#tailwind(s)

[actualbampot]

im thinking Fallen Petals with #30 could be fun

One accidentally runs into the other(s) while… 30. At an anime convention

especially if Cinder's trying to keep her nerdy side a secret

('Accidentally'. P.s. this was so ridiculous to write lmao)

The idea of a convention floor filled with thousands of people embracing their childish hobbies, sporting garish costumes, and arm-fulls of overpriced merchandise. Cinder wondered how they didn't all feel ashamed.

When did they plan on taking things seriously? When were they going to-

"Grow up."

Cinder had clocked her at the start of the year, the girl with red hair staring at her from across class when she thought she wasn't looking. How she must have spent months mustering every bit of courage she had to hand Cinder a trembling flyer for one of those ridiculous anime conventions, dithering on the proposition like a badly rehersed speech.

Cinder watched as the rejection split the girl down the middle of those gunmetal eyes when she'd batted it out of her hand.

In hindsight, maybe Cinder had done too much growing up. Because, as it turned out: she really liked armor.

It helped that its construction wasn't dissimilar to creating clothing - something she was already adept at. Some of the patterning and panelling processes were skills easily transferrable from a time she made and mended her own clothes as a young girl.

But wearing it.

Morbid curiosity bred research, research morphed into hyperfixation, until Cinder's dorm room had been taken over with crafting supplies. She'd shelved everything else that week, rushing from her classes to make the most of the time before the convention that weekend (they called it 'con crunch', very befitting). What she had chosen to build hadn't been a difficult decision either, a quick search into what was currently trending dictating the design.

The convention crowds were shoulder to shoulder, brimming with excited energy that Cinder was convinced would exhaust her more than she already was. But she was completely encased, galvanised from head to toe in her mock-armor, the billow of a cape in her tailwinds.

Everybody looked on in awe, the tight crowds like a river parting around an immovable object, not daring to touch her. She thought she'd feel ridiculous, write off the day and drop the outfit in the bin on the way home.

But she felt pride. Creating something ambitious that wasn't just for function. It was for fun.

For effect, she hoisted her prop weapon on her shoulder, forgetting herself entirely. When the pictures started, they didn't stop.

From children to adults pointing out the character she had assumed for the day, all polite, welcoming excitement when Cinder mumbled something about it being her first time.

Eventually, she started counting the amount of steps she'd take before being asked for a picture, lost in the joy of it, until one very excited, very familiar voice reminded her why she was here in the first place:

"It's a Grimmdiver!"

Cinder had to turn completely - because that's what the helmet demanded - towards a familiar sight of red hair, and an offensively bright hoodie balanced by plain black jeans, and an assortment of silver chains dangling from her hip that matched the silver in her eyes.

Gone was the skittish hesitation Cinder had seen in class, erased by boundless excitement.

She liked it better when she smiled.

"Can- could I take a picture with you?"

Cinder's heartbeat changed pattern when the Red girl (Red, Cinder settled on) looked up at her in hopeful waiting, her scroll eagerly prepared in her hand.

What if she recognized her? How would she explain it? She wasn't sure how to explain it herself, this need to prove herself right- that this truly all was a waste of time. Or was she proving Red wrong? Her justifications had been lost along the way.

Cinder opted to simply nod, exaggerating the movement of her helmet to carry the affirmation. That fluttering in her breast pounded in her ears when Red rushed to her side, smile beaming brighter than the sun.

When Cinder felt the weight of Red's arm around her gauntlet, the heat in her helmet ramped to stifiling, quickly leaning in and matching Red's silly peace sign in the selfie camera before she could talk herself out of it.

"You look so cool! Thank you for the picture!"

And as quickly as it had happened, it was over.

Cinder hadn't counted on making it this far. She thought she'd be restless and bitter over wasting time with all of this by now. Maybe she would have been, without the armor supressing her apathy towards everyone around her. With it, Cinder could be anyone except herself. Someone that wasn't a disappointment.

"Hey, uh. Wait."

There was something very sweet about the way the smattering of freckles on Red's nose crinkled in confusion, bright-eyed and full of wonder.

"Oh. You're- you're a girl! Wow. Not that that's weird, I just don't know any girls that like Grimmdivers." Red's mouth moved so fast that Cinder thought she might take off like a rocket, all sickeningly infectious excitement. "It's all guys, they're horrible and yell at me because my loadout sucks and cant tell you how many times i've been told: 'make me a sandwich'- but you're...not one. You're like, a real Grimmdiver. Wow."

Cinder understood only a fraction of Red's wild gesturing, yet it burned an annoyed, jealous flame in her chest.

"I can think of a way I can help you back at them for such," Cinder gestured to Red's scroll, hoping the added bravado might hide her voice when she leaned closer to whisper, "un-democratic behaviour."

She didn't have to wonder if what she had said was incorrect, not when Red lit up the way she did, taking Cinder's armored glove to lead her through the crowds.

"I know a perfect place to take some pictures!"

[akwolfgrl]

LFT PART 42

Smoker starred as the kid with the strawhat smiled, so easily accepting his death. He had seen hardened criminals sob and beg and plead for their lives before death. Did he smile because he knew he would be saved? No that couldn't be there was no way he would have known that lightning would strike at the right moment and spot. That could only mean that his life would come to an end and he had simply accepted it.

“Captain Smoker! Shouldn't we…”

“Hey…have you ever seen a pirate who smiled during his execution?” Smoker asked.

“S smile? I'm sure that even the most wicked pirate would turn pale and cower at the moment of his death,” he shrugged off with a chuckle.

“But that's what he did! The boy in the starwhat, Monkey D. Luffy, he smiled…” Just like Him, Smoker would never forget that day. “He smiled that same damn smile as the pirate king! Twenty-two years ago on that exact same spot!” Smoker was pissed off he couldn't believe that history is repeating itself! He headed out the door to stop the pirates from leaving. “Where did they run off two?” Smoker cared not for rain that stuck to his skin and clothes.

“They headed for the western harbor,” A fellow Marine, one his subordinates informed him, pointing in the right direction.

“One of our squads should be there by now,” Smoker spoke, knowing it was only a matter of time before they were stopped.

“Well, that's the thing,” The other marine started, Smoker turned to glare at him. “Ummm well the sudden rain has rendered their gunpowder useless. So they headed back to the station to resupply.”

“So the harbor is completely clear!?” Smoker yelled. He glanced up towards the sky, the rain hitting his face as he observed the storm clouds overhead. “The winds are blowing west…so if they were to set sail they would catch the tailwind.” What the hell kinda luck did this kid have?! “Is this all purely coincidence?! It's as if the heavens themselves want that boy to live!” Smoker wouldn't stand for this, she would have his head one way or another. “On the pride of a Captain of the Marines I Smoker the white hunter, vow to not allow that boy to escape this island!”

<>

“Jeez these guys are so persistent. Should we just stop and fight them off?” Luffy asked as they ran through the streets of that damn town.

“Don't, there will be no end to them. More importantly, Nami wants us to return to the ship as soon as possible. As possible. We don't want to risk the Merry being swept away without us, we may be strong but the marina has more man power and weapons. Not to mention the weird clown guy,” Sanji informed their captain.

“Curls has a point Luffy,“ Zoro hated to run from a fight but now was not the time. He hated to admit it but they might not make it out if they stop fighting.

“Ah! Who's that pretty lady waiting for us?” Sanji asked, Zoro turned towards where Sanji was looking.

“Roronoa Zoro!” There stood a very angry Tashigi, looking like she found out who he was. “To think you were Roronoa Zoro the whole time! A bounty hunter turned pirate! You were just toying with me the entire time!”

“Mosshead what fuck did you do to her!?” Sanji unhelpfully yelled at him. “Just because we went on a date doesn't mean I'll let you get away with hurting women! She's very clearly upset at what you did to her!”

“I will take back Wado Ichimonji and the other two while I'm at it!” She screamed at him. “I don't care if it belonged to your dojo master’s daughter, you're a disgrace! A criminal!”

“I'd like to see you try,” he sneered as his hold on Wado tightened, he was not appreciating what this Kunia-clone Tashigi chick was insinuating. Wado was not just a sword, it was a promise to his first friend and rival. In that breath, Tashigi clashed Shigure against Wado. Without turning his sights away from the swordswoman, Zoro tilted towards where he thought the pier was, “Go ahead Cap, Curls, I’ll catch up.”

“Ok,” Luffy grabbed Sanji's arm and dragged him away. This was one area in which they would never agree. Maybe one day they could discuss it but today was not that day.

After a brief clash of blades, Zoro had released hers’ far from her hands. She had potential but needed to work much harder and longer to reach his skill set. He had pines to the wall. He was close enough to see the rage and a bit of fear but resignation in her eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to cut her, call it whatever you wanted and he wouldn’t give a damn. He couldn’t cut down his dead best friend’s doppelganger.

“I can't hand this sword over to anyone ever! This is more than just a sword, it's a promise,” Zoro replaced his swords, softly backing away in the continuing rainfall. “I'll be on my way then.”

“Why didn't you cut me down!?” Tashgi screamed at him. Zoro stopped and looked back at her, her hair was sticking to her wet face. Her eyes filled with rage and contemptment. “Is it because I'm a woman?! Because I'm not worth your time!? Only to be pitied due to my gender!?” Zoro couldn't stop picturing Kuina and her fears on the same subject. “You're lucky to be a boy Zoro…” He didn't want to relive that night. “You dare to go easy on me?! I'm serious dude!!! Just because women aren't as physically strong as men?!” Tashigi continued on. “How shameful! Of course I shouldn't expect someone like you to ever understand what wishing to be born a man would feel like! To hate your gender for the sole reason that you're not taken seriously! I knew what I was doing when I chose this path dammit! I didn't pick up my sword for fun! I work so hard to improve myself just to be taken as a joke!”

“Don't, don't say that while wearing her face!” Kunia was haunting him from beyond her grave. “I can't cut you down. You look like her,” His hands shook violently, his hand taking Wados' hilt to try and ground himself. “I don't give a damn that you're a woman! What between your legs matters not to me! It's your face! Sprouting the same things as she did before her death! We promised each other and then she died on me! Stop copying her, just stop it!” Zoro couldn't shut up. Couldn't stop talking. “For fucks’ sake, stop haunting me!”

“Wha!? I've never heard anything so childish in my entire life! I've always loved being me and only me for my entire life! You don't get to put your issues on me! I'm not your dead friend so don't treat me like her! It's insulting to both of us!” Tashgi yelled at him.

“Shut up you don't know anything!” Shut up Zoro shut up! He needed to keep his mouth shut!

“Fight me properly, you damn crowded!”

[kawaiifacesong]

I want to highlight that whilst 911 rates relatively well, it is reaching the natural end of the life cycle of this kind of show (unless it makes drastic changes and shifts to a format that can support 20+ seasons). Yes, it is a streaming hit. The demo and viewership gain from streaming is impressive. But streaming is still a minority of the overall audience (though a majority of the demo audience).

And the live figures are actually troublingly low despite the lack of competition. 9-1-1 has a prime slot on Thursdays with only Georgie and Mandy as competition, and yet it was still only pulling above 0.3 on the demo. Even when it didn't have that competition it couldn't pull above a 0.4.

I think the signs are there that it would be possible for ABC to move on from the franchise, especially with LS shutting shop and the spinoff on shaky ground.

I want to unpack that last point so I will outline a few headwinds as I see them for getting the spinoff going:

1.) Doctor Odyssey's failure is a warning sign to me. ABC were no doubt expecting big things from the Ryan Murphy product given they skipped the traditional pilot plus 13 episode pick-up and instead ordered a full 18 episode season, then parked it behind 911 in the schedule. I think that was a big statement and the fact that Doctor Odyssey is not merely underperforming but likely only being propped up by 911 should be raising eyebrows.

2.) Related to the prior point, the 911 spinoff has noticeably not been given this benefit of the doubt. As far as I know, the spinoff pilot is scheduled to be filmed early next year (around March) so I think it's safe to say ABC are relying on the traditional process this time around. This might suggest they are skeptical about the value of the spinoff and are looking for a strong case to greenlight it, and hence making sure to vet things properly. I do not think ABC are willing or able to risk a high-budget series underperforming.

3.) And 911's spinoff will be high-budget. This is very much against the grain when networks are reportedly lowering the budgets on new series, likely due to declining ratings and the climbing costs of promoting a new series. This is all especially pertinent for 911, a famously expensive franchise which relies on prominent names to front the show. The only tailwind here is that ABC could advertise both 911 and the 911 spinoff at the same time, providing some synergy.

We could be looking at a situation similar to The Good Doctor, which saw both the flagship cancelled and The Good Lawyer shelved. ABC will likely be have the spinoff pilot in-hand by late March/early April whilst also having initial numbers for some of S8b. It seems logical to me that they will choose to make their decision at that point about whether to proceed, or cut their losses, shelve the spinoff and make S9 of the OG the final season.

[axilarycobra]

[Wings of Fire] C Dragon Character Headcanons

Hey, guys! Back for the next letter (there are a lot of characters with C names so I decided to just do the letter C so it isn't too long because I think if it's too long, it's less likely to be read completely).

Quick note: if you like any of these, they're all okay to use! If they're super specific headcanons, like my headcanons for Armadillo's & Anaconda's backstory, then I would maybe like some kind of credit because those are more developed stories that do include original characters (Armadillo's father, Anaconda's mother, etc.). But most of them aren't really so specific that I think I have any right to own them, especially since they aren't my characters. Although if you ever do use a headcanon for anything, I'd love to see it so please feel free to tag me!

Also also, just want to point out because I've seen this before, but yeah, these aren't headcanons. I made this stuff up, but no one uses the word for that (I don't even remember it) and I don't like it so I'm calling these headcanons.

Cs

Cadelle - Cadelle is one of the greatest historians in the HiveWing tribe, but she kept her research a secret from the queen and ladies because she was not a fan of them; she enjoys Jewel better as queen than Wasp. She remained in the Hive Kingdom after Jewel became queen, but she lent her research to the universities in the LeafSilk Kingdom at Cricket’s request because she secretly doesn’t hate Cricket.

Camel - after the war, Camel settled down in the SandWing stronghold and worked in the mailroom which he enjoyed a lot more than being a soldier. Camel’s sister is Saguaro and their parents would always compare them, making Camel feel insecure since he wasn’t as strong or tough as her.

Canyon - Canyon never liked Scarlet, he just wanted to be king because it would make other dragons look at him more; he secretly cared how Tailwind viewed him and would go out of his way to interact with them because he wanted validation from them as their younger brother.

Capybara - Capybara is Thorn’s cousin.

Carabid - before Wasp learned about Carabid’s power, he was a nerdy HiveWing who spent all of his time in libraries, similar to Cricket; he was timid, shy, and tried to help out SilkWings when he could; after Wasp used him as a weapon against many dragons, he felt guilty, but eventually found a home in the LeafSilk Kingdom where he worked as the librarian, archivists, scientist, and journalist in Chrysalis University.

Cardinal - Cardinal is Cliff’s best friend; as Cliff grows older, Cardinal hangs out with him a lot. He is the dragonet of Jasper and a SkyWing who Jasper is now divorced from.

Caribou (bard’s daughter) - at JMA, Caribou is placed in the gold winglet and becomes friends with Sepia, Newt, Barracuda, Changbai, Alba, and Snail.

Caribou (bard’s friend’s sister) - Caribou is a jewelry maker and owns a shop in Village-of-the-Plentiful-Seals.

Caribou (bard’s friend) - Caribou was from the circle rankings and the palace, but moved away due to the pressure, finding a home in Village-of-the-Plentiful-Seals. Their brother is Fjord, but they hadn’t seen their brother since they left and were informed after the war that he had died in Scarlet’s arena.

Caribou (bard’s grandmother) - Caribou was a scholar who worked as a traveling librarian before settling down permanently in Village-of-the-Plentiful-Seals.

Caribou (bard’s mother) - Caribou is one of the village scouts who protect the village from any dangers; this includes hunting polar bears, scouting for avalanches, and watching for other dragons.

Caribou (bard) - Caribou used to dream of meeting dragons from the other tribes, but when the war happened, they hid in their village, afraid to fight other dragons; while their daughter is at JMA, they plan to go on trips to the different kingdoms to meet other dragons.

Caribou (princess) - Caribou was considered one of the most beautiful IceWings in the kingdom while she was alive; many believed that she married Snowstorm, but she only had eggs with Snowstorm, which she raised with her wife; Caribou was the daughter of the IceWing queen, but she never wanted the throne, so her cousin, Queen Marble, challenged her aunt instead.

Carmine - Carmine did not have a close relationship with her daughters and only viewed them as being necessary for the throne, despite being upset that Sunset died, she just had another daughter to replace her.

Carnelian - Carnelian would have eventually warmed up to her winglet and become friends with them, especially Umber and Winter. She had a sister named Torch who she looked up to and was an elite soldier for Ruby which is why she hated being sent to JMA.

Cattail - after the war, Cattail and her siblings learned how to handle cattle and started a successful cattle farm in the Diamond Spray Delta; Cattail boasts that she laid the egg of the dragonet of destiny, but all of the MudWings she is around tell her that she doesn’t even care about him.

Cereus - Cereus becomes one of Blaze’s friends in the SandWing stronghold. During the war, her family pressured her to have eggs so she did with Camel; however, neither of them are in love, but they still raise the dragonets together.

Cerulean - Cerulean is one of Turtle’s meaner brothers, but he tries his best to be nice to Turtle ever since Turtle saved the world.

Chafer - Chafer is one of Lady Cicada’s sons, which is why he looks similar to her; it is also why he and Scarab knew each other and why Scarab was so okay with shutting his store down for a day.

Chameleon - after losing his scroll, Chameleon tried to find somewhere to go, and at the request of Kinkajou, returned to the Rainforest Kingdom where Glory apologized to him and welcomed him back to the Rainforest Kingdom; he apologized for his nasty behavior towards everyone and eventually started working with the other healers; the masks he made under different tribes somehow materialized into real dragons who had to figure out how to navigate the world themselves.

Changbai - Changbai is reserved and doesn’t often speak; they are in a relationship with Alba. They have an interest in history and geography. When they were a dragonet and lived in the Ice Kingdom, Changbai was told that their father died when they were very young, but this was a cover-up, as their father was Hvitur, an IceWing who had to flee due to his forbidden romance with Prince Narwhal.

Char - Char was a childhood friend of Oasis; when Oasis was pressured by her mother to find a dragon to marry, she just chose Char because she believed that it would be easy to marry him without actually having to love him, but she quickly found that spending time around Char was quite annoying and the two often had to spend time apart.

Cicada (AGttDW) - Cicada was the second queen of the HiveWings; she was respectful of the other tribes, but also ambitious, eager to expand her tribe.

Cicada (TLC) - Cicada loved art and before the Tree Wars, she used to make wood carvings as a dragonet; she is resentful of Wasp for making rules that censored trees.

Cinnabar - Cinnabar would become a member of the SilkWing Assembly, by request of Tau. Cinnabar eventually starts dating Io and Tau and is reunited with her grandmother Danaid.

Clay - Clay never liked to read because his eyes always hurt when he tried to read something; later in life, he would get glasses that would help him be able to read clearly without pain; Clay developed an interest in music and would go on to teach a music class at JMA.

Clearpool - as an adult, Clearpool returned to the Kingdom of the Sea where she inherited the throne from Pearl.

Clearsight - Clearsight never romantically loved Darkstalker, and just saw him as a close friend. On Pantala, she had dragonets with both Sunstreak and Maple, although it is commonly censored that she had LeafWing dragonets. She went on to have more dragonets with BeetleWings so the HiveWings became their own tribe, but her NightWing/LeafWing dragonets were so few, a new tribe wasn’t created from them.

Cliff - despite being a prince, when Cliff grows up, he becomes a trusted advisor to the SkyWing queen.

Clorinde - when the SilkWings were looking for staff members for Chrysalis University, Luna, Io, Swordtail, and Blue searched for their old art teacher so that they could bring them to be a professor at the university. They are the parent of Glider.

Clubtail - Clubtail fulfills his lifelong dream of owning a sweets store, where he uses his flamesilk to make baked sweets. He is the father of Grayling, who believed he was killed by Lady Bloodworm, but was actually taken to Wasp Hive to be returned to the flamesilk factory without Grayling’s knowledge.

Cobra - Cobra and Thorn knew each other as dragonets and after Cobra was thrown into Thorn’s dungeon, Thorn tried to convince her to become good so Cobra can be released. Cobra hasn’t committed yet, but Thorn keeps coming back to her every week to talk.

Cobra Lily - Cobra Lily becomes one of the soldiers in the LeafWing military, one of the military bodies that protects the LeafSilk Kingdom.

Cochineal - Cochineal was the younger of her and Scarab; she would constantly taunt her older sister and make fun of her; during her reign as queen, Scarab would try to suggest things to her, but Cochineal dismissed her every time. When Cochineal had lots of daughters, Wasp was her least favorite and she hoped Wasp wouldn’t be the one to become queen, but things didn’t turn out how she liked, as Wasp had figured out the secret of the Book of Clearsight, so Cochineal was forced to give her the throne so Wasp wouldn’t reveal it to the tribe.

Coconut - after returning from JMA, Coconut became a fruit gatherer in the Rainforest Kingdom; he works as an apprentice under Mangrove and Orchid, the two treat him like a son.

Comet - Comet was a fictional character who never actually existed; there exists ancient NightWing fanfiction between him and Mindhealer.

Commodore - Commodore was the youngest of Clearsight’s dragonets with Sunstreak; he loved telling stories and became an author, his mother would help him with printing his books.

Copperhead - Copperhead met his RainWing lover during a negotiation between the two tribes, the RainWing also being a prince; when they ran off, Copperhead was welcomed by the RainWing tribe.

Coral - Coral’s mother, Queen Conch, never paid attention to Coral when she was a dragonet. Because of this, Coral felt lonely and when she had dragonets, she coddled them because she believed that it would make them feel like they weren’t lonely.

Cowrie - Cowrie was very supportive of Clearpool and protected her when they returned to the Kingdom of the Sea.

Coypu - Coypu never knew that she wasn’t related to Sawgrass until she was elderly and had passed the throne on to her daughter.

Crane (L1) - Crane was one of the last ambitious MudWing queens in history; all of her siblings had died during skirmishes with the RainWings and SeaWings, causing her to make big military decisions since she had nothing else to lose.

Crane (TDP) - before her death, Crane had gotten into contact with the Talons of Peace and hoped to convince her siblings to join it.

Cricket - Cricket became a librarian and archivist at Sapling Academy, and later, Chrysalis University; she raised Bumblebee like a daughter to her and Blue, but the two didn’t date for a long time and just see each other as close friends after breaking up.

Crocodile - Crocodile lost all of her siblings during the war, which is why she chose to work for Burn. She survived Glory’s venom and is held as a prisoner by Queen Coral.

Crystal - Crystal and Gharial have dragonets together; they decided to raise their dragonets not as royals, just having them be regular Sanctuary residents.

Current - after returning to the Kingdom of the Sea, Current decided to go into aquaculture, as he liked to make food, but couldn’t stand the sight of knives. He would go on to meet someone and raise dragonets away from the palace, but his dragonets were never considered part of the royal family.

[rotorsexual]

Heliseries part 7 off airport landings.

During the first long while of helicopter training, you spend your time learning how to fly and operate within an airport environment. Taking off and landing from runways and taxiways, communicating with ATC, generally flying the exact same way as other fixed wing general aviation traffic. Its not until later in your Private Certificate that you finally get to do some real "helicopter shit" as we like to call it.

Landing off airport comes with its own hazards and a procedure to help mitigate the risks associated with them. In an airport environment you have a large open area that is structured specifically for aircraft to safely operate. However when you go off airport you have to rely on your own decision making and assessment of a landing site, even if one has been partly prepared for you.

We start with an orbit at around 500 feet over a potential landing spot and do a high reconnaissance check. For this we have an acronym called SWOPP. If the landing spot fails any requirements of SWOPP then a new one must be selected.

S is for Suitability which has several sub-meanings here. The first are size and shape. If you cant fit then it's obviously a no go. Next is Slope. Helicopters can tolerate landing on only a few degrees of slope and anything greater than that quickly becomes dangerous. Pretty much every off airport landing is going to be sloped somewhat so picking the apparently flattest spot is best.

Finally there is Surface. Different surfaces can come with their own hazards and ideally you'd want a clear paved surface to set down. Rocks are uneven and can shift beneath the landing gear when weight is applied. Dirt and sand can do the same plus can be blown by the rotor wash and cause a loss of visibility in a brownout.

Snow and ice can do the same and theres a chance of it being stuck to the landing gear when taking off again.

W is for wind. You really want to avoid landing with a tailwind and ideally with a headwind. Tailwinds push you toward the landing spot which requires a slower, steeper approach with higher power requirements. They can also blow your own rotorwash forward into your descent path which is hazardous since it is a recipe for vortex ring state (which I'll cover in a future post). Headwinds, on the other hand give you more lift and stability. They allow for shallower approaches and less power required. Depending on the obstacles surrounding the landing spot you may not always be able to land with a direct headwind but you should always do what you can to avoid a tailwind.

O is for Obstacles. This is another big hazard when landing to an unprepared area. Trees, powerlines/wires, buildings, fences, people/animals, and pretty much everything else can be an obstacle in and around a landing spot. Making sure to avoid them when landing and departing is crucial to avoiding an accident. Identify what the obstacles are and how they could affect the flight. For example ive seen tarps blown by rotor wash and sucked into a rotor. Or when it comes to powerlines you should always pick a tower and fly over the top of it, rather than between where the lines could sag.

When finally touching down to a landing spot you should always do so to the last 1/3 of the area or so. With the cockpit located at the front of the helicopter its easy to forget how much is actually behind you. Pilots have clipped their tails landing to confined areas or performing a hovering turn within one. Always looking before you turn your tail should become habit.

The first P is for both Path In and Path Out. Once youve identified the spot, wind, and obstructions, you should plan a landing path into it and a takeoff path out of it. Determining both before approaching will allow you to ditch to your path out in a go-around if anything doesnt look right. The path in should also ideally provide a safe place to land if a power failure were to occur during the approach.

And the second P - Power. Helicopters are power limited and various conditions like weight, altitude, temperature, and wind will affect how much power you have available. If a landing spot confined enough to require a steep or vertical approach into it, then you will need to choose a new spot when very power limited. You can roughly gauge how much power will be required just from experience with different conditions but you can also check by performing a high altitude hover away from the ground. If you can hover comfortably out of ground effect then you can definitely hover in ground effect to land.

So now you've determined all of the requirements of SWOPP and its time to attempt a landing. You'll exit your 500ft orbit and begin flying a downwind leg to get some distance from the landing spot. Pre landing checks are performed and a descent is started. When the spot appears to be at a rearward 45° angle off your shoulder a turn back inbound is made.

Now the process begins again but in an abbreviated version. Monitoring power gradually increasing as you get lower and slower, checking again for any obstacles that weren't spotted before, and making sure the path in and out is still clear. Assume a normal, steep, or vertical approach angle and terminate to the last 1/3 of the spot.

And thats basically how you land a helicopter.

[mariacallous]

U.S. and global markets of all stripes delivered their verdict on U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs, and it is devastating: Investors hate the new barriers to trade almost as much as corporate supply chain managers do.

By nearly every metric—U.S. and global stock and bond markets, the value of the dollar, or the price of oil—investors seem to expect the impact of Trump’s new tariffs to be a drag on growth, a boost to inflation, and especially bad news on both fronts for the United States.

Trump’s decision to levy the biggest tariffs in more than a century on all U.S. trading partners has especially unsettled U.S. stock markets, formerly a bellwether for Trump. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average opened with a loss of 1,500 points, or 3.6 percent. The broader S&P 500 and the tech-focused Nasdaq indices also were darkly red, with early declines of about 4 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

European markets fared only a little better (Europe was hit with a blanket tariff of 20 percent on all its exports to the United States), with steep declines in the German, French, and Swedish bourses. Asian markets, the first to open in the wake of Trump’s Wednesday announcement, also finished in the red, with particular losses in U.S. trade partners and allies such as Japan and South Korea.

Bond markets also reflected concerns about the Trump plan. Yields on benchmark U.S. debt fell to the lowest level in six months, a sign that investors are seeking any sort of safe haven. They are even flocking back to Europe’s gold standard, the German 10-year bond, which had been beaten up in recent weeks after the new German government announced a massively expansive fiscal package.

But the idea of a safe haven does not, oddly enough, extend to the U.S. dollar, which is down across a basket of global currencies, with especially sharp falls against major currencies including the euro, the yen, the British pound, and the Swiss franc. Normally, higher tariffs should serve to prop up the greenback, not abet its downfall (even if that is what Trump has sought all along).

The Chinese yuan, or renminbi, is only down slightly against the dollar but is something to keep an eye on: Beijing could let its currency slide further to take some of the sting out of new U.S. tariffs that cumulatively add up to at least 54 percent on the world’s biggest exporter.

The sliding dollar, even against what should be tariff tailwinds, is an indication that investors fear a weak U.S. economy as soon as Trump’s new tariffs start to bite. Indeed, J.P. Morgan, the investment bank, said that it now estimates a recession is likely. The Budget Lab at Yale figures the double-whammy of existing tariffs and those announced this week could knock almost a full percentage point off of U.S. GDP growth this year.

An even sharper demonstration of the fears of a global showdown are found in the price of crude oil, with benchmark grades in New York and London down about 7 percent on the day—at a time of shooting wars in the Middle East, including a stepped-up U.S. military campaign in one of the world’s critical energy corridors. Only part of that can be chalked up to a slightly accelerated increase in OPEC crude output.

Trump’s new tariffs raise the average rate of U.S. import duties to levels last seen more than a century ago, just about the time period he identified in his Wednesday Rose Garden speech as America’s true golden age. In addition to the growth impacts, Yale’s Budget Lab expects the tariffs to raise prices by a few percentage points this year, or in other words, a bill of about $3,800 for each household.

Most of the market reaction on Thursday to Trump’s decision to abandon a decades-old U.S. embrace of free trade can be chalked up to its potentially harmful consequences on growth, employment, and prices. (Congress is seeking to re-assert some of its long-delegated trade authority, with a bipartisan bill introduced Thursday in the Senate to give Congress a vote on new tariffs.)

But some of it may well reflect confusion or dismay at the way the Trump trade team determined tariff rates. After teasing so-called reciprocal tariffs that would partially address legitimate trade grievances, the administration instead produced what analysts described as arbitrary numbers that bear little or no relation to other countries’ actual tariff rates or trade policies. Trump’s Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) explained how it came up with those so-called reciprocal tariffs, which produced oddities such as 47 percent on Madagascar or 49 percent on Cambodia. 

The problem is that the methodology released by the USTR doesn’t appear to calculate any of the target countries’ actual trade or tariff policies. Instead, it simply seeks to figure out what level of tariffs would eliminate all trade deficits with every country, then cut those numbers in half. 

The list of countries Trump and his team targeted with tariffs included other oddities. Alongside the actual big U.S. trading partners, including China and the European Union, are a host of overseas territories belonging to Britain, France, and Australia—usually targeted with different rates than their home countries. 

The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory, gets hit with a 41 percent tariff, while Norfolk Island, an appendage of Australia, faces a tariff rate three times higher than its home country. Perhaps the most bizarre: a 10 percent U.S. tariff that will target the Heard and McDonald Islands near Antarctica, an uninhabited Australian outpost mostly crowded with penguins.

[kuai-kuai]

webdev log 2

implemented a gallery. I originally wanted it to be more grid-like but I decided I didn't want to mess too much with that, and I like the simple look anyways. forces you to really take in every shitty drawing.

it features a search function that only works for tags. its purpose is mostly just to search multiple tags, because I couldn't be fucked to add a feature where you could click on multiple tags there at the tags list at the top. it lists out all used tags in the table that stores art so you have an idea of what there all is.

at the bottom there's pagination. it's INSANELY easy to do with this framework I'm using. I was gushing about it to my partner on call!! they made fun of me but that's okay!!!!

anyways, clicking on the date underneath the drawing takes you to a view with the image itself (a kind of "post", if I can call it that) here you can view comments and leave one yourself if you so desire. guests are NOT allowed to reply to existing comments because I'd rather things not get too clogged up. I can't stop anyone if they did an "@{name} {message}" type comment, but I don't think anyone is gonna be chatting it up on my site, so idc. I just want it very minimal, and no nesting beyond one single reply.

of course, you can comment on story chapters too so here's what it looks like for a user (me). of course, if a user (me) posts then it gets automatically approved.

the table that stores comments differentiates story comments and art comments with foreign keys to the primary keys of the the chapter and art tables. it's a little convoluted and I kind of wish I didn't do it this way but it's too damn late isn't it. but honestly it might've been the only way to do it. the problem is just repeating code for both chapter and art views.. making a change to one means I gotta manually make the same change to the other. huge pain..

added user authentication and a really shitty bare bones dashboard for myself to approve/reject comments directly on the site in case someone comes along and wants to be mean to me :( rejecting a comment deletes it OFF my site forever. though I kind of want to be able to keep hate mail so I dunno.. oh, and also a big fat logout button because I have nowhere else to put it.

I'll spare everyone the more technical ramblings.

anyways, I'm hoping to add more things later. these are my plans:

allow users (me) to post stories/art through the site itself instead of doing it manually in the vscode terminal for every. single. story. and drawing. (probably took me 6+ hours total just doing this. I don't know why I did it.) (btw this consists of writing commands to store information via the terminal. also, sql and similar databases don't store things like markup or even line breaks. I had to alter all my stories and put \n every time there was a line break... and you have to escape apostrophes (or quotes, depending on which you use) so every "it's" had to be made into "it\'s" HUGE. PAIN. I didn't do this manually obviously but sifting and plugging my stories into character replacers was so time consuming)

delete comments button.... For my eyes and fingers only

make an About page. I've been avoiding all the fun things and doing just the scary stff

figure out SSH stuff...

clean up the shitty css. I refuse to use tailwind even tho it's trying to force me.. I don't want some sleek polished site I want it look like it's in shambles, because it is

but yeah thanks for reading about my webdev and coding journey. even though using the laravel framework made things a thousand times easier it's still a crazy amount of work. let's say building a site completely from scratch means buying every material and designing the house yourself, and using a website builder like wix is just like buying a pre built home and you're just decorating it. using this framework is like putting together a build-your-own-house kit. you're still building a fucking house.

I feel crazy. it felt like the site was close to breaking several times. been sleep deprived for several days working on this nonstop I think I'm getting a little sick 😵‍💫

going to bed now. it's 9 am.

[your-greatest-nightmare]

Tricks of wind. Trick or Trick motherf-

Since I'm already talking abt Competitive Pokémon teams, Imma make one, why? Because I want to, and feel like it tbh

First things first- I use Showdown, I am a poor, sad person, that does not (for now.) have acces to any competitive pokemon with Pokémon games (S&V, Sw&Sh, etc.), yes, I am obsessed with Pokémon Unite, no, I do not play it that often anymore- again tho, for now.

So-! I want a Trick Room team, but also a team that is able to function outside of it, so, probs three for trick room, and three pokes that are not that slow, one of them need to be able to use Tailwind, as what I'm mostly looking for is one thing: Speed advantage over my opponent no matter what.

Alright first, we choosing pokemons, if u think I watch competitive pokemon games & stuff, yes I do, but more than anything I like watching Wolfey :)

For pokémons, I always try to have; support pokemon, physical attackers, special attakers, and I try to make sure to cover *most* types, especially those that are major threats for the team. AHEM- Fairy types. AHEM- sorry, virtual cough.

I already have some pokemons I'll use: Farigiraf, Armarouge, Indeedee, Sinistcha.

Indeedee and Armarouge are to go together, mostly if possible atleast.

Indeedee is a trick room setter and a support, trick room, follow me, helping hand, protect, I'm gonna think abt an item later-

Follow me to make sure I can redirect attacks from going to (mostly) Armarouge to Indeedee

Helping Hand because- I mean- Helping hand boosted, tera boosted, STAB boosted, MAX EVs boosted armor cannon, or expanding force, which also gets boosted by the psychic field. Yeah, it's pretty good-

Trick room bc- well- trick room. And protect because I don't want it to die that quick- Protect with one, attack with another.

Armarouge, ofc- Special attacker, so 0IVs in attack (because- AHEM- Foul Play- AHEM-), armor cannon, because armor cannon?? Expanding force, hits both opponents, gets boosted by both STAB AND field (considering Indeedee was on the field), protect because yes. And as for last attack.. I'm thinking probs dark pulse.. having dark pulse will let me have coverage against ghost types, which can certainly be an issue- so probs dark pulse for now..

For item, Life Orb, as I don't want speed or being locked on a move, or just some healing, I want more power 'u' and the ability flash fire because of the same reason, if I use weak armor and it activates, my speed will be around 372, which is not good on trick room- so flash fire it is!

As for Indeedee's item, psychic seed to up it's SpDef when it comes in, making it more bulky

Now, another pokemon; Sinistcha.

Sinistcha is really good, hospitality, matcha gotcha, poltergeist to annoy, rage powder to redirect and protect, along with leftovers and a bulky spread, to help it stay alive

Farigiraf is next, throat spray for item, so that when doing hyper voice, it ups my SpAtk, psychic for some more damage, protect, and! trick room. yes, two trick room setters. This is Trick or Trick friend, I can and just might make your life more miserable with each turn :]

Now I need more pokemons, and for one of them, I like Hydreigon.

Hydreigon being a Dark/Dragon resists ghost type attacks, so I may be able to switch it in safely if able to do so, tho I'll mostly take it out in case my trick room setters are knocked out.

Hydreigon will be my tailwind user. Yes, tailwind. I want speed advantage however I can. So, tailwind, draco meteor because draco meteor, dark pulse and flash cannon

Flash cannon combined with tera steel will be good for that fairy coverage (unless they hit me with the tera fire fairy with fire type move-), and since I have darkpulse on Hydrei now, I'll change Armarouge's dark pulse to Will 'O Wisp, that way I'll burn foes and cut their attack in half, being even more annoying >:}c

As for the item, I was thinking abt life orb, but Armarouge already has it and it's really useful on it, so I went for safety goggles with Hydrei, as it'll ensure I won't be put to sleep by- a certain pokemon.

Now I need one more pokemon, and since I have all special attackers, it would be good to have the next be- hopefully- a physical attacker.

And what other pokemon can I add- but, probably, the best support pokemon- Incineroar.

Usual stuff with it, Intimidate, Fake Out, Parting shot, Knock off, and close combat for some good physical damage which I really need, a tera of grass, because- a certain pokemon- might be annoying :)

Give it a sitrus berry and we're good to go

Now, since I can be very 'Power, and support, and attack, and-' I may forget the fact that- they need to live to be able to be useful- so I'll check a site that tells me what stuff my team doesn't have- which I probs won't change unless like- really useful- but still, good to know

Welp, I'll do that and see if I can play some games and yeah

-B

[krimsonkatt]

Scion Sleipnir

The scion of wind in my game Chronicles Meteorfall. He is an optional boss fought in Aetheria Skylands after recruiting Stacy and is one of the 12 scions that escaped from their animus following Sensayu's assassination by a disguised Oracle Aria. Long ago he was the eight legged steed of Odin, king of the aesir who ruled over the outrealm of Ysgard, realm of eternal battle. However, Sleipnir went on a mad rampage many eons ago and ventured into Zutara to cause havoc, but was sealed away by the seraphic as a scion, forced to forever serve his masters for as long as Zutara continued to exist. He is summonable by Stacy after his defeat by Stacy equipping the special armor "Sleipnir Animus" and then using Stacy's "Summon" S-Talent. When using summon with the Sleipnir Animus equipped, Stacy will use the art "Pegasus Strike", dealing unreal strike and force damage to one foe based on level that pierces 80% of DEF.

In battle Sliepnir will use various strike and force elemental attacks while raising his SPD with "Tailwind" to gain additional press turns. He is not too tough, but is a tad overleveled for the point in the game where you can first fight him. (Beginning of Chapter 6) It's best to wait until you are around his level to challenge him, usually at the beginning of Chapter 7.

[froldgapp]

if you're still doing the get to know your fic writer ask game: 3, 27, and 56? (though iirc you said you were thinking about a soft retirement from fic writing, so absolutely zero pressure to answer this)

Ahhhh thank you for the ask! <3

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Generally, it starts with an idea that turns into a haunting of sorts. I do a lot of daydreaming on the idea, where lines of dialogue or bits of action take shape–most often before bed or when I wake up in the morning. When I have time, I sit down and let the fic roll out on the page using those pre-imagined bits as tent poles. I think the time wallowing in or being pursued by the idea is why I'm generally a fast writer when I actually sit down–likewise with my corporate writing.

Sometimes the fic grabs the wheel and the tent poles become obsolete, as was the case with Body Politic, which actually began as a fic about Tim missing the other members of Young Justice when he briefly retires from Robin. Jack Drake immediately dominated the narrative, which I suppose is rather like him XD, and the story ended up being about Tim and him. And it can sometimes be genuinely excruciating letting the tent poles go in favour of following the fic! Sometimes these can be whole scenes or whole blocks of dialogue.

Although daydreaming is a huge part of my process, I do love the experience of the story unfolding itself as I write. This was the case with In Between Days, where I felt Tim and Lonnie were very present and all I sort of had to do was watch, listen and transcribe.

Then there are fics like Here Dead We Lie (under Mebh), which I planned meticulously and Croaked, which was an exercise in freewriting. But these are rather exceptions. :D

27. Describe your most and least favourite part of writing

My favourite part of writing is definitely the flow state. It's like the words are coming up from a deep groundwater, and that feels very true and nice.

My least favourite part is fighting the story to move it forwards or dig it out of the sand. Sometimes the solution is abandoning a direction or scene altogether (dropping the tent pole), but sometimes it really is just a matter of methodically plodding along to get the story where it needs to go. It's why, for example, with the current engagement rate, I don't have the energy for a proper multi-chapter like the Corporate Espionage!Tim fic. Because I sense that a probable lack of tailwind would make it really hard to push through those moments. Maybe that sounds really mercenary, but I imagine most writers will understand!

56. What's something about your writing that you pride yourself on

I think... I think I do a good job of putting inner worlds on the page/screen, or in other even more abstract words: hearing the song of a character and being a transmitter for them–if Tim Drake is the record, I try to be the needle. Even if I don't write so-and-so's idea of Tim or Cassie or Keith (VLD) or Roy Mustang, etc., I endeavour at least to write them as fully realised characters.

I'm reading Ursula Le Guin's essays right now, and she talks about Virginia Woolf's Mrs Brown–an anonymous woman she observes on the train one day and who inspires the Mrs. Brown that would become the titular character in one of her works. And it's just popped back to me now writing this answer. Timely!

"...for Mrs. Brown is eternal, Mrs. Brown is human nature, Mrs. Brown changes only on the surface, it is the novelists who get in and out." – Virginia Woolf, Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown

Mrs Brown represents a rich, wholly developed character, and Le Guin argues that the job of the novelist is to know and to write their Mrs Brown. If they don't? Then perhaps it isn't a novel but a treatise or a doctrine, and so on. Anyway, like Le Guin, I feel my job is to express the character(s) I'm working with. That's what I aim for anyway! Really interesting questions! Thank you, friend!

[sonicasura]

The creation of the " Tera Arms" would be quite interesting as they would definitely react strangely too being made with Kaiju parts or grant unexpected abilities if they end up resonating with the Number Weapons. Granting new or improved abilities, like with No. 6 Weapon granting the ability too use Blizzard or Aurora Veil or No. 4 gaining Air Slash and Tailwind.

Not too mention the various immunities or damage reduction a Tera Arm could give there user. Like a Shield made with a Ground Tera Shard completely nullify a electric blast from a Kaiju

There are many things too research about what the Tera Arms can do

Oh definitely. There was quite some experimentation with the Tera Shards and materials gathered by Trainer. It became pretty clear that No.9 is gonna be a real problem thus new equipment is needed.

Some discoveries were made particularly involving what kind of equipment the Tera Arms is. Weapons grant more offensive abilities to the wielder while armor offers more defensive and support based skills. These were referred to as Models since not every Tera Arms provides the same skillset.

Something that can turn the tide with this current crisis as No.9's greatest weakness is unpredictability.

[novelistash]

My prize money pays for a new outfit. I look like a hiker in the rain, but the plastic poncho and goggles are necessary. Flying is rarely comfortable and I might end up flying in the rain. The weather won't be a problem for Connie, my Swanna, but I will be a cumbersome package when wet.

I get out my backpack and spend the better part of thirty minutes assembling the litter. It's a reinforced tarp held together by pipes and it feels more dangerous than it is. Mine is adult sized, big enough for a man who has four inches on me to lay down from elbow to toes, but it feels too small. I consider replacing Connie with a larger flier, but it'll require a detour that I don't want to make. I have a belldum to raise and it still isn't out of its egg.

With the last of the litter assembled, I lay it on the ground and summon Connie. She comes out with her wings extended, ready to splash opponents with surf. It's a reminder that I need to change her moves around. Once she sees the litter, the four foot long white bird uses her beak to help attach the handles above me.

"Alright, Connie. Let's fly!"

Hopping up and balancing her fifty pounds on the pipes connecting above my back, she summons a gale of air that lifts us off the ground. My stomach drops and I hang on to the upper edge of the pipes. Below us children are pointing at the once pedestrian sight of a trainer on wing.

Using my Poketech X, I orient us when we're well above the highest building in Lilycove. A direct flight to Slateport is gonna be exhausting and I don't know if I'm gonna get there before nightfall. If I go as the spearow flies, I might end up over the rocky islands east of Slateport, which could be full of wingulls, shuppets, and whatever's left of Team Aqua. Their efforts had been foiled for a second time, but criminal elements never truly disappear.

No, the safe bet is to fly over route 123 and end up in Mauville and Mt. Pyre is a detour I can easily avoid, only I tilt the frontal grips towards the south. Connie obeys, taking me straight for the flat-topped island shrine. Wind chills my exposed skin and I lean into my Pokémon's flight. Connie flaps once and our tailwind redoubles its strength to bring my eye to the ground. The stomach lurching terror makes me shout and laugh.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Connie makes spectacular time. Within twenty minutes we're rounding on the grassy peak of the hollowed inactive volcano. There's a wide walkway leading up to the sacred steps of the main shrine, it makes for a natural landing path but two trainers are battling. A gout of flame is more than enough warning. Connie turns us about to circle until this cool trainer and hex maniac settle their battle. The woman with long wild hair looks familiar. I fought her back when I did tours of Hoenn to keep my team in shape. I used to know her name.

Two circles later the cool trainer has the Sableye beat. The trainer and Pokémon jump into the air to celebrate their victory. I don't recognize the fire Pokémon, it's the second stage of that bunny thing from Galar. Trainer and Pokémon clear the path and Connie and I can finally land.

The ground comes up fast and hard. Even though Connie's brought up a pillow of air to cushion my landing and the litter takes most of the impact, it still rattles my bones. I crawl out fast, wipe the mud off my pants and feed Connie a treat.

"Hey, mister," says the try-hard sixteen year old. "You ain't supposed to fly here."

"So call a kill Joy. What are you here for?"

"Battles. You wanna try your luck against my Raboot?"

"No, thanks. You can tell everyone you beat me. I'm hear to pay my respects."

The cool trainer mumbles something about me being a vagrant and walks off. Connie is anxiously waiting a recall, but I keep her out. The sun isn't giving the ghost Pokémon a lot of reason to stay hidden. I push the handle of the litter down, folding it up as I store it by a bench.

The hex maniac approaches. There's this sort of manic glee in her eyes and I swear she's smiling wide enough to drool.

"Please don't tell me you're wasting money on a revive to fight me," I grumble.

"My powers are beyond the needs of such trivial expenses," she says like she's auditioning for a role in a movie.

I arch a skeptical bro.

"I have a some Zigzagoons running pickup."

"Ah. Well, I decline the battle. I'm here to pay my respects to lost Pokémon."

"That'll be a problem." A long gnarled hand points up the path and lands on scaffolding and plastic curtains covering the main shrine. "The actions of the ambitious have denied your desires."

I sigh. "Listen, I'm pretty sure we've met before. What was your name again?"

Her long berobed arm goes down in, and snakes its way up to pull back a long graying curtain of hair. Her skin is whiter than the tombstones around us. Though she looks no more impressive than any other hex maniac I've ever faced, somehow all of her fake spiritualism is really giving me the creeps. "You can call me, Valerie."

"Yeah. Hi, Valerie. Listen, I've lost a few Pokémon over the years and I was hoping to find a place to pay my respects. Is there anything like that here?"

"Over this way, ASH."

I follow her for a few steps before I ask her, "So you remember me?"

"Remember you?" She laughs and it's more of a hissing sound than a cackle. "I used to see you three times a week. You were the one who gave me my ziggies."

"I was?"

"You don't remember."

"I trained a lot of Pokémon over the years and I probably got rid of a thousand in my pursuit of a perfection. Believe me when I tell you it's nothing personal."

Valerie makes the forlorn mewling sound and right before I think she's going to cry, she stops by the statue of an Absol and smiles at me. "A younger version of me would've been heartbroken to hear that. Now it fills me with glee to know that you were so selfish."

I swallow. "I'm sorry. I didn't ever think-- I wasn't... I'm sorry."

Her crooked teeth gleam in the hazy fog of Mt. Pyre's basin. "It makes me happy, like watching a wingull finally succumb to poison."

Morbid, but then this lady has probably been coming back to this spot for over ten years. Her concept of normal is probably grim. "Why does my crass attitude make you happy?"

"Hmm?" she muses and looks to the white circle of the descending sun. "You were never worth the tremblings of my heart. I was wrong to think our souls could dance in death." She laughs. "It was me that was dancing-- dancing alone with the dead."

"Yeah, um, about that. Why do you keep coming here anyway? Are you like a ranger?"

"A ranger? No. No one gave me such a noble purpose. It is the souls of the Pokémon that bring me back. They are lonely and so I hug them when I can. Sometimes we share a laugh. Sometimes they dare me to give them my body."

"That sounds like a great way to end up in the hospital."

This time her creepy laughter does reach a cackle. She is laughing at my ignorance in the way that a teenager might laugh at a child, though we are clearly about the same age only her body has been worn down by her life among the grave. "The dead understand life more than the living, they do not waste their precious breath on words and training."

"Then why do you fight?"

She laughs harder, doubling over from the strain her cackling puts on her gut. That long curtain of hair hides her ghastly face and she points. A small shrine isn't too far. Around the stone monument is a patch of gravel surrounded by a solid ring of salt one foot thick. "Go, mourning trainer. Leave me to your sorrows and your life without reflection."

I take a step and then turn to face her crazed stare. "Don't you worry about spending all your time with ghosts? People need to be around other people."

"I am with minds that love life. You..." Her laughter approaches a place of sorrow. "You are closer to death than they, only you do not know it. You are a fool who surrounds himself in ignorance, and I am darker than a Sableye. I am clearer than their crystals. You are the shadow of your defeats, the ashes of the burnt. Go, coward. Go cry over your ash!"

Cackling in a wild voice, she walks away, leaving me to the solitude of the shrine.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

My meditation is haunted. The row of salt, the haze of incense, the string of charms are all too powerful to allow any ghosts inside, but I am haunted all the same. Valerie basically told me that she had a crush on me, but it was a crush I never noticed. I only ever saw her to vanquish her Sableye and collect some pen. She was a name in a long list of trainers that I beat to bulk up my auxiliary teams, but I'd left an impression on her.

Long breaths help me settle my heart, but I have to force the image of Doryu dying to get my mind back on the tragedy of my fallen friends. I take out six candles and lay them under the pyramid roof of the shrine. I light a dried out stick and light the candles in sequence.

Doryu, my Garchomp who fell to a Sylveon. Fission, my self destructing Metagross. Spiritomb, Roserade, Porygon Z, and Lucario.

These six had all died because of my prideful ambition to be a champion but many more had been cast aside because I deemed them inefficient. At least the Zigzagoon's in Valerie's care were helping her sustain this wild life of isolation. Others had been discarded to the wilds. I'd needed to breed thousands to achieve my goal of crafting the perfect team. Only everything I did wasn't enough to make me the champion. I didn't even have the conviction to honor their sacrifice.

Rain comes down soft. I wish it was hard, to pelt my skin, and punish my body for the folly of my past, but I'm dressed for rain and the gentle shower is more of an ablution than a gauntlet. So I breath soft, letting the petrichor still my heart, and accept that the pokemon who are lost fought because they believed in me. I chose them because they were fighters, even though Lucario and Roserade weren't made to be champions. When they died I blamed myself for trying to make those Pokemon into something they weren't but maybe it was me that didn't understand my soul.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Connie is ready to fly when I return, but there's no sign of Valerie. The rain is still falling, but it is a gentle sprinkle that wouldn't scare off a hex maniac like Valerie. She'd chosen this life of isolation, tended to the wounded hearts of the dead, but one day she would join their ranks. Some believed that dead humans could become ghost pokemon but I never did. I thought that Pokemon like Spiritomb and Gengar devoured human souls to keep themselves strong, but I never stopped using them.

I still have a Gengar and maybe it's not right for me to carry around Sorrowfell. Yet, Sorr is my pokemon. I raised her to fight and help me navigate the haunted corners of Alola. Handing her over to Valerie might be disrespectful, an insult to not only her but my Gengar. These Pokémon are my allies and I'm going to need the help of others if I'm ever going to make sense of my life.

Goggles on. Plastic hood in position, I lay down on the litter. "Let's fly, Connie."

She hops up onto the top of the litter, flapping to keep her weight from pushing down on the ground. Through the power of wind that feel more like magic than a physical reaction we rise into the droplets. Connie makes an excited trill to join the wind and water, to experience the elements of her existence.

Down below I see a naked pasty white woman dancing with her wet hair covering everything lewd. Valerie continues to move to an erratic beat, swaying along with ghosts my untrained eyes can't see.

I turn my eyes west, to clear sky that leads over to Mauville. It'll be a place to rest and hopefully a place to buy some decent clothes. Slateport is a city of Coordinators and entertainers. I'm gonna need to fit in if Esther Flowne is gonna give me the time of day.

It's strange that I keep thinking about how others see me. Valerie is someone I reflexively call a maniac, but she knows who she is and what she wants. Maybe that's part of why she's so scary. There's a certainty in being so mad, that the opinions of others no longer matters. I've never truly been in that state. The closest I ever got was a transitionary period where my unwashed state was a cost that came before my transformation. The Battle Chateau was a place for me to show off, just as my life in Sinnoh before that. Maybe it wasn't love that I wanted from Meriel at all. Maybe I just wanted a life where people would be jealous of me. @trainerspiral

[eclipsedcrystalstar]

I really do think everyone saying Shadow Rider Calyrex would dethrone Flutter Mane was just seeing “really good ghost type” and nothing else.

First off, Calyrex Shadow is a restricted legendary, and in this format you can only have ONE. If you want to go with literally any restricted legend but Calyrex S Flutter Mane is still an AMAZING option. Hell go for Calyrex Ice and Flutter Mane and fucking wipe the other team off the face of the earth with Glacial Lance + Dazzling Gleam.

Second off, Flutter Mane is also a FAIRY TYPE which is significantly better than Calyrex Shadow’s psychic AND super effective against most restricted legendaries, since they’re dragon types

Adding onto the second point, resistances and tera sinks. Calyrex Shadow gets fucking bodied by a Flutter Mane that moves first {which, with a speed booster energy and no tailwind/trick room, it does} or if a dark type just exists in its vicinity {which. Incineroar, king cat of VGC almost always is there} so Tera is almost a necessity on Shadow Rider. Having TWO 4x weaknesses is not exactly great. Flutter Mane, on the other hand, can exist pretty well without a Tera, though personally I like running Tera normal on it for immunity to others shadow balls/astral barrages.

[queen0funova]

I had an insane battle in Pokémon Black 2's Battle Institute

First of all, this guy had the same name as one of my friends; I have never met anyone else with that name.

He then leads with Articuno and Registeel. I was using a mono-electric team of Zapdos, Electivire, Eelektross, and Stunfisk. Articuno went for Mind Reader right off the bat meaning it was the fucking 100% accuracy Sheer Cold one. Zapdos and Electivire thankfully knocked itvout before it could OHKO anyone, but I was scared for my life.

He then sends out Thundurus, who, with some help from Registeel, immediately knocked out Electivire. I'm pretty sure that thing outsped despite me having Tailwind active on my side.

I sent out Eelektross who I then accidentally paralyzed with Discharge. At one point, Eelektross still managed to land a hit despite having both Paralysis and Confusion active.

I ended up switching it into Stunfisk instead only for Thundurus to go for Sky Drop. That move is banned!!! Why can he use it, but I can’t???

Anyways, I finally took down Registeel with a Heat Wave from Zapdos. Thundurus used U-Turn to switch to Regigigas before just reappearing on the other side of the field.

Regigigas decided to spam Wide Guard which completely walled Zapdos who only had Tailwind, Light Screen, Heatwave, and Discharge.

I eventually swapped Zapdos for Eelektross and also put Toxic on the Regi via Stunfisk. Eelektross finally defeated Thundurus, then the two of them waited while Regigigas slowly died to Toxic.

[gxldencity]

I want to make gifs but I also want to crochet but I also want to mock bg3's inventory screen through bootstrap/tailwind (I haven't decided which one I wanna use lmao)

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 7- Part 16

He might get annihilated by whatever Electric-type move(s) this Oricorio knows, but I don’t think I have a choice, I need to bring in Riptide. Why? To lower its Speed with Scary Face, of course! 

And this works out even better because, instead of attacking, Oricorio just opts to use Tailwind!

Now, we reach an impasse- I could try to switch in to someone else who can actually take Electric-type attacks, but…again, I have no good answers to an Electric/Flying-type, and Glare’s in a lot of pain, and Whiskers is out, and all my other teammates are weak to Air Cutter…so I think I have to do as much damage as I can with Riptide. Time to see how many Bites he can-

Oh…oh, she just switched out again. It’s a Voltorb that’s taking the Bite instead-

Riptide doesn’t outspeed this at all I don’t think, and at that low HP, it’ll probably use Electric Terrain-modified Self-Destruct or Explosion, so I need to switch in to someone else who can tank that…time for the Grass-types! It’s all you, Summer!

Alright, how bad is this gonna be…?

Oh, that wasn’t so bad! Summer’s even still in the green! But now Oricorio’s coming back out. On one hand, switching out reset its lowered Defense and Speed…but at the same time, it also reset its boosted Sp. Attack. In that case, I’ll send in Riptide again.

We’ll do…sorta what we did last time, lowering its Speed with Scary Face to make things a little bit easier. This time, Oricorio doesn’t use Work Up or Tailwind, but…Air Cutter again? Not some Electric-type move??

Um…okay, not complaining there! Since Air Cutter didn’t do as much without a boost, will using Leer be a good idea here-?

Yes it is, because it just used Tailwind again! Great! Now we can deal a chunk of damage using Bite- oh. No, no we can’t, because she just switched back into Minun.

RIP Minun, taking the hit for Oricorio. Still, I know this one has an Electric-type move in the form of Nuzzle, so let’s bring out Summer while we heal up Glare, he can take a few moves…

BUT NOT IF CHARGE BEAM CRITS-

You’ve gotta be kidding, of all the times for a critical hit…a Potion’s not gonna do us much good here, we need Summer with as much HP as he can muster. Okay, fine, I’ll use the gross factory floor ice cream!

Unfortunately, while we are able to heal Glare using a Super Potion, during that time the Minun gets more than a few Charge Beams off…

And now it’s getting dangerously powerful, even Summer can’t take another hit! Okay, okay, it’s fine- this is just like what happened with Tynamo earlier, right? Which means we bring out Bloom to finish the job and tank the Charge Beams!

…It helps if Charge Beam misses.

Magical Leaf for the win! GET OUTTA HERE, YOU!

Now, the reason I wanted to heal up Glare to begin with was because of the Oricorio, which is being brought out yet again.

We start by Screeching its Defense down aga-

…Ooooor not. No no, it’s fine, just let Paralysis proc while Oricorio boosts itself with Work Up again, it’s alright! I’m fine with this!

We don’t have time to Screech it down anymore, we’ve gotta get rid of this bird now. Just Bite it, Bite it until it can’t be bit anymore-

…On second thought, maybe we should have tried Screeching again after all.

Welp, Paralysis procs a second time of course, and now with a double-boosted Sp. Attack, Air Cutter does even more, so now we need to switch back into Riptide.

We’ll heal him up a bit so the next attack maybe doesn’t kill him immediately-

It’s…still only using Air Cutter on Riptide?? Does this Oricorio know any Electric-type moves!? HELLO!?

Whatever, this is fine, let’s just get that Scary Face off…

Oh!! OOOOH!! Finally, the Quick Claw procs when I actually need it to!!

AND HE LIVES THE AIR CUTTER! So now…no, this isn’t another crossroads, I think the choice is clear. To give everyone else the best chance at stopping Oricorio, Riptide needs to get off one last Bite before he goes down. Heck, with the level advantage and Sheer Force…maybe he can even knock it out?

So close…and yet so far…

Oh also, WHY DO ALL THESE ENEMY POKEMON KEEP SURVIVING WITH PIXELS OF HEALTH LEFT!?

And it…knocked him out with Pound? Pound is its fourth move?? That Oricorio really didn’t have any Electric-type moves! I could have used Riptide against it the whole time, are you kidding me!?

Luckily, Bloom is able to make sure Riptide’s sacrifice wasn’t for nothing and finally take this bird down with Magical Leaf!

At long last, there is it…the ace Pokémon! And Julia’s not even saving it for last, sheesh girl! But I do have a plan for this thing, believe it or not.

Step 1: Prong!

Wait it’s Lv. 15-? I am overleveled for this Gym! Why is the level cap so much higher than the highest level of the Gym’s strongest Pokémon-? Although…actually, no, given everything that’s happened in this battle, if I had to face these Pokémon at their level instead of above it, we’d be having a way tougher time. So, I think I’m glad the level cap is so much higher, actually.

Anyways, back to the point- the first thing we need to do is use String Shot to lower this thing’s horrifying Speed…

It helps when Charge Beam misses (again).

Now, we keep Prong in to heal up Glare, who is vital to Step 2. And speaking of healing, uuuh…guess what I forgot I picked up in Mosswater Industrial?

Hehehe…yeah…that would’ve been helpful to use earlier. So we use that and the Berry Ice Cream to bring Glare back to full strength as Prong goes down.

You did your job well- now it’s time for…

Step 2: Glare!

This next one is also straightforward: Glare just needs to hit one Screech. She now outspeeds Electrode, and she can probably take…two Charge Beams before fainting, and she only needs to hit Screech one out of those two chances. Her luck with Screech has been…not bad, surprisingly? She’s never missed twice in a row, at least, so her track record should be-

…Why. Why do I say anything. Why do I do anything. Why do I type away on this keyboard, with my insignificant fingers, when I could be doing literally anything else at this point in time.

OF ALL THE TIMES FOR SCREECH TO MISS TWICE IN A ROW, FOR THE RNG TO SCREW UP MY PLANS, IT CHOOSES NOW??

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