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#but i bought my teammates time to do all the gens
alohaemora · 1 year
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THIRTEEN DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
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Not sure what to do with yourself during these strange few days between Christmas and New Year's? Are you a fan of Next Gen Harry Potter fanfic?
Relive the holiday spirit with thirteen days' worth of fun, festive Next Gen goodness — seasonal one-shots for each of the thirteen Weasley-Potter grandkids (including Teddy, of course). All chapters feature artwork by the lovely, talented @thecatisdrawing. 🎄 ❄️ ❤️
READ ON AO3.
⬇️ Chapter Breakdown Below the Cut ⬇️
Day 1: Victoire
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Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Snippet: Victoire turned to smile down at her own mug of cocoa. It was bright yellow and ceramic, clearly homemade, uneven and chipped in a few places—one of the mugs Teddy had nicked from his grandmother's kitchen, when he and Victoire had first moved to Islington all those years ago. Painted untidily across the surface, in purple capital letters, was the word 'DORA.'
For a long moment, she gazed down at the mug, gently tracing her fingers over the messy handwriting. She could picture it vividly—a little girl with bright purple hair, perhaps as small as Isaac, her face scrunched up in concentration as she smeared letters on clay with a too-big paintbrush. Victoire pressed her lips together against the lump that emerged in her throat. She knew, in her mind, that they had lived—she had seen the photos, the Order of Merlin medals, the gravestone in Hogsmeade, and she'd heard the nostalgic stories from her parents, aunts, and uncles—but to Victoire, they had always felt most real when she tried to picture the mundane parts of their lives. The life they could have lived.
It probably would have been a lot like hers.
Day 2: James Sirius
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Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Cold December Night Snippet: "I've got a date."
Somehow, that got her attention. She didn't look up from her report, but she briefly stilled, her quill pausing over her parchment.
"My cousin Louis sorted it," James continued in a rush, eager to capitalize on the short moment of her awareness he'd snagged. "His wife heard I was single again for the holidays and took pity on me. She's set me up with one of her old school friends from Beauxbat—"
"I should send this poor girl a letter," Alice cut in sardonically. "Warn her what she's gotten herself into."
He waggled his eyebrows at her. "You're just jealous you won't have me here in the office all month."
"You know, I am jealous. Jealous that she hasn't met you yet."
Day 3: Dominique
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Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? Snippet: She swallowed, averting her gaze from Victoire's. Inexplicably, her thoughts drifted to Malcolm—to his easy smiles at press conferences, his teasing winks and his large hands ruffling her sweaty hair after matches, his friendly nods as he bought her and her teammates drinks at after-parties. She thought of the way her stomach erupted in knots every time he caught her eye, of the white-hot pulsing in her gut when he laughed at her sarcastic jokes—and she thought about how he never seemed to experience even an ounce of the upheaval that overwhelmed her when they were together. Not once had his relaxed grin faltered.
"I just…it's not like that, Vic," Dominique said finally, despising how small her voice sounded. "It's never been anything but bloke-y between us—I mean, for fuck's sake, he asked me to help him find a birthday present for that Ballycastle Beater he was dating last year," she added witheringly.
"He was dating a Ballycastle Beater?" Victoire asked with interest. "Ooh, was it that one Aunt Angelina always complains about—Violet? No, Vivi—"
"Vic! Focus!"
Day 4: Roxanne
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Genre: Romance Song Prompt: All I Want for Christmas Is You Snippet: "I just don't know why…you want to marry me," she said at last; the words left an odd taste in her mouth, and Roxanne realized, faintly, that it was the first time she'd said them aloud. She clenched her jaw to keep her tone steady. "I don't understand why you want to sacrifice all these things that—that you probably never imagined a relationship without—all these things that, if you'd had drinks with a different girl in Hogsmeade…you'd probably have by now."
Henry's eyes were wide. "Roxanne, I don't—I have never once—"
"If you'd gone to Hogsmeade with Cecilia Hyslop, you might already be married! You might be buying a house in Maida Vale and having twins in three months!" she cried, her voice cracking. "Why can't you just admit it?"
"Because I don't imagine my life with Cecilia Hyslop!" Henry said loudly. "I never fucking have!"
They were both breathing hard. They looked at each other a second longer; then, in unison, they lunged forward and kissed fiercely.
Day 5: Albus Severus
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Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays Snippet: "My parents might never forgive me if I take your dad's name," he said dryly, glancing past Emily at Zacharias's table. "Difficult as I've made things on Dad over the years, I think I'll draw the line at that."
Emily pressed her lips together against her amusement. "Fair enough."
Albus shook his head, tangling his fingers in Emily's long, dark hair. For a few moments, they sat in contented silence, and he found himself basking, as he always did, in the quiet ease. Everything with Emily had been like that, from the beginning, uncomplicated in a way nothing else had ever felt to him.
Dad had told him once, during one of their Mind Healing sessions, that things had felt like that with Mum, too, back when they were at Hogwarts together. After all the times in his moody teenage years that Albus had wished he could be less like his father, he was nothing but grateful now that this was something they shared.
Day 6: Molly II
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Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Last Christmas Snippet: The shop assistant smiled bemusedly, but he leaned down and heaved the enormous gramophone into his arms again. "Will you be wanting some music as well?"
"No need," Molly said quickly, walking behind him to the clerk's counter. "I'm sure my aunt has something I can borrow for Christmas. But, er—thanks—" she glanced at his name tag, "—Desmond." Frowning thoughtfully, she cocked her head to the side. "Irish name, isn't it?"
Desmond set the gramophone down on the counter. "Dunno," he shrugged. "Cardiff, born and raised." As he said it, the lilt in his accent became more pronounced. "My mam just liked the name—from that beetles song."
Beetles song…Molly stared at Desmond, her mind so blank that she couldn't have rubbed two thoughts together if she tried.
Fuck. If this was an official work call, she would have been out a job before Christmas.
Day 7: Lucy
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Genre: Romance/Family/Friendship Song Prompt: Please Come Home for Christmas Snippet: "Three years…" Lucy crossed her arms. "It doesn't seem like much now," she said quietly, "but what if he gets—bored?"
Molly frowned. "Has he given you that impression?"
"Well, no, but—"
"Has it seemed like he's looking elsewhere? Keeping his options open?" Molly asked, sounding angry.
"What? No—!"
"Has he been acting shifty? Working late? Throwing out his post? Cutting his hair differently?"
"No—fucking hell, Mol! Of course not…" Lucy trailed off, eyeing Molly with disbelief. "How the hell do you know so much about it?"
Molly snorted, but Lucy thought she saw her sister's expression shutter for a brief second. "I read too many of Mum's sappy Enchanted Encounters novels when I was a teenager—those books always expected you to be shocked the protagonist was about to uncover a shitty boyfriend in the second chapter instead of a surprise proposal."
Day 8: Lily Luna
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Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: Angels Among Us Snippet: Lily took her husband's hand and together, they made their way into the cottage's cozy sitting room, where Dad had already lit a fire in the fireplace and was now settling into his armchair. Heart racing a little, Lily took a seat on the sofa opposite her father. She felt Jax squeeze her fingers.
"So," Dad smiled across the coffee table at her. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Well…" Lily said slowly, exchanging a half-glance with Jax. "We have some news."
"News?"
Lily jumped.
Mum had appeared in the sitting room doorway, and there was an expression of mingled hope and fear on her freckled face that was painfully familiar—it was an expression that Lily too had worn, off and on, for the past two years.
Day 9: Hugo
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Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Blue Christmas Snippet: "They're all happy and coupled up," Hugo continued bitterly, swilling his drink in his glass. "They don't need me ruining the vibe."
"Hmm," Edgar said slowly. "You know, you sound like a bit of an idiot."
It took a few moments for the words, spoken so plainly, to permeate the hazy curtain of firewhisky around Hugo's brain. At last, he spluttered, sitting upright and gaping at the barman. "Excuse me?"
Edgar was unfazed. Bracing his tattooed arms on the counter, he leaned across the bar toward Hugo. "I bet your family would love to have you, even with all your whinging. Any of 'em reach out?"
Hugo felt his ears burn with heat, and he glowered at the man, opening his mouth angrily—but no words came out. Oh, they had reached out. Of course they had—one could expect nothing less from his enormous, noisy, nosy family. His mum, Rose, and Lily wrote every day, and Roxy and Henry had started popping by his office in Diagon Alley during lunch, as though they could irritate him into coming to their place for Christmas.
Day 10: Freddie
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Genre: Friendship/Family Song Prompt: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Snippet: Every year, for as long as he could remember, Freddie Weasley had spent the evening of the twenty-third of December at Oliver and Katie Wood's cozy cottage in Inverness. His parents called it the annual reunion of the best Gryffindor Quidditch team ever. Freddie preferred to call it an excuse for his parents and their friends to unblushingly work their way through twelve bottles of wine.
Every year, the little gathering played out in exactly the same way. Dad and Lee would start the evening off by testing a new joke shop product on someone—usually Uncle Harry. ("Don't worry, Harry, it won't kill you," Dad would say. "And even if it did, you'd just come back," Lee would add.)
It would take four glasses of wine, precisely, to reduce Mum, Alicia, Katie, and Auntie Ginny to a group of gossipy schoolgirls. The four women would spend the rest of the night giggling furiously whenever their husbands so much as looked their way.
And every, single year, at some point during the night—usually the halfway point, once he'd imbibed enough alcohol—Oliver became very emotional over his last Quidditch match at Hogwarts. He'd spend at least fifteen minutes sobbing into Uncle Harry's collar.
Day 11: Louis
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Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Noël à Paris Snippet: "Vairy funny," she muttered, a small flush rising up her cheekbones as she brushed a curl of sweaty red hair back from his forehead. "You 'ave a fever—I do not know if you should see your family tonight."
"I'm not," he whispered gruffly. His eyes fluttered at the feel of her fingers stroking gently through his hair. "My parents and sisters are in Marseilles for Réveillon."
"You did not go with zem?"
"I'm on deadline."
"Why not your grandparents' 'ouse in England, zen?"
"I'm on deadline," he repeated.
"Zat is starting to sound like an excuse."
"It sounds better than 'I'm pining alone because the girl I fancy has ignored half a dozen of my letters,' doesn't it?"
Day 12: Rose
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Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Snippet: "Hey," Rose said quietly, reaching out and taking his hand. "Where's this coming from? We're hardly ancient, Scorpius—we're wizards. We've got decades ahead of us."
Scorpius's jaw clenched. Rose peered at him closely, pressing her lips together against the sudden tightness in her throat.
They did not speak often of his mother. Her untimely death had devastated Scorpius—and his father—so thoroughly that Rose could not bear the pain it caused him to remember the many things he had loved about her. Albus had met her a few times, had been there for Scorpius in the very worst days of their third year, but Rose had learned of Astoria mostly in bits and bobs, in odds and ends of old, fond memories—and it had become clear to her, over the years, that the joyful, persistent, fiercely loving man she'd married was every bit Astoria's son.
She was certain that Astoria had loved Christmas, too. That she had roused her grouchy husband in the middle of the night to help her wrap presents for their son. That she had dreamed of many Christmases she'd never made it to.
That Malfoy Manor had become a much quieter place in her absence.
Day 13: Teddy
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Genre: Romance Song Prompt: This Christmas Snippet: It took Teddy a good five minutes to realize that the pounding racket in his head was not, in fact, his brain attempting to escape his skull. Rather, it was coming from outside the comfort and security of his closed eyeballs—from the front door of his flat, to be exact. By the time he had come to his senses enough to recognize the sound for what it was, his best friend Travis had begun adding to the din by banging on the wall that separated Teddy's bedroom from their flat's shared bathroom.
"Get the bloody door, Lupin, or I'll bring my hangover into your room!"
Normally, Teddy might have argued. But after seven years of friendship, Teddy knew not to take Travis's threats—or nausea-filled hangovers—lightly. With a long, loud groan, Teddy slowly dragged himself out of his quilts and began staggering down the flat's dark hallway, grumbling under his breath all the while.
"Fucking hell…Boxing Day…some of us like a lie-in…"
Running a hand through his disheveled green hair, Teddy pulled open the front door. His jaw dropped.
"Vic?" he gasped. "I—I thought you were in France!"
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prof-arjun · 1 year
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Pokemon Challenge Run: Pokemon Blue- No Catching
Straightforward run in that I couldn't catch anything, instead using only gift Pokemon, or bought Pokemon. This seriously limited my roster especially given how important HMs are in the earlier gens. Not to mention how absolutely difficult it is to grind EXP in the early games.
Knowing that my starter would be my saving grace from early on, I chose Bulbasaur. Nicknaming the little sprout Bruteroot since he would have to be brutally aggressive against both Brock and Misty.
My second choice of team member was the $500 Magikarp right before you enter Mt. Moon. Which I added instantly since while raising a Gyrados is a nightmare, I was headed into a place where Bruteroot would slay and Kite the Magikarp could get plenty of second-hand EXP. Though the Paras and Clefairy I ran into did give me some trouble, unlike Team Rocket and their Zubats. (Did I say that out loud?)
From here it was pretty bland, trying to dodge as many trainers as possible for future teammates to get a chance at a ton of EXP while also limiting Bruteroot and Kite to the meager scraps of EXP from the wild Pokemon. But, once I got to Cerulean... it was pretty strightforward.
I tried to dodge as many of the trainers as I could on my way to Bill's house so I could take on Misty. A fight Bruteroot was absolutely MVP as an Ivysaur, a clean sweep so I could move on. The only place I couldn't do this in was SS Anne, since I needed Cut to get the rest of my team... more or less. And with Bruteroot and Kite needing enough EXP to carry the rest until they could do it for themselves, it was the obvious choice to fight literally everyone on the boat before crushing Blue (I named him cheater as a joke because its a no catching run but here he is with all the Pokemon he could possibly catch but... calling him Blue/Gary from now on.)
Once I got ahold of Cut, I dodged the same people as much as I could, ignoring Lt. Surge for the time being. My main goal was getting the rest of my team, or as much of it as possible. I ran off to Route 10, skirting to Lavender Town and Celadon City where I was completely able to grab a ton of good Pokemon.
Ah yes, the free Eevee on top of Celadon Apartments, the Game Corner prize Pokemon. I did a lot of grinding in the Game Corner to grab a Dratini and Pinsir. The Eevee I instantly evolved into Flareon, just for type coverage sake. And with plenty of money, since I was selling as many of the free items as I could for all of these Pokemon...
But, I was able to buy Flamethrower from Celadon Department Store. Along with a few more TMs for Hogarth, the Dratini and Crunchie, the Pinsir. I also went ahead with a drink for the guards of Saffron so I could just run around freely. Also to take on the Fighting Dojo on to grab Hitmonchan, who I named Jackie. My bias of older movies showing yet?
This ended up being my final set up for the rest of the game. While that did put Lapras from Silph Co. and the other available Pokemon from the Game Corner and the two fossil Pokemon in the box. Sorry babies, I've never had this good a chance to use my favorite, later game Pokemon.
Admittedly, Flareon (Pyro) did underwhelm as a team member, but the fire type was greatly appreciated as a buffer in the League. Agatha, I'm looking at you. Cleaning up the rest of the game and it's Trainers was easy enough. I ended up fainting everything that crossed my path since EXP was rather difficult to come by without cheats or losing a ton of battles.
Another thing, while I wasn't able to use any captured Pokemon, I did still catch the two Snorlax, the Legendary Birds, and Mewtwo. While all of them could have been beaten and let go, I decided that it would be a better challenge to catch them. Even though it meant those six were also boxed.
All in all, this team was really fun to use. I've never actually used Flareon, Dragonite, or Pinsir before... let alone in a Kanto Playthrough. Of course while Gan 1 didn't have genders or Natures, I gave them personality during the play time. I had a lot of fun thinking about this, and no I didn't try to make them competitive in any way.
This was my team at the end of the playthrough:
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Venusaur- Bruteroot- Male- Quiet
Gyrados- Kite- Female- Impish
Flareon- Pyro- Male- Docile
Pinsir- Crunchie- Female- Jolly
Dragonite- Hogarth- Male- Adamant
Hitmonchan- Jackie- Male- Sassy
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acioo · 4 years
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anybody who knows anything about me will be able to tell you i spend a bunch of my time ice skating & i’ve never seen a guide on how to write a character that figure skates , so i thought i’d compile some tips & explain things , because my whole childhood i was travelling across the country to spin on ice with nothing on but a leotard & some tights , and now i have nothing but a bunch of tacky costumes and this post to show for it . this is pretty in-depth , about 2.5k words , but if you have any questions about specific aspects or want me to clarify anything , feel free to shoot me an ask . oh & a like  or reblog if you found this helpful would be sweet ! tw : injury, mental illness, eating disorders
most people that wind up as figure skaters started ridiculously young. i was probably six, but at my rink, we train kids as young as four and five. if your character has competed professionally at a state-wide level or up, they most likely started super young and have been professionally trained. figure skating is not a sport that you can do casually, most of the time. ice skating, casually, however, totally different thing. but competitive figure skating, being on a figure skating team, and the like, it’s a lot of effort, time, and discipline. in a lot of families, it’s a tradition to teach your kids to ice skate. at my rink, there’s a lot of people who come from slavic families whose parents signed them up - or athlete parents in gen. so, if your character is SUPER GOOD, they’ve put hundreds of hours of work into it, and have years of practice. it is not something you can pick up in a day, and i’d even say you have to be at it for at least two years before you get good good, and it takes a while to even become comfortable on the ice before you can start to do any kind of trick - THAT is why they start young, so by the time we’re pre-teens, we’re really, really good. the problem happens, famously, at puberty, because your balance gets knocked off, your bones are growing, and you have to basically relearn everything you know.
there are so many different types of figure skating. i specialize in singles, but i’ve done showcase and solo dance ( but both of those skills are more for me to be a well-rounded skater, not for competing ), and would sometimes be put into pairs to help learn skills and work together. you NEED to be in one of these categories for competition because they are what all comps are based upon. singles is, as you think, one single ice skater individually doing their routine. singles will do various dances, jumps, spins, etc. i won't lie, it’s hard, and really, really competitive. singles is the most competitive of all these categories. it’s usually a short program ( jumping, spinning, steps - the easier portion of competition because it’s really just a routine that you need to get down pat so you can boost your score. you will learn to do it in your sleep. ) and then a free skate ( longer than the other, it’s more complicated and difficult ). pair skating is really, really difficult, tbh, and you need a good relationship with whoever you are doing it with because there’s a lot of trust involved. it’s hard to break into pair skating because you need a partner that you’re equal to in skill and you like as a person. you guys spend a lot of time together and you need to get along. you guys need to be equally proficient at ice skating. most pairs get put together when they’re still very young. it’s very difficult to from singles to becoming a pair skater. it’s two skaters and they skate around each other, they lift each other, and move in synchronized patterns. it’s highly technical, like all figure skating, but it is more difficult because you have to keep in mind both your own feet and someone else’s. you do NOT want to bump skates with someone. at best, that is very uncomfortable. at usual/worse, you’re both about to eat shit on ice. in pair skating the partner that lifts needs SO much strength. like, so much. i’ve tried to lift fellow skaters, who are the same weight as me, and it’s near fucking impossible for me. ice skates are HEAVY and skaters have a lot of lower body muscle. we are not light people. for example, once time my team and i were out of practice and just skating around and we started playing around and i did a cartwheel on ice and i fell very hard. wiped tf out. and that’s me, trying to handle my own weight. like singles, it’s a free skate and a short program. pair skating is typically male + female ( what a sad world, i know ), but i encourage every writer to take some suspending of reality. ice dance is, basically, dancing. it’s a lot more performative than other types of skating. it’s done in pairs, but can be performed alone, in a different category called solo dance. in the nicest way possible, singles/pair skaters usually look down a bit on ice dancers because it’s a bit less technical, and doesn’t have any jumps of lifts. but ! that doesn’t mean it’s easy because it’s not. it’s rooted in ballroom dancing and they have two parts of competition: rhythm dance and free dance. fun fact: pair ice dancers scott moir and tessa virtue, who are famous to be suspected dating, are the reason we had a no dating rule at the rink. showcase ice skating is usually for some kind of platform, or in front of a large crowd. i’ve done showcase for investors for our rink. there’s usually costumes involved ( there are costumes for all competitions, but their costumes are more, like, theatre - y ), and props, and acting. it’s actually very fun to watch, but you need acting skill. theatre on ice, however, is just what it sounds like. theatre on ice is popular with children and good for ways to show off an entire team of skaters, because you can have eight to thirty skaters on the ice. they can also compete and they can go international, but they aren’t in the olympics and there aren’t many competitions for them. it’s usually just a fun way to get together with your teammates, bond, and then show off what you did.
so, competitions. super complicated, and as a writer, i suggest really glossing over them, because it’s difficult to get it down completely right. there are nonqualifying and qualifying comps. the difference is that in qualifying competitions, you’re looking to start moving up, basically, so if you qualify in the first one, you go onto the next one, then state eventually, then national, and so on. you start with regionals ( singles ) /  sectionals ( pairs and ice dancers ). then, if you succeed, you go to sectional singles / pairs + ice dance finals. the goal is to get on the national team ( i’ve watched ameatur skaters tell other rinkmates they want to compete in the olympics - it was NOT pretty ), basically. which, let me say this. it is nowhere. near. easy. like, just go into youtube and search “ yuzuru hanyu “ ( gold medal in pyeongchang olympics for mens singles ) and watch ANY of his performances. now he’s the gold medalist, right. he started at four years old. so let’s go smaller. google elsa cheng and watch one of her routines. she’s a member of the us national figure skating team. she’s fifteen. YEAH. not an easy sport. nonqualifying is more laid back and for fun, or trophies. nonqualifying is also a way to practice before you enter into qualifying. competitions are really nerve-racking. it’ll cause stress between you and your rinkmates, because more often than not you’re going against one another. you and your coach will usually spend all the prep season creating your two programs, which you will almost always repeat in every single competition you attend. i have about 20 different routines stored in the back of my head. sometimes my coach would give us exercises of coming up with a routine during a time restraint. my friend junior learned a routine that was on yuri on ice. 
for competitions you arrive, you get ready. you’re almost always wearing some kind of elaborate costume/dress leotard thingy. this is a time to start getting mentally ready, talk to your friends, and do each other’s hair and makeup. costumes are bought way ahead of time, and are usually related to the theme of your routine. you do NOT want a wardrobe malfunction. it’ll mess you up & you’ll lose precious points. your hair will most likely always be back and, more often than not, braided or in a bun. the comp will begin and you have a practice session so that you can get warmed up and ready. it’s not long. you will get the music for your program played one by one, and you rehearse - this is usually to check to make sure your music is right & to get acclimated to the ice then you get off the ice and another group will warm up. your coach can’t be on the ice whatsoever, and has to stay outside the rink. usually, competition order is done by a random draw. one by one, you will do your routine. no one but you can be on the ice. then you go off to the “ kiss and cry “ ( because you’re either about to celebrate or get your ear chewed off by an adult in a tracksuit ) where your score gets announced. then, competition continues. your warmup + when you start is not based on how you placed in the last part of the comp ( usually started with lowest ) and you perform the second routine. then, and this is usually determined by like how serious the competition you're going to, but there are trophies handed out, a podium ceremony is held, or medals or flowers are given out. my coach would always make the team pose together after competitions and go out to eat - lots of coaches hold bonding exercises esp after comps. if we did well, we could skip our 9 am practice. if we did poorly, the team meets up at a local park and runs the three-mile trail, and then they do technical corrections at the rink. after your medal/etc ceremony, you’re done. sometimes the top people will perform, but by that time you’re usually exhausted and want to sleep for a billion years ( or, if you did really well, you want to go eat 15 ihop pancakes and conquer the world ). the competition season is from august to april. this is a BASE of what happens. it’s different at different kinds of competitions and for different categories of skating, but it’s almost always something like this. offseason is for practice, rest, and fun, basically, but if you're a serious skater, by the time you’re hitting july, you’re spending more time at the rink than at home. the most well-known and the hardest competitions to qualify for are the grand prix, europeans ( european championships ), worlds ( world championships ), and the, of course, olympics.
another aspect of almost any professional sport is injury. think about any ice skating routine you’ve seen. there is no protection. you’re wearing a thin sheer leotard. you have basically knives on your feet. it’s VERY easy to get yourself beat up by ice. the ice is very hard and not very forgiving. meaning, if you hit, you hit hard. you usually are putting a lot of force into it, too, because you’re falling. don’t even get me started on the BRUISING. you will look like you have gone thru something, all the time. ice skates, which have to sharpened routinely, are, as you imagine, SHARP AS FUCK. knife shoes. i’ve been recreationally skating, because i work at a rink, and just monitoring the skaters and usually messing around with my rinkmates, and i fell, and i sliced open my thigh. i didn’t need stitches, or anything, but there was blood everywhere. very gross. ( ask abt this answered here ! ) and i wasn’t even doing anything particularly hard. and this has happened before. they WILL cut you. ankle injuries are super common. i’ve seen someone break their ankle feet away from me. i’ve twisted my left ankle five times. as for dislocations, they also happen a lot. when i was twelve, i was at the top of my figure skating career. i was qualifying to competition after competition. during a regular, normal practice, i was doing a jump i had usually aced, and i landed the wrong way and i dislocated my knee and blacked out. it’s a very disgusting injury and extremely, extremely painful. like, a good 50k in hospital bills for the surgery to fix it. i was very good and it was my favorite activity on the planet, but it was so awful that i quit. when i was fourteen, i started skating again, joined my team, etc, etc, but it was very difficult to recover from. and that’s a very common story. most people get injured and they have to stop. i know a girl who got a bunch of concussions, and wasn’t able to skate. i’ve been concussed on the ice. people tear their acls or their hip. we have a sports medic at all figure skating practices and comps. and a lot of injuries, once you hurt something, you will hurt it again because you made it weak. we are all very flexible but overuse will make your bones brittle. there’s also stress fractures and different things you can get from just overworking your muscles. shin splints, tendonitis, jumpers knee, etc. you name an overuse injury, and i’ve had it. i was one so exhausted after practice that i laid down on the ice and cried until my coach ( who i love very dearly ) gave me a bag of skittles and told me to suck it up. that’s not saying my coach is a bitch ( john mulaney vc my coach is a bitch and i like her so much ), that’s to say there is no break, no stopping. you get better, and move on, or you quit.
as-is with basically any competitive sport, if you get serious, you will probably go onto some sort of diet along with it. you want to be eating a lot of nutritional stuff ( granola bars are HOARDED in my locker room & to this day i gag at the sight of protein shakes ), anything with a lot of calcium ( because we do be breaking bones ! ), and iron. i used to eat pasta before comps ( like wayyy before not an hr or anything ) because it gives you ~energy~. you need to be eating a lot because you’re exercising a lot. gatorade is banned by my coach because it's so much sugar. you need to drink so. much. water. we all take a bunch of vitamins. usually will eat chicken / meat in general. but keep in mind, like any sport in which you are cutting things from your diet / eating specific things / etc, it can easily lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. there’s a lot of shitty mindsets you will encounter with coaches and fellow competitors about what weight a figure skater should be, and it's even worse in pair skating ( because of lifts ). when i was eleven, one of my old coaches told me that she hoped i never hit puberty because it’d fuck up my balance & when i did i cried. a fellow competitor once told me she wished she had my “ figure skater “ body ( and at this point of my life, i had very unhealthy eating habits ). another time a group of older kids made fun of how gangly i was while i was in earshot. the amt of times my coach has SCREAMED at ice skaters for making fun of / putting down fellow ice skaters is astronomical. it’s rough. a lot of figure skaters have opened up about how figure skating caused / contributed to their mental illness. it’s very easy to fall into because of how “ perfect “ you need to be. you can look up various figure skaters stories on this: adam rippon, gracie gold, and yulia vyacheslavovna - a very famous one as it was part of the reason her career ended & she was the youngest ever skating gold medalist. and i will say, personally, my unhealthy relationship with food ( that would eventually lead to lots o problems & i still feel the impact of today ) began when i was figure skating. there are other risk factors for mental illness as well because there’s so much focus on winning / losing. more than once, competitions would give me panic attacks because of the great stress.
another thing is MONEY. as fucked up as it is, you need money, or a grant, if you want to get good. you need expensive skates, costumes, travel fees, and more. my pro figure skates, not my casual ones, cost upwards of 300, and that’s low balling it. when i was ten, my parents spent upwards of 10k on figure skating. there are rink fees, there are competition fees, there are coaching fees. it adds up extremely quickly. i know a lot of skaters who stopped competing because it was just too expensive. i work for my rink by teaching classes and monitoring open skates and additional things, but if i added up every single dollar i ever made, it would be nowhere near enough to pay for everything. but the thing is, if you get really good, you can make money off of competitions, but getting there is the hard part. at one point in my life, my parents were paying $100 an hour for my private coach who i was seeing multiple days a week. figure skaters also oftentimes will take additional classes to help. my coach made the entire junior team take ballet one year. i took a ton of gymnastic classes as well to help with skating.
so, who are the kind of people that ARE figure skaters ? what do we act like ? there’s a lot of stereotypes that figure skaters are cold people. that’s not necessarily true. i would say that we are extremely competitive people. i’ve seen rinkmates get into full-blown fights during competitions. one of my best friends, who i met at my rink once i returned from my hiatus, HATED me because she knew i was competition. we are on-edge.  stakes are high and the pressure is on. a lot of us are very perfectionistic because you sort of got to be to get to our level. we can have control issues and we can become easily frustrated if we flop jumps or keep stuttering coming out of a spin. the other stereotype is that we are super delicate little flowers. probably because of the way we have to move. realistically, we’re a tactile bunch of people who would probably wind up hurting someone if we played hockey. ( another stereotype : figure skaters and hockey kids. the closest i’ve gotten to a hockey player is the one time i threatened to quick him in the nads because they came early and insisted we get off the rink. ) we all love skating and have a lot of fun while doing it. it’s dangerous, and that’s part of the thrill. speeding around the rink at extremely high speeds is, honestly, exhilirating. we love our sport and, though we can get on each other's nerves, love our rinkmates. it’s not easy, but it’s our favorite thing to do.
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I bought Yun-Jin Lee because she's pretty and I'm weak. I also got the purple coat and purple hair. I'll get the green hair next for Joker cosplay purposes only.
I played my first match using Object of Obsession for the first time and it was a fucking riot! I lead this Clown around the top of Midwich for 3 Gens! And even after getting a hit in he still never downed me!
The very next match was an Oni on Midwich and 40 seconds in, he Disconnected! XD
So I did some swf yesterday and pulled up Yun-Jin Lee as I was working through her Bloodweb, and dude's like, 'she's the new Survivor?'(he hasn't been on in a while). So I'm explaining her and her Perks and how I've been hard farming since I'm on my last Prestige and just need to finish getting the Perks I have on her. He's silent for like 10 seconds, then goes, "You already P3'd her?!" And I swap to all the P3 cosmetics and his bafflement! XD
I only go to the effort to P3 someone if I intend to main them. So that makes Claudette, Feng Min, Yui, Elodie, and Yun-Jin.
Got a Killer who told me it wasn't their job to make sure Survivors have fun(cuz he camped and tunneled off the Hook[and still failed to get a Kill btw]). I got him 7 hours later while I was playing Doctor and I camped until he was Hook Stage 2 and then let his teammate save him, just so I could tunnel and Mori him. He called me a bitch in the still open chat, so I simply repeated what he said and he never responded. It's been 3 days! XD
Got the same Dwight 3 matches in a row this week. It was hilarious since we were the only ones to escape every match we had together.
I want Trickster, I'm just not the best with ranged Killers.
I got to Rank 3 as Killer in the last month. That's the highest I ever got because I was playing Killer more often to finish the Tome. Since I was that high, I only played the Killers I'm guaranteed good at so as not to fuck up and de-pip with fucking Wraith and Huntress. And I want to practice more as them, but not against Red Rank Survivors!
Listen, I was only that high because I played the easiest Doctor games you can do. It takes no skill to do Impossible Skillchecks on a small map. It is not skill that got me so high. I don't want to face skilled Survivors when I technically suck as Killer.
I was playing Impossible Skillchecks Doctor on Midwich, chasing this Claudette who was the best person on her team. A hallucination of the Doc appear up ahead. She turns the corner and I do 2 seconds later and find her gone. Scratchmarks ended and everything... Then the apparition vanished and this crafty bitch was crouching and using the hallucination as cover because she knew I can't see through them! GENIUS!
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I can admit that the beginning had some dumb mistakes on my part but the Killer somehow didn't catch me even with them thrown in so...
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It's fun using only Exhaustion Perks. Especially when you use like a Lithe in one chase and then Balanced Landing in another. And the Killer needs a moment to process that yes, you're using more than one Exhaustion Perk.
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The Game is not a good map for Trickster. I've played so many matches against him on there and he never does well. It's all the fucking pallets and breakable walls tbh.
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I was trying to signal that Michael was watching us and she should try to lose line of sight. And then she moved onto the platform! I knew what was coming and then it did and I died laughing! XD
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My first ever match with OoO on and it was great! I was worried it would be difficult to use but damn is it easy.
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dickytwister · 3 years
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HEY do you maybe have like an oc page or could you tell me something about all your ocs because i'm Interested and you have my full attention :eyes:
AHSJDKGLHL that's so sweet i'm nfjghl???? i don't have an oc page bc i'm the embodiment of an old man being given an iphone after 50 years of using a rotary phone but !!! i can yell abt them a bit aaa thank you for asking abt them 🥺🥺💚
i put everything under the cut bc dear god i have a lot to say abt my kids and i'm not gonna make everyone scroll through that HHHHHH haw 🤠🤠
elliot fletcher
- he's my deputy in fc5!! he's from waverly in iowa and he's just...very tired nfjfkhl give my poor man a break
- everytime his radio crackles he ages 10 years and if it's john talking add another 10 years
- he keeps the three heralds alive but he doesn't care abt joseph <3
- gets in trouble bc he's impulsive af nfjghl when jacob is close to the cage?? ram his face in the bars. when john leans like rlly close in the confession scene?? headbutt 😌🙏🏼
- the only people who know abt his past are earl, grace, faith and john, the rest just kinda speculate and elliot lets them believe what they want bc not only does he rlly not want ppl to know the actual truth, it's also very funny to listen to the stuff they can come up with
- speaking of faith he often seeks her for advice and sometimes they get high together and he gets teary eyed bc she's just... very nice to him and when all you see everyday is violence it's overwhelming to be shown a little bit of kindness 🥲🙏🏼
- he's in love with john but also he'd kick him across the county if he could but also he'd give his life for him
- after the bombs and all he unlocks his final form and becomes A Husband™, complete with a beard, a scarf and bad jokes that make john want to officially marry him so he can divorce his ass
- fun fact i came up with the name elliot fletcher bc i thought it sounded neat but recently i found out there's a trans actor called elliot fletcher too??? like what were the odds ngl that's so cool
carter quill
- this is my character in the marvel dnd game my brother is dming!!
- his parents are peter quill and kitty pryde and he inherited his mom's powers (so he can become immaterial and stuff uwu) and his dad's tiny pebble brain~
- he grew up on a ship with the guardians so his family is just... a bunch of uncles, one of which is a tree
- he's part of an initiative called the peacekeepers with isaaq cage (luke cage's and jessica jones' son), finneas "zorn" reeves (brock rumlow's and sinthea shmidt's son), lu "highway star" khan (the mandarin's son), alexis "hex" pythagoras (doctor strange's protégé) and ev-lin (ronan the destroyer's daughter who also happens to be carter's bully when they were 11 HHHHHH)
- everyone agrees that carter is just... a puppy. a little labrador. so overexcited. head empty. he doesn't know what's going on but he's having fun with his friends and that's what matters <3
- he died once and went to hell for like 66 years bc he held a bomb while it was exploding but he got better and he doesn't remember most of his time in hell but also he's a lil traumatised
- he wears cute skirts sometimes and also froggie themed clothes 🥰🥰 he's terrible at applying nail polish and it ends up smudged most of the time bc he can't sit still for more than two minutes without going insane but he still likes it
- he has a pet bird called ink!! he thought it was a nice name bc his last name is quill so u know,,, ink,,, quill,,,, he inherited his dad's terrible humor also
- he's fruity and has a big fat crush on one of his teammates 😳😳👉🏼👈🏼
- he strictly refuses to kill, so he uses stunt energy guns and a three section staff to fight!! he accidentally killed someone once and threw up
- he knows asl and is fluent in it!! he's also very bad at reading measurements when cooking (and reading in general) so he relies on their proto-ai, dadji, to help him cook and he listens to audiobooks a lot!!
- idk what else to say abt him except like two games ago he was in the hospital bc lu got hurt and he wanted to get him muffins from a coffee shop across the streets but he panicked when faced with the selection so he bought one of each and came back to the hospital room with like,,,, twenty muffins
- i found this pic of his face claim and it honestly just radiates his vibe so here have it
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thorgran galvish
- he's my dwarf enchanter from another homebrew dnd game!! in this universe (and maybe others idk shit abt actual dnd HHHH forgive me) enchanter dwarves are lowkey enslaved bc of their rare link with magic
- thorgran blew up a wall and ran away to the surface so now he's a fugitive and he's constantly on the run uwu trust issues ensue
- he loves the sky so much?? especially at night?? he knows abt constellations, but he thinks they're just whatever you see in the stars and doesn't know there are like,,, actual constellations so he sits on the roof of a tall building sometimes and finds his own constellations
- he also tries to draw them but he rlly sucks at it aslkdsgl that doesn't stop him from filling his journal with little stars and drawings!!
- during my very first game with him he found his rival, who turned out to be a 16 years old teenager?? millennial/gen z rivalry
- agh i don't have much abt him yet bc i've only just started to play him but he's my beefiest boy and also a dilf 🥰🥰
theadric "elder" montajay
- yet another character from the same universe as thorgran, but this time it's a funky little halfling bard
- his instrument is the violin!! he tried every other instrument and his mom was very supportive despite how bad he was at all of them. his community was raided and his father died, so he inherited his violin and that turned out to be the only instrument he could play
- took his love of the economy to the next level when he decided to fuck every gang leader he could find to control their operations and ruin their organizations so the money they hoarded could be put back in circulation
- accidentally fell in love with a half-orc gang leader and was abt to tell him the truth abt what he was doing but was exposed by the first person he'd cheated so he had to run without explaining himself to his lover smh ://
- "i don't wanna fall in the slutty bard cliché," i say before immediately giving elder the tightest leather pants and opening his shirt to show his majestic chest hair.
- surprisingly good with kids?? anyone younger than him who looks sad becomes His Child and he turns into a lil mama, tasting the food of an inn first to assure it's not poisoned, giving hugs, soft shit like that ngl he's just a mom 😔😔
- we abandoned the game he was in but we left off when he'd just escaped a dwarven prison with his new child and others owo anyway slutty bard with chest hair?? that's just the witcher's jaskier
scylla
- my gay pirate lady!! i don't have much abt her either bc AAA BRAINROT but !!! i still love her very much
- she's a hybrid between a human and a psaarinch (fish folks in our homebrew universe uwu) and she looks very human except she has like shark abilities?? she can smell blood, taste with her skin, breathe underwater for like two hours or smth, sharper teeth,,
- she started off as a privateer but like what was the kingdom gonna do?? track her down to make sure everything she did was legal?? nah man she got that sweet fleet and became a pirate
- she beats men up in inns and gives their wives a good time <3
- she's very close to her crew and they're kinda just a big family
- she fights with those s-shaped staffs?? but they're actually blades ngfhl she's very agile and looks like she's dancing when she's actually fighting
- fun fact she's my second shark oc the first one was called maito and she was a yellow lantern in a dc game we did (the main difference between them is that maito loved men while scylla is very much a lesbian 😌🙏🏼)
i have like so many more of them but that's already such a long post and i don't wanna do too much NGL if u wanna know more hmu i'll yell some more 😎😎🙏🏼🙏🏼
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persona-dee · 4 years
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Third Person Point of View, A HiruMamo Fanfic
Hiruma Youichi was the incarnation of the devil, while Anezaki Mamori was the embodiment of the angel. Due to their differences, people believed the two of them wouldn’t even want to get ten meters near each other.
The Deimon Devil Bats team believed it too once upon a time. However, seeing the two’s interactions over time made them not so sure anymore. They started pondering: were they actually dating?
Part III: Takekura Gen/Musashi’s point of view
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Musashi could make a long list of adjectives that could be applied to describe Hiruma. Devilishly smart, cunning, ambitious, and so on. Most people would probably say he was evil and cunning, not that he would argue with them, but every single soul who had the luck (or bad luck?) of meeting Hiruma would agree that there was no way to tell what his friend was thinking or what he would do next.
To put it in simple terms, his friend was unpredictable.
That was exactly why Musashi found it odd that Hiruma had fallen into a perfect, albeit slightly peculiar, rhythm with Mamori. As far as Musashi knew, Mamori had become the club's manager only for a few months, and in the first few weeks, all they did was get into arguments. Only God (and them) knew what happened to make them become this familiar with each other after those weeks.
Another thing Musashi found odd (and slightly amusing) was that Hiruma seemed to love teasing their manager. He would seize every chance he could get to annoy the hell out of her.
This afternoon, it seemed, was one of the times where Hiruma was in the mood for some light bickering with her.
"How long do you plan to eat without permission, fucking manager?"
Mamori jerked. With cheeks redden and crumbs stuck on her lips, she slowly turned her head to Hiruma. The evidence of her crime (a box of pretzel) she still held with one of her hands.
"Je-jeez, you're talking like that again. I don't need permission from you to eat! Besides, I did my job measuring your speed properly."
Hiruma cackled. Musashi's eyes might be playing tricks on him, but he was quite sure he saw a mischievous and amused glint in his friend's eyes. He seemed to enjoy every second of it. "Still, you're the greedy manager who likes to steal food to eat!"
Her brows furrowed slightly at that. Defensively she replied, "Whe-when did I steal food? I don't remember!"
Hiruma continued to cackle, but he left the embarrassed manager alone after that.
This scene, with the exact same topic, took place almost every single day to the point he could even tell everyone on the team about even the smallest detail of it with eyes closed.
Hiruma would squeeze some time from their daily practice to tease her about eating and the way she ate stealthily, and then she would defensively reply to his teasing.
Hiruma teasing people wasn't odd. He teased Kurita almost regularly, after all. What fascinated Musashi about this was the fact that he teased a girl, and that he did it on a daily basis.
He had never even seen Hiruma talked so happily to girls before. Honestly,  he even thought his friend was asexual since he never showed any interest in both boys and girls. Since the day they started hanging out with each other, he had set his eyes on victory only.
Several hours later, when it was already late in the evening, Deimon Devil Bat's practice ended. After putting their practice equipment back into place, the team changed back into their school uniform, and one by one began going home until he, Hiruma, and Mamori were left. If he wasn't mistaken, the captain and the manager stayed late to devise a new suitable strategy for their upcoming match with Shinryuuji Naga.
When he got out of the locker room, however, he only saw Mamori in the club room. "Where is Hiruma?"
Mamori snapped her head to him. With a small smile, she replied, "Good work for today, Musashi-kun! Hiruma-kun said he is going to the convenience store for a bit. It seems he runs out of sugar-free gum."
He nodded. The club room fell into a comfortable silence. He wasn't a talkative person in the first place, and she didn't seem to mind since she needed to concentrate on the data laid out at the table in front of her.
He was buttoning up the last button of his shirt when the club room's door slid open. At the next moment, Hiruma came in with a plastic bag on one hand. He closed the door the same way he opened it, with his foot.
"Fucking manager, catch."
Before he finished saying it, he already tossed a small box toward Mamori. Fortunately, she successfully caught the box even though she fumbled with it at first.
It took a couple of seconds for her to notice the word "Kariya Creampuff" on one side of the box. When she did, a smile bloomed on her face. "Thank you, Hiruma-kun."
"Yeah," Hiruma replied nonchalantly. "Are you done arranging the data as I asked?"
Hiruma slid to the seat next to her, and they began reviewing the data together. They were so engrossed in their discussion to the point it made him feel like a mere dot on the background.
He smiled at the sight, though.
That was another one of their routines. Even though Hiruma teased her a lot about eating, he always bought her favorite snacks, like creampuffs, when he went out to the convenience store.
And then, there was this change in his manner of speaking to her when they were alone. Well, they weren't alone at the moment since he was there, but he wasn't the type to pry into other people's business (unlike some of their teammates) even if he noticed such details, so maybe that was why Hiruma didn't mind his presence.
There was still a little teasing here and there when they were alone (or when there were only the three of them). However, Hiruma would make no snide remarks, nor were there any mocking sarcasm in his words.
Musashi never thought there would come a day when he thought Hiruma was cute, but today was that day. He wouldn't say it in Hiruma's face, of course, but he thought his friend almost seemed like a grade-schooler who teased his crush endlessly but still cared for her in the end.
Now that he thought about it that way, he wondered if his friend did have a crush on the manager and whether the two of them were dating.
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danseinthefallout · 4 years
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the art of danse - one
a paladin danse fanfiction
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story warning; this story contains strong language, adult themes (such as violence, smut/NSFW themes, drug use, and other harsh themes) and canon and un canon language and story plots of Fallout 4 and Fallout 3.
summary; yea, the bombs may have fallen, but art and love have not. and of course, people still tell white lies
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word count; 3,6k
chapter one - idiots
Stella wondered how she stumbled in a police station, fighting feral ghouls with a man who battle cried. One minute she was looking for her friends, Lucas and Joanna and the next was involved in military business. She knew that they needed help, even one man in power armor couldn’t take all those ferals at once. She saw one of his men down, lazily shooting at them as a woman was tending to him. She was hoping to ask if they have seen her idiot friends and she would be on her way back to Endcliff in hopes they would be there. 
Stella was caught off guard by looking at the women tending to the man as he gave up as a feral flung at her, knocking her to the ground. This has happened more times then she’d like to admit. She reached for her gun as she used the back of it to bash in the skull of the feral ghoul. “Filthy fucker!” She yelled as she jumped back up and shot the feral in the head, just to make sure. The man in the power armor was fighting three more ferals, the number of them decreases. He seemed to have a hard time as one of them attacked his arm. Stella was a master at headshots and with three bullets and a steady eye killed each and every one of them. Stella looked down the street to see if any more were coming, but it was clear, thankfully. 
Stella was unsure if she should stay around, after all, she could tell this was the Brotherhood of Steel territory. She only knew that from the orange outfits and the symbols that were around the police station. A while ago she bumped into a wounding scribe by the name of Danny. The man in the power armor came up to Stella as she held her gun close to her chest. Stella looked at the man’s face and couldn’t help notice how handsome he was. Her face grew red but hoped he didn’t notice due to the blood that was splattered on her skin. “We appreciate the assistance, civilian. But what’s your business here?” The man asked, his voice deep and more calming then his battle cry. Stella raised an eyebrow, remembering the idiots she called family. She let out a smirk, hoping that they didn’t get kidnapped by raiders… again.
“Looking for two idiots. Who are you?” Stella asked nodding her head at the man. Stella put her gun back in her hoser as she crossed her arms. 
“I’m Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel. If I appear suspicious, it’s because our mission here has been difficult. Since the moment we arrived in the Commonwealth, we’ve been constantly under fire. If you want to continue pitching in, we could use an extra gun on our side,” The paladin spoke. Stella could use this to her advantage.
“Will do, but I need your help in return,” Stella spoke. “You know those idiots I referred too? Their the closest thing to family I got. It’s like them to trail off and get kidnapped by raiders or hideout for 2 days surrounded by feral ghouls. This time they promised me they would stay close and well, no one other than me is here. We’re from Endcliff, so making our way to the middle of the Commonwealth is a mission. Luckily, I got a signal from one of my teammates and it led me to Cambridge. Any help would mean a lot before I make way back home to see them there or not,” Stella sighed, frustrated at Lucas and Joanna. She hated traveling back home alone.
“Over there is Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys, Haylen will help decode the signal for you and track down where your team is, but we need your help,” The paladin spoke as Stella put a hand on her hip, listing.
“What do you need me to help with?” Stella asked
“We’re on recon duty, but I’m down a man and our supplies are running low. I’ve been trying to send a distress call to my superiors, but the signal’s too weak to reach them,” Stella could see the worry in the paladin’s eyes and couldn’t help but feel bad for him and his team. The women that were tending to the man, now known as Scribe Halen turned to Stella and Danse, butting in.
“Sir, if I may?” Haylen began.
“Proceed Haylen,” Danse instructed, Stella, raised her brow.
“I’ve modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station, but I’m afraid it’s not enough. What we need is something that will boost the signal,” Haylen informed Paladin Danse and Stella.
“We need a deep range transmitter, our target is ArcJet Systems. We secure the area, get the transmitter and bring it back here. Will you be willing to help us get it?” Danse asked.
“I said yes, didn’t I? Let’s get you a new transmitter,” Stella smiled.
“Sounds like a plan, stay behind me,” 
***
Fucking synths! Stella had to fight first-gen synths just to get that stupid transmitter. Almost died twice, but with a little will, she got that transmitter. Haylen was decoding the signal she got on her Pip-Boy to see where Lucas and Joanna where. Danse and Stella were making their way back to the police station, Danse was explaining some stuff on their way there and back, but Stella kind of blacked out on the conversation, really focusing on her friends. She did look at him a lot, she hasn’t found a man that good looking in a while. Stella noticed how he spoke and how serious he was. She’d hope that she could travel with him again, but she knew after this, she has to find her friends and go back to Endcliff.
As they walked down the road back to the station, Paladin Danse broke the silence and looked at the women who held her gun tightly. “You mentioned you’re from Endcliff, why are you way out here?” Danse asked, breaking his serious military character. Stella thought for a moment and looked up at the man in armor.
“We’re on a supply run as well as a manhunt. A raider gang came though Endcliff a few weeks ago, stole some important technology from us, killed 3 of our people, and injured 6. That never happened to us before. Luckily, me and my friend Luna killed them, but their leader left with the tech piece we need most. We’re hoping to find that bastard and get that back,” Stella was vague on the subject but specific enough because she felt like she could trust Danse.
“I’m sorry to hear that citizen. I hope you track down and kill that scum,” Danse said with compassion.
“Name is Stella Kennedy by the way. I was a vault dweller for most of my childhood. Vault 101. I was 12 when I escape after a kid left to find their father. I guess I kinda wander off, found some friends at Little Lamplight and spent a year there. Became friends with Mayor… fuck was it MacKenny? Cready? Anyways...” Stella trailed off. “Shit… that must have been 10 years since that bullshit happened,” Stella smirked to herself.
“Vault 101 and Little Lamplight was in the Capital Wasteland, right?” Danse asked with suspicion.
“Yes, sir. I spent most of my days wandering around until I was 15 I made my way to the Commonwealth where I meet Lucas and Joanna,” Stella smiled. 
“I grew up in the Capital Wasteland as well,” Danse smiled but also remembering everything that happened. 
“No shit soldier, where from?” Stella asked
“Rivet City,” Danse simply respond
“I’ve only been there a few times, I bought some junk there to build my first gun and only went there to get supplies when I was leaving for the Commonwealth,” 
 Danse could see the police station getting closer and closer. The two went inside as Stella gave the transmitter to Danse. Haylen walked over at the two.
“The signal is coming from Lexington, from the Super Duper Mart there. Hopefully whoever you’re looking for is there,” Haylen smiled.
“Thank you so much. Since I help you and you helped me, I think I won’t bother you and your team. Perhaps we’ll meet again,” Stella smiled.
“Wait, before you go, I have something for you,” Danse said
“No need to give me anything,” Stella said softly. Danse rolled his eyes and handed her a laser rifle. It was beautiful, to say the least.
“No need, as a soldier we always pay our debts. I modded it myself, it’s called Righoues Authority,” Danse smiled as Stella smiled back, her heart grew.
“Thank you Paladin Danse. I’ll return the favor, I promise. Say, if you’re ever near Endcliff, you should visit sometime. Benji will question you, but tell him I sent you. Where can I find you and your team after this?” Stella asked, taking the gun from Danse.
“Rhys and Haylen will stay put, I’ll be going back to the Prydwen. If you ever need me, come back here and we’ll get a vertibird to fly you there,” Danse said “If you ever want to become a soldier yourself, we’ll talk and I’ll be your sponsor,”
“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think I’m soldier material. However, you’ll probably see me again,” Stella declined the offer.
“Ad victoriam,” Paladin Danse spoke. Stella knew what all that meet when she spent some time with Danny, smile smiled
“She doesn’t know what that means, why waste your breath,” Rhys scoffed
“To victory. Ad victoriam, to you Paladin. Thank you for everything,” And there Stella made her way to Lexington, with her head filled with Paladin Danse
***
Lexington was always a raider shit hole. It was sad that only raiders, ferals and even super mutants littered the place. Stella knew the ends and outs of the place, but always had to tiptoe just incase a landmine was placed and every raider and their dead mothers could hear it.
She scouted out the Super Duper Mart and saw some roaming ferals liter the place, but from the looks of it, most were dead. Probably from Joanna and Lucas. She could hear yelling from a raider in the back of the store. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m going to kill you both and keep it. Then I’ll find your friend who killed my gang.” Stella’s jaw dropped. It was him. She felt her heart beating out of her chest as she crouched down. 
Although she didn’t know the three people that his gang killed all that well, she knew that justice had to survive for their families. She turned on the dim lights on her Pip-Boy as she made her way across the market, being careful to not make any noise. Last time she was here, ferals littered the store. 
She saw the greasy raider towering Joanna. Only Joanna. She was tied up in a chair. It made Stella sick to her stomach. But she started to wonder where Lucas was and her mind started to race. 
Stella made a plan, point, and shoot. She aimed her rifle at the raiders’ head, making a perfect headshot. When she pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Fuck! She thought she brought enough bullets for this mission, but she used the rest of her bullets on synths and ghouls. Ha, funny…
Stella saw as the raider integrated Joanna, but she couldn’t just walk in there, discuss the weather. She knew these sacks of shits, they’ll just kill Joanna and then her. Stella somehow forgot the gift the Paladin gave her and reached for it. She never actually used a laser rife before, so she was kind of excited to kill that scum bag with it. She put her rifle over her shoulder, took out the rifle and aimed. “Hey fuck face!” She screamed as the raider turned around and struggled to get his gun before Stella pulled the trigger a few times and blowing his leg off. Holy fuck, that Paladin is a killing machine if he made this.
The raider screamed in pain unable to do anything. “You fucking bitch!” He screamed, trying to crawl to Stella who rushed over to Joanna and untied the rope. Joanna went to a steamer trunk to retrieve her gun that Stella gave her on Christmas years ago and the piece that the raider stole from Endcliff
“Should we let him out of his misery?” Joanna asked as they fleed to the front door. Stella laughed, hearing the pain that the raider was in, desperate to escape.
“Never, he needs to feel pain for the people he killed,” Stella said as the left the market. “What happened to Lucas?” Stella asked with worry. Joanna held her gun.
“He went out looking for help, I think we went to that police station to ask for help, some Brotherhood of Steel members are held up there, heard it on my tracker when I made that distress call, hoping someone would help,” Joanna explained.
“Perfect, I was just there. Helped this really cute Paladin and his team was stranded. They said we can come back whenever I hope that’s true,” Stella doubted.
“Okay, you lead the way before ferals attack,” Joanna nodded. “Hey what’s up with you and the Brotherhood of Steel? Didn’t you hook up with a scribe back in the Capital Wasteland?” Joanna laughed making Stella blush.
“I was 15, he was 17, we dated, then we fucked, it just so happened that I was held up with some Brotherhood soldiers and he was one of them. We went over this!” Stella said, clearly embarrassed.
“What about Scribe Danny?” Joanna teased.
“We’re just friends,” Stella stated.
“That’s not what my eyes would tell me,” Joanna laughed as the walked down the broken road to the police station. Stella shoved Joanna, annoyed, but a small smirk formed her lips. “I’m so happy you figured out my signal. I was so scared and I never really felt that fear before. All I could think about when he was yelling at me was you and Lucas. I had hope, of course, but I started to expect my death. I only felt that way once before and that one time was the accident. I learned to accept my new life as a ghoul fast, that was before of you guys… I just couldn’t imagine a life without you two… or your life without me. Shit, sorry if that was deep,” Joanna laughed as Stella gave her a side hug.
“I’d get you if you ended up in the Institute or the Capital Wasteland. You’re my family, just like Lucas is,” Stella stated with full truth to her statement.
“I love you, Stella,” Joanna smiled as she stopped in her tracks, giving Stella the biggest hug.
“I love you more, Joanna. Thank you for everything these past seven years,” Stella let go and looked at Joanna, grabbing her shoulders. “Just remember you’re still Joanna. You’re not just a ghoul or a freak like those assholes in the Brotherhood think or the folks in Diamond City,” Stella preached as Joanna smiled and rolled her eyes. Joanna pushed her arms away and did the same thing to Stella.
“And goes to you, you’re more than a prototype, you’re the best goddamn gun modder in all the Commonwealth and you let me fuck up your hair when I can’t with mine,” Joanna laughed as she pulled on one of Stella’s dyed braids.
“Hey, I really like the split color look,” Stella shook her hair a little. “Also, don’t let the Brotherhood know I’m… whatever the fuck I am and I’ll tell them to suck my dick if they give you a hard time,” Stella smiled.
“If you think it’s a good idea…” Joanna sarcastically commented. “But I’ll probably just wear my gas mask when we get there,”
Approaching the police station, the two girls casually made way towards the door. Joanna put on a gas mask that she looted off a raider, she knew she couldn’t walk in and have the soldier happy to see her. That did hurt Stella to her core. She hated the new Brotherhood to be quite frank. The Brotherhood was never like that years ago. One of the soldiers gave her a weird look, not expecting to see the mysteries girl so soon.
“Is Paladin Danse still here?” She asked one of the Knights.
“Yes, civilian, you may enter,” The Knight stated. Stella entered the police station to see Scribe Haylen working on the transmitter and Knight Rhys planning something out on the table. Stella went up to Haylen and cleared her throat. Haylan looked up and smiled.
“Hey, Stella! You’re back sooner then I expected! And I’m assuming this is…” Haylen paused thinking of Joanna’s name
“Haylen this is Joanna and Joanna this is Haylen… I have a question,” Stella got to the point and leaned in.
“What would that be?” Haylen smiled.
“Has a dude by the name of Lucas, about yay high, blonde hair. Joanna told me that he was coming here for help,” Haylen put down her stuff and stood up straight.
“Yes, Paladin Danse went with him to look. I’ll call him telling them to abort their mission and come back to the police station. The two just left,” Haylen spoke as she went to the radio next to her. “Paladin Danse, come in Paladin Danse, head back to the police station, Joanna and Stella are here for Lucas, come in Paladin Danse,” Haylen spoke, hoping that he’d come in the other side. She waited a few seconds before a signal started to come in.
“This is Paladin Danse, aborting mission now,” 
“Now we just wait,” Haylen smiled.
“Thank you so much Haylen seriously. I wouldn’t know where to look for Joanna if it wasn’t for you,” Stella smiled.
“Why does your friend wear a gas mask?” Rhys burst out, causing everyone’s head to turn to him.
“Rhys, you can’t just ask why someone wears something?” Haylen said, annoyed.
“Yea I can… So, why is that? Is there something you’re hiding?” Rhys smirked. Stella rolled her eyes and although you couldn’t see it, so was Joanna
“Hey asshole, why do you care?” Joanna blurted out. That caused Rhys to stand up, pissed off.
“You’re speaking to a Brotherhood Knight, civilian. I subject you don’t speak to me like that, or there will be a problem; so I’ll as you again, what are you hiding… freak?” Rhys said slowly as he approached Joanna until he was close to her face. Stella felt herself tense up because she knew how Joanna can get when some asshole threatens her. Stella grabbed Joanna’s shoulders.
“How about we just wait for Danse and Lucas to get here, please,” Stella stated.
“Please, Rhys can you just let this go. Danse will have your head if he sees you acting like this. I’m so sorry you two,” Haylen pleed.
“Fine, but I will figure it out, I always do,” Rhys said as he walked away.
“He’s such an ass! I’m so sorry,” Haylen was so embarrassed, her face was red like a tato. 
“It’s fine, I’m use to that. I’m kinda burned up, don’t like showing my face a lot,” Joanna half lied.
“No need to explain. I don’t mind… Danse should be here any minute now,” Haylen stated as she started to finish up fixing the transmitter.
“Hey, thanks again, we’ll be outside and we’ll fight any more ferals that come this way,” Stella stated as she grabbed Joanna’s hand and went out the door. She didn’t want any gunfire especially when Joanna is on edge.
Stella turned to Joanna. “What the fuck was that Anna? I mean what the fuck for both of you… Please try not to get yourself killed AGAIN. We’re almost done, we got the piece and we just need Lucas and then we’re home free. Please… and also don’t say shit to this Paladin, at least don’t call him an asshole, he could be useful,” Stella begged as she hugged her rifle to her chest, looking up and down the road to check for ferals, the Paladin or the idiot she called Lucas.
“You just don’t want me to blow your chances to blow the Paladin. I bet he’s not that hot,” Joanna laughed.
“Ah! Shut up! I don’t have a thing for soldiers in the Brotherhood. It was a two-time thing, stop teasing me,” Stella was clearly annoyed, but Joanna loved it. Stella rolled her eyes as she looked down the street to see the Paladin in his power armor and Lucas. “Lucas!” Stella shouted as Joanna saw him and perked up. The two girls ran to Lucas and gave him the biggest hug as if they haven’t seen each other in ages. 
“What the actual fuck dude! I almost shit myself thinking you died,” Joanna shouted as she let go and looked at the Paladin. Stella was right. He was as sexy as fuck. “And this must be your knight and shining armor ready to take you away and fuck you, aye,” Joanna laughed.
“That is not appropriate, civilian,” Danse said with the most seriousness. Stella slapped her face.
“I’m so sorry Paladin. Thank you for everything. I will repay you… and before Joanna says anything, nothing sexual,” Stella said as she looked at Joanna who was doing that thing with her hands to indicate a penis and a vagina. You know that hand signal. Stella flipped her off. “Anyways, we should head back to Endcliff before people get a search team for us. Make sure to visit if you’re ever in the area. Goodbye,”  Stella smiled.
“Anytime, soldier. You have a character full of friends. I’ll make sure to use that opportunity,” Paladin Danse cracked a smile. “Ad victorim, Stella”
“Ad victorim, Paladin,”
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Authors Note; I’ve been really into writing this story and I have already written 2 more chapters that I’ll post sooner than later! Thank you for reading and I will try to quench all of your Danse thrist and needs.
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wildcardwriting · 4 years
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Falling into Autumn #2
[King’s Avatar /全职高手 - 蝴蝶蓝 | Quánzhí Gāoshǒu - Húdié Lán ]
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Falling into Autumn on AO3
Summary: After a poison attempt goes wrong, Ye Qiu finds himself having to step into his brother shoes…and finds himself completely out of his depth. Ye Xiu is, of course, unapologetic and Su Mucheng is having too much fun. Excellent Era was not prepared for this new twist on their captain. Takes place in between Season 5 and 6.
XXxxxxxXX
Chapter #2: Ye Qiu is tired \ Ye Xiu is plotting.
XXxxxxxXX
"Move closer," Ye Xiu said motioning to his brother.
Ye Qiu was currently running a medium level dungeon, as a battlemage and while his the younger twin’s apm was well above average, his mechanical skills left much to be desired.
If Ye Qiu wasn't being pushed for high proficiency at battlemage, Ye Xiu suspected that his brother might have been a decent Witch or Elementalist where his high apm would have greatly enhanced his performance. Making a note in the notebook in front of him, Ye Xiu continued to lecture his brother about his run through the dungeon.
"Fierce Crow is weak to knockback. To increase attack power, swing your spear over one-hundred eighty degrees and then use this attack here..." Ye Xiu motioned taking control of the character.
It wasn't one of the cards owned by either Excellent Era or the Guild and was instead a character that had been bought for his brother to use while he teaching him, though why Ye Qiu just had to name it 'Herald of Autumn' he could only guess, assuming it was likely his brother trying to dig him. Regardless, his brother was making steady progress in his learning, considering his character had just become level fifty.
“Why not use Falling Flower Palm here instead of Dragon Claw?” Ye Qiu asked trying to wrap his mind around why one set of moves was better than another.
Ye Xiu smiled and went back to showing his brother the ins and outs of the game he treasured.
He had missed having someone to talk to about Glory and although Ye Qiu wasn’t Su Miqiu, just having someone look at him and not see some god was nice.
“…that’s stupid. How exactly am I supposed to know what one-hundred eighty degrees are? Do I look like a ruler?”
Ye Xiu looked at him rather pensively. “So you did cheat off my homework in middle school. I wondered why you wanted to see my backpack so many times.”
Ye Qiu went red. “I did not!” Even though it was obvious he was lying.
Ye Xiu smirked. “Really?”
(Well, that and messing with Ye Qiu was always fun.)
XXxxxxXX
When the rest of the Excellent Era arrived back from vacation, things were vastly different.
Instead of the slightly worn chairs and only a single roll of computers, everything was slick and new. Entire rooms that had been little more than big closets had been revamped, and instead of only one meal being offered, all meals and snacks were provided.
There were bodyguards’ stations at both exits and instead of only one silver researcher there were now four of them. It was a complete one-eighty from the Excellent Era many of them knew but the strangest thing was the teenager wandering the halls. At first, many had assumed the teenager to be one of the children of the new workers, but the team was shocked to discover that the teenager was, in fact, the younger brother of Ye Qiu himself.
For what reason he was currently staying at Excellent Era, or even how that had been allowed, no one knew, but after the angry look on Ye Qiu's face the only time someone asked, no one dared ask again.
Some things were better left unknown.
(It was the only time the team had seen Ye Qiu mad and many of them feared that cold, cruel look in his eyes.)
XXxxxxXX
Everyone in Excellent Era found it weird that their captain practiced in a separate room than the rest of the team and yet somehow Ye Qiu always seemed to know what was happening in the main training room. Either through voice chat or messages, Ye Qiu was nearly instantaneous in redirecting anyone that was straying in drills or messing up teamwork. At first, the team assumed Ye Qiu was watching them through the use of cameras, but after a lengthy search and a rather blunt message from Ye Qiu about there being no cameras, the entire team started getting a little freaked out and several theories popped up.
Maybe he had the cameras hidden really well?
Eventually, after yet another search had proved fruitless, another theory had been put forth.
Could Ye Qiu actually be a mind reader?
It was a scary thought that seemed more likely as time passed but because the poor team members were far too cowardly to speak to talk to Ye Qiu they settled for merely whispered about it among themselves. They unknowingly made the situation worse as they freaked each other out more and more instead of calming each other down. Until the rumors and theories that they all heard about their mysterious captain reached a fever pitch of such height that crosses and garlic started appearing in the team dorm rooms, and no one not even the janitor complained.
“Little Yang, put up your phone up and concentrate. Talk about your theories about me later.” Ye Qiu said through the voice chat, even though the microphones were muted on their side. More than one team member cursed and several freaked out.
One player even took out a Christian cross and started turning around wildly trying to see if their captain was hovering in a corner, or the doorway. When no one was able to find Ye Qiu in the room, they started muttering prayers.
The current theory was starting to make more and more sense in a kind of twisted way, that even other departments in Excellent Era were starting to take notice. While a good number of them thought it was a good joke, several of them took to the newest theory like a fish to water because to them it made sense.
(It would be weeks before either of the Ye brothers had heard of the theory and by the time, they did, it was too late to stop the gossip. As far as the people who worked in Excellent Era were concerned, Ye Qiu was without a doubt a creature of the night.)
XXxxxxXX
Eventually, the rumor mill got so crazy that when one of the more brave direct members decided to question Ye Xiu, nothing concrete came of it and both sides ended up more confused for entirely different reasons.
“Did your brother always have gold eyes?”
“Does your brother go out during the day at all?”
“Is your brother a mind reader?”
“How does he always seem to know what we’re doing?”
"Does your brother seem to drink a red liquid?"
“….” Ye Xiu blinked at them confused as the questions were just so strange and out of the blue.
Maybe they were sick?  He’d need to watch the team more carefully if the stress was already starting to get to them.
XXxxxxXX
“You think Su Mucheng knows?”
“Of course she does. That’s why she doesn’t need to fear him!”
“Wait, I heard Captain Ye’s family is the big new sponsor. You don’t think…?”
“Everyone knows but us.”
“Well, even if the captain is a vampire he’s a tame one.”
“How is he tame? He destroys us in-game.”
“You still have your head attached, don’t you?”
There were several loud gulps, as the reality sinks in. Be destroyed in-game or alive in real life? There was no comparison. It was obvious what their choice would be any day of the week.
“Suddenly, his lectures don’t seem so bad anymore.”
XXxxxxXX
Unfortunately, neither brother quite understood the kind of terror that was starting to creep up on Excellent Era as the brothers tried collectively to play the part of ‘Ye Qiu’. Ye Xiu watched his teammates closely trying to ensure nothing Ye Qiu did was out of place, while Ye Qiu himself worked hard at Glory trying to absorb all the knowledge he would need to play the part of his brother.
It was only when Su Mucheng started to connect all the gossip running rampant in Excellent Era that she pulled the brothers aside and to tell them about the ‘supernatural’ rumors floating around.  Suffice to say neither brother knew quite how to take the fact that ‘Ye Qiu’ was apparently some kind of vampire.
Ye Qiu made a disgusted look still unable to understand how his brother's teammates had come to such an outrageous conclusion.
“Vampires do not exist.” He muttered angrily, turning away from the conversation and going back to running the training problem his brother had recently assigned him.
He didn’t have time to deal with this nonsense. Even though he would not be playing in actual matches that did not mean he would never play in front of other people. There were plenty of other events he would need to be ready for, such as All-Stars where the alliances reach would not be able to help him.
Ye Qiu was so focused on his training that he messed the look on his brother’s face.
(He would later regret this.)
XXxxxxXX
[Excellent Era Chatroom]
Users:Wu Xuefeng, Xue Mingkai, Qin Tianran, Xia Ming, Yin Xiong, S5 Newbie(Wang Shi) (+2 others) are logged in.
Moderator: Ye Qiu
S5 Newbie(Wang Shi): Question for old gen.
Wu Xuefeng: Yes?
S5 Newbie(Wang Shi): Did YQ always have gold eyes?
Xue Mingkai: Not this again.
Xia Ming: Strange that this always comes up. [light reflects off glasses on female avatar]
Wu Xuefeng: Captain’s eyes are brown. It’s just the lighting. [tired emoji] [long suffering Wu Xuefeng.Jpg]
Qin Tianran: [facepalm emoji] Obviously. Why is this even a question?
Yin Xiong: [sighing woven shadow emoji] Who knows…
S5 newbie: So captain has always been a vampire…
Wu Xuefeng: What
Xue Mingkai: What
Qin Tianran: What
Xia Ming: What
Yin Xiong: What
[S5 Newbie and +2 users have logged out.]
Xue Mingkai: hey @Ye Qiu get over here and explain! What’s going on!?
Qin Tianran: +1
Yin Xiong: +2
Xia Ming: +3, though I doubt @Ye Qiu will answer, he doesn’t have a phone.
Xue Mingkai: I forgot that he lives under a rock. @Su Mucheng weight in! What's going on?
Su Mucheng: Switch to the Shine Chatroom and I'll explain.
Xia Ming: [thumbs up]
Wu Xuefeng: [thumbs up]
Xue Mingkai: [thumbs up]
Qin Tianran: [thumbs up]
Yin Xiong: [thumbs up]
XXxxxxXX
Author’s Notes:
So some background.
Instead of setting up cameras, Ye Xiu is wandering around the training room and relaying everything happening to his brother. Ye Qiu was taken off all his other responsibilities to the family company while everything is being figured out.
Ye Qiu's current progress is as follows: Herald of Autumn [Battlemage]: Level 51 Average Pro Level Knowledge [All Classes] Above Average APM (200-400) [Depending on how confident he is] Playing Level is probably around Intermediate Level
And in other news:
EE @ Current: Ye Qiu is probably some kind of supernatural creature and we are terrified.
Ye Qiu: Gamers are all weird. And strangely superstitious. Cannot compute.
Ye Xiu: How can I use this to my advantage so no one suspects something and how can I mess with my brother?
Su Mucheng: Explains everything, and watching everything happen and while sending off QQs.
Old EE Team: You think Captain Ye is a WHAT
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the truth of when hypmic takes place: part two
Now that I have argued my point, it is time to actually use this information. Let’s start with birth years for everyone. This is, of course, assuming that the HypMic universe is currently at the date of 7/7/27, because this theory (and everything else tbh) revolves around Dice and Dice’s birthday. So, without further ado…
Jakurai: January 9th, 1992
Doppo: May 15th, 1998
Jyuto: May 30th, 1998
Hifumi: June 22nd,1998
Rio: June 21st, 1999
Samatoki: November 11th, 2001
Ramuda: February 14th, 2003
Gentaro: April 1st, 2003
Dice: July 7th, 2007
Ichiro: July 26th, 2007
Jiro: February 6th, 2010
Saburo: December 16th, 2012
These dates could easily be moved around if you change up which day we’re going by, for example, if we changed it to be December 31st, many of these characters would have been born a year later. These are simply estimates, but they are close enough for them to be useful.
So, with this information, let me tell tell you a thing. Jakurai? A millennial, through and through. He’s also a real 90’s kid. Jyuto, Doppo, Hifumi, and Rio are all fake 90’s kids that no one respects because they can’t remember shit about the 90’s. They, and potentially Samatoki, Ramuda, and Gentaro, all grew up thinking they were millennials but then people started calling them Gen Z and no one is quite sure which they are because they’re in that middle ground. The rest? Gen Z. They’re all constantly joking about how they want to die and playing Fortnite. Also, Saburo was born only days before everyone thought the world was going to end. This means there is a possibility that the bros are orphans because their parents drank like it was the end of the world because they thought it genuinely was and then they died.
I am aware that Japan almost definitely doesn’t have the same generational structure as the west, and I have been told that all of the characters were born in the Heisei era, but I have no clue what that means and I’m pretty sure Japanese people don’t stereotype people based on which emperor was ruling when they were born??? Eh maybe they do. I’m not an expert. However, we’re not here today to learn the good info and make accurate posts, we’re here for me to project myself onto these characters. So now, using these dates, lets analyze the childhoods of everything… through my American eyes.
Jakurai is a 90′s kid, which means he grew up in the prime era of moon shoes, tamagotchi, furbies, and of course, the gameboy. Jakurai played the original Pokemon games because he was Cultured like that.
Doppo, having no friends, absolutely started playing Pokemon when he was old enough to know how to press buttons. He probably really wanted to play Gold and Silver, but they came out before he knew how to read and his parents didn’t want to buy him some random video game. As soon as Ruby and Sapphire were released, however, he cried for days until his parents finally gave up and got him a copy of Sapphire. He played the fucking shit out of it, his first starter was a Mudkip and he adored it. When he and Hifumi met, he was appalled that Hifumi had never played Pokemon before and practically forced Hifumi to get a copy of Ruby so they could trade and battle each other. Doppo was such a hardo, he had a perfectly balanced team that could overcome pretty much any type weakness and he leveled up all of his Pokemon and tried to teach them really good moves. Hifumi literally just caught any cute looking Pokemon and didn’t train them at all. He never beat the Elite Four. His starter was a Torchic but as soon as it evolved into a Combusken he started crying because his adorable fire-chicken turned into a weird fighting penis-chicken but he still loved it and tried his best. Hifumi’s favorite part of the game was contests. They continued playing Pokemon for years and they still play it even in 2027, they will always buy the latest game no matter how old they get. Hifumi still sucks at it but Doppo doesn’t mind. They bought the game for Jakurai and got him to play it and he is so confused because like??? Horde battles? Mega-evolution?? What the fuck is this new shit he hasn’t picked up a game since Platinum??? And yet even without knowing what the fuck he’s doing, Jakurai is still better at the game than both of his other teammates and they don’t understand how he’s managed to perfectly EV train his team when he has never heard of EVs before.
Gentaro and Ramuda were around 7 when Silly Bandz got big. We all know that Ramuda fuckin loved those things. He was the kid who made his parents buy all of the newest designs, he would always make unfair trades with other kids like “I’ll give you my tiger if you give me your penguin, dolphin, and princess.” Ramuda was also the kid who had so, so many of them and he would wear all of them at the same time so he always had to be sent to the nurse for potentially cutting off circulation to his hands because he had Silly Bandz, in rainbow order because he was good at art class, from his wrists up to his shoulders. Ramuda got them banned from his school and every one in a 20-mile radius.
Now, let’s look at how old these characters all are today, this very day, April 22nd, 2019 (in my timezone). This is accounting for birthdays that have already happened, but if you are seeing this post at a much later date it will probably be wrong. It also will need to be adjusted if you don’t believe the Hypmic universe revolves around Dice like I do. However, the ages are close enough for shitposting purposes.
Jakurai: 27
Doppo, Jyuto, Hifumi: 20
Rio: 19
Samatoki: 17
Ramuda, Gentaro: 16
Dice, Ichiro: 11
Jiro: 9
Saburo: 6
What does this mean? Well, it means a lot of things.
Jiro is playing Fortnite at this very moment, yelling Russian slurs at random-ass people. Several other characters could also be playing Fortnite, like Dice, but Jiro is that fuckin kid that keeps beating the shit out of you and spending all of his brother’s money on v-bucks. Saburo is just a little boy, probably dealing with Jiro playing Fortnite at every opportunity. I don’t know what six-year-olds do with their time in this day and age but if I had to guess from the ones who constantly yell at each other in my vicinity, it would probably be roasting each other and playing Fortnite so… I guess Saburo is roasting Jiro over Fortnite?
The 29-year-olds are currently 20 which means they are adults in Japan and can get drunk off their asses legally! It also means they’re probably in college and their bloodstreams have been replaced with vodka and ecstasy. Jyuto does not have ecstasy in his system because he wants people to stop being drug addicts but he does keep going to parties and offering to be a stripper as long as he gets paid.
Samatoki is running a hardcore feminist Tumblr blog right now. Some people think it’s creepy that a 17 year old boy is reblogging posts that say something along the lines of “All men should fucking die they’re all scum” but he’s just being respectful. 
Gentaro? He’s writing fanfiction now. That really nicely written rarepair slowburn with a bunch of poetic smut in the later chapters? Gentaro wrote that. He’s got some drafts for an original story he wants to write but he keeps putting it off and writing fanfiction instead. 
There’s definitely other shit that I’m forgetting but these are my interpretations of Hypmic life that I can remember. Feel free to fight me or add your own interpretations, whichever makes you happier.
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baratrongirl replied to your post “Really do not understand why GameFreak took out the Hall of Fame...”
I'd be interested to hear what you don't like about Sword/Shield. For me, it's quite the opposite. I played the hell out of the 3rd and 4th Gens, then struggled to finish White and didn't buy White 2. Didn't finish SoulSilver, or whichever of X or Y I got, and became completely bored about 10 hours into Alpha Sapphire despite being all motivated to play the game with my original Sapphire team only now I know what I'm doing. Didn't even BUY Sun/Moon.
Then I hung out with my Pokemon friends over Sword/Shield launch weekend, watched them playing on the TV, and had to immediately borrow a spare Switch so I could play too. By the end of the weekend I'd bought the Switch and paid to download my own copy of Shield. I have a few issues with it, mostly relating to the lack of clothing options for male characters, but otherwise I'm finding it the blast of fresh air that I needed to get back into the Pokemon games.
I’ve heard a lot of people say something similar, that SwSh was a nice upgrade from the past couple gens. I started slipping around XY - didn’t wanna buy a 3DS and didn’t until Omega Ruby came out, since Ruby was the first one I’d played - and after I finished the Team Flare plot of X I just gave up for three years and only last year finished the 8th gym and the league. I honestly don’t remember much of playing OR. I think it was a weird kind of frantic nostalgia-fueled haze but I genuinely cannot comment on what I liked about that game. It’s a blank in my memory. Really enjoyed Sun and Moon, like Sword but get bummed the longer I think about it. But I did buy it because I did see a ton of people saying it was a change they were enjoying, quality-of-life upgrades, fun new features, etc. Different strokes and all.
My biggest gripe on Sword is that the world feels pretty empty. Besides the Wild Area, and its few secluded corners, though it’s really a straightforward place, there’s nothing to explore. The plot grabs you by the hand and pulls you to every location. There’s nothing off-the-way that you don’t go to for the main plot. There’s nothing like Kanto’s Power Plant, or Alola’s Power Plant - which I didn’t even realize was there on my first pass through, and then I was like “hey what’s this little place, OH MY GOD WHAT THERE’S MORE STUFF HERE.” The region is a linear loop. There’s no weird little caves that aren’t plot relevant that you get scrambled up in. There’s nowhere that’s locked until you beat the League, like the other half of Poni Island or those last upper bits in Unova or the Battle Frontier in Sinnoh. I had canvassed the Wild Area for everything by the time I went to the final tournament. There’s nowhere else to go. Sure I went back through the Wild Area to catch more stuff to fill out my Pokedex, but new places? Nothing. There’s nowhere to go back to once you can cross water except the little lake by the professor’s house. Not like in Sun/Moon where there’s bits on prior islands to go back to with Lapras. That cave underneath the starting island to go check out I’m thinking of. Galar is a pretty bare-bones region and the Wild Area doesn’t fully compensate.
Which ties to my other biggest gripe, which is, there are three legendary Pokemon in the game and one of them is the opposite version’s exclusive that you can’t get. Two legendary Pokemon! Two legendary Pokemon you can catch! And you catch them both in the course of the plot! There’s nothing like the Regi trio hidden by batshit puzzles, or Cobalion/Terrakion/Virizion tucked in out-of-the-way corners. No wandering Lati@s or beast trio. No Tapus or anything. You can catch two legendary Pokemon.
I think we really peaked back in Gen 3 with its visual Braille puzzles and Gen 4 with whatever the everloving fuck the Turnback Cave was on about. The weird locations that hurt your brain. I miss those. I miss the tricky caves you get lost in and spend time figuring it out. Galar didn’t have caves. The mines were basically a straight shot, yknow? When I’d like to go deeper and have more to explore instead of feeling like I’m taking a walking tour of the whole region.
And the DLC looks like it’ll deal at least with that point with more legendaries, which really grinds my gears. In all the discourse about whether or not the DLC is good or bad or neutral, whether the price of video games has needed to go up or the DLC is cheaper than a third version but some people wait for the third version, which I didn’t seek out said discourse but saw pass me by on Twitter, I saw no one mention that we’re paying to get more than two legendary Pokémon and I felt like I was losing my mind for a little while there. I feel like I’m paying extra for something that’s been in every game since the beginning of time, that being more than two legendary Pokémon that I can catch.
And my lesser little gripes: level balance of the game felt a little wonky with the wild Pokemon toward the end higher leveled than all the trainers except Leon, and the always-on exp share made it worse because when I dragged out the plot by catching everything in the Wild Area, my team got way overleveled for the back half of the game and I could curbstomp everyone that passed me. Team Yell were an egregious roadblock and while Pokemon has always had those, the prominence of Team Yell was exasperating. I prefer environmental roadblocks, like water and back when we used to have other HMs, those feel a little better than two dudes standing in the middle of a wide road.
And why, oh WHY, did GameFreak downgrade after XY and only have fitting rooms in boutiques instead of also in Pokemon Centers? I don’t want to fly to another town to change my clothes! Not every town has a clothes shop but everywhere has a Pokemon Center! I was crusading on this point through Sun/Moon and I will not be stopped until GameFreak puts changing rooms back in Pokemon Centers! (They will probably never do that but I refuse to stop. Forget Dexit; this is the real issue of our time.)
I didn’t mind the limited Pokémon at release because I never transfer my teams thru the games anyway - I’m a sentimental anxious idiot afraid of decisions and commitment and I can’t commit to the one-way transfers to move my teams up to new games. And that plus the Wild Area having trade-evolution Pokemon walking around made me feel like completing my pokedex was actually attainable. So I did!
I don’t hate the game, but I am disappointed by it. I’ve never been a Battle Tower or shiny-hunting person, but I’ve ended up doing those because I don’t know what else to do.
So that’s my opinion on why SwSh has bummed me out more as time goes on, since you were curious.
(Joker from Mass Effect 2 when you ask him for gossip about your teammates voice: “But that’s just my opinion, no need to go spreading it around.” ;) I’ll gladly chat with friends but the poke-discourse got too intense on twitter and I am not inviting that kind of bad energy into our lives. None of us deserve that.)
I’ve still got a lot of endgame stuff for Sun and Moon, UB hunting and I haven’t made it to the Battle Tree yet because my Moon team is getting its ass kicked by everything because I turned the exp share off and overcompensated in the wrong direction and am chronically underleveled. There’s a certain charm for me in being underleveled because I used to have endless patience to overlevel my team to extremes because my childhood anxiety was something like “if I die in the game I die in real life???” and I was terrified of losing and now I’m like “blacks out twice in a row in Moon as I go toward the postgame stuff yolo”. So when I feel like playing Pokemon I’ll probably spend more time in Alola, when I’m not trying to hatch that damn shiny Rookidee because I accidentally committed to that.
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sp4c3-0ddity · 5 years
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2018 Year-in-Fic
so following @rueitae‘s example (because i’m curious about what i’ve been up to this year too) and building off my 2017 list, a Summary of Fic: 2018 Edition:
(For convenience, you can also find my fic master list here and ao3 account here)
STATS:
Gen/non-plance fics:  15
All right, let’s start with the fic that is not plance from oldest to most recent. An asterisk* denotes if it’s tumblr exclusive
Assassins (3109 words) - Allura tries to go about business as usual, despite their “guest” - Gen, mild Allura/Lotor, canon compliant through season four
Marathon (1081) - Pidge just wants Lance to get off her back about team bonding. / (She has fun anyway.) - Gen, Garrison Trio, pre-canon
Imprinting (540) -  A flock of baby "ducks" adopts Hunk as their mother - Gen, canon compliant
Fanfiction (884) -  Pidge has a skeleton in her closet, but she made the mistake of saving it to her hard drive - Gen, canon compliant
Everywhere Cats (7363) -  A mysterious mishap transforms the Lions of Voltron into...cats, who are more troublesome for their Paladins than for Zarkon's Empire - Gen, canon compliant crack
A Rational Fear (3786) - Alteans aren't as fragile as humans, but they aren't invincible. / Or, Allura's injuries demand a stint in a healing pod; her reluctance can be easily explained - Gen, very mild Allura/Lance, canon compliant
Adrift (1621) -  Krolia's translator breaks, but that's not why her sadness is so hard to bear - Gen, pre-canon
Displaced (1318) - Keith confuses his target for someone else. / Neither of them are happy about that - Gen, Keith/Matt, time travel AU
Seek Water’s Run* (~2300) - Gen, Garrison Trio, Abhorsen (Fantasy/Zombie) AU
Crushed* (~900) - Allura/Lance, canon compliant whump
Knowledge or Death, Gun or Blade* (~2000) - Acxa and her Blade trials - Gen, canon divergent/speculative
Pigeon Bait* (~1200) - Hunk rescues a pigeon - Gen, modern/college AU
Price of Pride* (~550) - Matt talks to the Green Lion - Gen, canon compliant
Trickle* (~1000) - Keith wanders a death-scape - Allura/Keith, canon divergent (probably) 
Viable Pets* (~2000) - Hunk adopts a space chicken - Gen, dubiously canon compliant
Okay, this is where it might get a little confusing because i’m a dumbass sometimes...
plance fics (not collected): 32 wtf
Ordered from oldest to most recent; does not include anything posted (or to be posted) in this collection; anything exclusive to tumblr is denoted with an asterisk*
Growth (14042) -  Lance finds his soulmate; Pidge does not - soulmate AU in canon
Misdirection (5328) -  Lance pays attention, and Pidge just may come to enjoy a camping trip - modern AU
Fakeout (7840) -  Shenanigans turn dangerous when Lance and Pidge overhear what they should not - canon compliant
A Promise Broken, a Promise Made (5294) -  Pidge getting caught up in a project is nothing new, so why, exactly, is Lance so upset this time? - canon compliant
Facing Reality (14182) - Lance skips Fourth of July weekend with his family to spend it with his girlfriend's family instead... / ...only Pidge isn't his girlfriend. And her family is missing. In a completely different reality - modern/roommates AU...of a sort
Spill Your Thoughts (24962) - Mom bought me this notebook hoping I’d “organize my thoughts” or “find therapeutic value in it” or something like that. Personally, I think she’s just hoping I’ll leave it lying around somewhere so she can snoop into what’s going on in my life when I don’t want to tell her. / Mom, if you’re reading this, it’s not going to work because I do not need to keep a journal. So what if I don’t have any friends to vent to? / aka an AU where Pidge's journal is just that and nothing more - modern/high school AU in journal format
Infatuation, Actually (10418) -  Pidge never learned basic gun safety. Lance suffers the nonfatal consequences - love spell AU in canon
Fatalistic Daydream (27873) -  Being a low-ranking Galra soldier stationed in a virtual backwater isn’t stopping Pidge from finding out what happened to her family. But the secrets she’s keeping from her friend Keith on top of the unwanted attention of an Altean prisoner-of-war are definitely...slowing her down - somewhat Gen, everyone’s an alien AU
Living Nightmare (1892) -  Lance's isolation doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon, even if he's out of solitary confinement - outtake of Fatalistic Daydream, technically gen
Frog Pond* (~3000) - Lance kisses a frog on a dare - modern/fantasy AU
Water Rescue (19229) -  They start as strangers, but one day they may grow to be something more...familiar - fantasy AU inspired by @rueitae‘s Seasons of Magic
Dip* (~400) - They dance - canon compliant (?)
Sleep Cute* (~450) - Sleepy cuddles - canon compliant (?)
Tidal Lockdown (20937) -  An ex-rebel enlists Pidge and Lance to find her missing grandson, but on a planet populated by criminals and where the sun never sets, they can only trust each other... - canon compliant (?)
Double Life (2312) -  By day, they’re a secretive criminal-entrapping hacker and her minion; by night, they’re a flashy magician - excuse me, escape artist - and his ‘brilliant’ assistant - modern AU
Spellbound* (~3500) - urban fantasy AU
scaled to size (14747) - Lance returns to Altea triumphant, claiming to have slain a fearsome dragon and intent on collecting his reward from Prince Lotor. But not all is what it seems... / Or: The tale of how Lance survived a dragon despite leaving his heart behind - fantasy AU featuring dragon!Pidge
a prince, missing* (~7000) - Lance is a kidnapped prince and Pidge is his reluctant bodyguard - fantasy AU
a small step and a giant leap (47005, WIP) - Lance wakes when he shouldn’t to an angel of death standing over him. / It’s a first, but it won’t be the last - vague fantasy/modern AU
Full Circle (10275) - “I’m happy to be back, but I kind of don’t want to be.” / Lance, surprised, stared at Pidge. “What do you mean?” / “It feels like the end, doesn’t it? We’re back on Earth - back where we started - and it feels like we’ve come full circle.” / “Yeah, but circles just keep going, don’t they?” / Or, Lance and Pidge return to where they started, but it will never be the same again - canon divergent
Breakfast Date* (~600) - post-canon
(don’t) call an ambulance* (~3700) - modern/mafia AU
Final Lifeline (14466) - Pidge always plays to win, but this time the odds are not in her favor. / And if she loses, Lance may get worse than being fed to the Snick... - canon divergent
Misfortune Favors the Brave (26492, WIP) - Foreknowledge of a death doesn't make it any easier to prevent, but Lance is determined to try. / Even if it means breaking Pidge's heart. - canon divergent
Found and Lost* (~4800) - post-apocalyptic AU featuring android!Pidge
why not?* (~100) - drabble
Dueling Hearts (36213) -  The king of a planet that Voltron is attempting to sway to the Coalition misinterprets the nature of Lance’s relationship with Pidge…and promptly challenges him to a duel for her hand in marriage. Lance accepts immediately, much to his teammates’ (especially Pidge’s) mortification. The only problem? Lance still hasn’t figured out how to unlock his bayard’s broadsword form at will - canon divergent
And Everything Was Fine (6416) -  Pidge finds the reality where everything turned out fine; needless to say, she’s pissed - mostly Gen, mild post-canon fix-it
No Sky Like Home (6808) -  Pidge hesitates to say yes when Lance asks her on a date - post-canon
plance fics in collaboration: 3
And now the fics i did in collaboration
Smack, Kiss, Fall in Love (19589 / 2) - Pidge was only at the Garrison to find her family, not her soulmate. Lance had always had a picture of a his 'perfect' soulmate in mind. / ...until reality smacks them both - soulmate AU in canon done round robin-style with @hailqiqi
To Sail, To Break, To Earn (10268 / 3, WIP) -  Cursed by the witch Haggar, Lance, with the crew of the Blade of Marmora, sails the sea and preys on Zarkon's fleet. They are confined to the waves and forbidden from dropping anchor at port. But the deadline draws nearer, when they'll become the soulless servants of the same emperor they forswore, unless they rejoin Zarkon willingly...or earn the heart of a mermaid - in collaboration with @rueitae
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like A Christmas Carol (14384 / 3, WIP) - Lance is no Scrooge, but when he gives up a family vacation and declines an invitation to his friends' holiday gathering, he finds himself the target of a ghostly intervention. / It's a tale as old as time...or as old as the nineteenth century, and if Lance doesn't learn his lesson, he just might be forgotten - post-canon, in collaboration with @hailqiqi and @rueitae
plance fics, collected:
I’m cheating on this one. Referring to my collection Strangeness and Charm, from about Chapter 48 onward are the 2018 chapters. Last year’s word count was 73407 and this year’s word count is (with the exception of some fic saved as chapters not yet posted) 200794. here are the longer/more notable (in my opinion at least) samples that probably should’ve been posted separately:
Future (~6000) - prompted historical/arranged marriage AU
Captive (~5200) - moderately gen AU where Pidge, Lance, and Hunk are captured by pirates
Another Time (~3700) - reincarnation AU in conjunction with canon
Masquerade* (~1300) - super tease-y fantasy AU and if you don’t have the song from Phantom of the Opera stuck in your head from just reading that title i envy you
Tease (~800) - “If you love it so much then why don’t you marry it?” - canon compliant
A Pirate’s Life for Me (~4000) - Pidge is captured by space pirates - canon compliant
Absence Makes the Heart Grow (Fonder) (~7200) - Pidge finds Lance on Earth - canon divergent AU that was hilariously accurate in retrospect
like a masochistic moth to dragonflame (~3200) - the aftermath of the battle against the Coranic Dragon - piklavar, Monsters & Mana AU
Steal to Save (~800) - Pidge “loses” her glasses - canon compliant
to trust a thief (~3800) - followup to other piklavar fic
Deadline (~1000) - Stressful countdown to Lance confessing - canon compliant
Glint of Silver (~5200) - Pidge’s double life just might endanger her werewolf roommate - roommates/urban fantasy AU
masks for two* (1500) - Lady Katie learns she and her fiance have more in common than expected - historical/thieves AU
Bad Press* (~1500) - It’s not easy pretending to date your celebrity friend - fake dating AU
a personal mission* (~780) - Lance is on a mission - canon compliant (?)
the eve of it all* (~1800) - Lance stands Pidge up on game night - season eight fix-it, canon divergent
okay that ended up being way longer than i expected...
BREAKDOWN:
Ship breakdown:  
plance wins so easily it’s not even funny. oddly enough considering my current feelings on the pairing Allura/Lance takes second place (though only by very weak implication in one case and...by a very wide margin). and then there are the other mostly implied (Allura/Lotor, Keith/Matt) that occur once each plus an Allura/Keith fic and a gen fic that’s also technically Krolia/Keith’s dad
and then there’s my apparent thing for Hunk bonding with birds
Character breakdown:  
Pidge and Lance because *jazz hands* plance. i suppose Hunk and Allura may be split for third place
Characters that had the main focus:
*sweats* hilariously i think it might be...Lance?? i feel like many of my longer fics (whether one-shots or multichapter) end up in his point of view, notably a small step and Misfortune. Pidge is an easy second place though, and which of the two i favor changes. Pidge is, in a sense, a little easier to write but Lance, depending on the tone i’m going for, can be wild fun because he’s so ridiculous sometimes
SPECIFICS:
Best title?
uh...i’m capable of having decent titles?? thing is, my titles tend to be on the nose or else something i forget i need till the point i’m posting a fic, but i like Everywhere Cats partly because it was very much inspired by a simple children’s song i remember my sister playing when she first started learning piano. i also like Facing Reality as a title because of the word play i can be clever
...okay i’m going to stop here because i keep looking back and realizing i like more of those than i thought i did
Worst title?
many of them are so...plain that i’m not sure i can pick just one. sure, they tell you what the story is about, but there’s nothing hidden in them...they’re so bland. throw a dart at a board with all my one-word titles and you’ll probably hit something
Best first line?
let’s go with a masochistic moth to dragonflame:
Pike is smitten the moment he sees her, and it only grows worse when the words family heirloom cross her lips.
Worst first line?
i think my first lines in general are...decent?? nothing spectacular, just meant to convey what’s going on and why it’s important (or that’s what i try to do at least), but out of laziness i’m going with the one from Everywhere Cats:
Hunk settled his helmet onto his head as he walked into the Yellow Lion’s hangar, feeling wonderfully light at the prospect of this mission.
Best last line?
Adrift made me so emotional when i was writing it that i have to use this one:
“Love,” [Krolia] said, “can you turn off the lights? I’m showing Keith the stars.”
Worst last line?
i tend to end my fics rather abruptly (i really really hate unnecessary bits tacked on when everything is pretty much resolved) and/or on dialogue and i’m usually thoughtful of how i end it so i’m not even gonna skim through the rest of my fics because this one from Assassins is just so boring:
She followed General Sahr inside, and this time both Coran and Lotor came with her.
GENERAL:
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
yes, yes i did. also looking back at last year’s list i didn’t even get any of the goals i set accomplished...whoops??
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
uh...Keith/Matt i guess?? maybe Allura/Lance too because i really don’t like that pairing now (though i used to be indifferent or else somewhat like it) so it’s like a retrospective “well i can’t believe i managed to write them as a romantic pairing”
What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
always will i answer this question with scaled to size because it actually does make me happy, especially thinking of all the pain and suffering i’m only somewhat exaggerating i went through while conceiving of it thanks to a computer mishap (and, tbh, my own neglect), and ultimately all it took to revive it was a timely prompt from the Pidgance Positivity Discord and dare i say it ended up far better than planned??
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
on ao3 by kudos and excluding my collection that’s Smack, Kiss, Fall in Love (i can’t tell if it’s the magic of collaborating with someone like @hailqiqi or the allure of a soulmate AU or a fic with that many chapters). most by comments/bookmarks and second most by kudos is Dueling Hearts.
by notes on tumblr would be Sleep Cute
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
oh gosh i don’t know. throw a dart at my gen fics and you’ll probably hit one?? or else To Sail, To Break, To Earn, my collaboration with @rueitae, could use lots more love i thought you guys liked mermaids
Story that could have been better?
all of them??
Sexiest story?
uh well i’ve never posted anything more explicit than simple foreplay so i suppose that would be Final Lifeline but i also want to make note of like a masochistic moth to dragonflame because i think i did well with a touch of Unresolved Sexual Tension and Bad Press was almost candid about that sort of thing and Lance almost propositioned Pidge by accident
Saddest story?
it’s probably a toss-up between  Final Lifeline (major character death on top of a possible awful future), Misfortune (predicted character death), and a small step (they can’t really be together)
Most fun?
Bad Press was a riot while i was working on it. Everywhere Cats was a lot of fun too, as was scaled to size (though tbh i have fun writing a vast majority of my fics...)
Story with single sweetest moment?
nothing really stands out to me at the moment so this is mostly a cop-out (and Pidge and Lance are at their best when they’re teasing each other anyway) from scaled to size:
“Is there…any room for the brave and dashing knight that rescued you in that future?” Lance whispered.
“Maybe, if you find him.”
“Hey!” Lance exclaimed, pulling away from him slightly.
Pidge snickered and wrapped her arms around his neck. “But there’s room for the brave boy that grew into his too-big britches.”
“Yes, but I’m a knight now too,” Lance pointed out.
“Should I call you Sir Lance now?” Pidge raised an eyebrow while one of her hands wandered into his hair and pulled his head down. “But I think I like Lance better…”
Their noses brushed, and Pidge’s warm breath caressed his face.
Lance’s eyes slid shut when he kissed her.
Hardest story to write?
most likely Displaced because i’m not really into Keith/Matt as a romantic pairing (and it ended up more gen anyway) and i wasn’t really enamored by the idea so i was mostly just trying to wrap up what i had without getting into the concept too much
Easiest/most fun story to write?
the night i bolted out of bed possessed by a spark of inspiration thanks to this art to hammer out Masquerade will forever live in infamy
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
i don’t think so??
Most overdue story?
scaled to size if only because of the frustration i associate with its inception ;_;
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
collaborations, for one, not that it’s especially risky, but i’d never done one so that was fun!! Smack, Kiss, Fall in Love oddly enough validated by typical “write on impulse” style though...
for another, i published a fic in a zine!! also i participated in a Bang and a gift exchange, neither of which i’d done before
also posting the start of a multichapter fic not yet finished is a risk that hasn’t quite payed off yet *sweats*
What are your fic writing goals for next year?
no idea. i’m decidedly not a very goal-oriented person, but for now i think i’ll keep it simple and finish my four dubiously active WIPs, write something amazing for the Plance Mini Bang (which i’m also mod-ing oh boy), and outline as often as possible to ease the writing
37 notes · View notes
bruhhemianrhapsody · 5 years
Text
jasper’s ultimate mcu fic rec! (pt.2)
shuri’s harem:
★ undertow *incomplete by lilithenaltum
Words: 44,454, Rating: Explicit
I've been baptized by your voice that screams
From deep beneath the cold black water that's
Half as high as heaven
Half as clear as reason
part I: riptide (Chapters 1-5)
On the long list of bad decisions that Tony has made in his life, seducing the young queen of Wakanda might very well be the worst. It takes two to tango, though, and the rules never did apply to Shuri.
part II: hightide (Chapters 6-10)
Tony and Shuri live with the consequences of their actions and try to carve out some sort of happiness even in spite of the hell that they’ve made. Somehow, they manage to make do with the cards they’ve been dealt.
Set post Infinity War.
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serendipity by lilthenaltum
Words: 5,589, Rating: T
Loki recovers from his fight with Thanos in Wakanda and finds love with not one, but two, beautiful people.
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family portrait *incomplete by oopswakanda
Words: 10,441, Rating: T
Bucky remembers one rugby training weeks ago when he nearly went out of his mind because his teammates kept thirsting after his foster sister, including the team captain Steve Rogers. Pietro wondered how it would feel to spin Shuri in the air since she's so lithe. Bucky is also reminded of Sam's comment about Shuri being marriage material. Or Thor praising the way she radiates love and light and fun. To this day, this is the most dangerous comment to him because the blonde hearthrob said it with a longing that mirrored his own.
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darling, i died for the sun rays *incomplete by rxinventlove (disclaimer! this one of my fics, and the only one that will ever be on this list.)
Words: 2,395, Rating: M
Natasha’s got nothing left, both SHIELD and the Red Room have long since fallen, and James is nothing but dust at her feet. What’s left of the Avengers are trying to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of Thanos’ destruction. Taking refuge in Wakanda, Natasha agrees to help in whatever way she can, but falling in love with the newly crowned Queen doesn’t seem to be helping anyone; least of all Natasha herself.
While Shuri struggles to balance an entire kingdom on her shoulders and desperately tries to bring her brother back, she finds safety in the arms of the infamous Black Widow. Secret meetings and stolen moments in quiet corners slowly become more than just a coping mechanism, but when Shuri’s sure the final tendrils of grief are fading Natasha starts to pull away from her. As the last of Earth’s mightiest heroes finally start making headway in reversing the snap, Shuri must deal with the return of Bucky Barnes—both of the girls former lover—and a steadily retreating Natasha.
winterhawk (clint/bucky):
★ lost and found by mariana_oconner
Words: 89,972, Rating: M
Clint Barton’s got a bag full of stolen money and a burning desire to stay under the radar. His old friends in the Carnival will be looking for him and they sure as hell won’t be happy. In a desperate attempt to stay off their radar, he ends up in Timely, a small town so far off the beaten track he’s surprised he even found it, and waits for Barney to comes and get him. Because Barney will be coming. Clint knows he will.
But there’s something about the town. Maybe it’s the strange wolf that watches him from the trees, and the way people finish conversations when he enters a room. Or it could be the bartender, Bucky, who decided to hate him on sight. Something’s going on in this small town, and Clint’s not sure if he’s jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
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love pitch by bookdancer
Words: 21,980, Rating: T
Clint is a starting pitcher for the Manhattan Avengers, Bucky Barnes is a rival pitching for the St. Petersburg Hydras. Any sort of relationship should be impossible… too bad nobody told them that. Winterhawk MLB AU.
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★ historic features by flawedamythyst
Words: 19,254, Rating: T
“Electrical surges with no source, and music coming from the air, and that damn baseball game no one was watching, and I swear I sometimes hear voices right on the edge of hearing when I should be alone,” said Tony. “What does that sound like to you?”
“Sounds like-” said Steve, then hesitated. Tony gave him a pointed look. “Sounds like a haunting,” he finished, reluctantly.
“Oh no,” said Clint, in tones of mock-horror. “Ghosts!”
Bucky laughed and kissed him. “Man, I hope they’re friendly.”
Clint and Bucky are haunting the new apartment that Tony bought in Brooklyn to try and impress Steve.
★ nobody lost, nobody found *incomplete by claraxbarton
Words: 73,342, Rating: E
“Look, dude, I get it. You’re fucked-up. HYDRA fucked you up. I’ve been there. But you’re my fucking Soul Mate!”
“I can kill you. I could kill you without even realizing what I was doing. I’m not fucked-up, I’m a monster. I’m a nightmare. You can’t be here. You can’t- All the people I’ve killed- I will not murder my Soul Mate too. Not after everything else I’ve-”
Clint worked his left hand between their bodies and managed to land a punch to the man’s right side, forcing him to shift his weight, and Clint brought his right hand down on the place where the man’s metal arm met his torso - hidden by the shirt he wore, but on full display in the video Clint had watched.
The man released Clint with a grunt of pain, and Clint pressed his advantage, landing another punch to his abdomen, backing him up against the opposite side of the RV and then pressing the kitchen knife he had pocketed while cleaning up earlier to the man’s throat.
“Like I said, I’m not a Boy Scout. I’m plenty dangerous myself. We clear on that?”
OR:
This looks bad, because it is.
OR:
How Clint Barton met his Soul Mate
miscellaneous:
★ loki is sorry cakes by anno_hreog (gen)
Words: 3,427, Rating: T
Years later, as penance for leading the Chitauri to attack New York City, Loki bakes cupcakes. Coffeeshop/bakery AU, without the AU, and mostly an excuse for fluffy crack.
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★ the lewis rule (MARRY, FUCK, KILL) *series by sevenfoxes (darcy lewis/steve rogers, darcy lewis/steve rogers/bucky barnes)
Words: 15,374, Works: 2, Complete: Yes, Rating: M
The ladies of SHIELD play a mass game of MARRY FUCK KILL, Avengers edition.
Wherein everyone marries Steve, kills Tony, Jane betrays science and Darcy hypothetically turns Thor into a llama.
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on each other’s team by audreyii_fic (jane foster/loki)
Words: 27,110, Rating: E
Jane Foster, college student on a semester abroad in London, fights her way through Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, dates a golden boy, and gets tutored by a compulsive liar. Which situation is most unsustainable is a matter of opinion. (College!AU. The author regrets everything.)
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is that what they listen to in missouri? by poorwendy (peter quill/thor)
Words: 12,017, Rating: E
The thing is, Peter always kind of thought he'd visit Terra again to find his family, retrace his lineage. Something like that.
But here he is, in a dirty, smelly basement, nowhere near Missouri, watching a three-piece rock band play way too loud. Even if they are kind of awesome.
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of blood and kisses by celyan (chris hemsworth/tom hiddleston)
Words: 4,134, Rating: T
Tom does not believe in vampires.
—— The vampire walks towards him, slow and purposeful, and Tom backs away against a conveniently located wall of a building that has spat out its diligent workers hours ago, only to be left cold and dark and empty just for them. He keeps his eyes trained on the vampire even when one of his hands comes up to touch the side of his neck, finding the two tiny puncture marks that are his souvenirs from that fateful evening two weeks ago.
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how we swallow the sun by voices_in_my_head (loki/stephen strange)
Words: 25,558, Rating: T
“I was hoping I wouldn’t see you back so soon,” Strange said just as Loki had crossed the threshold. He was standing in the middle of the entrance and Loki could feel power in him, but it was different from that which he was used to. More… raw, perhaps.
“I do live to disappoint,” Loki said with a smile.
Or: After deciding to stay on Earth, Loki is forced to come to terms with his actions while trying to deal with the people in his life, old and new.
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★ oral sorcery by inetrabang (peter quil/gamora)
Words: 3,900, Rating: E
During a mission for Nova Corps, Peter starts whispering naughty things to Gamora, only to act like nothing happened. Fortunately for him, she likes it.
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takes from a supply closet *series by catrinasl (bucky barnes/darcy lewis/loki)
Words: 7,049, Works: 4, Complete: No, Rating: E
A collection of Darcy/Bucky/Loki fics set in the same universe. Not necessarily in chronological order.
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★ mokusatsu by shadesfalcon (clint barton/bucky barnes/steve rogers)
Words: 125,474, Rating: E
Clint Barton has been strung along from abusive relationship to abusive relationship all his life. Not that he would use the word “abusive”. He would argue that, as a sub, he was born to take whatever it is his dom feels like throwing at him.
But even with that attitude, he’s nervous about his current situation. Trapped in a bureaucratically mandated relationship with not one but two doms is going to be difficult and dangerous. Especially since these two doms are both members of the Avengers themselves.
He hopes that whenever he disappoints them, they’ll have at least a little pity on him, even though he knows he won’t deserve it.
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ghostmartyr · 5 years
Text
Pokémon White Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 9]
Eight badges have been earned! All that’s left is the plot, the Elite Four, and possibly some other stuff I haven’t decided on that gets us through the rest of the map!
Our starting roster, in its current order:
Batman, Lv. 48 (Escavalier)
Palm, Lv. 51 (Breloom)
Ptera, Lv. 46 (Archeops)
Frogger, Lv. 47 (Seismitoad)
Fido, Lv. 49 (Entei)
Gelding, Lv. 47 (Tornadus)
Possibly the end of this wild adventure awaits, so awaaaaay we go!
First up is, as tradition dictates, someone immediately bothering me the second I walk out of the Gym.
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Yay!
Only if you actually described how to do that, I completely missed it. I caught something about directions to Victory Road, which I already sort of knew about thanks to trying to avoid the plot earlier, but nothing about bringing back dead things. ...Wait, are the dragons dead? Or just rocks?
Well luckily, I don’t really care either way.
Professor Juniper walks us over to the edge of town, and asks if we regret going on this journey.
...I wanted to say no just so I could see what the dialogue would be like, but that... no. That would be too mean. I couldn’t possibly. Professor Juniper is a kind lady who gives us sweet stuff.
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SPEAKING OF.
This is intended for Zekrom.
I think I might go ahead and use it as intended, honestly. Fighting Zekrom could result in one of my team dying, and I believe the fight is mandatory. Since Zekrom is not touched by the Randomizer, I will not give it a nickname, rendering it ineligible, but catching it is safest, and it is my belief that Zekrom will be the first catchable pokemon in the area it appears. So if I wanted, it could be eligible. But I really think I want to stick with randoms only.
...By the way. Is the roadwork on the right side of town done?
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Curses.
I guess the plot truly is calling us now.
Then on my way to the Victory Road area, the attendant who keeps the... hell, I don’t know what they’re called. I went with liminal space last time. They aren’t bridges. Waypoints? Anyway, the attendant says that there’s some sort of storm going on at Route 7.
-looks at Gelding-
Gee.
I wonder.
What could it be.
Let’s go avoid the plot and investigate!
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It was a dark and stormy night.
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Which pokemon could you possibly be speaking of, mysterious old lady.
She invites me inside for soup and gives me another mythology lesson. This time about the Legendary Thundurus. It creates thunderstorms. She also gives me a note on where to find it when, but that’s really not a concern of this run.
But thanks for the soup.
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Hey.
Gelding.
Can you guess. Which cloud pokemon legendary of this gen. Is my favorite?
Aw no, the thing I’m not allowed to catch flew away. Darn.
Okay, back to plot and Victory Road.
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Dang it, Cheren. I was not meaning to refer to you with that remark.
Bianca’s here to watch, but I couldn’t get a proper screencap of it.
...Batman is setting a record for flinching against Cheren’s Unfezant. Meanwhile, Unfezant spams Detect interspersed with flinching moves and my sanity goes down the drain. But eventually, the evil is defeated.
Liepard goes down without a fuss, but Batman’s complete lack of Speed means her HP is lower than I’d like, so for Meganium we’re giving Ptera a chance to stretch his wings. That goes well, and Simisage is up next with similar results.
Battle over.
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See Cheren, this is why you’re one of my best friends.
Ha ha ha ha Bianca gave me Max Revives.
Ha.
Ha.
-sobs silently-
Your attempts at help are appreciated, Bianca. Stay wonderful.
They both see me off with words of kindness, because the people who make these games realized at some point that the people who play them could really use some friends.
Or so I like to think. ...That sounds sort of mean, I guess, but it truly is nice to have rival characters who are your actual friends. X & Y are even more blatant about it, and I really, really liked that part of them. Go team friendship.
Now then.
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It’s time...
to
d-d-d-d-duel!
Or something. Onward!
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This gen is committed to the power of Aesthetic, and I respect that.
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It’s just so pretty.
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Wait, crap, this pretty place has grass.
Uh.
...Rules for doubles?
...Oh to heck with it, the pretty badge gardens do not count as places. I’m just. Gonna faint you guys. Because I’m too lazy to think through the trouble of catching one of you.
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Still pretty.
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Admittedly, this one is sort of weird.
...And the music has gone major, major Wind Waker. I own that soundtrack. It is one of the most expensive ones I ever bought myself, and this music is giving me feels, man.
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This gen is focused on all the right things and its wonderful.
The guy standing in front of this gate mentions that each gate is like its own world, so, if we do happen upon another pokemon in another gate that is easier to acquire, I’m going to count it as a different space.
...Maybe.
Where does the map say I’m at?
Oh, actually, I’m still in Route 10, so the Ariados and Sentret were out anyway.
Even though I just said that the gates count as different worlds. I am a hypocrite and an opportunist.
Honestly, I just wanted to check if I’d used up my Victory Road slot or not.
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Hey Clay.
Clay.
You know who didn’t skimp on aesthetic values?
The Gym Leader who’s also a model.
Maybe you could learn a thing or two from her section.
(Still, A+ glowy green rocks.)
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At this point I’m just really convinced that someone working on this game really loves Wind Waker. This person playing it obviously does.
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BRYCEN DO NOT PULL THIS ICE PUZZLE NONSENSE IN THE FINAL QUARTER. UNCOOL BRO. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE MASTER OF COOL. REINSTATE YOUR CHILL TO BETTER LEVELS.
(Ice pretty.)
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I can’t actually complain about dragon sculptures. They are awesome and worthy of love, even if the color value is low. It’s not all about pretty. The feel matters just as much, and by golly, this is the ancient feel of dragon power right here.
So of the eight...
I’m torn between the garden with the pretty bridge and the electric zone.
Think I gotta give it to the butler squad. You mastered the pretty.
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Victory Road! Officially!
...Am I going to need Bandit for this?
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..Well. If I did have Bandit with me, I would be looking at a new teammate.
Sorry little guy, there’s not enough value in attempting to catch you. Maybe next time. If there is ever a next time.
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...Oh come on.
Okay, there’s a Simisear. Something to kill.
Actually, at this point, Ptera might be the best pick for the front. Batman’s in secure shape. Meanwhile, the water has Pansear. Careful, that almost feels like a planned random.
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Fingers crossed for getting away with not going back to get Bandit. I think this is the gen that’s extra kind about things like HMs, and the Dragonspiral Tower would seem to support that with its easy route (if you have HM) and the long way round (if you don’t). So I’ll just. Keep walking forward.
Besides, if memory serves (obligatory laugh), that boulder is for the quick way back out from somewhere near the top.
This level has Chinchou.
Oh, and I get to slide down cliffs! I’d fully forgotten that!
Outside has Machamp. Is outside a different route?
...Fine, no.
Back inside, we have Baltoy, Kabutops, Dragonite, Clefable (who. hits. with. Sing. because. of. course.), Sentret, Rattata, and Bronzong.
I always liked Kabutops. I think back when the first gen was the only gen, it was one of my top tier favorites. It’s a rock with scythes. What more could a child ask for?
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...Okay, see. This? This is why me playing a Nuzlocke is a bad idea. I do stupid things.
Ptera, buddy, I’m sorry I put you so close to death. Have a Hyper Potion. I won’t make you fight any more Bronzong with Gyro Ball. I am very sorry that happened at all, and have no desire for it to happen again.
I’ve avoided thinking about the Elite Four, but this Ace Trainer has a level 45 Stoutland and a level 45 Scolipede. That starts moving well into the danger zone, and this Victory Road, truth be told, is not the greatest spot for grinding.
Outside again, and there’s an Amoongus that might just be a Randomized find.
PP is running low enough that I’m just going to hit a Pokemon Center. It isn’t like I’ll lose much progress. ...Thanks to me cliff sliding down for an item, but I stopped recording every item I picked up a while ago.
(It was a Taunt TM.)
Hey, the first floor has Rufflet, too. More things to get no exp from. And then Voltorb! I like Voltorb.
...I am, however, having a concern about my future prospects. My best option, if I want to go with grinding, seems to be standing outside and slaughtering Machamp.
...I go into another section of cave and find Castform. Then there is Solosis.
Where were all you pre-evolved forms when I started this venture.
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Cool, I found a healing.
Elite Four is... Fighting, Psychic... Ghost. Aaaand. And.
I know Alder has Escavalier, Volcanabugthing, and Accelgor (is that the spelling?). He might have an Archeops, but that could also be my memory skipping out on me.
I’m watching TFS play Nuzlockes, and I think one of them said that the typings for the Elite Four cover things not covered by Gyms.
Hey, a Cradily. Look, opportunity everywhere!
...And as I sarcastically spew comments, a Haxorus appears. Yeah, okay.
The first Gym counters your starter, so it’s basically Fire/Grass/Water. Second is Normal (brb sobbing forever). Third is Bug. Fourth is Electric. Fifth is Ground. Sixth is Flying. Seventh is Ice. Eighth is Dragon.
(Gothita is also outside, apparently. Yay.)
What does that leave... Steel, Rock, Dark.
Wait. Grimsley, right? Hell, is it really Dark? That is one really aesthetically... dark arrangement.
(Hi Shaymin. Nice to see you again.)
I keep having to start all over at the bottom because I go item chasing. Maybe I should save the item chasing for after I’m through. And have Bandit with me to push the boulders into being shortcuts.
Would you look at that.
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All hidden away on the first floor.
A wild Huntail appears. We’re vaguely getting somewhere. Then we’re back to Sentret and I am back to fretting.
Oooh, a Ninetales.
Now the thing to remember is that I am not going to go cliff sliding. Exploration once Bandit is with us. Now is the time for progress. Not detours.
HA, Ptera has learned Rock Slide! Happy days.
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I have no idea which is the right way.
;-;
HEY GUESS WHAT RIGHT WAS WRONG.
Aw, there’s Axew in this section. Best Dragon boy. Though the one I first murdered is a girl. Best Dragon girl.
This Veteran has a level 45 Gigalith. My comfort level with this is low, and Sturdy in the hands of others continues to be an abomination.
Frogger learns Hydro Pump because I have not actually been using Aqua Ring. If I need extra health I’ll just throw an item at him. If I need extra health, I will be in the kind of trouble Aqua Ring isn’t going to solve, anyway.
Fido drops Leer for Fire Fang thanks to the same fight.
Veterans are scary, but great exp.
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I HAVE ARRIVED.
Okay, yes, important battles.
But.
Bandit, it’s time for your walk.
Fido, I think you’re in the box for a while. It would be Gelding, because Ptera covers his specialties, but Gelding knows Fly, and we’re going to be doing a lot of that as we skid down the mountain.
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Before I walk right back out, I just need to say that this is one hell of a venue.
This gen’s aesthetic game is so on point.
Vullaby has been found on the giant mountain of maze. Maze of mountain? Horrorfest? Place. Also Pupitar.
Batman gets to be in front for a while. The spawns seem to be favoring her a little more at the moment.
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This is the... Ground/Fighting beast’s chamber? I think? Can’t access at the moment, and will never need for any reason in this run.
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...
Sigh.
Anyway, cliff sliding has produced a Nugget so far.
A wild Taillow appears. Followed by Remoraid.
Batman has to leave the front so I can actually run from all of this. Gelding, it’s your turn on the disappointment.
Cool, a Dragon Claw TM.
Whoa, a Seadra.
...Okay, yes, I’m past caring. There’s a limit to how much I’m okay with being delayed. Usually wild pokemon every five steps can at least be useful, but that’s not exactly the case of late.
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I.
...
I. will stick with that as my statement.
Look, an Electrode!
...I was going to attack it, then it occurred to me that it might know Explosion. Quietly walking away it is!
I’m finding that a key problem with this exploration is that I find it very easy to end up lost when I’m basically walking in circles. I remember all the various pieces, but don’t remember how they fit together.
In other news, a Bulbasaur is here.
I am. Relatively sure that the original Victory Road has nowhere near this level of variety. I think the Randomizer has some interesting rules regarding cave levels. Most caves change what they have by level, but keep the basic cave set. Victory Road has a lot of separate rooms in this version (and I just met a Rampardos on the water). Not bound by the laws of what is usually found in caves, I think it just assigns every single room (Ferrothorn encountered) a different everything. Because there are [x] number of things meant to be there!
I adore the Randomizer, but this is actually getting to be a little dizzying.
Possibly because I am lost.
And now there is a Flygon.
...Yeah, Flying back to the top for some perspective.
(It’s at this point I start to wonder if I’ve actually covered everything, but I haven’t done the swoopy grey floor sliding, but that might be connected to the room I can’t go in yet.)
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Gelding has learned Crunch!
...Look, all that text gets boring without pictures. Let there be meaningless color.
Suddenly, Leavanny.
Here’s a wild thought.
Maybe I don’t care if I miss an item.
-slides down cliff side-
-sees item I don’t have-
...
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It’s that Doctor Who gif all over again.
So I slide down from somewhere higher on the right side to get there.
...I have a horrifying thought.
I find those are often right.
...Also Frogger is level 54, pal, you are now off the Exp. Share.
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Yeah.
Yeah. That’s.
Don’t ask.
The trick was sliding more to the left of the Ranger hanging out above than I initially did. More to the right, and you get the Nugget I mentioned picking up. More to the left, and you get this.
It’s a TM. Wild Charge.
-waves tiny, battered flag-
How about this. How about we go back to things that are fun!
Like death and dying and being dead!
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Okay.
Okay.
It’s going to be fine.
And I guess I have my answer about whether dealing with Team Plasma comes before or after. Castle nonsense post-this. Okay. Right.
I spent a bunch of money on Full Restores.
I also spent a bunch of money on the quirky poke balls they sell up here. Operating under the theory that I’m going to continue this run until I have had the option of catching a thing from every route.
I don’t know. It’s a nice dream.
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Look, someone working on this game loves Zelda.
I’m pretty sure my above guesses about who’s got what are correct. I am less clear on who is where. I can’t remember if this begins a trend, or is just a quirk of the gen, but I have the option of picking the order I take them all on in.
Fighting, Dark, Ghost, Psychic.
...That is a really grim lineup.
If I’ve got it right.
Not for me, just. It’s Fighting + all of the sort of. witchy Types. I have a vaguely funny comment about that for later that I might remember unless I’m about to be traumatized.
I think I always took on Ghost girl first, then maybe Psychic girl last? Or was it Dark first? It might have been Dark first?
Let’s do a fun (sad) game. I’ll go clockwise, starting from the far left. Here’s my guess at who’s where:
Dark
Ghost
Fighting
Psychic
There. The stage is set for laughing at me.
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............
I did not need to bother with a stage.
I went to take this screenshot with the intent of showing off my team without throwing more bullet points up before the final battle(s). The very first thing I noticed is that Gelding is missing health.
I think to myself, that’s weird, I was just in the Pokemon Center.
Yes. Yes, I was.
Guess what you forgot to do.
It’s not. terrible. Gelding’s missing 5 PP for Air Slash, but I have spare Super Potions from that time I mentioned buying Super Potions.
Anyway.
With that sterling start.
Let’s go find out what’s behind door number one.
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Fuck it is Ghost girl first.
Maybe. That will be my loss for the session?
So. I have choices here. Ptera and Gelding both know Crunch. Fido knows Bite, but since none of these guys have STAB with Dark, Crunch buddies is the way to go. I’m also pretty darn sure she has a Jellicent, and there’s... something about its Ability. I can’t remember what. Same with the Mummy thing. Or maybe they just have moves that make it good to switch.
...It’s just now hitting me how much I played this gen. I have done the coming fights so many times. This is the first gen I really did EV training and IV breeding, and I did what I could to get all my choices up to level 100. I can’t believe I forgot that.
I think she starts with the Mummy thing. Which. That’s not its name. Something with a C? Mummy is its ability, though. I think. That might make Ptera a good start. His ability is used to keep him balanced (Defeatist lowers stats when his HP goes below half), and I don’t want balanced. I want obscene and broken creatures who I don’t have to watch die.
Cursed Body! That’s the Jellicent’s thing.
.I don’t remember what it does.
Okay.
Ptera up front, no item because I don’t want Acrobatics to lose out on its damage. Gelding can have the Lucky Egg, because I’m pretty sure this is a fight that I end up switching a lot over, and Palm will have an Amulet Coin because I like money and know I want him to take out the Jellicent.
Plan?
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Sounds like.
Shauntal sends out a level 48 Cofagrigus, aka the mummy thing. So my usual level advantages aren’t going to be as steep, but I think part of getting your pick of who you face first means that there is a stable base for all their leveling. It shouldn’t get worse until Alder.
Or possibly N and the plot posse.
I’m not used to the Elite Four being wrapped up in the Team stuff.
Ptera’s faster, and Crunch does more than half. Cofragigus uses Wil-o-Wisp (which I might be spelling wrong; I’m not allowed guides and passed the text bubble because I figured of course I knew how to spell it), so Ptera is now burned. That’s not great for his damage output, but he still has enough to get the job done with one more Crunch.
Jellicent is up next so I was going to have to switch anyway. I’ll just go over to Gelding instead of Ptera after Palm (hopefully) makes quick work of the Jellicent.
It’s level 48 as well.
Seed Bomb just barely doesn’t get the faint, and Jellicent’s damage does 57 damage. Palm’s at 89/146 after one hit, and we’re in scary town. Palm’s faster, so even if Shauntal heals, the Jellicent should be done before this is a problem, but I do not like seeing massive chunks of health vanish in one hit.
Unless I’m inflicting it. Then it’s okay.
Yeah, she goes with a Full Restore.
The next Seed Bomb succeeds in slaying the beast, which is a nice bonus I wasn’t expecting, and whatever my worries about the Jellicent’s ability, nothing happened, so that’s good.
...Ah. Chandelure’s up next. That one I did forget about.
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Want to put all those extra levels to work, pal?
And yeah. That is a level 50 Chandelure. That thing with obscene Special Attack.
Frogger’s Water/Ground. With a massive HP pool. He should be fine.
...
-picks Hydro Pump instead of Surf to try to get it done with quickly-
Chandelure goes first because Chandelure is amazing and Frogger is really more of a tank, and it does 73 damage because this game doesn’t care about my comfort levels, but lucky me, Hydro Pump’s accuracy does not fail, and that’s enough to take the best flaming ghost chandelier down.
Shauntal’s last pokemon is a Golurk. Ghost/Ground, right?
This is uncomfortable. My natural inclination is to spam Water against all things Water is super effective against. That is just a thing I am prone to. I also put a great deal of faith in Palm. I love Breloom, even when it has the wrong Nature.
But the thing is, we’re basically at the stage where my pokemon can take a hit, but if that hit is followed by a critical, they’re goners. Frogger and Palm have both taken heavy hits. Ptera hasn’t taken a huge hit, but he has no Defense and is BRNed.
Putting in a Flying thing against a Ground thing feels incredibly counterintuitive. Ptera surpasses that by being obscenely powerful. Gelding does not have that faith.
Nonetheless, I think maybe the safest thing to do here is to swap Frogger out instead of hoping he can one-shot the Golurk. I... think Golurk is another tanky type. None of its Ground moves can hit Gelding. Ghost will still pack a wallop, but. Well. I am guessing Gelding can live through one hit, and hopefully that will be enough.
Fido and Batman aren’t even options because they will definitely die, so.
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Let’s go for it.
At least we’re back to 48s?
Crunch does over half, so even though Shadow Punch does over 60 damage we should be in the clear.
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-collapses in heap-
I feel like I’m not doing enough justice to Shauntal, since my mind is very much not on anything but the battles at the moment. She’s got a cute design, and Ghost trainer novelist is wonderful. I think she quotes different passages from her books at you depending on when you fight her. Or she just switches through the lines at will. She’s a good character, and I really love the way she’s decorated her room.
...So I’m healing my pokemon and realizing another thing I forgot to do. I forgot to buy Full Heals. I used my last Burn Heal on Ptera just now. I think I have a small supply of Full Heals thanks to what I’ve grabbed walking around, but. Heh. Planning fail everywhere.
Okay, healed up and ready to go to door number two.
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Yeah, I got Ghost girl and Dark boy swapped. Whoops.
The plan here. Is for Palm to murder them all. Palm gets Lucky Egg and first slot, Batman gets Amulet Coin. I believe Liepard will be coming out first, and I know he has a Bisharp.
...Drawing a complete blank on the others.
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HEY HOLD THE FUCK UP WHY DO YOU HAVE THE SCRAFTY.
(He has a level 48 Scrafty.)
It’s Dark/Fighting, but I could’ve sworn that was the Fighting guy’s thing.
...Wait.
Is the Fighting guy even this gen?
Uh oh.
Well. Palm’s not a terrible choice for this. I don’t really want Ptera near a Fighting thing. ...Gelding could have handled this one, but oh well.
Mach Punch or Sky Uppercut is the question. I favor Mach Punch because it doesn’t miss, but Sky Uppercut’s accuracy really is not that bad. I think Sky Uppercut will do enough damage to maybe force healing, so... one then the other? Sky Uppercut gets first dibs in case of crit?
Scrafty’s very securely in the orange, but Palm is at 84/146.
I don’t know why I didn’t grind before this, but it’s a little late to keep finding ways to criticize my choices.
Grimsley uses the Full Restore, Palm uses Mach Punch, and yeah, Scrafty’s still in the green from that. Another Sky Uppercut hits, and Scrafty’s down.
Liepard’s up next.
Liepard is not nearly so heavy on damage, and Palm’s Defense is not bad. I think it’s safe to try, even though I’ll have to eat a Fake Out.
Wait, no, I have Batman. Batman’s swapped in.
Level 48 Liepard. Uses Fake Out, does 6 damage because Batman is the damn Batman.
...Liepard uses Attract.
Did you know. That through sheer happenstance. Batman is the sole female member of my team? And thanks to pokemon mechanics, falling in love as a status problem is purely a male/female dynamic?
“Batman is immobilized by love” oh please.
Thankfully that only takes up one turn. Then Batman remembers that Batman does not have time for love and goes to back to the wars. Thank goodness for emotional stunting.
Ugh. Now things are awkward. Krookodile is up next. That. Is worrying. I can’t remember if it or Bisharp is the level 50, but normally I like sending Palm up against the Dark croc line. But those things pack a major punch. Crits mean death. Batman has a Type disadvantage against Earthquake, which it most likely has.
....Heeeeeeey, Frogger...
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Oh, right. That. Yeah, let the Special Attacker handle it.
I think I’ll go with Surf first. I also think Krookodile outSpeeds Frogger. So this. Should be. You know.
Yep, Krookodile uses Earthquake, and 79 HP is gone.
...But Surf can one-shot, so sweet.
I guess something that I have failed to keep in mind is that Frogger is competing with giants. In all fair assessment, my team is stacked. Frogger is one of the few standard team models from this gen. ...Even though a surprising amount of my team is. from this gen.
Good boy, Frogger.
And then there’s the Bisharp. Which is likely to be level 50.
Palm does 4x STAB damage to it.
Bisharp is a prime Attack pokemon.
Bisharp is also 2x weak to Fire.
Fido has yet to take a hit.
Sorry Palm, we’re playing this cautious.
Yep, level 50 Bisharp.
Fido uses Flamethrower and it is down. Awesome.
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That’s two down.
Everyone’s healed.
Door number three time.
DAMN IT.
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Yeah, fine, I got none of the order right.
Ptera’s out in front, no item in case of Acrobatics. Batman with Lucky Egg, Gelding with Amulet Coin.
Deep breath now.
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Throughout all my memories of these fights, I definitely did not remember your name was Caitlin.
Level 48 Reuniclus out first. I think she also has a Gothowhatsit. Her others are... Things I should remember better but don’t.
Ptera uses Crunch, leaving Reuniclus in the red.
..
.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN REUNICLUS USED THUNDER.
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Um.
UM.
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I cannot begin to express how much this is a very bad problem.
...Fuck, that’s bad.
I will get to sad later maybe. For now it’s just. I am in so much trouble.
Gelding’s out on account of Thunder. Batman’s up.
Caitlin uses a Full Restore, naturally.
Batman uses Twineedle (wanted the poison just because/in case), and that actually faints it. Gothitelle’s up next, and honestly, if I’m right about the next guy being Fighting, I have no business risking Gelding. So.
Level 50 Gothitelle.
I’m just going to hope X-Scissor one-shots it.
Oh look, it has Thunderbolt.
...Why?
I get that Special Attack moves are great and all, and Thunderbolt and Thunder are both powerful Special Attack moves. But they don’t cover up a particular weakness. Water and Flying? That’s not stuff Psychic has a hard time with.
......No I’m not upset shut up.
X-Scissor gets it down to the very, very red, so Caitlin uses another Full Restore, giving me a free shot. Twineedle again in hope of poisoning. Success, and Gothitelle’s back in red. Another Thunderbolt, and Batman cleans up.
Next up is Sigilyph.
...I don’t know about Thunderbolt, but I think that thing has Ice Beam, and Bug is good against Psychic, but not Flying.
Fido, you’re my best best here.
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STAB or 2x Bite, STAB or 2x Bite...
Wait. That’s math. Math I can actually do. Flamethrower beats Bite.
Fido’s faster, and that gets it down to orange (it’s level 48, by the way). It uses Psychic, and that does 64 damage. One more Flamethrower to finish it.
Oh.
And our final contestant is a Musharna.
Special Defense is too high. Fido’s use isn’t terrible, but. Then there’s Batman, with 82 HP left. That goes a long way when you’re made of Steel, but Fido does have Bite.
...Leave Fido in, if Fido gets slept, spend a turn healing Batman and then swap Batman in. Hopefully Fido does more damage than I expect. By a lot.
Level 48 Musharna incoming.
Bite leaves Musharna in the green, but I think two more will actually finish it, and more importantly, Fido is faster and Musharna flinched. So. Not a bad start.
Another Bite and Musharna is red, which... I hope Caitlin’s used her Full Restore allotment. Musharna uses Psychic, which scares me to death but only leaves Fido in the orange.
Please. Do not. Use a Full Restore.
Oh good.
Fido gets the final Bite, and.
And.
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Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
I have no ace for the last Elite Four member. Assuming I’m right about him being Fighting. I have Gelding, and things without bonuses. ...Fuck, that’s uncomfortable. And that’s without taking Alder into consideration. Which... depending on N and plot, and.
This is really bad. Team wiping is a serious concern here.
...Sorry I didn’t remember the Thunder, Ptera. You’ve been amazing.
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Great.
I’ll guess... Mienfoo’s evolved form, the pillar behemoth thing, Sawk and Throh.
At least one of those will know a Rock move.
No Lucky Egg. Gelding’s equipped with a Sharp Beak.
-taps keyboard-
Well it’s not like there’s a way out, anyway.
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So before I was really overwhelmed by everything I love dying, I had the thought that every member of the Elite Four is some kind of goth, and then this here is their jock boyfriend.
It was more amusing back then.
Ghost goth is cute goth, Dark goth is dramatic goth, Psychic sleeping beauty goth is prep goth, and then there’s Marshal.
Yeah, I don’t know, let’s just. Yeah.
Level 48 Throh.
.Air Slash misses, and Throh knows Stone Edge!
Gelding has 53 HP.
Fido isn’t an option because Rock. Frogger’s a tank, but a squishy one. Palm won’t be able to dish out much damage. Batman’s Bug escapes Fighting being super effective, but. Batman’s greatest strength is damage, and she can’t do that against this team.
...Frankly, I’m shocked Gelding could survive Stone Edge. There’s no way that works against Sawk. But against Sawk, there would be a chance of fainting it in one hit. Throh does less damage, but has more HP. I never had delusions of getting it down in one hit, but I thought I would at least be able to hit it.
This is going to be a switch thing.
Frogger has one point less in Defense than Palm, but 50 more HP. Frogger’s in. Ground typing keeps Stone Edge from doing too much. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure that Throh does the least damage of everything on Marshal’s team. That means that this is where I can take hits and heal, but it’s going to switch to Fighting moves, probably, and those will be worse for Frogger and--
I am going to heal Gelding.
Throh uses something called Storm Throw, and. That’s actually not a move I recognize. I have Frogger use Surf, because in the ludicrous imaginings where I survive this, I want to have Hydro Pump available.
...That’s a dumb reason actually, I have Ether and Elixir.
On the other hand, Surf hits. So.
That puts Throh in the orange, but Throh uses Payback. Oh! But that’s a Dark move! I don’t know why I thought it was Fighting for a second. Yeah, great, so Frogger’s still alive, and is going to get the faint.
Enter the Sawk problem.
Frogger’s at 79 HP. I need to heal him if I want to use him. I think Gelding can get Sawk down in one hit.
...I just remembered that Gelding has Fly.
Wow, okay, that changes things.
So I’m pretty sure Gelding will be faster than Sawk. If I’m wrong, Gelding is dead. If I keep Frogger in, there’s a good chance he can take a few punches, especially since he got Throh down to orange in one blow.
But Sawk does more damage than Throh.
If I’m wrong about Frogger being able to take the hits, I lose Frogger. If I’m wrong about the Speed, I lose Gelding, and then will possibly lose Frogger anyway. ...Then I worry that Stone Edge is one of those moves that can hit Flying opponents, but I don’t... think it is?
...I’ll switch in Gelding.
Gelding is faster, and Stone Edge doesn’t hit in the air. See? It’s all. Fine.
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what do you mean Sawk has Sturdy.
um
um
um
oh hey Gelding’s still alive with 37 HP.
Marshal will probably use a Full Restore, which will create the same problem of Sturdy (I... think? I have kind of a dim thought of that being a once-per-fight ability, but that might just be my distant hopes of a fair and just world talking, and I do not trust that). Two Air Slashes in a row is probably my safest move for all involved parties.
Wait, no, scratch that. Gelding has Extrasensory. That does not have Air Slash’s 95 accuracy. So that’s one definite hit, then Fly or another Extrasensory depending on the damage.
Full Restore happens. Extrasensory gets Sawk down to orange, so we’re going to do another of those and hope Sawk doesn’t have a priority move! Which I hadn’t considered until this moment!
I could play it safe and switch to something, but. Really, exposing more of my team to this is not safe.
Oh hey, Marshal went with another Full Restore. By all means man, use them up.
Gelding takes the Sawk down.
And now we have a new problem.
My guess is that everything on this team has Stone Edge. That is a guess born of how everything so far has Stone Edge, as well as the too-late reminder that Stone Edge is really popular for Fighting types to pick up.
Conkeldurr is up next.
In a perfect world, Gelding Flys and it’s all over.
Gelding has 37 HP left, and Conkeldurr is a bit of a beast. All it takes is a sliver of health, and Gelding is gone.
The problem is. Like I said, exposing more of my team to this is not safe. I could switch in Batman and heal up Frogger and Gelding while she takes a few hits, then switch over to Frogger and hope things go like they did with Throh, but. It is not beyond thinking that the two pokemon Marshal has left could just destroy my team at will.
Then there’s the last one. I think. There’s a halfway decent chance it’s faster than Gelding.
-breathes in-
So Extrasensory does 80. 2x that’s 160. Fly does 90, 135 with STAB, then the 2x super effective bonus. That is a lot of damage. 160 got Sawk down to orange, but Sawk’s more of a glass cannon type. Conkeldurr’s. a cannon.
Fido can’t be used to switch in. It’d survive a hit, most likely, but not a crit. Palm could maybe survive a crit, but if I heal, I want to heal Gelding and Frogger. Batman could probably take the hits, but then there’s the problem of what happens to the thing that gets switched in. That lost move could be life or death. By which I mean death.
...I’m going all in on Gelding being a powerhouse.
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Level 48 Conkeldurr.
I love how there isn’t a Cry option.
Gelding’s faster, uses Fly, and.
.
Okay so.
It doesn’t hit.
Because Fly.
But Conkeldurr knows Retaliate.
I hate this game. ;-;
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....
-buries head in hands-
...M-miss?
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-screams a lot forever-
Palm, you have Mach Punch and Marshal’s used two Full Restores. So. That should work?
Level 50 Mienshao. I switch to Batman to heal Frogger, and also possibly to stay, I don’t even know.
...Jump Kick did nearly 70 damage, guess what Batman, you’re switching out!
It does 88 damage to Frogger. Neat. So I’ll just be using Hyper Potions and waiting for Frogger’s Poison Touch to take effect sometime this century. That is my strategy.
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.........
I. do not want to talk about how this happened.
Let me tell you how it happened.
I was going through to click yet another Hyper Potion. Because autopilot. Only I did not click the Item menu. I clicked the Fight menu. Still on autopilot, I watch, in horror, as I pick Mud Shot.
Mienshao’s Jump Kick misses and takes half its health.
Mud Shot’s good enough to take the rest.
I’m learning a few things here.
The fact that I’m an idiot is nothing new.
The fact that I routinely underestimate Frogger is my only prayer of surviving what’s next.
Because in case the scoreboard’s somehow been overlooked:
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I am in so much trouble.
I don’t even know who I’m fighting next. N? Alder? Ghetsis?
Zekrom?
But you know what I think I remember?
I’m pretty sure that your team gets healed after you face Zekrom. Without you having a say in the matter. That’s... awkward? At best? Ptera and Gelding are not built for doing nothing and dying. I realize they’re both dead, but they did a lot of killing beforehand.
I think I will stick with screaming.
And switching Frogger to the front.
Other things to do: Putting a damn damage boosting item on everyone left instead of trying to pump the Elite Four dry of resources like money and exp.
...Only it turns out I don’t really have many of those kinds of items. Frogger gets Soft Sand, Palm gets Miracle Seed, Fido gets a Shell Bell, and Batman can keep the Lucky Egg.
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I don’t foresee this going well.
Team.
Please, please prove me wrong.
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I have criminally neglected complimenting aspects of the Elite Four because my head is busy screaming. The dramatics of this many stairs is one such thing that deserve praise. There are others. I might remember them one day.
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There are so many stairs, guys.
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You know, I’ve realized that if the N and Ghetsis thing is happening now, maybe I don’t have to fight Alder?
That’s a good thing, right?
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-grabs popcorn-
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Why is this a thing.
“This is Team Plasma’s castle” HOW DOES THAT EXPLAIN ANY OF IT. IS THIS EXPLAINED? I DON’T THINK THE PLOT REALLY CARES BUT I NEED SOMETHING TO FOCUS ON AND THIS IS IT RIGHT NOW. N WHY CAN YOU SPAWN A CASTLE BY ASKING THE SKY FOR IT.
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So... Am I maybe going to get a chance to grind before the next big fight?
Dare I hope?
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BUT WHY IS THIS HERE.
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IT’S TEAM GYM LEADER. KNEEL BEFORE THEIR MIGHT.
Looking at the sets of pairs, I realize that Burgh and Lenora; and Clay and Elesa (please let that be her name) are both established friendship duos between Gym Leaders. It is cool.
Also Bianca asked them to come.
Thank you, friend.
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The plot isn’t going to let me leave, is it. This is all just one big stall to make the pain hit that much harder. Geez. Won’t this game think of the people who have self-imposed rules that make everything complicated?
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HEY.
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Talking to the weird ladies who know N’s tragic backstory healed my pokemon, so now I am walking around with two zombies I need to get rid of kind of right now.
...No disrespect, guys.
...Seriously, where is this PC the Ninja mentioned.
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There we go.
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A moment of silence for the fallen.
Gelding, I never voice my appreciation of you during these posts, but you always came in handy. Your wonderful Attack stats and diverse movepool was a pleasure to have aboard. When I first caught you, I thought I’d change you out for the next thing I caught. But then I got attached.
You got your comrades this far. I don’t know how long that will last, but thanks.
Ptera... hell, I never really thought you’d go down. You were always this overpowered rockstar. From the second we met. ...You destroyed one of my team prospects. You were always reliable. If I ever wanted to turn my brain off and just expect victory, you were who I put in front.
I really don’t think I can do this without you guys, and I never wanted to.
Goodbye.
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Sooo. Access to my PC lets me do away with the problem of zombies. It does not solve the greater problem of the huge trouble I am in. Nothing in my box is a high enough level to assist.
Zekrom is coming up, and I’ll have the option of having him on my team, and he is the first pokemon in this area I’ll have the option of catching.
But the spirit of this run is that everything on my team is randomized. That’s why I ditched my fossil. That’s why I ditched my chimp option.
It’s these four.
I have no idea what happens if I lose and get sent back to a save point inside the castle. Do I just have to keep throwing my box at it until I have no eligible pokemon left and have to declare the Nuzlocke a failure?
.
This section should have been finished a while ago, since I’m apparently wordy when stressed and there are now a lot of words, but I have kept going because. Well.
I think I know what happens next and I do not like it.
...Wait.
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Wait.
Wait.
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YES.
I CAN GRIND.
3 notes · View notes
The excessive lag is gone. DbD usually lags a bit normally, so it’s back to the usual kind of lag that doesn’t ruin gameplay for the most part.
My teammates somehow managed to break Haunted Grounds every time the Clown found me. However, I managed to mind-game him a shit ton and wasted his time. When he failed to down me after the 3rd Haunted Grounds was up, he rage-quit! XD
Load into a lobby with a streamer, so I pull up his stream to here what his side is like while I play. He praised me for leading a Leatherface on a 3-Gen Chase, especially since he thought the rest of the lobby was like Rank 10 and under. The others weren’t very good tbh. Rank 15s. Still, I get downed in the chapel, right at the window you have to vault. Streamer is doing a Gen outside the building and was like, ‘oh man, it was a good run tho’. I pushed my body up against the window and made Leatherface vault instead of pick me up. 4 times in a row. And streamer is like, ‘did he just slug her, what’s going on?’ so I say in his chat, ‘I’ve tricked this twit into vaulting this window 4 times already!’. I had the time to type after all. By the 6th vault, I had distracted him long enough for another Gen to get done, and the streamer’s was about to finish too. I used Unbreakable just in time for Adrenaline to pop, and the streamer was cackling! We all Escaped!
I decided to be ballsy by trying to get killers to whiff when carrying Survivors to Hooks! And it worked! I did this to a Legion for an entire match and got face-camped at the end because I made him unable to Hook anyone. And you know what? He still failed. Yui had Borrowed Time and I guess he didn’t realize that you can unHook from different angles now so blocking the front wasn’t going to work. He got blinded by 2 Flashlights in the process and we all got out.
Bought Kate because I had enough Shards to. I did this just so I can do all those challenges demanding I use Windows of Opportunity. Also I wanted Dance With Me for ninja builds.
Decided to do a Challenge requiring me to get Flashlight saves, and my aiming with the Flashlight isn’t good on a normal day, let alone when they’re bugged. But I tried so hard! I played so much more aggressively than ever before! And I got some Blinds!
Bruh, if you decide to dedicate 2 of your Perk slots to something that can be broken in a few seconds, you choosing to DC when things don’t pan out, is pathetic. The whole using Undying in combo with other Hex Perks is legit used by everyone now and half the Killers who use it rage-quit if things don’t work out. If all Totems are broken before any Gens get done, Killer DCs. If Undying is broken first, quickly followed by Ruin, Killer DCs. If Undying isn’t the Hex broken first, but the other is broken steadily in order as it hops around, Killer DCs. Like, it seems like a great Perk, it’s just the majority of people using it aren’t very good apparently.
TWITCHORTREAT is a redeem code for a Trapper Charm. Trap-O-Lantern.
I got downed and my team managed to corner the Trapper and make him walk into his own trap! The whole game this moron walked into his own traps all the time. I don’t play him often but I’m pretty sure his traps are outlined in like red or yellow, right? Surely it’s easy to avoid them even when not being corralled into them?
NO-ED users like to act tough if they manage to get a hit in when it’s active, but if someone cleanses it, they’re “toxic” and “mean”.
I got to experience Mindbreaker for the first time. Didn’t even know it existed before today. It was a Mindbreaker/Ruin combo and it sucked! Still Escaped but it took forever! That is the Perk I hate most. I have decided this. Not having Sprint Burst automatically able to be used unnerved me so much.
How does a Rank 1 Survivor not know how to sneak around a Killer when they’re face-camping but only facing one direction? Like, Blight legit was only facing the left(toward where the doors are) and someone could have come from the right or behind and his dumb ass would have seen nothing until it was done. She had Borrowed Time and Urban Evasion too. She was healthy, never been Hooked, and had Borrowed Time. She could have sneaked up silently and done it. Instead I got left to die because she chose to pace back and forth behind a wall for A FUCKING MINUTE!
I did a ninja build a lot today! Dance With Me, Iron Will, Lithe, and Quick & Quiet! I fucked with this Leatherface so bad and it was the best thing ever! I Escaped, got 5 Flashlight Blinds on him, and lost him in every Chase, I love this build so much!
I was gonna save this dude. It was just us and 1 Gen left. The Gen was half done. I slip by Ghost Face while he goes to kick the Gen, and right as I get there the dude kills himself on his first Hook! And I just stopped running and stood in front of his hook for a few seconds, just staring in aggravation. Then I teabagged to get the frustration out. Ghost Face joins me so we’re just teabagging this broken Hook, and then he leads me to the Hatch and lets me go. It was the Killer’s first game as Ghost Face and they sent me a friend request. We’ve played some swf matches together already.
There’s something wrong with the Feng Min bloodweb. It freezes my game so I can’t click on anything, and is the only bloodweb to freeze the game. I tried every other one on Survivor and Killer and nothing bad happened.
OKAY! We get the saloon map, Feng Min has a Key and she’s swf with Ace. They put on that Offering for the Hatch to spawn in the shack. It’s a Clown. He downs Feng Min after Ace and I finish a Gen. We all converge to try and help. Bill and Ace distract so she can go to a pallet. I’m blending into a bush nearby. Clown successfully chases the other two away and goes to pick up. I morph out of the bush and slam the pallet down. Feng Min goes free and runs. He gives Chase. He gets her in the tiny walled off room and has to break the doors first to get out. Then he comes out to see where the nearest Hook is. It’s in the street between the saloon and the shack this time. He goes and picks her up and I have the small idea to try and get a blind when he comes out the doorway. I aim and go for it. He has nowhere to turn with Bill blocking behind him, and he walks off the balcony. The beam of the Flashlight shrinks and I get a notification for rescuing Feng Min from his grasp, mid-air! She’s on top of his head for like 3 seconds, and I continue to chain blind him while he stands there and she runs. He Disconnected!
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I wish I was recording that so much.
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junker-town · 4 years
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Whoa, did John Elway actually get it right with Drew Lock?
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Drew Lock had one of the best games any Broncos quarterback has had in over a decade.
In his second ever start, Drew Lock had one of the best passing performances any Broncos quarterback has had in a long time.
John Elway doesn’t have a strong track record when it comes to quarterback evaluation. That’s a bit ironic considering Elway is a Hall of Famer and one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.
In the time since he was hired as a Broncos executive in 2011, the team picked Paxton Lynch (first round), Brock Osweiler (second round), Zac Dysert (seventh round), Trevor Siemian (seventh round), and Chad Kelly (seventh round).
That’s a lot of whiffs. Lynch started just four games in Denver and was released before his third season with the team. Osweiler had two stints with the Broncos and retired earlier this year. He’ll likely be best remembered for making over $40 million for 30 starts in the NFL, thanks to a free agency gaffe made by the Texans.
That’s why Drew Lock getting drafted by Elway felt more like an indictment than an endorsement. If that guy — the one who decided Lynch was worth a first-round pick — thinks Lock is a solid prospect, that’s probably not a good thing.
But holy shit, Elway may have actually found himself a quarterback.
Lock sat on injured reserve for the first 12 weeks of the season after suffering a thumb injury in August. In that time, the Broncos slogged their way to a 3-8 record. Joe Flacco complained about the painfully conservative Denver offense before he was sent to injured reserve for a neck injury. He was replaced in the lineup by Brandon Allen, who posted a 68.3 passer rating in three starts.
During the time Flacco and Allen were under center, the Broncos’ offense looked the opposite of what it did in Week 14. A week after a so-so performance in his debut, Lock was nothing short of spectacular against the Texans.
He completed over 80 percent of his passes in a 38-24 road win and finished with 309 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. It was arguably the best statistical performance by a Broncos quarterback in over a decade — no small feat when you consider that includes four seasons with Peyton Manning at the helm.
Drew Lock posted a 98.7 QBR today That’s the highest QBR by any quarterback not named Lamar Jackson this season. It’s also the highest QBR by any Broncos quarterback since 2007.
— Ryan Koenigsberg (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 9, 2019
By halftime, Lock already had 235 passing yards. His 157.8 passer rating is the best any Broncos quarterback has posted in a first half since Elway was still on the field.
It’s also safe to say that his teammates have bought in:
Von Miller on Drew Lock: “He’s a fucking rock star.”
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) December 8, 2019
But before we anoint Lock the new king of the Rocky Mountains, let’s take a deep breath. The Texans are near the bottom of the NFL in pass defense. Lock also passed for just 134 yards in a Week 13 win over the Chargers, although he did manage two first-quarter touchdowns to give the Broncos an early lead.
So how real was Lock’s most recent performance? Let’s break it down:
Lock trusts his arm and isn’t afraid to take shots
In four years at Missouri, Lock started 46 of a possible 50 games. He threw for over 12,000 yards and 99 touchdowns. As far as draft prospects go, that’s about as experienced as it gets.
So it’s not that surprising that Lock looks comfortable in his first snaps as a professional. He has a huge arm and he’s not scared to let it rip.
That was evident on his first touchdown of the game against the Texans. Lock drove the Broncos into the red zone with big chunk plays that went for 48 and 29 yards. Set up at the 14-yard line and facing a third-and-12, Denver lined up in shotgun with five wide receivers and let the 23-year-old quarterback go to work.
When tight end Noah Fant broke a post route down the middle of the field, Lock fired a laser right over the helmet of Texans defensive back Jahleel Addae. It hit Fant between the numbers before the Houston safeties had time to get anywhere close to impacting the play.
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Even more impressive was a 37-yard reception down the left sideline for Tim Patrick on the first play of the second quarter.
The Texans employed a Cover 1 defense that put second-year safety Justin Reid in the middle of the field with man coverage underneath. That meant a deep pass to Patrick had to go over the head of a cornerback but arrive before Reid had time to break it up.
Lock managed to do exactly that, despite leaning backward to avoid an oncoming pass rusher. The ball traveled nearly 50 yards in the air and couldn’t have been placed in a better spot.
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Look at that beauty.
There is a catch, though. While that throw showed Lock’s tremendous arm talent, it was one of many throws he made without having his feet completely underneath him. That’s a great skill to have — especially with a blitz coming fast — but it’s a dangerous one to rely on too often.
Lock’s still a work in progress
Pressure in his face wasn’t the only thing that caused Lock to throw off his back foot. He also did it on many play when it wasn’t necessary at all and he had plenty of room to step into his throw.
Take this 11-yard gain late in the second quarter, for example. The play worked out fine because receiver Courtland Sutton was wide open, but there’s no reason for Lock to be falling off to the side as he delivered the ball.
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Lock has more than enough arm strength to throw the ball across the field, despite being off platform. That kind of sloppy footwork is still a bad habit that can lead to inaccuracy, though. Fortunately for the Broncos, they’re three weeks away from beginning the 2020 offseason, and it’s a problem that should be fixable with time and coaching.
More time in the NFL should also help Lock avoid zeroing in on a receiver with his eyes. His third-quarter interception was against another Cover 1 coverage for Houston. With Lock staring down Sutton from the beginning of the play, safety Tashaun Gipson took off toward the right sideline long before the ball even came out of the quarterback’s hand.
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Lock never looked anywhere else and led Gipson straight to the easy pick.
There’s also the real possibility that Lock’s gutsiness will lead to more interceptions down the road, especially as teams get more film on him. He trusts himself to thread the needle, but sometimes that leads to dangerous throws in traffic. His first pass of the game turned into a 48-yard gain for Fant and looked great on the live broadcast.
Rook to rook. Way to get us started, @nrfant! pic.twitter.com/dBoa9m2D1h
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 8, 2019
A look at the player tracking via Next Gen Stats gives you a better idea of how easily the play could’ve gone awry.
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Either Lock didn’t see Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph dropping off the deep route, or he was confident he could put the ball on Fant’s inside shoulder away from Joseph. Whatever it was, it worked out well because Lock drilled the pass in a place where only Fant could get it.
But again, Lock’s footwork, his vision down the field, and his tendency to put the ball in jeopardy could all be issues that disappear with added experience and coaching.
Lock’s having fun in his new role as an NFL starter.
“I’d like to think my confidence is contagious. I never want it to come off as arrogance, I want it to come off as fire,” Lock told reporters, via NFL.com. “I’m having fun with the game that we’ve all dreamed about playing since we were little kids. Now that we’re here, why do we not need to have the most fun that we can with the game that we love?”
He even has a signature, Buzz Lightyear-themed celebration already.
Drew Lock’s signature celebration is epic @DrewLock23 @MizzouFootball @Broncos pic.twitter.com/NJqDBjacyB
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 8, 2019
Lock’s enthusiasm for the game and his moxie right out of the gates has endeared him to his teammates and Broncos fans. Yes, there are kinks to work out. But for the first time in a really long time, Denver has legitimate reason to be hopeful about a young quarterback.
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spicynbachili1 · 5 years
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1st Armored Division participates in Warfighter Exercise to enhance operational readiness – Defence Blog
Spc. Karen Lawshae has reported that the first Armored Division participated within the Warfighter 19-2 train November Four-15, throughout a number of coaching websites right here within the sprawling navy set up in preparation for future contingency operations.
Based on Karen Lawshae, Warfighter was the culminating occasion of a sequence of coaching workout routines held by America’s Tank Division over the previous six months. The train assessed 1AD’s capability to handle, direct and synchronize throughout a number of brigades aimed to coach and enhance operational readiness, warfighting features, and effectiveness throughout the Division employees, and models assigned.
“Each Soldier, each course of was examined, and we realized an important deal. All of these items are extraordinarily necessary to the success of our Division and it’s particularly nice to coach with our joint teammates on this setting,” mentioned Maj. Gen. Patrick Matlock, commanding normal of the first Armored Division and Fort Bliss. “Whenever you come to Warfighter you bought to make the most of each minute. We’re extraordinarily pleased with the women and men of this Division for his or her excellence and professionalism. The MCTP [Mission Command Training Program] supplied us a tricky state of affairs and challenged each part all through the train.”
The Mission Command Coaching Program workforce from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, despatched a number of observer-coach/trainers (OC/T’s) to Fort Bliss to supervise the train and provides skilled suggestions and steerage to every employees part. Every OC/T is a topic skilled of their respective area and gives skilled perception for the sections’ improvement.
The first Armored Division was evaluated on a number of collective coaching duties starting from maneuvers to communications, employees processes, and establishing and re-establishing its command publish between a number of coaching websites. Troopers had been additionally examined on their particular person expertise units akin to CBRN (chemical, organic, radiological, nuclear) procedures, correctly sporting their Mission Oriented Protecting Posture gear, organising firing positions, and collaboration skills to maneuver the division’s predominant command publish.
“I spent 20 of my 44 years on lively responsibility with this nice Division,” mentioned Ret. U.S. Military Lt. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, who served because the senior mentor through the Warfighter 19-2 train. “You will have warmed my coronary heart, and I couldn’t be extra pleased with “Outdated IronSides.”
Probably the most daunting job throughout Warfighter was the motion of the division’s predominant command publish, which entails transporting giant items of kit, and delicate objects akin to computer systems and communications tools. In extra the motion of dozens of navy automobiles and lots of of personnel can include many logistical challenges.
“This job is extraordinarily complicated as a result of we’ve operations parts [teams of Soldiers] conducting recon, surveying engineering facets to safe a location, and the flexibility to get to terrain.” mentioned Lt. Col. A. Geoff Miller, commander of the Headquarters Battalion, 1st Armored Division.
Miller, a local of Roswell, N.M., added that his Troopers had been very important to making sure that essential tools was moved in a well timed method to conduct navy operations successfully.
The train additionally served as a studying expertise for the unit’s youngest Troopers.
“One of the best factor I realized was to maintain your composure and belief in your workforce,” mentioned Pfc. JerMichael Bunch, from Kingston, Penn., who serves as a fireplace management specialist with the division’s fires part. “You’re all the time transferring, and hearth missions accumulate. I didn’t notice how necessary I used to be till Warfighter. I like what I do, and I really like my part. They ready me to see the larger image.”
The Warfighter train was not unique to the first Armored Division and included a number of models throughout the U.S. Military. The third Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Georgia, the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the III Corps employees from Fort Hood, Texas additionally participated on this large-scale train.
For the Iron Troopers, this train is a key milestone within the division’s ongoing journey of coaching and operational readiness.
“I’ve seen huge enhancements alongside the way in which,” mentioned Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Yurgans, senior enlisted advisor of Headquarters Battalion, 1st Armored Division. “We’re pleased with our preparations and efforts put in by our Troopers, to work as a workforce and are available collectively.”
from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/1st-armored-division-participates-in-warfighter-exercise-to-enhance-operational-readiness-defence-blog/
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