#the m5 wouldn't look like that

[alnazarcana]

the modern au arcana sprites reek of millennial (derogatory)

[titanicfreija]

Campfire Stories

The next server bank was a bust, completely ruined by bombs, raiders, weather and time; but Freija decided it was late enough to stop. The bombed out ruin of city held little to look for.

"You actually camp? In a tent?" Thomas watched Freija tie her hammock tent into the exposed ceiling joists with an incredulous brow raised.

The second floor of the office building gave them a good view of the area without being too obvious, and smelled mostly of dust. Even the bugs ran out of food here.

"I was about to ask what you did," Freija chuckled. "You'll sooner go back to orbit, won't you?"

"I try to divide my activities into tasks so I can get parts done and stop, instead of being caught in the open in the dark," the Warlock replied. "I should have said something when we got done in the last one."

"I wouldn't have stopped anyway." The chipper grin had a feral undertone that Thomas could appreciate. "I have a backup tent, if you want. They're not meant to be shared or I would." She knelt in place as a pack materialized on the ground in front of her and the harmony between her and her Ghost stung Thomas again. "Or you can go to orbit and we can ping you down with coordinates."

He couldn't decide if she was teasing or patronizing. "I'll try and tough it out, I'm a big boy." Freija offered the folded tent, and he untangled it to examine. If she'd asked him to build a shelter in a forest, he'd have a full cabin in an hour, but this 'survival gear' of the spoiled Tower-dwellers worked just as well and embarrassed him with his inexperience. "Don't help and don't watch if you can't keep that look off your face. I can do it, I just can't make it look easy." He narrowed his amber eyes at her and she grinned as she ducked her head between her shoulders.

"Alright, then I'm gonna go establish perimeters," she declared, placing her M5 across her back and picking up Polaris Lance. "Don't die."

~

He did fine and Freija didn't come across any active threats, so the evening wound down pleasantly. This chunk of world saw a cool breeze come in with sundown, batting down the growing humidity. The Guardians spent a while studying a Golden Age map of computer network from a telecommunications company that went bust before the Exodus program.

After the sun's last color faded and the night truly set in, with the only lights coming from the Ghosts and Freija, the pair took their boots off and settled into their hammock-tents.

"What did you do before the Vanguard?" asked Freija. "Like, all Guardians, not just you, but also just you."

"The same thing any super-powered immortal would do-- we went to war. Thus the title Warlords. Gathered little groups of normal people, got them to feed us with promises to protect them from the rest of us." He picked at his teeth. "I'm not certain I'm ready to tell you about my longer history."

"Why not?"

"I'm not better than anyone else." The warlock didn't squirm, but he fixed his eyes to the dark for several moments before he shook himself. "I'm not proud of it."

"I've crushed Ghosts," Freija pointed out. "Killed refugees. I'm still ashamed of ever having set foot on the Tangled Shore, and I was a baby back then. I haven't had a long time to be a monster, but I'm still a monster."

Thomas rocked his head and frowned with thought. "You're such a bleeding heart, it's hard to think."

The Titan cocked her head curiously. "Were you a Warlord? I know I'd have been one. Probably with the best intentions, at least at first. I know how I get."

Thomas chortled and picked at his teeth again. "You'd start a whole country, getting bored and traveling between three or four settlements." He stuck a leg down to swing. "I wouldn't have called me a Warlord, but I'm sure the mortals I kept with me would have," he eventually admitted.

Freija's curious brow creased further and Thomas looked skyward to shed the scrutiny. "I didn't mean to start the collection, they followed me because I was Risen and because they didn't have anything else. I'd happen on bands while I wandered, they'd join me, and we would wander together. I thought of them as equals, but they saw me as something like a god. I didn't feel the rift until one of them died. I did my best to do right. I kept them as safe as I could. I also killed... a lot of people in the process. I didn't try very hard to find a way around it, but even if I had... killing normal humans is... too easy. Even hand-fighting." He took a long, slow breath and blew it through pursed lips, finally lowering his eyes to his companion. "So, to answer your question more directly, yes. I don't feel like I was, but by pretty much any standard of the definition, I was."

The gleaming silver ironically hid any real expression. "I always wondered," she said eventually. "Not-hyphen-warlord. Funny to think about you, though."

He snorted another soft laugh. "Yeah. Rex misses those days. I don't."

"You kept a band of humans?"

"Got followed," Thomas corrected, irritated with remembering any of it. He didn't remember any lines, any discussions, but he did remember feeling forced to take these people under his protection, because anything else was abandoning them to die. "But because they were following me, I felt like I needed to protect them." His breath hitched and he rolled. "During hungry times, I let myself starve, giving them my share of the food. Rex tried to heal me through it, because the damage could be healed-- he'd restore the muscle and fill the bone, he could even put my fat back. But the hunger couldn't be healed away. Stomach stays empty, no matter how fat you are. I had them execute me when it hurt just to start over. Kept me strong enough to help hunt."

He didn't look at the expression on the Titan's face, but he could still see more light than usual from her eyes. Thomas turned his view away and tried to speak, but he couldn't get his voice above a whisper. "And that still wasn't as bad as failing to save Til."

Freija sucked another breath, but he heard sympathy in this one, not surprise. "Yeah. That part sucks," she said. "It's only happened a few times. I can't imagine it being someone I know."

He did know that. She liked finding strays and helping them find homes. And more than a few times, she'd lost one in the process. "Yeah." He rolled back over and saw Freija watching the dark instead of him, which made him feel better. "Yeah. It made me so.... Fucking... Jealous when I saw what Titans could do. That would have been perfect."

Freija offered a non-committal, "uh huh," but he could tell she hurt for him.

Thomas swung lightly in the hammock, kicking his leg to get going. "I rose about the time the Iron Lords were founded, so I didn't have too many Warlords to deal with. Most of the threats were nature and other independent humans troops and Fallen. Eliksni. When the Iron Lords found me, I was quick to declare myself Risen, not Warlord, and they took my people in with their own, and I joined in to help out. Spent time with them and wandering. Got to help with the Tower foundations, that was a whole big thing. Worked for a long time in salvage. I liked the chance to settle. Didn't get into the Ahamkara hunts, but only because I knew I didn't have the power, and I worried I would wish on accident. Last thing we need to find out is if I could become a Titan by dying and rising again."

Freija snickered. "Yeah, I can see that. So that's the wanna-be-a-Titan thing? How often did that kind of thing happen?"

Thomas swatted the air passively. "It's more than that, but at the same time, it's even simpler. A barricade would have been infinitely more useful than my rift the entire Dark Age. I don't know if we're actually physically weaker or if it's just me. I'm just not that great with my Light. I don't think my jump would be better but I would get more mercy for it if I could get my Light under my feet."

Freija hummed with thought. "I wish I had a rift sometimes. Takes forever to get safe enough for Sunny, sometimes, leaves me to hide and bleed out. But-- just so you know, the jump is more like it's pushing from my hips, not my feet. Legs are for steering. Hunters are the ones that use their feet. What do you guys use? You all fly like you have wings, like it's a pull up from your shoulders instead of a push from beneath."

Thomas watched the shining eyes and shimmering skin in the darkness. "You're so weird," he told her, not for the first time.

She kicked irritably and fell back into the tent, out of view. "Sarah was smarter than me. Sometimes it shows when things are quiet and still enough. She had an eye for details, patterns. You always say that when I say something that isn't stupid."

"It's not about stupid or smart, it's just what I expect from history, what you say, and what you showed me. You say you don't notice detail and you're bad at puzzles. You say you can't keep track of what's going on in combat. You say you struggle with conversations, your armor and weapon mods, your aim. I have seen, personally, every single one of these things. You're impatient and foolhardy and insensitive and there's been a lot of times where I think you forgot to even look at your mods when you swapped kits.

"And yet you talk scared people out of fighting without speaking their language. You start fires with Polaris Lance at distances that require spotters and bullet trajectory math. You predict enemy crucible tactics with what looks like cheating or clairvoyance. You made an offhand joke at a puzzle that turned out to be a truth that helped me finish it. And you tell me, by looking, how each class uses their Light to move through the air."

Thomas couldn't watch her as the tent swung with her weight. "Sarah could do it. Sunny says it's because it's too much effort to move as fast and hard as I do and think like she did at the same time. She put it like, I have a max capacity. I can split it up to wherever but putting half the effort into thinking means half the effort going to running and shooting."

Thomas gave her a sound of acknowledgement. "Something else," he said again, closing off his tent.

~~

Request

Communication

The Database

Something Else

Campfire Stories

Jealousy 

Bickering 

Revealed

[dreamsapphire28]

Hmmm... What would the 5 Mcs look like if they were half dragon? I think mc5 would have fluffy fur (w/ some scales patches in his shoulder and his cheeks) while the other Mcs has scales.

You really made want to work on different designs for them so that's what I did, thank you

The original was left ambiguous so people could just imagine it whatever Mc they wanted for it so I'll just give them some that I personally like for each one, but that's just for my personal versions of the Mcs.

Some general features they all would have are that their eyes would have slit pupils, they have parts of their body completely or partially covered in scales, like their legs and arms are covered in scales completely but their faces and parts of their back and chest just have a few patches of scales, all of them would have claws, wings and a tail

Mc1 would definitely be on the fluffy side, you see how some dragons have spikes along their back, not for Mc1 they would have fur instead, fluffy fur cuffs on their wrists and ankles too and a tuft of fur on the tip of their tail, also furry feline like ears. Just an adorable fluffy ball of sarcasm and sharp remarks if it's my Mc1 Akemi. The color of Mc1's eyes and scales would be purple

Mc2, they would have feathers, maybe around their neck or a tuft of feathers on their chest, their wings would be feathered as well looking somewhat like Ziz's wings, the scales and claws would still be enough to let everyone see that Mc2 is way closer to dragons than to birds though. Their scales and eyes would be yellow

Mc3, they would certainly be on the not so cuddly looking bunch, I see him having spikes along his spine maybe they would be to only one with horns, they would have spiky fin like ears too. Their scales and eyes would be red

M4, Would have spikes along his spine and fin like ears like Mc3 but theirs wouldn't look as sharp or intimidating. Their scales and eyes would be blue.

M5, I do like the idea of them being on the fluffy side but not as much as Mc1, maybe a chest fluff and on the tip of their tail. Mc5 would have green eyes and scales

[redmalbec]

My top 10 favorite openings

Yeah I know nobody asked for it, but welcome to discover new music and hopefully new animes/mangas if they catch your eye. I won't include openings of romcoms or a few slice of life stories since I should make a different list for them. I'll add the name of the band if I find it. There's a couple of songs here from animes I didn't watch. If you think there's another amazing opening that should be listened to, share!

BTW I tend to listen to music on Youtube music, if you can support the work of these artists with this app, or Spotify, iTunes, or CDs, please do it!

DURARARA!! [Uragiri no Yuuyake - Theatre Brook]

Wonderful music, I don't have much to add since I haven't watched the anime but it looks interesting. This only time I'll only share the link to the video (couldn't find an official one) since I reach the limit of linked multimedia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5-4eQuExgE

MOB PSYCHO 100 I [99 - Mob Choir]

I always thought this was some uninteresting anime, and well I was totally wrong. The animation is AWESOME, the story is really cool and explores some interesting perspectives about life that other shonen (or seinen?) ignore. It has a different style, it's kinda plain at times (and this might be good because it avoids unnecessary complexity) but in my opinion, much better than some popular animes of the moment. I feel it's very original, and stays as part of my top 10 manga/animes too.

FULL METAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD [Again - YUI]

This might be my favorite song. If I ever fall in a coma, try to wake me up with it, I'm sure it will work. I might be biased because this is the first anime I watched (when I didn't care about these kind of series) and I love it, and it's definitely my favorite (I was lucky to be gifted the first volume in japanese). The melody is calm and the lyrics are heart touching. FMA is a manga and anime you should add to your watch/read list without a doubt. Sharing short version of the song to find the channel of the artist.

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA [The day - Porno Grafitti]

I will never regret being on the bus playing this song on my phone (with headphones) being seen by people who would think something about the name of the band (like listening to anime openings almost every day wasn't already a weird thing). None of the other songs of BNHA surpassed the greatness of this song IMO.

About it, even though it gets criticism I think it's a good story, and I feel it can be incredibly creative at times - there's a reason why it's so popular after all. I should also remark that it pays attention to a lot of characters, secondary or villains have good development (something that I haven't seen in other shonen or they fail to do it, and remember BNHA has A LOT of characters).

This story is definitely going to be long, I think it's close to reach its first half, expect probably 70 volumes or so.

NARUTO [Kanashimi Wo Yasashisa Ni - Little by Little]

Wait? WHAT? Did you really pick this opening over Silhouette? I mean, no offense to Silhouette and the fantastic band KANA-BOON, but I've listened to it so many times (best memes lol), and I already didn't have it as my favorite. There are other openings that I love (Naruto Shippuden this time): 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 14, 15 (Guren is the best one IMO), 16, 17, 20.

You didn't watch Naruto? Then what are you doing here? It's a must watch! It's a shonen with beautiful messages, inspiring characters, and this song probably embodies one positive vibe of the story - best part "the most important things are those without any shape".

PSYCHO PASS [Abnormalize - ling tosite sigure]

This anime is definitely in my favorite list, I feel it's the best seinen I've watched. Its manga is an adaptation, but the original story is the one that's animated. Some people say that season 2 and 3 aren't as good as the first and honestly it's hard to do something more brilliant than the incredible season 1, nonetheless you would miss the progress of the story and interesting characters if you only leave at the first one.

It reaches some philosophical thoughts that not all sci-fi can explore on the same way. Don't expect it to be an easy watch though - you better click pause to understand every dialogue.

SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN [Shinzou wo sasageyo - Linked Horizon]

Yeah, the first opening is AMAZING, but I might have a thing for 2nd openings. I must say that the synchronization of the scenes don't make justice for the melody of this song, though. Attack on Titan might reach the top 5 best shonen (is it shonen anyways?) anime/manga of all time.

I saw everyone talking about it and praising it, so I decided to watch the first episode and I couldn't get through it because of its disturbing art LMAO. My eye is accustomed to other kind of art, but I have to say I WAS TOTALLY WRONG. Good thing the second time I watched it I felt comfortable and discovered not only a mind-blowing story, but yeah, its animation is fantastic (take a peek at a few YT videos showing the process on the making of Levi's scenes). I only follow the manga to be updated, and I'm bad at recognizing characters, but you won't waste time or money by giving this one a chance.

THE PERFECT INSIDER [Talking - KANA BOON]

I tell you, this is a list of favorite openings, it doesn't mean I've watched all the anime, but I'm going to do it thanks to these fantastic songs, and KANA BOON deserved a mention. Also known as "Subete ga F ni Naru" this seinen anime is based on a novel.

MOB PSYCHO 100 II [99.9 - Mob Choir]

Wasn't this anime already on the list? No, no it's not (?) I mean, HOW CAN'T I INCLUDE THIS ONE. Fantastic. I thought I wouldn't be able to fall in love with the new opening but after listening to it twice I couldn't get it off my mind. There's a reason, well deserved reason, why it got chosen for the Crunchyroll awards...

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION [Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-ze - Yoko Takahashi/Hidetoshi Sato]

Starts with an angelic voice to a disco-like rhythm, and it's without a doubt a fantastic song. This might be the most famous opening of anime. Pay attention or watch twice if you want to understand the story, though.

🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹

There is a song that's missing, don't you think so? This one can't be part of a top 10 because it's honestly so amazing that leaving it there would make it shine less, and it deserves the BEST recognition.

Special mention

TOKYO GHOUL [Unravel - TK from ling tosite sigure]

If I'm in a coma and the song Again didn't work, then this one will wake me up FOR SURE. I love how it embodies the angst of the story, the tragedy, the bad luck of the protagonist. I recommend to read the manga instead of keeping too loyal to the anime - it's no surprise that SP messed up with the storytelling of another manga... Did I say how hard it must be to play it on the piano? Or even sing it?