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cerastes · 1 year ago

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FNAF but you are a Rhodes Island canteen staff on a night shift trying to prevent Ceobe from raiding the kitchen .

It's a late night at the Rhodes Island canteen, the Elite Operators have an early deployment, and supplies are looking adequate... That is, as long as no incident occurs. Unfortunately for whoever is on shift, Rhodes Island is well known for its late night incidents, incarnated in nefarious individuals whose gluttony eclipses even the most furious of Catastrophes... And the Elite OPs are not going to be happy campers if they can't get their calories for their arduous missions...

--Five Nights At Rhodes!--

Your objective is to protect the delicious ingredients in the pantry from morally bankrupt evildoers that would greedily consume all they can get their hungry little pizza fingers on! Play as one of four culinary heroes to keep those fiends away from the Elite's caloric intake, or face the crushing guilt of seeing Rosmontis go hungry with a rumbling tummy!

The Centurions of Flavor:

Gummy

"The sign clearly says 'Ceobe not allowed', why are you still coming in!"

Known for world-class fried eggs and a healing enthusiasm, this Ursine Defender isn't just a soothing smile to have around, and can use her very own Reinforced Door to fully restore and strengthen one of the doors to the pantry! No means no!

Matterhorn

"Ethan, seriously, you can just ask for a sandwich... You're messing our inventory of available ingredients if you take them on the down low!"

Bodyguard, enforcer, butler, and renowned chef, Matterhorn works with the finest Kjerag ingredients, and knows a thing or two about keeping unwanted company out with his Sublime Sandwich, which can temporarily distract would-be interlopers with its peerless taste and aroma!

Kal'tsit

"If you want something done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself... Especially when the would-be crisis jeopardizes the stock of instant noodles in such dire and relentless a fashion."

The boss always has your back in Rhodes Island, and this emergency deployment is no exception! Any logistic is an important logistic! With her Spinal Assistant, Kal'tsit can order Mon3tr to hold one door while she holds the other one! There's no getting a fast one in on this Feline!

Just A Canteen Staffer

"I literally just work here."

With no special abilities to speak of, well... It's going to be a long, long night.

Crooked Adversaries:

Ravenous Hellhound

The nefarious nibler, infamous for her indignant disregard for signaling, reviled for her Indomitable March: What she lacks in tricks, she makes up for in pure perseverance, relentlessly trying to force her way in no matter how many times she's repelled. The countless signals that say "Ceobe Not Allowed" are said to be a ward against the Hellhound. A useless ward, that is.

Renegade Interloper

He moves like the shadow of a ghost, a feared culinary assassin that will make your ingredients and food vanish into the misty night, leaving behind no trace. This Persistence Predator will oftentimes camp outside a door almost completely invisible, waiting for your guard to grow lax. If one pays close attention, however, one might discern small ripples in space where there should be none, or hear a faint music from the Interloper's treasured earbuds...

Prowling Miscreant

The hunter's creed is that a mighty beast is only as strong as its weakest point, and her eye is already trained on the canteen... And the habits of its handlers. You'll be Drawing Dead the moment you think you have a leg up on the Miscreant, as she'll first observe your habits, and then continuously attempt entry from the routes you neglect the most, usually by syncing up with the advance of other Adversaries.

The Ghost of Babel

Feared for their truly wild consumption habits and seemingly unmatched ability to find their way into the pantry, this hooded enigma's wiry, fragile frame betrays their supernatural wiles. This unique Adversary doesn't move in the same way as the others, instead wandering the Area seemingly randomly, concocting their Magnum Opus by collecting all sorts of information and intel that we can't even begin to comprehend. If this is completed, then the Ravenous Hellhound will turn into a creature only known as "Golden Ceobe" and become completely unstoppable. Due to their timid nature, however, they can only work towards the Opus by being in a calm state of mind, achieved by not being observed for a period of time.

The full game COMING SOON to all stores in Columbia, Victoria, Great Yan, not Gaul, and Leithanien! Don't miss out on all these Centurions and Adversaries! Preorder now and get a code to an early download of the DLC Centurions [Fiammetta Who Aggressively Doesn't Want To Be Here] and [Just A Canteen Staffer the Holungday], as well as early access to the challenging DLC Adversaries [Scary Guy] and [D.I.D.I.]!

#arknights

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simp-ly-writes · 3 months ago

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Safety Hazard

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Pairing: Partner!Trevor Evarts x Can't-Cook!Partner!Reader

─ · · SUMMARY: You cannot cook to save your life so much so that it even endangers others when you do not mean it to but good thing you have a patient boyfriend who is more than willing to help!

─ · · TAGS: gender-neutral pronouns, no use of (y/n), light swearing, fluff, domestic fluff, short, attempt at comedy (near death experience for Chef!Josh /sarcastic).

─ · · MASTERLIST | TAGLIST REQUEST | WORDCOUNT: 585

─ · · A/N: Thank you for this hilarious ask anon! This pic inspired me so much and I truly embraced the chaos on this one LOL 🤣

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↳ Trevor. You loved your boyfriend for being the most supportive of your failed culinary career but you adored taking pictures for the Smosh and Good Mythical Kitchen marketing team- it was your newfound passion and helped you to get through the office's endless teasing about you practically married to a guy who can cook very well and then you who burns water somehow.

↳ (But you wouldn't change it for the world, there was nothing like eating meals cooked personally from a literal chef every meal of the day and Trevor was more than happy to serve and watch you eat the food he made, it was a major love language shared between the two of you).

↳ Fun Fact! You met Trevor by being kicked out of culinary school after being deemed "too much of an endangerment to your fellow staff and students." But what they really were meaning to say was that you were just too good of a chef that they couldn't handle your heat in the kitchen (or at least that was what you told yourself to sleep better at night).

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Trevor did not have the heart to tell you that you were quite frankly terrible at cooking but you were an excellent baker... while under supervision (of course). But all the rest of the Smosh cast and crew would think otherwise often steering you clear of the communal kitchen or distracting your very kind offers to help by doing other tasks.

Some had even had the guts to say it, albeit very nicely, to your face that you should not be in the kitchen. Yet Trevor insisted that you were fine as long as he or another trained staff member was there to supervise your culinary explorations.

It quite frankly became a joke around the office, so much so that even the marketing team but up anti-(name) signs, your face in a red circle with a line through it, to show that the kitchen was off limits except it you were with Trevor.

Other departments got creative, the set-design crew made a finger-blender that Shayne used cos-playing as you during a Try Not to Laugh episode recently that had you howling with laughter. The next best was the Games Team forcing you to play overcooked with Trevor and Josh from Good Mythical Morning and then half-way-through switching to real life.

Everyone on set that day lost hair and years off of their life. You swore to see Josh growing grey hairs by the end of it and Trevors loving eyes but shaking and nervous hands and smile pinning you down as you barley missed your fingertips every time you chopped a vegetable or turned the over up way to high to steam a fish.

But the greatest of them all was you and Trevor all completing the 'Can't see, hear, or talk challenge' in the Kitchen with the rest of the Good Mythical Morning Kitchen staff. Trevor played the can't hear character as you choose the cant speak one and Josh the can't see.

At one point you were waving a knife around trying to prove your point without the ability to speak as Trevor panicked, throwing his hands up in the air and shouting as Josh felt around almost getting attacked accidentally by you before everyone was calling the shoot off and even debating of airing the video. (They eventually did and it raised to the top of trending over the culinary section on youtube, take that culinary professor!).

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─ · · TREVOR TAGLIST: @lisiliely @missflufffanfics @thevintagefangirl @maricarorp @uniquely-haunting @laurasdrey

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manesthia · 6 months ago

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Thoughts on Halsin as an "atypical druid"

I've seen a number of excellent metas lately about Halsin's atypical druidism (the fact that he does not abhor the undead, does not have complete control over his wildshape, etc.). While I agree completely with those points, I've also noticed a tendency to sometimes frame this as Halsin being a "bad" druid or never really belonging with the druids in the first place. And I strongly disagree with that. I feel that Halsin's druidism is a core aspect of his character and implying that he is somehow "bad at it" robs him of something essential. The fact that he is a unique, complex character with far more depth than just "typical DnD druid" doesn't mean that he is not still a druid at heart - and a pretty formidable one, at that.

I see him as a character who has something in common with the nature deities and magician-priests of ancient myth and legend: Merlin (a mentor whose teachings are rooted in the natural world; who guides kings rather than wishing to rule himself; who mediates between the kingdom of men and animals; and who changes into an animal) and Dionysus (who celebrates multiplicity, fluidity, nature-based wisdom, carnal pleasure, the subversion of unnatural restraints - and who also shapeshifts, by the way). Druidism informs Halsin's entire belief system, ranging from his view on relationships (Halsin never uses the word 'polyamory'; instead, he speaks of "doing as nature does" and explains all of his preferences with nature metaphors - "the bear partners as its instinct dictates", etc.) to the importance he places on community. Halsin is unhappy as Archdruid not because he is just an incompetent leader or can't get along with other druids, but because he is so in tune with nature that he only thrives in communities with a structure more like the branching network of roots or mycelia - like our group of "weirdos" or his rebuilt community in Reithwin. He does know how to guide, counsel, and mediate - all of which are essential leadership abilities. But he needs to be part of an interconnected organism that grows and learns together, not the sole leader of it. To me, this is connected to his shapeshifting abilities and druidism: Halsin is connected to all other beings by literally becoming them (even if he is most attuned to his bear-shape).

Halsin speaks very highly of the grove as a place of worship (let's not forget how deeply religious Halsin is, too), but he also says that life in the grove made him feel cut off from nature. It's ironic that a druid grove runs on politics and power hierarchies (aspects of civilisation that most druids should despise), but it does. This is also a theme in a sidequest in BG2, if anyone recalls. In my opinion, the fact that Halsin feels out of place in a grove that has grown corrupted with politics and power plays actually makes him more true to core druidic beliefs, not less so.

I think the idea that Halsin doesn't get along with other druids gets taken a little too far at times, too. Members of his grove have issues with him primarily because they have been radicalised by Shadow Druids, not because Halsin is just too good-aligned for other druids in general. Note that every single druid in the grove who expresses strong anti-refugee sentiment also supports Kagha and the Rite of Thorns. Halsin welcomes outcasts into the grove because he is compassionate and empathetic as a person, yes, but also because it is part of his druidic belief in harmony, unity, and the value of life. Compare with Olodan's line:

This is not to say that I think Halsin's would never clash with other druids at all, or that I think his relationship with the grove is without friction. Obviously, part of the blame for the infiltration of the Shadow Druids falls on him. Obviously, there would be more neutral-aligned druids who would disagree with him on principle. But the fact that the previous Archdruid chose Halsin as his successor (we must assume that he did, since Halsin obviously didn't sign up for it) strongly indicates to me that the deceased, much wiser elders of the grove valued him greatly. Jaheira also repeatedly refers to him with the deepest respect.

I think it's also worth noting that there is room for nuance in druidic beliefs in the BG series. Faldorn in BG1, Cernd in BG2 and Jaheira in all three games are all very different. In many ways, Jaheira is more Harper than druid, which I think was indicated by her being a multiclassed fighter/druid in the earlier games. It also comes out in her conversation with Halsin about the Shadow Curse:

And if you tell her (speaking as Halsin) that she doesn't have to explain herself to him:

Of course, Halsin has a personal investment in lifting the Shadow Curse that Jaheira doesn't share, namely Thaniel. Only Halsin has a special connection with the very spirit of the land. This is also why he is completely unable to heal and move on until the Shadow Curse is lifted, unlike Jaheira. If the spirit of the land is wounded, then so is his own spirit. Jaheira, as a Fighter-Druid-Harper, is very much a protector of the realms as a whole (nature and civilisation), while Halsin is referred to over and over again by various NPCs as Nature's Steward, Keeper of Groves, Guardian of the Land, etc.

My argument here is not that Halsin is a more "typical" druid than Jaheira or that one is a "better" druid than the other (I love them both deeply). I'm just saying that all of this demonstrates to me how deeply intertwined Halsin's druidism is with the rest of his character. And I really, really appreciate him as a druid along with everything else he is.

I'm not really sure that I understand Tumblr etiquette regarding discussion (what is the polite way to interact with each other here? Commenting? Reblogs with hashtags? I'm too old for this site lol), but I would love to talk about this more. Please don't hesitate to comment, even if you disagree.

#halsin #bg3 halsin #halsin lore #dionysos #druidism #dnd druid #mythology #halsin silverbough #halsin appreciation post

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maritotoy · 1 year ago

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MAUGA X Support/Medic Reader ((Part. 1))

NOTE: Believe it or not, I never realize how long I've written this one.

This narrative tracks Mauga's obsession with Y/N as it grows to the point where he is prepared to kill everyone who stands in his way. With this in mind, Mauga's commitment would gradually grow. He would start out softly and then this need on you would get stronger.

It all began when your talents were initially utilised for recruitment. You were a terrific help, willing to assist your teammates in whatever way they needed.

Your main issue was that you could never truly let them handle things on their own. As a result, it became increasingly difficult to care for yourself.

They promised you riches if you helped them fight back against their threat. There were only so many ways to profit from rival worlds, after all. You were aware that you were going into a whole new universe when you agreed, but you also felt that you had no choice but to accept them.

Ultimately, you didn't wish to pass away, did you?

It was stated to you when you first joined TALON Organization, that you should concentrate only on the battlefield. Up until you met Baptiste, an exceptional combat medic, it was great with you. Your shared enthusiasm for curing illness is what unites the two of you. It turned into a shared passion. As you try to acquire experience in several areas, like medical supplies, you both hope to discover some more useful abilities, like healing or even a unique kind of combat capability.

But you can hardly ever get to Baptiste, he's constantly at the top. Both a combat mercenary and medic. You're always looking for ways to sharpen your skills.

Even after meeting him again at your base and on missions, you are still determined to improve your ability to deal with any possible emergencies. Not until later do you find out what happens when a member of your unit gets injured.

Baptiste surged in, carrying an imposing stature and a solid, muscular frame. His voice sounded desperate, asking, "I'm sorry if I came to you! I know you are busy, but I need help with my friend, please, Y/N!" The urgency was so obvious that there wasn't much resistance. Even if he was a doctor himself, it must have seemed urgent enough.

Besides... You were in the right place to help.

You rushed over to his side and helped him stabilize his huge friend. "What happened, Bap? Are you hurt?" He didn't reply, but his eyes told you all you needed to know.

You fix your sight on his pal. He does not appear to be hurt or seriously damage. However, the man's body is completely soaked, which looks very suspicious to you. "Is he alright, Bap? I don't see anything wrong." He shook his head and gave a sigh.

"We were attacked. Mauga and I found the source of the enemy attack and got separated."

"How long has it been since then?"

"Four hours, maybe five."

"Do you have any idea of what may have caused the damage?"

"I'm not sure. However, I had already discovered him unconscious but unharmed on the ground. It should not take long for him to awaken.." You glance at the unconscious man again before you say, "Let me take a look at him." He nodded and stepped aside.

"Mauga could never be wounded by shots like that. Despite his size, he could easily absorb one hit thanks to his physique." He explains.

You crouch down and check on his comrade. He seems fine to you. There's nothing unusual about him, other than the fact that he's a bit too heavy.

You knew Mauga.

And with such.

You just don't know how to engage with him.

On a conversation? Yes. Your profession is your duty.

You don’t really get along with those who rely solely on themselves as an advantage, even though you respect their abilities.

The feeling is mutual. Every time someone gets hurt because of something beyond their control, you are there to help them.

Because that's your job as a medic.

You both have quite a difference in interests, though. You can't stand the fact that he’s so reckless, you can't understand why he doesn't think more carefully before he acts. As soon as he sees blood, it's always the most important thing.

Mauga stands tall, towering over his opponents with an impressive height of 7'5 ft tall. (My headcanon)

Mauga is a formidable opponent on the front lines thanks to his strong, muscular physique. His broad shoulders and thick neck gives off an air of strength and power, and his body is well-built, demonstrating his strength and capacity to deal severe damage to rivals.

Did I mention he has two hearts?

Unlike you, Mauga is a ruthless and cunning individual, driven by his own motivations. He never lets anyone interfere with his goals, whether or not they involve you. While he might act with reckless disregard sometimes, he is also able to calculate the best course of action.

Not anyone knows this. But you knew nontheless with Baptiste.

You may be underestimating him in some way, or you may have witnessed the genuine thing, up close and personal, but he always brags about his achievements without hesitation or shame. His fighting style turns wild and unpredictable when he fights. If Mauga doesn't want to win, he will take his time, before using ChaCha and Gunny, his chainguns, to grab the victory, and he won't give up until he achieves his objective.

He definitely is careless, isn't he?

"He's breathing just fine, Baptiste. I would say he is in perfect health, aside from the injuries, I can't detect any signs of any damage injuries either." You said as you stood up. Baptiste sighs relief. "I'll leave him to you doctor. Don't worry, I trust that you have everything under control." He says this to you while nodding in satisfaction.

This gesture of his is a way of gratitude towards the medic's work.

"I will be back later," he says as he leaves to make a round to prepare for battle.

While Baptiste was gone, you sat next to the downed mercenary soldier and begin to observe him. In the midst of his unconsciousness, he seems to be in a good state. There was no sign of discomfort or pain. His pulses are fast but steady, knowing that Mauga have two hearts, one that allowed him to replace his damaged, organic heart with a cybernetic one. That way, his heart will beat twice as fast. You can easily tell that Mauga is in his natural state.

Your eyes began to feel heavy after observing him for some time. You weren't sure if it's due to fatigue from watching him, or simply exhaustion from your duties as a medic.

Before you knew it, you fell asleep.

When you awoke, you find yourself staring back into the face of Maugaloa Malosi, whose lips formed into those flashing, same pasted smile as usual. “Ah, Doctor. How nice to see you again.”

You quickly wake up, sitting straight up on the chair. “M-Mauga!" You exclaimed, alarmed. "H-How is you- I mean are you feeling alright?”

He grinned at you. “I am feeling rather fine.” You let out a long, sigh of relief. However, you didn't anticipate that this would happen frequently. “I see..." You replied.

Silence takes over for a while. Mauga stared at you intensely before taking a step forward. “Your Y/N, correct? Baptiste little assistant. I've heard much about you, but never expect that I would get to get treated from you.”

You flinched slightly at his words 'assistant' and the word 'little', but you remained calm. “I'm glad that you feel better now. You should rest and recover. If you still need them..."

“I appreciate the concern,” he says as he reaches towards your shoulder. You instinctively raise your hands in preparation of blocking. This caught him off guard, causing him to pause in his movements, then booms laughing.

“My apologies, Teuila. I thought that you might have forgotten what I do here,” he said in that familiar, friendly tone.

“If I recall correctly, I haven't given you permission to touch me.” This comment caught him off guard as he chuckles deeply.

He stares at your hand for a while longer. You're beginning to become worried. After a brief silence, he reaches forward and lightly holds onto your wrist.

“That’s a very sensitive spot…” He whispers gently. Your heartbeat begins to accelerate. “And your pulse is fast. Is this normal?” he asks. “Yes,” you respond in a soft voice.

“Then why are you afraid? You know I'm not going to hurt you...” He grinned. His sharp teeth glinted menacingly in the dim light. "Surely you've already made a friend? You also gave him a lot of attention than you do with me. Or have you grown to dislike me?"

"...I... I beg your pardon-" your speech is interrupted by Baptiste with a tired expression.

"Hey... Sorry that I took so long. I went to gather supplies. Mission was a success." He sighed in relief as he approached you.

"Mauga, I'm glad your awake bud." Baptiste sighs in relief and smiles at Mauga. Mauga returned the gesture before looking back at you.

He still has that huge grin plastered across his features while his eyes darted towards yours. "You're crazy out there Mauga. Do you really think that you can defeat the enemies single handedly?" Baptiste says with a chuckle. “You know me Baptiste, I never do things without planning them out.” He grinned, revealing that row of dazzlingly white teeth. “I still don't understand how you've been knocked down so easily. It's hard to believe that you can be beaten like that.” Baptiste gives a half smirk, half frown.

You listen to their conversation, and you try to make sense of it. Mauga laughs at the situation, as if it's all so obvious. "C'mon, Baptiste, we have bigger problems than me right now. The mission is a success because we finally found the enemy camp. But it was a close call, and we needed your medical expertise to treat the wounded," Mauga explains to Baptiste while looking directly into his eyes with a sly smile. "I carried your massive ass in this camp with support of your weight alone. You ought to be pleased to have a subordinate with such skill." Baptiste smirks. He was referring to you. Mauga laughs at his friend's criticism, displaying his amusement at the circumstances.

"So yeah. It was pretty rough, but we managed to secure the objective! Isn't that great news?"

It's not really a surprise to you.

Mauga does tend to put himself in danger, especially when he's in an unfamiliar place.

This guy is completely reckless, which is why you can't believe that he managed to survive so many battles without falling apart or breaking down.

"Your a loose-canon, but I hope ended well..." you say calmly, hoping that you sound convincing enough.

"I can assure that I have the highest respect and admiration for your abilities as a medic. I would never doubt your skills, even if I hadn't personally experience how skilled you are in dealing with wounds." Mauga comments, he sounds sincere as ever.

Baptiste grins again. "That's a big ego of yours, my friend. You should consider giving a few compliments to the people who did more than you."

"I would love to, my friend, but there's nothing wrong with being modest about our accomplishments."

"Alright," Baptiste said, sounding annoyed.

--------

After several hours, days, months of treating your patients at base. You cannot help but wonder seeing Mauga quite often, whether that is purely because of duty or something else. Although it is difficult to tell what he's thinking, there are moments where you notice the way that he is constantly staring at you. Like he's trying to figure out something about you:

studying your appearance, facial expressions, mannerisms. Sometimes he gets lost in his thoughts, sometimes he appears to be lost in his own world, occasionally, you could catch him smirking knowingly, or even smiling to himself. These small gestures usually only occur during times when it's with you with him. Sometimes, the man is just too cheerful, or too energetic in general.

You could hardly handle the stress of handling all these patients in the infirmary on your own. You're starting to miss having Baptiste around to keep him occupied while you go through patients. You sighed loudly not until Mauga appears behind you

You found him with wounds on his chest and torso. You turn to look at him, "What happened?"

"Nothing serious..." He grins, showing his sharpened teeth.

"Just a minor injury, eh?" You raise an eyebrow at the mercenary, crossing your arms over your chest. Mauga simply shrugs as he sits on a table.

There was another period of silence between you two, and the atmosphere seemed to tense up considerably. This time, it's you who breaks the silence. "I'm sorry that you got injured. I don't know how I should react seeing someone else getting hurt so casually. You could have died out there. And that's not the worst thing that can happen," you said sarcastically and sternly.

He chuckles. "Oh really? Tell me more." He leans closer to your face, gazing deeply into your eyes. "Ah. So that's how it is."

You glare at him angrily, but he ignores you as you continue working. "Are you seriously going to mock me for worrying about you?"

"Not at all," he replied, with a hint of sarcasm. "But there is one thing that concerns me."

"What? You're going to insult me too, aren't you?" Mauga laughs while Y/N tends his injury.

The felt of your touch sends shivers throughout his entire body. He tries hard to suppress the sudden urge to grab her hand and hold on tightly. It's becoming harder to control these urges though. He shakes his head rapidly as he pulls away from you. He looks at you with narrowed eyes. "I'm not mocking you, you know?"

Your gaze flicks briefly to his. "Hm."

There was a short silence between you two, until you began to clean a cut on one of his legs. You noticed his gaze follow every movement of your fingers. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I'd prefer that you didn't ask questions so frequently, Teuila."

"Teuila?" You face him. "You know, I never asked you of this... But why do you call me that?" He lets out a deep chuckle and replies. "Because you look like Teuila. It fits well, doesn't it?" He flashes you a warm smile before turning his head away again.

You shrugged of his answer, continuing your work without saying anything further, although you were extremely curious. "Teuila... What does that word mean?" There's a brief moment of silence in between the two of you once you finished cleaning up the blood staining his leg. A faint smile plays across his lips again. "I thought you were better than that."

"And you think that you're better than me?"

"Yeah," he replies smugly.

"Then... You've obviously underestimated me, don't you?" You give him a challenging smirk. He returns the smile with a smirk of his own, but he then turns serious again. His eyes narrow. "Let me enlighten you. That name means 'flower'. Do you understand what kind of flower it means?"

You gave him a blank stare. He continues to smirk, waiting for you to understand his meaning. Eventually, you sigh, putting your hands on your hips. "Do I look like I care to know?" You scoff, rolling your eyes lightly.

Mauga laughs. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter what you think of it..."

There was silence between you two for a few seconds, and you looked away with furrowed brows.

You finish patching up the mercenary, placing some bandages around him and securing them securely. "Now that I finished helping you, you're dismissed." You professionaly said after you made sure that everything was covered properly. Mauga laughs at this. "Really? Now? Just like that?" He asks mockingly.

"Yes Mauga, I don't have any other duties besides tending to your wounds. I've been doing that for quite some time now," you responded coldly.

Mauga raises an eyebrow at this. "You know, if you start beginning to care about those wounds, you might find yourself losing them. If you want me to leave your clinic quickly, then you'll have to earn my trust first, which requires some work."

You sigh heavily. Of course Mauga will insist on making things difficult for you. "I am no doctor Mauga, I cannot cure your injuries." You sarcasticly said.

"Oh I know that. But you're still willing to take the risk." He chuckled.

"You wouldn't had to waste precious time coming here in order to talk shit."

Mauga laughs at you again, grinning like a cat that ate the canary. "I wouldn't waste too much time coming here either, but I also wouldn't be able to enjoy it quite as much because you'll be gone by then," he says confidently. "Besides, you're not exactly known for your patience." You roll your eyes, turning back to the table in front of you.

"You know I've always wondered what it feels like to be your patient," Mauga mused. "To be the one receiving the attention of the most skilled medic in your battalion."

"You must be joking," you replied, you know what he meant, not wanting to think that you would ever become his patient.

"No. You know me... " He grins. You groaned. "Don't' make such assumptions, we don't know each other all that well yet."

"Yet..."

You glared at him as he laughed. "Whatever. It seems like there's no stopping you, is there? We haven't even officially met yet, and already you're acting as if you have a good relationship with me." You sighed exasperatedly, massaging the area of your forehead in irritation.

"Listen, Mauga. My job is simple, I care for my patients and treat them well. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe I'm different," he said cockily.

"How? Are you not afraid of dying?"

"No... No I'm not... I've done so much more reckless things than death." His expression suddenly shifted to an emotionless one. For a moment, it felt almost as if he wasn't looking at you anymore. Then he chuckled softly, giving you a playful wink. "But I'm no saint."

"It must be hard to admit being human." You shook your head slightly.

"Sometimes." His grin returned to his features.

You couldn't help but stare directly into his eyes for a little longer, taking in how dark they actually are.

Mauga shows a huge plastered face. His still wearing his dumb smile.

You blinked at him.

He blinked back.

You rolled your eyes. "Stop smiling so much." He continued to laugh, as you turned away from him again. Mauga stood up and stretched lazily, "I have something to attend to, I'll be seeing you later," Mauga teasingly said as he made his way towards the door. He opens it, but he glances back.

A small smirk forms on his lips.

You watch him disappear outside the door, closing it behind him with a click. Once the door closes you let out a heavy sigh, resting your back against the wall behind you. Your heart is racing a mile, a minute, both at the prospect of having finally been alone with Mauga again, and the strange feeling within you after you spent several hours alone with him.

This feeling...

It's definitely not normal.

End of part 1

Part 2- ???

#mauga #maugaloa malosi #mauga overwatch #overwatch mauga #overwatch #mauga x reader #ow mauga #mauga ho'okano #overwatch x reader

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thequietkid-moonie · 1 year ago

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Hey moonie, i wonder if it sounds like a good prompt but what about some Yuri hcs with a reader that has been trough similar stuff as anya and ended up with an emotion tracking power (like Jack's power of seeing people's colors) where he try as much as he can hide stuff from them such as his job, his stress regarding a few troubles, some of his feelings, etc?

Synesthetic!S/O can see his emotions

[ HEADCANONS ] [ Yuri Briar ]

[ Spy x Family ]

Fun fact! Jack's ability is actually based on the synesthesia but is taken to the extreme! Hope you don't mind I made it more general

I think i made a god job with this, but not sure, hope you like it

× Synesthesia is a condition where someone can persive things (like an specific flavor, a sound or even a color) from a stimulus that isn't normally related to it (i recomend searching more about the topic to be able to comprehend it better)

Yuri is a total lovestruck man, when he is in love he is completely blinded by that love, and it is only going to increase once you two are in a relasionship, wanting nothing more but to make you happy and give you a good life

If you ever tell him that you can persive things others not he will believe you almost right away, with a wide smile he asure you that he trust you even if you don't show any kind of evidence. However he will ask for more details out of curiosity, he loves you and wants to know all he can about you, so is only natural for him to want to know more

If you are shy or more nervous about the topic it would take him a moment to understand it and apologize for asking for more (and depending in how nervous you look is going to be how deeply he apologize) and probably even promise to make it up for you

At the end, show evidence of such hability would be almost imposible since is something you and only you persive, and despite that Yuri decide to just trust you and even admire you for it, is a quite unique hability and, in his eyes, you should be proud of! It makes you even more special! For him it doesn't matter anyone else opinion, even if you can't prove that you can actually do it he will not let anyone talk bad about you about it or call you a liar, he will immediatly get protective over you if anyone dares to acuse you of being a failure, even if it is with the smallest hint of doubt

Yuri indirectly encourages you to share more of this hability of yours with him by telling you how amaizing it is or how it makes you more beautiful and special, how lucky is he for having someone so amazing by his side, everytime you are able to persive something (like you can hear a musical note, a smell or even a color) from his emotions his smile just widen, although he really hopes that whatever you percive from him is pleasant to you, the last thing he wants is to upset you

There is no way you'll ever be able to guess something from his work from him, he can be having the most stressful day of his life during work but the moment he is finally able to see you again his entire self transforms into the most happiest person in the world, he may seem a little upset but just because he has being craving for your affection. You can get too notice when he is the slighest mad or stress for work if you sneak behing from behing him but if you confront him about it he will insist that is something you don't need to worry about, just silly little problems but nothing much, besides you are the only thing he needs to feel at his 100% again and he say it in such sincere and loving way that is almost flustering

The fact that you can notice his feelings even if he tries to hide that part of him from you makes him nervous, he want to give you a life where you don't have to worry about a thing and just enjoy, so it scare him a little, feeling like he is getting you involved in his work (even when is far from that), however he immediatly melts once you show worry for him about him feeling that bad, it makes him forget his worries and feel like he has an angel by his side, then again, he insist that having you by his side and your love is more than enough to make him feel better

#spy x family #spy x family x reader #sxf x reader #yuri briar #yuri briar x reader #yuri x reader #x reader #x gn reader #anime x reader #manga x reader

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cosmicjoke · 1 month ago

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I love Levi and Attack on Titan, but I wish Isayama gave him a better ending. It’s too depressing for him to end up in a wheelchair with all his friends dead. He deserved better than that. I’d want to kill myself in his position.

That's a very bizarre thing to say. I think Levi's ending is one of the most hopeful out of the entire cast. I've even written a post specifically about that: https://www.tumblr.com/cosmicjoke/762757895441072128/the-tragedy-and-the-hope-of-attack-on-titans?source=share

Really, this is what I'm talking about when I say people in this fandom project themselves way too much onto the characters, rather than evaluating the characters objectively. Just because you might want to kill yourself in Levi's position and think he has nothing left to live for doesn't mean Levi would feel the same. You aren't Levi. Levi is an individual with his own, unique traits and characteristics. His own, unique personality. Given the way Levi values life and how, within the narrative of the story, he's the character most representative of life's worth, along with the fact that he's always taken it upon himself to carry the burden of other people's dreams, then it makes perfect thematic sense for him to have been the sole survivor out of all the veterans, to carry on living in their place, living for them in a world without Titans, since that's what they gave their lives for.

Beyond that, I find it a pretty offensive thing to say that just because Levi is now disabled means that he should want to kill himself. As if people with disabilities can't lead good or happy lives. Also, Levi isn't alone. One of Levi's defining characteristics is his ability to carry on and maintain an open and loving heart, despite all the grief and loss he's suffered. The fact that, despite how many people he's loved and lost, Levi continues to let people into his life and allows people to get close to him, in a testament, not only to Levi's strength of character, but to his compassionate and generous nature. He's never allowed all he's suffered to turn him into a bitter or hateful person. The fact he ends up with Gabi, Falco and Onyankopon, three people from a completely different background and culture to his own, shows Levi's non-judgmental heart and makes him the one character who most embodies the theme of accepting those and loving those different from ourselves. These three people who started out as strangers and even enemies become his new family, the same way the scouts once did, heck, the same way Furlan even once did. I don't see how anyone would find that ending "depressing". But hey, that's just me.

#Levi Ackerman #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin #attack on titan ending #anon asks

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seven-meds · 10 months ago

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Hi!

I love your art and I am extremely enamored by the beauty of your writing !

That being said, I am an artist as well and I feel like I have been stuck in a creative rut and I don’t know how to get to out ? Do you have an advice on breaking out of the hole and as well do you suggest drawing everyday as a method to keep up with skill?

Thank you so much <3

Thanks so much! I considered this for a while. Giving artistic advice, whether broad or targeted, is always difficult. It's too nebulous of a process for rules but everyone still has such a strong opinion on what the rules should be.

In my experience, lulls are beneficial when seen from the correct perspective and then taken advantage of. Endless production is antithetical to all art that is not corporate in nature, and lack of inspiration means you will benefit from something often overlooked: new experiences and engagement with new things. Though if you do want to feel productive, take a sketchbook and a pen to a public area and draw what you see for an hour or two. You likely won't be inspired but you will feel accomplished.

Historically, artists took extended periods of time away from creating in order to experience life and take in the world, its people, and themselves. Not always willingly; some were torn away and sent to war, fled their homeland, or were imprisoned, enslaved, or institutionalized. And there are those who spent long periods of time bedridden by illness or injury. But whether their experiences were gained by choice, by force, or by nature, their time away from art is what ended up shaping what they made. Drawing in isolation will sharpen a skill, but it's through repeated use of that skill to translate your experiences that your art improves.

An artist's goal is communication first and foremost. This is why drawing daily on its own cannot make anyone a better artist. It will eventually lead toward some sort of technical prowess, but technical prowess with no voice is fairly pointless and very dull. Ideally, the development of voice will precede the development of technical skill and the two become honed in tandem. What you want to say should define what you need to learn. If you are developing an understanding of your own intentions then you are already a step ahead of the artist who is focusing solely on their ability to draw a head from every angle.

It's beneficial to conceptualize art as a series of choices rather than a display of objective prowess. The more experiences you have and the more educated you are, the more sophisticated your choices become. You'll also find that you're able to analyze and appreciate (or criticize) the choices of other artists, increasing the enjoyment of engaging with art as a whole. You'll then be led toward more complex and unique work as you become bored with things that salivate over their own palatability. You may also find that art you've passed over before suddenly begins to speak to you.

Spend time exposing yourself to new art, ideally from large swathes of eras, places, and forms, including art that communicates things uncomfortable, disturbing, or offensive to you. Delve into the history of the artists and works you enjoy (or hate) in order to fully understand what's being said and why. If you currently find yourself interacting solely with contemporary art delivered largely via algorithm or advertisement that elicits feelings of familiarity and comfort, you should recognize that as a limitation. You are certainly free to work within it, but you will stumble into inspiration more quickly through exposure to different ideas.

It's also a good time to interact with others, if possible (even from a distance), and to look into topics completely divorced from art. Enrich yourself in many ways. The world is so vast and full of so much. What can you experience and learn that will make you yearn to communicate again?

Try not to waste years studying aimlessly. Develop an interest, a concept, an idea, an experience, and then work toward communicating it effectively. You will learn as you develop new pieces (because you will put effort and energy into targeted research and study), and those pieces will become more complex in both substance and technique.

Good luck!

#From You

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cripplecharacters · 6 months ago

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Hello! So, I'm afraid I may have fallen into A Trope, and I'm wondering if I need to change anything about this character.

I have three characters who are (nearly) identical homunculi (alchemically created humans). One of them is blind, because a lab accident resulted in him having to be "born" before he was ready, resulting in severely underdeveloped eyes, among a few other issues.

The thing I'm worried about is that I've given these homunculi enhanced senses as a result of them all having some dragon DNA. I wouldn't say it's to an extent that it negates the blind one's blindness, it's certainly not at Daredevil levels, but it does give him some options that your average blind person wouldn't have; in particular, the ability to identify people by smell (like how individuals would smell different from each other to a cat or dog, for example) and generally having better hearing than your average human, though again, it's not at a level I'd call "super-hearing," just slightly enhanced.

He does use a cane, and occasionally his brothers act as sighted guides, so he doesn't completely rely on his enhanced senses to navigate, nor would that be feasible if he tried.

I guess the jist of what I'm asking is, is a blind character with enhanced senses (as a species trait) okay if those senses aren't enhanced enough to actually "make up for" his blindness, or should I do away with that aspect of the species?

Hello!

The main problems with this trope are that it's often only the blind character with these enhanced senses and their enhanced senses end up negating their blindness and being used as a way to avoid actually portraying the character's blindness.

For example, a blind character that has highly enhanced senses and doesn't need to use a cane or a sighted guide or need any sort of accommodations. This trope also usually ends up implying (If not outright stating) that blind people have enhanced senses, which is a pretty common myth.

With how you've described your character, it sounds like the majority of this is avoided. I'd be hesitant to even group your concept in with this trope. It isn't just the blind character that has the enhanced senses and it sounds like you've done good with researching his blindness and showing how he deals with it.

Something worth noting is that even though the whole "blind people have enhanced senses" thing is a myth, a lot of blind people are more in tune with our other senses simply because we rely on them/use them more. With my level of vision loss, I can't usually see people approaching me unless they're coming from directly in front of me but I am able to identify friends and family (And even some of my profs) by the sound of their footsteps. Some of my friends also have pretty unique smells so I can even pick out a few of them by smell on occasion. This is all to say that it's not entirely unrealistic for your character to be able to identify somebody based on their smell, even without their enhanced senses.

I don't see anything wrong with this character but if you are still worried about the trope, there are a few things you can consider to avoid falling into it entirely:

Consider adding another blind character who isn't part of this species. Even just a blind side character that appears every so often or in passing can help show that the enhanced senses are a species-specific trait, not something to do with his blindness. I'm always a big fan of including multiple blind characters (And disabled characters in general) anyways.

Show the limits of his senses and explore the assistive technology he may use. Though his level of blindness isn't specified, his enhanced senses likely wouldn't help him with things such as technology, navigating the physical world around him, group conversations/social cues (Without relying on body language or facial expressions), etc. You mentioned that he uses a cane and his brothers as sighted guides but what other resources does he use?

Another thing to consider is what kinds of tricks and adjustments he's made in his own life, even without actual assistive technology. There are a lot of day-to-day things that are made difficult by blindness and unfortunately, a lot of solutions are either extremely expensive or don't exist yet so a lot of us have had to get creative. Something I do, for example, is put those raised stickers from the dollar store on the day side of my day/night pill organizer to differentiate between the two.

From what you've described so far, this seems like a really cool idea and I don't see any reason to remove their enhanced senses. I think it adds a lot to the characters and I'd love to see how they've been able to use their senses in regards to their blindness.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

#mod icarus #anonymous #blindness #tropes

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thefinalwitness · 9 months ago

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it hit me this morning why i like the uniformity of the ancients so much and why i generally disagree with the idea they should be more visually weird. not that i think anyone is BAD for thinking this, i totally get it, especially in the context of azem and wanting to make yours FEEL like your own. (tangentially, i also think azem is one of the best ancient characters TO deviate from the uniformity, given what we know about them and the people born of their soul.)

but what i find so compelling about a society of people whose Whole Thing is creation magic, the ability to Make Anything, having a lot of stigma against deviation in the form of self expression with one's own body is how SAD it is. how DYSTOPIAN it is. you can invent the most creative, stunning objects and creatures known to man, but you can't even show your face.

i think it's a really powerful, subtle piece of the puzzle that ties the whole concept of the world unsundered together—in particular, how miserable it really was, how unsustainable their society really was, how prone to characters like hermes and venat it really was. it reminds me of some of the worst elements of real life; how creators and inventors are lost and forgotten behind their works (instead accredited to companies, or a single person), how artistic and creative careers are typically treated as unsustainable and simultaneously exploited, how unyielding and suffocating the concept of "normal people" is (to the detriment of anyone who deviates, be it by gender, sexuality, race, abledness, religion...). i think it's genuinely meant to be a commentary on things like that, or at least i think regardless of intention it IS an incredible commentary on that.

i think the ancients are SUPPOSED to be boring and uninspired—wearing the same clothes, concealing their faces, never using their transformations—and i think it reflects such an important element of why the world unsundered was awful: ancients were amounted to their creations and duties, not their own selves. you can even see this in the convocation seats, how you're given a new name that EVERYONE, even your closest friends, almost exclusively refers to you by; the implication that you must not only uphold your duties, but blend in seamlessly with your predecessors and successors, that you must be indistinguishable.

this is HOW characters like hermes and venat developed their respective discontentments with their lives; you were not your own person, but a cog in the star. you did not get to have your own passions, styles, ideas—and even when your role was complete, you couldn't be yourself. you were expected to remove yourself from society. you were expected to cease to exist beyond your function. even despite the fact that the ancients WERE individuals with personalities and dreams. their actual bodies vary widely, their eyes glow vibrantly; almost as if they're MEANT to burst with uniqueness. and it's all buried in black robes and masks.

and i think all this is why i LIKE the uniformity so much, because narratively speaking, it's such a fascinating concept. there's a lot of room to explore how it works, why the people of the unsundered world got to that point, how it might disproportionately benefit some people and hinder others. emet-selch calls it perfect and a paradise, but i always got the impression he was meant to be an INCREDIBLY unreliable narrator; i think he was among the people that benefitted from the uniformity and the "this is just how life is, don't resist it" of it all, and i think you can see him recreating it even worse in allag and garlemald. i think it explains the DEPTHS of his hatred for the sundered too, beyond obvious things like "they're not the people he lost".

because the sundered world, conversely, is FULL of individuality. people look, act, talk and live countless different ways; every city and region has a completely different way of life, so much so that you can tell where someone's from just by how they talk or dress. i think venat understood, especially after meeting the wol, that people needed to be free; that a world like hydaelyn would be someplace people like hermes could thrive. and that this plethora of individuality would be the world's salvation—in all things, not just the song of oblivion. i think this is what "hear, feel, think" MEANS.

and so, to me, so much of the picture is lost if the ancients had utilized their creativity inwardly. that's not to say i'm telling anyone NOT to do it—again, i think azem is a great character TO push against this ideology, and i even have an ancient oc (non-azem) who does the same! i think these people absolutely existed, and were simply drowned out and ostracized by the rest of society. mostly i'm just excited to finally be able to articulate this, and i've seen people also question why the ancients are so boring, and wanted to share my thoughts in case it helps! i really like the ancients because i think they're startlingly human (to say nothing of their actual human resemblance), and i think that's so much more interesting than if they'd been super diverse and alien BECAUSE of how much it harms them as a society. super flawed characters fascinate me and make me reflect on my own choices and ideologies, and i think that's both a lot of fun and super useful just in general!

edited to add: i think there's also the mechanical element of game design, and signaling things to players. while a fictional world can be endlessly different from our own, as creators, we still need to communicate the ideas in a way people who live in our world understand. this is, for example, why i think the ancients appear human; being FROM a world where everybody's human, we immediately associate their resemblance to us as benign and unremarkable. and that's what the ancients, i think, are SUPPOSED to be, or rather, what their society has imposed as "correct". the developers using appearances that we'd see in everyday life makes us think, "oh, that's not very fantastical," which is exactly what the ancients' society wanted people TO think of each other. obviously this is a much more technical reason than the rest of this post, but i think it helps explain why they specifically are uniformly human, and not, like, uniformly purple mantis people (which would be cool and different and fantastical, hence muddying the message!).

#can you tell i took adderall today LOL #yoshi talks #lore #it's going in there bc at the very least its lore in the context of my own canon

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monstersdownthepath · 8 months ago

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Herald of Abadar: Lawgiver

CR 15

Lawful Neutral Gargantuan Construct

Inner Sea Gods, pg. 276

Well, I suppose we have to get this guy out of the way at some point, so why not put him at the start of Monitors and Misfits Month? It's especially fitting considering Abadar is the first core god that most people will see in just about every list of deities thanks to his name! The God of Civilization has done a lot for the mortal world and for the Perfect City of Axis alike, with the implacable Lawgiver being one of his simpler creations, made to enforce the peace of Axis and to act as Abadar's strongarm in the mortal world. Much like its fellow "boringly-named Construct in service to a Lawful god crafted for the express purpose of combat" the Grand Defender, the Lawgiver was not born, but made, crafted directly from the metals of Axis to serve as its defender and to hit Chaotic creatures with a huge hammer. It's got a lot in common with the GD!

Including being very boring. If you put the Hand of the Inheritor on one side of a Venn diagram and the Grand Defender on the other, the Lawgiver would be dead in the center right under the topic of 'statistically boring.' This isn't to say it's weak, far from it! But the Lawgiver is as every bit as stuffy, practical, and to-the-point as its creator, eschewing having any unique abilities or equipment or any bombastic spells in favor of a handful of generically useful spells and the aforementioned hammer. It doesn't even have an interesting personality, the book outright noting the thing almost never speaks, and when it does it's almost entirely passages from Abadar's holy books and manuals which are relevant to the current situation.

You can, perhaps, sense my frustration with and boredom towards Lawgiver here, a feeling that appears to be shared with the staff of Archives of Nethys, who haven't updated its statblock since its original release in Curse of the Crimson Throne: Seven Days to the Grave back in 2008, forcing me to keep Inner Sea Gods open in my other hand to make sure my data is accurate. As you may expect from such a forgettable entity, this won't be a particularly interesting article, but it is one that must be written to set the stage for the rest of the Heralds this month. So, let's take a look at the Big Man With A Hammer which, as we'll find out, is all it needs to smash most proteans and demons to paste.

Let's get the big hammer out of the way, first. The guy is stanced up in his picture for a reason! He's winding up for a big, two-handed slam with a +1 Axiomatic Warhammer sized for a Gargantuan creature, the heavy weapon dealing 4d6+10 (+2d6 vs Chaotic) damage upwards to four times a round and triple damage on a critical hit. Should it prize power over accuracy, the Lawgiver can use Power Attack to take a -4 penalty to its attack rolls for +8 to the damage, a trade it will typically make without hesitation against Chaotic Outsiders.

With a 20ft space and 20ft reach, Lawgiver shrouds entire battlefields in its threat radius, being one of the largest Heralds yet one of the few who can take its foes by surprise; it's not only capable of freezing completely stock-still and pretending to be a statue, but it can freely Change Shape into a large eagle to scout or hide from prying eyes, typically doing so when patrolling Axis to keep an eye out for trouble. It can also be considerably less subtle by turning into a two-headed golden eagle, which most sane beings would recognize as an omen that something very bad was about to happen to them if they don't turn and leave.

Even in its natural statue state the Lawgiver can fly 60ft a round, letting it get really goofy with its Full-Attacks if it wants, slamming its hammer down on its enemies from above while they're stuck on the ground, Medium-sized foes unable to fly made completely worthless by its superior reach... though this is used more often to catch up to flying enemies than it is to let it safely attack ground-bound foes, because every protean flies and they're by far Axis' most common enemy. And if someone's got magical flight to keep up with it, it really has nothing to say to that.

It's got a huge pile of spell-likes, more than almost any other Herald, but they're all for the good of the people of Axis and the mortals fighting alongside the Lawgiver than for the Herald itself. Just take a look at the healthcare you get on Axis' battlefield: Cure Serious Wounds, Neutralize Poison, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, and finally Remove Paralysis, ALL of these spells usable 3/day! Paizo should have saved time and just given it Heal and Greater Restoration; mostly the same effect, less text.

You'll notice that every single one of those spells is useless to the Lawgiver, who--as a Construct--is immune to basically anything but HP damage. That spell list is exclusively for the mortals fighting alongside it and citizens harmed in the crossfires of the war on chaos! And speaking of Construct defenses, the Lawgiver is a fairly sturdy robot, all things considered: 34 AC, immunity to Acid and Electricity, 10 Cold and Fire Resistance, and 26 Spell Resistance overall. It's also got All-Around Vision to deny flanking bonuses and is immune to critical hits, and uniquely is also impervious to rust, something I assume many proteans hoping to erode the city of Axis found out all too late.

It's a pretty sturdy robot! Even if it is undecorated. Function over form, and all that; Abadar knew what he wanted when he built it, and it's no more than that. And that's more or less it!

You can sort of read more about it here; you'll need to use the d20pfsrd version to actually see its updated stats.

#monster spotlight #CR 11 to 15 #Misfits and Monitors Month #pathfinder #dungeons and dragons

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capricioussun · 10 months ago

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How do you interpret US Papyrus? I'm always curious how others interpret him because there's a good range of them!

Ooh, in general?? Hm, I guess mostly the way I try to interpret him is sort of like if you gave UT Papyrus chronic fatigue and issues tied to having to act as the judge in his world! Which, to me, basically makes him very silly, kind, sassy, but also very insecure and very lonely.

I should explain- ough this is gunna be an essay so there'll need to be a readmore soon aha, but I should explain how the whole "judge" thing usually works in my interps!

It's not an inherent thing, or some "angel given" power, there has always been an acting Royal Judge, someone the crown had appointed that they felt they could, well, trust the judgement of, who they could consult about crimes and justice and whatnot. The prior judge Fell some years ago, but since Toriel/Asgore had already left, Asgore/Toriel never appointed another, as a sort of self punishment as well as a promise they would continue with their task of collecting the human souls without the assistance (or interference) of someone else.

That was until Sans/Papyrus came along. The "judging" effect was caused by one of the many methods Gaster used to make the brothers, involving the justice soul trait. This is where the KR came from, as well as the unique ability to "see" the sins in others' souls. After discovering this unique ability, eventually the king/queen asks Sans/Papyrus to act as the new judge (as well as some other reasons that vary depending on AU).

Now, the kr and "judge" ability manifested in Stretch much later than the sanses in non-swapped AUs, which made it a much more difficult transition that only made it much harder for him to socialize with others. He basically couldn't "turn it off", which, on top of feeling incredibly guilty about the invasion of privacy, made him feel anxious and stressed out and couldn't help but put the negative thoughts front and center in his attention, making him also feel like those were the most prominent thoughts and feelings of those around him.

So like, you know how anxiety and self image issues make you feel like everyone secretly hates you or finds you annoying or etc etc etc, basically, he had "proof" that was true, and despite trying his best to ignore it, things are already hard enough for a pre-teen/teen, on top of his physical health taking such the dip it did around that time, too, he quickly became anxiety riddled, isolated, and miserable.

Before then, he was actually a lot like Rus (UT) when he was a kid! And it was hard on Blue, too, since he was practically just a teen himself, so for all of that to land on his brother as well as needing to work harder to take care of him when he had bad health flares, things were rough for a while there.

That being said, Blue did help in keeping Stretch's mental health from completely plummeting, always trying to keep his mood up, encouraging him, trying to find him friends (how he met Undyne aka Sylv!), etc etc, and the brothers grew a lot closer in that time, as Stretch had always admired Blue, and it meant a lot to him.

That was until, of course, things never got any better. His health continued to decline into older teendom/young adulthood, and there was some personal drama here and there, especially involving Sylv, and when Blue joined the guard, that was the last straw. Stretch was sick of feeling like such a burden on everyone, so even though he'd initially turned Toriel down to act as judge (knowing his brother absolutely hated that she'd even asked him in the first place), he went back to her and accepted. That was really when the distance between the brothers started, which wasn't helped by the resets starting up soon thereafter.

(Quick aside, as he got older, he did get the hang of controlling his "judging" ability, and "turning it off" is no longer an issue for him later on)

So in his efforts to become more independent, he worked a lot on his social life and how to interact with others and make himself well liked. Sure, maybe he doesn't really have any real friends, and people forget his name all the time, but he'd finally learned how to utilize his heightened intuition to get along with people, rather than weird them out.

He’s still riddled with anxiety and self worth issues, but he’s gotten incredibly good at masking, and typically comes off as very relaxed and friendly. He’s a big fan of wordplay and very mild practical jokes (like those types of gags where you put on Groucho Marx glasses and pretend to be someone else. Blue always plays along for the bit), but he has a tendency to hold people at arms length, and tries to avoid others actually getting to know him.

Very few people know he’s the judge, and he prefers it that way, he'd rather everyone underestimate him so he never disappoints. That being said, he does still make quite an effort to help those around him without their knowledge, and he’s still lowkey very interested in engineering and computer science. Him and Rus are definitely two peas in a pod when it comes to interests, they could talk about comics for hours on end, but the primary difference is that Stretch tries much harder to hide how much he cares, where as Rus will shout it from the rooftops.

I'm not a big fan of the characterizations that make him a huge brat, sometimes even an outright jerk, I don't really understand them since neither Sans nor Papyrus are like that, but w/ my guy, he’s definitely a huge dork and sweetheart, who just also happens to be very sassy at times ahdjfjsksk

He also still holds on to his belief in others, like Rus. Even despite literally knowing better, he’s also been proven right too many times to lose that hope, which is why, in his fight, as opposed to UT Sans, he gets very quiet and looks miserable. He genuinely doesn't want to hurt them, but he knows he’s out of options. When he offers an out before the fight, he won't spring a surprise attack, and just offers a genuine hug. The player doesn't get a choice after accepting, they kill him, and his final words are pretty similar to Rus' about knowing they can do better, and he believes in them anyway, though he makes a comment about that sounding pretty stupid with a laugh before he collapses off screen.

WOW this got longer than I meant it to I'm sorry huge lore drop instead of just general facts ough BUT ! Idk, hopefully this gives a half decent feel for how I interpret him! I love him a lot I'm mixing him into a salad like a crouton <3

#ty for the ask I'm so sorry I've done this otl #but also I will say I really like the way u interpret him from what I've seen!! he still feels very Papyrus which I feel is super important #w/ the aus 👏💗#I need to draw stretch more I need to finish that sketch page of him my believe nerd boy <3 #🧡🧡🧡❕❕❕#us stretch #underswap papyrus #sun spots #op has never stops talking disorder fr ✌️😔#kiok0r0 #clear sky sunset #underswap

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ebitenpura · 3 months ago

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stolen tags from @frauleiiin (sorry for the tag) I've been stewing over this and yeah! I do think his ultimately strange view of the world and people at large is what makes him unique. I described him before as both open and narrow-minded, because on one hand he's very quick to accept whatever is in front of him. On the other....he has a lot of internal biases that dictate what that means to him exactly, which can lead to either a completely unorthodox, honest view on the situation or one that's just off the mark, as best characterized by his interpersonal conflict with Keeper.

Eight is...not good when it comes to people. He knows this. At the same time, he possesses a gift that lets him see exactly what others are thinking at the same time-- this is the ability of his species. So when you hear people say one thing, but their body language says another, what do you learn to believe? The verbal truth, or the unconscious? It's in this that Eight falls back on his first bias: that of an Echani. He relies on body-reading first and then that of the spoken language. But because of this, he sees things according to their tradition, and thus, adopts their beliefs. For that, his verbal skills can be lacking, and he does not perceive the spoken word immediately as truth.

It's also for that reason that he fears being perceived by other Echani, who would instantly be able to see right through his facade and see him not as an honorable warrior, but a killer who does naught else. This too, is one of his major insecurities that warps his view of those close to him, who he fears will eventually come to the same conclusion about him and abandon him in turn regardless of whether or not that is true.

His training as an Imperial Agent comes second...and so does that of the unemotional, compartmentalized mindset of a Chiss operative, given who he was both raised and mentored by. For many years, Eight had only his mentor Nosta to rely on and seek guidance from. But Nosta was hardly the picture of a saint: she depended on him for her mental stability, yet could not find it within herself to make form that vulnerable connection with a child who needed a parent more than he needed a teacher. It's in this that Eight learned to set aside himself, his priorities, his own emotions to fulfill the goal, and ultimately serve as a tool by her side rather than be a burden, so to speak.

His personhood was deeply affected by the fear that he would be discarded if she saw any potential for failure in him, and so his innermost identity remains rather repressed compared to most other individuals. Her tutelage ultimately molded him into a fantastic spy, but the pieces left behind of his younger self were never quite mended, and it shows in the way he interacts with the galaxy at large. His lack of vulnerability, his refusal to engage with his feelings, his priority of becoming a weapon in any situation rather than be an individual. ...And a sense of alienation towards those who don't adhere to such training. That is not to say he is always and foremost a sword in another's belt; he often clashes with himself and does things even he can't explain. Sometimes he denies himself the right to feel. Others he follows his impulses and instincts to do what he knows best. And like any person who longs for connection no matter how long they've lived without it, he still seeks companionship. It is another of his people's beliefs that an Echani should never be alone; the sign of an isolated individual is a sign of sickness. But alone as he is, he can only feel that he is flawed in some way for being unable to readily form those bonds like others. In summary, Eight's view tends to be colored both by his background of culture and training, but also by his deep insecurities. This got a little rambly, but.... I do think understanding his background mentality explains why he thinks certain things. He's constantly asking himself if he should make decisions based on his heart as a warrior, or his mind as an agent, or even-- just himself-- and it's never easy.

#swtor #oc: orradiz #idk if this made any sense but. I thought I would try to rationalize his mind a little

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iwriteasfotini · 2 months ago

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How one dimensional is James?

Not a James bashing post. Just my word vomit working through some characterization stuff.

Disclaimer: this post is about MY characterization of James in MY series. Not an argument for why someone else should characterize him the same way.

I skimmed a post this morning and the only thing I can remember about it are the words ‘James has no personality.’ I cannot remember anything else about the post, the context (perhaps Jegulus related?), who posted it, what the point was. And I wasn't mad about it, because I can see this people, I really can. What happened is it made me think, ‘oh snap, how one dimensional is my James?’

Jegulus is a huge part of my story. So I often think of James in tandem with Regulus. Regulus has a lot of his own stuff going on. James… less so. Is he a bit of a trophy partner, yup. I’m not going to deny it. He’s the supporting role in the relationship. He is literally THE supportive friend. And though I’m firm on my Jegulus HC, I can read a wider array of ships. And I can see James shipping with several other people, AS THEIR SUPPORT PERSON. I think it is one reason why Jily doesn’t resonate with me. Lily is also a supportive friend, though she’s got plenty of her own stuff going on (much like Regulus). But two supportive friends don’t really have great chemistry, ya know?

I haven’t written from James’ POV for a long time, and when I last did he was 13/14. He had a crush on Lily, which fizzled out after she basically told him in no uncertain terms (but not unkindly) they were never going to happen. Then fate brought Regulus into his line of sight, and from that moment on he was a goner. He’s really into quidditch, practices his arse off to be as good as he can be. He is fabulous at Transfiguration and is a bit of an artist. But he doesn’t have a lot about him which is truly unique. He certainly hasn’t faced adversity like many of his friends have. Yet he loves and accepts his friends exactly as they are. He’s definitely a prankster and struggles to see the moral lines between pranking and bullying. But he also isn’t cruel. Everything he does prank wise is either relatively harmless or is targeted at someone who he knows will retaliate (he gets a bit of a kick out of this) or has already gotten one up on him in some way. We could get into the weeks about the morals around pranking in this FICTIONAL world, I like to think James knows who can take it and who he really shouldn’t ever prank.

The point is, James as a stand alone character is a bit blah. Not because he isn’t interesting in certain aspects, but because he is upper class, charismatic, averageness. His struggles at Hogwarts are petty. He doesn’t face true hardship until Regulus takes the mark and then he has to completely rewrite his mental model of Regulus. (Though in my story he knew this was going to happen and Regulus’ reasons and is supportive, it still shakes him up.)

I think what James has going for him is his ability to meet people where they are at. He doesn’t question Remus being a werewolf as a reason to not be his friend. He’s extremely empathetic, and can also be a mature voice of reason sometimes, especially for the people he is closest to. I HC him consoling both Remus and Sirius about each other, especially before they get together. He understands Sirius better than Remus does at first because James also knows Regulus. He’s also from the same social class as Sirius. Remus likes to give them crap for it, so does Lily. And James also supports Lily when she needs it. He relies on her for support plenty because sometimes a supportive person needs some support themself.

And a really important thing to my HC is Voldemort’s memory of the night he went to kill the Potters. James tells Lily to take Harry and run, but he doesn’t have a wand in his hand. Personally I think he was ready to die. He was not in a good way after Regulus died, fell into an intense depression and then having Harry hunted did nothing to help this. I think his last words were a lot less about actually telling Lily how to act, and a lot more of a general warning and then acknowledgement that this thing they had been dreading but also sort of knew was inevitable was happening. And he was just done.

There are plenty of James haters out there. There are plenty of James worshippers. I’m not either. I like James. He’s human, he has flaws. His and Regulus’ relationship, which I cherish, has some MAJOR flaws. That tag, James being James (and there is a Sirius version too, coincidence I think not), pretty much sums up James. I can’t think of a moment when I’d give Lily a tag, oh that’s just Lily being Lily, haha! Or well there goes Remus being Remus (unless it was about folding his socks, which he definitely does). But James is a character most people expect to be characterized in a certain way. Sometimes he is more cruel and vindictive, sometimes he is a little too forgiving and accepting. I like a mix of both. Just James being James.

So I’m going to say, I don’t think my James is strictly one dimensional. I think if James didn’t die and Regulus didn’t die and we could see their relationship mature past the war and into true adulthood James would become a much more robust character. You can only reach so much emotional maturation as a twenty-one year old. And the few hardships James faced were traumatic and extreme. We don’t get to see how he handles the challenges of parenting (we will a tiny bit, but hardly in the grand scheme of a lifetime of parenting). We don’t see him handle his professional career. We don’t see him grow and overcome relationship hurdles with his partner. Because he, like Regulus and Lily, are all frozen in time as young adults. If anything, this is probably the biggest factor in his lack of character depth, he just doesn’t live long enough.

#james being james #our love is written in the stars #marauders era #james potter #jegulus #dead gay wizards from the 70s #james fleamont potter #desi james potter #james and regulus #harry potter fandom

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adamwatchesmovies · 3 months ago

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Red Dragon (2002)

Red Dragon can feel familiar at times: the novel by Thomas Harris was also adapted in 1986, much of what we see here we also saw in Silence of the Lambs and this is a prequel so you kind of know where things are going with most of the characters. That said, Hannibal Lecter as portrayed by Anthony Hopkins is such a compelling monster that even a little bit of him goes a long way. If you want more, you get it. Even if you shudder at the thought of ghoulish serial killers, this is an engaging psychological thriller.

After capturing Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) and nearly losing his life in the process, agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) retires from the FBI. Years later, he’s brought back as a consultant when a serial killer nicknamed the “Tooth Fairy” attacks a second family during a full moon. After hitting a wall and with the next full moon approaching, Graham reluctantly admits he cannot complete the killer's psychological profile without Lecter's help.

We’ve seen several aspects of this scenario in The Silence of the Lambs. Lecter behind bars, an FBI agent asking for his help, a serial killer whose pattern needs to be deciphered, etc. Though there is a segment at the beginning of the film that shows what Lecter was like before he was caught, it’s not like in Hannibal where he’s out in the world for a good chunk of the film; the scenes are there to establish the connection between Graham and Lecter. That relationship is where this picture differs the most from Silence, as there’s a horror equivalent of a love triangle going on. Lecter is playing a strange game with Graham. He wants to keep him nearby by feeding him information about the Tooth Fairy but he also wants him dead. Lecter hopes the Tooth Fairy can get revenge on Graham on his behalf.

On the agent’s side, he and Lecter were friends, or at least respected each other professionally before they tried to kill each other. One of the reasons why Graham was pulled out of retirement is his unique ability to put himself in the mind space of someone as deranged the Tooth Fairy. Diving back into that world puts him in danger, in more ways than one. You can imagine a scenario in which his psyche slips and he winds up in the asylum too.

Though he doesn't know it, the man Graham pursues is Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes). We meet him early on and see that he is infatuated with Lecter. Once he realizes Graham is on his trail, you can bet a part of him hopes he can impress his idol by adding him to his list of victims. He has many newspaper clippings of Lecter in the heavy scrapbook he hides in the attic and that means he's intimately familiar with the man who's on his tail.

That triangle is further complicated by the time we spend with Dolarhyde. He’s a bit… sad in a way, though we only think of him as a man whose redemption is possible because we exclusively see the aftermath of his murders – chillingly effective snippets thanks to the editing by Mark Helfrich and the cinematography by Dante Spinotti. Dolarhyde’s motivation may be even more off-the-wall than Buffalo Bill’s but he's made more human thanks to a romantic subplot with a coworker (Emily Watson). She adds an extra element of danger and intrigue to the story. Neither Lecter nor Graham knows she's in the middle of this storm. Only Dolarhyde has any idea of what she may have gotten herself into and he has feelings for her but he's also the one she should be afraid of.

The big unknown in this thriller is how Graham will track the serial killer down. What’s going to be the “Aha!” moment? In a way, then, we’re both ahead of the characters and following behind them. That’s sometimes the case with these types of films, particularly when the serial killer has a bizarre modus operandi but the characters make Red Dragon stand out. The familiar faces (Anthony Heald returns as the Dr, Frederick Chilton), the new main players and the side characters too. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Freddy Lounds, a reporter for a trashy newspaper has a memorable role.

I’d have to sit down and watch Manhunter again to decide whether this is the better adaptation or not. Maybe it doesn’t matter and there’s room for both on your shelf. While Red Dragon is not on the same level as The Silence of the Lambs (and I haven't seen Hannibal recently enough to decide where that one fits in the series) it is a satisfying way to get more of what you liked before. (October 9, 2024)

#Red Dragon #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Brett Ratner #Ted Tally #Edward Norton #Anthony Hopkins #Ralph Fiennes #Harvey Keitel #Emily Watson #Mary-Louise Parker #Philip Seymour Hoffman #2002 movies #2002 films

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