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mandomaterial · 11 months

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Yo I got something! How ea tonowari x reader x Ronal? Let's saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay after 1-2 years after the war, a human goes to visit the sully family (for whatever reason) and the leaders saw her being covered in tattoos but are vastly different and are immediately intrigued by her. I'm going through a viking phase and I saw theirs tattoo designs and I'm like AAAAAAAAAHHH THEY LOOK SEXY!!!

Familiar Markings

Ask and you shall receive, boo~ I got a little carried away here… it’s 2.6k… but that’s fine! :3

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- It had been all too long. You were there every step of the way and you missed them dearly. What were their lives like now? Were they all okay? Those were the questions you asked yourself almost daily. So you made up your mind and decided to visit them. You were a pilot, so transportation posed no problem but still, you asked Norm what he thought about your idea. After all, you couldn’t just show up there out of the blue (pun intended).

- Norm was a little hesitant at first but saw no big problem with visiting, so the two of you decided to give Jake a heads up to not cause a mass panic when you arrived. And then you were on your way.

- You got in your trusty old helicopter and off you were! It was a pretty long flight, so you had enough time to think about what to do when you got there. The only exciting news that you had was your new tattoo. You got it done a few months ago, on your left upper arm, a nice addition to the little collection you’d accumulated over the years.

- You’d always wanted to get tattoos but you never felt like you had a real reason to. To you, it was more than just body art, it was more of a sign of accomplishment or life-changing events. So when you joined the avatar program you decided that was the perfect occasion for your first tattoo. With the help of Grace and her team, you chose a relatively simple design of an Atokarina. You’d seen one in real life when you accompanied Grace to her school and accidentally got lost. It led you back and you were in total awe.

- This time around you chose a runic design. Back on earth, you were a real fan of the complex runic language and you tried your best to learn it. If you hadn’t ultimately decided to join the Pandora project, you probably would have studied them for the rest of your life. Sadly, over the years you lost touch with your love for runes, and most of your knowledge of them faded into a blur. It made you quite sad because you felt like you lost a piece of yourself, so you decided that you’d get something of your passion engraved on your body.

- Soon enough, the islands that formed Awa'atlu came into view and you shoved your thoughts aside, preparing for landing. There were already Na’vi gathering around your planned landing spot, so you had to be extra careful. You stuck the landing with ease and as soon as you stepped foot out of the aircraft, you spotted familiar figures. The little Sully’s! Well maybe not that little anymore, even Tuk was taller than you now. “Auntieee!” the young girl yelled as she rushed to tackle you.

- you could barely keep yourself on your feet as she wrapped her arms around you and gave you a bear hug. Of course, you hugged her back but as you looked over her shoulder, you saw two new faces approach. The others moved aside for them so you assumed that was the leader and the Tsahìk. You gently wiggled out of Tuk’s grip and got ready to face them.

- At first no one said anything, all of them staring at you with blown wide, turquoise eyes. You assumed that it was just because you were a human, significantly smaller, and even a different color! But that wasn’t it, they were staring at the markings on your skin. They seemed way too unnatural to just be born with, they’d never seen a human with markings similar to their people’s tattoos. So of course they were intrigued.

- after only a few seconds of motionless silence Ronal, the Tsahìk stepped forward and started to circle you. She wanted to take a closer look at these newfound markings, were these similar to her own? You just stood still and let her do her thing, avoiding eye contact with the chilling Tsahìk of the Metkayina. To be honest, you were a little afraid, Norm had told you that she was very protective of her people and was very unwelcoming towards outsiders, so when she suddenly grabbed your arm, you winced and visibly shrunk together, trying to make ourself seem even less threatening even if they didn’t even consider you being something even close to a threat.

- Ronal pulled your arm up, almost lifting you, to inspect the strange marks. As she traced them with her hand you wondered what she thought of them. Did she with ink they were weird. Did she like them? Why was she looking for so long? Didn’t her people also have tattoos? Your thoughts were cut short abruptly as she ran her fingers over your new tattoo, even if it seemed healed, it wasn’t and you almost doubled over at the pain if she weren’t holding you by your arm.

- Of course the well-trained Tsahìk noticed this and instantly a small wave of regret and guilt washed over her. She hadn’t meant to physically hurt you, maybe intimidate you a little but not like this. She saw your eyes water a little, as you tried to calm down and not let yourself cry in front of the crowd. She gently loosened her grip on you, making sure that you were stable on your feet before ultimately letting go. Right after you gently rubbed over your arm, trying to make the pain go away but it only helped a little.

- in Ronal’s mind she had hurt you, so it was her responsibility to make you feel better again. She crouched down a little, making eye contact with you before she asked “Do you understand our language?” Of course, you understood, but you were still a little shaky so the only thing you could muster was a timid nod. The tall woman let out a little huff as she gently placed her large hand between your shoulders and gave you a little nudge. You didn’t know what was going on so you just took a step forward, your attention shifted to the little crowd that was still lingering around you. The chief seemed to be looking at his mate, making a few facial expressions. It was as if they were communicating just by looking at each other. Before they even finished, you felt the hand gently push you along, guiding you along the path that the people cleared for the two of you.

- soon enough you understood that the Tsahìk was leading you somewhere, you were quite curious and it was just the two of you so you asked: “Where are we going?” Ronal almost seemed surprised when you spoke in her language, she understood every word and you were very fluent, albeit you had a bit of an accent. It took her a moment to reply but she explained that the was taking you to her hut, but she didn’t explain why. All in all, she was a little embarrassed so she chose not to share the reason.

- Once you finally reached the large tent she carefully held open the flap and motioned for you to get in. You followed her instructions and awkwardly stood in the middle of it, waiting for her to do or say something. And do something she did. She strode over to a few baskets in a corner, kneeled down in front of them, and started looking through them. Soon enough she pulled out a little packet that was trapped in a large dried leaf.

- “Come closer” she murmured. You shuffled over and stood in front of her. Even then she was taller than you. “Sit” came out of her mouth as she stared at you with wide glossy eyes. You shifted your body into a kneeling position but kept your eyes fixed on hers. She let out a little hum and started unwrapping the packet. Inside was a generous amount of powder that shimmered and glimmered, setting it down she turned around again grabbing something from a different basket. It was a little mortar and pestle made out of what seemed like shaved-down corrals. She put a small amount of the powder into the mortar before she added a light blue liquid that she took out along with the powder. She mixed the two together for a good minute and then looked at you again.

- For a second you just blankly stared at each other before she quietly questioned “Your arm?” Whilst tilting her head a little. “Oh..” you replied while warmth flushed your cheeks. You didn’t quite know why you were embarrassed, maybe it was that there was this gorgeous tall blue woman in front of you, or that you’d never been treated like this before. Normally everyone was a little intimidated by because of your tattoos and chose to avoid you instead of getting to know you.

- Embarrassed you lifted your arm and shifted so that she faced your side and had better access to your upper arm. Seeing this, Ronal had to crack a smile, you were so good at following instructions, not at all Ike the other humans she encountered, she liked you, you were okay, she thought while she started spreading the paste over the inflamed area of your arm. You winced a little any time her fringes brushed over your skin, so she tried to be as gentle as possible, so as not to make you feel more pain than you had to.

- just then someone entered the tenant, you were curious, you sneakily turned your head and saw that the Olo’eyktan had entered. Of course, you wanted to show respect, so you started standing up but Ronal had something other in mind. She gave your lower arm a little tug that pulled you back to the floor instantly “I said sit.“ you were utterly surprised and your head whipped around between the two, not knowing what to do, he was the leader so you had to show him respect but his wife who was also a leader wouldn’t let you? You started getting dizzy and hyperventilating a little before Tonowari took a couple of steps forward and lowered himself to one knee saying “Mawey” with a stern tone, staring directly at your eyes.

- While you were distracted by Tonowari, Ronal quickly finished bandaging your arm, thinking about your markings. Why did you have them? How did you get them? To say it simply she was just too curious so she gave you a light tap on the shoulder pulling your attention to her. “Why do you have these markings?” She asked motioning to your arm.

- you were a little surprised but cleared your throat and said “I got them when I accomplished something. I think that it’s similar to why you get tattoos…” Ronal let out a little hum, satisfied with your response. Soon enough she let you go and sent her mate to show you where you’d be staying. Conveniently, you were staying in a hut that was close to theirs. Tonowari knew from just watching his mate interact with you, that she had a special interest in you and to be honest he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was something special about you. So he decided to keep an eye on you, just to see what you’d do here in his village.

- The next day, you decided to go see what the Sully’s were doing, after all, that was the actual reason that you came. As soon as you entered their home, you were tackled by Tuk again. “AUNNTTTIIEEE” she yelled in a high-pitched voice. You giggled and hugged her back. The other members of the Family all stopped doing whatever it was that they were doing to come and greet you.

- Jake offered you his hand to pull you up from the floor and you gladly grasped it, giving him a bro hug right after. “How are you Jakie?“ you jokingly asked with a grin on your face. “Well- I'm doing ‘aight.” He replied while giving you a head pat. When he was still part of the avatar program you were like the whole department’s kid. You were a highly skilled pilot and that with just being barely an adult, so everyone mostly treated you like a little sibling once they got to know you. More often than not, Jake had to physically hold you back from doing something dangerous or stupid, like testing the new flying gear by doing aerial stunts. The two of you had grown close over time and he saw you as his little sister, so he was more than ecstatic when he heard that you were going to come over for a visit.

- Next you walked over to Neytiri and gave her a loose hug “Hey, where are my other niece and the two troublemakers?” you questioned jokingly. “It’s good to see you as well.” she smiled “I think they’re out in the reef.” As soon as those words left her mouth Tuk yelled “Oh- I can take you to them! C’mon!” she started jumping around, motioning for you to follow her “I'll show you my Ilu!!” You laughed a little before stepping out and following the young girl.

- Soon enough you were out in the reef playing and hanging out with your nieces and nephews and just a short while after a few other kids show up as well. They’re all interested in you, they don’t seem to be afraid at all! Even the adults of the clan didn’t seem to be reserved about you. Maybe it was that you also had tattoos? You knew that these people had to earn their tattoos and that it was how they earned their respect in the clan. Maybe that’s why they respected you.

- what you didn’t know though, was that two pairs of eyes were fixated on you. The two stood near the shore and watched you play and interact with the young clan members, not a worry in their minds, they were clearly both intrigued and they both knew it. The two shared a look, making their intentions clear to one another, they liked you and wanted you around. They just didn’t know how to get you to stay.

- That’s how it started. Soon you were a regular visitor and almost even a honorary clan member. Every time your visits got longer and longer and the time you weren’t there shorter and shorter.

- one time, Tonowari asked you if you wanted to try riding an Ilu, and of course, you said yes! So the two of you trotted to the beach and he called for one. It was a pretty Ilu and very friendly. It came close and snuggled its face to yours as you giggled. Tonowari could barely hold it together cause of your cuteness! He gently held the Ilu and bonded with it, getting on and offering you his hand. You placed your hand in his as he pulled you in front of him, securing you on the Ilu.

- The Ilu began swimming and you felt the water rush past your legs as they dangled off the sides. You dipped your fingertips in the water and couldn’t stop your smile from growing as a bit of sea foam got stuck. Tonowari was utterly happy when he got to share time with you, so he made sure to give you lots of rides, even on his tsurak!

- the two of them enjoyed spending time with you and showing you their ways and it filled them with nothing but happiness when you showed so much interest in their way of life. You even had your own hut that they kept neat for whenever you came to visit, it was your home away from home but lately, it seemed that it was the other way around, that the Forrest was your second home and the sea your first, along with the people you treasured most.

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mypoisonedvine · 3 months

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81:"just come to dinner with me. it doesn't have to be weird." 89:"keep the lights on, I want to see you." 88:"kiss me like you mean it." With Jack Whiskey or maxwell Lord.

Hope your having a lovley day<3

-❄

I know he's not everybody's favorite but I want a sugar daddy maxwell fic sooo bad! to make it fair I decided to take some liberties with his look lmao

length: 2.5k (no clue how that happened...)

warnings: smut (18+ ONLY), oral f receiving, sugar daddy relationship, alcohol consumption, possessiveness <3

You’d never done anything like this before— you made that perfectly clear to him, to the point that you wondered if it would scare him off. But it didn’t, which was equal parts comforting and concerning.

However, even with all your complex emotions towards the idea, you agreed to it. Just come to dinner with me, he’d told you, it doesn’t have to be weird. Nothing has to happen— it’s just dinner, no expectations.

That relieved you enough to get you to go out with him. He’s not expecting anything, you promised yourself, it’s just dinner. Nothing has to happen.

But you still put on your nicest lingerie under your dress… just in case.

The whole thing made you feel out of place, honestly: you’d never been to a restaurant this nice, you’d never worn a designer gown before (let alone one that someone had picked out and sent to you for your first date), you’d never been picked up by a private driver—you didn’t even know what to do when you got to the restaurant, so you were a bit relieved (if certainly surprised) when you walked in and they seemed to already know you.

The host greeted you by name, took your coat, and informed you that Mr. Lord is already waiting for you at his usual table. That made you wonder if a girl like you was his usual guest.

Your heart picked up its pace when you saw him from across the restaurant; he looked like he fit right in, with his hair slicked back in a black tux. He looked so natural like that, you couldn’t even imagine him without a tux. (Well, you could, but you were trying not to.)

But, your heart didn’t really start racing until he saw you. His eyes lit up, and a tilted smile filled his face as he stood to greet you.

“Don’t you look gorgeous!” he purred, leaning in to kiss your cheek as you approached— even that caught you off-guard, but you realized it wasn’t meant to be especially flirtatious, it was just one of those rich people greetings. Then again, the arm that reached around you so his hand could rest momentarily on your lower back felt a bit more than friendly. “You like the dress?”

“Y-yes, thank you,” you smiled nervously as you looked down at the floor-length black gown again, “it’s beautiful. And more comfortable than it looks.”

He laughed a bit, squeezing your arm briefly before gesturing for you to take your seat. One waiter was already pouring your water and another was draping a white napkin over your lap and pushing in your seat; “White or red, miss?” the one pouring drinks asked.

“O-oh, um—” you began, but Maxwell interrupted.

“Why don’t you bring her a glass of the ’61 Chateau Haut-Brion?” he suggested. “To go with mine.”

“Of course, sir,” the waiter nodded, and soon him and his fellow servers departed.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Maxwell addressed you again, “the house wines are fine— but I think you’ll like this one, it’s excellent.”

“Oh, I trust you,” you smiled, “you know a lot more about all this than me.”

“Try not to feel too intimidated,” he assured, “almost everyone here is worrying just as much as you about looking like they belong—probably even more than you are. The only difference is, you actually have enough beauty to not be outshined by a place like this.”

A little uncomfortable with the compliment, you looked around the modern space— so much glass and crystal sparkling under pleasantly-dim lights, with a view out over the ocean just outside the window you’d been seated against. It was sleek and ornate all at once. “It really is a lovely place, thank you for taking me here,” you announced.

“Oh, I come here all the time— more than I should,” he laughed. “I’ll warn you now, you might become addicted once you get a taste.”

A brief moment passed before he quirked a brow.

“Of the food, I mean,” he winked, and you giggled a bit.

“Right— should I, um, look at a menu?” you wondered.

“It’s actually a set course tonight,” he explained, “I hope you don’t mind. Honestly, I prefer not having to think about it— and the chef here never misses. He’s a good friend, actually.”

“I get the feeling you’re good friends with a lot of people,” you observed, and he gave you a knowing smile.

“Should I be offended?” he asked.

“No,” you laughed, “but you seem like you’re always getting in places, always getting special treatment or private access— ‘cause the theater owner is a good friend, the executive producer is a good friend…”

“You make me sound much more popular than I am,” he shrugged.

The waiter returned with a bottle in hand, showing the label to you and Maxwell. “The Chateau Haut-Brion you requested, Mr. Lord?”

“Fabulous, thank you,” Maxwell smiled as the waiter uncorked the bottle and poured glasses for you both.

“The first course will be out shortly,” the man explained before he departed; you reached for your glass, about to take a sip, but your date raised his own.

“A toast,” he suggested, making you stop pulling your glass closer and holding it up in anticipation instead, “to… new friends.”

You smiled and clinked your glass against his.

You tried not to look too starstruck as you looked around the penthouse apartment, but it was hard to hide your awe at all the fine art on the walls, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the glittery city below, the vintage and baroque furniture…

“I haven’t been here in a few weeks,” he explained as he sauntered inside after letting you in, “forgive me if it looks a little barren— I’ve been in my home in California for some time to manage my work there, I only visit my apartments occasionally—”

“You have more than one?!” you realized, unable to suppress the urge to gawk, and he smiled as you looked back over your shoulder at him.

“I have quite a few properties, yes,” he nodded. “Miami, Berlin, Hong Kong— all of these, of course, would be available to you whenever you’d like to visit, if you were to…”

He trailed off, approaching you as his eyes darkened a bit. “If I was to…?” you prompted.

You shivered slightly when he reached up to run his fingers gently along the curve of your jaw. “If you were to accept my offer.”

You swallowed, turning to face him properly, and sighed when his other hand came to rest on your waist. “A-and, if I was to…” you trailed off, apparently still not proud enough to say it, “would there be… anyone else?”

“No,” he shook his head, “not for either of us. That’s not what I want.”

He’d explained to you before, in a few different ways, what he did want. He’d explained that he enjoyed ‘dating’ this way because it took out the guesswork, because he was too busy for a traditional relationship. He needed a partner who could work around his complex schedule— and to soften the blow, he would send gifts to fill the time while he was gone. All he really asked was that you stay ready and waiting for him to return— or even to be ready to drop everything and hop on a private jet to come see him wherever he was when he needed you most.

The look in his eyes certainly showed that he needed you now. You knew that if you told him you didn’t want this— or even just that you didn’t want anything to happen tonight— he would be polite and sweet and have a car take you home. But you also got the feeling that if you said any of that, he would see right through it.

You wanted this too. It was sort of obvious, especially as your hands snaked up his chest over the fabric of his tux, resting on his shoulders as you looked up at him expectantly.

“Why don’t you tell me what you want, beautiful?” he suggested in a low voice.

“I… I want,” you began hesitantly, having to look away to find the courage to say it, “I want you to tell me what to do.”

He smiled a bit, lifting your chin and guiding you to look up at him again. “Kiss me like you mean it.”

You felt strange about that wording— like he thought you didn’t genuinely want this and just tolerated it in exchange for the money. Which wasn’t true, but then again, it is hard to turn a man down when you’re wearing the thousand-dollar dress he bought for you.

And, of course, you kissed him. You wove your fingers into the hair at the back of his neck, shutting your eyes and sighing as he tightened his grip on your waist; he wrapped you up in his arms, slowly and gently, and hummed lowly against your lips. There was something about it that was different from every other first kiss you’d had (or possibly every other kiss you’d ever had) but you completely lacked the words to describe it. Maybe it was how careful he was with you, how oddly patient; or maybe it was how quickly you found yourself wanting more.

You opened your mouth slightly, letting him delve deeper with his tongue, though he wasn’t too aggressive about it at first. It was still sweet and slow, and you relaxed further as you pressed your body to his.

He broke away sooner than you wanted him to, and you watched his eyes scan over your face before they drifted to your shoulder— where his hand was tracing over the strap of your dress, teasing that he might slide it down at any moment. You found yourself wishing he would, but instead he brought his eyes back to your own.

“Would you mind if I showed you the bedroom?” he suggested.

“Not at all,” you breathed.

You didn’t get a very thorough tour, not when you were stumbling backwards through the door as his hands ran all over you. He quickly flipped on the light switch as he walked past it, only for you to reach and turn it off again. He smiled playfully at you as he broke his lips away. “Now, darling, how am I supposed to show you the bedroom in the dark?” he mused.

“You can show me after,” you sighed, trying to tug him by the jacket into another kiss, but he resisted with a smug grin.

“After,” he repeated with a low, rich voice that seemed to wash right over you. “But what we’re about to do, I don’t want to do in the dark, either— you’re much more exciting to look at than some boring old bedroom that’s been on the cover of Architectural Digest…”

You laughed a little, but he bit his lip as he pulled you closer to him.

“Keep the lights on,” he pleaded— or maybe demanded, “I want to see you.”

You flipped the lights back on, and he almost turned that designer gown to shreds getting it off you.

He growled as he got a glimpse of your lingerie, and you bit your lip through a smile when he met your gaze again. “Oh, angel— you’ll spoil me.”

He dropped to his knees in front of you, making you gasp slightly as he delicately ran his fingers along the lacy hem of your panties.

“You’re so gorgeous,” he sighed, “I need to taste you.”

“Fuck,” you mumbled, “o-okay, whatever you want.”

Looking up at you, he shot you a glittering smile. “Get used to saying that, beautiful.”

You shuddered, just as he pulled the panties down and dove between your legs.

You felt a bit undignified with him burying his mouth against you while you were standing up; your knees wobbled and he grabbed onto your hips to help keep your balance, sliding his tongue out between your lips.

“Fuck!” you gasped, reaching down and grabbing a handful of his hair greedily. He moaned against you, shutting his eyes tighter, lapping at you eagerly. He pulled away far too soon, and you whimpered before he beamed up at you with slick lips.

“Get on the bed,” he demanded.

You didn’t need a tour of the room to find that: you stepped out of your panties and fell back onto it, smiling at him as he quickly slipped off his jacket and climbed up over you with an insatiable look on his face, his dark hair broken out of its style by your touch and dangling down around his face.

“Take this off,” he instructed, running a finger over your bra as he balanced himself to hover over you.

You sat up enough to reach behind your back, unfastening the garment and shimmying out of it to toss aside onto the floor.

His gaze raked over you lasciviously. “Forgive me,” he breathed, “if I can’t find the heart to take my time with you like I imagined.”

You felt your heart skip, just before he descended and kissed you again, the tangy taste of your own arousal making you moan in the back of your throat. The kiss was filthier and needier than ever, and quickly moved down to your neck; your back arched up off the satin sheets as his tongue traced your pulse.

“I could spend all night,” he panted between heady kisses, “tasting you everywhere.”

“God,” you whimpered, “I won’t stop you.”

“And what if I want to spend the whole night inside you?” he challenged further, making you whine and stir under him. He pressed his weight down on you as you slowly spread your legs; you felt suddenly aware of him still being almost entirely dressed while you were stripped to nothing, and it somehow only made you more desperate for him.

“Please,” you begged, feeling his teeth scrape your neck as his hips rocked against yours. You gasped feeling how hard he was, and it turned into a proper moan as one of his hands groped roughly at your chest. “Fuck, Max—”

“When you say my name like that, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to control myself,” he growled, pulling back to look down at you.

“Then don’t,” you offered with a smirk.

“Just promise me one thing,” he began, surprising you with the change of his tone. “If we do this… you’re mine.”

Your throat caught on nothing.

“If you can’t handle that, I understand,” he mitigated, “but I can’t pretend that I feel any differently— I need you, all to myself. I need to know that you belong to me.”

You found yourself nodding before you even really thought it through. “I’m yours,” you promised as you clutched desperately at his shirt, making him smile proudly. “Fuck, I’m all yours.”

He kissed you—not as ruthless as the last one, but still plenty passionate. This time, you were completely sure you’d never been kissed like this.

“I want you to say that,” he purred against your lips, “every time I make you come.”

#maxwell lord x reader #maxwell lord smut #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal smut

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daizthecraze · 10 months

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Watched the new Helluva Boss episode that we waited forever for.

Honestly at this point I give every episode without Stolas at least 1 star automatically because I'm so tired of him. He’s as complex as a wet paper bag and it amazes me how he's so popular in the fandom.😭😭

Kesha’s character, whatever the fuck her name is....Queen Bee? Yeah her design confused the absolute hell outta me, more specifically her hair cuz it's like she had a patch of normal-ish hair then the designing team was like “SHE NOT INTERESTING ENOUGH!” and then just slapped that lava lampish kind of shit on her and it just didn't work for me at all.

I also had no clue she was the ruler of the gluttony ring until I read a post here on Tumblr and I just.....WHAT?? she just seems like a regular ass hell hound that they slapped some random goofy shit onto to make her look more “special” and like I read on another post here...SHES DATING A HELLHOUND!? Who are seen as lower than Imps so what the fuck makes Stolas and Blitz relationship so dire and special in the first place!? Like according to levels of authority Blitz and Stolas’s relationship should be better then Queen Bee and Vortex cuz Stolitz level of authority are more closer together than a ruler of the rings and a hell hound..?? This really annoys me cuz with how the show is going I really doubt they're even gonna talk about what's going on with that and why one is acceptable and the other isn't.

Like at least with Fizz and Asmodeus it seems they're keeping their seemingly more romantic side hidden from the general public which looks like it's gonna be addressed in a later episode but with Queen Bee’s relationship she's just public about it...??

Also another note...am I the only one that was confused with what the hell was up with Lonna during the beginning of the episode? Like she seemed nervous then ran into a random ass group of girls who she apperently knew who made her more upset after shoeing a emmbarring photo. Like ok I get what she was upset for with that…but then that ends and she’s continues to be upset through the rest of the first half and I’m like why is she still upset throughout the whole song?? I wish they would give her some fucking dialogue to talk about her emotions other then be so god damn vague cuz I had no clue what the fuck she was thinking and it felt like they wanted her to be upset for random conflict without giving us a reason as to why she’s acting the way she is. After she meets Queen Bee she can’t even be completely shocked and upset cuz she already knew Vortex had a girlfriend cuz he told her in episode fucking 3. The only thing she would be surprised about was that he was dating a leader of the ring….but we don’t specifically understand what the fuck she’s so upset about…

I don’t know. It just really bothered me cuz I was expecting to learn more shit about Loona but I have to remind myself that this show really has a terrible time writing female characters.

Also the ending with Blitz and Loona would of been a decent moment if we didn’t already see that she completely physically beats him and acts like a massive bitch the first time we see her in the next season so 🙃🙃🙃

Episode didn’t really feel all that special….

#helluva boss rant #helluva boss critical #helluva spoilers #rant #anti vivziepop #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss

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playertwotails · 2 months

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Per the poll I put out I'm gonna ramble about how Tails displays his genius vs how Eggman does.

It's long so under the cut it goes

We'll start with Eggman. Now Eggman clearly has a complex. He's talked about being compared to Maria his whole life which has made him want a lot of attention. Which a valid feeling but then Eggman being Eggman takes it to the ^nth degree.

See he has to make sure EVERYONE knows how smart he is. He plasters his face over everything he makes, names everything after himself to some degree, and is loud bragging all the time about his latest greatest creation and everyone being inferior to him and his genius.

He's gonna make sure that people recognize him and what he's done no matter what.

With this mindset, all of his creations are only for the benefit of he, himself and no one else. Every invention he creates falls under 3 categories.

Expanding the Eggman Empire

Kill Sonic

Or both

Even when he has "allies" he very rarely gives them any of his inventions unless they directly benefit himself (hello start of the Zombot arc). His selfishness and self importance has him only making things that fuel his own desires and wants.

On the flip side of this though we have Tails.

Now Tails also has houses that look like him and has his own logo (and I'll get into that a little later). But in contrast to Eggman Tails doesn't brag much about his creations. He'll be proud of them and talk about them but never in a condescending manner.

(Side note: off the top of my head I think the only times we may have seen a slightly more condescending tone is a few times when he's talking to Sonic but it always came off as more of a "little sibling being a little shit" kinda tone)

Tails showing his friends his inventions is never in a "Look how much better than you I am cause I made this" kinda way. It's always felt more like a kid showing people their macaroni art cause they're proud they were able to make it. (which he is 8 so def fits lol)

And half the time his inventions are for the benefit of not only himself but all their friends, allies and just other people in general. He makes things to share and help improve what people already have to make their lives easier/safer. I mean look what he did to Sonic's plane. and their communication devices.

Now onto my next point: Quality over Quantity

So switching back to Eggman, he gets so focused on making these massive armies and sprawling cities/bases with his face plastered and designed into everywhere he's not gonna be able to do that by himself. So most of his creations are made in production lines not by his own hands.

Most of the time when we see Eggman he's not making something he's at a control panel directing things to be made. He's very hands off with the majority of his own creations with the exception of his more one of a kind creations like Metal Sonic.

Meanwhile we see Tails is always fiddling with things, taking them apart, and improving them, sometimes it's Eggman's own creations Tails messes with. Tails is typically shown to be very hands on. And yeah his house and inventions have his logo or face on them but their all one of a kind, hand crafted creations not massive bases that go on for miles (lol). So it feels more like a signature than an announcement like Eggman's does.

Now bringing this all together it comes down to the one person Tails is boastful to and constantly saying their not as smart as him --- Eggman.

Now, Eggman on multiple occasions has recognized how smart Tails is but we rarely if ever (off the top of my head) see Tails saying the same about Eggman.

Most of the time Tails is roasting him about shoddy craftsmanship and how Eggman's plans are dumb. One thing I've noticed too is we always see Tails hacking and messing with Eggmans tech but we've never really seen the reverse as far as I can recall.

Heck we've seen multiple time Tails taking apart Eggman's machines and talking about how weird and unorganized all his bots insides. We've seen Tails casually hack into Eggman's networks in the middle of fights.

Which brings us back to the quality over quantity thing. Because Eggman's armies and bases are mass produced mostly at this point so the craftsmanship quality goes down. Eggman is a genius for sure but even if his designs are great since he's not behind every robot creating them, his own genius suffers. He's too busy trying to make it big and loud that what's actually produced it of a lesser quality.

And then we have Tails who is one on one with all his creations and that makes them harder for Eggman to destroy cause Tails can personally check everything is up to snuff for all his inventions. (meanwhile too Tails rips Eggman's robots apart for extra screws probably)

I just think that it's very funny that while Eggman goes to great lengths to show the whole world he's smarter than everyone else, Tails just needs Eggman to know he's smarter then him.

#miles tails prower #tails the fox #sonic the hedgehog #dr eggman #this went more into craftsmanship then i meant for it to #but I feel like that still goes hand in hand with showing people how smart you are #can't really show it if a bunch of kids not done or even starting puberty yet are constantly destroying your stuff #“Look at my newest greatest creation!!!” - “it's a pile of scrap??” - “...the 8 year old must have gotten a hold of it”

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indie-ttrpg-of-the-week · 2 months

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Game Garage: Lancer

Hello! Welcome to what I hope to be the first instance of a series about Game design and clever usages thereof in Tabletop games! We'll be talking about lancer, it was the first post on this blog so I felt it was fitting, we'll be going through standard character creations from License Level 0 til License Level 3, and showing how our mech, and pilot, grows during that time while playing out a theoretical game. Is this just like the example of plays in the actual books? Yes! But I wish to go for some more mechanical depths than those often do, and try to theorize around certain decisions made in a specific game.

I'll be using Comp/Con as a visual for this guide, I'm aware there's other ways to do mech building but basically everyone agrees you should just use Compcon for it, also while I'll avoid using expansions too much, I'll still assume you at minimum have KTB as it adds some pilot-side customization

LL0: Beginnings

You are immediately prompted to give a portrait, name, Callsign, and a background to your character, already just giving your character a callsign adds that little bit of personality to them! Lancer is primarily focused on the tactics side, rather than the roleplay side, but these little things do really help in fleshing out a character's personality, as that's still a factor.

I'll also give a quick shout out to Comp/Con for having the sickest UI of any webapp for a ttrpg i've seen, intuitive and strangely immersive, I really like it

Thracia was a project by a shadowy, now defunct, corporation to create a spokesperson for their gene editing services, the company went defunct before she turned 3, so she was just thrown away into some bin somewhere. She was eventually picked up by a gang of mercs who brought her back to base where she was effectively communally raised before joining the corps proper at age 20.

Now that we've filled out some simple flavor, lets move on to proper stat creation

We're brought to a stat creation screen, these don't matter too much in combat, but outside of them they're what your character specializes in, their role outside of the mechs. Don't sweat these too much, you can respect at any level up in lancer, and this won't matter too much outside of on the floor missions, which barely happen

For now, Thracia's good at fighting, investigating, and leading and inspiring, its what she was built for after all!

Now we get to talents, these are vaguely intimidating at first glance, but don't worry, you can respec at any time RAW, and they're pretty easy to decode once you get the hang of the system. For now, just think of what your role within the party will be, I want Thracia to be an artillery Pilot with a side of support, so we'll be taking Crack shot (which lets me give up my movement to become better at aiming each turn) , Leadership (which lets me add leadership dice dice to allied rolls as long as my fellow party member is within range) and Technophile (which gives me a Servant-Class NHP, a form of AI that controls my mech if I'm away, not too useful right now, but gets better benefits later on)

Now we get to the part I don't like, Mech Skills. Mech Skills are... theoretically really fun, but practically speaking you always want at least one level in Hull, and the other level in whatever your main stat is, in this case we'll be taking Engineering, you'll see why later.

Now we have our full pilot card! but there's still a little bit left to do before we Level Up for our first time.

First lets pick out our equipment, this is basically purely flavor so just pick what you think your character would logically have

NOW! we finally get to the fun part: Building your Mech... kinda

see right now, you're stuck with default configurations, you're not licensed for anything more complex than GMS mechs, the Great Value store brand of Lancer. So we carry on with an Everest, a basic if not a bit underwhelming mech, its reliable, customizable, and handy, if not a bit underwhelming and a lot less flashy and optimized than later mechs you get, I'd still keep an everest in your backpocket though, never know when you might need it

Someone playing with all official products would have a choice of 3 different GMS mechs, but I still recommend just picking the Everest, its the handiest option. though for reference: the Chomolungma is a Hacking frame, and the Sagamartha is a tank

You're prompted to name your mech, Thracia's gonna name it A farewell to Arms, after an ancient book she read once

Booting into your mech screen, it may feel a bit overwhelming at first but don't worry, these all aren't too complex to understand Traits are just that, what your mech has that makes it special from other mechs, its just that genesequouis that makes them cooler than other mechs.

Attributes are derivative stats that take your skills, Grit, and base mech stats into account, in our case the Everest is pretty middling in everything, but has a decent heat capacity due to our investment into Engineering.

and now for the fun bits, Core System and Mounts

Core Systems contain two things: your ultimate move, your signature play, that special power that you use once per duel and spare only for the most dire moments! the other thing is your Core System itself, Everest doesn't have any, but for future reference these are what your build is entirely based around, your core gimmick

Mounts are what you put your weapons into, and Systems are non directly attacking abilities that you use to gain advantage during battles, we once again only have GMS tools to go with for now. Something clever about the mount system is that it adds an inherent balance to mechs, a mech could have incredibly powerful abilities, but lack specific mounts that could make it overbearing, as an example the Gorgon lacks a heavy weapon mount, and Heavy weapon mounts are in general sparsely distributed, as giving them to the wrong mech could break the balance, this is a problem I see a lot of lancer GMs and homebrewers run into, underestimating the power of a heavy slot, even some who were contracted by Massif themselves!

For now, we'll give ourselves a shotgun, to dispatch enemies at close range, a Mortar, to deal with large clusters of enemies, and an Anti-Materiel Rifle to be our primary weapon.

Now for the systems, you have a budget of SP to use on buying systems for your mech from the ones you've unlocked, the GMS systems, outside of some standouts like the Flight System are... underwhelming mostly, you'll usually dumpster these pretty quick, but we might as well pick them because hey, its just free advantage, right?

We'll be mounting our free NHP we got from our talents of course, as well as a shield, a turret drone as we're not doing much with our reactions right now and they allow you to expend a reaction to deal some extra damage, Personalizations and a Custom Paintjob, these are basically just flavor but they both have to do with adding some extra bulk to your mech, in our case the Personalization is a built-in winch, adding a +1 to relevant Hull skill checks, and the Paintjob is a tasteful pin-up of an older looking woman, a fling from a past mission.

And that's it for LL0! It might feel like a lot, but I promise its a breeze in actual play. Now onto: LL1: Your First Taste of TRUE power

Thracia Schrader Came back to home base, sweaty and tired after a long mission, nothing big, just dispatching some pirates, but it was her first truly serious one, only to receive a ping on her terminal: she'd gotten a promotion, she'd be given budget to buy new parts for her mech, a raised paycheck, and some free time to work on new skills, she was over the moon, finally she'd be getting recognized!

Now onto LL1, so far your mech has had decently high customization, but from here on out? the world's your oyster honey, pull it open and devour its flesh, show the world that it's gotta be scared of you!... I think I lost my train of thought there, sorry about that.

Anyways, when leveling up you'll be given the down-low on what you're getting, an improvement to your skill triggers, more talents, more skills, more grit, your first license unlock, extra sauce on your eggs, and a complementary chocolate bar... OK those last two aren't there, but I'm sure most merc companies add them in

Skills don't matter too much so we'll skip over that, but for reference I took a boost in Leadership

You get an improvement in one talent, in my case I'll take the second tier of Technophile, which lets me reroll one roll per scene, very useful. You can also take a 4th talent at this point, but I recommend holding out a bit before doing that, your build is too weak to really afford big moves like that right now. You could also actually delevel one of your talents and level another to level 3, if you have a talent that you don't really need or want, but again, not recommended unless you know what you're doing

Now onto mech skills, you just get a flat +1 to any skill, right now I'd advise taking whatever you picked as your second skill after Hull, but if you wanna boost hull even further because you don't wanna get hurt too bad, I don't blame you, but we'll be getting that engineering boost for now

NOW to the fun part, the part we're all looking forward to (I think), getting more mech parts! now, people familiar with the system knows that the Engineering boosts and Artillery focus probably means we'll be taking a Harrison license, the 4 licenses in the game correspond roughly to the 4 mech skills in how they're built, they do end up mattering for something called Core Bonuses, but that's for much later, for now just treat them like a way to split playstyles. IPS-N likes Hull, Smith-Shimano Corp likes Agility, HORUS likes Systems, and Harrison Armory likes Engineering, choose accordingly.

We'll be unlocking the Sherman first, its a cool mech that I think often gets overlooked in this game's cluster fucks of eldritch mecha nightmares and othersuch things. You don't get the mech itself until LL2, so for now just slap on the parts you got into an Everest

The first level up is always kinda underwhelming in lancer, but trust me it'll get better from here! for now, we'll just replace our shotgun with a Sol-Pattern Laser Rifle, and our Personalizations and Custom Paint Job with a Reactor Stabilizer, a useful tool for keeping us nice and healthy when melting down

That's about it for LL1, yeah as I said its kinda boring, but it only gets better with LL2: You know what they say: Find what your niche is, that leads to riches!

Thracia Schrader comes back home, tattered, bruised and beaten, the promotion obviously meant more dangerous missions, this she knew, but she didn't expect to deal with enemies of that caliber just yet, turns out the pirates were more equipped than she thought at first, they seem too organized to be pirates actually... Well, she's being paid to dispatch rabblerousers, not think, she goes back to sleep in her cot, while browsing mech licenses for sale, she got a big bonus, she can splurge a little bit

While you get the same benefits as from LL1, this is where the fun really begins because if you take a second level from your frame you obtain:

A frame! You can finally get out of that dinky everest and get into something COOL! Frames in lancer essentially serve as your classes, they're what you mount your other obtained abilities into to create your unique playstyle, but overall they're probably the most important aspect of your character. Frames can have different sizes, HP thresholds, armor, and so on. the Frame system leads to your creativity being effectively limitless, while I'm doing a fairly basic artillery build, I'm sure a melee Sherman build could be fully possible! anyways, if you're using this as a build guide for some reason, I took Crack shot and an extra point in Hull alongside the Sherman frame

Now lets build our new puppy shall we? Our new mech will be called... how about Mr. Blue Sky? its Thracia's favorite childhood song

Now you'll have to rebuild your mech, but with a few considerations in mind 1: Your mounts are all different now, you can't rely on the weapons you did previously most of the time, Sherman's actually an exception to this, it has largely the same mounts as an everest, with the main difference being a built-in laser gun which charges while stabilizing, hm, maybe taking some stabilization talents could be worth the time... 2: Your new mech has new traits! the traits in the everest were pretty simple, just some bonus actions once per scene, "More of what's good" is the unofficial GMS Motto

The sherman's a bit more complex, it can keep you in the danger zone (which benefits not just the sherman but most Harrison Armory mechs really), give you soft cover by throwing steam at your enemy's face, and makes it better at engineering (handy, since you'll be trying your best to not take too much unintended heat)

For equipment, we'll be using some old tools and the new ones we just got

Sherman just got the incredibly powerful Andromeda-Pattern heavy laser rifle, but don't worry kids, this isn't the peak of laser power, oh no no, that comes a bit later. We're also using our handy shotgun, she needs to defend herself from nearby enemies somehow.

For systems, we're dumping the reactor stabilizer, its served its purpose but we can manage our heat better now, and we're picking up a deployable cover, useful for long drawn out gun fights, personalizations (a huge library of ancient and modern texts, useful for SYSTEMS checks), and turret drones, we're still not doing much with that reaction and our sensor range's pretty dang strong. Now a word of advice, at LL2 is where your build will branch most, you're comitting to an entirely new mech after all! but always remember: you can respec at any time

LL3: True Power!

Thracia comes back home and brews herself a cup of tea, so it turns out that the pirates she was dispatching were just locals defending themselves against the corporate agency paying her, she was offered a contract by them, lower price, but less price on the conscience, she urged her boss to take it, and she did take it in the end, she thanked Christ the Buddha she didn't need to betray the closest thing she had to a family. Tomorrow, Thracia would dispatch a corporate HQ, the locals were calling the Union for aid, and they promised aid would come in the form of supplies, but they'd need to fend for themselves, and supplies did come, she took some of the mech weapon supplies for herself, she was fighting for them now, might as well right?

LL3 is where your chosen frame's power peaks, many people actually skip the third level of a license, the items given are usually fairly niche, we won't be doing that, this is a pretty standard build so i don't think its worth it

you know the drill for skills

Talents, I'll actually do something a bit weird here, if anything to demonstrate one of the more interesting RAW decisions of Lancer, I'll take away crackshot. Most of the laser rifles of the sherman are AOEs, and Crackshot assumes one target. Instead we'll be taking two levels of Grease Monkey, they make our stabilizations stronger, and give us some nice bonuses during rests, and we'll also be capping off Technophile, you'll see why soon.

We'll be leveling up Engineering for this level and taking the final level of sherman, but more on that later because now, we have the first sight of our Core Bonuses

the 5 companies of lancer like to reward brand loyalty, so if you stick with one company for 3 levels, you unlock their "Core Bonuses". what are these? these are powerful abilities that you only get every 3 levels, and you need to have 3 levels in a company to unlock their respective core powers, GMS powers are unlocked by default of course. We'll be taking Superior by Design, the premiere Harrison Armory ability

the boost to heat cap is what we're looking for, anything that makes us less punished for taking too much heat is a good thing. the Impaired immunity is a good bonus

Now at this point, your mech should have unlocked their most powerful weapon and system, these are often "Super Heavy" weapons, which means they take up two slots to mount, but sometimes they just may be a powerful control ability, for example the Kidd unlocks their ability to build misc structures at that level.

We'll be installing our brand new and shiny Tachyon Lance, a massive motherfucker of a weapon that just emits a line of destruction and a cone of destruction behind you

we'll also keep the shotgun, its a handy weapon

for systems, we'll be equipping our brand new Asura-Class NHP, what does it do?

well, once per scene, it just lets you take another turn! No caveats, and the only real cost is a bit of heat on your end, but other than that? you just have two turns that turn, incredibly valuable in a build that often wants to stabilize, wasting precious actions

Oh, as for the third level of technophile? I can't have 2 NHPs in a mech at once unless I take that level, its just not possible, NHPs are incredibly powerful resources so I understand wanting to limit them like that.

That's about it for LL3, its your peak of power... for now, but soon enough your mech might be having some... foreign intrusions

LL4: The Crossover nobody wanted

Thracia was broken. She wished she'd never signed up for this mission in the first place. Children and women running from corporate mechs way better equipped than them, farms being abandoned by people who lived there for generations, good people sacrificing themselves to keep their loved ones safe. Terrakis had gone from a quick buck by dispatching pirates, to a nightmare. She was always told it was a dirty business, making money from blood, but she never expected it to be this bad. Looking to calm down, she calls up a friend, a warehouse worker from IPS-N, and wonders if she could maybe hook her up with something

You know the drill by now, the only thing of note is I'm going to dump Leader to take 2 levels in Siege Specialist (lets me take down structures more easily and lets me knock down adjacent enemies), we're picking up another level of Hull, and now, for the interesting bit: your 4th license

At this point, you've found your niche and made your mech plenty strong... but it could always be better, right?

Thracia picks up a level of the Drake, giving her the powerful Assault Cannon, a handy, if not low ranged, weapon that can grow in strength by spinning its barrels before launching, as a bonus its also a cannon allowing for our Siege Specialist to trigger. She throws away her nostalgic shotgun for this weapon

Thracia had also been feeling protective of her fellow backliner, a clumsy goblin pilot named Lika whom she borderline had a crush on, while Thracia's mech isn't bulky by any means, its bulkier than xer goblin, so she gives up her redundant systems to pick up the Argonaut Shield, a tool that lets her take half the damage her fellow pilot would take instead.

Conclusion: You got your tools now! Thracia was tired of seeing people dying, she was tired of the war, of the bastards in suits puppeteering it, she wanted it done and she wanted it done now. Talking to the leaders of the locals they decide on a final plan of attack: destroying the HQ of the corporate settlers

SimpleCorp must fall

Terrakis must be free

From here on out, you have your own tools to make your own builds, remember to focus on your roles, pick up abilities that complement your allies' playstyles and positionings, and most of all: have fun! a bad build in lancer isn't a huge deal, you can always try and try again until you get it right.

Oh, you wanna know how Thracia's story ended? Alright then, here you go

Mr. Blue Sky stood atop the ruins of SimpleCo's elite pilot: Fear, Thracia was no longer afraid, she was no longer broken, she was now only filled with pride, and joy. Terrakis was free, and she had been a part of its liberation. She hoped this would send a message to any bastard trying to take it over, she looks upon the pictures hanging inside her cockpit, complimentary drawings given to her by small children, of her mech as a hero of legend, of SimpleCo goons being burnt by her Tachyon Lance. That day, Thracia knew she had for once in her life done the right thing. After all of this, she decided to stay, War was not her business, and the locals of Terrakis wished for her to stay to help with any future intrusions.

She and Lika lived a peaceful life together, no one wanted to fuck with Terrakis after SimpleCo's downfall

Too cheesy? well, sometimes that's just how careers end, in the duty of a lancer, you either leave before you die, or you die before you leave. Go play your own stories! I'm sure there's some GM out there struggling to find new players who'd love to have you in their group

oh fuck i completely forgot to talk about bond-

#ttrpg #ttrpg community #indie ttrpg #misc indie #ttrpg design #lancer rpg

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pastafossa · 5 months

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Dear pasta

Do you have any wood carving tips for beginners?

I bought a bunch of wood and a couple of knives and idk what to do

BOY DO I. And I'm in a good spot for it because I have FOUR carvings of the same design in various stages of completion to assist.

I'm going to also put this behind a cut so that anyone who's like br br pasta it's just wood wood is boring NO IT'S NOT IT'S AMAZING isn't forced scroll by. Although I'm keeping the first tip in the open because IT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

TIPS FROM SIX YEARS OF CARVING/INJURIES/VISITS WITH MY CARVING TEACHER.

First, get yourself a pair of no cut gloves if you haven't already. I use these! They're cheap and they WILL save you a trip to the ER. Take it from someone who carved without them once and slipped with their knife and basically cut themselves down to the bone in their hand. 7 stitches and one bitchin scar later, I now never carve without gloves.

OK. So when starting, you're going to have your wood in of three forms: a blank (a small block of wood), a cut out (a blank that's been cut by a bandsaw into a basic shape), or a rough out (a cutout that's had most excess cut away and just needs details and final shaping). I don't know obviously which you have, but a LOT of people starting out aren't aware that when you're learning you can often purchase cutouts that make things easier (Hummul for example has a lot!). You can still carve from a blank, though! It'll just take a bit longer. Here's a picture with the 3 stages of my sea serpent design, and the first sea serpent I ever made that I carved from a blank, so you can see what I meam (coils are different on 3 just cause I felt like it, so ignore that).

When starting, try to stick to more simple designs so you don't get overwhelmed. Think smaller, basic shapes, usually made of something like basswood which is a nice soft wood (easy to cut). My teacher for example starts everyone on basswood rubber ducky shapes! So there's no complex details, and more abstract shapes. These are three of the carvings I made that first week of my class as an example (the little face is called a wood spirit and you can find a lot of guides for them on youtube, they're very popular!)

There is a basic process here that we can see with the sea serpents again! Step 1 you trace your design. Step 2, you're removing the large or small chunks of excess (this is where some use a bandsaw if accessible). Step 3 is rounding and shaping. And step 4 is adding details and finishing. If you're not sure about shapes, consider using some basic outlines from online! I've even used toys to give me a basic shape!

GRAINS: when you first begin to cut, you're going to want to cut with the grain as much as possible. Wood carves far more easily when your knife moves with the grain than against it. There will be points where you have no choice (this is why basswood is a popular wood for beginners and experts alike - little grain, very soft), but try as best you can to go with it. You'll feel it when you cut with it - it'll be a lot easier, but depending on the wood, you can also see it! The bottom wood has an easy to see grain, the top one a bit harder (also note the difference between the band saw lines - perfectly straight and up and down - and the actual grain - left to right, more wavy, nature hates straight lines), and the middle you'll have to look closely to see. If you've got pretty natural grains, most carvers stain or seal them without paint. Basswood's got borderline no visible grain so is almost always painted (see duck above). You'll likely develop a preference as time goes on, too!

If you're carving from a straight up wood blank, try to make your design fit the shape as closely as possible. This will minimize the amount of excess wood you have to cut off! Especially since your first step is removing what doesn't belong before you start curving and rounding (there's also pencil marks on the top, so I know what I'm carving on all sides).

SHARPEN SHARPEN SHARPEN. If you've got a good knife, it likely came pre sharpened, which is great and can serve you for quite a while, especially if you're cutting softer woods! But you're also going to need to sharpen your knife regularly - I'm working on a very hard walnut dolphin atm and I'm sharpening every 20 minutes or so cause it wears the blade down. To sharpen, you use a strop. There are additional guides for that and places to buy one, but if you're handy you can make one. My teacher's (and mine) is literally strips of cork board covered in compound, and glued to two sides of a wood paddle. Very cheap. 😂 If you need tips on sharpening, let me know!

If you're going to use a natural finish on your wood (i.e. anything but basswood), you'll want to sand after carving and before sealing! Start with 80 grit, then move to 120 grit, and finish with 240. Note: as you start to sand, you'll see lots of little spots appear! You want to sand those away!

MOST SEALANTS ARE TOXIC TO BREATHE, DO IT OUTSIDE OR WEAR A MASK! If you want to avoid that, seal with something like Tried and True Original Finish or try carving wood you paint instead, since you basically carve, skip sanding, and paint with watered down acrylics!

Lastly, the way I hold my knife when carving: I use my thumb against the non-cutting edge to 'push' the knife in a hingeing motion (I'll see if I can make a gif for it at some point). It takes some strain off your hands and lends more strength to the knife for harder or quick cuts. You can also cut VERY fast once you get this down, and my teacher's approved it as a valid technique.

I hope these help! I love love LOVE carving and wish there were more classes around for people to take! Fortunately there are a lot of youtube vids and guides but SO much of it is really just practice. It's also an incredibly soothing hobby. I love sitting in front of a movie or series or listening to a podcast/audio book while I just sit and cut away. And remember, if you have a blank and get into it and start to feel overwhelmed, there are plenty of cutouts and roughouts you can try instead that mean all you need to work on is shaping and detailing! Let me know if you have any other questions!

#woodcarving #i love woodcarving so much and love to talk about it 😂#it is so gd calming and not a lot of people are doing it anymore sadly #my teacher is like 80 something and worried it'll become a lost artform #so i love to spread the word of how SERIOUSLY FUCKING COOL THIS IS #my mantle is covered in pieces for a reason and my friends love getting them as gifts 😂#plus eventually you can make FANDOM THINGS #(not me making a Bucky Barnes bear carving and having plans for a Beardevil 👀)#also seriously wear your gloves though #the er doctor was like WOW this is such a smooth cut almost like a scalpel! what were you doing???#but at least my scar on my hand is a cool story now #gloves mean no scar for you 😂

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the-nameless-juan · 1 year

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So guess what just came in the mail today! (Err well not technically today as I was out of country but y’all know what I mean!)

That’s my copy of the 2nd edition Oracle Dice by @publishinggoblin, as you might know by my posts I am a big fan of Tarot and tarot adjacent practices but I also a big fan of the first oracle dice which I got as an add-on in one @publishinggoblin’s previous crowdfunding campaigns (believe it was for The Narmol Tarot 2nd Edition) which I absolutely adored. Haven’t really posted it much about it mostly because it more than an other form divination seems to almost gleefully cut to the heart of things and hit nothing but nerves, but not in a bad way? Honestly don’t know how to explain it, it’s just the reading we’re always intensely personal and raw, so I never felt comfortable posting about my readings with them.

Anyways, when this 2nd edition was announced I backed it almost immediately at the Etched in Stone tier, to get those fancy dice made of, you probably guessed it stone. So I’ve decided to do this rambling review first impression thing for… well anyone who wants it!

First a look at the mat

The very that jumps out at me is what an improvement it is over the first one! Not to say the first mat is bad, the things takes center stage of my tarot reading and in fact has shaped it radically I love it to bits but the design of this new mat is just 💋.

Plus the texture is just fantastic, has that fantastic smooth silky thing going that I just love to glide my hand along.

And then there is the second side, while the loss of the rubber bottom to prevent slippage is regrettable this second reading space is wonderful. I haven’t even cracked open the guide to see the traditional use and interpretations but I am already feeling inspired. I cannot wait to get started, and I have a distinct feeling this may well be taking over as the centerpiece of my divination practice going forward.

Now then, onto what is probably the main event, the Dice

Ahhhhhh they’re so preety 😍 As a reminder these are the fancier Etched in Stone tier dice, each is made of a different stone and the faces are all etched in and inked and look absolutely stunning in person. Just holding them is a treat and the noise they make when you shakey-shakey them in preparation for a throw is fantastic. I fear now that I have experienced non-plastic dice I will never be able to go back, I have yet to even properly cast them but I love them already.

But wait, there’s more!

There were two Oracle decks on offer so of course I had to get both.

On the right we got the Dice Face Oracle which turn each dice face into its own individual card along with a guide to reading them as cards, but also encourages you to read them as their dice versions meaning you have options when performing readings and I love that shit, there is nothing that I love more than a reading that evolves and shifts the more you stare and stew on it. Also every one of the dice face icons are excellently designed and having them in a bigger blown up form is wonderful.

On the left we got the 22 card Lords of Oracle deck. Each of the dice has its own lord who is an embodiment of their die with their own lore and my god I love this art! I can absolutely see myself pulling one of these cards and having on of these lords color a reading in a completely new light, the potential is just breathtaking.

And last but certainly not least, the tomes.

I haven’t had a chance to truly sit down and read the guide, but from a quick skimming it is still written in the same easy to understand way as the 1st edition. The first edition was a fantastic guide to a admittedly complex divination practice and as long as this second edition continues that with the new dice it is a welcome edition to the books I reference on the regular, plus having page size version of the Lords of Oracle art is just wonderful.

The reading journal is a fantastically designed tool especially for those beginning with these dice. I would have loved something like this for when I started with the first edition as it was a tad bit overwhelming with it’s… everything. I will most certainly be making use of it

Righto, that’s my first impressions/ review of the Oracle Dice 2nd edition done. Will be trying a few reading when I have a chance and will hopefully remember to talk about is here! So if you got any questions or if I forget to talk about the reading experience feel free to textually yell about it here or in my ask box, see y’all!

#tarot cards #oracle deck #oracle dice #2nd edition #publishing goblin #review #first impressions #dice #unboxing #divination #cartomancy #magic

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blissents · 4 months

Text

Devlog #1

Hi hi! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I don't really post often, but I told myself that starting in 2024, I wanted to share what I've been working on! I'm a solo game dev who has been developing a game called Visionaries. It's a romance visual novel that explores grief and loss.

༺✧ STORY ✧༻

"Visionaries": Special individuals with the ability to look into the past. There are a select handful of Visionaries who can also see into the future.

"What happens after we die?" The age-old question with no definitive answer. Many have constructed their own complex theories and stories to try and explain this mystery.

~~~~~

Explore the world of Visionaries as you wake up in an unfamiliar room, unable to speak and move. You're faced with unusual people (who tend to bicker any opportunity they get) only to later discover that they are your assigned Visionaries. These Visionaries have only one task; they intend on looking into your memories.

What is the purpose of Visionaries existing, and why do they insist on looking into your mind?

If you want to read more about the progress I've made on Visionaries, please continue reading below the cut! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

༺✧ ART ✧༻

Most of my time has been spent working on the art! (I can't feel my hand) My main focus is to finish drawing all of the character sprites as well as finish rendering the backgrounds. I've already come up with all the designs and expressions for the characters, they just need to be rendered :,)

I still need to create their little character info sheets (I have no idea what the word is, haha), where you'll learn their names, ages, and all of that fun stuff ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

Below are some of the sprites :-)

The first two are fully rendered, while the other three need to be finished :,)

As for backgrounds, I have 1 that is fully rendered and 3 that still need to be finished! I'll only be sharing 3/4 today since I'm unsure if I'll be including the one background in the demo.

To be honest, I struggled quite a bit when drawing the backgrounds D: There were a lot of things I envisioned, but unfortunately, I didn't know how to fully portray them. I had some trial and error while coming up with the original designs. That being said, I'm glad I was able to come up with something I felt satisfied with! I'm planning for the rest of the backgrounds to follow the red/brown colored theme as seen in the first photo ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

Of course, there will be more backgrounds than the ones I'm currently showing! I already have some ideas/drafts for those, but they might change depending on the way the story plays out.

༺✧ WRITING ✧༻

So far, I've planned for the demo to have a little less than 9k words. I'm unsure if I'll keep it at 9k words, or if I'll expand it some more so that there will be more content in the demo :-) We'll see!

As for the overall game, there will be at least 2 routes. There will also be 2 romanceable options (one being he/him, the other being she/they). I'm still figuring out how I want to script all of this, so these aspects may change in the future!

The game will also have options where you can choose your pronouns and name!

Here's a small snippet of the script!

I wanted to show the dynamic between two of the characters :-)

༺✧ OTHER ✧༻

Besides writing and coding, I've been coming up with some ideas for the GUI! I don't have any current drafts of that to share, but I'll hopefully include them in a future devlog ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I also have plans on creating the cover art for the game, cgs, more backgrounds, and possibly some promotional art (rip my hand, there's so much I need to draw (╥_╥))

I was thinking about composing the music for the game, but I realized I know absolutely nothing about music and wouldn't even know where to start if I had tried :,) So instead, I've compiled a list of some soundtracks and sound effects I might use! Hopefully, I can share that in the future once I've narrowed down which soundtracks I know I'll be using.

༺✧ CONCLUSION ✧༻

My overall goal is to release the demo sometime during this year! Because I'm doing everything myself (art, script, writing, etc.), it might take me a bit longer to get everything done. My apologies for that! (╥_╥)

Besides that, I really just want to start creating and sharing more of my art. Getting over the mental hurdle of being afraid to show my work is honestly pretty terrifying for me. I normally only share the things I create with close friends, but I think it's time to get over this fear of mine! ᕦ(ò_ó)ᕤ

I was able to make significant progress within these past few weeks since I'm currently on my winter break. Classes start back up soon, though, and I'm going to be internship-hunting as well as planning on a big move. I'm still going to try my best to juggle everything so that I can make even more progress on the game! ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

At the end of the day, all of this is a fun little project I've always wanted to do. As a little kid, I absolutely loved playing VNs (and I still do!). Creating my own game felt like an unreachable goal, but with enough effort, I think it's something obtainable ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ I really just want to create something that others can enjoy!

As a side note, I have some plans to create a little blog (not even sure if it's considered a blog, haha) about the games I've played/want to play! That will be coming very soon!

Thank you to anyone who read this far! You have my eternal gratitude <3

~ bliss ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ

#VisionariesVN #devlog #visual novel #gamedev #game development #indie dev #developer #indie games #otome #amare #otome game #amare game #wip

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souryogurt64 · 3 months

Note

the essay!!!! i read that shit instead of studying for my exam so if i fail it is your fault miss yogurt (kidding). i am continuously amazed at your abilities and your perfectly dry-but-witty journalistic style that i am ohsoinlove with. reading the sentence “(Also unsurprisingly, Gray is about gaslighting a girl until she dies.)” took me out lma. ! i love all of ur writing, tho i am obviously biased since it’s on topics that interest me - however, the amount of work and dedication that you are able to designate not only to a complex split of a band, but also personal relationships, biographies, lyrical and prose analysis is astounding! anyway,,,, i guess i just want to thank u !

thank you this message is really genuine and sweet <333 i re-used that joke from the gray dissertation lol

Tbh i was not happy with a lot of parts of this one. Sorry to rant about this appended to your ask specifically <3

mainly I think i shot myself in the foot with the way i structured the last one where i covered the moment panic got signed in excruciating detail and then rushed through 10-15 years really fast. at the time i did not think these were that serious or were going to reach as far as they ended up reaching and it was just like for my tumblr followers so i knew it was like a bad idea but i was just like "whatever!!!!"

anyway that made the beginning really rough because i didnt really have a set place to start. the first like 5 pages were also completely different too which didnt help

Also about 70% of the way through i realized it was really weird that i didnt give brendon any kind of dramatic introduction. I had so much fun writing the dramatic introductions they got a lot longer than when i outlined the essay which made that even more noticeable

But honestly, writing this and watching so many presplit panic interviews i actually started liking brendon a lot more and remembered why people used to love him and i knew whatever i wouldve said would have been things people didnt really want to read, so instead he just got his villain monologue at the end

It was also kind of weird that i didnt introduce spencer or jon at all but i figure anyone reading a 50 page essay about panic at the disco already knows who these people are anyway so i just had 2 move on

Also i was not very happy with the verlaine section, i felt like it was a lot of very dense information to synthesize and like also I didn't want to over explain it and be accused of being like a gay truther but like im sorry. its not even gay truthing its just gay by virtue of existing so i feel like i under explained it

Other parts too. However my research capabilities are absolutely unmatched and i do think im funny. im not sure if most other people think im funny but i sure think i am <3

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demonslayedher · 1 year

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Why do you like Demon Slayer so much?

I---I don't know, Anon, w-why do you like breathing so much?

...because BREATH TECHNIQUE LOOKS WICKED AWESOME AMIRITE!??!!?

UFOTABLE MADE SUCH A FREAKING COOL LOOKING ANIME that both looks and sounds amazing with all that care put into it HOW COULD I NOT LOVE IT!? Such good source material too, ALL HAIL WANI-SENSEI!!!!

Or rather, to more eloquently express myself, I'll answer this in two parts: the "why" and "so much."

Why do I like it?

- Simplicity

It's a classic Good .vs. Evil story, a triumph of working hard and working together. It's Coming of Age and Hero's Journey, all themes that never get old because they're really good themes. KnY isn't even that fresh of a take if you boil it down to this, but it didn't need to reinvent the wheel, it just needed to be a good wheel to keep the story going.

I was grateful it ended when it did, it had a goal to accomplish and everything in the story worked toward that goal. I've fallen away from adventure shounen because I can never stay interested in super long series that get mercilessly extended past their natural life as cash cows. Not to sound like a Swamp Demon here, but this manga got to end while it was still young and beautiful.

The fighting mechanisms are complex enough to be fun to explore, but it's not as complicated as other shounen series, making the barrier to entry lower for first-time anime viewers. That's part of why I think it's been so successful. Plus, even though we get things like Red Blades and Marks later, their existence as ultimate techniques was in place from the start, so they felt believably set up and paid off. They made sense within the world building, even if they had to be dropped on the readers later so as to weekly serialization interesting.

It tackles deep themes, but doesn't overcomplicate them. Muzan being a simple villain and Tanjiro simply being good-hearted created interesting tension just fine, the motivations throughout the cast keep the story nicely driven.

- Depth

Although the story, world, and characters are simple enough for people of all ages and familiarity with anime to enjoy, if you want to scratch deeper than the surface level, the hundreds of thousands of words of meta and cultural background throughout my blog go to show that it's very, very easy to bury yourself deeper in it. In my case I already have years of obsession with Japanese culture to build on, so KnY fit very nicely into my niche. I already love samurai and oni and swords and such so that was already playing to my knowledge, but as a passionate nerd, it's also given me lots and lots of exciting new material to learn more about. But more about that later, suffice to say here that Gotouge is a very, very knowledgeable gator.

- Characters

THEY ARE JUST GOOD AND FUN AND UNIQUE DESIGNS IN THE FIRST PLACE, but also, I don’t feel like I already know these characters from other anime. Many of them defy being typecast, and even the ones that do feel like like other characters in a plethora of anime have such a unique spin to make them stand out in my heart. I'm sure I could be a nerd for plenty of other series, but it takes the right characters to make a fangirl.

Also, my emotions got manipulated excellently; I like Tanjiro and immediately wanted to root for him, but I ha-a-a-ated most of the rest of the cast until I got to spend a teeny-tiny bit more time with them, and then I liked them hopelessly. I got totally strung along and I love it when I can get strung along like this.

Why do I like it so much?

A lot of that comes down to my personal recipe of brain soup and the situation I already felt stuck in by the time I got into KnY, a few months prior to the pandemic. Watching the anime and feeling really into it came as a comfort while I was finding myself in what felt more like a situation than a good career move and feeling frustrated with the second draft of a novel which wasn't working. Then just as I had hoped there might be some improvements to my situation which I was holding out for, the pandemic changed everyone's plans.

Simply put, the isolation and stress in those early stages of the pandemic both gave me lots of time to explore and write fanfic and made me rely a lot on the joy I got out of KnY, and then I got so practiced at making KnY fanwork that this blog became like my bonsai I could cultivate in peace while most other things in life have continued to feel out of control. And dang it, I'm good at cultivating this bonsai of a blog! It's gratifying to feel good at something when real life is making you feel otherwise!

Hopefully the upcoming new start in a new city and in a new job that'll hopefully make me feel good at things again and provide some smidge more control over my life will make me less reliant on KnY for such a big share of my happy hormones, but...

THE HYPE IS PART OF WHAT I LOVE

IT IS

SO MUCH FUN BEING OBSESSED WITH A MAINSTREAM PHENOMENON

THERE ARE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY EVERYWHERE

I SAY THESE CHARACTER NAMES AND EVERYONE KNOWS WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT AND THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME

IT STAYS ON MY BRAIN BECAUSE IT IS EVERYWHERE

AND THIS IS SO COOL

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 11 months

Text

tuesday again 6/6/2023

two things to frontload:

if you have good vibes to send off in service of me getting a livable apartment in the greater houston tx area i would be most grateful, bc the hunt ain't fuckin goin too fuckin great

go play ABZÛ

listening

soul bossa nova by quincy jones bc it popped up on my discover weekly. i can only assume spotify recced this to me for bossa nova reasons bc i have been categorically ignoring austin powers my entire life and intend to continue on in this fashion.

youtube

it is a bop tho.

reading

when i wrote the pinned post for this blog i settled on "a common throughline in Shit What I Like is understanding how and why systems work" bc i hadn't yet listened to Well There's Your Problem, a podcast with slides about engineering disasters and systemic failures, and "OSHA aficionado" is shorter but less snappy than "WTYPP fan". anyway when i think "chemical spill" i do not generally think "hand sanitizer spill", and when i think "how do i get rid of all this unsellable poorly made hand sanitizer made in the early days of the pandemic" i do not immediately leap to "well i'll just dump pallets in this parking lot and warehouse and surely it won't spill and/or explode bc hand sanitizer is a product that makes you safer".

ArtNaturals was, at that point, not on the [FDA warning] list. Its sanitizer, labeled with a tasteful, millennial-friendly design that said it was vegan and infused with jojoba oil, was marketed as “safe for kids” and “a great bulk hand sanitizer pack for parents and teachers.” At least two school districts on the West Coast had purchased the sanitizer to distribute to students, in addition to two Ivy League universities. Then, in March 2021, a year into sales, an independent lab in Connecticut called Valisure announced that it had found benzene in the company’s sanitizer. Benzene, a widely used industrial chemical derived from petroleum, can be absorbed through the skin and is known to be a risk factor for leukemia.

came across it bc my rss feed really wanted me to subscribe to longreads (no), but this one did catch my eye as i was checking to make sure the site still wasn't for me

watching

youtube

watching this was a unexpectedly funny experience bc i recognized one of the backing instrumentals as a previous tuesdaypost song, which kind of felt like solving a mystery book on chapter three bc u knew an obscure fact about eels. this documentary came out in nov 22 and the song was one of this past feb's tuesdaysongs so i can only assume the spike in popularity from the documentary propelled it onto my discover weekly playlist??? the internet is a series of algorithmic tubes &tc

this is a tremendous work, as a documentary/history/archival effort/piece of art. it made me tear up. there's a very lovely sequence about memory and legacy that got me thinking a lot again about how i would like to be remembered. ive rewritten this section four times, when usually i don't redraft the tuesdaypost much at all. boils down to: complex and weird topic to talk about as an orphan, i am reluctant to be any more emotionally vulnerable than i absolutely have to during this time of great cross-country change and moving upheaval.

i appreciated how this was not tearjerker webby bait, which would have made it feel very hollow and embittered me even more during a week i am already predisposed to hate humanity. instead, mr perjurer is simply very good at his job (being an ethical documentarian)

playing

one game i really loved and one game i really hated, so it goes.

despite religiously downloading the epic store free game of the week bc i have a reminder written in my planner, i never fucking remember to actually look at what i have in that library.

ABZÛ genuinely healed my heart during a very unpleasant weekend.

i don't use this as a recs platform except for this one time when i am cashing in all my chips. go play ABZÛ, it takes like an hour and a half.

all you need to know about it you can get from the cover art. it is not a hard game and it is not a horror game. i went in totally blind and the less you know about this game the better. i was delighted nearly every minute. every time i saw an ammonite i felt like i was seeing an old friend. there are SO many clever game design choices i want to talk about. message me after you play this. i said "of COURSE IT WAS AUSTIN FUCKING WINTORY ON THE SCORE" during the credits. what an absolutely goddamn perfect little jewel of a game.

AGAIN: go play ABZÛ.

youtube

i also played Call of the Sea, bc it was in my epic library and i wanted something fast and oceanic to continue the high of ABZÛ.

Call of the Sea did not continue the high of ABZÛ. i think this team carefully and thoughtfully sidestepped several of the usual issues is making something Lovecraftian but fell into the rest of the pits. eg i liked that they had Polynesian culture consultants, but from an interview it seemed like it was limited to a one-day crash course? i am deeply grateful this isn't a dead-wife game and the female protagonist has a great deal of agency, but she's still a rich white lady from boston trekking about the Tahitian islands commenting on primitive structures, which made me suck air in through my teeth at many points. there is an "ancient slave culture" thread that never actually resolves. i really wish it resolved. the game overall is in a very weird place, trapped between the norms and mores of the early 40s and the 2020s. you have Got to commit to one or the other.

the overall vibe is very polished for a first game. general vibes are Firewatch but puzzle-adventure. the lighting is a little too dynamic and was very distracting throughout. due to this studio's age (new) and odd location (spain) and how their debut game came out (took a year and a half to make, debuted on gamepass) i understand why this game exists the way it does from a marketing and industry standpoint and why they favored visual polish and art style over everything else. it's still annoying bc it is so close to an interesting game.

the twist particularly infuriated me as a chronically ill person, spoilers for the twist behind rot13

gur gjvfg vf gung Abenu gur cebgnt vf frpergyl n "Qnhtugre bs Pguhyuh", naq ure puebavp cebterffvat gb grezvany vyyarff vf op fur'f ba Rnegu naq abg va gur Urnirayl Ernyzf jvgu Pguhyh jurer fur orybatf. guvf frg bss fbzr fvyrag nynez oryyf gb zr nf n puebavpnyyl vyy crefba, op vg vf Fb fvzvyne gb gur Arj Ntr "vaqvtb puvyqera" pbaprcg. n terng qrny bs zrqvpny nohfr naq abezny nohfr fheebhaqf guvf pbaprcg. guvf ernyyl fbherq gur raqvat sbe zr

making

fallow week. if it isn't moving-related it isn't happening, and even then a lot of moving-related things are grinding on painfully slowly

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

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strawberrysunsets · 2 years

Text

The Empty World (Ch. 7)

Donald Pierce x Reader

Status: Ongoing

Summary: Pierce and the Reavers are sent to capture a mutant with mysterious abilities. This chapter: After striking a dangerous deal, the mutant travels to Transigen's laboratory in Mexico City.

Warnings: Injury, swearing, mention of death, manipulation.

Angst, slow burn, enemies to lovers

Author's Note: Y'all, shit hit the fan in my life this week in about ten different ways. There was also a hurricane. I feel like the final girl in a horror movie. Anyways, enjoy 😭

Comments/reblogs/feedback mean the world to me!:)

Chapter 7: Enhanced

It was a long flight to Mexico City.

The trip took a few days, given the delay caused by the cleanup, and you were utterly disoriented by the time you arrived – functioning on far too little sleep, sore in ways you didn’t have words to describe, and irritable beyond measure at the constant presence of Reavers around you. While you were technically allies, now, you couldn't shake the instinct that men in dark military gear meant danger. It hadn't made for a very relaxing trip.

The experience hadn't been helped by the fact that you'd been unable to dissipate your wings for days now, so they drew stares everywhere you went. You just couldn't muster the focus, or the calm.

Your shuttle from the airport arrived at Transigen’s gates just as the sun was beginning to set beyond the city skyline, and you gazed tiredly out the shuttle's window.

The facility was about what you’d expected; a few cinderblock complexes, surrounded by fences and official-looking signage. In all appearances, a reputable laboratory, though one with curiously tight security.

A guard let the shuttle through the gates, and once it pulled to a stop, you descended onto the pavement, blinking in the light. A man in a sharp black blazer walked towards you, greeting you as he glanced distractedly at a vibrating pager in his hand.

“U36?” He asked.

You rolled your eyes. “Sure.”

“Welcome. You’ve been asked to report to the infirmary for assessment. After that, you can find your way to your rooms; unit B14. While you're at the facility, stay only in the designated areas – don’t enter any laboratory spaces.” He handed you a clip-on pass as he talked, and you examined it. It had no photo; just your ‘name’, U36, and an ID number and barcode. “Dr. Ansley will meet with you once he’s returned. Tomorrow, most likely.”

Ansley was the man you'd met in North Dakota. The one who'd been overseeing the cleanup.

“Thanks,” you said, vaguely, shifting your satchel higher on your shoulder and ruffling your wings uncomfortably. You longed to stretch them wide, given how cramped they'd been for the last few days, but you didn't want to draw any more odd stares than you were already getting.

The evening sun was shinning brightly on the windows of the facility before you, and it suddenly hit you how far you were from any home you'd ever known. A wave of dizziness washed over you.

The assistant glanced at you in dismay, as you swayed slightly on your feet.

“Uh – do you want me to lead you to the infirmary?” He asked, startled out of his businesslike demeanour.

Too tired to be properly embarrassed, you simply nodded.

***

“You have a fever,” the nurse reported. “As well as an infected bullet-wound in your shoulder, second degree burns along most of your calves, bruising on your ribs, and what I think is a torn ligament in one of your, ah – wings – though I can’t be sure, because I’m not an avian anatomist.”

You were lying on a recovery bed, busy enjoying the feeling of being horizontal for what felt like the first time in a week, while a nurse stared at you disapprovingly over the rim of his round glasses.

“So what can you give me, Ben?” You asked tiredly. His nametag labeled him as B. Marín, and he’d told you the B. stood for Benjamin, when you’d asked. “I’m guessing pain killers are on the menu?” You grinned. “Anything you’d recommend?”

The nursed eyed you skeptically, then marked something additional down on his chart.

“I also think you’re exhausted, and may be experiencing delayed-response shock, based on your pupil dilation and heartrate. You need rest.”

You sighed, and closed your eyes. “Can’t argue with that.”

It felt good to lie down, though the smell of antiseptic and the distant radio chatter emanating from the hallway nearby still set your nerves on edge. That was going to take a lot of getting used to.

Benjamin returned with pills for you to take, and after swallowing them, you laid back down on the bed, staring out the window at the fading sky. The radio chatter soon faded into the background of your awareness, and your eyelids grew heavy.

I'll just lie down here for a minute, you thought. Just until I have the energy to go up to my rooms.

***

Donald Pierce sat in one of the private infirmary rooms reserved for execs and other people of importance, and glared at the socket of his cybernetic arm.

The kids had gotten away – and half his Reavers had been slaughtered by a junkied-up Wolverine. Zander was dead. And he himself had nearly been killed by the same mutant fuck-ups he’d been sent to retrieve.

He deftly wound two pieces of wiring together and secured them with a clamp, channeling his anger into the cold focus he always used when working.

The infirmary's lights had been dimmed for the evening, but he kept his bedside lamp on, illuminating the tray table before him. He'd been in to get his stitches removed, and would leave in a moment – but he'd gotten preoccupied with the touch-ups on his arm.

He was in the process of enhancing its kinetic linkages, to tighten its reaction-time down from a quarter of a second, to a fifth. Better than the average reaction time of a natural nerve ending, he thought, with some satisfaction.

After a moment, he finished the adjustment, and slotted his arm back into its socket with a sigh. On top of the events of the previous week, he was rankled by the delay his injuries were causing. He hated being cooped up.

The latest briefing sat on the tray table before him, and he idly gathered up its pages, scanning its headline again though he'd already read it.

New Direction, its subject line stated.

Alkali-Transigen will be moving away from the initiatives associated with Project X, and pursuing a number of new potential programs in their place.

So, he was being reassigned. He was pissed, but there was no arguing with funding. The kids – and Zander's pet project, X-24 – had been too damn expensive, and too uncontrollable. If there was one thing this whole shit show had taught him, it was that. An asset is only as useful as your ability to control it.

He pulled on his button-up shirt, wincing as it grazed his still-healing wounds, then stood. As he made his way into the main room and towards the exit, he snapped his fingers to get a nurse's attention, and instructed her to have his tools and other belongings sent back up to his rooms. The nurse acquiesced. But as Pierce turned to leave, his gaze caught on a familiar form in one of the non-exec recovery beds across the room.

He slowed.

It was her. The mutant.

She lay sprawled on the bed, wings jutting out at an awkward angle behind her, as if she'd fallen asleep without meaning to. Bandages covered one of her shoulders, and he could see purple bruising along her collarbone, as well as the yellow-green remnants of fading bruises along her jaw.

Honestly, she looked like hell.

He approached, and paused beside the divider at the end of her bed as he idly tightened the socket of his metal arm.

He’d been informed of her employment, of course – but seeing her here was a different matter. Her arrival certainly made for an intriguing turn of events.

He watched her for a moment more, then turned to leave.

There was work to be done unravelling the questions surrounding her, but for now, he had other things to do. Knowing she was here, though, meant that he’d have to meet with Ansley to discuss her handling. She’d make a useful asset, if she could be controlled well enough to accomplish that.

After all, an asset was only as useful as one's ability to control it.

***

By the time you woke, the sky past the infirmary's windows was dark. You sat up stiffly, to see that someone had moved dividers around your bed to give you privacy while you slept.

As you regained awareness of your surroundings, you realized that it had been nearby voices which had woken you. There were nurses near, it seemed; talking somewhere beyond the dividers.

“Yes, we took his stitches out today,” one lightly accented voice reported. “He just left. It was mostly bad frostbite, burns, and vascular damage – but Dr. Torres got it all under control with the Hyperbaric chamber.”

Someone else made an indistinct noise. “I’d be happier for him, if he hadn’t knocked over my fucking patient station last month. Didn’t even apologize. Took me an hour to clean up.”

You slowly moved to stand from your bed, stretching before wearily pulling on the hospital robe that the nurse – Benjamin – had given you to wear over your clothes. It was late, but you were determined to find your rooms. The privacy would be worth it.

“Así,” the other speaker sighed. “Es la vida.” That’s life. “Especially with those higher-ups. Now, have Mr. Pierce's things sent to his rooms, will you? I've got to go. Ramira's taking over the night shift.”

You paused while pulling on the robe, slow to process what you’d heard. That whole time, the nurses had been talking about Pierce?

Your brow furrowed, and you pushed aside the dividers, watching them depart towards the infirmary desk.

So he is alive. And unsurprisingly, still an asshole. Though an injured one, by the sound of it.

Well, you thought drily, orienting yourself towards the exit and forcing your tired feet to move, at least I’ll have one familiar face around here.

***

That night was difficult.

An aide had helped you find your rooms – while shooting your wings constant sidelong glances – but once beneath the stiff cotton sheets, you found that, though exhausted, you couldn't sleep. Sounds echoed in from the streets below – a barking dog, the clang of metal – and in the darkness, you couldn’t keep your mind from drifting back to the most painful memories of the last week.

Recognizing Caliban and Charles’ bodies.

Standing at Logan’s grave.

Your rooms had turned out to be a simple, cold, and functional unit; consisting of one open room that doubled as both sitting room and bedroom, and a small bathroom with a standing shower. The place felt like a hotel room, in a way – and its generic soullessness made you long to be anywhere that was warm, comfortable, and lived in. And most importantly, had people you cared about in it.

But there was no going back.

The life you'd had in the desert, with Logan and the others, was gone. And somehow, within the span of a week, your life had completely changed trajectory. Now, you had no idea where it was headed. Only that, once again, you'd be facing it alone.

Loneliness choked you, and suddenly, you were gripping the bedsheets against your face to stifle the tremors that wracked your body.

All the pent-up emotions from the last week seemed to be flooding you all at once, and it was all you could do to bit your tongue and stop the sobs from escaping.

You didn't know how you'd survive this. But there was no alternative – for you had to uphold your end of your bargain with Transigen. Come work for us, and they go free. You had to do this, for the sake of Laura and the others. So you'd find a way to pull yourself together.

For now, though, you could give into the tears.

Eventually, pain and exhaustion overcame you, and you were pulled down into sleep.

***

An insistent knocking woke you up around 10am, and you dragged yourself to your door to find an assistant waiting there. They informed you that you were to see an aide for equipment and a uniform, before your meeting with Ansley later that morning.

The gear turned out to be a pager and radio for communication, and a pair of combat-suitable boots, while the uniforms were two sets of identical, nondescript black clothing. The uniforms were functional, and with a hint of military flavour to their pockets and rigger belt. Therefore, despite your bad night, you arrived to meet Ansley looking and feeling quite a bit more professional than you had the day previous.

“U36,” he greeted, motioning you in as you arrived at the door to his office. “That’s what Zander called you, isn’t it?”

You nodded, unimpressed, as you approached to seat yourself in the chair before his desk. Despite the tumultuous state of your emotions, you were determined to remain composed. You were here for one reason, and one reason only: to cement a deal that would secure the safety of Laura and the other young mutants.

“Well," Ansley said, shuffling the sheaf of papers on his desk before setting them aside, "I’d like to start fresh on that count. What do you prefer to be called?”

You paused for a moment, considering the pros and cons of giving your true name. As far as you knew, there weren’t any records on you that would give them any more information than they already had – but it still felt dangerous.

“Ray,” you finally replied. A nickname an old friend had given you.

Ansley smiled. “Ray. Good.” He sat back in his chair. “As you've probably learned, I'm acting as Transigen's Managing Director, given Zander's death. As an organization, our priorities have definitely gotten a shake-up in the past week; but I believe we could still use an agent of your skills.”

You eyed him, waiting for him to continue.

“As Zander told you, we’d be interested in recruiting you into our Security Department. We still have a few intelligence operations that could benefit from an agent with your... mobility," he said, gaze moving briefly to your wings.

“And the kids?” You prompted. “The deal was that if I work for you, they go free. Completely free. Destroy any records you have on them, and stop tracking them. Forget they exist.”

Ansley’s brow furrowed. “Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. We’ve reported them amongst the fatalities in North Dakota, for the time being – but if it comes to light that they survived, we’d still be liable for their actions.”

It was your turn to scowl. You still didn't know why Transigen was so interested in the kids, other than the fact that they were the first mutants born in twenty-five years – and Transigen's liability for them was just as much of a mystery. Liability implied ownership – and how could that make sense? They were kids. But seeing your gaze darken, Ansley raised a hand to continue.

“That being said, I can promise that we won’t interfere with the children’s activities as long as they pose no threat to the general public and draw no attention to themselves.”

“So you’re still tracking them?” You asked.

“Not actively,” Ansley conceeded. “But if reports surface of a group of mutant children wreaking havoc across the Canadian border – well, I’m sure you can understand that we’ll be forced to intervene.”

You looked down, considering his words. In all honesty, you'd lost a lot of your bargaining power when you arrived at Transigen's gates – and though you disliked it, you understood Ansley's reasoning. If the kids' powers were endangering people, law enforcement would have to get involved. But if the kids didn’t draw attention to themselves, then Transigen would be happy to sweep this whole thing under the rug. It seemed as good an outcome as you could hope for.

“Alright,” you replied. “I’ll work for you, under the agreement that the kids aren’t tracked or surveilled, and you don’t interfere with them unless absolutely forced to. If that ever happens, I want to be the first to know.”

Ansley inclined his head. “Agreed,” he said, seemingly pleased. “In that case, my assistant will bring you a contract and confidentiality agreement, and you can join myself and our security team for a meeting tomorrow. Here, at 3pm. I'll send along a briefing to you by tonight. For any of your other needs, you can consult an aide.”

You ruffled your wings in preparation to stand, then paused, as if you’d just remembered something. “Oh – and what about my salary?”

Ansley glanced at you, one brow raised.

You stared back. “Zander promised me one.”

Zander had done nothing of the sort, of course – but you were sure Ansley didn’t know that.

The doctor sat back in his chair, assessing you. “Did he, now?”

You nodded. “Twenty-five hundred a week,” you said, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.

Ansley laughed. “Sure he did.”

Your eyes narrowed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, my abilities aren’t exactly a dime a dozen. I’m a specialist. And that requires a specialist’s rate.”

Ansley stared at you for a moment more, then smiled and waved a hand magnanimously. “We’ll start you at five-hundred a week. The rest will depend on your performance.” He turned back to his computer in dismissal. “See yourself out.”

***

You considered your small victory, as you traversed the hallway back towards the elevator.

Five-hundred a week.

Sure, it sounded like a great plenty, since you were literally penniless – but you knew that agents like Pierce were probably making ten times that amount. And if you were going to be working for Transigen, you might as well be taking as much of their money as you could. You didn’t want to have to depend on them for your every need.

***

That afternoon found you in Transigen Research's exercise room, grimacing as you tried to lift a small weight with your injured arm. The doctor had recommended you try to recover some muscle tone in your shoulder after the bullet wound, but right now, it felt more like the exercise was tearing it further apart. Still, the pain helped keep your mind off of other things. There were a million things you couldn't think about right now, if you wanted to make it through the day.

Breathe, you told yourself. Just relax. You'll make it through this.

You'd found the exercise room in your exploration of the complex, and stayed because of its large glass-fronted windows. They looked out onto the hallway beyond, and the parking lot past that, giving the room the distinct feeling of having been made for Transigen's agents and employees, rather than its prisoners.

You lowered the weight, grimacing as your shoulder twinged. You were about to massage it, when movement caught your eye. A familiar figure was passing down the hallway outside, and with a jolt of anxiety, you recognized Pierce's tall form.

His gaze slid past you, serious and preoccupied – and then returned to land on you, lighting with surprise. His blond hair was swept back from his face, and his blue eyes were just as sharp and calculating as you'd remembered them. He waggled his fingers at you in a cheeky wave.

You glared at him in return, and flipped him off.

When Pierce reached the door to the exercise room, he paused to lean causally against its frame.

“You know – I heard you switched sides, but I didn’t quite believe it.” His voice was as you remembered it, too; sweet as syrup, and dripping with the promise of trouble. “So you’ve joined the good guys, huh?”

You glared at him, massaging your shoulder, then slowly approached and came to a halt a few paces away. You were going to have to get this over with at some point.

“That seems like a stretch,” you replied. "Last I heard, you were trying to execute a bunch of kids.”

Honestly, you were surprised to see him on his feet and seemingly devoid of serious injury, given what you'd heard in the infirmary. But here he was, back to his regular self. Upon examining him, though, you did spot a faint line of bruising peeking from the top of his shirt.

“How’s the recoup, by the way? I heard they really did a number on you.”

Pierce smiled. “Oh, fine and dandy,” he replied. “Glad to know you’ve been keeping up with my recovery. Now – I have to ask.”

He stood from the wall, and moved to make a slow circuit of you, examining your wings. When he took the first step forwards, though, you couldn’t help your gut reaction – you took a quick half-step backwards, nearly a flinch. Pierce paused, assessing you, and then raised his hands innocently, as if to say: no need to be scared. He finished his circuit of you, and returned to the doorway, gaze cool and unreadable.

“Are these gonna be a permanent thing? Cause a sudden species change seems pretty odd, even for a mutey."

“They’re permanent," you replied, ruffling your wings self-consciously. "Until I can dissipate them, that is. Which is easier said than done."

You didn't know why you were being honest with him – but something inside you longed to tell someone else about your problems. Anxiety about your decreasing ability to control your mutation had been eating away at you, and it made it less scary, to speak about it aloud. Even if that honesty might come back to bite you.

Pierce raised a brow, and tilted his head to the side in consideration. “Interesting,” he replied.

“So I guess this means you officially failed in your mission of capturing me,” you said, moving to a safer subject and returning to the familiar territory of dry mocking. “Another strike on the record. At this rate, they must be looking for your replacement.”

Pierce’s gaze returned to you, and he inhaled before letting out a gusty sigh. “You’re here, aren’t you?” He asked, smiling in the playfully condescending way you’d come to associate with him. “Way I see it, that’s a win.”

“By no skill of yours,” you replied. “You were lying unconscious in a hospital bed when I made that decision.”

Pierce’s smile widened, and he stood from the wall. “See? You have been keepin’ track of me. That’s flattering. Now, if you’ll excuse me–” he tilted his head in the approximation of a gracious farewell. “I have places to be. And if I’m not mistaken, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. 3pm sharp.”

He winked, and then was gone – whistling as he strode away down the hall and left you to glare at his retreating back.

Well, you thought idly, turning back towards the weight rack and massaging your shoulder in preoccupation. At least I know one thing.

If pain doesn't work to keep my mind off the current shit show of my life, there's at least one other dangerous distraction in this building.

***

Taglist:

@humongousgalaxycoffee @drowningnikki @mischiefmanaged71 @lostcause514 @capvengrs @forever-nerd @pancakesandlolliepops @kingredking @gremlinfuck @marvel-at-my-obsession @padawansubscription

#donald pierce x you #donald pierce #fanfic #donald pierce x reader #logan movie #mutants #wolverine #x men #x men comics #boyd holbrook

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wannab-urs · 10 months

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The Spreadsheet Digest - Fic Recs | Vol. 8

Hi darlings! This week's digest is a little small because I took the time to catch up on a bunch of WIPs I've been reading (and they've all already been rec'd). That being said there are some bangers on here if I do say so myself. Oh also I'm at Pride this weekend, that's why this is like 5 hours later than usual.

The spreadsheet is here! It's up to 217 fics now!

cute lil joel pic to kick us off ;)

Feelings on Fire - a Joel series by @joelscruff

This one is for my religious trauma girlies lmao. I personally relate a little bit to how this Reader was raised (southern baptist instead of catholic) with the grades and the extracurriculars and stuff, but I was nowhere near as sheltered. I say all that to say that while I usually have trouble immersing myself into a fic where the reader is this level of innocent, I did not have that issue at all. And GOD do I want to immerse myself in this fic.

Landlord from Hell - a (dark) Frankie one shot by @absurdthirst

If you like You, this one is for you. I loved it but I also was hollering at Reader the whole time to run the fuck away. I was so fucking uncomfortable the whole time, but also the smut was fucking excellent lmao. Incredible horror/thriller fic AGH

more - an Ezra one shot by @ezrasbirdie

This did very unexpected things to me. I'm a pretty firm no on not one, but two of the kinks in this fic but... I'll do anything for Ezra I guess lmao. Read the warnings friends, this one is a (beautiful) doozy

What he deserves - a Dave York one shot by @absurdthirst

Dave is so.... daddy. This is one of those completely indulgent fantasy fics for me. Live in nanny fucks the super hot dad and the kids are also a dream and the ex wife is evil so there's no guilt... perfect!

Sold to Joel Miller - a Joel one shot by @beskarandblasters and @wannab-urs

Totally serious and not a joke fic at all, what?

In My Hometown - a Joel series by @swiftispunk

Oh boy. I got pining, smut, AND angst all in one fic? Hell yes. And it's like... believable angst, which isn't always the case. I felt so fucking bad for Joel, I just wanted to wrap him up in my arms and hold him forever. I love a man who is just absolutely pathetically in love. Just completely pitiful. Down bad. There's so many good things about this, I'm doing it a disservice with this explanation. Just read it.

Thought That I Was Dreaming - a Dieter one shot by @haylzcyon

Ohhh this Dieter made me unreasonably happy. He's such a cutie... and so fucking sexy. Oh how I dream about getting high with Dee and spending a whole weekend fucking each other silly.

-------Pre-Digest Fic Recs-------

adding more of these than usual since I didn't read much new stuff this week :)

Seams - a Joel series by @fuckyeahdindjarin

I'm Starvin' Darlin - a Joel series by @me-and-your-husband

All Work, No Play - a Javi P one shot by @loquaciousferret

I Think of You - a Din series by @prolix-yuy

No Drug Like Me - a Dieter series by jazzelsaur (ao3)

Tied - a Din series by @radiowallet

Friendly Fire - Joel series by @the-ginger-hedge-witch

Designated Person - a Frankie series by @whatsnewalycat

Not from around here - an Oberyn series by @mishasminion360

-------- My Fics --------

I wrote one (1) tiny little drabble, but hey better than nothing!

Bruise - a Dieter drabble set in my A Ghost of You universe (deadbeat druggie artist boyfriend with severe mental health issues + reader is his entire universe. She has a savior complex. It's a lot. Read that here). Dieter and Reader get unreasonably high and decide to paint each other. Written in a style I've never shown anyone before, sorry if it's weird lol

------------

Happy Reading!

#The Spreadsheet Digest #vol 8 #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro fics #pedro pascal character fanfiction

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inventors-fair · 7 months

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Getting the Bant Back Together: Alara Contest Winners ~

Congratulations to @bread-into-toast, @izzet-always-r-versus-u, and @spooky-bard for winning this week's contest!

@bread-into-toast — Bant Paragon

Bant and Enlist are a match made in heaven, or wherever the angels of Bant live. The name is perfectly reasonable, not too much, perfectly descriptive enough, and surprising that it hasn't been used already. Triple enlist is absolutely a wakening slap, I'll say that much. What I love about this card is that you can enlist the butts off your creatures if you want to smack someone, but a single multicolored creature can get the job done. This is a uniquely decisive design that offers so much more than it seems at first glance. You'll have to invest a little in white, but perhaps the environment is more of a flavorful allowance than a precise measure of everyone-gets-mana-fixing.

Curiosity does drive me here, as does a little bit of nostalgia. Alara certainly had its pips, and it had some weird pips at that. Committing to double colors felt like a bit of a risky miracle. You absolutely could—triple pips if you so chose! But for a three-color environment? Risky, risky, risky. Double here ain't so bad, but you're still encouraged to branch out. So hybrid maybe? Who knows! Or the power here is simply asking for enlistment, white with a splash, a centering. The notion of this knight finding their allies while retaining their central strength is still powerful in its own emotional right, with the single attacker calling back to exalted naturally as well. Thoroughly enjoyable and thoughtful choices were made here. Love this card as a limited tempo beater and a potential mono-white/hybrid aggro constructed card.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Tidehollow Salvage

I mean, hell, c'mon, it's pretty wonderful. I'll talk about the mechanics afterwards, but the flavor? I'll admit: I don't like the Phyrexians invading all the worlds at once. I didn't like the MOM story as much as I could've, I was a huge fan of the ONE world but not as much the invasion aspect, and having my poor baby plane of Alara infected with these guys wasn't my idea of a good time. Here, you've infused that nostalgic factor with a post-conflict eeriness and a grotesque emotional reality on top of a neat draw spell. Yeah, the perfection of Esper is steeped in inequality! Tezzeret was sympathetic for a while! He got really messed up! Etherium is scarce! It still kind of sucks underground here! I didn't know a lot about the Alara storyline when I started playing, but the feeling for the shards was always there. Bant's casts felt uncomfortable for their societal enforcement, but Esper's commodity-based world was uncomfortable in a different, desperate way. Man. This is cool.

Plus, putting the surveil on a separate paragraph? You gotta love it. I know it's a small detail, and it's just a design necessity, but it's the attention to that detail that I love about this card. I can imagine it as part of a cycle of alternate spells, like with a red creature that forces discard on ETB if black was spent to cast it, or a blue return spell that exiles something instead if white was spent to cast it, etc. We got possible multicolor but good draws otherwise, we have the cost of metal-scrapping, and... I mean, what else is there to say? This card's chops speak for themselves.

When I talk in my contests about elegant common design, this is exactly what I'm looking for. As a player, big splashy complex cards will slot in my decks. As a designer and storyteller, tightness is key.

@spooky-bard — Sigiled Construction

See what I mean? I'm only mildly irked that this doesn't have a quote from, like, a Vedalken designer who's learning how to venerate the designs of the angels, or a Bant paladin who for the first time is accepting the use of etherium as a means of fabricated glory. I can imagine both of those scenarios, but argh! At least this card's a pain in the ass. ... Hold on, I'm sounding more negative than I intend. What I mean is that someone's going to get three of these in their sealed pool, play UWX, slam a Thopter, and every turn thereafter is going to have a massive exalted attacker clock. Is it too powerful? Depends on the environment. Is it really cool from a lot of perspectives? Yes, absolutely, and I wanna talk about it.

In short, this card is one of THOSE commons—you know, first-pickable-over-rares sometimes kind of commons—and the chances of it doing nothing if something bigger comes along is also totally there. And that's okay! It's not oppressive, it's not unbalanced, it's not literally better than the mythics that would be appearing in this set. Just a plain old good card. And I do like the implication of how these shards would be coming together. I like how all three winning cards this week highlighted different possible aspects of Alaran unification. The first was a knight finding their way through a harrowing world, the second an emphasis on the underlying Alaran conflict, and this one is the coming-together of two strengths in a positive light. Whatever's happening here, I can still feel the wonder even while I'm whining for flavor text. Dangit, I can only whine so far... Heh. I'd love to play and see this card played.

Runners and more soon! @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventor's fair #winners #commentary #alara 2023 contest

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blueeyeswhitegarden · 10 months

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Day 27: Square Zero @arcvmonth

I really loved the reveal of the Original World itself. It felt like payoff for some of the biggest mysteries in the series. It was so satisfying and engaging to hear Leo's story. It made perfect sense as to why we couldn't learn about the Original World sooner too. Leo was the only survivor of the Original World's destruction and because he was locked away at Academia, there was no way for the cast to confront him until they got there. I always thought that the creation of the four Dimensions was a hard reboot of the world. The counterparts, as well as Leo, were just tossed through time and space to arrive at specific points in their respective Dimensions. We don't see any other established characters in those flashbacks. They already had younger designs for Yusho, Yoko and Shuzo, so they could have included them or other established characters to indicate that everyone older than fourteen was from the Original World placed into new Dimensions. Yoko had her flashback when she was in a biker gang and how she met Yusho, which means that they have memories from before the counterparts were created in these four Dimensions. Reiji was also never mentioned in the flashback. Even if they didn't want to design a two year old Reiji, it would have been extremely easy for him to get a mention. It could have even been a reason as to why Ray wanted Leo to stay. She could have said that Reiji needed his father more than his sister, which would be pretty depressing, but it would have been an easy way to indicate that Reiji existed in the Original World. What happened after the Zarc battle was more of a soft reboot by comparison since it was trying to restore balance as opposed to creating new worlds from the destruction of the Original World. It seemingly only affected the Standard Dimension since it had become Pendulum, most likely due to Odd Eyes now being a Pendulum Monster instead of an Effect Tribute monster like it was in the past. There was no indication of any of the other characters in the other Dimensions having their memories altered and there was still destruction from both the Dimensional War and the Zarc battle left, so it wasn't exactly what happened the first time Zarc was defeated.

It also made me reevaluate Leo as a villain. For most of the series, I just assumed that he wanted to merge the dimensions for power or something like that. I thought that he worked well as a villain from the shadows. We don't really see him that often, but because of Academia's looming presence for most of the series and Reiji's motivation to stop Leo, he never feels forgotten. The fact that he brainwashed Academia to become his personal army still made him imposing as well. But finding out that his true motivation was to bring back Ray really changed my perspective on his character. It made him more complex than I expected. At the end of the day, he is a father grieving for his lost child, willing to do anything and everything to get her back. That motivation is understandable, if not sympathetic. It even makes sense why Leo is willing to do such terrible things because he doesn't see the other characters as real people, not even his own family. He knows that these Dimensions are not his Original World, so it's easy to write off all of these characters as expendable since they aren't real to him. Leo wanted his daughter and his world back by any means necessary. While the audience could understand his thought process, by this point we had seen characters from all four Dimensions. We had seen their different personalities, bonds and goals, so we couldn't just see them as expendable pawns for Leo's own objectives.

Even though his backstory makes Leo more sympathetic, I love that the show immediately calls him out through Reiji. Reiji pointing out that he is a threat to the peace of the four Dimensions and that he's a bigger threat than Zarc was incredibly satisfying. As understandable as his grief for Ray is, Leo did a lot of terrible things. Instead of honoring his daughter's sacrifice, he was actively trying to undo it, never even considering the consequences, all because he was blinded by his grief. Nothing and no one else mattered to Leo more than Ray, not even his new family. His actions caused a chain reaction that led to Zarc's revival. He wrote it off as it was fated to happen due to Zarc's will. While Zarc clearly wanted to be revived, without starting the Dimensional War and kidnapping the Bracelet Girls, I don't think the Dragon Boys would have been able to meet each other, let alone merge to form back into Zarc. He was too set on reviving Ray that he didn't factor that she'd need a host body like Zarc did.

While Leo may not have been punished enough for his action to satisfy fans, I don't think he was really rewarded with anything either. Ray was revived, but she never talked to Leo. She communicated with Reria about how she needed to be revived before Zarc to stop him, but that wasn't because she wanted to reunite with her father. By that point, nothing could stop Zarc's revival and Ray knew that she was the only one able to defeat him. Leo doesn't get any kind of reunion with Ray to deal with his grief and he still loses his daughter after the Zarc battle again anyway. Leo abandoned his family, turned Academia into his personal army, spent years planning an invasion on the Xyz Dimension, carded countless people in Heartland, kidnapped the Bracelet Girls, used the carded people as fuel for the Arc V reactor and attempted to force the four Dimensions back into one in the vain hope of getting both Ray and his Original World back. And he's rewarded with nothing. All his actions did is nearly cause another world destruction event. I think that combined with the fact that he's still left without Ray were the wake up call Leo needed. As much as I love Reiji calling Leo out during their duel, it wasn't going to change Leo's mind. He was so close to getting Ray back and he was well beyond the point of listening to reason, so he wouldn't really believe Reiji was in the right. I think that seeing that Zarc was so close to destroying the world and that the cycle nearly started over again were what finally made Leo reflect on his actions and behavior.

I don't think he was forgiven so much as he saw the error of his ways if that makes sense. I don't think that the rest of the cast would now be perfectly okay with Leo. Sora and Asuaka were at Academia as he was working on the Arc V reactor with Ray still inside it, but I saw it more like they wanted to save Yuzu as opposed to trusting the Professor now that the Dimensional War was over. As satisfying as it would have been to see Shun punch him, the fact that he didn't do it was more because he realized it would be pointless way of dealing with his anger as opposed to forgiving the man who destroyed his home. He is with his family during the finale as Yuzu is revived, but I never saw that as an indication that he'd be welcomed back with open arms. Reiji may not have the same anger towards his father, as indicated by how he helped saved Leo after he was defeated by Zarc, but I don't see that as necessarily the same thing as being forgiven. I think dealing with a loved one who has done terrible or unforgivable things is a bit more complicated than that since there can be a lot of conflicted feelings involved. I think that there are more layers to forgiveness and redemption than fans in general tend to acknowledge. Leo recognized that his actions were wrong, but I don't think he's rewarded with the family he abandoned just because they're standing together in the finale. I prefer the head canon that he remains in Fusion, trying to undo the damage he caused to Academia somehow, and Reiji accepts that. He'll still keep an eye on Leo to make sure he doesn't cause anymore damage, but after how the Dimensional War turned out for him, Leo wouldn't be using Academia for another invasion. Leo being left with basically nothing after all of the damage and pain he caused is probably one of the most fitting punishments he could have gotten too.

#Arc V #Arcvmonth #Leo

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