best friend. Lappland, presently stuck on destroying the city around her as a final show of independence.

Finally, Lappland leaves the city, after a couple of loose ends are wrapped up. She wanders the wasteland, where the freshly defeated Zaaro happens upon her.

She fights Zaaro for THREE MONTHS in the middle of desolate wastelands. In all of that time, Zaaro didn't kill her, because he came to realize that there was no point in it. There was no satiation to be found for doing so, and that her fractured mind makes her a perfect candidate to be his next Fang. She is an empty husk, a woman who has nothing to live for by herself, but she is full. Full of training, full of potential, full of a singular goal; she is perfect to serve as the vengeance that Zaaro wishes to exact on Siracusa for his failure. And so, they team up, forming a bond forged in mutual hate. Not unlike the original appearance of Eddie Brock and Venom, truly.

The timing of the Azione Solo stories seems ambiguous to me, but some of them definitely take place after the main events of Il Siracusano. Of course, while I'm on the subject, let's discuss Lappland's solo story. I believe I have space left for more pictures so I'll share a few.

The summation is that Lappland makes a minor cameo in Cellinia's, in which she leaves a radio for the Texas to find, and she also goes about rooting through her family's estate one more time. She finds a photo of her younger self, and reminisces slightly on it. In between there was also a musbeast that she found and decided to keep, until it was taken and slain by the Saluzzo mafiosos.

After reminiscing about her father, and how doomed he — and as a result, she — are by being born as Saluzzos, as part of the mafia famiglie system... she destroys the image, while lamenting briefly that once again, the beloved pet of hers was killed by her father, laughing maniacally. To her, there still is no escape, or at least that's one way her mind leans. She knows Cellinia left, but maybe... maybe she cannot. All she can do is burn it down so there is nothing left to trap her. Nothing left to come back to. Scorched earth.

Finally, she dismisses Capone from her tentative services, having recruited him and Gambino at the end of Code of Brawl. Capone at this point realizes a bit just how absolutely feral and insane his "boss" is, and he is ready to die trying to kill her to be rid of her, by holding a knife in his sleeve. Of course, this is Lappland we're talking about. She sees through it right away and expresses probably one of her more genuine selves by stating that he's making a choice, and that's enough for her. He's free to go. The duplicitous Lappland, who prior might just have killed him for the sake of... sport? Insurance? On a whim? Lets him go instead, because she respects that he is making a choice for himself, rather than what he had been doing all event, which is walking on eggshells around her and trying not to be killed by her. We leave Lappland's story for now with this:

This implies that she returns to the city at some point after contracting with Zaaro. This to me shows promise of a continuance of her character. Lappland, The Fang of Zaaro, 6-star Operator coming sometime. Maybe during the Laterano event? After all, there's much more questions left to be answered... like why Lappland, a Lupo from Siracusa, can use Arts so well; and implied to be a skill of hers before her infection... but that's a ramble for another post.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you all understand my kinship with Lappland a little better, or at least have a bit more appreciation for this wonderful, horrible, terrifying, beautiful creature.

[incorrect-arknightsquotes]

Okay I am feeling kinda insane so I have to spell everything out

I have a theory about Lappland

First of all I'm sure she has connection to Laterano and that's why.

1) Skin

So her skin from Bloodline of Combat "Refined Horrormare". The one in which description written "The outfit Lappland wore at the Laterano Apostolic Knights' Funeral Memorial Hall.

Even two years ago , I was confused about what Lappy to do with Laterano. Why does she visit the Funeral of Apostolic Knight?

The thing about BoC skins is that they have usually heavy lore. Mountain leaving RI, Beagle dying, Executor tracking down Artoria, and past of a lot of operators. Right?

So about Lappland's skin. We see her wearing this clothes in IL Siracusana, and a lot of people, especially wiki-writers think that it is that big moment skin's introduction written about. BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.

First of all it's nowhere near Laterano and other skins if they have a very direct connection with place and event.

Also quotes in this skin

" Collect the debts, and pay the price."

And

"Is that all? That's all our lives are worth. I told you, everything you've taken from me, I'll have you repay. In full." - is quote from Lappland and people(on wiki) think that she says it to her father, BUT BUT she didn't try to take a revenge on him in event. Maybe in the future, but unlikely. She stated that she doesn't want any connection with Siracusa and said goodbye to him, not trying to hurt. Hardly counts as repaing, right?

Also also in whole even she never showed as much hostility or better say vengefulness? Even her fight with Texas felt more like friendly rematch.

And I don't think anyone or anything in Siracusa could cause her such emotions if she leaves it so easily.

BUT WHAT IF THERE IS SOMEONE IN LATERANO WHO CAN CAUSE THEM?!

So I am sure we will have Lappland in Laterano

Okay sorry moving on.

2) Her belt

Her belt has number "1911" on it and IT is a year when last Newfoundland Wolf was killed, but in contrast with Texas her family is fine. So kinda weird isn't it?

So maybe this number has a double meaning

And you know what else happened in 1911?

M1911 was designed.

And I mean Sankta's and their guns, right?

3) Sweets

It's almost nothing, but second thing Laterano is known for is their sweets and Lappland kinda mentions sweets a lot?

Her notorious voiceline with mentioning of mille feuille and which she given to Exusiai and tried to give to Texas. Her keeping chocolate (of course it's maybe more about Texas). This stickers

Kinda suspicious isn't it?

So like she has connection to Laterano definitely. But what is this connection?

Well my theory is that her mother was Sankta.

And my arguments, I do have arguments!

1) Sankta's offsprings with other races don't bear any physical similarities with their divine parents, so her being Lupo doesn't contradict this theory

2) She is one of only two Lupo operators who deal Arts damage, and she was stated to not have any training with it, using Arts with just raw talent alone in her file. And Sanktas are well known for their impressive Arts controlling abilities

3) Also the end of her file

For a long time we thought it was Texas about Lappland and about her family. But now after Siracusano we can see that we mistaken a lot. First of all she lost her family not because they are dead, but because they threw her away. Also she didn't forced Doctor to choose anything yet. Doctor even wasn't present in Siracusana. Also know I'm even doubting if it was written by Texas, because we seen them interacting in Siracusana and they are fine. Weird as fuck and deadly to each other, but fine. If Texas truly believed she is that dangerous she would try to keep PL as far away from her as possible. But she isn't

So whatever this file states it going to happen in future.

And I think she will revenge for her mother.

It is a very weak theory I know, but I can't stop think about it.

So if you have your own theory about Lappland's connection to Laterano, please, I am begging, tell me.

[dlamp-dictator]

Okay, I know it's been awhile since I've been into Arknights, but I gotta' talk about this real quick, because it really does feel like some actual insanity that Lappland has something like this. I know the developers tend to make some weirdly cracked modules, but this is some madness that's almost on par with Eyja having Res-shredding on her first module.

But first, a not-so-quick disclaimer. It's recently come to my attention that Lappland's name is a known slur in some Scandinavian circles, and while I've read a handful of things that imply her name is meant to come from a specific location/region in the Nordic/Scandinavian area I will play things safe and refer to her as Saluzzo from this point on in this little analysis/discussion out of both recognition of the above and to be mindful of others reading this as I believe this is still a hot-button issue in some areas of the fandom. With that said, I'll only be doing this in deeper discussions like this, as... well, frankly, I've neither the time nor energy to police people on the internet and until Hypergryph actively changes the name themselves we'll all be very confused if I suddenly start talking about a character named Saluzzo off-handedly in a random post I make.

With that said, onto the craziness.

So, Saluzzo here's a Lord, a sub-class of a Guard, which specializes in (usually) physical DPS, High HP, and some minor laneholding depending on the archetype. Lords specifically deal physical ranged damage on ground tiles, which tapers off the further away the enemy is. But that's not important. For Saluzzo, the main thing is her talent: Spiritual Destruction, which silences enemy abilities. This disrupts a handful of the more annoying quirks that some enemies have like exploding on death, having some sort of passive shield/resistance barrier, passing through blocking units, stopping those damn Artificers from summoning the artillery shell, so on and so forth. Combine this utility with her already good damage and stats has given Saluzzo a very vital role in almost any new event or chapter. Namely, neutering some of the more... interesting quirks that come into certain chapters and event maps and made her a cornerstone for any new content.

And I feel I should mention that Saluzzo is a game launch unit. She's been here since the start and still has a place in modern Arknights' meta. The only other units I could say are comfortably in this position are Ejyafjalla and Saria, and those are Six-Stars.

Her module, by extension, is just as nutty. Combined with her already good physical damage, she can now deal a minor amount of arts damage with her base attack. This makes her ability to already shred through physically tanky enemies even better. But the true nuttiness is that additional fragile debuff along with her silencing when upgraded, letting enemies take an additional 8% of damage from all sources.

Including true damage.

For six seconds.

In a tower defense game.

Oh, and her Skill 2, her main skill, can attack two enemies at once to inflict the debuff.

Yeah, this chick is insane, both in lore and in game. She's so cracked that the only way to powercreep her was to make an alter of her even nuttier.

But yeah, that's Saluzzo. Looking forward to the coming 5.5 storyline. I don't keep track of Arknights' story nowadays, but I do keep up with the handful of extra chapters that focus on characters I like, and I like Saluzzo and the Siracusa storyline a lot. Here's hoping things keep moving up from here.

Now to finish Chapter 14 this week... and catch up on Wuwa afterwards.

[zeravmeta]

Super Sankta 2 Exu sounds like an excellent idea Zerav. For maximum meme, she's a John Wick style Guard- just uses guns to bash in people's skulls.

Super Sankta 2 Exu whose going John Wick style on people is funny but my concept for Exia Alter was always based on like, the concept that Skadi Alter first introduced that we all thought at the time was gonna be the standard fare for alters

My Ultimate Sankta vs Exia 3 concept was based around the idea of a "Bad End" Exia the way Skadi Alter is, where Exia would be further mechanized ala Executor and become an emotionless seraphim-type unit who would essentially be the ultimate Sankta weapon. This would happen as the result of Laterano having some kind of big event that would cause them to pull all remaining Sankta from all corners of Terra for their promised day of ascension where they would leave Terra and all its problems behind, with certain Sankta (Like Exia) essentially being the vanguards and protectors of these people (I essentially just took the idea of the Rapture and assigned it to the Sankta), with the event concept in question being Penguin Logistics invading this holy land to save their girl.

So like. you can imagine how hard ive been popping off with all the new lore reveals we've gotten over the past 2 years. That said, this concept is a little outdated, and just leaving it at that would be no fun

So here's my pitch for how Exia Alter 4: The Quest For Peace would go with modern foresight (added read more because reasons)

The Popes basement computer in Zwillingsturme just let out a directive that they need to gather their best Sankta to fight against the end of the world. This is in conjunction with the last few events squarely tying together Iberia's Seaborn plotline with both Laterano and Siracusa and their dividing faiths. Now, all of this is in conjunction with the hints we've been getting that Penguin Logistics is going to split up (Lappland and Mostima have already flown the coop, and currently the rest are in Siracusa helping Texas the Amogus, but that will likely not last especially bc Exia's own anniversary line all but majorly hints at this split happening because they all got different stuff going on)

If Penguin Logistics splits, Exia will well and truly be left without a support system.

Now, Exia has always been kind of off as far as Sankta go, because for all intents and purposes she shouldn't be out of place: We see just how Sankta tend to act in Guide Ahead, and Exia didn't really seem all that different. Yet, when we look at her history and actions (she was basically kicked out, she was super accident prone which made other Sankta hate her, as part of Penguin Logistics shes constantly drunk, Texas herself says that Exia being an optimist makes her different, etc), she's actually Really different.

Almost like she has an abnormality compared to other Sankta. Me and a few others (check out @annierosaart post here) have speculated on her being different, but we also don't really know WHY: Even if she was suddenly disconnected from the Sankta empathy powers, we don't see any indication of how, and unlike Ezell we don't have any sort of 'wake-up' moment for her.

But given the weirdness about her and her lines, I think I know what the exact nature of her abnormality may be (and heres my pitch) when looking at the most relevant characters who have abnormalities, namely Executor and Arturia, because I think she falls in line with them (shameless plug to my old exia/executor buddies post):

Executor's abnormality is that his emotions are incredibly muted compared to others. He isn't heartless or emotionless, but more that his heart and mind runs on rationale and logic first and foremost, which almost disqualified him from being canonized had he also not been Laternos single most competent man because saint fedex is entirely disconnected from caring about petty things like being racist.

Arturia's abnormality is that she is receptively empathetic to the point she has nothing within her. She can remove the inhibitions of people, and this is in service to understanding them, because she lacks an understanding of herself: She has a grand dream of an empathy for the world even beyond the Sankta Empathy power, and to accomplish this she draws out the emotions that people hide. As a result, she reflects the emotions of others within herself and thus is incredibly empathetic to the point she's also lacking in emotions and a self.

Exia? I think that her abnormality is that she's too emotional, that the emotions she feels are far more amplified compared to others.

I believe this for a couple of reasons: All the weirdness surrounding her aside, whats the one thing that's always defined Exia? Her Rapid Casting EX. It's always been memed about, but simply firing a single bullet from a gun is akin to casting an Arts attack, with guns serving as a type of wand in these cases. Exia is the only character within the series whose been noted to be so fast with her arts and casting.

This post here does a phenomenal job expanding on this point, but Arts are an expression of the soul, they're influenced by emotions and become stronger with them because they are ultimately expressions of the self, which all characters in and of themselves having a "unique" arts inherent to them. Hell, all of Leithaniens arts are based around using musical expression, while Sarkaz are noted for their arts based on souls and memory, with the literal main heroine of Arknights having an empathy based arts superpower.

Exia, having Super Emotion as her Sankta halo abnormality, could explain why shes so good at gun, even without Oripathy, because said emotions are boosting her casting ability. Remember, anyone can use originum arts, it's just that oripathy is needed for them to be able to do it without a casting device.

This heightened emotion could also possibly explain her crush on Mostima, and even why Mostima is so weird/cruel about her: Mostima was simply a childhood friend alongside her and her sister, and yet when she left for Lungmen, Exia was hot on her trails and then waited 4 YEARS to be beside her and meet her again. She joined Penguin Logistics specifically because of Mostima. It's incredibly likely that Exia might have just had a small crush on her that then spiraled heavily because of this, and Mostima (with her chronic backstory-itis letting her find out that the whole Sankta and halo thing is a scam from her op files and events) might even be aware of this aspect of Exia, and may have wanted her to get over it, always leaving to try and make Exia move on but also always coming back because she needs to look after Exia. After all, if Exia had heightened extreme emotions, what are the chances she could die of grief? She already gets drunks regularly, and despite being cheerful and optimistic, Exia is wearing a mask hiding an incredibly depressed individual.

It could also be possible that the reason why Exia never noticed this is because while it doesn't let other Sankta feel her emotions, she can still feel that of others. She's always confused as to why back in Laterano people always accused her of being disingenuous, because can't they feel her emotions? Well, if she has Super Emotions, it could potentially be overloading her halo, so while she can receive signals, they can't be felt by others. Moreover, this mechanical aspect blends in well with her E2 art, where she is the single operator in the game without an animal/living motiff

Even other Sankta have birds and/or human statues and robotic elements (funnily enough, Executor Sniper only has crosses but even then he is clearly being themed as specifically an angel), but Exia? She has her guns, becoming wings as a ring forms with them. She's literally ascending while her wings become darker.

So what does all this mean?

Well, the Pope's basement bonzi buddy just sent out a directive for the Pope to gather the best Sankta to fight against the end of the world, and who else to recruit but a vulnerable, lonely Sankta who was kicked out for being TOO destructive? Exia's profile does make mention that despite appearances, she is also incredibly pious just like other Sankta, and if the Pope himself came knocking, wanting to give Exia a place back in Laterano, and in a high ranking, respected position no less?

She would jump at the chance, not only to be beside her sister (and possibly Mostima), but also to be accepted back into Laterano society.

Executors own halo has a mechanized element to it, where he also gains more parts to it when he goes from normalest man to saint fedex, so he likely underwent some kind of modification to go along with his promotion, especially because he also now carries an Nier Automata companion cube with him straight from the machine

If Exia is to be canonized, she might be adjusted in a similar way by The Law.

She might even be fully altered into becoming Laterano's perfect weapon to fight against the end of the world. The Witch King himself describes this approaching threat as a void of infinite knowledge which seeks to eliminate them, an unshakeable truth of existence that drives people insane.

The Creator must perish.

What better weapon to fight against such a thing than one who feels her own emotions so strongly she cannot be swayed? Or better yet, an equally as unshakeable, emotionless machine?

[besiegedhunter]

Lappland's CN introduction and Red.

So this is an interesting one that I've struggled to talk about for awhile but is quite interesting to me because it just seems to me to have some grander implications to it. Of course this being about Lappland's CN introduction.

Now it must be said that these CN introductions do hold some outdated information but also some information is the most we get on some topics or potentially spoiled future plot points. If that doesn't deter you then this could extrapolate on how Lappland came to join Rhodes Island and potentially a secret individual who's keeping tabs on her as well as has an interest in Red, possibly holding some implications on her background.

Continuing below:

This is the google translation of Lappland's CN introduction and immediately what's curious about it is the fact that Lappland's information was gotten through exchanging Projekt Red's. The question being 'Who could want Red's information?'

And I don't think it's information that Red has gathered. You see in one of the images that the information is labelled Red.zip and lower down is Lappland's voiceline about Red:

Another thing I want to mention about this is it's highly unlikely that this is Lappland herself exchanging this information. For one her voiceline here lacks any familiarity or real knowledge about Red. But our current lore, it's unlikely for Lappland to realistically know Red either or for anyone else to for that matter.

That's what's so curious about this: who could even know Red exists to want information on her?

So let's break this down some more:

This says records from three black squares. Now that's commonly how the HR Director is referred to but for example Red's files display both Kal'tsit and Ascalon's names being hidden behind black squares. That said them having access to Red's information to give should mean this source is a member of Rhodes Island and honestly probably someone in a high position.

Then assuming this is a member of Rhodes Island, they talk about Lappland's information like it's new to them. There's no recognition that she is already a member and it being "unexpected" probably would be less so if Lappland is a member already. As this is her introduction and her information, maybe it's possible this file is like the ones shown when you recruit an operator and this is or is a step in recruiting Lappland to Rhodes Island.

Then, similarly to how the person who exchanged Red's information had to be a member of Rhodes Island, whoever is exchanging Lappland's information would have to be in the position to and assuming this is or leads into her recruitment, who is a position to have her information or have her join Rhodes Island?

And so that's our information: who would be interested in Red's information and who could have Lappland's information or have her join Rhodes Island?

Who is this?

So as far as who would be interested in Projekt Red we really only have one person with any concrete evidence and that is Bernardo Bellone. It's actually confirmed in the text that Bernardo knows of Red and that she is a part of Rhodes Island:

He has the motivation to be keeping tabs on her as well, being a Fang he would be targeted by Red in the least and so should keep tracks of her whereabouts as well as Zaaro likely wanting to know the positions of the other Fangs.

However I think that this falls apart when it comes to Lappland because Bernardo has no hold over her. In theory he could gain the information on her but what good would it do to give to Rhodes Island? And assuming that her information leads to her joining he would have no power over that.

Also I don't think that Bernardo in his infinite ability to scheme ever considered Lappland to be one until she made her appearance in Il Siracusano and started making her own moves. As is pointed out:

The phrasing definitely implies that he didn't foresee Lappland's appearance in Volsinii and improvised so where he is the one character who would want information on Red that we know of, he realistically isn't who we're looking for.

So thinking about this from who could have information on Lappland and could in theory get her to join Rhodes Island, what are the options there?

Well once again we're only really left with one option. Sure Alberto could be one but he's been cut off from Lappland. No, the only person that it could be is Signora Sicilia. The Head of State for Siracusa and the Godmother.

To go back in time a bit. When Giuseppe Texas killed his Father Salvadore and declared independence from Sicilia's family system she ordered a purge on the Texas family. This would be the earliest point we know of Lappland working for her as she led the Saluzzo's on that day. Of course the events transpiring having her be exiled from the Saluzzo family.

We next see her in Code of Brawl. When Signora Sicilia has exiled the Sicilian family and it's revealed in Wolf and Wolfpack that she sent Lappland to deal with them. Later in Il Siracusano it's revealed that Sicilia invited Lappland to join the Bocca al Lupo, her own elite force although Lappland refuses.

As Code of Brawl was one of the earliest events and Sicilia is mentioned by name then it can be assumed she was planned early on. She's also the only character who has any semblance of control over Lappland and who would have information on her. For example look at Lappland's archive 4:

Rhodes Island gained from a similarly classified source information about Lappland. However this isn't about anything she's done but the dangers of working with her and alludes to knowing her past and her quite well.

The previous Archive File mentions random reports and eyewitness accounts. It has an classified log from Kal'tsit and for fun, in one of Suzuran's files we're alerted that she and Lappland have history. This log is very different from all of them but not necessarily the one from the CN Introduction.

Further to this, at the end of Wolf and Wolfpack a representative of Signora Sicilia meets with the Rat King after the events of Code of Brawl with the Sicilians and Lappland in this event itself. One part is of note:

Signora Sicilia is expressly keeping an eye on the both of them, likely doubly so with Lappland. It's strange then that she would be fine with Lappland joining Rhodes Island, travelling all across Terra and being somewhere she realistically wouldn't have eyes.

However if this is her than it can be assumed that either she got what she wanted out of the deal which is this itself or there are more to the deal. Perhaps Rhodes has been given express orders similar to the Rat King in exchange for having Lappland join. Or the simple fact that Lappland suffers from Oripathy and so Sicilia wants to protect this asset of hers.

Regardless it's very probable to me that she knows Lappland joined Rhodes Island and that there may be more to this than we're led to believe.

So then. Regardless of the extent of this, I do feel Sicilia is the most likely person to have Lappland's information and exchange it with Rhodes. But that's just one side of the equation. What about Projekt Red? Why would Sicilia want information on her? Is there anything that backs that up?

There's no evidence that Sicilia is interested in Red. However Sicilia in the least knows about the Signori's game:

So on one hand she may just be keeping tabs on the Signore dei Lupi's game and somehow learnt of Red being on Rhodes Island. But I'm unsure about that. She doesn't mention Bernardo being a Fang, focusing on his beliefs and actions. She doesn't address Lunacub either or make any mention besides on the Signori.

She kind of dismisses the Signori although Emperor says she would have acted but let him do it. Regardless she didn't stop Bernardo nor make any comment on him being a Fang so I'm unsure if she's actually keeping tabs on Red because of it, especially considering how little Red could even effect the order of Siracusa.

Conclusion

It's unknown whether we can expect this to be a plot point or say recycled into a similar plot point that will appear later in the Siracusa story. I do think Sicilia is the most likely person for both Lappland's CN introduction and Archive File 4 however, regardless if the CN introduction is relevant still.

As for Sicilia and Red, who knows really. Red's past is very unknown but if you consider the effect that Texas had on Siracusa when she left, becoming a myth, and the importance of families in Siracusa it's very possible that Red might be a significant person. That or Red made an impact before she joined Rhodes Island.

Realistically I feel there is nothing in this. That Red's past could very well be important but Sicilia caring? I can't see it based on the information that we have at present but the possibility is there.

And Sicilia and Lappland's relationship is very interesting and I'll take any chance to talk about Siracusa so thank you for reading!

[waheelawhisperer]

The 5 abyssal hunters for the ship meme

Oh boy. I feel like a lot of these will end up looking very similar because I ship a lot of them with each other so let's go

Skadidididididi

NOTP: Skadi x Ulpianus. Ulpianus is a clown and does not deserve romance.

BROTP: Skadi x Grani. Skadidi needs a friend and they were cute together in Grani's event.

OTP: Skadi x Specter. God, they're so good. They've been through so much together, and Skadi was so caring and attentive when Specter was being treated at Rhodes Island. Also, Specter's Outstanding durability means she's one of the few people Skadi can top without risk of injury.

Second choice pairing: Skadi x Doctor. Skadi's operator files indicate that she's a bit sweet on Doc, to say nothing of... the entirety of the Corrupting Heart. I think it'd be really cute to watch Skadi struggle to admit she cares for this fragile land-dweller and then finally allow herself to be close to someone and then dote on and be so very gentle with her easily-breakable wife/malewife (as applicable).

Fluffy pairing: Skadi x Doctor, Skadi x Grani. They would be so sweet together.

Angsty pairing: Skadi x Specter. Oh, there is so much potential for pain with these two.

Favorite poly ship: Skadi x Specter x Gladiia, Skadi x Specter x Gladiia x Doctor, Skadi x Specter x Gladiia x Irene. My reading on the Abyssal Hunters is that they aren't strictly monogamous (see: Specter's yuri moments with both Skadi and Irene and Skadi's simultaneous crush on the Doctor and yuri moments with Specter), and so I actually like Abyssal Hunter polycules more than 2-person ships. Love the thought of the three surviving Hunters finding solace in each other's arms on land.

Adding Doctor to the mix is super funny to me because all three of them express some level of regard for them (Skadi is pretty obviously crushing a bit, Gladiia invites them to dance and is rude to them when it's specifically noted that she saves politeness for the people she doesn't like, and even Specter likes to playfully tease them and Irene is a seagull, but she can still be stuffed like a turkey if she tries really hard and believes in herself.

Weirdest pairing: Skadi x Mudrock. Each of them is a bit of a space cadet, and Mudrock's shield passive means that as long as Skadi goes real slow, she can top Mudrock without harm.

Specter the Unhinged

NOTP: Specter x Amaia. Keep your filthy Seaborn-worshipping hands off my girl.

BROTP: Absolutely love the idea of Specter becoming Bros with the other brawlers/troublemakers at Rhodes Island. She probably hangs out at the bar/gym/etc. with Indra, Gavial, Lappland, and other people who cause problems on purpose.

OTP: Specter x Skadi. See above.

Second choice pairing: Specter x Irene, Specter x Doctor. Irene deserves to get railed and they had a bunch of Yuri Moments in Stultifera Navis and Specter does seem to have genuine regard for the Doctor, both promising to protect them and expressing a desire to share her home and its culture with them and lamenting that there are aspects of it they're incapable of understanding

Fluffy pairing: I feel like it's hard to do truly fluffy with Specter because she's too much of a brat, but Specter x Skadi and Specter x Irene could probably manage it.

Angsty pairing: Specter x Skadi. See above.

Favorite poly ship: Skadi x Specter x Gladiia, Skadi x Specter x Gladiia x Doctor, Skadi x Specter x Gladiia x Irene. See above.

Weirdest pairing: Specter x Lumen. Breed that twink, Laurentina.

Gladiia

NOTP: Gladiia x Kal'tsit. This is, honestly, an excellent pairing with a lot going for it, but I do not like Kal'tsit.

BROTP: Gladiia x Blemishine. Idk, I just really like the idea of Jaded Supersoldier Science Lady Gladiia taking this young, peppy engineering nerd under her wing.

OTP: Gladiia x Doctor. It would be Gladiia x Kal'tsit if I liked Kal'tsit because I do think the setup and chemistry is really good, but alas. That said, Doc x Gladiia has a decent foundation to it, what with the way Gladiia asks Doctor to dance with her and is generally somewhat abrupt and impolite with them when her files note that she reserves her manners for people she doesn't much care for. I feel like there's a good opportunity to bond over the nature of power and responsibility and leadership. Late nights discussing tactics or playing chess together that become something more? Yes, please.

Second choice pairing: Gladiia x Specter. Gladiia shows so much care for Specter, and somebody's gotta punish this bratty little shark.

Fluffy pairing: I'm not convinced Gladiia does fluffy, but I think Gladiia x Doc has some potential, given the talk line where she offers to teach the Doctor how to dance.

Angsty pairing: I feel like every Gladiia pairing is inherently angsty but I'll pick Gladiia x Ulpianus here because their interactions in Stultifera Navis get both funnier and more tragic if they yearn to explore each other's bodies.

Favorite poly ship: Skadi x Specter x Gladiia, Skadi x Specter x Gladiia x Doctor, Skadi x Specter x Gladiia x Irene. See above.

Weirdest pairing: Gladiia x Saria. Science parents unite!

Andreana

This is hard because the lore kinda forgot she existed but I'll try.

NOTP: I don't have a real NOTP for Andreana, but I think perhaps she should stay away from Jaye before she ends up being made into seafood.

BROTP: Andreana x Exusiai. They can shoot guns together.

OTP: Andreana x Incandescence

Second choice pairing: Andreana x any Abyssal Hunter.

Fluffy pairing: I want to say Andreana x Incandescence but they have no lore pain emoji

Angsty pairing: Hard to pick one here but all the Abyssal Hunters are pretty good at angst.

Favorite poly ship: Andreana x Abyssal Hunters. She deserves to be railed from three directions at once. As a treat.

Weirdest pairing: Andreana x Exusiai. Show her the power of GUN!

Ulpianus:

NOTP: All of them this man gets negative bitches he is utterly swagless he cannot have romance until he learns to fucking communicate like a normal person

BROTP: Ulpianus x The Last Knight go fight the ocean together boys

OTP: Gladiia x Ulpianus but strictly in the sense that she beats the shit out of him for being a dumbass and then maybe if he's very very good he gets pegged.

Second choice pairing: Bruh I can barely even come up with a first choice pairing but I guess it'd have to be Ulpianus x Mlynar

Fluffy pairing: This man is too much of a loser for fluff I think the closest he could get is like... Ulpianus x Skadi??? But I don't even like that one.

Angsty pairing: Any possible pairing will be incredibly angsty based on the fact that Ulpianus is in it but Ulpianus x Gladiia would probably make waves in this respect

Favorite poly ship: None there is no universe in which this man has enough game to pull two or more bad bitches at once.

That said, I'll go with Ulpianus x Mlynar x SilverAsh because all of them are shit at communicating and being emotionally available. Three of the most miserable bitchless losers on Terra.

Weirdest pairing: Ulpianus and the Last Knight. It gets lonely in the ocean, guys.

[yzxsn]

visits from texas and lappland.

pov: you dont feel like moving or getting up from bed, having a wreck of a time.

texas

she's gotten some paperwork done, likely. or she's here in part of her role at penguin logistics, and needs to communicate something to you.

texas is patient, and waits after the silence from knocking on your door. when you don't answer, she knocks again, and announces upon the third knock that she's coming in before the door opens on her command.

and she sees you in the corner of the room, rolled up in blankets, tucked away at the side of your bed.

"doctor," she greets you. texas is curt and respectful as she approaches you. "i have some news for you..."

but when you don't stir at her announcement, she leans in to check on your condition. not sleeping, are you?

you definitely are awake, she concludes. and you look worse for wear.

"doctor, are you feeling okay? ... do you need me to stay here? do you need company?"

texas is more of a do-er than a show-er. she takes your silence as a yes if you hadn't said anything, and leaves instead, contrarian to what you expected her to do.

she comes back to the room after a short while with gifts.

the first is some pocky. because either you need to eat (despite the sugary snack or your lack of appetite) and she needs to sustain herself while she's cooped up with you.

the second is some yogurt milk. you think she claims it to have some beneficial properties that accomodate her frequent chowing of snacks, but can't remember the details.

the third is a small speaker and a cd.

she sets them down by a table opposite your bed before crawling in beside you. her tail almost swallows your pillow whole.

texas takes your head and sets it upon the coarse fur. it's softer than the pillow you had.

without speaking to each other, she starts to eat some of her pocky sticks and shares some with you. she'll continue to share them with you if you feel like eating, but when you don't, she'll start reminiscing about recent events to you instead.

"so a while ago, sora invited me to another concert rehearsal..."

she knows it may be difficult to talk about the trouble you'd been facing as of late, and respects your decision to speak up about it as you wish.

if you do want to share, texas is willing to lend you an ear without hesitation.

"things will be alright, doctor. when they catch up to us in the end, we'll be ready for it. we can make sure of that."

lappland

there's no rhyme or reason for lappland to want or need to show up at your doorstep. frankly, as the loose cannon she is, kaltsit has decided so long as she doesn't go about harming anyone, lappland could do what she wanted (within regular operator limitations)

two knocks without a response and a short wait later, lappland decides she's a little offended. a curt "i'm coming in" that sounds like a bark of annoyance and the door opens for her.

the room seems dark, dreary and empty at first glance, until she spots you shied away in a corner.

"oi, what's this about doctor? you under the weather or something?"

lappland gets closer to you, squinting, before determining that you do, in fact, look like shit.

a lazy smile forms on her face as she collapses onto your bed -- wild in execution, delicate and precise on impact. she sits next to you and gets in real close.

"aww, doctor. you need me to babysit you for a moment?"

and she raises your head, dropping you onto her lap to be fussed over for a moment. so long as you don't mind her originum crystals near the base of her thighs, she would watch you intently, her fingers stroking down your hair and face, outlining your features in close intimacy.

when she gets into it, her palms do the work instead. and lappland giggles while she pampers you, going on about the trivial thing she'd decided to barge in for.

"i really didn't expect you to look this sad when you're down. man, you look pathetic. kind of wish i could get texas this upset sometimes. anyway, i was here because..."

she's perfect for idle chitchat. enough to forcibly distract you from what was on your mind, between the gentle yet obscene petting, her shrill voice and egotistical self-centeredness, but also her conversation topic. lappland goes on, as though she doesn't mind talking to a wall.

eventually, she would scoop you up instead for her to hug from behind, if she thinks you don't feel too comfortable. lappland would angle her chin on your shoulder then. her tail wrapped around you feels silky but coarse, and she doesn't mind one bit if you play with her fluff.

if you want to talk to her about your worries, she wouldn't mind listening, even if it means nothing to her in the slightest. her arms wrapped around your own shift to rub your skin slightly, as though to comfort you.

"damn, doctor. you worry a lot about the slightest little things, huh? make sure not to bother yourself too much over it, though. it's alright -- i'm right here to shoulder your burden too."

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

Sometimes it's fun to just find a cheese strategy, even if that strategy isn't the fastest at dealing damage or what not. "The Immortal" my friend I have bad news for you.

I'm a really bad fighting game player. I subscribe to the School

OF NO BLOCK!

To explain this cheese for people who aren't aware and are wondering why my friends here aren't getting sandblasted to death, "The Immortal" has an interesting AI quirk where the attack he uses is dependent on the tile your unit is on, not whether or not he can hit them. If the enemy is on one of the ranged tiles around the map, he will hit them with his sand blast.

But if they're on a melee tile, he will always use his axe swing. This means that melee units with 0 Block can actually attack him with impunity. This means that Ambusher and Dollkeeper Specialists are at zero risk of dying to him and can freely whittle away at his HP.

There are two risks however: the first is the weather, so it might be a good idea to have a Healing Defender (like Saria) to keep their HP up. I had Thunderstorms and that can kill operators deployed, which will restore 12,000 HP to the boss, which is not great. As long as Saria doesn't damage the boss, she won't be attacked by him too. You might even be able to use her S3 instead of her S2, I haven't tested that yet.

The second is that _one_ of the Ore Guardians will decide to waltz his ass in the middle. We hate this guy. It's not super likely he kills anyone straight out since he'll also be whittled down, but importantly, it's annoying as shit. Once you see him, it's a good idea to block it with either Jaye or Lappland (since Silence turns off the retaliatory Arts damage iirc) and kill it off.

Ambushers:

Ethan: Ethan can actually damage The Immortal with his S2, but he'll only do about 250-360 damage with each swing depending on his Module progress and this is assuming E2 Max Level and Mastery 3. You'll want to use his S1 instead, because The Immortal actually has 0 RES and so the 100 Arts damage per second will be a much higher DPS.

Manticore: Manticore barely misses the 1000 DEF mark for her normal attacks to do damage, so it's best to use her S2 for this stage. She won't contribute all that much to DPS outside of doing a lot of damage to the Core Guardian, so she's not the most useful here.

Kirara: This might actually be one of the best stages for Kirara in the game, which is absolutely hilarious to think about. We've done it. We've finally broken Kirara. I'm not entirely sure whether her S1 or S2 is better, I think her S1 has better overall DPS than her S2, but her S2 boosts her survivability in the stage and she's pretty easy to position for the bonus.

Mizuki: Mizuki is actually the only Ambusher who can deal more than chip damage with his normal attack (only 97 though), but he does so much Arts damage its not really a fair comparison. You can use either his S1 or his S2 on this map, depending on which one you find has better DPS against a lone enemy.

Dollkeeper:

Bena: With Dollkeeper's, their skills don't tend to matter because they pretty much always instantly die. You might be able to get some use out of her S2, but Bena is more important due to the fact that her Substitute deals Arts damage, and a fully upgraded Bena can deal about 800 per attack, which is pretty reasonable.

Kazemaru: With proper timing, Kazemaru might actually be able to deal some damage with S1, but the big draw is the burst damage she gets off of her Substitute being summoned. This being said, she won't contribute that much damage even with her Module since the Substitute does physical damage and is just barely under 1000 ATK. Like Manticore, she's not really needed.

Specter the Unchained: This probably will not be surprising, but she's easily the best Dollkeeper for this bit. While it's highly unlikely that she'll survive to use her skills (even with the help of Gladiia and Skadi) her best one is obviously her S2, and she'll even do pretty good damage with it. Her Substitute is one of the big damage dealers here, as a full rotation will do about 17,000 damage and gradually wear him down. Skadi's Mod Y will also be a big help her for increasing her damage output.

I don't have everyone maxed out, so I can't say if this cheese can kill him within the 5 minutes for the stage. If not, it can get a good idea to supplement with a high damage Operator (they need to deal at least 12,000 damage in order to be worth it).

[foxgirlplushie]

im interested . . .

YEAH OK SO

It started with this drabble (god it was the second one I ever did) which started me thinking about it. Because they both have a tendency to push themselves Too Far in combat and be Extra about it. And like I said, they're both sociable and funny and very very good at killing people brutally! They both have a fixation on one specific person (Doctor and Texas respectively) but like. I think they're open enough to sleep around.

Then I wanted to write a fic where lappland was a good(debatable) puppy sub for someone and I remembered that drabble, and then this happened.

Basically! I think they both have a lot of trauma and shit and sadism/masochism is a great way for them to Actually Feel Something and they take turns turning each other into bloody messes. They're not actually dating or like Into Romance but they do both care in their own fucked up ways (see the end of Puppy Time where gravel leaves lappy the Good Painkillers) and this isn't going to change either of them but they're having fun so it's fine (probably) (if you ignore the screaming)

Maybe one day I'll do a sequel where lappy doms and we get to see how much Gravel actually likes being beaten (I read a fic once where she gets recalled from combat, masturbates in the medic tent while they patch her up, then goes back out and that changed something in my brain), but I make no promises

[cerastes]

Would you happen to have recommendations for good, all purpose or simply just worth it 5* operators to raise in Arknights? For someone who has levelled none of them except Amiya, Cantabile, Kroos, Rockeock and Shamare

Going into detail for each and everyone one of them is unfeasible but let's start with the ones I consider really, really good and would always recommend:

Specter - Strong laneholder with self-sustain, best immortality staller in the game for the longest time and still arguably is, benefits from long-term investments in the form of Abyssal Hunter buffs, can be pseudohelidropped with S2M3. Very high HP lets her deals with Arts damage better than in-class equivalents.

Texas - Good DP generator with crowd control and above average damage. Extra starting DP from talent can enable entirely new openers, especially in endgame content. Not exceptional in anything, very reliable in just about any situation to open maps and cover light lanes.

Blue Poison - Strong AA Sniper with constant minibursts and ability to thin lanes thanks to multihits that don't compromise her single targeting, making her a tactical tool that circumvents Taunt to some degree until you can deploy your actual solutions to the Taunt source. Has one of the most famous M3s in her S1, with a charge of 2 attacks.

Warfarin - Versatile unit and easy M6, a lesser known property of her S1 heal is that it is instant, meaning she's a very reliable healer to keep someone under heavy damage alive. Rare Attack Up buff for others, which is what most people know her for. Good SP cycling and can help charge others' SP with her Talent.

Lappland - Best Silence-user in the game, as well as a solid, reliable unit in most maps thanks to her multitarget and Arts damage. You'll hear people claim she's fallen off or some other lie. She is still very solid outside of her Silence (which comes back into relevance every other Thursday anyways).

Ptilopsis - Strong, low investment unit, does not need Masteries at all in order to perform, powerful constant strong heals with S2 and has the best universal Skill Aura Talent that will speed everyone's SP charge by 30% just by existing on the map.

Elysium - One of the best utility units in the game, easy M6 with great SP production, DP reduction and ASPD buffs for Snipers, and a very strong S2 that reveals invisible units, reduces their speed significantly, and gives them a DEF debuff that stacks with other debuffs.

Cantabile - Lightweight assassin that can produce DP per attack while assassinating. Has a short timer to redeploy, so she can be an on-demand miniburst on a troublesome boss or lane, while making DP.

Any of the two Berries, Honeyberry or Mulberry - Handles Elemental Damage buildup, Honeyberry centers more on Elemental Damage, Mulberry has stronger HP heals, both are great. Honeyberry came free with your XBox, no excuse not to raise her. They also have very useful wide ranges that allow for unique safe set-ups.

Projekt Red - Lightweight assassin that can be used as a stunbomb or as a killer for light key targets. Nothing else needs be said, she gets the job done.

Firewatch and Andreana - Heavy duty shooters with wide range and unique targeting rules that specialize in dealing large amounts of damage one way or another, all useful. Firewatch can also use camouflage for fun strats, while Andreana can reap great benefits from long-term investment due to her status as a nominal Abyssal Hunter.

Asbestos - Strong Arts Guard, her S2 can target air, and is just in general very useful in balancing lanes that also need damage when you're spread thin elsewhere, or just as a fun, good unit to use.

La Pluma or Highmore - Both play very similar. Handy, self-sustaining middleweights with potent minibursts and unique three-frontal tile AoE ranges. They can get up to some truly wicked positioning strats.

Manticore - Heavy single hits with either Slow (truly constant with S1M3) or Stun and a large range with true AoE (actually hits EVERY unit in range). Straightforward use and can be used very creatively on chokepoints.

Platinum - S2 gives her extra range and strong single hits, letting her do things no other AA Sniper can do and giving you some ease of command on maps with inconvenient, distant ranged tiles. This is more valuable than you think.

Kazemaru - Middleweight laneholder with explosive bursts and ability to keep herself alive. Can hit air during Doll Form. Allows for various advance deployment strats thanks to her Dollkeeper nature, and has high constant damage during S2 uptime.

Silence - Her drone's healing is actually very powerful, a burst of healing that can actually enable some unique strategies and sustain that you'd otherwise not be able to achieve for cheap. Like her friend Ptilopsis, does not need Masteries to perform at a high level, but of course, welcomes them.

Liskarm - Very sturdy Physical damage tank that can cycle her S1 VERY quickly and has an S2 with good utility for when you need it. Can function as an SP battery for other characters as well, enabling some goofy meme strats (that carry a lot of potency).

Kjera - Great Caster with Freeze on S2. Nothing much needs be said, she's simply lovely, a caster, and can deal good damage with crowd control. Straightforward and simple.

If a 5* isn't here, it doesn't mean they are bad, there are plenty of good ones out there like Iris and Bibeak to name a few, but I consider this list a pretty integral "core" roster, from which you can then expand towards your preferences.

[exoticalmonde]

Stultifaring The Navis (Formally)

I had at least 5 of the medals since the last time, which makes it all both easier and harder, because last episode in the ship of seaborn - I did not have Lappland. So you can guess I had no way to auto run anything in EX.

Anyways, I've armed myself up so well I only had to sit and laugh at this pathetic little creature

and whatever lies this is trying to insist on

Anyways, since I got lots of money from the purple tickets and the overall shop, I managed to get W's new skin and I am REELING at her quotes. I have grown to l-.... like... her. Kind of. In the way that Ines would like her I guess, and I like Ines in the ways that W would like her. It's tolerable. I don't WANT to hate them, I do not in fact hate them. I just don't know them well enough to care but I would absolutely give my husband a chance and bond with the women in his life because if he trusted their character and ended up picking me, then who am I to ever argue?

So I've been going wild with his

[Transcribed: Hoederer, what's wrong? Oh, the book you wanted me to check out? How should I know? What's that pile of ash in the fire? Hm... Oh! I "mistook" the book for tinder a little while ago. Eh, it's fine. We're cooking dinner with knowledge tonight. It's gonna taste fantastic, don'tcha think?]

I AM SO MAD ABOUT THE BOOK IF THERE IS ONE THING I AM A MATERIALIST FOR ITS BOOKS AND W IS *Shaking her* WOMAN

---

[Transcribed: Check this potato, Ines got a head like so-Hmm... now that I think of it, you could probably squeeze a bomb into a potato. Maybe a good trick to play on some miserable dumbass. Hey, Hoederer, you want a potato?]

Dying.

---

['Transcribed: Hey, Hoederer, I've been thinking. If the two of us went at that nasty Kal'tsit, how do you figure our chances taking her out? I mean, you guys are always planning for all contengencies, so we gotta have a plan for that one too, right? Hah, now that's a funny look on your face.]

I LOVE THAT HIS FACE IS SO EASY TO READ HE IS SO TRANSPARENT AROUND PEOPLE HE TRUSTS I AM GOING TO MELT I LOVE HOEDERER SO MUCH

[Transcribed: My name... My name... Hey hoederer, you're always reading books, so why don't you come up with a name for me? Theresa said I should come up with a new one... Wait a second, what's with all those books? Pick a name myself? Go to hell!]

---

[Transcribed: Theresa called me over and told everyone what an amazing fighter I am, but she didn't look happy at all. How can I make her happy...? What if I invited her over and cooked her a nice dinner?]

She is so gay for Theresa... Good for her, good fo- *remembers Theresa is meant to be dead and now that she is not dead she is on the enemy's side and we are both devastated* Ah.

[Transcribed: How many pieces of candy am I worth now? I actually like that method of valuing people. You sure we shouldn't go with that?]

I will never give up on the idea that you just... cost candies. This really is such a Laterano situation instead of a Sarkaz one. And don't get me started on the whole 'they were once the same-' yeah, isn't that terrific?

Today is a special day where we do all the visiting

And the shopping

Picking up my fish husband from the training grounds so we could take him for a little nap since he's been there for a while.

Taking him for a little walk down memory lane.

---

Previously: Me, while guiding Dr. Kryo: "Show me the little handies." Pinkie: "I hate that, because it... usually means a handjob." Me, insistently: "Give me visuals of your little handies, Kryo." Kryo: "Oh my." Lundi: "Just take my Lappland." Kryo: "Taking Lundi's Lapipi." Me: "I hate that. Terrible. Suddenly I understand how Pinkie felt."

---

That being done, let's finish with what I actually came here for

YOU

It took me forever to get this level. I actually spent less time on the boss stage than trying to figure out how to use 3 roombas to clear the mess those seaborn create and---

The urchins. The squid urchins have always been the answer.

But that didn't stop Ebenhold to complain about all the times I failed.

Ebenholz: "We can hardly call this a win. Are you the one that got a headache and not me?" Me: Slams fists on table Ebenholz: Me: "Graf Urtica… don't challenge me. I can kill you on a whim." Ebenholz: …. Me: …. Ebenholz: ….. Me: "Oh. Yeah. Now I see my true self shining through huh?"

---

"First time?"

"We've been here before."

"This Motherland aint big enough for both of us."

"It's three against one."

"Let me introduce you to my little friends."

*I actually let one slip, so we had to edit the team's skills a little bit*

HAHA! You cannot get through

'Brethren, the road is clear! I can see it now! There's land ahead, the taste of hope is upon my tendrils and I can feel that there's nothing to stop us anymore. No enemies in sight, all losses have been atoned for. I shall be the first to lead you to the motherland, I will take you with me and I will never forget the names of the fallen---'

*instantly frozen and evaporated*

---

There was nothing funnier this night actually than all the quotable memes where both me and Dr. Lundi are laughing and screaming at the stupid fish in every phase it exists in.

Here is my contribution to the meme everybody's been talking about now that all of arknights have a Lappland, a Jay or *checks notes* Ho'olheyak or however you spell the name.

[burstfoot]

do you have any advice on how to properly use texlapp, any opinions on Irish hip hop group Kneecap, and / or explanations on zero escape lore?

So if you want to properly use Texlapp synergy in the base, you'll have to bring in Exusiai to counter Texas' morale drain while both Texas and Lappland are in the trading post. If you want to use them on the battlefield together, you can put Lappland behind Texas so she can attack units Texas is blocking at a distance, and you can use Texas S2 to temporarily stun enemies if you need Lappland to make a couple more attacks to build up her S2's Offensive Recovery. Just keep in mind that Texas is really frail, so don't necessarily count on her as a good blocker for stronger enemies! Put on Get Your Brits Out and couldn't understand a single word they said outside of the chorus because they were going too fast. Thumbs up. Apparently they've been condemned by the government. That's awesome Virtues Last Reward spoilers under the cut

This clear and understandable diagram explains the series timeline expertly. That's all you need to know

[guilty-pleasures-and-dead-doves]

[Free Wolf, She-Wolf] Chapter 1

Chapters post

[Chapter 1] Right of First Refusal

After the events in Volsinii, Texas' return to her old-new life Lungmen felt more like a working vacation than a return home. Like trying to put on a favorite jacket that no longer fit.

Lungmen hadn't changed; she had.

Making deliveries by car and by foot, navigating underworld hostilities and public niceties, crushing mobsters and dodging cops... It still kept her busy, kept her distracted.

But she no longer needed distraction. She wasn't running from her past, anymore; she'd buried it. She wasn't waiting for the bill to come due, anymore; she'd paid it.

She'd made a pleasant life for herself in the past seven years, but she'd also deliberately put certain needs on hold. She wasn't her own woman, and she could barely bring herself to care whether she lived or died.

She'd allowed herself friends, and to be a friend, but could never give a certain one of those friends anything more than that.

But now, Celinia Texas was finally free.

That actually made her feel a little afraid, but more than afraid...

Hungry.

======

"Croissant, when are you going to stake a claim on Bison?"

Texas's out-of-blue question shocked Croissant into choking on her beer. The lupo nonchalantly took a sip of water while she waited for her friend to recover. Texas had made sure it was just the two of them for this conversation.

"Where'd that come from?!"

"You must have considered it. He's a good kid, and smart, tough, wealthy, connected. He's a business man, you're a business woman, and you're both forte from Minos living in Lungmen."

Croissant mumbled something unintelligible down to the table.

"You don't have time to be indecisive. We aren't young forever and we're not getting younger. That's leaving aside how many women are looking to jump ahead of us in line."

"Wait, 'us'?"

Texas kept her face unreadable by habit, but she stared directly into Croissant's eyes. "If you're not going to take him, I will."

Croissant's only reason to suspect the admission embarrassed Texas was her certainty that the Siracusan wasn't bluffing. Texas never bluffed about starting a fight, and she knew her friend saw this as a kind of fight.

"What about Sora?"

Croissant watched… 'something' flash across Texas's face for a moment; a nervous shifting of weight, increased tension in her shoulders.

"I want children, Croissant. My own children. I want to have a family that doesn't kill each other and a home I don't set on fire."

Croissant winced, but her faced cleared up with an expression of enlightenment. "That's what this's about. Yer deal with Zaaro and Bellone is done, and ye seem to have finally settled matters with Lappland, Giovanna, and Silicia. You had a sword hanging over yer head all this time, but now yer a free woman."

"Free, but running out of time."

"But why keep Sora waiting around that long fer nothing?"

Texas's lupo ears flicked towards the back of her head for a moment, and Croissant briefly wondered if she regretted making those her last words. The moment passed and she realized the former assassin's ire wasn't meant for her, but she decided to not press the issue any farther.

"You let me worry about Sora. Right now, it would be a bit of a moot point if Bison isn't fair game."

Croissant appreciated that Texas valued their friendship enough to let her have the right of first refusal. But she wasn't ready to confront the question, and she had her own ideas. "I'll be honest, I would have thought you'd consider that Leon guy."

"No," Texas said instantly. "The famiglie would think we're just starting a new famiglia, and between the two of us we accidentally just might. I'm not giving up on Nuova Volsinii, but I still want out. A clean break. Bison can get me out of the familigie and still let me stay in contact with the new Siracusa."

Croissant couldn't argue with that, but remained silent as she tapped her finger on the table. Texas recognized it as one of Croissant's Poker tells; her friend felt stuck in a losing position.

The forte sighed. "Yer right, I ain't getting any younger. And I've thought about it. He's a tasty meal and a whole package deal. But in a way, it's also too easy."

"Since when have you ever thought sealing a deal was too easy?"

"I'm not talking about taking him by the horns. I'm talking about marrying into money.

"I know you grew up in money, even if you threw it away. I know yer comfortable with having nothing for yerself, and ye'd make it work one way or the other. But ye'd prefer to raise yer kids up with money, too, yeah?"

Texas leaned back slightly in her seat. Croissant knew her friend's Poker tells, too; she'd actually surprised the lupo with an insight into her own motives.

"But I came from smaller means, and I've worked and fought fer everything I've got. It's not much compared to Mountain Dash, but it's mine. I know how to make it, how to lose it, and how to make it back.

"Iffin I have mah own kids…" She stopped, and corrected herself. "When I have mah own kids, I'll know how to raise them like that. Wheeling and dealing on the street, in the warehouses, and on the road."

She rocked back in her chair. "Hah! Besides, I don't think I could stand all of those fancy rich-people parties, or the politics."

Texas smiled in her own show of humor. "Yeah, those suck. But like you said, I grew up with that, so it's 'whatever' to me."

"Well, more power to ya." Croissant lifted her beer in a toast. "At least as far as Bison goes, you have mah blessing."

Texas answered the toast with her own glass of water, downed the rest of it in one gulp, and turned to leave.

"Whoa, that fast?"

"No; Sora first."

Texas was already moving too fast, too far away to hear, but Croissant wished them both luck regardless.

"Wait. Wouldn't this mean losing one of our own to our biggest competition?"

====

Chapter 2: Wish upon a falling star