#BARBA ESPECIALLY GOD

[tarutaruga]

gayass abogados

[violetgauze]

... suspenders...

[luxyue]

knife boots — part iii.

xiao x reader, figure skating au

masterlist

➥ NEW VOCAB ❝ toe loop ❞ one of the easier jumps, a forward to backwards turn complete with picking your toe into the ice and landing on the same edge.

iii. facebook but for young people

[tw: minor mention of an ed in the middle of this chapter]

"you're so mean."

"i warned you."

"you're an absolutely, positively, awful person."

"yeah, well, you knew that already."

xiao had actually agreed to help with your training, much to your surprise, despite being reluctant. now....you regret ever making such a request. xiao is the devil reincarnated, and you'll swear by it until the day you die. he's been making you go back and forth around the rink for three whole hours, doing nothing but doubles. DOUBLES. if you didn't seriously need his help, you would've told him to fuck off sometime during the first thirty minutes.

"your technique is seriously fucked, did you know that?"

insanity.

"mhm, the entire non-snezhnayan skating community loves to remind me," you grin. he's been attempting to correct you on pre-rotation, underrotation, and overrotation all throughout the past few hours.

"seriously, what did they teach you over there?" he says incredulously. he looks like he's on the verge of tearing his hair out. or eyes. or both.

"um, you know, the basics. jump, rotate, land. not much else," you reply honestly. you had built your skills up under the idea that landing jumps was always the most important thing. if you could do that, why bother with anything else? who wouldn’t choose that over falling?

he groans, before taking a deep breath, trying desperately to calm himself. he clearly wasn’t amused. "i really don’t know why i agreed to help you."

you shrug. "i'm asking the same question."

one excruciating session later, zhongli stops whatever he's been doing in his office for who knows how long (seriously though, he's been in there all day since you started working with xiao) and begins your training session.

saved from the devil at last.

...

"i know i say this a lot, but you actually look like shit right now."

"xingqiu, i swear to god—"

it's lunch time, and you're hanging out with xiangling, chongyun, and xingqiu in the kitchens. these three have basically roped you into their , and this has been your routine for the past few weeks. not that you mind—xiangling's cooking is too good to resist.

"...which god?" chongyun asks.

"hm?" you turn to look at him with confusion.

"you know, like there's morax, barba—" xingqiu starts.

you cut him off. "i know who the archons are, thank you very much." although, that did raise a good question—which nation had your allegiance now?

xiangling looks at you, unsure, before deciding to go through with her question. "do you like liyue better than snezhnaya?"

you raise an eyebrow at her....because there was no correct answer other than, yes, of fucking course.

"i would choose liyue over snezhnaya a million times over," you say with finality, leaving no room for doubt.

xiangling smiles back. "aw, well i'm glad you're here. ooh—food's ready! jade parcels for everyone!"

she dishes the food out, and your mouth literally starts watering.

"xiangling, i love you."

"hey! you're always annoyed with me, but she cooks some food and all of a sudden you love her?" xingqiu exclaims.

you laugh. "xiangling doesn't tell me i suck at skating."

"i would never!" she rushes to defend herself.

xingqiu accepts defeat, muttering "fair."

"i can't believe you guys have a whole kitchen here, actually. and it's stocked like crazy. and free to use."

"...did your old rink not have a kitchen?" chongyun wonders.

"i mean, it was a nice rink, and really big—but no, they would never have a kitchen."

"y/n, what did you mean by free to use?" xiangling wonders, still hung up on your words.

"um...well, we weren't exactly allowed to eat all the time, especially not before competition, so any food at the rink was locked away for the coaches only to access."

you're met with three blank stares.

then you're tackled by three very big hugs.

"that's awful, y/n. i don't know what i would do if i wasn't allowed to access food," xiangling says sympathetically.

these three are wayyy too nice. "you're gonna make me cry, guys."

"pfft, we love you too. to new beginnings!" xingqiu pulls out his phone and snaps a selfie of you four.

"chongyun, give me your phone, i'm gonna post this on your account since you have more followers.

okay, they're way too nice with the occasional exception for xingqiu.

...

childe is bored, plainly put. bored out of his mind.

imagine his surprise when he gets a notification that chongyun, that up and coming junior skater, (who never, ever, posts, by the way) has posted a picture of himself, another skater from liyue whose name he can't remember, a girl with dark hair cut in a bob.....and you.

fuck. fuckity fuck. fuck me.

when he receives a hastily written email from dottore, he briefly contemplates jumping out of a window.

he contemplates for too long. dottore sends him another email, yelling at him through the screen to get to his office.

well shit.

you've done it, darling. sentenced me to my imminent death.

the walk to dottore's office is a slow one. very slow.

childe takes the stairs instead of the elevator. he also makes sure to take the long route, going down every hallway possible before finally arriving at dottore's doorstep.

and fuck, he can't even knock on the door before it swings open. curse dottore and his stupid technology.

"childe. come in."

someone's in a mood.

"heyy, doctor! what can i do for—"

"explain this." dottore pulls up a screenshot of chongyun's post.

"it's an instagram post. like, you know, facebook, but for young—"

"i know what an instagram post is. what i want to know is why y/n l/n is in this particular instagram post. with chongyun and xingqiu. in liyue."

childe laughs nervously. "well...sounds like you know as much as i do, doctor."

dottore looks at childe, indignantly. "she was your responsibility. not only that, she seemed to think of you as a true friend. i'm sure you, of all people, would know why she is in this picutre, with the liyue skaters, at the liyue rink?"

childe blinks. time to play dumb. "....probably because she's in liyue?"

that was definitely not the right thing to say, because dottore seemed ready to snap. "childe. whether you were friends with this girl or not, she is a traitor now. an enemy. we cannot let her go on like this, one word and she could destroy our reputation. your loyalties lie with us. so, do tell me. what do you know about her being in liyue?"

"i don't know."

childe is a lot of things, but he's no snitch.

dottore's not dumb enough to believe him, of course, but he sighs.

"if you say so. however, i'm sure you know what will happen if that is proven otherwise."

"i know that, doctor. but in this case, i genuinely don't. have a good day."

y/n, please, please, please keep yourself out of trouble.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

GRRM's favoritism of the Blackwoods over the Bracken bothers me a lot. The Brackens are always wrong and the Blackwoods right. In the situation Barba-Melissa, where both were in the same circumstances as lovers of Aegon IV, Melissa is the beloved, so perfect who befriended even Naerys, Aemon, and Daeron! while Barba and her son were sent away in shame because her father made a mistake. Reading Fire & Blood, the same thing can be said of Blacks over the Greens. Daemon also killed kin, but you don't see Gyldayn calling him a kinslayer or any characters from the era.

The Blackwood favoritism and it’s sexual aspect against Bracken women is one of the reasons I’d made this blog, since at the time I hadn’t seen anyone defending them (and considering a GFM called the Brackens an evil house on par with Boltons, they still need some defense). I’ll disagree with the Brackens are always wrong because Amos Bracken was clearly in the right trying to get Blackwood raiders to stop terrorizing his lands’ smallfolk, but considering that he gets shot (allegedly by Aly Sue) while his opponents get a marriage for love or a happy long life…it’s not treated as such. Both families caused the Riverlands to lose their independence—to the ironborn for the Brackens, to the stormlanders for the Blackwoods—but the Blackwoods (Roderick and Shiera) aren’t shamed and humiliated to death in the same way (as Lothar Bracken hung from a crow cage). I agree that there’s little reason for Melissa to be friends with Naerys, especially since she’s an old gods-worshipper and the very pious Sevenites believe they go to hell; so unless she was trying to convert her, I don’t really understand the friendship based on their admittedly limited characterization (which is plainly just there to shill Melissa, as well as explain why BR wasn’t on D2’s shit list like his half-brothers). And not only were Barba and her dad/son sent away in shame, but then there’s poor Bethany Bracken. TWOIAF just heaps unreconstructed sexism on her and Barba, saying she was groomed “for the express purpose of taking A4’s interest away from Melissa”, then she’s apparently caught in A4’s bed with a Kingsguard and she and her father are executed. Again, it’s made to be all of her fault, while the fact that it’s canonical Aegon raped her is made light of both in and out of universe. Meanwhile we don’t see any “ignominious fall” (TWOIAF’s words) with the Blackwoods. Then the Blackwoods get marriages “for love” with two of the most popular great Houses (Stark and Targaryen) while the Bracken women are raped, shamed and murdered (Jonos mentions one of his daughters was raped by Gregor Clegane during his burning Stone Hedge, because GRRM can’t help himself). The Brackens deserve better treatment from the author as well as the fandom that swallows the double standard sexism uncritically.

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

I've seen some people say it's improbable that naerys and melissa could've been friends because melissa is an old gods follower who publicly had three bastard children. like, their argument is that even if melissa kept naerys's terrible husband away from naerys, naerys's strong faith in the seven should've kept her from bonding with melissa, especially after what happened with barba. what would you say to counter-act this argument?

Well, tbf I’m not really one to try and change people’s opinions lol, if they want to believe that, it’s fine ig? But if I were to give an argument I would say that it is in fact canon that both Naerys and Melissa are friends, so it’s a bit weird to ignore that little factoid.

Secondly! The religion thing likely isn’t a big deal as far as I’m concerned? There have been a few inter-faith marriages that have worked out just fine (ex: Ned and Cat, the two recorded cases of a Stark/Manderly marriage) so in all fairness, there’s nothing really stopping two people of two different faiths from being friends!

As for the whole mistress/Barba thing….. I mean, yah, okay that is pretty fair lmao. I wouldn’t be surprised if Naerys started off pitying Melissa because of just how young she was when Aegon took her as a mistress, but was a bit weary of her after the Barba ordeal, but I think what did solidify their relationship to one another was because of just how kind Melissa was. Historically (irl anyways) mistresses aren’t always rivals to the wife of the king/lord/whatever noble guy, in some cases they can have a genuine friendship! And, I mean, I don’t think Naerys cares much about the mistress aspect, seeing as she doesn’t really like it when Aegon does turn his attention onto her, if anything I believe she’d be more concerned for Melissa’s safety being with a man like Aegon, which could very much further their bond!

That’s my best attempt at an argument anyways lol. If I had more time I could type out an essay with cited sources and all that, but rn I’m kind of dying on a train so…… hope this is okay💀

[a-thirst-for-dunmer]

hearing about Taliesin’s Massive Disdain for dogs and especially Barbas, i think Meeko’s shack would be really funny

Like

LDB: (looking at Meeko alone in his hut) oh no…Tal, come look at this…

Taliesin: What?! What is it-AURIEL’S RAGING SUNFIRE GET THAT AWAY FROM ME

LDB: Taliesin. Calm down.

Taliesin: CALM DOWN?! IT’S CHEWING MY ROBES, GODS GET IT OFF, WHY DOES IT BARK SO MUCH HELP ME

[storiesofsvu]

No Strings Ch 12

Warnings: Mentions of work hostage-ish situation. Blood, angst? Feels.

It had been another month, the summer in New York making you thankful for the warmer weather. Rafael had slowly been leaving more things at your apartment, spending more and more time there, and that, you were definitely okay with. 

Then it happened, you were the last one in the office when a domestic violence call came in, a quick text to Carisi with details and you headed out. A squad car was already parked out front when you arrived, so without thinking, you entered the brownstone, announcing that it was NYPD. You hadn’t expected to find a gun pointed at you, and you certainly hadn’t expected to have to give up your own. You tried your best to talk the perp out of it, of letting everyone just walk out of there, your heart pounding in your chest as the gun turned towards you.

The uniformed officer had made a call in before entering the house, it wasn’t long until back up was there, including Olivia and Sonny. The minor details had been passed along, ESU was setting up, and the perp wasn’t backing down. Adrenaline was coursing through your body, keeping your senses heighten and on edge, working SVU had you shift to focussing on victims, shoving your instincts on situations like this to the back burner. Your brain was scrambling, trying to think clearly, while the uni was talking, and all it could focus on was Rafael. You prayed this wouldn’t end as badly as it could. 

******

Carisi had made the call, realizing that it was only fair to at least have Barba there when you came out, he hadn’t said anything, just gave him the address and to get there. 

“Anyone care to explain why you needed me out here before you even have a statement?” Rafael wasn’t impressed with being called halfway across town at the end of the day, especially on date night.

Olivia turned to him, a soft expression on her face, “We didn’t call you as the A.D.A…Y/N’s inside, perp was armed when she got there, she surrendered her weapon.” He went from annoyed to deeply concerned in a matter of seconds, feeling the colour draining from his face while trying to maintain composure, it had been nearly a year that you’d been involved, and he may have been holding back his emotions, he was absolutely terrified at the thought of something happening to you.

“You do have a plan to get her out of there safely?” Carisi could hear the ever so light shake in his voice.

“We’re workin’ on it.” An eye roll for a response, “Hey…she’s gonna be fine.”

“You don’t know that” Rafael muttered, Olivia gave him a sympathetic smile, squeezing his arm gently before turning back to the ESU team, figuring out their game plan.

Barely a moment had passed before shots rang out from inside, ESU, Liv and Sonny sprang into action and Rafael felt sick to his stomach, the bile piling in his throat as the scene unfolded in front of him, blood pounded in his ears. Officers were coming back out of the door, a woman with them, followed by the uni who’d been first on the scene. Trails of red speckled across their clothes. Raf could feel his eyes starting to swell with tears, doing everything he could to keep from running into the building himself. It was then that Liv came out, guiding a young boy over to his mother, behind her Carisi was at your side, a small girl in your arms, your shirt stained with blood. You looked shaky, frazzled, leaning on Carisi for support.

“Y/n!” He yelled, your face shot up, passing the girl off to Sonny, you quickly made your way over to him, “Oh my god.” He muttered quietly, reaching out for you.

“It’s not mine, I’m fine.” You shot out as soon as you were within ear shot, Barba made to pull you into him and you stopped him, “I’m covered in blood, I don’t wanna ruin your suit.”

Rafael laughed gently, “I don’t care.” He pulled you into the deepest hug you’d ever felt, you felt safe, you felt loved, you felt everything you hadn’t felt before. “All I care about right now is that you’re okay, that you’re alive Hermosa” Rafael stroked your hair gently with one hand as he pulled you tightly to him with the other, his heart still hammered in his chest, the thought of losing you was too much, you did your best to hold the tears in, the ones threatening to spill onto his chest.

After relaying your statements of what happened inside, talking with the people you needed to talk to, and a brief check up by a paramedic that Rafael insisted upon, Olivia sent you home. You were visibly shaken, sure, you faced dangerous situations pretty regularly, and were used to witnessing pretty horrible crimes, but it had been a while since you’d had a gun to your head. Squeezing Barba’s arm gently, you headed to the shower, being covered in someone else’s blood was never an ideal situation. The heat of the water streaming over you helped your body slowly relax as the crimson swirled down the drain, slowly scrubbing your body clean of the physical memories of the day. You took your time washing your hair and drying off while Rafael stewed in the kitchen, he’d poured himself a glass of scotch, not sure what else to even do at the moment. His head shot up when you padded back into the living room, clad in a pair of sweats and one of his old Harvard shirts, tears seemed to be swimming in your eyes.

“Drink?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper, you shook your head,

“Just you please.” He shot over to the couch, sitting with his back against the arm, pulling you into his chest, he could feel the vibrations of your body as you tried to hold back the tears, snuggling deep into his embrace. You let out a shudder of a whisper into his neck, “I love you…” Rafael’s heart both soared and shattered at your admission, he knew it came from a place of truth, a place of trust, but also a place where you realized you might not have gotten the chance to ever say it. He placed a kiss to the top of your hair, squeezing his arms tighter around you.

“I love you too.” Your body relaxed at his reply, the tension slowly leaking out, knowing that you were safe, and you were right where you belonged.

[melk917]

Have J, K, and L for dirty asks been taken for Barba and Paul yet?

Oh! No, I don't believe so... three each for Raf and Paul.

J - Jelly (what kind of lube are they using? is it flavored? have they tasted it? do they prefer to use something other than real lube during sex?)  K - Kissing (what parts of their body do they like having kissed? what parts of their partner do they enjoy kissing? do they like leaving marks / having marks left on them?)  L - Lighting (are the lights on? off? do they have some kind of mood lighting set up?)

 Rafael

J - Jelly Haha, hmmm I don't see him as one for buying anything with a novelty flair usually. Probably a high-end water based and silicone based? A little of both types on hand. He has definitely tasted it, haha. And he definitely thinks natural lube is better tasting. But it's not always enough. Even saying all this though... I could see him laughing when you add some sort of novelty lube to the cart when the two of you are shopping online for toys, and always being amused when you use it. Something terrible like artificial pineapple flavor or something.

K - Kissing He loves when you press kisses to the back of his neck, to his pecs. Bite at his hips, the curve of his belly. It drives him nuts. But his favorite is when he gets into bed late, long after you were asleep, and you turn into him, letting him pull you close, and press a kiss to his chest, over his heart, in your sleep. 

Kissing you? All over. But really... where your neck meets your shoulder. Just behind your ear, where he can breathe your scent deep and feel you shiver against him. High up on your inner thighs. Your hips. If you're out somewhere where he doesn't feel too comfortable being very affectionate, he'll tangle his fingers with yours and bring your hand to his lips and press a kiss to the back.

God, he does love marks. Just not where they'll get noticed at work. But he loves when you leave them on him, staking a claim. And when he can leave them on you, catching a glimpse later, or seeing you and knowing that you're wearing his mark under your clothes. L - Lighting Oh.... not on full blast. Especially not if it's early on or if you're just hooking up when he's working harder to set a mood. But he's not opposed to leaving them full on. And can easily be distracted and forget to turn them down. And either way... he loves to look at you. Loves to catch a glimpse of the reflection of the two of you. Paul

J - Jelly Honestly, I sort of assume Paul only really has it around because his partner bought it. He def uses it. He understands its virtues, but is sort of practical about it. Doesn't love how it tastes (but will gladly clean you up with his mouth until all he can taste is you). He's also used lotion, spit, any other natural lubricant.

K - Kissing He loves to kiss along your jaw, the corner of your mouth. Kiss your neck. Loves when you kiss his throat, the back of his neck. His hips. Between his shoulder blades. He loves when you wake him up with soft kisses between his shoulder blades. Ohhh I think he doesn't mind marks? But he's not determined to leave them. But he doesn't mind a mark or two on himself or leaving them on you. It'll make him laugh and flush a bit, something so high school, but he likes it.

L - Lighting Oh.... I think he's a low lighting to none as a preference? But he certainly isn't shy. He has no problem with the lights full on. It's more about the mood. But he doesn't mind either way.

[thatesqcrush]

💋

Smutty HC for Barba...

He loves controlling your pleasure. Allowing or denying - or frustrating - your release. Sometimes using his fingers and mouth to build you up, but also just his words. He smirks and his eyes sparkle the whole damn time.

Rafael knows the timbre of his voice can get you going.

Combine that with filthiest, dirtiest words and you’re done for.

Even things like hums, growls, grunts are such a turn on for you. Especially since you’re the reason he’s making all those yummy sounds.

Sometimes it’s during sex but sometimes, he’ll come up to you while you’re doing the most mundane thing like cutting something up for the dinner party you are both hosting. He’ll come up from behind, press a kiss to your cheek and then whisper how he wants to bend you over, yank down your pantries and ruin you for anyone else.

And then he will continue to tease you throughout the dinner party. For example, he will trace the rim of his glass or make a show of licking his fingers.

He will meet your eyes, wink and smirk as you flush in response. He gets off on watching you squirm.

Then once the last guest is gone, he will press you against the wall, his breath hot on your skin, his voice quiet with murmurs of things he wants to do to you.

His fingers will trail up your sides and then push your hair or maybe your collar away from your neck and nuzzle you. His fingers will trace along there too and make you shiver with anticipation.

And edging! Dear god, the man loves to do it to you. He’ll bring you to the precipice and just as you’re about to tip over into orgasmic bliss, he will deny you. And he will repeat, repeat, repeat.

By the time you are allowed to come, you’re a mess, sweaty, trembling, over sensitive.

“Come for me cariño, show me how good you are.”

And then once he’s done emptying inside of you, his mouth is on you, cleaning the mess he’s made of you and bringing you to the precipice again and again, until you’re just completely spent.

[kyndaris]

The Art of Decision-Making

Tactics Ogre is a game that first released in 1995. It saw a re-release on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) with a revamped title: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together before emerging once more to grace our consoles as Tactics Ogre Reborn. And as a fan of the Final Fantasy Tactics game, who also thoroughly enjoyed her time with Triangle Strategy, trying out the original inspiration behind these two games was a no-brainer. After all, strategy/ tactical role-playing games have always been able to present the conflicts of war in a both complex and engaging manner, especially when they allow for personal choices to influence the trajectory of where the story may go.

Of course, given this is a role-playing game from Japan, a supernatural element must be inserted. Along with a late-game reveal of the true antagonist. In Tactics Ogre, I was pulled a little from my enjoyment of the story when the initial focus was resolved and the final boss ended up being with a literal demon incarnation of the previous king. 

True, they had sprinkled in some of King Dorgulua’s backstory with Catiua’s reveal but the war between the Gods and the Ogres (whilst present in the opening credits) was mentioned little throughout the game, what with its focus on the repercussions on war. So, the entire exposition with Dark Knights Barbas and Martym felt a little hamfisted in its attempt to introduce the big bad at the end of the game.

In a way, it also dismissed a lot of the earlier turmoil that took up the bulk of the game was insignificant as a God emerged from the depths to rule over the world.  Especially as, even though you can have Catiua in your party, her relationship with King Dorgulua is never touched upon during that final battle.

Beyond these little titbits, as well as a few well-worn tropes of disguised royalty, I did still thoroughly enjoy the initial set-up of the game with Denam, Catiua and Vyce rebelling against Galgastan oppression on the Walisters. The internal fighting among the rebellion, the moral dilemma of whether or not to kill your own to drag unwilling participants into war and the underhanded tactics to install a ruler over the land of Valeria was a sight to behold.

In fact, it would have been the preference of this humble blogger if things had remained there with King Dorgulua’s name fading into the annals of history. Or if there had been renewed focus on the nations of Lodis or New Xenobia and what their stakes were when it came to meddling with Valerian affairs.

Given that the game came out back in 1995, though, it’s understandable for why the developers decided to go down the route they chose. Despite the questionable choice of ending boss battle, the game still holds up even today. I would have liked some additional context with the other Ogre Battles and the history of the world I found myself in (this entry being the seventh episode) but I was still able to follow along in terms of the general motivations of the core characters as well as the villains.

This was especially astounding when it came to the choices that Denam had to choose in key beats of the plot. The variations of choice, even dialogue options, had ramification for the ending. Not to mention the Chaos Frame mechanic that was hidden behind it all and could have led to other distasteful outcomes for our main protagonist.

The gameplay for Tactics Ogre is very similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. It includes hiring or recruiting generic fighters to the cause and using them in battle. Of course, there are also unique characters with their own special sprites. But in terms of the actual flow of battle, the unique characters added little. Although, some had special classes that added a little flavour to battles. It should be noted that for every major battle, only Denam, had to feature in them all. The other playable characters could be interchanged with little repercussions. Or dismissed if the need arose.

Just like Final Fantasy Tactics, the game featured an overworld map and when a battle was entered, it would zoom onto a particular map with a grid overlay. Characters can move, use skills and perform one action. The action could range from using spells, items or actually attacking another character. The key to Tactics Ogre’s battle system is not unlike the weapon triangle of Fire Emblem. However, it is switched to six elements. Those being fire, water, lightning, earth, air and ice. 

There is also an unspoken counter system with mages being better placed to counter buffed frontline attackers, mages being vulnerable to ranged attacks from archers, and units with higher defence taking minimal damage from ranged weaponry. Something I only gradually picked up on later as I favoured charging in and trying to destroy everything as quickly as possible.

Mana, like Triangle Strategy, is a limited but rechargeable pool that is empty at the start of battle. This differs from Final Fantasy Tactics, which allowed mages to immediately start raining hellfire onto their foes from the very beginning. It allowed for more tactical positioning as I awaited for enough mana to unleash what spells I had equipped my magic users. Mana was also important for non-magic users too as they were key to using finishing moves that could deal out a ton of damage.

As such, there was a good strong focus on buffing up the magic reserves for all characters. The only downside to this, of course, was how few and far between such mana replenishing items were as they did not appear to be sold at shops and had to be found as drops from enemies or occasionally scrounged up from certain tiles on battle maps.

One important thing I noted when playing Tactics Ogre Reborn was the fact that items, spells and skills were limited. One could not deck out their favourite warriors with 99x of all items. Rather, they could equip four of each. This meant that item usage, spells and skills had to be considered for each encounter. While this led to a few annoying battles where I struggled against certain units (of note, beasts), it did add another layer of strategic thinking to an otherwise excellent game known for the tactics needed.

Especially as there was a level cap for my characters! 

I was utterly devastated to learn that I could not simply overlevel all my characters to decimate the opposition. Rather, my characters were all limited by the ‘Union Level.’ This allowed battles to be even-playing fields and I couldn’t take advantage of better stats to stack the battlefield. A shame, I know, but I made up for it by exploiting crafting and ensuring that my army was well-armed and well-equipped for each battle I went into. If I hadn’t used the exploit and had played it as it was intended, I would have, no doubt, struggled a little more with the game with fewer resources at my disposal and having to better pick and choose the units I took into each battle.

Of course, such things could be counteracted by picking up buff cards that could allow me to deal more damage than my unit might have usually been able to deal out against a particular enemy. It was especially useful against the final boss.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Tactics Ogre Reborn. While I would have preferred being able to overlevel my units so I didn’t have to fear losing against difficult bosses, it allowed me to think differently on how I engaged with tactical role-playing games. There was even some joy in it when it came to repurposing my units and swapping out abilities and spells when required to deal with a particular annoying foe that favoured certain status effects such as petrification or fear. 

Most of all, what I loved most of Tactics Ogre Reborn was the world-building and the hidden layers within. Perhaps one of these days, I could find a way to play the other Ogre Battle games but for now, I am still quite satisfied with the complex world that was crafted to explore what it means to rebel against oppression and to dream of a fairer and better world.

[raulesparzascheerleader]

praising God for my honorary big sister, amanda rollins' survival! 😭

like, i never want to see that look on sonny's face ever again. his heart was breaking in more ways than one for his queen. i almost started crying along with him.

amanda is an amazing woman. i consider her to be like a sister-figure. like, if she were a real person, what kind of advice would she give me as i navigate my own life?

if kelli has to leave, i am no longer watching any new episodes of svu or any other variation of law & order upon her departure. i will give exceptions for anything barba-related and the moment bensler kiss. other than that, it has been a lovely ride for much of my life. i grew up with all law & order, especially svu.

svu will always have a special place in my heart. i am not joking when i say it saved my life. it has been an inspiration to me. i would love to help be a voice for anyone who needs one, because i survived. i survived things in my life that i do not want to think about.

is it too much to ask to show happiness? could sonny and amanda be seen getting married? could jesse and billie be seen becoming a carisi like their mother? is it too much to ask? is it too much to ask? 💙

much love to one of my favorite characters, detective amanda rollins! 👮🏼‍♀️👑

thank you for being one of my role models! :)

[clutchpowers]

in your opinion, which LCU character needs/deserves a redesign/an additional outfit/etc

Oh my god finally a design ask *smacks my gross hands together*

Actually, I think all the main characters/villains are designed pretty well! They’re all unique in their own way, some visually standing out more than others

Buuuuuut… Chase just needs an outfit update to fix his dated outfits… they don’t even have to be recent City stuff the updated outfits he got in dimensions are perfect and look less dated which isn’t a fault of the designer, it’s just that torso/leg pieces have gotten more and more complex that it makes stuff like his criminal and space suit stand out A Lot. honestly the only truly ugly outfit he has is the 2P undercover outfit because holy shit those colors are fucking Ugly. Who Did That To Him. And for additional outfit I always thought it would be neat if chase adapted the gangs outfits :-]

Now redesigns? TCB natalia 100% needs one. they look exactly the same which honestly always bugged me. Like in my one post I’d simply just give her curly/detailed hair (like tlbm barba or one of the elves girls who’s name is escaping me) with a skirt piece! Or keep the pants that’s epic too. And then with LCU natalia I’d just remove the makeup she has and fix her torso because oh my god. That v neck shirt goes deeeeeeeeeeep

For alternate outfits if just give em to everyone who doesn’t have one, especially Natalia, Frank, and Ellie. But simple stuff like their casual everyday wear seasonal outfits, a sweater off version for natalia and Frank fully decked out in his gamer form Doritos™ and all

also id give chase back his kingdom hearts ass beta outfit because because I want to see that disgusting thing back in action.

[ecoamerica]

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[eclipsecrowned]

OC INFO PACKET: LY*NNA B*LTON (AS*IAF OC)

NAME: Ly(a)nna B*lton AGE: Verse dependant ; ~10 in child verse, ~18 for those who prefer adult muses HAIR: Black EYES: Grey HEIGHT: Small ; ~5'2" OCCUPATION: Noblewoman ; The Old Gods Favorite Whipping Girl FAMILY: Roose B*lton (father) ; Beth*ny Rysw*ll (mother, deceased) ; D*meric B*lton (brother, deceased) ; R*msay B*lton (half-brother, regrettably alive) ; Ravenna B*lton (half-sister)

The epitome of 'Christ, somebody actually brought their kid to this,' Lya is the only daughter and second surviving child of her parents marriage. Despite her youth in her mainverse, it is clear Lya understands that it has been 'neither forgotten nor forgiven' that she survived here so many brothers before and after her died. She had a pretty unsteady upbringing, feeling as if her parents didn't fully understand what to do with her, while her surviving siblings were all far older than her and going about their own lives. The result has been an eerily self-sufficient and observant child who has only recently served any kind of purpose to her House.

Despite her family reputation, is not a murder toddler or creepy kid. She's more traumatized and resigned than openly fucked up. She's ten going on thirty in terms of emotional and mental resilience. If you dig deep enough, however, there are signs she's still a part of the family. Her father saw to it she was educated in the field dressing of bodies -- whether they have four legs, or two -- and she, perhaps more than her siblings, clings to the family legacy of having been Kings.

This also means she's aware of her situation. There have already been moves made against her life by the only brother she has left. Rather than give up or pray to the gods about it, Lya plans as best she can. She first sees marriage as a sure way out of the Keep, and dangles the chance to sell her off for an alliance over the heads of men in her family in hopes she might serve more use to them alive than dead. After a certain wedding, however, she realizes no one is going to save her. Her father has damned them all in one fell swoop, and no House will save an oathbreaker. If she survives, it will have to be by her own cunning, diligence, or ruthlessness.

It's not all bad, however. Just mostly bad. She's doted on by her maternal aunt, and steals away to be with her as often as possible. She's also quite close to her (OC) older sister, to the point in most good endings sailing off with Ravenna into the next leg of their story, heading south and then west with a fearless captain. She also understands on some level that her father, or rather my muse for him, loves her -- or at least cares enough about her that he hasn't thrown her into the mouth of his bastard. It's just that he also doesn't love her enough to actively save her, to send him or her away for her own safety.

If you put her in a safe position, she's an exquisite Weird Kid. Lya when allowed to decompress and stop having to live in fear for her own wellbeing is really good at out of pocket statements and romanticizing the strange but entirely age appropriate. Do you suppose the King has to eat his greens while on march? She won this jawbone off of a sailor and now wears it around her neck, and did you know it's the jawbone of a T*rgayen queen? She consults it sometimes for advice. She knows the jawbone doesn't really talk, but the looks people exchange about it are so silly. Speaking of, she's a great lover of dragons, and has mused aloud that she could 'teach Vh*gar how to love.' Lya is also a Grade A Capital Letters Horse Girl.

Contrary to her relationship with most of her extant family, she is not ashamed of her heritage or her House. The idea she is the blood of kings gives a powerless child some sense of self and hope, and she especially idolizes the soft but stern bearing of her ancestress Barba. There are bad men in every House -- but a House is built on more than the horrors they inflict. She has no idea how presumptive this statement is, given her father's true nature.

Her appearance is... Somewhere between her father's plain, unassuming look and being striking rather than properly beautiful. Features wise, she's got a certain symmetry to her face that others predict to mean future prettiness, but otherwise her looks aren't really commented upon. With her pale eyes and porcelain complexion offset by black hair, she tends to cut a noteworthy figure besides. The fact she successfully passes herself as a Q*rtheen squire in later adventures says something about both her coloration and perhaps some level of androgyny.

Has a penchant for false identities. When pretending to be a squire, she gives her name simply as Elby, while she also gets some mileage out of 'Barba Skinner' when people clock her as Northern. Something something like father, like daughter, Lya reflects him better than his older children because her identity is also mutable based on what serves her survival, so on and so forth.

My Roose once alluded on Discord that he doesn't understand why the Stark boy doesn't just get up and walk. His daughter got thrown out of a window last year, and she walked it off with nary a complaint. Those assembled would like clarification on the statement 'my daughter was thrown out of a window' and why he said it so damn casually. Roose refuses to elaborate. The exact daughter was not specified in this instant, but given just how tiny/tossable Lya is compared to the fully grown Ravenna...

Her narrative is not strictly about self-actualization and survival, about no matter how deep they dig the pit you keep clawing your way back up, but also learning to trust others and forge bonds despite the odds being stacked against you. Lya keeps trying no matter what the world throws at her, which does wonders for her survival and ability to be taken seriously/judged as an individual by those around her.

[liveshauntedmoved]

god, not me thinking of chris’ worsts fears... ( i say as i would have loved to have seen him with you know the ‘real’ barbas and not the hope one ) so yeah....

anyway, chris’ worst fear, especially in the arc where he’s trying to save the future, is really not one thing in and of itself but like, it’s completely losing mel, not being able to save her - which in turn means completely losing his mother. his greatest fear is losing everyone he cares about while being left alone to pick up the pieces. so what i feel like barbas would show him; his mother dead but this at the hands of mel, his aunts dead around them. leo saying he’s proud of mel and how she could never do wrong, of his grandad also amongst the dead. before it clears and he’s left alone in the halliwell manor with the voice of mel taunting him about he could never save her, how he could never save any of them. leo’s voice taunting him of how he wished he never had a son, how he could never live up to the expectations he has of mel, how a halliwell being born male is wrong.

[therealnotta]

The Mirrorverse in Discovery feels like the Daedric Princes in ESO. Like, okay, normal elder scrolls games? Or at least the last three in the main series that I've played? The Daedric Princes are overhyped. You hear horrifying stories of the things they've done, but then you meet them and they're mostly pretty chill. There's some exceptions, but they're honestly pretty fun characters with neat quests, their horrific backstories aside. In ESO, though, they're... pretty scary, actually? I mean, Barbas, the right-hand man to Clavicus Vile and... pretty harmless demon fella by the time we get to Skyrim (his whole quest is he's a talking dog who needs you to help him patch things up with Mr. Vile, who honestly also feels bad because they Had A Big Fight, from what I remember. Not all that scary.) In ESO? Man has decided to kill a god and you barely manage to stop him. Like, you have to come to terms with who and what these people are. Sheogorath never spooked me at all, and then he takes over a town and starts really living up to his title as Prince of Madness and... yikes!

The Mirrorverse in Star Trek always felt like the Princes to me. Like, yeah, okay, it's basically an alternate universe where everyone is evil. But it was just... kinda goofy? Like everyone has Evil Goatees now, whatever. But in Discovery? Seeing the implications of it, of what their whole ideals MEAN and what that would look like, especially in a show that's already RIDICULOUSLY edgy... yeah, okay, I can see why we're scared of this now, really solidified both "The Mirrorverse is terrifying" and "This show is going to show you some horrific stuff that the other Star Trek shows generally don't! Have fun with that :)" I... don't love it. Like, yeah, sure, it should look as evil as it is and not get glazed over, but boy did they go further than I thought they would! Which has been my perception of this show as a whole

[impossible3girl]

Olivia Benson in the SVU season 23 finale

"... and he [Elliot] always had my back."

Yeh sure apart from the 10 years were he did not once talk to you. The 10 years were you got kidnapped, your son got kidnapped and god knows what else happened to you. It's probably easier to list the things that did not happen.

But you know who had your back since you know him?

Right! Rafael Barba the guy who loves you unconditionally. He even stayed in contact after he left and was making sure you were alright like after what happened with Tucker.

And yeh maybe it was not right defending Weathley (haven't seen any of the episodes yet so I don't know the whole situation but I am also not avoiding spoilers) but I know Rafa loves you unconditionally and he would never hurt you and do something like that, that probably also conflicts with his morals if there was not a higher reason like the alternative being even worse for you. All that man wants to do is protect you.

From what I can tell based on the last scene he loves you so much he would give up a future with you so you can be with Elliot if it means that you are happy. That's why he told you about your feelings for Elliot even though he loves you. That is, having your back. Not what Elliot did these ten years and from what I have seen since he is back. He is so self-centred.

And don't get me wrong back in the days I shipped Bensler but I think Elliot had his chance and missed it and your relationship has become way too toxic for you to be happy especially compared to Barson.

[ecoamerica]

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