#that was then. this is now. and my current town is also FULL of gang violence (and a lot of human trafficking) and drug deals on the street

[feeshybeach]

I live so far away from the nearest larger city that I'd have to walk over 46 miles to get there - likely more due to the fact the place I live has strict laws about bystanders walking on freeways/highways. if I wanted to walk fewer miles, I could walk roughly about 10 to 12 miles (again, just to get there, not round trip).

Have I mentioned I'm disabled? I can barely make it down to the mailbox and back without feeling weak and exhausted. that's at maximum, 70 feet away from the van I live in. If I had to walk to the closest E.R. I'd have to walk 19 miles.

Even when I didn't live in a more rural space and admittedly lived in a larger city with a lot more infrastructure. It was still completely unreasonable to walk to any location - the elementary school (that I didn't go to as I was in middle school and also I did online school but that's not the point) That was a walkable distance - even in my current disabled state. Why? It was. Literally across the street.

the only other major place that was worthwhile for me to go to was a local garden/park area, and even then, that was insanely difficult to get to. The sidewalks were severely under maintained, and some of them were so overgrown that the plant matter was directly affecting the MAIN ROAD!

“America IS walkable, you’re all just lazy” my childhood home was an hour from the nearest hospital (by car)

[majorproblems77]

Another day another LU analysis with me!

Dawn 9 is here and with it the end of the next arc of the LU comic is done!

This update did a lot and is also a full 10 pages long! So there's a bunch to unpack!

As always linked universe belongs to @linkeduniverse and Jojo, I own none of the pictures I'm using and please give the original post some love. It's very well done and I love this comic so much.

You can find the comic here!

Oh, and obviously spoilers for the most recent LU update if you've not looked at it!

Now, checklist. Popcorn, water and time to read half an hour worth of rambling.

Without further ado!

The letters!

So, Twilight, four and Time all appeared to get letters, with Time getting multiple (More on that later)

Twilights reaction to the super sale was my reaction while playing TP (I recently finished it for the first time! :D) when they opend the store in castle town. Every time i couldnt get there to get potions i was low key gutted.

And Four. Four's grandpa is a mood and i hope we get to meet him.

HE

blorbo blorbo blorbo

The master of standing 🧍

Beloved blorbo i love him

Okay im done

(Im not done)

Poor Sky He's so sad about it D:

But... I, as a part of the The team is heading to Skyloft next, team. Believe that Sun has done this on purpose. (Or that the Skyloftians dont have the mail system for him to retrieve anything) but i like to think its the first one.

Hmmm.... Time got multiple letters. (That takes care of the letter discrepancy)

Twi asking about the ranch, Time looking to one of the letters. This tells me one of two things.

The letter he's looking to could be from Malon, and he's genuenly not concerned.

or The letter he's looking at isnt from malon. Infact, by the way he's looking at it i think its from his Zelda. Possibly a report about black bloods in his time period. (As last time we see them in Time's era. They dont actually fight anything)

Twilight being cheeky and Time's dad face are giving me life.

But... as we know, Time is Twilights direct decendant only by a few generations at most. With the infomation we have from Twilight princess with Shade. And from jojo with Time and Twilight. I'm seeing this conversation as more of a father and son conversation over brothers.

And the rest of this conversation follows this same pattern. Twilight is very much being scolded. He's biting back with what he see's as Time's own words. (not that time know's as such)

Twilight looks genuenly shocked to hear this.

From the hero's shade (Time) in twilight princess.

"You may be destined to become the hero of legend...but your current power would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear. "

I am screaming

And now im screaming more. Twilight nooooooooooooo

The we care about Twilight's well being gang. Spoiling us with the full body shots againnnnnnn.

Give me more of these three i love them all together.

And I'm convinced that theres going to be something bad happens to time directly after the end of the LU timeline.

Time is missing an eye. So we know that Shade and Time are closer together than the hero of time (In game). SO.... If time dosent Die on the adventure with the chain. I'm almost convinced he does almost right after he returns back to his time.

The armour is almost identical. He has most of the scaring which lines up....

If the helmet turns up, then i think Time dies during this adventure. It's the only thing i can see as missing.

Twilight.... Now i think Twilight thinks that the gods are giving him an opportunity to save the hero of time from dying to become the heros shade. but thats the funky thing about timetravel.

(Depending on how Jojo and LU time travels works.)

I believe that the timetravel in LU solidifies the adventures of the other links. And that nothign that occours in this adventure impacts their adventures. Even if something was changed it wouldnt change the past.

IE - Twilight breaking his shadow crystal wouldnt mean that wild didnt remember having the wolf on his adventure - as its already happened.

(I hope that makes sense. - time travel is confusing i see it as an alternative timeline type thing)

Moving on!

Wild is best brother 101

Also twilight getting flustered about a girl oh bless this man i low key love him okay

Her!

Also

Smiley man

Epona is a wonderful girl and i love her so much okay

Also Warriors!

HE LOOKS SO HAPPY AGAIN

Man got his emotional support scarf and is no longer stressed (Atleast not visably)

HE!

BELOVED AGAIN HE IS SO HAPPY I AM NORMAL ABOUT THIS MAN

okay

Please understand how much i am cackling at the shenanigans of these three.

Wind rolling around because it is clearly faster mode of travel

Go zoomies wind go zoomies!

Wind rolled down the stairs you cant convince me otherwise. Look at his little superhero pose as hes moving around the corner.

Older brother alert, dont ruin the kids fun warriors they are just getting excited about being on the road again.

Also Warriors, This is normal link behaviour. Just ask Time. He would eailsy tell you that he rolled around hyrule field.

I LOVE HIS LITTLE FACE OKAY

MY BELOVED BLORBO 🧍

(if i run out of pictures i swear to hylia)

There's so much brotherly energy in these panels i love them all so much okay.

Also Sky offering to Pay Time back for the Inn Fee this is why i love the wonderful blorbo okay

Guys im sorry, he's their dad. You cant change my mind.

Thats a dad walk, with a dad sentence.

'Okay guys i need to make sure you are not gonna get killed please have swords.'

The blacksmithing gang getting the love they deserve.

Sky leading the charge! (I know its cause he knows the way and stuff But...)

It also makes a lot of sense. If Sky is the slowest of the group(Again not confirmed but we have had jokes about his stamina), it makes sense to put him at the front to maintain pace of the group. Stops people going too fast and prevents people from being left behind.

Which i might add has already happened. (Warriors and Hyrule im looking at you.)

We just need to read the boss partterns for a bit so we can then decide how to fight it. You know, like we did when we were in our adventures and had to figure out boss mechanics.

Important that hyrule is saying this as his game is arguably one of the hardest. He probably spent a long time on each boss learning attack patterns.

Oh this arc was fun! So much fun i love it so much okay

Thank you so much again for hanging out with me while i write these. I love making them and i really appreciate all the support on them. (If you could share it around i'd really appreciate it :) )

Have a wonderful day! :D

[devsgames]

On AI-Driven Conversations In Games

The AI gang really shot themselves in the foot by leaning so hard into capitalist exploitation angle, because now whenever they present a use of the tech that is actually moderately interesting the baseline reaction people have to it is just going to be hate because it's associated to AI in any way shape or form.

I mean, obviously I understand why people react this way, because most of the practical applications of AI are just a veil for replacing of labour and increasing profit margins for the executive levels. But I feel like nowadays you'll also just see a lot of people hating an idea because it's implicitly tied to AI in any way, despite the core conceit of the idea actually being fairly interesting. (Remember when Spiderverse used Machine Learning to generate some of it's incredibly labour-intensive frame-by-frame effects and then a bunch of people got mad because it used Machine Learning for that?)

People have been pointing to the use case of "what if you could talk to an NPC in a game and have their reponses generated via AI", and laughing at it like it's the dumbest suggestion ever, but honestly in my opinion I think that's the exact kind of system AI was practically designed for! To me that feels like an excellent application of the tech that is now just marred by the mention of AI in the first place.

Anyway, to ruminate on the concept a bit: I see that use of AI enabling a dev to fill out a world with more NPCs who help it feel more populated, as well as potentially give them incredibly varied responses that are more relevant to the NPCs immediate context of the game. I imagine instead of replacing full-on player choice dialog it would instead replace the throwaway barks of awkward and out of place open-world NPCs who look at you and say "I have nothing to say to you" and giving them something to directly say about your adventure or the context around them instead.

Instead of having the intern narrative designers be forced to write little barks and blurbs like "I have nothing to say" (which I understand narrative folks usually view as grunt work and hate writing in he first place), they'd be writing little prompts for that system instead. End result is when you talk to random farmer NPC #344 outside of town they say "Crop's doing well this year, here's hoping a dragon doesn't attack us" instead of "I've got nothing to say". I think on paper that's a genuinely good and interesting way to improve an antiquated open-world problem like that. Should it be helpful? Probably not. Would it be interesting? No. Would it be a little more flavourful than what we currently have going on? I think so!

It's not an AI shill fever dream, I can see exactly how it would work and I'd bet money that there's a studio doing something like it in R&D right now. I imagine it'd also probably be pretty adaptable between projects too, so the similar system could be applied to different areas of the world.

Should it be trusted to give the player directions or do any sort of leading that a narrative designer should do? Almost certainly not because it would be inconsistent and have too big a possibility window, and AI is nothing if not horrible at performing essential tasks that might block progress.

Should it be done with the tech as it is now? Hell no, unless you want to wait five seconds for every reply to be generated and for it to be tied to some server bank that's guzzling all of Arizona's water. Also it would probably need an internet conncetion to work, which is asking a lot for an open world game.

Should it be done by these studios who are more interested in using it to replace labour and make the end result cheaper to make so they can keep more profits off he top? No, and that's the real reason why the applications of this tech sucks - because spoiler alert they'd all love to save money.

Obviously this concept isn't doable right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ships in a game in some form within 5-10 years tops.

Again I get why at this point in capitalism there's almost no applications of machine learning that are easy to trust, nor should we ever believe studios are doing it for any reason outside of trying to make development cheaper. I just think when it comes to tech it's worthwhile to keep execution in mind separate from intent; Tech isn't implicitly evil, it's the system it's built under that is. :)

[macabrecabra]

The other half of the End of the Line Pokemon AU are the characters who live in Viridian Village who end up getting involved in the plot!

Given Hauts is currently lying low in Viridian Village and working as a bartender at the Sweet Berry Tavern, these are co-workers as well as the silly anthropologist that he's dating c:

Frieda is the protagonist who's love of studying the mortal gods and her inability to become a raichu causes her some unwanted gang attention.

Read more below to learn more about each one! <3

FRIEDA OLIVINE (Pikachu)

One of the two main characters, Frieda grew up always fascinated by the mortal gods and was raised in a very religious household dedicated to deep respect of the ancient mortal gods. This would lead her to become an archeologist and anthropologist, exploring and looking to unlock the secrets of the mortal gods and their connections to pokemon and the "lost gods". She is currently working on her doctorate, hoping to become a pokemon professor!

On one of her outings into Viridian to study, she found Hauts near death and got him back to the village for medical treatment and the two became close friends, then started to date. Frieda is a rare pikachu that cannot evolve into a Raichu, even when exposed to the lighting stone at the Surge Shrine in Vermillion City. To the very religious, this means she has been blessed by the greatest of mortal gods, Ketchem, with a higher calling. She just finds it sort of demoralizing.... Design Notes: Wanted bright colors to make her clearly seem energetic and upbeat in nature, the sort of character that loves to talk and probably not stop. Her being a pikachu and gangs wanting to capture her is a joke on Team rocket wanting to capture pikachu... it is genetic. CHLO WEEDYEL (Oddish)

Chlo is one of Frieda's best friends and the two talk a lot when Frieda is hanging around the tavern. Chlo is an upbeat, laid-back sort that enjoys her work serving and also tending to the garden of the tavern. Her dream is to make it big as a writer and artist and be able to move to the city to work on big shows and movies as she wants to put the country life behind her and be the first of her family to be a city girl.

Loves punk music and aesthetics, but is a bit shy about going full into it and keeps saying she'll get there if she ever get to her Gloom phase in life. For now, she's happy with where she is and shares a passion about ancient mythology with Frieda that they can go on for hours. She also DMs Caves & Dragon Types games with friends. Design Notes: I had an oddish on my team I adored named Weed and Chlo gives homage to that little guy <3 Felt a more subdued design with some punk elements to show where she wants to go was nice and leaves more to let her design grow in the story!

OLIMERANIUSCHU "OLI" QUASHIRE (Wooper)

Oli has lived in Viridian Village all her life with her very large family and they have been their generations fishing and just living a slow pace life and Oli is no different. She is happy where she is and not about to back down from trouble that comes to ruin the peace, that's for sure. She does most of the fishing for the tavern and is good friends with Chlo and Frieda, joining their weekly Caves & Dragon Types game. She is also a town gossip and always looking for the newest rumor and drama to hear about. Absolutely addicted to tabloids when she gets her little hands on them. She is one of the only water-types that hangs out with Frieda (other than the "weird fish kid" *affectionate) due to her type making lightning a little less concerning. She loves to go ramble out in the woods and is a bit hesitant about the idea of going to the city, but promised Chlo if she went, she would go with her and try her luck there.

Design Notes: I LOVE WOOPER. OF COURSE a character is going to be made based off Wooper! <3 I just felt lazy and overalls was just the look for this character and it took a long while to get the face and eyes just right <3

SANDZABAR SLASH (Sandslash)

A newer person in town, they moved in from the Pewter area to the north after the destructive earthquake hit the area and caused huge damage. They needed a new lease on life and have a job at the inn and are a bit shy about serving, but still getting their feet under them. They are easily impressed though by the wild stories Oli and Frieda will tell about things but finds others, like Hauts, to be a bit scary and intimidating. They are really afraid of doing a bad job and thrive on praise.

They have become fast friends of Oli, Chlo, and Frieda and likes to watch them play their weekly game, preferring to make cookies or tea for the game than participate as they don't feel they are very creative and too shy. However when push comes to shove, they can be a fearsome individual, all bristled up to try and intimidate.

Design Note: I always keep a sandslash on my team if I can, I just like this little pokemon so much! Decided I had to add sandslash to the roster and work with making this pokemon more animal than humanoid to show how different designs can look across the board <3

VERN (Weedle)

Nothing much is known about Vern. He is a pokemon of few words if any at all, and just minds his own business, cooking and cleaning up in the kitchen of the Sweet Berry Tavern. Rumors are he was a champion bug fighter. Others say he was part of some mafia. Still others say he is a secret agent. To most in Viridian Village, he's just Vern, the cook, who watches things go by and never bothers anyone about anything, but seems to have a sixth sense for when trouble is near. He never bothered to evolve, preferring to live his long life as a weedle.

Design Note: I just wanted a bit fry cook weedle in my story and no one could stop me. Also wanted to show evolution is NOT tied to maturity or age, but rather to just increases in power/prestige. Evolved pokemon/rarer pokemons tend to be treated with more respect and higher class than those who are lower or common.

[rin-bellatrix]

Oasis

"When everything's meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am." - Goo Goo Dolls

August finds himself in the middle of the Pandoran desert, left to clean up his business' loose ends. Though, he's not as alone as he once thought, coming face to (pretty) face with the grifter who stole his heart. It seems that Sasha has some of her own loose ends to clean up as well.

I love Sasha and August ok

I'm firmly in the belief that August needs to reclaim his full redemption arc (he started towards the end of Tales and well, we just never got to see the end result 🤷🏽‍♀️)

So here's my first "saugust" piece! (Pls tell me if there's a better ship name for them out there 💀) I've written them as bg characters in my rhyiona fics, bc we love a big ol' happy family affair, but this is their first solo spotlight on my blog 😌💕

they need more recognition, they're kinda like Bonnie and Clyde, love my lil outlaw couple 💖 so stinkin' cute 🥰 (not to be confused with everyone's favorite villain couple, jackisha, who I've also written for 🤭)

Ahem, anyway~ this is part one, so this is unfinished. More to come from this particular story ✨️

Also. Am I posting this in the last hour of the month of August, instead of getting my shit together and posting it sooner...? Don't worry about it~ ☺️

Enjoy~ 🧡💜

It was always sunny on Pandora. Or at least, it seemed to be whenever August had to venture out of the dark shithole that was Hollow Point. The white sub-giant star that was Pandora's sun seemed to be on full blast today, the curve of the horizon a warbled, dancing edge in this heat. Sweat rolled down the side of his face and gathered at his jawline before spilling off in incessant drops. He shook his head to get the sweat out of his eyes before leaning into his truck bed and grabbing two fistfuls of rough canvas.

He tossed another burlap covered carcass onto the small pile of bodies, grunting with its weight. His Ma might be gone, but that just left the family business up to him. Which meant cleaning up the mess when a rival gang thought that they could prove themselves bigger and badder. Not a chance. But it was best to dump the bodies farther away from the entrance to Hollow Point to avoid scavengers somehow finding a way to spill into his town. That was the last thing he needed.

Dusting his hands off, he slammed the trunk door closed and ripped an old rag out of his back pocket. Mopping the perspiration from his neck and face (minding his piercings), he squinted up at the ball of fire in the sky and cursed its heat. What he wouldn't give for an ice cold drink right about now, he was fucking parched.

Stuffing the damp rag back into his pocket, he rounded his truck to head to the driver's side. His boots kicking up sand, his mind already focused on securing a cold shower as soon as he got back home. Gripping the handle, he pulled and yanked the door open, one foot on the step bar ready to hop in, before he looked up and froze.

"Thirsty?" Sasha chimed, sitting relaxed behind the wheel, dangling a cold bottle that was dripping with condensation.

The sight alone had him wondering if this was a mirage, if the heat had really gotten to him and made him hallucinate this as his own personal oasis. But then her scent of orange blossoms hit him, and he took a step back in shock. The sweet scent that sometimes haunted his dreams was a startling contrast to the freshly decomposing bodies that he just unloaded from the back of his truck.

How did she even get here without him knowing...?

She was as beautiful as ever, maybe even more so if that was possible. Her locks were pulled back in a sleek style, much like the last time he saw her during that whole vault debacle. Her outfit looked clean and classy, a stark contrast to his current state of sweaty and sandy. She wore reflective sunglasses that kept him from seeing her eyes, only his own warped image staring back at him.

When she arched a pretty brow, waiting for a response, August had to reel himself in. "What the fuck are you doin' in my truck?" No one could ever say that he didn't have a way with words.

"Is that the greeting I get? After I came all this way to bring you a nice refreshing drink, because I know you always leave to come here without one."

It shouldn't move him that she remembered his dump sight. It should mean nothing that she remembered he always forgot to pack a drink. It wasn't a big deal that she came to drop off a cold drink. She was a con artist, this is what she did. It's how she wormed her way into his heart the first time. He told himself this, and tried to ignore the way his heart beat a little faster at the implication that she still cared about him.

Did she ever really care about him...?

"What's it to you? If I forget to hydrate, how's it any of your business?" He glowered at her, old hurt resurfacing as if it were just yesterday.

She watched him from behind her sunglasses, quiet as she struggled to find a new lie to fixate on.

"Listen, I don't care, get the fuck out of my seat and go back to wherever you came from. You've got nothin' here, unless ya want me to put a bullet in your brain."

Sasha pursed her lips, her free hand settling firmly on the steering wheel. "I'm gonna drive you back." When he opened his mouth to argue, she continued. "I just want to talk." When he remained suspicious, she reached up to remove her sunglasses, meeting his eyes clearly. "Please?"

Her eyes were so clear, the light jade so beautiful with her complexion. His mind told him to watch his heart, not to fall for her tricks. But his heart told him to go along with what she wanted, simply because it was her who asked. August considered himself a strong man - an intelligent man - but in the face of the woman he loved, he crumbled far too easily.

He grunted as he slammed the door closed, rounding to the passenger side of his own damn truck. He hopped in, the cab rocking with his momentum, the door shutting behind him as he huffed.

Sasha held out the bottle again, and he watched as a drop of water raced down the side and gathered at the bottom before splattering across his leather seat. He looked up at her and met her eyes again, ignoring the excitement that wanted to bubble to the surface.

"Is it poisoned?"

The pretty grifter frowned, before twisting the cap off and taking a swig, once again holding it out to him. "That answer your question, smart ass?"

He hesitated before taking the bottle from her. Glancing down as she shifted the car into drive and pulled off, he noticed the faintest glossy shine of her lip gloss on the lip of the bottle. As the truck rumbled through the Pandoran desert, he recalled how slick her lips were when she would kiss him after applying it. They way she giggled when he pulled back and groused about the texture. How she would joke with him, arms looped around his neck, if she should withhold her kisses then. And he would snag her closer by her waist, pulling her into him and grumbling a complaint against her wet lips as he kissed her through her laughter.

He eyed the residue of it on his bottle now. Then, he lifted it to his lips and drank deeply, imagining that he could feel a phantom press of her lips against his own. It quenched him like nothing else.

☆

TBC

☆

☆ borderlands masterlist ⋆ main masterlist ☆

©rin-bellatrix 2024

[starry-blue-echoes]

okay so I went on a walk and my brain started rotating the Merstars AU SO hard so I'm just going to yeet a bunch of random bullet point thoughts that I came up with and see what comes out of it-

the "world" the AU takes place isn't really like "real" life and is instead a super huge archipelago with hundreds of thousands of islands of varying sizes and kinds

Mers and other various Sea Magics are pretty well known as A Thing That Exists. Is it accepted? Depends on the location and the people, and Mer Hunters are unfortunately a pretty common thing, but it's slowly started dying out. This is actually thanks to Speedwagon since after Jonathan's death he started trying to use his influence as a Very Important Wealthy Merchant to change public opinion, and it's actually been working

Jonathan was a pretty well loved and very social member of the mers. He wasn't their leader by any means, but almost every mer in the archipelago knew about him, and his murder pissed a LOT of people off. Luckily thanks to Speedwagon, since then relations have gone from "it's on fucking sight" to "don't approach me and I won't approach you"

Morioh is one of the more isolated islands and a bit of an exception to the above thing, being the most accepting island in the whole archipelago. Honestly, at this point like half the town has at least a little mer blood in them, but they are primarily human passing. There are a couple of full blooded or half blooded mers that hang around, but Josuke was one of the first ones born in the town in a long while

currently debating how exactly the Morioh Trio are gonna be, since I want them to be a "full blood, half blood, human" trio for the funnsies, but other than Josuke I don't know which should be which. My current thought process is 1) Okuyasu is the full blooded and when he was younger he had a run in with Hunters which is where his scars came from since his dad more or less just fucked off and left him at their mercy at which Keicho had to save him which led to the two of the moving to Morioh, Koichi is the human and is Their Little Guy, is super familiar with how to work around mers and climbs them like a god damn jungle gyms, or 2) Koichi is the full blood and a really small mer but still Big for humans, he's a cuttlefish, got separated from his family when he was little which led to him being adopted by the Human Hiroses and Okuyasu is human and the resident Normie Guy, he's recently moved to Morioh and is getting used to how Positive human mer relations are here

still trying to figure out how the Stand Arrows work, since Stands..... aren't really a thing now. Probably some kind of super powerful Sea Magic thing going on, maybe turn partial mers/humans into full blooded ones?

the "Italy" of this world is a collection of islands that are under Passione's control, aka a group of pirates that have a literal fleet. Diavolo and Doppio are brothers, with Diavolo being a half-mer (maybe lion fish? I'm still deciding tho) and Doppio being a full human. Doppio is the face of the operation, but his brother is always lurking in the depths below the ship and even makes a couple appearances as the True Boss in human form. Trish is by extension 1/4 mer and they want to kill her so the truth about Diavolo won't get out

Passione, despite all the shitty stuff they do, is actually a surprising area of Human Mer teamwork. There are a lot of hybrids and even full blooded mers to the point they're almost the majority. For the most part people don't care what you are as long as you get your job done, and honestly if what they did wasn't drug trade and trafficking, they'd be pretty cool

the Bucci Gang don't have a whole lot of mer blood, and any they do have is pretty distant to the point they're almost human save for a couple little features (they also don't get full transformations), with the exceptions being Trish and Giorno. Trish I've explained, but Giorno is...... Really Really Weird with what he is. His birth mom was a mer, but Dio had mostly been using her to try and lure other mers so by the time Giorno was actually born she was killed. Giorno was then taken in by the Shiobana's, which obviously sucked ass, but he was able to pass as a human for a shocking amount of time because Sea Vampire Genes fucked with his aging, so he also looks a lot smaller than he should be. He's also been forced to stay in his "human" form for much longer than is strictly healthy which ALSO fucked with his size and health

Giorno is gonna be a giant sea snake, because I think it'll be funny because That's The Traditional Sea MonsterTM. Maybe during the final fight with Diavolo he gets shot with the arrow and falls off the ship all dramatic and everyone thinks he died but SIKE he suddenly grows to full Absolutely Fucking ENORMOUS Size And Kicks Ass

Jolyne is a siphonophore, I don't make the rules, she's Really Fucking Long

[twig-tea]

I am freaking out about Be My Favorite Ep8. So much happened! All of it so good! How does this show continue to surprise me?!

This isn't going to be coherent, sorry in advance.

First, the way this show never lies to us in the previews but still manages to make us second-guess?! I think @respectthepetty said this first and it's remained true; I was truly blown away by how the preview of Kawi confessing on the balcony was undercut but still borne through, and even moreso how Kawi crying in Pisaeng's arms in the past/present is made more poignant as we the audience realize that Kawi's also reacting to what he knows happens in this moment in the past, which is his father dying. The storytelling! The throughline from that moment of realization last episode! And the additional weight this gives to Kawi's decision to go back anyway, to relive this moment of loss knowing he absolutely could not fix it?! I am freaking out about how good this is. No wonder he hesitated before going back in time! No wonder he was overwhelmed! I'm not ok.

Then that bit about Kawi asking Pisaeng to stay away in public!! As @lurkingshan said this show is definitely paralleling Krist's real experience and real history, and as an apologist/redemption vehicle I have to say it is doing its job, damn, A++ to everyone involved in that decision.

Then we got Pisaeng's mother once again turning me into an absolute rage monster. @waitmyturtles already said what I wanted to say about this, how her suggestion to run is perfectly contrasted with Max's conversation with Kawi about how it may be more difficult but staying and fighting is worthwhile [note: no judgment to people who legitimately have to leave to survive, as a person who only exists because my Jewish relatives left Ukraine before the town was murdered! Time and place, nuance, etc]. I think @bengiyo is right and this woman is evil, and I always love a story where the banality of evil is allowed to shine.

Then. Then!! We got Kawi giving Pisaeng the diary. The way I GASPED. I cannot tell you all how much I was not struggling with Kawi confessing to Pisaeng with the imbalance of both age and knowledge on his side, and this show said "Not Today, Lying By Omission Gang! Full and Enthusiastic Emotional Consent Only" 😭 I have so many emotions about this. When we saw him with it in the preview I was worried Pisaeng had found it and read it and drawn weird conclusions about what Kawi wants (which...I was half right lol). Kawi really did not have to share this at this point in the narrative, and as that balcony conversation showed, it was a hard sell as the truth. But now everything is on the table. The secrets are out! Anything that comes now will be something external, that they can then choose to either fight together or let break them apart.

I have Thoughts about the future mystic guy showing up in this episode. Are we to take his offer as a representation of the "easy way out" and Pisaeng rejecting it as an indicator of his character [This is currently my favourite theory but I'm not fully convinced; it fits with @lurkingshan's brilliant meta about the way this show is pushing for doing the work, accepting consequences, and not taking shortcuts though]? If Pisaeng had said yes, would he have been given a chance to change his past (but it's a strange moment for him to want to change, having gotten hope from Kawi for the first time); or would he have been given a glimpse of his future to help him make a decision in the present? Are we supposed to think that Pisaeng and Kawi are soulmates and this guy is their guardian angel trying to help them get together faster (but he seemed happy that Pisaeng turned him down?)?

And on that note, I just have to say that I am as happy as everyone else that we're seeing Kawi finally take responsibility for his choices and their consequences, finally think about the impact on other people, and work actively to make the lives of his friends better not just his own. It makes sense to me that Kawi needed to see "success" as he'd defined it and realize it sucked before he was willing to let that go. It also makes sense that he'd mature more quickly after getting years of memories every time he goes into the future. And I think experiencing the loss of his father, Pearmai, and Pisaeng in succession via memory really helped him put in perspective who was important to him. He seems to need to see how something falls out rather than thinking it through in advance, so this seems in character as a means of gaining clarity. The way he was talking about himself with Pisaeng in that flashback was so interesting too, "you didn't tell anyone about me, did you?" as though there IS something to tell; living that future really solidified Kawi as Queer for Kawi, in ways his uncertainty in the present/past hadn't. And there's something lovely about Kawi coming to terms with his sexuality in the past because he's seen how much it hurts Pisaeng in the future if he doesn't. I also really, really love that he still hesitated, and had trouble getting it out because as @waitmyturtles said, change is not easy.(This also feels connected to some of what @dribs-and-drabbles has written about Kawi rewriting his sense of self in real-time).

I'm 100% with @grapejuicegay that I want Kawi to decide to live in the past as his present and to be present for it, and shockingly it seems like in this episode he's already come to that decision himself?! Which now has me wondering what the conflict will be in future and what it will have to do with time travel.

I'm calling now [get ready to clown] that Kawi's going to get too tempted to check his future one last time over a decision, even though Pisaeng tells him not to, and gets stuck in a future he doesn't like. Wild speculation: Pisaeng is dead because of Kawi and Kawi goes to the future guy for one last chance, and he's given two choices: keep things as they are or go back to the first timeline. Kawi goes back to the first timeline (because you can't ever really go back and fix your past), but takes the lessons he learned to improve his (and all his friends') present and future. This show has been really good at giving me better than I could come up with, and I'm looking forward to being proven wrong.

Most of all I just want to celebrate in this moment that this show is doing everything I had hoped (none of which I expected to get), and none of what I'd feared, and it has far, far surpassed my expectations!

[rose-of-pollux]

Quiz thing

Also tagged by @belphegor1982 for this--

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

(I'm skipping the incidental AU blurbs I did for AU Roulette except for the one that launched the Ashen Pines AU)

It was with a newfound nervousness that Doc, accompanied once again by Marty, sped off across the desert in the DeLorean, now with more provisions and a full tank of gas. -- A Moment of Peace (BTTF, Ashen Pines AU

Las Vegas itself had been another casualty of the war, though plenty of foresight had made it possible for residents to prepare for the eventual evacuation. -- Nowhere to Turn (BTTF, Ashen Pines AU)

Doc found himself having to commandeer a few things from the ruins of the town; he justified it by promising he’d find a way to pay once he could regain access to his bank account—for now, all he had was whatever cash he’d had on hand before the government agents had escorted him out of town just before the town had been leveled. -- To Be Told You're No Good (BTTF, Ashen Pines AU)

Doc’s homecoming was worse than anything his nightmares had ever produced. -- Up in Smoke (BTTF, Ashen Pines AU)

Doc finally understood the true meaning of exhaustion. -- No Rest for the Weary (BTTF, main timeline)

Doc knew that the stability of the entire space-time continuum depended on Marty going back in time on that night, in the very same circumstances as he did in his original timeline. -- No Turning Back (BTTF, main timeline)

The war was over. And Dr. Emmett L. Brown was forever changed. -- Miles to Go Before I Sleep (BTTF, main timeline)

Sometimes, being able to steal away to the Hofbrau in town was the sole beacon of sanity for Newkirk; it was a temporary escape from the tunnels and Stalag 13 and the chaos within, and a chance to enjoy some food and drinks—and if he was lucky, meet up with one of his local contacts for a date. -- Wrong Place at the Right Time (Hogan's Heroes)

The Ghost Host, being the majordomo of the Haunted Mansion, took his job seriously—in life, and in death. -- Call and Response (Haunted Mansion)

The appearance of various witches and warlocks at Vincent’s castle was something that the gang had gotten accustomed to while living there. -- Occupational Hazard (13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo)

...The pattern here is that I enjoy putting Doc Through It regardless of timeline. 😅 That, and my opening line is usually a matter-of-fact declaration about the current situation.

Oh yeah, tagging @threephantomrey and anyone else who wants to do this!

[thestorytoad]

Male Cowboy/Outlaw OC x Female OC Roleplay (18+ only and literate/novella) [PAUSED]

Whats up! I am currently in search of a literate/novella style Roleplay partner interested in historical cowboy/outlaw plot, whereas my cowboy man plays against your lady. I am up to multiple types of tropes, character arcs, and styles and will summarize below :)

Literate/Novella Style is appreciated. I am a writer by heart and even as my hobby, I tend to go full throttle. Depth, inner dialogue, description, I love love love it all. My bread and butter baby!

EST time zone! I would prefer you not be far from it as I do have a work life and other responsibilities that veer into hours that may not be the best is you aren’t in a similar time zone

Regular responses. I am an adult with a job so i more than understand handling hobbies and life at once. But a semi regular and predictable routine would be nice.

I love realness and character development. Depth and analysis and Headcanons, all of it. I like to have them go on a journey, that is natural and also fun but without veering into cartoon-y stereotypes or Mary Sue territory. But if you love a good character arc and development, I’m here for it.

Dark themes. I don’t stray into graphic portrayal or gore, but I do include dark backstories, trauma, and some violence. Triggers/Avoidables will most def be discussed but if that’s not your thing as a whole, may not be a match

NSFW. I don’t require it or specifically seek it out but an open to the prospect if it happens in the story. Obvs we can discuss as/when it comes up what we both are comfortable with

All characters must be 18+. Simple enough lol

ldeas:

Outlaw finding shelter working as a ranch hand on the run and starts to develop a relationship with the daughter/sister of the rancher

Gang starts to harass town/cause trouble when my character and yours meet. Could be the daughter of the sheriff, regular town person, or more steamy plots as a sex worker

Rival gang members (classic)

Ranchers find injured man (my outlaw) and decide to assist, unknowing he’s a member of the gang nearby

Open to more! These are what I can think of here and now but am always up to hearing ideas and delving more into one!

[brawlstars-dragon-au]

please talk abour shelly and colt for. 5 hours thankiyiu

You got it! A long bundle of Shelly and Colt HCs/info in my AU (as well as ship HCs at the bottom as well 🛐).

Shelly:

Her attacks consist of a medium range solid fire breath. With enough charge, she can release a more explosive breath that shreds through walls as well. A regular shot is more orange, but her "super" is a lighter blue with a tint of purple.

Under her bandaid, she has a little scar from her younger days.

Her classic yellow bandana is a gift from her parents. She's gained quite a few over the years!

She was once part of a gang that was decently well known in the Wild West areas of the Park. They had taken her under their wings and cared for her from a young age. It disbanded after a few successful years (By this time, she was considered about 20 for humans), leaving Shelly to wander alone until situating herself in the quiet-ish life of the main town.

During her time in this gang, her coat colours were not as bright and were mostly light purples leaning to shades of grey and black.

She has a black cat named Starlight! She's very small but she loves her a lot 💛 she sometimes sits in her bandana as she does casual errands. Sometimes they have the exact sma expressions and it's kinda silly hehe

Colt:

The gold star on his back, as well as his tails, are dyed. (This fact may change in the future, as I want to give Colt a slight redesign.)

Colt's attacks consist of different bursts of fire that he breathes out. He usually attacks with a quick bursts of flames that go a far range, with a strong red flame on them. Stronger Super attacks lean to an almost pinkish orange colour. A small detail I want to expand on is that some brawlers' hair (pr another part) will actually turn slightly elemental-like when using what we consider as a super in the regular game. Colt's hair will become similar to a flame when he uses his supercharged flame blast.

His scar on his chin came from a heist back when he was still part of his mom's gang. He scraped it when falling to the ground. He once took pride with it, as it looked just like the one his father had. Now, it's more of an upsetting reminder of the life he left behind.

Additionally, back when he was in the gang, he dyed his hair and wings black to differ himself from his mother (which had a very bold red coat and feathers.) Similarly to Shelly, his colours were simply shades of dark blue and grey, apart from the red that shone through.

Colt's feathers are his pride and joy. You'll never catch anyone touching them, let alone preening (the act of cleaning feathers with birds, this also applies to dragons). The only acceptions are for those he trusts very much. Some examples are Shelly and Pam (Belle was once allowed, but in current times she is definitely not. Family drama!!!)

He left the gang during his late teens after conflicting ideals and issues that had been festering for years.

A bit after, Colt gets taken in by Pam, who welcomes him into the family. Cause of this, he is an honorary Junker ❤️

Colt's actually supposed to be very fluffy, but he sheers off a good chunk of his fur to give the appearance of a "vest" rather than a full fluffy hide. This trait is from his dad.

Finally, some classic Sholt - it's getting a bit long, so I'll add a read more here:

Years ago, while they were still in their gangs, they did interact a few times. Nothing too huge, let alone friendship, but a mutual respect for each other. They almost didn't recognise each other when interacting again as adults.

Colt fell first, Shelly fell harder.

Shelly is one of the few who has seen Colt during his molting period. She brought him snacks and made sure he knew she would still love him even if he thought he looked like some balding hatchling. I actually have an old fanfic for this. Might post it sometime!

When they nap together, Shelly will rest her head just above his wing, using the fluffy fur almost like a pillow. Colt will then rest his head on hers.

Colt's ways of showing affection vary so much, with all coming right from the heart. He gives words of affirmation with flirts and compliments. He'll put on grand displays of affection through small songs or even a little dance. He'll bring gifts that remind him of Shelly (can range from a new bandana he thinks she'd like, or simple trinkets and items that remind him of her).

On the other hand, Shelly's prefers to express her affection through actions. She would not hesitate to protect him in brawls and assures him that she's happy with him (leaning into the subtle insecurity at the heart of Colt's pride).

Shelly asked him out first officially. Colt had asked a few times before, but they were sort of casual and not direct enough. Shelly made that first step to directly say, "Do you wanna go on a date together?"

^ Colt probably sat there in shock for a few minutes /pos. Of course, he agreed! They've been happy ever since <3

In the future (or perhaps in a divergent au/future with fankids), they have a daughter named Shea. She's a lovely ruby red colour, with wing feathers a light lilac colour at the ends. She attacks similarly to Shelly, using stronger mid range attacks. Her attacks do seem to carry just a bit of electric magic/power in it, but that's only noticed when she's older. 🤭

There we go! That's a few of the headcanons I've got for these two. I do wanna flesh out their story in my au, as the past with the gangs really do give a lot to think of... but that'll come much much later when I at least have more designs for the AU 😭😭 Thank you for the ask! It was a pleasure writing this out! ✨️

[istadris]

@isamajor @scribeprotra @saemi-the-dreamer @cloudydaysomewhere since you liked that post, come read about my druid with zero social skills!

Context: my Moon druid Ailes du Sud (=Wings of the South) is a Tabaxi who loves birds, wandering, and doing as he pleases. A bit unhinged, very perceptive but as blunt as a barbarian's club.

Act I : Making friends with kids thanks to hags

We are relatively early in the campaign. Our party wandered into a cursed forest (as one does) and at some point we got captured by a hag coven who locked us into cages.

Ailes woke up first, and among many things, he noticed in another cage a little grey-skinned, golden-eyed tiefling girl.

Now, Ailes is a bit of a dick, but he doesn't like seeing ANYONE into cages. So as our group manages to escape, he gets the kid out and makes her flee outside while we fight; we survive, and we take the kid with us as we leave. Ailes bonds with the kid, and while his methods are slightly questionable, he starts mentoring her in survival (climbing trees, etc).

Oh, and tiefling girl suddenly used magical fire at some point. Nothing to worry about I'm sure. All in all, Ailes and the kid have a good relationship.

Act II : meeting the (mafia) Family

After a while, we reach Tiefling Girl's hometown: a wretched hive torn apart by cinflicting gangs, with four Families ruling most of the business.

We find out the girl is closely related to the boss of one of these Families (she's the daughter of the boss's cousin). We bring her home, and Mafia Boss (also a grey-skinned tiefling with golden eyes) is very glad to see her niece again. She provides us with some favors, answers our questions, all in all is pretty grateful.

While we stay here, Ailes comes back to see the kid once or twice, and learns that her mom is on a away mission for the Family (as an assassin), and of course her daughter misses her, especially with the nightmares she's having since the hag incident.

Ailes then promises her to look for her mom and to keep in touch.

...incidentally, right before leaving town, we attacked, robbed and torched down a huge warehouse belonging to a rival Family, and we might have angered several other factions.

We still good with Tiefling Mafia Boss and her niece, though.

Act III : How I Found Your Mother

Fast forward to much later in the campaign.

We have traveled to the neighbouring kingdom and we're currently on our way to another one : we stop by a town to resupply and get intel. As both kingdoms are currently at war, tensions are high, crime is on the rise and guards are plentiful and vigilant.

Ailes wanders in town and amuses himself spotting and following suspicious people, which leads him to a hide-out. On a whim, he comes back with the party's rogue in tow, both as help and back-up.

Turning into a bug, Ailes sneaks into the hide out, only occupied by what the DM describes as "a female tiefling with grey skin and golden eyes, cleaning a rifle."

Ailes.

Freaks.

Out.

There's still a slight chance it might not be the right person though, so Ailes and the rogue decide to pick the lock and confront politely the person.

And here's where things get funny.

Picking the lock : critical failure. A guard gets suspicious, we waste time convincing him we mean no harm, and in the end when we enter, the tiefling is hiding, and we both fail to check AND convince her we're not a threat.

And then she runs away.

And the rogue.

Shoots at her.

"Just to scare her into stopping, not to hurt her!"

It doesn't work.

And that's where we ended the session : chasing after an assassin we tried to befriend in the middle of a city full of tense guards and criminal activity.

Ailes would say "2 out of 3 ! I had worse hunting days !"

[fates-calling]

I caved and made this silly side-blog! Mostly: because I want a place to scream about my Tavs and the game itself.

So! Meet my three guys!

The only player characters I have made. So far...

Romance: Gale | Playthrough Status: Complete! | Alignment: Chaotic Good

Romance: Astarion | Playthrough Status: Complete! | Alignment: Neutral Evil

Romance: Undecided | Playthrough Status: Act 1 | Alignment: Lawful Good

Some more detailed facts about them under the cut!

Soren

He was taken in by a thieves' guild (which I named the 'Silver Tongues') in Baldur's Gate when he was young after running away from home - who posed or were also bards as a cover-up

He is a raging kleptomaniac, and genuinely can't seem to help himself sometimes

In-game every single romanceable companion in the tadpole gang, tried to sleep with him: except for Karlach. Even the Emporer tried. He only slept with two of his party members, Gale (ofx) and Astarion in Act 2: twice.

His musical instrument of choice is the lute!

His choice of weapon is a longbow & longsword! He actually uses Phalar Aluve.

He and Astarion have a bit of a messy relationship. It's queer platonic, honestly at best. But also, they are kind of in love with each other. However, Soren chose Gale and also believed that the vampire needed a friend, more than a lover. As well as, as much as he adores Astarion - he respects Gale's desire to be monogamous.

He grew up never in one place, being dragged from one city or town to another by his ever-drinking & abusive mother. They were cast out of their eleven town because Soren, was the result of an affair: and with his father being a rich lord and his mother not his wife, well - they were tossed to the streets. He learned how to swindle and steal to survive.

Durge

At first, I named my Durge run well, "The Dark Urge" because I thought it would be funny. And I couldn't think of a fitting name but then it just stuck. Now, the lore reason, is that he really doesn't have a name. So - when meeting Lae'zel and realizing that calling himself the 'dark urge' might cause mistrust, or make him seem pretentious: he simply combined the two words. Durge.

He is a dual wielder! Currently using two shortswords (Knife of the Undermountian King & just a gith blade)

While I am doing a completely evil run with Durge - he is going to reject Bhaal. Because he wants to be free, and as an aasimar, all he has known is submission and orders. He isn't going to become a good person - no, he just wants freedom. To kill who he wants. When he wants, be in complete control of himself and his deeds. Kill in his name.

He had a one-night stand with Lae'zel unable to resist her demanding allure. He regretted it the day after, realizing that he should have thought about it more. But! It did help him discover that sex makes him feel the same way giving into his urges does. It's a stress relief! It also made him remember how many people he has slept with a lot. Almost as many as he has killed. Apparently - casual sex is a habit of his.

He is obsessive. About everyone who comes into his vicinity, and who allows themselves to be under his wings & gain his respect/trust. Whether they be a friend or lover. Durge holds the people he cares for too tight and leaves bruises upon their bodies because all he has known is darkness and blood. How does he deal with these other feelings? That he wasn't built for. So, instead of casting light like most aasimar - he drags people into his swirling shadows and bloodied wings. And he won't let them go. Not without a fight.

Ouroborus

Ouroboros was a part of the Blood War before escaping Avernus

Every time he uses divine magic, it essentially hurts him as well due to his fiendish blood (half-devil)

If it were mechanically available he would totally be an Oath of Redemption

While playing, I have him in his full cambion form, he hides his devil linage and presents himself as a teifling to the party until Act 2 ish (just take away the wings pft)

I plan for him not to use any of his illithid powers, or give into any of them! Something Durge & Soren both did.

Currently using the Everburn Blade!

He has the least developed personality & backstory of my three Tavs, obviously because I haven't played with him for long. I am very excited though.

[coffee-in-veins]

Dismas for the bingo? Also I keep seeing the 'fandom is wrong about them' the filled with no further explanation, if you fill it could you elaborate? Thanks!

ding-ding-ding we have double bingo!

who is surprised? certainly not me

as for the "everyone else is wrong about them" elaboration...

my problem mostly lies with how fandom loves to absolve characters of their shittiness - and now canon does too.

like if we look at DD1, canonically, Dismas is not a good man. maybe kind in his own right, maybe loyal, maybe friendly in his own way, i'm not denying any of it. but he did shit. he killed people. he robbed, mugged, most likely caused road accidents (considering how highway robberies were made). very few people write/draw/talk about him as a man who has serious problems, is probably an alcoholic, a tobacco addict, and considering times, proooooobaby on some dubious opioid/alcohol/only Light and Para knows (probably more Para than Light) what else mix which was considered medicine at the time - that is, if he can be bothered or can afford it. he has to be at least somewhat shady.

in my opinion, he has to scheme, lie his ass off, double cross people - it's what kept him alive for so long, after all. sure he can tell noble lies, but it doesn't mean he's any more honest. sure he knows his way around people, but look at his barks, he surely is a braggart. he sees his skills as superior (as anyone in Hamlet does, really, but that's beside the point). he is a conman, a shitbag, a cheater - and yet in most cases, I see him portrayed much like a cat: a bit bumbling, a bit of a jerk, sometimes moody but in the end, harmless. and this isn't what he is, imo. he's a thug. a thug who writes poetry in his free time, sure, but a thug nonetheless.

it's honestly my problem with DD2 mostly. characters there are washed-out toothless poor little meow meows. and it saddens me, since i see them as horrible people who try to make the most out of their current situation - it doesn't make them any less of the shitbags for it. like, i have no doubt that Dismas would suicide-rush a boss to save a friend (much like that Darius highwayman who met his end in encounter with Shambler) - but it doesn't mean he won't sacrifice a seeker he doesn't care for to assure his or his friend's survival or won't mug some sorry bloke in the town if he wouldn't have enough for a bottle. fandom, unfortunately, is usually pretty bad at seeing the moral greyness of characters and sticking to it. they either become the bastards or the infallible "precious babies". and since Dismas is widely popular, he bears the brunt of it.

we know he was in prison but it is barely explored (we don't talk about DD2's portrayal of him there in this blog, i need to be much more inebriated to talk about Buffmas). he is writing poems, but it's rarely referenced. he used to be a candlemaker, used to have a lover, maybe was in Vvulf's brigand, and knows marine terminology, so maybe he was on a ship or was sold as a galley slave from prison - there's so much going on in his backstory that seeing RH dumbing it down to "desperate meow meow who had literally no other viable options was tricked by a bad gang to assault a clown car" and even the "moral sin" which is pushed heavily as the reason he came to Hamlet in the first place was washed off him; in DD1, he shot the carriage deliberately: he heard a noise, and fresh out of a fight, his reflexes snapped into pulling the trigger. but the big emphasis of the scene in the comic was that it was after the fight was completely and utterly over. that was the tragedy - the same quick reflexes that let him live to his age, that he always, always starts the run with, screwed him over into murdering a defenceless woman and a child. however, in DD2, he's robbed even out of that, as they died, as Narrator puts it, "in erratic gunfire", cleansing him of deliberately pulling the trigger and having full responsibility of it when there was no need for it.

i can go on and on but... those are the biggest gripes.

[beezonia]

So The pokèmon au!!

It’s set in the Galar region but also across other regions too!

———

Professor Hershel Layton is a Professor of Archeology in Motostoke (Ground/Rock) who studies with Professor Maggie Evermore about the legendaries and how the fossils of pokèmon can help them find more about the past of Unova and other regions.

Luke Triton originally born in Wyndon but now lives with his parent’s in Ballonlea (he’s about 19 in this and is a water/Normal type trainer) Laytons former apprentice follows his own path studying the bond between a pokèmon and trainer by travelling across regions to see how the connection differs in each region.

Lastly Emmy Altava former adventurer now part time photographer in Chirchester, (electric/fighting type trainer) who is investigating the mystery’s of the legendary pokèmon darkarai and cresselia and how they can cause both chaos and destruction for the pokèmon world.

The three are brought back together to solve the mystery of the azaran legacy, and maybe stop a dormant pokèmon from waking up and causing a shit ton of problems for the world.

They meet Desmond Sycamore a (dark/ice type ) professor in Hammerlock who finds a girl frozen in ice with only memories of loosing her pokèmon who is yearning to find it and bring it home.

Which has lead him to think that she knows more about the legendary pokèmon that lays underneath the highest mountain in galar.

He decides that he should take her along with the gang to the small town of Misthaven where the elders know more about the legends.

The gang have to find the many keys that will unlock the history of the Azaran before it is to late and the apocalypse is brought to the world.

And that is how the story begins.

————

Some little headcannons/backstory for this au

Flora is Fairy/steel and at 18 has become one of the most talented mechanics in postwick.

She can build almost anything from robots to full on machines.

Flora was originally from Hammerlock but moved after a terrible thing that happened there.

Luke is from Wyndon in this and grew up with Ariana (ghost type trainer) and the two of them have a healthy rivalry.

She is actually set to become the next ghost gym leader after her father retires.

Claire is Steel/Dragon/psychic and is currently working on her latest project that can help hershel and the gang

She is also juggling wedding planning on the side with Angela (fire) and Randal (ground/dragon)

Anton (ghost/poison ) is one of the last remaining dukes of Galar and his family the herzen’s are the keepers of a very important keys.

Sophia (fairy/ice) lives with their daughter Iris (Ice/poison) hiding the second key in the necklace anton gave her as a symbol of their love.

She ran away from Folsense or Ballonlea just like the game but remains alive (she’s about late 30s early 40s in this)

The Pandora’s box stayed with Anton.

Desmond in this au has a wife she’s alive along with their daughter. The two of them live in wedgehurst.

He doesn’t actually know this due to him thinking that they both died in a tragic accident to do with the Azaran a few years prior in Hammerlock.

Their names are Erica (flying/water) and Nessie (Flying) or ness for short.

Erica is a teacher/mechanic who is hell bent on not talking about the Azaran and what she knows and what it did to her.

Rachel (steel/grass) and Leon (fire/dark) have a extremely tense relationship in this due to Targent and opposing ideals.

But the both love each other very very much and one day want their sons to be reunited with them again.

Janice (normal/fairy) and Malina (ghost/dragon) are in this (I WILL MAKE THEM FIT) they know something about the Azaran but not that much

The two of them actually run a little opera together and tell the tales of the legends

Maggie is actually Sonia’s great great great grandma (she’s actually one of my oc’s for my pokèmon au called order of jirachi) she’s an electric type professor.

She’s one of those who knows a lot more then she lets on about the Azaran, and she tries to hide it because of the repercussions it could cause.

Basically everyone is linked to the Azaran for some reason I don’t know why but I wanted to see how I could connect and weave stories from characters that had never met or weren’t explored!

Let me know if you want more!!!

[korgbelmont]

Choices End of Year Post

Apologies for taking so long to get to this. Here is my look over the end of year blog post.

The new year is upon us so let's rewind, recap, and look forward to another year of Choices. Shall we start this blog off with a bang? Here we go! You better hold on tight, spider monkey… 

After reading how much our community enjoyed the world of this brooding vampiric fantasy and reviewing the full-release numbers, Pixelberry has decided to put Immortal Desires 2 into motion. The gang will be back in town!

Saying I am excited to see this news is an understatement, Immortal Desires was one of my favourite books of the year, so this is good to see. This does make me wonder about other books now.

To say we are excited is an understatement and we had to pull a few strings to get this sequel to happen. So we’re here to explain: Immortal Desires 2 was originally not going to happen due to all sequels being launched into Wide Release, which resulted in an imbalance of resources for new book production. So, in order to maintain a balance of new books and sequels, starting in 2024, all sequels will be launching into VIP early access first and will follow our current Wide Release schedule. This will include Immortal Desires 2. We want to reassure the community that following this release schedule will allow us to push forward with more book sequels in the future. 

This is not the greatest thing to see, however I can't say I'm surprised. My main problem with VIP is the price more than anything (£15 here in the UK). I don't know how many of the currently announced sequels apart from Blades and Crimes will drop in 2023, the only other ones I am currently aware of are Untameable and The Cursed Heart.

As we prepare for 2023, we want to address the concerns revolving around gender-locked books. Books in the beginning of next year will contain more female-only main characters. The Choices team is aware of and understands this as a big concern, and is working to make sure that there will be more gender-of-choice books in the back half of 2023 and in 2024. Book production begins at least a year before the story airs, which means we are unable to adjust our early 2023 slated books to fit this request. We read every comment that is sent to us on our socials, and we know how important this request is for our fans as well as us on the Choices Community Team. We aim to do better, and we will do better. 

I'm hoping that the addition of more Gender of choice MC books will also be ones that have the choice of pronoun like Immortal Desires, The Cursed Heart, Murder at Homecoming, and Foreign Affairs.

We’d also like to address another request from the community: reused character faces. Our art team works super hard to bring the highest quality material to you, our fans, every day. Funding restraints often keep us from producing a whole new set of faces for every book, and in those cases, we create one new face, while reusing faces from some of our most popular books. We like to think of these faces as actors who play a different character every once in a while! We recognize that this feature is important to you, so going forward, we will be reviewing our processes in order to give more characters a chance to shine while we work on creating a back catalog of new characters. We'll keep track, and be much more aware, of how faces are reused so they appear less frequently within new books. 

I'm okay with reused faces in books, with the exception of Love Interests, I don't like when they do that. But in the case of some books, such as Immortal Desires, it can be quite fun to see who will get used.

Now, with everything in mind, let’s take a sneak peek at some anticipated releases in 2023:

Kindred You’ve been asking for it, and our team is delivering! Kindred is our upcoming witchy book that follows three individuals on their magical journey. What can each of their powers behold? Find out in our 2023 release of Kindred!

I'm interested to see what this will be like. It sounds like it could potentially be a multiple point of view from the three individuals who I am guessing will be the MC and the Love Interests.

Crimes of Passion 2 Reunite with your MC and Trystan as we dive back into one of our most beloved stories. Crimes of Passion 2 will also be releasing in 2023!

This is one of the two books at the top of my list for 2023. I loved Trystan, she was one of my top Love Interests of the year. Interested to see how this will play out.

Blades of Light and Shadow 2 And last but not least, Blades of Light and Shadow 2 will rock your world next year. Have you checked out our book team Q&A yet? Also, look out for the rest of this month and next for more Blades of Light and Shadow 2 content!

This is the other book at the top of my list for next year. BK1 was an amazing read and also helped with getting through lockdown. Really looking forward to this. I'll keep an eye on what gets posted and give my thoughts.

Onward to 2023 We know that some of these decisions are tough to make, and if you made it this far into the blog, we want to thank you for taking the time to read these updates. We're looking forward to sharing these new books and more with all of you. We hope to provide a variety of stories for all of our audiences to enjoy. We thank you for the hilarious comments and meaningful Choices discussions throughout 2022. Here's to more Choices adventure, magic, and love in 2023!.

I'm interested to see what books we'll be getting over the next year and how they will play out. Only one way to find out!

Let me know what your opinions on any of this are!

[joysofescapism]

The Havoc Boys Series by C.M. Stunich: This is Ridiculous! I love it.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I sure enjoyed myself reading the whole series. Read my full review under the cut.

And if you want to know my thoughts on each book just click: (1) Havoc at Prescott High (2) Chaos at Prescott High (3) Mayhem at Prescott High (4) Anarchy at Prescott High (5) Victory at Prescott High

I will start this review by saying: I hate bully “romance”. And since these tropes were huge in young adult-high school settings, I don't read those anymore.

But The Havoc Boys was an exception. C.M. Stunich’s storytelling was able to chain my ass on a chair allowing me to finish the whole thing. Not only that, the story didn’t focus much on the bullying and only gave you flashbacks of it.

I didn’t think it will make much of a difference if the bullying element wasn’t included in the plot development since she already had an awful life throughout her teenage years. It felt like it was just thrown out there. The H’s bullying her into "leaving town" didn't hold any merit since we didn't see the consequences of that (i.e. h was still obsessed with these boys who did an overkill on her while she was going through all the abuse). But, it wasn't my story, so.

I think you should proceed with an open mind and low expectations. There were a lot of things in the series that weren’t something to give a comprehensive explanation of. This was for a specific kind of audience and I also consider this a self-indulgent read if you’re looking for something specific, as well as my guilty pleasure.

The Book Cover

The book covers played a huge part in convincing me to read this series. I wasn’t entirely sure about the premise at first seeing that the characters were barely legal and all. And yet, the cover art did an amazing job of pulling me in.

It was your typical shirtless guys, but the focus wasn’t entirely on them. It was elegantly made despite the story environment. It also gave an accurate depiction of the H’s characteristics and their relationship with the heroine.

Havoc at Prescott High was my favorite. While Anarchy at Prescott High was a close second.

Characters

Let me talk about the main characters first, starting with the heroine.

Bernadette Blackbird. I have a love-hate relationship with her. I understand that she was an aspiring writer, however, her monologues... weren’t impressive. She was edgy to the point of being cringe. I don't love her. But I don't hate her either, at least most of the time. How was she able to lust after the guys who made her life a living hell for years? I have no idea. But then again, this is why I hate bully romance.

One of the reasons why I was able to get through the story was because the bullying didn’t happen on the current timeline. I didn’t know if what she went through would be considered “bullying" or just downright assault and abuse. At least you were able to see some form of maturity in her character later on. But, she still embodies that teenager who thinks she already knows everything there is to know.

Next up, the harem. The HAVOC Boys. I won’t be commenting about their physical aspects like how the author did them. I don’t care much about those things. I’m more on how they were written: if they were fleshed out well or if they were only words on the paper with no personality at all. Considering that, we have 5 Hs in this series that fulfilled the usual tropes.

I will say this, these guys don’t act their age at all. Thinking about it now, I could give this series a higher rating if the characters were older. Anyway, more of those later below. Let’s get back to the characters at hand:

You have the over-the-top intense leader/boss, Victor Channing. He was an asshole. But hey, he has to be. He was a gang leader after all. If you are into bad boys (read: assholes) that are obsessed with you and only care about you—and maybe his bros—you'll probably like this dude. Is he a great character? No. But do I at least like him? Maybe. Again, if you like the domineering types, you’ll probably bark at Victor Channing.

Then you have the trying-to-be-the-hero-ex-boyfriend, Aaron Fadler. I hated him at first because his past actions didn't show his supposed loyalty to Bernie at all (don't worry it's not an OW drama). But goddamn me because I like guys who are amazing with kids (and with the elderly). Yes, he was Bernie's ex. And yes, he was there during the bullying (abuse) which happened after they broke up. Among the guys, I believe he was the closest you can get to being "normal." He tried to be a good person but considering everything he had already done, I didn’t think that would be possible. The only way for him to grow was to accept his darkness. Good thing it did happen.

Of course, there’s always going to be the manwhore. Hael Harbin. But he was that type of manwhore who at least respects women. Yes, I know it's the bare minimum but you get the point. He also plays the role of balancing the dynamic of the group. Oh also, he loves vintage cars. He's a mechanic with soft hands, according to Bernie. Among the boys (Yes, boys. They’re minors despite what the author tries to say), Hael was the most chill. He can give pull off a bad romance kind of relationship. The one that's so bad but oh so great. He also falls into that category of being the manwhore who will drop his whore-ish ways when they find the right one.

Next on the list. The gang needs to have a brain and that was Oscar Montauk. While Victor makes all the decisions, Oscar was the one who weighs those decisions. He was also the hater but was actually obsessed with the heroine. He was not great with feelings and he also has a lot of trauma. I think the most awful one as well. Among the characters though, Oscar got the most character development though we could only witness the process, I think it was a good thing. He was also that character who you’ll probably get scared of but also be interested in. He could either go full serial killer or just be a weird dude with dark thoughts. Though to be fair, this was a gang story so all of the Hs are murderers by default.

Last but not least, the most mysterious one and possibly also the most dangerous, Callum Park. He gives off quiet-killer vibe and lurks about most of the time. He was the silent one. The one who prefers to be by the sidelines, just observing. But everybody knows he was dangerous and he could go off like a bomb if anything happened to the object of his fascination. He was the resident pretty boy as well, since he was supposed to be a primo ballerino but because of things that happened in the past he couldn't anymore.

The characters are heavily influenced by the overused western media tropes and archetypes. You know the usual stuff about high school TV shows. They’re cringe, and dramatic, everyone has trauma, the adults were practically useless, and everyone wasn’t acting like their age. Perhaps a little ridiculousness from time to time could be good for your mind.

But, since I do like my stories with vivid storytelling, it surprisingly worked well for me. I also don’t find that much character development with the characters, except with Oscar. Also maybe with Aaron and Victor as well. Hael and Callum’s character growth aren’t that significant but I don’t think they have to since they weren’t presented with something to work on.

Plot

The plot was able to immerse me into the H.A.V.O.C. world and Stunich deserves her roses for a skill like that. One reason why I pushed through was: the action didn’t occur that much around the school setting. This might be your typical high school bully who runs a gang, but the storytelling was what sets it apart from the rest. This trope was highly overused in the reverse harem contemporary romance genre, so the only way for a series to be different is all up to the author’s prowess.

It was a simple revenge plot but the action made it all interesting. There's nothing much special to it but again, this is for self-indulgent purposes. If you can get past the Riverdale cringe, you will enjoy this one.

The pacing was a little fast, and a lot of things are happening all at once. But it was executed well and everything worked perfectly. Despite all that is happening, I loved the feeling of suspense that went through with it. Putting aside all of the things that didn’t work well for me, the plot was well-developed to keep you interested.

If you don’t want to be spoiled, I suggest you do not read the ending section of this review.

Ending

The ending of a well-developed series is always going to be a deal breaker, just look at Game of Thrones and Supernatural. I will say this though, the ending of Havoc Boys may not be the best ending there could be, but considering all that led up to that particular moment, it was perfect.

Stunich used the False Death plot device and was executed well enough that I actually thought the character died. This was the part I cried about and the reason why I still considered this one good for my taste. I think an author who can make you cry just by reading the journey of their characters is a phenomenal author.

In the actual end, we got our HEA. Yay!

Rating

The average rating of this 5-book series was 3.5. I rounded it down to 3 out of 5 stars.

This whole thing was a damn roller coaster ride.

Despite the initial apprehension and almost not finishing the first book, I finished all five with no breaks in between. There might have been elements that didn’t work for me, but the storytelling alone made up for all of it.

A huge suspension of disbelief is needed to enjoy this series. Sure, you won’t be able to gain much but, to be honest, this is not for that. The Havoc Boys series is highly self-indulgent and smut is top-tier. Not too graphic to the point of boring me to death, but just enough. Frequent, yet still enough.

Final Thoughts

Do I want a sequel for this series? I don't think so. Let's leave the ending at that. The characters are lovable enough throughout the five books, but not enough for me to get curious and look at what they could be doing in the future.

Do I recommend this to others? If you want to indulge in a guilty pleasure without needing to think too much and give reasons for everything, this could be a good read. I don't think you should be picking up this book just to find all that is wrong with it. Or if you are not ready to try and experience something out of your comfort zone.

Was this a heavy read? There are mentions of past extreme bullying, sexual assault (on minor characters), attempted sexual assaults, pedophilia, sexual relations between teenage characters, and the usuals when it comes to crime fiction (drugs, violence, murder, etc.). So if you are new to this kind of genre, this might be uncomfortable for you. But if you're not, this is mild. Again, all you have to do is enjoy the ride. Some things might not work for you, and some might, it all depends on personal preferences.

Will I read this again? I re-read the whole series: twice on my own accord just to feel some emotions it brought me the first time I stumbled upon it; another one to relive and remember the plot to pull out this review. It being a part of my “I could read it again” shelf says something.

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