#so she gets attached to Dexter but the feelings aren’t real

[amberpriceenthusiast]

I fuck w aromantic ca cupid

I don’t care how illogical it is, I love aro ca cupid

[the-ipre]

In your Lup lives AU, who does Barry reveal himself to in Wonderland: Lup or Magnus?

[id: an ask from anonymous reading “In Wonderland, does Barry communicate with Magnus or Lup? (Lup Lives Au)” /end id]

Lup couldn’t stop rubbing at the place where her ring finger had once attached to her hand.

She’d lost her pinkie as well, given both up in one fell swoop to appease the vogue elves, and she’d said it was fine. She was a wizard, after all, the hit to her mind had been worse than any drop in dexterity that she would surely take with two missing fingers. 

Still. She had gotten used to the feeling of a ring on that finger, one delivered on Candlenights, comforting despite how wrapped up in all the bullshit mysteries it was.

Nothing that could be done about that now, though, because Wonderland was all about sacrifice. Seemed like a pretty bad business model in her opinion, seemed like there were healthier things to fuel the world on, but hey. She wasn’t the necromancer here.

Instead, she just threaded her ring on a long piece of copper wire and tied it around her throat. She could get it made into a nicer necklace after they got out of here, because they were definitely going to get out of here. 

Edward and Lydia were still monologuing, dramatic and flashy as anything, and Taako raised his eyebrows in their direction. “They’ve got style,” he mouthed before coughing, still looking almost nauseous from how his vitality had been drained.

He was making a pointed effort to be fine, though, so Lup did the same. “A bit tacky, if you ask me.”

The vogue elves paid them no mind, evil speech still popcorning between them, but a new voice crept into Lup’s mind. 

Are you afraid?

Lup glanced around the room, still leaning in towards Taako because she wasn’t a snitch, she appreciated surreptitiousness. You don’t have to start every conversation like that, babe.

Well- uh, yeah, I know, but it’s a good opener, so. Uh. Anyway-

Lup cursed the six second span of message. 

Things aren’t great, don’t act suspicious yet, but be ready for things to go south. 

Lup stretched, glanced at where the twins were talking at Merle, using some pretty cheap eye-based material. Always am in this line of work, aren’t I?

Yeah, well, this is just. This is endgame stuff. Be ready. Despite how cryptic the red robe was, how he always had to dance around the truth and give half-answers wrapped in some spooky flavortext, Lup trusted him.

I’ll wait for your signal, but this game is getting real old real fast.

The red robe’s voice floated in her mind again, close enough that Lup was tempted to look over her shoulder. I know, just- hold on. 

I will. The magical connection severed, and Lup couldn’t shake how alone that made her feel.

Slinging an arm over Taako’s shoulder, she prepared to advance and, against her instincts, to wait.

[knight-engale]

He is finished!!! I love him so much

Profile below!

★ Akahiko Yureimoto ★

"How much are you paying?"

■ Name || Akahiko Yureimoto ■  Japanese Name || 幽霊本 赤彦 ■  Rōmaji || Yureimoto Akahiko ■  Alias || Roku ■  Epithet || n/a ■  Nicknames || ■  Birthday || August 12 ■  Age || 20-21 ■  Gender || Male ■  Height || 5'11 (180.3 cm) ■  Hair Color || Dark auburn ■  Eye Color || Blue ■  Blood Type || B- ■  Quirk || Rokurokubi ■  Status || Alive ■  Occupation || Mercenary ■  Affiliation || Varies ■  Fighting Style || Melee Combat

■  First Appearance:

Manga: TBD Anime: TBD

■  Portrayal:

Ja: Junya Enoki Eng: Alejandro Saab

◣ A b o u t ◥

███ Short Introduction

Akahiko Yureimoto is a young mercenary currently in the service of the Police Force. He doesn't seem particularly thrilled about his employers.

███ History

Akahiko was born the only child of poor parents. However, he had no idea that they were poor when he was little, as his parents amassed lots of debt trying to live beyond their means. His father, afraid of some of the people he owed money to, faked his death when Akahiko was 7 and fled the country. This sent his mother spiraling into a depression, and she was often emotionally vacant during Akahiko's childhood and teenage years. Because of his unfortunate parental circumstances, Akahiko learned how to fend for himself at a young age, though the legality of some of his actions is questionable.

At age 12, while on his way home with leftovers from a particularly high quality restaurant, Akahiko was mugged by a local gang. The gang took everything that Akahiko had on him, including his food and clothes. When he tried to fight back, he was held down and the gang's leader slashed his face with a knife, leaving two large wounds stretching from the corners of his mouth and across his cheeks. Humiliated, mostly naked, and injured, Akahiko stayed in an alleyway overnight, too dazed to go back home. He was eventually found by a kind old woman, who helped him recover without asking questions. However, she wanted to report the incident to the police, which Akahiko didn't want, so he ran away, leaving a note thanking the old woman for her generousness.

For the next few years, Akahiko laid low and worked to grow stronger. Eventually, money became particularly tight. At 15, and under the alias "Roku", he began to sell his services to whomever would pay, be it criminals or minor Pro Heroes. At first, he acted as mere extra muscle for small periods of time, but as his notoriety grew, his clientele expanded, and by 18 his contracts would last for a few weeks or longer. His willingness to work for either side of the law was often met with uncertainty or displeasure, and so he developed a strict loyalty code, promising employers that he would not turn on them while a contract was in effect, or else he would forfeit the money earned.

At 19, Akahiko was apprehended by the Police Force and held in custody. Honoring his contract, he refused to say who his employer was while being interrogated. He remained in custody, and tried to figure out how to escape. Unable to think of anything else, he begged to be released under any conditions the police set. After much deliberation, and with much persuasion, he was released under police supervision. Akahiko found the supervision annoying, as he still needed contract money, and so formulated a plan. He approached the police with a bold proposition; since he had numerous underground contacts, he could act as a double agent, reporting any findings back to the police--for a fee, of course. To his surprise, his offer was accepted, though it didn't get rid of his "policeman babysitter" situation.

At some point more recently, with police permission, he joined the League of Villains as a double agent.

◣ A p p e a r a n c e ◥

███ Appearance

Akahiko is tall with a slender build and moderately muscular chest and arms. He has dark auburn hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. He has one piercing on his left ear. He has large scars on his cheeks due to his childhood attackers. Akahiko maintains an surprisingly classy casual style, which consists of short sleeved shirts, leather or dark denim jackets, tight pants, and boots, often with heels. He also often wears scarves or neckerchiefs, alongside face masks which hide his scars. Akahiko's mercenary costume is a light grey sleeveless hoodie, matching basketball shorts, grey socks, kimono sandals, and a tan face mask, along with whatever earring he happens to be wearing that day. This costume does not change in the winter, often to his detriment.

███ Personality

Akahiko maintains a rough and often aloof exterior. He doesn't seem particularly invested in any current events, and as a general rule doesn't get emotionally attached to employers or invested in anything he's hired to do. He doesn't show much emotion around people he doesn't trust. He's trained himself to keep an extremely level head to avoid being taken advantage of. Akahiko is of a pragmatic and tactical mind, carefully planning how to go about anything he sets his mind to. However, he isn't the best at thinking on the spot, and often needs a little time to regroup if what he's doing gets derailed. He's also particularly manipulative, putting on a charming nature to get his way. He's gotten very good at flattery. Although he is currently employed by the police, he despises law enforcement organizations, blaming them for his difficult childhood. Though he is willing to work with them in exchange for payment, he does not trust them whatsoever. Oddly enough, he does not harbor quite the same feelings for Pro Heroes, though he doesn't like how they seem to capitalize on people's suffering. Despite his apparent emotional distance, Akahiko is surprisingly caring and kind, as evidenced by his continued efforts to support his mother. He also helps to support young children who are involved in the underground, giving them money or food when he can. This unexpected side of him was brought on by kindness showed to him when he was young, and a desire to pay it forward, as well as the morals his mother taught him when he was little. Though Akahiko has many crimes to his name, he considers himself honorable, if not entirely moral. He refuses to go back on his word or violate his contracts, and actively avoids killing or permanently maiming anyone. He also goes out of his way to repay debts if possible.

███ Likes

✔ coffee ✔ cool weather ✔ rain ✔ sweet food ✔ video games ✔ fashion

███ Dislikes

✘ Stain (thinks he's annoying) ✘ his scars ✘ extreme weather ✘ spicy food ✘ untidiness and dirtiness ✘ being outsmarted

◣ A b i l i t i e s ◥

Overall Abilities: Akahiko is a particularly capable young man, able to fend for himself and then some. Though he avoids direct confrontations, relying more on stealth, he can hold his own in an extended fight.

Inhuman Flexibility: His Quirk allows him incredible flexibility, usually at inhuman levels.

Dexterity: Akahiko has remarkable dexterity, due in part to his Quirk. He uses his dexterity to repair and tailor clothes.

███ Quirk

Rokurokubi: He can stretch his neck, arms, fingers, legs, and torso indefinitely, though stretching his torso too much can lead to spinal damage. While a body part is stretched, he can maneuver that part however he wants. Staying stretched for too long makes him sore. Stretching burns a lot of calories, and he needs to eat a lot to make up for it.

███ Stats

Power: 4/5 B

Speed: 3/5 C

Technique: 4/5 B

Intelligence: 4/5 B

Cooperativeness: 3/5 C

◣ B a t t l e s & E v e n t s ◥

TBD

◣ M i s c e l l a n e o u s ◥

███ Trivia

He and Tsukauchi share an English voice actor.

He was loosely based on Yuri from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

He's biromantic asexual.

He's incredibly insecure about his scars, hence the mask.

He's actually pretty lonely and secretly wants a significant other.

███ Quotes

"Charming, aren't I? It's one of my few virtues."

"My real name? Wouldn't you like to know."

Original template (c) dre-tama | modified by Phantom-Otaku

BNHA (c) Kohei Horikoshi

Akahiko, artwork (c) knight-engale: stylish babe

[douxreviews]

Aliens (1986) Review

[This review contains spoilers.]

Aliens is a perfect sequel, if there is such a thing. It's bigger, glossier, a bit longer, and it did an exceptional job building on the original story.

There are a number of parallels to the original. The story begins with Ripley waking up, and ends with the survivors going into cold sleep. The characters are again only known by their last names; even Newt has a very non-little-girl nickname. There's a huge explosion at the end, but the alien still manages to make it aboard the "lifeboat" to wreak more havoc. There's an android on board who ends up in pieces. Best of all, like Ridley Scott did in the original, James Cameron spends an entire hour setting up the story, and successfully pays it all off during the rest of the movie.

There are a number of differences, of course. Instead of "truckers," we have a crew of badass marines. There are many aliens instead of just one. The cast is twice as big and the stakes are higher, too, since there were sixty-some families on the "shake-and-bake" colony.

But we still have Ripley, and she is several levels of awesome. This is the movie where Sigourney Weaver proved to the world that a woman could be an action hero. She was terrific in scene after scene, from her tirade in the conference room at the beginning, to the pulse-pounding Ripley-in-the-loader versus the alien queen battle at the end. I've always loved the way she took over and drove the tank to the rescue, and the sequence in the lift where she loaded up with many, many, many weapons on her way into the queen's lair to rescue Newt. Sigourney Weaver was nominated for best actress for this movie, and she absolutely deserved it.

I also loved Michael Biehn as Hicks. He and Ripley were on the same wavelength throughout the movie. I particularly enjoyed the "nuke the planet" exchange, and the one where he showed her how to use that massive assault rifle. Ripley and Hicks were made for each other. I really wanted Ripley, Hicks and Newt to end up together as a family, maybe with Bishop as the weird uncle who sleeps on the couch. Maybe in Alien fanfic. Is there Alien fanfic?

Paul Reiser gave a wonderfully slimy performance as the Company rep. Very smart, casting a comedian, since this is a character that we expect to be evil, but the fact that it's Reiser makes us think we might be wrong. Bill Paxton is wonderfully annoying as the cowardly Hudson, and I loved that he went out in a blaze of glory. Newt is likable and has courage; she's not a cutesy kid at all, and Carrie Henn certainly had a greater acting range than Jonesy the cat. And I always liked that Bishop turned out to be the opposite of Ash, since we expected him to be just as bad. Especially since he was played by the master of evil, Lance Henriksen.

My favorite supporting actor in this one, though, is Jenette Goldstein, who is a standout as Vasquez. Hard to remember so long ago, but when this movie came out, women didn't serve in combat. Vasquez made a very strong impression on me. And I loved that Gorman redeemed himself by going back for Vasquez. Their scene in the air duct always gets to me.

Unlike most of my favorite movies, I saw Aliens in the theater. It was an unforgettable movie experience, literally edge of your seat. I remember actually feeling mildly nauseous. (That's when you know they got you – when your audience wants to throw up.) Aliens doesn't hold up quite as well as Alien does, in my opinion, but it's still an outstanding movie. I always watch them together. Like I said, pretty much the perfect sequel.

Bits and pieces of androids:

— The action takes place 57 years after the original. The planet got a name, or more accurately, a designation: LV426.

— Alien and Aliens always makes me think of two of my other favorite movies, Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It's not surprising, since the two franchises share James Cameron and some of his favorite actors: Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Bill Paxton.

— Bishop explained that Ash was a Hyperdyne Systems 120-A2 model, and a bit twitchy. (You'd call what Ash did in the original movie "twitchy?") And that the more recently manufactured androids are subject to Asimov's rules. Hyperdyne always makes me think of Cyberdyne.

— There are several shots of Ripley's feet and she's wearing Reeboks. Really fun product placement that didn't detract from the story at all. I usually hate product placement.

— James Horner's music is memorable, and effectively heightens the tension. Like it needed more heightening.

— Dan says that Alien is a cold movie, and Aliens is a hot one. I thought that was an interesting observation.

— While looking up quotes, I discovered that James Remar (Dexter's father) was originally cast to play Dwayne Hicks, and was later replaced by Michael Biehn. I hadn't known that. I can't imagine this movie without Michael Biehn. I absolutely loved him in the first Terminator movie.

— As with Alien, there is an extended version. I prefer the theatrical release. But the extended version gives more weight to Ripley's need to save Newt; Ripley had a daughter.

— For me, the story ends with this movie. I'm not fond of the other sequels. One of our writers has offered to review them, though, and if he does, I'll very much look forward to reading them.

Quotes:

Ripley: "Did IQs drop sharply while I was away?"

Gorman: "Look, we can't have any firing in there. I want you to collect magazines from everybody." Hudson: "Is he fucking crazy?" Frost: "What do you expect us to use, man? Harsh language?"

Ripley: "I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." Burke: "Hold on a second. This installation has a substantial dollar value attached to it." Ripley: "They can bill me."

Ripley: "Look. No bad dreams there." Newt: "Ripley, she doesn't have bad dreams because she's just a piece of plastic." Definitely Carrie Henn's best line. And she delivered it beautifully.

Newt: "My mommy always said there were no monsters, no real ones. But there are." Ripley: "Yes, there are, aren't there?" Newt: "Why do they tell little kids that?" Ripley: "Most of the time it's true."

Ripley: "You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage."

Ripley: "Get away from her, you bitch!" I remember the audience cheering that one.

A worthy sequel to an excellent movie. Four out of four M41A pulse rifles, ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launchers,

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

[ganymedesclock]

I always feel bad for getting angry at things that are clearly fandom jokes, but at the same time, if the jokes are not something the character would actually do (or an understandable hyperbole of how they actually are) it just... sets my teeth on edge and this may have inspired a lengthy post about Keith’s childhood and fan depictions of that I have seen.

Like. Canon Krolia is established as someone who plans things out. She’s smart, a strategist- she has to be, because she’s a career spy with a long tenure under one of the most dangerous people in the empire. Remember, we were introduced to Warlord Ranveig by Lance commenting that “I’m guessing you don’t get that title by being a good person”, during the Kral Zera he murdered someone onscreen more obviously than we’ve seen before and flung their body aside, and was experimenting on a living creature with quintessence.

Krolia has to have a pretty ironclad set of nerves to, day in and day out, for years, lie through her teeth to this guy, undermine him, and feed intel back to his enemies, her allies. Especially since, while we don’t see the two of them together, Ranveig was like four times her size. 

And that’s reflected by her behavior within the episode- “I’m guessing Ranveig is dead, since Commander Trugg is attacking my base,” she says, with complete neutrality like she’s discussing the weather report.

This is also a trained military personnel who’s received a pretty darn long and comprehensive training in the use of a sword. That is to say, someone who has a very keen idea of how this is not a toy, must be used carefully, and is very dangerous, because she regularly uses its danger pointy bit to end the lives of other things.

So the No Fun Humdrum Clockie is here to say: there’s no way in hell someone with those kind of credentials would leave her weapon where a baby could get it, much less put it directly into his lacking-motor-dexterity hands. There’s no way someone as smart as Krolia would look at her kid trying to eat his own foot because he doesn’t realize it’s attached to him yet and go “hmm, what should I give him, this nice safe baby rattle or this deadly weapon that could cause him grievous injury?”

And part of the reason this makes me mad is the assumption that Krolia’s otherness- her being an alien- would make her inept at being a parent without evidence that this is actually part of her experience. The show illustrates that it’s really not hard in this universe for sentient life to understand each other and most of their needs are similar.

It’s frustrating to insinuate that Krolia, as someone smart enough to operate as a high-stakes deep-cover spy, can’t understand how babies work and would just bash ahead cheerfully endangering her son when that’s something she tacitly refuses to do.

It’s frustrating when sympathetic galra are so often framed as baffled or incompetent- like if they aren’t specifically placental mammals themselves they must have no idea what a placenta is! (Just like humans clearly have no idea what the hell an egg is because we don’t hatch from eggs, right?)

Even though the galra in this situation would actually be better set up to understand or, at bare minimum, not be thrown that far by humans being unlike them because the humans in this setting are only just meeting aliens for the first time now- the galra have met hundreds of other sentient beings in this time. Even if you have a bunch of headcanons about humans being different from galra, it runs a pretty high risk of arrogance to act like humans are somehow more different and more special than any other sentient race that the galra can’t possibly understand us.

And when I look at something that’s just supposed to be funny like a picture of Krolia carrying Keith in a baby harness with her sword sheathed in the front of the harness I know that’s not consciously and willfully what the artist is thinking, but it’s still... frustrating, very frustrating, because... child endangerment is not funny. 

Depicting a smart perceptive character who is shown to be worried about her child’s welfare and caring about how he’s actually feeling rather than what she thinks he should be feeling, as a negligent parent more concerned with her cultural standards or expectations-

(“Why is my baby so short, and not like a galra? I was definitely not prepared for this, somehow expected that having a partner that’s not a galra at all would still mean my children have stereotypical galra phenotypes”)

-than the actual reality of her child’s situation? Is not funny. It’s just frustrating. And it’s frustrating that most of the times I go into Krolia’s tag, that’s a sizable chunk of the content- depicting Krolia as a Wacky Incompetent Space Mom who doesn’t know how babies work.

Would Krolia probably be a little more militaristic than the average soccer mom? Yeah, but look at the actual reality of her situation. Where’s Keith who grows up in this comfortable environment, and as an elementary schooler knows how to wriggle out of people’s grip and a couple of ways to break out of restraints, and he’s really good at hide ‘n seek, and he has a toy, cloth-wrapped dagger that’s weighted so he can get used to the reach of it but soft-edged so he doesn’t cut himself or poke his eye out because he’s not ready for a real one, not yet.

Because Krolia wouldn’t just be idly going at this with an expectation that her Knife Boy must grow up to be the pride of his Sword Family. Krolia’s raising Keith, however much time she was allowed to spend with him, would be tinted hard with a lens of, she’s not going to have all the time in the world to make Keith safe.

Because she’s gonna know from the start that Keith is half-galra and the empire is not safe for half-galra, it’s barely safe for full galra, and Keith’s the son of a rebel so he’s gonna learn what all Blades do, he’s gonna learn to hide.

And frankly? Keith’s dream of his father in s2e8 carries that sort of vibe. His father talks very gently and carefully in language that a young child would easily understand (which is where Keith’s memories of him stem from) but also talks about staying hidden, where the advancing enemy army can’t find them.

Keith didn’t have a Normal Suburban Childhood with a white picket fence, and he didn’t have a negligent sitcom childhood, because he had parents that loved him, but his parents were a little more worried about whether or not the lurking space empire would come after them and kill them all than they were about “our baby is gonna be a doctor!”

So yeah, the first foster parent that got Keith after he lost his father probably was more than a little concerned that he’d been raised by conspiracy theorists or some kind of cult because why does this kid have a clear sense of what to do if he was kidnapped. Who taught him how to get out of an arm-bar choke, he’s all of eight and should have a strangely committed interest in dinosaurs or dolls or something else normal.

That’s not to say nothing funny ever happened in Keith’s childhood. It’s not to say Krolia never held up her baby boy who was staring lovingly into her eyes and asked herself “what the hell am I doing,” because she’s used to high stakes, she’s used to danger, but she’s not used to having this incredibly vulnerable tiny squishy thing, and bringing him into the world she’s put him where her enemies can reach him, and he’s not ready for the universe, but he can’t be ready, and she’s used to adults that choose and willingly take those risks and not a toddler who have no idea why anyone would hate his mommy or want her- and him, and their whole family- to die.

Where’s Krolia stressing out because she thought she was ready for this but Keith is so very small and so very soft, and that’s how all babies are, sure, but they’ve never been her baby before.

And frankly, given my reads on Krolia and her partner, there were probably more than a few times Keith was upset and Krolia sorta awkwardly handed him off to his dad because oh no, those are complicated emotions, how do you handle those.

Just- there could be all kinds of funny things in Keith’s childhood, that are, I think a lot funnier than “Krolia why does our child have a knife”. 

[chasholidays]

Thanks so much for doing this again, and happy holidays! Timestamp for Superstars In Their Own Private Movie, prompt: Quidditch fantasy draft?

ftr I’m using the American version of football in this because I put negative effort into pretending it takes place in the UK, so sorry for incoherent worldbuilding

Original fic here!

From what Clarke can tell, disappointment with the interaction of the wizarding world and the Muggle world is about 90% of Raven and Monty’s life motivation. Which does make sense, admittedly. Clarke was kind of disappointed with things that were lacking in the Muggle world, when she started interacting with it, and it’s probably even worse for Muggleborns. After all, they have all these stories about magic and wizards and dragons, but they don’t think those things are real. Clarke always knew Muggles existed, and always assumed that if she wanted to learn about them, she could just find a book.

Honestly, she doesn’t know why previous generations of wizards are so uninformed about Muggles. It really doesn’t make any sense.

Regardless, Raven and Monty are Muggleborns who want wizard stuff to live up to all their expectations, which is why they create Fantasy Quidditch League.

“Don’t we already play Quidditch?” Bellamy asks. “Why do we need to fantasize about it too?”

“Aren’t you a Muggleborn?” Jasper shoots back. “Don’t you know about fantasy football?”

“I don’t know about any Muggle sports,” he says. “It’s confusing enough that I know about Quidditch. Which one is football? The one where they kick the ball?”

“No, the other one, where they throw the ball,” says Raven.

“Sometimes they kick it!” says Monty. “I think. Honestly, I don’t actually know sports, but I do know that fantasy football is a huge letdown for one reason: it’s not actually fantasy.”

“If that was supposed to clear stuff up, it didn’t,” says Bellamy.

“Okay,” says Monty, “imagine me. I’m this dorky little kid who reads all the time and loves nerd stuff.”

“Why do we have to imagine that?” Raven asks. “That’s literally still you.”

Monty ignores her. “And I hear about this thing called fantasy football and I think it’s the coolest thing in the world. I assume it’s a video game where you get to play football as various fantasy races, but no. It’s just this thing where people make up their own football teams and pretend they’re playing against each other.”

“And that’s bad,” says Clarke, frowning.

“It’s not nearly as awesome. Which is why fantasy Quidditch is going to be that awesome. We’re going to make this happen.”

“We still don’t know what we’re making happen,” Clarke reminds him, and Raven grins.

“Wizard video games. That needs to start being a thing. And we’re starting with making Monty’s fantasy Quidditch dreams come true.”

“Isn’t Quidditch already a fantasy?” Bellamy asks. He’s very attached to this point. “We’re on broomsticks. We’re wizards. Sounds like a fantasy to me.”

“Nonhuman magical creatures can’t play, though,” says Raven.

“Which is bullshit,” says Jasper. He’s been surprisingly quiet about this; it really must be Monty’s pet project. But he’s dating a veela right now and has feelings on nonhuman issues.

“So the idea is that you’re creating a team and then playing it in a league,” says Monty, ignoring him. “Either you do it as a single player versus the AI or there’s a multiplayer mode where your team goes up against other teams.”

“But what do you actually do?” asks Clarke.

��First, you draft. That’s putting together the team. It works slightly differently depending on if you’re doing single- or multiplayer. Which do you want me to explain first?”

Clarke already has a headache, but everyone else except Bellamy looks engaged. So she puts her head on his shoulder, and he kisses her hair. “Whatever you think is best. I’ll catch up.”

“It’s a lot easier to play, don’t worry. Basically, I have a roster of three-hundred named, pre-generated characters. Ten races, with thirty characters of each race.”

“Okay, by race,” says Bellamy. “What are we talking here? Giants? Goblins? Leprechauns?”

“We decided to make our own,” says Raven.

“Yeah, I wanted races to have their own pros and cons,” says Monty. “That’s how it works in Dungeons and Dragons, which was kind of my inspiration. Like, elves are nimble, so they get a bonus to their dexterity. But that works partially because those other races aren’t real. I don’t want a game where if a giant plays it they’re offended because they automatically have a penalty to intelligence or something. So we came up with ten fantasy races that have various advantages and disadvantages. Like—“ He pulls a character up on the TV. “This is a Mora. They have eyes on the sides of their head, like grazing animals do, which gives them a great field of vision. But they tend to be slower and clumsier. There’s one Mora who’s very light and quick, and she’d make a great seeker, but most of them work better in other positions.”

“So you get options for your team,” Bellamy prompts, before Monty gets too carried away with individual pros and cons.

“Yeah, the basic single-player mode gives you a random selection of eighty characters, and you play in an eight-team league. There’s a random draft order so you won’t always get the first pick you want, but your players do level up as you play, and they retain that. So if you keep picking some really crappy player, they’ll improve. Some of them have hidden unlocks. Like this guy,” he says, pulling up a different character. “He’s basically Magikarp.”

“That doesn’t clarify anything for some of us,” Clarke reminds him.

“It’s a Pokémon. It’s awful, but if you play with it enough, it turns into a really good Pokémon. If you play with this guy he’ll get very slightly better every game until the twentieth, and then he gets awesome. And he keeps that upgrade, and you can recruit the improved version next time.”

“And that only works when the player has him on their team, right?” Miller asks, and Clarke shoots him a dirty look. As Monty’s boyfriend, he’s more up on the terminology than she is, and he really likes video games, whereas Clarke still has no idea how they work. Like wizard chess, but digital is the extent of her understanding. But as another pureblood, Clarke feels as if he should be as in the dark as she is.

“Yeah, only experience gained on the PC team counts, but that means if you keep picking, say, Neesa Lynta,” he says, pulling up yet another character, “then as she gets better, the AI will be more inclined to take her from you in future drafts, because she’s better than characters you haven’t built up.”

“Okay,” Bellamy says, with a tone that means he’s taking over the situation. “This is really cool, Monty, but–I’m still not sure what we’re actually doing here. I’m not getting any more information out of what you’re saying. This is basically my limit.”

“For a Muggleborn you’re really bad with video games,” Clarke teases, and he grins.

“Aren’t you supposed to be into that, Slytherin?”

“Yeah, bad at video games is a known Slytherin kink. But he’s right,” she adds, to Monty. “What did you want us to do, exactly?”

“You need to be my test group. Everyone else I know knows too much about video games. I want to see how you guys do with the tutorial.”

“Then shouldn’t you have sent us into it blind?” Bellamy asks. “Instead of giving us the whole spiel?”

“Did anything I said make the game make more sense to you, or are you more confused than before?” Monty asks, not unreasonably.

There’s obviously no good answer to that, so Bellamy just straightens up, disentangling himself from Clarke. “Okay, so–tell us what to do.”

Monty grins. “Who wants the controller?”

They agree that Bellamy can take point on the actual selections, and Clarke settles against his side so she can advise.

And, she has to admit, Monty did a pretty good job with the whole thing. The tutorial takes it slow, giving them a small, pre-made team so they can learn the controls, and then adding in each of the different character types with a short explanation of what their advantages and disadvantages are.

“How does it know when someone catches the snitch?” she asks Monty, as Bellamy tries to use a combo to score a goal. He can control one beater or chaser at a time, while the computer controls the rest of the team, but he doesn’t have the option of being the seeker or the keeper.

“Programming,” says Raven. “There’s a base time range for when the snitch can be found, which goes from five to twenty minutes. It’s impossible to find the snitch right away, no matter how good your seeker is, because no one wants to feel like they lost to the RNG before they got a chance to do anything. After that, it’s basically chance. Using the seeker’s stats, advantages, and disadvantages, it spits out a time when they’ll catch the snitch. Whichever team’s seeker has the lower time gets it.”

“You must have put so much work into this,” she murmurs. “It’s amazing.”

Raven grins. “And you haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.”

“That’s because Bellamy sucks at this game,” says Miller, and Bellamy scowls.

“Fuck you, it’s a tutorial. I’m learning, dickface.”

“Learn faster, I want to play.”

It is an in-depth tutorial, aimed not only at teaching the basics of this game, but of gaming in general, but Bellamy makes it through, finally getting to a small draft, picking his team, and beating the computer with them.

“So, now we’re at the good part,” says Monty. “Pick multiplayer and we can do a tournament.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that,” he admits, holding out the controller. “There are four of you, me and Clarke can watch.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Monty wheedles.

“But then someone else can’t play. We’re good. I’ll just heckle.”

It’s probably for the best; Monty, Raven, Miller, and Jasper take the controls, and Clarke settles into Bellamy’s lap, his arms around her. It’s the kind of thing she thinks Muggles do a lot, gathering around a television to play games and talk trash, and Clarke can admit she understands the appeal. There’s something warm and companionable about it.

“Hey, we’ve got Bellamy in the draft!” Jasper crows.

Bellamy shifts a little under her, curious. “What?”

“Some of the characters are not very subtle parodies of real Quidditch players,” says Raven, moving her cursor over to find the character in question. “All the Argonauts are in here, and a few others too. Just for fun.”

“Wait, you named him Buzzayou Bloke?” Clarke asks. “Really?”

“I think it’s got a nice ring to it,” says Monty. “Nate’s Jathan Pounder, if it makes you feel better.”

“What about me?”

“Clank Manticore,” says Raven.

“I’ll take it. Is there any way you can make it so all of us are in the draft? Because that would be way more fun.”

“Turns out hacking programs is a lot easier when you made them and you’re a witch,” says Raven, with a flick of her wand. About a dozen of the character portraits flicker out, replaced by vaguely familiar faces. “Okay, I’m definitely taking Emori, she’s a great seeker.”

Monty’s next. “I’m taking Jathan Pounder, because I’m a good boyfriend.”

“I’m taking Buzzayou,” says Miller. “I think he’s going to be a great seeker.”

“I programmed him, and he’s not,” Raven shoots back.

“I’ll take Clank, so Clarke doesn’t feel left out.”

“Thanks,” she says, and Jasper blows her a kiss.

The teams are pretty universally horrible. There’s an unofficial rule that no real Quidditch player can be in their actual position, so Raven’s justification for picking Emori falls apart pretty quickly. Clank ends up a keeper, which is both her and Clank’s worst position, while Miller puts Buzzayou as his seeker, as promised. Their teams–Jasper’s Hogwarts Hogwashers and Miller’s Flying Losers–end up as the first match, so Monty and Raven set aside their controllers and settle in to watch with Clarke and Bellamy.

“This is the grudge match, right?” Monty asks. “Infamous rivals Buzzayou Bloke and Clank Manticore, finally going head to head. May the best player win.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to work,” Raven says. “But since every player is assigned to a shitty role–”

“That just means our innate skills will come out,” Jasper says. “I’ve been playing video games for longer than Miller, but he’s a very promising rookie. This is all going to come down to skill.”

“Oh my god, you’re going to commentate this game, aren’t you,” says Raven, flat.

“I figured Monty would do it, he doesn’t have to play.”

“Yeah, I’ve got this. Come on, Raven,” he adds, grinning. “It’s not Quidditch without commentary.”

“And this is his dream,” Clarke adds. She nudges him. “Is it as awesome as you wanted it to be?”

“It really is. You think it’s going to take off? Can wizards get into fantasy Quidditch?”

Right on cue, Miller has one of his characters lob some sort of acid spit at Jasper’s keeper, blinding him, and Jasper swears revenge.

Clarke shakes her head, smiling. “Honestly? Yeah. I think it’s going to be a hit. I’ve got next round,” she adds, settling back against Bellamy.

It really is the perfect way to spend an afternoon; people are going to love it.

[rebirthpyre-archive]

fireredrules’ pokemon team dynamics rp meme

(please repost with everything attached!) answer each prompt with whichever of your muse’s pokemon fit it best. feel free to include multiple pokemon per answer or extra details as to why they might fit the prompt. if one doesn’t apply, just put N/A

who is most likely to steal their trainer’s food? - Lux, Aqua, Cerberus and Kuro. The little shits. who is most likely to rebel or ignore orders during a battle? - Hime and Dexterous. Rook might as well. who is the least welcoming of new pokemon/people? - Sol, but only towards people and Poe towards both. When he gets purified Cheshire is also going to be very nervous around people who aren’t Wes. who is the laziest? - Tsuchi and Mire. who wakes up the earliest? - Summer and Sol. who stays up the latest, or doesn’t sleep at all? - Lux and Sol are used to late nights with Wes. Rook, Revenant and Affection are also major night owls. When they get older Hodini and Necro are gonna be the same way. who is the messiest? - Doyo and Tremor, tracking mud all over the place. Magma too, but can you blame him? Poor thing is a walking pile of, well, lava! who is the loudest? - EMERALD. Dear god she’s loud. It’s gonna be awful if she keeps that up when she evolves into a Noivern. who considers themself the ‘leader’? - Sol. Sol is everyone’s boss. You don’t fuck with Sol, he’ll drop your ass to the ground so fast you wont even know what hit you. Everyone is at least a little bit afraid of Sol. who is the weirdest? - Rosetta, Nabaa and Grimoire. When you’re a living rock, a living sand pile and a living clay doll though, I think they’re allowed. who is the biggest cuddler? - Ekizou. The little Phanpy loves cuddling omf. Also Snowflake and Roxi. Sylvester too, but he’s a cat. He wants cuddles only when he wants them and for his sake. who gets themselves into trouble the most often? - Lux, Bandit and Cerberus. This trio of dark types I stg. who hates bath time? - LUX STILL. jfc he’s a spoiled baby. who gets the most visibly excited from seeing their trainer after a long absence? - Lux.  who is most protective of their trainer? - GRACE. Lancelot is starting to get their species protective nature too. Cobalt and Sol also both are pretty protective.  who uses their charms/cuteness to try and get away with things? - Wes has such a soft spot for Fang. Granbull or not Fang has killer puppy dog eyes and Wes just can’t say no to that fairy dog. Lunae too, he’s real weak for Lunae. who messes with other trainers for fun? - Affection, only not around Silver ever since she gave him a Panic Attack.  who is the most submissive to their teammates? - Roxi. Mostly because she doesn’t give a shit. who is the purest angel? - cELEBI. who gets jealous the most? - Still Celebi. Joy too. who is the one laying on their trainer’s face in the morning - Sylvester or Aria who is the most distant from their trainer? - Psykick. It’s not a lack of caring, it’s just she’s naturally a little closed off. who is closest to their trainer? - Lux, Sol and Valor. Hands down. Ho-oh and the Beasts too. who is most alike their trainer in personality or habits? - Lux and Sol. Aurelio and Leo a bit too. who races ahead when on a walk? - Lux. Always Lux. who is the most loyal/obedient? - Lux, Sol and Grace. who eats the most? - Alpine and Maelstrom.  who is the quietest? -  Tsuchi and Psuedo. who is the clumsiest? - SYLVESTER. Teetotum as well. who is the most hotheaded? - Ignis, Ashes and Cerberus. Mistress too. who is the ‘mom pokemon’? - Valor and Old Major.

tagged by: snagged right from @sterlingsilverchampion tagging: shrugs