#there are a couple other ''factions'' but these are on my mind for now

[juno-box]

I watched a new LeNNY vid and enjoyed it; here's my 2nd-hand commentary on Marlon

So I watched a vid where LeNNY tries to understand Marlon. Marlon is such a conundrum with fans. You either enjoy him and study his character or you phone it in and hate him, no in between.

go watch the dossier here!

So this'll literally be a copy-pasted comment of mine but it feels right enough to post on Tumblr. Don't jump me like a jaywalker in Gotham, ight?

→👑

I absolutely understood Marlon's rationale; it's like the train track dilemma. You're a kid going up against a militant faction of armed-to-the-teeth grown ass adults.

Even before he completely breaks down he explains it as sacrificing a couple to save everyone. In that situation, it was either cut off 2 people to save 10 other people. Or stand up to, again, an armed militant-type faction and lose everyone including yourself. Let me on the mic for a second:

Starting off being a community leader of about 50 or so children as a child yourself, then watching about 30 or more of the kids you grew up and stuck it out with die around you in less than a decade absolutely fucks with a psyche. It will. By the time 401 rolls around, the remaining Ericson kids are already doing relatively unwell. Even when you ignore the relationship issues--they're bordering on starvation and are about to get dropped on by raiders any day now without even knowing it.

Nobody's saying Marlon was in the right for freaking out and killing Brody, or panicking and blaming the outsider for his crime, or that he's a 'tragic hero' for expending Minnie and Sophie to save everyone else. But this whole "He's a leader! Leaders don't give up! Fight back!" mentality barely works when the "leader" in question is a de-facto and a kid raising over a dozen other kids for about like 8 years. Taking care of kids who, mind you, are relatively sheltered off in the woods and have not had to legitimately fight like characters such as Clementine or other more nomadic groups have. These kids have never had to flee the place they started the apocalypse in.

They can trap, hunt and fortify. But defend against people is something they don't know. The vast majority of 402 is Clementine preparing these kids for something they are not ready for: human-on-human combat.

An actual battle.

We played first hand how Clementine preparing the kids for the first fight in 402 went. And even then we lost Omar, Aasim and either Vi/Lou. And in casualties we lost Mitch. That was a FOUR person lost with Clementine's guidance (put aside we get 3 back for now, that's 3 kidnapped and 1 dead). The only reason those kids even pulled out with those numbers is because of Clementine and her survival knowledge.

The fact that she has not been stationary as long as them; the fact that she's been extremely nomadic and exposed is what gave them those numbers.

If you put Marlon in, give him the same mission as Clementine; let's say he doesn't sacrifice the twins. He, Brody and the twins are gonna have to escape the Delta (if they can dodge and weave semi-autos as okay as Clem & AJ, and even then AJ was still shot), Get back to Ericson's (un-tracked), and warn the others. Then what? Get them ready to battle? With what fucking experience? If Ericson's under Clementine's numbers were 4-10, what do you think Ericson's still under Marlon's numbers would be? His best bet is to pick up everyone and get the fuck outta dodge.

And even, their odds still don't fair that good because like I said--these kids stayed in one spot for about 8 years. Day 1 to now.

Like Clem says in 402 "You have no idea what it's fucking like out there."

Marlon isn't a great leader, not truly no. He's really a glorified babysitter, to be real. A kid who had no business spending almost a decade taking care of other kids around his age essentially on his own. You can "lead" a group with "big brother" mentality for only so long, but reality doesn't wait for long and it damn sure proved that taking care of a community, even if they're tight-knit, is hard.

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I love that they showed different types of leaders in every season of TWDG. Marlon was one of the most interesting ones.

[mareastrorum]

Hello! I’ve been looking at your blog after Critical Role episodes for a couple of weeks now and I have to agree with you wholeheartedly about pretty much all of it. I wanted to ask you your opinion on the idea that a majority of us are calling Bells Hells the bad guys because all they’re doing is ‘wanting to dismantle the oppressive force that aims to destroy an entire established society of innocent people’. I’m having trouble understanding what oppressive force that is?

Thanks for the ask! There's two parts to this, so I'm going to address them separately.

First, there is no "oppressive force that aims to destroy an entire established society of innocent people." Like, the only group that came close to that in this campaign was the Weave Mind and the Imperium, which intended to take over Exandria in its entirety and subject the entire population to hivemind slavery--but Bell's Hells did little to oppose them. Vox Machina (backed up by an army) demolished the Imperium's main forces at the Exandrian base of the bloody bridge. The Mighty Nein killed the Weave Mind and then started mopping up their allies that remained on Ruidus. Bell's Hells did nothing to support that rebellion other than assist on a scouting/sabotage mission and then flee.

Otherwise, there is no force aiming to destroy society. Ludinus wanted Predathos out so it could eat the gods, and there was no intent about anything other than that. He did not care one way or the other about collateral damage. Predathos doesn't either, but it wants to eat, and we do not know what level of divinity is too small for it to prioritize. And let's be serious, unless a god flees and lures it away, there's no reason for Predathos not to look at a planet full of life and think, "Hmmm, it might not taste good, but I am so fucking hungry."

A good while ago, when the Hells had initially reached Vasselheim, I saw discussion of whether Vasselheim and other Exandrian forces intended to wipe out all Reilorans and other Ruidus-based species. I think Evoroa's plea and assistance made directly to the leadership of Vasselheim has already prevented that potential result. Of course, the Exandrians are working together as a collective of dozens of factions, and each of those has untold numbers of individuals working for them. It's possible some of them will insist on war anyway, but given the actions of the three campaign parties, I don't see that happening on an organized scale. Regardless, Bell's Hells aren't focusing on that right now, and nothing they could/would do with Predathos would affect that either.

The only other faction that comes close to that idea is the Betrayer Gods, but they don't care about society. They want genocide. They want to murder every single mortal in existence, and then torment their immortal souls for all eternity. I literally cannot overstate the disdain the Betrayers have for mortals. They are Exandrians' ultimate enemy. The Divine Gate is the only thing protecting mortals from the Betrayers, and it requires every god to unanimously agree to drop it. That is phenomenal protection. There's been no serious threat to it since its creation.

In particular, I want to highlight that "the gods" as a category of entity are not a united faction. The gods don't rule anything on Exandria--not even Vasselheim. That's a purely mortal project! Mortals decided to build a city dedicated to the gods, and given that it's filled with their followers, the gods have historically spent particular attention to protecting it. That makes perfect sense, and it doesn't mean the gods are in charge of it.

Obviously, there will be other factions across Exandria that could fit that bill, but Bell's Hells hasn't had to deal with them in this campaign. Like, chaotic evil factions exist, they're just not in this story right now.

Next, whether Bell's Hells are villains, bad guys, etc.

I've written up how I assess villains in my pinned post. That's my general approach to any type of story, whether it's interactive, written, oral, etc. It's a very broad overview of when is a villain an effective narrative device? I am rather harsh in my criticism of villains: if they didn't improve the story, they should not have been included at all.

We could cherrypick through the various episodes to come up with an argument that Bell's Hells are the bad guys, but my problem with them is that they aren't effective villains. A villain's primary purpose is to highlight a theme in the negative: what is the wrong thing to do in these circumstances, and why is that? The reason they aren't effective is that they don't have a motivating purpose.

Bell's Hells are a chaotic faction that consistently deviates from whatever is requested of them. They claim to be for the people, then denigrate and oppose every faction they've encountered. They claim to have changed their minds about some of the gods (the Matron and the Arch Heart in particular), then repeatedly ignore or contradict the plain statements told to them, but they still seek out the gods' instructions regardless. This carelessness or apathy makes it impossible to map a philosophy onto the PCs other than "I felt like doing it in the moment."

None of them have been able to articulate a reason that they chose this path. Maybe the players will come up with some hamfisted excuse next episode, but it's still going to be unsatisfying from a narrative viewpoint. This stream had hundreds of hours to show that and instead needs someone to say it in the last episode. It's terrible storytelling, and none of them could claim that it was impossible to see this confrontation coming. We've known it was coming since Ludinus successfully bridged Exandria and Ruidus. There was time, and it was not spent wisely.

Going beyond dialogue, there's no consistency to Bell's Hells's actions except the desire to kill Ludinus. That muddled any potential message that could be conveyed about them as villains in a story except "kill Ludinus in particular." We can't even say they oppose any existing hegemony because none has been established in Exandria. There's no racial, economic, social, religious, etc. group dominating the world. Again, as said above, the gods don't rule anything, and they're stuck behind the gate.

Any potential to build Bell's Hells into worthwhile villains was squandered. Everyone but Orym had an explicit, tailor-made opportunity to lean into their darker personality traits, and every one of them chickened out--except Ashton, who gave into his desire to be special and have power to lash out at people standing over him. Unfortunately, Ashton's attempt to absorb another shard of a primordial would have also broken the game on a D&D level, so that got reversed and reworked into a character moment that also had no lasting impact on his character arc. Ashton hasn't bothered exploring it since. That's really the core problem: every time the PCs had the option to pursue a villainous path, they ran the fuck in the opposite direction, then dithered about what to do.

Without conviction, villains are merely bullies. They're just here to be mean, stop other people from getting what they want, and jeer at others when they get their way. We saw that in this latest episode. There's nothing Bell's Hells wants. They don't even want to be involved. They're just doing it because they can't even commit to going home--because they're player characters in a D&D game, and the players didn't want to switch to new characters.

That makes for a terrible villain story. Like, once we see the final episode and all the PCs have had an opportunity to take action and speak on their own behalf, we'd be able to revisit this with more definitive statements. Unfortunately, I can't think of a single way this could go that would correct the flaws I've already listed. It's far too late to correct the characters' lack of direction to develop a coherent villain arc for any of Bell's Hells.

[vhaos-chaotic-writing]

Yandere TFA Wasp x cybertronian reader, where both are a couple in the Autobots academy

Oh boy, another TFA! Again, haven't watched or analized the show completely or at least good enough - will do my best and I hope you like it! ╰(￣ω￣ｏ)

(TFA) Yandere!Wasp w/ a Cybertronian!Reader - "Academy Sweethearts"

WARNINGS: Yandere behaviour, open ending, long ass post ngl. Reader is cybertronian and gender neutral, also an Autobot medic. Use of (Y/N).

"Seriously, what do you see in that bot?" - ah, the question of your whole scholar life at the Autobot Academy. And, at some degree, you couldn't get to be angry at anyone who asked you that question (unless they asked it for the 5th time in the same day). You loved Wasp, just as he loved you.

Since your 1st day at the Autobot Academy, Wasp set his optics on you - and let me tell you, he was all over you nearly all the time. You would have grown to hate him if it wasn't thanks to how he made you laugh, brough you gifts, kept you safe from any other bully in the academy and always passed time with you. Wasp knew how medic apprentices at the academy were demanded too much time, foucs and energy in the course, so it was common to see the mech look after you after his training classes, and other bots would actually find themselves surprised at how Wasp was so different with you.

Teased you but always playing, giving you too many sweet nicknames, aiming to always make you laugh and listen about your day, cheer you up when needed - to be the best in-the-near-future Conjux of them all.

"I'm so tired! I'll never be the medic I want to be! I am a disaster!" You whined, to then be hugged by Wasp from behind, who was quick to start snuggling his cheeplate against yours.

"There is nothing my hot-stuff spark can't do! You got it, babe!" He cheered you, to then kiss your cheekplate, making you giggle, your mood lifted up. "You're gonna become the best medic in the whole Autobot faction, and with me becoming the best Elite guard commander - we'll be the best duo out there!"

You and Wasp could picture it - graduation day, both of you the next big Autobot medic and Autobot Elite guard commander, servo in servo, a couple that since the 1st day in the academy clicked - the academy sweethearts, together till the end of the line.

Alas - the universe was cruel and your spark broke in half after finding out from others that Wasp was a supposed Decepticon traitor that got into the Academy to do the evil deeds of the feared Megatron.

As you were crying your optics out, covering your faceplate with your servos, trembling and being hugged by Ratchet and another friend of yours who were trying to comfort you, you could hear Wasp yelling as he was being taken away.

"This is a mistake! Bee is lying! (Y/N)! Please, listen to me! (Y/N)!!"

It has been... many years since that awful day. Still spark broken, you managed to graduate from the Academy and do your job as an Autobot, now being with the main team on Earth. And thankfully, you didn't had to go through everything all alone - Ratchet and your other friends were there to support you - even Bumblebee. The poor guy was so nervous to be around you, fearing you hated him from having exposed your boyfriend as the traitor.

... You weren't going to lie, you did actually got to hate Bee for a while, but slowly come to terms that - it wasn't his fault. He did was it was correct - he found out someone was working with the Decepticons and was trying to hurt from the inside the Autobots. He protected everyone, and, at some lenght, he also protected you. Still, it hurts.

You loved Wasp so much, after all.

And you didn't had an idea about how much he kept loving you, losing his mind in imprisonment and only thinking about two things: to take revenge on Bumblebee and find you, his one and only true love.

Wasp Bee was vibrating in excitement the moment you arrived back to the base, another little thing that gave out that something with Bee was not okay - even less with how he seemed to try and follow you anywhere you went and grow rather... anxious could be the word?

Oh you were still just as beautiful as the day he lost you, his beloved academy sweetheart and his true sparkmate, the one to become his Conjux Endura. Oh, he was gonna take revenge on everyone for having ruin the future you two had ahead.

When the truth was out, before he started to run away, he begged you to follow him, to listen to him - to come with him.

"It wasn't Wasp! Wasp has always been innocent!"

... but you didn't follow him.

His sanity finally left his system when he saw the way your optics looked at him, full of sadness and no longer the love you had for him back in those days.

His spark was breaking more and more, just like his mind - it got worse when that Blackarachnia touched him (No! That was wrong! Wasp wanted to tear off his own plates - he felt dirty! No one was allowed to touch him! Only (Y/N)!) and lied to him... oh, it hurt, it hurt awfully - Wasp really thought he was gonna die inside of that strange machine and never get to see you again, to tell you how much he still loved you.

Trembling, you kept moving back, feeling your optics start to produce tears as you pointed your weapon at Waspinator. The tall, turned-Predacon moved closer and closer, staring directly at you without blinking.

"S-Stay away!" You shout, begging for any of your teammates to arrive, to help you.

"(Y/N)... my (Y/N)... Wasp loves (Y/N)... Wasp never stopped loving (Y/N)... and Wasp never letting sparkmate go... not again." Waspinator mumbles, to the let out a screech and tackle you to the ground.

You cry and try to fire your weapon at the predacon, struggling to get free from his grasp as he holds your servos down.

"(Y/N) AND WASP WILL BE TOGETHER AGAIN! NO ONE WILL RUIN (Y/N)'S AND WASPS' LIVES AGAIN!" Waspinator cries, to then laugh. "WASPINATOR WILL KILL BUMBLEBEE, AND AUTOBOTS - EVERYONE! (Y/N) AND WASPINATOR WILL FREE AND HAPPY AGAIN!"

Pinkie promise I did my best to write this!!! Silly guy, tragic silly guy.

(。・ω・。) Vhaos out!

[pandorasfavorite]

I live for your writing literally supporting my delusions ❤️❤️❤️ But anyways I think you’ve already written with this idea before but hopefully this request is a little different. So a fem reader and Dominik have been dating for a couple months but the reader beings to get annoyed by Dom’s close relationship with Rhea. The reader kind of starts giving him attitude about about this and Dom takes matters into his own hands with him showing the reader that he only wants the her and saying some stuff like “Do I kiss/touch Rhea like this?” and then proceeds to show her😝😝

Pick a Side

AN: Requests are coming as fast as I can write (don't give up on me). And keep a look out for your request mixed in with other posts.

It's not in Dominik's hands how he is supposed to do things. I mean he did choose to join the Judgement Day but the close relationship with Rhea was essentially pushed on him for more attention and heat. You were not a part of the Judgement, instead you stayed solo and stayed away from factions. You weren't with Dominik until 3 months after he joined The Judgement Day. But he grew on you slowly but surely; the way he was constantly in your life and that adorable smile and crazy hair; he was irresistible. You knew who all was in The Judgement Day too; you knew he liked Rhea as a friend, so he said, though lately the jealousy has gotten worse.

When you liked Dominik it didn't hurt as bad to see them paired together in the center of the ring acting like a couple. Yet the longer your relationship carries on, the more you love him, seeing him hug her and hang off her shoulder was slowly killing your nerves. So yeah you've been moody towards him lately, he should know by now anyway. On the other hand, Dominik was getting a little frustrated with your little mood. But he wasn't dense; it was clear as water that you were being pissy about Rhea. What could he do other than show you how he only wants you? Just finding the right time was the tricky part.

Well, the tricky part was over because you were blowing up on Dominik for touching Rhea's hair. In his defense, it really was an accident, but anything that had to do with them being in contact was ticking you off effortlessly. So now you were pacing in front of the king-sized bed (where Dominik was leaning against the headboard with his arms crossed), and you were going on a rant about the ridiculous events that have happened recently.

"You know it wouldn't matter if you at least acted like you didn't mean to do it. And then you want to throw your arm around her shoulder- or wait NO MY ARM, what's yours is mine, and your mine. So what I guess I'm really asking is why are you throwing my arm around another woman?" you spewed with your hands flying around to emphasize your point. Dominik was so fucking flabbergasted; somehow you managed to not only call him out for an accident but also claim his arm as yours. But he listened anyway and tried to act normal because if he smiled at your insanity; you would say he was making fun of the problem. So with a straight face (one that was about to break), Dominik patted the bed beside him.

You furrowed your eyebrows and looked at him with apprehension, yet your body still went and sat beside him. Dominik turned to look at you with soft loving eyes while you turned to look at him with fire burning behind yours. He did the first thing that came to mind, kiss you until gasped out his name. His lips slipped against yours in a wet kiss and his whole body moved with the kiss. Every smack of your lips against his was followed by Dominik moving on top of you with ease. One of his legs was slotted between both of yours and your mind felt a bit foggy at the unexpected sensation. But the fog wasn't thick enough to distract you, that much Dominik already knew, his thigh pressed against your clothed cunt and he began pulling your clothes off one by one.

First start with your shirt and then your bra right after. The moment it slipped off, not even on the floor yet Dominik's hands were playing with your tits and his lips were sucking dark marks onto your sensitive skin. Each movement of his hands was directly followed by his thigh just barely pressing against you. He pulled back to taunt you, "Do I touch Rhea like this? Kiss her like this?", he rasps but you grit your teeth at the name alone.

"Don't say her name right now", you huff and grab the back of his head like you are about to push him back down onto you. He grins and pushes his hair out of his face, "Yea, I rather hear you say my name instead". You held back your surprise when Dominik ripped your pants completely off your body and slid your panties off. He looked at them with the same cocky smirk and showed you the prominent wet mark right in the middle. He smacked your pussy lightly; you felt yourself jolt and moan at the same time. "No surprise there", he commented and threw them off the bed all the same.

His hand splayed down your body; only for his tongue to follow the same trail, just barely dipping down to lick the inside of your thighs teasingly. You wither from above and try to wrap your legs around his head like you always do. Dominik never went a day without tasting your cunt. It was his favorite way to relieve stress; it was almost like a routine for him to come home with you and get on his knees to slide his tongue into your wet pussy. Though tonight he only glided his tongue against your clit for a split second before just barely letting his teeth graze over it. Your body reacted before your mind processed the new action. You gasped and raised up off of the bed to see what the fuck he just did and why the hell did it feel so good. "Like that mami? I thought you would, I know this pussy in and out", he sticks his tongue out playfully but he was still so low the tip of his tongue hit your pussy all the same.

You moaned his name and glared with impatience. You had never claimed to be the patient one in this relationship. Dominik took that as a sign to hurry up and pull his cock out to slip inside of you. After all this time you thought you'd be used to the stretch of his cock, but each inch sent you reeling and gripping the sheets for support. The way his cock filled you up, made you feel full it was unexplainable; really only your intangible moans could begin to explain it. "Fuck you feel so good", you whined and convulsed around his cock.

Dominik let you scratch down his cock and throw your arms over his shoulders while he just barely rocked into you. But he couldn't help but reply, "Oh yeah?" he asked but knew the answer based on how much you were pulsing around him already. "Fuck you", you grit out without meaning, though in reality, you wanted to pull his face down to slip your tongue into his smart mouth. He looks at you from the curtain of his long hair, "I can't wait" he said back. And he meant it with his entire being. Dominik loved you on top, roughing him around, and shoving your panties into his mouth.

Now Dominik was practically abusing your cunt with each harsh thrust that hit your g-spot with no effort. Each thrust made a smacking sound of his hips against your ass and then the squelch of him pulling in and out of your pussy. Dominik was now holding the headboard to better fuck you and the sight you got to see was better than any other. He was panting and licking his lips while watching you moan and work through the up-and-coming orgasm. His muscles were convulsing and his hips were ramming his cock inside of you. The quirks of Dominik being so athletic really paid off in bed.

Dominik pulled out and barely gave any time for you to whine out complaints. He grabbed you by the hips and flipped you over, he pushed your knees up and pushed your back down so you were arched in front of him; ass up and ready. Dominik slipped inside of you effortlessly this time and groaned at the sight in front of him. He grabs your hips again tightly this time and slams you back on his cock while he thrusts into you all the same. "Why would I want her when I have you taking my cock like a whore? God, I could fuck you forever Mami", his words are sloppy and dirty. You pulse around him and moan into the sheets he pushed you into over and over again.

"Dom please", you mumble from the sheets; that was the best way to tell him you were about to cum. And in this case, it was going to be the best one you've had in weeks. Dominik groaned as your pussy got tighter with each pulse and now one of his hands moved to the arch of your back to keep you in the right position. "Just a little longer princess, my good girl can do that right?", you only nodded into the sheet and Dominik felt his body constricting with each long pull. But you not speaking wasn't nearly enough for him. "My little cock slut can handle it hm?", he moved his hands down to grasp and pull at the plush of your ass. Smacking and pulling to make his cock drive even further into you. The degradation and praise mixed together always had you gushing around his cock and stilling while you cum. Already knowing Dominik would have no problems with fucking you through it.

Your ass pressed against him and his cock was as deep as it could go when you squeezed around his cock tightly. So tight he could barely pull out or stutter his cuss of praise. But of course, he managed, "That's my girl"

[inkofthebrain]

Imperial

[Paul Atreides x F!Reader] 1468 words

Paul Atreides, Duke of Arakkis, takes the hand of the Emperor’s eldest daughter for the throne, yet neither are pleased. They know they must learn to be civil, but what will it cost them…

Tags: post-Dune 2, strays from book canon, no use of y/n, dune typical everything, Corinno!Reader, slow burn, enemies to lovers kind of? (More strangers to lovers tbh) ARRANGED MARRIAGE TROPE, not proofread LOL

Warnings: mild use of the voice on reader. Dune typical themes, motifs, and actions. Jessica being Jessica….

A/n: this chapter goes from 0 to 100 plot wise: be ready >:) sorry 4 whiplash… || Thank you for all the support! I upload these chapters as i write them so apologies for the spontaneous new chapters. My request are open for one shots and more!

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masterlist

Three———

The following weeks with the Atreides are spent planning, discussing politics, and all the while you continued to silently observe Paul and his mother.

There are two things you are certain of. One, Bene Geserit have been at work, a congregation of women who you have always been weary of, and two—their plan had gone horribly wrong. Paul was the byproduct of a story not of his own which he, or should I say his mother, has appropriated for political power.

“Abomination”

Your fathers truth sayer’s words ring through you ears. You are terrified for what is to come, you gaze out of your bedroom window at the sloshing sea lapping at the edges of the cliff.

The nightmares about your soon to be home still plagued your nights, you were getting less and less sleep and as the wedding grew nearer your exhaustion grew with it. You prayed Arrakis would kill you quick.

You and paul spent hours in the Caladan meeting room, discussing the various political forces across the galaxy, alone and with both the Atreides and Imperial advisors. the details were complex, and Paul's understanding of the universe was quickly expanding by the day.

He learned about the various noble houses, the political factions within the houses, the imperial courts and their complex bureaucracy, and the many conflicting religions and belief systems across the galaxy.

This was just the basic information. the true power came from analyzing and understanding the social complexities and hidden motivations of the various players. Paul knows he must oblige with the current way things are running before slowly putting his own reforms and systems in place.

As you taught him the complex workings of the imperium and its politics, you realized his intelligence was unmatched. It was as if he absorbed the information like a sponge, taking it all in and putting it to use. his natural abilities coupled with his hard work and dedication made him a formidable political force.

You sensed that his thirst for knowledge and a desire to understand what drove the universe was insatiable, just as yours was.

You had grown closer to Paul but your shared disinterest in the Marriage lingered. You did not care for marrying a stranger, that was bound to happen, it was the circumstances of your engagement that lit an unpleasant fire in you. Paul, on the other hand, was clearly longing for something, someone, he knew he could not obtain.

You both were children who were manipulated, selected, and bred for this. And now as adults you must face your unnerving future.

Duty is everything in this world.

———

The day of the wedding was a week away, but the planning began much earlier. The ceremony was highly anticipated by the imperial court and the noble houses. rumors were rampant, various debates and gossip spread like wildfire. It was clear that this wedding was much more than a marriage of political convenience. It was a pivotal event for the empire, one that everyone would be watching closely and analyzing under a microscope.

As you walked to the dining hall, Delia at you side making occasional small talk, you mind was racing. You had compiled a highly educated theory based on observation and the small bits of Benne Geserit secrets you sister had let you in on. You were determined to gather more data to support this.

Jessica sat at the head of the table, Paul sat to her right and you sat to his left. The three of you were discussing the political ramifications of the wedding, how they would be viewed by the various noble houses and imperial courts. Your discussion was respectful and polite, but under the surface there was a tension, a subtle underlying pressure, that nobody acknowledged but was very present. After clearing her throat and waved the guards out of the room.

Your stomach dropped as she looked to you "Now, there's one other matter we've yet to discuss." She turns her attention towards you and looks straight at you, with a serious look on her face.

Jessica continues. "I am aware you understand the political nature of this union, and you understand the political implications of the ceremony itself. But what isn't discussed enough is the reality and expectation of the marriage after the ceremony. The two of you are to consummate the marriage immediately after, and the child that results from it will have enormous political implications. Do you understand what i'm saying?"

You almost choke on your wine at her boldness. Paul glances at you, he is alert to the seriousness in her tone, the way she is careful to drive home this specific point.

Still watching your reaction, she finally resumes speaking. "The consummation is expected to immediately produce a child. The pressure will be immense, and I am asking you to treat this with the upmost seriousness. The birth of the child will create a political shift that will alter the galaxy for generations. I trust you understand the gravity of the situation at hand? Correct?”

You take a large swig from your wine glass. “May I speak freely?”

"Yes, by all means, speak freely.”

You take a deep breath. “I have not been trained by the Bene Geserit like my sister so I am not privy in the ways” you pause. “But from my observations I have compiled a theory. There is a plan, a plan greater than us all. And you, Lady Jessica, set that plan on fire by giving the late Duke Leto a male heir. Yet they allowed you to become a Reverend mother after disobeying the high order.” You pause, watching her reaction. “Now you must scramble to solidify your disobedience into the prophecy”

Jessica is frozen for a few moments, eyes locked on your own, trying to hide the surprise you've seen through. It's clear that you've struck a nerve here.

Paul leans forward, his eyes locking onto yours. "This is impressive. Very impressive." there's a glimmer of admiration in his eyes, and the slightest of smiles tugs at the corner of his mouth.

“I assume I am correct then?” You look between the two

Jessica finally nods, a hint of a proud smile on her face. "You have struck at the very heart of it. My disobedience is not my own, Paul was set to be the bridge between the Bene Geserit and Atreides... and the imperium's entire future. And because of my actions, that entire future has been brought upon us prematurely. We have a plan, it is true. I will ensure that paul's inheritance of the empire remains intact. But you are key to that plan, and you must comply with my direction on this matter."

“Tell me everything.” You demand, your temper growing short as your heart starts beating faster and faster. “This is my life and the legacy of the Imperium!”

She leans forward, her intense gaze meeting yours. there's a firmness in her eyes, and she speaks with a sense of conviction. "Listen to me; if you wish to ensure your safety and the safety of Paul and the empire, then you will need to trust me. Do you trust me?"

“No!” You yell, “You made your son a false prophet and I refuse to go along with it until I am aware of every detail of this plan.”

“Calm yourself and listen” Jessica demands, her voice is dark and distorted. You are enchanted instantly—She has used the voice.

“Mother…” Paul says, guilt pricks at his soul as he watches your face go blank, but Jessica ignores him.

"I will not tell you everything at this very moment, but trust me, you will see it all in time. Just like I have, just like Paul has. There are some things that are necessary to keep from you until that time. I will tell you what you need to know, nothing more and nothing less. does that sound acceptable to you?"

Her hold on you breaks and you look to the mother and son in disgust. Everything about this woman is fabricated so she may complete her plan, a ploy in which you are just a mere stepping stone. Rage runs through your entire body with such velocity that you feel sick. You sit in silence.

“Do. You. Understand?” Paul’s voice is stern and startles you and you nod your head.

“Good” Jessica says flatly.

You turn your head to look out the window, closing your eyes while taking a deep breath you attempt to collect yourself. Paul and Jessica are staring into you. You can feel it.

———

Next chapter

🍾 Taglist @aoi-targaryen

[herefortheships]

Why do you think he fell in love with Lydia? see, it's much stronger than it was for Dolores, I'm not going to ask when because it would be complicated Bj and Lydia have such opposite personalities

Love this question! And to be honest, ever since I watched BJBJ I've been wondering about this. Because, to me, at least when I first watched the movie, I got to the conclusion that he must have fallen in love with her over the years; that he never had any true romantic inclinations towards Lydia in the first movie. So I had to wonder, what changed?

This answer got long... So I'll put a little summary, Tl;Dr answer here: I think there's an in-canon reason he fell for her and a meta reason why Tim Burton and co decided to make Betelgeuse be in love with Lydia in canon. The in-canon reason: Opposites attract. She is exactly his type: a dark, mysterious beauty. Plus her calm demeanor suits his unhinged nature. Their energies play nicely off each other, completing and balancing each other in a way no one else could, whether Lydia realizes it now or not. Lydia also never seemed to mind ugly, scary, dark things, and Betelgeuse is kind of all of that. At some point he grew fond of her and started needing this sweet, dark beauty in his (after)life. The meta reason: Lydia and Betelgeuse are a favorite "Burton Couple", almost right there with Jack and Sally, at least to a LOT of people.

Now to the long answer, because I totally always write a lot (below the read more cut bc this one got pretty long):

I think to properly answer why he fell in love with her, I do need to get into the when. And this is where I might have to put a "trigger warning" just in case, since I will touch upon how he felt towards Lydia in the first movie, when she was a teenager. Anyone uncomfortable with that needs to click away now. We're going to analyze this with the context and nuance of Betelgeuse's backstory. Context and nuance tend to be overlooked a LOT when the purity factions of fandom want to impose moral superiority upon other members of the fandom, so maybe placing the "trigger warning" may not be enough, but, anyway, you've been warned about the topics of this post.

The context and nuance: Betelgeuse, when alive, lived in the time of the bubonic plague, this means he was alive during the 1300s, presumably in Italy. At that time, marrying a 15-16 year old was socially acceptable and normal. Heck, even younger than that (as unacceptable as that seems to us today in our modern times). So it wasn't that strange as it is today. The reason is that people often didn't get to live past 30. The average, oldest age of death around the time was 60 years old. It was also common for men of the time (and where Betelgeuse lived in Italy, and Europe, as I’m reading in these articles) to marry much later than women, as in it was common for men in their 30s and 40s to marry a 14 year old (which I believe is even younger than Lydia was in that movie, not sure). All of that is in that article. That depends entirely on social ranking though; if he was lower class often people married for convenience and I'm not sure but I think age wasn't a factor to consider when people were struggling. In Europe even in the 1800s you'd see age gaps in marriages. //Edit: and America! For some reason my brain when I wrote this at midnight thought Poe was European 💀.// Edgar Allan Poe married a 13 year old when he was 27, for example (which I totally find super weird, personally, but at their time it wasn't a super weird thing as it is today, as far as I've read; it was also normal to marry a cousin around that time in the upper class and upper middle class, or so I've seen). Was Tim Burton aware? Who knows. But at least I'm putting this out there as the context why it isn't weird for Betelgeuse the character to see a teenager as someone of marrying age. We also know he didn't want to marry her in the first movie because he was in love with her; she was a means to an end, more than anything, regardless of any interest he had in her due to her looks etc.

Ok, so now that that's out of the way we can keep talking. Even though I joined the Beetlebabes fandom only after the second movie, and shipping these two characters never once crossed my mind throughout the years of me watching the first movie, after some thought and after rewatching the movie with the knowledge of where the story goes after the events of that movie, I can definitely see that Betelgeuse became interested in Lydia ever since the first movie, and also why he's head over heels for her in the present.

Even though I still think he fell in love over the years after the events of the first movie, I think he became smitten with her since the first movie. Here's why he fell for her: For starters, she is a dark and mysterious beauty, and that seems to be his type (look at Delores, also a dark beauty). We can actually see the moment he first shows interest in her in the first movie, when he saw her while in his snake form. She was the only one he did not hurt. He only stared at her, almost like he was taken aback by her. When Barbara banishes him back to the model, we have that little moment when he mentions he feels the only one he can make a deal with in that house is "Edgar Allan Poe's daughter", meaning Lydia. And we have the little horny joke, so if you wanna throw that one in there as evidence he became interested in her here, then sure you can. As this happens directly after he's seen Lydia face to face... Rember the context above before you want to call him a pdfler or something... please. He is Not.

Then later when she meets him in his real form, she doesn't seem startled or scared that she's in the presence of a demon/ghost. In fact, she just simply asks him "are you a ghost, too?" and that's when he starts making some conversation. He realizes she can see him and communicate with him. You can tell at this point he is intrigued by her. She is the only one he's shown a sort of sensitivity to in the entire movie. He asks her "why?" when she says she wants to go in to the after life (essentially, that she wants to di e). He doesn't try anything naughty with her; instead, next time he sees her when she asks for his help, he proposes the marriage.

Now, at the time I don't think he loved her or even cared much about her; at this time he just wanted out and here was an eligible woman, who was not only beautiful and available, she could also see him and needed his help, which he used as his way to try to get out of the afterlife. I think once they got rid of him, and he realized he could still connect with her over the years, his interest in her grew and he started really growing fond of her until inevitably he fell in love.

Lydia is physically his type, but there's also a calmness to her that plays against his unpredictable, unhinged personality. She's someone who can balance him, and he's someone she could hold on to; there's an energy in him that she can use. Of course Lydia doesn't yet see how she'd be compatible with someone like him, but from an outsider's perspective, they really compliment each other's personalities. She's calm and quiet; he's crazy and loud. She's reserved; he's outgoing. She's a dark cloud; he's high-energy, like sunshine. Etc. Opposites attract. 💚

Now finally, the meta reason: Lydia and Betelgeuse seem to be a favorite "Burton couple" not only to Tim Burton himself (and the cast of the movie themselves!) but also to a great number of people. There's people who grew up watching the Beetlejuice cartoon series and didn't even watch the first movie, who for years had the idea that these two characters actually adore each other. There were people who were going in to watch this movie with that context only. And there were even people who were going to watch the sequel as their introduction to Beetlejuice (like my mom's best friend, for example! She loved the sequel but has NEVER watched the first movie nor the cartoon. She also wanted Betelgeuse and Lydia to end up together after watching this one, by the way). From a meta perspective, Lydia and Betelgeuse are just a fan favorite couple and an inseparable pair. So partly the choice to make it canon that at least he is absolutely in love with her comes from this expectation that many people had for these two characters. It just feels natural; they're just an iconic Burton pair.

[ihaznoclue]

Hi! I saw one of your requests about Lycaon being flirted so can i request his male s/o getting flirted instead?

I love this request!

Pairings -> Von Lycaon x Male Reader

Warnings -> None

Note -> Reader being flirted at

Genre -> Fluff

Von Lycaon

Okay so for the post about Lycaon being flirted at this time its you being flirted

You and Lycaon were having a little stroll around sixth street, you two just wanted to have a break from your work. You and Lycaon both worked at a Victoria Housekeeping member in the faction where Lycaon was your boss and your boyfriend.

So right now you two wanted to enjoy each other company as well as the sunny afternoon, but today had something in mind for you today.

You two were near the area where the noodle shop was, you wanted to get a bowl of noddle's since you were quite hungry and that you haven't ate today yet.

Lycaon intended to get you the noodle's and pay it for you, you wanted to see if he was okay with that and he accepted that he was going to pay for you instead, you thanked him

Now you were waiting for him to come back, While waiting for your boyfriend Lycaon a strange girl came up to you smiling like you two have met before

"Hey cutie~"

This kind of made you uncomfortable, you didn't know who this girl was and what she wanted, so you had nothing else to do but to be nice to the strange lady

"Umm.. i'm sorry but have we met before?"

"Well we have now~ I just saw you and thought you were quite hot so I want to ask for your number~"

You didn't know what to say as you tried to think of something to say but right know you hoped that Lycaon is coming back right now, you were about a couple of feet away so you decided to reject her

"Um. I'm sorry but I'm not sure if-"

You were cut off by a voice, Lycaon had just come back from getting your noddle's, he had the noodle's in a plastic bag

"Sorry My love, There was quite a lot of people.. Who is this young lady?"

You just shrugged as you said it was a random girl wanting your number

"Well I am very sorry to disappoint but he is taken" Lycaon spoke which made the girl growl in frustration as she stomped off somewhere around the corner

"Thank god.. So glad you came"

"It's no worries My love"

"Did you get my noddles?"

"I sure did"

-A<3

[earthstellar]

Miko and Holding a Grudge: Storytime is Learning Time

I was thinking about how in the final episode of TFP, Miko uses the "I'm going to beat your ass" armour to punch Knockout clean across the face

Miko punches him so quickly and efficiently that I genuinely could not get a screenshot of the impact moment. lmao

And there are a lot of good reasons for her to want to slap this twink into the stratosphere, but I was thinking about any specific grudges Miko might have personally against Knockout to help fuel that punch

Because typically Miko goes in with a sort of "I learned this by watching WWE with Bulkhead and I'm excited to hurt you" tiny human wrecker energy and is naturally hyped, so she tends to go in with a slightly showy approach to delivering a beatdown, which makes sense.

We know she watches stuff like monster truck rallies with Bulkhead, and we know she's watched Bulkhead and Wheeljack pretty closely, and this has had an impact on her developing her personal fighting style: High energy, maybe a couple attempts at some kind of signature moves. she's learned from TV shows and watching actual factional alien warfare play out in the Nevada desert. Shit's wild, and so is she.

But when she punches Knockout, it's a totally silent, quick, efficient hit-- which is pretty different to how Miko usually approaches "the smackdown".

Sure, part of it is because Knockout is sort of ruining a huge moment for the Autobots by quipping at a particularly annoying moment to do so, and she probably just wants him to shut the fuck up as quickly as possible so they can all get back to enjoying watching the revitalisation of Cybertron.

And they're all probably a bit tired from even managing to get to this point.

But then I remembered:

In the episode Flying Mind, Miko and Raf help Fowler off the Nemesis after he's been incapacitated.

But Jack stays behind, and when Knockout snaps out of Trypticon's stasis, he attempts to power drill through Jack's head/upper torso.

Ratchet comes through the ground bridge and punches Knockout, in the same way Miko punches Knockout in the series finale. One hit, and we're done here.

(Sorry for the crunchy quality screenshot, my internet connection is a bit crunchy itself at the moment lmao)

Now, Miko wasn't there to witness this, but we know Miko frequently asks the others to tell her about anything she misses, either because she's been asked to stay home or because things kicked off when she was otherwise not around. She likes to hear battle stories. She's actively jealous of the others when they get to go deal with cool shit and she can't for various reasons.

So we can assume that she asked Jack what happened, or perhaps Ratchet briefed everyone once the other Autobots were revived from temporary stasis, and she would have been present for that in the base.

Miko holds a grudge. There is an entire episode where her and Wheeljack essentially go on an ill-advised revenge mission after Bulkhead is injured. She operates on that mafia level shit, wanting revenge so badly that she essentially withholds information from Wheeljack until he agrees to let her tag along.

And while she learned from that experience, it does hint at the type of mindset she has-- Don't fuck with her friends, or she will very much hold onto that anger until she gets the chance to act on it.

When she punches Knockout, it's a quick, clean punch. Which makes sense contextually for that scene, she's not going to haul completely off on him in that moment.

But it also echoes how Ratchet dealt with him when Knockout was threatening Jack, and that seems like the kind of detail Miko would remember after having it described to her.

She has a bit of a vengeful streak, and even though she does learn not to act on desires for revenge, she's still a kid and god she loves fighting so much, and there is no way she forgot about that one time Knockout tried to kill her friend with a fucking drill-- Even if she didn't get to witness it, it's likely she was told about it in some way, and she's been holding onto that for a while.

So I just really like that her punching Knockout is a mirror of when Ratchet punched Knockout previously, because we know she's very good at paying attention to detail when it comes to fighting, and we know that she learns from observation and from listening to battle stories.

It makes a lot of sense if she just recognised Knockout as being that one bot who nearly killed Jack and remembered how Jack likely described the incident to her later (or may have gotten details from any debriefing Ratchet may have provided at the base), and in that moment recalled that Ratchet took him down in one hit, so she should probably just do the same.

It's quick, it worked before on this exact bot, it'll probably work again.

Miko does learn. She very much holds a grudge. And I like that even though her actions in the finale make sense even without the possible background connection to a prior episode, it does perfectly make sense either way.

You know she begged Jack for all the details later, and you know she committed that shit to memory.

If Ratchet can knock out Knockout, so can she.

And she's not having their victory moment fucked up by some dude who seriously put them in danger on many previous occasions, even if he came around to the "winning team" in the end.

anyway you just know Miko is a mascot for the Wreckers later on, like there's no way Wheeljack and/or Bulkhead doesn't custom paint the side of a ship at some point like a WW2 aircraft lmao but it's just a painting of Miko laughing maniacally while punching a boulder or something

[prettymuchteddy]

Yeah I’m a Rhaenicent fan, but I also refuse to watch S2 E8 ever again

Not to be rude but how did you genuinely think Rhaenicent was going to happen?

For the ship to become canon one of them would have to abandon their faction and family for the other, we all knew it wasn't going to be the Black Queen thanks to writers' evident TB bias. There is a civil war, Aemond killed Luke, and AA&D are very real threats to Jace because of his questionable paternity. Rhaenyra was always going to want them dead, "a son for as son" may sound unfair but it's in character for her.

Rhaenyra loves her children more than Alicent, Alicent loves Rhaenyra more than her children. That's what Rhaenicent has always been about, so why are you pulling a surprise Pikachu face once the inevitable happened?

I think you misunderstood my sentiment, just because someone likes a ship doesn't equal them thinking it will happen. Literally more than half of the ships I like are not canon and I don't like these couples because I think they will happen. For Rhaenicent, simply put I think they have an interesting dynamic and history. Also, I didn't think they would make Rhaenicent canon cause in my mind, why would they? They implied there was something between them last season but never confirmed anything in universe and Rhaenyra is seemingly having something with Mysaria now. So, yeah didn't really seem inevitable to me… 😐

[valerieisunavailable]

Credit to Zyomih on Tumblr: ✨Link✨

Ok WOAH did y'all like my vibrating piercing Simon post I did. So why not do a pt.2?

Pt.2 Sub!Simon w/ vibrating piercings

Pt. 1: ✨Link✨

CW: Angst, Sub/Dom relationship, Simon being the sub and you the Dom, edg*ng, overstimulation, h*ndjob.

🔞 MDNI PAST THIS POINT 🔞

You had noticed that Simon hadn't been paying that much attention to you. Whatever, you thought. He was just busy, that's all. You knew that he would get like this sometimes, where he gets too focused on his work. But it was getting to the point to where you were always sleeping alone in his bed, and he would barely even talked to you.

But what had pissed you off even more were the nights when Simon would go to the bar with his buddies, and you be there, watching how he would flirt with the women there. The way he'd put a hand on their hips, that seductive gleam in his eye, his flirty comments that he made towards them. And this was all when he was still sober. You were absolutely furious with Simon, seeing how he acted like he forgot you were there. As if the two of you weren't together.

But when Simon had eventually gotten out of his work craze, that's when he noticed that something was off with you. He would try to kiss you, until you pushed him away. He would try to talk to you, until you ignored him. Simon had gotten tired of this silent treatment pretty quickly. He forcefully pulled you into his room, his eyes giving you a glare. "Alright, what's gotten into you, luv'?" He asks, his voice showing a hint of anger, although there was also concern in his voice and the way he looked at you.

You had finally snapped at him, explaining how he had been barely paying attention to you until recently, and all those nights at the bar where he would be flirting with those other women. As if you didn't even exist. Hell, you even thought of transferring to another military faction so that you didn't have to see him anymore. Simon stared at you in shock, now realizing how he's wronged you. How he's ignored you. He's treated you terribly these past couple weeks.

"No, no… Don't leave me luv', please. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." He pleads, holding your arms in his, his expression in his eyes desperate. "I'll spend more time with you, love you like I should. I won't ever flirt with another woman at that bar again." He promises. But you were still mad at him. This had been the same cycle for the past few months. At first, you didn't mind it, but now it was getting too much. You didn't want to be the desperate one here. You wanted him to be the one begging at your mercy.

Simon started taking off his military gear, now in just a T-shirt and his military pants. He held you close in his arms, nuzzling his head into your neck. "Please luv', I'll let you do whatever you want to me. Punish me how you see fit. Let me make it up to you." Simon said. You smirked, before pushing him onto the bed. He stumbled back, before his body laid on the bed. He looked up at you. But you could see the expression in his eyes. He thought that you had forgiven him, that the two of you were just going to have a fuck session. But no, you had something else in mind.

You slid down his pants and boxers, before slowly stroking him at an agonizingly slow pace. But your soft and smooth hands wrapped around his cock was enough to make him let out a groan in pleasure. But you were going to make him drool for you by the end of this. You wanted to see him absolutely filled with brain fog from being edged and fucked senseless. An idea crossed your mind as you remembered the piercings that went down his thick and lengthy cock. You continued stroking him at a more moderate pace as you heard his moans and whimpers from you stroking him. "Oh, please luv', please don't stop…" He moans.

You quicken your pace, grabbing some lube as you pour it down over his cock, making him slippery and easier to control the friction and the motions of his cock. You could feel his cock twitch as in your hand as he whimpered and moaned. "L-Luv', I'm gonna come, gonna–" he said, his breaths now heavy and anticipating. But that's when you go back to your agonizingly slow pace. He whines, his cock swollen from the denial of release. "Fuck, please luv', please… This is torture.." he begged. There, you could see the drool starting to come out of his mouth. You waited until his pleasure died down, before once again stroking him at a rapid pace. You could see his pleasure quickly rising up again, with him being close to climax. "Please, please luv', please…" he begged.

But you stopped again, going back to the agonizingly slow pace. He whined and whimpered under your teasing touch as you continued to edge him. "Fuck, please luv', I won't ever talk to another girl again– Fuck..! Nobody but you can do this to me! Nobody can fuck me like You can!" He whimpers, close to the breaking point of his climax. You finally decide to let him come, his choked moans of pleasure ringing in your ears. You let out a smirk, watching his chest rise and fall, his breaths still heavy.

 But then, you grab the remote to his piercings that are on his cock, pressing the button that makes them vibrate, hearing the low hum of the vibrations on his cock. His body twitches, still not used to the previous orgasm that he just had. Simon whimpers, his legs quivering in response. "Please, Luv', oh.. please, I-I can't, it's too much.." he begs. With that, you click the remote again, increasing the intensity of the vibrations. His entire body shivers as Simon comes again, this time coming harder than he did previously. You can see the drool of pleasure pouring out his mouth.

You watch as Simon enters Cloud Nine, barely even able to speak from how overstimulated he is.

[buttertheflame]

Take My Phone Away #1 (for In Full Bloom)

Sometimes she would close her eyes and dream of him, but it was never Jorah Mormont she dreamed of; her lover was always younger and more comely, though his face remained a shifting shadow. Dany IV, ASOS

This has always been one of my favorite shipping fodder tidbits for JonxDany.

As Dany's dreams and visions come true, in one bookverse fic I had fun sprinkling it in like so: "bride of fire!" "how'd you know that?" "oh it just came to me" “you’re him!” “I’m who?” “oh never mind <3”

Otherwise, I usually leave it alone. But a couple of weeks ago the plot bunny started going again and I got inspired to work this into In Full Bloom with more narrative consequence. Should I talk about it? Maybe not. Will I?

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1, when Dany is dealing with the fallout of the Meereen battle:

That was when the dreams came to her again. On the first night, she did not recognize him. But the feelings he stirred within her had made him undeniably familiar: her comely young lover. He had returned to her and was making love to her, each night. Yet he never showed himself. His face remained a shifting shadow.  He spoke to her, not so much in words, but in feeling. Hear me. I am calling out to you. I am here. She often tried to respond, but words would not serve, and feelings had become difficult to muster up. In the bitter wake of triumph over the Yunkai Alliance, something had died in her once again and struggled to be reborn. At first she could not say exactly what it was. But when Barristan Selmy passed away on the third day, somehow, by the fourth night, she could name it as joy, pride, a sense of companionship--of love overflowing and grief unsettled. She sensed that she was somehow deeply involved with this mystery man, that he had known her for a long time, for so long that his desire for her was often a simmer running through his blood. Their union was unique, the greatest choice she'd make among a lifetime of them. Could such a bond exist in this world? She was cast away by the notion, and was quickly unraveling under the strength of his pursuit of her: Whatever is in my heart lies in yours. I know that you can hear me. 

So what's happening here? It spoils a mystery, but I'd like to discuss it a bit since I'm brimming with excitement, and most readers may not find their way over here.

Now that they are the Wall, trying to ensure that free folk and black brothers who've managed to live together can now fight together--while the sheltering of Stannis's remnant at the Nightfort was made possible by an uneasy truce with the Night's Watch:

Factions at the Wall have been rather apolitical to maintain peace. It gives Dany reason to believe her magical reputation which precedes her, may bring more trouble than aid to Jon after all.

However, as she and Jon are aware that her dreams come true--for me as the writer, the joy is in him discovering this fear and working to assuage her of it, by taking her somewhere he never thought he'd have the strength to visit. Additionally, she later realizes this prophetic dream was showing her this precious time with him; they were bound to comfort each other, come hell or high water. Chapter 2 explores all of this and it will be so. much. fun.

If you got this far, thank you! I do hope you'll join me on the journey <3

[lxkeeeee]

FOX CHRONICLES [PART ONE]

synopsis: the fatui members never ever questions the harbingers—no matter how weird, how unusual, and how out of character for them or else they would be goners in a blink of an eye.

notes: fluff, slightly suggestive at the end. No smut.

The sixth harbinger—harbingers rather, for a long time the seat has always been occupied by two people—Scaramouche and his wife, [y/n]. Though, Scaramouche is the one who leads their faction of soldiers most of the time as [y/n] usually plays the role as his assistant.

The fatui soldiers made a silent agreement to never question the harbinger ways, especially the couple's relationship—as they never saw the two being so openly affectionate with one another. Some rumors say they were married for political reasons, some rumors also say that they never genuinely loved each other. They don't even know the story of how they got married.

That's what they think.

The scene is very comical if you ask me, fatui soldiers eyeing each other in attempt of communicating to each other as if asking if they saw what they're seeing.

Scaramouche stood confidently Infront of their soldiers, strong and powerful—his presence is enough to make the entirety of the fatui soldiers shake in fear, they're afraid of him and his sadistic tendencies and he knows it and he loves it. Scaramouche stood Infront of his soldiers, barking out remarks to his men.

The comical thing is, a certain harbinger lies comfortably on his shoulder. [y/n] now on her fox form, curled up comfortably on top of her husband's shoulder, her tail used as a pillow as she purred softly near his ear. Scaramouche occasionally bringing his hand up to rub her fox ears making her purr before bringing his hand down again and rested it on his hips.

“You pathetic fools! You had one job! And you fucked it up!” He says, voice seething and bouncing around their office inside the Zapolyarny Palace. His voice making their soldiers shake in fear. “I ordered all of you to keep an eye and watch the traveler and now you're telling me you lost her?!” he seethes, [y/n] just snuggling closer to his neck, her fluffy tail swinging back and forth in amusement.

“But Sir, we did try to keep an eye out on her but she just dis-dis-disappeared! She was just standing near the Statue of the Seven in Mondstadt and she just vanished into thin air!” a soldier stammers in fear, Scaramouche's eye twitched at the tone of the soldier's voice and his pathetic excuse. The air cackle with electro from his delusion, his fingers twitching with the urge to kill the man. “Do you think I'm a fool? Do you hear how idiotic you sound right now?” He seethes and the soldiers began to shake even more from the fear they felt. This is it, this is their doom.

[y/n] sighs before changing her position, now sitting comfortably on his shoulder. She brought her paw to poke her husband's cheek—causing him to flinch in surprise, he was about to go off but then realized it's his wife. His eyes soften and his anger slowly disappearing. He exhaled a tired and annoyed sigh, they talked about this—how he shouldn't let his anger cloud his judgement and make rash decisions. She need not to use her voice to remind him, her paw is sufficient enough to remind him. “Yes. I know, I know.” Scaramouche mutters in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose before glaring at his soldiers once more making them flinch in fear. “Whatever, all of you are dismissed. Leave before I changed my mind!” He barks angrily making the soldiers quickly left their office.

[y/n] chuckles as she jumps down from his shoulder, with a poof—she transformed back to her humanoid form. Scaramouche sighs and crossed his arms, “Happy now?” he asked and she giggles, “Very much, I'm so proud of you.” She said softly and Scaramouche closed the gap between them as he embraced her and bury his face at the crook of her neck—inhaling her familiar scent, cherry blossoms and lavender. His hands lazily tracing circles at her back. “Does the Balladeer want a reward for managing his anger?” she asked teasingly and he groans, “Shut up,” he mutters against her skin, “Affectionately.” he added, making her chuckle.

Scaramouche reluctantly left her embrace as he once again lean towards her and kisses her forehead, her fox ears folding against her head as he kissed her. His lips leaving her skin as he gazed at her with half-lidded eyes, placing a hand on her chin and pulled her towards him—pressing her lips against his.

A short and tender kiss is what they shared before parting away slowly, his hands cupping her face affectionately. “You know, I might as well accept your offer of rewarding my good behavior.” he says huskily, he could see her tail freezing in excitement before intertwining his hand with hers and pulled her towards their bedroom.

⊰᯽⊱┈──────────┈⊰᯽⊱

end notes:

I'll write more short fics of their moment with her in her fox form and also,

rabid anon I miss you 😔

sorry for being gone for a long time, I've been suffering with burnt out and with also with school

anyways, husband scaramouche is so Aaron Warner coded.

[luimnigh]

Okay, I wanna pitch a Marvel movie.

Now, this is a Marvel movie that will absolutely never get made. They would not allow this. So here's my pitch:

We open on a heist. A group of absolutely Z-list, one-paragraph-on-the-marvel-wiki, single-digit-appearance-count supervillains robbing a secure facility. The villain that hired them narrates the plan as we watch, and while it doesn't go off without a hitch, some of the more bloodthirsty villains cause some unecessary bloodshed, it succeeds.

Our villain protagonists leave the scene in a van, loot inside, and drive off into the countryside to a rural, isolated house in the forest to lay low for a couple days. Everyone's celebrating their success, they're drinking, there's some drugs, a few people sneak off for sex. This is the point where we get to know the personalities of our villains, some are assholes, some are complete monsters, and there's a few people who are pretty decent and are really only in supervillainy because life dealt them a shit hand. We can see factions dividing our group of villains.

Their boss finally arrives separately, sporting some more villains as muscle, and the conversation turns back to business: the division of the loot.

And then someone finds a body outside.

One of the villains has been murdered. Everyone is immediately suspicious of everyone else, accusations are thrown, motives speculated, tensions get higher and higher, weapons get drawn-

A shot rings out. Everyone either opens fire or runs. One or two villains die in the crossfire, others are injured, this goes on until one of the more sympathetic villains calls for a ceasefire.

They're in the middle of trying to talk everyone down when they hear a car engine start, and one of the villains who ran from the fight bursts out of the garage in the getaway van-

With the loot still inside.

A few of the villains fire shots at it, but are soon stopped- they could destroy the loot. The boss explains as the van drives down the road that with his resources, tracking the villain that's double-crossed them would be easy as-

And then the van explodes in the background.

As our main party of villains makes their way to the burning wreckage, flaming dollar bills falling around them, they speculate on who the hell boobytrapped the getaway van-

But are interrupted by a click.

One of our villains looks down to see that nobody boobytrapped the van. Someone landmined the road.

Thankfully, one of our villains is a techie, and after a few tension-filled minutes, they disarm the mine. The villain who stepped on the mine is thankful, and the techie explains that they should be able to clear the road soon enough, right before their head explodes in a shower of gore.

If the landmines hadn't made it clear enough, that certainly sealed the deal: this wasn't a double cross, this wasn't an ordinary murder.

They're being hunted.

This is a slasher movie.

The film continues on, the villains getting picked off one at a time in creative and gruesome ways, some even having their tech stolen and used to kill other villains. But throughout, we never catch a glimpse of the killer.

Right up to the end of start of the final act. By this stage, you've started to root for our supervillains to overcome this. There's a few assholes left you wouldn't mind seeing die before the final curtain, but the killer's will have lost sympathy by this stage, having killed some of the more likable villains. We wanna see them pay for that.

And just as the killer is stabbing one of those likable villains to death, our surving villains, and the audience, finally catch sight of the predator that's been stalking them through the night.

A man dressed all in black... except for big white skull painted on his chest.

And suddenly there's no guarantee that any of the villains you've come to like are walking away alive.

[thesummerestsolstice]

Part four of my series on Rivendell's guards! Wherein I finally talk about why Hrivossa and Celecoll keep getting into arguments. You might want to read parts 1, 2, and 3 first for context.

So we pick up after the siege of Rivendell is broken by Gil-Galad's forces

Among those forces is Hrivossa and her Feanorian faction, who weren't in Eregion when it fell (they were supposed to go as reinforcements later, but never had a chance)

So Hrivossa is very relieved that her lord is alive, obviously, and fully approves of Elrond creating his own little haven in the valley

Anyway then she meets Celecoll

Let me be clear; it is absolute loathing from first sight for those two

Hrivossa is decked out in Feanorian stars, Celecoll is still wearing some old Iathrim armor, they know what they're dealing with, and they're not happy about it

They are both just sensitive enough not to start yelling obscenities at each other in the middle of Rivendell's main courtyard

Especially when Hrivossa finds out that Celecoll has been an impromptu guard for Elrond during the siege (and Celecoll finds out that Hrivossa is normally Elrond's guard)

As far as Hrivossa is concerned, Celecoll is a coward who hid behind the girdle and shamefully ran away when her kingdom needed her most, all while keeping the Silmarils from their rightful owners, and who has no business around Elrond, a good Feanorian lord

As far as Celecoll is concerned, Hrivossa is a remorseless murder who's probably still extremely dangerous, and definitely crass and improper, and who also maybe kept Elrond prisoner(?) and who has no business around Elrond, a good Sindar lord

(Sidenote: a lot of people had issues with Elrond's former jailers basically becoming the basis for his house as a lord but that's another post topic)

I want to be clear both of these people almost immediately made peace with the actual orcs they were now living with and they still hated each other

After a few loud arguments (because a few cups of elvish wine can easily overcome both their abilities to not start yelling at each other) Elrond decides he's had enough and separates them

Alternating schedules where they don't have to see each other, and now they live at opposite ends of the growing city

Problem solved, right?

Wrong!

Celecoll moves next to Hrivossa and they start fighting again

I feel like I should note that half the time they aren't even arguing in the same language

Subjects for discussion include: whether or not Thingol was bad, who the Silmarils rightfully belonged to, and most importantly, who gets to guard Elrond

Can you become a toxic divorced couple without ever being romantically involved? Local elves sure are trying

This cycle repeats several more times before Elrond decides that they clearly, like, need the enrichment from arguing or something

He gets their rooms soundproofed so that their fights don't wake anyone else up and just kind of lets it happen

For some ungodly reason yelling at each other a few times a month actually seems to help both of them be more calm and relaxed the rest of the time

Some things are unknowable, even to the wisest minds, and the reason why they're like this is one of them

[cheshirecatuniverse]

If Yamato's and Hyuga's little sisters snuck into Oya

Featuring: Yamato, Cobra, Hyuga, Fujio, Todoroki, Tsukasa, Jamuo, Yasushi

Notes: Post-Murayama Graduation. NOT EDITED.

Yamato's Baby Sister ->

Yamato's little sister is the toughest kid in daycare. You need someone to stomp a spider? She's on it. You need someone to pick up two chairs instead of one? She's the first one there.

So when she was having a play date with her friends from daycare, they were told that sneaking into the delinquent high school was the scariest and coolest thing other kids from daycare have been dared to do.

When Yamato's little sister learned that kids that had bragged going into Oya had only stepped foot in high school for only a couple of minutes, it was a call for a challenge.

"Excuse me," A small voice came out of thin air. Yasushi looked back and forth but saw absolutely no one. He swore he saw everyone leave the gymnasium after the fight with Kiyoshi and some other guy from the Chun-Chun faction.

Oh no. Was Jamuo actually telling the truth, that their high school was haunted-?

"Hello?" Something tugged the fabric of his pants. Yasushi was never so relieved when he looked down before reacting, he would have felt so bad for kicking the little girl in front of him.

He squatted down and looked at her for a long moment.

Yasushi scratched his head, "Um. Where did you come from?"

She blinked, "My mommy."

"That's not- Okay, never mind."

The little girl looked down at her shoes, tapping them together. "Uh.. I don' think 'm supposed to be here."

"Makes two of us." He jabbed a hand at her, "I think I should take you to someone that can help."

Yasushi took her down the hallways, and to her benefit, they didn't seem so scary anymore now that she wasn't alone!

Except she kinda got scared when a couple of guys came barreling down, not stopping for anything, and Yasushi had swiped the small child into his grasp before she got stomped on.

Finally, he found someone some-what responsible, Todoroki... as well as Fujio.

"Yasushi. Why do you have a baby on you?" Todoroki said trying not to sound startled.

"Nuh-uh not a baby, I'm turning five!" She pouted.

"Duh, Todoroki." Fujio crossed his arms and shook his head, "She's turning five."

She nodded very happily.

"She just popped out of nowhere. Y'know what? Maybe she's the ghost Jamuo saw here last month," Yasushi nudged the top of her head with the end of his finger. She looked up at him, almost like an exhuasted adult, as he treated her head like a bobble head.

Todoroki kicked him away, while Fujio crouched down to approach her.

Fujio smiled and patted her head, "Your mom must be worried sick. Do you know her phone number?"

She shook her head to all the guys' dismay, "No... and Mommy can't pick me up!"

"Why not?" Todoroki sighs.

"Mommy works. Yamato picks me up."

"Who's Yamato?" Fujio asks.

"My big brother!" She beams and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. The two stick figures were her and her brother, she explained and babbled. Fujio and Yasushi both try to examine the drawing, trying to see if they can recognize anything familiar from the drawing.

While the two idiots looked closely at the child drawing, she sat with Todoroki, trying to get answers that would help.

"Do you know your address?"

"No!" She said while scribbling on a new sheet of paper Todoroki found for her.

"Okay, maybe you remember signs you've seen? Stores or restaurants you go to?"

"Oh!" She nodded and started to babble again, "Itokan! Naomi makes me yummy food and and and Cobra shares shakes with me. Strawberry shakes! Cause Yamato is a meanie... He don't like to share."

Todorki put his hands in face and cursed loud enough for Yasushi and Fujio to hear. The girl just giggled in her hands, kicking her legs back and forth.

She didn't really notice the panicked whispers and possible strangling noises as she drew her little drawings on the papers on the barely standing desk.

If this was high school, then high school is weird.

Todoroki managed to get a response from Murayama via text. Cobra's number as per requested, and reluctantly, he dialed it.

While that was happening, the little girl gave Yasushi a cat drawing with really pointy teeth and Fujio a dog with a big smile on it.

"Yamato!" She ran across the classroom and jumped right into his arms.

Yamato sighed, saying her name in clear exasperation, but held onto his sister tightly.

"Cobra!" She waved over Yamato's shoulders.

Cobra was busy taking in the situation, looking at the worn-down classroom for any suspicious activity. But it seemed that Todoroki was honest on the phone. She really did wander here on her own.

"Are you okay? Do you know what I've been doing all day? Looking for you, everyone was looking-" Yamato glared and held her up to get better look at her. She was covered head to toe in dust, her shoes turned grey and even her jeans torn a little on the bottom.

"Why are you dirty- why is she dirty?" Yamato stared down at his sister's (assumed) captors. "What the hell did you do to her?"

Cobra put a hand at his shoulder, trying to prevent him from doing anything serious.

"WHAT? She was like that wh-" Todoroki jammed a fist into Yasushi stomach to make him shut up. Meanwhile, Fujio put on his best customer service smile as his brain was racking for a suitable answer.

"Yamato, Yamato," She tugged on the collar of his shirt. "I was super sneaky. I went under the fence. I'm a spy! But, But, then they found me."

In a much gentler tone, he asked, "Pipsqueak, Did they hurt you?"

"Nuh-uh." She pointed at Yasushi, "He helped me! I was a little scared. But I like it here, they like my drawings! Can we come back Yamato??"

Still lurched over, recovering from Todoroki's punch, he rasped out, "...It's true."

Exhausted, Yamato rubbed his eyes and muttered under his breath, "I swear to god, this is the third time."

Fujio tried to offer the rest of paper they found for her to take with her but Yamato crumbled it up and threw it away. Before they left Todoroki got an angry looking cat drawing from Yamato's little sister and a subtle nod of acknowledgement from Yamato.

Cobra was the only who said "Thank you" and to "Not cause too much trouble."

Cobra turned around to look at Fujio, "Murayama said you were the best choice for Oya High. You better hope he's right."

Hyuga's Little Sister ->

• Hyuga's little sister is a problem solver. Her teacher says she applies logic well but her antics were a bit much.

• She currently was going through a bit a of a stubborn phase. When Hyuga said they were having miso soup for dinner but she wanted pasta. When Hyuga said not to stay up too late, she wanted to watch a movie right before bed. When Hyuga said she wasn't allowed to have spray paint because "You have crayons like a normal child."

• But to Hyuga's little sister crayons were so last season and she wanted her poster for her school project to look cool. When they drove by Oya High one time the spray paint looked so much better than markers and crayons.

The fifth time Hyuga said 'No' made her get on a train and end up at Oya High. She snuck into an open window (it was actually just broken).

She wandered around until she found spray paint bottles hanging around. She found the jackpot in an empty room, and this room actually had a door! She took all the spray paints and went further into the school to find more.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't flinch or jump when she got caught. She was busy standing on a desk, reaching for a can of spray paint on the shelf and successfully stuffing it in her backpack.

This room didn't have a door like the previous one. She was just about to move out of the room before this blonde guy came around.

"I'm busy. Shoo Shoo," She gestured, shooing him away.

"Are you stealing?" Tsukasa said, tilting his head at the stuffed backpack.

"No..." She pouted and crossed her arms, avoiding his eyes.

Tsukasa sighed and looked at the ceiling, thinking. "Okay, how about this? You tell me what you're doing here, and I can try to help."

"Big brother didn't wanna buy me spray paint..." She huffed again. "I don't wanna use crayons for my project."

"Does your brother go to Oya?"

"No," She shook her head and sat down, "He's older."

Then she realized she didn't know how to exactly get home.

Tsukasa asks, sitting on top of the desk across from her, "Do you know where you live? Your Mom and Dad must be really worried."

She seemed to get even smaller at his words. ".. I don't have a Mommy and Daddy. Only big brother."

"Oh," Tsukasa looked a little lost. He almost apologized but cleared his throat and smiled, "That's okay. So your big brother takes care of you, right? He must want to know where you are."

"But he might get mad," She frowns, hugging her backpack. She snuck out of school early to do this. Her brother must have been going crazy when Sakyo and Ukyo came home to tell him she was gone.

"He won't get mad," Tsukasa shakes his head, "I think he'll be happy to know you're okay."

He successfully managed to get her to agree to come with her on the rooftop. Tsukasa gave her a rubix cube he found on one of the couches for her to fiddle on while he went to get Jamuo and Fujio.

Fujio greeted her warmly, but still she scooted into the corner of the couch and fidgeted with the rubix cube.

Jamuo and Tsukasa looked through her backpack for anything that could help them find her guardian, but no luck there.

Tsukasa called her name, and she lifted her head up. "What's your brother name?"

"I'm not allowed to say," She said.

"How come?" Fujio asked.

"Big brother said not to tell people his name."

"Fujio, Tsukasa," Jamuo called out, pulling out a pink folder out of her backpack. His hands were shaking.

Alaramed, they went over while she pulled stickers out of her sweater. Graffiti was everywhere, so she thought it would be fine to stick things on the beaten up desks and chairs.

Jamuo pulled out a piece of paper out of the folder. Fujio was confused at the site of elementary school math homework. But then Tsukasa's eyes widened with a small 'Fuck.'

It had the little girl's first name and last name. Hyuga.

Tsukasa ran his hands through his hair, "We're so fucked."

Thankfully, Hyuga's casinos had phone lines. Unfortunately, they were notified that Hyuga would be arriving soon.

Tsukasa pulled all the spray paint out of her backpack to her dismay.

"But.. you said you would help me," She frowned.

"Spray paint can be dangerous to inhale," Tsukasa

replied, clearly distracted, cause he was barely paying attention to her as he put the cans of spray paint away.

There was no point in arguing, so she sulked and looked at Jamuo, who was on his knees on the floor. He was mumbling to himself, clearly not doing so great.

She tugged at Fujio's shirt, "Does he always do that?"

Fujio smiled, friendly, collected, even though his mind was in a very different place. "No, he doesn't. He'll be fine, don't worry."

Fujio let her put her stickers on the door to the roof. Letting her talk his ear off about the Hello Kitty ones and the Lightning McQueen ones her big brother bought for her.

Hyuga's presence had all of them with the same expression, like a deer in front of headlights. You could hear a pin drop before she scuffled over to Hyuga, Sakyo, and Ukyo.

She had her hands behind her back, pouting with her big puppy eyes.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Check her," Hyuga glanced at her for a moment before looking at Fujio.

Jamuo had his back bent all the way down in a deep bow while Tsukasa couldn't make eye contact or he would start sweating.

Sakyo leaned down, hands on his knees, "You okay Lil' demon? Are you hurt anywhere?"

She nodded frantically and stuck her pointer finger out, "Paper cut."

Hyuga's face became colder, and Fujio thought they were all going to die because of a paper cut.

Sakyo whistled and shook his head, "Well that's no good." His twin handed him a band-aid and Sakyo put it on her.

"Hello Kitty," She smiled at her wrapped finger.

"Are those hers?" Hyuga looked at Fujio's face and shirt. Stickers were scattered across his shirt and his cheek and chin.

"Oh, yeah," Fujio wanted to laugh, but he just smiled stiffly, "She's a good kid."

Hyuga grunted and grabbed the pastel pink backpack Ukyo handed to him. He looked down at his sister, "Did they try to steal you?"

"No, I got lost," She was using her best puppy dog eyes so he wouldn't get mad, "They gave me toys!" She stuck out her hand with the rubix cube.

Hyuga looked at the Oya students for a long time, then at the twins, and then at his sister. He gave her his hand before telling her, "We're leaving."

Just as he reached the rooftop entrance, he looked at Fujio, "Just because I made the sword alliance with Murayama, doesn't mean I made it with you. Remember that."

© 2023 chesirecatuniverse all rights reserved

[toothpicktiger]

The Alpha Strike Draft Cube

TL;DR: If you like drafting cards and playing Alpha Strike, this is the format for you! Click here for the full rules of the format.

---

Inspiration

For my first non-introductory post on this blog, i want to share something i've been working on for a couple months. A marriage between my last hobby, Magic: the Gathering, and my current one, Battletech: Alpha Strike. Introducing the Alpha Strike Cube! Also known by its even clunkier name: Alpha Strike Booster Draft Cube. I really need a sexier name for this format...

When i played Magic more regularly, drafting, then cube, became my #1 favorite way to play. I now have an affinity toward deckbuilders, and card games with limited/draft play. So, when I got interested in Alpha Strike and noticed that their units are on cards, the very first thing I expected to see was a draft format using them. To my surprise, the only format I could find that was similar is Wolf Net's Drafted for War format which uses the salvage boxes or other boxed products as "boosters" in a draft-like format.

This is not the experience i was looking for. So, in the spirit of being a California Bay Area native, i decided to make a startup up my own format!

Overview

The defining feature of my format is the drafting portion of it. At a high level, players draft 2 packs of 10 unit cards, plus a pack 3 pilot cards. Afterwards they use those cards to create a 250PV list (12 units max), and play an objective focused game with the others at the table who did the same.

Taking inspiration from Wolf Net's AS350 format, the (currently in beta) matched play rules, and the Battletech video games, objectives are randomized and each table (which i set up ahead of time) has Terrain Rules which affect gameplay and list building.

Design Principles and Intent

Which brings me to the guiding principles of this format and the skills I think this format is designed to test: flexible list building and drafting. Everything about this format should point back to these principles. If a feature or optional rule doesn't connect back to these principles, it's not meant for this format. Keeping these in mind is how i settled on some of the unique features of the format.

Unique Features

This format has a few unique features that set it apart from other formats i've played so far:

Constrained Unit Cards

Pilot Cards

[optional] Terrain Rules

Below I'll describe each of these, and explain how I arrived at their inclusion.

Constrained Unit Cards

Normally in list building, players pick units then adjust pilot skills anywhere from 0-7 in order to help players dial in their point totals to be as close to a certain PV limit (250 in this case) as possible. However, this was slowing down list building, and it meant players could run really silly one-trick lists using only exactly the units they wanted. Part of my definition of being a flexible list builder, is going outside of your comfort zone and trying units you don't normally try. This exact kind of restraint is how I found some new favorite units!

A suggestion I got a few times was to constrain how much you can adjust a unit's skill. While I think this is correct, I didn't want to have players referencing the PV adjustment charts all the time, slowing down list building. Then, someone suggested writing the PVs on the cards. I almost dismissed this out of hand because it would make cards unreadable, but then I remembered that Jeff's Battletech Tools (RIP, Jeff) lists both the unit's current PV and the base PV of the unit (I hope you're listening MUL 2.0 developers!). This is a perfect solution because it gives me, the cube designer, the ability to balance the cube and a binary choice for players is easy to understand. You can take a unit as-printed or reset them to the default skill of 4.

Pilot Cards

I wanted to integrate some components that I think are cool but underutilized. So I looked at the Faction/Combat Command cards you get in the official CGL card packs for Succession Wars and Clan Invasion and the pilot cards you get in every force pack and boxed set.

In my testing, I found that using both of these was a bit too much for players to handle in a timely manner. So, I knew that one had to be cut (honestly one of my favorite parts of game design). In the end, pilot cards won because the nature of them ties more directly into your list since they can affect the PV of the unit they're assigned to. This extra "knob" lets players dial in their PV better so that they can hit on or close to 250PV much easier.

So, how do you use a pilot card? Well, I leaned on the information in the card and the AS PV system. In short, you may assign a pilot card to any unit that is exactly the same size as the pilot's listed unit. That unit must be set to the skill level (the large number in the top left or right corner of the card) of the pilot, paying for any PV adjustments. Then, you may turn on their Special Pilot Abilities (SPA) by adding the cost to the assigned unit's PV.

The above is an example of one of the pilot cards that I modify for use in the draft. This pilot card for Katherine is a Skill 2 pilot for Size 3 unit (the pictured Mad Cat is a Size 3 unit) with the Cluster Hitter SPA which costs 2 PV to activate.

It was this last bit that really made these pilot cards stand out. SPAs are cool features of AS and folks tend to not use them for balance concerns. In this format, I can curate which SPAs are allowed in a very invisible and organic way. No need to ban abilities when I can just not include them!

This relates to a fun fact about this format I discovered in playtesting and development: there's no reason to have a banlist of things like SPAs or Special Abilities. If I don't want people to, say, use artillery, I can just not include any artillery cards (I did include them because I want them in the format, but they're often banned in other formats). As a corollary, I can safely enable all abilities that are present on cards. This means we can get real weird with the card choice. But my method for building the card pool is for another post...

[optional] Terrain Rules

One thing I love about the Mechwarrior and Battletech PC games is the map variety. Part of that variety are terrain/weather conditions that affect play. These seem to be rarely used outside of campaign play, but when I have used them they greatly affected my unit choices. Sounds perfect for this format's guiding principles, no?

So, when planning for this format, I will print displays for special terrain rules for each table. What makes good terrain rules for this format is the same as everything else: the rules must have the potential to influence unit choice in a meaningful way without mandating it.

Good examples are the Snow Terrain rules shown earlier in this post and the Night Ops posted above. The former encourages the use of units with Overheat and units with Jump to get around the ice. The the latter encourages having one scary unit as an ambushing unit, drafting vehicles with SRCH and mechs to combat the night time modifier, and drafting scouts to help light up targets (literally!).

Conclusion

That's the overview of this fun and unique format. If you are interested in running it yourself, the rules are available at the top of this post. Additionally, I plan on doing some follow-up posts that detail what you need as an event host/T.O. in order to run this yourself. Plus, there will be advice on how to build an interesting cube pool for players to draft from.

Until then, If you're in the California Bay area and interested in trying this format out, keep an eye out at our many local gaming cons. I might just be running this there, or, at the very least, I'll have my cube on me if you want to play a pickup game with it. It's great for that!