#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!

[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).

[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

[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.

[kc5rings]

Said it last time but collar 1 for Lappland, totally. 1 or 4, but honestly, I'm leaning more towards 1.

1 is for someone she’s actively fucking with who is tired of her shit, like Texas finding a chain nearby or Penance making one the same way she summons her hammer chain

4 is for someone Lappland is behaving for but who know what she’s like and aren’t taking any chances, like Sora

Collar list

[carrogath]

fuel to the fire (ao3 link) arknights - f/f - lappland/sora

Sora closed the door shut behind her, one hand behind her back while the other dangled at her side, and looked down at the ground, as if embarrassed about something.

“You lost or something?” Lappland asked.

“You weren’t in your room,” she said peevishly.

Lappland stared at her. “What’d I do?”

Sora looked up at her, and then glared away from her. Lappland blinked.

“Did I kill the wrong person?” she guessed. “Was one of your biggest fans a Columbian drug lord? You got a shiv in your left hand?”

“It’s not a shiv,” Sora grunted.

“Then what is it, girl? Don’t keep me guessing here!”

It's the day after Valentine's Day, and Sora's got a present for Lappland.

She will most definitely regret it.

[nutteu]

Clear and Sunny

-

[AO3] [Tiếng Việt Translation]

It took two jackets, an endless amount of shirts, meals after meals, and a particularly nasty training session for him to realize that he was utterly, irrevocably whipped for Flamebringer. [exeflame; a/b/o au; published 2020-07-06; word count: 8,245]

-

This was Flamebringer’s third plate of toast. The sides of the toasts burnt to almost crisp, a mixture of what looked like peanut butter and blueberry jam on top of them. Executor watched from the corner of his eyes as Lappland took a whiff of it, and then gagged dramatically.

“Abomination,” she claimed in a shrill voice just to annoy him.

Flamebringer didn’t even deign her with a glance. “You’re an abomination,” he said with a mouthful of toast.

The Lupo gasped at that, but instead of taking offense, she looked absolutely thrilled. Executor frankly didn’t understand how Lappland’s brain was wired. After she got through some more dramatic poses, she plastered herself onto his back and nuzzled his hair. “You smell so good today," she said almost dreamily. “Did you wash your hair?”

Executor’s fingers twitched at that, but Flamebringer didn’t bat an eye. He just took another slice from his plate, and pushed Lappland’s face away from his hair. “You know damn well why I smell good. Fuck off,” which, didn’t really make sense to Executor but apparently, it did for Lappland as she grumbled a bit before detaching herself and walked away from their seat to bother the next poor soul.

Executor wanted to ask about a lot of things. But all he could say was: “Do you want more toasts?” as Flamebringer finished his last slice of toasts (on his third plate, Executor’s head reminded him for some reason).

He half-expected Flamebringer to sneer and make some remarks about his ‘servant-like’ behavior, as he did all this time they’d known each other. Today, however, he decided to pile more questions onto Executor’s mind by simply nodding and giving his plate to him. No snarky comments, no ugly sneer on his pretty face; just a simple request of more peanut butter and blueberry jam.

Executor left without any more preambles. Flamebringer might seem like he wasn’t in a foul mood, but he seemed impatient. Of what, Executor couldn’t really tell. But he wasn’t about to let him down by not delivering the crisp toasts with peanut butter and blueberry jam to him as fast as possible.

“It’s not crispy enough,” Flamebringer growled at him after he took a bite out of the toast Executor made for him, looking incredibly offended. “Useless piece of shit,” he snarled, but kept on munching on his toast.

Executor could feel several operators watching them, getting wary because of Flamebringer’s temper. And yet, instead of getting his hackles raised, he didn’t feel anything but the need to make more toasts and let them be in the toaster long enough so Flamebringer would be satisfied with his weird, crunchy bread.

“I can make you more toasts. It will be crispy this time,” he promised, after watching the Sarkaz in front of him gobbled up two more slices under the span of five minutes. All he got was a sharp glare, and a plethora of threats if the toasts weren’t crispy enough this time, as Flamebringer took the last slice of toast on his plate and got up to leave.

“Wow,” someone said after he stood long enough to watch Flamebringer’s broad back disappeared from the dining hall. “You really got it bad, huh.”

He turned to see Mostima looking at him with something akin to pity, although she also looked she was about to burst into a bout of laughter. The cause of either expression was lost on him, so he didn’t pursue further. “Making more toasts is not that bad,” he said instead, and left to do exactly that. He didn’t stay long enough to see a mess of disbelieve, choked-up laughter, and exasperation on Mostima’s face.

-

Flamebringer didn’t tell him where he should deliver the toasts, but he found him anyway. He had just landed a sucker punch to Lappland’s jaw before he looked up, and zeroed in on the paper bag containing his crispy toasts.

“Oh, good,” he said. “You found me.”

There was a weird sense of satisfaction which bloomed inside his ribcage when he heard that. It amplified even further when Flamebringer took the toasts, and didn’t complain about them, although he didn’t express his gratitude either. Lappland, on the other hand, was looking at him with a calculating look. He nodded at her, and was greeted with a feral grin in return.

“Yo, Mr. Stuck-up!” she called, “wanna spar?”

“No,” Flamebringer answered for him. “He doesn’t want to spar with mutts like you. Scram.”

Lappland laughed; a little bit loud, a little bit tinged with hysteria. It was almost like she found this situation incredibly funny, and ironic. Again, Executor couldn’t possibly understand what inspired her to think so. But he figured it was probably an inside joke between the two guards. He thought to himself, it would be nice to have some inside jokes or certain topics that only he and Flamebringer could understand. They knew each other for approximately three years now, and though he had learned to integrate himself amongst the operators, he still didn’t feel like he was close enough to the man.

(Sometimes, he asked himself why he thought that it was absolutely necessary for them to be close. Personal relationships can be pushed aside as long as they were compatible in the battlefield, after all. But then, Flamebringer would ask him to please bring that sack of fertilizer on the corner of the greenhouse, and he would push the question to the back of his mind. It seemed improper, to have his mind elsewhere when Flamebringer looked so soft and pretty as he carefully took care of his garden.)

Lappland stood up swiftly then. The laughter had died down, giving way to a more solemn expression. She looked less feral, and more like she was the last Alpha of her forgotten clan. She stood close to Flamebringer, talking in hushed voice and looking like she didn’t mind at all that he didn’t stop eating his toasts while she talked.

“You sure?” she asked, caressing the side of his neck softly. A fluttery little touch that felt like it was barely there.

He finished his toast before nodding. “I’ve thought about it,” he said, looking at Executor, who didn’t have the slightest idea of what they might be talking about, but was content enough to stand close and watch Flamebringer ate the toasts he made.

“Alright,” she conceded. “If anything happened, you’ll call me though?”

Flamebringer looked annoyed for a moment. “You’re so overbearing when I’m like this,” he tsked, “yes. I’ll call. Now, scram.”

She laughed, sounding a little more relieved than before. “You’re so bitchy when you’re like this,” she quipped, then laughed and ran away from Flamebringer who had balled the paper bag and threw it at her.

“Don’t litter the training room!” They heard Dobermann shouted at them from the corner of the room where she was overseeing Jessica on her physical training. The Feline was doing her push-ups diligently, but she looked like she was about to burst into tears. Which, Executor learned, was how she usually looked like in daily basis.

“You smell like her,” he said, after Flamebringer took the paper bag to the trash can. He had finished his toasts, too, and was drinking half of the water bottle he was holding. Executor waited patiently for him to finish, before he took the water bottle himself and put it on a bench.

“You don’t like it?” he asked. He didn’t phrase it as a mockery, just a simple question. And Executor answered it in the same fashion.

“No.”

Flamebringer nodded. “Good. You might be stupid, but your instincts are working just fine. Come spar with me so I’ll smell like you instead.”

He thought, he should’ve known about something. It felt like he had missed something incredibly important, but couldn’t find enough clues to draw any conclusion. But Flamebringer’s last words pushed aside any possible thoughts from his mind, and filled it with an undivided focus of I’ll make you smell like me. He probably should’ve questioned himself about that, too. But Flamebringer had occupied an empty sparring arena, and widened his stance. His amber eyes were alights, his shoulders taut, the corner of his lips curled into a smirk.

And Executor, his whole body was coming alive. A sudden sense of exhilaration filled his chest, a promise of a good fight from this particular person. A chance to brawl and pushed each other to the edge, to meet skin against skin in the wrestle for victory. He took off his jacket, his gloves so he could feel the warmth of Flamebringer’s skin when he came into contact, and got on his stance as Flamebringer grinned with his sharp, sharp fangs.

“Now, come at me, Alpha.”

-

Flamebringer razed him to the ground, and used him to wipe it with. Executor wasn’t weak per-se; the rumors weren’t exactly lying when they said he could rip an aorta from a beast with his bare hands. But Flamebringer was especially vicious today, like he was itching beneath his skin and the only way to relieve the itch was to absolutely destroy Executor. Weirdly enough, it made him proud. He was strong, and healthy, and he could defend himself. He could tear apart anyone who would bother him, and it made Executor felt relieved for some reason he couldn’t pinpoint.

“I could protect myself, even if you’re not there,” Flamebringer then said. He probably saw the mixture of pride and confusion on his face. “You’re so stupid,” he looked so disgusted when he said that, but he didn’t reject Executor’s touch to the side of his sweaty neck.

“You smell less like operator Lappland now,” he nodded, satisfied. “Although my scent on you is also faint.”

“We’ve got plenty of time to make me smell like I’ve been drowned in your scent,” Flamebringer said in a placating manner. “But I need to eat something now. Do you think that Gummy kid will cook me some spaghetti?”

“I can cook you some spaghetti,” he offered. Or, tried to, at least. Although he was proficient in feeding himself for the necessity of survival, but the taste of his cooking wasn’t exactly five-stars-restaurant-worthy.

Flamebringer looked at him with that disgusted expression again. “You will probably make the sauce bland. Just use the instant spaghetti, or ask that kid to cook it. She likes cooking, you can deliver it to my quarter, I can eat it. Everyone’s happy. Now, get off, you’re sweaty, you fuck.”

He let Flamebringer go, and stayed there to rest for a moment. Lappland shouted across the room at the sword master, “Let’s spar!” as she dodged a particularly brilliant kick from Indra. Flamebringer flipped her off, shouting back, “Shut the fuck up!” and turned around the corner as Lappland got sucker-punched for the second time of the day and fell to the mattress.

Operator Gummy looked ready to burst into a million petals of happiness when Executor asked whether she would mind helping him cook.

“You’re such a good Alpha! Flamebringer must’ve been very happy!” she chirped, pots and woks banging in the kitchen as she looked like she was ready to feed an army. At the alarming rate of Flamebringer consuming his food now, Executor thought that it might not be too far from the truth.

“He was the one who told me to ask you for help,” he said. He figured, if there was someone who’d do anything of his bidding, Flamebringer would be happy regardless, Alpha or not. His stomach didn’t discriminate.

Gummy turned at that, her face now resembling Mostima’s this morning. It looked softer on her young, round face, but the exasperation was clear on her eyes. “I did hear about the rumor,” she said, and didn’t bother to explain. “But that’s okay! You’re still very sensible to actually come and ask for help. So Gummy will help you!”

What rumor, he wanted to ask. But Gummy was already preoccupied with her cooking, and soon he was too busy helping her to ask about the rumor again.

-

“The kid cooked these?” was the first thing Flamebringer asked after he opened his door. He looked a little bit flushed.

“Yes,” Executor said. “Would you like borrow my shirts?” he then asked, when he saw the ratty, loose shirt Flamebringer was wearing.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Just wear them first. I’ll have some of your button-ups, too.”

“I’ll bring them tomorrow,” he promised. He then lifted the boxes of food containers, and smiled a little when Flamebringer grinned at him. “They should last you until tomorrow. Maybe enough for breakfast if you don’t mind reheating them.”

Flamebringer’s grin softened a little. “So you can smile, huh.”

Executor’s brows furrowed at that. “Yes, I can. Is there any particular reason that made you think otherwise?”

The taller male rolled his eyes and batted his hand away as he took the containers. “No, you’re just not around enough to show that you’re not an actual robot. Not this time of the year, anyway.”

It was true. Usually, he would be busy at the Notarial Hall at this time. But since there were newer recruits there, and he had done a lot of jobs all year round, it was a little bit easier to breathe with his loose schedule. He was usually back as soon as he could, though. And Flamebringer was usually the first person he notified about that.

“I am around now, so it should be okay,” he said, with a smile. Flamebringer didn’t seem like he was averse to seeing him smile. It should be okay.

Flamebringer gave him a crooked smirk in return. “Yeah, maybe now you can stop being such a stupid shit and actually helped me out. It was initially your fault, anyway.”

He frowned. Again with the cryptic words. What was it with everyone and their habit of not talking clearly?

“What is?” he asked.

He didn’t get an answer, only an eye roll and a push to his shoulder. “You’re so stupid,” Flamebringer growled under his breath. “Go away, I want to eat now.”

He grabbed the hand still on his shoulder by the wrist, feeling the warmth from his bare skin and closing his eyes for a moment to enjoy the small contact. Flamebringer let him, and didn’t push him away, didn’t say anything. He then tilted his head, considering something.

“You wanted to watch me eat, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, please,” Executor said, glad that the other man understood him without having to be explained.

“Creep,” Flamebringer said without heat. “But whatever, come on in.”

He pulled his hand back, and Executor immediately missed the warmth. But it was okay, he was going to be in Flamebringer’s room, after all. He could spend a little bit more time with him, maybe leaving his scent in the room if he stayed long enough.

“Quit daydreaming, you fuck,” Flamebringer called, looking over his shoulder and looking so, so soft in his worn-out clothes despite the harsh lines of his jaw and the sharp outline of his horns. And Executor felt something gripped the insides of his ribcage so hard it almost made him toppled over. Maybe he needed some medical examinations after this.

“Yes,” he said, and closed the door behind him.

Flamebringer gave him another smile. A little bit mocking, but wasn’t something that was intended to hurt. It felt like an inside joke, something Executor understood between the two of them.

“Now come, Alpha.”

-

Flamebringer had taken to wear his button-ups after he gave him a bunch of his clothes. They were a size too small on him; sitting tight across his chest, the cuffs a tad too short. But he looked absolutely good in something that was Executor’s, and he must had preened without realizing it because Flamebringer whipped out the disgusted face again and walked away to get his breakfast.

Day after day was filled with a lot of crispy toasts, multiple cooking sessions, a lot of meal containers, and Executor’s wardrobe slowly thinning as he lent more and more clothing articles to Flamebringer. He helped him tending his garden whenever his shifts allowed, other times he would come to the Sarkaz’s room after his shift and just be content watching him ate for the umpteenth time for the day.

He still got weird looks from a lot of operators, and a sense of exasperation that they seemed to always exude whenever he was in the room, particularly if Flamebringer was within close vicinity. They probably knew something he didn’t, but then again, he couldn’t exactly pay attention to other things when he had to make sure that Flamebringer was properly fed and had enough shirts and button-ups in the world for whatever it was that he needed them for.

Flamebringer also continuously wiped the floor with him in training sessions, and had refused to spar or let Executor spar with someone else. The more they fought, the more frantic Flamebringer became. It wasn’t visible. He appeared as immovable and uncaring as always, but Executor felt like he was itching more and more beneath his skin. And it made him brutal; he punched harder, he fought more viciously, he felt like a bundle of concentrated nerves ready to explode. All Executor could do was hold on, and tried to hold his ground.

As an executor, he was trained to not letting his instincts as an Alpha went on rampage and risked jeopardizing his job. But then again, Executor was not an aggressive person to begin with. He was merciless and almost inhumane to a point, yes. But he never had to experience the primal urges of an Alpha that he had heard and read so much about. Being born with dulled senses was an advantage to his job, and a disadvantage to his social life. Sure, it made him less prone to be involved in meaningless Alpha brawls. But at times he found himself at lost to a certain etiquette or behavior that people expected he would show or understand.

He did have the boasted raw physical strength and dominant, oppressing aura that Alphas had. But his other senses were only as good as a Beta. He could smell Lappland’s scent on Flamebringer’s neck clearly the other day, but he couldn’t differentiate Flamebringer’s emotions based on smell alone—something that most Alphas could easily do.

So, he could stand his ground through multiple grueling training sessions, but he could only understand Flamebringer’s emotions from sheer experience alone. He still didn’t know why Flamebringer would feel this restless and agitated at times. But, as long as he let him stay close, he didn’t mind. He wouldn’t mind anything as long as he could stay a little bit longer after his shifts, making sure that Flamebringer ate his meals heartily. Listening to him talked about mundane things, and accepted all the cryptic words he gave although he didn’t understand any of it. But, it didn’t matter.

Not when Flamebringer was eating something he provided, smelling a little bit more like him every single day, wrapped in his clothes, smiling like he thought Executor was the most exasperating Alpha in Terra, and that was okay. Because he still opened his door, and said, “Come, Alpha.”

-

It was around two weeks after when Flamebringer asked for his jacket as well. He impatiently tapped his feet while Executor took it off. He already got his food containers—Gummy was incredibly happy she could cook a lot, the kitchen supplies were suffering in the other hand—and was ready to eat some snacks before he ate his dinner. He put on a nondescript white shirt that Executor somehow knew was his shirt.

“Here,” he offered. “Are you sure you don’t want me to wash it first?”

“No. Now shut up and watch me eat.”

Normally, he would just stay silent until Flamebringer unfailingly started talking and roped him into the conversation. Today though, he was feeling… bold. He thought, it must be something about Flamebringer’s increasing tension that he was affected as well, seeing that he spent his time with him whenever he wasn’t working. Executor felt the restlessness too. And though it didn’t make him act the same as Flamebringer, the underlying tension felt all the same.

“May I feed you?”

The question caught both of them off-guard. He wasn’t expecting that question to come out of his mouth, but then again, it wasn’t like he didn’t want to do it. Flamebringer looked positively creeped out now, although it was softened afterward with him pushing his chair closer to Executor’s. His face, however, didn’t change from the initial disgust.

“Your inner creep is getting stronger now,” he commented between the bites (that Executor gave, his head gleefully supplied).

“I was merely trying to help,” he said, cutting the tender meat into smaller pieces so Flamebringer could eat them easier.

The taller man chewed on his meat, not saying anything for a moment. His eyes were calculating. Executor felt strangely small under those amber eyes. After a while, he finally opened his mouth. “Do you even know what you’re trying to help with?”

“Yes,” he answered immediately. He was sure of his answer, but the raised eyebrow on Flamebringer’s face made him reconsider his confidence. “… Feeding you?”

At that, Flamebringer rolled his eyes so hard Executor was genuinely worried they’d get stuck on the back of his head. “Of course,” he groaned in frustration, and then proceeded to ask for more meats.

He didn’t provide Executor with more explanation, and he was too worried that he would get kicked out of the room if he continued to press on. They ate in silence after that. Executor tried his best to calm his restlessness by feeding more food than Flamebringer should’ve been able to consume in one sitting, and Flamebringer letting him do so, still looking so soft and smelling so much like Executor in his jacket.

By the time he was about to go back to his room, the tension had become less palpable. He was content enough with that. At least he didn’t feel like he wanted to jump out of his skin anymore because he failed to understand Flamebringer’s previous question. The said Sarkaz, however, seemed to think that it was a good time to suddenly drop a bomb right then and there.

“I think I’m almost done with this,” he said, didn’t even bother to explain what this exactly meant. “You should start sleeping in my room tomorrow.”

Executor’s heart slammed right through his throat at that, making him choke a bit on his saliva. It prompted the disgusted expression again, but Flamebringer didn’t comment on it. “…excuse me?” he asked, after finally being able to breathe properly.

“You deaf or something?” sneered the Sarkaz. “Bring another one of your jacket tomorrow. I won’t come to the dining hall for breakfast. I still got some things to finish. I’ll see you at noon for training session—make me food as usual though.”

He didn’t wait for any reply, and slammed the door on Executor’s face, leaving the Sankta wide eyed and wondering whether it was healthy to be this happy and confused at the same time.

-

Lappland was the first to point out Flamebringer’s absence.

“He had something to do,” he said as an explanation. Lappland looked surprised at that. “Is there something wrong?”

She tilted her head, opening and closing her mouth a few times, before she shook her head. “No, I was just wondering what took him so long. But I guess the change in pace would also affect his cycle.”

Executor frowned. He’d had enough with people not talking clearly at all. Especially when everything they talked about seemed to concern him and Flamebringer. What did they know, exactly, that they were so hesitant to tell him about?

“What do you mean?” he asked. “What took so long? What cycle?”

Lappland, for the lack of better word, looked almost speechless. Her grey eyes wide and round, mouth agape. Then, she laughed so hard she almost fell from the chair. “I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed. “The rumors are true, oh my gods! Texas! Come see this idiot Alpha!” she called to the general vicinity of the Penguin Logistic operators. Texas didn’t deign her with a reply, but she did take a moment to look at them, and then shook her head slowly before resuming her breakfast.

“See? Even Texas thought so,” Lappland said, breathless with her laughter still.

Even if his face didn’t show it, Executor was slowly getting annoyed at this game. “I would terribly appreciate it if operator Lappland would enlighten me with some explanation regarding this matter.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” she said with the same feral grin she showed him on the training room long ago. “You’ll find out on your own soon enough.”

She ate the rest of her breakfast in relative silence, humming between the bites, and looking like an oversized, smug cat despite being a Lupo. Executor, at loss for words and feeling agitated by the lack of explanation, could only watch her with a mounting sense of dread in the pit of his stomach.

-

Soon enough, as it turned out, was too soon.

The moment Flamebringer showed up in the training room, Lappland gave Executor a positively unholy grin as she left. She didn’t say anything to Flamebringer, and didn’t try to touch him at all. It was supposed to be alarming, knowing her habit of ruffling his feathers every chance she got. But Executor was too busy looking at Flamebringer to pay attention to anything else. It was hard not to.

He looked positively murderous. It was such a lovely look on his face. Although the other operators in the training room didn’t seem to share the same thought, as they gave him a wide berth and avoided looking at him more than just stolen glances. Dobermann and Platinum seemed to be the only ones who weren’t as affected. The former did sport a deep frown on her face at the blatant hostility exuding from every pores of Flamebringer’s body.

“You got my food?” Flamebringer asked after he got close enough. “Good to spar now?”

He nodded to both questions. Flamebringer nodded back, then took to the nearest sparring arena. Executor shed off his jacket, folding it carefully before he followed the taller male. He seemed different than before. He still felt like he was restless, still felt like a ticking time bomb. But today, he looked like he was ready to obliterate everything that breathed wrong on his direction.

Flamebringer gave him a smirk full of teeth, and crooked his long, long finger towards himself. Executor’s heart jumped to his throat, his stomach in a thousand knots as Flamebringer’s smirk turned wicked and dirty. “Now, come at me, Alpha.”

-

The thing was, Executor should have known about this.

Born with dulled senses didn’t mean that his knowledge was in the same state. In Laterano, where the hierarchy and dynamics of Alpha, Beta, and Omega was something so deeply ingrained to every citizen’s mind, they taught him the extensive knowledge of how it all started, the nature of each dynamic, the differentiating quality of a Beta and why they were Laterano’s best choice in important matters, the bond between the dynamics, everything. Laterano was a city of ancient knowledge, and they believed in old traditions still. So, really, with all those prior knowledge, he of all people should’ve known sooner.

The bond between Alphas and Omegas was the oldest, and most traditional. The way they formed the bond varied from one relationship to another. But even without the bond, the pure biological reactions of Alphas to Omegas were something that never changed. People might think that as the dynamic with the lowest tier, Omegas were always at the mercy of Alphas. The truth was: it was the other way around.

He was taught ever since he was a child that Omegas would always be the strongest dynamic between the three. Even if Alphas were naturally gifted with physical strength and leadership abilities, but Omegas asserted their dominance in a different manner. Omegas were at their strongest in their heat.

Even though many, many people thought that they’d be mindless in their heat—akin to how Alphas turned into an uncontrollable beasts in their rut—it wasn’t always like that. They did lose their coherence the further their heat went, but they only completely lost their control once they decided on the partner they’d spend the heat with. It was possible, and was widely done, to spend heat without a partner, but the progress would be more excruciating in the long run. Spending it with a fellow Omega, or a Beta, would still help a lot in securing the need of protection once the Omega spiraled into lust in the peak of their heat. An Alpha, however, was debatably the best choice. The long history of Alphas’ and Omegas’ compatible biology was one of the contributing factors; there was a reason why Alpha and Omega bond was considered the most traditional.

And Executor, an Alpha with extensive knowledge of an Omega’s behaviors in their pre-heat, had completely missed every single clue he had been given so blatantly.

Flamebringer’s constant need of eating, and Executor’s own need of providing him everything he might need. The requests for clothes (for his nest, Executor’s head shrieked at him), the impatience, his constant bad temper, his compliance to Executor constantly trying to put his scent on him, and the most obvious, his absolute brutality in training sessions. Executor’s breath caught on his throat, literally and figuratively as Flamebringer put him on a chokehold.

In the old times, Omegas trained in war were often regarded as a trump card. In the term of strength, both Alphas and Betas were statistically better than Omegas. But then again, it varied from each individual. Still, the pure, raw physical strength and endurance of an Alpha was not something that could be compared to another dynamics. Omegas strength, however, was more of an uphill climb, before a spectacular bang at the end. And that would happen only on the last day of their pre-heat.

The breath caught in his throat went out roughly as Flamebringer turned around and threw him hard to the mattress. He was breathing hard, eyes wild and almost unfocused, his muscles taut and tense beneath the sweat covering every inch of his skin. Executor heaved a painful breath, and swiftly got back to his defensive stance. It would be futile to attempt on offense now, Flamebringer would probably break his arm for real if he was provoked enough.

All those restlessness, the frantic energy under his skin—Executor might as well call himself blind at this point. Around the start of their pre-heat, Omegas accumulated the aggression needed to fuel their power. The nearer they were to their heat, the more aggressive and powerful they became. This was solely for the purpose of protecting themselves and to scare away potential danger before they started their heat. A moment before their heat hit, all those accumulated restlessness and aggression had to be spent one way or another. Otherwise, Omegas might attack their partner or anyone within their marked territory—their nest, in this case—once their heat started. This was also the reason why trained Omegas were deployed as a wild card when they were at the end of their pre-heat, as unethical as that might sound to some people.

All this time, Flamebringer was preparing for his heat, and Executor was unknowingly responding to his biological invitation to aid him in the process. The whole building was probably aware of this, and was within their right to call him stupid, because now, as Flamebringer unforgivingly landed a nasty kick to his chest, he certainly felt so. So that was the rumor was about: a stupidly dense Alpha who tried to court Flamebringer without realizing it himself.

Did they know all this time? Did Flamebringer?

Sensing that he was lost within his thought and was wide open for attack, Flamebringer bent down and rammed his shoulder straight to Executor’s stomach, pushing him back to the mattress and keeping him there. Executor groaned as the breath was once again knocked out of him. Everything was happening too fast for him to comprehend. He couldn’t focus on his surrounding as his head slowly pulled the connections from each of the event for these past few weeks.

He was quickly pulled out of it when Flamebringer growled on top of him. His eyes were burning brighter than usual, the iris closer to pale yellow rather than amber. It was a sign of the heat coming closer—the change in Omega’s eyes into their characteristic pale yellow irises. Executor grabbed his hips with both hands, and flipped them over, locking his legs with his own. He briefly took a moment to memorize how it’d feel to be pressed so close, to see Flamebringer’s wild eyes staring up at him, before he was roughly pushed off.

“Don’t,” he warned, catching one of Flamebringer’s arms, twisting it so he’d know that this was going too far.

Flamebringer snarled at him, pushing further and enduring the twist of his arm. They wrestled for a few minutes, each of them grappling for dominance on the mattress. Flamebringer was getting more and more flushed by the second, and Executor felt his defense crumbling; the need to win this fight replaced by the need to take him into his arms and protect him from anything that might upset him. The moment his hold loosened, Flamebringer grinned at him, feral and vicious.

“Got you.”

Executor gasped for air; eyes wide, heart hammering against his ribcage—Flamebringer’s fist mere inches from the side of his head, an obvious dent on the ground from the force of his fist. He was allowed a moment of blinding smile from the man above him, before he went limp in a boneless heap.

“I need shower,” Flamebringer said, voice muffled by Executor’s shoulder. “Take me to my quarter.”

Executor let out a bark of laugh that surprised both of them. He took a hold of Flamebringer’s limp body, and took him to the nearest bench. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the operators watching them. Some of them looked pale, some of them looked nervous. They probably thought that Flamebringer was going to kill him. It… wasn’t wrong per-se; he could actually kill Executor if he wanted on that pre-heat-steroid-induced state. But then again, from what he knew, Flamebringer barely used half of his strength. He didn’t break any bones, although he could feel the beginning of some nasty bruises on various surface of his body.

“You better take that somewhere else,” Platinum said to them. She stood close enough to be heard, far enough not to be seen as disturbance or competition. “Although his scent is certainly not a problem, yours is.”

He frowned. “Mine?”

“You smelt besotted,” she said with the same flat expression on her face. “You smelt like you wanted to bone him right here, that kind of display was supposed to be private. Younger recruits are starting to feel uncomfortable. Dobermann is going to whip the both of you if you keep doing it.”

Flamebringer laughed next to him. “Virgins,” he grinned at Executor then, “you’ve been exposed.”

He allowed a small smile as a reply. “Indeed.”

Platinum rolled her eyes at them, and turned to leave. Executor picked up their things, the food containers, and his folded jacket from the bench. Flamebringer refused to wear his jacket for now. “Too sweaty,” he had said. So he put it all on his bag, where he put several of his clothes inside. He was going to sleep on Flamebringer’s quarter, after all.

He had offered to carry him, but Flamebringer refused with a threat of another round of grueling training session. He was also reminded that his body was aching all over because of how harsh their recent bouts of sparring were. So they walked side by side to the elevator, Flamebringer a warm weight on his side as he mostly leaned on Executor’s shoulder.

As they waited for the elevator, Flamebringer turned his cheek, inadvertently knocking his chin on Executor’s temple. He gave him a lopsided smile as an apology. “Hey,” he called.

“Yes?”

“You… only realized it just now, huh?”

The elevator dinged, signaling that the carriage had arrived. Executor postponed his reply to press the button for Flamebringer’s floor.

“Yes,” he said once the elevator moved.

Flamebringer gave him the approximate version of the disgusted look he usually threw his way whenever he thought Executor was being a creep, or doing something stupid. It was softened by exhaustion and the apparent flush on his skin, however.

“What an idiot,” he laughed.

Executor slipped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer as the elevator slowed to a stop. “Yes,” he agreed with a wistful sigh.

-

Flamebringer was quick to take dibs on the shower. Executor let him stagger to the bathroom as he set down the food containers on the table, and prepared some clothes for himself. When he turned however, his breath was stuck on his throat as he realized that the room smelt a lot like his scent not only because he’d been spending his time here, but also because of the majority of the clothes Flamebringer used as his nest were Executor’s clothes.

So this was what he’d been working on. Lappland was right: Flamebringer should’ve started on his nest about a week ago, not on last minute like this. But he supposed it worked just fine. Living in a base like this didn’t exactly allow them the novelty of wide space, after all. Their quarters mostly just consisted of a bed, a bedside table, wardrobe, and a small aisle that served as a table—all within the same space. They did have their own bathroom, thankfully. The small nest Flamebringer built on the bed, and around it, was decent enough to last through a week’s worth of heat.

He pulled out his jacket from the bag, and waited for the Sarkaz to finish his shower. A nest was an Omega’s territory. Despite having been invited to his place, Flamebringer would still flay him alive if he added or took something from the nest without permission.

“Oh, yeah,” Flamebringer said after he came out of the bathroom, wringing his wet hair with a shirt. “Sure, you’re allowed in there, anyway.”

Executor carefully laid the jacket on the foot of the bed. The other one he had given earlier was also there, hidden from view beneath a pile of shirts. He felt the sense of satisfaction returning in his chest after he had put his jacket there. These were his clothes, and the whole room smelt like him and Flamebringer. If he were a Feline, he might start purring right about now.

Flamebringer were waiting for him on the bed after he had showered. As he thought, there were nasty bruises on his legs, arms, shoulders, back and stomach. None of this needed immediate medical attention, as his Alpha regeneration would kick in later when he rested. But they were still quite painful if he touched them just a little bit harder.

“You look like shit,” Flamebringer commented, eyes sparkling with silent laughter as he took in the bruises on Executor’s skin. “Wow, imagine if I actually let loose. You’d be fucking obliterated.”

“So would the training room,” Executor said back. He put on some shirt, and sweatpants he usually wore to sleep, before walking cautiously to the bed. “May I?”

Flamebringer rolled his now pale yellow eyes. “Yes, of course, you fuck.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, testing the water. Before he scooted further, and sat with his back against the headboard. Flamebringer crawled closer; touching his leg and thighs, his shoulders, his arms, his chest. After he was satisfied, he sat on Executor’s lap, hands on each shoulder.

“Hold me close,” he commanded.

Executor complied, just like every other thing Flamebringer asked of him. He wrapped his arms around the taller man’s slender waist, pulling him closer so he could rest his head on the Sarkaz’s shoulder. He felt Flamebringer’s long legs slipping around to secure themselves around his waist. For the first time in weeks, years, he was close enough to take proper whiff of burnt cinnamon and orchids. He breathed deeply, taking in the scent of the Omega in his arms, and felt the swell inside his chest when he noticed that his own scent—a mixture of gunpowder, mints, and cocoa—was also there.

Flamebringer gradually relaxed more and more in his arms. His heat probably wouldn’t start until tomorrow; he might need to take a trip downstairs to get some supplies later on. But for now, he just wanted to stay here, on Flamebringer’s bed, encased in their scents.

“I know that you’re kinda dense,” Flamebringer started after a long while. “But how could you miss the memo?”

“I didn’t know,” he answered truthfully.

He felt the Omega burrowing closer to him, letting out a soft sigh. Almost exasperated, almost. “You’re probably too whipped to even realize the difference, anyway.”

It was probably true. Under normal circumstances, Executor would still make him crispy toasts, cook him a mountain of food, give him all the shirts he owned, if Flamebringer ever asked. That explained Mostima’s behavior, at least. And any other operators, really. Was he really that clueless?

“Your scent,” he then added. “My senses are not as keen as other Alphas’. But I should be able to pick up the change in scent. There was none, so I never thought that you’d be in your pre-heat.”

“Ah,” Flamebringer chuckled then. “Yeah. I forgot. You were never around when I’m in heat, so I never bothered to tell you. My scent gland is kinda fucked. Kalt’sit told me it’s one of the effects of the Oripathy. It also happened to that Caprinae kid—Eyjafjalla? Yeah, I think that’s her name.”

That made sense, Executor thought. An Omega under no-suppressant, in their pre-heat especially, would have secret a crazy amount of pheromone-induced scent. And yet everyone was behaving normally around Flamebringer. Executor was the only one responding to it, albeit unknowingly.

“Did you ever spend it with operator Lappland?” he had to ask. He couldn’t help it. As much as he wasn’t an aggressive person, Executor was only a man in the end of the day.

Flamebringer nodded, nuzzling his hair, then his neck to rub his scent all over him. “Yeah.”

“Did you ever…”

“Fucked? No. I’ve never fucked anyone for the last two years, heat or not. She helped me by simply accompanying me through my heat.” Flamebringer then smiled like he remembered something incredibly funny.

“Why?” certainly with the kind of person Flamebringer was, there’d be no shortage of suitors? Physically and personality wise, the Sarkaz was incredibly captivating, after all.

Flamebringer let out a bark of laughter at his question. He was actually shaking as he laughed, holding on to Executor’s shoulders as leverage. He wiped the tears from his eyes after he was done, still looking incredibly amused. “You really didn’t know, did you?”

Confused, Executor shook his head. If this was about him being clueless about Flamebringer’s heat, they had certainly gone past that point. Then, what was it about?

“Oh my god!” Flamebringer exclaimed, punching Executor’s arm and laughing harder. It took him a minute to calm down, and when he did, he pulled himself back a bit to look at Executor with a disbelieving look on his face. It was starting to become a common occurrence on people’s face, the disbelieving look, when it came to anything even remotely linked to Executor.

“You imprinted on me two years ago,” Flamebringer then told him, pale eyes wide and full of mirth. “That was when I realized that you’re stupidly head over heels about me.”

Oh. Of course. Of course he’d unknowingly imprinted on Flamebringer. No wonder he was unfazed by Executor’s behavior. He already knew, even before Executor realized that the urges and needs to be so close, to know about him better, was because he had fallen in love with this man. An Alpha only imprinted on someone they felt genuinely connected to. That was why imprinting was also called a ‘pre-bite’, as it was akin to a proposal of a mating bite. Imprint could also be rejected, if the person being imprinted upon wished to do so.

And yet.

“You didn’t reject the imprint,” he whispered, almost breathless from the realization.

“Yeah,” Flamebringer grinned cheekily. “Took you long enough to realize that.”

Executor’s eyes widened a fraction, his senses burning alive, red bled into his eyes. The Alpha on the back of his head was roaring with the pure delight of knowing that his courting had been accepted. Another part of his head questioned his intelligence—just how could he miss it for two whole years? Not to mention that the taller male had been calling him Alpha for the past few weeks, and still he was clueless.

“You’re almost always gone in missions when I’m in heat,” Flamebringer said when he asked. “Other times, I’m the one away on missions. I don’t—“ He took a moment to swallow, a brief flash of foreign emotion on his face. He frowned, but then shook his head. “Never mind, I’ll tell you later, alright?”

“Alright,” he sighed into Flamebringer’s clavicle, feeling the warmth of his body. “What would you like me to do?”

Flamebringer didn’t answer for a while, content in being held and patting Executor’s hair. It was okay. There were a lot of unanswered questions. Some things came into light at the revelation, the connections giving way to deductions. But some things were still left in the dark, and he would like to know more. To understand better. But he could wait, if Flamebringer wished to tell him, then he would be the most honored. If not, then he’d respect that decision as well.

In this world, in their line of work, they might not have the luxury of time. But having this man in his arms were more than enough, they could try. They could find a time to breathe and talk; no battlefields, no imminent death, no heats. A space of time they could steal from their lives just for the both of them.

“Executor.” It was the first time in weeks he was called by that name instead of ‘Alpha’. He tilted his head; the burn of his red eyes met the calming pale yellow in Flamebringer’s irises. The breath coming out of Flamebringer’s lips was warm as it hit his own. He knew what was asked of him even without words, so he nodded, refraining from pushing forward and kissing the taller man even if that was the only thing he could think about right now. This wasn’t his nest, this wasn’t his territory. He could only do something that Flamebringer allowed him to do so, anything that he asked of him.

“Yes,” he breathed out. “Anything,” he said with no small amount of reverence. “Anything you want.”

Flamebringer smirked, a little tilt of the corner of his lips. “God, you’re so hopeless,” he laughed, soft and hushed like it was meant only for Executor to hear. “Anything?”

He pulled the Sarkaz closer into his embrace, feeling the heat of his skin through his shirt. “Anything,” he answered without hesitance.

So Flamebringer—looking incredibly pretty under the light, with the flush of the heat slowly creeping to his neck, his cheeks; the sharp slant of his eyes, the hard build of his muscles, the rough graze of his horns and tail; so gentle with his flowers, so merciless with his swords, so, so perfect and Executor was allowed to have this, all of this—he smiled, a faint little thing that looked frail and honest, and took Executor’s heart, gripped it tight, and whispered, “then kiss me, Alpha.”

And Executor, so far gone into his infatuation that he only realized now, complied. Pushing into the small space between them, taking what had been so gracefully offered. Kissing the plush lips, swiping his tongue over the chapped skin, and swallowed the soft groan coming out of Flamebringer. He kissed, and kissed, and gave what Flamebringer wanted, while he took in the dark lashes laying stark on Flamebringer’s skin as he closed his eyes, the flush rising high on his cheeks, the way he held onto Executor, pressing against him so close he could feel him even through the layers of clothes.

When they pulled back for air, Executor couldn’t help the soft gasp from leaving his lips. Flamebringer’s eyes were dilated, pale yellow so focused on him that he felt like he was being devoured alive. He could imagine how he didn’t fare any better, how he looked like he’d kneel and worship this man if he ever asked, how it was so apparent in the red haze covering his blue eyes. So he gathered him close, pressing his mouth over Flamebringer’s heart, and let his own heart bleed through his words.

“Anything,” he whispered, and it felt like a promise.

Notes:

Hello, this is nutteu. It's been a while, I hope you're doing fine. This a very rushed work, but I hope you could enjoy it, and I'm really happy I could contribute even just a little bit to #Trouvaille2020/#ExeFlameFanEvent. I decided to write an a/b/o au since I immediately thought of Flamebringer and his weird ass toasts, demanding why it’s not crispy enough, eating more than what should be healthy, and Executor not even realizing that it was a sign of pre-heat because the dumbo was too whipped to even think beyond: I’ll give you hundreds of crispy toasts babe. Some explanations that I didn’t include in the fic because it’d be too long and I didn’t want to expand this fic more than a basic prologue, and opening of ExeFlame relationship, are these: 1. In this au, Oripathy also messes up with the biology of the dynamics. Fb couldn’t have kids (not that he wanted to, considering the current war and his Oripathy), his scent gland is messed up so there isn’t any change of scent in his pre-heat and heat. It’s a good thing since he doesn’t have to worry about going into pre-heat in a fight, or causing ruckus because of his scent in the battlefield or base. The downside is that because his body recognized the problem (can’t secret out scent, can’t find suitable partner by scent alone), it tries to fix itself by amplifying other symptoms/signs. Bigger appetite, more aggressive, even more restlessness, that in a way helped him in certain battles, but also made him an absolute nightmare to take care of in pre-heat and heat. 2. He and Lappland are not fuck-buddies. Just heat and rut companions. They found kinship in Oripathy and their tragedies, they drank and smoked together, then bam, buddies. Lmao, I just like seeing them together. 3. Despite having dulled senses, Exe can still smell the major/basic scents, just not the shift of emotions that come with it. But since Fb’s scent gland is not functioning as it should be, it was understandable that he’d be thrown off. 4. FB can still go on missions even in heat because of suppressants. Even if he refused treatment for Oripathy, but he at least agreed to take care of his body. Excessive intake of suppressant is a big no, considering he abused this substance before he joined R.I and it was made worse by Oripathy too. So he only used it when it’s absolutely necessary, like when his mission took too long and his heat proceed as per the usual (every 3-4 months a year). 5. Because of his job and background, he had taught himself control from early age. He could still think coherently in pre-heat and in heat. I’d like to think that it was because of the conditions in the civil war he partook in. 6. When Lappland said his cycle was messed up, she was talking about Executor’s presence in Fb’s heat this time. Fb was trying to accustom to the presence of the alpha whose imprint he accepted, that’s why there’s a delay in building his nest. 7. Yes, the reason Exe was so dumb is because he’s too whipped.   That concludes this stupidly long notes. I'll see you later, take care.