#what do i do? theres no way to heal the damage of my existence

[caffeinatedopossum]

I feel like I'm going to throw up, there's something so wrong with me and with the world. It's not okay, how can anyone be okay

[majorasnightmare]

the tadpole/brain damage thing. its like. chekovs gun to me. obviously theres very little mechanical support ingame for having a disabling injury, aside from maybe an optional voluntary decision to drop the INT score, but similarly to choosing to write intention into the lack of dark urge Lore responses from the party, i just like to make mountains out of molehills and force game mechanics into In Universe Character Problems

like when dirge repeatedly mentions that he thinks the tadpole is doing something beneficial for him, that its helping him, it isnt JUST the power-hungry psionic ambition in him. its a parasite, that needs a host. it needs a LIVING host, or its own chances of survival plummet. and dirge gets tadpoled right after a life threatening injury to the tadpoles preferred habitat. neither of them want to die!! dirges body tries to recover, but cant in part BECAUSE of the tadpole (the netherese stasis magic rejecting outside influence and binding it to its host, having an unejectable foreign object in the injury site, etc), but its not like the tadpole WANTS its host to have a life altering injury

its not like its malicious (except when it comes to Hive Activity, and then it can be a right bastard), it just cant live any other way. it cant help what it is. halsin calls the illithid life cycle abberant and unnatural, but brood parasitism exists throughout the natural kingdom. is the wasp egg evil for having been laid in a caterpillar?

its first moments of life outside the brine pool, and its new home, its new life, its host, its caregiver, its food supply, is bleeding and dying and falling apart and trying to fix itself but cant and its trying to heal around you but it cant but if it doesnt do anything youll both die, so this larva, this tiny worm of psionic potential and instinct, does what it can. holds its host together with whatever force it can muster, soft gelatinous body (perfect for compreesing flat and squeezing through small orifice openings) keratinizing outside the acidic environment of the brine, its four oral tentacles (its only source of motion and movement when so young and soft, dragging itself along as best it can) made for interweaving with dense synapse clusters to passively absorb the psionic imprint of its host, now desperately intwined with bleeding meat just to try and hold it all together. driven by survival instict and a vessel of psychic potential, forced into passivity by the commands of the Elder, further forced by circumstance to leverage all its great gifts to keep its host standing long enough to eventually eat

my thought is that the reason why dirge still gets the cutscene of the emperor tadpoling him at the beginning of the game, is that the original tadpole orin forced on him is just so weakened and exhausted by months of effort trying to keep him alive through kressas experiments and meddling, that the emperor, currently in thrall to the absolute, feels the need to replace it with a fresher healthier specimen, which then cannibalizes and absorbs the previous one, and then just has to go back to doing the same shit as the last one.

i think that dirges tadpole isnt as twitchy or squirmy as the others because of it. that when omeluum gives him a psychic MRI, the tadpole is just burrowed down and its tendrils stretched like a dense net throughout dirges brain tissue, only moving or writhing occasionally but definitely not as mobile as usual, its web of tendrils especially twisted near dense scar tissue at the back of his head. this worm is already so fucking weird and the circumstances for this mind flayer MRI have already introduced a bajillion different variables that need accounting for, that i dont think omeluum immediately groks the specifics of whats going on but CAN peg the "you have brain damage and your worm is fucking Weird" situation fairly easily. but i dont think it gets enough time in dirges head to get a full understanding of what the tadpole is doing FOR him

cuz like. imo its definitely objectively helping. its a psychic information bank specifically designed to interface with a human brain. the reason why dirge isnt experiencing too many of the side effects of brain damage is because the parasite is doing its best to mitigate them. memory issues, brain fog, disorientation and balancing issues, theyd all be significantly worse without the parasite. when he brings up how he feels its helping him, objectively hes right and its not even the kickass psychic powers hes right about.

like it doesnt cure EVERYTHING, he has chronic migraines that are sensitive to light, and before he asks halsin to make medicine, he starts every morning puking his guts out when the morning sun makes him so nauseous he cant hold dinner down. even without the Urge Nightmares, he has insomnia and just cant meaningfully sleep. but keeping track of what day it is, remembering what happened a few hours ago or the other day, standing up from a sitting position and not immediately wobbling and/or collapsing, retaining his old muscle memory. all shit the parasite is helping with

which is why i cant help but fixate on those moments immediately after defeating the absolute. like oh thats juicy

[slimejugular]

ohhhhh im sure theres content of this or someone has thought about this before my apologies if that is the case. however I Really Want To Know about the pure vessel's life prior to the sacrifice

given that Ogrim in his dreamnail dialogue reflects on that there were other vessels seeing the existence of Ghost, its safe to assume that the Pale King's five knights were not privy to the atrocity that is the Abyss yadda yadda infanticide

Soooo its like. Here is how PK would approach this situation. "Here take this. my kid. train....them. but DONT do anything else only training" real quick I wonder how PK handled ***his image concerning PV. He would assuredly have some sort of guise going on to fool everyone, showcasing odd behavior towards his alleged child, avoiding use of their pronouns, or not saying their name, not displaying proper amounts of affection, a detached demeanor, etc.

anyway, off track, My point that I meant to address is that the five knights - hypothetically, unaware of the intentions behind the birth of the Pure Vessel, they very likely instilled ideas in them!! And I would much enjoy reading about that!! or to think about it more really

Instilled ideas 1 - Influences in PV's fighting style and other shit:

I recall someone's mention of what patterns there are from Godhome PV that are from Hegemol. The two masks of damage and the erratic instances of PV jumping seem similar...but what about the other knight that we can fight in the game? Ogrim? Who knows! His attacks I do not see embodied in PV whatsoever. And boy do I wonder about it. If not attacks, perhaps an influence in the way of the mind? Giving PV an unwanted sense of positivity and loyalty towards their fate, reflected in the way Ogrim carries himself so jubilant in present and his standing devotion to the Pale King. wwhich brings me to the next section , since the other knights can be only speculated on in their attacks.... But here it is despite that

PV's attacks alongside miscellaneous assumptions:

Said earlier, the random jumps and two masks of damage - Taught by Hegemol. Funny to think of the process of this. Jump, my child. And decimate your enemies with your weight.

Furthermore, on this -- Hegemol is a heavy looking guy in game, and I head canon that the carapace that makes up PV's grown body is verrrrry heavy. It contains properties of Void as well, which Void by itself is oppressive and emulates the feeling of "heaviness", so the natural heft of a bug's shell and the void combined makes for some substantial stuff. Younger vessels probably weigh less. Gives reason to why this attack is a thing.

the Lunging dash - I propose Dryya taught them this. No logistics behind this. She looks to be an agile bug, so I relate the attack to her for that.

Parry - I don't know ): Most basic thing in fighting ever. I mean their way of parrying looks interesting, but I would not exactly say it came from a specific knight or other bug.

I think itd be cute if this attack was taught to them by Hornet through her training with Vespa at the Hive, but it makes more sense for it to be the other way around (and this is also a cute alternative)

3 slashes across the area - I propose Ze'mer taught them this. The aggressiveness of it reminds me of the Mantis Tribe, which I should mention I like the interpretation of her attack style in the Pale Court mod. A commenter brought up how with her relation to the traitor lord's daughter, she was susceptible to influence by the mantis tribe fighting style.

Also notable is that the height of their in-game sprites is similar in height. They're both a similar amount of thickness (ish). I would imagine that Ze'mer would be the perfect bug to share with PV on how to take advantage of the space that they encompass (only applies to the vessel's prime form)

Any soul attacks e.g seven daggers, full-arena spikes, healing sequence - Taught primarily by the Pale King, being a higher being and all - the sigils look similar, uhh spikes, etc. Can lesser, non-higher being bugs even use soul? besides the soul master that is? I'm not versed in that knowledge. Sighh I would like to imagine Isma somewhere. Mayhap she helped with the process of learning to heal.

Void Tendrils - Special one! I do not believe this attack is attributed from anyone, rather self-taught, though the Pale King might have aided with the learning of it, seeing his own knowledge in void from the workshop in the White Palace. On the other hand, since he made constructs -- prim and prime, uncharacteristic of the uncontrollable look of this attack, I find it difficult to imagine...

Void walk/teleport - Special one part 2. May have been taught by the Pale King as a normal godly use of Soul to teleport, but it eventually morphed into using the power of the Void. Or could have been somewhat the opposite, PK teaching them how to utilize their void. Unsure.

***oh god this became too long i am going to resume it with a continued reblog another time

[ancientgoddessofegypt]

Vulnerability: Healing The Body One Day At A Time.

Sometimes I want to stay private. Other times I want to open up. Staying hidden had been a sanctuary at one point. Not sharing with the world my feelings and what damaged me. I got tired of feeling burdens in my body, so at the moment where can I start?

In this present moment, I'm sad. I'm lonely. I'm tired. I'm depressed. I'm anxious. I'm worried. I'm exhausted. I'm hopeless. It seems the descriptions of lower feelings doesn't end. I've tried ignoring these feelings, replacing them with good thoughts. Trying to keep an optimistic smile, but that fake smile started to hurt.. And the mask began to wear off one day at a time.

It hurts to feel loneliness, but the truth is nothing can steal your joy but whatever dried up emotions are left infiltrating the mind with unwanted banter.

Its like... I can point out my flaws and my differences but I can't face the truth. I'm tired of truth. It's all I see everyday.

And what makes it funnier? I'm an oracle, and all I do is be 100% honest with people, but with me.... I lie so the triggers won't push too deep. I've ignored the villain that was imposter syndrome, and constantly took life too serious... Until life became a big circus show. And I'm the circus freak giving my performance.

Im annoyed, and constantly fighting tears. When I would cry and have those battles on the ground screaming 'I can't do it', it told me to get up and pick myself back up. You've grown up... you can't waddle your way out of this one.

I had no clue what I was doing, and before I still didn't, this new phase of adulthood I'm entering seems too much to handle but this where reality starts to hit. You're getting.., old. Older. More mature. Buying a house, getting a new car, even creating your own family. Life started to get a little practical... I thought I'd be a kid forever. But I was only talking about the imagination. Its fun being an adult, its so much freedom. It's just... I'm not built for whatever this reality is trying to show us, but I'm still trying. I'm still bringing forth change in my mindset, being more resilient. And allowing myself to be more than what my mind is constantly saying to me.

I've faced myself so much in 2023... Like.. the amount of times I had to look at myself in the mirror and could not escape. And sleeping with a mirror facing your bed don't make it no better, just makes you feel the emotions quicker (i got an interesting feeling when it comes to mirrors... portals man, portals).

I guess society has gotten its grip on the depressed gang, I've been working my way thru it. Theres absolutely no way in telling people that its easy to let go. Just something you learn to process on your journey. I'm learning both can be true at once. I'm learning to figure out what works, even if it takes a journey to reveal itself to me.

So how is this effecting my body... I get random body aches, I've had to make several hospital visits.. all of which there was no idea where the problem was truly stemming from. The doctor would prescribe me pills, they'd work for a while. Then later... the pain would come back again.

When our bodies are feeling pain especially in the organs, theres a spiritual connection that is making that happen. I use spiritual loosely here, what I mean is that our bodies can be carrying a lot of unwanted emotions. Be it rage, stress, depression, anything we don't want to feel but finds its way stuck in the body it'll start messing with your insides later on. When our spirits cannot rely the message, our bodies will for us.. for better or for worse.

I've found out I have health issues I didn't know existed.. I'm joking, well not really. I had no clue what galbladder disease was and def not anything with the gut. Even though I'd have random stomach aches here and there I never knew this would actually be an underlying problem. I didn't think I'd end up with a bunch of problems and it taking years to fix... Although I can be stubborn, I finally changed the way I ate.. it's been helping a bit.. I always did physical activity, but I noticed in my my present reality (3-6 months) its every other day out of the week. That's okay.

With accepting this truth I learned to be open to it because I started bawling.. I was losing weight like a mf and I had to drop all my clothes, still gotta do it now, or just get them tighten up. But its overwhelming.

I'm exhausted all of the time. My body is always on 'stop mode'. I can't work like the average woman because it gets me tired quicker. It kind of irks me because I want to do a little more but I just can't.

I feel as if I'm running out of time and I just don't know what to do. My subconscious is showing signs of paranoid thinking and I just can't see why I'm still running from my own reality.

its. just. too. much.

Im exhausted. And I've barely done anything.

I'm learning to feel my pain. Processing the very things that forced me into an uncomfortable matter.

It hurts to feel the feels of others dualities, but what do I do?

I gotta make amends with the shit I've dealt with, make use of them and take stride with whatever info comes up.

That's the secret. Pay attention to any fears, worries and anxious thoughts you could be picking up on because it's showing you a gate way to whats missing.

[fictionfixations]

penacony spoilers (this will mean nothing to you if you dont know it but like uh. memory zone meme? that one battle.)

what in the fuck thats freaky

ive never seen this fight im not gonna lie (ive seen the story and sunday and aventurine's but nothing else)

so wait does killing that bring him back??

WELCOME BACK YOU MADLAD 😭 how does. temporary.. death?? feel?

i keep forgetting to save skill points for the healer so my characters can ACTUALLY heal my bad

AGAIN?

what is your obsession with this man memory zone meme. like. if it was robin id understand cause thats kinda story-relevant but like...

genuinely so freaky (ive always been targetting the person itself so i dont think ive seen the follow up attack and im kind of scared to)

okay now PLEASE stop being oneshotted

no matter how much i try to build my characters it always feels like they're still that shitty team thats barely built. like. yknow the team for casual hsr players that dont spend that much time grinding cause they're more story-focused or something??

fhuisdhf iwish i had aventurine cause i feel like ive been getting into a really good groove with planning on how i should play with aventurine as like the support character (support as in im taking an aventurine from my friends lol) but also. the one thing that infuriates me is that you just. shields cant heal you. so theres just that chunk missing from the hp bar that cant be fixed until the battle ends and i go to like a space anchor (or use consumables but i forget they even exist)

but theres just something nice about not taking damage at all because the shields are taking it for you. ...but anyway shields or no id probably still get fucked over

(sometimes probably gonna comment and be like 'aCTUALLy you're getting oneshotted because you keep doing [action] when there's a symbol over it so then it triggers [so and so] and im just like. i know. but i play by ignoring the stuff that triggers the enemy to attack so like--)

okay now what am i supposed to do LMFAO (i cant tell if the eye means even if you like use your skill instead it'll trigger because ive been using basic attack when they get oneshotted. so idk maybe it doesnt matter what you do it just chooses the last person's turn basically)

(well i could trigger an ult but. so well hi im future me but if i had any ults they were probably being saved. like natasha's healing everyone ult.)

i want to scream

ended first. uh. round? is that what you call it? then it took out TWO of my team members. was prepared to yell obscenities at it but then cutscene happened so i hoped that that was it

but oh my god YOU TOOK MY HEALER??

actually. kind of off topic. i wonder what happens to aventurine's shields if he dies?? like cause the turns are counted by when it reaches that characters turn again (which no duh that means a whole turn has passed. i just remember it better describing it this way) ..but if no turn does it just. disappear?

OH

anyway 'two characters who act of their own intiative' ... you. bitch.

okay. im. gonna sacrifice robin and ratio. since i can do that i guess. (if i had to rank characters on team of 'absolutely need to keep alive or im actually fucked' then these two would be at the bottom...)

wonder if her ult just disappears if she dies

yeah ult is gone

black swan made it so much easier but oh my god i hated that (and i know im going to hate the future bosses so yayy)

no but its actually really cool to basically have allies turn on you like that. its. really really cool.

i just am not a fan of actually playing against it. im gonna be honest i hate bosses with other enemies around them cause they always end up screwing me over 😭

[xodarling]

I don't know a thing about overwatch (other than how it advanced technology through its porn or something), but please rant more.

LMAO NOT THE PORN💀💀

ok so like the entire existence of the game is fucking abhorrent theres so many things to complain about idek 😊 but like since i mainly play dva, widow, kiriko im gonna complain in their pov. so like for tank, roadhogs ENTIRE existence is just hair pulling worthy and if the hog is good good u NEED an ana and/or kiri but SOME 😊 support players REFUSE to switch to someone good and then go cry ab how theyre tank is ass especially since the tank i play is dva and shes a dive/brawl tank u physically cannot dive with a hog cuz he just hooks u AND he can HEAL HIMSELF WTF i hate hog sm i cant even. also mauga AUUUHHH hes so annoying not nearly as bad as his meta (traumatizing) if u have an ana or some tank buster but hes still kinda annoying but vv rarely. also just fucking hate the counter swaps like u cant play tank and not counter if the enemy does

SPEAKING OF COUNTER SWAP OMG as a widow, sombra and genji are the bane of my existence and venture i fucking hate venture. i hate genji cuz im ass 🤭 genji is like so useless hes SO bad rn i just hate him cuz im petty. venture boops SM and they are such an annoying counter to widow its so ass maybe id like them more if theyre voice and face were more fucking pleasing. and sombra… u dont play ow but the best way to explain sombra is if u dont have a kiriko or a brig she is satan himself. she can go INVISIBLE she can take away ur abilities and she’s jsut really ass

and playing support really opens ur eyes at how stupid some people can be. ive had tanks FLY to the other side of the map and then complain i didnt heal them. and dps who have like 2 kills and 9 deaths say im ass when im like 15-5. but like in general junkrat is fucking annoying too but hes easily counterable so its ok HOWEVER 🤯 moira is the easiest character in the game and she does sm and for what?? reapers also annoying, did i mention roadhog, zen’s discord orb is one of the WORST things in the game rn, cass’ nade is so WACK, orisa is kinda annoying but she got nerfed so not anymore, mercy mains who are one tricks are fucking insufferable as well, hanzo’s lucky ass shots piss me off 2, THE TURRETS OMG. torb and sym turrets are so ass, not THAT ass since theyre easy to destroy but still.

AND BAP OMG BAPTISTE, why can a support do so much damage and heal sm at the same time?? and he was damage boost and invulnerability in the same kit?? what was blizzard cooking?? he is so annoying 🙄🙄 anyway sombra, bap, and hog mains biting the curb 4k. I HATE THIS GAME but i love so many of the characters to just drop it😓 the characters are amazing the only reason i havent stopped

i just realized the length of this.😦 i have a lot of hatred in my heart for this game. but sometimes its so fun especially when the entire lobby is silly, plays healthy characters and is good

[mejomonster]

Now that I have given Sherlock Holmes Chapter One more time to unfold. I really love the writing. Like just cannot get over it tbh. I want to wrap myself in it. I'm having euphoria after the pains of (what moffat did once upon a time) and my villaineve girlies (and the ending after so much solid stuff beforehand).

It feels 1 like i real Sherlock Holmes story (as in written well, flawed growing characters, respectful to source material AND respectful to us the audience) while also feeling fresh (its a prequel so a lot of freedom to show a new young sherlock with flaws turning into someone more recognizable as he heals and grows, cases i dont know the answer of, and a pretty damn grounded childhood trauma emotional pains fucking relatable heart thread through a wilder more dramatic murder cases arc). The only game i can think ti compare it to is the Ryu Ga Gotoku games, specifically Judgement if you took just the detective gameplay. Like? While I think Judgements gameplay is a bit funner, I think Sherlock Holmes Chapter One has more in depth side cases so if you're a mystery lover it balances out (now Judgement's main case appears more in depth a bit, but its a huge fucking game so its to be expected). What I think they both do Right, is make u feel like ur the detective

In SHCO case the moral dillema of how well or sucky u solve a case and the consequences and the fact u CAN be wrong and arrest an innocent party make the stakes feel very high, the fact most suspects are guilty of Some cruel stuff but not always the murder means ur also debating morally what u think is gonna be the best thing to do out of multiple imperfect options even if u feel sure you know who the killer is... i am truly IMPRESSED with how well SHCO handles morally grey suspects and the choices u make about the outcomes, i havent seen it in many games and its made me question myself in Even Less games. The opening tutorial case is a basic example of whats to come: if u dont collect all evidence, u may not be totally sure who killed the victim, and can justify accusing either suspect. Then once u accuse them, u have to justify to Yourself if u are going to advocate they be punished severely or given some leniency. The rest of the cases play with this but go deeper.

Also like Judgement (and all yakuza games), it just does a very good job of building a realistic world (as much as budget allows anyway). Judgement is in Tokyo, so theres OLD people! Kids! Americans! Koreans! Countryside people! Rich, poor, middle class etc. Criminals, police, civilians, politicians, celebrities! illegal immigrants. There's east asian people, white people, black people, south asian people, there's people with mixed heritage, there's people that speak or don't speak various languages. Basically Judgement feels more like how you'd actually expect interacting in a city to feel, compared to a significant chunk of games (especially if u go older) where there is just no thought put into immigration or class or the myriad of real complexities of life for the variety of people that exist in the real world. There's some game simplifications like repeated npc lines, and then side quests and main stories flesh out various characters more (and SHCO uses case notes and info to flesh out in the way RGG game side story cutscenes and mini game plots do). Those are budget and time constraints. But like. SHCO has this grounded sort of game feel where you run across a city that feels like a realistic city of various people, and the social issues affecting people in it, where the characters in cases are a more fleshed out reflection of the people in the city, and where the social situations impacting everyone play out in more detailed ways as part of the case stories. Like fuck, I'm in the case with the painting now and. Its both got a lot to say about 1880s british empire and effects on a myriad of fucking people (and systematic abuses and damaging power structures), and as with much of history its got a lot to say about now. From the way power and social position influences ability to abuse and lack of remorse, immigration, international trade, colonization, racism, patriarchy, the extreme differences in personal background in how everyone involved acts and reacts and considers whats going on. Or the elephant case, where sherlock both in some ways reflects the society he exists in (sexism wise) and is also growing from that (self aware that the daughter is a person with as much decision power or more than him, unlike her own father's view of her, respecting Paul's situation while navigating a society where they both know the norm in comparison, recognizing that he's driven by his own desire to understand his Mom as a person when for so long he's had her on a pedestal and convinced himself of lies to himself about meek/strong Mothers and how it clouded his actual understanding of Violet as a person possibly struggling mentally in many similar ways to how he is). Like the elephant case is so simple in a lot of ways... but how many storiea have i seen where women just wouldnt have been written as equal, or as fleshed out characters, where Violet wouldnt be considered this in depth? Not just set in this time period but any time period tbh (it wasnt until the last maybe 10 years that movies and shows, sometimes, got a lot better with this to the point i could find it easier to avoid media that wrote women like lamps). I remember reading Fingersmith by Sarah Waters and how THRILLED i was to see realistic women in that time setting for a story (phenomenal novel btw). So like, starting SHCO i didnt know how fair the story would be to all inhabitants in it, and so far its wonderfully gone for a realistic grounded approach with characters that feel thoughtful in a world that is fleshed out and feels solid.

[slugdragoon]

RPG Role Analysis Series #10 - Dragon Quest VI

So, I just finished Dragon Quest VI, and I have some thoughts. It exhibits both good and bad class design philosophies, in my opinion, but ultimately does not work overall (to be clear, I mean the class system, which I am taking a look at, not the entire game).

DQVI has a vocation system, which means any character can be assigned any job, but each character also has inherent traits that strongly suggest a role for them. I like this generally. I liked it in Final Fantasy X when each party member had access to the same Sphere Grid, but with different starting positions such that is takes more effort to make, say, Lulu something other than a black mage.

While I tend to prefer RPGs where characters have their own role that is informed by the character, as well as RPGs with class systems where you fully define your own party and their roles, for RPGs with defined characters, I prefer it not to be completely open, even if their roles are extremely flexible, but I want their personality and design to suggest something in terms of their gameplay. This is why, as brilliant as Final Fantasy VII is, I do feel that the materia system allows you to turn any character into anything, with only minor differences regarding stats and Limit Breaks, and I prefer FFVI and FFIX where characters have a job. X felt like a great compromise, where you could jump all the way across the skill tree, but there were limited opportunities to do so.

So, in theory, I like that DQVI has party members gain abilities on level-up, distinct from their chosen vocation, that the equipment they have access to is tied to the character, not the job (also makes reorganizing equipment on a vocation change convenient), and of course their stats are different. So, the characters themselves have enough to suggest a role, and then you put another one on top of it.

My problem is this: the game's abilities are imbalanced because some really necessary abilities are spread across multiple jobs such that each character really needs to master multiple to beat the game. With the exception of Carver, who stayed my main damage dealer, I did not feel my party had distinct identities by endgame, but instead all needed access to a full-party heal spell (either Hustle Dance or Multiheal), access to revival (Kazing), and reliable damage. Also, charatcers get abilities that exist within vocations by level-up, which suggests that's their role, and their stats match, but taking the vocation is technically redundant because they do not learn the same ability twice, and barring Carver's Double Up and a plot-related spell for Ashlynn, character abilities are pretty quickly overshadowed.

The vocation tree looks like this: You have to master multiple basic jobs in order to combine them and get the corresponding advanced job. Theres's a cycle of 4 basic jobs (Warrior/Martial Artist/Priest/Mage) That each combine with two possible neighbours to make a cycle of 4 more advanced classes, but each has 1 member in the cycle it cannot combine with. There are two separate mini-trees (Gadabout + Dancer = Luminary) and (Thief + Monster Master + Merchant = Ranger) that have nothing to do with that cycle, and don't offer an easy pivot to anything within it. Hero is a special job that is accessible by anyone if they master Luminary, Ranger, Sage, and Gladiator, which means they have to master 13 jobs first (that won't happen). However, the main protagonist can become a Hero by only mastering one of these advanced jobs. You keep all of the abilities from any job, so advanced jobs are just fully combined skill lists of the previous jobs, plus whatever you get from the new class, but Hero can be a bit different depending on what path the protag took to get there. There are also two special monster classes that are accessible via an item, but have no class prerequisites.

Combining classes is really cool, but there's a few issues with doing it this way. Keeping prereq class abilities means every class in the cycle overlaps a third of it's skill list with another class, and another third with a different class. For example, for Sage, you have all the Priest skills, but so does the Paladin, and the Armamentalist has all of your Mage skills. If you master an advanced class, that's 3 (2 basic, 1 advanced done), but you can pivot within the cycle by doing less in the future, just by going around it. For example, the Sage can take Martial Artist and then Paladin and then if they master Warrior later, they unlock 2 advanced classes at once. However, switching between the cycle and either Ranger or Luminary trees, or between those two offers no contribution to their advancement. Ranger, for some reason, takes the most effort even though it's one of the worst classes. If you invest 4 vocations masterings into Ranger, there's no easy way to pivot out. Luminary is good, but you also kind of require one or two for Hustle Dance, except that you probably also want them to be Sages because that's where you get Multiheal and Kazing, (not strictly exclusive) Magic Barrier and Oomph.

Sage has so many key healing and buffing spells, 3 out of 4 of my frontline party took Sage. The exception was Carver, and he carried DPS the whole game with Double Up, which makes every other physical attack skill basically obsolete. This is one case where an inherent trait of a character gives them a distinct role. Carver doesn't need a Paladin vocation to learn Double Up, so he could use it early, and I could keep him a Gladiator, and then a Dragon later. However, Double Up, while being obscenely strong, also makes the user go first, every time, so there was no reason to use anything else for damage. If I wanted others with good Strength to use it, they had to be Paladins, But also Sages, such that all my magic users were Luminary/Sages and my more physical characters were Paladin/Sages (+1 Hero). Falcon Slash felt like a compromise, and some multi-hit abilities were interchangeable. This is in a game where party members easily get 8 pages of abilities to flip through in battle. Unfortunately, this results in very little class diversity, but it's kind of demanded by the sheer frequency of heavy mass-party attacks in the late game. There's just a set of skills that most of your party needs, and it's spread all over the tree.

I honestly thought I was going to pick apart the classes individually when I started this post, but I think I had too much to say about why the system as a whole makes them blend together. I think there's a better game in here, and I'm hoping it's DQVII, which uses the same system. Right now I've started DQIX, which has very different vocations.

[dieselpvnk]

hi i have an iterator oc to tell u about :0

she was a prototype made as a proof of concept for iterator technology.

she was made to the far north, in the middle of a winter wasteland, because the ancients thought "hey, snow can be turned into water for this thing, and theres plenty of snow near the poles"

her programming wasnt very well thought out because the ancients were still figuring shit out, so when they turned her on she um... lashed out and killed a bunch of them

to be fair, she was scared and confused and didnt know what was happening or who these people in overly ornate masks are, so she did the one thing she could think of

lash out and kill a bunch of them

they shut her off, placed restrictions, adjusted her programming, fixed bugs, and-- yeah no it didnt work

they kept trying and trying, but nothing worked to calm her near incandescent fury, so they just shut her off for good and left her there. why they didnt completely disassemble her and her Can to reuse the resources is beyond me, but whatever ill figure it out later.

some time passes, the other iterators are made, the rain gets worse and worse, 5p gets the rot, moon collapses, and by the time of... idk, before Artificer became the BOOM slayer, scavengers find their way to her Can through the underground subway system and populate it. one of them accidentally turns her back on and... well, the lights and heating are up and running, but not much else.

they soon discover her puppet chamber. her puppet is slumped against the wall, completely inert, and yet she can still speak to them and give them the mark.

which she does... for all of them.

she basically acts as a rage-fueled goddess to the scavs living in her Can, who are taught to slowly but surely repair the broken systems and exterior damage to her structure. they even get her puppet's control arm up and running

she hasnt been given a name in all her time existing, so she decides to name herself Incandescent Fury, after a comment she overheard one of her creators make during the many attempts to calm her down

i dont have a reference for her puppet, but its purple with bright pink eyes and has a sort of... holy seal or ward in the form of a mask strapped to its face.

the puppet itself is a lot simpler than Pebbles or Moons, basically just a crude animatronic doll with a plastic exoskeleton. again, prototype.

anyways uh thats my grumpy baby girl, i hope u enjoyed reading all this i guess fjhdhjhdhdbdnnjsjj

(totally didn't forget about the ask, nope, not a chance) ANYWAY !! Very interesting idea !! Not something I've seen before, very cool ! As for the "why they didnt completely disassemble her and her Can to reuse the resources is beyond me, but whatever ill figure it out later." what if it has something to do with the early version of the self-destruction taboo, where it's just ... destruction taboo, so they just couldn't disasseanble her even if they wanted ? There's a downpour pearl that says "Microbes are infused into the building materials, that lie dormant for an indefinite period of time. They are awakened in response to splintering and separations, initiating a healing cycle that gradually fills in the damage and restores waterproofing to the structure. The duration of this process depends on the extent of the damage, of course." about shelters, THAT but crank it up to 11 thanks for sharing ! :']

[raecaw]

just read solitaire and jeeeeeeeesus christ

the tonal whiplash between heartstopper and solitaire is CRAZY lmao it makes so much more sense that there was a time skip between HS volumes 4 and 5 tho damn give those kids some time to recover innit

further review below - spoilers for Heartstopper graphic novel up to current updates, This Winter, and Solitaire.

I'll need to read it again to really grasp it i reckon. but i just wanna give some initial thoughts.

its so interesting to relate to tori. i hate her but i was her. i wish I'd read this book in high school because i had a mad superiority complex and didn't really view other people as real as well. i was also just letting life pass me by and living on the internet. i think a lot of us are just letting life happen to them, and it's hard to stop. I suppose hindsight is the curse we bear.

what was really interesting to me is how nick and charlie were characterised. of course im coming off the back of firstly watching the series, then reading the graphic novel, then reading solitaire, so im technically experiencing these characters in reverse to how Alice developed them, but i feel as though nick in particular is a lot more assertive and confident in solitaire, and im slowly warming up to it.

i think nick can be a bit passive in heartstopper, perhaps that's just perspective though. since solitaire is written from a first person perspective of Tori's, how much of the narrative can we trust? perhaps Tori just views Nick as more assertive? the fact that Tori actually shouted at Nick when he left Charlie to eat alone was initially a bit shocking to me, since we see the same scene play out in heartstopper from nick's perspective, which manages to focus on the healing and forgiveness. big kudos to Alice for depicting a really serious plot point from the perspective of two characters with very different personalities. Honestly, i felt as though Nick in particular was out of character in solitaire but im realizing that Tori may not see the best in people, whereas Charlie (who's the main POV in heartstopper) has a more rose-tinted view of Nick, perhaps not so healthily. I think the real Nick actually exists somewhere between both versions.

I enjoy Michael, and the way he deals with things, i think most people find themselves relating to both Tori and Michael in some way. I, too, deal with my intense apathy by making choices based on "wouldnt that be funny/weird" because it's hard to care about social consequences when nothing really matters, and since nothing matters, i can do what i want.

This Winter was a beautiful read, and I'm looking forward to purchasing the illustrated version. Christmas is hard. It's hard whether your family is broken or big, the expectations put upon that holiday make people crazy. As a queer kid in a conservative family, i approach christmas with the expectation that i will experience psychic damage, but i will also enjoy making memories with my beloved family, but i will also get very stressed about upholding my happy-go-lucky, life-of-the-party persona that im not even sure is real.

theres a popular and encouraged narrative these days about queer kids going no-contact with bigoted family members but its just not always that simple. not really. family is such a strange concept because these are the people you've always known, unless you have friends youve known your whole life, theres no way to really replace that connection. i guess it can create a sense of isolation. i think everyone should have supportive people they've never not known, but since the "Family" these days seems to get smaller and smaller in my culture, the chances of having family members who aren't bigoted diminishes, leaving queer people in a really difficult and isolating position.

don't get me wrong, in most cases when a queer person goes nc with their family its for a good reason, and they are often better off for it. i just wish people didn't have to be bigoted and necessitate it.

Lucas is an extremely interesting character. While I think he should have experienced more consequences for his actions, i appreciate that his story is one of 'a slippery slope' in terms of infatuation and obsession. i may have a biased view, as i have a stalker whom i had to take legal action against to stop his behaviour, but the key with Lucas is that his obsession with Tori's past self created a fictional version of her in his head, and when she didn't live up to his expectations, he reacted in a way that was out of proportion to anyone's actual actions. he created a villain in his head and broke his own heart, and i think we can all be in danger of this if we aren't careful about how we review our memories and set our expectations, romantic or otherwise. perhaps my condemnation of Lucas is harsh, since things just spiraled out of control. thinking aloud.

anyway, I'll probably have more thoughts on the osemanverse as i continue exploring it, but theres my thoughts immediately after reading This Winter and Solitaire today. Thanks Alice for another gorgeous thought-provoker. i cannot believe you wrote this at 17.

[princeanxious]

An idea I’m drawing stuff for:

Okay so g/t sanders sides au idea but where the tiny people are actually mini android/cyborgs made to accompany people /if they want to/ as companions to humans that can connect to technology and the internet. (Medium-big sized ramble under-cut)

They arent nessesarily helpers, but they can help humans w/ technology issues if they want(and there are lots of human laws in place that prohibit forced labor and captivity from this new sentient race, but as you might guess, just bc there are laws doesnt mean everyone follows them or gets caught breaking them) the rest of the world is kinda up for development but i can tell you these tiny android people sometimes come with additional features such as tails w/ audio jacks/place where the tail would go to insert an audiojack, eyes and fingers that glow, ear type varients depending on what time they were born/created, have as many bendable joints as a human, but their legs and feet are naturally a bit thicker/wider both for balance and more room for technology in their tiny bodies.

Theyre a very intermingled mix of liveform and android(and are probably best explained as just. Straight up aliens to planet earth), to the point that theres no actual way to seperate tech from bio-matter. And theyre so tiny that trying to seperate the two on such a small scale is still scientifically impossible at this current time. Damage and wear/tear to their body can heal quickly with enough energy, rest, and time, but losing body parts can be nearly detrimental to their health if said parts cant be reattached quickly. They are not strong enough to regenerate a full limb.

It’s not an immediate death if they lose a limb, but its very much an emergency due to how spread out their bodily function sensors are in their tiny bodies. Losing a certain leg can mean losing complete mobility of both legs and balance, or losing certain patches of memory, losing a certain arm can mean losing the ability to balnce well, or go nearly sensory blind(meaning they can see things, but no longer feel them that well.) the tail is the only bodypart that is not immediately detrimental to their health, just their lifestyle. Their tail is their only way to directly connect to the online world without assistance. Without it, they rely on adapter prostetics that wear out over time and need to be replaced on occassion.

That being said, in this au, Roman, Remus, and Janus are tinies in this world. Roman and Remus are twins, and both suffered an injustice of experimentation that involved one of their legs each being removed, and being reattached(successfully) to the other’s body, as a test to see how similar twin tiny’s bodies are and if the similarities assist any in surrogate limbs attaching successfully. Theyre rescued and rehabilitated amd rehomed together before anything more was done to them, but they live life knowing they have eachothers leg and function as if said legs are really their own, and it connects them in a very odd way that they cant really explain.(it comes w/ a bonus of being able to send messages to one another, but a con of being able to see a portion of the other’s memories, be it mental, or physical muscle memory)

They live with a group of humans, Logan, Patton, and Virgil, who are aware of their situation and have welcomed them into their home to live normal tiny lives. Patton and Virgil are brothers, and Logan is their childhood bestfriend. Remus tends to travel w/ Logan the most bc Logan isnt bothered by Remus’s constant hyperfixations on dark and grusome things.(they hold alot of convos abt dark literature and anatomy, and astronomy. Remus finds Logan’s voice soothing on his semi-irratic stream of thoughts, and talking abt astonomy helps sooth Remus to sleep the fastest.) Roman clings to Virgil mostly but passes inbetween Virgil and Patton pretty frequently depending on whose at work. (Virgil and Roman bicker about everything under the sun, but it’s still healthy for them. Virgil keeps Roman’s ego in check and Roman helps Virgil gain more confidence in things, especially things in public.)

Janus is.. well, he was born.. defective, in a way. No ones really sure exactly what happened, if there were dificulties in his development, or if his existance was fused semi-incorrectly with another while in the preverbial womb, but he is born with his body being partially down the middle on one side with another set of tiny genetics, leaving 1/4th of his body from one side of the head to just below the same side’s ribs to be a different skin & metal plating color. One eye glows gold, the other a bright milky white, the same going for either hand w/ his finger-tips on the same sides. Pure snow white skin, plating, and hair is unnatural, and its theorized to be a permanent glitch in his physical coding seeing as the ‘other tiny’ that had yet to combine correctly would not have developed any physical traits until birth to mimick a combination of it’s parents, it’s physical attribute coding would remain dormant and thus not addapt with the rest of the body.

This leaves Janus visually different, and physically different. He has his own two legs and tail so that part of his body functions normally, but the arm that is inter-functionally dormant leaves him with terrible balance issues(thus leaving him to require a cane) and his on the same side that is similarly dormant leaves him functionally blind in said eye and deaf on said side.

He’s developed an extremely defensive personality because he refuses to be pitied for something he was never in control of. He’s plenty independent without help and beyond grouchy. Has been known to bite humans who try to help him but wont listen to him, hard. He’s never been allowed to live a normal tiny’s life because the parents he was born to gave him to humans to ensure he lived, then got retroactively babied since. His foul temper has lead to a difficulty in the homing process, and the humans are almost about to give up on him when Virgil walks in one day, curious about homing a third tiny to help stabalize the twins antics and frustrations born from there only being the two of them.

Janus is just as foul at first as he is to everyone who approaches him, because he fully expects pity. Instead of Virgil moving on in rejection/dismissal of the rude behavior, Virgil just chuckles in amusement. “Oh boy, you’re fiesty huh?” “Have to be, lest people think they can do and think whatever they want about me. Better to give them my worst so they don’t get any god-complex over my disability, right?” And Virgil relates, and isnt hesitant abt mentioning his own struggles w/ how rudely people treat him w/ his general anxiety disorder and chronic depression.

Virgil manages to convince Janus take a chance and come home w/ him. And then Janus meets Patton, and things go so much better than anyone expected them to go. I mean, they get worse before they get better, but the getting better is so much further than any resulted backtracking. Janus likes Patton, and is uber protective of him. No one knew Patton to bicker much, but oh boy, does he bicker with Janus, often abt taking care of one another. Its all out of love and care, and its honestly jarringly sweet. (Patton gets Janus hooked on chocolate chips, and may or may not bribe him with a bottle-lip full from time to time if it means making Janus relax.)

[fictionfixations]

IM GOING TO CRY I FUCKING DID IT

HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN

2 WEEKS (i was stuck on olivine boss because i just couldnt figure out a workable strategy and i KNOW thats probably not that long in the grand scheme of things but holy fucking shit)

okay okay you know what i did

im already starting to forget it because holy shit but like so

i dont know how but i managed to wait long enough to get everyones ult up???

like so i might be wrong but i think the ppl who immediately guard after like attacking or doing anything really-- i *think* their basic attack has some kind of taunt? or i might be totally wrong but i made them attack if other peoples hp were low but othewrise it was a lot of GUARD GUARD GUARd and not using my ults at all and managing to tank it somehow (i swear i did this before but since then ive been trying to strengthen my characters so like. IDK)

and then i got everyones ults up so i used them all during the same turn and then he could take damage and holy fuckk 😭😭😭

in all honesty idk what i did different that let me win because i mean i think i saved my ults. but also im so fucking tired and the second i stopped needing the strategy i just completely forgot what i did besieds like a vague recollection so IDK for all i know i used my ults early

actually i think i did use my ults early. i dont know how i survived long enough for everyones ults to then get up later though 😭

.........................okay wait no i think

..i think i used morvay and dante ult (as they both do the guarding n taunt) except i waited an extra turn before using it.

and then i think that got everyone elses ult so then i could use them all

so wait yeah i did wait i didnt use them immediately what im confusing myself

and then somehow that got everyones ult synced together?? like they all got their ult back at the same time im so confused

and idk the rhythm of when olivine attacks past turn 10 cause i was using the guide and it was like he'll debuff himself so he wont hurt your allies and im just like

????? idk maybe i did something wrong cause then both blades (who ult without guarding) got fucked. and im not sure if thats because i didnt use like a healing ult because everyone else's hp was good. idk if it wouldve made a difference or if it wouldve been wasted i have no idea

anyway i think id actually be done if there was a limit to how many turns before he insta killed. cause if that existed i think id just self destruct (i took an early screenshot in case i got killed before then, of proof of I ACTUALLY MADE IT SOMEWHERE LETS GOO)

off topic but i think there are 15 chapters? or more than 15? i read a fic which contained (light) chapter 15 spoilers and the way i felt vindicated that HELL YEAH MY PREDICTION WAS RIGHT anyway

but holy fuck 15 ???? im. i jinxed myself last time during like rin's boss fight (or it was rei's idk i did rin and rei during i think either the same day or the day after each other) cause i was like sure hope there arent any more hard bosses and then i got olivine and i just got so confused on what to do because i was struggling to figure out an actual strategy 😭

i. i really hope there arent more boss fights

i mean. i dont think ive seen posts on reddit asking for help during chapters other then like rin rei and olivine but also i havent been looking that far so ive no idea

anyway fucking yippee i feel so drained already its only been like half an hour of me attempting this again but goddamn the way this stressed me out

i think theres a possibility i could beat it without losing anyone. but tbh im so done seeing that battle man get me outta here 💀

(if anyones seeing this and you know theres ANOTHER boss battle. please tell me so i can at least mentally perpare myself. im not gonna continue story rn so)

[mollydastoertchen]

Do you have an OC with a funny/weird/unusual creation story? (not the story of the character itself, but the way the character happened / you suddenly got attached; any character you didnt plan on keeping around, but then kinda did?) Tell the story!

So, you know, I thought about this a LOT. Like, I have so many OCs but noone really came to my mind. Sure, there is Manuel - a human OC that replaced an Argonian The Elder Scrolls-character in the end, but it didnt tickle my fancy.

But then it hit me.

All the WHACKY OCs we have in World of Warcraft! I can say, without a DOUBT, that all of those characters I have had the most ridiculous story. Their creation comes solely from playing it, derping around and from what kind of shenanigans happen during our playtime.

My main tank, the undead warrior Tertso. Tertso was my first WoW character that I played with you, that I leveled up and boy do I love my baby. He is a raging barbarian who only can give angry and unintelligible sounds a la keyboardsmash.

Nota, my druid taur. Nota somehow, somewhen became known as the leather whore (because she's a leatherworker and she needed TONS of leather to craft stuff). She kind of became a random milf in hot latex & leather clothing.

But the one who really started this idea to your question is Mobai. A dark elf hunter who is... old... and senile... Who has no idea what is happening around him and what, who constantly forgets everything around him. And whenever he is in danger, he randomly gets heart attacks and dies to let others deal with his problem. and all his pets have weird names and also get molested. A LOT. (pls note, this all just a dumb joke and i dont endorse this or anything, its just fucking stupid humor). So we have this senile crazy old man who shoots at people screamin "JUST HOLD ON FOR A SECOND BOY OR I CANT PROPERLY SHOOT YOU".

Theres also my undead mage, Henrius, who is cronically depressed and just wants to die. He uses his ability to freeze in an iceblock to block his "boyfriends" attempt to grope his ass.

Also lets not forget Arinaghi, my troll priestess, who is married to her DAAARLIIING THARGO the orc warrior. They have only eyes for each other, abd they have this adorable way of talking to each other: "DARLING IM GONNA GO PUNCH THIS THING! - OKAY DARLING, I WILL MAKE YOUR BOOBOOS GO AWAY!". god, those two are chaos pure.

And then there is also Ranigaar, my troll shaman. She is always angry, has the smoker voice 5000. She doesnt care so much for healing as she cares for doing damage, so her poor patients are always getting a bit left behind. ("Heal was through, your body is soaked!") xD

All those characters just.. plopped into existence and were just formed by the random gamplay and jokes. There are a few more, but oh boy, I wanted to share those.

[uhhhhhhhhhsblogyea]

♤| dragon ball shapeshifter au

storyline rundown

part two

tw: profanity !! a bit of gore and such

the story begins on kakarot's farm! he lives with his parents, bardock and gine, and his brother raditz.

kakarot takes his produce to the market to sell, talking to krillin who is a police officer watching over in case of robbery or stolen goods, with his wife 18 and his daughter marron.

he hangs out there and sells all his produce, making a whopping amount of money to give back to his mother to go towards their farm. so thats what he does.

later that night, raditz barged in through the door, huffing loudly and covered in purple blood. it had a reddish tint. gine and bardock jump to their feet, bardock still in his training gi and gine in her white shirt and some sweatpants. "raditz!? what happened?" bardock exclaimed, gine following up with "why are you covered in... purple blood!?" this caused kakarot to come out of his room in a rush, "h-h-holy s-shit! i didnt kill anyone i swear mom, mom, dad please, i wouldn't do that!" raditz panicked. "s-something tried to attack me! i didnt know what to do so i attacked back!!" he tries to wipe the blood off, it being on his face.

whatever happened, scared raditz enough to make him shake in fear and what seems to be regret despite it being to protect himself.

kakarot however, still was unsure what happened. his father said he would explain in the morning, the situation was too dire for kakarot to get involved - especially with the police.

in town, vegeta covered his bloodied chest, panting as he hid deep in an alleyway. "goddammit," he huffs, slicking his hair back to keep the human bangs out of his face. hes got a huge gash across his chest, thanks to that damned raditz he happened to work with. luckily, he was morphed into some other alien lifeform and not his original shift state. he slowly morphed into a bird, a finch, and flew off to him apartment. he always kept his window cracked just in case this were to happen. just his luck, we wont be able to eat and to heal he needs that energy for food or else hell be out asleep for awhile.

he decides calling off work, so thats what he does. what he doesnt expect is a man with a thick ass fucking tail and slicked back purple hair and red eyes to be reading a book, lounging like a king on his bed. "f... frieza!?" vegeta says, startled.

"ah hello my creation! lovely seeing you here, dont you think?" he throws the book off to the side, getting up and striding over to the bloodied vegeta. "aw looks like you got a paper cut." he jabs a finger into vegetas cut across his chest. vegeta groans in pain, a tentacle whipping around to hit frieza away into a safer distance, but the icejin blocks smoothly with his muscled tail.

from here:

wow!! you found out vegeta is a "creation" of friezas, but what exactly does that mean?

raditz gets taken in for questioning. he gets blamed for a murder that happened on the otherside of town, the law system being dumb sentenced him to 25 years in prision for a murder he didnt do

kakarot is confused, bardock telling him there arent any alien threats and it was a misunderstanding on the jury and judge's parts bc raditz was getting mugged and a murder far away happened at roughly the same time, and they were desperate to throw someone into jail.

this is a lie, to some extent. kakarot believes it, living happily thinking there are no threats

vegeta attacked raditz, needing food. shapeshifters need to eat hearts and lungs of animals as food

raditz is the one who cut him across the chest (thatd why he has a scar on his chest in the ref sheet)

kakarot has to bring crops and milk into a market farther into town sometime in the next week, it being an event ran by capsule corp, a company that produces a lot of housing and vehicles and being in business for 40 years being the anniversary that day.

vegeta is a mechanical manager, wearing fancy clothing that day since its technically a high spot in the ranks for capsule corp.

vegeta likes milk, surprisingly. it helps a lot when recovering damage, especially his species. this is when he meets kakarot

kakarot is running his stand with the crates of crops and glass jars of milk set out on display with their price, krillin with him

vegeta is annoyed he has to speak up to get the seller's attention so he grunts with an "ahem"

kakarot jumps, apologizing and asking what he wants to buy. vegeta gets his milk and some vegetables for someone he knows

"hey, whats with the fancy suit?"

"you dont know who i am?"

"no. should i?"

"i-? im vegeta! im manager of the mechanics in capsule corp!"

"oh. is the job hard?"

they conversate, as kakarot sells his produce happily listening as he was able to get the short man with a temper to talk about his job.

vegeta himself was caught off guard by this action but happily talks

this ends in kakarot running behing the stand's curtain and grabbing his business card so vegeta can have a discount on milk next time he decides to buy

vegeta takes the card walking off

the card has kakarots name and number on the back, a message saying "text me personally if you want extra, i dont mind taking some. you seem cool!"

vegeta is a bit ticked, but pockets the card

over time, vegeta and kakarot talk over text a bit, kakarot delivering him milk like an old time milk delivery boy

turns out he actually used to be one as a kid

turns out hes been into marial arts as well, a long time interest of vegetas

they bond over this, kakarot find himself growing a crush on vegeta

one time kakarot stops buy with a delivery unannounced, not knowing he typed the text but didnt send it. he knocks on vegetas apartment door, but no answer.

he checks to see if its unlocked, and it is so he lets himself in, just wanting to put the delivery on the counter and head out.

he doesnt expect to turn around and see a vegeta with a towel wrapped around his waist, tentacles coming out of his back, green eyes, and sharp ears, teeth, and claws. "K-KAKAROT!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" he yells, surprised. he doesn't have bangs either

"why do you have tentacles?? why do you look different? why do you have that scar?"

vegeta is caught off guard, not sure if he should push kakarot out or tell him the truth. one way or another he knows the truth will spread, so he carefully debates his options

he tells kakarot the truth, hes a shapeshifter and hes insanely dangerous

kakarot is surprised dangerous aliens exist

he tells vegeta this, and deep down vegeta is mad kakarot is sheltered

little do they know as they conversate and bond, growing closer to each other kakarot finds out vegeta made a vow not to ever get in a relationship no matter how much he envied them, especially a human relationship, a certain someone is watching them and listening in, theyre keeping tabs on vegetas and kakarots feelings

trust issues amirite?

later that night, kakarot says his goodbye heading home, heart pounding. wow!!!! vegeta is... great. very great. kinda cute too, i mean what!?? no!!

kakarot rants to himself aloud in his room, window open to keep himself cool, about vegeta as he debates his feelings. he doesnt care if this seems out of character in his friends terms, all they see from him anyway is a dense fightcrazed guy with a dysfunctional relationship with an ex and his son. he realized vegeta doesnt see him like that, but, what DOES vegeta see him as?

he calls it a night

he wakes up to a "thwap, thwap, thwap" against his wooden floor

he sits up, looking around and seeing a short figure sitting at his desk.

"whos there?"

"ah, youre awake monkey! i have valuable information for you, about your lovely vegeta." the voice is squeaky

"and, who is telling me this?" kakarots interest is piqued, not seeing the mysterious figure as a threat, as of now at least

"oh-hohoho! im dr. cold! but please, call me frieza. doctor cold is my father's name."

"and what do you have to tell me about vegeta?"

"mmm, are you sure you want to know?" he gets up, beginning to pace

"theres a catch isnt there" kakarot realizes, serious

"oh! maybe you arent so dense afterall. yes, there iss monkey. its simple, deliever some of your left over crop to my facility tomorrow, i already left the address on a paper over on that... pitiful little desk of yours." frieza pauses. "vegeta will kill you if you arent careful. hes hungry, and he wants that heart. but... i think the poor creation wants it in more than one way. kill him before he kills you."

frieza hands kakarot a box cutter

"thats the only thing that will kill him. if you dont do it i expect that delivery tomorrow by midnight. if you dont show, and theres no news of him being dead, youll be a brilliant collection to my creations, monkey!" the man laughs in joy, clasping his hands together as his red eyes pierce through kakarot

kakarot reluctantly agrees, unsure how this will play out

PART TWO WILL BE MADE SOON!!!

anyway heres the part 1 of the rundown.

[elzetastuff]

New Feelings Blossoming

*in the middle of a battle against fatui in a domain*

*Team composed by Aether, Diluc, Fischl and Bennett*

Bennett: "I'm going in! *Activating his ultimate on the ground*

Diluc approaches to the buff circle and charges his ultimate

D: “Burn!!!”

A giant pyro eagle comes from Dilucs sword, hitting the fatui soldiers and damaging most of  them, while the rest of the soldiers survive with just a little bit of life left.

Aether: *using his anemo ability* “Wind Blade!”

From the palm of his hand, the traveler summoned a vortex that damaged the rest of the enemies and threw them in the air, finally knocking them up and clearing the room.

Aether: “Huh, it wasn't a bad combo after all”

Bennett: “Yes! We did it!”

Diluc: “Don't chant victory yet, kid. they're still coming”

Portals appear in front of the party as moew fatui soldiers arrived, ready to stop and defeat the adventurers

Bennett: “What? A second round so soon?”

Fischl: “Foolish ignorants who dare to combat with the prinzessin der verurteilung only shall find despair and failure in their future!”

Aether: *sighs and grabs his sword* “Lets keep going!”

The team keeps fighting together as the fatui used their weapons against them

F: “Oz! Reveal thyself!” 

O: “As you wish, Mein Fräulein”

Oz appears and starts to attack the soldiers with electro damage. with Diluc’s sword and Bennett’s buff power, the Cryo and Hydro soldiers got defeated fast

Suddenly, a new portal emerged from behind the team. and a Electro Fatui soldier appeared with his hammer in hand, ready to smash the adventurers

A: “Watch out!”

The Fatui soldier lifted his hammer and attacked in the direction of Fischl. The girl was frozen in place as the Soldier jumped at her direction. but before the hammer could hit her, someone yelled her name

Bennett: “Fischl!”

The boy ran to her direction and pushed her out of the way. The hammer hit against the solid floor as the fatui soldier growled in anger

“Stupid kids, stop getting in our way!”

D: “You and your organization should be the onea to get out of our way”  Diluc says with an angered tone as he prepared himself to launch his ultimate ability again

Aether: “Let's do it at the same time!”

“As if you-!!!”

D/A: “Time for… Retribution!/ Disappear!” 

A giant tornado appears and swallows the electro soldier and the rest of the fatui remaining, damaging and knocking them up along with the pyro damage

Once the room was cleared up again. Diluc sighs and crossed his arms

D: “Guess those were the last ones, for now at least”

A: “Hey guys, are you guys oka- uhhh”

Bennet groans and shakes his head “Ow, I think I hit my head… wait, where’s Fischl-!”

Bennett’s eyes widen as he notices Fischl, the girl that he just pushed away, laying below him with a beet red face. 

F: “C-Care to move already?”

It took Bennett a few seconds before realizing the compromising position they were in now “Gah! I’m sorry!” quickly standing and giving the girl some personal space “I swear it was not my intention to-”

F: “T-Theres no necessity to apologize, companion. I understand the reasons of your actions and Im grateful in these timea of war and disgrace”

Despite saying those words. Fischl’s face was still red and looking away from Bennett and the rest of the team

B: “Uhm, I think I did not understand much about you said..” in that moment, Oz chuckled as he flied to the boys direction

O: “Do not worry, sir Bennett. Mein Fraulein is only thanking you for saving her, that’s all”

B: “Oh, well, it was nothing, as long as everyone is safe and well”

Diluc sighs and shakes his head “I'm sorry if I ruin this moment, but we should keep going before more fatui arrive and makes things worse”

Aether: “Sir Diluc is right. Let's keep moving and finish the mission as soon as possible”

The two walked in direction to the exit as Bennett sighed and looked at the girl sitting on the floor

B: “Need some help?”

Fischl looked up as the boy offered her a hand, and she scoffed

F: “Thanks, plebeian companion, but I, Fischl, can stand up on her two feet without the aid of- ouch!”

She hissed in pain before she could get up. 

B: “Eh, are you okay?”

Oz approached the girl “Mein fraulein, what's wrong, can you get up?”

F: “My foot… it hurts..”

B: “Oh, you must have gotten a twist on your ankle. Don't worry, it's not something too big, but still, we should go back to Mondstadt so they can see your knee”

O: “It looks like sir bennett knows a lot about this kind of injuries”

B: “Oh well, I get hurt everyday, I'm just used to it, you know”, He shrugs as he offers his hand again, “You may still need help to get back to the city. Don't worry, I can help you with that” 

Fischl mutters something before sighing and grabbing his hand “Fine. I guess I can let you, oh cursed companion, to help this princess in her moments of aid. I will allow you to get close but not too much, so the darkness of my spirit doesnt eat your soul and fill the void of my heart”

Oz:  “Mein Fraulein says she's thankful again for your help, but asks you to not touch her too much”

B: “Eh? Well I wasn't thinking about doing anything weird...”, Fischl grunts in pain as he helps her stand up, then he puts her arm over his shoulder “See? you can use me as support until we go back to Mondstadt”  

Fisch sighs and blushes at Bennett’s kind smile “I suppose...”

Oz: “Don't worry, Mein Fraulein. Once were back and you're healed with the healing magic of the nuns, we will go back to our adventure”

F: “I do not wish to be healed by the magic of those pagans who make rituals for- eep!”

B: “Hey, don't try to walk so fast, you're going to lose your balance like that” 

Bennett softly grabs Fischl’s waist  as she gasps “See? try to keep the pace with me, I promise I will walk slow”

F: “D-Don't grab my waist like that!”

B: “Like how? Im just helping you to balance so you don't fall”

O: *chuckles* “Looks like Mein Fraulein is getting a little bit flustered at this situation”

F: “O-Oz!”

B: *Oblivious and confused*

Much later, the team exited the domain and arrived at the city of Mondstadt. The others asked what happened to Fischl, and Bennett told them what happened with her ankle ane that they shouldnt worry.

While Diluc had to go back to the winery and Aether had a new important quest to do. Bennett helped Fischl to walk and enter the cathedral.

B: “Hello? Hey, it's me again!”

Seconds after announcing his entrance, a known nun appeared from another door

“Oh Bennett? So soon already? What happened to you no- Oh!”

B: “Hey Barbara” *smiles* “I'm sorry to bother you again, it's just that we were on a mission and Fischl twisted her ankle. Can you help her?”

Fischl scoffed “I don't have any business with- ow!”

Barbara: “Oh, I see now. Don't worry, Im sure my hydro vision will heal you in no time, Fischl, please take a seat”

B: “This way” , Bennett helped the princess to sit on one of the benches as Barbara quickly approached 

Fischl pouted and crossed her arms as Barbara touched her leg

B: “This won't take much, please don't be scared if you feel a cold sensation in you leg”

F: “Me? Scared? the cold sensation of healing wont do anything to turn me away from my destiny! Not even the dread cold of death, nor the sensation of despair and the sound of desperation of hundreds of agonizing mortal lives can-”

B: “And, ready! try to stand up this time, but don't try to overwork yourself too hard this time”

Fischl’s eyes widened a bit before she started to stand up. “The pain disappeared...” she mumbles as she started to walk

Oz: “How can we repay for your healing services, madame?”

B: “Oh? Oh, don't worry about paying me. I'm always happy to help everyone who enters this cathedral. If I started to charge mora for my services, I don't know how I would feel! No, as long as you're safe and happy, it will be more than enough”

Oz: “Those are incredible words to hear, madame. Truly you're one of the most humble and kind persons we could ever meet”

Fischl huffes and crosses her arms “Very well. I thank you once again for your services, dear nun. but I, the Prinzessin Der Verurteilung, still has a lot of jobs in this mortal realm and its remaining hours until the darkness swallows the existence of this word”

O: “We should ask Katheryne if she still has more quests for the day. thanks once again”

Bennett: “Glad I could help too”

Fischl: “Huh? Now wait there, young man. I still have some words to talk to you”

Bennett: “Eh? what happened now?”

Fischl approached with a frown to Bennett and grabbed his arm as she dragged him to a place away from the nun and the crow. Once they were far away, she let his arm go and glared at him.

F: “For all the things that happened today, and for the intrusion of the personal space of the Prinzessin, you would have been arrested and fusilated in my world…. *sigh* but since we’re not in my world, and for your sudden help, and your good intentions, I think you deserve a small reward for the time being…”

B: “Reward? ¡Oh no! It's not necessary, miss Fischl I don't need- !!!”

Bennett’s words died on his throat as he freezed. the touch of soft lips touched his cheek for a few mere seconds before she pulled out.

The two blushed hard as Bennett looked at her, shocked and not believing what happened

Fischl covered her red tomato face as she looked away “S-So, anyway… Goodbye!”

Fischl ran away as she passed through Barbara and Oz

O: “Miss Fischl! What did Miss Barbara tell you about running?”

F: “Let's go already Oz!” she yelled as she ran to the door

O: *sighs* “Pardon me for leaving so soon, Miss Barbara, I hope we can meet again in a better time”

Barbara: *giggles* “It's alright, remember that the cathedral of Mondstadt is always open for travelers and adventurers. So don't be afraid of coming back, even if it's just for just talking”

Oz: “I will remember that, thanks”

Oz quickly flies away before Fischl could close the door and run away. His questions about why she looks so red and why she was running will be answered once she calms down

Barbara smiled before looking back at Bennett, who was still frozen and touching his cheek

Barbara: “Bennett? are you feeling alright”

B: “... did a girl just kissed me...?”

Barbara: “What? Bennett are you- Eep!”

Suddenly, the boy fainted on the floor as his brain couldn't process what just happened earlier.

Barbara: *sighs* “Guess I should carry him to a bed until he wakes up..:”

Since ever that day, the relationship between the princess Fischl and the unfortunate adventurer Bennett changed, as new feelings would blossom in the near future.

[eastertag]

Easter TAG

@womble1 gift for @janetm74

Blanket  

Precious  

Crown 

It was one of those days, one in/one out, a continuous rotation of Tracys coming and going. Virgil had just made it back from the arctic, scooping up Thunderbird 4 from its own mission on the way home. Scott and Alan glanced up from the desk where they had been conversing with John’s hologram. He should have seen it coming by the way their eyes adopted that concerned crinkling around the edges, really highlighting the similarities between the two of them despite the age gap.

“What?” his gaze danced from one pair of blue eyes to the other, “what’s wrong?” He glanced down at his shirt in case he had buttoned it up wonky or smeared something spectacular down it without noticing. Coming up blank he was back to requesting more info from those present

“Seriously - What?”

Scott stood up from behind the desk, his hands clasped in front of him like a politician about to deliver a tough message. 

“Well don’t take this the wrong way but, well…” he dithered around the sentence as if not quite sure which way to best approach it.

“You look like Shit Virg!” Alan cut in, having no such qualms. 

Virgil pulled his arms across his chest defensively, it was a bit harsh coming from someone who regularly slept in their clothes. 

“Thanks, I love you too, you little scrote!” he scowled across at the brat.

“OK, language. Both of you!” Scott waded into the fray, holding his hands up to placate both parties. “But honestly Virgil, you do look like you could do with a rest.” this just got a derisive shrug and an unintelligible grunt in response. “You look frozen, are you coming down with something?” Scott advanced towards him, stretching out his arm to lay a palm on Virgil’s forehead, but Virgil saw it coming and side stepped away from the advancing hand. 

“I’m fine, it was the arctic, it was cold, big shock, quit pawing at me.” Even as he said it, Virgil knew he was being needlessly snappy, but the damage was done and he saw Alan and Scott exchange a look. 

“Ok, fair point. Alan and I were just on our way out, so why don’t you just take a seat while we go and sort this one out.” Scott was talking slowly, moving in carefully and steering Virgil to a couch like he was a scared animal that might bolt or lash out. “It’s just a little support job for a research station, we’ll be back in no time. Here, have a blanket, I can literally see you shivering.” blanket deployed, Alan and Scott backed away, while Virgil remained scowling on the sofa, muttering about how he was absolutely fine, but tellingly he didn’t move from his loosely constructed blanket nest. He must have zoned out slightly, as the next thing he was aware of was the familiar rumblings of Thunderbird two launching and he hastily pulled up the comms array over the coffee table to give Scott a piece of his mind as Gordon strolled into the room. 

“Scott! You took my bird! What the hell?!” 

“Hello to you too! And I think you’ll find they are all International Rescue vehicles, besides we need the Pods  - and before you start, no, you were not in fit state to fly. Anyway, it’s a perfect chance for Alan to get some more flight hours in’’ as Alan’s face popped up alongside wearing a massive grin.

“Hey Virgil! The research station is in the middle of nowhere, there’s no way I’ll scratch it - I promise!” The little sod was enjoying winding his brother up far too much, they both knew he was a competent pilot, but that wasn’t the point. Virgil huffed and shuffled about a bit, wrapping his arms around himself, maybe he was a little cold but he wasn’t going to admit it. Too late though he had been spotted.

“Seriously Virgil, wrap yourself up, I can see you shivering from here” Scott's worry mode had been engaged, even as he got steadily further away, there was no escaping it. “Gordon keep an eye on him will you, I think he might be coming down with something”

“Sure think Capitano!” Gordon punctuated this with a sloppy little salute as the connection blinked out. “Come on then big guy, let’s get you tucked in nice and snug” he threatened as he advanced with malicious intent. 

“For the last time, I am absolutely fine! But fine, look I’m using the blasted blanket!” he sulkily pulled the blanket tightly around himself until he resembled a giant burrito “Happy now!” he demanded with a scowl. 

“O…..K, I’m going to leave you and your mood to get better acquainted, you want a coffee?” Gordon went to leave in the direction of the kitchen, barely resisting the urge to laugh at the image Virgil was presenting.

“Yes” came the somewhat deflated reply “……please” all the fight evaporating as quickly as Thunderbird ones vapor trails. 

By the time Gordon had navigated Virgil’s needlessly complicated coffee machine and made his way back to the lounge, the blanket burrito had toppled sideways on the sofa and appeared to be asleep. Gordon began to think that maybe Scott was right about the predictions of ill-health on the horizon. He was just wondering if he ought to reposition the blankets a bit since he couldn’t see Virgil’s face and there was a distinct lack of the usual snoring, when a call from Lady Penelope came through on the central display. 

“Ahh Good afternoon Gordon,” came Penelope’s clipped accent 

“Howdie Lady P! What can we do for you today?” Gordon spun around, his blanketed brother instantly forgotten. 

“Oh, it’s nothing urgent today thankfully, I was just……..” she faltered distracted by something “Forgive me Gordon, but I have to ask, what exactly is that behind you?

Gordon spared a brief glance back at the blanket pile that presumably still contained his brother.

“Oh that, Virg is just sulking because Alan took his ride and so he’s proving that he’s not cold…..yeah it makes sense somehow” he petered out.

“Oh I see,” Penelope takes this in her stride as she does all things, “Should it be glowing though Gordon?”

“Glowing?!” he jumps slightly “Oh no, he hasn’t” with no further preamble Gordon dived towards the fleece fortress, tugging at a corner. “Come on Virgil, hand it over, I know you’ve got it in there” He found a gap and plunged his hand inside the fabric, reaching towards the glowing  epicentre.

“Noooooooo, gerroff!” it was muffled, but it was clear that Virgil was not going to give in quietly. “It’s MINE! My precious! You can’t have it!” He wriggled about madly thrashing to try and get away from Gordon, who scrapped as well as any younger sibling in history. 

“Give it up Virg! They’re fine!” the “accidental” application of Gordon’s knee to unmentionable regions resulted in a muffled “ooof” and a sudden reduction in the amount of resistance. Gordon was able to extract his prize and held the remote piloting device up in triumph for Lady Penelope to see.

“He’s always like this when they take Two out without him, he just hovers over the remote controls, adjusting things. Alan thought Two was haunted the first time it happened, I’m not sure he doesn’t still partly believe it still is now.”

Lady Penelope hid a giggle demurely with one hand “Don’t you think you ought to check he’s ok in there, he doesn’t appear to be moving” she asked.

Gordon nudged the immobile lump with his knee “ you’re alright in there aren’t you big guy?” he asked, before sitting himself on top of the blanket mound with all the stately composure of a king ascending to his throne. 

Theres an unintelligible groan before Virgil wriggled enough to free his head from the fabric confines “Stupid Fat Hobbit! Ughhh”

“Oh yeah, he’s fine,” Gordon confirmed, a megawatt smile breaking his regal composure “He’s just banned from any more Lord of the Rings binges.”  Gordon turned to look down at his brother and affectionately ruffled his hair, making it stand out at all angles like a rumpled crown.

At this additional indignity, Virgil put all his remaining energy into a final abrupt wriggle that sent Gordon Toppling from his perch “Get off me pipsqueak!”

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future!” Gordon proclaimed from his place on the floor just before a cushion was dumped on his head. 

“Have you lost the plot Gordon?!” another pillow was dumped on him to punctuate the remark. 

“Not all those who wander are lost!” could just be heard through the growing pile of cushions 

They both seemed to have forgotten Lady Penelope's holographic presence floating above them. She coughed gently to draw their attention. 

“On that note I think I will leave you both too it, I’ll call back later to speak to Scott,” this drew their eyes away from the developing pillow fight. She cleared her throat delicately once more, gave a little smile and said “Maybe I should quote Frodo Baggins and remind you “It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing.” before you damage the soft furnishings any further.” and with that parting wisdom her image blinked out of existence.

“Did she just?….” asked Gordon

“Yes, yes I think she did” said Virgil, shaking his head slightly, either in disbelief or despair.

“What a GEEK!” snorted Gordon,  still half-heartedly trying to free himself from the scatter cushion landslide. Then, resigning himself to his current location, he flopped back into the pillows, letting out a happy little sigh. “She really is perfect isn’t she?” Virgil decided the only sensible response to this was to deposit a final cushion onto the top of Gorgon’s head, with enough force to liberate a couple of feathers from its confines. 

By the time Alan and Scott arrived back, with a thankfully scratch free Thunderbird Two, Gordon and Virgil had fallen asleep two films into yet another Lord of the Rings rewatch marathon. Gordon had nested on the floor on a mound of slightly battered looking scatter cushions and Virgil had reinstated the blanket burrito and only his head was free from the blankety confines.