#you're not nice to your spawn? that's not good buddy

[all-pacas]

What I'm thinking about:

Do you think Durge knew Cazador? Even slightly? What about Gortash?

Like, there's some overlap, right? Cazador is known as a reclusive, but active politician in the city. He has a lot of fingers in a lot of pies, and is paying close attention to Gortash's rise. Gortash, also, is very politically minded and planning on several huge power grabs in a row. Basically his first act after his coronation is killing most of the city's ruling class, minus Ravengard.

In Act 1, there's a dialogue where Gale, of all people, recognizes the Szar name and reputation (if not the vampire thing), though, so clearly Cazador is someone people In Politics know of. I think Gortash probably did know who he was. They might have even met.

So would Durge have? I mean, you'd think there's some good overlap between "vampire lord" and "our temple is decorated with pools of blood." And Durge was absolutely hanging out with Gortash, and was, if not super politically motivated, generally active and well-known as a Leading Bhaalist in certain circles. I feel pretty confident that Cazador probably knew of Durge, if not by sight. But imagine them meeting at a party.

[crying-fantasies]

Medical play

Masterlist

Featuring TF: Earth Wars Game! Barricade, smut/humor, CW: reader putting a hand over the mech, dubious consent (both are drunk every time they get nasty), licking, implied oral, implied fingering and penetration, implied blowjob, messy make-out, Barricade is a menace and an afthole, the reader has a thing for praxian frames (who doesn't?)

There is just so much you can go around from one medical habsuit to the next, Ratchet and First were very serious on the topic of not exhausting yourself, a pair of complete hypocrisy as both are out cold after dual missions, you don't have more hands to help as Minerva is still recharging after a 39hrs shift, Knock Out and Wreck-gar are still out in the field, the first most likely requesting to come back already not due to worrying over you but his paint.

So there's only you when the Decepticons group comes back from a fight with whatever is coming from Cybertron, the big door opens and they see you, alone, they can't even get angry anymore as they practically toss some of their mechs on the floor, someone's arm strut almost crushes you and makes you scream, Tantrum has no much to say but “all yours, squishy doctor” as you get near to notice the two mechs tossed at you are Barricade and Waspinator; Astrotrain, bless his spark, stays longer than the rest of them, looking at you as Waspinator starts to cry out in distress, Barricade may still be rebooting due to his silence, he gives you an uncertain glance before asking “need a servo, doc?”

There is no more energy as the cries intensify, he is cringing internally from it, you can notice, especially when Barricade’s system crashes and he wakes up in intervals, shouting obscenities, “I would love some help, Astro”.

Being a doctor in the base has its pros, more than one Decepticon is indebted to you, and while not all are as nice or bearable as Astrotrain, well, you manage, the number of attempted murders against you has dropped significantly, that's progress, a constant mantra repeating in your head when Astro goes back to his barracks once both Decepticons are tossed on the medical berths, he looks at you, waiting, and you let him go as this is routine.

Monotonous, boring routine, almost every soldier and high command has already passed on your hands from a devastating blow through their spark chamber or a detailing session to calibrate sensors right and get the dirt out, you've seen it all, you've lived it all, at least for a human, Drift said you're an old soul and Ratchet told him to shut up.

Perhaps you are an old one inside, as you collect patience to shove energon candy to Wasp’s mandibles, letting him be concerned over his goodies and not his arm strut going back to where it belongs, his antenna does pick up in what you're doing when you're done, “Waspinator did well?” your tired smile speaks volumes, “You did great buddy”.

Takes time and a lot of effort to catch on to what makes them let you work, Waspinator tends to forget about the world with energon candy, others when you do part of a psychiatrist and listen to their ranting, some good tea, extra spicy in some occasions, some want you to be a “service drone” by just doing the work done, for those your hands and treatment get a little rougher.

You're proud to say that fewer Decepticons turn away from the med bay when you're in charge or alone.

Now, Wasp is entering the cryostasis pod for a recovery nap, that lets you with-

“You spawn of a glitch!”

Barricade, whose mind seems to still be in the war zone, his struts are a mess, has blaster openings on more than one side and one optic isn't working. Given that he isn't in a worse state then maybe Hook went with them on this occasion.

Still, all his wires are an utter mess.

“What-?”, takes a moment for him to run right, but once he does you are very close to overriding his system manually, “Oh, oh, nice day, doc”.

Your teeth are going to turn out into powder by how hard you're grinding them, “good afternoon, Barricade”.

This is the reason why you sent Astrotrain away and put Waspinator into the cryo pod, your reputation among the Decepticons has improved so well, that you feel proud about it and almost jumped on your feet when Megatron called you “beneficial flesh bag”.

You will not lose that.

Barricade chuckles, helm pressing to the medical berth, looking at you like he wants to take a bite, “Come on, told you to call me Barry ages ago”, his only good servo tries to touch under your lab coat, you try to keep it civil, but he is doing it so hard, pushing his digit away only has him scowling “thought I already fragged your stupid uprightness away last night cycle”.

That, you're trying to forget about that as your fingers start to move away the plating which is poorly mangled, and his panels are an utter eyesore, but at least his internals aren't damaged, you can do this fast and spare yourself the mortification of hearing him talk about the most recent drunken misstep, the many, embarrassing many drunken missteps, “Barricade, I’m a medical official, you're an enforcer, we must keep it professional”.

With an air of anticipation, he clicks his glossa, just as you had predicted, “Professional this, professional that, that’s all you talk about”, he has an arm twisted abnormally backward, wires and lines messed up, but all that doesn't stop him from trying to get into your pants while sober, “what happened to the doctor that reached a fleshy servo inside my valve to check, uh? Or the doctor who tested my transfluid and gave me the all-good?”

Memories flush as fast as the rush of your blood coursing through every vein and artery, there is never quite enough to make a full picture and you swear that there is not even an ounce of resolve that wants to remember as you put his plating out of the way, trying to concentrate on the task and welding machine at hand, but it's so hard when he is looking at you like that and doing obnoxious, heavy ventilations laced with groans and the occasional moan when you drag away plating with force, “just like that, doc, you know how I like it”.

Who could've known that he had this kind of interest, yet again, Runamuck said something along the lines of you being the primary reason for his curious awakening in new interfacing techniques, and even giving you the hint that maybe you two should make it official to this point, you don't have a friend to care about to give the news so what are you waiting for? He says it with sincerity, unbecoming from a Decepticon, still with the usual bite most of them have.

Most people tend to their friends or interests, leaving lonely you at a corner of the bar full of people and cybertronians, never having the time to make some bonding, friendship, or fraternity, glancing respectfully at a pretty praxian that seems to be the focus of many as he talks, surrounded by his friends. Drinking to have the courage to go there and talk with him isn't the answer, that much has been proved over and over, as your feet wobble and your brain is soon to fall asleep from the intoxication.

The first time it happened, it was a mistake. You were drunk, just holding onto the first servo you could find, searching for that telling chevron as you looked up, and in the way his door wings perked up by the contact, he was just as drunk as you, overcharged, but still had the decorum to get you into his habsuit before punching the close buttons in haste. You aren't proud of yourself, much less when his red optics look at your hand pressing over his chest plate, urging him to the berth, following your command not by force or by his weakened state, he wants to and even has the vulgarity to put his servos under his helm, expecting you to do whatever you desire and go along with him, like you were some service drone ready to do the job.

Barricade found himself unprepared for the sudden pressure of your fingers over usually unused buttons and crevices of his chest, you had the medical knowledge to override his self-protection protocol. Exposing his spark, shining hard, light flowing into your face, so pretty, so enticing, a literal star in front of you.

It's hard to believe you forced him to do anything, but yet again, the bastard remembers that night with a dreamlike smile.

It would be foolish to just let it be, but you also felt stupid waking up the morning after, your radio almost blowing up with 39 messages from First Aid, resuming them in “your shift started 6 hours ago, I’ve distracted Ratchet from noticing but now Ratbat is whining to be treated by your hands only, where the frag are you?” as your face, middle and lower body have the sticky feeling of semi-dried transfluid, your partner of the previous night recharging soundly by your side.

Only one look at him and you were running from that habsuit like it was a contamination chamber, no matter how many times you ran, you still, somehow, ended up on his habsuit, on repeated occasions, always brought by bad decisions, alcohol and high-grade, mixed with xenophilia, Barricade kicked out his habsuit partner without any decorum, both in a frenzied and drunken mist to even care when Runamuck tells him “hey, I'm happy you finally stopped to be an annoyance in the highway, but could you frag the flesh bag somewhere else?!”, still, you both know he won't say a word, just allowing him to go make a ruckus in the nearest street, leaving you both to your own and trying to feign ignorance when he wants to put an audio receptor in the door when you moan, leaving anyway when things seem to be too gross for him, more times than not that's when Barricade shoves his glossa inside your mouth, almost getting off by the way you try to suck it, earning a wicked groan as his servos grip too hard over your chest and ass, leaving pretty marks here and there.

Both of you don't care, hardly keeping at bay where hands or servos reached before you put him over the berth with a firm tone, urging him to show you his spark chamber for a quick examination, feeling a hot, fluid rush from head to toe when he does as requested, waiting for you to take place over his abdominal armor, fingers creeping over his array, opening it manually, the smell of ozone heavy in the dark habsuit, your hands hold your weight, telling him to show the resilience of his hips if he could haul your insignificant body in constant pumping so you could measure the electrical flow of his stabilizers.

Oh, and he showed off so well last night.

“Bet you wanted to treat another praxian”, at that side remark he can only yelp when you tug way too hard on his line, Barricade is soon to shout at you, stopping, realizing you have detangled the mess the others made on the war zone with a single pull in a movement, no leaking, no lasting pain, but a scorching, painful pressure over his interface panel when he compares this fed up and angry you to the one liking over his sensors and modules while calling him a “good patient”.

His optics and biolights flare, a telltale you've reluctantly become familiar with.

“Is that everything, Barricade?”, you're frustrated with his nonsense, trying to get him away as soon as possible when you catch on his ventilation fans overworking, he smells like ozone.

“Now that you are asking-”

“Fleshy doc!”

He gets away from you with outstanding force and speed, another batch of Decepticons is at the hangar door, knocking first, it gives you another source of happiness and pride as Gnaw does it in place of just barging right in, finally some improvement, enough time for you to catch on your canned shower and aromatherapy spray, using great amount over your body and Barricade, who isn't pleased in the slightest to smell like lemon and vanilla, again, "yeah, come in!"

You try your best to disregard his disapproving look, realizing that what you said didn't come out the way you wanted it to given the circumstances.

.

I love Bayverse Barricade but I love this interpretation of him a little more, very handsome, even when he doesn't look that much like the original, and very obsessed with the game once again, but in the variety is the pleasure.

@tf-kinktober2024

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

do you have any advice for writing long fics/series??? I have so many I've been wanting to write but the last times I've tried I always lost motivation, so now I'm scared to try 😭

Ohhh, been there. Okay, so I've done it two different ways, and odds are high that you've only tried one, so maybe whichever you haven't done before, do the other?

Method 1: Write it all, then post one chapter at a time only once complete. That's how I wrote my early multi-chapter series. I was so worried I'd get bored or stuck and bail before I did what I wanted to do, I made sure all of my chapters were written before I posted anything. If you're addicted to the serotonin of feedback, that's fine, find a writing buddy who will read your WIP so you're still getting some of that spark along the way, but don't put up anything public until you're all done and ready to rock and roll.

Side note: This is also a pretty good way to build a bit of a following on AO3. If you promise people up front that everything IS done and written and it WILL finish and you give them a regular posting schedule—a chapter every Tuesday or whatever—they'll subscribe and happily follow along because there's no risk. Short of you getting hit by a bus or something, I guess.

Method 2: If, however, you've tried the above and that's where you're getting stuck, do the opposite. Maybe sketch out some rough notes to yourself on where you want to end up with the fic, just so you know you're heading in the right direction, but then let go of the need for control a little and post as you go along. That's what I had to do for my two biggest fics because they took literal years. Actual literal years, plural. The fear of leaving things dangling might be more motivating than you realize.

Some things to remember:

It's okay to start small. Like, it's tempting to dive right into a mega-sprawling epic of a fic with 100 chapters or whatever, but it's also okay to... not... do that. Try a fic with a few chapters instead. Build that muscle. Get used to writing beyond oneshots. Pre-built structures like 5+1 might help you build that muscle as well.

Sometimes you just gotta... do it. Like, that sucks, I know, it would be nice if there were an easy trick, believe me. Like, the fic I am procrastinating on is not a long one, but it's kicking my butt and it's so frustrating. But I'm getting it done a literal line at a time—for every ask I answer, I make myself hop over into my doc and write another line. Some nights I'm literally messaging Audrey like "I just want to get one sentence done before bed." And I stack one sentence after another until it's done.

It's okay to procrastinate a little. Emphasis on little. It sounds like you get stuck, procrastinate some, then don't stop procrastinating, but it's okay to give yourself a little break. My two biggest fics spawned so many other fics because I would hop from the chapter I would be working on to my distraction fic... until I needed to be distracted from that fic and then my chapter was the distraction!

It's also okay to combine the above methods. For Nature and Nurture, my first big fic, I used Method 2 allllll the way up to, like, the last three chapters or so. I was so scared of fumbling it all at the end that I switched to Method 1 for the last chunk, made myself write it ALL, and didn't post anything else until it was all written.

You can do it!!

[a-narcissists-warren]

(ooc again)

My apologies if I worded my last ask a little rudely I wasn’t trying to. I just now realized tjat that could come off as a little rude so i’m not trying to :3 also why is it that everytime I try to do something nice for the anons that my ask gets eaten??? Like. I hope all of the anons have a good day? ask eaten. I spawn in a big cake for all of the anons? Ask eaten. Is tumblr going out of it’s way to make the anons worse???

-🍔🫧

oh no worries!! i didn't really see it as rude, you're all good buddy :3

I HAVE YOUR SECOND? CAKE ASK I NEVER SAW A FIRST OMG BUT cake will be answered soon this just means i have to draw a cake BBFNFMDFRRGGRR

[thegongoozlerreacts]

Hazbin Hotel Episode 1: Overture

hello i am back with a New Update on things to react to, and i thought Hazbin Hotel would be the perfect place to start since all episodes were fully released a few days ago! and also EVERYBODY i know has been bugging me about watching this show and now i FINALLY have the time to!!

spoilers under the cut

wow barely a few seconds in and i can already tell that the music is gonna be So Banger

wow okay so the opening exposition is Super Interesting

just wanna say the animation is also Fantastic in this section but ooh the lore drops

i really love the way the angels are stylized here, and how its all in black and white with accents of gold (except Lucifer who has a very light red gradient in his wings)

and also its the way that More color is brought on screen by Lucifer only oooh

oohh and the way that red gradient turns gray when the angels are like, disapproving of his ideas

its So Funny how Adam fumbled his first wife So Hard that she ran away and fell in love with someone else then his second wife got convinced by the First Wife and Her New Love LMFAOO

MAN this makes me feel SO Bad for Lucifer and i feel Conflicted as someone raised christian but like. i feel bad for him they do say that the road to hell was paved with good intentions

also Lilith thriving on the evil stuff like you Go Girlboss

these are So Pretty to look at

aww Charlie and Vaggie are So Cute

SEVEN YEARS? ouch seven years without hearing anything from her mom

omg they are So Cute

OMG THIS IS SO CUTE

damn the ominous Ringing of the Bell in the only angelic-like structure of hell

BYE ALASTOR'S AD.....

"Founded five days ago by Lucifer's ~delusional~ daughter!"

"As she tries to work through her daddy issues by fixing you!" STOPPPP NAHHH THATS FOULL

the shaky camera i cant

"HAHA I NAMED IT" LMFAOOOO yeah you sure did buddy

incredible, they dont have A Working Phone

their faces LMFAOO

love that Alastor is bad at TV commercials because he's like... a radio host. the radio demon. he is Decidedly Not a TV Guy

also can i just say that the animation is So Smooth and So Fluid like wow i could rewatch the way each character moves 100 times and that is NOT exaggeration

help he is So Mad that they arent doing a radio show

ok actually Angel Dust's voice is really good like?? idk something about it is just Fun to listen to

Charlie trying to be So Nice is extremely entertaining

OMG HUSK !! HIS VOICE HELP !! it fits So Well

also shoutout to the background music

omg Angel Dust has got a little heart spot on the back of his head thats really really cute

aww Charlie is so cute

OOH A SONG ALREADY

LMFAOO "That bitch is halfway down the street!" i love Angel's goofy little smile as he says it also Amazing how the fuck did she get over there so quickly????

i love Charlie's and Vaggie's voice

"They're bloodthirsty and deranged!" <- really funny that this is being said about angels

he is a Hologram hey this guy's An Asshole what the fuck did Charlie ever do to you

new reaction image she looks so done with his bullshit im cackling

i can already tell that the new commercial is Not gonna go well

HEKSDJKSDN ANGEL DUST "I need a big strong daddy to put me in my place... on the path to redemption!" THE CHANGE IN TONE I CANNOT

oh ok so this Asshole Angel Guy is adam

"I'm the original dick!" BRO???? HELP?? IM ?? this does not sound like Angelic Behavior anyways what The Fuck is he even on about

the fact that he specifically calls out Climate Change as Earth's Problem, but not HERPES?? implies that angels get herpes i guess????

HELFHLDKJ I CANT Hazbin Hotel is KILLING it with the facial expressions

there is not One Thought behind that eye new reaction image

its okay Nifty you're trying your best

there are just Too Many good reaction images and memes spawned from just this One episode

Alastor is So Mad and Bitter about TV

BRUH the way he couldve done all that The Whole Time but he didnt because he Hates tv 😭😭

also wtf Nifty's giant now

well... at least Vaggie and the Hotel Gang are having a better time than Charlie with this Asshole Angel Guy

"I've never made a mistake in my fucking life" says the guy who fucked up so bad that he had to get a second wife

fuck this song is banger BUT i hate adam

DAMN "And for those of us with divine ordainment/Extermination is entertainment!" fuck when he sings it it goes So Hard but like aw :(( what The Fuck Heaven

WTF THEY MOVED IT EARLIER ????? WHY ??

help Alastor just glitching on screen

oh what The Fuck theyre moving it earlier cuz somehow a demon killed an angel? and theyre gonna kill ALL OF THE DEMONS????? WHAT

and thats the end of the episode im.

wow well. honestly it was REALLY good and i am so excited to watch the rest of the series

unfortunately i have to go now, bye i will be back with my reactions to the second episode! tomorrow (hopefully)

farewell, folks!

[bitegore]

WIP ask; dysfunctional bulkhead fuck yeah please and thank you

This one spawned out of a conversation I had with @honestlyvan, resident Bulkhead understander and one of the friends I have the absolute most fun bouncing ideas off of because for real I have never met someone who is so good at yes-anding ideas until they turn from a one-off line into something really cool. If I remember right, we were talking about Bulkhead's very visible delineation between "people I care about" and "potential targets," since Bulkhead is pretty clearly kind of... like...

ah, continued under the cut because this got long. A lot of discussion about Bulkhead characterization and then some very light details about the fic, because I did that thing where you have a general point but no actual outline and you run out of plot super fast because you never had much to begin with.

Okay so let's take a very brief detour through the land of psychology. Empathy runs on the idea of an "in-group" and an "out-group". The in-group is where you feel strong empathy, the out-group is not. This is what empathy is for, largely; it makes you feel bad for the people around you when they're hurting so that you don't start killing your buddies. Nothing wrong with that. The trouble is where this in-group ends. And for Bulkhead, at least as far as I see him, his in-group stops right at the end of Team Prime. Miko is in, Jack is in, Raf is in, Fowler is in eventually, and Wheeljack his old friend is in. And that's it. Everyone else could drop dead and Bulkhead wouldn't shed a tear. Why should he care? They're not his people, he's not invested in them. If they die that's their problem. He's got better things to worry about.

He's also an ex-member of the Autobot Warcrime Squad, the Wreckers. The "get in, kill everyone, get out, try not to die" team. He and Wheeljack are the only ex-Wreckers still standing, which is pretty damn impressive because even outside of IDW it's still a team with pretty high turnover (see: Marvel).

Anyway none of that gels too well with the way Bulkhead gets written in fic, which is to be a nice soft sweet kind of guy a la Animated. Which is fine, all the more for you guys, but I just find it painfully boring. There's a reason I don't read Animated fic unless my friends have written it and asked me to.

So on the face of it I basically just wanted to write Bulkhead kicking ass and not even bothering to take names because who gives a shit. Not him. He's got better things to do, people to give a crap about. Don't die here and he'll remember you to kill you harder later, maybe, but unless you're annoying or matter to someone who matters to him he just sort of doesn't give half a crap about who you are. He is just going to put you in the fucking ground. Bye.

in practice that is not what I did.

In practice I wrote a couple hundred words of internal monologue and went "oh, fuck, hang on", because guess what I did? Smartest boy ever, best writer in the world. I forgot to come up with a plot.

So then it crashed headlong into my obsession with the Combaticons and I had some vague idea of pulling the FoC Combaticons in for Bulkhead to just lay brutal waste to without waiting around to care too much about who they were. I thought about having him go fight one of the Insecticons but decided against it because I don't know them well off the top of my head and I didn't want to make a whole oc up so I'd probably be working with Hardshell, who doesn't work as an enemy for "named and therefore not someone I can just kill off" reasons. I'd established that it was during the whole "hunting down the Iaconian Relic macguffins" arc(s), so it didn't make sense to me for me to pull in characters that die before that or make significant appearances after, and there's really not that many that just show up and vanish without a trace. So okay I needed a new set.

Trouble is I've never played Fall of Cybertron.

So then I was like "ooh, I'll watch a playthrough". And then I did not do that. You understand how it goes.

Anyway, as a result the fic has been languishing ever since, but because it's so goddamn short i'm just going to copy paste the entire thing down here for your perusal. Enjoy.

Things were different back when the Wreckers were still running together and no one was really running with them. Much as Team Prime was small, it wasn't a hyper-specialized unit designed for getting in and getting out and getting slag done and nothing else. Totally different internal culture. Sometimes Bulkhead didn't really know what to do with it. And the humans- anything weird about Team Prime was weirded ten times harder by the humans. They were small, and fragile, and they didn't seem to realize it at all, constantly putting themselves beyond their stress tolerances for no good reason. Miko kept wandering straight into battlefields like she'd forgotten guns existed, and Bulkhead had to admit she was better at evading fire than he'd first expected but the other two humans definitely didn't have her reflexes and they kept on following her and needing the Autobots to get the three of them out of trouble. These things were so much more convenient when he and Jackie and Seaspray and Springer and the rest were all just doing what they did. They were good at that. Team Prime was pretty damn effective, sure, but they weren't half as good as getting in and getting out and laying out everything in their path, the way the Wreckers had been. At least Wheeljack was here. If he needed to blow up a metric fuckton (thank you, Miko, love that expression) of Vehicons, Jackie was always good for it. Aw, whatever. Jackie was off doing whatever it was he was doing- wherever the action was, that was for sure- and Team Prime was on one of their completely weird and inexplicable little backwards jaunts again. Recon, digging old weapons and scrap up out of the ground to keep them out of the Decepticons' hands. It'd've been nice if the boss would've let them use the really cool ones, but for the most part Optimus Prime had a very firm "no powerful game-changing strategies" policy.

[a-shrieking-cloud-of-bats]

Helldivers II Post

alright I've been playing helldivers on and off for about a month now and I think I've got an idea of what I like about it and what I do not like about it.

First off, like everyone ever says, the gunplay is ridiculously good and it really makes me realize what I've been missing, recoil is chaotic, aiming sight wiggle is noticeable and important to get right in the heat of it, in general like a surprisingly small amount of games firing a gun while running actually feels like a risk and it really adds to the chaos. Clip reloading is another system that punishes you for panic reloading (something I had to learn) and the game has a difficulty scale ranging from almost pointlessly easy to effectively being a stealth game because if you get caught you'll get so piled up on you are inevitably going to chain die repeatedly. In solo, anyway. The chaos is unparalelled and it just really feels like things go to hell really quick, it's super exciting, and when you pull off a clutch strategem it feels Great. Basically everything about playing the game is fantastic.

The galactic war thing giving overarching goals for the playerbase is also really fun and I fuckin Love communally filling a meter so there's no complaints there. Also fantastic.

I have one complaint. One specific (and ultimately not really that important) aspect of the progression is much harder then the others, to the point of pushing less skilled/solo players Really hard. The game is intended as multiplayer. I have no qualms with the intended multiplayer focus. Maybe I am being unfair by making the comparison that I am about to make, but I wish it had handled the entire thing a bit more like deep rock galactic.

In deep rock galactic when you solo you get a little drone buddy named Bosco and he will shoot bugs for you, he'll mine for you, he'll generally help you out and is surprisingly competent which makes single player playable, and a little less arduous. The experience is still far more complete with multiple players, because it was, you know, made for that, and especially in DRG the community is generally friendly enough that there's no reason not to do that, but as someone that is not always feeling up to herding cats on the internet it's nice that I can pop into solo and play the game and get more or less the same stuff a group can get, and progress my account. This on top of the fact that a failed mission still rewards you a (reduced) amount of rewards means that you're always moving forward, which is quite nice.

I've been beating around the bush long enough so here's the complaint finally. There are three different avenues to upgrading your account.

Medals, which you just get from clearing missions, no complaints there. These unlock new gear and cosmetics for the essentially battle pass. Battle passes never vanish so the battle pass model is essentially just there so they can do content drops.

Requisition slips are number two, and much like medals you just get them by finishing missions. Again no complaints; they unlock strategems (active abilities you can use in missions), and are quite important to playing the game at higher difficulties, because heavy enemies are surprisingly weak to your non strategem equipment.

Samples. Here's the issue. First, when you die, you drop your samples. If you finish the mission, and die during extraction, you might "succeed" the mission, but you are not getting those valuable valuable samples. This really isn't the biggest deal, but it plays into part two. Part two is that higher grade samples spawn exclusively on higher difficulties; 4 and 7 to be precise. This is the issue. You can really break your back trying to get a decent amount of rare samples only to get thumped because the game dropped 3-4 heavies on you during extraction.

Now it's not the worst thing in the world, the passive tree is ultimately probably the least impactful upgrade segment out of the three, and you can get them solo with enough effort, but it feels very gatekeep-ey and almost (don't take this next part too seriously now) mean spirited.

It's just baffling because much like DRG I think helldivers is a Fantastic multiplayer game, and as a result I don't think they have to gate materials like this other then a weird insistence that only players above a certain skill level can get the full passive tree. There are multiplayer players saying they can't really get the higher tier samples because they're not good enough, and it feels like the sort've thing that creates needless friction. Hopefully they'll eventually introduce a way to get higher samples at a reduced rate, so, much like DRG, even if you're hobbling through the lower difficulties you can eventually nickle and dime your way to upgrades.

I dunno! I'm really enjoying the game, but when I drop samples right at the end and I get a small portion of progression yanked out of my hands it feels real bad. That's essentially my one complaint. If you've got people to play with then it's a great game to grab.

[yessassykittycollection]

Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Minecraft Axolotls

Oh, the Minecraft Axolotl, a creature of pure whimsy in a world of blocks. This isn’t just your garden-variety virtual amphibian, no siree! Axolotls in Minecraft are your pals, your underwater buddies, your aquatic comrades in the pixelated wilds. Let’s dive snout-first into the riveting world of Minecraft Axolotls.

A Splash of Origins

Axolotls are not a figment of a Minecraft developer's over-caffeinated imagination. They are real creatures, hailing from the mystical waters of Xochimilco, Mexico. In the real world, they're critically endangered, but in Minecraft, they flourish and frolic with impunity. Rejoice, for in the blocky realm, the axolotl apocalypse is not nigh!

Learn more about real-world Axolotls

How To Snag Your Own Axolotl

In the digital brine of Minecraft, snagging an axolotl is a breeze. You'll find these bubbly beings in lush caves, swimming about with a grace rivaled only by a brick in ballet shoes. To catch one, just scoop it up with a water bucket. Yes, a bucket. Who knew axolotl-napping could be so straightforward?

Discover the lush caves of Minecraft

Colors of the Aquatic Rainbow

Axolotls in Minecraft come in a spectacular array of colors: leucistic (pink with dark eyes), wild (brown and green), gold, cyan, and blue. The blue axolotl is as rare as a modest creeper, with a 1 in 1200 chance of spawning. If you snag one, you’re basically the Poseidon of axolotl aficionados.

Combat Companions

When it comes to underwater skirmishes, axolotls are the mercenaries you never knew you needed. They attack fish, drowned, and guardians. They even have a special ability known as "playing dead" where they recover health while tricking foes. It’s the kind of drama usually reserved for soap operas, now in fin-flapping form!

Breeding Your Brigade

In the mood for some axolotl amore? Feed your flippered friends buckets of tropical fish, and watch the sparks fly. Soon, you'll have a battalion of baby axolotls, ready to take on the watery abyss.

Healing Hugs

In the throes of combat, your axolotl allies reward your martial prowess with regenerative love. Every time you vanquish a foe alongside them, they gift you temporary Regeneration. It’s like they’re saying, “Hey buddy, nice murder! Here’s some health.”

A Word on Axolotl Advocacy

While you're enjoying the axolotl antics in Minecraft, spare a thought for their real-world counterparts. The actual axolotls are facing extinction, but organizations like Save the Axolotl are fighting the good fight to ensure these whimsical waterdogs stick around.

Want to draw some cool axolotls? How to draw an Axolotl.

The Axolotl Anthem: Singing the Praises

Minecraft axolotls are more than just a cute face and a quirky name. They're a testament to the game's ability to blend reality with whimsy, offering players a chance to interact with a creature most will never encounter outside the digital domain.

In the end, whether you’re a battle-hardened veteran of the voxel veld, or a newcomer just dipping your toes in the water, the axolotls of Minecraft are sure to add a splash of color to your adventures. And remember, in the world of Minecraft, every day is a good day to play in the mud with your new axolotl amigos!

Now, go forth, dear reader, with bucket in hand, and may your aquatic escapades be ever adorable and amusing!

[theautumnpicker]

🖤

send 🖤 and my character will answer about yours.

attractiveness:

repulsive / hideous / ugly / not attractive / unappealing / not unattractive / meh / no preference / ok / mildly attractive / nice looking / cute / adorable / attractive / pleasant on the eyes / good looking / hot / sexy / beautiful / gorgeous / hot damn / would tap that / perfect / godlike / holy fuck there are no words.

personality:

grating / irritating / frustrating / boring / confusing at best / awkward / unreasonable / psychotic / disturbing / interesting / engaging / affectionate / aggressive / ambitious / anxious / artistic / bad tempered / bossy / charismatic / appealing / unappealing / creative / courageous / dependable / unreliable / unpredictable / predictable / devious / dim / extroverted / introverted / egotistical / gregarious / fabulous / impulsive / intelligent / sympathetic / talkative / up beat / peaceful / calming / badass / flexible.

how likely they would have sex with them:

not if they were the last person on earth and the world was ending / fuck no! / never / no way / not likely / not sure / indifferent / I’m asexual / maybe / probably / it depends / fairly likely / likely / yeah sure / yes / would tap that / hell yes / fuck yes! / wishing that could happen right now / as many times as possible / we are already having sex.

level of friendship:

never in a million years / worst of enemies / enemies / rivals [you're giving a bad name to us vampire spawn, my dear] / indifferent / neutral / acquaintance / friendly toward each other [when Astarion isn't being awful] / casual friends / friends / good friends / best friends / fuck buddies / bosom buddies / practically the same person / would die for them / true friends / my only friend.

first impression of them:

i hate them so much / i don’t like them / i don’t trust them / they annoy me / they’re weird / I’m indifferent / meh / they seem alright / they’re growing on me / truce / I think I like them / I like them / I’m not sure if I trust them / I trust them / they’re cool / they’re genuine / I think we’re going to get along / I really like them / I think I’m in love / oh fuck they’re hot / I love them.

current impression of them:

i hate them so much / i don’t like them / i don’t trust them / they annoy me / they’re weird / I’m indifferent deeply ambivalent - we have so much in common but could not differ more in other respects / meh / they seem alright / they’re growing on me / truce / I think I like them / I like them / I’m not sure if I trust them / I trust them / they’re cool / they’re genuine / I think we’re going to get along / I really like them / I think I’m in love / oh fuck they’re hot / I love them.

[cyberwulf]

The anime is hilariously inconsistent with the game mechanics/ethics let's be real. "Team Rocket! How dare you capture that entire Houndour pack! Let them go!" (so that six different trainers can catch them and split them up) "Grrr! Team Rocket! How could you poison this wild Pokemon that attacked you?!" (Brock did you forget how battling Pokemon works) Brock it's very nice that you bonded with that baby Stantler but it's not yours, Team Rocket can take it if they want.

Buuut we have canon poachers and Pokemon thieves (clearly there's a way to release Pokemon from their original owners, otherwise why would Team Rocket steal other people's Pokemon), so I think the best way to make sense of it is that Pokemon are a managed resource, like game animals in various parts of our world. Pokemon as a managed resource also explains the presence of Pokemon preserves/sanctuaries throughout the anime. Pokemon breeding is not well-understood, doesn't appear to be something that can happen accidentally (none of Ash's Pokemon have ever gotten together and spawned), and no-catch preserves allow populations to rebound after over-catching.

So in the Pokemon world, society has collectively agreed that it's okay to battle a Pokemon with your own Pokemon (or just catch a weak enough one in a Pokeball), catch it, and have it be your pet/buddy/murderbeast. Most people start their Pokemon journey as kids and most kids we meet in the series treat their new battle monsters like their pets/friends. Ash is appalled when Paul catches three Starly(IIRC), reads their IVs, and immediately releases the weakest two. That's the smart thing to do if you want strong Pokemon, but Ash sees all his Pokemon as his friends. Each of them has an origin story.

Thing is, adults are less pure and that's where poachers come in. In the real world, there's still illegal trade in exotic pets. There are still rich assholes who go to Africa and shoot lions so they can have the head on their wall. Clearly there's a market for Pokemon - even Ekans and Koffing - otherwise there wouldn't be poachers. It's not hard to imagine that there are adult collectors who simply don't have time to travel the world any more, adult trainers who want a shortcut to a strong Pokemon, well-meaning people who've always wanted a certain type of Pokemon and don't question where the nice people at the pet store got that shiny Galarian Zigzagoon. And that's not even touching unscrupulous Pokemon scientists like those employed by Team Rocket. Catching wild Pokemon in Pokeballs is time-consuming and takes effort. It only makes sense if you're Team Rocket and can put 100 grunts on the ground, all throwing specially-made balls with a high catch rate. Dig a pit trap. Put them in a cage. Starve 'em a little so the nice people who run the pet shop can capture them easily and re-register them to the new owners.

I think the idea that wild Pokemon who stick around to battle a trainer are doing so with the full knowledge that they could be captured, and them standing their ground to fight you is a sign they think you're worthy of being their master, is a good one and has some basis in canon - we've seen wild Pokemon insist on battling Ash's Pokemon after he's helped them out of a jam. But I don't think it's something the human world would know, or that plays into the wider Pokemon culture. I think it's more, "we don't know where these things came from or how they reproduce or why they like to fight, so let's manage them carefully or else there won't be any left in the wild and then our sport will die out too."

Is there an established canon explanation for what would count as poaching in Pokemon? Like, is it just when you catch a Pokemon with a cage or traps instead of pokeballs and battle? That doesn't feel like a big difference ethically; I haven't been tuned in since the GBA games and like the first 2 seasons of the show though so maybe they go over this?

That’s such a good question LOL

I think catching a Pokémon against its will and catching them for nefarious purposes is what makes one a poacher

It’s never directly addressed but I feeeeel like, in the anime at least, it’s implied that Pokémon have to have some level of connection to the trainer or willingness to be caught in order to be caught in a Pokéball. So poachers resort to cages, nets, etc.

That’s just kinda what I assumed!

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Mr. Freeze: *quietly working on his lab*

Captain Cold: *visiting Gotham* Sup?

Mr. Freeze: I'm not accepting visitors right now *points to his test tubes* , indeed I'm quite busy so with all do respect leave.

Captain Cold: No way, budy. I came to this trash smelling hell spawn of a city just so I could get real with u. So listen up.

Mr. Freeze: For the last time, Leonard, I don't care about wich of us can produce the lowest temperatures. I'm not interested in, as you say, "an epic ice showdown" be it a dispute or a team up. Now would you please just let me work?

Captain Cold: You got me wrong, buddy, I'm here to talk about your wife.

Mr. Freeze: *almost droppes one of the beakers* Oh?

Captain Cold: You see, since you told your black furry all 'bout your sob story, it kindda became news on the superhero comunity. Problem is now the Flash got all this ideas that since we are similar I must have a secretly frozen sick relative or some type of sob story and he keeps trying to help me with it?

Mr. Freeze: I can't see why that's my problem.

Captain Cold: It is your problem cause I don't have any. I just like money and freezing things. Look Flash is a cool guy and while he makes me lose some money, it's still nice to fight with him, eh. He is a good pal. Basicaly a friend. And I'm sure he has the best intentions but it's fucking annoying.

Mr. Freeze: Snart, I don't know how many times I will have to tell you that, but we aren't friends. I don't care about your Flash problem. Go vent to Boomerang or some other of your guys back at Star City, I don't care.

Captain Cold: You don't understand, Vic. If you didn't had your dead wife sob story I would be fine. It's your fault for being miserable.

Mr. Freeze: Excuse me??! Let me get this clear. You came all this way to complain that the biggest tragedy of my life is mildly incoveniencing you?

Captain Cold: I actually wanted an apology.

Mr. Freeze: *sarcastically* Oh, I'm sorry that my depression over my terminally ill wife has annoyed you.

Captain Cold: You're forgiven. Though I will have to ask for compensation.

Mr. Freeze: *talking to himself* calm down, Victor, you are better than that, no murder unless it helps Nora.

Captain Cold: So about the compensation.

Mr. Freeze: Oh my god!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

[thebookwormfairy]

What if Marinette had a Retired Police Dog Part 2

I've have had so many request for more Captain, so here you go. Also I just want to say thank you to the maribat community for adopting Captain into the community. Hopefully I do him justice.

Damian really did not want to say goodbye to Marinette yet, but as the sun dipped behind the buildings Marinette had to return to her hotel

Standing in front of the doors of her hotels they said their goodbyes

Marinette: Thanks for the great time Damian. Captain and I had a blast

Damian: I'm glad to hear that and really the pleasure was all mine

Damain bend down giving a kiss the the back of Marinette's hand

Marinette felt the blush grow on her face

Marinette: Will I be able to see you again?

Damian: Of course Angel maybe we can meet again tomorrow I can bring my dog Titus.

Marinette: Sure here's my number I can text you when I have free roam

Damian: I'll be waiting Goodnight Angel, Captain

Damian gave a little salute to the german sheperd

Captain gave a bark in goodbye while Marinette gave a little wave before heading into the hotel

Damain watch her walk away with a dreamy smile on his face until he couldn't see her any more.

Turning around Damian was met with the sight of his brothers all with teasing smiles on their face

Damian now scowling: Shut up morons

Dick: We didn't say anything baby bird

Damian: Your face did

The rest of the way home was spent teasing Damian about his lady love and Dick dramatically called her

Once Marinette had settled down after their day out she settled on her bed and made a call that was meant to be made earlier in the day

Dialing the number she looked up earlier she waited for the person on the other end to answer

Receptionist: Hello thank you for calling Wayne Enterprise, this is Cheryl how can I help you?

Marinette: Hello, I'm sorry for calling you so late, but I'm going to be in the French school trip group coming to tour the building tomorrow and I just had a quick question

Cheryl who was told by Dick earlier about Damian's little girlfriend knew exactly what to do

Cheryl: No problem sugar let me transfer you over to your tour guide. He can answer any question you might have.

Cheryl put Marinette on hold before she could protest about bugging the tour guide and made a call to Dick's cell phone

Dick: Hey Cheryl what do you need

Cheryl: Hey Dick so that girl you were telling about called me, with a question

Dick: No way. Connect her

Cheryl: Right away

Dick to his brothers: Guess who's on the phone

Jason: Damien's girlfriend?

Dick: Ding ding ding we have a winner

Marinette from phone: Hello?

Dick: Yes hello this is Mr. Grayson. How can I help you?

Marinette: Hello I'm Marinette and I'm so sorry for calling so late, but I had an important question to ask.

Dick: Don't worry Marinette, what's your question

Marinette: Well you see thanks to unforeseen circumstances my dog is actually with me on the trip. He's not a service dog, but he's really well trained and well behaved, and I was wondering if I could bring him with me on the tour. If the answer is no that's totally okay

Dick *thinking*: Omg she's adorable

Dick: That's completely fine. We have employees bring their dogs to work all the time. One more dog in the building won't make any more trouble

Marinette: Really thank you so much. And again I'm soooo sorry for calling so late. Have a goodnight

Dick: You too, I look forward to seeing you and your dog tomorrow

Dick: omg Baby Bird your girlfriend is sssooo adorable she was so sweet and shy and polite. I swear if I was talking to her in person I would have squeezed the life out of her

Damian: Don't you dare. You would just freak her out and make her never want to talk to me ever again

Tim: So you want to see her again?

Jason: It's sound like our Demon Spawn has found his true love

Damian could feel his face turn red

Damian: Shut up you idiots

Marinette: Good news Captain you're going to be able to come on the tour tomorrow

Captain gave Marinette a lick on the cheek to show that he understood and was happy about it

Marinette: Goodnight Captain. Goodnight Tikki

Tikki: Goodnight Marinette. Goodnight Captain

Marinette wrapped her arms around Captain snuggling her face into his fur as Tikki laid down on top of Captain

The next day

The class all gathered down in the lobby Marinette and Captain came down last but on time

And of course since Marinette looked happy and had Captain with her Lila had to throw a hissy fit

Lila: What are you doing Marinette. They probably don't allowed dogs at Wayne Enterprise

Ms. Bustier: She's right Marinette you shouldn't bring your dog with you. Captain will have to stay here.

Marinette: But Ms. Bustier I made sure to call ahead of time to make sure it was okay. And you wouldn't want Captain to be locked into a small room all day would you

As Marinette said that Captain looked to Ms. Bustier with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster

Ms. Bustier looking into Captain eyes and just couldn't say no

Ms. Bustier: Fine, but he's your responsibility Marinette, and I don't want to see any funny business between either of you. If I see either of you step a toe or paw out of line Captain will be spending the rest of his time in your hotel room. Am I understood?

Marinette: Yes Ms. Bustier! Thank you so much.

Marinette gave a big smile to her teacher before heading back to the class. Standing in the back of the group little away from every one.

Marinette: Dont worry Captain we just have to get through the tour then we can go meet up with Damian again, and we get to meet his dog Titus this time.

Captain gave her another quick kiss on the cheek when he heard somebody approach them

Adrien: Marinette why do you have to cause so much trouble. Captain would have been perfectly fine in the hotel room for a day

Captain forced his body between Adrien and Marinette not wanting the rude boy near his girl

Marinette: well good morning to you too Adrien. I don't see how having Captain with me is causing any problems. He literally only interacts with me. And for your information Captain would not be okay in the hotel all day today and then have to do it again tomorrow. Yesterday I made sure to call all the places we're going to over the trip to find out of Captain could along or not. Since we're spending all day tomorrow going to different museums he won't be able to come with us it would be cruel to lock him up all day 2 days in a row

Adrien: But he's still upsetting Lila, you know could happen if she gets too upset.

Marinette: I don't think a butterfly could fly across the Pacific Ocean Adrien, much less in the time frame we'll be here

Ms. Bustier: Okay everyone let's all get on the bus

Marinette: you better go ahead Adrien. You probably want go sit with your FRIENDS

Adrien catching onto what Marinette was hinting at gave her a small glare, but still ran to catch up to Nino, Alya, and Lila

Captain pressed his head into Marinette's side and tikki did the same.

Marinette: Thanks guys I'm okay

Marinette put one hand on Captain's head and the other on top of her purse

Damian checked over him and Titus one more time to make sure they both looked good

Bruce: I don't suppose your suddened interest in how you and Titus look have anything to do with that little French girl you met the other day

Damian: Don't be ridiculous father-

Dick: It totally does! You should have seen how those two looked at eachother. It was like love at first sight

Damian: GRAYSON!

Jason: it was so ridiculously sweet and she evan has her own dog, a german sheperd

Damian: TODD!

Tim: I did a bit more research, you know to make sure she wasn't a villian in disguise, and according to the adoption records his name is Captain and he use to be a police dog

Damian: DRAKE!! Would you all just stay out of my love life!

Bruce: They just care about you Damian. Weither you like it or not. You should have seen them when Dick first brought home Cori.

Once they got to Wayne Enterprise the family went their separate ways to complete their duties

Damian and Titus hung around Dick waiting for Marinette, Captain, and her class to arrive.

Cheryl: So I heard that you met somebody special yesterday Damian

Damian: wait how do you know about Marinette? Dick???

Dick: Well I had to tell her in case Marinette called yesterday I wanted to be the one she talked to.

Damian: Do you have to share my love life with everybody you know

Cheryl: It's just because we love you Damian. Now tell me everything.

Damian was about to respond with a sarcastic comeback when the class arrived

Dick: Hello welcome to Wayne Enterprise, I'm Dick Grayson I'll be your tour guide today. And this is my little brother Damian and his dog Titus. I hope y'all don't mind but he'll be joining us on your tour today

Ms. Bustier: Not at all it's always nice to make new friends when you're some where new

Damian made his way towards the group his eyes set on Marinette who just walk in after making sure Captain did his business before the long tour, but was intercepted by Lila.

Lila: Hello I am Lila it is nice to meet you

Lila began to speak with a heavy Italian accent.

She was the worst at speaking English in the class

The rest of the class finished introducing themselves when Marinette made it to the group

Damian: It's nice to meet you all, Marinette mentioned she was here with her class.

Alya: Marinette?

Marinette: Damian?

Damian flashing a charming smile: Hey Angel, I hope you don't mind but I found out my brother giving the tour for your class and asked if I could come along.

Damian walked over to Marinette and Captain with Titus following him

Damian: Hello Captain, how are you doing buddy?

Damian slowly lowered his hand giving Captain plenty of time to move away incase Captain didn't want to get a pat from him

Captain decided he would allow it partly because he had to admit he kinda like this kid, and partly because he knew it would freak out some of her class

Kim: Ah he touched Captain

Kim sadly learned the hard way that it took a while for Captain to warm up to someone new

Marinette: And this handsome boy must be Titus

Marinette held her hand out to let Titus sniff her.

Titus being the loving goofball he is gave her hand a big lick before snuggling his head into her hand

Marinette giggling: Well he's a friendly boy huh

Alya: You two know each other?

Marinette: Yeah we met yesterday at the park and just hit it off

Lila with a strained voice: Well isn't that great that you were able to make a new friend.

Damian and Marinette noticed the strain in Lila's voice but it didn't seem like anybody else had or if they did they ignored it

Dick: Alright everybody with introductions out of the way let's get started

Damian and Marinette fell to the back of the group so the can walk side by side with their dogs

While this was going on Titus and Captain were sniffing eachother out as they walked together

Captain: Hello I'm Captain

Titus: I'm Titus. I have just met you, and I love you

Titus gave Captain a big lick on the side of his head

Captain: That's great... So he's your boy

Titus: Yep he's been my boy for years now. He acted like he didn't like me at first but I knew he loved me

Captain: Is he your first human?

Titus: Yes, his father gave me to him when I was 7 months old. What about you, is she your first human?

Captain: No, my girl didn't find me until I was 3 years old. Before her i was a police dog. My partner was my first human. He was a great man and a great police officer. He always made sure I was well fed and when it was a slow night he would take me to the park and play fetch with me...

Captain trailed off his mind going back to the night he lost his partner

Titus: What happened to your first human?

Captain snapping out of his memories: I don't like to talk about it

Titus: Well what about your girl, how do you like her?

Captain: My girl is the best. She saved me from the pound. Her parents brought her there for one of the adoption events, at the time I didn't even know if I wanted another human. I was there for a couple of months, and didn't really have much hope to find a new family. Most people just go for the puppies. So I was just sitting in a corner away from everybody else when this girl comes walking towards. She seemed so sad at the time, like me. She asked me if I wanted to be alone together with her, and i looked into her eyes and something just clicked you know? Like she was also suppose to be my person. After that life turned around for me. My girl just has so much love to give.

Titus: I know what you mean it was the same with me and my boy. Do you have any siblings or a mate?

Captain: No my girl and her family live in a small apartment, so one big dog is their limit. I wouldn't mind having a mate one day though. I do have a couple of friends in Paris and the local dog park, and there's Fang, who's crocodile

Titus: you have a crocodile as a friend cool. I have one older sister Ace, no mate myself yet. I do also have a cat and cow as a friend

Captain: Nice

During the tour Damian noticed that some of Marinette's classmates (Alya, Adrien, and Lila) kept shooting dirty looks back at his Angel

He did his best to not glare back at them, but when Adrien did it for the 10th time on the tour when Marinette wasn't doing anything but softly giggling at stuff Damian whispered in her ear Damian had enough

The next time Adrien looked back at her Damian gave him the scariest look he could muster, which is very scary

Adrien widened his eyes and turned his head around quickly not looking back for the rest of the tour

Dick seeing about half of the interaction assumed that Damian glared out of jealousy and shot him an amused looked when he caught Damian's eyes

After the tour Marinette convinced Ms. Bustier to let her go off with Damian for their free roam

Ms. Bustier let her but made sure she wore the tracking bracelet so incase something happened she would know where Marinette is at

Damian and Marinette decidind to go to a near by dog park to let the dogs roam free

On the way out Damian noticed Adrien quickly walking over to them with a determined look on his face

Not wanting to deal with the annoying blonde Damian quickly guided Marinette outside and into the car

Marinette already figuring out whi Damian really was didn't question it and just let Damian lead her into the car

Damian: I thought you'd be a little more shocked about it

Marinette: I kinda figured it out when Mr. Grayson said you were his little brother

Once they made it to the park the dogs started to run around together and seem to play a game of chase even though Captain seemed a little more reluctant to act a bit crazier like Titus

Marinette: Well it seems like they like eachother

Damian watching Titus give Captain a big lick on the side of his head before running off leaving Captain with what could only be described as disgruntled look on his face.

Damian chuckling: Yeah they sure do

The pair spent another 2 hours at the park going back and forth with sitting in the shade watching their dogs run through the nice dog park and playing fetch with a stick the dogs found

They spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around Downton Gotham Damian showing Marinette all the best sites

As sunset came Damian found himself once again standing in front of the hotel holding Marinette's hands as Captain and Titus watch the interaction

Damian blushing: I've had a great time today Marinette

Marinette: So did I

Damian: I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night, like a date?

Marinette also blushing: I would love to, but can Captain come along

Damian: Of course beside Captain is going to be stuck in your hotel room all day tomorrow it wouldn't be fair to make him stuck in a small room for even longer.

Marinette gave him a beaming smile: Thank you for understanding Damian

Damian: Of course I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7 wear whatever you like.

Marinette hugged Damian goodbye giving him a peck on the cheek as she pulled away

Marinette: I can't wait! Goodnight Damian I'll see you tomorrow

Damian in a dreamg voice: Goodnight Marinette, Captain

Once Marinette and Captain were out of site Damian jumped up and gave a whooped of joy completely forgetting that Alfred could still see him from the car.

Bonus

Alfred on the phone with Bruce: It looks like Damian just asked her put and she said yes

Bruce on the other side of the phone silently fist bumped the air mouthing yes over and over again

Bruce in a monotone voice: That's good

Dick: omg you guys I wish you were there! They spent most of the time quietly whispering to each other and Damian glared at a boy who kept glancing at Marinette it was the cutest thing.

@mikantsume @carrisarune @strudelqueen @Aloha_Posts_Stuff @shmowl @maxdark158

[goldeaglefire1]

"gold what the fuck does that mean" well I'm glad you asked!

you see in the Emergency Meeting DLC (which is a collaboration between Vampire Survivors and Among Us if you don't already know) among the new weapons provided is the Just Vent. which is, uh. y'know. the Vent from Among Us

the weapons from this DLC are incredibly unique compared to everything else in the game and the Just Vent is no exception. rather than being a simple projectile or projectile disguised as a melee attack, the Vent is effectively a booby trap - you lay it down automatically, and when any enemy gets within a certain distance of it, they immediately die. the catch is that the cooldown takes a few seconds and you can only get a few enemies at a time with each individual vent

in normal gameplay this isn't really that noticeable. I mean it's nice to have but you can accomplish the same thing with more efficient weapons as long as you have the right passives. a few dozen is not that noticeable in waves of hundreds of enemies - unless you evolve the weapon but that's getting off-topic

where Shenanigans start to arise is when you consider the Adventure Mode that dropped literally not even two weeks before the DLC. or if you're new and haven't gotten to unlocking everything in the game yet but I'm focusing on Adventure Mode. Adventure Mode is effectively Vampire Survivors slinging its arm over your shoulders and leaning in like a used car salesman to go "hey buddy do you want to experience the magic of unlocking all the shit without actually having to lose any progress," effectively being smaller, self-contained versions of the Vampire Survivors experience

of course, this process involves unlocking characters, and like in the main game, a good chunk are grabbed via opening Coffins. how they work is that you find the coffin via exploration, and as soon as you get within a certain distance, mooks spawn out of the aether and defend it. typically what you want to do is get a strong build going and then go to the coffin, take down the guys guarding the coffin, and then stand on it to open it up

and then there's the Vent. which is an insta-kill trap. I'll wait and see if you can see why this could potentially screw with the Adventure Mode and the entire coffin process before I spell it out.

...

did you get it? yup, that's right, the Vent can instakill the guard mooks! granted there is ONE caveat I haven't mentioned earlier, which is that if an enemy is too big the Vent won't work, so that does prevent you from cheesing at least a few coffins, but like. it works for every single coffin in the Among Us Adventure Mode campaign. and the Vent is unlocked from the start. as soon as I figured that out I was able to clear out basically every coffin character within 5-7 minutes each. absolutely incredible

I love the Vampire Survivors Emergency Meeting DLC because I can say the words "the Vent from Among Us can be used to sequence break" in that exact order and the resulting sentence is completely factually correct

[actualaster]

Here's the thing, blatant ableism about wanting the sick, elderly, and disabled to put their lives at much greater risk because you're tired of being inconvenienced aside...

THE BUNDLES HAVE NO REASON TO INCREASE IN PRICE BECAUSE NONE OF THE OTHER DISCOUNTS WERE REMOVED.

They literally ONLY removed the remote pass discount. Poké Balls, Lure Modules, Star Pieces, Lucky Eggs? All still discounted in their bulk purchase options. Because that's, like, what most games DO--they offer a slight discount when you make a bulk purchase or whatever. This is also how real life often works.

Also, remote raid passes were nice because I could raid with friends who live elsewhere. Maybe they should never have allowed adding friends who weren't physically present right next to you, because as it stands the game actively allows you to add a friend who lives far away and then invite them to a raid.

Remote passes also mean I don't have to beg the raid group that's ready to go to wait 10 minutes for me to arrive on-scene to play with them. I could join them while I was still in the area approaching.

It's also a boon for disabled players who physically cannot reach certain gyms. To say nothing of it being the only way to raid at gyms on private property. "Just annoy your city" that would maybe work if cities gave a shit about accessible access instead of bending over backwards to avoid having the expense and effort needed to do things like actually fix their garbage planning or renovate old structures for proper access. Just go spend time with physically disabled people and you'll learn real quick how many accessibility violations occur pretty much everywhere and nothing much gets done about it.

Plus not everybody lives in an area with a strong raiding scene. Rural players get fucked hard by both lack of other players and lack of Stops/Gyms/spawns in the first place. Expecting every single player to be able to get a local raiding group and/or to be able to join one is pretty bullshit especially as there is no in-game way to do so. (The supposed up-coming comms features will NOT be in-game. You will have to use a separate app to do it. Screw that I'll stick to Discord lmao)

There were ways for them to give incentive to in-person raiding without jacking up the remote raiding price. I can think of almost a dozen things off the top of my head that would be nice incentives for in-person that don't involve making it harder to get remote passes. Here, I'll even list them:

Massive XP boost

Massive stardust boost

Boost to Rare Candy rewards

Boost to specialty berry (like Golden Razz) rewards

Extra balls for catching the pokemon

If you use a buddy, give an extra heart for in-person battles

If you use a Mega, effectively treat the battle like a second Mega Evolve and give them a point towards their next Mega level (have a cap on the number of extra points you can get if this is "too good an incentive")

Add new rewards such as a small coin reward for in-person raiding

Boosted shiny chance

Wow, look at that, just shy of 12 different possible things that could be used to entice people to raid in-person that don't involve jacking the price of remote passes up and yanking the weekly 1-coin one. Considering they did announce XL Rare Candies and Mega Energy, that's a whole lot of bonuses they could have done instead.

(Personally speaking, extra stardust, XP, and rare candy boosts would be very enticing to me.)

At this point, I'm considering resorting to spoofing because it'll be the only way to raid lmao. It'd be more fun, at any rate--being able to play whenever I want regardless of things like health, the weather, or how bad the pandemic is around me would be nice.

Also, they fucked Incense and now it only works if you run I guess. Serious, I popped one on a 3 mile walk the other day and it didn't spawn much of anything because apparently my natural walking speed isn't what they think it should be if I want more than a handful of spanws to come from it, and I'm not running a marathon just to play a mobile game lmao.

They also returned CDs to a mere three hours which sucks. The 6 hour window actually let more people participate and have fun in their community instead of being glued to their phones the entire time. The 6 hour window was great for giving people a chance to play even if they worked because there was a much larger chance that they'd be able to play before or after their shift or at least for a little while on their break. The 6 hours was way more fun and easier to participate in.

But, then, Niantic just wants a bunch of free labor getting people to do stuff like go out and scan POIs and submit new ones so they can build up their AR metaverse (they call it that specifically) without having the expense of actually hiring people to go do that part of the work.

If they want me to generate data points for their AR network they can pay me actual money instead of ruining aspects of a game I like and expecting me to pay them for it lmao.

Man, Niantic really hates their own players and is determined to strip everything out of PoGo that boosted the fun factor, aren't they?