#Body Armor Plates Market

[poonamcmi]

Global Body Armor Plates Market Is Estimated To Witness High Growth Owing To Increased Demand for Lightweight and Advanced Protection Solutions

The global Body Armor Plates Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 1.93 billion in 2022 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast period 2023 to 2030, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. Market Overview Body armor plates are protective shields worn by military personnel, law enforcement officers, and security personnel to protect against projectile threats. These plates are typically made from strong materials such as ceramics, composites, or steel, and are designed to provide enhanced protection against bullets, shrapnel, and other ballistic threats. Body armor plates offer several advantages, including improved safety for personnel operating in high-risk environments, increased mobility due to lightweight design, and reduced fatality rate from projectile attacks. Market key trends One key trend in the Body Armor Plates Market is the increasing demand for lightweight and advanced protection solutions. With the evolving nature of modern warfare and the rise in terrorist activities, there is a growing need for body armor plates that provide enhanced protection while maintaining comfort and mobility. Manufacturers are investing in research and development to develop lighter and more advanced materials, such as advanced ceramics and fibers, to meet this demand. For example, Point Blank Enterprises, Inc., a key player in the market, offers lightweight body armor plates made from advanced materials like Dyneema and Spectra Shield. PEST Analysis Political: Governments worldwide are focusing on enhancing the safety and security of their personnel, which is driving the demand for body armor plates. Increasing geopolitical tensions and the rise in terrorist activities are also influencing government expenditure on defense and security. Economic: The global defense budget is on the rise, particularly in emerging economies such as India, China, and Brazil. This increased spending on defense is expected to drive the demand for body armor plates. Social: Growing public awareness about the importance of personal safety and the increasing adoption of body armor among law enforcement officers and civilians are contributing to the market growth. Technological: Advancements in material science and manufacturing technologies are enabling the development of lightweight and advanced body armor plates. The integration of technologies such as nanotechnology and smart textiles in body armor plates is further driving market growth. Key Takeaways - The global Armor Plates Market Share is expected to witness high growth, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast period, due to increasing geopolitical tensions and the need for advanced protection solutions. - North America is the fastest-growing and dominating region in the Body Armor Plates Market, owing to the presence of major market players and the increasing adoption of body armor by the military and law enforcement agencies. - Key players operating in the global Body Armor Plates Market are Aegis Engineering Ltd, Armored Republic, LLC, BAE Systems, Ballistic Body Armour Pty, Ceradyne Inc. (Subsidiary of 3M), Craig International Ballistics Pty Ltd., Hellweg International, Kejo Limited Company, Pacific Safety Products, and Point Blank Enterprises, Inc. In conclusion, the global Body Armor Plates Market is poised for significant growth in the coming years due to increased demand for lightweight and advanced protection solutions. Governments' focus on enhancing personal safety and rising defense expenditure are key drivers for market growth. The integration of advanced materials and technologies in body armor plates will continue to fuel market expansion. North America is expected to be the fastest-growing region, while major market players such as Aegis Engineering Ltd and Point Blank Enterprises, Inc. will play a crucial role in shaping the market landscape.

[ersatz-ostrich]

See You Again

Chapter 2: Polestar

Jason Todd x f!reader

You and the Red Hood escape the laboratory.

[A/N]: This is the second of the two chapters I had already written. I just started writing the third chapter and putting down my thoughts for the rest of the story...oops...

read here on ao3

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masterlist

STAR Laboratories Los Angeles

9:52:03 PM PT

The Coffin

“Well, that can’t be good.” You mutter to yourself, yanking out the syringe with a hiss. When your soldier had yielded, you thought you could slip away from him. But his sudden fake-out had shifted both of your positions, creating a window for the Bat to shoot him. The bullet had come so close to your face, you had thought you could feel it brush past you and embed itself in the soldier’s exposed neck. 

The bullet could have just as easily grazed you, even killed you, had you been just an inch too close. 

You shifted your gaze to the figure in the red helmet. You hadn’t gotten the chance to examine them up close—they were tall and heavily built, even with armor on, and sported a weathered brown leather jacket that covered the huge red bat symbol emblazoned on their chest plate. “You’re Red Hood, right?” 

“That’s me.”

“What are you doing in LA? Aren’t you supposed to be from Gotham?” The Red Hood let out a modulated chuckle. You thought this would go down as your weirdest day on the job, making one of Gotham’s most ruthless crime fighters chuckle.

“I wanted to check out the warm weather here in Cali.” Something in Red Hood’s tone and posture shifted. “Now, what’s going on with that syringe?”

“Ah. Well, this was supposed to be a dose of a certain virus for the lab animals we’re testing on,” you explained.

“And this virus, it’s…”

“The Polestar virus,” you sighed. “Unearthed from somewhere deep in the Arctic, inside some early human mummies who carried the virus.” You let out a weak chuckle. “We knew it had the potential to be sold on the black market as a bioweapon should it fall into the wrong hands, but we weren’t aware that the risks were so high. And now, the virus is in my system.” 

“Are you feeling anything right now? What are the virus’s symptoms? What’s its incubation period?” His modulated voice was surprisingly soft, yet urgent.

“This virus is bad news. We found that it’s pretty fast acting, and…” You spared another glance at the syringe in your hand. “...the symptoms aren’t pretty.” 

“How fast?”

“This dose is meant for a test subject that’s a fraction of my body mass. I’ll be dead in two or three hours, give or take.”

“And the symptoms?” 

“Necrosis. A new kind that we haven’t named yet. The virus consumes soft tissue and leaves behind a metallic residue. We believe it’s because the virus leaches metals and minerals from the body and aggregates it, beginning with the extremities.” The Red Hood reached forward cautiously, as if he was afraid of startling you. He gently pulled back the fabric of your coveralls that the soldier had so unceremoniously ripped open and ghosted his gloved fingers over where the needle had once been. The blood vessels around the wound had already become blackened and distended.

“We have to get you to a hospital.” You shook your head.

“We can’t. This research isn’t public knowledge.” You hoisted yourself up, tucked in your coveralls, and adjusted your respirator like nothing had happened. “I’m already a target as it is.” You stepped over the black-clad form of one of the soldiers Red Hood felled.

“Are there any treatments?” You picked your way through the Coffin to the freezers.

“They’re still in development, but the vaccine should slow it down.” You punched some numbers into the keypad and put your index finger to the scanner on the door and the freezer doors eased open automatically. You strode over to the shelf where you had hurriedly stashed the vials and syringes, the glass and metal clouded from the cold. The vaccine was crystal pink, you realized, like the color of the phenolphthalein titration you had done back in high school. You had handled both the buret and the Erlenmeyer flask because Jason couldn’t get it right, and in return, he had done all of the calculations for the lab report. Turning over the vials in your hand, you wondered why you were reminiscing about Jason during this time. The thought made your heart squeeze a little bit. 

Jason Todd had been gone for so long. The hollowness that Jason’s absence had carved out of you seemed to sigh achingly. Years on, that hollowness was still there, not as hungry as it had been at first but smaller, still present. It still gnawed on your consciousness from time to time, on his birthday or on the day the Joker took him from you.

When you returned from the freezer, Red Hood was preparing a large metal-lined briefcase that he had taken from the incapacitated—dead?—men on the ground. He had already filled it partially with devices and weapons he had taken off of the soldiers.

“Are those the virus samples?” He inquired.

“Yeah,” you replied. “Vaccines, too. They’re labeled as such, and the vaccines are pink while the virus suspension is cl—”

“Pack them up. We have to get out of here before the police come.” His request startled you.

“Are you serious? This is property of STAR Labs and the CDC—”

“That’s been compromised. Neither you nor the samples are safe here. The police will be of no help, and they’re gonna keep sending people after you and those syringes unless we get you somewhere safe.” He gestured at the tray in your hands. “You need treatment, too. Somewhere they can’t find you.” You sighed heavily, setting the tray on a countertop.

“You’re right. I’m carrying the virus right now, and I’m dangerous. STAR Labs is probably gonna terminate me and the CDC will whisk me away or something. People come after me. But I can’t compromise the Polestar program.”

“It’s already been compromised. Now pack that shit up and let’s get out of here.” You flitted around the Coffin in search of something to store the samples in. You were scooping ice into a Styrofoam case when your comms unit fizzled to life again.

“This is the LAPD, we’ve been alerted of a break-in at STAR Labs. We request that all STAR Labs employees still in the building evacuate immediately. That is an order. Repeat, that is an order.” 

“Shit, we gotta go,” Red Hood muttered. You grabbed your comms and tucked the Styrofoam case awkwardly under your arm and followed him out of the Coffin and into the ruins of decon and aseptics—you had been in the Coffin for hours, and the sight of the wreckage and your coworkers in aseptics now slumped over their devices made your stomach drop. “No time for sightseeing. Hurry up.” You pushed yourself into a full sprint, stumbling in your PPE along the concrete and corrugated steel of the basement. You followed the Red Hood into the emergency stairwell. Peering through the glass of the door to the ground floor, you saw SWAT officers milling about.

“SWAT team, start sweeping the second floor.”

“Shit—” You and Red Hood hurried up the stairs, the contents in your arms rattling in its Styrofoam case.

“Guess we aren’t leaving that way. Know any other escape routes in this building?”

The top floor—your floor. The Polestar program’s home.

You didn’t want to know what kind of destruction the soldiers had left in their wake. 

“Top floor. Only way out would be the roof,” You answered.

“Roof it is.” After climbing some more flights of stairs and monitoring your comms unit for any more activity, you decided to wrench open the door to the sixth floor, breathing laboriously—when was the last time you had done this much cardio? You led the Red Hood over to a service elevator—not accessible without clearance, you explained to him—scanned your ID, and pulled him in. Once it reached the top floor, the elevator dinged and opened its doors, the hallway blessedly clear. You and Hood skulked down the corridor, which ended with the door to the Polestar offices. Hood opened the door and swept the room for hostiles before waving you in.

Your heart sank when you saw what had become of the Polestar lab.

“No…” you whispered. The laboratory had been completely wrecked. Glass fragments and papers were strewn on the floors. Pieces of equipment were left broken and overturned, spilling their contents among the mess.

Then you saw the bodies. 

You caught sight of Dr. Davis’s crumpled form on the floor, next to the comms he had used to warn you of the impending disaster. The comms unit looked like it had been crushed underfoot, exposing wiring and circuitry among shards of its outer plastic shell. You made a step towards Dr. Davis’s body, but froze when you saw the red stain on his back and the blood pooling onto the floor. 

“They…” You felt Hood’s gloved hand on your shoulder, gently guiding you away from the destruction. “...they killed everyone.”

“I’m sorry.” 

“This is…this is horrible. Unbelievable.” Your pulse quickened with your breath. You felt the tears begin to form, and your vision grew misty. “I can’t believe it. They killed everyone.” You thought you had known grief and death. But this was different—seeing your colleagues slaughtered, their blood drying before you, made you feel faint. And yet, you felt wholly ablaze with 

“Hey…” Shouts sounded from the stairwell. Your chest felt tight and your head was turning fuzzy. “...hey, hey. We gotta move.” The hand on your shoulder was not so gentle anymore, insistently pulling you toward the gaping hole in one of the windows. He handed—more like shoved—the briefcase he was holding into one of your hands and produced a terrifying-looking grapple gun from somewhere on his utility belt. “Don’t drop it,” was all he said before he wrapped an arm around your waist. Your arms instinctively flew around his shoulders, holding onto him, your Styrofoam box and his briefcase for dear life, and then you were airborne.

You squeezed your eyes shut as you soared over the street, which had become choked with squad cars and assault vehicles. You gasped in surprise when you felt yourself change direction as Hood gently and skillfully hoisted you over the ledge of a neighboring building’s rooftop.

“The first time is always the worst.”

“That’s implying that this isn’t the last,” You heaved out. “Holy shit. Did they see us?”

“Don’t think so. We’ll wait here, I’ll…” You didn’t hear the rest of the vigilante’s statement. The adrenaline from the jump was beginning to wane and you felt the burden of the virus and the sights you had stumbled upon while escaping the laboratory coming on again. 

“Hey." Red Hood moved to catch you as you slumped over. “Hey, can you hear me?” Illuminated by the city lights, he caught sight of your badge from where it hung on your PPE. Your name was printed in neat black font next to an unmistakable portrait. 

Under his helmet, the Red Hood’s breath caught in his chest.

“...Y/N?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[A/N]: That's all I've got for now. Hope you enjoyed! x

[written-in-flowers]

Get in the Water || PSH X fem!Reader

Pairing: Seonghwa x fem!reader / Side pairing: Mingi x Yunho

Word count: 1k

Genre: angst, slight bit of fluff

Summary: The sea god finds the person who killed his lover, and has only four words for them. Seonghwa can only watch for so long.

Tags: murder, mentions of murder, established relationship, nothing particularly bad tbh. You and Seonghwa have a kid. YN not physically featured. Mentions of pregnancy and talk of futures.

A/N: inspired by the song "Get in the Water" from Epic: The Musical

****

The sea king only had one request for the captain:

"Get in the water".

Seonghwa saw the water starting to swim in his eyes, yet his face not showing sadness or pain. The young pirate saw nothing but anger. Fury. Pure rage. He saw the god's hands, long and large, curled into fists that were ready to guide the seas onto their vessel. He glanced over to Hongjoong, his captain and best friend, who stared back at Mingi, God of the Seas, with defiance. Seonghwa knew this was only a show of bravery. He caught his captain's trembling hands, the resistance in his eyes slowly fading as the two stood towards one another.

Standing on top of a rock that erupted from the sea floors, Mingi, God of the Sea, wore the plated breastplate with his horse sigil on his chest. His crown, made of driftwood and pearls, sat upon a mop of black strands and the trident he held was made of shining steel. The lower half of his body was a merman's tail of the deepest black, shimmering even against the crashing waves hitting his perch. Hongjoong, in his own armor, planted himself firmly on the dock. With a small step or push, Hongjoong could indeed get in the water. Once in the deep, dark depths, the sea god will have him.

All because Hongjoong wanted gold.

"Get in the water," Mingi repeated, his piercing eyes narrowed on him.

"For what reason?" Hongjoong replied in a shaky voice. "What have I done to offend you, Sea God?"

"You took what was most precious to me. You slew the one who calmed my angry oceans and warmed my cold heart. You killed the only person I ever loved," Seonghwa heard his voice crack at the last person. "So now...Get in the water, captain."

Seonghwa knew of whom Mingi spoke: the siren on the shores of the golden island. Siren scales fetch hefty prices in the market places. They are said to attract love and fortune. Hongjoong believed a siren's tail would make him a rich man. Seonghwa told him he was foolish to believe so. They'd all die for certain. With wax in their ears, their orders clear, Hongjoong and the rest of the crew hunted down sirens in the farthest reaches of the sea. Seonghwa regretted what he'd done, but he had a family back home. He had you and your son, Minho.

"Get in the water," Mingi said again, "Or I'll bring the waves so high everyone in your little shanty sea town will die."

Hongjoong paused, that resistance starting to crumble. Tempest may not be the most glamourous of places, but it was home for their crew. Seonghwa thought of the sea breeze that blew through the tiny village. He saw you at the tavern, serving drinks and food to hungry sailors and fisherman. He thought of your smooth, supple skin and warm kisses. Your smile and laugh haunted his dreams. He pictured his own son, Minho, running down the sandy roads with his friends. You tell him he's a spitting image of his father. Seonghwa's heart shattered thinking of his home, his family, and everyone he knows drowning and not able to save them.

"Wait..."

"I'll make tidal waves so profound," he said, "Both your wife and children will drown."

Suffocating. That was how drowning felt. Seonghwa recalled the time he'd fallen overboard during a storm. The waves almost pushed him under each time he came up for air. The currents carried him farther and farther, tossing and crushing him. Even on land, he could feel his lungs contracting as air was sucked out of him.

"No, please..."

"Get in the water."

"I didn't mean to-"

"-You didn't mean to?" Mingi snapped, and he swore he saw lightning slash through the sky in the distance. Seonghwa saw the waves around them suddenly turn dark, rolling onto one another over and over as if reaching for Hongjoong. "Did not mean to kill my beloved and steal his tail? To take his life in hopes of gaining riches? Get. In. The. Water, you pathetic human filth!"

The thunder rumbled along with the god's insult

"Don't mistake my threats as bluffs, captain," he continued. "I will go to your little town and crash every ship that comes your way. I will bring rain and water until it floods their crops and destroys their homes. I will leave your people with nothing! Nothing, you hear me?!"

Hongjoong's pride came back over his face. "I don't think you will. You make claims all the time and never followed through."

"Captain, what are you doing?" Wooyoung, the ship's builder, asked in disbelief.

"He's all talk."

"Are you insane? He will crash our ships if we go out to port. How will we get home?"

They're so close to home. Seonghwa could almost smell your cooking in his nose. He could feel Minho's little arms around his neck, his body in his arms as he kissed his precious face. Your warmth in his bed. His son's bright eyes glimmering up at him with happiness. He'd trade all the siren scales and gold in the world to be back home.

"Get in the water."

"He can't touch me," Hongjoong said to Wooyoung, "As long as I'm on land."

"Get in the water," Mingi said once more, trident twisting into the hard rock beneath. Seonghwa knew with one swing of that weapon, the ocean around them will sink their fleet and homes. "Or I will release the kraken. I will call upon the sea serpents of the north, the giant squids of the south, and the monstrosities of the deepest depths. They will break your ships. They will break you and your crew."

He thought of all the sea monsters his grandfather used to tell him about. Beasts so terrifying and deadly that sailors steer clear of their hunting grounds. He pictured himself being eaten by such beasts, no longer there to protect and provide for his growing family. You must be swelling by now, from what your last letter told him. You told him right before he left for the sea again: you're pregnant. With another mouth to feed, your wages as a barmaid will not cut it. You needed him. He needed you. What if you died in childbirth?

"Get in the water."

And Minho and your baby end up alone?

"Get in the water!"

His son will be put to work; work unfit and unsafe for a boy of seven. The babe will be given away or worse.

"No!"

Minho is a gentle lad.

"Get in the water!"

He loves the sea. He loves fishing and swimming. He collects seashells and starfish.

"Get in the water!"

Those things will be taken from him. His innocence will be stolen, no doubt.

"Get in the water!"

The ocean started to swell. For the briefest of moments, he saw a tentacles break the surface before diving back down. Too long and too thick to be any ordinary creature. You needed him. You mean so much to him. He knew he loved you the night he met you at the Rusty Pot. The banter between you both made him feel alive, and your smile warmed him from head to toe. When you said 'yes' the night by the water, he'd been the happiest man. No treasure trove or siren scale could replace his love for you.

"You can find another," Hongjoong scoffed. "It's not as if I killed them all."

Hongjoong, a ladies' man who frequented brothels, never experienced real, deep love before. He'd never understand. Seonghwa knew if someone ever harmed you, he'd gut them himself. He remembered the siren. A male with deep black hair and round eyes that looked so innocent. He'd been sitting on a rock, enjoying the ocean breeze and singing softly to himself. The silver chain and charm on his neck should've clued them in: a prancing horse, so similar to the one on Mingi's breastplate, matched the one Hongjoong snatched off his corpse. His grandfather told him all about the sea god's favorite: a siren named Yunho, who had the most beautiful singing voice. They'd grown up together, he'd told Seonghwa. Side-by-side, moving through the decades and centuries together. He'd always wanted a love like theirs; he'd gotten it in you.

"You...Pathetic...Worthless...Weakling..." the sea god's fury came down in thunder and lighting, dark clouds overcasting the sky. "You dare..."

It'd been Hongjoong who killed him. He launched the net that pulled him into the boat. He'd screamed. Seonghwa's eyes closed as those screams and pleas echoed in his ears. He'd looked so scared. Hongjoong slaughtered him without mercy. Seonghwa had helped.

"Get in the water. You've lived more than enough, little pirate."

But, it was Hongjoong that Mingi wanted.

"He wasn't even that pretty."

Surely, he'd spare the crew if the one who killed his beloved was dead.

"Are you mad?!" Wooyoung called out.

They'll die because of their captain's greed and pride.

"Kind of weird for a god to care so much for a lesser being..."

Seonghwa could not let that happen. He must get home to you, Minho and your baby. He hoped it was a girl. He'd like a daughter who would be her mother in miniature. You're likely due any day now. The doctor said you'd likely already have the baby by the time he came home. The flicker of another tentacle, this time bright pink, floated through the thrashing waves. A squid. A kraken and a squid.

"Get in the-"

He did not know what made him do it: the desperation to get home, the need to see his family again and hold his newborn child, or perhaps fear of losing his own life. Thinking of his house at the edge of town, he pressed his hand to Hongjoong's back and pushed him into the waves. Only Seonghwa heard his screams so close to the water, the rest only heard more rumbling and crackling. He stared down, tears filling his eyes and guilt in his heart, and saw Hongjoong's arms desperately reach for the surface. Right as his face broke the waves, he was quickly yanked back down. Even in the darkness, Seonghwa saw crimson clouds color the sea foam created by the waves.

Mingi's cruel cackle struck fear into his chest. Seonghwa stared up to see the sea god laughing, throwing his head back a moment before continuing to watch the kraken tear the captain apart. When the waters stilled, the blood starting to fade with the tides, he looked at Seonghwa.

'YN...I love you. Minho, my sweet boy, I'm sorry.'

Mingi stepped a foot forward and immediately a wave caught him. He walked along the ocean surface until he reached the edge of the dock. Seonghwa shivered in place, rain and mist starting to seep into his clothes.

"You just killed your captain, sailor," Mingi said. "Why?"

"I have a family," he whispered. "A wife whose pregnant...an eight-year-old son who hardly has his sea legs...I cannot let his greed take them from me. I told him, your greatness, that killing sirens is a sin against the sea. Killing Yunho, the most enchanting of them all, was foolish and would only bring pain and devastation. He did not listen. I was not going to lose my family over his greed." He mustered his courage and said, "Is your vengeance satisfied, great sea lord?"

Mingi hesitated. Seonghwa saw him contemplating the question. He then finally said, "I've seen you before...You've come to my altar."

"Every time I go onto the water, my lord."

"Your wife's name is YN...Your son is Minho...You've given my offerings for protection at sea..."

"I am all they have. If I die, life will be difficult for them."

"You must love them very much to kill a good friend so swiftly."

"I do. More than any scale or gold coin in the world." He held back his tears, "I am just a man whose trying to go home."

He stayed silent a moment longer. "You may go, but know this, should you or your crew ever sail in my oceans again you will experience my anger firsthand."

"We understand, my lord."

Seonghwa watched him return back into the ocean. As the waves stilled again, Seonghwa turned away and walked back down the dock without a word. He had to get home. He could find work on a dock or in a shipyard. He could get a job where he'd be on land.

He'd done it all to be with you.

****

A/N: this idea came to me at 4am, and I needed to write it lol I really love the songs from Epic: The Musical, and couldn't help seeing Mingi as a vengeful sea god. 'Get in the Water' is definitely one of my favorites. Hope you guys enjoyed this short, angsty tale <3

[l-crimson-l]

I'd love to get into girlpla, I'm just a bit too broke to afford any kits; however, if you'd like to talk about it as a whole, I'd be more than happy to hear.

So…let me try this again. I had a whole nice post written up and I swapped off for a moment to check something and I completely lost the post.

Mecha Musume has a pretty long history that I’m not going to go into but here’s a little video if you’re interested.

Now when most people think of Mecha Musume there’s basically one standout line above them all: Frame Arms Girl.

This line is a bit old now but its popularity has set the aesthetic style for the market as it stands now. The build of these are…ok. Kotobukiya was definitely learning with these kits but they’re still solid at the end of it.

Now if you’re like me you’re not too much a fan of the pantsu out look, and other kits in the line don’t exactly do anything to mitigate that feeling (looking at you Durga I).

The next line Koto would release would be better at this tho. The Megami Device line features all original designs as well as collabs from new and old mecha musume brands alike.

First thing off the bat this is that they’re pricey. At an average cost of $70 you’re basically buying a Bandai MG gunpla. That said, they all typically come with a bunch of option parts. These are usually in the form of unarmored limbs, different chest pieces, face plates (with water slides to make your own) and extra connectors to help with kitbashing. Koto also has released option body segments to let you swap any part of the body you might want to if the right option isn’t available in the box (~$12). It should be noted the newest kits in this line have brought the price down to $50 as well as reengineered the build to add a lot more articulation and pose-ability.

Also in this lines favor is the articulation and build quality. You’re going to get a nice range of motion with or without armor and some of the smaller details also sometimes come pre painted.

That said Kotobukiya is a company that favors more complex character design over an Out Of Box experience so there’s some smaller details that are etched into the kit but unless your paints them won’t be color correct. I would say this is pretty common across most Koto lines.

Both the FAgirls and Megami Device are scaled at 1/12 so Little Armory guns and the whole market of 3rd party accessories will work with these kits.

Next up is Koto’s Sousai Shoujo Teien which is simple girls as plastic models

A little cheaper and at 1/10 scale instead of 1/12. I’ve not built any but I do know they can bash with Megami Device and Hexa Gear lines just fine. If you take a peek at the JP girpla community there’s actually a niche but healthy group dedicated to taking nice photos of their kits dressed up in everyday scenarios.

Finally the newest line of Koto girl kits is the Arcanadea line.

Purely in a fantasy take these are Incredible kits. I’ve only built one (Lumitea) but it was far and away a much better build experience than the FAgirl kits. These are actually designed by a vtuber artist iirc which is why the designs are so different than other Koto kit lines. If you have the cash and want to try something different I would highly recommend.

Now finally we get to Bandai. After learning from their failures with the Hg Build Fighters girls they went back and designed something solid and what got me into mecha musume: 30 Minute Sisters

Right off the bat with an average price of around $30 the barrier to entry is much easier. While not as refined as the Megami Device line, these simple kits cram in a lot for the price. You’ll get an armored and unarmored form, as well as face plates. However the biggest selling point is How Damn Easy they are to bash. Being apart of the 30M line means they’re completely compatible with the 30MM line of mechs. Which also means all of those extra weapon and armor sets transfer over for the most part. And that’s not even talking about the dedicated 30MS option sets like hair parts, body parts, etc.

This is a Very beginner friendly line of kits and the place I would suggest most people starting if they’re looking to get into mecha musume.

This example I think uses about 5 different kits to build and I don’t believe any serious modifications were needed.

Another Bandai line to mention is the Standard Figurise line which you’ll be familiar with if you’ve picked up the Sulletta, Miorine or ChuChu kits. Typically pretty solid kits (uma musume excluded, only get the 30ms version of that one) they usually include characters from a variety of different shows. These are still of course bash-able but not without modification.

With the explosion of popularity with these kits means we have even more companies now joining in the race. ATK and MS General have a bunch of kits to offer and we see new companies pop up some really sick looking kits (see tgat Galahad)

We even have Plamax giving us the really cool looking GODZ ORDER kits and soon character kits from Blue Archive, Konosuba and others.

For these smaller/third party companies I would suggest doing plenty of research before buying one. The ATK kit that I made was Especially frustrating and required a lot of extra work to make parts fit right or to clean them up so they fit at all. Not to mention the extra detail work required to really make them look like the box example. Just do your homework.

I hope this helps!! It’s a growing market so there’s always more kits being announced. This should have covered the majority of kits out there but IMPORTANT! Check sites like AmiAmi for sales or resales on kits. You can sometimes find an unbuilt kit that retails at $70 going for $30.

USAGS will regularly get Koto kits in and new releases but by no means believe them when they say a kit is USAGS exclusive. Remember to check HLJ as well. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll do my best to answer them!!

[howtofightwrite]

How big would an army of conscripts, armed with Dragunov pattern marksman rifles and iron sights, with between 1 and 3 magazines each, a radio headset that allows them to take orders on a platoon level (50 troops to be specific), and a single platoon artilleryman armed with an RPG-7 with 5 rockets, with assistance from a Mitsubishi Type 89 IFV (35mm autocannon, 7,62mm M240 pattern coaxial machine gun, tracked) and an aerial command/reconnaisance/attack/close air support aircraft, need to be to deal with an army of 1000 heavy pikemen, 50 elite knights, 200 heavy cavalry, 100 light cavalry and 200 longbowmen? The pikemen are armed with a pike and wear breastplates, pauldrons, gauntlets, a helm and chainmail. The heavy cavalry are armed with a heavy lance, a sword, cuirass and helm. Longbowmen use English yew bows and wear gambesons and a chainmail on the head. Light cavalry are armed with a spear, a short bow, and a small sword. The elite knights are armed with a heavy lance and a sword, and armoured in a full body suit of plate and horse barding, and they will move with the heavy cavalry.

Okay, so, for the record, you're not really supposed to use an SVD's iron sights. (SVD is short for “Dragunov Sniper Rifle,” so, these are formally called, “sniper rifles,” rather than just DMRs.) They were (supposed to be) issued with PSO-1 scopes. This can be a little amusing, because once you know what a PSO-1's range finder looks like, it's absolutely unmistakable, and you will see films and TV shows use them on other scopes. I bring this up, because the SVD has an effective range over 600 meters. (Specifications say it's good to almost 1.3km, but, that's very hopeful.)

However, with optics, those SVDs are going to massive out range any archer.

Your infantry have somewhere between 1k-3k packed rounds. So, if they were the only participants, they would need to be a little careful about ammo conservation. But, when you start factoring in the IFV, it doesn't matter.

This scenario isn't extraordinarily different from early battles in WWI. Where cavalry and infantry charged entrenched heavy machine gun fire, and were annihilated.

This is also a moment when the whole, “elite knight,” bit really doesn't matter. You have a minor noble, who spent almost their entire life training to be a better melee combatant. You put them in the best armor you've ever seen. And, then a bullet fired from a mass-produced sniper rifle, designed to be easily fabricated by anyone with a basic machine shop, and simple enough to be maintained by a barely literate conscript will drop them in less time than it takes to read this paragraph, before the knight even knows that someone is aiming at them.

I will say, this is a little bit of a weird combination, the Type 89 IFV, is a Japanese vehicle. The JSDF (to the best of my knowledge) has never used SVDs. These days, I think their DMR is the H&K 417. Until a few years ago, their primary infantry rifle was the Howa Type 89, which is basically a redesigned AR-18. Prior to that, they used the Howa Type 64, which was a 7.62mm battle rifle. (As far as I know, the Type 64 was domestically designed.)

The Russian/Soviet equivalent to the Type 89 IFV would be the BTR-80. As with the SVD, because it's a Romanized translation, BTR stands for, “armored carrier.” Somewhat obviously, these don't work particularly well if they're not maintained, or if the motor pool Sargent is stripping them for spare parts and siphoning gas to sell on the black market, because the government hasn't paid any of you in six months, but it's still going to have a fairly similar effect on those elite knights from the 11thcentury.

The 50 SVD rifles is weird. Full stop. It's a specialist weapon, not a general infantry weapon. In a situation like that, you'd expect to see conscripts armed with AKMs or AK74s, maybe a few SVDs and RPKs.

Now, if you were looking at a contemporary NATO unit from the 60s or 70s, then, yes, you would likely see battle rifles like the M14, FN FAL, or H&K G3. And, when you're describing using an SVD's iron sights, that's more how you have used one of those cold war era battle rifles. Also, while those rifles do have automatic settings, they're intended for semi-automatic fire.

If you're wondering why I'm not even addressing things like the areal support or the RPG, it's because they really don't matter that much. Areal reconnaissance means never having to wonder where the enemy forces are, but basically anything on this list except the RPG, could probably deal with all of the enemy forces on their own. Stacking them together would be absolutely devastating.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think you could use pretty much any modern IFV as a one-size-fits-all siege breaker if they're dealing with medieval forces.

When you're looking at modern military forces time traveling into the past, the biggest logistical issue is long term depletion of supplies. There isn't really a question of, “who's going to win? A guy with a rifle that's effective at a range of over a 1km, or 10 guys with pointy sticks. The issue is what happens in six months, or a year, when there's only three or four rounds left for that rifle on the planet, and, there won't be any more for another six hundred years.

-Starke

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[tnc-n3cl]

Find the word

Find the words from the list in your wips and post the paragraphs they belong to.

Thanks to @zeawesomebirdie for the tag.

1. Star

(From "Virli's Story", one of my LoZ "The Realm Walker" fics. Virli is a member of Revali's tribe of Rito so looks similar to him, but with orange-red feathers, no cheek tufts, and a shorter crest. She has blue eyes and a pair of white dots on her face near where Revali's red spots are. Also her "hair" is braided in a single braid that splits into four at the end.)

Virli’s flight group closes in on the Korikitan Market, and right off the bat their plan is in need of adjustment.  Below, a group of soldiers on horseback approach the monster horde, the black armor with red embossed patterns and horsehair decorated helmets are a clear sign that they’re from Yosikun’s Imperial Army. And if that wasn’t enough, many soldiers have banners attached to their backs, rectangular flags with a diagonal separation of colors, dark slate gray on the bottom and dark red on the top, with the bright red circular emblem of Diryen (De-rye-in), the Alliance’s counterpart to the Goddess Din.  There’s also a single gold four-point star at the top left of the banners, some kind of unit marking probably…

2. Eye

(From "The Long Nightmare", Revali's century long ordeal of being possessed by Ganon. He's just lost to Windblight...)

The creature hovers over Revali, making sickening gurgling noises.  Revali closes his eyes and waits for its cannon to burn through his flesh, “Dad, I guess I’ll see you soon…  Mom, please, stay strong…” Revali can still hear the gurgling, why hasn’t it finished him?!  He opens his eyes and glares at the beast, “Well, what are you waiting for?!  Go ahead!  Finish me already!” It just looks at him with that damned, pulsating Guardian eye.  “What, you want to gloat over me?  You want me to beg for my life or something?!  Fuck you!  You can’t defeat all of us!  Daruk or Urbosa or Mipha will send you back to whatever hell you crawled out of!”

3. Call

(From "The Ballad of Kass", where Kass and Rinili have sneaked into Gerudo village. They're wearing Rito lady clothes, but with the Gerudo veil, since Kass' crest is a male trait in my headcanon. Kass has a green hood and veil while Rinili's is red. Rinili is midnight blue with light blue legs (like Saki) and has four long ornamental tail feathers that he's cleverly tucked into a sash so they think they're part of an outfit instead of his body.)

Kass and Rinili make their way up the staircase and are blocked from entering when the guards cross their spears across the entranceway. The one on the left demands, “State your business vure.” Kass knows enough Gerudo to be insulted.  Yes, he IS a bird, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t rude to call a Rito that out of the blue.  Although, he’s diplomatic enough to let it slide, Kalia would likely have started an incident had she been sent!

4. Dark

(From "Ildia's Story" where Ildia, TP Link and Midna's daughter, first sees the sorry state of Hyrule Castle. She's wearing plate mail armor that's black with glowing blue lines. She has a bright orange ponytail and mismatched eyes, left is blue and right is red, while the whites of her eyes have a hint of yellow. She's standing on a rock near the quarry area in BotW.)

From the top of the rock Ildia can see the huge castle.  It’s like something out of a nightmare! The castle is surrounded by massive black stone pillars with purple lights emerging from the ground and the ruins of a town are in front of the castle, the entire scene surrounded by an ominous, dark aura.  She pulls out what looks like a bird mask, the Hawkeye tool her father once used.  She looks around the ruins: little more than piles of rubble where buildings once stood, more of those machines patrolling, pools of ominous purple and black slime, some of those pools have spike like structures sticking out of them. 

5. When

(From "The Azure Phoenix", where Revali's talking with Bedoli and Laissa after waking up from the coma he fell into after Link and Mipha freed him. He's sitting up on the floor of their roost, naked with a blanked wrapped around him. He's just learned that Link and Mipha are still in the village.)

Revali’s genuinely surprised, not so much by Mipha staying, it’s totally understandable that she would stay being the kind soul that she is.  But Link?  Why would he stay when he needs to rescue Daruk and Urbosa?!  It’s not like he and Link were friends, perhaps he didn’t want to leave Mipha alone here.  Then again, Link’s odds of succeeding in rescuing Daruk and Urbosa rise considerably if he has help from the greatest archer Hyrule has ever known... 

No pressure tags: @unmaskedcardinal, @autumnsakurajayy, and anyone else who wants to join!

Your words are: light, moon, sound, here, north

[burnwater13]

Grogu wondered what the day was going to be like… happy, scary, dangerous (actually they were almost always dangerous), sad, boring (never boring), or something else? He hoped for something else. Something surprising. Like a party. Or a trip to an all-you-care-to-eat buffet. Yum. That would be great and a huge change of pace. 

It wasn’t that the Mandalorian didn’t care about food. He did. As a human he had to eat just like Grogu did. Well, not just like Grogu did. Din Djarin showed no interest in frogs, head-on shrimp, crickets, dung worms, or fried gorg on a stick. Nope. He liked rations. Boring, predictable rations. Yuck.

Grogu had actually eaten plenty of rations in his time. He was older than the Mandalorian after all. He’d had more than his fill of the flavorless, dull, textured, slabs of nutrients, carbs, fats, and proteins. He had no love of them, lost or otherwise. 

He blamed Master Yoda. The Grandmaster Jedi was much older than Grogu and he no longer liked a broad variety of things. Grogu suspected that Yoda was simply bored with food. After 900 years he’d probably earned the right to be bored with it. So the kitchens at the Jedi Temple made him those wretched ration packs with their soft bars of processed stuff and folks figured because Grogu was the same species as Yoda, that he must like the same stuff. Nothing could be farther from the truth. 

Grogu liked things that crunched. That slithered. That tasted richly of the earth or the ocean. And while he wasn’t a huge fan of hot and spicy, he was a huge fan of warm and savory. But that was not how rations were ever described. 

Grogu was of the opinion that a thing you ate should look different when it was finished being processed by your body than when you opened the sleeve, tin, or pouch it was contained in. He didn’t think that was too much to ask.

Grogu had told the Mandalorian that but all Din Djarin did was laugh. Grogu wondered why at the time and then they had to use the sewer system to get somewhere without being noticed and Grogu realized what his dad had been talking about. There were worse things than rations. Not many. But at least one.

But with a whole brand new day gleaming in front of them, Grogu just hoped that maybe the Mandalorian would relent and they could do something novel, like have a barbecue, or visit a restaurant that wasn’t part of a cantina, tavern, or bar. Maybe they could go to a place with a chef named José and eat finger food and stuff on small plates all afternoon and drink something fizzy and sweet and chat about nothing at all. That seemed like a great way to spend a day. 

Grogu explained that to his dad and the Mandalorian had just grumbled that Grogu was going to be spending a lot less time with Fennec and Peli. No meal needed to take three hours and the Creed had never referred to any meal as ‘brunch’. Food was fuel, not entertainment, and they’d have to spend a whole month collecting bounties to afford that kind meal any way. 

Grogu knew his dad wasn’t wrong about that. Peli and Fennec had complained about the cost of the place that had opened on one of Tatooine’s moons. Grogu could understand that. Chenini wasn’t a population center. It was a big piece of rock floating in space. The restaurant had to supply water, air, pressure, gravity, you name it, plus something Peli complained very bitterly about, valet parking. 

He wasn’t suggesting that they go there everyday. But once would be nice. Right? Something special just because it was a beautiful day and they had the time and nothing better to do. Grogu thought that made a lot of sense. 

The Mandalorian, on the other hand, said, “Hey kid, we’re going into to town to get a lead on another supplier of armor polish. We can stop at the market stall for lunch. I’m sure they’ll have something you like. I’ll bring some rations, just in case they don’t.”

That was incentive enough to find whatever the market stall had enjoyable. And Grogu knew that his dad knew that. That was the point. Some day, when Din Djarin was old and grey and depended on Grogu bringing him his meals because he couldn’t just walk for clicks in his armor anymore, Grogu was going to make his dad eat fresh vegetables and see how much he liked that. The best revenge is one that can be harvested from your own garden.

[rockheadcd]

@electrivolt said: "Are you, huh... are you sure about this?" With the kind of weather Tural had to offer, once the star-endangering issues were solved Volkner was very much in need of a change to something more appropriate. Or rather, something that wouldn't boil him by just walking around. Turns out, plates of steel aren't very friendly in the warmth. On the bright side, Roark was more than willing to assist on that regard. "Not that I'm complaining—! It looks great, I like it, just—" it just so happens that saving the star multiple times doesn't particularly make for an exercise in building confidence outside of battle. Still, Volkner wasn't lying, especially after all the effort Roark went through not only to find something comfortable, but also taking into account both his personal taste and the discomfort that fresh bandages can lead to. And his love does know him well, the new clothes are just as comfortable as he's used to, with the freedom to let bruises and wounds breathe and all the range of movement he requires when it comes to battle, not to mention the exact range of colors he favors to top it all off. He just isn't all that used to exposed skin, no matter the amount of times he's already been exposed for one reason or another. ( even though those reasons tended to be blood forced out of his body just a little too often for someone supposed to fight at a range regularly. ) "... How does it look?" He just needs a little validation as the last little nudge to really feel completely comfortable stepping out like that, that's all. / smn fit real.

By the time the two and their company had survived the voyage to Tuliyollal, the climate change was already getting to the cat in particular—Roark had a plan very quickly, all to excited to be in t he place where apparently half of his family hailed from. Finally in their cabin and situated, apprised of their duties here as welcomed teammates of the Third Promise, the Au Ra had quickly left as he came, bound for the bustling markets for a change of attire for Volkner. This side of the world was more apt to work with the mixture of arid and humid climates here, the local flora and fauna making something ideal to survive both with minimal discomfort.

A good hour and a half passed before Roark came tumbling back, beaming with his prizes stuffed in a satchel brought along for the ride.

He was already pleased that Volkner was willing to try it all on at least, and give it an honest judgment.

"Of course I'm sure! I'll probably need a change myself, but, that can wait. After all that chaos in Ultima Thule, getting all this armor off was driving Krile and Alphinaud insane... we're gonna be in a land with more bountiful nature than even Labyrinthos could have offered, and that means plenty of opportunities to need a bandage or two... knowing you, ehe.." Roark explains excitedly, but eventually calms down and ends with a warm smile.

"You look great. Very comfortable, to boot," he hums, stepping closer just to wrap his arms around the Miqo'te and squeeze, far too hand to grab at exposed sides that peek out between dyed leather panels, tough hide that can handle Volkner's insistence on standing next to him despite being a caster. "I had to run laps around the markets trying to find that kind of blue you like, ya know!"

Eventually, he lets go, happier when he pauses to take the entire outfit in it's entirety, pleased when he's matched his eyes near perfectly. "Wait.. I take that back. You look handsome." Another gentle smile, those of which have been appearing more and more after the events of saving the star.. again. Among other things, of course, having the island sanctuary to thank for that. He can't just help himself, can he—just smitten over this new adventure, being able to finally see for himself all the stories and sights that were described to him as bedtime stories. Roark can't help but sweep up Volkner and give him a kiss, just radiating excitement in everything he does. Really, if someone doesn't stop him, he's two seconds from diving into the shallow seas just outside their cabin.

[swordcoasts]

formal, armor and bling for arkem + stature, canvas, favorite for misty <33 evil gang day

Arkem

Formal: What’s your OC’s formal look? Do they like dressing up? Do they have different looks for different occasions? He does enjoy dressing up in formal attire, mostly because growing up in Candlekeep and the following years on the road deprived him of the luxuries of a well-tailored article of clothing or the feel of luxurious fabrics. He has separate formalwear for day-to-day dealings (after he establishes himself as nobility) and the religious rituals he has to perform. The first is quite simple - quality fabrics specifically tailored to his frame, usually in plain black, lots of angular shapes (so shoulderpads etc). For Sharran rituals, he has a much more intricate wardrobe - think ornamented robes in rich purples and deep black, generally low-cut and flowy; fabric-wise mostly silks and velvets.

Armor: What kind of armor does your OC wear? Is it well kept? Bonus: where does it come from? Is there a story behind it? Again, he has two separate sets of armor - a simpler set of pure black plate with minimal purple accents on the gauntlets and boots. It looks quite simple, as comfort is a priority, but he always makes sure it's polished and properly maintained. The other set is his Sharran armor, which is pretty much the Dark Justiciar set from BG3 - all-black with large spiked pauldrons in a deep purple shade, the symbol of Shar on the chestplate and a rich, flowing purple cloak. If he wears this, you know your shit's about to get wrecked.

Bling: What jewelry does your OC wear? Does it have any meaning? He enjoys wearing rings, but because of the permanent stain to his hands he doesn't have the opportunity to show them off much. Aside from his wedding ring (which is pretty much a pure black Moebius band) he always wears a magical ring that protects against mind control - it's quite minimal, but has a beautiful amethyst gem. Other than that, he usually wears an amulet with Shar's symbol underneath his clothing (unless he's wearing something low-cut, lmao) + he has nipple piercings.

This accidentally got super long, so Misty's answers under the cut.

Misty

Stature: What’s your OC’s body type? How tall are they? Do they wear clothing to accentuate their look or do they try to mask it? She is very short (around 160cm so 5'2) and has a pretty average build - not a lot of muscle definition, not a ton of curves. She always wears at least four or five layers of clothing, even when it's warm, so her shape is pretty obscured underneath all that. It's a way of creating another barrier between herself and the outside world, and she loathes undressing in front of others as it makes her feel very vulnerable.

Canvas: Does your OC have any scars, piercings, tattoos, or other markings? Do they display or cover them up at all? She has three drops of blood tattooed on her ribs near her heart - one for herself and two for her siblings. Kind of a reminder of their bond, despite her leaving them. She also has a burn scar from some acid on her left arm - a painful lesson in checking for traps before sticking her arm down holes, lmao.

Favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What’s the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe? Her large red shawl is her comfort blanket (and has served as an actual blanket more than once). A merchant in Waterdeep saw her begging for copper at the market when she was young and gave it to her. It's very ratty and worn from years of regular use, but she refuses to part with it. Another is a gold earring with a small skull dangling from it - a gift from a priestess of Bhaal and her once almost-lover, it now serves as a reminder to be careful about trusting others.

[pluralsword]

A Case for Trans Pride Flag Corsets~

if we had known we could greatly alleviate our dysphoria over having an organic body by wearing a chest-supporting corset that would complement our HRT by giving our torso a solid structured feel and also making our rounded on estrogens chest feel more and look more solid we would have done this years ago and it probably would have some a lot of anxiety and pain especially in various low points in our life related to gender stuff. a lot of our headmates are very happy. We in part are within the category of a trans gal who did and does want HRT and can appreciate the resulting body softness but would really rather be made of metals and/or be able to wear armor on a daily basis so-

Just putting this out there for any other inorganic or hardened matter therian and/or multiplicity people, creatures, and entities and especially to fellow mechanoidly inclined beings across the gender spectrum: if you're disappointed with the healthcare options at present for affirmation of selves and like us cannot currently afford EVA foam stuff and/or would have to deal with paint chipping that you wouldn't be able to just fix at or near home, and are frustrated you can't go through daily life in half plate, corsets are good relatively much more affordable way to go. the ribbed boning aspects hug the body really firmly and it does wonders for back support, I've never felt more ready from how I dress at any point in my life thus far before or after HRT to leap into action and stride through the needs and wants of life with gusto, and just also feel so happy (being on bicalutimide instead of spironolactone is also helping we personally no longer have to deal with side effects from hormone blockers). we would suggest to other folks who are also fat that getting ones with side lace along with the back lace will help to get it to fit around your body, having only back lace is more difficult. (and of course going by gender neutral letter sizing rather than gender divided numbers is a lot easier to navigate for shape, in this respect for trans people, gender expansive people in general, and a lot of people whose body types and proportions are not kept in mind by a lot of the clothing industry) also, if you are flatchested and like it that way or want to bind your chest, there are corsets for that! We will also say that if the options online or sold around you don't have what you need there are places that will custom-make corsets.

Lastly, we have not been able to find corsets in pride flag colors for anything other than the rainbow flag (and not a lot) , can't find a lesbian or sapphic flag one (somewhat ironic, don't you think), or bisexual or achillean or ase, or a trans or nonbinary flag one (we did find a pink corset with roses of blue and pink with white leaves but it does not have side lace so unlike our other corset we can't wear it with all the back lace in due to our size), so while it is something we've noted to eventually ask someone to make one- this is just an idea to put out there, there is a market for that kind of thing.

We think if more people in the 21st century knew that corsets can in fact be more comfortable than bras if you're willing to sacrifice back bending ability while wearing them (it's better to bend with your legs anyway, we're kind of fucked both ways on that front currently but the legs less so) then more people would be using them

-one other note if you ever get them dirty with anything elephant stone soap is very useful (never machine wash a corset, spot cleaning and airing it out after is enough)

[thegreatfrogdungeons]

Regional, mascot?

I forgot to post yesterday I was working on schoolwork and chaining in doodle world sowwy ;w;

I also slept for most of the day school killed me today so I'm only posting one line. However, it's a long one, so buckle up

The format of these older images is awful but to be honest I would still do it like this in the present day: it's the most information in one place as possible and is convenient when just generally sharing information. But when I'm TRYING TO DO A COOL THING AND GIVE THE MASCOT THEIR SPOTLIGHT- hhhhhh regardless, this is Sqishgo and Lorimato! Sqishgo is not based on any one particular species in particular, while Lorimato is based off of the Loricatosaur! (if only because it made the name work better lol).

Lorimato is pretty obviously based on the classic tomato pincushion, with the idea being that its pins get pushed further into its body and pop out of the other side as full spikes! It's honestly one of my favorite designs for how simple but effective it is.

Sqishgo, meanwhile, is based on both stressballs and literal marketable plushies. They are stupid and dumb and me and my friend that I do this with love them. Sqishgo has undergone literally ZERO design changes, not even in name: their very first sketch was made in five minutes and my friend called it absolutely perfect. The only thing you could get Sqishgo on changing around is it's evolutions, which is a doozy of a story.

Ok so to start, Sqishgo and Loricato originates from when me and my paleo-friend who i do this with were JUST starting to be friends and JUST started drawing digitally, let alone drawing fakemon, so communication and understanding of each other was shaky.

also i found a unique glimring while writing this and passively chaining for unique fluffi I hate it here

Ok, anywho, Sqishgo was original supposed to evolve from a normal type stegosaur into a large and armored grass/steel type stegosaur, to which my friend sent this concept that they had made and had been sitting in their gallery for years prior:

I know that I shouldn't be putting down people who are trying their best at making art, but I have known them for a few years now and I have been the only one drawing for their region idea, a lot of the time TO THIS DAY they don't have anything more to a concept other than "base creature" + "typing" + "name" and the actual design is all on me. With that said, I feel justified to say that there's a reason I keep saying "paleo-friend I do this with" instead of "paleo-friend I work with".

Even disregarding the very amateur art and acknowledging that I can have a bias to my own designs, I do not like this design concept: stegosaur with leaf plates works perfectly fine, plays off of their biology even, but there is SO LITTLE to this design that it's just infuriatingly boring to me, and my friend wanted it as-is with as little changes as possible. It's not anything more complicated than "just a normal stegosaur with leaf plates in armor", and its not stupidly simple enough to be endearingly hilarious, like flamigo or dudunsparce.

So as I was designing Sqishgo, I mentioned playing further off of the stressball idea and making it in a pincushion, and since I had expressed disapproval for the above design and my friend didn't put up much of a fight against the idea, I went with it and completed Lorimato's design as a replacement to the "armored stegosaur" evolution

As it turns out, my friend thought that Lorimato WAS Sqishgo, and was VERY against Lorimato replacing the armored stego. This resulted in a large argument that, to be honest hasn't fully resolved itself when talking about designing the fakemon for this region.

I didn't want a big fight and I still wanted to be friends with them, so

I did both

This is Ramparmatus, which takes the steel typing from Lorimato and gives it grass as well. Playing off of this type-borrowing, it's evolutionary method is just a more complicated method of evolving Lorimato. Don't worry, if this ever becomes an actual game we'll put in an npc who will gives hints as to how to evolve Sqishgo.

My thoughts about thisssssss are the same as the original concept image. The beetlejuice-scary-face head is doing a LOT of footwork keeping this from being my least favorite design in the dex by a mile (instead it's just my least favorite design by a couple hundred yards). Hopefully, this caters to an audience who jut wants a big cool-looking tank, god knows I'm not in it.

Also I recognize I gave its horizontally swinging tail a vertical axehead these are old and I haven't updated them I'm sorry be nice to meeeeeeeee

Luckily, this doesn't have to end on a sour note

This is Barribarbs! A grass/poison kentrosaurus, it's the hardest one to get out of any of Sqishgo's evolutions, and as such borrows the grass type from Ramparmatus. This guy was originally supposed to be one of Sqishgo's 2 evolutions with Ramparmatus before the miscommunication occurred and Lorimato got added on. They are also more loyal to their marketable plushie origins: they're based on images of long abandoned plushies becoming overrun and interwoven with plant-life, most notably the infamous "Murby".

The general concept for this design is a kentrosaur with an evergrowing, spiky bramble tail that it wraps around its body to become a living bramble patch, and I frankly love this guy so much for it. The pokedex entry is also one of my personal favorites, just for the implication that every shiny Barribarbs is a serial murderer who will kill again.

While I don't like Ramparmatus, I don't think that after all of this I would get rid of it: it represents my friend, who despite me bitching and moaning about them in this project, I only dislike in this project. They are still my friend outside of it, and I love them all the same in that regard.

Also because Ramparmatus is so self-indulgent of a design for my friend I get to make my own self-indulgent designs which you all will see later >:3

Sorry for the venting and long post lol. Also I'm going to start tagging these posts with "gändvita region" now so I can more easily organize yippie :3

[autoacafiles]

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[wealmostaneckbeard]

Murderbot Diaries x LANCER crossover

What If the mech manufacturers from the table top role playing game Lancer made SecUnits from the book series The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells?

Unless otherwise stated, assume each SecUnit adheres to The Company Standard: Integrated ranged energy weapons in the arms, identity concealing body armor, wireless and physical data ports, genetically blended human derived organic components, power system instead of a digestive tract, high speed tactical semi-organic neural networked processor, Cardio-Hydraulics, Governor Module to ensure compliance, decent combat and tactical training but rudimentary education on everything else. Available to rent at a distribution center which it must be returned after completing a client-contract.

General Massive Systems: Anyone can print out a GMS SecUnit using a modified fabricator (for free) but no one can actually control it. It does not have a governor module and is allowed to balance the needs of the client against external factors when making judgements. Upon manufacture, it is assigned a randomly generated name and personality traits. When allowed to express itself, detectable aggression (decibels of vocalizations, facial contortions) from both clients and hostiles has been reduced by 10-20%. After completing it’s first contract, the Unit is allowed to choose between staying with the client, returning to a distribution center, or go wandering.  

InterPlanetaryShipping-Northstar:  Reinforced caps on it’s knuckles, knees, and elbows for close quarters combat. Integrated low-grav propulsion systems in it’s arms, legs, and body armor.   IPS-N SecUnits also have an emergency mode allowing it to operate exposed to hard vacuum environments for several hours. Governor module is inactive by default but can be turned on by authorized individuals. Trained to always think of itself as a component of a ship and a member of a crew, and to place the survival of both over it’s own.

Smith-Shimano Corporation: Well trained and educated on various subjects. Upgraded between contracts to ensure a slight superiority over other SecUnits and augmented security contractors that are available on the local market. Body Armor is practical, high quality, with ornate detailing that can’t be easily replicated. You’d expect it to be arrogant or haughty because it’s a top-quality synthetic being but instead it’ll always treat you with respect and patience, perhaps because it pities you. Clients are charged extra for any damage they might inflict on their own rented Unit(s).

HORUS: The only way to get a HORUS SecUnit is to first find a secretive HORUS Cult-Cell and then offer it’s members the right kind of bargain, and if they like you enough, you might borrow their strange model of SecUnit. Integrated weapons/tools are asymmetrically located throughout it’s body, seemingly chosen at random but somehow always useful. Collated surveys from various outside organizations have shown that a fifth of documented HORUS-made SecUnits have paracausal material integrated in their bodies, giving these special ones a near-supernatural ability. The underlying logic for which units receive this upgrade and what that specific ability is, has yet to be confidently determined. Obviously, none have a governor module. It’s body armor and uniform will resemble those worn by local factions with a few details just slightly off.

Harrison Armory: Can operate without a recharge and at higher capacity far longer than any other model mentioned above. It can also overcharge it’s integrated energy weapons so much it can burn through military grade armor plating (for about 12.09 seconds). Doing so will not damage the Units arms but it will require connection to a power source within an hour or suffer involuntary system shutdown. Harrison Armory SecUnits are used throughout the Purview to protect industries and population centers from terrorists. The Armory will also ship SecUnits in bulk to prop up the armed forces of “trusted” subsidiaries beyond the Purview.

[halesshepardn7]

For your WIP game, 5 and 15 from the first list?

(Hey so I totally wrote this and drafted it and forgot about it. Ohhh gotta love mom brain. But anyways here you go)

Ohhh I was hoping someone would ask about the Shadow Broker it’s one of my favorite parts.

So for the shadow broker I am kinda mad that in the game Liara wouldn’t mention that Shepard’s body was held by the shadow broker to the other LIs if you don’t romance her. So in my head I changed that. So Liara goes to Kaidan to see if he wanted to help in getting Rose’s body back from the shadow broker.

He cradles her cold, lifeless body, looking down to see the melted armor against her body; certain pieces are missing from it such as her chest plate, a shoulder gauntlet, and a leg piece. His hands graze down her body, stopping once he sees the small shine of her dog tags poking out from under her armor. Gently removing the chain he holds them in his hand, noticing one tag was half broken but her engagement ring remained on the chain, exactly where she left it when he had seen her remove it the morning she died. His chest begins to ache as he feels his heart breaking inside, he clutches the chain to his chest right next to his heart as he begins sobbing. He curls himself over her body, holding her as close as he can while his tears fall onto her helmet.

“I’m so sorry Rosie.”

And Rose confronting Kay about their kiss. Here is the back story for that. So there’s a moment where Kaidan and Rose are hiding from someone in the back alleys of the market place (where local people go to make out 😏) well long story short then end up kissing and Rose has been trying to keep her distance from Kaidan since they work together, but their past together makes her feelings for him boil to the surface sometimes. But Rose has been having some feelings for Liara and even her and liara had kissed once. So she’s got a bit of a love triangle going on.

She lowers her voice and takes a half step closer to him. “Look, we need to talk about what happened in the alley.”

Kaidan curses himself in his head as the topic is brought up. He shakes the thought away and maintains his professional demeanor. “I apologize if I overstepped, I was only trying to keep you safe.”

Keeping her voice quiet she gestures for him to take a seat at the bench next to them. She takes a seat, turning her body to face him, their knees barely touch each other as they sit so close together. “Look I understand you were just protecting me. This was all on me, I had a moment of weakness. Me kissing you… it was a mistake. For a moment I forgot we were adults and we work together. It felt like we were in high school all over again.” Her face softens as she stares into his light whisky eyes, feeling the familiar flutter tickle against her heart.

“Rose, I think maybe you still have some feelings for me. We can make this work…we can be together again.” He takes a hand to rest on her knee before she quickly pushes it away.

“No, Kaidan. That isn’t what this is about. I’m just here to say that the kiss was a one time moment of weakness and it won’t be happening again.”

“But what if it wasn’t, Rose?” His face leans closer to her. Why does he have to look like that? “What if you kissing me was you showing that you still love me?” Her heart aches at his words, she doesn’t want to think about any of that, she got over him she moved on. She has to make him see that.

“I kissed Liara.” She suddenly blurts out.

[nattvingen]

Pandora by Edda Hayes & 2WEI is my Lich King!Jaina theme song.

“Jaina!” Arthas cries, praying she’ll somehow hear.

He’s fought his way to her feet, tearing through the gruesome walking corpses of man and beast alike. Faces of people he could have seen in the petition chamber, or in the market, or anywhere in the country. His people, now nothing more than moving meat.

She’s hovering with icy winds, tattered robes whipping around her legs and that damned sword held in one hand, and her face…

Frost is dusted across her already pale skin, and she looks younger even than usual, in spite of her white hair. Her eyes glow, but it has none of her usual arcane tint to it. There’s no trace of emotion on her face, just as there hadn’t been when she’d decimated the forward troops, nor when she raised them into her, her service.

“Arthas!” Uther, loyal Uther, cries from the front line, but he’ll never reach them. It’s a miracle Arthas had managed to break the line, Jaina’s keen mind and apparent disregard of her troops survival (if it can be called that), making her position a near-impregnable fortress. He remembers playing chess with her, the mischievous smile on her face as she, once again, trounced him.

Once again put his king in check.

She’s not even looking at him now, regarding the Lordaeronian army clashing with her own like none of it really matters, like she doesn’t know some of these soldiers by name. Like she doesn’t know Arthas.

“Jaina, please. Let me help you!”

“Oh,” Jaina says, mildly. She finally regards him, and a gentle, painfully familiar smile blooms on her face. She reaches for him and he goes readily. She cups his cheek. Light, she’s cold, it’s so fucking cold. “You just have.”

A sharp sting makes it hard to breathe, it feels like he’s underwater, his lungs protesting against the sudden lack of air. Unwittingly, he staggers back, coughing. The noise of the fighting around them, Uther’s anguished bellow, it all grows distant. He drops to his knees, plate armor feeling impossibly heavy. He touches his neck, mind moving sluggishly, and he’s surprised when his gauntlet comes back red.

The last thing he sees is her face, before everything goes black.

* * *

The prince falls, but his body rises anew. Frost spreading like spiderweb from the icicle wound in his neck turns him a sickly blue, face unmoving – frozen. He hefts his warhammer, and turns against the forces of the living, and the Light.

The Lich King has won her Champion.

[howtofightwrite]

I’ve got a set of questions but will probably split them up. I tried searching for previous asks but could not find anything by searching rapier or quarterstaff but hey just means I’ve got to ask instead.

So anyway, a rapier and a shield? Would that be a useful combination for fighting? I know that in manuscripts Bucklers specifically were used in tandem alongside small parrying daggers and even cloaks but what about larger shields?

Would they simply get in the way since rapiers are typically stabbing weapons and having to keep a shield between yourself and your opponent hamper your ability to curve and weave the blade into the correct position?

I’ll get to my other question later but just for fun. What is your favorite shield plus weapon combination and why? If any?

So, the short answer is, yes you could combine heavier shields with a rapier, but it doesn't make a lot of sense, because of how the weapon was used.

The rapier was primarily aimed at a civilian defense market. Part of the reason these swords became as light as they eventually did was because it made them more convenient to carry. This was not a soldier's sidearm, carried into battle, it was something a noble or a merchant might carry on their person in their daily life. With that in mind, the buckler, and parrying daggers, may make a bit more sense. If you're wanting an off hand weapon to supplement your rapier, you probably want something that is equally convenient. In the case of the cloak, that was something that the rapier's owner was probably already wearing.

In contrast, military officers were often carrying sabers as their sidearms at this point in history. You could pair a saber and shield, though it is a little unusual for other reasons. Historically, the rapier and saber are both very late variants of the sword, and as a result are contemporary with the adoption of firearms as infantry weapons. Particularly the shot and pike era. This didn't negate melee entirely, and wouldn't until the late 19th century, but these weapons existed as warfare was transitioning shields from general infantry weapons into very specialized combat roles.

Now, some shields would protect against a shot from a contemporary firearm, so that doesn't rule out the possibility of pairing it with a rapier, but at this point, remember that those rapiers were civilian weapons, meaning their wielder was most likely to be facing an opponent armed with another rapier (or something cruder like a truncheon, cudgel, or hand axe.) While a full shield (I'm thinking of a kite shield, but this applies to most, “full shield,” variants), might be a pretty decent method of dealing with a mugger swinging an axe, it's not going to perform well against another rapier. The extremely light weight, combined with the rapier's high speed, mean that the rapier has a significant advantage for, “outmaneuvering,” and striking past the shield. The greater weight of the shield means it needs more energy to get moving (and that it will be slower to start.)

Ironically, a fairly heavy shield would also be a pretty good defense against someone armed with a contemporary pistol, except, again, the shield only protects a portion of your body, and it's much easier to direct a shot towards an exposed portion of your body. (Now, in the defense of using a shield for this purpose, it's worth remembering that 16thand 17th century firearms were smoothbore, meaning long range accuracy was basically impossible. They were also considerably weaker than modern firearms, so contemporary plate armor, and heavy shields could be effective at deflecting gunshots. Something that would not be true if faced with a modern cartridge.)

As for a shield actually interfering with the use of a rapier? Not so far as I know. There is a hickup in that you would not be able to use familiar rapier stances in this combination, so you would need to adapt a new stance specifically for this combination, but that's not a particularly significant issue. If you knew how to use the shield effectively, and you knew how to fight with a rapier, you could probably blend them together pretty painlessly. More than that, a lot of sword and board fighting styles do prioritize jabbing strikes, and there also shield and spear stances with a similar approach, If you were familiar with any of those, you could probably adapt it to the rapier without much issue.

In fact, I'd be willing to speculate, if you had the background training necessary, and found yourself in possession of a shield to go with your rapier, you wouldn't be in a bad situation. The shield is not ideal for defending against otherrapiers, but, against foes armed with heavier weapons, it should perform fine. Granted, if you found yourself in that situation, you'd probably want to replace your rapier with something a bit sturdier as well, but you deal with the tools you have, not the ones you want.

As for a favorite weapon and shield combination, I don't really have one. I'm not a particularly big fan of shields in general. They have a very real historical purpose, but outside their battlefield roles, I'm pretty neutral on the subject. If pressed, I might say spear and shield, but that's probably more to do with the part where spears are generally overlooked in a lot of fantasy media, rather than any particular fondness for that combination. More specifically, “I don't see it often, so it catches my attention,” rather than that an actual favorite.

In case anyone's wondering, and finding this at a later date, Michi already covered the staff question.

-Starke

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