#Some of us are also doing Clan Invasion stuff

[the-clawtake]

Trial of Position

As he went through the startup procedure on his Viper, Cadet Jehan let his mind drift back to his briefing.

“The Warden cause has lost, and Clan Ghost Bear has successfully trialed for a place in Operation: Revival” His Ursari had told him. “Your Sibko will be the last to graduate in time for a place in our triumphant return to Terra.”

He remembered the thrill those words had sent through him as he shivered in the cold morning air.

“As such, we are doing something for your Trial of Position.” He had carefully controlled his response to that as she went one. “You and your fellows will be undergoing them in the Tseng-Jorgensson Training Ground, on the southern continent here on Strana Mechty.” He knew the area, they had performed several exercises there after arriving on the planet. Twenty-five square kilometers of mixed tundra and boreal forest, dotted with lakes that would be frozen at this time of year.

“As usual, you will undergo the trail with another cadet. You will both start at opposite ends of the training ground. Three opponents will await each of you, to be fought in sequence. Their positions will be marked as nav points.”

She had leaned in close for her final pronouncement.

“Do well, Cadet, and there will be a place in Operation Revival for you.”

Now, the fusion reactor was humming beneath him, the battle computer announcing in a monotone voice that the reactor was online, the sensors were online, the weapons were online. All systems were nominal.

He checked the readouts manually anyway, then confirmed his weapons groupings. His ‘mech was configured in the Prime variant, with two medium pulse lasers, a four tube srm pod, and twin .50 calibre machine guns. A lighter loadout than most Omnimechs in it’s weight category, but it made up for it with speed and armour.

He eased the throttle forward, carrying the ‘mech out of the hangar and into the swirling snow. That would complicate things.

He glanced down at the map screen with it’s wire-frame topography and marked nav points, manipulating the view with his free hand. His own opponents, according to the Nav were in a rough semi-circle, spaced around a kilometer and three quarters apart, the closest being about 2 kilometers away to the west north-west, his hangar being at the southern end of the training zone.

Visibility was considerably lower than that. He set off into the snow, slowly at first, then picking up the pace as he grew used to the uncertain footing. Here and there he could see what was either low hills or deep drifts, and he resolved to avoid them.

The wide dog-leg he took of his first opponent took him into the trees, and he came in on the Nav from the North.

His first opponent was in a clearing. He didn’t recognize the burly-looking build, and the drifting snow meant his battle computer was unable to get an idea, but it was obvious that the main threat was the missile pod up on the right shoulder. It was big for a light ‘Mech, twelve or fifteen tubes at least.

He carefully settled his targetting caret on it, and then toggled his comms to the open band.

“This is Cadet Jehan, piloting the Viper Prime. I offer challenge to the Warrior in the light ‘Mech at Nav Point Alpha.”

He shifted his direction of travel to pass behind the other ‘mech, twisting the torso to keep his weapons trained on the missile pod and watched the rangefinder.

The numbers were blinking in and out, the snow interfering with the lidar. But it seemed to be about 300 meters. He slammed his throttle open to full, accelerating to his maximum speed of almost 130 kilometers an hour. Powder flew up behind him in a swirl, and he felt his mech stagger and slip before recovering.

“This is Warrior Edgar, in the Howler at Nav Alpha. Challenge Accepted. In this solemn matter let no man interfere.”

The Howler was turning to the source of the transmission, to meet Jehan’s charge, but slowly, so slowly.

Before it could bring it’s targetting systems to bear, the range was under 250 meters, and Jehan opened up with his SRMs and his pulse lasers.

One missile hit the right arm.

One tracked up and hit the side of the missile pod, and then the lasers did the same.

The whole right side of the Howler collapsed, armour, arm, missile pod.

The battle computer was showing an entry for it now, and the only weapons had been the missile pod.

“Your weapon systems are disabled. I offer hegira.” Jehan transmitted on the open comm.

“Accepted. Do not think your next opponent will be so taken in.” Edgar’s voice was filled with anger and frustration. “I will not forget this, Cadet.”

Jehan made sure his comm channel was closed and then let out a short bark of laughter, before turning towards the next opponent.

[teaableu]

WHAT IS YOUR EXILE AU LIKE....

I HAVE BEEN WAITING AGES FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ME THIS

Okay SO a LOT is up in the air right now because I'm doing Research as best I can between classes BUT here's what i got so far:

Lord Kogane is from a very powerful family that wants to take full control over Neo Edo. They think he's doing a poor job because the yokai are running free again and he's overall a pretty useless ruler. They step in and force him to enforce some pretty Messed Up Stuff that put all the people in danger (something to do with the Makkine tech probably). Usagi and his friends have a front row seat as to what he's up to and Usagi decides he won't let them get away with it. I haven't worked out the details but the Koganes' plans threaten the people and the yokai. BUT Usagi's not strong enough to take out the Koganes on his own.

My Usagi has a mystic power of sorts, which makes him very sensitive to spirits. All of the visions he gets through the Ki stone in the show, plus his ability to speak with Miyamoto stem from this ability. A simple way of seeing it would be like, he can see the threads of their lives. So he can read souls and connect with them, and sees ghosts when others cannot. I think the Ki stone sort of unlocked and amplified it when he connected with her. I'm still working on the details of his power but basically he can see and talk to ghosts with a little extra stuff sprinkled in

So the Ki stone encourages Usagi to seek help. Turns out the Koganes have a rich history of killing entire villages and armies that oppose them, dating (maybe) all the way back to Miyamoto's time. So he finds a couple of restless ghosts that are still waiting for vengeance and asks for their help. He strikes a deal that was supposed to help him fight Kogane while allowing the ghosts to avenge themselves their loved ones and their clans. I think he would amplify their power while they help him fight. But he doesn't realize who exactly he's making this deal with and ends up tethering his soul to very powerful VERY ANGRY ghosts that are WAY stronger than he is (I've been researching onryo and yurei for reference). They can take possession of his body, amplify his emotions to be in tune with their own, manipulate his power, and generally cause a lot of destruction. Basically, he becomes their puppet. I'm thinking it's a Venom or Little Shop of Horrors type dynamic between them. Also think of any poltergeist type film

He makes the deal and the ghosts possess him. When Usagi wakes up, he's killed Kogane (who really wasn't even the Big Bad behind the whole thing) and has to flee the city before he's caught and put to death for treason and murder. His friends are all imprisoned but he can't risk returning because he has lost control of his power and is unable to control the ghosts that are bound to his soul. The ghosts are starving for power and burning with hundreds of years of fury and anguish, and feed off of destruction (maybe the living?) It's sort of a pandora's box situation. The ghosts are just a whirlwind of chaos and use Usagi as a means to exact their wrath

I called it exile because Usagi can't return to the city without being arrested and killed for his crimes. The gang was the only one standing up to Kogane, and with his friends in prison, he's sort of stuck. He blames himself for everything that went wrong because he ran off without his friends and jumped headfirst into a situation he did not understand. He was reckless and cocky and now everyone is paying for it.

That's where EMD comes in, but the story continues after EMD season 2 as well.

Some extra notes:

- The timeline for srtuc would probably be a bit different so I can have more flexibility with the season one and season two events, since I wasn't sure when it would take place and I want there to be a pretty big time gap between Usagi leaving and returning. I also might use the Makkine invasion in the story

- I’m still working out Usagi’s backstory/past, but have pretty much decided that he has some history with the Kogane family

- I'm planning for Miyamoto to have a pretty big part in the story as well, acting as a guide for Usagi when he goes into hiding. I'm really interested in their relationship so I really want to take the chance to explore it.

- I'm thinking of adding someone as a nod to Tomoe Ame as well (descendant of her apprentice perhaps), since we got a representation of Chizu, Kitsune, and Gen in the tv show but not Tomoe (sad)

I wrote out the sparksnotes version of this here

In addition to the artwork there I have some other concept art

Blood warning under the cut

[the-owl-tree]

Please please please tell me all about your OCs. The clans are so interesting to me.

Also I was having a think about cardinalclans crown and maybe the feathers could be shaped and held in place by tree resin?

vibrating thank you thank you for the opportunity to babble endlessly, i've been having a lot of fun adapting everyone to a wc au!!!! i'll go over some additions + worldbuilding stuff i havent covered + character beats.

and ooohhh!! I like that a lot!!! definitely yoinking that. my idea is that there's some sort of a base crown structure compromised of twigs sort of weaved together, i like the idea that feathers being affixed with resin. also, while on the tangent of crowns-

for serpentclan's 'crown', i'm thinking some sort of flower thematically relevant to the leader. i was thinking something with water lilies but their invasive nature/strangling out other plants doesn't fit troutstar's vibe. probably sorrel or some sort of medicinal herb.

tempestclan definitely has some sort of antler covering, reminiscent of the antler queen from yellowjackets for tempeststar. kind of creepy to look at but adds to the "otherness" of him.

Okay, SO! Starting with some additional worldbuilding & lore-

(under cut)

There is a small abandoned town in the area where the Clans reside! I mentioned it in Smokestar's bio, but the fire that ravaged it was actually a major event for the animals who live there. The town was essentially abandoned, leaving a lot of left behind pets to either die or adapt.

It caused some huge friction between outsider cats and the Clans, with some being able to join the Clans while others were chased away.

The survivors who did stay were, naturally, traumatized, angry and struggling to coexist. A few cats came forward and kind of created an unofficial city group to help one another, some of the notable cats being Ozzy, his brother Jack, and a she-cat named Oracle.

The group isn't nearly as tight knit as it was during the aftermath of the fire but there's still a sense of camaraderie and community.

Back to the Clans, there's not really a 'warrior code' in this world, each Clan has their own laws with only a handful of them being universal (and even then each Clan interprets them differently): Kill only as allowed, a cat must want to join another Clan willingly (not kit stealing!), and something something make the Gods proud.

Speaking of the Gods, I'm kind of going back in forth whether or not they're real or not. Leaning to yes and just keeping their original characterization from the source material, very much inspired by the Greek Gods. They are not benevolent and kind, they are beings who do not see the mortal cats as equal. Their interests lie in expanding their own supporters in the afterlife.

The Clans worship nine Gods altogether: a God of death, a God of war, a God of the hunt and harvest, a God of beasts, a God of creation and art, a God of day, a god of night, and a god of weather (might change).

Each have varying followers within the Clans and varying lore, though there's some very popular mythology attached to each of them that have become canon to a lot of the cats in all Clans. Most popular ones are the God of Death and the God of War being lovers, where the War God incites violence to feed their mate's realm. The God of Day and the God of Night are bitter enemies who chase each other in a constant cycle, hence why day and night are always coming and dawn and sunset have streaks of red.

They each have their own various ways to be invoked but most common cats do not invoke the Gods themselves. Most of the time, that's considered like...using radiation to bake a cake, waaaayy too much firepower. Instead, you invoke daemons.

Daemons are essentially cats of the past who accrued such a legacy and immense of amount of respect that they are wildly believed to have joined the Gods' pantheons as lesser Gods/demigods, servants to the Gods. Obvious examples of Daemons are the Clans' founders while lesser ones would be notable healers and so on and so forth.

This applies also to cats have acquired a legacy due to their more...unfavorable actions. It's believed that a cat suffering from extreme misfortune may be being stalked by a trickster demon taking delight in their suffering.

tempestclan doesn't worship the pantheon, they believe in one god, the god of cats.

Uuuuh uh other misc notes: performances at the gatherings are pretty common, ranging from fights between cats of the clans (an act of kayfabe nowadays, most of the time they're trying to make a fun and enjoyable performance than seriously hurt each other) to big songs of the gods and even some tales from the elders.

Aaannnnd that's off the top of my head for lore stuff I want to touch on, I'll go through each Clan and make some notes on characters I haven't talked about as much/things not mentioned yet.

MustangClan Cats

Foxtrot is Fogstep's daughter, with her father being Ozzy! The two met and maintain a sort of fun open relationship. MustangClan doesn't have laws against their medic's having kittens. Foxtrot meets up with her father at least once a week and maintains a relationship with her half-sisters, Jinx and Marble.

Fogstep maintains the secret of Ozzy being her father, the only cat who knows is Bearstar who quietly tries to discourage Foxtrot from breaking the code to see her father. Foxtrot just got really good at sneaking off.

Foxtrot is...weird, has a morbid sense of humor that clashes with her upbeat and sweet demeanour. She doesn't necessarily buy a lot of MustangClan's values, but doesn't really have any interest in speaking out against them. She likes her family, her Clan, her friends, and her job.

She's close friends with Duskclaw, the two having grown up together with the latter being older. They're a funny pair to most cats: the no-nonsense deputy of MustangClan who once brawled her brother for the title of deputy and the breezy medic who couldn't care less about battles and honor. They just...work, offering each other a bit of freedom other cats can't.

She later meets Blightspirit and gets to know him, the two eventually bonding and getting together. Blightspirit joins MustangClan to be with her.

Duskclaw, as aforementioned, is the opposite. She's a brisk, stern, hardworking, and has a no-nonsense attitude that can sometimes rub cats the wrong way. She puts a lot of pressure on herself to achieve almost impossible expectations, and extends these expectations to those around her.

Her and her brother, Branchclimb, maintain a polite relationship in public, but don't talk in private. Their battle hurt their bond more than either thought it would, as it inadvertently put a dent in Branch's standing and reputation in the Clan. Duskclaw isn't sure how to fix it, or if it's even fixable.

This is turn put a strain on her relationship with her father, with Duskclaw, unconsciously, resenting the fact he put them in that situation to begin with. Bearstar's none the wiser to this.

Was once betrothed to Saugerleap in an attempt to make an alliance with SerpentClan, but that got thrown out the window when Saugerleap was discovered with Jaycall and Pikesnap went to tattle immediately lol Duskclaw was relieved, she really did not want to go through with it.

She does often cross paths with an interesting town cat named Omen who likes to tease her.

Mentioned before but they're close to Dawnstar and Sandstar's kits from travelling through their territory. They aren't as close as they used to be as apprentices but they still remain a friendly relationship.

SerpentClan Cats

Not too much on these guys?

Mainly it's just royal family drama with the Clan split between Saugerleap and Pikesnap inheriting the throne, with more of the Clan leaning to Pikesnap after Saugerleap's affair was revealed.

Still, his mellow attitude and interest in following his father's lead has earned him some support. SerpentClan likes avoiding conflict, they've been doing just fine with negotiating!

However, that doesn't mean there isn't a growing unrest. Negotiating means giving up something, the fact that Troutstar even entertains Bearstar isn't exactly a crowd pleaser. Pikesnap might be arrogant, but he's a cat who isn't afraid to tell someone off.

Maybe, some cats of SerpentClan think, that's exactly what the Clan needs. Enough playing nice with those warmongering fools, maybe a leader who can tell them to keep out of SerpentClan's territory is needed.

CoyoteClan Cats

Lots about Oxeyestar here. There was nothing special about him, he was picked because he was seen as an easy pawn.

I don't think he ever realizes he was being used or how much damage he caused. He dies outraged and arrogant that his own Clan would ever turn on him.

Mentioned before but Raindrop, one of the BoarClan's healers, was originally from CoyoteClan! She fled after she and two other apprentices were going to be brought up to TempestClan. They got split up and she ended up being taken in by BoarClan.

She does eventually return to her Clan when they chase out TempestClan's cats and kill Oxeyestar to act as their healer, but that doesn't happen for a while.

Mouseears and Speckleface are the two other apprentices that run, they live in the town for a bit before returning to try and overthrow things. Mouseears is the one that takes over as leader when Oxeyestar is killed in the revolt.

Mouse is...unnerving. They don't really break eye contact and have a really intense stare. They're deadpan and kind of monotone, quick to the point and definitely not interested in sparing anyone's feelings. Sometimes they don't even reply, just stare.

Speckleface is kind of the opposite, wears his emotions on his sleeve and you can tell fairly obviously what he's thinking at all times. He tries very hard to be brave, but can't always muster the courage to get feelings done.

When the three reunite, they cling to each other, glad each other's alive and well. They are the key leaders of the revolt, and Mouse and Rain work very closely to help repair their Clan.

Afterwards, there's some mixed ideas on how to go forward, with some cats wanting to return to being three Clans while others want to stick as one.

Mousestar and Raindrop have a lot of work ahead of them lol

BoarClan Cats

More about Dawnstar and Sandstar here. Fun fact about them is Sandstar actually orders elders and cats to "punch up" the story of Dawnstar defeating her parents in combat to take over as leader. Unfortunately, a cat in her prime managing to beat the shit out of two very old (if still very skilled) cats isn't as exciting as Dawnstar likes it to be (even if it is an impressive feat nonetheless).

They had two litters with Nightstride, Darkwater, and Dewleaf being part of the first and Lifeseeker and Jaycall being the only survivors of their second litter.

They are the most obnoxious parents to ever parent. Love their kids dearly, show an unfortunate amount of favoritism for them lol think Rainbow Dash's parents but five kids to gush over.

Nightstride is considered the eldest. He is massive, intimidating, and takes after his mother in terms of sheer prowess in battle. He is also awkward, horrible at eye contact, deadpan, and struggles to make friends outside his family. He and Raindrop actually get along and he's quite sad when she eventually returns to CoyoteClan, though he makes an effort to visit her.

Darkwater suffers from middle child syndrome. He's a bit angry and rowdy, but isn't necessarily bad. He just feels underappreciated in his work as one of the deputies. His siblings tease him a lot when he makes his melodramatic speeches about deserving respect and how he ought to get some acknowledgement for all he does! (He does the exact same amount of work as all of them do btw).

Dewleaf, who may I add finds her name very ill-fitting ("It's so...peaceful and saccharine. I deserve something cooler! Tougher! Like, uh...uh...Bloodslash or Tuskjaw!"), is rowdy and goofy. She loves staying out on the outskirts of the territory to go stargazing, just loves being on her own. Dewleaf was born with swimmer's syndrome and required some intervention during her kithood years. Nowadays she struggles with balance and can't really effectively climb or hunt, so she often helps out in camp or patrols. She definitely doesn't solo patrol just to flirt with Cranegaze, nuh-uh, would never.

More on Lifeseeker (and Mallardsong) here. His name came from a desperate plea from Dawnstar, renaming him from Turtlekit to Lifekit in hopes it would imbue the sickly kit with the strength to live. He finds the name soooo cringe and embarrassing.

Jaycall knew he wanted to be a healer at a young age, having been trained by the old healer before she passed away. He enjoys the job and the freedom it brings. He's a lot smoother with his words than the rest of his siblings, knows when to appease and when to challenge. He and Foxtrot get along, they're both more interested in their personal goals than any Clan values.

Raindrop does get along with the DawnSand family a lot, having been taken in by them when injured. They're sad to see her go and visit a lot, Nightstride, as mentioned before, visiting most often.

CardinalClan Cats

More on Swiftstar here.

To Cranegaze, Swiftstar's sister and next-in-line to take over as leader, there's something uncomfortable about the way the Clan quickly almost...deified their deceased parents. Hawkstar and Robinhop became martyrs, amazing cats who's lives were taken too soon.

It's so hard to listen to cats wax poetic about how Hawkstar was an exemplary leader, ahead of her time (she was fine, she hadn't done anything really that amazing) or how her father was prime example of a true CardinalClan warrior (he was...normal. Loyal, polite). It's hard when one was your mother who never had time for you and a father who snapped at you for little things.

They weren't terrible...but they certainly weren't the cats that the magistrates described them as. It's hard on Cranegaze, to watch their memory get distorted until they've become angels among cats, amazing beings who were taken too soon. It's hard to watch her own brother buy into it, to earnestly believe his parents were that stupendous, as if they didn't hurt him too.

She tries to keep their real memories alive through Mallardsong, who was a young kitten being reared by permaqueens in the nursery when their parents were killed.

Mallardsong, on the other paw, finds it hard to care. She doesn't really see anyone as her parents, just her siblings as her family, and even then that's enough family for her. She doesn't like talking to her older brother, she only knows Swiftstar, not the fun and adventurous apprentice he used to be.

She does start to reach out when he works at the negotiations though will immediately walk off the moment he tries to go Leader Mode and lecture her. She wants the brother Cranegaze says he was, not the bossy-fur he is now.

One idea i've been throwing around is one of the Magistrates, or a few of them, getting some cats to 'rough up' Mallardsong and pin it on BoarClan to cease negotations.

She's found bloodied and half-dead at the border at sunrise, with Lifeseeker being the prime suspect.

TempestClan

The drama clan lol where all the drama is going down!

Blightspirit, then named Harvestspirit, comes from a long line of esteemed saints. He and his brothers, Ptarmiganmarch and Graylion, begun training at a young age while his sister, Storrmrunner, was excluded.

The four of them were a miracle litter, with TempestClan cats often only having surviving litters of one and two. It's custom that kits don't even receive their names until apprenticehood due to the high mortality rates for kits.

Their parents, Sheepfall and Cariboucall, had a...tense relationship. Sheepfall was a loner who was taken in and cared for after being found half-dead, and was essentially pressured to stay. She had an arranged mateship with Cariboucall, one of the more devout Saints of TempestClan.

I plan on making a post on this family soon so I'll try not to repeat too much of what's going be on there buuuutt-

Sheepfall is a spy for Wolf's rebellion and loops Stormrunner into joining her. Sheepfall always has a Situationship with Wolf that only becomes fully realizes after TempestClan is taken down. She is extremely touch averse and struggled for a while with physical contact, eventually she's able to sleep by Wolf.

Stormrunner was overlooked for being smaller and having a speech impediment (stutter). However, she's got an eye for detail and a natural curiosity. She later goes on to become a "wanderer", leaving the territories to see what else the world has to offer.

Ptarmiganmarch and Graylion are similar to Tempeststar, seeing through the facade of the Saints but wanting the power offered to them. They're very angry when Harvest is picked instead to become the first successor.

Tempted to have Harvest be renamed just to drive in how much he is being isolated and groomed into inheriting this role. The Saints thrive on his desire to please him, rewarding him with special titles and special treatment.

Cariboucall is the only surviving Saint when TempestClan is destroyed. He lives an isolated life, with two dead sons, an ex-mate that hates his guts, and two living children who don't ever want to see him. He gave his life to his God, and all he got in return was loneliness. He thinks about it a lot.

Tempeststar and Cariboucall were childhood friends and, while their jobs have made them change, they are still close. Tempeststar loved hanging out with the kits and is heartbroken when they stop wanting to chill with him later on.

Thing to note about Tempest is that he's given opportunity after opportunity to do right and he will never take them. He never connects this as to why his niece and nephews don't like being around him anymore.

Wolf, originally named Wolfhowl, was a Warrior of TempestClan. However, she lead a revolt to try and overthrow the Saints, resulting in her nearly being executed by them and her and her supporters being forced to flee. Their rebellion is small at first, but eventually they go down to live in the town and make friends.

Wolf is passionate, something who deeply believes in her values, sometimes to the point it blinds her of her options. She is someone with so many feelings that it sometimes overwhelms her. But she is earnest and that earnestness has earned her a tight following, one that believes in the destruction of TempestClan as much as she does.

Atheist, doesn't believe in any Gods.

She's poly, with her own little cluster of lovers, including Sheepfall. They all have a tight knit bond, with some also having relationships with each other while some are only in relationships with Wolf.

i vomited out everything i thought was relevant lol lots of characters!! too many characters perhaps, but that's the fun part of all this to me, seeing where they all fit and how they changed. thank you so so much for asking about them!!! i had a ton of fun typing this all out

[wolf-among-mechs]

MW5: Clans

Having messed around with Mechwarrior 5 Clans for a bit I think I can throw out a pretty strong recommendation for it for anyone still uncertain. The TLDR: I enjoy it plenty, lore and gameplay. The cutscenes and characters are pretty good.

I apparently made a review of it because I felt like talking about it into the void. With largely positive things to say about it. Bunch of stuff I honestly want to hear other people's opinions on too.

It is quite back to the old days in Mechwarrior 4 with characters and opinions and how it flows with the fights. While I enjoyed MW5 Mercs, it is kindof lacking in that department though as the DLCs pile on you get a lot more of it or at least attempts that aren't halfbad. Good effort has gone into making the people sound right, with accents and affects. Like yes, the clanners talk as they're supposed to. When one of your team uses a contraction every clanner outside your star immediatly lose their shit. Not in the meme sense but it they might as well have said c*nt next to a bunch of americans in terms of foulness spoken out loud.

The story following the smoke jaguars during Operation Revival is interesting considering they commit the worst war crime during the invasion and also kindof continually fumble the ball against the Combine. Your star, five lone mechs against the inner sphere, are part of the proceedings and the different characters in the star interact, sometimes disagree or just give each other shit. Got a nice team atmosphere. It introduces stuff and concepts among the clans quite nicely so even if you're not familiar with them you'll pick up what they're on about.

I think it does a pretty nice job of showing things from the Clans perspective of Operation Revival and how they are completely unprepared for the Inner Sphere and continually frustrated with it and things just going increasingly awry. There's a few beats that I think could've been done better certainly but I think it's good drama and a fun time in that regard. I could go more into what I think of the depictions of the clans in the game but that's basically some nerding out about the larger battletech universe and stuff. After turtle bay I kinda had that feeling that I've had in the past when a game makes you a culprit of a war crime or something terrible. A special kind of disgust made all the more visceral as you see the people, the resistance, in Turtle bay reacting to the bombing. Then everything blowing up.

Another thing that I quite like of this depiction is that the inner sphere does put up some serious resistance. Stuff doesn't roll over. They put up some serious fights. More often than not this is called dishonourable because the inner sphere descends into trickery and lies even though aforementioned trickery and lies are often extremely basic ambushes or "send more mechs to the fight." It is funny to contrast with Mercs where this just is how the Inner sphere fights. That said the clanners do eventually learn that they will set traps and ambush and attempt to fight unfair. Very often sending tons of mechs and people into the meat grinder in so doing. Some of the fights do get pretty intense and hard. You also get to see Comstar be Comstar. Wearing their space wizard garbs and being a manipulative force that will never tell you the truth.

The maps while feeling a bit more lived in than most of what Mercs managed to do, are kindof cramped and not great half the time for the kindof long range shooting matches more than half your equipment is good for, not helped that even with the added control to your lance or star mates you still have to be the one to step into the breach. Luckily there's many things you can do to fit that problem. I kindof wish that the star command screen had a pause function so that you could assign targets or at least go into bullet time. Because by the time the enemies show up. They're usually ontop of you so that's not really time to get your map out and play mechcommander. The fact it doesn't pause or slow down so you can set attacks or even give things preferences such as "maybe don't waste all your ammo on the fricking Locust when it will fall over from a stiff breeze" is honestly kindof baffling. Especialy how exciting it otherwise looks and how much detailing you can do with the Star mates XP and omnipods for their mechs. Which is not quite like tabletop omnipod but makes more sense than those omnipods.

Because of the tight maps the AI will more often than not walk in front of you when you're trying to hose something down way more often than they did in mercs. And they will complain about it when you invariably remove all thier back armor by mistake. You get used to it.

The fights feel pretty good honestly. Good challenging combat maps. They got a lot more field repair bays around compared to MW5:mercs. Which... I think I only remember 2? And were introduced like they were going to be more common in the campaign. Which holy shit, you're going to need those repair bays. You get to visit some really varied battlefields, a Star League depot, a cave system, cities and country side. Lots of mountain passes. Deserts and even do battle on a space port.

There's boss battles now. With various levels of canonicity. I don't know if we needed those but I see the point of them. They are usually there to give some variety to shooting stuff after waves of mechs and vehicles and vtols. You can also shoot down shilones now. I'd say aerospace fighters but it's all shilones.

All in all. If you enjoy mechwarrior, if you enjoy battletech. Chances are Mechwarrior 5 clans will have you eating well.

[thedarknesseater]

I was thinking on a non serious canon divergent AU in which everyones favorite misogynistic brat Naoya meets with Yuta in different circunstances.

The idea would be that the 3 clans have an anual meeting in the Tokyo school which is a date to act neutral to each others and tackle important issues of the Jujutsu society. Boring stuff for Naoya, but as he's the representative of the Zenin clan he's still obligated to assit much to his displeasure.

Before the arrival to the school he already hear rumors about a new students saved from execution by Gojo. Not that he cares about it, but once in the place and having to be introduced to the student of Tokyo, Naoya suddlenly makes contact with an adorable teenager of deep black hair and adorable eyebags.

For some reason our Zenin boy feels tingles at the first sight of Yuta, who feels a bit intimidated by the presence of the heads of the families and being sort of an outcast himself in that world.

And of course his not so favorite cousin Maki is there, and she and Naoya don't salute each other and their tension can be feel. But Maki also notices how Naoya is way to focused on Yuta, and she starts getting on his way trying to cover our emo boy from his cousin.

Naoya's bratty misogynistic sense rise like foam, as he should lol, cause he wants his annoying cousin get out of the way for annalize the young adorable new student.

But before the beef can continue, the school is under attack (can be anyone Geto/the curses, it doesn't really matter) which forces everyone to take action to repel the invaders.

Naoya is a bit happy that at least there would be a bit of emotion in this boring day, plus Maki could get killed in the process, but what he certainly didn't expected was Yuta to jump straight action before most people ready to protect everyone.

And what a spectacle for our Zenin boy, as despite the lack of experience on Yuta, Naoya can feel the boy is powerul beyond imagination which let him even more astonished, as he's feeling things that didn't experience since Toji.

Our Naoya even let himself go and jump into action right next to Yuta, using his own CT to compliment the swordmanship of the younger boy. They even have brief eye contact in the middle of the fight which is the definitive click moment between them.

Later on when the invasion is over and everyone is safe, and the family members along the school personel can resume the meeting Yaga makes the announcement:

"Despite this unfortunate incident, one of the main reason that concern us today is the lack of capable personel for teaching in our school. So we beg for anyone who offers to be a volunteer for prepare the next gen..." the director was saying to the people presents.

"I'll do" Naoya suddlenly announes.

Then all the others turn around to look at him as if he grown a second head.

"If there's no objection of course I will love to take the charge" Naoya put his best smile.

Zenin boy totally didn't take this opportunity just to have an excuse to be around Yuta without being sus lol.

This is when professor Naoya adventure starts.

Yuta probably will be happy about it. Maki, not so much.

Ahhh naoya.

I haven't met him yet, and I still feel very left out about that. I cannot participate wholly in all the naoya posting and that hurts me inside. I'm very excited to meet him.

I don't think I've seen this ship before and I wish you all the fun in your sandbox but I really cannot engage with this in any meaningful way because I don't know naoya yet. Not to say you cannot ship someone without explicit canon knowledge but it is not something that I can do. Totally a me thing.

And this is all so detailed and fun you absolutely can and probably should make your own posts. I'm certain people would love to hear about them, and you might even be the one to introduce people to a fun new ship.

[waluigis-biggest-fan]

So I wanted to explain some stuff for a friend who's not into Battletech so that he knows what I'm talking about.

Timeline

Pre-Star League

humanity expands out to form the Inner Sphere (basically the closest planets to Earth which is called Terra because sci-fi story) and the periphery (planets further than the Inner Sphere). Then humanity had a big war, like we do, and formed the Star League.

Star League (2570-2780)

Humanity forms space United Nations but this United Nations has an emperor and 5 great houses, namely House Steiner, House Merik, House Davion, House Kurita, and House Liao (we'll get to them in a second). It was all Star Trek and happiness (except for the fucks at House Kurita who kept trying to samurai duel people with mechs to the point there was an elite organization called the Gunslinger Program specifically trained for dealing with their bullshit). Then this fucker Ameris came along and tried to take it all over. This not fucker called Karensky kicked his ass then took all the Star League Defense Forces (space UN peacekeepers) and fucked off beyond the periphery where nobody heard about them for hundreds of years.

Succession Wars (2781-3049)

Ok so now we get to the most commonly used era in Battletech, the Succession Wars. Basically, every House wanted to create a new Star League with themselves as the leader. This is followed by two centuries of warfare encouraged by the fucks at Comstar (we'll get to them too don't you worry your pretty little head).

Clan Invasion (3050-3061)

OH HEY SO YOU REMEMBER KARENSKY AND HIS FUCKERS!?! So they came back but now they're a warrior cult based around fighting in Battlemechs. Whereas the rest of the galaxy was involved in war that destroyed all their tech production bases, the Clans were having a technological renaissance so their shit is better than the Inner Sphere shit. They fight a lot and kill a lot until eventually Comstar challenges them to a Batchal (their version of a duel but on a planetary scale with multiple armies involved). The clans all sent basically 2/3rds of their entire armies to fight Comstar...

and Comstar kicked their fucking asses.

The general who Comstar chose to do so was named Focht and that's exactly what he told the Clans to get. They retreated and could no longer threaten the newly reforged Star League.

Civil War (3062-3067)

So now the newly reforged Star League immediately started infighting and destroying itself. Go figure.

Jihad (3068-3080)

The Word of Blake, a religious cult offshoot of Comstar, starts jihading everybody after Star League 2: Electric Boogaloo falls apart.

Dark Age (3081-3150)

Nobody liked this era and it doesn't matter. Basically, the internet shut down and everyone lost their minds.

IlClan (3151-Present)

(Credit to KingsofWinter on Deviantart for the map)

The Clans form a massive big clan called the IlClan (pronounced ill-clan) who conquer Terra and form a new Star League but with tech-fetishism and batchals.

Everyone is still fighting.

The Big Factions

There are a couple big factions with a lot of lore to them so I'll get the main ones out of the way just so you know them.

House Steiner (Lyran Commonwealth)

Germans with attitude and no sense of stealth. Basically just take the biggest mechs possible and throw them at the enemy.

House Merik (Free Worlds League)

'Murica fuck yeah.

House Kurita (Draconis Combine)

You know japan? Its that but in space.

House Davion (Federated Suns)

Also 'Murica fuck yeah but with a more knightly aesthetic.

House Liao (Capellan Confederation)

China plus Soviet Russia.

Comstar

A cult that runs all the faster than light telephones. They basically stop technology from progressing and keep everyone at war with stealth operations. They also control Terra and nowhere else. Their plan is basically to blast humanity back to the stone age then everyone will have to follow their cult's teachings. Fun stuff.

Terms and Definitions

Battlemech: Just a mech designed to fight.

Autocannon (AC): An automatic canon. The higher the number after it, the bigger the rounds it fires.

Particle Projector Cannon (PPC): It takes a particle and accelerates it massively. Its the worst weapon you can get hit by in Battletech short of a Gauss Rifle or a Heavy PPC.

Extra Range (ER): Some weapons have extra range variants. It does what it says on the tin.

[solofanatic64]

TMNT 2012 OC TIME

There’s a lot of weird things that happen in the universe of Tmnt. Mutants, aliens, living fragments of space that travel the galaxies at high speeds and have the ability to grant wishes, alternate dimensions, time travel-wait what was that 3rd one? Living space fragments? What?

This is Comet

and she’s a living fragment of space that’s been floating in the earths orbit for over 18 years until she incidentally crash-landed in NYC after being pulled out of orbit. But she doesn’t know that, she woke up in a random alley way with amnesia from the crash, only remembering all of the knowledge she retained when she was in space (because of course she did, of course she doesn’t remember the most important thing about herself, why the hell would she do that).

All she knows is that she can shapeshift, she glows, she knows a whole lot of other stuff, and that 70% of the natural elements can harm/kill her. But she also knew about the invasion going on in NYC and the conflict happening between the Hamato Clan and the Foot Clan. And you would think that, because she knows all of the nitty gritty details behind the conflict, that she would wait for the turtles to return and join their side, right? NOPE! She joins the Foot Clan instead (idk girlie lives for violence and chaos). She doesn’t have much fighting skill besides punching, kicking, stabbing, slicing, and smashing, but she’s got spirit!

Extra stuff:

-that reference of her on the left isn’t a shifted form, it’s a rubber skinsuit of her default form. It’s hard for her to keep a form in place for a long time so she just uses that when she isn’t doing much activity and just lounging

-if you look at her closely, you can see small details such as creases in her rubber skin, stitches for mending tears, and some dark blue surrounding her sclera (it’s unsettling to look at so just don’t)

-she’s kind of dense, anytime a display of her wish powers are incidentally shown to her, she plays it off as some weird coincidence (unless it’s too weird, then she gets suspicious)

-she’s a very emotional person and her mood can change on a whim, she can go from having a good day to feeling the intense need to break something angrily to having a good day again in the span of an hour (ok maybe not on a whim, but you get my point)

-since she doesn’t remember her past, she comes up with theories of her own. Her theories include: runaway Kraang experiment, traveling alien from another planet, strange kind of super mutant, and space princess from another galaxy

-despite being a young adult, she’s reckless and irresponsible most of the time (like a teenager)

-sometimes she’ll just pop out of nowhere when she goes to talk with her coworkers (it’s makes them jump every time and they hate it. Is that gonna stop her? Nope)

-she doesn’t actually need the glasses, she just likes how they look on her

-her playlist consists of Insane Clown Posse, Pierce the Veil, Utsu-P, Mitski, Slipknot, Rammstein, Kittie, and various other songs from various other artists

-her favorite fashion aesthetic? All of them

This is all I can manage to post about now without completely info-dumping so I’ll talk more about her if y’all have any questions (I’ll see if I can open my ask box, if not then womp womp)

[neon-knights-mercenary-company]

For both Rowan and Ags, from that latest ask game:

1, 5, 8, and 10, plus the additional questions of "What’s the thing they’re into that they’re most embarrassed/conflicted about?" (Hobbies, interests, kinks, etc)

( @is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not )

1. What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)

R: context, baybe! Am i at a merc bar? Timbiqui Dark. I hate the stuff to be honest, but one has to keep up appearances.

Drinking on someone else's dime? Call me old fashioned, but i do enjoy an Old Fashioned. I like'em fixed with maraschino, and give the glass a spritz of absinthe before you pour. Fun fact: a surprising number of bartenders dont know that maraschino is a liqueur, and put a bouquet of fuckin cherries in your drink. Tha dinguses.

At home? I'll keep it simple, usually some combo of soda + spirits. Im particuarly fond of sasparilla and Yukon Jack.

A. I enjoy my drinks hot, not cold. Coffee with tequilla, hot coco with tequilla, tea with tequilla... you get the picture.

5. What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.) 

R: my pride wants me to say it was at my mamma's teat, but... nah, lets drop the kayfabe for a sec and be real here. I cry, a whole fuckin' lot more than i admit, and nowhere near as much as i should. We joke and pal around and measure our dicks at each other, but in the end? We kill people. We visit incredible violence on our fellow human beings, and that should take a toll. And if it ever stops taking a toll? Its time to retire.

That doesn't exactly answer the question, so... last time i cried was a few nights ago. @is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not was gettin' me up to speed on the hundred years of history i missed out on, and i managed to hold it all together till i got back to my bunk. And then i broke down sobbing. Part of that was just, pent up stress from the goddamn meatgrinder of the Clan invasion. I lost almost everything- the war, half our company, nearly everyone we knew outside of that shitty ass Invader that misjumped us here.

But hell, y'know what? Ive still got that other half of my company. I still have Agata and Joana, i still got most of Fursona's Fusiliers around. Hell, i'm even reignitin' something with Remus... look, all those good things, that ive still got? Cried for that, too. It aint all gotta be tears of sorrow, you can cry for the good things too.

A: August 20th, 3028. Got pepper sprayed at Melissa and Hanse's wedding.

8. Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)

R: whoo boy. Just cleared out ol' Ronnie's quarters on the Pony. Its not got much decoration yet, just the barebones cot and whatnot. Lots of stab marks in the walls and furniture from when i get bored...Kept his desk though- solid oak, from Samantha. And uhh... maybe a couple of pinups of Kamea Arano... and Candace Liao... and Hanse Davion... and-

A: Like Rowan, I've just moved quarters- her old room in fact, since I'm the XO now. I have my rock collection up on some shelves I put in- I like to get one rock from each celestial body I visit, unique if possible. Theres also stab marks all over the place that I'm filling in, thanks for that by the way Rowan.

10. What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.) 

R: Pistol, hormones, sunglasses. In that order.

A: I no longer have my katana from my time in the DCMS, but I do still have the wakizashi that paired with it. I still wear it, for luck.

Bonus: What’s the thing they’re into that they’re most embarrassed/conflicted about? (Hobbies, interests, kinks, etc. Gets into self-image vs how they want to be perceived vs what compels them anyway, plus backstory.)

R: Conflicted, specifically. The tough-as-nails merc persona is... its hard to keep up sometimes. I want to be vulnerable around those I love, but i have trouble turning the macho down. Its paid in dividends, over the years, in bonus c-bills made and fights avoided, but it's also taken its toll on me. And... i didnt let myself feel what i wanted to feel around someone who i now realized i loved- and still love- very much.

A: Sometimes, on my worst nights, I- I still think about my time in the DCMS. And its like I'm still there, never left, and couldnt leave if I wanted. And I dont feel scared or trapped by my superiors or my culture, or horrified by the things I'd done for the Combine. I dont feel anything but mild pride and nostalgia. I don't like those being the things I feel about that time.

[sonicasura]

Alright then, btw what I'm about to tell is from a small note book his sister gave before I left my friends house when I went to check on him yesterday. Which is good for I already seen I have forgotten quite a bit more then I remeber about the au.

But anyway on to the stuff shall we?

So for starters lets start with the report that the science department left after the experiment was done. I'll try to be as accorate as I can as my friend warned me that some stuff is either unfinished or not something he really wants to share just yet.

Report 204, date xxx year xxx

Subject: Project Parasitic Hound.

The project has been deemed a failure after loosing all but one of 227 test subjects used for the duration of year xxx to year xxx. With the only remaining living subject having been transfered to an officer of the Hoshina clan for furter study and containment until high command has made a decision on what to do with it.

The following is the description of the test subecjt and what is currently know of it and its abilities.

Subject D-08 is a mixed Golden and Labrador Retriver breed of 5 years age that before the transplant had a whitish golden colour, along with being average in both size and strength. With chocolate eye colour. With being mild if a bit too curious in temperment.

Since after the transplants the coat as since turned black that most would either call coal black or obsidian black with now cyanish coloured eyes that glows when in darker areas. Its face also now sports odd white markings that almost form a painted mask of some sort and two small blunted horns has grown out the top of its head.

It has grown to somewhere between 10% to 30% more in size and hight, along with a similare balance in strenght, endurance, speed and intelligent after various tests was done shortly after the transplant.

Its teeth and claws has also been strengthen as well, enough so that a speical muzzle is to be worn at all times to avoid it biting anyone within its reach. It is to be only taken off when it needs to eat.

Its temperment still remains mild, though it has been noted that it now has become guarded and afraid around humans sporting lab coats. As well as shown a more aggressive side when meeting certain personnel.

The test subject has also gained two abilities of sorts. One is that it is now able to detect other kaijus within a 2 to 5 km raidus around itself. This discovery was only made and been comfirmed when subject reacted rather violently and fearfully when it detected a small invasion of mole type kaijus in the countryside during another test done in the area.

The second is a being able to control electricity. Though not very powerful, the subject is able to control the electricity enough to form a small bubble around itself for protection and hurl small lighting bolt like attakcs at range that will at most stun the traget. Its claws as well is able to be enhanted by said electricity to deliver a more power full attack at close range.

The subject has also shown no further aging as well, as its body seems to have stopped its age shortly after the transplant. More time is need to comfirm this though.

Oof. Poor Kafka definitely wasn't treated well to say the least. This is honestly the type of shit the more unhinged members in the Science Department would do.

[iwoszareba]

i finished up answering the overdue questions for Aqil (and one for Knave)

@lairiend @gutterspeak @silversiren1101 @commander-lariel @dujour13 @desnas thank you for sending them!! and sorry i got distracted by clownery!! △ Hey Aqil, what’s an awkward fact about Kitsune puberty that most people wouldn’t know? "You probably are aware that we are natural shapeshifters. It's not a spell we have to consciously learn, it's simply an ability that is in our blood and we develop it quite young, alongside things like walking or speech. But that also means it can go a little unreliable when young kitsune are experiencing heightened emotions. You sometimes shift between your forms unexpectedly and involuntarily. For most it relates to some kind of anxiety but not always. I'll give my sisters as an example: Qurin was strongly affected by anger, while Khadija would shift multiple times when she was very excited. It's embarrassing, sure, but it wasn't that big of a deal for us since we are quite open about our family being a kitsune clan. However it must be extremely stressful for those of our kin who prefer to keep a low profile. Do I have any especially awkward memories myself? I guess I do. I was addressing our congregation as the new Meru for the first time. It was probably too soon, I was still a little off from the ritual and getting used to my oracle curse, but I was stubborn and insisted that I could do it. I barely stumbled through my little speech, got all dizzy, shifted three or four times. It was a mess. Afterwards I felt like I made a complete fool out of myself and that it was all over. I went to my father to formally declare that I deserve to be cast out and forgotten but he just put a hand on my shoulder, looked into my eyes and said: "Son, failure is not a matter of making mistakes, failure is letting mistakes you've made define you." So… yeah. It was terrible at the time but I survived just fine. I’m sorry, this probably went beyond the scope of your original question. Anyway, I hope this was a satisfying answer!" invasiveness rating: question itself not invasive, but his own folly of getting too personal was a little embarrassing △ Aqil, with Sosiel – kitsune form or not? "Let me start by saying I admire how much implied suggestive context you were able to express in just a few words. Always a pleasure to meet someone this efficient, I myself have a trouble of being quite verbose.  Another thing I find interesting is how you set this up as a big secret reveal. Yes or no! One word and we will finally know the truth. But let's put a pin in that and run a little thought experiment. No, I'm not trying to stall from time, indulge me. Let’s say you are of elven heritage but every other day you become more human in appearance. It's not a problem and you are at peace, this is simply who you are. But then you find out your beloved finds you attractive and wants to be with you physically only in one of those forms. How would that make you feel? Would you develop a distaste for a part of yourself? Or maybe you start to doubt your partner's feelings and wonder if they truly care for you. I'm not saying that everyone needs to find everything attractive but maybe some relationships would have a hard time surviving or they would devolve into something unhealthy over time. Sosiel has never given anything less than the sense of being loved completely and that is that." invasiveness rating: miffed because it’s literally just his body, but he expects people to be curious, especially in Mendev where kitsune are rare (but 100% thank you for sending it like this, i love thinking about shapeshifter stuff) △ Aqil! You read so many books and learn so many things. Do you keep any 'spicy' books on hand in your library? 'Just in case'? "Just in case? In case of what? I can't wait for the fateful day when my knowledge of "With sword and magic" plotline and 'techniques' will be the thing that saves the day.  I jest of course, I don't think I keep any books of this type on hand at the moment. I did read a fair share of them when I was studying in Absalom, if you ever find yourself there you can seek out Madame Magnolia's Library for Light-hearted Libertines. That's where most of my reading material came from.  Magnolia herself is a wonderful woman, always a delight to talk to and could endear anyone with how open and accepting she is. I once asked how her collection had started and she told me that she would say to her friends 'with every raunchy book I read I become more immune to bleaching' and to join in on the joke her friends would gift her all sorts of outlandish titles. At some point she had so many that it seemed like a waste to just keep them to herself so she started a little private library. After that her collection only grew when even strangers were willing to sell or give her more volumes to fill her shelves.  Recently I got my hands on a little fictionalised retelling of the Knight Commander's 'exploits' during the Fifth Crusade and after reading it through I knew I had to send it to Madame. I wrote a little personalised dedication, tied a pretty bow on it. I hope she gets a kick out of that and may her colours be ever vibrant." invasiveness rating: i guess depends on who would be asking this but in peers type of situation he would be okay. and i really enjoyed making up Magnolia for this question △Aqil, is there anything you wouldn't do to prove yourself to your clan? is there anything more important? "Well of course, if you leave the question this open I can easily imagine scenarios where my decisions and their expectations don't mesh completely. We are all individuals of strong convictions so obviously we clash on details. But our love is not a result of a rigid structure and enforced hierarchy, it's a decision we've made and try to maintain through care and understanding.  I don't have to prove myself to gain their respect and support because I already have it. I want to prove myself because I wish to strive for greatness just as our god teaches.  I guess you could also mean this as 'if the ancestor spirits tasked you with something could you possibly refuse' and then the answer is no. I belong to Nethys and by extension I have to follow the guiding hand of Meru. But then again guidance does not have the severity of commands and I still have plenty of freedom to make my own choices." invasiveness rating: i thought it would get him, i really did. but then i considered it some more and realised he would be prepared to answer something like that because he did think about it himself △ aqil, what are/were your parents/guardians like? "They are wonderful. And I don't say that just to maintain my image of 'everything for family' kinda guy. When I was a little kid I believed that all parents are probably like mine because they are close to old parental archetypes. The father who, while not open with his feelings in words, shows his care through actions and structure he provides and the mother who spoils her children with affection and teaches them how to find joy in life. Of course when I got to experience more of the world I quickly realised that families can run the gamut from good to bad and in-between. And my own in its typicality is far from typical. But what more can I tell you about them…  My father, Bashar Khay, is a very knowledgeable man, serious in demeanour, his very presence commands respect but his wit displays both cunning and sense of humour. He is a teacher of magic theory first and foremost even if he dabbled in other things. The two of us perceive spellcasting in different ways. Where I hear a melody and follow it to its logical conclusion, he sees rules and equations that need to be solved. But he never tried to convince me that my approach was wrong. We would simply compare and contrast and I think it made us both understand the arcane in new ways. Then my mother, Safiya Ineni, ever radiant and full of mirth. People sometimes would tell me that I take a lot after her and I consider that the highest compliment. This may surprise you but she is a bard. I mean she started her learning journey in the usual wizard fashion but when she discovered the joy of combining sounds and magic she knew this was the path for her. And to be fair she is not the usual flashy performer, she uses warm tones of her harp to calm and soothe. Her magic is not only beautiful but also helps those who are entangled in negative emotions and struggle with stress. While I don't have those talents myself, whenever I have a rough day, I play melodies she taught me and it does make me feel better. There is more I could say but I admit that talking about them is making me a little homesick." invasiveness rating: opposite of invasive, he will use any excuse to talk about his family △ for knave, what's your biggest regret?" Regrets, regrets, regrets, regrets, regrets, regrets are for mortals and other beings with enough hubris to think reason has more power than instinct. I follow my nature where it leads me. If given the same set of choices I could make different ones. Or not! But regrets… Does zephyr spite tempest for its destruction? Does tempest begrudge zephyr for its leniency? They are both made of the same force." invasiveness rating: mostly confusing, you could point at a specific thing and he’ll be like “oh yeah, kinda feel bad about that one. i guess?”, ten minutes later point at the same thing and he’ll be like “nah, that was totally fine, idk wdym”

[fantasyinvader]

So, thinking some more about how Hubert was assigned to be Edelgard's vassal when she was four, being told to never let her come to harm. This still does not make any sort of sense as Edelgard was the fourth daughter and, what, ninth kid overall? Why is the heir to House Vestra, who serves the emperor, protecting someone who by all rights would be unlikely to inherit the throne? Caspar's support with Edelgard makes it out that in the empire, whomever inherits the title gets everything while any other kids have to make their own way in life. Then there's Ferdinand's claim that kids are thrown out of their families if they don't meet standards, which pushes them to be better and results in them being superior to the commoners. On top of that, there are Houses such as Mercedes and Constance's that were abolished when their heads were killed, never minding that in the case of the former his wife was still alive and pregnant with his child while the latter died saving the Empire from invasion.

So this is leading into my theory that House Vestra were the ones who did the experiments, being Agarthans who infiltrated the Empire while appearing to be loyal to the emperor. Likewise, House Vestra is supposed to be the spymaster yet TWSITD have not only infiltrated the empire but have had influence in it's decline. If Vestra was doing his job, he would have been checking out stuff on the Flame Emperor since the Knights of Seiros were looking into the strange goings on especially within the Empire.

House Vestra is known for being secretive and their battalion wears Agarthan robes, so it just begs the question: how involved were they with the moral decline of the empire? Hubert says they have been sworn to the emperor for generations, protecting the Empire since it's dawn. So they've supposedly been there since the beginning.

Lycaon I died suddenly of illness, which ended the War of Heroes. Wilhelm and Rhea left the Empire, and at some point the first Aegir challenged the Emperor to a duel over the throne. Could the death of Lycaon been the work of his Vestra? I mean, think about it.

The history of Fodlan (using some Japanese lines) says that during the time of Nemesis Fodlan wasn't unified, it's clans murdering and stealing from each other for power. Wilhelm started the war in order to unite Fodlan and stop this, instead creating a society where knowledge is championed. Nobles weren't supposed to be inherited positions, but then Lycaon dies and the Empire makes peace while it's leaders peace out. Then we have a new power on the throne challenged, fighting for it. At this point, the meritocracy of wisdom that the Empire was supposed to be is compromised, as it's leader needs to be strong enough to maintain their rule. All this around a hundred years of the Empire's founding (though chrome translate says it was hundreds of years) as the empire slides into the behaviors it was created to to stop.

Another question: Was Lycaon's successor his sister, or his daughter?

Really though, considering what we know about Wilhelm's reign it seems weird for him to have someone like House Vestra, given all this power but no land to manage of their own. A knife in the dark to maintain their own power for a country where power wasn't something to be sought after. Yet, how was Loog able to raise an army without House Vestra and the Emperor becoming aware of it? It also removes some of the responsibility from the Emperor if they can have someone else do the dirty work for them, making those tasks far easier..

Also, it says that war was on the verge of breaking out in the Alliance after Claude's uncle was killed, only for Duke Reigan to suddenly fall ill (kinda like Holst does in Houses). Curious, especially since said uncle wasn't the only successor to have been killed. Definitely seems the plan was for there not to be a functional leader when Edelgard invades it.

[barfok]

Pls can we hear more about amun-shae and mordrin hanin the mehrunes dagon cultist ruining sotha sil's life? I always thought it was tragic we don't hear more about Almalexia's mother and her mortal upbringing considering she's literally a queen and part of a great goose like surely there'd be more historical records about her family and stuff

a great goose... amun-shae the poultry queen

amun-shae's a bit of a funny character for me because so much of her life is defined by the nordic occupation-- she was the ruler during the invasion, and "murdered" (allegedly) during the latter period of the occupation. so when someone goes 'tell me about amun-shae' my impulse is to start rattling off a list of major tragedies she lived through. husband killed by mem-yet chemua during the invasion, lived most her life as a puppet queen to the nords, was forced to flee mournhold during a reactionary backlash following the murder of a nord, accidentally had a bastard daughter to the man sheltering her during exile. died ignominiously of mysterious causes. but i feel like this also kinda does a disservice to her, so!

amun-shae was a prolific traveler in her youth-- she was the only daughter of the queen and heir to the throne, but back in those days it was a chimeri noble tradition to go cause trouble in mournhold as a youth, so she got to meet all the youngest and most bored nobles in the land and they went on a lot of stupid trips. she was good friends with both kronin ra'athim and thalthil dres and even had some encounters with mordrin hanin when hanin was likewise a young troublemaker.

during her adventures she fell in love with the son of the matriarch of one of the indoril clans, who were at that time busy schisming from the mournhold royal lineage to become Great House Indoril due to a massive fallout between amun-shae's incompetent mother and the overly ambitious aforementioned indoril matriarch. her and lexival aran's romance became a convenient way to reunite the new House Indoril and the disgraced mournim line, so amun-shae returned to mournhold and married lexival, then accepted her mother's abdication and assumed the throne herself.

as a person she was very serious, but definitely not without a humorous side-- strangers tended to be intimidated by her until they realised she had a very deadpan sense of humour, after which they'd find her hilarious. she also had a deathly serious sense of duty, which almalexia inherited-- she was very focused about doing "what's right for people" and saw virtue in sacrifice, to the point of having a bit of a martyr complex, if martyrs never received the relief of a glorious death and instead were forced to endure a horrible reality for centuries

the invasion and occupation changed her however. as i mentioned, lexival was murdered (gruesomely, publicly and spectacularly) by mem-yet chemua, and this prompted amun-shae to surrender mournhold in exchange for retaining her throne. living under occupation made her deeply paranoid and suspicious, which are also traits almalexia had drilled into her from early childhood. she remained a very good leader with a maniacal sense of duty to her city, and spent most of her rule playing the looooong game of earning the nords' trust to set up mournhold as a potential base from which a rebellion could eventually launch. so, nerevar has a lot to thank amun-shae for.

to finish off about almalexia's childhood and why we don't know anything about her backstory... i used to hate that (still do) but i've come to begrudgingly accept that annihilating any trace of her mortal existence is very in character for almalexia. almalexia despises the fact that she was ever mortal, it makes sense to me that she'd eradicate any evidence that she was once a little girl in a big castle with a haunted mother and a lot of scary men who wanted to hurt her. that is the last thing she wants anyone to know.

not that she didn't honour her mother in her own way. she's still a chimer, after all.

i feel like this is way too long to also get into mordrin fucking hanin (he is his own essay unfortunately) but. hey. there's way more amun-shae lore than you probably wanted. i've covered like 40% of her life. enjoy

[retphienix]

btw

my "Remake and relevel every MR fodder weapon I sold over the course of my years of playing warframe because I arbitrarily decided I want every single weapon ON MY PERSON" project sucks ass lol

I was feeling like I made a reasonable dent in it because I finished all the "market" blueprints, and in my head the dojo had like 50 blueprints total (without actually counting I think it's like double that) and that I had sold "Maybe" 10 of them.

I sold almost every single one.

Most dojo blueprints use the invasion resources- which- like a mad fool- I actually enjoy collecting and doing from time to time, so you'd THINK I had enough on hand.

Oh but you poor sweet summer child, you need 150 Fieldron (I had like 30), 71 Detonite Injectors (I had 30), and 110 Mutagen Mass (I had like 15).

Now that's for like, everything, so that includes stuff I'm not making like Djinn or whatever, but I still need nearly all that junk!

Not to mention the credit cost. I've been dumping my credits into maxing out various prime mods I don't care about, so I sit on like no credits ever, and all of a sudden I've been adding a few million credits to this project out of nowhere and my pockets hurt lol

I don't WANNA cred farm- yet here I am, hopping into index to chill or swapping loadouts to farm some Profit Takers all while whining and complaining lol

BUT!

IT SHALL BE DONE!

Just not for a while lol

The update comes out today! Do you really think I'm gonna be doing this nonsense during update season? Pfft lol

But yea! Market BPs done, got like 2 BPs to "farm" (2 miters), a metric ton of invasions to do, way too many forma spent on these garbo weapons that demand forma to craft because DE never felt like improving the crafting materials, I now OWN all the clan dojo BPs after saving some creds to do so (probably some dupes to buy to make weapons that require weapons but still), so we're on our way~

I am probably just going to buy all the slots I need and "accept" all of them from the foundry and then just pop some plat into an affinity booster and my master's font blessing for a day of hell in a couple months lol

Also it's really stupid how Mutagen Mass is the most "rare" invasion resource because it comes in quantities of 1 and 2 and has a lesser chance of popping up as an option when you need almost as many of those fucking things as you need Fieldron.

It's INJECTORS that you don't need any of, why the hell isn't that the "rare" one. Poorly implemented dumb thing.

[catilus]

A fun tiefling druid I painted on commission! This is the first of a series of pieces. Svanhild eventually becomes a wildfire druid!

More fantasy art, NPCs, awesome homebrew, and other cool stuff: https://www.patreon.com/Catilus

Character: Svanhild Forestblade, Tiefling Shepherd Druid

For as long as she can remember, Svanhild was taught to be a steward of the land. Her father showed her how to live by using the forest while also respecting it, and her mother helped her hone her ability to hear the forest’s voice. The Renon elders took notice of her magic potential, her gentle nature, and her fierce loyalty to her tribe. When she reached her teenage years, they invited her to their rituals with plans to educate her in the old magic. However, her training would never reach its natural conclusion.

Approximately seventeen years after she began, the soldiers came. Their declaration was the usual: every family must give up one young adult, for military service. It was her clan’s turn to answer the call, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time. A long dry season was upon Gramt, the other clans would depend on Renon, and their forests, to survive it. To lose the robust young adults now would devastate the tiefling. Before she truly knew what she was doing, Svanhild volunteered herself in their place. Her magic, she argued, made her worth several of them.

Svanhild, and a few others were taken and brought miles away to some unknown waste. The soldiers fed them just enough to stay on their feet. One scorching afternoon, they were pushed into the basin of a tall sandy dune ,and before anyone had a chance to wonder about the situation, they met the enemy. Giant lizards that appeared as if from nowhere; Gramtese Dragons. These territorial beasts had migrated too close to a Gramtese town. The Tiefling were bait! As the Dragons feasted on her people, the soldiers attacked from behind, but there were more lizards, camouflaged and waiting, that pounced on the soldiers.

Svanhild suddenly found herself alone and surrounded. Yet the beasts hesitated. She soon realized that she could almost hear their thoughts, know that they took her to be part of the land. Her power, it seemed, kept them at bay. Slowly, she walked away from the Gramtese Dragon habitat, allowed to leave because she was the land and not simply another morsel.

Now Svanhild had a choice. She could return home to her tribe. She wanted to. But another thought soon rose in her. She was free. The soldiers were all dead, there was no one to stop her from leaving Gramt far behind. She could seek aid, return to her family with an army.

Taking the surname Forestblade to always keep her people in mind, she went in search of Irelios, a place she knew only from stories. There, perhaps, where races mixed together happily, she would find someone to help her free the Tiefling. Unfortunately, getting their help would mean leaving the wilds to enter a human city and talk to them.

While she has yet to amass her army, apparently there is a thing called "politics" that prevents the half-elven princess form giving her one now, she has gained companions and aid in her quest. A determined but somewhat ditzy half-elf fighter who lost her life protecting the capitol form a Gramtese invasion; a candy, shiny and fashion obsessed half-gnome rogue; a hyperactive, naive, and very sheltered Halfling cleric; and a human paladin of Fotir, the human god slayed by the Gramtese long ago, who is tasked to facilitate the rebirth.

What do you think? :)

Find the full HD version, plus tons of fantasy and SF art, D&D items, my 5e adventures and supplements (FREE for Patreon supporters!), NPCs, and more great stuff at myPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/Catilus

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#Catilus #Patreon #dnd #DnDcharacter #art #fantasy #roleplay #RPG #TTRPG #magic #druid #cute #painting #tiefling #nature

[my-turtle-cringe]

Alright, so...

💫The proper (maybe?) introduction time~💫

Meet Lia, part of the turtle family, the youngest one (one year younger than Mikey - currently 35 y.o.).

● Lia is part of the scientific group in the Resistance. Her occupation used to be biology and chemistry (mostly biology-related parts of it tbh). Unfortunately things changed when apocalypse started, and she began to help with medical work so medbay could cope with all of the survivors.

● She was a great help here in the beginning because of her interest in animals and mutants (and knowledge she had about their health)

● After some time when medbay wasn't so busy anymore and resource problems got far more crucial, Lia talked others into sending her on scouting missions. That scouting got longer, and longer, and longer, and finally turned into full-fledged rescue missions.

● Her main tactic to fight Krangs is deceiving and avoiding them. She would rather run from the fight as long as possible than try to eliminate the danger (she had to do a lot of exceptions though, and that tactic says nothing about Krang Hounds 💀)

● Lia is still able to fight! She's not a ninja, but a well-equipped medium/long distance fighter: her arsenal contains blaster, riffle (both energy-powered and made by Donnie) and explosive bombs (really strong ones, result of the collective work in lab)

●Lia's missions can take up to one year long due to their risky nature and caution applied because of it. The last one went terribly wrong though, and she went absent for literally 5 years

● Alongside rescue, Lia also fulfills such tasks as getting rare details from far away or researching samples or infected objects/living organisms/literally anything bio/chemistry related on her missions.

I also drew four outfits for her!

First is her home/training one. She wears it just while at the base, and amostly for training sessions. It's in pretty good condition because Lia rarely stays on the base for a long time. It was inspired by outfits of hamato clan, but doesn't have a symbol of it (because Lia is not Hamato)

Second is her lab coat, also for base only. She painted it with Mikey a very long time ago before invasion (she had to shorten it back when so she could wear it and don't get tangled). Now she is finally high enough to wear it full-length! Lia wears it while working in lab, sometimes even when it isn't necessary. This piece of clothing can motivate her to work or just lighten her mood.

Third is her travel coat! It's the most worn out one, because she literally spends months in it. Pretty long and warm, with a lot of POCKETS! and equipped with belt for her riffle and explosives and other necessary things.This is her third travel coat so far (she overgrew and wore out the first one, and the second got burned.)

The last is, em... A kind of really serious combat outfit? Lia herself doesn't know what it is for. Donnie made it for her after one accident, but she never put it on for long missions. It sure has some useful technical stuff in it, like a speaking device and some kind of camera for footage, but it is just too heavy for long jorneys... So Lia supposes it is for some special mission. And I suppose it may turn uncanon (uncanon in headcanon haha) one day because it looks too resource-consuming in apocalypse reality...

[handfulofmuses]

The thing about this show is that they have all these ideas but they never really act upon it - plot generally comes before the characters. Xever and Bradford are good examples to that.

We see how Karai and Tigerclaw react to situations and Tigerclaw keeps arguing with Shredder too.

Tigerclaw was not fond of the idea of the alien invasion and was against Shredder mutating himself.

But we never really see things from Bradford’s or Xever’s perspective anymore aside from them becoming more or less the comic relief and shoved into the background.

Xever was living on the streets and was sent to prison because he was caught and then Shredder released him from it because he found Xever‘s skills useful to him.

“So you do all this because you owe Shredder?” “Mostly I like having a job where I get to crack skulls everyday.”

Which implies that unlike Bradford, there was never any emotional attachment. Xever is just here because of bad luck and although I don’t think the comics are canon, there was someone who betrayed him and he blames that guy that he met the Shredder.

Bradford did say he never understood the honor of the Foot Clan - and honestly, he doesn’t even know much about Foot Clan lore either. Bradford had to tell him about Splinter (granted this one probably was only between them to begin with) and Xever also did not know about the history regarding the helmet. He is so confused why Shredder just doesn't get a new helmet.

They seem to have worked for quite a while even before the mutation. And when he mutated? Shredder literally owned his legs and ability to breathe. It’s one way to keep him on a leash, this man can no longer live independently and has to rely on machines.

Although there is a certain respect he seems to hold for the Shredder as well - he tells Karai that Shredder is only worthy of that throne, he ran to him when Shredder was slammed into the ground one time and when the whole cult thing starts he says a lot has changed.

The whole thing between him and Raphael was kind of dropped and never touched upon. In the earlier episodes Raphael wanted to go to more extreme measures because Xever wins fights that way too. Raphael says that he can relate to Xever wanting to crack skulls every day, Xever basically pulled a “we are the same” on him and Raphael does not even deny it, Mikey even mentions that he and Xever make a good team. There was some kind of build up, but they didn’t do really anything with it.

It would have been interesting to see his side regarding Shredder going deeper into madness. This man caused an alien invasion and then just mutated himself as well. By the time the whole cult thing happens he just had enough because it becomes too much.

It is surprising that we never saw how Bradford reacts to the changes because honestly? They didn’t even do Ninja stuff anymore. The foot clan took such drastic changes because of Shredder‘s obsession with Splinter that I have a hard time to believe he wouldn't doubt him from time to time? Heck, their soldiers were replaced with robots. I don’t think he would have approved of Shredder mutating himself either.

Bradford is obedient to the Shredder and follows his orders, but he also questioned him before (mostly in regards to Xever) - he respects his master but he doesn’t follow blindly. Keep in mind, the guy said that Tatsu‘s offer is worth considering after he said he will make the Foot great again. Which implies that Bradford actually was not satisfied with the changes.

But this one was dropped so quickly again because he got killed again. He says the helmet is only worthy of Shredder but then in the next few seconds he is like hmmm maybe that offer is worth considering only … nothing happens with that. He just shows up saying the helmet is worthy of Shredder and Tatsu is killed. Was it because the demon guy was there and was currently using him as a puppet?

I like that scene but it feels so out of place, especially since we find out he was a mindless zombie all along and just gets killed again. I feel like the relationship between Tatsu and him could have been touched upon in the earlier seasons.

Why does he consider the offer? This man is introduced to us as Shredder‘s most loyal and this guy comes in like I will improve things again and Bradford is like " … hmmm"

It’s just that their point of views were so quickly dropped with the introduction of Tigerclaw, Bebop and Rocksteady. Even his relationship with Shredder was kind of replaced with TC.

Rockwell was betrayed and experimented on by his friend, but they never touch upon that anymore. He should have gotten a chance to confront him. But also … they have the cure to turn them back into humans, why is he still a mutant?

The mutanimals in general - they were these folks who stepped in while the alien invasion was going on yet they constantly are so easily defeated and have to be rescued from the turtles? Slash was so horrifying in his first appearance but they downplayed him a lot

Timothy was just entirely forgotten? They never mutate him back to normal