#like even their stars which they're named after aren't close

[shakespeare-potter]

SOMETHING SOMETHING ABOUT THE SUN , THE STAR (SIRIUS) AND THE MOON BEING BRIGHT AS FUCK TOGETHER AND ANOTHER JUST AS BRIGHT AS FUCK STAR (REGULUS) WATCHING THEM FROM AFAR AND WANTING TO BE CLOSE TO THEM BUT JUST BEING TOO FAR

hi so actually sirius is the brightest star in the sky and it’s only outshone by the full moon, the iss and a couple planets but regulus is actually brighter than the sun it’s just really far away and this feels symbolic to me

[ixiot-ghostrebel]

Hello my fellow ghost, I have this idea that came to my mind while reading some crack sites, imagine a Creator! Reader irritated, did not sleep well, a lot of work any excuse and goes for a walk to clear his mind, then simply sticks on the little finger with some object.

He shouts: FOR THE NAME OF!!, I AM STAR TO SERIUSLY CONSIDERING ERASE (nation in which it is) OF THE MAP.

Along with another irrelevant insult, then how would they react if some acolyte is near or even better the archons of a certain nation. I don't know, I laughed for myself thinking about this and I do not know if you will also find it funny.

In any case if you do not feel free to ignore or if you want some idea to write the priv is available. Bird says goodbye

Hello, @pajarokujo ! Though I do not see the humor, I can get what you're going for! (Is this how Tighnari and Collei feel when Cyno cracks a joke?— /lh)

I'll just do the Archons for this since I think they'd have the best reactions LOL

Venti, Zhongli, Raiden Ei, Nahida, and Furina Reacting to Reader's Tantrum

You were a little furious. You hadn't mean what you said, but in the attempt to calm yourself down, you jabbed at one part of the map and screamed, "THIS NATION. I WANT IT DECIMATED. PERMANENTLY." forgetting completely that you were the Creator and your booming voice could be practically heard by everyone.

Yes...they're panicking.

(Warning: Might Be OOC & Written Before 4.1 Special Program!)

Venti

Wisp boy is now panicked wisp boy. He ain't gonna stop trying to find a solution to save Mondstadt from your wrath until he drops dead. Quite literally.

Man, this bard is going crazy—all of his ballads have a slight air of panic to it, since everyone practically heard your threat from beyond the heavens.

So when you practically run into Mondstadt to personally reassure everyone that you aren't going to decimate the nation, Venti immediately sees your presence as his doom. He tries to keep it cool, and it sort of works? (It doesn't)

"AHAHA, YOUR GRACE!~ COME JOIN THIS HUMBLE BARD TO SEE THE GREAT TREE OF VANESSA!" "Venti, I swear to you, I—" "YOUR GRACE, IT'S WORTH IT PLEASE—"

Yeah, he's not taking the news well. But at least he'll collapse from relief knowing Mondstadt wasn't in danger after you clear up your mistake so yeah 👍 Good job, Creator!

Zhongli

The moment he hears you say that, this man is both protective over his baby (his nation) and hella scared of what the heck you're going to do to erase the Geo Nation off of the map.

When you try to enter Liyue, you "coincidentally" bump into Zhongli who tries to distract and stall you from your "objective," while also try and figure out your motive.

"Your Grace, may you please accompany me to Jueyun Karst? I believe the view there might be well, and I am in need of finding Jueyun chilis." "Zhongli, I—" "Thank you, Your Grace. Please, accompany me."

He does his absolute best to prove to you that Liyue is not a nation worth decimating for. When he hears that it was all just a misunderstanding and that, no, you weren't planning on destroying Liyue at all, he sighs in relief and decides to treat you all to tea.

Even you know y'all need it.

Raiden Ei

Gurl's not having a good time. It's almost like pre-Inazuma Archon Quest all over again. Ei's doing her best to make sure that Inazuma is the most well-behaved nation and yeah, it's kind of a disaster

The moment you step foot into Inazuma, you immediately sent to Tenshukaku to talk to Raiden Ei. She's even got Yae Miko on board with this—they cannot afford to lose Inazuma.

"Your Grace, please listen." "Ei, please—" "Inazuma has diligently followed all your orders, and we will continue to do so if you bless our nation with the chance to continue to thrive." Ei is almost going back to a similar state of being "close to the heavenly principles," only except she's here in the present and not in her eternal meditation.

The moment you get her to hear you out and that, no, Inazuma's not going anywhere, she nearly deflates on the spot. But, as she's the Raiden Shogun, she tries her best to stay composed.

Nevertheless, she's forever relieved that Inazuma is still favored by you.

Nahida

Like the others, she panics. While she is heavily worried about her subjects, and how they're faring, she has to leave that to the Akademiya's Grand Sage while she tries her best to find the reason as to why you want to decimate Sumeru.

She's heavily in thought and the moment you barge into the Sanctuary of Surasthana, Nahida immediately panics, thinking this is the end—the time you tell her to step down and watch Sumeru fall. Nevertheless, she wants Sumeru to live, and she tries to put up a fight.

"Your Grace, please tell me—what is it that made you hate Sumeru?" "Nahida, please...." "We've done nothing wrong, as far as I am aware of. Is there something that was done that makes you think Sumeru betrayed you?" She's determined to not only stall, but get you to tell your (non-existent) reasoning as to why you want Sumeru destroyed.

She's probably the easiest archon that you will be able to tell them that it was not true, and when Nahida hears this, she is both relieved, overjoyed, and making a mental note of your temperament.

Yes, she's going to five you her research about how to deal with your mood. Have fun!~

Furina

Boy oh boy...if you thought Venti was dramatic, Furina goes FULL ON dramatic. The moment she hears this, it's almost like the prophecy all over again. She panics, and she immediately demands that the charges against criminals become more brutal, and that their theatrics and soap opera are to be only top-peak level. (Neuvillette's getting a headache dealing with her, you can tell—)

When you manage to get to Fontaine, you almost don't even recognize it. The citizens are so quiet when you arrived, and moving away from you respectively as Furina immediately rushes forward and whisks you away to the Opera Epiclese to entertain you.

"Furina, please listen—" "Don't you worry about a thing, Your Grace, for I, Focalors, shall show you how Fontaine will regain your approval through their justice, and through their opera!" "Furina—" "Please, Your Grace, rejoice in our spectacles, and enjoy the feast that is brought to your majesticness!"

We know all too well that Furina is a good actor. And this situation really proves how much she's hiding her panic, despite the fact that it's killing her. She's probably the most difficult, a little above Ei, archon that will hear you out about your accidental temperament.

When you somehow manage to get Furina to listen, she immediately deflates on the spot, before immediately putting back on her elegant posture. She asks Neuvillette to go back to normal charges, and she lowers the bar for the stories, allowing her subjects the breathing room that they're used to.

She treats you to Fontaine desserts, so win-win, yeah?

And we're done! I hope you guys enjoyed it lol—See you next time! :D

Ghost Rebel Side Notes: THIS TOOK TOO LONG—MUCH LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SJGHKJGHEUHSIE SORRY-

Please feel free to send me any of your requests for Fontaine! I'm too obsessed rn lol—especially Fremmie (Freminet)!!! Anyways, hope y'all doing well lol—see you next time :)

✦ Check out The Ghost Rebel’s Blog Description & Info Page to See if Their Mailbox is Open! ✦

[theamityelf]

May I request more RoD Fuyuhiko and kidnapped Makoto? 😩

Oh boy, I've imagined this so many ways. Right now, I'm kind of into the idea of it being a very formal and dignified kidnapping.

Like, he's got that three-piece suit brand of villainy; he could send Peko to knock Makoto out and drag him home (and if they were close/dating in school, he does think of his home as Makoto's home, however complicated his feelings are now), but more likely he's sending a car to block Makoto's (walking) path and Peko climbs out and informs Makoto that the head of the yakuza would like a word and it's nonnegotiable.

Ideally (for Fuyuhiko), he does this before the Future Foundation gets to Makoto, but he'll find a way after, if needed. (And it's perhaps more interesting, story-wise, if Makoto has at least spent a couple of days with Future Foundation before Fuyuhiko can abduct him.) Whatever the case, he'll make arrangements to get Makoto alone, a car will pull up in front of him, and:

"Makoto Naegi," the gray-haired woman says. (Not like a question; it hasn't been a question since the killing game. At least, not a genuine one. It's so weird, to have other people know his name before he knows theirs.) "Your presence has been requested. The boss asks that you get in the car without making a scene, and nobody gets hurt."

"The boss?"

"You won't know the details until you meet the boss in person." The young woman shifts her shoulders in a way that subtly hefts the sword bag strapped to her back– which she hasn't yet reached for. "Will you come willingly and save the lives of the companions who have lost track of you already, or will you resist, be taken by force, and guarantee the blood of your companions is shed?"

Makoto's confused demeanor hardens, sharpens, the adrenaline pumping in his veins sending him right into trial mode, ready to argue, to push his way to the right answer.

But before an argument can form in his mouth, he takes another breath. And he says, "They won't be harmed if I get in the car?"

They will lie to you, he's been told. They will trick you. It's not like Enoshima's game; those aligned with despair have no rules, no honor. Especially not if they valued those things before.

"The boss gives his word," the young woman replies. "They won't be harmed."

If she's telling the truth, then he has to get in the car. If she's not...then she still has a sword, is the thing. And even without it, she's bigger and he's alone.

"Then I hope your boss doesn't squander his word," Makoto says warily.

"And I hope you aren't stalling." Strangely, the young woman smirks. The look she's giving him now is almost fond. "I've told you once before that you aren't good at it. But you don't remember that, do you?"

Before he can wrap his head around that, gunshots start going off somewhere.

Makoto's blood runs cold, at the sound of far-off screams. "You said they wouldn't-!"

The young woman merely sighs, rolling her eyes and drawing her sword from her bag as languidly as though it's a tedious chore. "They're early," she says. "Heads will roll for that. My master wanted you to come willingly. It would have pleased him a great deal."

Makoto does his best to run, but she strikes him with the hilt just hard enough to dizzy (and no doubt bruise) him, and while he's disoriented, she hauls him into the car and locks the doors.

She buckles him in while he's blinking the stars out of his eyes and nursing the sore spot. By the time he's steadied himself enough to try to unbuckle himself or reach for the car door, her blade is already hovering at his throat.

She's sitting beside him, also buckled in. The car has started moving– some faceless driver, divided from them by tinted glass. "My master would prefer that I deliver you to him untied," she informs him, "but I am permitted to bind your wrists and ankles, should you make it necessary."

"Who are you?" he asks.

"You don't need a name to address me, with only two of us here. And once I deliver you to the boss, there will be no need for you to address me at all."

"But who are you?"

With a single, almost imperceptibly swift motion, her sword returns to its bag. "I am the sword on my back," she answers. "Don't waste your questions on a sword."

He falls asleep in the car; it's a long-ish ride. He doesn't mean to nod off, but subconsciously there's an assumption that when the car stops, he'll naturally wake up.

This does not happen.

Instead, he wakes up in someone's private study.

There are bookshelves, a big wooden desk and cushioned chair. The lights are off, but there's a fire in the fireplace. Makoto is sprawled across a small couch. The gray-haired woman stands with her back to the wall and her hands folded.

And a small figure stands warming by the fire. His back to Makoto, his whole form shadowed.

"You know," the young man says, "I really didn't expect you to survive."

Makoto's hand finds the sore spot on his head again. (For some reason, he's thinking of Mondo.) "I, uh, get that a lot."

A breathy laugh. "I'll fvcking bet. What else do you get a lot?"

"...That I'm short in person? That I should've told someone about Sakura. That I should see a doctor, because that fall might have caused internal damage. That my voice sounded kind of squeaky on TV. That my eyes actually look browner than they expected, or greener. That Sayaka..." He trails off. People...say a lot of things about Sayaka. That they used to be a fan of hers but would never see her the same, that they were still a fan and they hoped it was okay with him, that they'd been rooting for Makoto to figure out her plan before...Yeah, they say a lot of things.

Why is he telling a stranger any of this?

Is he stalling, knowing this conversation is likely to get a lot less friendly soon?

It doesn't feel like it. He does feel the dread of knowing that this abduction is clearly not a friendly one; he heard the gunshots earlier. He remembers that. But something in the way the young man at the fireplace laughed, the way the gray-haired woman smiled, before...He doesn't know them, but it seems like they know him. Not in the way of the people who feel they know him from watching the killing game. Talking to them feels like talking to people who actually know him.

"That Maizono b!tch," the young man scoffs. "I could have thrown up, watching you fawn over her fake *ss all over again."

And just like that, Makoto's curiosity takes a back seat. "Don't call her that!"

"Traitor-*ss b!tch. I was glad she died first."

Makoto springs to his feet, but he's barely taken two steps in the young man's direction before the gray-haired woman has once again blocked him with the edge of her blade. "Sayaka wasn't a traitor! She never wanted to hurt anyone! That was just what Junko drove her to!"

"...And that's saying something," the young man continues, ignoring Makoto's interruption, "because I was really wondering what it would feel like to watch you die. What I would become, after. I was really fvcking curious. Still am."

Makoto's fear doesn't supersede his anger; it just shapes it. "I don't know who you are," he says bluntly.

The young man's head turns slightly, but other than that he doesn't respond.

"Who are you?"

"The kid wants an introduction." His head turns toward the gray-haired woman. Though Makoto can't see his face, the smirk is audible in his voice as he continues, "Only, suppose we like to be forgotten."

"I figured you were probably someone I used to know...right?"

Once again, no verbal answer.

"Both of you," he continues. "Maybe...from my time at Hope's Peak Academy, or maybe-"

"Did I say his *ss could speak?" the young man inquires.

"You didn't, Young Master," the gray-haired woman says.

"I don't know what you want with me," Makoto continues firmly. "Or, what you think you're getting out of bringing me here, so it would help if you'd just tell me." After a second of silence, he added, "If you're someone who thinks I killed Junko-"

"You didn't kill Junko." The young man turns to face Makoto, but the darkness in the room and the fire at his back still make it impossible to really see his face. "Junko went out on her own terms. You didn't even push the button; all you did was win an unwinnable game. And those dumb*sses sure were desperate to hitch themselves to a winner."

"Who are you?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still fvcking pissed off that we all missed out on Plan A. She told us all about the execution she'd put herself through if she somehow lost, but Plan A was always a surprise. She was so sure she'd win."

"Who are you?"

"But that's not why you're here." Suddenly, the young man grabs a fistful of Makoto's shirt and drags him close. They're face to face. Makoto sees golden eyes and freckles. "No, you're here because I was denied the chance to watch you die. And like I said, I'm really fvcking curious."

Before Makoto can conceive of a response, he is shoved backwards to the carpeted floor.

"Take him to his room."

"H-Hey...!" Makoto winces as the gray-haired woman grabs him by the upper arm, yanks him to his feet, and drags him from the room.

[silentcrowsilentravens]

Stars alpha reacting to their partner pulling a Richard and sacrificing themselves for them?

"Pulling a Richard" lol.

I'd like to apologize in advance to Lisa Trevor for this.

Joseph Frost, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Brad Vickers, Barry Burton, and Albert Wesker reacting to their s/o sacrificing themselves to save them.

(Gender ambiguous).

Warnings: death, blood, gore.

Masterlists here!

Joseph Frost

Arklay Mountains. It’s the evening of July 24, 1998. Led by Captain Wesker, you and four other members of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team are searching for signs of Bravo team and pilot Kevin Dooley, with whom contact was lost the day prior. 

You trudge through the tall grass, gun unholstered and flashlight scanning over every dark shape in your path.

A persistent sense of unease hangs in the air. You’d be hard-pressed to think of another time you’ve felt so on edge while on the job. 

There's shifting behind you. You whip your head around.

Joseph is standing there with his gun. "Jumpy?" he teases half-heartedly. You roll your eyes at him and resume what you were doing.

"Hey... wait a sec..." He motions for you to come over.

"What is it?" You point your light down as you approach. It catches a metal object laying in the grass between you. It's a gun. A standard-issue Beretta.

Joseph bends down to pick it up, which is when you realize that it's attached to something.

It's...

It's a hand.

A human hand with no human attached to it.

Joseph drops the severed part in shock. Both of you jolt away from it with a yelp.

Upon further inspection, realize that you know who it used to belong to. You recognize the fingerless glove and the wristwatch. They're part of a S.T.A.R.S. uniform. More specifically, the uniform of Edward Dewey from Bravo team.

For a moment, the only thing you can hear is the wind and your heart pounding in your ears. You can do nothing but stare in disbelief. 

There have been a lot of deaths lately. Gruesome ones. 

You’ve seen the crime scene photos.

You’ve seen the crime scenes.

They’re difficult to stomach.

But the feeling that washes over you here and now is particularly visceral. Every last drop of blood in your body has run cold. You feel dangerously close to hurling.

Edward is someone you see almost every day. He...

He’s a great man. A friend of yours.

He can’t be...

You finally manage to tear your gaze away and look at Joseph. 

“...Eddie can still be kicking,” he says blankly. “Guy doesn’t need both hands to live.”

Yeah. 

Yeah, Edward can still be out there. Alive. Hopefully. He's tough...

...

Is that...

...growling you're hearing?

Out of the corner of your eye, you realize something—multiple somethings are rapidly approaching. Joseph notices just a beat later than you do.

“Joey, watch out!” With all of your might, you shove your partner out of harm’s way.

He hits the ground. 

A bloody creature collides with you, its sharp teeth sinking into the exposed skin of your forearm. You cry out, wrenching your arm to the side in a desperate attempt to make it release you. It does, tearing a chunk of flesh away in the process, and quickly latches back on.

A second beast joins in, causing you to lose your balance and fall.

Followed by another one.

And another.

And another.

There are so many. They look like dogs and smell like rotting corpses, but you aren't paying much attention to that. You're in so much pain, it's difficult to think. They're quite literally eating you alive and all you can manage to do is flail about, weakly attempting to get them off.

Joseph shouts your name in alarm, scrambling to pick up his gun. His weapon-mounted light illuminates the mass of creatures pinning you down. Blood and viscera glisten.

He fires round after round, trying to kill them.

Jill, Barry, Chris, and Wesker rush over to help.

Your screams abruptly stop, cut off by an awful, strangled, gurgling noise as a set of teeth manage to rip your throat out.

"No!" Joseph keeps firing, unable to process it all. Just because you've gone quiet doesn't mean you're dead, right? Right? There's a chance you're still alive. There has to be! "Get off! Get off!"

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

"Joseph, it's too late!" Chris grabs Joseph's shoulder, trying to make him stop. Joseph won't. "We have to go!"

This can't be happening. This can't be real. You're not gone. You're not!

The remaining beasts turn their attention toward the rest of the team.

Finally, Chris and Barry seize Joseph by the back of his tactical vest and physically drag him along as they start running. He doesn't stop calling your name, doesn't stop reaching for you even as your body becomes further and further away from them.

"Brad!" Chris shouts as their helicopter abandons them. "Brad! Where's he going?!"

This night can't get any worse. They end up seeking refuge in a mansion. The moment Jill slams the doors shut and locks them, Joseph plops down on the floor, breathing hard and cradling his head in his hands.

He can't believe it. You're gone just like that. It all happened so fast... And if you hadn't done what you did, it would've been him instead.

He wishes it were him instead. His eyes begin to burn.

Jill Valentine

It's the dead of night in the summer of 2005. You and Jill are stranded in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea on the Queen Zenobia, which just narrowly avoided being completely obliterated by the Regia SOLIS.

Unfortunately, the ship still ended up getting caught in the shockwave of the blast, leaving you to deal with even more water pouring into the ship.

It's time to clear out and fast.

Both of you are swimming through the flooded corridors in search of an exit when eventually, you make your way into a room that has yet to fill completely. The surface of the water is in view. You speed up, sparing a glance over your shoulder to where Jill ought to be.

She isn't there.

You come to an immediate stop, a jolt of panic passing through you as you spin around in an attempt to locate her.

You find her a little ways back, having fallen behind because she's busy grappling with a sea creeper that's caught up to her. Damn things!

It's gotten ahold of her legs and she's fighting to keep its wide maw away. Despite their spindly limbs, earlier encounters have let you know that they're rather strong.

There's already been quite a stretch between this and the last opportunity you got to get some air. In the time it would take you to pop your head out and swim back to help Jill, it could already be too late.

With that thought at the forefront of your mind, you ignore your body's desperate pleas to breathe and make your way over.

You unsheathe your Bowie knife. Using all of your might, you drive it straight into the B.O.W.'s soft shell.

Blood turns the water red. The creature reels back with a high-pitched cry and you take the opportunity to seize your partner.

With a tight grip on the equipment harness strapped to her back, you begin to swim upward, pushing yourself to go as fast as you can.

You're so close. Fresh oxygen is just within reach when something grabs hold of your ankle and sharply tries to yank you back.

Looking down, you find the same sea creeper giving things another go.

'Get offa me, dammit!' You slam the heel of your boot down on its covered head until it releases you, then kick away.

You lift Jill and force her above the surface, managing to get her arms hooked onto a ladder leading up to a catwalk.

There's yet another tug on your leg, far harsher than the last.

You release Jill, not wanting to risk pulling her down with you.

Bubbles begin to stream past your parted lips and water floods your lungs. The burning in your chest is beginning to worsen exponentially as you're dragged away, simply unable to hold your breath any longer than you already have. You're certain this is it for you.

Jill coughs and sputters. As the darkness begins to fade back to the edges of her vision and she's able to form a thought other than 'I need air or I'm gonna die down here', she processes that you haven't resurfaced along with her.

Her still-pounding heart leaps into her throat and she curses, diving back down without a moment's hesitation.

Her eyes instantly lock onto a red cloud in the water, which both you and the sea creeper are in. It has you in its grasp and you aren't struggling. You aren't moving at all.

As Jill closes the rest of the distance, she continues to hope against all hope that she can save you.

The handle of your blade is sticking out of the creature's back. She yanks it out and plunges it into a new spot, tugging you free and kicking the thing as hard as she can, sending it into a wall.

With you in tow, Jill makes her way above the water and back to the ladder.

You aren't breathing anymore when she successfully gets you onto the catwalk. She hastily begins to perform CPR, determined to fix that. She has to.

Unfortunately, she can't. It's already too late for you.

Finally, resignation begins to set in and she lets her hands still on your chest.

Jill is no stranger to losing people, and there's a persistent nagging fear in the back of her mind about losing more. You've often been at the forefront of it.

She's always tried to push it aside, though, always hoped that it wouldn't come to pass.

Her fingers tremble slightly as they curl into fists. She lets her head hang.

If only she hadn't let that damn B.O.W. catch up to her...

There's a lump forming in her throat that she tries to swallow as she stands, sending you a silent apology for letting you down.

...

Even if she wants to stay here with you, she knows this ship isn't going to last much longer. Cursing under her breath and blinking away the tears beginning to form in her eyes, Jill keeps moving. She has to...

Chris Redfield

"We're picking up a large bogey on radar. It's heading right for you!"

Just when you thought shit had already hit the fan, that message came through on comms and not even a minute later, a tandem rotor helicopter appeared, dropping off another absolutely massive—probably a good thirty feet tall—B.O.W. onto the team's already full plate.

Echo needs three anti-aircraft guns taken out before further help can be given, so everyone tries to provide cover for Finn as he sets the charges needed to blow them up.

The wrecked buildings around you provide little cover from the ogroman, which is intent on crushing the lot of you.

Chris points out a weakness that can be exploited: Soft, exposed red flesh around where a big metal connector is sticking out of its back.

You and a few others distract the beast with bullets. Chris manages to leap onto its back while you do so, ripping out a bit of protruding bone and driving it straight into the weak point. The process is rinsed and repeated a few times before the ogroman dies, dissolving into a foul-smelling, steaming goop that leaves you coughing.

Two anti-aircraft guns down, one more to go.

Everyone's comms crackle. "There's another giant B.O.W. closing in on your location!"

A loud roar rings out.

A massive hand grabs onto a rooftop, sending shingles raining down onto a few j'avo.

"It's the one we lost at the Two of Hearts," Piers points out.

Chris orders the team to prepare to engage. You follow Finn to the last gun, making use of an underground passage that leads you into another building. When you're standing on the top floor, the target of the objective comes into view, sitting on the ground below beside a barricade.

"Let's try to make this quick."

The ogroman has other plans.

Finn and Piers, a little ways ahead of you, head down the ladder.

You and Chris are stepping out from behind a partially destroyed wall when it turns and spots you there.

The two of you begin to unload your clips into it, not getting too many hits on that weak spot thanks to the way it's positioned itself.

Click.

Click.

Click.

"I'm out!" you announce.

"Me too," Chris says. "Look out!"

A massive hand shoots out toward you.

You both dive out of the way in time. You land back behind the wall, and Chris is still out in the open stretch. Another hole is smashed into the building.

The ogroman draws its arm back, then raises it up and prepares to sweep it across.

"Chris!" You don't even think, you just act, launching yourself back onto your feet and sprinting toward him. It'll hit him if you're not quick enough!

The arm grows closer.

With mere seconds to spare, you shove Chris back to the floor.

All the wind is knocked out of you as the ogroman makes contact, sending you sailing straight over the edge.

You make a graceful arc before colliding harshly with the pavement down below.

"Shit!" Chris shouts your name in alarm.

He needs to get to you.

"Cover me!"

He slides down the ladder while other members of the team show up to keep the ogroman busy.

A red puddle has begun to form beneath you. By some miracle, you're still responsive, but only barely.

"You're gonna be alright. You're gonna make it. Just hold on, okay?" Chris begins to drag you over to cover. You let out a groan, unable to process any of what you're hearing. "I need you here." Speaking into his comm, he calls for urgent first aid.

Before long, your feeble movements begin to peter out. Chris feels his stomach drop.

"No... No, come on. You have to stay with me. You have to!" You mean so much to him. He can't lose you. He can't. Not like this.

One last raspy, rattling breath leaves your lips before you're gone.

The grief, the devastation is like an instant weight settling upon Chris' shoulders. He slams his fists against the ground and cries out, leaning down to rest his head against your chest.

This is his fault... He'll never forgive himself.

Brad Vickers

"Pizza's here," you announce, shutting the apartment door with your foot. It's late in the evening, and you and Brad decided to call in and order one for dinner.

(Both of you also went ahead and ordered one for Brad's friend, Jill, who has scarcely left her home since being suspended. Brad would've been as well, had he joined in on the shouting match she and three other S.T.A.R.S. members got into with Chief Irons over the mansion incident. You know Brad still feels guilty about it).

"Brad. Pizza." You pop open the box and waft it in front of his face before placing it on the coffee table. He snaps out of it and sends you a small smile.

"You pick out something for us to watch already?"

"Uh-huh." He places the TV Guide down and picks up the remote. "They're showing one of our favorite flicks tonight, actually."

"Yeah? Which one?" You plop down beside him on the couch with a few paper plates in hand.

...

Hours have passed, and you've fallen asleep living room. The movie has long since ended, the remaining half of dinner is sitting abandoned, and Brad is snoring lightly beside you. You might've remained that way until morning...

...if not for a loud noise from somewhere on the street below waking you up.

You slowly straighten up, removing your head from your partner's shoulder.

Then, you begin to process the not-so-distant sounds of chaos. There are sirens and people screaming.

'What is going on...?'

An orange glow is bleeding from around the edges of the drawn curtains. You get up and pull them open. Multiple fires are burning.

You hurriedly wake Brad. "Hey. Something is wrong," you tell him as you drag him over to the window. "Very, very wrong. Look."

"Holy shit." He blanches. "We need to go."

You throw on a coat and shoes while Brad puts on his S.T.A.R.S. getup. He grabs his Beretta. All you have is a pocket knife.

The two of you make your way out of the apartment, hurriedly heading down the corridor and into the stairwell.

When you reach the emergency exit at the bottom of the stairs, you encounter a problem. Before Brad even gets the chance to push the door open, something rips it off the hinges. It's a huge figure clad head to toe in a black outfit, which is dotted with small yellow hazard symbols and staples.

"S.T.A.R.S...." it growls.

After a moment's hesitation, Brad seizes you by your sleeve and begins to high-tail it toward the front of the building. Time to try the front doors instead.

The thing gives chase. It's fast. Surprisingly so.

Brad aims his gun over his shoulder and opens fire. The bullets appear to have no effect. Not good.

It lifts its hand. A thin tentacle shoots out quick as lightning, wrapping around one of Brad's ankles and tripping him up. He lands harshly on the floor, his weapon slipping from his grasp. It begins to drag him.

"Help!"

You stagger to a stop, whipping around and grabbing hold of him. All that accomplishes is making the pursuer pull you along as well.

"Let go of him!" You take your blade and slice the appendage in two. The half still attached to it retreats. You help Brad up.

"S.T.A.R.S.!"

A new tentacle pops out of its sleeves. The moment you catch a glimpse of it, you put yourself directly behind Brad.

Rougher than before, the pursuer swings its arm back, yanking you over to it.

"Brad, run!"

Brad doesn't. He freezes in place.

It picks you up by your face, squeezing so tightly that it feels as though your skull might shatter. You struggle. "Run! Before it gets y—"

Your sentence is cut off by the tentacle going straight through your mouth and out the back of your head.

You're tossed aside, dead as dead can be.

You land facing Brad, your face stained red and your eyes wide open. He feels himself begin to shake.

Then, he runs.

This can't be happening. This seriously can't be happening!

He should have stepped in to help you. Doubly so after you had done that for him.

He should have done something. Anything but just stand there! What the hell is wrong with him?!

'Oh, god...'

When it seems that he's finally lost the pursuer, Brad slumps against the wall and slides down it until he's sitting. Alone in a random building, he cries harder than he has in a long time. He's so incredibly angry with himself for practically letting that happen.

There's a hole in his heart where you used to be that can simply never be filled again. You're gone. Gone. He can't believe it...

Barry Burton

As the Starlight slowly sinks into the waters below, explosions rattle it, illuminating the pitch-black night sky with bright oranges and yellows.

You, Barry, Leon, and Lucia stand safely aboard the deck of the Umbrella submarine Barry hijacked. Admittedly, you're still a little mad that he scared you again. A few years back, when you were both part of S.T.A.R.S., he pretended to betray you and the others the same way Wesker had.

He did it to protect your daughters and kept the ruse up long enough for Wesker to let his guard down. Tonight, he pulled a similar stunt. He made a fake deal with Umbrella and acted as though he was going to hand Lucia over to them, abandoning you and Leon on the ocean liner in the process.

"Sorry, honey," Barry says, noticing the sour look on your face. "I couldn't risk them finding out."

You sigh. "No, I get it. I just can't believe I fell for it again, even if only briefly."

"I guess I must be that good of an actor, huh?"

"I wouldn't go that far," you tease lightly. "It was just the panic of it all..."

"Ouch." Barry puts on a hurt expression.

Somewhere behind you, you hear the crackle of a radio. "Hey, I'm finally getting through to headquarters," Leon announces.

Barry places a hand on Lucia's shoulder. "I'm sure Polly and Moira will be excited to meet their new sister."

Lucia's eyes widen. "You guys were being serious?"

"Of course!" Your hand lands on her free shoulder. "Welcome to the family."

She grins. A genuine, happy-as-can-be grin.

"HQ, this is Leon. Mission accomplished. We're heading home."

You glance behind you in an attempt to see Leon, but he's standing closer to Barry. Your gaze only finds his shadow. You look away.

Over the sound of the rain and explosions, your ears manage to pick on a subtle gurgling noise.

Once again, you turn your head. The shadow is beginning to change. It's distorting and growing.

With dawning horror, you realize that all of the B.O.W.s haven't been eradicated, that it isn't actually Leon standing with you guys, that he's probably still aboard the Starlight.

"We aren't out of the woods yet!" is all you can manage in warning before the Tyrant finishes turning into its true form, red, intestine-like tentacles shooting out of the wide cavity in its stomach.

Barry doesn't even get the chance to fully pull his magnum from its holster before you throw yourself into the path of danger.

Rather than your husband, the appendages end up grabbing you instead. With how your arms end up pinned to your sides, you can't grab your pistol or knife to try and free yourself.

Panic instantly tightens itself around Barry's lungs. "Good god! Lucia, get inside!" He opens fire on the monster, desperate to make it release you.

It swings you all around, making it difficult for him to get a clean shot. It slowly but surely begins to squeeze you.

A big gray forearm collides with Barry, sending both him and his weapon flying across the deck.

The monster leaps off the sub and into the cold ocean, slowly sinking.

"No, no, no!" Barry practically throws himself over the railing, grasping it with one hand and desperately grabbing for you with the other. Just barely, he manages to take hold of your webbing.

The monster tightens its grip and there's an audible crack. You stop struggling.

...

Barry stills, his fingers going slack. He can't breathe, can't believe it. The devastation hits like a sucker punch to the gut.

Your body fully disappears into the dark waters. This is one of his worst nightmares.

He curses, banging his fist against the sub. It should have been him, not you! Why did you do that?

...He knows the answer. It's because he means as much to you as you do to him.

He knows he would've risked himself like that too if the roles were swapped.

He wishes that they were. What is he meant to do without you?

Albert Wesker

By all accounts, Albert Wesker should be dead. Instead, he's woken up as something else. Something more than human.

And now, he needs to leave this place before it turns into a pile of burning rubble. It isn't clear how much time is left before the self-destruct sequence goes off, but it ought to be enough for him to make it back out the doors.

Most of the bioweapons are easy enough to take out and get past.

There is, however, one problem—one nuisance that is refusing to leave him alone: Lisa Trevor. She's followed him all the way back up to the mansion proper. Since she doesn't have the good sense to give up, he's had to take a different route in an attempt to lose her.

Finally, he thinks he might have. The exit is close. Just down the stairs, in fact. He can see it.

A door behind him flies open. He turns, tightening his finger on the trigger of his Samurai Edge.

"Captain Wesker!"

Oh. It's only you.

Albert is pleased to see that you've made it this far. Not that there was much doubt in his mind that you would. You're one of the best S.T.A.R.S. has to offer when it comes to your combat abilities.

"Where'd—" Your eyes widen before your features twist in concern. "What the hell happened to you?"

It's evident that you haven't run into Jill, Chris, Barry, or Rebecca since everything that happened down in the basement labs. This could work to his advantage. He was hoping to have you join him.

Sparing a glance at the absurd amount of red staining the front of his tactical vest, Albert tells you, "It's nothing serious."

You head closer and stare at him incredulously. It's a lot of blood. As in, more than should be outside of anyone's body if they're still alive. Maybe not all of is his? He isn't acting like he's injured.

"...Alright, if you say so," you reply, unable to shake your worry completely.

"Come with me. We're leaving." Without waiting for another second, Albert starts heading down the stairs.

"But what about the others?"

"There's no point in going after them now,'" he answers vaguely. "I'll explain everything once we get outside."

You hesitate for a moment before beginning to follow him...

...Only to be stopped moments later by an awful, raspy moan and a hunched figure hobbling into the entrance hall with surprising speed.

'What is that?!'

It's clad in a raggedy blue medical gown, wearing a mask that appears to be made of stitched-together human faces, and making a beeline for Albert.

He moves to pull out the gun he just reholstered.

The monster hunches further. A load of worm-like tendrils shoot out of its back.

Everything seems to be happening in slow motion. Wordlessly, you throw yourself between the two of them in order to save your captain from further injury,

As though they were sharp knives, two of the tendrils pierce straight through you. One through your stomach, and another through your chest. You land in a limp pile on the marble floor, blood pouring from your wounds and past your lips.

...

No...

No, this won't do at all.

White-hot anger slowly begins to crawl through Albert's veins.

"You have no idea how grave of a mistake you've just made."

Yet again, he deals with her, this time ensuring that it will be the last time. You watch through half-lidded eyes, unable to truly process any of it. You're teetering dangerously on the edge of nothingness and it's far too late for you to be saved.

Albert just about unloads the rest of his ammunition into Lisa, saving his last bullet so that he can send the chandelier crashing upon her.

"Be a good girl and stay dead." He sneers, then turns to you.

You're already dead. He picks you up.

"Don't worry, my dear. I'll fix this. I will help you rise from the ashes as I did. I will make you something more."

[ultraflavour]

7 Fantasy RPGs to fill the D&D-shaped Hole in your Life

So. It finally happened. Either Hasbro, or Wizards of the Coast, or someone else associated with Dungeons & Dragons finally did something so fucked-up that you've decided to swear it off entirely.

The problem is that for decades, there has been one obvious answer to the question of "What game with Dwarves, Longswords and Wizards in it should we play" and that was D&D, every time. Even their strongest rival in the past couple of decades was just an older version of D&D with a spit shine.

Now you find yourself adrift in a sea of possibility, with no signposts. There are names you've heard, but you have no idea which ones you'd actually be interested in, because you had always just assumed you'd be playing D&D until the heat death of the universe.

So let's take a look at a few games that want to fill that D&D-shaped hole in your gaming life, and examine what they're offering.

Disclaimer: I'm not covering the entire breadth and depth of the TTRPG industry here. I'm specifically going to be covering Fantasy RPGs that should appeal to D&D fans here. So if I didn't cover your favourite indie RPG, sorry. But there has to be a "First step" outside of the D&D bubble, and each of these games should fulfill that need.

The Other "Kitchen Sink" Game: Pathfinder

If you can't bring yourself to keep playing the corporate game, but you still want something that offers as close to that gameplay experience as you can possibly get, your best bet at the time of this writing is probably Pathfinder 2nd Edition.

I say this as someone who very much did not vibe with the original Pathfinder, or its "D&D in space" sister product Starfinder. But at this point, I'd absolutely tell a newcomer to jump into Pathfinder 2E before I recommended they buy any WotC product.

To their credit, the 2nd Edition of Pathfinder does much more to, uh, find its own path by diverging from 3.5 edition and implementing new systems that take it into uncharted territory. The "Two Actions Per Turn" paradigm is often cited by its proponents as being a meaningful improvement over the 5E way of doing things.

The "TTJRPG": Fabula Ultima

One of the biggest success stories of the early 20's was Fabula Ultima from NEED Games in Italy. It came seemingly out of nowhere to win the ENnie Gold Award for Best Game of 2023. Since then it's become notoriously difficult to find in print, though it's still freely available as a PDF.

Fabula Ultima is a "TTJRPG," modelled after Japanese fantasy video games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, Breath of Fire, etc. While it's firmly planted in the Fantasy genre, its gameplay will also very recognizable to fans of those types of games.

The major benefit of this conceit is that you can probably already picture how combat in FabUlt works in your mind: Two rows of characters take turns jumping and slashing at each other, or casting magical spells to harm, heal, or apply status conditions. There's no concept of "Spacing," but the game still manages to be mechanically intricate with lots of varied class abilities and status effects to apply.

D&D refugees looking for a game where you simply pick a class and fight some monsters, but aren't too particular about how they do that, will find a lot to love here. FabUlt leans much more heavily on storytelling mechanics than D&D does, so players who've been looking for something a bit more "Theater of the Mind" should be well taken care of here.

Final Fantasy Lancer: ICON

Like Fabula Ultima, ICON is a TTRPG that takes heavy inspiration from JRPGs, specifically tactical games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. It's from Massif Press, who also authored the surprise indie Mech combat hit Lancer.

And like Lancer, ICON is a game with two very distinct rulesets: Outside of combat, a "Fiction-first" narrative system inspired heavily by Blades in the Dark; In combat, a grid-based tactical skirmish game reminiscent of D&D 4th Edition. All backed by the gorgeous art of its author Tom Parkinson-Morgan, who also writes and illustrates the comic Kill Six Billion Demons.

ICON separates its "narrative" class system from its combat class system, giving each character two distinct character sheets that come into play at different times. Because those two systems don't have to cross over very much, each can be as intricate or as rules-light as it needs to be to promote the type of gameplay most appropriate for the situation.

The Old-School Gateway Drug: Shadowdark

If you ever took a few steps outside of the walled garden that is D&D in the past few years, you will likely have read or heard of the OSR, or "Old-School Revival/Renaissance." Proponents of the OSR are players who yearn for an older style of Dungeon Crawling Survival Horror game that hearkens back to the early days of D&D, before the players became akin to superheroes.

Shadowdark aims to be a game that bridges the gap to that style of gameplay, without being totally unfamiliar to players who only ever learned 5th Edition mechanics. It's "Old-School gaming, modernized."

Aside from simply being a modern take on a D20 fantasy game, it freshens up gameplay using a mechanic called the "Torch Timer." It turns light into a resource that dwindles in real time. This serves to elevate the tension of the game as every minute that passes is one less minute of light on your torch. And when the torches run out, well... You can probably guess what happens next.

5th Edition with the Serial Numbers Filed Off: Tales of the Valiant

Tell me if you've heard this one before: Wizards of the Coast introduces sweeping changes to its "Open" license model, leading existing 3rd-party content creators to create their own version of an older ruleset to protect the viability of their backlog. It happened in the past, but what are the chances that happens a second time? Ha!

Well... It did happen again. This time, playing the role of the "Paizo" in this scenario is Kobold Press, who loudly declared that they were "Raising the Black Flag" in response. In order to ensure that there would always be a "Core Fantasy" ruleset that would remain compatible with their content, they announced Tales of the Valiant, which would essentially duplicate the 5th Edition ruleset with a bit of a spit shine, in much the same way that Pathfinder did for 3.5 Edition.

Tales of the Valiant will be the game for the D&D player who just wanted a rules refresh of 5th Edition, but also doesn't want to keep throwing money at the corporate hegemony. It should end up being "The 5E you can feel good about supporting," and that matters right now.

Matt Colville's Big Bet: The MCDM RPG

Kobold Press was not the only publisher of third-party D&D content to have a strong reaction to the OGL fiasco. Unlike Tales of the Valiant however, Matt Colville's response was to announce a fully new Fantasy RPG system, with no expectation of backwards compatibility with any edition of D&D.

MCDM's sights are firmly set on the "Post-Kitchen-Sink" future, and to that end their game is explicitly not trying to be the one game for every possible playstyle. It's Tactical, meaning you'll need a grid to play it on, and it's Heroic, meaning characters should feel powerful, and not like they're constantly one critical hit or failed trap-sensing check away from being decapitated.

This approach might seem like a massive risk considering how insanely powerful 5th Edition became at its peak. But a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign backed by over 30,000 people shows that there is at least an appetite for something new, and that there is a like-minded community of players ready and waiting to join you.

The Critical Role Game: Daggerheart

If the Kobold Press announcement was a shot across the bow, and the MCDM crowdfunder was a bomb dropped, then Daggerheart is a full-blown asteroid, streaking straight towards Wizards of the Coast HQ.

Daggerheart is an original Fantasy RPG from Darrington Press, the publishing arm of the Critical Role media company. That by itself should mean something considering how important CR is to the D&D brand, but there's more to talk about here. Though it superficially resembles D&D in a lot of ways, it has some extremely important differences. Namely, its use of "Powered by the Apocalypse" mechanics such as "Fail Forward" dice rolling and "No Initiative" combat.

While "PbtA" has become somewhat of a loaded term in the D&D community, Critical Role has an opportunity to overcome that stigma with the sheer force of their platform. I've made this case already in the past, but if they were to use their power to do for themselves what they did for 5th Edition, it would be the most significant threat to the Hasbro Hegemony to emerge since Pathfinder. Let alone taking just a slice, Daggerheart has the long-term potential to take the whole damn pie.

And more!

The games I've listed here are all theoretically capable of replacing the Corpo game as your "go-to" long-term game. Not all of them are fully playable as of this writing, but they all represent one possible future for the "Sword and Sorcery" RPG genre.

There are of course a whole plethora of other games out there beyond the limited scope of "Medieval Fantasy" that are just as valid and just as viable, if you're feeling a bit more adventurous.

If you're looking for something explicitly tactical like a miniature skirmish game, but still in the RPG genre, and you're willing to expand your choice of genre beyond Euro-centric Medieval Fantasy even further beyond ICON, you might be interested in Gubat Banwa or the aforementioned Lancer.

If you want a game that promotes a slightly more streamlined, less mechanically-intricate approach to combat while still giving you tons of monsters to kick the shit out of, you might want to check out the "Illuminated by LUMEN" family of games inspired by the games LIGHT and NOVA from Gila RPGs. It might even inspire you to write your own RPG!

If you're more interested in the Old-School Renaissance, you might want to check out Forbidden Lands, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Old-School Essentials, or MÖRK BORG.

If you like the idea of "Old-School Roleplaying" but are also willing to step outside of the fantasy genre into Sci-fi territory, you might be interested in Stars Without Number, its Cyberpunk sister product Cities Without Number, or Mothership.

Finally, if you just want a game that focuses on telling the best story rather than mindlessly killing monsters and acquiring loot, you might want to check out Blades in the Dark, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Girl by Moonlight, Coyote and Crow, and many more Fiction-First games in the Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark genres.

But most importantly: Just play more games! Don't just buy them, play them! The point of this whole exercise is to replace the monopoly with a plurality, for the sake of the health of the tabletop gaming industry.

Because the next time Hasbro lays off a bunch of WotC employees, there should be a much stronger, more diverse industry for them to land in feet-first. We should all want for the people who build the games we love to feel safe in their career choice. Not just for the sake of the ones who are already there, but for future prospective designers and artists who want to make their mark.

It should be viable to be a tabletop game designer outside of just making more D&D stuff forever, because as we've seen, it's not safe to assume that we can all just keep doing the same thing we've been doing and not get bit on the ass by it.

If we want that future, we have to take it into our own hands and build it ourselves. But if there's one group of people that knows about building something very big from very little, it's TTRPG players.

[godisasimp]

Firefly's true identity "theory"

But like there is so many signs pointing towards it I don't think it's a theory.

There's 1 singular picture that is a leak : so no story leaks - but spoilers for Penacony's 2.0 story and if you want to keep yourself as blind and go with what you want to keep the suspense i would advise you do not read this theory : it could ruin the upcoming reveal and make it less impactful for some.

1- Firefly is working with someone

A person that can make themselves invisible through memories, as if bending reality to keep their identity secret. We only of one person that can do something like this : SilverWolf, a Stellaron Hunter. But upon first arriving in Penacony's dreamscape, we see SilverWolf... But who is she with? Sam.

Also it is very in character for the Stellaron Hunters to work in the shadows ; they rarely play a major role in the stories we've seen so far. Even when they were the ones to initiate the story of The Xianzhou Luofu they weren't the main antagonist, they were in the background.

So them being in the shadows doing their thing? Yeah.

Also both Firefly and her companion are interested in the Watchmaker's "Legacy", which is most likely a Stellaron (see Bonus) so that mysterious companion being a Stellaron Hunter is highly likely.

2- Firefly mentions a "Mecha"

There isn't a lot of humanoid robots in Honkai Star Rail, let alone in Penacony, the "Silver Armor" also basically confirms that this is Sam they're talking about. Now why would Firefly of all people talk about Sam ?

She has no reason to know him and talk about him ; unless he was chasing her but Sam doesn't chase people. He is stated to be the most ruthless Stellaron Hunter : ''If you entered the room and turned on the lights Kafka and Blade would be waiting for you on the couch, Sam? He wouldn't even let you turn the lights on''

So if he was pursuing Firefly. She would have been dead the millisecond their eyes meet.

While talking about Sam's violence I'd like to point out that : He didn't acknowledge Trailblazer (only mentioning the Galaxy Hunter and Memokeeper) and allowed us to leave. Yes, the one who would kill in a fraction of a second, would have spared the Trailblazer. Maybe it's because of Elio's plan for the Trailblazer (we were given life by the Stellaron Hunters so it would be weird for them to kill us right after) or it could be because Firefly's consciousness (still unclear if Sam and Firefly are two identities for 1 person or 2 separate entities) stopping Sam due to her affection for Trailblazer.

3- The achievement

I have nothing to say except that it's weird that the achievement we get for fighting Sam is named "Old Friends, New Friends" why would it be named that? Sam isn't a friend to the Trailblazer, at this point in time he is an enemy.

4- Sam's design

First let's talk about his "wings"

Those aren't designed as random shapes, but specifically to look like fireflies wings.

Images as well as this "fact" are taken from TheRealPetraeus on Twitter

Also Sam's color scheme/palette is very close to Firefly's : mainly light gray/Silver with teal and brown accents and even the orange "scarf" Firefly has could represent Sam's fire

5- Clockie

Clockie can only be seen by childish/pure hearted people, but guess who can't see him? Firefly, despite her seemingly fitting the criteria perfectly.

-------

Bonus : Watchmaker's "Legacy"

It isn't said what this legacy is, but the presence of the Stellaron Hunters is a massive hint at the fact that a Stellaron is present in Penacony ; this and the fact that Penacony is encountering a crisis with the Dreamscape. And Firefly is after this "Legacy" ; which is both a hint at the true nature of the Watchmaker's "Legacy" and Firefly's true identity as a Stellaron Hunter.

[bottle-of-newts]

Heyo, small disclaimer here, this is a Star Rail lore/theory dump abt the Rating Pistol Curio with A LOT of spoilers. Most of them are from the Penacony storyline, but there might be a few major ones from the Xianzhou Loufu arc. Most of them are Penacony 2.1 and 2.2 tho so if you aren't there yet I do not suggest reading under the cut!!! Ty <33

Those of you interested, buckle up y'all, it's a long one.

Okay, so I was feeling a little silly while doing my daily quest on the space station and decided to rate (with the Rating Pistol curio) my main team, which consists of Acheron, Pela, Sampo and Luocha.

So you could imagine my surprise when it only gave me a number per usual for one character, that being Pela. (She was like a 98 or something)

Instead, for Acheron, Sampo, and Luocha, it gave me this:

The same message, everytime, no matter what I did. I can't say I was very surprised abt Acheron - I mean, she's an Emanator of Nihility. Of course she's probably gonna get a weird response. Who intrigued me the most, was Sampo. Why was he getting such a weird rating like Acheron and Luocha (who we know quite literally nothing abt from the game itself, only some theroies from past Honkai installments)? Was it because he's a Masked Fool?

Well lucky for me, I have Sparkle, so I decided to see if that was the case.

No dice, it gave me the standard response. The character's name, and a seemingly random number that, from what I can tell, never changes. I decided to try the Trailblazer next, thinking the Stellaron they carry might have some kind of influence on the score, but I got pretty much the same result. The name I gave, and a seemingly random number. (84, if you're curious to see if it's the same on all accounts.)

So, I decided to run down the roster of all the characters I own, and came up with 4 other different ratings among my 34 characters.

First hit was Huo Huo, likely the Pistol discerning her and Tail as two separate but very closely tied entities...or just digging on the poor girl because that's just Hoyo's favorite thing to do I guess.

Second hit was Clara - which makes sense considering it seems to have done something similar to HuoHuo and Tail. It read both Clara and Svarog. Who's score is who's however, I cannot tell. I wouldn't be surprised if Hoyo has a random number generator they use and just assign a character a number.

Third hit was Dan Heng's. This one wasn't really a surprise considering the whole Imbibitor Lunae thing. I wish I had Dan Heng - Imbibitor Lunae though, cause now I'm curious to see the rating it gives him, and if it's the same or not. If anyone has him and is willing please reblog or send me a ss of the response!! I'm super curious!!

The last hit though probably surprised me the most. I was expecting Tingyun, Misha, or maybe even Gallagher to have a hit of some kind, even if it wasn't as major as "Rating Invalid." Just something to indicate confusion at either Misha not even being real, or Tingyun being a puppet of Phantilya and likely not the real Tingyun (I'm coping shut up).

No no, instead my 4th hit was none other than -

March 7th.

This actually really shocked me at first. Why in the world is sweet March 7th getting a similar rating to an Emanator??? Of Nihility at that?? And then it hit me.

March 7th's companion quest.

The majority of the quest is March 7th and Fu Xuan using the Matrix of Prescience to search March's mind for her lost memories, trying to see if maybe they're simply blocked by trauma response or if they've been tampered with. They find out someone has indeed tampered with her memories after all, and it's not just some random bad guy either. It's the Garden of Recollection themselves. And they are insistent on March not digging any deeper into her memories, claiming it doesn't matter to her anymore, what matters is who she is as a person right now.

And considering the rating and who she shares that rating with - talk about suspicious. I don't think it has to do with her amnesia, while she does share memory problems with Acheron, there is nothing to indicate Sampo or Luocha suffer anything similar. Another thing is - the Rating Pistol never says any of their names, hinting that maybe that's another thing they share with Acheron - a fake name, or an alias...and if you know even a little about past Honkai lore like I do (and the stuff ik surrounds Welt) then you know that possibly implicates Luocha.

So what could this all mean?

I think it could mean a multitude of things. Considering we don't know exactly how the Rating Pistol's score works, it makes it difficult to know it's criteria, especially since I don't have quite a few characters that have a possibility to give us a better understanding. Characters like Blade, Jingliu, Imbibitor Lunae, two essentially undead powerhouses and the reincarnation of a former High Elder, or even Topaz and Aventurine, two of the Ten Stonehearts. (Again if anyone is willing to ss the Rating Pistol's response to any of these characters and reblog, please do!!! I'd love to hear your two cents on the matter too <33)

But what we can tell is it seems to recognize a certain level of power. Which only makes this more confusing - because if that's the case why is an intelligence officer like Pela getting a 98 for a score while Boothill, a Galaxy Ranger with a hefty bounty on his getting a 44?? But, putting aside the Curio for a second, let's look at what the 3 share in common along with Acheron.

Mystery. We know nothing about March prior to the Express, we know next to nothing about Luocha besides that he doesn't seem to be a fan of the Abundance and there is something or someone wicked weird in that coffin - and all we know for sure about Sampo is he's a Masked Fool. Otherwise, we don't know shit about the guy.

( There's a lot of theories the guy isn't even from Jarilo VI after Topaz's trailer, and I can't say I blame them. The whole Masked Fool reveal and him leaving his Mask at the Tavern isn't helpful either. Maybe Belobog was a place for him to lay low, not his homeworld. Either way, he's likely left the planet at some point.)

What I honestly think is that maybe the Emanator of Elation! Sampo theories may hold a little more merit than I thought. I can't say I support the theory for sure, but this along with Sparkle asking him if something bad is coming to Jarilo VI once he asks for his Mask back...certainly does hint at the fact man is quite a bit stronger than he acts. He is a Masked Fool, I suppose. Acting is kinda their schtick.

But that doesn't mean March 7th or Luocha are Emanators either - only that they definitely possess power - power likely close to an equal level with an Emanator, whether they know it or not. Besides, I struggle to think of any path Luocha could follow, unless he was somehow made an Emanator of Abundance against his will, and his hunt for the Aeon is so he can be free of being tied to the path. But March doesn't entirely show much evidence of being an Emanator. In fact there's nothing really specific that points to anything about her past identity.

All we know is she definitely holds more power than what she currently uses, and what kind of power that is exactly is something we'll have to wait and find out, unfortunately, just like we do with Sampo and Luocha.

Anyways, thank you for reading my longass rant, if you enjoyed it or have something to add please please PLEASE comment or reblog/tell me in the tags or SOMETHING, I love talking abt lore with other people and learning stuff abt some of my favorite stories <33

[project-sekai-facts]

What are your predictions for the lineups of the next event(s)? Cause at first we were thinking tsukasa5 lim but then VBS got it,and now we have the Toya mixed event with a Toya, Kanade, and An 4 stars as the event starting tomorrow , when a lot of people were expecting kamiyama2 with Mizuki, so now what do you think?

yeah sorry i didn't do an event prediction post this month. i already made predictions for a lim mixed event and my though process was "i'll read lead to shine more and then do a prediction post in the morning". and then it was the morning and mmj hakolim 4 existed. anyway.

the lim event for this month is. kinda hard to predict despite the lack of options. obviously we have to consider the 4th anniversary banner at this point in time, which has six rateups and takes a lot of options out for this month's event.

so i'll start with my 4th anniversary predictions

emu banner. unless she's august, it's her. it can't be rui or tsukasa, and she's gone longer without a lim than nene. while that doesn't really mean anything, the fact she's getting incredibly close to 4 years without a mixed event it makes sense and lines up pretty well for this to be emu mix 2

haruka 3*. the only mmj characters eligible for the banner are haruka and airi. ideal idol just happened and capped haruka at 7 lims and while airi isn't capped, haruka's gone longest in the game without a 3* card.

the rateups i'm less sure about. i think the vbs rateup will be toya, if only because he has less lims than an. niigo will most likely be ena. mizuki5 is likely gonna be either 1 or 2 events away from this so. yeah. leoneed i'm less sure about. there's a leoneed event in september definitely, but i'm not sure who it will be. i initially predicted ichika but considering something shiho said in leoneed wle i wouldn't be surprised if it was her. if it's a shiho event, saki's on 4th anni. if it's an ichika or honami event, shiho is on 4th anni (probably unless they make saki reward card AGAIN).

yeah so emu/toya/ena/saki or shiho 4* + haruka 3*

oh yeah rin is almost definitely fes that'll be explained in like 2 seconds (watch me be wrong)

anyway now that that's out the way

rui basically controls everything here. he has to get a lim this month or he's fes. unless clpl decides to keep him waiting even longer than the gap between kanade fes 1 and spojoy. i've seen some spec over rui/honami/mafuyu but imo...nah. actually this is less for it being darkfes again and more for the mafuyu/rui kizuna that just dropped.

not sure how many people have picked up on this, but the game tends to hold off on giving kizuna until they're "done" with a pair. it explains why groups like the rainbow canvas trio got kizuna immediately but groups like thrilling white day trio took ages to get kizuna. the latter 3 attend the same school and interact quite a lot, so they held off so they had more fleshed out dynamics to pick title names from, but ena doesn't really have a huge window of opportunity for further interaction with emu and honami, so they're about as fleshed out as those dynamics will get after one event.

obviously the stories are only written so far ahead, so things do change, like shizuku and tsukasa interacting again in pandemonium ages after their kizuna title released (though their titles probably would be the same had the kizuna released later). this would also explain the delay on emu + bad dogs kizuna and the mafuyu/rui one, maybe they planned something more but the opportunity never came so they gave in. like seriously if mafuyu and rui are gonna have an event together soon why would they add their kizuna just before it? like maybe hypothetical honami/mafuyu/rui event provides nothing for their dynamic but i dunno it feels like an odd choice.

ANYWAY maybe i'm wrong. for some other possible lineups, there's ichika/honami/rui who all have some level of interest in gardening, ichika/nene who aren't on first-name basis even after that one 4koma where they accidentally slipped up, mafuyu and nene have no proper interactions yet so that's an interesting dynamic you could explore, or you could do an an/ichika broadcasting club event (this is the least likely option). i mean maybe they will just eliminate almost everyone who's still on 5 lims in one fair sweep by doing honami/rui/mafuyu august event into saki/toya/emu/ena anni + honami/rin fes, but seriously when has the game been that nice with distribution meta, especially with whatever is going on right now.

oh yeah for normal september events it'll be leoneed and niigo. saki basically has to be rateup whatever way you do it. maybe ichika/saki/honami or ichika/saki/vsinger. mizuki5 is where things get interesting because although people have speculated mizuki/ena/meiko, there's the possibility of this backing onto the anniversary event where one of them has to be limited. you could always do n25->ln->anniv tho and that solves the problem. or mizuki5 could be mizuki/mafuyu/meiko if the game decides it hates the concept of plot relevant 4*s.

i think i've contradicted myself like 5 times now. here's a rough mockup of some of my thoughts (ignore where it says EN name i just write my notes in the ensekai column)

[thisapplepielife]

Written for a @astrangersummer.

Imagine the Stars

Week #5 Prompt: Constellations | Word Count: 680 | Rating: T | POV: Max | Pairings: None | Characters: Max | CW: Canon Injuries, Recovering After Vecna | Tags: Post S4, Max Thinking About the Stars, A Bit Melancholy, But No Infinite Sadness

Max sprawls in the grass, and closes her eyes. Not that it matters. Dark is dark. It just feels less overwhelming when her eyes are closed. Like things are still the same, even if they really aren't. Not at all. 

It's all just noise at his point: the doctors, the specialists, all saying that she might get her sight back, or at least some of it. But they don't seem sure, are only guessing, she knows that, and she's not betting on anything right now. 

Because they don't know, can't know, how it actually happened. So, finding a treatment might be impossible. It's probably pretty damn hard to fix magical wounds by mortal means.

But it's fine. Whatever. It kind of has to be, since she doesn't really have a say in the matter. She's gotten used to it. The sunglasses and the cane. The constant babying by all her friends. Steve Harrington hovering, mothering, worse than ever before. 

She's not alone. Almost never is. But she sure feels isolated a lot of the time.

Lucas reads to her, but it's not the same. She wants to hold the book in her own hands, let her eyes skim across the text, taking in, or ignoring, as much as her brain is in the mood for at the moment.

El paints her nails, but Max can't see the shock of color, so does it even matter? She gets no joy out of it, not really, but she thinks El does, so she lets her continue. Because it hurts nothing.

They're all laughing off in the distance right now, and she can pick out all of their voices, imagining them just as they were the last time she'd seen them all.

The last time she'd seen anything at all.

She needs to think about something else. Something more manageable. 

The grass. The grass under her is soft and almost cool, and she stretches her arms out, grasping two fistfuls of earth, squeezing. And she feels grounded. Centered, once again.

It's daylight. Mid-afternoon, with the sun beating down overhead. But to her, it could be night. The sky could be the clearest blue, or the darkest red. 

She believes it to be the bluest of blues, these days.

But in her own private cover of darkness, she can also picture the night sky. The same inky, dark blue-black sky that her dad used to point out the constellations in, looking overhead, when she was a little girl. Him, giving their names, their shapes, tracing the paths in which she was supposed to be able to see them. 

Max would look, would study the stars, and while she could find the Big Dipper, that was about it. Could see the double stars that make up the second point in the handle. Could trace the outline of the whole constellation with her finger.

But more often than not for the others, though, she'd just pretend to see what he so easily could. Her dad knew them all, and always told her she'd be able to see them too, when she was older. Now she's older, and she most definitely can't. 

And she may never be able to, not now.

So, she does the next best thing. She pictures the handle of the Big Dipper, counting the stars until in her mind's eye she can see little lines tracing around the stars, stitching them together into something bigger. Something different. All the parts connecting themselves together, making up a bigger whole. 

She did that, too, she knows. In that attic. She sealed her own fate for the greater good. 

And she'd do it again, even if she wouldn't be happy about it. 

They killed Vecna. Not immediately. Not until after there were victims, and damages that may never be undone.

But they're free of that terror, now. Hawkins, and hopefully, the whole goddamn world. 

The world is blue, not red.

And because her friends finished what they started, it's safe for her to lay in the grass, soaking up the sun, while she imagines the stars.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @astrangersummer and follow along with the fun! 🌌

[fandom-shitposter]

Corporate entities hate fanmade works and would love nothing more than to get them shut down entirely

They hate that there are people out there using their characters and their settings and having fun with them without having to pay them for the priviledge

But as long as fans aren't making money out of their IP they can currently get away with it. But we've recently seen a crackdown on people selling t-shirt designs, stickers, etc which violate this

So what can they do to try to firm up the laws on this, to get them to fall more in their favour?

Would writing their own fanfic and turning it into a show that they're making lots of money from be enough to do that, for them to sell merchandise and profit from someone else's IP without asking or paying for the use of it?

For it to maybe go to court for a very public fight over who can do what with a property they're a fan of?

Because that could well be what Disney is currently up to with their Star Wars shows

Not just making a few references to other movies or tv shows, but taking entire plotlines, blurring the edges of them, and dropping them right into their own shows

Want an example even if it risks containing show spoilers? of course you do!

Back in Season 7 of The Clone Wars (On the Wings of Keeradaks) we have a scene where Tech uses a recording of the flying lizards they encounted earlier to call them to their position and fly them out of danger

Just like Gandalf summons the eagles to come and rescue his party from the attack from Azog and his team of orcs and wargs, right down to the way some party members are left dangling over a huge drop off the mountainside

Later, in The Bad Batch (Reunion, S1), Hunter has been shot in the chest and Tech gets him up, gets him to safety, and (offscreen) medical aid is provided

Which is extremely close to that same rescue scene in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, only the part of it where Gandalf gets Thorin up and out of danger, with the assistance of the eagles, after he's been severly mauled by a warg, and then rendering medical assistance to him

Tech goes on to have a big fall (Plan 99, Bad Batch, S2), right off the end of a great big crumbling bridge. Sound familiar to any LotR fans?

And in a different episode (The Crossing, Bad Batch, S2) Tech is seen falling and landing in a similarly super familiar looking cave

Which repeats parts of the two separate scenes of Gandalf falling and 'dying' ('The Fellowship of the Ring' for the fall, and 'The Two Towers' for the cave scene) which all the characters get really sad about - until he gets better and comes back. Which has yet to be seen in Tech's case. (How Tech will be able to come back from his fall despite not being a wizard is explained via his character specific movie source they've made repeated use of, but since that's still hugely spoilery I'm not getting into that here)

And this is only a couple of examples of one tiny instance where this is happening, the show is filled with them and it applies to all the main characters not just Techdalf

'Entombed' (The Bad Batch, S2) hits The Hobbit up HARD for it's plot and not only gives us the Arkenstone but oblong, which it directly names as The Heart of the Mountain, which is found and then lost again, but dredges up a fire breathing dragon equivalent. Add in some additional Alien themeing and a lizardy creature that can be shot in the chest with a laser arrow before being tossed out of a window in full on 'OMG it's Ripley with the airlock' style and they're really cramming it in there. They end with a reference to an opportunity to find a golden chalice, which is what Bilbo took from Samug's hoarde as proof that he'd found it But people have been easily sidelined from thinking about any of this too hard by them throwing in a handful of surface references to Indiana Jones, the potential of a love interest being developed, and the 'dragon' being a creature previously seen in the Jedi: Fallen Order video game

And don't even get me started on how Senator Avi Singh appears to live in Dale (Common Ground, Bad Batch, S1), Roland and Isa Durand apparently live in Rohan (Paths Unknown, Bad Batch, S3) or Dr Hemlock and his former base at Dol Guldur (Paths Unknown, The Bad Batch, S3) and what that implies for the remainder of the show

They've blended together a lot of canon prequel & clone wars era Star Wars content with a range of supplementary non-canon SW content such a comic books, video games, Legends novels, etc which maintains the idea that this show is nothing more than Star Wars and keeps a lot of long term fans happy and distracted by seeing non-canon things finally appearing in a canon setting, even if they have changed some of the details

But so many concepts and images have been lifted barely altered from their original sources, not just from Tolkein's works, and just slapped down like we're not supposed to notice how much of it there actually is because they've made the animation and lighting so very very pretty

[oh-my-damn]

Hi mod! Because you are one of the most level headed people here and your opinions are always well thoughtful, what is your take on what is going in now (in real time as we can see) ? I was skeptical but all this follows and stories and pics .. i dont know anymore.. its hard for Me to think that He would marry her with the points of view she and her besties have … (its about CE btw)

Welp I'm not gonna lie, it's all looking very, very strange

However, I do think there is a real possibility they are going for the Tom Brady celebration and that Chris is throwing a bash afterwards. I see it like this: Chris has a very, very parasocial relationship to Tom Brady (much like we do to him) and has always been super super invested and crazy about him (even to the point where he was ASKED about how he felt about Tom being a Trump supporter in a fucking interview. And Chris was disappointed but still loved him. It's absolutely a parasocial relationship)

Considering the many, many parties he throws in general for random reasons, I find it very very probable that he would throw a bash at his house after the game today, where Tom Brady will be present for the first time as a spectator, and they have said in articles it's going to be "a huge celebration of Tom Brady."

Now, why would some of his co-stars be there? Even the ones who aren't super football enthusiasts? (Renner is easy, he's gone to games with Chris before, but RDJ and Hemmy is more strange)

I honestly think they saw it as a chance of press and a reunion. They've all said before how hard it is for them to get together now. They're all on break from working which means none of them have any other engagements to keep them away. They also have no other ways of getting press in the media, other than feeding articles etc. Going to the game, getting photographed etc is a great way to get some press during this off time. And then afterwards a party with their old pals as a reunion, perhaps even staying in Boston for a few days to hang out etc, since no one is working currently. I don't find it far-fetched that Hemmy and RDJ would go for that, considering how close they all were/are.

Hemmy bringing his mom is also curious to me - we didn't see his wife, but his mom. Interesting.

As for the vendor/MUA/hairstylist thing; one of them posted the story WITH A GOAT which was cut out when it was shared on here (🙄 for obvious reasons. Certain blogs on here are trolls and legit just looking to rile you up, please stop believing them) and others are coming because I do believe it's going to be a big, big event. I do believe there will be a lot of celebs showing up, like Wimbledon, in order to get some press and attention. They can't promote their works so this is a great way to get their names out there.

I also think it would be odd if the OG's would come now, to the game (if thats the case) when the "wedding" was supposed to happen soon. Why would they go like two weeks before only to go back home and then come back? That's weird. Unless they actually got married already this weekend, in which case the whole MUA/vendors/hairstylist thing makes no sense. It also doesn't make sense they would go so soon or late to the wedding, depending on when you think it would be. Do we honestly think he's throwing a massive 500 people wedding on a week day?? (lets put aside that if thats the case then he's clearly not the person he's put himself up to be because no "grounded down to earth" person would throw a massive wedding spanning over several days like that)

I don't know man. The entire thing is weird.

Not to mention this is all coming right after we found out he in fact DID NOT go on the Bermuda trip and the proof has been out there all along. And yet "sources" came and said they had seen them there. Even if these sources were remotely close to him, how would they not know of the picture posted of him on that private account that went publicly for a VERY short time yesterday (just enough for the fandom to find that post)

It's all fucking weird.

Technically, we haven't seen them within the same vicinity since the Ghosted premiere. They haven't spoken on it or posted anything, either, other than her picture of Dodger which was during the winter.

It's odd all around. I have no idea what to make of it.

But if he does marry her or already did bla bla bla, it says a lot about him. Not just because she's a racist who associates with racists, but also because of how young she looks. It says a lot about him if he's not just attracted to her but chose to marry her.

If they did, I give it 5 years. Tops. Once she's served her breeding bunny purpose it'll fall apart.

[nightcityace]

[ SUBJECT INTERVIEW: SUNNY ]

[NICKNAME:]

Sunny: I guess technically Sunny was a nickname before it became official, but I've also been called Sunshine, Sunbeam, Ray of Sunshine… you can probably see the pattern. Interviewer: And what is your real name? Sunny: Sunny is my real name. Just because it might not be the first name I had doesn't mean it's not my real name.

[GENDER:]

None for me, thanks.

[STAR SIGN:]

Misty says I’m an Aquarius. I guess I never really put much thought into any of that, but she really enjoys it so that makes it fun for me too.

[HEIGHT:]

5’ 9”, but some of my boots make me a little taller. No platforms or anything though, I wouldn't be able to walk to save my life.

[ORIENTATION:]

Only interested in men, but I guess I don't really try to define myself often. Just queer in general is probably the best term I suppose.

[NATIONALITY / ETHNICITY:]

That's another one I never really think too much about. A lot of people tend to think my family are Nomads, but we’ve been here since before Night City was Night City. My… (counts on fingers) great-great-great grandparents actually bought our property back when California was still one state, so we’re about as local as you get. Before that I think someone came from New York and before that I don’t really know, all over Europe I think.

[FAVE FRUIT:]

Strawberries, not like synthetic ones or those over priced cloned ones, real strawberries. We managed to get a little section of them growing at home and nothing can compare. 

[FAVE SEASON:]

Probably spring. I love getting to watch everything sprout and bloom, even out in the desert. 

[FAVE FLOWER:]

Sunny: People usually expect me to say something cliche like sunflowers, but I genuinely love dandelions. Especially when they grow up out of cracks in pavement or sidewalks. It's proof there's still nature in the city, even when they try to hide it under all the concrete. They’re stubborn little flowers and they're perfect. Interviewer: Aren't dandelions weeds? Sunny: Only because someone wanted to sell people on the idea of a perfectly sterilized, useless, solid patch of grass which completely destroyed the biodiversity of most yards. They’re yellow, they're cute, I like them. Interviewer: Got it…

[FAVE SCENT:]

This is a hard one to describe, but do you know how sometimes you can kind of smell outside? Not like… exhaust and garbage obviously… but there's a certain smell that gets in your hair and clothes when you've been out in the wind and sun and you can just tell that's what it is.

[COFFEE, TEA, HOT CHOCOLATE:]

Yes please, all of it.

[AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP:]

Probably about 6 or 7 normally. I tend to wake up early after having to for most of my life, but I love going back to bed. I'll usually wake up about sunrise or earlier and go have a cup of coffee and check my plants to see if they need water and if Vik isn't up yet I'll scooch back under the covers and go right back to sleep for a few more hours. Plus naps, naps are great.

[DOG OR CAT PERSON:]

Chickens. Okay okay, I know obviously I can't have them in the city, but the farm is well outside the avian exclusion zone. Seriously, they're adorable. (Pulls out phone to show no less than 300 different pictures of chicks and chickens)

[DREAM TRIP:]

Honestly I don't know. I like being close to my family and being in NC, so I don't think I'd want to go anywhere long. I have some Nomad friends though so a trip with them might be fun, maybe somewhere with actual mountains since I really like climbing around the canyons and stuff we have out in the Badlands. 

[FAVE FICTIONAL CHARACTER:]

Hmmm… I'm gonna go with Bugs Bunny. Both extremely cute and extremely chaotic, I respect that.

[NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH:]

I usually start with one or two, but I tend to run warm so by the time I wake up it's not uncommon for them all to be kicked down to the end of the bed or piled up on Vik’s side.

[RANDOM FACT:]

Sunny: About me or just like… a fact I like? Hm, how about: it's surprisingly easy to get a wild coyote into the front seat of a locked car. You wouldn't think so, but getting it out is actually much harder. Interviewer: Okay... That's slightly troubling... how about a fact about you? Sunny: I know how to get a wild coyote into the front seat of a locked car. 

This was so fun to do!! Thank you @dreamskug for tagging me!

I have a few other tag things I still need to do with Sunny, I swear I havent actually forgotten, I just have terrible time management... >.>

EDIT: oh dang I forgot to tag people D: I think most of my cp friends have been tagged already so I'll toss it to @wraithsoutlaws bc I want someone to have the audacity to interview Dagger :P

[liviavanrouge]

Livia Trivia(Updated)

-Livia is stated to have a case of chromesthesia, which was first revealed in the Halloween event after Livia screamed at someone for "messing up the colors" and was further elaborated on by Lilia in Tamashi-Mina

-Livia might have ADHD, as Malleus states she has a hard time paying attention in class, sitting still, fidgeting whenever she's been forced to sit down and even having random hyperactivity moments which terrified Sebek. It's further elaborated on by Silver when he comments that he had to go pick Livia up from class after she suddenly started causing trouble and having a problem paying attention.

-Leona comments that Livia is the least dangerous student when she's not upset

-She has a habit of saying "Tututu~" whenever something interests her, she's happy or she's visiting those she's close with

-There are rope burns hidden underneath Livia's hair

-Livia shrieks when she's angry as shown in Ch 2 after she found out Ruggie tricked her and was the one who used her to injure Malleus knowing he'd come rescue her

-Sodas are like catnip to Livia so she's been banned from them by Lilia and Malleus

-Sebek fondly comments that Livia and Malleus have a weekend schedule they go through if Livia is not busy with friends

-Livia is the only first year to have had two different Unique Magic

-Livia has bioluminescent stripes that can make her go invisible if she so wishes but she mainly uses her stripes as a nightlight for her friends

-Livia can turn her aura/emotion sensing off but her emotions will end up showing on her hair in different colors due to that

-Livia has a habit of clasping her hands together whenever she says hooray no matter if it's genuine or not

-She absolutely hates ladybugs, says they're small and ugly and they don't bring good luck whatsoever

-Livia has been revealed to talk in an unusual way sometimes, Lilia says that she inherited it from her grandmother on Thea's side who Livia has yet to meet

-It's been stated by Silver and Golden that Livia throws her wings up instead of her arms whenever she's done with someone crap or shes angry, sometimes when she's irritated/annoyed

-The color of happiness and pride doesn't often appear on Livia's hair, as commented by Rook, Ruggie and Professor Trein

-Livia uses her wings to express body languages, like shrugs, beckons to come over, shooing someone away, etc

-Livia is stated to be based off of Maleficents thorns but is also hinted to have a bit if Disney princess in her character

-Her childhood friend/pen pals are Kalim and Azul, being the one who brought them together as childhood friends before Azul meets Jade and Floyd

-According to Rollo, Livia eats lots and lots of fruit rarely ever eating meat revealing that she's mostly vegan

-According to Silver, Livia is bad at cutting her hair so he, Golden or their mother take over that job

-Livia knows kickboxing and is a master at it but she tends to be too childish to remember to use it or she uses taekwondo more due to knowing more moves

-Like Silver, Livia attracts animals of all sizes and species, and they tend to be her source of protection/comfort if others aren't around

-According to Crowley, Livia might be part of Twisted Wonderland due to her thorn control power

-Livia has deadly allergies to Honey Lemon Tea, the reason why is currently unknown

-Livia is by far the only character who gets included in almost all the events, getting many cards but is the hardest to summon

-Other students have commented that she makes Lilia's expressions perfectly and that she could be his kid or sibling

-According to Lilia, he gave Livia her name because he knew others would be envious of how cherished she was by her loved ones

-Livia has Light Fae blood inside of her thanks to her mother, Thea, cause her mothers father was a light Fae

-Livia is the first and only student to get her Unique Magic during an Event(Star Gazer)

-Rook is Livia's mentor, and taught her how to hunt better

-It's been stated by Malleus that Livia tends to overstep her boundaries due to the fact that he doted on her a lot, back at their home, so he invaded her space at times

-Lilia helped Livia trick Sebek Zigvolt cause he barely had any candy, which caused the loudest scream ever to come from poor Sebek

-Due to having Light Fae blood, Livia has emotion sensing powers

@yukii0nna @writing-heiress @zexal-club @marrondrawsalot @abyssthing198 @teddymochi @pekoetiikapu @queenoframshackle

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Grand-Dark Kit: Blackice

Nicknames: Blackkit

Gender: she-cat

Sexuality: pansexual, demiromantic

Family: ?? ?? (TBA)

Other Relations: ?? (TBA)

Clan: N/A

Rank: none

Current Residence: Place of No stars

Health Complications: N/A

Dark Benefits: N/A

Characteristics: lures living kits and apprentices into the Dark Forest and treats them like family until they earn their warrior names, then kills them

Number of Victims: 8+

Number of Murders: 8+

Murder Method: drowning, suffocating, slashing

Known Victims: unnamed living cats

Victim Profile: kits and apprentices of the living Clans

Extra:

When most cats think of evil, they think of the original Dark Forest residences, the ones who had lived but who had committed such horrific atrocities that they were denied an afterlife in the Starry fields.

They simply don't think of the innocent Dark Kits born into a rotten forest by no fault of their own, the kits who had no chance to prove themselves worthy of a lush paradise.

No one batted an eye when Blackice became awestruck with stories of Dream-walking.

Why wouldn't she? It was an interesting topic. Dead cats walking in the dreams of the living, able to speak with them, touch them, hurt them? The idea had many Dark Kits lost for words.

Blackice didn't ask how it was done, at least, she didn't pry. So no one thought that she had planned to use it for herself.

She was smart. She pushed herself until she figured out how to do it on her own.

Then the horrors began.

She lured the young ones in.

But she didn't kill them. No, she played with them! She taught them hunting moves and fighting moves too advanced for their current training, and she would tell them stories and lick them clean.

She would treat them as close as kin with flesh and blood twins to her own.

And none of it mattered.

They earned their full names, and they became free game. She sometimes waited as soon as their silent vigil, sometimes waited moons after they became warriors. But all her little friends, who trusted her like another mentor, an older sister, or even a second parent, would perish by her claws.

Any cat who knew of her deeds speculated on why she waited to harm them. Did she not want to hurt the young? Or did she wish to avoid consequences for such a thing?

She played with the methods. Slice them, split them, drown them, suffocate them, whatever her heart desired.

It was easy to think that she never cared for these cats to begin with, that they were always going to die. But if and when cats saw the way she acted with them prior to her hunts, they would double-guess themselves. She would act so kind and loving, as if she truly and genuinely cared for her future victims.

It is hard to decide which is more horrific. That she genuinely loved her victims like good friends or even family and loved torturing them just as much, or that she could trick even seasoned Dark Forest warriors into thinking she cared about them at all, when all the while not a drop of affection ever embraced her.

Additional Information:

--I thought it would be fun to make an evil Dark Kit that isn't already attached to an evil family!

Yes, her name is kinda cheesy. I was thinking "something dark and something light, like her pelt." and then I saw the word 'black ice' and thought yeah that's good.

--I left her family open in case anyone wanted to have their Dark Kits as her parents. Reminder that "Grand Dark Kits" aren't just the kits of the first Dark Kits, but any generation that comes after (so a great-great-great-great Grand Dark Kit would still just be a Grand Dark Kit).

--We know that they aren't technically dead, but they don't, so they're gonna be called "dead cats."

--The top part is a mix of a resident profile and Dark Kit profile on refs.

--Base: Warrior Cat OC base by VanyCat on DeviantArt

[slashyrogue]

Spacedogs AU: The Cat’s Fancy

Adam doesn't know why he goes to the park that night.

It's cloudy, there's little visibility, and yet he finds himself heading outside.

His breakup still stings from just a few weeks prior, and while he's sometimes lonely Adam doesn't try to talk to strangers much anymore. Beth's rejection made him think he's better off alone, and when he spots people in the park he avoids them heading as far back as he can possibly get hoping for just a glimpse of the stars outside.

But when he hears a hiss coming from the bushes behind him he freezes.

Everyone knows shifters aren't prone to attacking humans, mostly other shifters, but he's still never met one and the sound is far too loud to be just a normal sized cat. He gets up from the bench, hand in his pocket to grab the taser he always carries, and is about to leave when he hears a whimper.

And he sees a clawed hand sticking out as if trying to reach someone.

Adam takes a deep breath and goes down on his knees, pushing back the leaves to see a man deeply injured curled up in the bushes.

"Oh!" he says, reaching to grab the man's arm, "Are you alright?"

He pulls, barely able to get the man out halfway, and lets go when he realizes he's right.

It's a shifter.

The injury must've made him stop mid-shift, his body half cat but still very human, and the blood all over him makes Adam's chest hurt.

"Are...do you need an ambulance? I'll call..."

The shifter grabs his arm, digging his nails in, and Adam whimpers turning back to look at him.

"No...no...cops..."

"But...you're hurt and...you're hurting me!" he yells, pushing him back hard.

The shifter crawls closer, and his ripped clothes make him shiver.

"I just...I need to...get home."

"I have to call the ambulance," Adam repeats, tears in his eyes as he looks at the claw on his arm, "I...I..."

The cat shifter growls, trying to shift again, and Adam pulls out his phone to dial 911.

"Hello? Hello, I've found an injured cat shifter in Woods Park. He's right near the cluster of elms at the back and he's bleeding and...aggressive."

"No cops, no..."

Adam watches the shifter pass out, going limp, and sits down on the grass beside him. He's surprised when the shifter comes closer, nuzzling his arm, and it feels wrong to be excited at the attention but he is.

He pets the shifter's head as a loud purr reaches his ears.

"They're gonna take care of you," he says, "I...I'll stay till they come, ok? They'll take care of you."

The ambulance doesn't arrive for almost twenty minutes, and the shifter gets so aggressive that Adam ends up coming along since him just being close calms the shifter down.

The shifter who, according to the ID in his pocket, is named Nigel Ibanescu.

Nigel ends up having many injuries that didn't heal because of the bush he'd been hiding in.

"Cats are allergic to hosta plants," the doctor says, as Adam sits beside Nigel, "It was...a fluke I suppose. Any longer entangled in that he might not have made it out. You saved his life."

They give Nigel some antibiotics, and after a few hours Adam can see the wounds healing rapidly which makes him look much more normal - though his brown cat ears are prominent on top of his head. Nigel hasn't let go of him the entire time, purring so loudly Adam is sure he'll hear it in his dreams, but he knows he has to go.

"You'll be ok," he says, "I have to get home and...I...I don't like it here. You'll be ok, Nigel."

Nigel makes a sound when Adam pulls himself away, and it's harder than he expects to leave but he does, getting home so late he passes out cold. Adam is grateful that he's off the next morning, even if he feels anxious about how much he missed the day before.

And he can't stop thinking about Nigel.

Was he ok?

Who hurt him?

Adam is in the middle of breakfast when he gets his answer.

The knock at his door has him confused and when he peeks out he stares wide eyed at who's on the other side.

"Nigel."

Adam doesn't know why he opens the door.

Curiosity?

Worry?

But as soon as he does Nigel pulls him into his arms, and the sound of his purring has Adam confused.

"Mine."

The word gives Adam pause.

"What?"

Nigel pulls back, his almost yellow eyes nearly glowing in the sunlight, and his smile makes Adam's heart beat faster.

"You're mine," he says, breathing in deep, "All mine, Darling. You..."

Adam pushes him off, shaking his head. "I don't know you, I...I don't...I'm not anyone's."

"Adam..."

He hurries back into his apartment, locking the door fast, and his heart is beating wildly as he looks out to see Nigel still there with his ears down as he glares. 

"I know you're there, Adam," he says, nearly hissing, "I can hear your heart beating. You saved me last night, Darling, and I followed your scent all the way here. You might not understand, but....I'm not going anywhere."

Nigel leaves, at least from Adam's view, and he turns to put his hand over the scratch mark on his arm.

What did Nigel mean Adam was his?

And why, despite how scared Adam felt, did he want to see him again?

[wordsandrobots]

Another episode fansubbed by @trafalgarlog! We're back to Wiz and co for this outing, as Londo Bron closes in, certain heartfelt realisations are arrived at, and Lord Okina's hiring decisions are as plot-relevant as they are ill-advised.

Hajiroboshi  (Part 1, Part 2)

Departure (Part 1, Part 2)

598 (Part 1, Part 2)

Corridor of Betrayal (Part 1, Part 2)

Holder of the Ring (Part 1, Part 2)  

Unexpected Encounter (Part 1, Part 2)

Venus’ Worth (Part 1, Part 2)

Brothers’ Ship (Part 1, Part 2)

Horn and Flower’s Shadow (Part 1, Part 2)

Family Bonds (Part 1, Part 2)

Jumping straight into the action, we find Wistario and Range engaged in battle with a bunch of Gildas. No, it's not the Zan Clan come to make trouble again but rather a mercenary group hired by the Issue Family for the express purpose of tracking Katya down.

Our heroes are able to prevail, of course, however it's rapidly becoming clear that the Issues are pulling out all the stops to get their hands on a potential heir. There's no way to continue the Urdr Hunt under these conditions and the gang is running out of hiding spots. Plus, with their comms most likely being intercepted, they can't even call on their allies for help.

Sinister and Dexter have found another option for lying low: a colony nearby that has been 'undergoing refurbishment' for many decades now. It's basically abandoned and might work as a place to retreat to.

Since they've no way of telling if it really is safe, Range floats an alternative idea: what about taking advantage of the Issues needing Katya? If she was installed as head of the family, they (the Afam gang) could use the power of a Gjallarhorn Seven Star house to get what they want. They could buy Radonitsa without bother with the rest of the Hunt!

Katya point-blank refuses. She'd never take the name of those who abandoned her mother. Her mum only told her about the Issues at all after falling ill -- apparently to protect them as much as Katya. Even after being cast out, she wanted to safeguard the family's name, and even if it's selfish, it seems Katya can't stand the idea of having dealings with people who'd turn their backs on someone so loyal.

Wistario is on her side all the way. They're heading to the abandoned colony and that's final. He even rounds angrily on Range when the older man tries to press the matter. They aren't losing anyone! Wistario decides what happens on this ship and anyone who can't follow orders should get off the bridge!

In a rare (and more effective for it) contradiction of his young charge, Demner tells Wiz he shouldn't talk like that. A captain is not a dictator. Visibly distressed, Wistario agrees he's right, but can't bring himself to change his mind. They are going to keep trying to hide Katya.

Anyway, smash-cut to McGillis ruminating about blood. No, we've not crossed wires with a vampire!AU; he's thinking about how people can be raised in completely different circumstances and yet be fundamentally connected. Out loud, in his office on Glaðsheimr One.

Isurugi -- back to his normal job as 'guy who puts up with this kind of thing on the regular' -- correctly deduces Macky means Katya. Apparently there was something in the girl's eyes that reminded McGillis of Carta, though Isurugi is more concerned with whether it's a good idea to let her roam around free with Wistario.

McGillis states there will be a Seven Stars meeting in two months' time, at which he believes Okina Uroka plans to reveal the new heir to the Issue Family. If they can thwart that, the Fareeds will be able to fold the Issues into their own family and thus gain more power. (Possibly this option is opened up by Iznario being Carta's guardian? It's not made clear how McGillis intends to go about taking over the Issues' remaining assets.)

With this in mind, the situation regarding Wistario and Katya is perfect for wasting Uroka's remaining time.

Ever the voice of the thumpingly obvious, Isurugi posits that Uroka will do everything in his power to get Katya bad. But the General isn't perturbed. He already took steps to ensure Londo Bron's unbending sense of justice will get in the way of that...

Note here -- it's not clear if the meeting referred to here and throughout the episode is *the* meeting we see taking place at the start of Season 2. That could be the intention, I think, given the Urdr Hunt has been eating through the months like nobody's business. We might indeed be nearing the start of PD 325 at this point. But it's not confirmed yet.

Aboard the Issue Family Skipjack-class command ship, the other side of this game of five-dimensional chess is receiving a list of 'potential replacements', including civilians they can call on immediately and those belonging to other organisations. Okina Uroka is short with the officer who brought it in (I think this is the first time we've had a female Gajallarhorn grunt on screen in IBO?): just pick one. They need to have everything ready by the time Katya has been captured.

It's at this point that Londo Bron marches in, in all his statuesque glory. He should be out leading the hunt for Katya, but he's returned on account of an anonymous message informing him that Lord Okina is forming a unit of pirates, mafia and other unsavory types.

And like, number one, real subtle, Macky. But number two, Okina's reaction is basically 'yes and . . . ?'

Bron is incensed. Recruiting criminals would bring shame on the Issues' name! Entirely unmoved, Okina reminds him the Outer Earth Regulatory Joint Fleet was destroyed by Tekkadan. They've lost most of the Issue Family' top officers. Therefore, they need to replenish their strength however they can.

(I find this a bit peculiar if I'm honest: Tekkadan's fight with Carta's fleet was largely restricted to mobile suit combat. None of the Halfbeaks were sunk and even Akihiro putting a few shells through an aircraft carrier didn't appear to lead to any high-ranking fatalities. Surely Carta's elite guard don't account for the entire crop of promising soldiers? Or is it simply a matter of loyalty? Perhaps Tekkadan managed to shank everybody personally loyal to the Issues and the rest have jumped over to McGillis' side already?)

Pride hurt, Bron insists his troops have been training extremely hard to pick up the slack. Is that not enough?

Okina states that once they have Katya, they need to hold a massive ceremony to inaugurate her. It must be glorious, broadcast far and wide. In effect, it would appear this shady unit is intended to make up the numbers, showing the Issues are still strong.

Bron questions moving ahead with such reorganisation without regard for Katya's input as the new family head. A single mistake could lead to the Issues being . . . the sub is 'privatised', which in context I assume refers to what McGillis was talking about earlier? If the Issues screw up, their holdings will be taken over by another family. Okina assumes the good captain he is acting entirely in Katya's interests. But they have to be ready for the meeting in two months. And isn't it Bron's duty to finish tracking the new heir down?

Saying he simply wished to discuss the above points first, Bron strides out. Once he's gone, Okina mutters about being unable to talk to warriors who know nothing of politics. He wonders if Bron means to denounce him and it's clear the man will be an obstacle to the Issue Family's restoration sooner or later.

Welp, time to start looking for a new henchman. Okina consults the list, which features a certain maroon-haired personage we -- and he -- recognise. He never thought he'd see that name here. And he orders his aide to contact this man as soon as possible.

Back on the Erda II, Range asks Demner to confirm Wistario was acting weird earlier. It's clear the pressure is getting to him and he's being overly stubborn about Katya's situation. Even Dexter agrees.

Range is blunt: screw this up and they could all die. Shouldn't an adult be the one in control at this point? Demner insists Wistario isn't just a kid . . . but he must be working through complicated feelings. Range is not impressed with the conclusion that they need to watch and have faith, but is interrupted by Wiz and Korunaru bursting in.

Katya is missing! They've searched all over the ship and can't find her. But Sinister pipes up, saying the young lady told him she was going for some fresh air . . .

Inside the disused colony, we find a landscape of sand and tumble-down buildings. Obviously the refurbishment work stopped at 'clear the ground'. It's rather nicely done, I think, with the structure of the O'Neil cylinder visible through the blue haze of the artificial sky and everything gone a bit Wild West with desertification.

Katya wanders along wrapped in a cloak, until she hears aircraft engines closing in. Hajiroboshi lands before her in a cloud of dust, Korunaru clutched in its hands, and Wistario calls out. He tells Katya she can't go off on her own and she apologises. But is it OK if she stays on the colony?

This is all her fault. If she wasn't with them, they could continue the Hunt without any problems. Korunaru is shocked to think this is why she left the ship. Katya, however, explains that the first time Gjallarhorn came for her, she was at school. She ran away without knowing if she'd see her friends or teachers again. She came to think she'd be running from place to place for the rest of her life. Which is why she was so happy when they said she could stay with them forever. Even Range! It was kind of like family . . . like home.

Korunaru says she's been feeling the same way. Being with everyone feels so warm. Katya agrees. For all that they've not known each other long, it feels like this is where she belongs. But that's exactly why she doesn't want to bother the people she loves with her troubles.

Wistario's brain has gone 'ding' during this conversation and he suddenly gets what he's been feeling all this time. A family! That's what they are! He can't hand her over to the Issues because she's part of his family. He forced himself to believe he had no choice except to be lonely as his old friends left Venus one by one. Only, since the Urdr Hunt began, he's made more and more new friends, and he thinks if he'd thought of his friends on Venus as family, then maybe he wouldn't have lost them. He's not going to give up again!

Which is not necessarily an entirely healthy attitude and certainly Katya is a bit lost. But Wiz says that's fine. He understands and that's because of her.

However, right as they're all about to head back to the ship together, Bron's forces surround everyone, both Hajiroboshi and the Erda II. Once more, the captain says they are here for Katya and asks her to please come with them. Once more, she refuses, in spite of Bron trying to assure her of her importance and even offering to welcome her friends as honoured guests. Katya is furious at being asked to help those who never once helped her or her mother. Even if there are good people among the Issues, she still doesn't want anything to do with them.

Wistario interrupts Bron's continued appeals to say that the Issues aren't the only ones who need Katya so can they just back off already? Bron identifies him by name and thanks him for protecting 'Lady Katya'. However, they cannot leave her with Afam Equipment. The three hundred years of Issue Family history hinges on getting her back. What does Wistario need her for that compares to that?

Katya is Wistario's family. That's it, that's the whole reason.

Losing his temper quite rapidly, Bron insists the Issues are her real family, since the blood of their head is in her veins. Some 'pretend family' is not equal to that. Wistario is equally insistent that it's not pretend, which causes Bron's two brain cells to knock into one another and reach some rather alarming conclusions. Just what exactly does Wistario mean?!

Rolling with it, our protagonist announces he and Katya are going to get married, causing Katya to stare in open-mouthed shock while Korunaru tries very hard to keep from bursting out laughing. Bron's blood-pressure reaches orbit, and back on the ship, everyone on the bridge is equally stunned.

Wistario keeps going, saying Katya will be a member of the Afam family, so the Issues will have to give up. Unfortunately, Korunaru is the only one to twig this as a stalling tactic. Katya continues to be flabbergasted, Dexter worries about her taking it to heart and Range laments over another missed memo. Sinister, meanwhile, has the look of a man already planning place-settings.

Unfortunately, to say Bron takes the news badly would be to understate things drastically. As the gang rallies around Wistario's determination to 'have it all' as Range puts it, the captain loses his rag at the thought of his lady ending up with a commoner. He orders his troops forward, to eliminate the crew of the ship and take Katya by force. Wistario continues to hold firm, refusing to choose between his companions.

And Katya leaps off Hajiroboshi's hand, whips out a knife labelled with the Issue crest and holds it to her throat, demanding that nobody move.

She announces she's going with Bron, thanking Wistario for protecting her to the end. Knowing he cared that much, she could die happy here and now. So it's her turn to protect him and everyone else. Because that's what family does, right?

A little while later, Okina receives the good news. All that's left is for them to leave the area with Katya. He asks his aide if she's gotten word from the candidate? She has, and more besides. Okina is very interested to hear that Cyclase Meyer has abandoned Omden and killed all his subordinates. As usual, the man is unpredictable. Time to put him to work.

And later still, a distraught Wistario and Korunaru watch Londo's Halfbeak sail off. Wistario swears not to give up. They are absolutely going to get Katya back.

So there we have it. A downer ending for this installment, with Katya suffering the fate she has been running from all this time for the sake of her new-found family. But it's not the end and with Lord Okina bringing Cyclase in for reasons-yet-to-be-revealed, things can surely only heat up from here.

I remain on tenterhooks to find out if Okina actually is Carta and Katya's dad or some other relative. I'm not saying it seems out of place for a Gjallarhorn lord to be this cold towards his progeny, but clearly the man is at odds with the likes of Bron, and his overt maneuvering raises the question of where Carta got her fanatical sense of doing things by the book. Hopefully it will all be explained to Katya and therefore us before too long.

Bron himself is evidently trending towards doing what McGillis wants and wrecking everything, especially with his various bouts of loyalty to Katya throughout this episode. However, he might have to be quick about if he doesn't want Cyclase to beat him to the punch. Very, um, bold of Lord Okina to hire someone whose resume is literally 'murdered or attempted to murder everyone he ever worked with and for'. Still, I'm sure the resources of a Seven Stars command ship will come in handy for breaking into the Highly Mysterious Top Secret Zone of Doom.

Over with the protagonists, Korunaru's lack of backstory or character development is really starting to bite. She kind of feels like she's just there to echo what everyone else says, and not in a manner that becomes a character trait in its own right. I sincerely think this would not be the case if the game was fully animated, because I have the impression they're going for someone whose personality is conveyed by what she does, rather than what she says. The bit with her doubled over giggling at the idea of Wistario just proposing to Katya out of the blue works well in contrasting her to the others. But sadly, with so much of this as static game cut-scenes, we lose a bunch of places where we could have more of that.

As a result, I don't feel this declaration of family lands as well as those from IBO proper or even Moon Steel. We're circling back to my general criticism that Wistario is described as being a lot more magnetic than I personally feel he's been portrayed as. Certainly there is a part of me that wants to home in on how self-centric his view of family is, in a way I'm not yet convinced is intentional.

However, as rote as it was, I do appreciate that Katya ended up finally taking control of her situation, to at least a small degree. If she can get Bron on side, and survive whatever havoc Cyclase is bound to unleash, there's even a chance she'll solve the Issue plot entirely on her own, which I'd definitely be here for.