#they just own me more melee girls is the thing

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

Horizon - The Aftermath MIRA’S MORE CANON ME2 When you died? It tore me apart. It was like losing a limb. Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition

[chooseruin]

The thing making me Feral about Judith Deuteros today is like. Her absolutely unfortunate attempt to declare martial law at Canaan House was the only thing she had to contribute. She is the ranking Cohort officer in this situation (she thinks) and like that's IT. In practical terms she's the weakest player there and she knows this; never mind the illest anime ill girl in the whole Seventh House and the three simultaneous greatest necromancers of their generation and Abigail Pent (at whom she is in any case strenuously not looking), Isaac could punt her through a wall. Silas is good enough at his terrible job that an actual Lyctor had to punch him out and then orchestrate that situation with the keys just to make ABSOLUTELY certain no one would ever listen to him. Judith is a competent melee support necromancer when in an actual melee. Judith can hold her own against Camilla Hect at ceiling chess even with a high fever, but Camilla and Palamedes and Ianthe are also there. Judith's cavalier is the glory of the Second House and their ability to work together is like... it's fine. It's professional. It's good. This is what peak performance looks like. It's fine. They're fine. Everything's fine. The hardware on her uniform is the only thing that's supposed to matter that she has and no one else does, that's ALL she has that she can imagine leveraging to get them out of here, and the way that works when your dad is the Fleet Admiral is that they give you everything you ask for and then you spend the rest of your life scrambling to earn it and she's not even very good at that. She has the charisma of drywall (affectionate/despairing) and all she can do to assert authority is fall back on the Cohort playbook and holy fuckballs did no one else in this bar actually care about that even BEFORE people started dying and all she does is completely discredit the actually pretty reasonable option of pulling together and trying to get out of this. And then Camilla Hect happens in front of everyone. And then the situation is REALLY losing cabin pressure and it's glorious last stand o'clock and her glorious last stand turns ugly and squalid and doesn't even help and she doesn't even get to die for it. She's the perfect product of ten thousand years of God needing cultural infrastructure for his genocide run against the rest of the universe, and she doesn't even get to Charge of the Light Brigade her way out. She doesn't get to die senselessly and prove to everyone that the rules don't matter anymore, because no one else ever really believed they did. She's so goddamn doomed by the narrative that it won't even let her die. Corona won't let her die. Blood of Eden won't let her die. MERCYMORN THE FIRST takes time out of a very packed schedule specifically to not let her die, not even long enough to come back wrong, how much more wrong could she get. She's the last kid left in Hamelin and she's opposite day Jackie Yellowjackets and she's a minor war poet and a virgin who can't drive and a wholeass Indelicates song and the most exhausted twenty-two-year-old in the universe and THAT'S ALL BEFORE NT9. Who is being happened to like her.

[boredpotate]

Happier Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Arcane or anything I link. Just the concept. Also I'm not a medical professional so if what you read seems dumb, just imagine it makes sense.

Concept: Isekai Fem Reader turns back time to fix her timeline, but has unforeseen consequences.

Reader Pov

As I sit here waiting for Vi and Cait to show up with whatever amount of enforcer's they plan on bringing, I polish up my old mining helmet after I already finish doing the same thing with my lucky revolver. I've been sitting here waiting on the steps of some random building that hasn't been occupied in awhile.

'I may have showed up a little too early.' It's felt like I've been here for hours, but they still haven't showed up. I also occasionally checked the tunnel for anyone going in or out, but no luck. Must be too early to catch anyone. So I took a quick peak inside just to see the tunnel lead deeper than I can see into the mines.

I suddenly hear footsteps and quickly stand up with my gun in hand. I relax once I see the familiar head of hair, pink standing out the most. I see Cait with one of her family's new rifle models and Vi with what looks like a modified pair of gauntlets.

'Still a brawler,' I thought as I smile behind my mask, before running my gaze over four other enforcers behind them. One of them having a very familiar larger stature reminding me of a friend Vi made in the Enforcers; being pretty much confirmed once I see a large shield on his back, 'Yup, definitely the same guy. Didn't get to know him that well, but he seemed like a nice guy too when he was training the volunteers. Though the team looks one person larger than normal than I remember.'

I holster my gun before putting my helmet back on and approaching the group to talk to Cait.

"Good to see you here. I started thinking you were gonna bail on me."

"We wanted to be sure we wouldn't be spotted, so we took a longer route to get here. Hope you weren't waiting long." Cait explains, having her professional tone back in action.

"Don't worry about it. So who are the other four?" I ask which makes Vi step aside and she start introductions. First gesturing to the big man himself.

'What was his name again?'

"This is Loris, he's usually in the front when clearing a room and stays close with Cait and Robyn in confrontations. He's really good with that shield of his and is good in a melee too," then the to one wearing what looks to be a vest and wielding tonfas, "this is Steb, doesn't talk much but he has good instincts, he's fast and can handle guarding our rear," next is a kinda short girl but I know they aren't that traitor bitch since their hair looks more like a caramel brown and reaches their shoulders, "next is Robyn, she's only recently joined but is a great addition to the team. She handles carrying and deploying gasses and explosives if needed and providing some fire support when she's not deploying them."

"Also isn't a turncoat." I barely manage to catch from the taller woman. She's the 2nd tallest here.

"Finally is Sevika, we usually lead the front together and clear a way for the team when in a sticky situation. Other than that we usually switch between making sure no one get's too close to Cait or overwhelms the group overall," she says before turning to the four behind her, "Guys this is Y/n, better known as Bloodhound." Vi finishes introduction, but I'm too busy staring at Sevika. No longer missing an arm.

'Sevika as an enforcer. Who would've guessed? This timeline really is better for everyone.' I thought as I see Loris step forward towards me.

"Well, I'll be honest I thought you'd be taller, but I'm not complaining. Hopefully this job goes good, huh?" he says as he raises a fist to offer a fist bump which makes me smirk before returning the gesture, "heh, I like them already." he says as he turns back to the others which makes Sevika and Steb shake their heads, but the girl looks stiff as a board for some reason. Probably nervous.

"Let's just get the job started. What do we know?" Sevika asks as the rest of the group gathers closer together.

"I haven't seen anyone going in or out while waiting. Took a quick look in the tunnel, but it goes deeper than I can see. Last time I saw people go in it took a couple hours for them to go in then come out, so the walk might be long. We're gonna need to move quick if we want to find out what's down there before people start showing up. I'd rather not have people hitting us from both sides." I explain to the group, before we start planning how we want to approach this operation.

Once we finally move into the tunnel it's Loris and I up ahead of the group, then Sevika and Vi, then Cait and Robyn, and Steb behind all of us to watch our rear just in case someone shows up.

At first our guard was mostly up, but once it was obvious that nothing would show up for awhile we treaded at a more calm pace. I also noticed a slight incline bringing us deeper underground. We stayed in silence for most of the walk before someone finally decided to break it.

"So, Bloodhound huh? Quite the title." Loris says which makes me roll my eyes.

"I didn't choose it."

"Hey, I'm not judging. Cooler than mine if you ask me. I could only come up with "The Wall" when our little task force starting making a name for itself."

"I wonder why." Vi says sarcastically behind us. I can hear the smirk on her face, which makes me lighten up a little.

"I'm being honest, I didn't choose mine. I only found out about it yesterday. Had no idea I had any sort of rep in Piltover, let alone a title." I say and hear a scoff come from behind me.

"You saying you didn't notice that pretty much everyone left you alone, including the enforcers? Are you just that clueless?" Sevika asks and I shrug my shoulders.

"I thought I was just an outcast. I don't really fit in with today's Zaun if you haven't noticed. I'm a merc remember?"

"I don't think you're that bad." I hear and turn to see the girl, Robyn. I also see shoulders tense when my eyes land on her which makes Loris chuckle.

"She's a big fan!" Loris loudly whispers which makes Robyn groan.

"Loris!"

"She said you inspired her to join the enforcers a few years ago," he says which makes me raise a brow at Robyn who now looks too embarrassed to look me in the eyes now. Only making Loris laugh even more, "Must've been one hell of an inspiration too, because she climbed fast."

"How does a merc inspire someone to be an enforcer?" I question her since the concept of it confuses me.

"W-Well, um..... you saved my family a few years ago. They got into some debt with a gang and no one could really do anything about it. They called themselves the Sewer Rats."

"Oh, right, I remember them. Mostly loan sharks. Honestly they were asking to get taken out eventually with a name like that." I recall the horrible gang emblem and the fact that they all stunk. Their gang was literally in the sewers, which was disgusting.

"Yeah. I remember blaming the world and everyone for my family being stuck in debt because no one wanted to help, even though I didn't really do anything about it either. Then one day you came around and started kicking ass left and right all by yourself. You were pretty scary, but you also brought hope to people and helped a lot; even if you didn't mean to," she says which makes me ponder for the first time on how my actions may have affected people other than my family and friends, "It made me think 'If one person could do that. Then why can't I?' so I joined the Enforcers. I didn't want to feel helpless like before. I wanted to make a difference." she finishes which makes me feel..... honestly I don't know how it makes me feel. To know that I am a inspiration to someone in some way.

"Well, I hope your family is okay now." I say since I couldn't think of anything better to say.

"They're fine now. Moved out of the deep end of the Undercity after you took out that gang. Started making an honest living...... thank you."

"Don't ment-" I immediately go silent and signal for the group to stop as I hear some distant noise up ahead. Sounds like people talking. No yelling.

We all move slowly forward as we make our way forward until we finally reach the end of the tunnel.

"It is one person! You're saying one person is causing trouble with establishing groundwork in the deep end of the Undercity!?" I hear someone yell and it strangely sounds familiar.

We move into what looks to be a large mined out area of the mines with paths along the walls leading down to a lower levels, old railroads leading up and down the path fpr minecarts and old tunnels being connected here and old mining equipment being left to rust.

We move in quietly watching out for some of the people that are hanging around the area, but slacking off from keeping watch. We stick closer together and move past more people until we reach a spot to look down to the bottom level to see more gang members spread around and working, until I finally spot a familiar face which makes me scowl.

'Chross. Even when Piltover is thriving you can't fucking have enough!?' I think before my eye catches something that makes me even more upset. Children. Working in the mines, like last time. Only a few, but still bad.

"This is fucked up." Loris says, hiding nearby behind a minecart with Robyn.

"Chross," I hear Cait seethe crouching next to Steb and Vi, "I knew he was under investigation for suspicious activity, but I didn't think he would have started a gang." I hear her say, but my eyes are still locked onto the kids.

"How the hell did they all get down here?" I ask to no one, but I get an answer anyway.

"We heard of orphans going missing, but couldn't track them down. Some assumed they left to pursue a life somewhere else; it's not uncommon for a kid to go missing then find out they're working on some trading ship or somewhere at the docks a few days later." Robyn answers and I can hear the angered undertone in her voice.

"Listen, we know that bastard is behind it now, so let's prioritize getting those kids somewhere safe. Any ideas?" Sevika asks as she turns to the group.

"Maybe we can..." whoever it was that was talking I don't remember because my eyes widen on another familiar face.

'No. Why are you here!? You aren't supposed to be here!' I thought as I see a familiar kid with a mining helmet on her head.

"Isha." I say as memories of her fly through my head. That precious little girl who became family, who loved so much, cared so much, and sacrificed herself. My eyes begin to water.

"You know one of them?" someone asks, Sevika maybe, but I ignore it when I see Isha starts coughing and looks too exhausted to keep working. One of Chross' henchmen notice.

'Don't.'

"Hey! No one said to stop working kid!" the man yells, but Isha looks to tired to pick up the mining tool. He walks over to her and shoves her to the ground causing the other kids to look at the commotion in fear. My heart starts beating rapidly and my hand clenches my gun, "What did I say!? Back to work!"

I see Isha crawl backwards away from the man as he reaches for a baton on his waist. My grip on my revolver tightens.

"Oh no."

The man takes it off his waist.

"Don't. If you do something everyone here wi-"

The man raises the baton high.

"We will get them out, but yo-"

The world slows down.

I watch him hit her.

I hear her cry.

The sound echoes in my ears.

He just hit Isha.

He goes to hit her again.

I don't let him.

"ISHAAAA!" *BANG*

I see RED.

Vi Pov

'This definitely did not go a planned!' I thought as I knock out another thug and help Steb defend our rear, as we all move to keep up with Y/n. She has completely lost it.

"AAAEEERRRGGGHHH!!!!"

"PLEASE! N- AAAAHHHH!!!!!!" another person dead. Y/n slamming the apex of her shovel into their face. They're left to bleed out as Y/n charges to the next with a gun and shovel.

"I see why they call her Bloodhound!" Loris says before bulldozing over someone and slamming two other people into a wall.

"What's happened to her!?" Cait asks as shoots some more incoming thugs and covers Y/n's back wherever she can. I help Steb deal with the last of the people behind us before turning around and see Sevika chuck someone off the edge to fall all the way to the bottom.

"The guy she shot hit a kid she knows! I tried stopping her, but she lost her mind!" Sevika explains as she takes out any leftover stragglers that Y/n is leaving behind.

"Well on the bright side! We're making good progress!" Robyn says as she stays close to Loris, but I think she's enjoying watching Y/n lead the charge a little too much...... for some reason that kinda upsets me.

"WAITWAITWAIT! I'M SO- AAAHHH! MY SPINE!!!!"

I hate to admit it, but Robyn's not wrong. Her complete rampage is causing a lot to flee and any who stay to try and fight her are met with a beast of rage shooting a gun and swinging a shovel.

"CHROSS!!!"

The man in question looks terrified before quickly yelling out orders to the last of his thugs that have stayed.

"Hurry up and deal with them you idiots!" he yells out to the rest before two men rush to get him out of there through another tunnel. Doesn't matter. We gotta get the kids out of here. Speaking of, by now most of them are huddled together. I move up to take Loris' place in the front to speed up the process; taking out one after another.

We begin to start getting close to the children, but at the corner of my eye I spot someone hiding behind crates and watch as they throw what looks like a bomb towards us.

"You idiot what are you thinking!?" one of thugs yell at the person before running for cover and I yell out to Loris.

"Loris!"

"On it!" he yells before rushing up and deflecting it away with his shield, causing to go flying towards another pile of crates off to the side, and rushes to the kids to shield them, "Get behind me!"

The rest of us take cover and I think we're fine, until I see a little girl was hiding near the crates; staring at the bomb in shock.

"N-"

"ISHA!"

Y/n yells again, but this time in desperation. Before I know it, Y/n rushes over, picks the kid up and tries to run as far away as possible before the bomb sets off.

*BOOM*

The explosion was bigger than expected, probably something in those crates. Dust and smoke now cover the area as I hear rumbling and see some of the old supports of the mine now giving in under the tension.

"Shit! This place is about to collapse, we gotta go!" Sevika yells out and I hear kids crying while Loris tries to calm them. Sevika rushes to them and picks up two of them before looking towards the kids that are older than the rest, "If you can, pick up one of the younger ones and stay close to us. We're getting out of here!"

The older kids are in shock, but quickly listen to instructions and each picking up one of the younger children. Robyn, Cait, and I do the same. Carrying two each. Loris manages to carry three.

"Where's Y/n!?" Robyn asks looking around which makes me begin to panic.

"*cough* *cough* I'm *cough* here!" I hear and I am barely able to see Y/n holding the kid close to her; her gas mask placed on the girls face.

"Are you alr-" Cait goes to ask, but is interrupted by more rumbling.

"I'm fine! Let's go!" Y/n yells and we all quickly rush back to the tunnel we came from much faster since there is no resistance from any of the gang members.

We all quickly rush down the path we came in from. I can hear the mine beginning to collapse behind us as we run for lives, and I can feel the two kids I am carrying hold onto me tighter. Soon we see the end and we all simultaneously increase our pace at the sign of escape.

We all run out and far away from the tunnel before finally stopping after the tunnel collapses.

"That was a close one." Loris says as we all catch a breather and the young children cry from that near death experience. Robyn pulls out a flare and shoots it into the sky to signal for help and I turn to one of the older kids, who is still holding onto a child.

"Was this all of them?" I ask, afraid of the answer I will get, but luckily they nod their head which makes me let out a breath of relief.

"Y/n!" Robyn yells and I look to see Y/n kneeling on the ground and only being held up by that little girl, Isha, if I remember correctly. On her back I see blood stains and the impact of fragments from the bomb embedded through her jacket and an injured leg.

i'M fInE, jUsT a ScRaTcH.

I set down the kids I am holding before rushing to her, Cait does the same. We both take a look at her injuries and by the look Cait gives me we're both thinking the same thing.

"It's bad Vi. She needs help. Now."

3rd Person

"So you boys got an idea on what you're going to present for the Innovator's Competition?" Vander asks as the young adults sit together at the bar.

"I'm still trying to figure it out." Ekko says which make Benzo, sitting off to the side with Silco, laugh.

"Hah! Got that right. You should see him at his desk; looks like his head is gonna blow up." Benzo teases, making Ekko roll his eyes.

"Me and Mylo got an idea for mutated plants. Been working on it for awhile, but it's not working right yet." Claggor says sounding a little disappointed at the progress he and Mylo are making.

"What about you Powder? You jumping in the ring?" Vander asks the blue haired girl who has her mind elsewhere, causing Ekko to slightly nudge her.

"Huh, what?"

"Vander was asking if you're gonna participate in the Innovator's Competition." Ekko explains to her.

"Oh. Um. I don't know yet. Maybe." Powder answers before staring back down at the bar counter. Vander, Silco, and Ekko catching the strange behavior. The brothers give Ekko a look, and Ekko only gives a slight shrug.

"Well. I'm sure whatever you all come up with, will be great." Silco says with a slight raise of his glass to them.

As the conversation shifts, Ekko leans towards Powder.

"Hey, you alright?" he asks with concern in his voice. Powder gives a complicated expression before sighing.

"I don't know. I-I've just had something bugging my mind recently." she says which gets a sympathetic look from Ekko. Hinting that he has been having the same problem.

"Yeah..... this might sound weird, but, does it have to do with Y/n?" he asks, the name once again feeling too familiar even when saying it out loud. Powder gives a smirk and raises a brow at Ekko.

"Oh? You thinking of other girls?"

"No! No, that's not wha-"

"I'm just kidd'in. But yeah it is. How'd you know?" Powder asks, and Ekko breathes a sigh of relief that he didn't mess up.

"It's been the same for me. Hard to think sometimes, even when I'm working with the professor . It's been bothering me. They look familiar. Sound familiar. It-It's like-"

"You should know them? Like, really, know them?"

"Yes! It's been driving me crazy."

"Me too..... maybe we just gotta get our minds off of them? Do something fun? You free today?" Powder asks looking at Ekko with hope.

"Sure. Maybe a date will get our minds off of it." Ekko says as he pockets his notebook and offers a hand to Powder, making her smile.

Powder grabs his hand and sta-

*SLAM*

The whole bar turns to the entrance at the sudden loud noise. Standing at the entrance is a clearly out of breath Caitlyn and Vi, who is holding an unconscious Y/n on her back. Vi makes eye contact with Vander.

"Dad! She needs help!"

All of the close family's eyes gravitate to the unconscious girl on Vi's back. Powder and Ekko both immediately panicking internally at the sight of her. Not because they're scared of her, but for her.

"Bring her to the back! Gert handle the bar!" Vander instructs and both Vi and Caitlyn quickly rush to the backroom. Gert starts to clear out the bar as the close family all follow behind Vi, now being able to see the injuries on Y/n's back, causing Vander to quickly clear a large table, "Set her down here. Gently."

Claggor and Mylo both quickly help Vi unload Y/n from her back and set her down gently. Now all of her wounds clear to see for everyone in the room. Powder squeezes Ekko's hand as she scans over all the wounds and blood. That familiar voice once again going through their head; the same goes for the others in the room.

"Nothin' about that looks good" Benzo says as he looks a the girl in sympathy.

"What happened?" Silco asks as he get's closer to examine the wounds.

"Some guy threw a bomb. Loris hit it away, but it ended up landing near a little girl she knew. She rushed to pick her up and took most of the blow. It-It looked really bad and I didn't know any other doctor nearby to help her so I ran here," Vi explains while it being very clear that she is out of breath, "Can you help her?"

Silco looks at Y/n's unconscious face and that same feeling he has for the rest of the children raised in this bar rises. He doesn't ponder on it before nodding his head and looking to Powder.

"Powder, I need you to head over to my lab. You remember what I taught you about medicine?" he asks and gets a nod, "Then you already know what I will need. Go," He says and Powder nods again before giving one last long look at Y/n's form before rushing off, "Claggor and Mylo go see if you can find the professor around the area and send him here if you do," they nod before rushing off, "Ms. Kiramman go across the bridge and see if you can find Viktor and send him here as fast as possible," Cait quickly rushes off as well, "I'm going to need to cut her clothes off to get a better look at her injuries. Unless you think you can help with her wounds, step out of the room." he says as he pulls out a knife from his coat.

Both Vi and Benzo go to step out, Benzo doing his best to comfort her from her state of stress. Now leaving Vander, Ekko and Silco left.

"Alright. I don't know if I will be able to help, but we just need to make sure she's stable until more help arrives. Understood?" Silco asks both Vander and Ekko and get's nods from both.

"Will....Will she really be alright?" Ekko asks as he moves closer to get a better look at the injuries.

"The longer we talk the worse she gets." Silco says as he begins cutting Y/n's clothes.

"Right. She'll be fine." Ekko says before walking up to help Silco and Vander.

"She'll be fine."

Hope you enjoyed.

[forgottencormac]

OOC | Cormac & Event 5

ok so stuff from various replies abt our boy (these are i think in backwards order but anyway alkjdsfkljsdf):

giadesstrin said:  @forgottenfiona Fiona, shoving yet another into Cormac’s room: ‘I just think they’re neat’ jk jk 

forgottenfiona said:  @giadesstrin Fiona, not at all a Lorcan but somehow has the power to summon swans 😂 

giadesstrin said:  @quillington Forgot to say…Cormac only betted on Cassimir <3 Eabha: you somehow just lost us even ~more money wo doing anything at all today except getting dressed… 

giadesstrin said:  @forgottenfiona Cormac, crying furiously; ‘the only thing that’s embarrassing today is ~you trying to enter the lists!’ Why do I sense another heated argument dhkhdfjj was it a coincide he saw Swans?? 😂😂😂🦢

before his tragic accident (stubbing a toe, seeing swans) cormac probs requested one from brigit, aoife, and roisin but at least in the last one he got rejected

quillington said:  @forgottencassimir also yes cormac and valentina are ABSOLUTELY taking turns cheering the loudest for cassimir…meanwhile rosie is booing him (but only when @forgotteneithne wont hear bc she doesn’t wanna hurt ~her) 

forgottencormac said:  @forgottencassimir WEAR HIS FAVOR IM SCREAMINGGGGGG ‘its just bc…due to the severity of my injury [his stubbed toe] i am unable to join the lists today, but perhaps i may be w you in spirit if you but wear this…’ its like…hot pink tulle that’s at least two years long so it can gracefully trail along his horse and…trip it while trailing in the mud presumably 

forgotteneabha said:  @forgottenfinnegan real talk, i feel like eabha and ofc fiona <3 have some actual weapons training…they aren’t allowed to enter. cormac, who is a danger to himself and those around him (but not in the way you want in this kinda competition) ~is allowed alkdsjfkjlds eabha: this whole situation is so unserious… 

forgottenfiona said:  @forgottencormac Fiona is so embarrassed right now. 

forgottencormac said:  @thelongforgottenrealm cormac is a hero who saved lives (his own) this day…;DDD laksdjfkljsdf

saoirse is betting on arthur bc she might despise the guy but this isn’t abt pride its abt odds and she’s here to get cash for the revolution. for the same reason, she is betting ~against cormac and, tho she’ll probs get her money returned and told its moot…she will argue that he ~did fail to anyone who’ll listen alksdjfsd

(including him bc i feel like he signed up bc #peerpressure but then def backed out at the last minute)

Name: Cormac Calleary Participating Categories: Jousting Skill Levels in the Following –

Melee (on foot): Level #0

Melee (on horseback): Level #0

Archery: Level #0

Jousting: Level #0

forgottencassimir: said:  @forgotteneithne Haha excellent point. ( except for maybe @forgottencormac who I am now imagining trying to get Cassimir to wear his favor in the tournament ashdhdj jkjk )

---

cormac ~also got so excited that cassimir was going into round two that he started weeping and, blinded by his tears, didn't see who won so, since there was cheering, he just ~assumes it ~must have been cassimir...i did not know this, he revealed it to me in writing a comment me: 'wonderful' lkajflksdjafdf

he also ~may now think that roderick is thinking of wedding @forgottencassandra to him, given that roderick is thinking of wedding eoin to guinevere, and that marian has now asked him if he's engaged! lakjsfjklsd sorry @forgottenaoife/brigit/rosie! ;D aklsdjfaklsdfjsdf he's now probs thinking one of the malconaire girls should deffffff marry @forgottenfinnegan if cormac, himself, isn't available to do so, bc cormac aint going against roderick's will! (roderick irl if he knew: stay away from my daughter)

cormac wore one of the gaudy pendants he brought from valentina in a show of display for @forgottencassimir , he also absolutely ~did try to get him to wear his own favor (tho he didn't put it that way!) bc he gave him a ring set w the largest emerald which he'd had engraved w cassimir's birth!coat of arms and begged him to wear it for good luck alkjdsfkldsfj he thinks this worked bc he thinks cassimir won the archery contest alkjsdfjklsdf he's def picturing a robin-hood-esque moment where cassimir's arrow bissected the other to take the win!!!!!! he was fully screaming his lungs out (unwittingly for brigit laksjdfkjlsdfjk) at the time al;sdjflkjdsf he's too over the moon to even really care abt ~swans today lakjsdfkljdsf (that wont last tho!)

he's def mad at @forgottenfiona more than usual bc she tried to enter the competition and he thinks that's personally embarrassing! aldksjfksjdf

there's def more bc i just never know what this mad lad is gonna do next but yeah!! here's the stuff i can think of rn lakjsdfkljsdf

oh! i ~do think he might be tryna organize a swan hunt at lorcan w his male friends tho laksdjfksjdlfksdf SCREAM (i feel like @forgottenrian hasn't heard bc he'd def put a stop to this -- he ~will hear asp tho bc cormac thinks they're close and will def invite him lkjasdlkfajskdjf)

[tenaciouschronicler]

Feburary 14-16 2010 2025

(trigger warnings are for the tags. main content does not contain these)

I love john being a sarcastic little shit. He and carcinoGeneticist have a 'nice' little chat where a couple of things are revealed. Props to CG being self aware that hes: 1. probably a douche, and 2. didnt plan the trolling very well.

Apparently on their end, these trolls have been working backwards in the timeline for some reason. John very quickly clocks that these guys might have something to do with the game which makes him more alert which CG says happens a lot. Its interesting learning John is a very naturally gaurded person.

CG does confirm that he and the others are also playing SBURB just in a different session. I kind of wonder how SBURB decides what players join what session together? Is friendship some sort of prerequisite? What happenes if an entire group of friends Doesnt play the game? Say Jade didnt get Daves disks; would something go wrong only having 3/4 players?

Another trait of Johns we learn, which explains his convos with the other kids, is hes not very good at picking up subtleties. CG calls John dumb and John is rightly offended and further disbelieves that he and CG could be friends. But after CG clarifies:

CG: THE FACT THAT YOU ARE DUMB

CG: IS AN IMMUTABLE FACT I AM STATING FOR THE RECORD.

CG: IT DOES NOT MEAN ANIMOSITY IS WHAT IS TAKING PLACE HERE.

John realizes its supposed to be read as banter and responds in kind at the end of their chat:

EB: but i've got to go now and get on with my petty little quests.

EB: so talk to you in the future i guess.

EB: jerkface.

We get a quick moment with in the future where WV has calmed the situation and shared his spoils. 'You warm yourselves in the glow of this human emotion called friendship.'

Its a short moment but it further adds to the previous chat to show this is probably a turning point to John becoming friendlier to the trolls. It also refutes Johns own statement here:

CG: IT'S REALLY WEIRD.

CG: THIS HUMAN EMOTION YOU CALL FRIENDSHIP.

EB: friendship isn't an emotion fucknuts.

Ive never throught of it that way but yeah, friendship Is an emotion. Ill touch on this at the end.

We find ourselves with Dave as Jade works to set him up for entry while Dave watches and chats with Rose.

TT: So you mean to tell me she was able to connect with you in a timely fashion, without waiting until you were on the brink of annihilation?

[...]

TT: I've done nothing but wait for boys to play this game with me all day.

TT: First John lollygagging with the client, and then you with the server, downright filibustering my existence with unending fraternal melee.

TT: And yet a girl, one who didn't even own the game, was able to connect with you minutes after you connected with me.

I dont want to dunk on Rose but Im going to dunk on Rose. She very much operates with the mindset that everyone should be at the same level as her, not considering the nuances of peoples situations. It probably stems from her hyper independence but its a high standard she places eveyone on. She probably has a high opinion of Jade because these two essentially raised themselves but Dave was likely in a similar boat. The only reason he doesnt show these 'skills' is because of the tight timeframe he had to work under to save Rose.

Even so I think she does hold in high regard the easier affection Dave is able to display behind his irony. They talk briefly of John where we can read the undercurrent of worry Dave has.

TG: i should probably text him soon

TG: see whats up

TG: because

TG: i love him

TT: I know.

And Rose doesnt discount him saying so. Its a brief moment of vulnerability where both of their walls are down. If we had more acurrate timestamps I want to say that the next line of Daves probably came a minute or so later after he let himself process and then changed the subject to hide what he revealed.

All the while Jade is deploying machines and 'cleaning' up the apartment, bringing us out of the heavy atmosphere.

I do find it odd that Dave is starting with 2000 grist right off the bat. I wonder if these starting caps are affected by how many players are in the game or how advanced the first player is at the point where new player is set to start?

(Friendship as an emotion under the cut)

Alright. Time to go more in depth about my thoughts on the friendship thing. The first thing I thought of after the friendship as emotion thing was the Four Loves. I only had a rudimentary understanding of the concepts so I turned to the greatest source of knowledge, Wikipedia.

"The Four Loves is a 1960 book by C. S. Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian and philosophical perspective through thought experiments." In it, Lewis defines four types: Storge, Philia, Eros and Agape. Im only going to focus on Philia, or friend bond, here as I want to explore more on this in a seperate post. "Philia (Greek: φιλία) is the love between friends as close as siblings in strength and duration." The difference between these and the other forms of love is how Lewis describes it as the least natural but also a higher-level form as its a Choice. True, deep appreciation of another was something Lewis thought modern society lacked. Philia is very human in nature, and as such is subject to human faults like pride and cliques.

I argue that in this story the exploration of friendship and Philia will be pertinant to understanding the motivations of our characters and the strengthening or weakening of their bond. We already see how much each kid loves one another and, for however long theyve been talking, how deep they feel connection to each other. Its great commentary on how free, chosen connections with internet stangers is just as valuable and real as the ones formed face to face. Ive never had experience with this personally before in that regard. Even though I am an adult, my mom doesnt see the value in connections that arent IRL, always pushing me to talk to 'real' people rather than the ones online. Lewis would probably deem her one of those who has lost true understanding of the power of Philia.

I might find a copy of Lewis' book, its relatively short, but I am definitly gonna write some thoughts on all the Forms of Love weve seen so far so I guess look forward to that.

[grassyneptune]

anyway alyx headcanon dump. calling her gertrude + alyx x gertie because i'm self-indulgent

love alyx taping over dirty dancing like she hated it, but she could’ve carried media (movies or combine patrols) over to russell’s given his storage capacity, his place isn’t too far. she only has so many vhs tapes on hand

the intimacy of a mechanic doing field repairs on the very thing keeping you alive. she knows that suit more than you do. alyx memorizing hev alerts and keeping an eye out for suit batteries herself

she surely helped kleiner build the hev mk V, what if the flashlight is the one from hla?

starts calling her multitool iterations mk I, mk II because of it

alyx and judith dying hair together. gave her the red streaks :) the farthest step she could get judith to do on her own hair was bleach

torn between kleiner being behind all the klab doodles vs alyx drawing on his clipboard during their extensive talks

alyx struggling between "honesty is good and preferable" and not telling eli things that'd make him fall over

comfortable hugging the hev suit because her best friend is made of metal. every time its internals roar up she thinks of dog

alyx also deeply struggling with loss. cradling her mom’s necklace. had to have an emotional discussion with eli after olga left because she couldn’t stop crying on her own. dug through city rubble for days for a glimpse of that bright orange hazard suit despite every imminent threat demanding she run. ep2? god.

probably wept at a mirror over how much she looks like her mom

alyx not following into vents because she has both nyctophobia AND claustrophobia, leaves her inevitably sitting in the darkness by herself as she waits. gertrude brings a flare back to her (fears known or not. it was a courtesy thing) and it sparks all her ep1 flirting

olga as unidentified deaf character doesn't mean alyx would’ve learned asl per se, given olga’s accent. alyx taking it upon herself to learn a second sign language for gertrude because she's that stubborn. back to square one dog!

alyx watching gertrude’s body language, glancing in conversations to read her expressions, getting tells wrong. barney has to convince her she can't hack her way through this kind of code (been there, done that) (wants to see her try)

alyx and barney going through pre-war conspiracy books to poke fun at what they did and didn't get wrong

sharing weapons with alyx. swapping melees. alyx is a sniper!! let her use the crossbow! gertrude would carry her ep1 shotgun for her if she'd ask

(also gertie using the alyxgun in the victory mine. gives it back fully reloaded and ready to go)

alyx and gertrude sharing a wardrobe since clothes are so limited. gertie wearing something that's so obviously alyx's and vice versa. alyx thinks it's weird to point out, it’s not like it means anything. as if she wouldn't wear the nice jeans her girl found in a dusty, long abandoned building. this woman thrives off hand-me-downs

hoodie was a gift from magnusson. semi-embarrassed to ask if white forest happens to have a second one lying somewhere

never felt fleece before -> LOVES the texture of fleece. if it’s not her only jacket then every jacket she owns is fleece-lined

hla backpack evolves into her toolbelt in terms of inventory, rather than having both in hla or hl2. she mostly only lugs around her backpack for scavenging trips nowadays

can't get immersed in movies, the acting takes her out no matter how natural it seems. can't get past the fact it's fake. practical effects are her favorite though

little alyx climbing atop equally little dog to reach places she shouldn't. humble beginnings of her tenement-scaling career

eli made her wacky cake growing up because dairy? eggs? in this apocalypse?

those egg-flavored combine rations, however long they’ve been produced, never tasted the same after she had a real egg with real salt. the taste of a YOLK? the combine know nothing

alyx bypassing the ladder in kleiner's lab and just sitting on the loft with her legs dangled off the side

scavenging beyond scrap metal and parts. things she knows people will like. white forest’s tea collection grows an extra tin without a word

[tribow]

The Scarlet Devil Mansion mod in Lethal Company had me thinking about what Touhou characters would fit as a monster in that game. I don't mean as a reskin, I mean as an actual monster to contend with.

Thing is, Touhou's aesthetics are far different from Lethal Company's. I don't think any of these well-dressed girls fit the vibe to any capacity. Luckily, many of them are youkai. You can always opt for a beast-like form rather than their usual human ones. With that in mind, who could work as a monster in Lethal Company? I have a few ideas...

Lemme ramble about one of them:

Rumia

She doesn't even need a model. Two red eyes surrounded by clouds of darkness would suffice for her. Rumia can't see through her own darkness, so she'll rely on sound to figure out where anyone is. However, she moves very slowly to avoid running into walls. Anyone can easily outrun her, that is, unless they walk into her darkness. Rumia would be able detect when someone has entered her darkness. Once a player enters that range, she'll lunge in a straight line towards a player making too much noise within that strange.

Light is completely ineffective to Rumia's darkness. The only thing visible in the darkness is her red eyes. These eyes will float slightly above a player's eye level, but this is because she's floating. No footsteps would be heard from her. She is only audible if you're in her darkness. At that point you'll hear her wheezing (she's fine, just excited about a potential kill).

The lunge would be a one-shot kill, but she's more hesitant about going for it compared to dogs. She'll want to close the distance towards a small amount of noise. She's more likely to lunge based on proximity and the volume of the noise. The lunge is a straight line, so she can potentially miss. A whiffed lunge will continue a short distance, or stop at a wall. You'll hear her slam into it, which would stun her briefly before going back to tracking you down.

Even if a player is completely silent, she can still kill them upon contact, so don't get too close. If she's blocking the path ahead, crouch walking will be completely safe even if she's right on top of you. She floats too high to detect someone crouch walking. (Unless she's already lunging)

Rumia would only spawn in interiors. I doubt this behavior would be effective outside. Maybe it would. Idk.

Also, she would be killable. No dead body, the darkness would just go away at 0 health. A melee attack would hurt, but she'll immediately lunge after that. Shotguns and turrets will work. Yes, turrets target her even through the darkness. She'll actively steer clear of one unless she knows someone is in the area. A stun grenade (flashbang) will also get rid of her. Her eyes aren't trained for that kind of light so she'll disappear at the sight of that.

Any monster that uses sight to detect a player will be unable to detect a player within Rumia's darkness. (Pretty much all interior monsters). This may actually save you from a coil-head or a bracken stalking you. She also attacks indiscriminately, so she may kill a monster just for making too much noise near her. (Do note that she doesn't target monsters as she knows what they sound like. She only follows noises a player makes. Other monsters get attacked for being too noisy while in her proximity.)

Finally, she'll disappear the moment a Jester starts up. This won't count as a death as she comes back after it is deactivated. She's just not sticking around for that thing to go off.

[bldofthedrgn]

The Dragon Never Dies.

A story in which a Baratheon girl falls in love with a dragon prince ... slowly :)

warnings: too fluffy?? there isnt much crazy stuff happening its just part 1 just baelor being a flirt (maybe a little ooc?) fem reader, no physical description other than typical Baratheon hair color

word count: 1.5k

The sun gleamed brightly upon the onlookers of the tourney. In large stands surrounding two tilts sat lords, ladies, knights, squires, and other high-born strangers alike, all squirming with excitement for the days events. Y/n sat next to her father, Lord Gowen Baratheon and some other meek nobles amongst her father's closest allies. She had never quite enjoyed the company of many highborn ladies, with their gossiping and insipid rumors, and highborn men made her all the more weary.

Y/n's contempt for socialization never steered Lord Tully's eldest daughter Alice in the other direction, however. Sitting next to her best friend was the only thing that made the blinding sun shining in y/n's face worth it.

"Here", Y/n heard "take this". Y/n looked down to see Alice shoving something resembling a fancy stick in her hand.

"What is this?" Y/n questioned.

"It's a fan." A small giggle escaped the red-haired girls mouth at her friends confusion. "Storm's End tends to get quite balmy during the summer, does it not?"

Y/n's expression had become one of realization. "Pardon me, Alice. My mind is elsewhere at the moment." The young lady need not look to her best friend to know the look of question plauging her face. Y/n sighed. "I am hot and bored. I have never had a taste for tourneys, jousts or melees. Most men fight too brutish or too feebly, it makes for a tiresome battle. I might have a more pleasant time had any of these knights been .. more pleasant to look at."

"There are more contestants to come, maybe they will be attractive!" That was true enough, y/n's uncle had yet to arrive. Same to be said for Alice's brother. The thick haired brunette hoped that more knights had entered the lists forbye Edmund and her uncle, for Edmund would forever stay a sweet young boy in her eyes and she did not find the ancient Valyrian custom of wedding kin to kin too appealing.

Alice had always been a positive girl, a perfect balance to y/n's skepticism. Y/n simply nodded in acknowledgment and allowed her friend to prattle on about this knight or that, waiting ever impatiently for the damned thing to start.

A loud, gruff voice boomed throughout the stands. "The final three contestants!" Y/n was grateful to hear the herald begin his announcement. Thank the gods, this weather is unbearable.

"Lyonel of house Baratheon, the Laughing Storm!" Out rode y/n's uncle in his stag-emblazoned arms atop his strapping brown warhorse. Gods be good, Y/n thought. May the Mother have mercy and the Warrior lend my uncle strength.

The girl and her uncle had always been close, becoming akin to a second father to her after her own had been injured in the Blackfyre rebellion. During Lord Baratheon's time of need, the Laughing Storm took on the many responsibilities as needed of Lord of Storm' End. What's more, he took on the responsibility of family; providing comfort to his niece and good sister, praying nightly to the seven for his brothers return to health.

"Edmund Tully of House Tully, heir to Riverrun!" Edmund rode gallantly past the stands sending fanciful ladies in his immediate vicinity into a spiral of swoons, hair twirls, and giggles. Ever the charmer I see. Y/n could not deny that Edmund had grown to be a striking young man. Regardless, he would always remain the boy who'd follow her to her lessons clinging shyly to her skirts. The Baratheon girl gave Edmund a small smile in show of support, which he mirrored in thanks.

"Prince Baelor Breakspear of house Targaryen, The Hammer! Prince of Dragonstone, Protector of the realm, Hand of the King, Heir to the Iron Throne!" Y/n's eyes perked up at that particular announcement, having always had an infatuation with the history of the Dragon. Who wouldn't want to be a dragonrider?

Her eyes searched the gates with eagerness, hoping to catch a glimpse of the dragon prince through the shining sun rays that caught on her eyelashes.

Heavy hooves could be heard, followed by the shaking ground caused by Breakspears great destrier. A maginificent beast with a coat of hair midnight black, matching its riders own armour, tall and powerfully built. A perfect horse for a prince, y/n thought in awe as the prince started past the stands. She hadn't noticed, however, that the royal man had stopped his mount. And he had suspended his trot directly in front of her. Y/n's mind raced with confusion and worry when the broad chested man began to lift his helmet, afraid of what The Hammer himself could want with her. A part of her mind raced with girlish excitement, though y/n would never admit to that.

A mess of short dark hair emerged from his three-headed dragon winged helm, sticking slightly to his forehead from the heat. He truly looked as a Targaryen prince should. Mighty, strong, impermeable as a dragon. His armour, so black the metal swallowed any sunlight, with gold lining and Targaryen heraldry stamped across his chest and shield. Y/n could scarcely remove her eyes from his despite all his royal arms, with strands of his freshly cut storm-like hair falling so perfectly in front of the kind amethysts that sat beneath his steady brow. His face was clean shaven and his nose had a small crookedness to it, no doubt the result of a quarrel or two. Though, the twice-broken nose hadn't diminished his looks. Targaryen men have always been quite handsome, y/n thought to herself bashedly, but Baelor Breakspear was an animal of a different kind.

"Lord Baratheon, my lady." The crown prince bowed, ever the diplomat.

"My prince," y/n's father started, "it is an honor." The Baratheon lord had begun to sweat harder, a smooth sheen of sweat glistening above his brow, though only y/n had noticed. "I am in your service."

Breakspear had the grace to smile, his white teeth somehow seeming whiter in the bright of day. He even has a royal smile.

"I require no service of you, my lord" The prince's voice was not deep, but firm and unwavering holding a kind tone. "I simply wished to tell you that I am gladdened to see your recovery. You are an ally to the realm and a good friend, we have kept you and your good house in our prayers."

Gowen had been taken aback by the princes acknowledgments, though he would not let it show. The raven-haired stag bowed respectfully.

"I thank you, my prince. The recovery was long and hard, but gratefully I am not so easily felled." Lord Baratheon followed with a chuckle.

"That much is true." Prince Baelor offered a light chuckle in return. "I shall hope to treat with you later. And I shall humbly ask for the Lady Y/n's favour in the passes." At that moment the striking prince locked eyes with Y/n, having felt her stare since his trot up to the stands. The normally brazen and confident girl was at a loss for words. She much detested the formality of offering a knight your favour at a joust, but this was the prince of Dragonstone, the future King of the Seven Kingdoms. She could feel her cheeks burning and her chest begin to thump violently, and then came a sharp push to her ribcage.

"Give him the wreath!" Alice scream-whispered into the frozen girls ear. Y/n had never actually been asked for her favour at any tourney, despite her contempt. She had never really been approached by any man seeking more than sin, and even those were few and far between.

The girl began to move, descending as gracefully as her legs would allow in her nervousness. Grabbing a small ringlet of flowers, red and pink, woven together by stem and golden thread, y/n lowered herself over the edge of the stand she sat in.

"I wish you good fortune, my prince." Y/n could no longer hold his stare, her stomach a fury of nerves at the intensity which the Hand studied her with.

"Thank you, my lady." The prince lowered just enough to be in the newly timid girls eye line, forcing eye contact. "Your favour shall give me fortune enough for victory." He winked, small enough for only her eyes, she'd hoped. With a charming smile prince Baelor began his stroll toward his end of the tilt, head held high, waving to the stands of loyal subjects.

Y/n slunk back to her seat, curling her body inward in hopes to conclude with the endless perceiving she had just fallen victim to. She could not deny that interaction had made her flustered, as a princes affection is no small thing. No, she told herself, affection was not present. He was solely being kind, in respect to my father. Simply a formality.

The young lady of house Baratheon could not have been more misguided.

A/n: If u made it this far, thank u for reading :3 this is just part 1 bc im unfortunately a yapper and will make this a slow burn by accident. part 2 to come soon <3 hope u enjoy !

[imperial-nuisance-rudje]

i've seen a lot of "assign exaltations to media" posts recently and i wanted to get in on this, this time with final fantasy 14

major spoilers up to 7.0/Dawntrail! also, only hitting major msq characters bc i will actually lose my mind if i have to do all the side stuff and minor characters too, even though i know i'm already accidentally skipping some characters just bc the cast list is the size of the pacific and my brain is a bit fried.

"wait some of these aren't exaltations at all" sometimes it is more interesting if a heroic character is Just Some Guy

Meteor Survivor/Default Warrior of Light - Dawn Solar. It's not even close. The WoL is a very large hammer and all the world is a nail. Even their more magicy stuff they approach like a Dawn rather than a Zenith! Couple arguments that could be made for their Supernal, for trailer-WoL I'd probably go for Melee. Like I have to actively fight the game for every scrap of Not-Solar I give my own WoL, the default WoL is super fucking Solar-coded.

Minfilia - okay hear me out. she's an Exigent of Hydaelyn and her Exaltation passes down to specifically young girls who fit other certain criteria. “Oracle of Light, Minfilia” ends up a sobriquet that devours even the girls’ names in the end. 

Ryne - See above. Exigent of Hydaelyn, just one able to make her own name for herself after it all. 

Thancred - just some guy!!!!! Not an Exalt at all he's just some dude! the stealth thing he can do could easily be a mutation rather than a power related to Exaltation.

Urianger - mortal sorcerer up to 5.0, exalts as a lunar during the time gap. Can be talked out of this, it's a gut read. E: THE GUT READ IS BC HE DEALS SAFELY WITH THE FAE AND TRICKS THEM IN TURN. Changing Moon, definitely. Spirit shape is something both ominous and benefic in terms of omens.

Y’shtola - gut is that she's a mortal sorcerer but I'm not sure if/when she exalts. I feel like the best point for that if she does is actually in the future for her, assuming my read of the plot thread tea leaves is accurate. Assuming nothing else changes, probably a Solaroid, though you may be able to argue Infernal over Solar for her.

Lyse - Deeb, Fire Aspect, same as her sister. I don't have much reasoning for this, it just feels right.

G’raha - I have tried to come up with not this but he really is just the Exigent of the god of the Crystal Tower… You could probably argue for deeb, bc of the royal eye thing, but i feel very strongly that he hasn't Exalted when he first shows up and that pushes him over the deeb exaltation age limit and I personally need some kind of major explanation to accept breaking that rule and while the Crystal Tower could probably manage it... given the physical changes he shows as the Crystal Exarch in ShB I think it works better if it's a very costly (to the Exalt) Exigent exaltation.

Papalymo - Mortal sorcerer. He dies because it was the only way to fuel the spell caging Shinryu as a mortal.

Alphinaud & Alisaie - I'm torn with the twins, honestly. I lean towards them being mortals but you can definitely argue for them having an Exaltation, especially after Coils or ShB, and they're young enough to be late-bloomer deebs if you want them to light up mid-story.

Erenville - Believe it or not I do think he's an Exalt. He's a Wood Aspect Dragonblooded like his mom and he put all of his points into dealing with critters and logistics and lifting heavy things and absolutely none into combat. (You could probably also argue for Earth, honestly, I can't articulate why I feel so strongly about the Wood aspect.)

Wuk Lamat - Dawn Solar, with her Exaltation coming when she breaks through to reach the Queen Eternal again at the end of MSQ. Shockingly social-focused Dawn, but still a Dawn.

Aymeric - Air aspect Deeb. His idealism nearly gets his ass killed like three times I am not budging on this.

Haurchefant - Water aspect deeb. WAIT HEAR ME OUT: i know the easy answer is to slap Wood on him for horny crimes and call it a day, but the way the rest of his personality actually is he fits water way more, including the part where when he's at his limit he's an unstoppable terror that doesn't know restraint. I could also be convinced to assign him Fire. (He's too flexible for Earth and too practical/grounded for Air, imo.) It also fits with his family since the Fortemps we meet all kind of vibe as damp-adjacent at minimum.

Krile - Joke answer: Sidereal bc i nearly forgot to add her-- :V

More seriously, the whole "refugee from another reflection" thing makes assigning her an Exaltation difficult. Alt timelines exist in this game but reflections are explicitly not those, it's more akin to Autochthon's relationship to Creation, and (barring some serious ass-pulls from the writers in the patches) Krile is an ordinary woman in terms of physiology. She's also not dead or associated with death, so I guess that means there's four options she absolutely cannot be rather than ones she can be.

Zenos yae Galvus - Does not Exalt until after 4.0, where he rises as a Dusk Abyssal. Because it fits with how fucked up he is and StB/his arc that he, a mortal man, is able to cause problems until the WoL starts taking him seriously. I could also be open to him being a Casteless Lunar bc lunisolar bond w/WoL (I love a good Fated Nemesis and so would he) but in general I feel like his everything works better if he doesn't Exalt until he tries to remove his own head and it's important to his story that he is Very Dead-Seeming after that point which makes options very limited.

Varis zos Galvus - If he is an Exalt, he's a deeb. Earth aspect, but I could probably be talked into Fire too. The “if” is because I'm torn between him being a disappointment because he never Exalted or because he's the same aspect as his dad but never reached the same potential in grandpa’s eyes. The Garlean upper class generally maps surprisingly cleanly to Dynasts.

Emet-Selch - Honestly this applies to all three of the Unsundered, I'm just keeping the family together, but: I truly believe those three are narratively closer to Deathlords than anything else in Exalted, and I say this while also acknowledging that Zodiark is more like a Yozi than one of the Neverborn. I do not know how to square that circle.

Thordan - Deeb. Air or Earth aspect, either could work with his personality.

Sphene - Orichalcum Alchemical. Living-Sphene was mortal. (Why not liminal? Quite frankly, bc she is not made of meat and still retains her living memories, both of which are disqualifying factors.)

Zoraal Ja - Mortal. I think it adds to things if part of his violent insecurity is that he never lights up despite being his father's son.

Fandaniel - Could admittedly go with either Abyssal or Infernal, depending on what aspects of him you want to emphasize, but I personally see him as a Daybreak.

Gaius - Fire aspect deeb.

[guynamedultimax]

Giving Sonic characters an anime fighter-style makeover + dream roster for said anime fighter

So not too long ago, probably a year-ish, I wanted for a Sonic fighting game with Arc System Works graphics and gameplay (basically Guilty Gear Strive but for Sonic characters) and I was like "oh, imagine if it took place in an AU which is basically just my own take on post-SGW Archie but with characters from EVERY continuity and they all wear outfits that make them more urban or smth" I didn't have a lot of ideas for this AU but basically one of them was to make Sonic wear something like a bomber jacket that's more reminiscent of plane pilots (considering the fact that he was the original owner of the Tornado). I should have the drawing somewhere in my room, I'd just have to find it. I then kinda took a step back when I saw this:

(if someone is able to find who made the image above please send me the link to credit them, I know it's a Twitter image but I forgot the account)

This is a scrapped alt for Project M (for those of you living under a rock, the ORIGINAL Smash Bros. Brawl mod that made Brawl more like Melee and added Mewtwo and Roy back in the game) with Sonic wearing an outfit which is VERY CLOSE to that of his "humanized" version drawn by Uekawa. And after seeing this I'm like "y'know, he could wear this in Kingdom Hearts AND Guilty Gear and not bat an eye" (despite the fact that Guilty Gear designs have a shitload of belts).

I'd say a design like this could fit the vibe/aesthetic I'd be going for in a project that's essentially a Sonic fighting game in an AU which is made up of elements from all continuities. I know I also kept searching for a Shadow "equivalent" to this and I am so, SO torn between making essentially something similiar to the outfit above (so essentially either one of Shadow's outfits from Rivals) OR ramp up the edginess and make him wear something on the lines of this:

Horrible 90's Attire but it's Sonic Adventure 2 by Yanimae on DeviantArt (https://www.deviantart.com/yanimae/art/Horrible-90-s-Attire-But-it-s-Sonic-Adventure-2-705847763)

The cast would generally all have a clothes revamp and I'm gonna go over some of the most obvious ones:

-Tails should absolutely wear something that screams "I'm the smart prodigy" and I'm thinking he should get the bomber jacket I was gonna give to Sonic before seeing the PM scrapped alt -Treasure Hunter Knuckles like this is so obvious it's not even funny he fits perfectly with the tone, that's one of the top tier things Sonic Forces: Speed Battle did so far -same for Secret Agent Rouge (or alternatively her stealth outfit from Rivals 2 and Sonic X) and DJ Vector these are actually banger alts

-Amy wearing something on the lines of her Fleetway Comics outfit but with the colors of her more known outfit would rock ngl

-Eggman wearing an outfit similar to the one he wears in the first movie (so something like this https://twitter.com/RendersSSBU/status/1252674435342938113 ) -Metal Sonic having a new coat of paint that makes him more loyal to the Eggman Empire (essentially Chrome Metal from Speed Simulator) -Espio in his Ninja attire from Rivals 2 -Silver wearing some kind of Tron-esque time cop coat showcasing more that he's from the future or smth

-Blaze essentially wearing a more "regal" version of her regular outfit -Cream & Cheese dressed up like girl scout cookie sellers (its cute and it fits their personality) -ANGLER BIG ANGLER BIG ANGLER BIG ANGLER BI- -Omega possibly also receiving a coat of paint that shows he works for G.U.N with the rest of Team Dark

-Scrapnik Mecha Sonic and Scrapnik Mecha Knuckles enough said

-Surge cosplaying as Scourge. Hear me out on this one it makes SENSE-

This was more or less the roster I came up with for the fighting game itself

Mighty, Sage, Mecha Sonic by ShadowLifeman on DeviantArt Ray by Prime-01 on DeviantArt Nack, Bark, Mephiles, Infinite, Honey, Mecha Knuckles, Fleetway SS by ??? Classic Sonic by Kidd Kai on DeviantArt Bean by E-122 Psi on DeviantArt Zavok by Solbliminal on Twitter

Everyone else is from official SEGA art or from artists who worked with SEGA, template used from the DBFZ roster

Here's also a few details on each character and on some of the thought process behind this roster and/or gameplay:

-I considered a three button system a-la BlazBlue with an equivalent for a Drive that I haven't really developed in my brain, plus a Ring mechanic like Sonic Smackdown, where if you get hit with a strong attack you lose Rings and if you get said Rings you can heal back some of your health -The starting roster would mostly be Teams Sonic, Rose, Dark, Chaotix, Silver, Blaze, Gemerl, Eggman, Sage and Metal Sonic, with the final boss possibly being Mecha Sonic, the rest would be split among a few seasons of DLC -The only real characters I forced myself to include were Mimic and Rough & Tumble because I was running out of space to make a symmetric heroes-and-villains roster (and I originally considered for Surge & Kit to be a 2-in-1 deal like some of the Chaotix that would "mimic" a playstyle meant to evoke playing as both Sonic and Tails in Sonic 2) -Sonic himself would have a mix of moves between Frontiers and Smash Bros., but 90% of his Smash moveset would basically be used for Classic Sonic in general since he's 90% ball anyways there

-Everyone would have a movelist as big as that of the average Strive character (which makes sense when you look at how many unique techniques each character actually has from the wiki pages lol)

-Charmy and Ray are "built-in" assists like Android 17 for base DBFZ but I couldn't come up with full movesets for them sadly

-Super transformations are extremely hard installs to pull off (full meter stuff + super specific button inputs too) that make you utterly broken for a short amount of time at the cost of all your current red health (these include Super Sonic (both classic and modern), Super Shadow, Super Silver, Burning Blaze, Neo Metal Sonic and Super Mecha Sonic, possibly even Excalibur Sonic with the regular BK Sonic being instead used for the base form)

-I originally planned for Jet to call for Wave and Storm in battle but then I realized you could more or less flesh them out to be a bit more unique compared to him.

-Zavok is Ginyu from DBFZ, if you know you know

-Mephiles and Infinite LOOK LIKE they have the same "kit" but Mephiles' playstyle and game could and should definitely fit a shadow manipulator like him while Infinite is more of a guy who attacks aggressively at any distance

-Honey and the Hooligans would be essentially "translated" versions of their movesets from Fighting Vipers and Sonic the Fighters into an anime fighter environiment

-Emerl and Eggman Nega are alternate costumes for Gemerl and Eggman respectively (I did not use actual Emerl as the base because Gemerl has a cooler design and he does show up in comics these days) -I considered Lanolin to form a full Diamond Cutters team with Tangle and Whisper but I realized she hasn't done much so far action-wise to include her, so both her and Belle (for the same reason) could be assists for Whisper and Tangle respectively

-I ALSO considered Marine to be playable but she hasn't shown any actual powers beyond that one thing in the end of Sonic Rush Adventure which nobody ever really understood what it was- I recall Ian Flynn saying in the Encyclospeedia that it's water powers? eh, nobody really trusts that book anyways

-I'd find cute if other characters showed up in taunts and animations for the playables (like Chip for the Werehog, Vanilla for Cream, Froggy for Big, Tikal for Chaos, etc.) -Fleetway Super Sonic would essentially be the game's Omega Rugal (the extremely hard DLC boss you have to beat to unlock for playable use). Also he's voiced by Jacaris because I cannot picture any other voice for him at this point now sorry

-Instead of making Mecha Sonic and Mecha Knuckles full blown villains I'd make them anti-villains/anti-heroes where in the game's plot they don't immediately side with the heroes because they just wanna live in peace on Scrapnik Island

-Didn't add Archie characters because of space but if I DID do it, I would've done Sally (and made her another Ginyu with the rest of the Freedom Fighters) and/or Eclipse the Darkling

-Other scrapped characters from even earlier takes on the idea are Tekno from the Fleetway comics, Shade from Chronicles (deleted because of a horrible human being) and Longclaw from the movies

-Plot would happen in an original universe, again, but heavily focused on games and IDW, and essentially be dealt with like how Guilty Gear Xrd handled it (with multiple iterations of the same game progressing the plot): in the first "Phase", the one with only the base roster, Eggman is attempting to mess around with Ancient technology and data from the Starfall Islands to replicate the Phantom Ruby's powers, somehow "resurrecting" and/or "summoning" in the second "Phase" past villains, which causes the heroes (and, begrudgingly, Eggman, Sage and Metal) to call in for reinforcements/allies, and to search for the Chaos Emeralds so that they could stop the villainous rampage, with everyone mostly deciding to gang up on Mephiles, Infinite and the Deadly Six as they pose the bigger threats when combined together. A third and final "phase" would focus on the aftermath of the event (but more so specifically on Starline and his Imposters because I want them to get better in the public eye, I know a lot of people don't like IDW but I love the idea of Sonic having a more detailed Rogues Gallery in official SEGA-endorsed media)

Oh and that edgy Fist Bump remix from the Sonic Sessions is absolutely the intro theme to this game i'm not sorry.

That is all, thank you for coming to my rambling and stay hydrated. Just don't drink Dasani, it'd be like drinking poison (if you know you know)

[dalek-ix-writes-stuff]

Red Ruin - INTERVAL 02: FIRST ENCOUNTER (Part IV)

The girls didn't immediately spring into action; Blake and Weiss needed a few more details than just "jump down and help the two fighting the Death Stalker", and it wasn't like Ruby could just… put her plan into their heads.

"Uh, Nora's the with the revolver grenade launcher-hammer. Really loud."

Well, not without things going horribly wrong. She could give a… nudge, sort of, if she was gentle and careful and calm, but that had its own problems.

"Ren's her partner. Green outfit and machine-pistol hook-blades. He's trying to distract the Death Stalker long enough for Nora to get a hit in, but that bridge they're on doesn't give him much room."

And as unused as Ruby was at putting her plans to words, it was… surprisingly easy once she got going.

"Which is where you come in!"

"Let me guess: get behind the Death Stalker, keep it occupied, and then let… Nora crack that thing?"

"Uh, yep! Death Stalker armour can get really tough at that size. You need explosives, AP or high impact melee to get through. Freezing the joints is also a good idea."

She could get used to this, actually.

"You have a sniper ri-"

"Crescent Rose is a Super High Velocity Penetrator."

"… that thing. Whatever. Can't you crack that thing's skull from here?"

"Crescent Rose's stakes can go through, but they don't do enough damage on the other end."

"…Doesn't Armacham make a version of those things with a fire dust charge and a delayed fuse?"

"…Yes. They do. I, uh… I didn't bring any."

"I'm afraid to ask, but, why?"

"Because her Fire Dust privileges are suspended."

"That was two months ago, Yang!"

"Still suspended, Ruby."

Maybe. So long as she learned not to put her entire foot in her mouth. Or leave openings for certain older sisters to exploit.

"As fascinating as this is to watch as a single child, could we focus?"

"Y-yes. Anyways…"

----------

When in high-stress situations, the natural response is to tunnel vision. Focus on the threat directly ahead, or the task that needs to be done, blocking out every other distraction around you. This is to be expected; people who are distracted from the rampaging boarbatusk in front of them tend not to live very long, after all.

But there are situations where the noise behind you is what kills you, not the growling predator (or the angry foreigner with a sword) in front, and laser-like focus becomes your doom. Hence why, with training and experience, one can widen the 'tunnel', so to speak. Regain some more awareness of your surroundings; enough that one can react and be aware of what's going on, but not so much that you lose focus.

Pyrrha Nikos was the first to realize they're getting help, spotting two figures leap off the edge of the cliff, and onto one of the taller ruins. Lie Ren was the next one to do so, seeing Blake and Weiss hoping their way down the ruins. Nora saw what Ren was seeing and grinned as Team Monochrome (as Ruby rather insistently called them) got into position behind the Death Stalker.

----------

"Yang, fastball!"

----------

The first sign that Jaune got that he was getting reinforcements was when a red and black blur slammed into the back of the Giant Nevermore he was facing.

----------

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year."

Ozpin could feel Glynda rolling her eyes. "The 'Invincible Girl', the Schnee heiress, a boy who acts like he's never even held his own sword before…" A scoff. "Interesting is certainly one way put it. And that's before you get to… her."

Ozpin didn't miss the shudder from Glynda. "You can't say she didn't make an impression," he said, almost to himself, "even if it wasn't as positive as we might've wished."

"Ruby Rose and her sister brawled up and down the length of Patch for half an hour," Glynda deadpanned. "And don't even get me started on how much of her luggage is medication." Glynda's tone softened and became all the harsher for it. "This is not the right place for her."

Ozpin's own voice didn't falter, although even he couldn't keep his emotions from tinting it. "I'm not sure if there is a right place for Miss Rose," he countered, "But if there is…"

On the screens Glynda and he were watching, the fight began to turn…

----------

"No plan survives contact with the enemy."

Ruby struggled to remember things beyond a certain point; the red haze of her condition had made true consciousness a long and difficultjourney, and the few memories of her childhood she did have were all the more precious for her. One of those was a lesson from Qrow; he'd quoted that, and then told Yang and her that people would usually quip it whenever any plan went wrong, as if mocking the idea of having one at all.

Those people, Qrow had told her, didn't know what the hell they were talking about.

Don't remember what the full quote was –some old Atlaesian General said it way before the Great War, and he said it in Atlaesian anyways– but the best way to understand what he meant was like this; imagine you're trying to win a fight in a single swing, or with only one bullet. Unless you're absolutely, completely, positively swear-on-your-soul certain_ that that's all you're gonna need, you'd be crazy to think that. So, you need more; multiple swings, multiple bullets, different kinds of both._

And the real trick; knowing where to use which.

The initial part of the plan went off exactly as Ruby expected. Blake and Weiss dropped right behind the Death Stalker. A slash from Gambol Shroud got the beast's attention, and a wave from Myrtenaster covered the leg joints in ice just as it turned to face them. It roared with Hate, and a volley of grenades from Nora (Ruby wished she'd gotten to know what her weapon's name was) sent it stumbling as it tried to react to the new threat.

Before the Nevermore could intervene, Yang threw her.

Ruby became a blur of crimson petals. The world seemed to be too slow and too fast at once; stretched by her own speed into a smear of colours. It was difficult to focus on anything besides what was directly in front of her, and even then, Ruby's vision was distorted.

So Ruby Rose closed her eyes.

After all, she'd never needed eyes to See.

Crimson unreality fills her mind's eye. She Sees the Quiet Vengeance and the Roaring Thunder, the Icy Blade and Bloody Shadow, frozen as they clash with the mass of ENEMY between them.

(Idly, Ruby noted that The Things which were and weren't Weiss and Blake didn't have nearly as many barbs and blades pointed at each other as before. Improvement!)

She Sees the Untouchable Idol standing like a breakwater against the larger ENEMY, and the Paper? Knight quivering and fluttering beside her.

(Ruby caught the difference. The Thing which was and wasn't Jaune Arc had to cling to The Thing that was and wasn't Pyrrha Nikos to stand, but it was standing. Hm. Hm.)

She Sees it all, feels the Roaring Fire's familiar warmth behind her (and also always, always with her) and focuses on the ENEMY she'd chosen to DIE.

Ruby willed herself forwards.

Faster.

Faster!

Faster!

(She wondered if she'd ever moved this fast.)

Faster!!

The faster she goes the deeper Crescent Rose's blade will tear into her Enemy. The deeper the wound she makes is the faster it will Die. The faster it Dies the sooner she can Kill more- tooclose!

The mass of petals and speed she'd become coalesces into a single point and suddenly Ruby's a lance of red and black, of flesh and steel and bone and Wrath. She'd miscalculated and turned back too early, or she'd flinched and slowed herself down out of reflex when the collision loomed too large, and even though Crescent Rose bites deep and the Nevermore's scream of pain is like music to her ears, the wound is that tiny bit too shallow or too small to be the killing blow she wants.

"Holy-!"

Ruby's faintly aware of Jaune almost stumbling back as she squeezes the trigger. Oxygen and aerosolized fuel ignite in the chamber and Crescent Rose roars her wrath, a 10mm spike driving deep into the Nevermore. Ruby's hands fly across the bolt, a touch of semblance and more making it move faster than any other action could've done, and Crescent Rose fires again.

But the blade's not deep enough, or the variable muzzle break's not set up right, or both, and the recoil pulls Crescent Rose out of the wound she made enough that the Nevermore's thrashing tosses Ruby and her weapon away.

Enormous black wings spread, and the Grimm screeched with hatred and pain as it took off; still too injured to truly fly, so instead the hop just brought it up to perch the roof of the tower.

Ruby falls. The world flashes crimson, and then she's not; now she was standing on the bridge, Crescent Rose in hand, glaring up at the Nevermore with just as much hated as the Grimm's own glowering gaze.

Ruby took a deep breath and planted Crescent Rose's bottom spike on the ground, letting the familiar presence of her sweetheart ground her as she Feltthe world around her. Blake and Weiss were still getting in each other's way, the Death Stalker hadn't been cracked open…

What went wrong, what went right, what can we do from here, what more do we need, what more can we try?

Ruby steadied herself, closed her eyes, and then her mind reached upwards to give the roaring flame that was and wasn't her sister a well-practiced nudge. Tiny, faint, not even the thought of a thought. You'd have to know what to feel beforehand to even know it was there, and only the most basic of ideas could be transmitted, one at a time; closer, away, me, you, yes, no. The mental equivalent of monosyllables.

Ruby felt her sister go from concern and impatience to shock, then confusion, and then a hearth-warm surge of pride that made Ruby smile; two months of practice had paid off.

That's my little sister.

Yang dropped from above, and Ruby Rose pushed forwards.

Next swing, next bullet, next plan.

[alexilulu]

GAMES I PLAYED OF THE YEAR 2023, #2

(Previously: #1)

Razzies Award Runner-Up For Most Baffling Game Of 2023: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment)

(I know, I thought the colon was after Star Wars, too)

I didn’t know where Respawn would go after Fallen Order. I mean, obviously, they had to make more of it, they made a pretty damn competent video game. Fallen Order has a certain panache for combat, the feeling of being one dude against an army never being more clear than the fourth time I get domed by a Stormtrooper with a rocket launcher because I was too busy parrying the melee guy he’s gonna murder in the backblast to remember to force push it away in time. Playing on Jedi Master actually made me feel the same way that Dark Souls did, a feat so rare in the space now that we’ve expanded the universe of Soulslike beyond all comprehension that it was actually delightful to eat shit to some of those bosses.

Mostly.

But the ending of that game gave me so much joy that I couldn’t really fathom a second entry, at first. Sure, the expansion of the post-Order 66 era of Star Wars is continuing under the new leadership, but it’s a fairly small era (17 years, just about, thanks to the whole “Luke and Leia born after Order 66” thing). How much room do they have to play here, really? And what could really be told now, beyond the continued adventures of Cal Kestis and BD-1? 

Well…

They came up with something. It was an idea they had, all right. But maybe it should have stayed on the drawing board. 

Okay, if we’re gonna talk about this, I have to get this off my chest first. I’m a Star Wars dweeb.My favorite Star Wars movie is the Last Jedi, because of how it muddies the waters and says ‘hey, the Jedi were an anachronism in their own time, and the world has moved on’ and ‘the lines of war are not so clean in the modern era’ and ‘fuck, that shot of the hyperdrive crash was so sick’. My favorite Star Wars game is Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Obsidian Entertainment)! I’m not like other girls! 

And I have strong opinions about the Post-Revenge timeline, or more specifically, how many Jedi survive Order 66. For me, this comes down to a thing I find really interesting in media, and how the world works: How people find direction when they aren’t given any way to go. 

Post-Revenge, the Empire is ascendant, having just won the fake war and successfully crushed every element of dissent in the galaxy under a swift military expansion that has given the evil man in power, George Bush Jr With A Skin Condition, unlimited power to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. The world is different now than under the Republic, and everywhere you turn, the Empire looms. What do you do to meaningfully oppose something you disagree with that is omnipresent and powerful beyond reckoning, besides oppose it and die trying to do anything at all?

Ultimately,There’s a lot of hay to be made here, but we’ll keep it simple so this doesn’t go crazy. The Jedi who survive Order 66 issue is pretty cut and dry, if you’re a movie purist: Yoda says that Luke will become the last Jedi in the galaxy when he dies in RotJ. It’s pretty simple! No more Jedi! Last of his kind, etc etc etc. But it’s been 30 years since that movie aired, and we’re a few hundred pieces of Star Wars media away from where it started, Legends canon or no. Some of them are even primary canon now, like Ahsoka Tahno, the erstwhile apprentice of Anakin Skywalker.

But how many Jedi are alive just in Fallen Order? And how many more make it to Jedi Survivor?

We have Cal Kestis, our ginger protagonist, a padawan who survived Order 66 with his Master’s lightsaber and hid for a decade to grow up, get found out and run around the galaxy fucking up. There’s Cere, the new master he finds along the way. There’s Trilla, the fallen apprentice of Cere, now Second Sister. There’s Ninth Sister, the big hulking one who you fight all of twice and survives the game. There’s a one-note fallen Master on Dathomir, who turns up out of nowhere and gets chumped. And there’s Merrin, the Dathomiri Nightsister who practices Magick (the k is important) using the Force, so she counts. And Vader comes in for a splashy send-off to the game in a brutally scary no-win fight and escape sequence in which you are carefully reminded why that guy is the scariest motherfucker in the galaxy. That makes 7. 

A bit more than the Last Jedi, eh?

Ultimately, this is a victim of the fact that they’re making a video game. You can fight stormtroopers with cortosis shock batons all day, but if you’re playing a Jedi game, you want to cross sabers with another Jedi/Sith. It’s just the order of the day. It makes sense! The Jedi fights in Fallen Order are good! I dismissed the one-note Master but he actually had a good fight in a Dathomiri temple that felt good to go back to every time i got fucking dumpstered.

It makes things more fun to have a Jedi thrown into this time of lawlessness and oppression, where the strong are taking the chance to crush the weak with the Empire’s tacit blessing; raiders on the Outer Rim are bleeding the territories dry, often at the Empire’s behest. Throwing the tattered Jedi remnants into that world makes sense instinctively with the world they’ve made, and with the influences Star Wars draws on.

The average person knows by now that Star Wars is drawing equally from Westerns that influenced George Lucas, but also the samurai movies coming out of Japan that influenced those Westerns. A world of fallen morals and people barely surviving gets so much more textured when the Last Good Samurai enters the equation. Putting someone with an unflinching moral code in a bad position and telling them not to blink is fun storytelling! Watching them contort themselves into knots to survive it is so fun! We love that shit! Hell, I love that shit, as much as I’m complaining about it!

So, in Jedi Survivor, we have Cal, Cere returns, Ninth Sister finally dies, Merrin returns with gusto (great expanded role for her here, though it baffles me that she’s straight), the High Republic fallen Jedi Dagan Gera (more on him later, but he dies), Eno Cordova (was dead in the last game, but turns out he wasn’t, but then he dies again, so okay), and Bode Akuna, the final deuteragonist-to-antagonist of the game. And Darth Vader again, in a what feels like obligatory role where he fights Cere to a draw. So…7, again. But…

The Hidden Path debuts here (OKAY, LOOK, the Hidden Path debuts in Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Disney+ show. But I fucking hope you didn’t watch that. I did. And I regret every minute of it I spent watching it), an underground railroad for Jedi. It’s basically not referred to beyond that Cere and Eno are running a cell of it and that there are other cells, but it DOES mean that there are enough other Jedi who survived that they are actively forming whisper networks to get Jedi out of bad places and into the dilapidated ruins they were meant to be living in (it’s their native environment). 

So we have 7 + (1±X, where X is the number of other Jedi in the galaxy, minus already-named characters) Jedi in Jedi Survivor. So basically, Palpatine is a fucking rube who didn’t even get his perfect felling blow right, I guess? So…not great, but fine. It’s…acceptable. The number even goes down significantly more in this one, because 5 of those original 7 in Fallen survive, but only 4 survive in Jedi Survivor! It’s a miracle, we killed 1 net Jedi! Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on Palpatine, they’re clearly a fucking pain to make die for real.

Anyway. This is all besides how I feel about the actual plot of Jedi Survivor. 

Yeah.

The plot…is kind of stupid. Cal Kestis is working with Saw Gerrera, the Partisans (faction of the Resistance, not yet the Rebellion, natch) figure who went on to use a weird tentacle monster to brainfuck Riz Ahmed in Rogue One and then died when they fired the first Death Star test shot at him. He’s stealing info, and his op goes bad and all his boys get murdered besides newfound buddy Bode Akuna, a jetpacking charming rogue with two pistols and a lot of chest. Cal goes and gets into some hijinks with his old buddy who used to fly his ship until everyone parted under mysterious circumstances a few years ago (after the end of Fallen Order, when they swore to find as many potential Jedi as they could together). 

This is where the High Republic intrudes. Ancient ruins on the planet they’re on point towards a long-forgotten Jedi presence on this planet, with hints leading to another planet hidden in a nearby nebula that is considered unnavigable and a death trap. They learn that that planet was an abandoned Jedi temple in the High Republic, where Dagan Gera fought for a Jedi temple on a fount of Force power to be built until it was mysteriously raided by an unknown force that somehow also got to the lost planet. Cal wakes up Dagan Gera, who literally turns evil in front of you and runs off to complete his centuries-old evil plot to…go back to that planet and just live there?

A lot of this story is about the toll being A Survivor takes on you. Cal watches a bunch of really good buddies he totally knows a lot about die in the tutorial level on Coruscant, and he’s still got all his old hangups about surviving his master, being a Jedi in a galaxy ruled by the Sith, yadda yadda. He’s lost his drive to fight the Empire, having summarily abandoned working for Saw Gerrera in the interest of just taking a break, and into his lap falls the ultimate leave forever button in the form of this lost planet. He sees it and he can’t help but think “hey, I did my part, I sacrificed a lot for the cause, and I’m done”. 

Bode Akuna agrees on this! He’s a tough guy and he’s got a tough daughter and a dead wife and he just doesn’t want to deal with any of this anymore. He wants to bring his daughter home and create a life with her away from all this Empire shit. It gets where it wants to pretty quick here: This planet Cal found is the ultimate chance to just say No to everything and give it all up. Just live a clean, simple life away from it all, forever.

It’s an interesting thing, sort of. Fallen Order is a game so concerned with survival, that Jedi Survivor basically has to be about finding any meaning at all in a galaxy ruled by evil. It feels like it’s actually got something to say here…but it doesn’t, really. 

The turning point of the game is roughly ¾ of the way through, when Dagan Gera is defeated and you claim the mcguffin that will help you fly to Treasure Planet. But before that happens, you meet Cere and Eno and learn about the Hidden Path, the selflessness of the non-Jedi who are fighting to help them survive. And Cal, he’s a Jedi through and through, for better or worse. So he says to Bode, hey, we’re going to turn this planet into a safe haven for the Hidden Path, and we’ll bring everyone we can here to create a stronghold against the Empire.

This is when Bode (every time I think about his name, i think about (INSERT PHOTO OF BODE.JPG HERE) reveals that he is a former deep cover infiltrator Jedi who was undercover when Order 66 started, who avoided every bit of the Empire that chased him with stealth and subterfuge, until an Imperial Security Bureau he worked with outed him and he became their pet Jedi to do evil missions with. So he’s compromised every moral he has to survive, and will do anything to take his daughter back from the ISB and flee this hellish galaxy with her, so that she can be raised safe.

He’s the Jedi Survivor, not you (I literally said out loud to myself OH, HE’S THE JEDI SURVIVOR as he had his big heel turn speech).

This is when Bode kills Eno Cordova, takes the mcguffin, and flies there with his daughter after you have a big temper tantrum about it and unlock the power of the dark side for yourself a little bit. So you go hunt him down after some double mcguffin reacharound bullshit to get there, and you tell his daughter some nice platitudes and Merrin takes her out of the room so you can put him down like a dog.

The end of the game is him burning on a pyre while you, Merrin and his daughter watch. 

Ultimately, it was a game that at least had some kind of a semblance of a full story ready from beginning to end. It had plenty of things to do (the collectible quotient was WAY higher this time, to its detriment) and the newly added stances, a crossguard lightsaber that is straight up just Kylo Ren and a blaster-and-saber stance that i spent 100% of the game playing once acquired, were great fun to play around with.

I just don’t think it was very good, is all. I don’t know what in god’s name the third Star Wars will be, but I know it will be fought with lightsabers and blasters. 

(sorry. Sorry. I’m trying to delete it)

[milesonthenet]

Fusionfall: Cartoon Network's BIZARRE thought experiment!

Welcome back to the House of Milesverse, focused on some things comics, some things Transformers, and some things uh - other things.

Today we'll be talk about a special part of my childhood. I've always considered myself a CN kid more than any othr network. Nickelodeon just did not interest me, and i wasn't into Avatar or anything. But i did like Invader Zim. And my 'love' for Disney only came from the movies, and Kingdom Hearts.

But Cartoon Network? That was a different story. I loved Cartoon Network, and it was the network i watched the most. It just had a lot of fun stuff that kid-me was into.

Kid-Me loved Ben 10, and he really did enjoy Dexter's Laboratory. He'd sit down and watch Powerpuff Girls, or Cow & Chicken. He used to watch Scooby-Doo with his grandma. He even enjoyed early Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Steven Universe.

Total Drama, Johnny Test, The Secret Saturdays, Generator Rex, Teen Titans, Johnny Bravo. There was no limit to the amount of stuff that I'd watch. My entertainment wasn't just playing games or on the computer. It was sitting in front of the TV and seeing what I enjoyed.

But you know what Kid me loved that had - probably most of these things in them?

Well if you weren't clued in by the opening title, I'll show you;

This game got me into playing later MMO games like Elsword and DC Universe Online. It was familiar, it had all sorts of cartoon network characters in it. It remains a big point of my childhood because of it.

So today? Put on your nostalgia lenses. As House of MilesVerse presents it's own miniature REVIEW of;

CARTOON NETWORK UNIVERSE: FUSIONFALL

Making of Fusionfall

Fusionfall's story begins with Cartoon Network and one of their first 'big' forays into gaming. The game was published by Cartoon Network, with a business model planned out by Turner Entertainment. Its developers were Grigon Entertainment, a south korean studio chosen for their art style.

Speaking of? Fusionfall's art style is definitely interesting. It portrays the setting with more anime-esque styling. Characters still retained some of their cartoony looks, however, so while it was different, it still worked.

In the game however, it uh, was an interesting experiment.

Admittedly? Eddy isn't the weirdest looking one here. THAT award goes to;

That's Jake, as in Jake the Dog. He looks like that and is one of the only NPCs with no animations. He's just static, his eyes boring deep into your soul...

Jake knows what you did.

Anyways, Fusionfall is an MMORPG where you play as an avatar. You have some limited but still versatile customization options. Your character uses many weapons, including rifles, pistols, rockets, and melee weapons.

Original? Academy?

The game had two different versions, with one ultimately replacing the other. The original was available from 2009-2011 and gave you a simple story. Your character was a hero testing out a time machine, who wound up trapped in the future. You begin a quest to come back to the past, and eventually you return with the knowledge needed to create nanos.

Don't worry about that, we will get into that bit later.

After the birthday bash, the game's tutorial and introduction was overhauled. Newer characters were added - or at least new for when the game was out. For example? Finn, Jake, Generator Rex, and the Sym-Bionic Titan were all new additions, alongside Chowder, flapjack, and the Saturdays. In addition? Mordecai, Rigby, Gumball, and Darwin were all represented through Nanos.

This version of the game is Academy, which lasts from 2011-2013 when the game inevitably shut down its servers. Academy gives you two bonuses for your character: gliding and dodging. Your multidirectional dodge lets you move from front, back, or side to side.

The overhaul changed your origin story too. You train in the null void (it's a Ben 10 thing), and then Providence. Eventually after completing enough missions, you're sent off to get your guide, completing the tutorial.

Your Guides:

The game had four guides available to you at the start. The good thing about them is that you could change missions. You could swap from one guide to another, but you would start at the first level. If you chose to swap back, then you would be able to resume from your initial position.

These four guides are:

Ben Tennyson

Edd, aka 'Double D'

Dexter

And Mojo Jojo

The guides all have different missions too. Dexter wants to find out where the missing heroes from the world are. Ben Tennyson wants to make sure Lord Fuse (We'll get to that) doesn't get his hands on alien technology. These two are pretty simple.

Mojo Jojo wants to build an army of super-monkeys powered by Chemical X and fusion matter to defeat Lord Fuse. Naturally, the player foils his schemes each time - thanks to Mandy, and Dexter, - because he's evil.

Edd is... not what I would have expected, but he wants to stop Fuse from gaining buried candy and treasure maps. I'm surprised at his inclusion, especially compared to the others. But I think he also helps appeal to the comedic leanings of Cartoon Network.

What's the story?

Now we get to the FUN bit!

Fusionfall's story centers on a connected setting between the TV Series. The events of Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Ben 10, and Ed, Edd n Eddy are all connected. All the characters know each other, and everything is united.

The main 'threat' of the series is Planet Fusion, a large gooey planet that's assimilated other worlds. This time it wants to assimilate Earth, breaking it down like it's done to many worlds. The various heroes of the Cartoon Network universe unite to stop Planet Fusion from taking their planet.

This isn't just an easy fight for the heroes, though. Planet Fusion creates dangerous monsters made out of fusion matter to terrorize the people. Worse, they've created evil doppelgangers of our favorite CN characters, named Fusions!

It's a big war between two sides, and your character's caught in the middle. As mentioned above, your character is accidentally sent to the future. He returns to the past with the nano blueprints, so that the resistance may have a fighting chance against Fuse.

Now? It's you, the legendary hero, helping take down Fuse's forces across the world. You lose, Fuse.

The Fusions, and the Nanos

This has been stated above, but it would be easier to hop through it again. The Fusions are evil doppelgangers of your favorite Cartoon Network characters. They may look similar, but they are not nice, and exist to help Planet Fusion move his goals along.

Fusions are always found in fusion lairs, which are in infected zones. Infected Zones are the areas most communicated with fusion matter. There are many infected zones, and they all require you talk to a Dexbot to get in.

In these infected zones, you will usually find more than one fusion lair. This is where the Fusions lurk - are you tired of hearing the word 'fusion'? Don't be, we've got a long way to go. Entering the fusion lair usually requires you fight your way through a horde of monsters, and then the fusion itself.

When the fusion finally dies, you get a nano, made from a personal item of the character, fusion matter, and your own imagination energy. This is just the story reason though, the video game reason is just "kill this fusion, and get a nano". It's adorable, by the way.

Nanos have special abilities, which come in a set of three. With a nano you can get bonus fusion matter from missions, have extra money, make monsters fall asleep, sneak past monsters, and more. You only get to pick one ability, but don't fret, you can change it later.

I always look back and think the Nanos are a refreshing gimmick. Imagine being able to carry a chibi-fied version of Mojo Jojo around. They come with their own voice lines too, with higher-pitched voices.

The base game had around 36 nanos which you gained for each level. Academy added a few notable bonuses, with nanos themed off of more-recent CN characters. In addition, you could use a code to gain access to a nano.

The inevitable shutdown (and potential successors):

August 29, 2013, saw Fusionfall close its servers and shut down. I didn't understand it at the time, but I moved on. It was a sad moment for many fans who had gotten attached to the game series.

Other successors have tried to follow the game series. Fusionfall Retro was released as a revival of the original game before the Academy relaunch. Fusionfall Legacy was going to be released as an upscaled version of the original game with additiona l content.

Both games were struck down by a DMCA issued by Cartoon Network. Retro was removed entirely, and Legacy was canceled before release. Retro is playable through 'Retrobution', a modified spin on Retro.

In addition, both the original and academy games are playable after years of being 'gone'. This is through OpenFusion, an unofficial server that preserves both original iterations of the game. Retrobution is also made using this server.

Conclusion:

Fusionfall was a big part of my childhood, especially as a CN Kid. I'm glad i got to make those memories while playing it. However, I never got to beat the original game because i stopped playing.

Things are different now, and after playing on Openfusion, I managed to beat all 36 levels. I was happy to finally see that through. If I could time travel, I'd go back, and fist-bump my younger self. We finally did it, and we saw it through to the end.

Fusionfall was a cute idea, and the strength of its concept alone could prove useful. However, I don't think it could find an audience in today's market. Outside of old fans, I'm not sure if 'new' kids are as attached to cartoon network as the past few generations were.

Regardless? It could be cool to imagine what it would be like now. Better game engines combined with better controls. Newer cartoon network series like Steven Universe, We Bare Bears, or Craig of The Creek. You could even throw in some oddballs, like Scooby-Doo.

I sure hope you all had fun reading this one. I'll be back later on with another dig. Maybe I can show you guys why I love the Cybertron Transformers games so much. After all, they are also a part of my childhood!

The time is now. The hero is you.

[cswizzledizzle]

Random observations of the trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee, because I thought they were interesting - Part 5

Last time, I ended off with some examples of the unique Japan Only trophies. But what about trophies based on things that aren't even out yet?

Before Animal Crossing had a stage or character in Smash, it had trophies under the label of "Future Release" for the states, with the game hitting shelves for us about a year later. While there are some changes between their appearance here and in the English release of the game, such as Tom Nook's apron or Mr. Resetti's outfit, the most interesting one of the group to me is K. K. Slider trophy, where he is called Totakeke, his Japanese name. He's named after Kazumi Totaka, a composer for Nintendo who voices Yoshi and many other characters for the company. One of those characters happen to be...

Captain Olimar of the Pikmin series, who happens to make an early bird cameo here before he joined the fray in Brawl.

Another Future Release trophy, Alpha originates from the video game Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest. But to my knowledge, this creature is not named Alpha in the game. However, my absolute favorite type of trophies are random oddities that don't belong to the more well known Nintendo series or games. I especially love seeing the developers creating these NES/Famicom characters in 3D, using their artwork as a frame of reference or just straight up reimagining some as if they got newer games. They're so damn cool to me, I want more trophies like these. Here are a couple that stand out to me.

Sorry Pit, you'll get your reimagining next game!

Ayumi Tachibana has always stuck out to me the most out of all of these, because she's just a typical Japanese school girl compared to all these strange, but colorful characters. She was also briefly considered to be a playable character, but according to the Smash series director, Masahiro Sakurai, in a NicoNico guest chat interview(?), she was dropped due to a lack of an overseas presence. Poor lass, if only her games came over to the west just before Melee. Perhaps then she would've stood a better chance, unlikely as it may be. I'd love to see how her moveset would've turned out, given she comes from a visual novel adventure game. To close off this post, here are two trophies I think are awesome.

A great lil' guy to give you more fun trivia for how Japan did their own add on that never made it to the west.

And a cute meta reference that makes me super disappointed that later games did not have a Wii, 3DS, or Wii U trophy for their own Smash games. Next time might be the last part of this mini-series. As per usual, to those that have gotten this far, thank you for giving this post the time out of your day/night to read more of my inane ramblings.

[ragnar0c]

Oc Brainrot 💖

I have the craziest ship in my head... and its literally only me who ships it. Remember when I brought up my oc Mel and then I mentioned Alope 😭

THEY'RE SUCH A FUNNY PAIRING TO ME!!

Rich Girl with a savior complex, poor girl with a savior complex...

Mel already has a thing for women with long hair who are buff (see Tankei) I literally think Mel would just fall in love with Alope on SIGHT. Alope's strong, but she's also super silly and filled with ardor. Like she'd instantly click with Mel even if the first thing she said was ridiculous (Mel thinks its charming).

Mel would want to take care of her, but Alope hates when there's an unbalanced dynamic like that in any sort of relationship. So Alope would probably lash out (lash out as in she panicks and makes Mel realize how privileged she is). And after that Mel would have to humble herself and see that Alope isn't some poor girl who needs a sugar daddy. She wants to make her own way out of the hole.

Mel's solution? Go adventuring with Alope! Help her make the money herself! Be her knight, but also Mel is bad at using melee weapons so she can go "Eek! Alope save me!" Alope would EAT THAT UP!!!

And after knowing Mel for a while I think then Alope would reciprocate it. <- which is another reason why I think Alope is demiromantic

I mean Alope probably also thought Mel was cute, but like I said in the post comparing the two. Mel is more naive. Like YES i wrote Alope dumb but she's way less naive than Mel and even Hana i think. And naive people- Naive adults- are one of Alope's pet peeves. So it would take her a while to feel anything Romantic for Mel. (Though yes, this means it was very possible she felt non romantic attraction to Mel before it all.)

[taiblogcomics]

A Bright Start

Hey there, minigun fights. All right, I'd like to do a little experiment here. I'll get to the actual theme of this experiment when we finish! Let's just enjoy the ride 'til then, eh? So then! Well, we've reviewed one marketed-to-girls '80s cartoon-turned-comic series. Why not another one? No, not the one you're thinking of!

Here's the cover:

Yeah! Are you surprised? Did you even know there was a modern Rainbow Brite reboot? This is honestly a pretty good glow-up, transitioning the character from the cute cartoony style to a realistic one without actually losing any of the charm or what made it work. Really good! Love the shading, too! I think the dramatic lighting effects and the nostalgia factor will snag in the readers alone with this one. And the character design is appealing enough that it should hopefully draw in new readers! Hopefully… (This is foreshadowing.)

So we open with a fantasy novel being read. It's not even one of those "in media res" things that leads to a fake-out, you're blatantly shown the novel as it opens. It's your standard "Oh, the evil forces, including a dragon and a skeleton army, are attacking! Who can save the poor peasant people??" And then, of course, two heroes appear! It's Willow, the wizard, and Wisp, the warrior! Magic and melee! Swordfighter and spellcaster! Your classic duo! And as they begin to fight off the vast hordes of evil, Willow can hear her name being called.

See, turns out Willow and Wisp are a pair of kids in standard suburbia. I dunno who's naming their kids "Wisp", but she is a blonde-haired white girl, so it kind of tracks. Maybe it's short for Wispethany or Wispamantha. Anyway, it's Wisp outside yelling for Willow to come play pretend with her. Fittingly, it's wizards and warriors again, so this must be a mutual thing they're into. Willow yells back that it's called LARPing, and Wisp doesn't care, just come play. So Willow goes charging outside, after briefly being waylaid by her strict-seeming parents.

The two friends meet up, and Wisp gushes over Willow's newly finished wizard robe. Wisp also wants to make herself armour, noting she wants to actually learn to forge it. Okay, this kid is definitely cool. The pair head out in the woods to do their pretends, although they don't get too far into it before Wisp gets hungry. So they head back home, do more pretend, and it honestly takes me back to when I was a kid. Both solo and with myself or the neighbour kids, I played a lot of pretend. Eventually, though, it's time for Wisp to go home.

Wisp is dropped off at her house, and her mom is already asleep on the couch, having left a note and dinner for Wisp. Wisp even does her own dishes, brushes her teeth, and is just about to get ready for bed when she hears a noise outside. Despite the rain, Wisp fetches her wooden sword and heads out to see what's banging around. And what she finds is some bizarre, formless shadowy creatures. They've drained all the colour out of her mom's blue car. Undaunted, Wisp readies her blade. And then the creatures notice Wisp is also wearing blue…

They lunge for her, and Wisp slips from their grip and strikes one in the face. They're rather surprised that she's able to both see and hit her, so they begin a chase. Wisp slips off down the street, and while running, she encounters something even stranger than the formless beings. It's a little floating man or creature with white hair, a belt bag, and star-tipped antennae. He introduces himself as a sprite named Twinkle, and at least acknowledges that meeting a sprite is unusual for her. I'm more shocked Wisp can keep up as much conversation as she does while running for her life.

Twinkle gives a bit of an exposition dump that somehow also fails to convey anything: the Guardian of Blue was recently captured, so the King of Shadows has sent his minions to drain blue from anything they can. While it's not immediately useful, it might explain some things. Rather than ditch her shirt and run around topless--which might lead to a very different comic--Wisp asks if there's any other way to stop the minions. Twinkle suggests a bright enough source of white light might fizzle them out, and Wisp gets an idea.

She continues her run down the street, heading for Willow's house. Willow's folks have a security system installed, which includes some automatic floodlights, and she reasons that might be enough to beat back the shadows. Hearing her friend's shouts, Willow awakens and sees what's going on in her yard. Thinking quickly, she uses her LARPing staff to smash the window, which triggers the security system and floodlights. The very bright lights cause the shadows to disappear--and Wisp disappears too! Willow and her parents find the yard empty except for Wisp's sword, and Wisp instead finds herself in a grayed-out landscape as Twinkle welcomes her to Rainbow Land.

Well! As an issue one, this is a great start. Very much the start of any sort of adventure cartoon like I remember in my youth. A kid or two, they encounter a villain's minion encroaching in the real world, they get whisked off (or perhaps, wisped off?) to another world for magical adventures. You've seen it a million times, but honestly, it's a winner of a setup. It two-fold gets you invested in seeing where it goes next.